1 Corinthians 10 - Idolatry Brings Trouble - part 2/2
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Idol Food in Pagan Temples.
Idol Food in Pagan Temples.
So from the last few chapters in 1 Corinthians from chapter 8 we notice Paul makes givers a lot of warnings against Idol food and he has made a lot of references to the Old Testament examples which involve idol food as part of their pagan worship or worship of their false gods.
If you remember when Paul referred to Moses coming down with the commandments from Mt Sinai and finding the Israelites worshipping a golden calf and eating food and dancing around it.
So throughout all these chapters speaking about this very issue. Paul hasn’t actually told them what to do just yet he has only given a lot of warning and how its not good to practice these things like Idolatry, Not being considerate of your brothers and sisters in Christ, Exercising your freedoms in the wrong way.
But now that we have reached this part of chapter 10. Paul finally addresses this type of behaviour in the church and this is what he says.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
He tells them to Flee or run away from Idolatry. Run away from False gods. But how can we apply this to the church today 2000 years later? The same way. Run away from things that you place higher than god , run away from material things , opinions , desires that make you put god second !
This is the second time in the letter that Paul has told them to “flee” from something. The other time we see him telling the Corinthians to flee from something was in 1 Corinthians 6:18 when he says “flee from sexual immorality”.
What Paul is trying to show us here as well is that some sins can be avoided. But if you are tempted in areas of sexual immorality and idolatry then you have to run from it as fast as you can.
Remember the story of Joseph in Genesis 39:12 he is tempted by a woman and when she catches him alone he runs away to the point where she grabs his clothes and in desperation to flee from her his clothes come off as he is running away.
This is how you run away from sexual immorality. Doing whatever it takes to not fall , doing whatever it takes to run away from it.
Something I see in Josephs efforts to run away… desperation.
Oh I have things I always run back to Idolising , I have sexual passions and desires I always run back to, but I still want to worship God - Impossible!
Family we must be desperate for our deliverance. This is what Paul is trying to tell us today. There will always be temptation no matter how strong you become in your walk with God but you must make a decision today to run.
Running may be in different forms it could be: Deleting that number , it could be deleting social media , it could be humbling yourself , it could be more commitment to Jesus. Whatever it may be, you must be desperate.
We should know these things family. Lets read a verse quickly - 1 Corinthians 12:2
2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.
When we were in our past lives we were led astray by these things before coming to Christ. So if you are caught in these things again you can be eventually led astray again.
15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
You are all sensible people , in other words you know what I am talking about, now reflect on what i’m saying
Carrying on…
Some believers when they hear this might even argue that idolatry is fine , its acceptable. But we know through the word and through our world and culture today that worshipping anything or anyone other than God is incompatible , it cannot work with Christianity.
What we sometimes tend to do even the Corinthians is argue that what we are really doing is not idolatry , its just a small thing , its just a fling, its just fun.
The Corinthians logic with this stuff was “oh but if these idols or false gods don’t really exist then what harm can it possibly do?
Paul answers this by using an example from taking communion to explain how there is a spiritual power or eating and drinking in the context of worshipping God.
The Lords supper which we will go through in the next chapter on the next Corinthians episode in more detail. Chapter 11 When Paul speaks about the Lords supper or communion is not just about food and drink. Taking communion is an act of worship and it resembles our union or togetherness with God and our togetherness with one another.
16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
The Cup for which we give thanks is a “participation” The Greek word for participation is “koinonia” which means “fellowship” or “communion” so when we drink the cup it us being together in the fellowship of the blood of Christ.
The same with the bread that we take in communion it is also a participation in the Body of Christ.
So when we take the bread and the wine or the grape juice we are not just eating and drinking, we are actually expressing fellowship , participation and communion with Christ and with one another.
17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
we all partake of the one bread or can say we all share the one loaf.
Now remembering what the Corinthians asked earlier - If these false gods don’t exist, then what harm could these foods , idols, or activities do to us if we do them?
18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?
Paul says that arn’t those Priests who eat the food sacrificed to God in Leviticus participants in the practice?
So to eat idol food in the context of worship was to actually participate in worshipping that false god.
So if thats true in our Christian communion that taking it was worship and its true when the Jews offered sacrifice to God and ate it that that was also worship then its true as well, when we eat things or do things that honour a false god we are participants of idol worship also.
19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
So Paul is saying yes these statues or false gods really do not exist but demons exist. Dark spiritual powers do exist. So when idols are worshipped by people who believe they are real and they serve them, demons exercise power over the worshipper.
We can say the same thing about ghosts. We know they are not real but they can exercise demonic power over people who believe they are real.
So again these pagan sacrifices are offered to no one at all but in another sense they are offered to evil spirits and Paul wants the Corinthians and us to have nothing to do with them.
You know being Tongan you end up hearing about people being possessed or stories of seeing family members like ghosts etc and what the Tongans will say is that its a relative coming to visit or a dead relative was unhappy with another relative about something and they saw it from the after life and they have now come back to punish them.
The reason why this takes place is because they believe it to be true. Whatever you believe , you give it power.
They are not your relatives , they are not coming back to punish you , they have gone already. They are not omnipresent where they could be anywhere they want. Only God is omnipresent.
But when we believe these things , it becomes true.
Even all the superstitions we have back in the islands, if you whistle at night you will get slapped, if you run at night you might get tripped over and your leg broken, you cant sweep at night , you have to cover the mirrors at night.
These are all superstitions and when we believe them it gives them power over us.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
So in this all being said we have to make a decision not just with food but with all areas of our lives. Sharing in the Lords Supper and Communion and not worshipping an Idol. Otherwise we provoke the Lord to Jealousy and we come off worse then what we already were.
23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
With this verse Paul is quoting what the Corinthian church says.
We can say oh but “i am allowed to do anything i want”. Paul says yes but not everything is good for you. They say “ I am allowed to do anything” yes but not everything is beneficial.
Stop thinking about yourself but think for the good of others.
Food in the Market
Food in the Market
25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
So just off these verses Paul is saying to eat anything in the meat market cause the earth is the Lords and the fullness of it but when it is used in the context of worship to worship or participate in a form of worship we are not to eat it.
Sacrificial Food in Private Homes
Sacrificial Food in Private Homes
So what if your in a home and your given meat to eat and its possible that its from idol worship or sacrificed to a false god like allah, muslims sacrifice their meat to allah and its killed a certain way that why we have meat that says “Halal” on it.
What if your invited for dinner somewhere and you know that your friend who invited you got the meat from a muslim butcher or its halal meat. Theres things to consider, you have to consider everyone thats there eating with you and even yourself.
27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
So Paul lays out this situation. An unbeliever invites you for dinner and its halal food, you don’t need to ask any questions because the earth is the Lords and the fullness of it. Enjoy your steak or chicken.
Then the scenario changes. Now there is another guest that comes to dinner with you and he tells you the meat that we are eating is halal food and its been offered in sacrifice.
If the person that tells you is a believer it means they are concerned and if they see a Christian eating this food knowing its halal food they might think that idol worship and christian worship is compatible.
So this is to show us that different circumstances means we have to make different decisions.
28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—
So the same applies in the types of worship genres we listen to just as an example and other conscience based issues, is another believer brings it up for example if you are listening to christian rap then one of the brethren says “hey thats to the rap god not Jesus” to them its not right and can cause them to have view that we can listen to all sorts of rap swearing , love, drugs and think its still compatible with Christianity.
So if were with them we just don’t do it otherwise it can cause them to stumble and this is with anything.
29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience?
30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
Paul makes it clear , its not your conscience its their conscience. As long as you are doing it with wisdom and consideration for others then you can enjoy these things.
Gods Glory in Your Life
Gods Glory in Your Life
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
So as Paul is coming to an end on this whole matter of Food Sacrificed to Idols , conscience ,Sexual Immorality , Warnings etc he says this famous verse.
This is a massive summary on everything Paul spoke about in these last few chapters. The Glory of God should be the highest goal of anything we do.
If you are taking part in something that God has given you then do it with thankfulness. If you are staying away from something, do it out of the desire that other people don’t stumble or fall because of it.
32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
If you see these struggles and strengths between each other cater to each other and be considerate.
Some of these things we want to do matter to us but living for the glory of God matters much more.
Throughout the whole letter we see Paul walk the talk with what he just said here.
chapter 4 - The glory of God comes before what he prefers with reputation and comfort.
chapter 7 - he would rather not marry and have kids so he could focus on the Lord more
chapter 9 - he would rather earn his money from working then have the church give to him
Even in chapter 1 he knows people will get put off the gospel but he doesn’t want people to get put off the way he holds himself because his conduct can help people consider the gospel.
Thats what he is saying in verse 33 that he seeks not his own good but seeks the good of many so that they may be saved.
Paul knows that Christians don’t just follow advice , we follow people. So his counsel to the Corinthians and any Christian or Pastor out there who is consistently living out what they are teaching is this.
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Amen
Questions for reflection:
Questions for reflection:
How do verses 16-17 need to sharpen or shape your thinking about sharing the Lord’s Supper?
2.When are you tempted to say, “It’s just…”?
3.What different views about food or even genres and conscience based issues like alcohol do you encounter in your culture and among your neighbours? What will it look like for you to eat and drink for the glory of God?
