"The Earth Is the Lord's" (I Corinthians 10:14-33)

"The Earth Is the Lord's" from I Corinthians 10:14-33 was preached by Dr. Mark McElreath at the City Baptist Church of Atlanta on May 24, 2026. 

Find out more about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta at www.citybaptistchurch.com.

Transcript

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Welcome to the City Pulpit. Bible messages from the pulpit ministry of the City Baptist Church in Atlanta. Well, please take your Bibles with me. Let's go to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, we'll go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And we're working our way just passage by passage, piece by piece, through this book. This letter written by the Apostle Paul to this church that he knew and this church that he loved in the city of Corinth. We'll begin reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Let's pick up in verse number 14. The Bible says, Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say. 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? For we being many are one bread, one body, and for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold, Israel after the flesh are not they which eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar. What say I then that the idol is anything, or that which is offered and sacrificed to idols is anything? 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 with devils. Verse 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. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 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. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake. For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you eat, ask no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you that is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that showed it, and for conscience sake, for the earth is the Lord's, 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? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God, even as I please all men and all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved. Would you make note of a phrase that's found two times in this passage? It's found once in verse number 26, and it's found again in verse number 28. This phrase, the earth is the Lord's. The earth is the Lord's. And when we consider this phrase in verse 26, and this phrase in verse 28, Paul here is quoting from Psalm 24. He's quoting what David said a thousand years before he would be writing this. In fact, I'm going to read this from Psalm 24 and verse number 1. David says, The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein. Now, if David could say, the earth is the Lord's, here's what we've got to ask. Are we the Lord's? If the earth is the Lord's, what he's saying is when you look out and you look at all creation and you look at what he has made and what he's formed, it's all his. But of the way we are living and the way that we're functioning within that world, have we fully given it over to the Lord? So the earth is the Lord's, but let's consider some things that Paul really touches on as we work our way through this passage, through these 20 or so verses. Would you write this down? First of all, the earth is the Lord's, but is our worship the Lord's? The earth is the Lord's, but is our worship the Lord's? Paul opens this passage and he says this in verse number 14. He says, Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from what? Idolatry. And you say, Well, Pastor, he's talking to this church at Corinth. This is 2,000 years ago. These were pagan people. Of course, they worshiped idols. But really, Paul has something bigger in mind here when he's dealing with the worship of these people. We may not sit before a grave and image made of wood or of stone or of gold or of silver. But we all sit at the foot of something and give it worth and give it worship by the time and the effort and the money and the resources that we pour into it. Here in Corinth, there was a temple to the goddess Venus there. And there would have been idols and there would have been worship and everything that would have gone on around that pagan temple. But I've seen people here in our day, in our modern day, they worshiped at the foot of cars and houses and jobs and careers. And they've given themselves over to those things. What they give their time and their effort and their resources to is a thing which they worship. And he says here, I want you to flee from idolatry. Really, he's talking about here about what we worship. But then he goes on, he says in verse 15, he says, Now I speak as to wise men, judge you what I say. He's saying, if you're smart, you'll listen to what I'm telling you. And then he says in verse 16, 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 he goes from what we worship to really talking about how we worship. He's connecting here in verse 16 the cup of blessing and the blood of Christ. And then he speaks of the bread which we break and the body of Christ. Now we understand he's talking about communion. We call it the Lord's table or communion. We take the bread and we take the juice. He's actually going to give instruction on that. If you turn with me one chapter over in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, he's dealing this whole section here about the worship of God's people. And he says here in chapter 11 of 1 Corinthians, look down in verse 23. He says here, For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. Now he's speaking here of what's often called the Last Supper. Before Jesus goes to the cross the night before Christ dies, he's seated with his disciples in an upper room, and he speaks to them, and he takes a piece of bread. And it says here verse 24, when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take eat, this is my body. Now the bread that they would have used would have been a part of that Passover supper, and that bread would have had no leaven, no leavening agent in it. There would have been no leaven always as a picture of corruption, it's a picture of sin. There was nothing impure in that. It was unleavened bread. And it says he broke that bread. It's a picture of the body of Christ, that in just a few moments would go to the cross and his body, no corruption, no sin, nothing wrong in it, would be broken for us. Now no bone of his was broken, but his body was broken. We find here, it tells in verse 24, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take eat, this is my body, which is broken for who? It says, for you. And this do in remembrance of me. Now always remember the bread and the juice as we take it, it does not change into the body and blood of Christ as we take it. It is all memorial. He says, This is in remembrance of me. He says in verse 25 of chapter 11, after the same manner also he took the cup, and when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. He says, This pictures not only the my body that was broken in the bread, but my blood that was shed in taking the juice, and is in remembrance. And he says, For as oft as you eat this bread, verse 26, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. Now you may think, well, that's a rather simple thing, right? But he goes on to give some further instruction in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. He says in verse 27, Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the blood, or the body and blood of the Lord. He's saying, You can take of the bread and take of the juice and do it unworthily. What he's saying here is, verse 28, let a man examine himself and let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. He says, When we come to this time of communion, or this time of the Lord's Supper, or the Lord's table, is a time to examine ourselves. Are there things that we need to take care of and deal with in our own life, or deal with may we have against another, before we can come and take of that bread and of that juice? He actually says in verse 29, He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. He's saying there's judgment for those who do not consider how they are worshiping the Lord. He says in verse 30, for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. Now, he's not talking about people sleeping in the church service. He's saying there's people that have died. He says they're weak, they're sickly, and they've died because they did not think and examine themselves before they took of the communion bread and the communion juice. Now that's a that's a big thing. Remember, it's all connected to what Paul is saying here. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. But is our worship truly given over to the Lord? Not just what we worship, but how we worship. He says here, go back in our passage, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and verse number 16, where he's talking about the bread which we break. He's speaking of the communion of the body of Christ. But because here's why it's so important. Look down at verse number, look at verse number 17. For we being many are one bread and one body, and we are all partakers of that one bread. He's going to also add to this where he talks about 1 Corinthians chapter 12, just the next chapter over from chapter 11. He says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 27, ye are the body of Christ and members in particular. So it's not just what we worship, it's not just he's concerned about how we worship, he's concerned about who we're worshiping with. It is important to Paul, he's saying, look, if you are all one bread and one body and you're all partakers of that one bread, you're all a part of that one body, who are you worshiping with? We should join together with a group of people who believe the Bible and believe what's true, believe what God has said and hold to it. So Paul is really talking to them. Look, what are you worshiping? How are you worshiping? And who are you worshiping with? He goes on, he goes a little further in verse number 18. Look at this. He says in verse 18, Behold Israel after the flesh, are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? Now he connects two things in verse number 18. He speaks of the sacrifices and he speaks of the altar. He's connecting the sacrifice with where it is offered. He's actually going to take it a little further when we go to verse 19 and verse 20. But here's the point. He says, Where you worship is very important as well. He says, look, what do you worship? How do you worship? Who do you worship with? And where do you worship? He goes, the altar you bring that sacrifice to is connected with the sacrifice. We may think, well, you know, I think of many people I've I've known some people. They've said, look, I I give I give to charitable causes and I give to things I want to give to. And I think you should give where you find help, and you should give where the Lord is blessing, and you should give where you go. I think God blesses giving to his local church. And there are many things we can give to, I understand that. But here I think he's making the point. The altar which we bring it to to sacrifice is connected to what we find worth in and what we find worship in. So what are you what are you worshiping? How are you worshiping? Who are you worshiping with? And where are you worshiping? He says here in verse 18 that the sacrifice is connected with the altar where it's sacrificed. Look at verse number 19. He's going to go a little further. He's talking all about worship here. Look, if the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof is our worship truly of the Lord. Look at verse 19. What say I then? That the idol is anything, or that which is offered and sacrificed to idols is anything. Now, Paul is saying here, in fact, let me read verse 20 as well. But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would that ye should have fellowship, that ye, I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Now, what is Paul saying in verse 19 and 20 connected to worship? He is saying, we understand these idols are nothing. He says they're not anything. That block of wood that someone carved in Corinth, it may have been an image of the goddess Venus, there's no power in that idol. If they made it out of silver or if they made it out of gold, it's nothing. But here's what he's saying. I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. There is a power behind those images, and there is a power behind the sacrifice, and there is a power behind what they're doing. There may be nothing in that idol itself, but we are opening ourselves up to evil spirits and opening ourselves up to devils, he says here, when we worship those things and where we're not worshiping the one true God. We have friends that serve in many places around the world, and we know friends who live in openly idolatrous countries, where literally they walk the street and there are idol houses in people's yards, and there are idol houses in people's businesses because they want the blessing of their ancestors, or they want what they think is the blessing of their family, or the blessing of these gods, little gee gods. And they understand, our missionary friends, they understand, they're born-again believers, they're Christians, they understand there's no power in those houses or in those idols or in the offerings that they make. They're empty. But what they do see is there is an opening up of themselves, those who are making those offerings, they're opening themselves up to evil spirits who will deceive and who will make them think something, make them see something. Look, that's why we've got to be careful today. Some people tell me they see visions. Look, God spoke in visions in the past, but look, we have a more sure word, is what he said in 2 Peter. We have the complete word of God. I know people, they will, they'll listen to a vision, but you can show them something in the Bible, black and white, in their own language, and they won't believe it. Look, we've got to be careful what we experience. We've got to be careful what we say we see or had a dream about if it does not line up with the Word of God. Because here we find they're saying, look, you've got to be careful what you're depending on and sacrificing to and leaning on and looking to, because behind that, if it's not of God, there's an evil power, and there's a devil behind it that will deceive you and will take advantage of you. In fact, he says in verse 20, I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, not to God. He says at the end there, I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. Now you say, What is fellowship? Fellowship is friendship. Fellowship is connection. And he says, I don't want you, church, to have a fellowship with the devil. Now, it may seem like a small thing, it's a little thing, it's an insignificant thing. And maybe the church of Corinth thought, well, these little idols, that's not a big deal. It is a big deal because it opened them up to being deceived by the devil himself in fellowship with devils themselves. He goes on, he kind of gives this summary statement concerning worship here. He says, verse 21, ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You know what he's saying? You can't serve two masters. You can't drink of the Lord's cup and drink of the devil's cup. He says in verse 21, ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. It reminds me of what Joshua said when he stood before the people. He said, Choose you this day whom you will serve. If you're going to drink of the Lord's cup, that means you're rejecting the devil's cup. If you're going to eat at the Lord's table, you're rejecting the devil's table. We've got too many people in our day today. They're trying to just walk that line between the world and the Lord. And they just want to get right. They just want to be as close to the Lord as they can be and yet still be close to the world, just as close to the world as they can be, and still close enough to God to feel good about it, right? Paul says, get out. Look, we've got to live in the world, we live in the world, but we're not of the world. We live in the world, but we don't have to live like the world. We live in the world, but we don't have to walk like the world and talk like the world and act like the world. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. Not, it is hard, not it's difficult, it cannot happen. Here's what he says in verse 22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? What does he mean here? He's saying, the Lord is jealous. Not in a wrong way. We think of jealousy is wrong. Well, the Lord, he commits no sin. There's no sin in him. What does it mean? He is jealous or he is desirous of our worship alone. Here we find Paul is saying, look, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, but is our worship truly all the Lord's? Let's consider a second thing, because he doesn't leave it there. He speaks of worship in these opening verses. Then he begins to speak of our walk. So the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, but let's consider secondly, is our walk the Lord's? When I say walk, I don't mean the gate which we take as we take steps. I mean the way we live. Look at verse 23. Here's what Paul says. He says, Now all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Now he doesn't mean literally every act that I could do is lawful and is okay. What he's saying is there are some people who he's specifically speaking in the context here of, and we've looked at it in previous chapters, of meat being offered to idols. Many times in these pagan cities, there would be meat that would be slaughtered in the slaughterhouse. It would then be brought to the pagan temple and offered as a sacrifice to the idols, and then it would be taken to the shambles or taken to the market, and then it would be sold. And Paul says, we've looked at it in previous chapters, chapter 8, chapter 9, there's nothing wrong with eating that meat. It's okay. For conscience' sake, you can be clear in your conscience that that meat, there's nothing held over that meat. You can eat it. And he's saying here, that's lawful for me. That's okay. Like it's not singing my conscience. It's not against what the Bible says in any way. I can do it. But here's what he's getting to in verse 23. He says, all things lawful, but they're not expedient. He says again, all things lawful, but they edify not. Here's what we should be asking ourselves, and I think this is the point Paul is getting at. Some Christians only ask the question, what is wrong with this? When we should be asking the question, what is right with this? Some Christians just approach things as saying, look, I can do this because I'm not breaking any laws. I think of a historic example of the Titanic. The Titanic carried 20 lifeboats when it went out in 1912 into the waters of the North Atlantic. Twenty lifeboats. You know why? Because legally they had to carry 20 lifeboats. Only half as many as were needed to carry all the people on board. The designers thought more boats would clutter the ship's deck and spoil its beauty. Well, on that night in April 1912, when the ship sank, more than 1,500 lives were lost, many because the lifeboats weren't used as they should have been, and those that were there wasn't enough to carry everyone. Now, they did everything according to the law, right? But what was lawful was not expedient, and what was lawful did not edify. And Paul is saying, if we just live our life according to, this is what the law says I can do, this is what the world has said is okay, we're going to come up short as a Christian. Instead of saying what's wrong with this, say, what's right with this? Not is the world okay with this, but is this acceptable before God? That's what we should be asking when we make decisions about how we live and the walk of our life. Paul says this, if you go back with me, go back with me one chapter to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, look at me at verse number 19. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 19, Paul says this. He says, For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more. He says, Look, I'm I'm free, I don't have to answer to you about how I live. I'll stand before God about how I live, but, he says in verse 19, though I be free from all men, I've made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more. He says, I won't answer to you, but I will answer for whether or not I was a stumbling block for you to get to Christ.

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Verse number 20 of chapter 9. Under the Jews, I became as a Jew. What does that mean? If I went down to a Jew's house and I knew they weren't going to eat pork chops, I didn't eat pork chops. He says in verse number 20 that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under the law as under the law. That means the Old Testament law. If that helped me get them to Christ, then I could subject myself to that Old Testament law. He says, look, I'm free from the law. Galatians tells me I don't have to follow the law to get to heaven. But if I could constrain myself to that in order to help that Jew get to Christ, I would do it. He says in verse number 20, then I might gain them that are under the law. He says in verse 21, to them that are without law as without law. You say, what is he talking about there? He's talking about someone who, a Gentile that was not under the Old Testament law. He's saying, I would go as far as, look, he tells us how far to go. He says in verse 21, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ. He said, if there weren't under the law, then I'd go down and eat and have a meal with them. But not without law to Christ. I wouldn't go so far as to sin against what God has told me how I'm supposed to live. He says, that I might gain them that are under the law. He says, verse 22, to the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have made all things to all men that I might by all means save some. It really sums it up in chapter 9, verse 23. And this I do. Why? For the gospel's sake. He says, How am I going to live? How am I going to walk? I'm going to walk not according to what the world says and what the law says. I'm going to walk according to what liberty will allow me to do within the bounds of Christian love. And he says, that's how I'm going to live. Would you look with me? Go down back in our passage, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, look at verse number 24, because he says this. He says, Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. He's really talking about living a life that is for others and not for ourselves, for another's welfare, another's embedderment, and not the embeddement of ourselves. He says in verse 25, whatsoever is sold in the shambles or down in the market, that eat, asking no questions for conscience sake. Now he's going to hit this conscience sake three times in verse 25. He hits it again in verse 27. He says, If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast and ye be disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you eat, asking no questions for conscience sake. He says in verse 28, if any man say unto you, this is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that showed it, and for conscience' sake. You say, What is he talking about? He's speaking of meat that had been offered to idols and sold in the market. And he says, That meat is okay to eat. Don't worry about asking where it came from. Now he's dealing with earlier, he dealt with going down to the pagan temples and not having part in their pagan orgies and dinners and all that went on down at the temple. But he says, if it's just meat that was sold in the marketplace, for conscience' sake you can eat it and not worry about it. And you know what his answer is? For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. You know what he says? That cow was the Lord's when it was out on the hill, when it was on the hoof. And that cow is still the Lord's when they came down and butchered it and cooked it and put it on the plate in front of you. It is the Lord's. So you can enjoy it for conscience' sake. He goes a little further, and here's what he says in verse number 29. He says, Conscience I say, not thine own, but of the other, for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I gave thanks? He says, I am clean before the Lord, I can eat this meat, and I don't have to worry about what some other man may say. And then he says, Why is that? Look at verse 31. For whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. You know what we need to ask ourselves? Can I do this and bring glory to God? That's really, if we could sum all of chapter 10 up, you say, Pastor, I'm confused about conscience sake and the meat and the pagan temples and the worship. He says, look, here's how we sum it up. Can I do this and God is still glorified? Not is my friend okay with it? Is my spouse okay with it? Are the laws of the land okay with it? Is God okay with this? And if the Lord is okay with it, then I'm okay with it. Then consider a third thing, because here's really where Paul brings it all down to. He says, look, the earth is the Lord's, but is our worship truly of the Lord? The earth is the Lord's, but is our walk truly of the Lord? Can we say truly that we eat and drink and whatsoever we do brings glory to God? And then look thirdly here. The earth is the Lord's, but is our work. Look at these last two verses of this chapter. He says, give none offense, in verse 32, give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. None offense means don't lead them into sin. Don't cause them to stumble. He's urging them to consider how they live before the lost and its effect on whether or not they get saved. He says, Don't cause the Jews to stumble. Don't cause the Gentiles to stumble. Don't cause someone in the church to stumble. And these are really the three entities we have today. There are Jews, there are Gentiles, and there is the church. When he speaks of the church, he's speaking of born-again people. Now I want you to remember that because the Jews still have a place today. The Jews have a place in God's program of this world today. Now there are people that say, God's done working with the Jews, and now the church has replaced the Jews. No. Paul makes it very clear here, there's three entities. There are the Jews, there are Gentiles, and there's the church. Alright? The church has not replaced the Jews. God's not done with them. But he's saying here, I want you to think about how you live and how it affects how they live. And then he says, verse 33, even as I please all men and all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many? Here's how he ends this whole chapter. That they may be saved. Because this is our work. This is really, when we consider our worship and our walk, what is our work? That those that are lost would be saved. And all of this is being said by Paul to really get us to think, is my life keeping someone from coming to knowing Christ as their Savior? Are the decisions I'm making and the way I'm living keeping someone from coming to the Lord? Because that's really our ultimate work, that they may be saved. Our worship, is it right? I hope it is. Who are we worshiping? What are we worshiping? Where are we worshiping? Who are we worshiping with? Is our walk right? Can we truly say that whatsoever we do, we've done as to the glory of the Lord? But here's what it all comes down to. Here's our work, that the lost may be saved. And is there anything that we're doing and any way that we're living that would keep someone else from coming to Christ? That's how we've got to live our life. And that's the point Paul is making here as he comes to the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 10, that they may be saved. Thank you for listening to the City Pulpit. For more information about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta, please visit www.mycitybaptist.com.