Verse 15, Paul says, I speak as to wise
men. Judge ye, discern, understand
what I say. Now, I've entitled this message,
A word to the wise. And I'm speaking to some people
who are wise, who have some true God-given wisdom. Anybody who
believes on Christ has some wisdom, some true wisdom. And he says,
I'm speaking to wise men. Now you judge, you discern, you
understand what I'm saying. Paul, in this passage of scripture,
is addressing the questions the Corinthians had asked him about
whether or not it was okay to eat meat that had been used in
sacrifice to pagan gods. Paul told them that there was
nothing wrong with it in and of itself, but if it would cause
their weaker brother to stumble, they should abstain from it,
and they should altogether abstain from attending feasts at pagan
rituals because it would end up as an act of idolatry, even
if you were just going for the meal. But some great and precious
principles are brought out of this subject. Let me bring out
just a few of them. Look in verse 16. He says 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? He speaks of communion
with Jesus Christ. Aren't you interested in that?
I want to have communion with Jesus Christ. He also speaks
of the union of believers together. Look in verse 17. For we being
many are one bread and one body. For we are all partakers of that
one bread, the true union of believers. Look down in verse
23. He says, All things are lawful for me, but all things are not
expedient. All things are lawful for me,
but all things edify. Not let no man seek his own,
but every man another's wealth. Now that's a command to every
believer. Here's our rule of conduct in verse 31 in this passage
of scripture. He says, whether therefore you
eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Now, there's some high and glorious
and heavenly things in this instruction regarding the eating of meats. Now, in verse 16, he says, I'm
speaking to wise men. You judge, you understand, you
discern what I'm saying. The cup of blessing. He's talking
about partaking of the Lord's table. The cup of blessing which
we bless. Is it not the communion of the
blood of Christ and the bread which we break? Is it not the
communion of the body of Christ? Now, the Lord has left us two
ordinances. As a matter of fact, in a couple of weeks, I'm going
to preach out this passage where he says, You kept the ordinances
as I delivered them to you. Two ordinances, baptism and the
Lord's Table. And in both of these ordinances,
they teach union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism speaks
of our union with Him in the sense that we're in Him. When
we go under the water, it represents we're in Him. What He did, we
did. When He died, we died. When He was raised, we were raised. It speaks of us being in Christ,
and when we take the Lord's table, it speaks of Christ being in
us. We eat the bread. It becomes a part of us. We drink
the wine. It becomes part of us. It's symbolic
of Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now the cup of blessing,
I love what Paul calls this, the cup of blessing, the wine
represents the blood of Christ and what a blessing His blood
is. His blood has washed away all
my sins. Now is that a blessing or what?
His blood makes me perfectly holy before God. His blood makes
me beautiful to God. Truly, this is a cup of blessing
that we bless or we thank God for. It's a token of communion
with the blood of Christ. The word communion means a sharing
in common. Communion. You break down the
word, it means union with. I mean, the Latin word communion,
union, com is with. Union with. It speaks of union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. The bread broken. The communion
with the body of Christ, if I'm united to him, this is why he
calls this cup of blessing, which we bless in this bread, which
we break. He talks about the communion of the blood of Christ
and the communion of the body of Christ, the sharing in common
with him. If I'm united to him, you listen
to me real carefully. I'm united to him where he is. I am. What? He is. I am. Who He is. I really am. When my name is called, He will
say, Here. That is in union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. What he did, I really did, if
I'm united to him. 1 John 4, 17. What a wonderful
verse. As he is, so are we in this world
right now. Isn't that a cup of blessing? Isn't that a blessing? As he
is, however he is, whatever he is, wherever he is, whoever he
is, as he is, so am I." Now somebody says, well, I don't understand
that. I don't either. But I believe it. I don't understand this.
I mean, there's no way I can get a hold of it intellectually,
but I believe it with all my heart. And it doesn't bother
me a bit that I don't understand it. I still believe it. Union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a cup of blessing this
is that we bless. You know, the Bible gives so
many illustrations of this. One illustration is marriage,
when he talks about the two. shall be one flesh. You said
that this is a great mystery, but I speak of certain Christ
in the church. I'm not just talking about a man and woman getting
together. I'm talking about Christ and his people actually being
one. Both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one. For the which cause, he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to call this
fellow talking to you his brother. The vine and the branches. What
a beautiful illustration of union with Christ. Where is the line
where they're separated? You can't find one, can you?
My personal favorite is Levi paid in tithes when Melchizedek
did. Scripture says that Levi paid tithes when he was yet in
the loins of his father Abraham. Whatever Christ did, when he
walked upon this earth because of union with him, when he walked
upon this earth, I walked upon this earth did. When he kept
the law, I kept the law. You've got to believe this. This
is the very hope of the gospel, isn't it? Union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Truly, it's a cup of blessing
that we bless. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
1. Here's an amazing scripture. Verse 22. He's put all things under his
feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is his body. Every individual member of the
church, every true believer is his body, the fullness of him
that filleth all in all. Now if I'm one with Christ, and
if you're one with Christ, I'm one with you, aren't I? Now this is so special. Now you've
heard preachers all the time say that the relationship with
believers is closer than the relationship between your own
flesh and blood, your own family. And everybody believes that.
That's true. But do you know why? Do you know why? It's because
believers are united together, one in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's closer than blood. That's closer than any family
relationship. truly one with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Back to our text in 1 Corinthians
10. And all this is backed up in the Old Testament He says in verse 17, for we being
many are one bread and one body, for we're all partakers of that
one body. That's talking about the union of believers with each
other. When it talks about them having all things in common,
most people look at that just as material things. And they
did have all material things in common. They sold everything
and they did that. Was that the right thing to do?
Well, evidently it was, maybe. I don't know. I know that that
church ended up being very poor afterwards. I like, I like what
one fellow, you know, people said communism came out of that,
you know, everybody's sharing one thing in common. Well, I
don't know about that. Everybody loves each other. And
I hope what, what I have is yours. And what you have is mine. I
believe there are people, I believe that I've got a lot of houses.
I believe if I'm kicked out of my house, I believe there's a
bunch of people in this room that will take me into their
own home. Love me. Having all things in common,
but that having all things in common is not really so much
talking about material things. It's talking about having Christ
in common. United to Him. One with Him. What a closeness. It is awesome just to meet with
the people of God, isn't it? It's an awesome thing. I feel
so blessed, so privileged to be able to do this. Here I am
with the children of God that I'm one with. that I'm united
to. Just as I'm united to the Lord
Jesus Christ, I'm united to you, and you're united to me. And
that's why I'm going to be very careful, by the grace of God,
how I treat you, because how I treat you is how I treat Jesus
Christ Himself. And how you treat me is how you
treat Jesus Christ Himself. That's why we ought to be very
careful with the way we treat one another. You're not talking
about just a regular person. You're talking about somebody
who's united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, Inasmuch
as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it
to me. And inasmuch as you did it not
to the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me. That's
just the truth. This is all backed up in the
Old Testament, verse 18. Behold, Israel after the flesh
are not they which eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the
altar, They ate that and became a partaker of that which was
slain on the altar. This is nothing new, Paul's saying.
It's always been taught, even in the Old Testament. You see,
our understanding of this is going to radically affect how
we view everything. You know, when we talk about
the doctrine of Christ, we talk about union with Christ, whatever
we're talking about, it's practical. It flows into our practice. If
it's not practical, it's not true. I've heard people talk,
well, that's practical doctrine, and then there's more Some other
kind of doctrine. Well, it ain't practical, it's
no good. Everything is to be put into practice. And my understanding
of union with Christ is going to radically affect how I view
you and how I treat you and how I view myself, too. You see,
it's an infinitely practical doctrine. Now, verse 19, he says,
what am I saying? What am I saying? That the idol
is anything? That which is offered to sacrifices
to idols is anything? Now, remember, he's talking about
whether or not it was OK to eat things sacrificed to idols and
whether or not it was OK to go to their feasts. He said, now,
what am I saying? That the idol is anything or
that which is offered to idols is anything? No, we know the
idol is not God. It's not a rival of God. And
the meat sacrificed to an idol is just as meat. It's nothing
more than that. I mean, what if it was sacrificed to a pagan
god? If it's a filet mignon, it still
tastes good. And what if it was used for that? It's just meat.
He said, you can eat that. There's no problem with that.
However, if it's something that offends your weaker brother,
stay away from it. Why? I mean, he's the one with
the problem, not me. I mean, he's the weaker brother.
It seems idiotic that I would have to sacrifice eating what
I want to eat just to satisfy his scruples. Well, remember
who he is. He's united to Christ. and how
you treat him and how you sacrifice for his sake is how you sacrifice
for Christ's sake. That's why this is so important,
how our attitude is about this. What say I then? That the idol
is anything and that which is offered to sacrifice the idol
is anything? No, it's nothing. But I say, let me show you what
he's saying. All things, look down in verse
23, all things are lawful for me. But all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me,
but all things are edified not. It's lawful for me to eat that
meat. It's just meat. But is it going to be beneficial? Is it going to offend my weaker
brother? Is it going to be a blessing
to them or is it going to cause him to stumble? And we're going
to look at that a little bit more in just a moment. But remember,
the idol is nothing. Verse 20. But I say that the
things which the Gentile sacrifice Now, he's talking about their
pagan feast. Now, he's not talking about just going into the grocery
store to buy some meat and wonder whether or not it was sacrificed
to idols. It doesn't make any difference whether it was or not. It's just
meat. But now he's talking about their religious worship services
in verse 20. But I say that the things with
the Gentile sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. I would not that you should have
fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the
Lord and the cup of the devils. You cannot be partaker of the
Lord's table and of the table of devils. Now, what's not according
to the truth of the gospel is not harmless. But it's demonic. I want you to chew on that. What
is not according, I don't care what kind of religious gathering
it is, what's not according to the truth of the gospel is not
harmless. It is demonic. And if I participate in that
which is contrary to the gospel, I am participating in that which
is demonic. If I go to a service, a religious
service where the gospel is not preached, you know what I'm doing?
I'm participating in demon worship. Now, that's what Paul is saying
right here. It's demonic. And he said, you can't have the
Lord's table and servants table of devils. You can't do them
both. It won't work. Oh, you can't
physically, who's going to stop you, but you can't be a partaker
of the Lord's table and the table of devils. It is impossible. He says in verse 22, do we provoke
the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? Do you
realize, do I realize that the Lord is jealous? He's jealous. You read it in the Ten Commandments
where he's given the commandments regarding idolatry and his sanction
against idolatry. He says, For the Lord thy God
is a jealous God. He is intolerant of competition,
of rivals. I know he doesn't have any competition
as far as somebody being able to beat him at. I realize that.
But he will not tolerate in his people that which is contrary
to him. Are we going to provoke him to
jealousy? He is a jealous. Are we stronger than he can we
can we deal with with him like that? Paul's saying you're crazy
to go in that direction. Verse 23. He says, all things
are lawful for me. But all things are not expedient,
I can eat that meat if I want to. But is it necessary? All things are lawful for me,
but all things edify not. Now, obviously, he does not mean
all things, period. When he says all things are lawful
for me, he's not saying, well, it's lawful for me to commit
sin. It's never lawful for me to commit sin under any circumstance. He's not saying it's lawful.
He's talking about meats sacrificed to idols. It's OK if you eat
a piece of meat that's sacrificed to idols. That's lawful. But
if it's going to cause your brother to stumble, That's not right. It's better for you to abstain
from it, not having anything to do with it. Now, may God give
us grace to have such love to each other that if what I'm doing
is going to offend you, I'm going to abstain. I'm not going to
do it. I'm going to stay away from it.
All things are lawful, but here's an example. Alcohol. Is there
anything sinful with drinking alcohol? Absolutely not. All things are lawful. You're
not committing a sin in doing something like that. But if it's
going to make your brother stumble, it's wrong. You shouldn't do
it. It becomes sin at that point.
Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. Turn back there. I want to read this whole chapter
because he's picking up in chapter 10 what he's been saying in chapter
8. He says, now as touching things
offered unto idols, we know that all, we all have knowledge. Knowledge
puffs up, makes one proud. I know I'm, I can eat that if
I want to, but charity builds up, it edifies. And if any man
thinks he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought
to know. But if any man loved God, the same is known of him.
Now as concerning, therefore, the eating of those things which
are offered in sacrifice unto idols, We know that an idol is
nothing in the world, and that it is none other God but One.
For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven
or on earth, as there be gods many and lords many, but to us
there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we
in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we
by Him. Howbeit, there is not in every
man that knowledge, for some with conscience of the idol unto
this hour, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their
conscience being weak is defiled, they think it would be sinful,
they think it would be wrong to do it. Now Paul says it's
not wrong, meek commends is not to God, for neither if we eat
are we the better, neither if we don't eat are we the worse,
but take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours becomes
a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if a man see thee
which hath knowledge, said it meet in the idol's temple, shall
not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat
those things which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge
shall thy weak brother perish, for whom Christ died when you
sinned so against the brethren and wound their weak consciences?
You sinned against Christ. Wherefore if meat make my brother
to offend, I'll eat no flesh while the world stands, lest
I make my brother to offend." May God give us that attitude,
that love to our brethren that will cause that. Look back in
1 Corinthians 10. Verse 23, All things are lawful
for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful
for me, but all things edify not." Verse 24, "...let no man
seek his own, but every man another's wealth." Now, in the context,
you want a good piece of meat? Fine. But if you eat that meat
that was sacrificed to an idol, if it will cause your brother
to stumble, don't eat it. Seek His Don't seek your own. Wouldn't it be a blessing if
all we did was seek the wealth of somebody else? We couldn't
be the loser by it. We'd be the one that would be
blessed in it to always seek the wealth of somebody else.
I pray God will make me that way because that's so foreign
to me because I seek my own wealth. I seek my own benefit. I seek
my own comfort and so on. That's so unlike the Lord Jesus
Christ. He pleased not himself. He sought to... Look on Romans
15, Romans 14 rather. No, Romans 15. We then that are strong, Romans
15 verse 1, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities
of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us
please his neighbor for his good to edification, for even Christ
pleased not himself. But as it's written, the reproaches
of them that reproach thee fell on me. We seek our own wealth and will
become truly poverty stricken. We seek the wealth of others,
we'll be truly rich. Now it says in verse 25, whatsoever
is sold in the shambles, that's the meat market, that eat, asking
no question for conscience sake, don't try to figure out whether
or not it was food that was offered to an idol. For the earth is
the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. If any of them that
believe not, bid you to a feast, a dinner supper of some kind,
and you be disposed to go whatsoever is set before you eat, asking
no question for conscience sake, they're having some kind of meal,
and you sit down with them. Don't ask whether or not this
meat was offered to an idol, because it doesn't make any difference.
It's just meat. If you're disposed to go, go
eat it and be thankful for it. But If any man saying to you,
this is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake
that showed it and for conscience sake. For the earth is the Lord
and the fullness thereof. Conscience, I say, not thine
own, but of the other. For why is my liberty judged
of another man's conscience? If I'm right and he's wrong,
why should I subject myself to his stupid scruples? Because
you love him. That's the answer. Because he's
united to Christ. because he's a part of the body
of Christ. And how you treat that brother is how you treat
Christ himself. And therefore, I'm to seek the
other's wealth. May God give us grace to do this,
not just go over the truthful meaning of this passage of Scripture,
but actually give us grace truly to enter into this, to be servants
one to another, to seek other's wealth rather than our own. Verse
30, for if I by grace be a partaker, Why am I even spoken of for that
which I give thanks? Why give somebody the opportunity
to speak evil of your liberty? Now, here's our rule of conduct.
I pray God will emblazon this on our hearts, whether therefore
you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of
God. Now, here's my rule of conduct. Do you eat? Do it to the glory
of God. Do you abstain from eating? Do
it to the glory of God. Whatever you do, make God's glory
your aim. Nothing is mundane. Isn't that wonderful? That puts
purpose to everything I do. If I'm washing the dishes, I
do that every now and then. I really do, but if I've washed
the dishes, I'm to do that to the glory of God. There's no
such thing as anything mundane in the life of a believer. Anything
we do is to the glory of God. I want to bear fruit to the glory
of God. By this shall all men know you're
my disciples, by your love for one another. Here is my Father
glorified that you bear much fruit, the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. I want to be a husband for the glory of God. I want
to be everything a husband is called to be to the glory of
God. I want to be your friend to the
glory of God. I want to do everything I do
to the glory of God. And if that means I need to be
in a hospital bed, so be it if it glorifies God. I want to be
used in whatever capacity glorifies Him. That means if He puts me
in obscurity, if He puts me in poverty, if He puts me in sickness.
Now, I don't want that. Don't get me wrong. I'm not asking
for anything like that. But whatever the Lord does with
me, that's just fine as long as He's glorified. You believe
that, don't you? You feel that way about yourself.
If He's glorified, I'm plumb satisfied, I'm happy with whatever
takes place. if he's glorified. Now, that
gives you a reason to live. That gives you a purpose. Whether
you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of
God. Well, where can I start living
for God's glory? Let me show you where to begin.
Turn back to 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 29, He's done all these things that
no flesh should glory in His presence, but of Him are you
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it's written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Can you glory in
the Lord as your wisdom and your righteousness and your holiness
before God? and your redemption. Do you know
if you do that, you're glorying in the Lord. You're actually
bringing glory to God and that's what I want to do. I want to
glorify God. If I'm seeking to be happy, I'm going the wrong direction. I like what somebody said to
Walter Groover after he'd been preaching many years in Mexico. And they said, Walter, are you
happy? And he said, what's that got to do with anything? I'm
where the Lord's put me. What else is needed? Can you
be satisfied with that? He says in our text in first
Corinthians 10. Verse 32, give none offense, neither to
the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God, even
as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit,
but the profit of many that they might be saved. Don't offend
anybody. How many times have we offended
people in a wrong way? I've done it plenty. I've been
in arguments with people. I've done that plenty. But he says, don't offend people.
Don't offend the Jews. Don't offend the Gentiles. Don't
offend the church of God. Live a life that doesn't offend
people. And Paul says, I'm the example,
even as I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit,
the profit of many that they might be saved. Oh, that God
would make you and I just like this, denying ourselves, seeking
the profit of many, that they might be saved. You see, the
glory of God is tied up with the salvation of souls. Now,
I want every one of us to be zealous of the salvation of men
and women for the glory of God. I want that for myself, I want
that for you, I want that for this church. To actually be zealous,
to spread the gospel, to preach the gospel in this community,
in this generation, for the glory of God. You know, if God can
be glorified, He's going to do something. May God make us consumed
with His glory. You know, an understanding of
union with Christ makes a man live like that. It's going to affect every relationship
you have. It's going to affect the way
you think. It's going to affect the way you deal with people
and view people in the world. It's going to affect the way
you deal with your weaker brothers who have scruples that they haven't
been grounded in the gospel. One day they will be, so you'll
go ahead and deny yourself. Your understanding and my understanding
of union with Christ is going to affect everything. This is the most practical doctrine
in the world, isn't it? It's not just some kind of pie
in the sky hype. It affects everything. May God
enable us to be more and more grounded. in this. And I sure
want to imitate Paul, even as I please all men at all things,
not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they
may be saved. Now, a wise man will take this
and run with it. And Paul says, I'm speaking to
wise men. You discern, you understand what
I'm saying. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would take us. Lord, we say with Isaiah of old,
here we are. Send us, Lord. We ask that you
take us and cause us to be people that are like this described
in this passage of your word. Lord, give us the grace to truly
do whatever we do for your glory. and cause us truly to seek to
make others wealthy and not ourselves. Lord, cause us to please all
men in all things, seeking the benefit of many that they might
be saved. Lord, make us true ambassadors
of Thy Son. Make us true witnesses of Thy
Son. And Lord, we ask that Your hand would be upon us in a glorious
way. Don't let these be empty words.
Cause this to be the desire of every heart here. And Lord, do this for us. Lord,
we ask that you would make us by your sovereign, irresistible,
invincible grace. Servants. Of thy dear son, servants
to one another. Lord, give us some understanding
of our union with thy Son and our union with one another. And
bless this time for Christ's sake. Lord, as we prepare to
meet together, we ask that you'd bless our time of fellowship
for your glory and for our good. And Lord, we would remember Paul
at this time. Lord, we ask that your hand would
be upon him. We ask that you'd give him grace
to do whatever he does for thy glory. And Lord, we pray that
you'd bring him back safely to us. Lord, we would remember Seth
also while he's away. We ask that you'd hedge him about
and keep him by your grace. And Lord, those in our number
that are sick and suffering, we ask for your hand to be upon
them. Lord, We're so grateful for this
fellowship we have in Thy dear Son. Lord, cause us to endeavor
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Bless us
for Christ's sake. In His name we pray. Amen.