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Introduction
Our text this morning is 1 Corinthians 10:14-21.
We just finished with verse 13.
In that verse, we learned how to overcome temptations.
Each of us faces them.
They are, as the verse stated, common to man.
However, we must always rely upon God, who is faithful.
Submitting to Him through obedience to His Word is the best way to handle anything life, or our flesh throws at us.
God always has our best interest in mind.
He knows exactly what we can manage and how much we can handle.
Ultimately, He always provides us “a way to escape.”
Thus, the bottom line is trusting Him and obedience to His Word.
As we move into the next section of this chapter, the Holy Spirit brings our attention to a temptation that is extremely common to all of us.
It is the temptation of idolatry.
If you recall, early in this chapter, the Holy Spirit warns us about temptations.
He provided a long list of things we are tempted to do, just as Israel was tempted.
The list included lust, idolatry, fornication, tempting God, and complaining.
Each of these is extremely dangerous in its own right.
However, in this next section, a particular emphasis is placed on idolatry.
The word “idolatry,” in the Greek language (the original language of the N.T.), means the worship of false gods.
It is the exact meaning found in the Old Testament Hebrew and Aramaic.
God established from the very beginning that He was indeed God and there were no other gods before Him.
Concerning His relationship with Israel, He demanded that they worship Him and Him alone.
The very first commandment of Moses’s Law stated.
Idolatry is the worship of any graven image or false god.
Idol worship rejects God as the one true God and is a failure to obey His command.
Such worship destroys a right relationship with God.
When we come to the New Testament, nothing changes.
Even on this day of grace and the local church, God expects His people to worship Him and Him alone.
There are many places in the New Testament that state this principle.
Here are a few notable passages.
Christ, as we know, stated this as Satan tempted Him by offering Christ all the “kingdoms of the world.”
An offer was made IF Christ would worship Satan.
Christ responded by quoting what God already established in the Old Testament.
His quote reaffirms God’s established mandate to worship no one other than God Himself, especially Satan.
Another more lengthy passage supporting the principle of worshiping only God and no other is in the book of Acts.
The context of this particular passage was Paul’s message to the Athenians as he proclaimed the gospel to them on Mar’s Hill.
Paul’s reacted to seeing a graven image they made of the “Unknown God.” Immediately upon seeing this false idol, Paul proclaimed to them the true God of the universe.
In his message, Paul noted the following.
He later asserted in that same message this fact.
As we already know, 1 Corinthians takes a strong stand against idolatry.
When we come to our text for today, the Holy Spirit issues a strong command concerning idolatry, asking us to consider several important points about idolatry.
However, before we get to the text, let me give another explanation concerning idolatry that applies to American society.
Most Americans reject the outright worship of graven images.
Yes, some still continue such practices even here in America.
Many Hindus, Buddhists, and even Native Indian tribes still worship images made of gold, silver, and other materials.
Yet, it is a foreign practice for most Americans (especially here in the South).
Unfortunately, the principle behind idolatry is very much true.
At the heart of idolatry is this sinful principle.
Any person not worshiping God is worshiping something, aka an idol.
Anything you can think or imagine on earth can become an idol.
Anything that turns the heart and consumes the passions of a person away from God is an idol.
Things such as...
Pleasing self
Pleasing family
Seeking great possessions
Achieving riches through work or business
Seeking gratification through sports, hobbies, or entertainment
Seeking gratification through sex
Obtaining knowledge
Going after power through position or popularity
These things consume people’s passions turning their hearts away from following God.
That is the issue at hand.
It is a massive problem for all of us.
There are so many things in this world that appeal to our flesh.
We enjoy them so much that they can consume our hearts, soul, and mind in our efforts to obtain them, seeking the gratification they provide.
As we do, we abandon our allegiance to God.
Thus, anything that consumes our passion other than worshiping and serving God is an idol.
Idolatry is such a huge problem that the Holy Spirit gives every believer a simple command.
Look at our text and look at verse 14.
If you are using one of our Pew Bibles, page 683.
Avoid American Idols
“Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”
(1 Corinthians 10:14)
Note the word “flee.”
Basically, if we were to put that in modern terms, the Holy Spirit says, “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, hightail it away from idolatry.”
We are to get as far away and as quickly as we can from idolatry.
It has no place in the life of a believer.
Idolatry is a perilous act.
It is dangerous, for it turns our hearts away from God.
In fact, it causes us to again be enmity with God.
We have seen this in our study of James on Sunday evening.
Note this verse in James 4:4
Last Sunday evening, we noted that the verb “will be” indicates a deliberate intent to be friends with the world.
In other words, this describes the believer consumed with all the world has to offer.
They have made their friendship with this world more important than their relationship with God.
The Holy Spirit describes such believers are “adulterers and adulteresses.”
In our text this morning, it is known as idolatry.
Therefore, any time we make something of this world more important than worshiping and serving God, we place ourselves at odds with God again.
Such a position is a dangerous position for every believer.
It is why the Holy Spirit emphatically tells us to “flee” from it.
Hightail away from it.
Avoid any and every American Idol.
Do not in any shape or form allow self, family, material possessions, riches, sports, hobbies, entertainment, sexual gratification, education, position, or popularity to consume your passions and heart.
Instead, we must be passionate and consumed with worshiping God and serving Him.
Nothing else matters.
Thus, the command is explicit.
It is “flee from idolatry.”
The Holy Spirit is not merely suggesting that you turn and slowly walk away.
He is effectively saying run as quickly as possible from idolatry in the opposite direction.
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