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A Call To Separation

 Text: 1 Cor.10:14-22

14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

15 ¶ I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.

16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?

20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

These verses remind us that God want us to be a separated people unto Himself. We are to be completely wholly, sanctified, set apart for the use of God Himself.

Again, the issue of meat offered to idols is brought to our attention. A part of the ritual when a sacrifice was offered was to give part of the meat back to the worshiper to hold a feast. The people always felt that the particular so called "god" they were worshiping would be present and enter into the very bodies and spirits of those who partook of the meat. The sacrificial meal that followed the sacrificial offering, was regarded as something that would bring about a close bond of communion between the one worshiped and the one doing the worshiping.

The discussion and consideration of demons in the days of the early church was quite widespread. It was believed there were spirits who had something to do with the worship of God.

Every material thing was suppose to have its demon dwelling inside of it, whether it be a tree, a rock, a river, or a spring. The world to the early Greek mind was "packed" with demons.

Many Jews believed there were evil spirits who dwelt in empty houses, in the water, and in the vessels of oil they used.

They felt the demons were in sicknesses, in the air, in their rooms day and night.

The Apostle Paul called them "principalites and powers." Paul knew there was no real validity and genuineness to idols, but at the same time he recognized who was behind it all, that being the Satan. When they worshiped the false gods, they were actually guided by demon powers. Idol worship brought man into contact with demons, not with God. Meat offered to idols was really no big deal, but it had been used to serve the purposes of demons and for that reason, could be considered a polluted thing.

The main lesson is this from this passage of Scripture is this: you cannot sit at the table of demons and sit and the table of the Lord Jesus at the same time. If you are a partaker of the things of Christ by faith, there are some things that you dare not touch.

God wants His people to be separated from all form of evil and from wicked persons.

Why does God demand that of us? He does not want us to take a chance on being mislead and corrupted by the influence of people who care nothing about God. I believe that is why the whole tone of the Word of God is that there should not be an "unequal yoke."

One of the reasons why God commanded Israel to utterly destroy the wicked inhabitants when they conquered a city, was so the people of Israel would not be polluted and mislead by the heathen whose territory they were conquering.

People today are weaker today on separation from evil than we ever have been. We get so use to sin, that the strong convictions we once had in the church seem to be going out the back door. Everything that anyone wants to do today is alright. Why? We have lost sight of a holy God who wants His people to be a separate holy people.

Illustration:

I think of mighty Samson who became close to an unsaved woman, who was a heathern. It is generally understood that she was a Phillistine. The Phillistines, who were the enemies of Israel, paid her a large price to find our the secret of Samson’s strength. She had beauty, charm, mental ability, and was woman with nerve. Sampson’s downfall came because he did not find a woman of the Jews, rather, he chose a Phillistine maid. She gave his secret away. Three times Samson had deceived her about the source and secret of his strength, but finally revealed to her that he was a Nazarite, and that his unshorn hair was the secret of his great power. When he broke his covenant vows as a Nazarite, the Spirit of the Lord departed from him. The Phillistines took him, gouged out his eyes, bound him with chains, and made him grind in the prison house.

What was the Nazarite vow?

  The Pentateuch makes provision for the Nazirite vow being taken by either men or women, though the Old Testament does not record a single instance of a female Nazirite. Also, it provides only for the taking of the vow for a limited time, that is, for the case of the "Nazirite of days." No period of duration is mentioned in the Old Testament, but the Mishna, in dealing with the subject, prescribes a period of 30 days, while a double period of 60 or even a triple one of 100 days might be entered on. The conditions of Naziritism were as follows:

1- They had to be an abstention from wine and all products of the vine.
2- No hair or beard could be touched by a razor.
3- They could not touch a dead body.
4- The could not eat unclean food (cp. Judg. 13:5-7).

Due to the wrong relationships and alliances, Samson was led to the loss of power and victory with God. The same thing can happen to me and you today if we do not keep who we are and what we are to be in mind.

I am sure there are many people who have run headstrong into some relationship, without the approval of God, who wishes they had not begun the relationship in the first place. It pays to listen to the Bible and follow its teachings and principles.

Moses said unto the Lord in Ex. 33:16, " For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? [is it] not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that [are] upon the face of the earth."

Turn to Deut. 32:1-8:

1 ¶ When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

God takes HOLINESS much more serious than we do in our lives. If it took the shedding of human blood to keep His people holy, he meant for blood to be shed. That is how seriously God takes the matter of His people living and associating righteously.

When we see God’s attitude toward separation in the Old Testament, it is not difficult to understand what Paul meant when he said, "Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers"- that means in business partnerships, marriage relationships and a host of other things.

Let’s look at three main things from the passage from which we have read this evening:

A Command to Obey

A Communion to Enjoy

A Consecration to Manifest

"Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee idolatry."

Note the word "Wherefore." I was told years ago by one of my professors in college, "When you see the word "wherefore" find out what it is referring back to. I think the answer is clear.

Wherefore points back to what was previously said in the context of the chapter in focus. I believe he points specifically back to 1 Cor. 10:13-14. Look at those verses just a minute. We will be tempted to sin but God will not allows us to be tempted above our endurance level, but will with the temptation make a way to escape, that we might be able to bear it. What a joy and blessing to know God is watching over us that closely!

Let’s look at three things about this command to obey:

A.  Definition of idolatry

It was a tremendous temptation in Corinth. It was a city of idolatry. Most people in the city were non-Jews- most of them being Gentiles. There were idol temples scattered throughout the huge city of Corinth. Idolatry was a great temptation there because of the peer pressure to be involved some way in its practice.

What does that have to do with us? We are tempted to idolatry, though there are not little images that we worship around our house.

1.    Idolatry is giving to any creation or human creation, the honor or devotion which belongs to God alone.

2. Idolatry is giving human desire precedence or a greater importance than God’s will in our lives.

                    Man’s will can become an idol.

Idolatry is define as coveteousness. ( Col.3:5). To "covet" something is to desire something without due regard to the rights of others. A greedy desire to have more and to have something that belongs to someone else. The Bible says we are not to "covet" our neighbor’s wife (Ex. 20:17).

                    Illustration:

Our society has a problem with this matter. That is why a President can commit purgery and have sex with a young lady old enough to be his daughter, and many will say, do not impeach him because the economy is going so well. Our society is greedy.

                    I believe it is best seen in our lives in two ways:

Putting our will above God’s will.

                    Your will can become your God.

                    Note:

I have talked to many people as a pastor and friend through the years, advise them by saying, according to the Bible this is God’s will for you, and then heard some say, "I know, but this is what I have made up my mind I am going to do." That person’s will has become his or her idol.

Putting God as of lesser importance in your life.

To many, the Lord is not important enough to honor by coming to church more than one service a week.

Some had rather go to the neighbors house, watch television, or sleep while the service is going on at the house of the Lord.

C.  Detachment From Idolatry

We are command to "flee" idolatry. It doesn’t take a college professor to understand what the word "flee" means. It means to run from something or someone.

If you run away from someone, that means that you want nothing to do with them. You want as far away from them as you possibly can be.

                    Illustration:

I remember a boy from high school that a lot of people picked on quite often. There was one particular fellow who tried to catch him alone bully him around. You can guess what he did when it he spotted that fella around. He would always run another direction. He would "flee" from him, and make himself very detached from the location where the bully would always be after school was dismissed.

Command To Obey
II. A Communion To Enjoy (v.16-19)

Paul’s argument is this: An idol is nothing, so if you eat meat that is offered to an idol, the meat is not affected at all.

He mentions two things in verse 16-18.

First, the Lord’s Supper or what we call communion. It shows our oneness as believers and our oneness with Christ. Believers are literally a part of His spiritual body that we call "the church."

We do not run ahead of one another when we take it we to it together as a body. Everyone does not bring his or her own lunch, we partake of the same elements at the same time, showing a beautiful picture of what we are to one another and what we are in Christ.

Secondly, there is the mention of Israel partaking of the sacrifices of the alter (v.18). After the Jewish priests brought the animals to God in sacrifice, they showed they were partners with God and partook of remains from the sacrifice.

When I think of the Lord’s Supper three words stand out to me in this passage of Scripture:

A.   Blessing- "cup of blessing"v.16a