"Escape!"

1 Corinthians 10:14-21  "Wherefore, (DIOPER = because of this very reason)

my dearly beloved, flee (PHEUGO = escape)

from idolatry. (EIDOLOLATRAI = idolatry, worship of false gods)

[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 (KOINONIA = communion, fellowship, gathering, contribution)

of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion (KOINONIA = communion, fellowship, gathering, contribution)

 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 (ESTHIO, Present Participle = kept on eating)

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 (KOINONOS = partnership)

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."

Today we will celebrate the Lord's Table, Communion, but before we do we need to answer the question "What is 'Communion'"?  Is it merely an empty symbol, taking of soda crackers and grape juice, or is it something greater? Yes, the Lord's Table is a ritual, but it is a ritual with a very deep meaning. As we come to the Table today three things must be foremost in our minds. We must be willing to:

Let's look at these three points.

1 Corinthians 10:14-15  "Wherefore, (DIOPER = because of this very reason) my dearly beloved, flee (PHEUGO = escape)from idolatry. (EIDOLOLATRAI = idolatry, worship of false gods) [15] I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.

Paul starts this section on the Lord's Table by telling us to run or escape (PHEUGO) from idolatry, and tells us if were wise we'll listen to him. Now, I know most of you are sitting there thinking, "I'm not into idolatry. I don't have any little statues in my house that I bow down to - so this passage certainly doesn't apply to me". Yet, if you're going to understand the phrase "run from idolatry", then you need to understand it in context.

You need to understand idolatry in the context of the whole Bible. You see, God tells us over and over again that He is a jealous God. He told us that when He established the Ten Commandments, the foundational code of the Law (Exodus 20.5). God even went so far as to call Himself by the name "Jealous", SHEM QANA':

Exodus 34:14  "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God"

What does that mean when He says "I am a jealous God"? That means that God the Father wants us to recognize Him and Him alone as our Father God, God the Son wants us to recognize Him and Him alone as our Savior God, God the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize Him and Him alone as our Indwelling God. These Three, being One, are One God, and this One God demands that we live our lives according to His Will, His Plan. When we allow anything to come between us and our God YHWH then we are guilty of idolatry.

In the immediate context, in verses 7-10 the Apostle Paul explains that idolatry has a cumulative effect, idolatry leads us farther and farther away from God. It is like a trap. Read this with me:

1 Corinthians 10:7-10  "Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. [8] Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. [9]  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. [10]  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer."

Yes, the first generation of Israel started out with the idolatry - worshipping something other than Jesus - but that idolatry led to other things. Idolatry leads to:

(1) Riotous living, drunkenness, a drawing away from the Church. Now, there's nothing wrong with taking a vacation - I and my family took one this summer when I went home to see Mom and Dad. This text isn't talking about the occasional vacation - but the slow drift that leads away from proper fellowship with God. You skip Church and your quiet time with God because you're "just too tired", then the next week you skip Church and your quiet time with God because "you're just too busy". After a while you ignore more and more of your relationship with God while replacing that relationship with the world. Run from apathy and drawing away, dear believer - RUN!

(2) Sexual sinning and self love, replacing the love of Christ with cheap imitations. In Numbers 25.1-9 Israel followed after the daughters of Moab because they were beautiful. These Moabite women led the Israelites to worship Baal-peor, led the Israelites to sacrifice their children to this false God. Their lust for another and rejection of God brought a steep penalty: God destroyed the 23,000 Israelites who  rejected the love of Christ for the pleasures of Baal-peor, Satan.

(3) Tempting Christ to discipline by murmuring in His Church. In Numbers 21.6 the Israelites as they journeyed got their eyes off of God, off of Jesus, and began to murmur and complain. On that day God sent poisonous vipers into Israel to take life - yes, to take life because of the murmuring and complaining. The Israelites repented, so God told Moses to make a copper colored serpent and put it on a pole. Whoever looked at this serpent would live - if they repented. On another occasion, in Numbers 14.37, God cursed Israel for murmuring and refusing to enter His Promised Land. This Church is Jesus' Church, you are Jesus' servant, you are bought with a price. Run from the idol of murmuring, lest you be judged!
 

FORGIVENESS (OF OUR SINS) In Reader's Digest, a contributor told of an Aunt Ruby and Uncle Arnie who had adopted a baby boy after five years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive. To their surprise, a short time after the adoption, Aunt Ruby discovered she was pregnant, and she later gave birth to a boy. One day when the two boys were eight and nine years old, the teller of the story was visiting Aunt Ruby, and a woman in the neighborhood came to visit. Observing the children at play, the woman asked, "Which boy is yours, Ruby?" "Both of them," Aunt Ruby replied. The caller persisted. "But I mean, which one is adopted?" Aunt Ruby did not hesitate. In her finest hour, she looked straight at her guest and replied, "I've forgotten." When we are adopted as God's children, we quickly come to cherish our heavenly Father's forgetfulness. For he chooses to forget our sins, to forget our wayward past, and to give us the full rights of sons or daughters. He treats us as if we had never sinned. (Contemporary Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, & Writers Editor Craig Brian Larson, Baker Books, p. 13.)

1 Corinthians 10.16  "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (KOINONIA = communion, fellowship, contribution)of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion (KOINONIA = communion, fellowship, contribution) of the body of Christ?

In the early Church the Christian believers always started their services by saying, "I renounce you, Satan, with all your works and ways". Over the years we have gotten away from doing that, and I believe this has hurt the Church.

When you renounce Satan, you recognize him as the antithesis of all that you want in your life. You tell him, "Get lost - I'll have none of you". But we must not only renounce Satan, we must cling to Christ. The Lord's Table is the Christian's way of clinging to Christ.

The word "KOINONIA", translated "Communion", means many different things in the Greek. It means:

(1) To contribute to something. When we come to the Communion, we, in truth, contribute nothing to it. There is nothing good in us to make us worthy. Remember when you were a little child, you would come to the dinner table each night and food would be provided. You'd sit down and eat without thinking about it, without realizing you did nothing to contribute to the meal. You may have made the meal necessary, but you didn't contribute.

Jesus contributed to this meal, Jesus hosted this meal. The bread, unleavened, sinless, represents the sinless body of Jesus racked with pain for us. The wine, pure, represents the blood of Christ poured out in payment for our sins - for us. We did not contribute - no, we made it necessary, but do not contribute.

(2) To fellowship together. We fellowship, partner together as a Church, because we are all equally guests at this Bloody Feast. Not one of us can stand up and say, "Not I, Lord - I have no need of the Table. I am sinless, I am righteous!". No, the Table reminds us that the Host gave everything for us because we all, each and every one of us, have nothing in ourselves. We have union with God because we accept, freely, what the Host has done for us together. We will take the meal together, just as we are a Church together.
 

Running From God Several years ago an eastern paper reported this story: One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her that was driving uncomfortably close. She stepped on the gas to gain some distance from the truck, but when she sped up, the truck did too. The faster she drove, the faster the truck did. Now scared, she exited the freeway. But the truck stayed with her. The woman then turned up a main street, hoping to lose her pursuer in traffic. But the truck ran a red light and continued the chase. Reaching the point of panic, the woman whipped her car into a service station and bolted out of her auto screaming for help. The truck driver sprang from his truck and ran toward her car. Yanking the back door open, the driver pulled out a man hidden in the back seat. The woman was running from the wrong person. From his high vantage point, the truck driver had spotted a would be rapist in the woman's car. The chase was not his effort to harm her but to save her even at the cost of his own safety. Likewise, many people run from God, fearing what he might do to them. But his plans are for good not evil-to rescue us from the hidden sins that endanger our lives. (Illustrations For Preaching & Teaching Editor Craig Brian Larson, Baker Books, p. 98.)

1 Corinthians 10.17, 20-21  "For we [being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.  ... [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 (KOINONOS = partnership) 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."

Today as we come together to partake of the Table, Christ is calling us as a Church to unity in Him. Jesus once said:

Matthew 12:25  "... Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand"

When we at Okapilco Baptist Church partake of the Body, we take that Body and eat it .. together. When we at Okapilco Baptist Church partake of the Blood and drink it, we take that Blood and drink it ... together. We do this to symbolize our union with Christ and our union with one another. Paul warns us to consider "... we [being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread". We may be many, but we are One in Christ.

You cannot drink the cup of Christ and drink the cup of devils! If you have anything against your brother or sister in Christ then, right now, repent and make amends. A house divided will not stand. If you have something against a fellow member in this Church, do not partake of the Table until you make amends. If someone has something against you, go to them now and make amends.

We take the Cup and Wine together because we are One in Christ. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, accept Him today - else, do not take the Table.