Learn from the Law II
1 Corinthians 10:14-33 · Vern Peterman · Nov 1, 2009
1 & 2 Corinthians, No. 21
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926146541645

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. Let's see. We're entering a passage here. I had Wayne read kind of samplings of verses. And as we go through this, Paul says a lot of things and asks a lot of questions. So just to make sure we've got Paul's frame of mind here, we want to ask the question ourselves. So what's the issue? What's the big picture that Paul is trying to get across here? Last Sunday we drew principles from Israel's past that apply to the church. Yes, Israel's past that apply to us who are believers in Christ.

Those who are in the church from Acts 2 until the rapture, including us believers who are here this morning. But as Paul continues here, we're going to see that he does draw from the law some. But he's going to address our daily living among the Jews, the pagan Gentiles, and us who are in the church. To the end, as Wayne read for us, that God is glorified. So he addressed Israel's past in last week's passage. Today, he's going to draw from some of the things that are laid out in the Old Testament law, as well as some additional principles, all of it applicable to us.

He's got a warning here. In verses 1-13, as we saw last week, he saw that believers are warned not to be led by feelings. Now, I made the correction last week. I'll better make it again. That doesn't mean we're not supposed to have feelings. It's okay for you to have feelings. I have them too. It is not that we're supposed to ignore them or something of that sort. That's not the point.

We're not to be led by our feelings. which is and leads others to idolatry and other spiritual and moral errors. Some of the things that come up, we pointed out last week, that certainly it's fairly obvious being led by your feelings when you're having road rage is not a very good idea.

But some of the things that get passed along in the church that seem like a good thing is sometimes people will justify things by saying, I feel blessed, therefore it must be a God thing. I gave the example how Nancy and I ultimately were kind of driven by a church that insisted on saying, on singing rather, make me drunk with your Holy Spirit because the people who were singing it said that they felt blessed by it. We said I don't think that's exactly what God's Word says. Another one is I'm mad at God right now so I'm going to Uh-oh. The feelings are then driving the actions. That's a problem. That's a problem.

We point out last week, biblical faith is founded in spiritual facts. Spiritual facts from God's Word. Our faith, and we could use synonyms, belief or trust, are in those spiritual facts revealed in God's Word. Our feelings are then supported by that principle of faith in the facts. That is what's biblical.

We do have feelings, yes, but we don't put our trust in the feelings. The sin nature, and actually the world's message as well, is frequently to put our faith in the feelings. I gave the examples from a few decades back, you know, trust your feelings, Luke. How can it be wrong if it feels so right? But the reality is, while I give a decades-old example, the world has been screaming that message for decades and been telling people for a long time that feelings are what count.

Even to the point of saying that if you have feelings, they must be spiritual. By leading with feelings instead of faith in the facts, believers can get spiritually confused. I've seen situations where feelings end up dividing individual believers. I've seen situations where letting the feelings lead have divided churches. I've seen situations where feelings have led people into relationships that felt right. And I've also seen situations where the feelings have torn apart marriages that ought not to have been torn apart.

So, verses 14 through 33, Paul is going to make an appeal to the believers in Corinth to use the mind of Christ. He says, I want you to judge according to the true biblical principles. He says, I want you to judge, but I'm going to lay out the questions in front of you. Here are the things you need to consider with an implied answer. We walk by faith in the revealed spiritual facts. That's what he's wanting them to do. In fact, later on he's going to tell them, we walk by faith, not by sight. So also in these verses, he's going to address, hey, am I not free? I have freedom, don't I?

He's also going to lay out what is absolute and also what is a limitation to my behavior, even though I'm free. Even though I'm free as a believer to do all that I have liberty to do, What is the limitation to my behavior that is based on conscience, either of my own or in this particular case, those of others? Over time, it's for sure, Christians have struggled with and have been divided by matters that they've not understood very clearly. And the reason is the confusion is about what is freedom? What am I free to do? what is absolute and what's beneficial in my own life and in the life of others, whether believers or unbelievers.

So Paul is wanting to get these things clear before these Christians. He started that back in chapter 8 and he's continuing it now as we'll step over the line into chapter 11 verse 1. He's telling them that they are indeed free as believers. You have liberty as a believer. They're constrained by what's absolute and also by what's beneficial to others. So, I'm going to have this next slide and I'm going to have to explain it. Believe me, I'm going to have to explain it.

Beloved, sometimes we really need fleas. Notice that in this verse, chapter 10, verse 14, Paul calls them beloved. What he's telling them is not to come down on them with some iron fist. He is telling them that because he does love them. Now, I put this rather strangely, but you notice I spelled fleas, F-L-E-E-S, okay? I'm not talking about the kind of fleas that, you know, causes the scratching. By the way, you should see it when cows do that. I'm not talking about fleece as in wool that you get off of the sheep, okay? Not talking about those.

I am talking about fleeing. There are times and places and circumstances where Christians need to be fleeing. They need to flee. They need to run from the circumstances. Sometimes we really need those times of fleeing. We need to flee the moral and spiritual dangers. Things that we just have no business being involved in.

1 Corinthians 6.18, which we saw several chapters back, was where Paul told the believers to flee immorality. It was certainly a real hazard in their own time and also in ours. Increasingly, our culture is being pressed towards immorality of various kinds. And immorality, let's define it, is sexual relationships outside of marriage.

Interestingly enough, there are four times when Paul uses this word flee. And unlike myself, he doesn't use it in the plural. But there are four times, two of them are here in 1 Corinthians. This is the second one. Paul starts off this passage by telling them to flee idolatry. He told them first flee immorality, then he's going to tell them flee idolatry. He told Timothy to flee similar fleshly and worldly influences, and that's the other interesting part, whereas he told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians twice, flee, flee immorality, flee idolatry. He also used the other two times where he said flee with Timothy. Very interesting. There is a time for a believer to run. I'm not talking about exercise.

Those Corinthians must have been really questionable. Why? It's because we get into verses 16 through 22. Those Corinthians must have been really questionable because he asked them question after question. He wants them to understand here. In these verses, Paul asks them many questions, not because he doesn't know the answer or because he just wants them to think things over. Hey, just ponder this. but because he wants them to think through his thoughts after them.

You see, after just telling them flee immorality, he wanted to get to understand what's really going on underneath this. What's going on? And I want you to understand it and think thoughts after me here. I'm not just commanding you flee immorality and you're saying why. I want you to understand why.

If we look at these verses, one of the things we see is lots of question marks. Most of the verses have question marks there. We'll look at a couple of exceptions. He asks questions not because he wants them to be led by their feelings, he doesn't, but because he wants them to think and to judge with the mind of Christ according to the truth of God's Word. What does God's Word say? What does God's Word say? So in the end, here's what Paul is going to try to get them to understand.

Paul wants them all to see that the Lord's Table, which we'll partake of this morning together, and Israel's eating from their sacrifices, different from the Lord's Table, yeah, but a similarity, and also even the pagans eating with a sacrifice of their idols is a sharing is a sharing and a fellowship. Sharing and a fellowship. He says, look, when you're joining in with this, you're having a sharing and a fellowship with something that ought not to be there. That's why he says you guys need to run from the situation under certain circumstances.

Those are the absolutes. So we'll see the absolutes in that same passage. These are the two verses in that section that I showed you that don't have question marks. So he says, No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons.

He's giving them an insight and an understanding. If you're there in the pagan temple, joining in and sharing in the sacrifice, you're not sacrificing to God. And it's not just a piece of wood or a piece of metal you're sacrificing to demons. Is that what you want to do? He says, I think not. What are you sharing with? You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. Can you do it physically? Yes. Spiritually ought you to do it? No. That's what he's saying. And you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. What kind of sharing do you want to have take place here?

Deuteronomy 32.17 and Psalm 106.37, those verses also say that demons are behind the pagan idols. That's where Paul gets this idea. He's not the one to come up with it.

It's been said in the Old Testament for many centuries. It's easy to see how demons would be behind the idols in, for example, the Old Testament God of Molech, who required the parents to give up their firstborn child to be burned. in the hands of a molten hot set of hands of Molech. That's pretty easy to see. Well, that's demonic.

Where it is more difficult, and this is also I think where we struggle, is where it's attractive. They also had idols that were made of attractive things. Gold-plated and silver-covered. Things that looked attractive. And you look at it and you say, That can't be a demon. He says, oh yes, oh yes. But it looks so good. Still the same thing is true.

We can't get away from unbelievers or out of this present world until God calls that time. But we can decide not to share in what we shouldn't. There is a time for a believer To look at and evaluate, is this a relationship that I ought to be into? Is this a fellowship that I ought to be sharing in? Even is this a business arrangement that I ought to be stepping into? Those are things that we ought to be looking at.

And as we mentioned before, there is a time to run. There is a time to say, whoop, not this. I'm out of here. I need to leave this. This relationship is leading me away from the Lord instead of to Him. This fellowship that I am having is leading me into the hands of the world and as a manipulated person according to the flesh instead of according to the Lord. One of the points we make here, though, is not that we need to go around and make just a list of rules. That's not the point.

Paul wants us to get the point here that the absolutes come from who we are. Why do we have a sharing in the Lord? It isn't because that's just on the list of the right things to do. It's because of who we are. He started off this whole book in the first chapter, verse 30. By God's doing, you are in Christ Jesus. That's who you are. That's why these things make sense. It's not just a list of, do this, don't do that. Go here, don't go there.

But asking the question, who am I? What does God's word say I am? Who does God's word say I'm in? Certainly we could fall into a list of do's and don'ts. And as we point out here, many have fallen into that toxic trap of corrupt legalism and Paul opposed that at every turn and vigorously.

The absolutes have to do with who we are in Christ. Oh, and by the way, who he is in us. We've been identified with him in his death and burial, his resurrection, his ascension, and his seating. Who you are forever. forever has to do with that. When Scripture does present absolutes of action, things to do and not to do, the basis of those absolutes is not just a superficial list of things to do and not do, but it's all about who you are because you're in Christ and Christ is in you. It's all of grace. By the way, your placed by God in Christ Jesus. Was that your own effort? No. It was graciously done by God.

It's His work, not ours. It's not from a principle of law. You have it next in verse 23, a verse that is very similar to one also in chapter 6. In chapter 6, verse 12, this was a principle personalized, and it says, All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.

I have freedom. But I need to ask the question, is it profitable? Oh, I have freedom to do a great many things as a believer. But what's helpful? I will not be mastered by anything. I will not let something else call the shots in my life above the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

And here in chapter 10, verse 23, this is a principle generalized. He doesn't just use the first person pronouns here. All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but, and he turns a corner here, not all things edify, build up. Not all things are spiritually constructive.

6.12 ends with the issue being Christ is Lord. I won't let anything else master me because Christ is Lord. 6.23 the issue is what builds up. In 6.12 the issue is my relationship with the Lord.

In 10.23 the issue is how does it impact the body of Christ and others. Now, let's talk about our social interactions with unbelievers.

That's where Paul goes here. Paul has made it clear that participation in the pagan sacrifices is something that a believer has no place in doing. Not because he just likes lists of things to do and not do, but because of who we are. That's a kind of sharing that believers just can't be a part of. Social gatherings with unbelievers, however, are an opportunity, and we have a number of them.

One of the things that I've noticed is that if Nancy is in the grocery store line, people have this overwhelming compulsion to tell Nancy their life story. It's a tremendous opportunity. I don't know how that is. It's happened again and again. They see Nancy and they just can't help themselves. They must tell her their life story in the grocery store line before the total comes up. These interactions, however they happen, in the grocery store, line, or elsewhere, are an opportunity.

In those social gatherings with unbelievers, we ought to consider what will or will not be an impediment in their reception of the gospel, and let that consideration govern our actions. Even though we may have a freedom to do or not do certain things, we ought to, out of love, out of grace, look to the possibility we may need to restrain that freedom, step away from the freedom that we have, in view of the opportunity in front of us. From the last verses of the chapter, and we're going to step over into a bridge verse, which is chapter 11, verse 1, we'll walk through it like this. Verse 31, Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

So looking at that, all that we do here on this planet, with everything that we're called to do, it's quite possible to get ourselves focused on what we're doing here and what's happening here. And by the way, I don't think you ought to be oblivious. That's not what I'm saying. When you're driving, please drive. Please look at the road. Everybody will appreciate it, including those who are riding with you. My point, however, is that sometimes we can end up just looking spiritually at everything that's happening here on planet Earth and leave it at that.

But if you think about it, we're going to be spending eternity glorifying the Lord. And so it makes sense, why not just start now? Why not start now? We don't need to wait till then. There's a tendency among some Christians, even some of our hymns and songs, to just kind of look at, okay, someday I'll be in heaven, and that's then, and this is now, and there can easily be a disconnect. But glorifying the Lord is something that certainly we're going to spend eternity doing, but the message is it needs to start now. It makes sense that it starts now. There's no reason for that to wait until we walk through heaven's gates.

So a guiding principle in what we do and don't do is does it glorify God? Does what I'm about to eat or drink glorify God? Does the relationship that I have glorify God? Does the character of that relationship glorify God? Does the business transaction I'm about to commit to glorify God?

Verse 32, give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God. So looking at that, we have the slide titled, Give No Offense. And of course, you may be thinking of your sports team and saying, well, they don't give any offense. That's why the score is zero. That's not what we're talking about. We want to put the emphasis on the right syllable. So this principle of give no offense needs to be understood, of course.

It's not a matter of folding to everyone all the time so that you don't ruffle any feathers any time ever. Christians are not called to be all wimpy all the time. That sounds like a TV channel. Anyway, they're not called to simply raise the white flag under every and all circumstance. Oh, that guy really is a weak wimp. He doesn't stand for anything. He must be a Christian. No, that's not God's intent.

If you think about it, there are times when you must do and say things that are going to be offensive to people just to live biblically. Think of Christ coming into the temple and driving out the animals and spilling over the tables. I kind of get the impression he offended a few people in the process. Or think about Paul, as he wrote to the church at Philippi, beware of the dogs. And by the way, there were two words for dogs in the Greek language. This one isn't a pet dog. This is a mangy, wild, flea-bitten, diseased, junk-eating mutt.

Beware of the evil workers. Beware of the false circumcision. He was warning them about those who go about trying to drive people under the law. I get the impression he wasn't trying to avoid offending them. So there is a time to speak out. There is a time to say the truth and at times that will not be well accepted.

But in matters that aren't critical, in matters that don't matter, we shouldn't stand in the way of another's path to Christ. Certainly we have the freedom in things that are morally and spiritually neutral to choose all sorts of things. If you really like zoot suits, I guess you can wear zoot suits, right? You have the freedom to do that. Does anybody know what a zoot suit is? Anyway, okay. We have freedom in Christ, but we might make the choice not to do something out of love and care for the others.

In verse 32, Something else we notice is that Paul identifies the three people groups. These are the three primary people groups that we see in scripture. And that's Gentiles, Israel, and the church. And so he names them. So the first one there is Jews. And that's also known as Israel. Next, there are Gentiles.

The pattern of Paul was often to call the Gentiles simply Greeks, since that was the major Gentile group that was all around the Jews there in the Eastern Roman Empire. So he would frequently use the term Greeks or the Greek as a synonym for Gentiles. And the Church of God, which includes us here. He says, unnecessarily offend those who are Jews, don't unnecessarily offend those who are Gentiles, and don't unnecessarily offend those who are in the church.

Which is why I've changed deodorants. God has a plan in place for all three groups on into the future. And you can take a look at that in Revelation 21 and 22, the last couple of chapters there. There are supplements to that effect on the Holly Hills website. If you go right here, you can just click on materials and then click on the three people groups. If that blows your circuits, don't worry about it. We have supplements available on the right as you exit the room. Okay? All right.

Then, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved." This is talking about an appeal to unbelievers here, that they might be saved. Certainly, as a believer, we're free to do anything that is consistent with who we are in Christ. Again, the point is, who am I? But while we may be free love for them and glorifying the Lord ought to motivate us to constrain our choices in front of them in such a way that they would see in our lives no obstacle to receiving, to hearing it, or believing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And the last verse I'll point to there, which is just kind of a bridge between this chapter and the next, is chapter 11, verse 1. He says, be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. You have, as the last slide in your handout here on the back of page 2, this table which shows all the places in the New Testament epistles, mostly in the letters of Paul. where the word for imitate or the word for example is used. In a few places both of them are used in the same passage or verse. And so here we are the second time in 1st Corinthians where this is given. Now one of the important things, imitating Paul or Christ is not an acting job. This isn't a matter of, you know, let's see if I can act like Jesus. What would Jesus do?

No, that's not the point. It's not trying externally to act like him. It's not trying externally to do that. I was in a church situation once where I recall it was fairly well noticed that some of the guys had been spending time with one of the pastors and they even developed his patterns of speaking and mannerism. And that's not really quite what we're looking for here. And I hope you don't pick up my speaking and mannerism. But anyway, it's not simply a matter of imitation and especially not superficial imitation. That's not the point.

And we hope that your life doesn't have take five, take six. There will be a lot of outtakes, right? No, this is a matter of growing in the Lord. Second Peter 3.18, but grow, which by the way is an imperative, in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It's not superficial. It's not, oh, I don't have to act like Jesus because I'm off the clock. It's a matter of growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, learning of Him so that it is not just external acting. until you finally get to the fifth take and the director says, okay, good, that's a take. It is instead a growing.

A growing in Him. A learning from Him. It's personal. You ever heard somebody say, don't take it personally? Well, this you most certainly should take personally. Growing in the Lord. Learning from Him. as you behold him, in your relationship with him, in your fellowship with him. Let's pray.

Lord, as we look at this passage, Paul has laid out some real valuable truths for us impacting our life and our interaction with one another. But how neat to look kind of underneath it and to see that in the end, our behavior is based on who we are in you and our growth. Even our imitation is not superficial, but rather a matter of learning from you as we behold you, as we watch you. And Lord, we pray that you would teach us, teach us through the course of today, this week and in the weeks to come. and open our eyes to the opportunities that you lay before us until we see you face to face. In Jesus name, Amen.