Two Tables, Two Loyalties Text: 1 Corinthians 10:14-22
Introduction: The War for Worship
We live in a time of profound confusion, but it is not a new confusion. It is an ancient confusion, dressed up in modern clothes. The fundamental battle of all history is the battle for worship. Every man worships. The only question is what, or whom, he will worship. The human heart, as John Calvin rightly noted, is a perpetual idol factory. It is always manufacturing gods. It takes good things, created things, necessary things, and it inflates them to the point where they occupy the throne that belongs to God alone. This is the essence of idolatry.
The Corinthian church was planted in a city saturated with idolatry. Temples to various gods were their community centers, their marketplaces, their restaurants. And the Corinthian believers, being clever and sophisticated, had reasoned themselves into a dangerous position. They thought they could have it both ways. They thought they could participate in the life of the city, which was thoroughly pagan, without it affecting their life in Christ. They thought they could sit at the idol's table during the week and at the Lord's Table on Sunday, and that a neat, intellectual firewall would protect them. They believed the idol was "nothing," and so participation was "nothing."
Paul's task here is to shatter that delusion. He is not arguing about the metaphysics of wood and stone. He agrees the idol is nothing. But he is arguing about the reality of worship, the nature of fellowship, and the identity of the spiritual beings who stand behind the nothing idols. He is telling the Corinthians, and by extension, us, that you cannot flirt with the world's altars and remain faithful to Christ's table. Every meal is a statement of loyalty. Every table is an altar. Every act of fellowship is a declaration of allegiance. You must choose. This passage is not about religious etiquette; it is about spiritual warfare. It forces us to ask the question: at which table are you feasting?
The Text
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to prudent people. You judge what I say. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they SACRIFICE TO DEMONS AND NOT TO GOD. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we PROVOKE THE LORD TO JEALOUSY? Are we stronger than He?
(1 Corinthians 10:14-22 LSB)
The Unmistakable Command (v. 14-15)
Paul begins with a command that is as blunt as it is necessary.
"Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to prudent people. You judge what I say." (1 Corinthians 10:14-15)
The "therefore" links this command to the history lesson he just gave them. Israel was blessed with Christ's presence in the wilderness, they ate the spiritual food and drank the spiritual drink, yet they fell into idolatry and were destroyed. Their sacramental participation did not immunize them from judgment when their hearts went astray. Paul is saying, "Learn the lesson! Don't be so arrogant as to think you can play with fire and not be burned."
And the command is not to "resist" idolatry, or to "manage" it, or to "dialogue" with it. The command is to flee. You run from it like you would run from a serpent or a plague. This is because idolatry is not primarily an intellectual error; it is a spiritual seduction. It appeals to the traitor within. Our hearts are idol factories, always looking for something new to worship. You don't reason with a traitor; you get away from the treason. Paul appeals to them as "prudent people," as wise men. He's saying, "Think this through. Use the minds God gave you. What I am about to say is not complicated, but it is profoundly important."
The Logic of the Lord's Table (v. 16-18)
Paul then grounds his argument in their own central act of worship: the Lord's Supper.
"Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?" (1 Corinthians 10:16-18 LSB)
Paul asks two rhetorical questions that every Corinthian believer would have to answer with a hearty "Amen." When we come to the Lord's Table, what are we doing? We are participating in a profound spiritual reality. The word for "sharing" is koinonia. It means fellowship, communion, intimate participation. This is not just a memorial service where we think nice thoughts about a dead founder. This is a covenant renewal meal. In this meal, we have real fellowship with the living Christ. By partaking of the cup, we are brought into communion with His shed blood. By partaking of the bread, we are brought into communion with His broken body.
And this participation has a horizontal dimension as well as a vertical one. "Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body." The Supper doesn't just unite us to Christ; it unites us to one another. It takes a motley collection of individuals and declares, "You are one body." Our unity is not based on our shared interests, our personalities, or our politics. Our unity is based on the fact that we all feed on the same Christ. The Lord's Supper is a visible sermon that preaches our union with Christ and with each other.
To drive the point home, he uses an Old Testament analogy they would understand. "Look at the nation Israel." When a priest ate the meat from a sacrifice, what was he doing? He was having fellowship, koinonia, with the altar of God. The act of eating the sacrifice identified him with the altar and the God to whom it was dedicated. The principle is clear: eating a sacred meal creates fellowship with the spiritual reality behind that meal.
The Reality Behind the Idol (v. 19-21)
Now Paul applies this principle to the pagan temples with devastating logic.
"What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they SACRIFICE TO DEMONS AND NOT TO GOD. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." (1 Corinthians 10:19-21 LSB)
Paul anticipates their objection. "Are you saying that block of wood is a real god? Are you saying this meat is spiritually contaminated?" And he answers, "No, that's not the point." The idol is nothing. The meat is just meat. But the spiritual transaction taking place at that altar is very real. The worship being offered is not going into a void. It is being received. And the recipients are demons.
This is a crucial point for us to grasp in our secular age. Behind all false religion, behind all Christ-less ideologies, behind all systems that demand ultimate allegiance, there are demonic spiritual forces at work. The worldview of the Bible is not one of a neutral world with a few religious options. It is a warzone. And pagan worship is not a harmless cultural expression; it is trafficking with the enemy. It is fellowship, koinonia, with demons.
Therefore, the conclusion is inescapable. "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons." The two acts are mutually exclusive. They represent two different lords, two different loyalties, two different kingdoms. To partake of the Lord's Table is to declare your allegiance to Jesus Christ. To partake of the idol's table is to declare your allegiance to the demonic powers that stand behind it. You cannot be a citizen of the kingdom of light and a tourist in the kingdom of darkness. You cannot have fellowship with Christ and fellowship with demons. To attempt to do so is to live a lie.
The Folly of Provocation (v. 22)
Paul concludes with a final, sobering warning.
"Or do we PROVOKE THE LORD TO JEALOUSY? Are we stronger than He?" (1 Corinthians 10:22 LSB)
The relationship between God and His people is consistently described in Scripture as a marriage covenant. And the central demand of a marriage covenant is faithfulness. God's jealousy is not the petty, insecure envy we are familiar with. It is the righteous, holy, and fierce love of a husband for His bride. He will not tolerate rivals. He will not share His bride's affections. When His people flirt with other gods, they are committing spiritual adultery, and this provokes His righteous jealousy.
Paul's question is dripping with holy sarcasm. "Do you really want to do this? Do you want to poke the bear? Do you want to awaken the wrath of the covenant Lord?" And then the final, devastating question: "Are we stronger than He?" Do you think you can trifle with the affections of the Almighty and win? Do you think you can stand against Him on the day of His anger? The Israelites in the wilderness thought they could, and their bones were scattered in the desert. The Corinthians are dallying with the same sin, and Paul is warning them that the consequences will be just as severe.
Conclusion: One Table Living
The application for us is direct and piercing. We may not have temples to Aphrodite or Zeus on our street corners, but our culture is just as idolatrous as ancient Corinth. Our idols are more sophisticated, perhaps, but just as demonic. We are tempted to feast at the table of materialism, the table of sexual license, the table of political self-righteousness, the table of personal autonomy. We are tempted to believe we can have fellowship with these things and still be in good standing at the Lord's Table.
Paul's message to us is the same: Flee. You cannot have it both ways. The Lord's Supper is not a religious charm that vaccinates you against the consequences of worldliness. It is a covenant meal that demands your total, undivided loyalty. When you come to this table, you are declaring that you belong to Christ alone. Your time, your money, your affections, your body, your family, your work, it all belongs to Him. You are renouncing all other tables, all other lords, all other claims on your soul.
To come to the Lord's Table is to have koinonia with Christ. It is to be nourished by His life. To go from here and have koinonia with the world's idols is to commit spiritual adultery and to invite the jealous discipline of a loving, and powerful, God. Let us therefore be a people of one table. Let us feast on Christ, and Christ alone, and in so doing, demonstrate to a watching world where true life, true fellowship, and true worship are to be found.