WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 Bibles with me to the book of 1 Corinthians and 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:09.300 chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We're going 00:00:09.300 --> 00:00:12.759 to be turning and we're looking at verses 14 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:19.320 through 22. The title of the sermon today is 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:24.239 this, Flee Idolatry, the Table of Demons and 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:28.949 the Table of the Lord. Let's read this passage 00:00:28.949 --> 00:00:33.829 of scripture beginning in verse 14. Therefore, 00:00:33.890 --> 00:00:37.670 my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to 00:00:37.670 --> 00:00:42.049 wise men. Judge for yourselves what I say. The 00:00:42.049 --> 00:00:44.750 cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:47.789 communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which 00:00:47.789 --> 00:00:50.649 we break, is it not the communion of the body 00:00:50.649 --> 00:00:54.530 of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread 00:00:54.530 --> 00:00:58.740 and one body. For we all partake of that one 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:03.280 bread. Observe Israel after the flesh. Are not 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.840 those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:09.359 the altar? What am I saying then? That an idol 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:12.200 is anything? Or what is offered to idols is anything? 00:01:13.099 --> 00:01:16.859 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:22.359 they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:25.060 I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 00:01:25.870 --> 00:01:28.069 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the 00:01:28.069 --> 00:01:31.129 cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's 00:01:31.129 --> 00:01:35.590 table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke 00:01:35.590 --> 00:01:38.829 the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 00:01:40.849 --> 00:01:43.969 Let's pray. Father, we come before you, Lord, 00:01:44.030 --> 00:01:47.569 with this incredible passage of scripture. And 00:01:47.569 --> 00:01:49.730 we pray for your illumination, Lord, as it is 00:01:49.730 --> 00:01:53.090 preached and heard. We ask, Lord, for your blessing 00:01:53.090 --> 00:01:55.670 and for the power of your spirit. to understand 00:01:55.670 --> 00:01:58.450 what you are saying here. Lord, we need your 00:01:58.450 --> 00:02:00.950 help, and we ask for your guidance and your wisdom 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:04.650 by your Holy Spirit. Please bless this time, 00:02:04.750 --> 00:02:07.829 and may the words that I say be right and acceptable 00:02:07.829 --> 00:02:10.650 in your sight. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:13.009 --> 00:02:15.750 The scripture text before us today begins with 00:02:15.750 --> 00:02:19.110 a very strong and direct command. Therefore, 00:02:19.289 --> 00:02:24.740 my brethren, flee from idolatry. Now, in light 00:02:24.740 --> 00:02:27.180 of what Paul wrote in the preceding chapters 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:30.280 on this subject, and especially in light of the 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.400 example of Israel in the Exodus, he begins a 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:37.120 strong exhortation to his beloved brethren in 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:41.879 Corinth. The context appears to be that the Corinthian 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:44.939 Christians were exercising what they thought 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:48.680 was their Christian liberty to go into temples 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:53.259 of idols and to feast at the celebrations. In 00:02:53.259 --> 00:02:56.319 many celebrations in Corinth, both family get 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:59.219 -togethers and in civic celebrations, much like 00:02:59.219 --> 00:03:02.439 a July 4th or Memorial Day, the citizens and 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:05.939 the people of Corinth would gather together in 00:03:05.939 --> 00:03:08.439 an assembly, but it was at the fellowship hall 00:03:08.439 --> 00:03:12.550 of the temple of one of the idols. the idols 00:03:12.550 --> 00:03:16.090 of Aphrodite or Apollo or Poseidon or Demeter 00:03:16.090 --> 00:03:19.590 or Persephone, as well as the imperial cult of 00:03:19.590 --> 00:03:22.530 Rome. There was many shrines and temples dedicated 00:03:22.530 --> 00:03:26.669 to these various gods or to the Roman emperors. 00:03:26.849 --> 00:03:30.930 Now at these celebrations and meals, sacrifices 00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:35.530 to the idols always took place as part of the 00:03:35.530 --> 00:03:39.349 celebration. Now some of these Christians probably 00:03:39.349 --> 00:03:42.969 reasoned something like this. I'm not worshiping 00:03:42.969 --> 00:03:46.110 this idol, this idol of Aphrodite or Apollo or 00:03:46.110 --> 00:03:48.669 whatever. They're nothing. They're no gods. But 00:03:48.669 --> 00:03:51.129 I want to be part of these celebrations as a 00:03:51.129 --> 00:03:54.530 family member or as a friend or a citizen. I'll 00:03:54.530 --> 00:03:57.509 enjoy the good food and be a good witness for 00:03:57.509 --> 00:04:00.330 Christ or simply just enjoy the celebration. 00:04:00.650 --> 00:04:03.610 What's wrong with that? After all, the food belongs 00:04:03.610 --> 00:04:06.770 to God and I worship him. So it does not matter. 00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:10.780 But in order to make his point in giving his 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:14.319 corrective on this matter, Paul points back. 00:04:14.669 --> 00:04:17.689 To the exodus of Israel and to their wandering 00:04:17.689 --> 00:04:21.430 in the wilderness. He began this in chapter 10 00:04:21.430 --> 00:04:24.610 with baptism. How that they, that is the children 00:04:24.610 --> 00:04:27.410 of Israel, were delivered. They were baptized 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:30.370 unto Moses and thus the God of Moses. They were 00:04:30.370 --> 00:04:33.149 fed. They were accompanied by Christ. And yet 00:04:33.149 --> 00:04:36.430 most fell in the wilderness. And Paul then gives 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:39.250 a strong exhortation to the Corinthians to profit 00:04:39.250 --> 00:04:43.009 from their example. We spoke of this last week. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:47.459 In many ways, the church in Corinth and in the 00:04:47.459 --> 00:04:52.500 world were standing in the same story. It was, 00:04:52.540 --> 00:04:56.939 in that way, a new exodus. Israel's exodus and 00:04:56.939 --> 00:05:00.160 wilderness journey were a type of the church's 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:03.519 present life and journey. The Corinthians also 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.620 were being brought out of a life of paganism 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:12.870 in many ways, like Israel out of Egypt. And they 00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:15.810 had a baptism. They had spiritual food and drink. 00:05:15.990 --> 00:05:19.009 They had privileges and dangers. And their sins 00:05:19.009 --> 00:05:23.050 were similar. In the wilderness, there was the 00:05:23.050 --> 00:05:25.970 sin of idolatry. The golden calf and other times 00:05:25.970 --> 00:05:29.629 of idolatry. In Corinth, there was the idolatrous 00:05:29.629 --> 00:05:32.170 temples. And now there were temple meals and 00:05:32.170 --> 00:05:36.269 so -called Christian liberty at these idol feasts. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:38.980 In the wilderness, there was sexual immorality 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:42.240 at the time of Belpior and of others when Balaam 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.939 encouraged Balak to send seducers into the camp 00:05:46.939 --> 00:05:50.660 and to seduce them into immorality. In Corinth, 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:54.000 there was the city's sexual culture and the church's 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.680 failures in that regard. In the wilderness, it 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:00.459 says they tempted Christ back in 10 verse 9. 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:03.790 In Corinth, they were presuming on grace. while 00:06:03.790 --> 00:06:06.550 flirting with idols. And in the wilderness, they 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:09.649 were grumbling and complaining, Numbers 14 and 00:06:09.649 --> 00:06:13.009 16. And in Corinth, there was factionalism and 00:06:13.009 --> 00:06:17.389 discontent. Very, very similar situations. But 00:06:17.389 --> 00:06:19.850 just like the children of Israel were baptized 00:06:19.850 --> 00:06:22.870 into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, thus 00:06:22.870 --> 00:06:27.379 initiated and brought into the assembly. of god 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:31.620 so we and our children are baptized into christ 00:06:31.620 --> 00:06:35.160 we belong to him we eat the spiritual food and 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:38.879 we drink of christ but instead of imitating the 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:42.339 israelites who fell in the wilderness because 00:06:42.339 --> 00:06:46.439 of their idolatry and sexual immorality unbelief 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:51.519 and complaining we are most emphatically called 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.399 in the teaching of this chapter to see and learn 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:58.259 from their example to flee idolatry and all of 00:06:58.259 --> 00:07:03.699 its false worship, and to believe in God and 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:07.600 the Lord Jesus Christ being joined unto him with 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.279 all of our heart and our soul and our mind and 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:13.399 our strength. We are to flee idolatry and all 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:16.459 of its false worship and immorality and disordered 00:07:16.459 --> 00:07:21.199 loves and be joined. to christ we have the greater 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:25.060 food and drink which is christ himself we have 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:28.100 the promise of a way of escape back in verse 00:07:28.100 --> 00:07:31.980 13 that the lord would not tempt us above that 00:07:31.980 --> 00:07:35.199 which we are he would not allow temptation or 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:39.860 tempt us in beyond what we could handle and so 00:07:39.860 --> 00:07:42.819 by god's grace this generation unlike the first 00:07:42.819 --> 00:07:47.170 may actually enter the inheritance And so now 00:07:47.170 --> 00:07:49.949 today we have the same call to flee idolatry. 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:53.029 And why is this? Because the table of the Lord 00:07:53.029 --> 00:07:58.250 and the table of demons cannot be shared. They 00:07:58.250 --> 00:08:02.430 cannot be shared. This is a war of the one true 00:08:02.430 --> 00:08:07.430 God against all other false gods. And so with 00:08:07.430 --> 00:08:09.850 this in mind, let's read and understand Paul's 00:08:09.850 --> 00:08:12.389 reasoning, his teaching, and his exhortation 00:08:12.389 --> 00:08:14.850 in this passage. Our first point is in verse 00:08:14.850 --> 00:08:19.470 14 and 15. Christian believers must flee from 00:08:19.470 --> 00:08:23.569 idolatry. He says, therefore, my beloved, flee 00:08:23.569 --> 00:08:28.069 from idolatry. I speak as to wise men. Judge 00:08:28.069 --> 00:08:31.579 for yourselves what I say. now he says therefore 00:08:31.579 --> 00:08:33.980 which is looking back to the Israelites which 00:08:33.980 --> 00:08:36.539 result which we have already done in the introduction 00:08:36.539 --> 00:08:39.820 he says my beloved this is an endearing term 00:08:39.820 --> 00:08:42.460 which is why the authorized version translates 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:47.759 it my dearly beloved my dearly beloved it shows 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:51.639 the intense love and the affection that Paul 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:55.779 has for these people Despite their issues and 00:08:55.779 --> 00:08:59.480 their problems and their sins and their shortcomings, 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:03.399 he does not treat them harshly or hold them at 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:06.440 arm's length. Though speaking plainly, he does 00:09:06.440 --> 00:09:09.779 not treat them in a condescending way. He rather 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:14.379 expresses his love for them. He says, my dearly 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:18.200 beloved. He loves them as his own brethren. This 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:21.399 is a good lesson for us for how quick are we 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:25.679 as Christians to judge one another or to hold 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:30.240 at arm's length those who would have the problems 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.440 that this church had. But that was not the stand 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:38.019 of the apostle. Then he gives, though, this urgent 00:09:38.019 --> 00:09:41.720 command and yet it's with such a pastoral heart. 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:45.220 Oh, may we profit from his example. In fact, 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:48.279 he even appeals to them to judge for themselves 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:51.759 what he says. Look at the next verse. He says, 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.419 I speak as to wise men. You judge for yourselves 00:09:55.419 --> 00:09:58.600 what I'm saying. And in this, he acknowledges 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:00.919 the wisdom and the understanding that they do 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:03.659 have. And he asks them to judge, or that is to 00:10:03.659 --> 00:10:06.580 distinguish what he is saying and to pronounce 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:09.019 an opinion concerning the rightness and the truth 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:14.769 of it. But then he says, Flee. Flee. This is 00:10:14.769 --> 00:10:18.769 a most urgent and compelling word. He does not 00:10:18.769 --> 00:10:24.250 say negotiate, reason with, sample, or even be 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:28.190 careful. No, he says flee. And in so doing, he 00:10:28.190 --> 00:10:32.250 calls for an urgent and active obedience in running 00:10:32.250 --> 00:10:35.509 away. The tense of this word is a present continuous. 00:10:35.570 --> 00:10:39.950 It's like flee and keep fleeing. Flee idolatry. 00:10:39.950 --> 00:10:43.210 Seek safety by flight. Shun it. Avoid it. Escape 00:10:43.210 --> 00:10:47.350 out of danger. What are we to flee from? Flee 00:10:47.350 --> 00:10:51.210 from idolatry. The worship of idols or false 00:10:51.210 --> 00:10:55.169 gods. This underscores the deep and exclusive 00:10:55.169 --> 00:10:58.669 devotion and worship that God's people are to 00:10:58.669 --> 00:11:02.330 have to our creator. To God alone. Exclusive. 00:11:02.389 --> 00:11:06.460 No other gods. And with complete devotion. That 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:09.419 is with all of our heart. According to Romans 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:13.419 chapter 1. It is what happens when God's creation 00:11:13.419 --> 00:11:18.379 do not glorify him as God. Nor were they thankful. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:22.440 but they came futile in their thoughts. Professing 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:25.899 to be wise, they became fools and changed the 00:11:25.899 --> 00:11:29.860 glory of the incorruptible God into an image 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:34.059 made like corruptible men. They worship the creature 00:11:34.059 --> 00:11:38.000 rather than the creator who is blessed forevermore. 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:43.120 And this really is the sum of idolatry. Worshiping 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.840 the creature, that which is created by God, rather 00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:51.809 than... the creator. Idolatry strikes at the 00:11:51.809 --> 00:11:55.850 heart of the first two commandments on the two 00:11:55.850 --> 00:11:58.610 tables of the law, as well as that which Jesus 00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:01.490 calls the greatest commandment. What are those? 00:12:01.730 --> 00:12:05.830 Number one, you are not to worship other gods. 00:12:06.110 --> 00:12:09.129 God says, I am the Lord your God who brought 00:12:09.129 --> 00:12:11.529 you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house 00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:15.350 of bondage. You shall have no other gods before 00:12:15.350 --> 00:12:20.330 me. Exodus 20 verse 2 and 3. So we are not to 00:12:20.330 --> 00:12:23.529 worship any other. And furthermore, we are to 00:12:23.529 --> 00:12:27.250 worship God in the right way. That is the second 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:30.389 commandment. You are not to make a likeness or 00:12:30.389 --> 00:12:33.750 carved image of God, nor bound to them or serve 00:12:33.750 --> 00:12:35.590 them. In other words, you don't make a representation 00:12:35.590 --> 00:12:39.009 of the one true God with some physical image 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:41.830 and then bow down to it. You shall not make for 00:12:41.830 --> 00:12:44.610 yourself a carved image. Any likeness of anything 00:12:44.610 --> 00:12:47.090 that is in heaven above. Or that is in the earth 00:12:47.090 --> 00:12:49.429 beneath. Or that is in the water under the earth. 00:12:49.529 --> 00:12:51.870 You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 00:12:52.029 --> 00:12:57.629 For I the Lord your God am a jealous God. Visiting 00:12:57.629 --> 00:12:59.690 the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. 00:12:59.929 --> 00:13:02.210 To the third and fourth generations of those 00:13:02.210 --> 00:13:04.850 who hate me. But showing mercy to thousands. 00:13:05.169 --> 00:13:07.629 To those who love me and keep my commandments. 00:13:08.090 --> 00:13:11.759 Exodus 20 verses 4 to 6. And then there's the 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.120 great command. The one that Jesus says is the 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.940 greatest of all. And that is Deuteronomy 6 verse 00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:23.340 4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:28.620 is one. You shall love the Lord your God with 00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:31.980 all your heart, with all your soul, and with 00:13:31.980 --> 00:13:35.419 all your strength. And these words which I command 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:40.000 you today shall be in your heart. from within, 00:13:40.220 --> 00:13:44.019 deep within. It's part of the fiber of your very 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:48.019 being that you love God more than anything, more 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:50.759 than anything of creation, more than anything 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:55.340 that attempts to resemble or represent God. No, 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:59.080 we worship him alone. And this is what it means 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:02.720 to worship him in spirit and in truth. God is 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:06.210 the spirit. We worship God, not... the created 00:14:06.210 --> 00:14:09.029 order, and we do so with the gift of the Holy 00:14:09.029 --> 00:14:13.490 Spirit and in truth. Idolatry is not only the 00:14:13.490 --> 00:14:15.889 worship of idols of wood, earth, and stone, but 00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:18.610 it can be anything that replaces God or takes 00:14:18.610 --> 00:14:21.950 precedence over him. Anything that replaces God 00:14:21.950 --> 00:14:25.549 or takes precedence over him. Jesus himself said 00:14:25.549 --> 00:14:30.049 in Luke 16 and verse 13, no servant can serve 00:14:30.049 --> 00:14:33.070 two masters, for either he will hate the one, 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:35.990 and love the other, or else he will be loyal 00:14:35.990 --> 00:14:39.269 to the one and despise the other. You cannot 00:14:39.269 --> 00:14:44.909 serve God and mammon, any kind of created thing. 00:14:44.990 --> 00:14:49.730 You cannot serve that and God at the same time. 00:14:50.750 --> 00:14:55.029 Worship of God is exclusive. So maybe you have 00:14:55.029 --> 00:14:57.110 something that you're holding back from the lordship 00:14:57.110 --> 00:14:59.889 of Christ. Some pet sin that you're not willing 00:14:59.889 --> 00:15:02.710 to give up. Or affections that are disordered. 00:15:02.769 --> 00:15:05.009 Or something that you actually just simply love 00:15:05.009 --> 00:15:08.490 more than God himself. That love is not hidden 00:15:08.490 --> 00:15:12.570 from him. And he calls you most urgently to repent 00:15:12.570 --> 00:15:18.049 of it. And to love him above all others. God 00:15:18.049 --> 00:15:20.809 is a jealous God. And he tells us so many times. 00:15:20.889 --> 00:15:23.330 We just read that in the second commandment. 00:15:23.990 --> 00:15:28.509 as well as in Exodus 34, verse 13 to 14. It says, 00:15:28.629 --> 00:15:30.549 but you shall destroy their altars, break their 00:15:30.549 --> 00:15:33.470 sacred pillars, cut down the wooden images, for 00:15:33.470 --> 00:15:36.470 you shall worship no other God for the Lord, 00:15:36.590 --> 00:15:42.230 whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. And 00:15:42.230 --> 00:15:45.470 so, beloved brethren, let us flee from idolatry. 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:48.919 Let us flee like Joseph did from committing adultery 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.980 with Potiphar's wife where he even left his cloak 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:55.139 or his garment in her hand as she reached out 00:15:55.139 --> 00:15:58.220 to take him and to pull him to her and he fled 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:03.639 from her leaving his cloak behind him. Flee like 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:07.059 Timothy did from youthful lust. Same type of 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:09.799 command there. Flee from youthful lust, Paul 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:13.279 said to him. Let us flee like Moses did after 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.539 killing the Israelite who was beating another 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:18.000 man. And then he fled to the wilderness after 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.740 Pharaoh heard of it because he was running for 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:25.659 his life from Pharaoh, the Egyptian. This is 00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:30.840 how we are to flee from all forms of idolatry. 00:16:31.529 --> 00:16:35.710 The apostle John ends his wonderful first epistle, 00:16:35.730 --> 00:16:39.309 1 John, with these words in chapter 5, verse 00:16:39.309 --> 00:16:43.370 21. He ends, this is his final word to the people 00:16:43.370 --> 00:16:47.570 that he's writing and to us today. Little children, 00:16:47.690 --> 00:16:54.110 keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Now from this, 00:16:54.210 --> 00:16:59.000 Paul then shows... that eating and drinking the 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:03.379 food and drink at the temple of an idol and at 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:08.380 the Lord's table is partaking of the God or the 00:17:08.380 --> 00:17:12.819 gods of the temple. He begins with the Lord's 00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:15.940 supper. So in other words, participation in the 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:19.940 feast where this worship is occurring, both in 00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:23.339 the Lord's house as well as in the temple, is 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:28.819 then partaking of... the God that that ceremony 00:17:28.819 --> 00:17:32.359 is pointing to. And he's going to explain this 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:36.839 further as we go through this passage. But secondly, 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:40.759 he then shows this, first of all, that participation 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:45.779 of the Lord's table is partaking of Christ himself. 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:51.509 This is verse 16 to 18. When we take the Lord's 00:17:51.509 --> 00:17:53.130 Supper, I'm just going to say this right at the 00:17:53.130 --> 00:17:54.869 beginning and I'm going to speak of this a couple 00:17:54.869 --> 00:17:57.950 times. We're not just remembering Christ. No, 00:17:58.029 --> 00:18:02.269 we are partaking of Christ himself. Hear these 00:18:02.269 --> 00:18:04.769 words. Now, we in this congregation, we're so 00:18:04.769 --> 00:18:07.329 used to hearing these words because we say them 00:18:07.329 --> 00:18:09.410 every week when we observe the Lord's Supper. 00:18:09.549 --> 00:18:12.829 But just stop and consider the depth and the 00:18:12.829 --> 00:18:15.789 meaning of what these words say. The cup of blessing 00:18:15.789 --> 00:18:20.130 which we bless. Is it not the communion of the 00:18:20.130 --> 00:18:24.950 blood of Christ? The bread which we break. Is 00:18:24.950 --> 00:18:28.450 it not the communion of the body of Christ? For 00:18:28.450 --> 00:18:32.750 we, though many, are one bread and one body. 00:18:32.829 --> 00:18:37.490 For we all partake of that one bread. Observe 00:18:37.490 --> 00:18:40.190 Israel after the flesh. Are not those who eat 00:18:40.190 --> 00:18:46.680 of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? As 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:48.259 we take this closer look, we're going to look 00:18:48.259 --> 00:18:50.420 at the contrast and we're going to draw some 00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:53.680 conclusions about the nature of the sacrament 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.500 of the Lord's Supper. First, there is the cup 00:18:56.500 --> 00:18:59.920 of blessing. That is the cup of wine, for Jesus 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:03.160 instituted this at the celebration of the Passover 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:07.680 before his crucifixion. Now note, in this passage, 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:11.779 Paul first lists the wine first, or the cup first, 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:14.890 and then the bread. Although Jesus did the bread 00:19:14.890 --> 00:19:17.349 first and then the cup, and that's also the way 00:19:17.349 --> 00:19:20.210 Paul describes it in chapter 11. There's likely 00:19:20.210 --> 00:19:22.250 no significance in that it's mentioned first 00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:25.309 here, but I just want to point it out. In the 00:19:25.309 --> 00:19:28.470 Passover observance, there were four cups of 00:19:28.470 --> 00:19:31.170 wine that were shared as part of the Passover 00:19:31.170 --> 00:19:35.170 meal. Four cups corresponding to four expressions 00:19:35.170 --> 00:19:40.180 of redemption in Exodus 6, verses 6 to 7. Now, 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:44.079 these four cups were not specified in the original 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:47.579 commandment. This, however, became the practice 00:19:47.579 --> 00:19:51.039 during the second temple period, the time from 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.660 the exile when the temple was rebuilt and on 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:57.319 through the time of Jesus until its destruction 00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:01.339 in AD 70. So the first cup was a cup of sanctification, 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:03.900 remembering the fact that I will bring you out. 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:06.460 God speaks that I will bring you out. This was 00:20:06.460 --> 00:20:08.119 drunk at the beginning with the blessing over 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:11.619 the day. The second cup was that of the deliverance 00:20:11.619 --> 00:20:15.220 from Egypt and from the plagues where God said, 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:17.880 I will deliver you. This was drunk after telling 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:20.339 of the Exodus story and the first part of the 00:20:20.339 --> 00:20:24.259 halal. Third cup was the cup of redemption and 00:20:24.259 --> 00:20:28.200 blessing. I will redeem you. This was drunk after 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:30.599 the meal with praying the grace after meals. 00:20:31.259 --> 00:20:33.299 And then there was a fourth cup of praise and 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:36.079 acceptance. I will take you as my people and 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:39.680 that God accepts us and brings us in. Now the 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.119 cup identified with the blood of Christ was the 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:48.140 cup after supper that Jesus took in which he 00:20:48.140 --> 00:20:51.619 instituted then the Lord's Supper. This was the 00:20:51.619 --> 00:20:56.569 cup of redemption and the cup of blessing. Redemption 00:20:56.569 --> 00:21:00.130 and blessing. And notice how that ties in with 00:21:00.130 --> 00:21:03.750 Christ our Redeemer. And it's why Paul here calls 00:21:03.750 --> 00:21:08.190 it the cup of blessing. It is a cup where God 00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:11.130 is blessed and thanked for the prayer as a cup 00:21:11.130 --> 00:21:13.990 of thanksgiving like Jesus did. It's also a cup 00:21:13.990 --> 00:21:17.210 of blessing in that we receive a blessing in 00:21:17.210 --> 00:21:19.750 the drinking of it. So it's both ways. Is it 00:21:19.750 --> 00:21:23.109 a blessing? This cup is the communion, it says, 00:21:23.289 --> 00:21:26.269 of the blood of Christ. Now, communion is the 00:21:26.269 --> 00:21:29.390 word koinonia. That is, it's a fellowship, association, 00:21:29.569 --> 00:21:34.390 and a joint participation together with. Let 00:21:34.390 --> 00:21:37.289 me say that again. It's koinonia. It's fellowship, 00:21:37.630 --> 00:21:43.349 association, and a participation with, jointly. 00:21:43.890 --> 00:21:47.369 And thus... It is with the blood of Christ, that 00:21:47.369 --> 00:21:50.529 blood that was shed for us on the cruel cross. 00:21:50.970 --> 00:21:54.430 The word has the connotation of fellowship both 00:21:54.430 --> 00:21:57.490 with Christ, that is vertical, but also with 00:21:57.490 --> 00:21:59.869 the others around us who are also drinking it, 00:21:59.869 --> 00:22:03.150 that of horizontal. Now, I think that the vertical 00:22:03.150 --> 00:22:06.250 is mostly in mind here in which Paul is speaking 00:22:06.250 --> 00:22:10.789 of, that we are partaking of Christ in the Lord's 00:22:10.789 --> 00:22:14.450 Supper. Not only do we remember him, but we're 00:22:14.450 --> 00:22:17.049 made partakers of his blood, and thus we have 00:22:17.049 --> 00:22:20.029 fellowship with him. This is really a deep truth, 00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:22.769 and there's some mystery in this. And as we go 00:22:22.769 --> 00:22:24.970 through this, we're going to be unpacking some 00:22:24.970 --> 00:22:26.910 of that mystery. But at the same time, at the 00:22:26.910 --> 00:22:29.089 very end, we're going to say, there's a mystery 00:22:29.089 --> 00:22:33.150 here. There's a glorious mystery in this service. 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:36.279 Then Paul writes of the bread, the bread which 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:38.319 we break, is it not the communion of the body 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:41.500 of Christ? Again, the bread, which was the unleavened 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:44.680 loaf of bread from the Passover meal, Jesus takes, 00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:47.299 he prays a prayer of thanksgiving, and then he 00:22:47.299 --> 00:22:49.740 breaks it and he gives it to all those who are 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:51.839 gathered with him, all of his disciples that 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.200 were with him. By the way, it included Judas. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.819 He gives it to them all. And Paul says, he teaches 00:22:59.819 --> 00:23:03.710 that this bread, like the cup, is koinonia, fellowship 00:23:03.710 --> 00:23:06.869 and participation of the body of Christ. Then 00:23:06.869 --> 00:23:09.390 he adds yet more on top of this. He says that 00:23:09.390 --> 00:23:12.390 we, though many, are one bread and one body, 00:23:12.470 --> 00:23:16.130 for we all partake of that one bread or one loaf. 00:23:16.309 --> 00:23:19.950 We as many are, by virtue of our union to Christ, 00:23:20.130 --> 00:23:22.750 manifested by our communion with him, we are 00:23:22.750 --> 00:23:25.710 one bread with him who is the bread of life. 00:23:26.009 --> 00:23:29.250 Now, what's bread made of? You take grain, you 00:23:29.250 --> 00:23:32.730 grind it up into real fine flour, and then you 00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:35.170 put some yeast in and some water or oil or whatever 00:23:35.170 --> 00:23:38.170 else it is, and you salt and you put it together, 00:23:38.230 --> 00:23:41.690 and that is a loaf of bread. So just as bread 00:23:41.690 --> 00:23:44.309 consists of many grains that have been crushed 00:23:44.309 --> 00:23:46.730 and ground up and kneaded together to make one 00:23:46.730 --> 00:23:50.670 loaf, so also we as the people of God are many, 00:23:50.769 --> 00:23:54.890 and yet one loaf together and one body with him 00:23:54.890 --> 00:23:59.170 who is our head. Then Paul illustrates what he 00:23:59.170 --> 00:24:02.109 is saying from Israel. Those who eat of the sacrifices 00:24:02.109 --> 00:24:05.210 in the temple. It's not just a simple sacrifice. 00:24:05.529 --> 00:24:08.369 No, they're partaking of the altar. It's part 00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:11.470 of worship, and they are receiving a blessing. 00:24:11.769 --> 00:24:14.329 They were in fellowship with God, received strength 00:24:14.329 --> 00:24:17.269 from the food, and from partaking with God and 00:24:17.269 --> 00:24:20.230 worshiping him. And this shows the communal aspect 00:24:20.230 --> 00:24:23.069 of the table of the Lord. The Lord's Supper, 00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:25.170 also known, there's a number of different words 00:24:25.170 --> 00:24:28.529 for it. It's known as the Eucharist. or sacrament 00:24:28.529 --> 00:24:33.329 of the body and blood, or communion, or the Lord's 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:39.650 table, or the Lord's meal. All of this, it's 00:24:39.650 --> 00:24:42.589 all referring to the same thing. It's corporate 00:24:42.589 --> 00:24:46.089 in its very nature. It's done in the local body 00:24:46.089 --> 00:24:49.250 of believers where we have this fellowship, this 00:24:49.250 --> 00:24:53.029 koinonia with one another and with Jesus. I will 00:24:53.029 --> 00:24:57.160 say this, the Lord's Supper is not It is not 00:24:57.160 --> 00:25:01.960 a private memorial or remembrance of Christ done 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:05.539 in the privacy of your own study or house or 00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:10.839 family. It is the church. It belongs to the gathered 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:14.339 people. That was one of the problems of the whole 00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:18.180 COVID shutdowns and how that disrupted the fellowship 00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:22.759 with God's people. Having fellowship with the 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:26.000 church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we then are 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:28.420 personally partaking in Christ and the fellowship 00:25:28.420 --> 00:25:32.599 of him together with all who partake in faith. 00:25:33.900 --> 00:25:37.500 So then we ask the question, is the bread we 00:25:37.500 --> 00:25:45.319 eat and the cup that we drink, is this the body 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:48.920 and blood of Christ? Is this the body and blood 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:51.480 of Christ? How can this be? Well, what did Jesus 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:55.380 say? He said, First Corinthians 11 verse 24. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:58.859 When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:04.140 take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for 00:26:04.140 --> 00:26:07.900 you. Do this in remembrance of me. And so we 00:26:07.900 --> 00:26:13.099 must answer. Yes, it is. And herein is mystery 00:26:13.099 --> 00:26:18.710 and wonder. This communion. is koinonia we mentioned 00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:20.930 it's fellowship and participation with christ 00:26:20.930 --> 00:26:23.730 fellowship and participation in the blood of 00:26:23.730 --> 00:26:26.970 christ and as we eat the bread and we drink the 00:26:26.970 --> 00:26:30.609 cup of blessing we have fellowship with him we 00:26:30.609 --> 00:26:33.049 are associating with him and we have communal 00:26:33.049 --> 00:26:37.369 participation with jesus keith matheson puts 00:26:37.369 --> 00:26:40.309 it this way communion with the body and blood 00:26:40.309 --> 00:26:44.910 of christ signifies an active common sharing 00:26:44.910 --> 00:26:48.180 in the life the death, the resurrection, and 00:26:48.180 --> 00:26:52.140 the presence of Jesus Christ. This is not a one 00:26:52.140 --> 00:26:55.960 -way fellowship. We worship him and he feeds 00:26:55.960 --> 00:26:59.140 and nourishes us. This is the spiritual nourishment 00:26:59.140 --> 00:27:01.799 that happens as we eat the physical bread and 00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:04.700 drink the physical wine. There is union with 00:27:04.700 --> 00:27:07.940 Christ by means of participation in the Lord's 00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:12.539 Supper. However, lest you get all scared here, 00:27:12.900 --> 00:27:16.670 I am not advocating The Roman Catholic teaching 00:27:16.670 --> 00:27:20.130 of transubstantiation. That the physical bread 00:27:20.130 --> 00:27:23.990 and wine are actually changed into the body and 00:27:23.990 --> 00:27:26.490 blood of Christ so that they are in reality the 00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:30.069 DNA of the body of Christ in our stomachs. So 00:27:30.069 --> 00:27:34.970 then we must ask, in what way is the bread and 00:27:34.970 --> 00:27:38.789 wine the body and blood of Christ? There must 00:27:38.789 --> 00:27:44.519 be another way where these words are true. and 00:27:44.519 --> 00:27:49.480 yet the bread and wine remained bread and wine. 00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:54.420 How does this happen? Well, to answer this question, 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:58.319 we need to first look at what was happening in 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:00.819 the temple of the idols. So I will answer it, 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:05.359 but first of all, Paul goes on and shows us from 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:07.700 what was happening in the temple of the idols 00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:11.220 how this is. It brings me to my third point. 00:28:13.019 --> 00:28:17.240 are representations of demons. That is of evil 00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:21.900 spirits and devils. Verse 19 and 20. What am 00:28:21.900 --> 00:28:25.400 I saying then? That an idol is anything? Or what 00:28:25.400 --> 00:28:28.319 is offered to idols is anything? Rather that 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:32.160 the things which the Gentiles sacrifice. That 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:35.059 is what they're sacrificing to idols. They are 00:28:35.059 --> 00:28:39.559 sacrificing to demons and not to God. And I do 00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:42.180 not want you to have fellowship with demons. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:45.440 Paul gives a clarification. He says, what am 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:48.279 I saying then? He sees the need to clarify what 00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:51.460 he's saying, lest he is misunderstood. Is he 00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:53.900 going back on his prior statement in chapter 00:28:53.900 --> 00:28:57.140 8, verse 4? We know that an idol is nothing in 00:28:57.140 --> 00:28:59.079 the world and that there is no other God but 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:01.779 one. But he quickly makes it clear. And that 00:29:01.779 --> 00:29:05.079 is that the reality behind pagan sacrifices to 00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:08.019 idols is not that the idol in and of itself is 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:10.920 anything. For it's only wood or stone or whatever 00:29:10.920 --> 00:29:14.140 it was created out of. But it is that when pagans 00:29:14.140 --> 00:29:17.740 sacrifice to them, they are in reality sacrificing 00:29:17.740 --> 00:29:21.460 to demons, to devils, to evil spirits and not 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:25.480 to God. That is, there is a false spiritual element 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:31.809 in the idolatry. in which they are offering and 00:29:31.809 --> 00:29:35.910 communing with and partaking with demons when 00:29:35.910 --> 00:29:40.269 they worship the idol, the thing of a creature. 00:29:41.549 --> 00:29:45.710 He says, he's pointing out, if you eat at their 00:29:45.710 --> 00:29:48.750 table in their house of worship, you are having 00:29:48.750 --> 00:29:52.089 fellowship with demons. You are sharing in their 00:29:52.089 --> 00:29:55.420 worship. by eating with them. You cannot claim 00:29:55.420 --> 00:29:58.220 to serve God and have fellowship with demons. 00:29:58.460 --> 00:30:01.480 This is the very essence of false and idolatrous 00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:04.940 worship. A Christian cannot be a participant 00:30:04.940 --> 00:30:09.589 in false or idolatrous worship. You might eat 00:30:09.589 --> 00:30:11.490 in the house of your neighbor who would be a 00:30:11.490 --> 00:30:14.410 Hindu or a Shinto or something else, but you 00:30:14.410 --> 00:30:16.950 cannot go with them to their worship service 00:30:16.950 --> 00:30:19.670 and partake with them or eat of the food at their 00:30:19.670 --> 00:30:22.029 worship. You cannot bow down to their idols. 00:30:22.109 --> 00:30:24.710 You cannot make a gesture of worship like kissing 00:30:24.710 --> 00:30:27.529 the feet or genuflecting before their gods because 00:30:27.529 --> 00:30:30.750 in doing so, even in eating where the sacrifices 00:30:30.750 --> 00:30:33.809 are done, you are fellowshipping with demons. 00:30:35.089 --> 00:30:39.599 This is very, very important. So what does this 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.259 mean then? He goes on in verse 21 and 22. You 00:30:43.259 --> 00:30:45.420 cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup 00:30:45.420 --> 00:30:48.259 of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table 00:30:48.259 --> 00:30:51.279 and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:54.200 Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? The 00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:57.019 point number four is the two tables cannot be 00:30:57.019 --> 00:30:59.690 shared. So in this teaching, Paul is arguing 00:30:59.690 --> 00:31:02.569 that as you eat and drink at the pagan temple's 00:31:02.569 --> 00:31:05.930 table, you are participating and partaking with 00:31:05.930 --> 00:31:09.269 the demons. Pillar Commentary puts it like this. 00:31:09.410 --> 00:31:12.259 Paul's argument. with its emphasis on participation 00:31:12.259 --> 00:31:15.640 in the blood and the body of Christ, seeks to 00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:18.240 stress that where God is, or where false gods 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:21.039 are, where they are invoked as the host of the 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:24.119 meal, the fellowship is not merely with the men 00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:27.000 and women gathered around the table, but with 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:31.680 the deity as well. And thus, through our fellowship 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:35.819 with Christ, we are participating in the fellowship, 00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:40.539 in the benefits, of his sacrifice, which serves 00:31:40.539 --> 00:31:43.920 to establish or renew our covenantal relationship 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:48.099 with God. To sit down at the table in the temple 00:31:48.099 --> 00:31:50.799 and eat the food offered to idols is to participate 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.720 in demonic worship and to commit idolatry and 00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:56.140 break the first and second commandment. But in 00:31:56.140 --> 00:31:58.880 the same way, To partake of the physical cup 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:02.500 of wine and eating the bread by faith is to have 00:32:02.500 --> 00:32:06.359 fellowship with Christ's body and blood. And 00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:09.400 this is the mystery of the Lord's Supper. And 00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:12.559 this is how Christ could say as we eat, take, 00:32:12.779 --> 00:32:15.579 eat. This is my body which is broken for you. 00:32:15.660 --> 00:32:19.019 Do this in remembrance of me. So what is this 00:32:19.019 --> 00:32:21.839 then? Let's sum this up. As we eat the physical 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:23.880 bread and drink the physical wine, the actual, 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:26.240 the real, the bread right here before us, the 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:27.940 bread and the wine, which we will partake of 00:32:27.940 --> 00:32:32.099 in a bit. We are truly and really spiritually 00:32:32.099 --> 00:32:36.359 partaking of the body and blood of Christ. Now 00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:39.859 notice I inserted the word spiritually there. 00:32:39.980 --> 00:32:43.380 And that is to explain this as to how this happens. 00:32:43.960 --> 00:32:46.539 Because the bread and the wine or the juice, 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:49.380 they remain the same. And yet when we partake 00:32:49.380 --> 00:32:52.980 of them, we are spiritually partaking of Christ. 00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:58.700 We are receiving grace from him. The Lord's Supper 00:32:58.700 --> 00:33:03.160 is much more. than only a memorial of remembering 00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:06.900 Christ. It is that, but so much more. Yes, we 00:33:06.900 --> 00:33:09.900 remember Christ. Yes, we think about Him. But 00:33:09.900 --> 00:33:13.039 we are also partaking of Him. We are feeding 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:17.599 upon Him in a spiritual way as we eat the Lord's 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:21.460 Supper. It is essential. It is meaningful. It 00:33:21.460 --> 00:33:24.799 is a means of grace in which we both worship 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:30.349 Christ and we receive from Him. It's one of the 00:33:30.349 --> 00:33:32.710 reasons why I think it is wise, as we practice 00:33:32.710 --> 00:33:35.589 here, to observe the Lord's Supper weekly. It's 00:33:35.589 --> 00:33:37.970 the pattern of the early church. It's been the 00:33:37.970 --> 00:33:40.390 pattern of many throughout the centuries, and 00:33:40.390 --> 00:33:44.710 I believe it's a good and wise one. In summary 00:33:44.710 --> 00:33:47.410 then, we affirm the real presence of Christ, 00:33:47.650 --> 00:33:50.609 but this presence is not physical. It is spiritual. 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:54.359 In other words, it is the Holy Spirit which enables 00:33:54.359 --> 00:33:57.200 believers on earth to have real communion with 00:33:57.200 --> 00:33:59.980 Christ in heaven. We are drawn to Christ in his 00:33:59.980 --> 00:34:02.420 heavenly presence. And at the table, believers 00:34:02.420 --> 00:34:05.660 commune with the exalted Christ and are fed and 00:34:05.660 --> 00:34:08.380 nourished by him. Christ meets us in the Lord's 00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:11.099 Supper and he gives himself to us, nourishing 00:34:11.099 --> 00:34:13.920 our faith. The bread and the wine remain bread 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:17.050 and wine, but there is a real relation. between 00:34:17.050 --> 00:34:19.269 the signs of the bread and wine with the life 00:34:19.269 --> 00:34:22.070 -giving virtue of Christ's body and blood, which 00:34:22.070 --> 00:34:25.650 we eat and drink in faith. Again, I quote Keith 00:34:25.650 --> 00:34:29.170 Matheson. He has done some great work on this, 00:34:29.190 --> 00:34:31.010 has written some things for Ligonier and has 00:34:31.010 --> 00:34:33.530 a couple of books. I really recommend them. And 00:34:33.530 --> 00:34:37.429 one of them is called Given for You. And so he 00:34:37.429 --> 00:34:40.969 kind of really lays out a lot of what I'm talking 00:34:40.969 --> 00:34:43.889 about here. But he says this, presence is real. 00:34:44.409 --> 00:34:47.090 but spiritual, that is affected by the Holy Spirit, 00:34:47.289 --> 00:34:51.289 not by a descent of Christ's flesh into the bread. 00:34:52.050 --> 00:34:54.849 The Spirit is the bond of union with the ascended 00:34:54.849 --> 00:34:57.769 Christ. What the minister does on earth, distributing 00:34:57.769 --> 00:35:00.449 the bread and the wine, the Spirit does spiritually. 00:35:00.670 --> 00:35:03.269 He lifts believers to communion with the whole 00:35:03.269 --> 00:35:05.929 Christ in heaven and conveys the life of his 00:35:05.929 --> 00:35:10.030 body and blood to them. Spiritual eating does 00:35:10.030 --> 00:35:12.409 not mean eating only Christ's spirit or merely 00:35:12.409 --> 00:35:15.690 thinking about him. It means by faith, truly 00:35:15.690 --> 00:35:18.409 partaking of his body and blood through the spirit. 00:35:18.889 --> 00:35:22.449 Faith is the instrument of reception, not a synonym 00:35:22.449 --> 00:35:27.429 for the eating of itself. He gives this example 00:35:27.429 --> 00:35:30.489 and I give this to you just as one way of thinking 00:35:30.489 --> 00:35:33.190 about this. This is an analogy and all analogies 00:35:33.190 --> 00:35:35.710 fall short in some ways, but I think it's a good 00:35:35.710 --> 00:35:38.619 one. We can say that the body of Christ, which 00:35:38.619 --> 00:35:41.239 is locally present in heaven, is seated at the 00:35:41.239 --> 00:35:43.880 right hand of God, is analogous to the power 00:35:43.880 --> 00:35:47.340 plant or an electrical generator. God is analogous 00:35:47.340 --> 00:35:50.099 to the source that powers the generator. The 00:35:50.099 --> 00:35:52.800 divine life of God is analogous to the electricity. 00:35:53.199 --> 00:35:56.619 The Holy Spirit is analogous to the power lines 00:35:56.619 --> 00:35:59.300 that transmit the electricity and connect the 00:35:59.300 --> 00:36:01.539 power plant to millions of individual homes. 00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:04.400 while the sacramental signs are analogous to 00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:06.559 the individual light switches in those homes. 00:36:06.760 --> 00:36:09.679 The individual communicants in the church are 00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:12.159 analogous to the millions of light bulbs that 00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:15.019 receive the electricity from the plant, and the 00:36:15.019 --> 00:36:17.940 individual communicant's faith, or lack thereof, 00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:20.639 is analogous to the filament in the light bulb, 00:36:20.820 --> 00:36:24.280 either broken or whole. In other words, we receive 00:36:24.280 --> 00:36:29.340 from Christ in a spiritual way as we eat. The 00:36:29.340 --> 00:36:32.139 Lord's Supper. But remember what the converse 00:36:32.139 --> 00:36:36.719 was. And that is, by partaking at the table of 00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:41.820 false worship, you are attempting the same thing. 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:45.880 You are commuting with demons. And God is a jealous 00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:49.460 God. And so this is why Paul is so insistent 00:36:49.460 --> 00:36:52.900 on this. You cannot eat at both the table of 00:36:52.900 --> 00:36:58.039 demons and the table of the Lord. I hope this 00:36:58.039 --> 00:37:01.039 understanding has been helpful to you. This avoids 00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:05.400 superstition and secularism. We acknowledge the 00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:08.679 mystery that is the presence of Christ and that 00:37:08.679 --> 00:37:11.860 we really and truly do feed upon him, but not 00:37:11.860 --> 00:37:16.079 in a sacrilegious or an idolatrous way. We do 00:37:16.079 --> 00:37:19.039 not strip away all the mystery of what really 00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:22.969 happens. Paul then closes this. This portion 00:37:22.969 --> 00:37:27.849 where he reminds us again that God is a jealous 00:37:27.849 --> 00:37:32.710 God. A jealous God. He will not give his glory 00:37:32.710 --> 00:37:36.230 to another. And we as Christian believers may 00:37:36.230 --> 00:37:39.809 not do things that provoke him to jealousy. For 00:37:39.809 --> 00:37:43.650 he is our God and we are his sheep, his people, 00:37:43.809 --> 00:37:48.269 his chosen ones. And we are not to give his glory 00:37:48.269 --> 00:37:52.840 to another. Let's make a few applications here 00:37:52.840 --> 00:37:57.119 before we close. This whole portion of scripture 00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:01.599 shows that Christian liberty in being taken too 00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:07.260 far can lead, even inadvertently or unintentionally, 00:38:07.260 --> 00:38:11.460 to false worship, even to those who unwittingly 00:38:11.460 --> 00:38:14.940 participate in the worship of demons. Good intentions 00:38:14.940 --> 00:38:18.840 do not nullify the reality of what is actually 00:38:18.840 --> 00:38:21.909 happening. They might say, oh, this was not my 00:38:21.909 --> 00:38:25.449 intent. But it's what you're doing. That's what 00:38:25.449 --> 00:38:30.750 was happening. We must have nothing to do with 00:38:30.750 --> 00:38:34.869 the idolatrous religious rites of false religions. 00:38:35.289 --> 00:38:37.590 Do not think, well, I'm just going to be a good 00:38:37.590 --> 00:38:40.369 witness. The Corinthians thought that they were 00:38:40.369 --> 00:38:43.789 extending... social interaction and graces. But 00:38:43.789 --> 00:38:46.989 in reality, they were participating in the table 00:38:46.989 --> 00:38:51.090 of demons, although they didn't know it. This 00:38:51.090 --> 00:38:54.389 requires much wisdom and evaluation, especially 00:38:54.389 --> 00:38:59.849 as we see more paganism within the United States 00:38:59.849 --> 00:39:02.949 of America or even around us. And so this requires 00:39:02.949 --> 00:39:05.750 wisdom. For example, when we attend weddings, 00:39:05.889 --> 00:39:09.329 because some of the weddings might be kind of 00:39:09.610 --> 00:39:11.570 so to speak, neutral. Notice it's not a religious 00:39:11.570 --> 00:39:14.769 ceremony. Others, though, are. They're religious 00:39:14.769 --> 00:39:17.590 rites with invocations to idols and to false 00:39:17.590 --> 00:39:20.349 gods. Hindu weddings are like that, for example. 00:39:20.530 --> 00:39:23.050 And so if America continues on her current path, 00:39:23.289 --> 00:39:25.869 this will become more of an issue that we have 00:39:25.869 --> 00:39:29.280 to consider. let's say that you have Hindu neighbors 00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:31.780 and they invite you to the wedding of their daughter 00:39:31.780 --> 00:39:34.340 and you have to evaluate this. And I just use 00:39:34.340 --> 00:39:36.800 that as one example. It's real clear and plain. 00:39:36.940 --> 00:39:39.420 But there's many other ways in which we need 00:39:39.420 --> 00:39:42.460 to evaluate and consider this. And I offer that 00:39:42.460 --> 00:39:46.400 to you as for your consideration. Secondly, I 00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:48.380 will be preaching and teaching more on the Lord's 00:39:48.380 --> 00:39:50.440 Supper, especially when we get to chapter 11, 00:39:50.579 --> 00:39:53.340 for there is much more there, especially from 00:39:53.340 --> 00:39:58.170 verses 17 to 34. But remember this, the Lord's 00:39:58.170 --> 00:40:01.750 Supper is not simply a memorial, a time of remembrance. 00:40:02.190 --> 00:40:05.289 It is a participation with Christ and eating 00:40:05.289 --> 00:40:07.610 of the body and blood of the Lord from which 00:40:07.610 --> 00:40:10.110 you receive sustenance, strength, and grace. 00:40:10.309 --> 00:40:14.510 Do not take it lightly. Do not miss it whenever 00:40:14.510 --> 00:40:16.929 you feel like it. No, this is something that 00:40:16.929 --> 00:40:20.329 is important for us. Do not take it lightly. 00:40:20.489 --> 00:40:23.289 But at the same time, don't be morbid about it. 00:40:23.369 --> 00:40:26.429 It is a feast. to which Christ invites all of 00:40:26.429 --> 00:40:29.570 his children to participate, to delight in, and 00:40:29.570 --> 00:40:32.510 to rejoice in the good and great provision that 00:40:32.510 --> 00:40:35.409 he has made. So we remember Christ, but we also 00:40:35.409 --> 00:40:40.510 delight in him. Thirdly, do not privatize the 00:40:40.510 --> 00:40:43.250 Lord's Supper, that it is just between you and 00:40:43.250 --> 00:40:48.250 God. No, it is a participation with Jesus, but 00:40:48.250 --> 00:40:51.769 it's also with his people. It's corporate in 00:40:51.769 --> 00:40:55.940 nature. It's not individual. Together as a body. 00:40:56.179 --> 00:41:00.119 Number four. Why would we be satisfied or hunger? 00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:05.099 For the dregs of depravity or of false worship. 00:41:05.340 --> 00:41:08.800 Of bondage, demonic possession or oppression. 00:41:09.179 --> 00:41:13.239 When we can feed on Christ. When we are united 00:41:13.239 --> 00:41:17.239 together with him by the Holy Spirit. And we 00:41:17.239 --> 00:41:20.460 rejoice with him and we are united with him in 00:41:20.460 --> 00:41:23.000 the sacraments through faith and experience and 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:26.860 wonderful fellowship and koinonia with him and 00:41:26.860 --> 00:41:30.219 with his people. So let us then rejoice in this 00:41:30.219 --> 00:41:32.380 great salvation that Christ has wrought in us. 00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:35.340 Let us rejoice in the means of grace and let 00:41:35.340 --> 00:41:37.880 us feed on him spiritually and receive all of 00:41:37.880 --> 00:41:41.019 his benefits. May the grace of our Lord Jesus 00:41:41.019 --> 00:41:43.960 Christ and the love of God and the communion 00:41:43.960 --> 00:41:47.619 of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. And 00:41:47.619 --> 00:41:48.039 let's pray.