Presentation18

The hero stands in great danger! He's trapped with no apparent escape. Time is running out. But then he accidentally stumbles against a secret panel in the wall and tumbles out to freedom. We've all read books like that! In v13 Paul had been discussing temptation and teaching Christians that God will always provide a way of escape.

But we are foolish to think that we can knowingly walk into danger, that we can flirt with evil and at the last minute find some secret button or that God will send in the "A Team" to deliver us.

Introduction

Instead of thinking of deliverance from temptation in such a spectacular way, we should avoid situations which are clearly dangerous. And so Paul's conclusion to the teaching of v1-13 is found in v14. "Flee from idolatry!" Paul doesn’t bludgeon his readers with his apostolic authority, he appeals to them in v15 as sensible men. He is saying you will be able to judge for yourselves the wisdom of this kind of action.

But fleeing from idolatry and its influence in a town like Corinth was not easy. And so Paul now concentrates attention on the great danger to which they were exposed.

Introduction

We need to start by reminding ourselves that a Christian is someone who is indisoluably united to Christ. Our attention is drawn in v16-17 to the bread and wine taken during the Lords supper. As we eat and drink these symbols, we do more than remembering that Jesus died. We are demonstrating our communion with the One symbolised in them. Paul reminds that the same principle held good in O.T. sacrifices. To eat of the sacrifices brought the worshippers into communion with the altar, i.e. with all that it stood for. Paul warns the Corinthians that to eat food sacrificed to an idol in the context of a pagan worship service was nothing less than opening themselves up to the influence of all that we would describe as demonic.

Idolatry and Compromise

You may be thinking, "Paul is contradicting himself”, after all in 8.4 he argued that "an idol is nothing at all in the world". There are no such beings as Apollo or Aphrodite. But something does exist, something far more terrible than these pseudo gods, - a whole kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan. All worship not directed to the true God, whether consciously or unconsciously, is devoted to the demonic world. Paul is not shifting the goalposts by warning Christians about participating in heathen worship.

Idolatry and Compromise

So that although heathen divinities do not exist, it must not be supposed that idolatry is harmless. Paul says it brings the worshipper into communion with the demonic. Has he the idolatrous worship of Israel in mind? cf [Deut 32.17] “They sacrificed to demons that are not God, gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear.”

The demonic lies behind all idolatry and therefore it is not neutral. Missionaries who have worked in animistic societies describe the devastation that idolatrous worship has brought upon society.

One of Satan's objectives is to distract men from realising that the great purpose of their creation is communion with God.

Idolatry and Compromise

It is with this in mind that Paul describes two mutually incompatible fellowships in v21 “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too, you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons”. Nothing is more guaranteed to arouse the Lord's jealousy.You may think this has little relevance for the enlightened C21st. We read in 2 Cor.11.14 that there are counterfeit spirits who, love to masquerade as holy spirits. A they delude men into thinking they represent that which is respectable and acceptable. As a result there are still those who unwittingly attempt to blend communion with God with communion with Satan.

Idolatry and Compromise

Some mistakenly think that everything spiritual is of God and it may not be until the alien spirit is unable to hide its counterfeit nature any longer that its unholy and ungodly influence is felt or seen. In the West we have any number of "spiritualist churches" with their mediums and healing meetings making claims of a supernatural nature. Undoubtedly spiritual and supernatural things can happen in these services but they are not the product of God's Holy Spirit.

Or one thinks of the so called Christian fortune tellers who have bibles on their desks but it is not the Spirit of God but an alien spirit who influences their thinking.

Idolatry and Compromise

People wrongly assume is something is spiritual in appearance and clearly employs the supernatural to bring apparent benefit to men and women it must be of God. That is the height of folly. One can think of people dabbling with Ouija boards, tarot cards, having their tea-leaves read or attending physic fairs who think these things are morally neutral or just a bit of harmless fun.

But they are profoundly dangerous because they create openings for the influence of alien spirits. Christians who have dabbled in these things should seek help lest their lingering influence has a debilitating effect upon their lives.

Idolatry and Compromise

Satan can also be extremely subtle in the influences he attempts to inject into Christian fellowships in order to deaden their worship and stunt their growth. Today at the end of some so-called worship services some worshippers are left asking, “have I been influenced by God's Holy Spirit or by some other spirit?” When those responsible for worship try to join together that which is irreconcilable they are fostering a spirit that provokes the Lord to jealousy. And God withdraws. Cf Ezekiel 5v11; 10v4,18.

There's nothing deader than a church from which God has withdrawn his presence!

Idolatry and Compromise

Having addressed the danger of Satan’s influence upon the worshipping community, Paul now deals with the practical business of the Christian’s exercise of his freedom. There was one group whose motto was "Everything is permissible". And there are many things we can do without breaking God’s moral law. But it is not enough to ask, "Is this permissible?" We should be asking, "Is it beneficial, is it constructive". These more demanding questions have a breadth of application for us today, e.g.

watching T.V. until 2 am. in the morningspending every spare penny on our hobbyspending 5 nights a week on the golf course.

Christian Freedom

Returning to our passage notice the close connection between building ourselves up as Christians and caring for others [24]. We only build ourselves up by seeking to help others. This is the way character building works. Otherwise our choices are merely selfish. Many Christians want their character to come out of the cornflake packet.

However, we grow by giving ourselves away to others. This paradox of life out of death is helpfully illustrated by Jesus in Jn. 12.24

“unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds”.

Christian Freedom

Two practical areas are explored where service is to be regulated by self-giving love; the first concerns shopping in the market. The housewife who shops at the butchers is not to be anxious about the meat’s origin - whether or not it had been offered in the temple. She is not to interrogate the butcher! Food purchased in this way and then eaten at home is distinguished from eating it in the context of idolatrous worship in the temple which was not permissible.

Christians were encouraged to accept meat on the basis of Ps 24.1 "The earth is the Lords and everything in it."

Christian Freedom

Christians were not encouraged to ostracise themselves from business or social contacts. In the case of an invitation to a meal in the home of a non-Christian, the meat on the table was not to be regarded as a sacrifice, and so the same allowance is granted as in the previous case. The meal was to be enjoyed without a major discussion with one’s conscience.

However, if attention was drawn to the meat’s origin e.g. ‘this is part of a sacrifice made in the temple’, then eating is prohibited because to do so would compromise one’s witness and confuse the conscience of others.

Christian Freedom

The Christian is to follow the principle set down in v24 – “seek…the good of others”. If someone offers to sell you something and says, “Its good stuff and it fell off the back of my uncle's lorry". Then having been challenged with the goods origins there is only one thing for the Christian to do – put his money back in his pocket!

A Christian couple had an African carving hanging on their wall. An African visitor came to their home, and expressed surprise that they worshipped one of his tribal gods. Up until that point they had viewed it as an ornament but having been advised of its origin they put it in the dustbin. It was sending the wrong signals to foreign visitors.

Christian Freedom

Paul asks in v29 "Why should my liberty be judged by another mans conscience". He does not make his mind about things on the basis of what others think; but he was prepared to do what others believed to be right if that ensured that their Christian instruction was not impeded.

Christian Freedom

Paul’s final principle is that we should ‘do all to the glory of God’. This is to be applied to the whole spectrum of our thought and behaviour. When the Christian sees himself as made and remade to the glory of God he will do good to others whether that means pleasing or challenging them in the hope that it will lead to their salvation. Serving rather than self-seeking was Jesus’ example!

Jesus did not pursue his own advantage. Paul followed this example cf 11.1. His life was marked by self-giving and weare challenged to ask if this is the central characteristic of our behaviour?

Conclusion