Fleeing idolatry is the central command in the passage, which draws from 1 Corinthians 10:14-22. The sermon explains that idolatry is not just worshipping false gods but also creating representations of God or prioritizing worldly possessions and desires over Him. It contrasts the fellowship believers have with Christ through communion with the fellowship they must avoid with demonic practices and worldly materialism. The core lesson is that true believers, who are God's sheep, must hear His voice and maintain a pure, exclusive devotion to Him, avoiding any form of idolatry in thought, action, or allegiance.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 2.23 → restored 4.41
Two things were mentioned this morning. Tonight our brother David Morris is going to minister the word of God and he's going to present the precious child ministry which is a ministry that's provided in this area for young women who fall into sin and become pregnant and it's a ministry that is needed and he's going to be presenting that and he's also going to minister the word of God. I wanted to know more about the ministry of the precious child and we've been invited to join in this ministry by those who conducted in this area and I'd like to know just a little more about it and since David is one of the officers he's going to give us that information.
And then for those of you who have been attending the senior citizens meeting on the second Monday. Now there's going to be no senior citizens tomorrow. We've changed the name of it to include any who are able to, whether you're a senior citizen or not, but if you're able to be with us on the second Monday, but we're not having it tomorrow, it's going to be one week from tomorrow the fifteenth, as Charles mentions. Now we're in First Corinthians ten for our Bible reading and we begin our reading at verse fourteen. And it says, Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say. 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? For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold, Israel after the flesh. Are they not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say, and this is one of the great verses, friends, that you should have at your fingertips and on your mind.
But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice the demons and not to God. And I would not that ye should have fellowship with demons. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of demons. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.
Now let us pray together. Our Father, in the name of our Lord. Soon the fiery gates will open. We shall dress the streets of God. When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus. We'll sing and shout the victory.
Thank you. Please see. Now let's just look to the Lord again in prayer. Father, our desire is that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be exalted. and that we shall be conformed to the image of thy dear Son. Therefore we ask in a special way that you use the word this morning to speak to all our hearts for Jesus' sake. Amen. Everything that you see in the universe is what we call creation in distinction from the Creator. God takes full responsibility for everything that you see in the universe.
For everything that did or does or ever will exist, exists because of His creative power and His creative act. In the Gospel of John chapter one and verse three we read that everything was made by Him, our Lord Jesus and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Ephesians chapter three verse nine we read that God created all things by Jesus Christ. In a first statement in Hebrews chapter one where we read that God have spoken unto us in his Son he then adds by whom also he made the world.
And therefore God takes full responsibility and all the credit for everything that you find in creation. Yet the indictment of God against man, and according to Romans chapter one and verse twenty-five, is that when man knew God, he glorified him not as God, but became vain in his imagination, and professing himself to be wise, he became a fool, and he worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator. To worship and serve the creature is what is called idolatry. Idolatry.
Now in the second commandment that God gave at Mount Sinai to the children of Israel, it was a warning against idolatry. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. For I, the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God. And we read that word jealousy this morning in First Corinthians ten, dealing with a subject of idolatry. For I, the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. But keeping mercy for thousands of them who love me and keep my commandments.
Now, We're dealing with that section in the Corinthian epistle where Paul answers questions that the Corinthians wrote him about. They asked him concerning certain subjects. Now the subject that has been before us, and it came to our attention in chapter eight already, is that of the believer's liberty. The liberty that we who have been saved by the grace of God possess. And that subject that began in chapter eight is now drawing to a conclusion. Paul is pulling in the strings, as it were, to bind the teaching of chapter eight and chapter nine and chapter ten and the first part of chapter eleven.
He's going to draw it all together. Now in chapter eight, the apostle laid down certain principles in relation to the believer's liberty. Then in chapter nine, He illustrated these principles and he applied them to his own life as he lived it as an apostle. And then in chapter ten, he enforces these principles using the nation of Israel, the first thirteen verses, he uses the nation of Israel and their redemption from Egypt as a great illustration and shows how these principles of liberty applied to them and how God has made provision for us.
That's what He does in this passage. Now beginning with verse fourteen, we're going to notice that He gives a definite prohibition. Now liberty has its restrictions in life and also in the walk of faith of the child of God. If you're one who is truly one of the Lord's sheep, this is one of the questions that I usually ask people. I don't ask people, are you a Christian? Because that's such a broad term and people don't understand that. I usually say, are you one of the Lord's sheep?
Because that is a term that they're going to have to do some thinking about. In John ten, twenty-six, we all know verse twenty-seven. My sheep hear my voice. But verse twenty-six says, and our Lord is speaking to religious people. He says, you believe not because you are not of my sheep. As I have said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. Those who are not the sheep of God, don't hear the voice of God. But those who are the sheep of God do. And if you're one of His sheep, you have heard His voice in a definite call.
And you have responded and therefore you have ears that hear and feet that walk in His way. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Can you say this morning that you hear His voice? is the voice of the good shepherd a reality to you. If it is, then you can say, yes, I'm one of the sheep of the Lord. How do you become one of his sheep? When he calls, you respond to the call. You hear it and you respond. And the call of God is what we call the gospel.
God calls through the gospel. the message concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. So now we come to the divine prohibition that God gives in verse fourteen of first Corinthians ten. He says, Wherefore my beloved flee from idolatry. Notice here is a definite prohibition and that word wherefore is very important. It depends upon something that has already been said. In verse thirteen you have it In a nutshell, for he says to us, There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man.
None of us can say, Oh, I had a temptation that no one else ever had. And if you would have had the temptation I had, No, there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But we read this for the child of God. But God is faithful. who will not permit you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with a temptation provide a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Wherefore, because God has made a way of escape, flee idolatry. That's what he's saying.
God has made a highway for you, and the highway is a way of escape. Now in this case, The highway means flight. He says, flee idolatry. Don't linger in the neighborhood of the Lord. Flee from it. When I was a boy, I lived near the Union Canal. The Union Canal was one of the first canals, not the first, but it has the oldest tunnel on it in the United States that was built. The Union Canal was a canal that was built to join the Susquehanna and the Schoolkill Rivers.
And I lived on the Union, not on the canal, but near it, and we often walked on it, and during the Depression, my brother and I would go and fish in the canal. And there was a certain place that we could go and fish. I always knew it was going to catch some. I never threw the line in in that canal at a certain place where there was an old tree stump that I didn't catch and get a bite. The fish were always lingering where I threw the lure. And you know there are some people who live that way in relation to temptation. They're lingering around the lure. They continuously live there.
flee idolatry don't think I stand to stay in the neighborhood move away from it well now the fish didn't know any better and we always got enough for breakfast and I won't tell you what kind they were because they didn't have scales and fins and you read Leviticus chapter eleven God told the Israelites that they shouldn't eat catfish Now you know. All right. Now, in the tenth chapter of First Corinthians, previously in this chapter we dealt with idolatry in Israel. And that time when Israel, when it came out of Egypt, they were camped at Mount Sinai, that when Moses was on the mountain with the Lord receiving the commandments, the holy law of God, Israel was there camped by the mountains and they made a golden calf and they worship it.
Now what was the idolatry of Israel when they made a golden calf? What was the idolatry? It was making a false representation of God. When they made the golden calf, now catch this, for it's important. When they made the golden calf, they were not intending to set up a new God. They weren't trying to do that, to set up a new God. They tried to make them something to help them realize God. That's what they were trying to do. And when they made something to help them realize God, God looked at it as idolatry.
And anything that you make to try to help you realize God, it's idolatry. This is important. It's far more important than we realize. The moment the children of Israel made the golden calf to help them realize God, what happened? They lured the ideal of God. Immediately that's what they did. The golden calf in front of them did not represent God at all. But they worshipped it. They worshipped it. They made sacrifices to it. And then after they were finished in their worship, the scripture says in Exodus thirty-two and quoted again in First Corinthians ten, the people sat down to eat and to drink, and they rose up to play.
Last Lord's Day morning, our brother Clayton Davis closed with a great verse. And I'm going to ask you this morning, understandest thou what thou readest? The verse that he used in closing was Hebrews eleven, verse six I think it is. where it says, But without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Understandest thou what thou readest? He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him. Now I want to deal with that in relation to idolatry this morning.
Commandment number one that God gave. Exodus chapter twenty verse one. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other God before me. That's what God said to Israel at Mount Sinai. Commandment number one tells us who God is. I am the one. who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. You didn't bring yourself up. I delivered you from Pharaoh's hand.
I delivered you from Pharaoh's land. I brought you out with a mighty arm, with great power, and with great glory. I brought you out. That's what God says. The first commandment tells us who God is. And the word for God, I am the Lord. That's Yahweh or Jehovah. I am the Lord your God, Elohim the strong one. In other words, what he is saying is, I am Jehovah thy God. I am the God who ever was. I am the God who is in the very presence.
And I am the God who ever will be the only God there is. That's what he's saying in the First Commandment. Commandment number two, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. In the second commandment he is telling us how he must be approached. If I cannot make any representation of God, And any representation that I know has to come from something I have seen somewhere.
And God ruled out anything I've seen in the heavens. He has ruled out anything I have seen in the earth. He has ruled out anything that I've seen in the waters under the earth. In the second commandment. So what is he really saying? He is saying, I am the Lord, whoever was, who is, whoever will be. and there's only one way you can come you have to come by faith that's basically what he's saying you can't approach me any other way but by faith without faith it's impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is apart from anything that you see We don't need any representations of Him.
We don't need it. It will not help us. We come to God basically on the basis of the revelation He has given to us in His words. And now they've been living in Pennsylvania. I had a great preacher, friend. I had a number of them, but this one fellow, he was saved through the ministry of Christian Endeavor. Those of you who are older will remember when Christian Endeavor was a very... popular movement. And it did a great work in Germany, by the way. And my friend, and he told me all you need to do is just give me your name and tell me you'll take one of our churches and we'll bring you into our denomination right away.
He just thought I had to preach in their denomination. But I didn't. What he did, he carried in his pocket. A lot of little wooden crosses. Oh, they're just about the size of a silver dollar. But he carried these. He made these wooden crosses. And when he'd go into the hospital, he'd put them in somebody's hand. Now, beloved, there's a lot of good things to be said about the cross. But we don't worship the cross. We worship the one who died on the cross. The purpose of the cross, friends. was execution.
When you saw a man going down the street carrying a cross, you could say one thing about him, he's not coming back. For that cross is going to put him to death and it's going to do its work on that person. And the Word of God tells us that we are to reckon ourselves to be dead. And if the cross never slays us, in our ambitions and in our actions which are fleshly, and gives us a view of Him who died there as the object of our worship, carrying one in our pocket, holding it in our hand, praying toward it, making the sign of the cross, or anything else.
We'll never do a bit of good. In fact, friends, it's idolatry. It is idolatry. And God cries out to the church, flee idolatry. He does. We don't need any representation. Again, that verse that our dear brother used last Lord's death. In relation to this, without faith, it's impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. I've never seen God.
I've never seen God. Israel never saw God. And he says, I don't want you to make any representation of me. Faith. We come to God by faith. By faith. By faith we believe what the Word of God says. Concerning His holiness. Concerning His righteousness. Concerning His justice. Concerning His law. concerning his peace we believe it and we're delivered faith and in the first commandment we learn who God is in the second commandment we learn how to approach him he must be approached by faith but you see when we think of the idolatry of Israel and then our text says wherefore my beloved flee from idolatry The gods of the nations round about Israel were basically three.
There was a god Moloch, there was a god Baal, and there was a god Memon. Moloch, the god of cruelty. And my, how this God is still with us in so many ways. The god Baal, the god of bestiality. Live after and according to the lust of the flesh, and in our hedonistic society. And in our narcissistic society, what we have is live according to the flesh. A God of Baal is with us today. And then, of course, there was a God Memon.
And the God Memon is the God who tells you that life consists of the abundance of the things that a man possesses. And our Lord definitely said a man's life consists of not. in the abundance of the things that he possesses. You know, when I was in Africa, Dr. Dick pointed out to certain things and among the natives, he said, you see the fetishes that they have hanging there? It is a fetish that is used in worship and there's a demon behind. And that's exactly behind the fetish to receive the worship. That's exactly what Paul says in the first Corinthian letter.
the things that the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed the demons and not the God. When I was there, I saw the fetishes. I saw them dance around at a certain tree where they made a sacrifice and Dr. Dick told me they come and they bring chickens there and they sacrifice chickens and splash the blood of the chicken on the tree to appease the demon gods. The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice the demons and not the gods. And you know, time and again when a missionary comes home and they show their pictures and they show you those who were converted out of heathenism and they show how they were willing to burn their fetishes.
You know, beloved, it's one thing. To say, oh, praise God for those heathen when they're saved and they Burn their fetishes. It's another thing to sit within the four comfortable walls of our churches in America and be delivered from the God Memon. Have you been delivered from this God? Our Lord says a man cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and Memon. You can't live for God and live for money at the same time. Have to tell Jim Baker that. You just can't do it.
And we're seeing the awful mess, the one who tried. You cannot serve God and Mammoth. Our Lord says you cannot serve two masters. Have we been delivered from the God Mammoth? May God deliver us from covetousness. For the word of God says that covetousness is idolatry. Are we delivered from it? can we say to the Lord my faith he may take anything from me you want it doesn't matter as long as I have Christ Christ is all in all if he took your possessions everything you have could you still worship like Job did and say the Lord gave the Lord took away blessed be the name of the Lord Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Now in verse fifteen we have a specific injunction. He says, I speak as the wise men. Judge ye what I say. It's very interesting that the expositors on verse fifteen are not agreed about this statement. Some think it was language of great sarcasm because Paul in the earlier part of the epistle He showed with the Corinthians because of their supposed wisdom and they bypassed true wisdom, the wisdom of God revealed in Christ Jesus. And Paul admonished them in chapter one in particular.
He cries out, Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? made foolish the wisdom of man and has not God revealed his glory and the glory of God is revealed in the cross. And there are some of the expositors who think that Paul was still very ironical here as he speaks in this verse. I speak as to wise men. But I'm going to take it in a different way from that. I'm going to just take it that he was giving them credit for having knowledge. and for having wisdom and for having understanding and he appealed to that and I'd like to give you credit for having wisdom and knowledge and understanding that God has enlightened your eyes and what he says in this passage when you read it he says judge what I say take seriously the word of God and then in verses sixteen and seventeen he in a very definite way He takes up our unique association.
In fact, you have this all the way through verse twenty-four. Now the Apostle uses the communion service, that great service of remembrance as a symbol of our relationship with Christ. The communion service is called by various names. We call it the breaking of bread. We call it the Lord's Supper. We call it the Lord's Table. We call it communion. The one word that really speaks well of the communion service is a word Eucharist. And I believe it is the most descriptive term.
It is a word that means thanksgiving. For that's what the communion service is. It is a service when we adore and worship and give thanks. unto the Lord. We don't come to the communion service to confess sin. That's not its purpose. Sin should be confessed before you ever come. That should be taken care of at home, long before you come to the communion service. At the communion service we come to give thanks, to worship and adore Him. And here in the passage it says, the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ.
Now that word communion in the text is a very interesting word. It is a word Koinonia in the Greek. It is a word that is translated in chapter one by whom you were also called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is a Greek word for fellowship. Communion, fellowship. When we behold the cup We are showing our fellowship in regards to our redemption. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? What does your redemption from sin mean to you?
What does it mean? Does something else mean more to you than fellowship with Him in redemption? What does it mean to you? The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? Does your bed mean more than redemption? Does it? I'm glad I don't have to answer for anybody else. What means more to you than your redemption? The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And then He adds up bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ?
In other words, we are showing our fellowship in the very life of Jesus Christ. In other words, the question that needs to be asked is, do we understand what we're doing when we partake of the bread and of the cup? We are expressing our fellowship. with our Lord Jesus Christ who said, This do in remembrance of me. In a remarkable way here, in this chapter, Paul showed that communion and fellowship with evil spirits is impossible for those who know what communion with Jesus Christ is.
He says, You cannot partake of the Lord's table. and the table of demons. It's an impossibility. You can't straddle the fence. You can't take the middle road. Paul says you've got to come and be clear where you stand. You can't say, oh, I love Christ. I've been redeemed by His blood and then fellowship at the table of demons. It's incompatible. They don't do it together. In other words, those who know Christ rejoice in the redemption that is theirs in Christ Jesus. You can't partake of both tables.
It is utterly impossible. So in conclusion I have three quick questions. Question number one. Are you one of the Lord's sheep? Are you his? Question number two. Do you hear his voice? Question number three. do you enjoy fellowship with Him? See, I believe that the Lord's Supper on a Lord's Day morning is the expression of our life and our walk with Christ during the week. Have you been walking with the Lord during the week?
And for those who walk with the Lord during the week, who have been worshiping the Lord during the week. There are many things I'd like to say this morning, but time will not permit. Walking with the Lord during the week enables us to enjoy fellowship with Him corporately on the Lord's day, the Lord's supper. Now you can't walk with Satan. You can't be doing your own thing. plea idolatry. You can't serve two masters. It's totally impossible. So I ask you one more question.
Who is your master? Who's your master? Now let's pray together. Our Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we bow before thee. We thank thee for the infinite grace of our Lord Jesus. And we ask you now that you'll take the word and bless it to every heart. Speak to us for Jesus' sake. Amen. Let us sing together hymn number one hundred forty. One hundred forty. Horatius Bonar's great hymn, Here, O our Lord, we see thee face to face.
Here we would touch and handle things unseen. Here grasp with firm our hand the eternal grace and all our weariness upon the lean. Here we would feed upon the bread of God. Here drink with thee the royal wine of heaven. Here would we lay aside each earthly load. Here taste the fresh, the calm of sin forgiven. Too soon we rise, the symbols disappear. The feast, though not the love, is past and gone, the bread and wine removed, but thou art here, nearer than ever, still our shield and sun.
Let's stand together and sing the last stanza, shall we? These that earth be so smooth and blessed by, Yet that they point to the glad sheep from above, Giving grain for shade so long and so joy, the last great bridal beam of bliss and love.
Oh God, our Father, may each of us know the reality of fleeing idolatry. We're in a world whose God is the devil. They have rejected me, oh God. And we thank you for the voice of the Savior that calls the sheep and the sheep responds. And we pray the old God that I will enable us to go to our respective homes with thy grace, thy mercy and thy peace, abiding upon us, with a new sense of rejoicing in thy grave redemption that is ours through Jesus Christ the Lord.