Free from Idolatry - 1 Cor. 10:14-11:1

Introduction – What a rich passage! I. Review of How We Got Here: Chpts. 8-10. A. Chapter 10 is part of a context that started back in chpt. 8. B. Some Corinthians Christians were acting unlovingly toward the brethren, particularly toward those who disagreed with them in the issue of Christian liberty. II. How Do the Sacraments, Particularly the Lord's Supper, Fit in This Whole Discussion? A. At least some of the Corinthians were trusting in their baptism and in their participation in the Lord's Supper as the basis of their qualification for heaven. B. They saw eating the bread and drinking the cup as a kind of sacramental antidote to any ill effects that might come from tasting the poison of idolatry. C. Paul challenges them by saying that this idea led to the destruction of thousands of Israelites in the wilderness, 10:1-5. D. All these things regarding what happened to the covenant people of God in the wilderness were written down so that we could learn from them and not commit the same mistake, 10:6. III. Back to the Passage and the Lord's Supper A. The Corinthians overestimated what the Lord's Supper did for them AND they underestimated what the Lord's Supper did for them. B. They failed to see that the purpose of eating the bread and drinking the cup was to share in the life of Christ and to fellowship with him as one body, 10:16-17. C. So they underestimated the purpose of the Lord's Supper, and thus its true power in the fight against idolatry and sin. IV. The Tremendous Seriousness of Such Error A. The Lord's Supper is precious beyond words as a gift from Jesus to his church not only as a reminder of his death for us, but also as an occasion when he draws near to nourish our intimacy with him and strengthen us by his shed blood and his broken body. B. When we turn it into an idolatrous exercise that encourages us to sin, we are doubly missing the blessing that it is supposed to be. C. The other mistake they made was that they underestimated the purpose of the Lord's Supper as spiritual fellowship with Christ. V. Powerful against Idolatry A. The real power of the Lord's Supper comes from its true purpose, namely, to deepen and strengthen our participation in the benefits of the cross, or to nourish our fellowship with Christ himself and each other. B. And the reason this is powerful against idolatry is given in verse 21. Conclusion – For at this table this morning you will sit with Jesus at the banquet of the benefits of his death, and such an experience dare not be profaned. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/09/free-from-idolatry-1-cor-1014-111.html

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