WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.759 everybody, the musicians, and just so grateful 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:06.040 for what God's done among us this morning. If 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:07.639 you have your Bibles, grab those. We're gonna 00:00:07.639 --> 00:00:09.740 be in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 this morning, 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:14.560 1 Corinthians 10. We're gonna be looking at verses 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:19.339 one to 14. What do you think about when someone 00:00:19.339 --> 00:00:23.100 says the word idol? You car guys probably are 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:25.140 thinking about like your car idling, but I'm 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:28.280 not talking about IDLE I'm talking about IDOL 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:31.280 when you think about the word idol, what do you 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.659 think about? Maybe some of us would think of 00:00:34.659 --> 00:00:39.079 like pagan idols kind of like ones on the screen 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:43.340 pagan expressions of such a thing foreign people 00:00:43.340 --> 00:00:48.880 Worshipping foreign gods. We've all seen that 00:00:49.969 --> 00:00:53.829 Sometimes even in our own in our own city But 00:00:53.829 --> 00:00:56.090 obviously a lot more at overseas if you ever 00:00:56.090 --> 00:00:58.649 traveled overseas that you see idols of all kinds 00:00:58.649 --> 00:01:00.950 and that still goes on in the in the world Maybe 00:01:00.950 --> 00:01:03.390 you've seen idols in the shops of people from 00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:08.250 overseas a Buddha here or some other shrine We've 00:01:08.250 --> 00:01:10.790 all maybe seen them in movies. Can you might 00:01:10.790 --> 00:01:16.090 name that movie? Hey, he said not only he said 00:01:16.090 --> 00:01:19.579 not only the right Series he said the right movie. 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:21.540 That was awesome. Indiana Jones, right? And like 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:23.700 that we've seen idols and those kinds of things 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:27.040 in recent years There's been I say recent years 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:29.200 like the last 20 years at least there's been 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:31.540 this show called American Idol. Have you guys 00:01:31.540 --> 00:01:33.700 have seen that show? You can admit it. We're 00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:37.620 fine. You know, it's not a big deal You know 00:01:37.620 --> 00:01:40.400 the reason that doesn't I got a picture of that 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.359 too. There's there's people that the reason they 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:46.680 call it that the name of it being American Idol 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:51.010 is that the idea that people idolize celebrities, 00:01:51.290 --> 00:01:55.409 people idolize, you may even use that expression, 00:01:55.670 --> 00:01:57.310 you know, oh man, I love that guy, he's like 00:01:57.310 --> 00:02:00.670 my idol, right? Or I like that athlete or I like 00:02:00.670 --> 00:02:04.209 that actor or whatever and people feel that way 00:02:04.209 --> 00:02:07.250 about different things or he idolizes them. And 00:02:07.250 --> 00:02:09.710 while there's a lot of gravity to those words, 00:02:10.289 --> 00:02:12.310 we use it in a common vernacular just to say 00:02:12.310 --> 00:02:15.189 I really like this person. And that whole idea 00:02:15.189 --> 00:02:17.370 comes, like I said, from this motivation that 00:02:17.370 --> 00:02:21.050 people want to be celebrated. We want to be idolized. 00:02:21.289 --> 00:02:24.370 That can happen. The subject at hand today, obviously, 00:02:24.569 --> 00:02:28.169 as we're going through 1 Corinthians, this is 00:02:28.169 --> 00:02:31.150 the 22nd sermon in that series. We'll still keep 00:02:31.150 --> 00:02:34.629 going. We're in the middle of 1 Corinthians chapter 00:02:34.629 --> 00:02:37.129 10. Last week we covered 1 to 13. Today we're 00:02:37.129 --> 00:02:43.610 in verse 14. If you don't find yourselves particularly 00:02:43.610 --> 00:02:46.550 idolizing someone like that and you don't have 00:02:46.550 --> 00:02:48.770 any graven images, maybe you don't have like 00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:50.810 an actual statue at your house that you bow down 00:02:50.810 --> 00:02:56.169 to or offer sacrifices to, you may come to think 00:02:56.169 --> 00:02:58.030 that idolatry isn't something that you have to 00:02:58.030 --> 00:03:00.009 deal with or something you have to repent of 00:03:00.009 --> 00:03:02.949 because it's not particularly relevant to you. 00:03:02.949 --> 00:03:06.310 And I get that. And in a sense, you may be right 00:03:06.310 --> 00:03:07.729 to think that you don't have a problem with that 00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:11.740 kind of idolatry. or that you couldn't have a 00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:15.580 problem with it because, but to think that, that 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:18.580 idolatry as a subject is not part of your life 00:03:18.580 --> 00:03:21.360 or not relevant to you, would be for you to be 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.539 really mistaken. It's both prevalent. Idolatry 00:03:24.539 --> 00:03:27.979 is prevalent in our culture right now, in Finley, 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.460 Ohio, sometimes in my own heart and life, right? 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:34.419 Idolatry is a relevant thing. It's a prevalent 00:03:34.419 --> 00:03:39.539 thing. Because in the most basic sense, idolatry, 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:43.020 happens when we sacrifice and worship a graven 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:46.979 image, an idol, as a deity. But in a very real 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:50.360 sense, idolatry happens when we treat God any 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:52.800 other way as something other than what he truly 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:57.259 is, or when we don't give him what he rightly 00:03:57.259 --> 00:04:03.840 deserves. That's idolatry. And... When we give 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:06.819 devotion, when we give adoration and worship 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:09.539 to anything that only God deserves, we're committing 00:04:09.539 --> 00:04:14.560 the sin of idolatry. And I've entitled today's 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.019 message. This is the message today. I don't usually 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:18.939 tell you my titles. I feel like I have to have 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:20.660 them, but I don't always tell them to you. But 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:24.019 here's today's title, why you should run from 00:04:24.019 --> 00:04:28.459 idolatry. Why you should run from idolatry. Because 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:30.279 this is the case that Paul makes in the text. 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:34.149 He says, You have your Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter 00:04:34.149 --> 00:04:36.589 10. I should go to the actual text. Here we go, 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:42.449 ready? He says, verse 14, wherefore my dearly 00:04:42.449 --> 00:04:46.750 beloved, what's the next word? Flee from idolatry. 00:04:46.870 --> 00:04:53.389 Run from it, right? It's the case that Paul makes 00:04:53.389 --> 00:04:55.649 here. Most importantly, the sin of idolatry is 00:04:55.649 --> 00:04:58.970 so dangerous and damaging to us and it dishonors 00:04:58.970 --> 00:05:02.470 God. Now. As we come to this text, let me give 00:05:02.470 --> 00:05:04.889 you like the background of where we've been. 00:05:04.949 --> 00:05:06.930 I know we have some people who are here today 00:05:06.930 --> 00:05:10.670 that haven't been with us and they're new. Paul's 00:05:10.670 --> 00:05:12.370 writing to the Corinthians and dealing with problems 00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:14.730 that he observed in their church and when... 00:05:14.670 --> 00:05:16.709 and then answering about problems that they have 00:05:16.709 --> 00:05:19.310 known and are talking about in the church. So 00:05:19.310 --> 00:05:20.910 there's problems that he saw and then there's 00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:23.410 problems that they saw and they're asking questions 00:05:23.410 --> 00:05:25.509 of him and they wrote to him. So chapters eight 00:05:25.509 --> 00:05:27.910 through 10 is him asking questions. And it's 00:05:27.910 --> 00:05:30.550 really asking questions about this, our liberty 00:05:30.550 --> 00:05:33.910 in Christ. Who likes the word liberty? Who likes 00:05:33.910 --> 00:05:36.709 the word freedom? Yeah, don't fist me in, man. 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:41.040 I like freedom. I wanna do what I wanna do. And 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.160 in Christ, there is a sense we have freedom, 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:49.300 right? There is freedom in Christ. And praise 00:05:49.300 --> 00:05:51.680 the Lord, we don't, who's glad that you didn't 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:54.899 have to bring an animal in here today to sacrifice, 00:05:55.740 --> 00:05:58.160 right? That we don't, not only do we not have 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.420 like, we have a nursery, but then we also have 00:06:00.420 --> 00:06:03.399 like, and we got a cemetery back, but I'm glad 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:06.769 we don't have to have like a farm. where we're 00:06:06.769 --> 00:06:10.170 keeping all these animals, right? We don't have 00:06:10.170 --> 00:06:11.930 to do those sacrifices. We don't have to do this 00:06:11.930 --> 00:06:16.689 ceremony. If you become a Christian as a man, 00:06:16.709 --> 00:06:18.529 you don't have to have a surgery. Like that's 00:06:18.529 --> 00:06:22.170 what they did before in the Judaism when someone 00:06:22.170 --> 00:06:24.610 converted, I won't go into it, there's kids here. 00:06:24.930 --> 00:06:29.430 But the point is, I'm glad I got freedom in Christ, 00:06:29.509 --> 00:06:34.089 aren't you? I'm so glad for that. But the question 00:06:34.089 --> 00:06:38.069 becomes like, how free am I? How free am I in 00:06:38.069 --> 00:06:40.350 Christ? How does my liberty, how much liberty 00:06:40.350 --> 00:06:44.629 do I have in things that are not a part of the 00:06:44.629 --> 00:06:47.970 ceremonial law, but are part of the moral law, 00:06:48.050 --> 00:06:51.790 right? Obviously the moral lie, I've got to do 00:06:51.790 --> 00:06:54.050 what the moral law says. We agree, who agrees? 00:06:54.050 --> 00:06:56.670 Let's not kill people. Let's not commit adultery, 00:06:56.670 --> 00:06:59.649 let's not steal. But what about those other areas? 00:07:00.589 --> 00:07:03.740 This question came to the church. in Corinth 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:07.300 like this, and stay with me if you've heard this 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:09.000 in the last couple of weeks, but just to catch 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.860 everybody up. In that culture, it came to the 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:15.100 church with a question of meat offered to idols. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.040 In that culture, meat was offered to idols in 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:24.500 ceremony. And so you, eating of meat that had 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:26.100 been offered to idols could come to you in a 00:07:26.100 --> 00:07:28.240 couple of different ways. Either people offered 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:32.990 it to the idol worshipers, Like people would 00:07:32.990 --> 00:07:36.649 Offered it as idol worship was themselves and 00:07:36.649 --> 00:07:38.689 then they would take it home themselves and eat 00:07:38.689 --> 00:07:43.189 it Because kind of funny the idol didn't need 00:07:43.189 --> 00:07:47.329 it Right, or if you were a guest in somebody's 00:07:47.329 --> 00:07:50.050 home Someone would be offering you food and you 00:07:50.050 --> 00:07:51.949 don't know because of the culture is so prevalent 00:07:51.949 --> 00:07:54.509 to get Meat that would have been offered at all 00:07:54.509 --> 00:07:56.050 You don't know if you're eating the meat that 00:07:56.050 --> 00:07:58.230 was had been offered to an idol when you're a 00:07:58.230 --> 00:08:01.769 guest in the home or maybe even You go to the 00:08:01.769 --> 00:08:04.370 you go to the market and at the market There's 00:08:04.370 --> 00:08:06.629 meat and it's all there and some of the meat 00:08:06.629 --> 00:08:08.509 that had been offered to idol is now for sale 00:08:08.509 --> 00:08:10.970 You know pagan priests would sell it or whatever 00:08:10.970 --> 00:08:13.670 and so you could get it on a discount who's for 00:08:13.670 --> 00:08:16.750 discount meat I'm for discount meat if it's high 00:08:16.750 --> 00:08:19.670 quality right if it's like about to go bad I'm 00:08:19.670 --> 00:08:22.430 not so much for discount me right but but the 00:08:22.430 --> 00:08:24.470 idea is that they people like shop there and 00:08:24.470 --> 00:08:27.649 goodbye and so what was happening in the in the 00:08:27.649 --> 00:08:29.449 church there is that the more mature believers 00:08:29.449 --> 00:08:32.549 have come to this understanding that because 00:08:32.549 --> 00:08:34.730 an idol is nothing, and by the way, an idol is 00:08:34.730 --> 00:08:37.590 nothing, that's why they're not eating the meat 00:08:37.590 --> 00:08:40.210 when it's offered to them. An idol is a graven 00:08:40.210 --> 00:08:42.610 image, it doesn't have any power in and of itself, 00:08:42.710 --> 00:08:47.029 who agrees? Paul said that, the idol's nothing. 00:08:48.190 --> 00:08:52.470 And because now, I'm really thankful for this, 00:08:52.710 --> 00:08:56.309 as a Gentile believer, And even the Jews are 00:08:56.309 --> 00:08:59.070 like, they could, God said that they can eat 00:08:59.070 --> 00:09:04.549 any meat, right? Who's for cheeseburgers? Right? 00:09:05.470 --> 00:09:09.330 Bacon. And all God's people said, amen. Right, 00:09:09.330 --> 00:09:12.529 exactly. So I have freedom now. I don't have 00:09:12.529 --> 00:09:15.929 to eat kosher. I can eat whatever meat that I 00:09:15.929 --> 00:09:20.289 would want. But how far, when do I limit my freedom? 00:09:20.370 --> 00:09:26.720 How far is too far? They knew that the eating 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:28.840 of meat wasn't sinful and they were right. According 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:31.879 to Paul, it is technically not sinful. But some 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.080 of the weaker brothers and sisters in the church, 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:38.299 maybe some of the younger ones, saw it as sinful. 00:09:39.139 --> 00:09:41.940 Maybe they had participated in idol worship previously 00:09:41.940 --> 00:09:43.799 and thought that more distance should be given. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.379 because of their previous participation in such 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:51.340 a lifestyle. I've experienced that in the years 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:53.919 where like somebody was like a rocker before 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:57.080 they got saved and they were in a rock band and 00:09:57.080 --> 00:09:59.019 they did all that came, sex, drugs and rock and 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:00.879 all, all that came from that. And then now once 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:02.659 they got saved, they're like radically different 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:05.539 in anything that has any kind of guitar or drum 00:10:05.539 --> 00:10:09.379 or bass. It's obviously bad and that's not necessarily 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:13.960 true, right? But because they... What's bad is 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:17.440 the sex, the drugs and all of that, but not necessarily 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.899 the instruments. Are you with me? But there are 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:22.419 people that do that. And maybe some of those 00:10:22.419 --> 00:10:25.080 people in the church are like, man, I don't want 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:26.519 to be involved with anything that has to do with 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:28.779 my idolatry that happened in the past. So I don't 00:10:28.779 --> 00:10:31.120 want to eat this meat because it hurts my conscience. 00:10:31.179 --> 00:10:35.100 Or what's worse, maybe it was a temptation. Like, 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.600 man, this meat, it makes me want to go back and 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.730 participate. in things that I had participated 00:10:42.730 --> 00:10:46.070 in before. Does that make sense? And some of 00:10:46.070 --> 00:10:51.470 that happens too, right? And so Paul got to a 00:10:51.470 --> 00:10:55.269 very important point. He said that we have freedom 00:10:55.269 --> 00:11:00.389 in Christ and he's helping the Corinthians to 00:11:00.389 --> 00:11:03.049 understand that just because we are free to participate 00:11:03.049 --> 00:11:05.850 in certain behaviors does not mean that we should 00:11:05.850 --> 00:11:09.570 see how close we can get to the line. That we 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:11.860 should just, try to go, I'm gonna go as far as 00:11:11.860 --> 00:11:16.519 I can and not think about anybody else. He says 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:18.679 just because we can participate in certain things 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.120 doesn't mean we always should participate in 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:26.480 those things. In this case, he used the example 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:28.500 of the children of Israel as they left Egypt 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:31.519 in the book of Exodus. Who agrees, that's a really 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.759 good picture of freedom. They went from actual 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:38.549 bondage in Egypt into. freedom going to this 00:11:38.549 --> 00:11:42.629 promised land and in between Canaan and Egypt, 00:11:42.649 --> 00:11:45.090 they were following the Lord in the wilderness. 00:11:45.850 --> 00:11:50.090 And he uses an illustration of these free people 00:11:50.090 --> 00:11:52.169 now that had experienced all that God had done, 00:11:52.629 --> 00:11:56.289 but then used that freedom and messed up when 00:11:56.289 --> 00:12:00.009 it came to this idea of idolatry. Paul told them 00:12:00.009 --> 00:12:02.789 that this account from Exodus is an illustration. 00:12:03.529 --> 00:12:05.269 Of course, these are the verses leading up to 00:12:05.269 --> 00:12:08.269 what we're trying to teach you today. That those 00:12:08.269 --> 00:12:11.110 children of Israel that went into the Egypt and 00:12:11.110 --> 00:12:16.509 Moses left and they're like, Moses is gone. You 00:12:16.509 --> 00:12:18.230 know what we're gonna do? We don't have anyone 00:12:18.230 --> 00:12:21.269 to lead us now. He was gone for 40 days. They 00:12:21.269 --> 00:12:23.789 had literally seen all God do amazing things, 00:12:24.070 --> 00:12:25.350 but they got to the point where like, we're gonna 00:12:25.350 --> 00:12:27.909 fashion to God. And they told Aaron, the guy 00:12:27.909 --> 00:12:30.509 who was second in charge, make us a God. that's 00:12:30.509 --> 00:12:33.049 gonna lead us. And in doing that, the Bible says 00:12:33.049 --> 00:12:35.450 they sat down to eat and drink and then they 00:12:35.450 --> 00:12:39.350 rose up to play. And Paul was saying that this 00:12:39.350 --> 00:12:41.450 was written so that you would know that we shouldn't 00:12:41.450 --> 00:12:44.409 lust like they lusted, that we shouldn't murmur 00:12:44.409 --> 00:12:46.029 like they murmured, we shouldn't do the things 00:12:46.029 --> 00:12:49.009 that they did. When we fashion an idol of our 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:51.590 own hands and we try to worship that, sometimes 00:12:51.590 --> 00:12:54.690 we do it because we don't want to be held accountable 00:12:54.690 --> 00:12:57.990 by the living God. We don't want to do the rules 00:12:57.990 --> 00:12:59.710 and the regulations that He's put for us, so 00:12:59.710 --> 00:13:02.110 we want to do whatever we want to do. So we'll 00:13:02.110 --> 00:13:04.210 worship the God that doesn't demand from us. 00:13:04.970 --> 00:13:09.769 That allows us to do whatever we want. As a result 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:12.309 of that, as a result of what happened there, 00:13:12.350 --> 00:13:16.190 God disciplined them. And the Bible says 23 ,000 00:13:16.190 --> 00:13:20.009 in one day fell. What does that mean? Fell under 00:13:20.009 --> 00:13:24.360 the judgment of God. So Paul gives them this 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:25.919 warning, and this is where we lead up to our 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:28.519 text for today. He tells them about their freedom 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:30.159 and the temptations that come with idolatry, 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:33.360 and he says in chapter 10, verse 12 and 13, as 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:38.320 we lead up to our text, wherefore, let him that 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.620 thinks he stands, that thinketh he standeth, 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:45.759 take heed, lest he fall, fall to temptation and 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:49.960 fall under the judging, the consequences, the 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:53.919 actions towards God. And then he says, this encouraging, 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.779 who agrees that verse 13 is encouraging? There's 00:13:56.779 --> 00:13:58.919 no temptation taking you, but such as is common 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:01.679 to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:03.379 you to be tempted above that you're able, but 00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:06.639 will with the temptation also make a way to escape 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:10.860 that ye may be able to bear it. God will make 00:14:10.860 --> 00:14:13.720 a way of escape from that idolatry and the temptation 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:16.120 that comes with it. That's what he says. Who's 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:18.919 grateful for that? I'm so grateful that I don't 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:23.940 have to do. what I'm tempted to do. That in Christ 00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:25.799 and with the Holy Spirit, God can help me to 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:28.679 say no to temptation and to falling to that. 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:32.419 And it's at this point then Paul says what we 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:35.659 say in verse 14, ready? Wherefore my dearly beloved, 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.360 because you can fall. But you don't have to fall. 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:42.679 He's saying, flee fornication. Because you can 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:45.440 fall under God's disciplining hand. Because God's 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:49.399 desire is for you to recognize Him as God, having 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.139 rescued from the bondage of sin and death. Because 00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:54.659 He is providing a way to escape from idolatry 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:58.840 and temptation. Flee! I just woke up like four 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:02.820 people. It's warm in here, okay? Are you guys 00:15:02.820 --> 00:15:05.899 warm? Okay, I'm warm because I'm nervous. Okay. 00:15:07.560 --> 00:15:11.860 He says like run from idolatry. Don't use your 00:15:11.860 --> 00:15:15.360 freedom in Christ to do temptation or to see 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:18.539 how close to the line you can get. Use your freedom 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:25.340 in Christ to live for Christ. Flee, flee idolatry. 00:15:26.220 --> 00:15:28.960 He says in verse 15, I speak as to wise men. 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:32.960 Judge ye what I say. He says, I'm treating you 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:37.559 like wise people so that you will be wise. Right? 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:41.360 I don't want you to ignore the potential dangers 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:43.940 that come with idolatry. I don't want you to 00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:48.000 be a slave once God's given you freedom. I want 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.620 you to be wise and discerning when it comes to 00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:54.759 your freedoms in Christ. And what's wisdom? Flee 00:15:54.759 --> 00:16:00.600 idolatry and all that comes with it. Eating this 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.000 meat is not the same as worshiping an idol. That's 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.929 what he's saying. But that doesn't mean that 00:16:06.929 --> 00:16:09.070 you should allow this freedom to get you back 00:16:09.070 --> 00:16:12.889 into that lifestyle It's not wrong for us to 00:16:12.889 --> 00:16:16.570 do a lot of things But those neutral things sure 00:16:16.570 --> 00:16:20.350 can replace God in your life That leads to all 00:16:20.350 --> 00:16:22.009 kinds of dangers and discipline from the Lord. 00:16:22.110 --> 00:16:26.110 It's not wrong to watch a movie But can entertaining 00:16:26.110 --> 00:16:29.470 ourselves become an idol? You better believe 00:16:29.470 --> 00:16:31.990 it there are dangerous and sinful ways to entertain 00:16:31.990 --> 00:16:37.019 ourselves It's not wrong to play sports, but 00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:38.799 parents, we better be careful about setting up 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.539 our kids for replacing devotion to God with devotion 00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:48.879 to sports. Does that make sense? An idol is nothing 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:52.559 but idolatry is dangerous and we should flee 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.360 from idolatry. Here's three reasons why we should 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:57.919 do it. We should flee from idolatry. Pretty simple. 00:16:58.509 --> 00:17:01.269 Sermon, here it is. We should flee from idolatry 00:17:01.269 --> 00:17:04.970 for three reasons. Number one, we're one in Christ. 00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:07.190 We are one in Christ. Look what he says in verse 00:17:07.190 --> 00:17:11.970 16. He says, the cup of blessing which we bless, 00:17:12.710 --> 00:17:15.849 is it not communion of the blood of Christ? The 00:17:15.849 --> 00:17:18.089 bread which we break, is it not communion of 00:17:18.089 --> 00:17:20.769 the body of Christ? For we being many are one 00:17:20.769 --> 00:17:23.750 bread and one body, for we are all partakers 00:17:23.750 --> 00:17:29.410 of that one bread. Let me kind of talk about 00:17:29.410 --> 00:17:34.069 what he's talking about here. There's two ordinances 00:17:34.069 --> 00:17:37.730 that God gave to the church. We're gonna practice 00:17:37.730 --> 00:17:41.150 one of them today in believers baptism, right? 00:17:41.450 --> 00:17:44.069 It's a picture of Christ's death, burial and 00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:46.309 resurrection. Those who are saved should follow 00:17:46.309 --> 00:17:50.029 the Lord in believers baptism, amen? We saw people 00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:51.470 do it last week. It was amazing. We had five 00:17:51.470 --> 00:17:52.609 people. We're gonna think we have four or five 00:17:52.609 --> 00:17:54.170 people today. They're gonna follow the Lord in 00:17:54.170 --> 00:17:56.299 believers baptism. That's an awesome thing. It's 00:17:56.299 --> 00:17:57.759 a picture of Christ's death, bone, resurrection, 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:01.339 and who we are in Christ. Getting in the water 00:18:01.339 --> 00:18:03.880 doesn't put us into Christ, it just tells everybody 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.799 that I am in Christ. Does that make sense? There's 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:09.660 a second order, and it's called the Lord's Table, 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:13.559 it's communion. Jesus literally said, this is 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:15.740 my body which is broken, this is my blood which 00:18:15.740 --> 00:18:19.599 is shed, this do, this take, in remembrance of 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:23.599 me. He took the Passover meal, another Exodus 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:28.000 reference. and said, this meal is not just about 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.039 remembering that I brought you out of Egypt. 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:34.119 This meal is also a memorial of that, but it's 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:38.079 also a looking forward to Christ's death on the 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:40.819 cross and his resurrection. His blood that was 00:18:40.819 --> 00:18:43.319 shed, his body that was broken, and by the way, 00:18:43.339 --> 00:18:45.680 he also says one day he's coming back. That's 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.000 pretty exciting. And so here's what Paul's saying. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.400 Hey, you who are in Christ, you are baptized 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.619 believers in Christ, you're part of this church. 00:18:56.259 --> 00:19:01.299 He says to them, the cup of blessing which we 00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:03.039 bless, is it not communion with the blood of 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:08.740 Christ? Don't we participate with Christ in the 00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:10.359 fact that we're saying we're in Christ because 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:16.000 Jesus shed his blood? Yeah. Aren't we saying 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:17.680 that we're in Christ's bread, which we break? 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:19.599 Is it not the communion with the body of Christ? 00:19:20.380 --> 00:19:24.720 He's not saying that the wine and the bread, 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:27.000 the juice and the bread become the body and blood 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:28.700 of Christ. That's not what he's saying. What 00:19:28.700 --> 00:19:30.740 he's saying is when you take that, you're receiving 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:33.700 it as understanding that that's what this is 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:37.880 representing. Does that make sense? He says, 00:19:37.880 --> 00:19:41.920 for we being many are one bread. What does that 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:44.420 mean? The people who are in Christ are part of 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:49.380 the body of Christ. We're in Christ. We're one 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:51.559 body. He's the head, we're the body. We're all 00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:57.039 partakers of that one bread. We are part of Christ's 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:58.819 body because we have trusted in Him and been 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:02.180 put into Him. We are not right with God by being 00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:06.220 in anything or anybody else. I am the way, the 00:20:06.220 --> 00:20:08.339 truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father 00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:13.759 but by me. So our identity is with him our fate 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.619 is up to him and praise the Lord He will hold 00:20:16.619 --> 00:20:19.359 us fast like the children of Israel baptized 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:21.500 into Moses meaning they were Identifying with 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:23.680 Moses. We have been baptized into Christ. We 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:27.940 are in Christ The scripture says that we are 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:30.720 one body and we're all partakers of that one 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:33.460 bread Christ's body was sacrificed and his blood 00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:36.500 was shed for us. And when we receive that we 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:40.809 are saved because we received that we are being 00:20:40.809 --> 00:20:43.990 saved and because we receive that we will be 00:20:43.990 --> 00:20:48.589 saved. Does that make sense? I'm in because of 00:20:48.589 --> 00:20:52.430 him, his body and his blood. I'm in only because 00:20:52.430 --> 00:20:55.869 of him, his body and his blood. God paid a price 00:20:55.869 --> 00:21:00.009 to put us into Christ. Did you hear me? God paid 00:21:00.009 --> 00:21:03.710 a price to put us into Christ. What was his price? 00:21:04.890 --> 00:21:09.369 His son, the blood of his son. I've said this 00:21:09.369 --> 00:21:12.730 before, I'll say it again. I love Ezekiel, Wayne, 00:21:12.869 --> 00:21:17.289 Jennings. That kid is my kid. And if it's up 00:21:17.289 --> 00:21:22.930 to me to choose you or to choose him, I'm choosing 00:21:22.930 --> 00:21:27.329 him. Are you with me? But God did not spare his 00:21:27.329 --> 00:21:35.009 only son. He put him to death. So should we worship 00:21:35.009 --> 00:21:40.140 another God when we have a God who gave us his 00:21:40.140 --> 00:21:44.880 son? Should we worship another God when we realize 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.140 that when we, and the argument he's making is 00:21:48.140 --> 00:21:52.140 when you participate in idolatry, what you're 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:55.099 doing is you're participating in such a way that, 00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:59.420 what they were doing literally was going to a 00:21:59.420 --> 00:22:02.579 idol and communing with that idol and he'll get 00:22:02.579 --> 00:22:05.480 into where that, what happens here. When we do 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:07.599 it, we're communing with God, we're identifying 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:11.099 with Christ, we're in him. I should flee idolatry 00:22:11.099 --> 00:22:13.160 because the worship of that idol steals from 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:16.779 God devotion that I owe him for the great price 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:21.940 that was paid to put me into Christ. That's the 00:22:21.940 --> 00:22:24.559 first reason, number two. Here's the second reason 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:28.579 we should flee idolatry. Don't think I'm crazy, 00:22:28.619 --> 00:22:32.319 we're just taking the text. Idolatry participates 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:38.599 with demons. Verses 18 to 20, here it says, Behold 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:41.440 Israel after the flesh are not they which eat 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.819 of the sacrifices partakers of the altar. In 00:22:45.819 --> 00:22:49.880 verse 18, he refers to Jews being partakers of 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:52.720 the altar. When the Jews partook in the sacrifice 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:56.140 that they were participating with God in, they 00:22:56.140 --> 00:22:58.140 were doing that on that altar. They were participating 00:22:58.140 --> 00:23:03.369 with God. When they were doing that, what was 00:23:03.369 --> 00:23:05.170 happening is you're buying into the God of the 00:23:05.170 --> 00:23:07.509 system you are being obedient to through participation. 00:23:08.349 --> 00:23:10.690 Israel did this obediently towards God through 00:23:10.690 --> 00:23:13.130 the brazen altar and the tabernacle and the temple. 00:23:13.990 --> 00:23:16.309 They also did that through participation and 00:23:16.309 --> 00:23:18.910 idol worship in the wilderness. The golden calf 00:23:18.910 --> 00:23:22.170 worship and the adulterous behavior were connected. 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.380 He says in verse 19, so he goes on says what 00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:29.099 say I then that the idol is anything or that 00:23:29.099 --> 00:23:31.079 which is offered and sacrificed to the idols 00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:33.539 is anything He had already told him that an idol 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:36.460 was nothing He's like am I saying now something 00:23:36.460 --> 00:23:38.839 that I that goes against what I was saying before 00:23:38.839 --> 00:23:42.299 the implied answer is no He's not saying that 00:23:42.299 --> 00:23:44.480 an idol was something. He's saying it's nothing 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.960 But he goes on and makes this clarification verse 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:51.259 20, but I say that the things which the Gentiles 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:54.930 sacrifice They sacrifice to, what's the next 00:23:54.930 --> 00:24:00.390 word? Devils, and not to God. And I would not 00:24:00.390 --> 00:24:03.890 that you should fellowship with devils. Here's 00:24:03.890 --> 00:24:11.269 a pretty easy position for me to take. We shouldn't 00:24:11.269 --> 00:24:17.640 participate with devils. Who agrees? Right. The 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:20.660 spiritual force behind the system that drives 00:24:20.660 --> 00:24:23.299 devotion and worship to that false idol, he says, 00:24:23.619 --> 00:24:31.920 is demonic. False religion is governed and perpetrated 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:36.579 in part by false, evil, untrustworthy demonic 00:24:36.579 --> 00:24:39.839 forces. I'm not saying that every lie that's 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:44.700 told is a lie that originated from the devil, 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:50.579 but... the devil's the father of lies. And he's 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:52.839 saying here that there is a specific kind of 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:54.900 idolatry, a specific kind of false religion, 00:24:55.859 --> 00:24:57.960 that's actually participation. It has its source 00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:03.940 in the demonic. Despite our monitored tendency 00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:06.500 to seek material explanation, scripture affirms 00:25:06.500 --> 00:25:09.839 the reality of the unseen spiritual realm. In 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:13.019 Ephesians 6 it says, we wrestle not against flesh 00:25:13.019 --> 00:25:15.640 and blood, but against principalities and powers, 00:25:15.859 --> 00:25:22.240 spiritual wickedness in high places. In our text 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:26.599 today in Sunday school, be sober, be vigilant 00:25:26.599 --> 00:25:29.819 for your adversary the devil walks about like 00:25:29.819 --> 00:25:34.279 a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Part 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:37.039 of how he devours people is with false religion. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:42.119 Being assured of salvation that you don't have, 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:45.380 being assured of Doctrine that didn't come from 00:25:45.380 --> 00:25:50.640 God. It's literally the doctrine of devils. The 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:52.279 children of Israel had problems with idolatry 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:55.319 throughout the Old Testament. They participated 00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:57.259 in bail worship. They participated in worship 00:25:57.259 --> 00:26:00.660 to a god named Molech. Molech was a graven image 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:03.579 that stood with arms outstretched and an oven 00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:05.880 in its belly. And worshipers would offer their 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:08.500 babies to an outstretched arm of the god Molech 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:12.390 with fire in its belly. Gehenna, who's already 00:26:12.390 --> 00:26:16.630 heard of the term gehenna? It's a term that is 00:26:16.630 --> 00:26:18.910 described in the Bible as hell. That's another 00:26:18.910 --> 00:26:22.589 name for hell. The word gehenna came from the 00:26:22.589 --> 00:26:26.890 Valley of Hinnom, the Valley of Hinnom or Gehenna. 00:26:27.910 --> 00:26:30.509 And it started as a place where they would offer 00:26:30.509 --> 00:26:33.569 babies to Molech. It turned into a waste dump 00:26:33.569 --> 00:26:36.680 where they would burn trash. Jesus used it as 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:39.740 this illustration of a place where the fire does 00:26:39.740 --> 00:26:45.759 not die and the worm is not quenched. Jesus used 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.059 Gehenna as an illustration of hell, a place of 00:26:48.059 --> 00:26:52.400 eternal punishment for the wicked. We may think, 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:55.019 man, I'm so glad we're so much more sophisticated 00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:56.759 than that. We don't believe in that kind of God 00:26:56.759 --> 00:26:59.319 that would cause us to sacrifice babies like 00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:03.319 that. Yet in our culture, we have killed babies 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:06.980 by the millions. You don't think that's spiritual 00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:16.480 warfare? Galatians 1, 6 says, I marvel that you're 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:18.380 so soon removed from Him that called you into 00:27:18.380 --> 00:27:22.059 the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which 00:27:22.059 --> 00:27:25.519 is not another. But there are some be that trouble 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:28.740 you and will pervert the gospel or the good news 00:27:28.740 --> 00:27:31.779 of Christ. He says this, check this out, but 00:27:31.779 --> 00:27:36.069 though we are an angel from heaven, Preach any 00:27:36.069 --> 00:27:38.569 other gospel unto you than that which you have 00:27:38.569 --> 00:27:40.549 preached unto you. That we have preached unto 00:27:40.549 --> 00:27:44.549 you, let him be accursed. Let him be anathema. 00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:48.009 That's what that word is. As we said before, 00:27:48.470 --> 00:27:50.450 so say I now again, if any man preach any other 00:27:50.450 --> 00:27:51.970 gospel unto you than that which you have received, 00:27:52.089 --> 00:27:55.509 let them be accursed. In this scripture, we find 00:27:55.509 --> 00:27:57.329 out three things that I'd like to point out. 00:27:57.349 --> 00:28:00.150 First, there are false gospels that are proposed, 00:28:00.609 --> 00:28:04.160 which are not good news. If the gospel is changed, 00:28:04.220 --> 00:28:06.900 then it's a gospel that can't save, it's a gospel 00:28:06.900 --> 00:28:12.420 that damns. If it's a false gospel, it's not 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:16.559 the gospel. And if you believe a false gospel, 00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:22.619 you'll spend eternity separated from God. I'm 00:28:22.619 --> 00:28:24.019 telling you, this sermon is not gonna make me 00:28:24.019 --> 00:28:27.480 popular. Okay, I'm just trying to deliver the 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:32.460 mail. He also states, notice in the verse, he 00:28:32.460 --> 00:28:35.579 states that an angel isn't sufficient authority 00:28:35.579 --> 00:28:41.400 to change the gospel. There are spiritual forces 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:45.440 that preach another gospel. Do you get it? And 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:47.920 he's saying, I don't care if they're a man or 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.000 if they're an angel, if they're giving you a 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:56.319 different gospel, they need to be accursed. Third, 00:28:56.519 --> 00:28:58.859 he says that a false gospel ought to be utterly 00:28:58.859 --> 00:29:02.079 rejected. There are systems of theology that 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:05.420 say that yes, Jesus, there are some systems of 00:29:05.420 --> 00:29:06.619 theology that are like, yeah, Jesus is good, 00:29:06.619 --> 00:29:10.619 but also, and they add to it. False teachings 00:29:10.619 --> 00:29:12.880 that appear Christian while altering the gospel 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:15.839 are spiritual warfare designed to deceive people 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:18.539 into worshiping a manufactured version of God 00:29:18.539 --> 00:29:22.559 and a manufactured version of Jesus. Worshipping 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:26.140 saints or Mary is fundamentally similar to worshiping 00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:31.519 false gods. Idolatry continues today in all kinds 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:35.420 of various forms and all such practices stem 00:29:35.420 --> 00:29:38.660 from deception with Satan being the father of 00:29:38.660 --> 00:29:42.359 lies. Now here's the good news. Greater is he 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:45.640 that is in you than he that is in the world. 00:29:47.410 --> 00:29:51.049 Idolatry is a big deal. We have freedom to, in 00:29:51.049 --> 00:29:54.329 Christ, to live in the culture and not be a part 00:29:54.329 --> 00:29:57.930 of the culture. Idols are nothing, but idolatry 00:29:57.930 --> 00:30:01.289 can align us with the demonic. Pastor Ben, are 00:30:01.289 --> 00:30:03.369 you saying that there's such a thing as the demonic? 00:30:04.210 --> 00:30:08.789 Yes, that's what I'm saying. Pastor Ben, are 00:30:08.789 --> 00:30:10.410 you saying that I'm putting something ahead of 00:30:10.410 --> 00:30:12.730 God? That if I'm putting something ahead of God, 00:30:12.769 --> 00:30:15.849 that I'm demon possessed? Can a Christian be 00:30:15.849 --> 00:30:18.910 demon possessed? If you're saved, you're indwelled 00:30:18.910 --> 00:30:21.869 by the Holy Spirit. You cannot be saved and be 00:30:21.869 --> 00:30:24.609 demon possessed. Paul's argument here is that 00:30:24.609 --> 00:30:27.589 it's possible for a believer, though, to participate 00:30:27.589 --> 00:30:30.230 in a system that is part of the lies of the demonic. 00:30:31.069 --> 00:30:33.769 He's saying, don't let your freedom in Christ 00:30:33.769 --> 00:30:36.650 allow you to have an excuse to get so close to 00:30:36.650 --> 00:30:39.150 the edge that you're not discerning about participating 00:30:39.150 --> 00:30:43.240 in the lies and schemes of the devil. Music, 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:45.839 athletics, arts, business, entertainment, these 00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:49.640 can all be good, true, beautiful expressions 00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:53.279 of the image of God in people. The person who's 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:57.140 not a Christian, who's musical, like they're 00:30:57.140 --> 00:30:59.759 just gifted, I saw a guy one time, you just hand 00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:01.039 him an instrument he'd never seen before and 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:03.259 he can play it. You guys know people like that? 00:31:03.740 --> 00:31:07.019 God makes some people, they may not even know 00:31:07.019 --> 00:31:09.980 Jesus as their savior, but they're being able 00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:13.660 to do that. That can be a picture of the image 00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:17.019 of God in them. God's creative. Who agrees God's 00:31:17.019 --> 00:31:23.380 creative? Have you seen a platypus? Is God creative? 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:29.140 Holy cow. God is so creative. I want one. I want 00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:32.640 a platypus. If you know a platypus guy, get me 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:36.980 one. But here's my point. God is creative and 00:31:36.980 --> 00:31:38.920 God makes people creative and that's the image 00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:42.259 of God in those people, right? That can be a 00:31:42.259 --> 00:31:46.920 good thing, but be discerning loved ones. You 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:48.740 don't think that the devil has a part in the 00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:50.779 world that we live in, in false religion, in 00:31:50.779 --> 00:31:53.880 business, in art, and in music? Of course he 00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:59.700 does. Be discerning. An idol is nothing, but 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:03.940 idolatry is dangerous. What do we do? What do 00:32:03.940 --> 00:32:09.420 we do with idolatry? Flee, flee. Here's reason 00:32:09.420 --> 00:32:15.880 number three. Number three, verse 21, Christ 00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:19.180 deserves and demands our allegiance. Here's what 00:32:19.180 --> 00:32:21.259 he says, verse 21, you cannot drink the cup of 00:32:21.259 --> 00:32:25.400 the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be 00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:28.440 partakers of the Lord's table and of the table 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:32.640 of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? 00:32:33.460 --> 00:32:39.000 Are we stronger than he? Now clearly someone 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:40.980 could physically drink from two different cups. 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:44.299 He's not talking about the physical act of drinking 00:32:44.299 --> 00:32:47.700 here. When we drink of the Lord's table, we do 00:32:47.700 --> 00:32:53.640 it to remember, honor and thank our Lord. When 00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:56.319 someone participates in idolatry, they're honoring 00:32:56.319 --> 00:33:00.079 devils. You cannot honor God and devils at the 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:05.240 same time. Pastor Ben, I love you, but I hate 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:12.759 Megan. You don't love me. You don't love me. 00:33:13.299 --> 00:33:20.720 We are a package deal. Amen. If you're not for 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:26.799 her, you're not for me, right? Here's good news. 00:33:27.819 --> 00:33:32.259 If you're for Jesus, if you're for Jesus, then 00:33:32.259 --> 00:33:36.400 you're for the church. The Bible says God loved 00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:40.220 and gave himself for the church, right? And we're 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:48.470 one body. We're one body. So, Paul urges these 00:33:48.470 --> 00:33:50.470 people to flee idolatry because participating 00:33:50.470 --> 00:33:53.190 in idolatry means choosing sides against God. 00:33:54.349 --> 00:33:57.990 While believers are secure in Christ, who's thankful? 00:33:58.069 --> 00:33:59.990 If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. 00:34:00.650 --> 00:34:02.630 There's no condemnation to those who are in Christ 00:34:02.630 --> 00:34:05.289 Jesus. I cannot take myself out of the Father's 00:34:05.289 --> 00:34:07.910 hand. I'm in Jesus's hand, Jesus is in God's 00:34:07.910 --> 00:34:09.949 hand. No man can pluck us out of our Father's 00:34:09.949 --> 00:34:12.889 hand. Who's glad for that? Right? What can separate 00:34:12.889 --> 00:34:16.030 me from the love of Christ? Nothing. Nothing's 00:34:16.030 --> 00:34:25.710 above or below or nothing. As Paul states, so 00:34:25.710 --> 00:34:28.110 here's the thing. While believers are secure 00:34:28.110 --> 00:34:31.489 in Christ, and salvation cannot be lost, participation 00:34:31.489 --> 00:34:35.429 in idolatry can happen. We can put something 00:34:35.429 --> 00:34:41.050 ahead of God in our lives. and idolatry disrupts 00:34:41.050 --> 00:34:43.909 fellowship with God. As Paul states, we cannot 00:34:43.909 --> 00:34:46.969 fellowship with God and with devils. These spiritual 00:34:46.969 --> 00:34:51.110 allegiances are fundamentally incompatible. So 00:34:51.110 --> 00:34:55.429 Christian, don't wear Northern tops and Confederate 00:34:55.429 --> 00:35:02.369 bottoms. Are you with me? You're gonna get shot 00:35:02.369 --> 00:35:11.500 either way. Two questions conclude it, this section. 00:35:12.139 --> 00:35:18.880 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We can. That's 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:22.780 the answer. We shouldn't, but we do when our 00:35:22.780 --> 00:35:25.500 allegiance goes to anything that should go to 00:35:25.500 --> 00:35:29.559 him. You're saying God's jealous? Yeah, our God's 00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:33.400 a jealous God. Somebody accused God of being 00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:35.719 petty, but he's far from it. To align ourselves 00:35:35.719 --> 00:35:39.989 against God is to reject his character. His character 00:35:39.989 --> 00:35:44.489 is the definition of good. So to go against God 00:35:44.489 --> 00:35:47.750 is to go against good. Good is good because it 00:35:47.750 --> 00:35:50.369 reflects who God is. To align ourselves against 00:35:50.369 --> 00:35:55.849 God is to align ourselves with evil. God is jealous 00:35:55.849 --> 00:35:58.730 for your worship because not only does he deserve 00:35:58.730 --> 00:36:00.550 it, but he also knows that's what's best for 00:36:00.550 --> 00:36:05.590 you and for me. To align ourselves with what 00:36:05.590 --> 00:36:10.260 is good. But he asked this question, do we provoke 00:36:10.260 --> 00:36:14.260 the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.820 What's the answer? No, of course not. We ought 00:36:19.820 --> 00:36:22.280 not to think that there's no need to fear the 00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:25.579 Lord. We cannot go against God and win. Satan 00:36:25.579 --> 00:36:35.079 is a loser. I got like two amens. I'll give you 00:36:35.079 --> 00:36:37.659 another crack at it, ready? Satan is a loser. 00:36:38.260 --> 00:36:45.179 Yeah. There is victory in Jesus. I should only 00:36:45.179 --> 00:36:47.639 participate in things that point to the Lord 00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:50.860 and that don't compete for my allegiance with 00:36:50.860 --> 00:36:55.400 him. So let me ask you a question. Here's a question. 00:36:56.199 --> 00:37:01.019 Is there something stealing the allegiance and 00:37:01.019 --> 00:37:04.590 devotion that God deserves in your life? Okay, 00:37:04.590 --> 00:37:06.710 now I'm not talking to y 'all, now I'm talking 00:37:06.710 --> 00:37:14.369 to you. Okay, moment of reflection. Is there 00:37:14.369 --> 00:37:18.769 anything in your life that is stealing the allegiance 00:37:18.769 --> 00:37:23.949 and devotion that only God deserves? Is there 00:37:23.949 --> 00:37:26.289 something that you're participating in that's 00:37:26.289 --> 00:37:32.409 dividing your allegiance? Here's the thing, Jesus, 00:37:32.510 --> 00:37:38.110 shed his precious blood on the cross. God put 00:37:38.110 --> 00:37:40.989 his son to death for us. Do we think there will 00:37:40.989 --> 00:37:44.369 be no lost fellowship, no consequences for sin 00:37:44.369 --> 00:37:47.690 if we use our freedom in Christ to participate 00:37:47.690 --> 00:37:50.349 in things that lead us towards disobedience? 00:37:51.769 --> 00:37:58.340 I'm not promoting legalism or license. I'm saying 00:37:58.340 --> 00:38:01.119 use your freedom in Christ to find your satisfaction 00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:05.519 in him and enjoy his creation. Did I mention 00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:10.360 God made platypuses? Right, he's got a sense 00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:13.320 of humor. It's like a beaver duck. I mean, it's 00:38:13.320 --> 00:38:19.119 crazy. Look it up, it's amazing. God made sugar. 00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:24.360 Right, God made bacon. God made so many things 00:38:24.360 --> 00:38:27.550 to enjoy and as... As the created things, we 00:38:27.550 --> 00:38:31.530 can enjoy what's created. We ought not to worship 00:38:31.530 --> 00:38:38.409 what's created. Worship the creator, not the 00:38:38.409 --> 00:38:42.409 created. Listen, loved ones, this is important. 00:38:43.550 --> 00:38:47.849 So in a sense, come in close, listen to me. God 00:38:47.849 --> 00:38:56.630 loves you. God loves me. I'm so grateful. I'm 00:38:56.630 --> 00:39:02.090 so grateful that when I was his enemy because 00:39:02.090 --> 00:39:08.190 of my sin, when I had nothing to offer God but 00:39:08.190 --> 00:39:16.829 my sin and my faith, he responded. We love him 00:39:16.829 --> 00:39:22.420 because he first loved us. God showed his love. 00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:24.559 He committed his love to us in this, that while 00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:30.920 we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If you 00:39:30.920 --> 00:39:34.179 trusted in Christ for salvation, you're secure. 00:39:34.500 --> 00:39:37.199 You can't lose your salvation. But that does 00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:40.360 not mean you're immune from idolatry and its 00:39:40.360 --> 00:39:45.739 consequences. Our hearts, if we're not careful, 00:39:45.940 --> 00:39:50.889 our hearts can be idle factories. God made us 00:39:50.889 --> 00:39:53.610 to worship and it's so easy for our devotion 00:39:53.610 --> 00:39:56.750 and allegiance to go to all kinds of things other 00:39:56.750 --> 00:40:03.610 than Him. Everybody worships something. When 00:40:03.610 --> 00:40:07.349 we worship something other than God, we lose. 00:40:09.590 --> 00:40:13.849 When we set our affections on things above, we 00:40:13.849 --> 00:40:18.329 have victory. Do you remember the words of that 00:40:18.329 --> 00:40:22.960 old song? Victory in Jesus. I heard an old, old 00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:27.480 story. How a savior came from glory. How he gave 00:40:27.480 --> 00:40:31.159 his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me. 00:40:31.699 --> 00:40:35.820 I heard about his groaning of his precious blood 00:40:35.820 --> 00:40:41.599 atoning. Then I repented of my sins and won the 00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:46.070 victory. victory in Jesus my Savior forever he 00:40:46.070 --> 00:40:50.050 sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood 00:40:50.050 --> 00:40:55.449 he loves me ere I knew him and all my love is 00:40:55.449 --> 00:41:01.690 due him he plunged me to victory beneath the 00:41:01.690 --> 00:41:08.510 cleansing flood does he not deserve our allegiance 00:41:08.510 --> 00:41:14.289 and our affection and our worship. Enjoy what 00:41:14.289 --> 00:41:18.550 He created, but cause it to have you worship 00:41:18.550 --> 00:41:25.550 the Creator. And here's the good news. All of 00:41:25.550 --> 00:41:29.809 us have committed the sin of idolatry. All of 00:41:29.809 --> 00:41:32.230 us. You know what the number one idol that you 00:41:32.230 --> 00:41:39.769 and I have is? Ourselves. Lust of the flesh, 00:41:40.030 --> 00:41:44.570 lust of the eyes, pride of life. Get off the 00:41:44.570 --> 00:41:50.690 throne. Put God on, he's on the throne. Put God 00:41:50.690 --> 00:41:55.590 on the throne. That's what's best for us. And 00:41:55.590 --> 00:41:59.809 the good news is, if he is not, he can be. It 00:41:59.809 --> 00:42:03.429 happens like this, you repent. Bible says all 00:42:03.429 --> 00:42:06.030 of sin comes short of the glory of God. God is 00:42:06.030 --> 00:42:10.179 perfect and holy and righteous. and all of us 00:42:10.179 --> 00:42:13.679 have fallen short of that. The Bible says that 00:42:13.679 --> 00:42:16.840 the wages of us falling short of his glory is 00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:21.320 death, but the gift of God is eternal life through 00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:24.480 Jesus Christ our Lord. God loved us so much that 00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:28.380 he offered his son as a sacrifice for our sin. 00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:32.739 And he wants to in that give us Christ's righteousness 00:42:32.739 --> 00:42:36.119 and. because he's taken our sin and given it 00:42:36.119 --> 00:42:38.639 to Jesus. And if we confess our sins, he's faithful 00:42:38.639 --> 00:42:41.300 and just to forgive us our sins. If we call on 00:42:41.300 --> 00:42:43.699 the name of the Lord, the Bible says, that if 00:42:43.699 --> 00:42:45.300 thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, 00:42:45.380 --> 00:42:46.739 believe in your heart that God raised them from 00:42:46.739 --> 00:42:55.679 the dead, you will be saved. So today, flee idolatry. 00:42:57.039 --> 00:42:59.480 You know what direction you go when you flee 00:42:59.480 --> 00:43:04.920 idolatry? You run to Jesus. You run to Jesus. 00:43:05.340 --> 00:43:06.119 Would you bow your heads and close your eyes 00:43:06.119 --> 00:43:06.460 with me?