THE
CRISIS OF MODERN IDOLATRY
1 Corinthians 8:1-8
June 20, 2007
Mike Matijevich
mmatevich@aol.com
Intro:
* Explosion of knowledge today… great but by itself
is not enough.
- Bible knowledge is dangerous by itself…
* Began this study 1 Corinthian with 7 challenges for
the believer…
1. The challenge of relationships… God / vertical…
others / horizontally (we all wrestle)
2. The challenge of sin- how to have victory
3. The challenge of marriage- single or married (we saw
how to deal with any situation)
Tonight another major challenge…
4. The challenge of materialism (we were on Paul's mind
when he wrote it)
Human nature has NOT changed but the things have.
* This is a hard passage UNLESS you have an idea what
was going on in Corinth.
Historical background:
(Because if you understand what is going on - you can
understand why God put the passage here.)
(So we can understand that there is a message for us today)
8:1
- People would go everyday to a temple & offer food
/ offering of some type
Made deals with meat markets to sell surplus
8:4 Why so important- issue whether believers could eat
meat offered to idols.
- Greeks believed that:
1. Demons were all @ them in the AIR
2. Their primary way to get into people was to attach
to food you ate- then they could control you
3. They devised the idea if food was brought to the temple
& dedicate it to the pagan god
2 things would happen:
1) Appeasing the pagan god
2) Purifying the food for consumption
- There were thousands of gods in Greek culture.
- If you were had a need you could go to meat market &
buy meat to offer (in a hurry)
* SO what happened in Practice?
2 extremes:
1. Legalist- enough bible to be believable- setting the
standards (suits & ties) not in the bible
There are times to dress up.
2. License- all ok,
* Important so we live by the truth of PRINCIPLE in the
bible.
** Culture changes but human nature & God's truth
does NOT change.
* The more we are committed to the bible when grey areas
come along we will better equipped…
So we can dig principles out of our TOOL box- and we can
live.
* Why we are dedicated to teaching you biblical truth
- not a bunch of rules & regulations.
Let's take
some time and deal with the real issues in chapter 8 -
toward idols
* Knowledge not the issue-
Not what they did or didn't know
Remember
1 Cor. 6:12 "All things are lawful unto me, but all
things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me,
but I will not be brought under the power of any."
* Why we live by principle not rules & regulation
(not clearly defined SIN)
* Why we live in the middle
(the issue not right or wrong, BUT does it build me up;
does it control me? Then it is sin.)
Rom. 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not meat and
drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost."
*** There
are two real issues (one we will look at next week)-
1. Love of God putting limits on us- so we do no harm
to other believers
2. Tonight, new or immature believers have two limitations
that are very real when they come into the Christian life.
1. They have incomplete knowledge 8:7a
a. So many time new people base their life on what they
feel, think or something other than what the bible teaches-
Because they have incomplete knowledge
2. They have a weak or defiled conscience. 8:7b
Truth to understand:
Although salvation is immediate, transformation is a process.
These people struggled with tradition & habits from
their past.
So today
why is this important for us?
* Idolatry is as BIG if not BIGGER today here in Las Vegas
as is was in Corinth in Paul's day.
* The only thing that has changed are their names &
the way we adore them.
* You say I haven't seen anybody bowing down to any statues
or cutting meat into three parts.
Listen to:
Eph 5:5 "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
Redefinition of IDOLATRY 21st century style… covetousness.
Col 3:5 "Mortify therefore your members which are
upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
Long biblical
word covetousness another way for today is MATERIALISM.
* Not being satisfied with what you have & thinking
by getting more you will be satisfied & fulfilled.
* Idolatry is anything or anyone that comes between us
& God.
* We have a lot of modern gods today- we don't call them
Venus or Zeus, or Jupiter…
We call them Toyota, Lexus, Dodge…
* When our quest for things becomes MORE important than
your walk with God we have lapsed into modern IDOLATRY;
we call Materialism.
* High places OT- good king came along would tear down
the high places.
* For us
today do you have any high places?
* In our church many different stages of spiritual maturity-
newer people sometimes want to go to extremes.
Because some older Christians make out like you are not
as spiritual if you don't get rid of the tv, or whatever
you struggled with and were delivered from as a new believer.
- If you had a problem with education being your god-
don't keep your kids from school, etc.
* What we
need is NOT more information but transformation…
* Paul said
in 8:1 knowledge without love promotes pride. (we have
to be careful here)
"Puffed up"- "full of air, to inflate,
to fill with pride"
Six times in NT 1 Cor 4:6, 18, 19; 5:2; 13:4; Col. 2:18
(7th 8:1 "puffeth up")
"Charity edifieth…" - "builds up"
(some thing solid) to be a house builder"
Henry, "Without holy affections all human knowledge
is worthless."
* Like talk sports radio - they know more than the ones
that played the game
* "It's not what you know but WHO you know."
8:2-3
* Knowledge ALONE is not enough!- WHO, WHO, WHO you know…
see 8:4-6
* Not the Lord's divinity, BUT the connection to God…
The POSITION not the NATURE of God.
* IN him- the Father… by him- the Son
Remember
1. TRANSFORMATION is a PROCESS…
1 Cor 8:7-8 Means we need to be patient with new believers
because they might not have as much information as we
have.
2. Most believers are coming to Christ from paganism (five
groups of people today)
We are dealing with another culture today as a church: