“Don’t be Ignorant”
1 Cor. pt. 10
Opening Illustration: From Wingclips.com “Get Smart” Swordfish scene where he talks of being alert but ignorantly keeps running into things with the car he is driving.
Thesis: We are not to be ignorant to the truth about holy and unholy lifestyles. God will judge sin as He did in the Old Testament and He will hold us responsible for the way we act as Christians. Christians are to glorify God in everything that they do!
Scripture Text: 1 Cor. 10
1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
6Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
14Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
18Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
23“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. 24Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
25Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
27If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake—29the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? 30If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—33even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 11:1Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Introduction:
Paul opens this chapter by telling the Corinthian Christians to not be ignorant to not be ag-no-eh-o which means the following:
The Greek word for “ignorant” - ἀãíïέù, agnoeō, ag-no-eh’-o. Not to know (through lack of information or intelligence); by implication to ignore (through disinclination)—(be) ignorant (-ly), not know, not understand, unknown (From Strong’s Greek and Hebrew definitions).
The Message reads this way in verses 1-5:
Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.
Illustration: Bill Lobbs states this about being ignorant, “Let me give you an example to what I’m saying by sharing with you a story that I recently read in one of the history books in my library. I read how on July 3l, 1838 on the Island of Jamaica, a man named William Knibbs, gathered 10,000 slaves for a great praise gathering. They were celebrating the New Emancipation Proclamation Act that would abolish slavery on the island. They had built an immense coffin and into it were placed whips, branding irons, chains, fetters of all kinds, slave garments and all the things that represented the terrible slavery system that was now coming to a welcome end. At the first stroke of the midnight bell, Knibbs shouted out, "The monster is dying." At each stroke of the bell that followed this cry was repeated and the great crowd began to join in the cry. At the twelfth stoke 10,000 voices cried out, "The monster is dead, the monster is dead, let us bury him." They then screwed the coffin lid down and lowered it into a huge grave and covered it up. That night, every heart rejoiced and 10,000 voices grew hoarse, shouting and crying with joy. Once they were in bondage to slavery, but now they were free. There is a tragic side to this story. While many rejoiced in their new liberty and freedom, there were some slaves, that lived in remote areas of the island, that did not know they had legally been set free. Because they didn’t know, for many years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been made a law, they still continued to serve their slave masters. Their former masters successfully kept the news from them as long as they could. By law they had been declared free men and did not have to live as slaves any longer. However, ignorance of the truth kept them in bondage. Now let me tell you an even sadder story. Today, if we’d hear a story of something like that happening, we’d be shocked, sympathetic and even angry. But the truth is, the same type of thing is happening in our day. Jesus Christ, because of his victory against sin on the cross, has issued an Emancipation Proclamation of liberty and freedom from sin to everyone on this earth. But like some of the Jamaicans were, there are those today that just don’t understand that they no longer have to live as slaves to sin any longer, and the devil is trying to keep them in that mind set. The message of the cross is this: Satan has been defeated and sin’s penalty has been paid. We no longer have to surrender to sin or be controlled by Satan. We can belong to Jesus and live to please God.”
Contributed to sermon central by: Bill Lobbs
David from the Christian Coalition warns the USA to not be ignorant and he gives us some insight into the recent tragedies that have taken place in the USA below (I have inserted some of my own to his) to inform us – to warn us that God is trying to get the attention of the USA and we need to wake up and learn the lesson:
Many ministers today believe America is under the judgment hand of God, sighting all the awful things which have happened since Sept 11, referring to the terrorist attack, the anthrax scare and the likelihood of more in the future. Adding to that assumption there is the corporate greed with Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia and others. Then there are the wild fires all over the western United States, floods in the Midwest and various other states, droughts in others, the stock market decline, and even the Catholic Church scandal. We can also site as we did above the effects of Hurricane Katrina and many other natural disasters. We can look at inflation, the economic crisis in America and the direction of the country as a whole and see that we are moving in the wrong direction.
America is still the greatest nation in the world. But there was a time when the O.T. Israel was also a great nation. That was when they were following the Lord under the leadership of Joshua, David and Solomon. But that all changed when they decided to worship other gods and idols. America is now at that point. In the beginning our nation respected God and hated idol worship, and refused to encourage and invite the worship of any religion except that of the Bible. But that is not so today. We are now encouraging and inviting the teaching of Islam, New Age, Secular Humanism, multiculturalism and various cults in many of our public schools and colleges.
The "cultural powers that be" in our country are tolerating and promoting any kind of weirdo religion at the expense of the true God of the Bible. The Scripture is clear. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me…for I, the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love, and keep my commandments."
God’s promise to Israel was that blessing would follow them where ever they were if they would continue to obey him. "The Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail." However, He also said if they would "not hearken unto his voice" curses would come upon them and overtake them. Most of us know the story of Israel well and how they became a "stiff neck people" and paid a heavy for it.
The Word of God is challenging us today to not be ignorant – to not be uninformed – to not be those whose head is in the sand and unaware of what is happening all around us.
This last week I began reading a book by James Rutz. James wrote this book to make the Christian church aware that God is moving all across the world. His observations are a wakeup call to the American Christian and churches in America: Listen to some of his thoughts:
“Miracles are happening like popcorn starting to pop. That alone is amazing. But they are also attracting global numbers that no movement in history has ever seen. Back in 1970, the world had 71 million core apostolic, born again Christians with a vision to reach out to the world. As of mid-2000, it had 707 million. That comes to 11% of the planet. And it doesn’t even count the more than one billion Christians who are growing too slowly to fall within the fast-growing core. Their ingrown cultures, spiritual inertia, or liberal beliefs have stunted their growth. But surprisingly, it does not include North America and Europe, where the overall growth rate for Christians is zero. We’ve gotten so used to being on a no-growth treadmill that it comes as a major brainshock whenever a yankee, euro, or canuck hears these numbers for the first time (Page 8)…In any case the new realities are massive in scope. The future of your world is being written at this very hour. For instance:
• Up until 1960, Western Evangelicals outnumbered non-Western Evangelicals-mostly Latinos, blacks, and Asians-by two to one. As of 2,000, non-Westerners had shot ahead by four to one. By 2010, it will be seven to one.
• If you go through Latin America on a Sunday morning, you will now find more evangelicals than Catholics in church.
• As soon as we produce some church models that are culturally acceptable to Hindus, we could see an additional 70-100 million secret Indian Christians go public.
• There are more missionaries sent from non-Western nations than Western nations.
Are you starting to see the outline of the new world? (Pages 15-16)…God has stormed onto the scene like a tornado…By tomorrow , there will be 175,000 more Christians that there are today (Page 25)…From our vantage point in North America and Europe, where church membership is going nowhere, this sounds like a cooked-up fantasy. But it’s true. This is the biggest megashift in history. Can you think of any time when over a billion people eagerly changed their lives and loyalties in one generation? (Page 27)….There are 23 million in the U.S. who have made a conscious decision at some point to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, yet seldom go to church anymore (Page 29)….Are you ready to move up? (Page 30)…Be an overcomer. And start today (Page 39)…There’s never been a time like this. In 1960, there were 24 nonbelievers for every believer in the world. Now there are six. In 1960, even the strongest part of the church was growing as slowly as the rest of the world. Now we’re growing almost seven times as fast. Do you see the picture? Can you feel in your spirit the excitement of what the Lord is doing? Back in the golden days of early Christianity, we were outnumbered by 360 pagans for every believer. That’s pretty intimidating. Today’s 1:6 ratio of born-again believers to everyone else is much less daunting …This is the most massive event that will ever touch your life. Don’t be a spectator! (Page 41)
I add -- don’t be ignorant to what is happening in our world and get aboard -now! Don’t miss the boat by being ignorant to the truth!
T.S. – Paul is also warning the Corinthians to pay attention to History and learn the lessons from the mistakes of others like Israel and not to be ignorant about God and His judgment of sin.
I. Do not be ignorant you can make God angry and reap judgment for your sinful ways (Verses 1-6).
a. Example the Israelites in the desert.
i. God had led this nation by supernatural means from bondage to freedom. He used miracles from above to show his love and compassion for them yet – they abandoned Him for other gods – for idols and the result was their bodies were scattered all over the desert.
ii. Paul warns the Corinthian Christians to learn the history lesson here and that is that God judged the Israelites for rejecting His way and His word.
iii. The lesson here is a good start with God and deliverance does not mean we cannot fall away from God- the Israelites did.
iv. Paul tells the church here, “Don’t be ignorant, Don’t be uninformed, Don’t be misled, Don’t be foolish, Don’t be dumb.” God will hold you accountable for your choices even after salvation and if you fall into sin you will judged by God (Like the Israelites) and you could even lose your position as God’s chosen one.
b. These acts of judgment were placed in the Bible as a warning – these examples point to the fact that God will judge sin.
i. God still judges sin and we have many warnings throughout the New Testament that tells us to live a holy life.
1. Katrina: God’s Judgment on America - The hurricane was an act of God upon a sin-loving and rebellious nation. It’s a warning--and a call to repent. By David Crowe
Reprinted with permission of Restore America.
All America watched with concern--wondering what the outcome would be--as Hurricane Katrina swept through the waters of the Caribbean and slammed into the Gulf Coast states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. And now we know...or do we? The devastation of property, the disruption of commerce, the ensuing misery of tens of thousands, was reported continuously on television along with the tragic effects upon families, children, the elderly, the poor, the infirm and even those called to serve. Uncontrollable looting, murder, and rape, the ransacking of hospitals by the lawless seeking drugs--even gunshots fired at the police and emergency servers--followed the breakdown of law enforcement. Radio and television talking heads, bureaucrats, victimologists, columnists, pundits, politicians, and poor alike, all pointed fingers. As at the time of the attack on the Twin Towers, however, many thoughtful Americans are asking, "Why did this happen?" There is an answer to this question, but with the answer comes another question, whether we--and our leaders--will choose to heed it. The answer is found in understanding that man is not in control. God is! Everything in the sky, the sea and on earth is subject to His control. Psalm 107:25-33 says, "He raiseth the stormy wind which lifted up the waves of the sea...He turns rivers into a desert, and springs of water into a thirsty ground; a fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it." Was there wickedness in New Orleans, Alabama and Mississippi? Well, let’s see. There was the burgeoning Gulf Coast gambling industry, with a new casino that was to open on Labor Day weekend. But of course, what is a little gambling if it supports ’education’ and brings revenue into government coffers? And then there was the 34th Annual gay, lesbian and transgender "Southern Decadence" Labor Day gala to be held from August 31st to September 5th. Welcomed by the last three mayors and City Council, this socially and politically acceptable flaunting of depravit--that has grown each year--was expected to draw 100,000 visitors and millions of dollars to the New Orleans business community and local government. But what is a little sodomy and immorality if it brings in money to the temple and gives everyone a little fun? Further, there is the well-known corruption, drugs, and immoral playground of the French Quarter, Bourbon Street, and New Orleans itself, one of America’s wink-and-a smile getaways for fun and pagan pleasure...and more money for business and government. The Psalmist goes on to say in v. 39: "When they (the people) are diminished and bowed down through oppression, misery, and sorrow, He pours contempt upon their princes (business and government leaders), and makes them wander in a pathless waste." What Americans observed on their television sets was a stunning, even prophetic snapshot of precisely what the Psalmist--over 2000 years ago--depicted for a people who are under ungodly leadership...a window into the future of all Americans under the anti-God, morally challenged, secular princes in state, local and federal government. Far too many of our elected officials erroneously believe we can profitably engage in government-approved sin, without consequence for both the righteous and the unrighteous! Why did this happen? When a people--particularly those in positions of leadership and responsibility--scorn and reject the One to whom they will one day answer, embracing instead what He has declared wrong and abominable--for pleasure and money--God will act in judgment, using all at his disposal to accomplish His will, including the wind and the waves. Katrina was an act of God upon a sin-loving and rebellious nation, a warning to all who foolishly and arrogantly believe there is no God, and that if He did exist, "would not have done such a thing!" It is also a serious call to repent, to turn away from our wicked ways, from the heart of a loving Father. The Writer of Psalm 107 closes by saying, "Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, and consider the Loving kindness of the LORD."
o Paul is pressing the point home to this dysfunctional church about the importance of living holy, acting Christ like, the importance of being loving Jesus like Christians, the necessity of fleeing from sexual immorality and also the expectation of being the example for God in a fallen world.
T.S. – God has not changed His mind on how He will deal with sin so it’s imperative that we change our mindset, our attitudes and our lifestyles and learn the lessons from the past.
II. Do not be ignorant God demands a holy attitude and lifestyle from His followers (7-11).
a. God will judge the actions and attitudes of those who follow Him:
i. God will judge those practicing idolatry!
1. God hates idolaters, "God Makers"
2. God detests those who give glory to their man-made gods.
3. God hates traitors - God will not tolerate this evil.
4. His Word promises to deal with those who make golden cows and bow down and worship them.
a. John White states, "The misery of a Christian torn between heaven and material idols can be pitiful. Our goal in life will determine our view of life."
ii. God will judge pagan revelry – the party lifestyle!
1. Revelry – Is a party hearty mindset with no regard for God and it is the sound of defeat. Parties full of immorality, drug and alcohol abuse are the sound of defeat not victory.
iii. God will judge those who are sexually immoral!
iv. God will judge those who try to test Him!
v. God will judge those who are grumblers toward Him and His ways!
b. We in the Body of Christ need to learn the lessons from the past and heed the warnings from the Word.
i. The question arises how teachable are you?
1. Are you willing to learn the lessons from history?
ii. Many in the Body of Christ do not heed the warnings from the Scriptures and they are testing God’s word and his willingness to carry it out.
T.S – God has not changed his mind on living holy and we need to make a stand today against the temptations of the world so that God’s gets the glory.
III. Don’t be ignorant God is faithful to see us through any temptation (12-14).
a. Be careful and do not set yourself up for failure.
i. Temptation to sin is common to all.
1. No one is exempt from it!
ii. God will never allow more temptation than what He knows you can stand up against.
1. God has boundaries on how much temptation can come your way!
2. So stand firm in the Lord.
iii. When you are tempted God will always provide a way of escape.
1. The Word promises that there is always a way of escape from temptation – the decision on your part is will you take the emergency exit?
iv. Therefore we must learn to flee from sin and temptation.
1. We need to learn to run away from temptation and sin.
T.S. – God will see us through any temptation hat comes our way and make a way of escape and we also need to be aware that we cannot worship demons and God at the same time because they do not mix.
IV. Don’t be ignorant you cannot worship demons and God at the same time (15-22).
a. Flee from anything that has to do with demons.
i. Horror movies – the worship of fear which is connected to demon activity.
b. But hold onto anything that leads you closer to God.
i. Cling to it like a life preserver in the ocean.
c. Either we are 100% committed to God or we are not!
i. It’s all or nothing with God!
d. There is no luke-warmness with God it’s all or nothing!
i. Revelation 3:14-22: 14“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
1. The city of Laodicea was founded in about 261-246 B.C. probably by Antiochus II who named it after his wife who he divorced in 253 B.C. She is famous for then poisoning Antiochus.
a. It city was the county seat of its area and was located on an important travels intersection of the area. It was located on the main Highway between Ephesus and Syria. Because of its strategic position it became a great commercial and financial center especially during The Roman Empires time.
b. It evolved into a manufacturing center where it produced woolen garments made out of a local soft wool which was glossy black. In its competition with its neighbor cities Hierapolis and Closse who also produced wool but not this type they became the major producers and exporters to others. This project helped the city into economic prosperity.
c. The city was also known for its famous school of medicine. This developed from the temple, "The god of the valley". The Laodicean physicians followed the teachings of Hierophilos. He had promoted the teaching that compound diseases required compound medicines for treatment. Thomas notes, "A well known medicine developed by the physicians of this school was applied to the eyes to cure eye diseases" (298).
d. The temple of the Phrygian god "Men Karou" was the center of this city. Many of its prominent people were connected with this temple.
e. Commerce, manufacturing and medicine combined help to propel Laodicea into one of the wealthy cities of its day. Since the city was very prosperous it then created and attracted many wealthy individuals.
f. The city was once destroyed by an earthquake but received no help to rebuild because they were so wealthy.
g. The church in Laodicea was believed to have been established by Epaphras from Colossae (Col. 4:12-16).
ii. The faithful and true witness - John 14:6: "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
1. As a witness Greek word here is Martyrs -- we get our English word from this word which is martyr - which means one who has died, given up his life for the truth. There have been many martyrs through history but the Amen martyr is Christ the "Yes of God!" He is the one Faithful and True Martyr. He is the one confronting a church the church with its luke-warmness. He has never misrepresented the Truth of His message and since He is always trustworthy and faithful to truth. He now must confront a church that does not represent faithfulness and truth.
a. Interesting note since Christ’s martyrdom there has been an estimate over 40 million martyr’s to date.
i. Barna notes, "Because at least 40 million people had their faith radically challenged and they refused To back down from following Christ no matter what the cost of the relationship. To those saints, the very purpose of life was wrapped up in their understanding of the fullness of the Christian life. These martyrs viewed their relationship with Jesus Christ as one worth dying for. Their faith was more than simple series of religious truths that enabled them to gain earthly riches, to be seen in the right places at the right times or to gain new insights into human character. Their faith was the defining thread of their lives. Their refusal to renounce their faith, even at the costs of their lives, dramatically illustrates how they defined success and purpose in life" (Barna, 29).
ii. I Peter 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
iii. The ruler of God’s creation (1:14) He is the agent of God’s creation John 1:1-3; 14. It is also affirmed in Col. 1:15-20: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
iv. Many have misunderstood this text because this text clearly means Jesus is the Beginning, the Author, or Source of everything God has created and He has created all things. He is the one now addressing this church.
iii. The message to the sleeping church was to wake up or be removed forever from God.
1. Their condition is the worst of all the other churches. It’s the condition first of all of luke-warmness. Not hot! Not cold!
a. Other ways of saying this are, half-hearted, indifferent, apathetic, unenthusiastic, spiritless, lackadaisical, uninterested, inattentive, and the list could go on.
b. This church had a mediocre view of spiritual things.
i. Thomas notes this, "These people had avoided the extremes of outright spiritual destitution, but they had also avoided unrestrained spiritual fervor" (305).
c. Their commitment level was suffering from No Commitment. Someone has termed this "the Leukemia of non-commitment."
2. Lukewarm - Archaeologists have discovered some interesting facts out about this church and their water supply which can help us to understand the term lukewarm.
a. Six miles in one direction from Laodicea was the city of Hierapolis which had Hot mineral springs. These springs were useful for medicine baths. But for Laodicea a city short on water these springs did not help their need for water. The problem lied in what happened to the water as it flowed six miles to Laodicea. As this Hot Spring water flowed across the plateau to the cliffs of Laodicea it started to cool losing its heat and healing power. By the time it reached Laodicea the water was lukewarm and poisonous. Somehow after losing its heat it retained a lot of impurities which made it poisonous to drink. Therefore the city could not use this natural water supply to quench the thirst of its city’s inhabitants. It was not a blessing but really a danger for anyone who drank it.
b. Six miles in the opposite direction of Laodicea was another water source called the Springs of Denzili were icy cold water flowed. But once again as the water flowed to Laodicea and traveled 6 miles over the plateau it became lukewarm by the time it reached Laodicea. Not only was this water lukewarm but it had also picked up lime in its six mile journey causing the water to become poisonous. If someone drank it they would become very sick.
c. From these two sources we discover that when this church heard about their condition it was very severe because they were like the water. They were useless to quench people’s thirst for the Lord and give life. As a matter of fact they made the Creator sick to his stomach.
e. We are either committed to God through the Lord’s Supper or we are not!
i. God does not take halfhearted commitment.
ii. Light and darkness do not mix.
1. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18: 14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
a. Paul in his second letter to this church becomes crystal clear on the fact that God and Demons don’t hang out together!
T.S. – The Word tells us that we must be committed 100% to God and His ways and no fence playing is allowed, no playing with demons one day and then God another. It’s all or nothing so we must be informed of this and live wholeheartedly for the Lord Jesus. We also need to be aware that we cannot serve ourselves but serve and help others even at the cost of our own rights.
V. Don’t be ignorant nobody should seek his own good at the cost to someone else’s salvation (23-11:1).
a. We are to do all for the glory of God
i. This means:
1. School
2. Work
3. Service to others
4. Using our Gifts for the Kingdom
5. Using our Talents for the Lord
6. Living Life God’s way
7. Leading a Family the right way
ii. We are not to be a stumbling block for anyone!
b. We need to follow the positive example of Paul’s life and not follow the negative example of the sinful life of Israelites in the Old Testament.
Conclusion:
I. Do not be ignorant you can make God angry and reap judgment for your sinful ways (Verses 1-6).
II. Do not be ignorant God demands a holy attitude and lifestyle from His followers (7-11).
III. Don’t be ignorant God is faithful to see us through any temptation (12-14).
IV. Don’t be ignorant you cannot worship demons and God at the same time (15-22).
V. Don’t be ignorant nobody should seek his own good at the cost of someone else’s salvation (23-11:1).
Paul has warned these Christians to stay away from idol worship for the sake of their more immature brothers and sisters. He always reminds them to stay away from idol worship because of what happened to the nation of Israel when they dropped their guards and started playing with demons and God at the same time.
Paul makes it clear that they need to separate themselves from all idol worship and not be ignorant to the fact that they too could fall and ace the judgment of God for their sinful ways.
His advice is to have nothing to do with the pagan festivals, guard your hearts from sin and glorify God in all you do.
Altar Call: The challenge is don’t be ignorant learn the lessons from God! (Open up the altar for people to pray and ask for insight from God about their lives).
