Hidden Demons
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
My Boyfriend Cheated on Me With an AI Girlfriend
There was a story online a few months ago where a woman talks about how she started to think that her boyfriend was cheating on her. All the signs were there:
Emotionally distant
Hiding his phone screen
Changing the passcode on it
She eventually found out that passcode and started snooping only to find - nothing. No messages. No pictures. No suspicious browser history.
But it still got so concerning to the point where she asked him outright, "Are you cheating on me?" And of course he wasn't! There wasn't any other woman. He wasn't talking to any other person. He wasn't meeting up with girls behind her back. But she still wasn't feeling to great about it.
What was he hiding?
Then one night, she comes into the room unexpectedly and sees him messaging someone.
He gets a message "I believe in you babe."
He responds that he's going to sleep
The next message is "Goodnight, I love you."
That's when she jumps into the room demanding to know what's going on. He gets so shocked he throws his phone across the room.
It's not what you think!
It's not another woman!
It's not cheating!
It's just an AI girlfriend.
But despite his arguments that it's not cheating because 'she' is just a computer, she wasn't having any of it. Just because 'she' was fake, doesn't mean the hurt isn't real.
Text Connection
Text Connection
In 1 Corinthians 8-10 we have Christians going to pagan worship services and joining in with the sacrificial meals. And that's totally fine with them.
I'm not really worshipping because they're not even real gods!
Paul is closing out his argument on idolatry, where he's told us that
It hurts our fellow Christians
It hurts the reputation of the gospel
It leads to a pursuit of evil desires
And now, is something that provokes the Lord's jealousy. In our text today we see that just because we think something is harmless, doesn't mean God won't get hurt by it.
So Paul is going to explain the reality behind our worship as we take the Lord's Supper. And if sitting at the table of the Lord has such deep and spiritually profound effects, then so will sitting at the table of an idol.
The Reality Behind Worship
The Reality Behind Worship
15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 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? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?
When we take the lord's supper there's something happening. We're not just remembering something so we can be sad, and we're not just remembering so we can live life in light of that sacrifice.
Participating in Christ
Participating in Christ
Paul describes our eating the Lord's supper as participating in the blood and body of Christ. It's the same Greek word that we get words like
Fellowship
Sharing
Or partnership from
It's really close idea to all of our 'community' words
Communication shares words
Communism is supposed to be the sharing of property
Community is a bunch of people who share life together
It's why we sometimes call the Lord's Supper 'communion'. We're being connected to Jesus and his sacrifice through this act.
Sharing the Reality
Sharing the Reality
Just as the Lord's Supper tells the story of death and new life, we share the same story. When we take the Lord's supper and share in the body and blood we're saying that the life of Jesus is our life as well.
Which means that we've died - but in the best way possible. In Romans 6 Paul says that we've died to sin. Just like when we cut off certain relationships and say that they're dead to us, have no more control over us, so it is with sin. We're dead to it. We don't respond.
And then we're given life through the new covenant.
Sharing in the Benefits
Sharing in the Benefits
When Jesus first shared this meal with his disciples he poured out the cup, calling it the blood of the new covenant.
Israel made the first covenant with God at Mt. Sinai. After God gave his commandments Israel said "We agree!" and had blood sprinkled on the altar of God and on the people - it was the ancient way of signing on the dotted line.
And look at what happens right after:
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
Because we are in this New Covenant we get to share life with God. We get to share in the resurrection of Jesus when our bodies are given new life. We get to share in the dominion and rulership. We get a share in the perfect unity and harmony that exists within the trinity, and share it with each other.
That's what verse 17 is telling us
17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
Through this act we are sharing the story of Jesus together as the body of Christ.
Summary
Summary
So here's what Paul is saying happens when we take the bread and the wine.
We're sharing the same story of Jesus
We're joining the new life with Jesus and with everybody else here
We're taking that cup of blessing and saying "Praise God for all that he's done! Praise God for saving us from the paths of death! Praise God for the new life we've been given!"
The Corinthians we're doing all of that too, thanking God for the New life, and then running back to the old one.
Participating With Demons
Participating With Demons
If such a simple act of eating bread and drinking wine with other believers can have so much meaning, it can be just as meaningful if you do it at the table of and idol.
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. 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?
Paul is still insisting that these idols aren't real gods. There's no reality to their mythology or existence. But just because there's no god behind the idols, doesn't mean there's nothing behind them. Paul says that if you're dining with idols, your dining with demons.
This understanding comes from Deuteronomy 32 which seems to be in the mind of Paul for most of chapter 10.
Deuteronomy 32 is a song that God taught the people of Israel that explains why they would eventually turn away from God and lose their blessings. God knew that his people would enter into the promised land, and despite how much God had done, they would give the credit to idols.
16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. 17 They sacrificed to demons that were not God, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. 18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
Paul says the Corinthians are repeating the same mistake that Israel did. God was the one who loved and blessed them. And Israel gave all the thanks to something else. So God got jealous.
Connect: Are We Provoking God's Jealousy?
Connect: Are We Provoking God's Jealousy?
Could we be provoking God's jealousy?
Well of course not! We're not worshipping other gods! God's our only God!
And isn't that exactly what the Corinthians were saying? Maybe our idols are hiding in plain view.
Do you think God gets jealous when we spend all of our time watching the news with dread and anxiety, and then celebrate the election of our politicians as our saviors?
Do you think God gets jealous when we rabidly defend or attack those same politicians on Facebook, campaigning for these causes but never bothering to tell our neighbor the good news of Jesus?
Is it possible he gets jealous that we're trying to get a hold on our lives by reading all of the life guru's books, listening to their podcasts, but never cracking open his Proverbs?
Do you think he notices a difference in your excitement over him vs. any other part of your life?
If we're not sure about God getting jealous maybe we can think about what your spouse could do to make you jealous.
They can only talk about how much that other person makes them so happy, but never you. Are you concerned?
They can only open up their emotions to that other person - but never to you. Are you worried?
Their face lights up when that guy or gal walks in the door. But you don't even get a hello when you come home. Are you jealous?
God gets jealous because we are the bride of Christ, and he wants to share life with us without worrying about us going out on dates with demons and saying it was just dinner!
Every time we take communion we share in his life and say he's the only one! So stop sharing yourself with others.
As much as we might try to deny anything wrong or sinister behind our affections, as much as we might like to say it's like an AI girlfriend - not real so not a big deal - we need to understand that the Devil and his demons can use lifeless objects to steal our heart away from God.
Practical Application
Practical Application
So here we are at the conclusion of Paul's thoughts on Christians and idol participation. Just about all of it can be summed up in verse 23-24
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.
We cannot act independently of each other. It doesn't matter how much we believe something might be lawful. Not all things are helpful, and not all things build up. Instead of asking "Can I do this?" we ought to be wondering about how this action might affect our brother and the reputation of the gospel. We’re not just sharing life with God, but with each other as well.
Cuss Words
I know, and you might know too, that there is no list of bad words that Christians are forbidden from saying - AKA cuss words. Does our use of those words build anybody up? Does it help anybody? Or does it just make people think you're a hypocrite?
25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
Just about everything that was sold in the marketplace had been offered to idols before. But Paul says don't even ask about it. If you had to check the source of everything you bought you wouldn't be able to buy anything. If you asked and heard that it was from a pagan sacrifice, they might think you were looking for something sacred if you bought it.
Paul's quoting from Psalm 24 to say the earth and everything in it belongs to God! So enjoy it!
But there is one caveat:
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
Don't eat if it's going to give the impression that you're worshipping the idol. So Paul gives this advice:
27 If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience. 28 (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. 29 It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? 30 If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it? 31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
If something is offered to an idol, that alone isn't a big deal. Eat it and you'll be fine.
But suppose you're invited to someone's house and they offer food and you're told that it's something devoted to an idol - don't eat it. The problem isn't if it's been offered to an idol, but that if you were then to eat knowing everything about it, your host would take that as an acceptance of the idol.
Visiting a Pagan Temple
For example, Kelle had an assignment once to visit a church of a different religion, so he and I check out a Hindu temple up in Bentonville. Going in there doesn't make me a pagan. But if they were to say "Today is a holy day, and only devout Hindus should enter," then I'm not going to. It's not that entering a building makes me a pagan, but under certain circumstances I might be giving people that impression.
Paul says it's the same scenario with the idol meat. Eat it, enjoy it. But if people start making the enjoyment of it a pagan act, then drop it. It's not about what you know, or what what your host does or doesn't know. It's about what acts bring glory to God. We need to take care not to give the impression that we're giving glory to anybody else.
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. 1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
And this is the thought we need to take away from everything in 1 Corinthians 8-10.
My life is not about what I can get out of it. My decisions are not based on what brings me the most pleasure. My behavior is not determined by my knowledge and my rights.
If we are participating in the life of Christ, then we are living a life of sacrifice for the sake of others.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Let’s not provoke God or one another. Let’s share in this life so we can share in the one to come as well.
