“Watch Yourself”

If the Lord’s people would please
take their Bibles and turn to First Corinthians chapter 10. Once again, First Corinthians
chapter 10. We resume our consideration of
this great chapter in this very important epistle This chapter,
as we’ve already seen, serves as the latter bookend for Paul’s
impressive discussion of idolatry. The former bookend, chapter eight,
is where this discussion began in a matter introduced by a discussion
about meat offered to idols. And when we first read it, we
thought this has nothing to do with us. But that issue was only
the more obvious of Paul’s concerns in these three chapters. And
so just as chapter nine gave us additional insight into the
things pertaining to idolatry, namely an urgent call to self-denial. So here in chapter 10, while
the subject generally is still the same, Paul broadens his scope
here in order to address the enduring prevalence of idolatry
together with a warning against complacency. The fact that Paul
has invested three chapters of Holy Scripture in order to address
this matter ought to be observed by us as a perpetual warning
to the church about the seriousness of this issue of idolatry. It
was not just a first century Corinth concern. And it was not just a matter
of the exercise of some favorite Christian liberty. Meat offered
to idols there in Corinth. Rather, Paul was concerned about
the Corinthians’ selfishness. He was concerned about their
sinful indulgence. And he was concerned about their
stubborn inflexibility toward one another. Those are serious
concerns. And that attitude of heart did
not perish with the Corinthians. It’s prevalent among us as well.
And so Paul addresses yet another matter related to the issue of
idolatry here in chapter 10, that of a carelessness that is
born out of self-confidence. The Corinthians were carrying
themselves as those who were incapable of sinning, or at least
nothing as severe as what Israel had done. Paul argues and illustrates
that, and thereby proves otherwise, that Israel’s mistakes, the craving
for evil things, idolatry, immorality, tempting the Lord, grumbling.
Those were not sins exclusive to Israel. These are the common
and recurring sins of God’s people against Him. They are woven into
the fabric of our humanity, as Paul will show. We might even
say that we are sinfully inclined to these things. Not only were
the Corinthians not impervious to the insidious and harmful
effects of sin, they were actually predisposed to them. And so are we. And just as Paul wanted to caution
the Corinthians about the wiles and dangers of sin, his message
is for us as well. Israel sinned against the light
of all of God’s manifestations of glory. And so can we. Paul is saying that even though
we too have been treated to the marvelous grace of God, we too
may stumble and fall. We too may bring ourselves serious
consequences thereby. And just as Paul warns the Corinthians
about reckless complacency, he no doubt warns us as well
that we must not become complacent. We must not become casual about
our own spiritual responsibilities. This life, as Paul would urge,
is a spiritual war. And as such, we must be wary
about temptation. in every area of our life, theologically,
relationally, spiritually, physically, all of it. Sin is ever lurking
around every corner from adultery to the abuse of some liberty
to dabbling in some errant teaching. It’s all out there. Sin does not just happen as we
have shown in previous weeks. People don’t just suddenly fall
into transgressions like adultery or substance abuse or the dishonor
of the Lord in some way. Those things don’t just happen. We wade in slowly and with an
overactive confidence in our own ability to somehow remain
steadfast. This is Paul’s subject in 1 Corinthians
chapter 10. And for our purposes today, I
want to take just the first 14 verses so that we can recall
where Paul has been and see where he leads us this morning. 1 Corinthians
10, beginning in verse one. For I do not want you to be unaware,
brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all
passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food,
and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking
from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.
Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not well pleased. for they were laid low in the
wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us,
so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do
not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, the people
sat down to eat and drink and stood up to play. Nor let us
act immorally as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in one day. nor let us try the Lord, as some
of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents, nor grumble,
as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now
these things happened to them as an example, and they were
written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages
have come. Therefore, let him who thinks
he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken
you, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but
with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that
you will be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from
idolatry.” Several weeks ago, if you were
with us, you know that we considered the opening of this chapter as
part of Paul’s ongoing discussion of idolatry and its trappings. In our consideration of those
first five verses, we observed Israel’s squandered privileges,
that God had lavished Israel with a great outpouring of spiritual
benefits, amazing and miraculous divine manifestations intended
by God as faith builders for His people. The glory cloud that
led Israel through the desert, the miraculous incident at the
Red Sea, in which God divided it, and through which Israel
passed, even while Pharaoh’s army was drowned. God’s gracious
provision of spiritual food, as Paul calls it manna and quail,
divinely provided sustenance, and then wondrously supplied
water. what Paul appropriately calls
spiritual drink. All of those amazing manifestations
of God’s power, and yet Israel was not led to a greater faithfulness. Instead they squandered those
manifestations right there on the desert. And we knew something
had happened there in the white space between verses four and
five. We’re just not told what happened
immediately. We know that something happened,
otherwise verse five would make no sense at all. Because verse
five speaks of God’s great displeasure with Israel’s misuse, abuse of
those spiritual benefits. It’s an uncomfortable transition
for sure. I called it a gap of implication. It’s implied there. We know something
happened because verse five tells us that God was not well pleased. Now because of that, most of
them, that is all but two, died in the wilderness. They were
laid low. Well, Now two weeks ago we slid into verses 6 and
7, 6 through 11 rather, and those verses filled that information
gap between verses 4 and 5, didn’t they? These verses explain to
us why God was so displeased with Israel. They remind us of
what happened. God had blessed Israel with all
these amazing privileges, the cloud, the sea, the manna, the
water. because he had an expectation
of faithfulness from his people. But Israel wasted those divine
benefits. They did not yield their desired
fruit. And so verses six through 11
supply what is not only implied in the white space between verses
four and five. I titled verses six through 11,
a yearning for wickedness. Isn’t that distasteful? Isn’t
that shocking that an entire nation would have a yearning,
a desire for wickedness? And I did so because here Paul
details this nation’s persistent longing for sinful things. Paul notes four specific occasions
of Israel’s sin there in verses six through 11. Idolatry is outlined
in verse seven. Immorality is discussed in verse
eight. Trying or testing the Lord and
his patience pointed out in verse nine. And then grumbling featured
in verse 10. All of those things were great
offenses to the Lord. And Paul notes specifically in
verse 11 that they were chronicled for our benefit. They were written
for our instruction. Well, we might come away asking
to what end? What is it that we are expected
to do with these reminders? These things, as Paul refers
to them with an obvious disdain, they happened not only for the
Israelites, not only for the Corinthians, not only for all
the first century believers to whom Paul writes, they are for
us as well. And we do well to ponder why
is it that these incidents were recorded? Why is it that they
were provided for us? What lessons are there to be
gleaned? What common pitfalls are there
to avoid? If we’re wise, we will learn
from Israel’s foolish mistakes, observing their ways and their
errors, as a motivation to our own steps and to amending our
own ways by God’s grace. Because if we don’t address them,
you can be sure God will. Maybe we haven’t observed a glory
cloud as Israel did or seen the sea part, but we have seen the
almighty power of God at work in the most difficult place on
earth. the human heart, our own human
hearts. We’ve truly enjoyed God’s divine
blessings. We were brought to repentance
and faith. We were indwelled by the spirit
of God. We have available to us at any
time God’s inspired word. And so for us to now crave the
things that Israel did would be no less sinful. We must watch
for and mortify every trace of sin. And with that, Paul gently
leads us, as it were, by the hand and graciously applies the
potential of transgressing just like Israel did. Paul gives us
in verses 12 through 14 three cautions, three warnings as he
applies Israel’s mistakes to us. And he gives us practical
lessons from these transgressions. The first of which we find in
verse 12. First of all, he gives us an
exhortation to the watchfulness for sin. An exhortation to the
watchfulness of sin. Verse 12 just says, therefore,
let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. It’s here in verse 12 that Paul
brings this whole discussion from verse 1 through 11. He brings
it home to us. He begins to draw some conclusions,
to make application. And we know that by his choice
of the very first word, therefore. Paul is turning the corner from
his mournful recounting of Israel’s squandered blessings and their
sinful examples, He’s turning the corner to a practical application
for all future believers. The Corinthians, yes, but also
us. And the first of three things
about which Paul will exhort us here in this section is that
we better watch ourselves. He means this literally. Take
heed as it’s translated in the New American, We’ll come back
to that specific admonition in just a moment. But first I’d
like you to notice to whom this admonition is given. It’s addressed
to him who thinks he stands. Well, that certainly describes
the Corinthians, doesn’t it? We’ve seen Paul challenge the
fruit of pride in them again and again in this epistle. Here,
it’s faulty thinking that Paul is addressing. They think that
they are able to remain standing by their own strength. And we’ve
seen the Corinthian believers were complacent. They were overconfident
with regard to the temptations that were all around them. They
were presumptuous about their own ability and strength. They
were casual about their Christianity. But as we think of it, all of
that well describes us too, doesn’t it? After all, we had to even
press ourselves into this discussion about idolatry because it seems
so foreign and therefore impossible for us to be tempted in these
things. Me, offered to idols? But as
we’ve seen in recent weeks, we are susceptible to temptations
in this realm. We can understand and even empathize
with the Corinthians now living in this heathen city that was
very much given over to idolatry of all kinds. To them, this warning
would not have been hypothetical. But to us, we’re very far removed from the
overt temptations that those Christians faced And we might
even be tempted to conclude that idolatry is a thing of the past.
But idolatry is not just about statues and temples and attempted
worship of a false god. Truly, idolatry is much more
prevalent than that. We were reminded that idolatry
is anything, anything by which we could be enticed to love more
than God Himself. And now we see that idols are
plentiful, aren’t they? Whether it’s a person, or a hobby,
or a lifestyle, or a reputation, or some unbiblical idea, or some
earthly image, or object, or a possession, or a bank account,
or a lifelong dream, or some passion. Anything that we could
ever be tempted to love more than God Himself is an idol. And now we see that this entire
exhortation, chapters 8 through 10, is very much for us. These
things were written for our instruction. I would even go so far as to
say, if anything, we are more complacent in our faith than
were the Corinthians. We are more overconfident in
our own ability. We are more casual about spiritual
things. We are more presumptuous about
grace. And therefore we are more susceptible
to falling than even the Corinthians were. And so now let’s consider
Paul’s very specific admonition here. Let him who thinks he stands
take heed. It’s interesting, this word is
a simple one in the Greek. It just means to see or to look. Kind of funny now, but this is
one of the first Greek words a seminary student learns, blepo. Most often it’s translated much
more blandly, looking or seeing, but frequently in scripture,
It takes a more alarming tone in the imperative. Look, see. In the Gospel of Matthew, it’s
translated, see to it that no one misleads you, Matthew 24.
The Gospel of Mark, particularly, the author makes regular use
of the imperative form of this word. translated variously, take
care in 424, beware in 815, see to it 1305, be on your guard
1309, take heed 1323. Paul also makes much use of this
very word in the imperative, sometimes more mildly, consider
your calling, brethren. First Corinthians 126. Be careful
in 310. In Ephesians 515, Paul says,
be careful how you walk. Take care, Paul says in 8-9. Take care that this Christian
liberty of yours does not become a stumbling block to your brother.
In 8, 9, pardon me, in Ephesians 5, 15, he says, take care that
you are not consumed by one another in your little church squabbles.
Beware, Paul says to the Philippians, beware of the dogs, beware of
the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision. In Colossians
chapter two, he says, see to it, look after it, make sure
this happens. And so Paul likewise says here,
regardless of how it’s translated, take heed, watch, be careful,
beware. It’s as if Paul says you are
on very thin ice. Because of that, we have to be
watchful. Peter was a man such as us, right? And he too boasted
of an inherent ability, remember, to remain true to the Lord. I
will never fall away, Peter boasted, even in the face
of a military threat. But Peter failed. No matter how
strong you might feel, no matter how faithful you’ve been throughout
your Christian history, no matter what other battles you’ve won
by God’s grace, we have need of diligent watchfulness over
our lives. And the caution here is very
stark. The Christian must take heed
that he does not fall. And in the case of Israel, They
were being liberated from an earthly bondage, a bondage to
Pharaoh, a visible foe with visible enemies. But our bondage, our
bondage was spiritual in nature, the sin and the devil, neither
of whom we can see. How much more watchful must we
be of falling to an enemy that we can’t even see? There is inherent
danger in thinking that we are too strong to fall, too strong
to fail. It leads to a proud carelessness
on our part. This fall to which Paul refers
points to a catastrophic fall, a fall into some sin together
with the attending consequences. In the case of the Corinthians,
Perhaps there were some who thought that eating meat on the grounds
of the temple was not such a big deal, certainly not forbidden. And in time, the problem is that
they might be drawn into an actual occasion of worship. Why don’t
you just step in the temple with me? What could be the harm, right? Wrong. At minimum, this fall was in
reference to any of the evil things mentioned back in verse
six. idolatry, immorality, trying the Lord, grumbling. We are susceptible
to any and all of those, and so we must watch. The great
apostle Paul was no fool. He was not content with his own
strength for spiritual protection. as he admonished the Ephesian
believers in chapter six of his epistle to them, put on the full
armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against
the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers,
against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual
forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, Therefore, take up the
full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the
evil day and having done everything to stand firm. You don’t stand
firm on your own power or strength. It’s only by the grace of God
and only by the weaponry that God provides and the defenses. But as certain As some of these
temptations are for us as believers, they’re going to come. As certain
as they are, they are also common. This is Paul’s second caution.
We find it in verse 13. Not only an exhortation to a
watchfulness of sin, but an exhortation about the familiarity of sin.
Look at verse 13, if you would, please. No temptation has overtaken
you, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, who
will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but
with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that
you will be able to endure it. These temptations, whatever the
temptations the Corinthians faced in the past or will face in the
future, all of the things against which Paul has cautioned in this
section, nothing new, nothing new. There was nothing extraordinary
about these trials. They are common to man, as Paul
says. Whatever they’ve been through,
whatever they’re going through currently, whatever they’ll face
in the future, other believers have had to face. Our situation
is no different. There’s a sad and I would say
sordid mood that oftentimes overtakes us as Christians in the midst
of some temptation, some trial. We have this tendency to think
and to act as if nobody in the history of the world has ever
faced anything like what we’re facing. Am I the only one? It’s not true. Paul slams the
door tight on such thinking. No temptation, he says. There is no temptation that we
have faced or ever will face that believers before us have
not already faced. They are, as Paul terms it here,
common to man. The writer of Ecclesiastes said,
there’s nothing new under the sun, right? Not even those areas
and means by which we may be tempted. The devil has a full
arsenal for tempting you, but there’s nothing new. They’re
common. And this word, as the NAS has
it, common is a supplied word. It’s a feature of translation.
Literally, the word is anthropinos. You heard it. It’s from where
we get our word anthropology. It refers to things having to
do with man. That is humanity. They are things
that are inherently human. They are part of our human nature,
our human experience. These are sins that are fitted
to our human nature. And believe me, the devil knows
exactly how you’re made. He knows exactly how to get at
you. In his use of it, Paul uses this
word to refer to human hands, 1725 of Acts, human terms, Romans
619, and this particular letter, a human court. And so here, when
Paul uses this word, he says that these temptations are just
part of the human challenge. In simple terms, these things
are not unique. But whereas they are not unique,
they are in fact not necessary. We don’t have to sin. Because
what Paul goes on to say that God is faithful, God being faithful,
God will do whatever God says He will do. He never backs out
of a promise. He never forgets an agreement.
Deuteronomy 7, 9 says of God, he is God, the faithful God who
keeps his covenant and loving kindness to a thousandth generation
to those who love him and keep his commandments. God is faithful. God never fails to fulfill his
word. He’s absolutely reliable. He will always be reliable and
faithful to fulfill his promises and carry out his warnings. And
in the case before us, Paul says that God is faithful, who will
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But with the
temptation will provide the way of escape also. He tells us several
important things here in this verse. You’ve already heard them.
Likely anticipating and eagerly awaiting an explanation here.
The first thing that he tells us with regard to sinful temptations,
those common to our human experience, he will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able. God knows our frame. God knows our limits. He knows our strengths. He knows
our weaknesses. God does not overwhelm a weaker
brother with an overwhelming trial in order to ruin him. One
of the indicators of God’s love for a stronger child of God is
the severity of the trials that God allows into their life. They’re
able. God knows their frame. God measures
these trials accordingly. And God may either give grace
for the trial, or if the trial does prove to be too great, and
the believer begins to fail, God may bring the trial to an
end altogether. God is faithful. But many of
us, in a forlorn, defeatist attitude, might think to contend with this
statement. If God will not allow me to be
tempted beyond what I am able, how is it then that I so often
succumb to sinful temptations? The scenario is not God’s fault.
James has it very clearly, doesn’t he? James chapter one, let no
one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God
cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when
he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust
has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished,
it brings forth death. The sin is our part. God does
not tempt people to sin. God does, however, test our fidelity
to him. And regarding sin, he does allow
us to be tempted even by the devil himself. Job, you remember,
was just such a case in a test of his loyalty to God. David,
on the other hand, faced a temptation to sin, like the numbering of
his troops in which he failed miserably, in which God used
in turn both to break and to humble David, to draw him into
a closer relationship with himself. God, either way, Whether it’s a testing
of our loyalty and devotion to God, or whether it’s a temptation
to sin by the devil himself, God does provide a way of escape. He does not allow us to be tempted
beyond what we’re able to bear. In the end, even if it’s only
by God’s grace that we do not give in to temptation, in every
instance that we face it. There’s another important thing
that Paul communicates here in verse 13. With the temptation,
he will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able
to endure it. This is great news. We don’t
have to sin. With any and every temptation,
there’s a back door. There’s a way out. There’s a
way of escape, Paul calls it. The escape is from every temptation
to sin itself. We may be greatly burdened. We
may be sweating bullets in a particular situation. We may be under great
temptation, heavy pressure to give in, but we don’t have to sin. We
never have to sin. God’s grace will enable us to
endure the temptation so that transgression is not inevitable. This word is translated beautifully
in a similar context in first Peter. Speaking of our earthly
trials, Peter says that this finds favor if for the sake of
conscience toward God, a person bears up under sorrows when suffering
unjustly. So when Paul uses the word here
in 1 Corinthians, he’s not speaking of a complete removal of the
temptation or trial, but the grace to bear up, the grace to
endure it without sinning so as to bring God glory. I’ve shared this before, but
I love the way the older confessions have it. They talk about this
process. Listen carefully. The most wise,
righteous, and gracious God leaves his own children. Now, bear with
me. I do not believe that God forsakes
us ever. If we are in Christ, we are in
Christ forever. But listen carefully, because
there are a few qualifiers here. The most wise, righteous, and
gracious God oftentimes leaves for a season, his own children
to manifold temptations. This is what you want? He leaves
us to those things. This is what we desire? He leaves
us to those things. It’s often. We look all about,
we’re looking for something other than God. We see it, we want
it. And God leaves us to it. He doesn’t
abandon us altogether. He doesn’t forsake us. He has
a purpose in this. The most wise, righteous, and
gracious God oftentimes leaves for a season His own children
to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts. Remember when I said it’s in
us? It’s in us. We want what we want. Not what
God wants. Why would God do this? Why would
God leave his own children to these temptations? Listen carefully. I love this part. He leaves his
own children to manifold temptations to chastise them for their former
sins. God is correcting you even in
the course of your sin. or to reveal to them the hidden
strength of corruption. Maybe, just maybe, like the Corinthians,
they were overconfident. Maybe they didn’t realize how
corrupt their own human heart was. To chastise them for their
former sins, to reveal to them the hidden strength of corruption,
the deceitfulness of their own hearts. Why? That they may be
humbled. Do you pray for that prayer?
Then get ready to be tempted. Do you desire to be humbled?
We should. Then get ready to face temptation
and trial and to realize that you’re not so good as you thought
you were. You’re not so impervious to sin as you thought you were. to raise them to a more close
and constant dependence for their support upon himself. God wants
to draw you nearer to himself. And so he allows trials and temptations
to come into your life so that you can see how weak you are,
so that you can see how greatly you need him. and to make them
more watchful against all future occasions of sin. That’s the
purpose of this passage, isn’t it? Take heed, be watchful. Well, there’s a third point that
Paul makes. We need to watch ourselves. In
this application of Israel’s mistakes, These practical lessons,
He gives us not only an exhortation to the watchfulness of sin and
an exhortation to the familiarity of sin, but thirdly, an exhortation
to the avoidance of sin. You want to be done with trials? Good, this one’s for you. Therefore,
my beloved, flee from idolatry. There’s our word again. Therefore,
Paul begins by drawing a conclusion of all that he said in verses
12 and 13. And it is to this, his beloved
brothers, that he makes his appeal. Isn’t that beautiful? In Paul’s
last recorded earthly words to young Timothy, he urges Timothy
to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
It’s so good always to see that Paul is one that lives out his
admonitions, things that he says to other people, because it was
out of a heart of genuine love here that he provided the Corinthians
these very strong exhortations. This is his final but vital piece
of counsel The final lesson gleaned from Israel’s terrible mistakes.
Therefore, my beloved, flee. This is such simple advice, isn’t
it? But it’s advice, though often provided, is rarely put to use. Flee. Avoid the situation altogether. Don’t put yourself in that predicament. In the case of the Corinthians,
they didn’t even see, or if they did, they refused to acknowledge
the deadliness of the idolatry with which they were flirting,
with which they were exposing themselves and others in dabbling
in these feasts. Let me give you one close example. Most of you know I was raised
in the Roman Catholic Church. before I came to Christ. And
I’ve had occasion since to return and to attend Roman Catholic
funerals. Those services, if you’re unfamiliar
with them, come complete with the celebration of communion. And there the believer is faced
with a dilemma. whether or not to partake in
communion in that setting. And most people that I’ve interacted
with, most evangelical believers would say, well, after all, at
the end of the day, it is still communion. Not in the Catholic
church, it’s not. If we know the meaning of the
communion in the Catholic church, the bread and the cup literally
become the body and blood of Christ. and that celebration
of communion becomes a re-sacrifice of Christ on the altar. Are you
prepared to do that? So that if one knows the nature
of communion, they cannot possibly partake in a Roman Catholic funeral. They can’t do it with good conscience.
For the Corinthians, refusing to have anything to do with idol
feasts would have immediately set them apart completely from
their fellow citizens. Everybody participated in this.
But for some, the desire to blend in or the desire to maintain
some kind of social standing, it was too great. And so while
they may not have participated fully in the idolatry, neither
were they separate and distinct. No wonder Paul has spent three
full chapters on this matter. Surely he knew that setting aside
these so-called liberties was the most challenging sacrifice
of all for Christians. You see? a lot of times out of
our fuzzy desire to avoid any hint of legalism, right? We have a tendency to be quite
liberal with our Christian liberties. We so want to blend in with the
world. We so want to see not how far we can stay away from
sin, but to see how close we can get without getting burned. This is not Paul’s advice. His advice is to flee altogether,
especially if you end up in a predicament with some familiar temptation
presenting itself as an ugly and troublesome foe. Run, he
says, do not walk, flee, don’t linger. Verse 13, Paul spoke of a way
of escape. This is the way of escape. Flee. And this too is a regular feature
of Paul’s advice in his epistles to young Timothy. He said, have
nothing to do with worldly fables. Exit the conversation, flee. Flee immorality, 1 Corinthians
6.18. Flee from the love of money, 1 Timothy 6.11. Flee from youthful
lusts. 2 Timothy 2.22, don’t dabble, don’t
linger, flee. This is the means of enduring
some terrible trial or temptation. Don’t put yourself in that predicament,
flee. Simple advice, but sadly this
advice is rarely employed, isn’t it? And it’s of more than passing
interest here that Paul specifically admonishes flee from idolatry. And here we are face to face
with this issue once again. Does this apply to us or not?
Suddenly Paul verifies all along that ever since chapter eight,
the subject has been the dangers of idolatry. And given the overall
context, the temptations about which Paul has been speaking, It has everything to do with
the prevalent idolatry in the Corinthian region. In the case
of the Corinthians, in their libertine and overconfident mindset,
they were out to see just how close they could get to idolatry,
to the idolatrous feast. And in doing so, they were not
only disregarding their own brothers’ consciences, they were endangering
themselves. They were ripe for a fall. So is idolatry a potential problem
for us or not? Was this admonition only for
first century Corinthian Christians? By this point, I trust that we
know the answer. These things were written for
our instruction. Of course this admonition is
for us. that anything that usurps the rightful place of our love
for God himself must be considered and must be treated as an idol. Would you humble yourself before
him? Our merciful king.