Unity Is The Goal - 10:14-22

Introduction

In our house we have a swing.

This swing is attached with a rope.

The rope that attaches the swing to the ceiling is quite possibly the most frustrating rope that has ever existed.

Every time I have had to cut this rope, it immediately begins to unravel.

It turns itself into a tangled mess because it lacks cohesion and unity.

The local church has been designed by God to be a place of safety, security, and growth.

That is only possible if we stay unified under pressure.

If we are like this rope, and we come apart in stressful times, we will not be useful and effective servants of Christ.

As a local church, we can only fulfill our mission if we are unified.

Principle:

Unity in the local church is possible.

Guidance:

There are two requirements to experience unity.

Outcome:

When we are unified we can minister effectively to others.

Two requirements to experience unity.

Requirement #1…

1. Unity Must Be Preserved vv. 14-17

You cannot preserve something you do not have.

Unity is our present possession.

Our responsibility is to maintain it.

How do we know that we already have unity?

Go to Ephesians 4:1-6.

Ephesians 4:1-6

This is the unity we have.

One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of all.

We have unity, we must preserve it.

The source of our unity is Christ.

Therefore, anytime we place something above Christ, we sacrifice unity.

The exercise of Christian liberty is always done in tension with the good of others.

When I place my desires and freedom above the needs of others, unity is ruptured.

How do we preserve our unity?

Two methods.

Method #1…

a. Practice exclusive worship vv. 14-15

1 Corinthians 10:14–15 NKJV

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say.

I love how Paul addresses the church here.

Beloved.

This is a reminder.

Paul is not writing them as someone disconnected and uncaring!

Paul is writing to them out of love!

It is love that compels him to correct them.

Flee idolatry.

He has just reminded them of the idolatry of Israel.

He reminded them of where that leads!

Idolatry leads to death!

Flee from it!

Flee - φεύγω (pheugō) flee; escape. to flee v. — to run or move away quickly, so as to escape. Finite verb, present, active, imperative, second person plural.

Flee - φεύγω (pheugō)

We must escape!

If we linger in the presence of idolatry, it will ensnare us.

Now, most of us would never even consider bowing to an idol.

There are other forms of idolatry.

The idolatry of self.

We place ourselves before Christ.

We allow our wants and desires to rule our lives instead of Christ!

This is the exact problem Paul is writing to address.

The Corinthian believers were prioritizing their own wants and desires ahead of others.

The result was that the weaker brothers were being hurt as others callously exercised their freedom.

The idolatry of a God in our own image.

Not worshipping God for who he has revealed Himself to be, but for who I want Him to be.

With these thoughts in mind it is evident that the only wise thing to do is flee idolatry.

That is Paul’s point in v. 15.

Wise - φρόνιμος (phronimos) prudent; wise. judicious person n. — a person marked by the exercise of good judgment or common sense; especially in practical matters. Substantival adjective, dative, plural, masculine.

Wise - φρόνιμος (phronimos)

A prudent and wise person is going to flee idolatry.

We cannot flee idolatry unless we first recognize it for what it is.

Let’s make this as clear as we can.

Idolatry is having anything in the position that only Christ should occupy.

John MacArthur puts it this way

1 Corinthians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Chapter 24: The Truth about Idolatry (10:14–22)

Idolatry includes much more than bowing down or burning incense to a physical image. Idolatry is having any false god—any object, idea, philosophy, habit, occupation, sport, or whatever that has one’s primary concern and loyalty or that to any degree decreases one’s trust in and loyalty to the Lord.

Let me illustrate.

Scripture is clear about the requirement of church.

Hebrews states in no uncertain terms that we are to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

If I allow fear to keep me from church, safety is my idol.

If I allow sports to keep me from church, sports are my idol.

Family can be an idol.

My own mental health can be an idol if it causes me to prioritize myself over Christ!

Knowing what idolatry is, we flee from it.

That is the path of wisdom.

Paul says that common sense demands we flee idolatry.

Why is it common sense?

Because God judges idolatry.

In the nation of Israel idolatry led to death.

Even if my idolatry or yours doesn’t immediately lead to physical death, it will lead to spiritual death.

What do I mean?

I mean separation from God.

Idolatry breaks my relationship with Christ!

That relationship can only be repair through confession.

Paul closes v. 15 by inviting us to use our critical thinking, our discernment, to judge what he is saying.

Even just a cursory examination of history reveals that idolatry never ends well.

No nation has ever been made better by idolatry.

Idolatry destroys.

Remember, Paul is talking about this because of its effect on our unity.

The entire book of I Corinthians is centered on the topic of unity.

Unity cannot exist where there is false worship.

We have been called by God to exclusive worship.

This is how we preserve unity.

We center our focus and fix our attention on Christ alone.

He sits on the throne of our lives and He will not share that position.

Therefore, placing anything else on the throne removes Christ.

For unity to be preserved, Christ must be on the throne of our lives.

How do we preserve our unity?

Two methods.

Method #1: Practice exclusive worship.

Method #2…

b. Practice corporate worship vv. 16-17

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 NKJV

16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

We preserve unity when we as brothers and sisters in Christ recognize the source of our unity.

It is all about the body and blood of Christ!

That is what places us into this family of believers!

We preserve unity through a recognition of what we are.

We are one body because we come to salvation the same way, through Jesus Christ.

He is the bread we partake of.

John 6:32-35

John 6:32–35 NKJV

32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

Our unity as the body of Christ is built around the reality that we are in Christ.

Paul is reminding them of the communion observance because some in the Corinthian church were going beyond eating meat offered to idols.

They were going into the worship services of pagan idols and participating in the service.

Paul will deal with their reasoning on this in the coming verses.

The issue here is that participation in these pagan rituals threatens the unity of the body.

Paul reminds them of their unity and challenges them to maintain it.

Communion – κοινωνία (koinonia) fellowship; participation. participation fellowship n. — the act of sharing in the activities or privileges of an intimate association or group; especially used of marriage and churches. Noun, predicate nominative, singular, feminine.

Communion – κοινωνία (koinonia)

Paul’s point here is all about fellowship.

Communion is a sharing in the body and blood of Christ.

It is a physical picture of a Spiritual reality.

When we accept Jesus Christ by grace through faith His blood cleanses us from all sin.

Just as His bruised and abused body was resurrected glorified, our sinful dying bodies are spiritually made new and given the promise of future glory.

All of this happens as we accept Christ and are made part of His body.

We are the body of Christ.

As we fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ remembering His Sacrifice, death, and resurrection, it is to be a unifying experience.

To take that communion, that fellowship, and attempt to share it with people who are worshiping false gods is the height of hypocrisy and foolishness.

Paul reminds us in v. 17 that we are one body.

We come to God through Jesus Christ and we are made one through the bread of life.

We, as the body of Christ, are to worship Him as our Head.

We have no life outside of him, no purpose, no direction.

We worship Him.

Unity thrives as we worship Christ together.

There is something unifying to see all of you lifting your voices and hands in praise to the King of kings.

Seeing His Word challenge and transform.

Watching one another face difficulty with faith, hope, and love.

These are acts of worship that build unity in the body of Christ.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, this is how we preserve our unity in Christ.

First, we practice exclusive worship.

Christ alone is the Rock upon which we build.

Second, we practice corporate worship.

Praising and serving God alongside others He has redeemed ensures that our unity remains intact.

Two requirements to experience unity.

Requirement #1: Unity must be preserved.

Requirement #2…

2. Unity Must Be Protected vv. 18-22

Once again, we have unity, our responsibility is to preserve it.

However, we must also protect it.

Let me illustrate this.

Growing up, my family would go camping every year at the same place my family and I went last month.

This campground is known to have bears occasionally.

Because of the bears there are certain requirements everyone agrees to abide by.

All your food has to be either in your car, in a locked container, or in a place the bear can’t get to it.

We always took with us a couple of ice chests for milk and eggs and things like that.

The ice chest preserved the food.

However, if we left it out on the picnic table, a bear might come along and take it.

So, we would slide the ice chest under the bench of the picnic table, which would make it to where it couldn’t be opened.

We preserved the food, but we also protected it.

This is what we do with our unity.

We preserve it through exclusive and corporate worship.

However, we also recognize that we have an enemy who wants nothing more than to attack that unity.

This is part of what our week of prayer is all about.

We want to be unified as a local church.

We want to be on our guard against the enemy of our unity!

We must protect our unity, we must guard and defend it from attack.

And make no mistake, is and will continue to be under attack.

How do we protect our unity?

By fulfilling two responsibilities.

Responsibility #1. To protect unity…

a. Know the truth vv. 18-19

1 Corinthians 10:18–19 NKJV

18 Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?

Paul uses the animal sacrifices of Israel as an illustration.

When they eat those sacrifices, they participate in the offering.

It is an act of worship.

It is an act of fellowship.

Here’s the argument.

When we take communion we are expressing our agreement and fellowship with one another and with Christ.

In the same way, when the Israelites ate the sacrifices, they were expressing agreement and fellowship with one another and God.

Paul will give his conclusion about what eating meat in a pagan temple means in v. 20.

Before he does that he uses some rhetorical questions.

A rhetorical question is “a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.”

It is a question to which the answer is implied.

In verse 19 Paul is asking these questions because they would occur to others.

Especially in light of what he said in chapter 8.

Go there with me.

1 Corinthians 8:4-11

Look at verses 4-9.

Paul already answered this question.

An idol is nothing!

Food doesn’t commend us to God.

If we eat or not it doesn’t make us more or less acceptable to God!

Okay Paul, then why are you making this such a big deal?

Because of chapter 8 verses 9-11.

Our exercise of freedom can become a stumbling block to others.

It can wound the weaker conscience of others.

Unity is protected by a proper understanding.

What do we need to understand here?

An idol is nothing.

Meat offered to idols is nothing.

What matters is our heart.

Get your heart right! That’s the issue.

We need to know the truth.

This isn’t about idols and false gods.

There is no other God but one.

This is about the attitude of our hearts.

It is about the answer to the question why?

Why are we eating the meat?

Why are we going into a pagan temple?

With those questions is another.

Is my freedom more important to me than the conscience of my brothers and sisters in Christ?

Unity is protected by truth.

We protect our unity when we consider what Paul has presented in this section.

Freedom is a blessing.

However, freedom should not be abused.

It is unloving and destroys unity to exercise my freedom at the expense of others.

While it is true that idols are nothing and the food offered to them is nothing, we still must guard the hearts of others.

Unity is more important than my freedom.

We must accept this.

We must act on this.

We must teach this.

Unity in the body of Christ is vital!

It doesn't matter if idols are nothing.

It doesn’t matter if the things offered to idols are nothing.

What matters is our hearts.

Are we considering others in the exercise of our freedom?

How do we protect our unity?

By fulfilling two responsibilities.

Responsibility #1. To protect unity, know the truth.

Responsibility #2. To protect unity…

b. Know the cost vv. 20-22

1 Corinthians 10:20–21 NKJV

20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.

Here Paul answers his own question.

Idols are nothing, the sacrifices are nothing.

The issue is the thought progression we were looking at earlier.

To participate in communion is to express identification with and acceptance of Christ and His body.

To participate in the sacrifices of Judaism is to identify and agree with their teaching.

Therefore, for someone to enter an idols temple and eat and drink there is to identify and express agreement with the false god!

We must have a proper dedication to the Lord!

Idolatry in the people of God is abhorrent to God.

Why?

It is an attempt to blend what is sacred and holy with what is profane.

What seems to have been happening in the Corinthian church was a participation with some of the pagan rituals never considering how that might impact those saved out of those false beliefs.

Paul is challenging them to consider the topics more fully.

Your personal freedom is not the only consideration.

Personal freedom is not even the primary consideration!

Next week we will examine Paul’s explanation of our freedom coupled with our responsibility toward others.

Here is Paul’s larger point in these verses.

Don’t intentionally fellowship with demons.

Just because a false idol is nothing doesn’t mean it is harmless!

When we participate in the worship of false things, we participate in the activity of demons.

Side note - the worship of false idols, false god’s is, in reality, the worship of demons.

We must be dedicated to God.

We must be exclusive in our relationship with Him.

We drink His cup! We partake of His remembrance!

We don’t want to corrupt that with the worship of demons!

We cannot do both.

There is a cost to being a follower of Jesus!

We are no longer free to engage in the worship of anything other than Him!

Christ and Christ alone is worthy of all worship, honor, and praise.

Here is the reality.

The blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin.

He has set us free from sin and death.

He has made us alive to Christ!

Therefore, we must fix our hope in Him alone.

When we look to social justice, or government, or anything else to solve the problems we face, we are guilty of false worship.

We cannot have it both ways.

Either Christ is our hope in life and death, or He is not.

We cannot “hedge our bets.”

Look at v. 22

1 Corinthians 10:22 NKJV

22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

God will not tolerate any competition for His affection.

Anything that takes the place of Christ will stir Him to jealousy.

Don’t provoke the Lord to Jealousy, that leads to death as it did for the Israelites.

We are not stronger than God.

He will discipline us.

We must protect the unity of the body.

To do that, we know the cost of discipleship.

Being a follower of Jesus is exclusive.

There is no room for a second savior, a second hope, a second deliverance.

It is Christ or it is nothing.

Unity requires total commitment.

There is no backup.

There is no option B.

All we cling to is Christ!

He is a jealous God.

We hold fast to Him alone.

Conclusion

Do we understand the necessity of unity?

Unity is our present possession.

We must preserve it through exclusive and corporate worship.

We must protect it through knowing the truth and counting the cost.

Here is the difficulty we are going to face.

Everything in life will attempt to steal our worship.

Not overtly, not out in the open.

In subtle ways, in little compromises, the enemy of our souls will seek to steer our focus from Christ.

We must be constantly on guard.

Why?

Because a loss of worship leads to a loss of unity.

The call of the church is to make disciples, this is impossible without unity.

Unity is the goal.

Personal:

Has something stolen my worship? Comfort. Ease. Success. Have we made an idol of these? Sometimes what gets us off is just a tiny shift in focus. It is often reflected by two words “I want.” What about what God wants? What about what is best for the body of Christ?! Commit to a life that prioritizes Christ and the things He values.

Relationships:

The closest friendships we have should be with people who challenge us to be more like Christ. Those relationships will be challenged. We will be tempted to compromise unity in the pursuit of personal desires. Don’t give in. Commit to building relationships on Christ. The tricky thing is to not allow those relationships themselves to become idols.

Parenting:

The pressure of activity for our children often leads us to change our priorities. We move away from the things of Christ and instead seek validation in the secular accomplishments of our children. It is good to be proud of our children, their abilities, and accomplishments. However if our children are ignorant of the things of Christ their lives will not be serving an eternal purpose. Commit to investing in our children for the cause of Christ. They will know if we have made an idol out of anything else.

Marriage:

Idol - strong healthy marriage. Unity in marriage is about the worship of Christ. The worship of Jesus Christ conforms me to His image. The more I am like Christ, the better my marriage will be. Strong, healthy marriages make strong, healthy children. Strong, healthy families make strong, healthy churches. Commit to seeking Christ in your marriage. This means we treat one another with love and respect. In words, actions, and attitudes.

Unity is the goal.

Unity cannot exist where there is false worship.

Do not place self before Christ.

Unity cannot exist in a “me first” environment.

Do not place self before others.

Flee idolatry.

Cling to Christ.

Experience the blessing of unity.

The church is effective when the church is unified.