1 WARNING!

---

Responding to God in Faithful Living Series: 1 Corinthians Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Message 23 (July 8, 2012)

WARNING! For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Introduction 1. We just celebrated our nation’s anniversary of independence. The Bible reminds us, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Songs are sung about God’s blessing on this country – “God Bless America” and “God Bless the USA”, etc. Some refer to this as a Christian nation. Others might say that the USA is a former Christian nation. A strong case could be made that the country was at least formed on the basis of JudeoChristian principles. It would be foolish to deny the blessing of God on us, but what does that mean? 2. Israel was the nation that God chose to be His conduit through which He would bless the world. It was through Israel that the basis for a system of law was formulated. It was through Israel that the revelation of God was given. It was through Israel that God gave us His Redeemer – the only source of true blessing. So Israel was blessed by God and blessed the world in accord with God’s plan, but by and large Israel was filled with unbelief, a recipient of blessing but without acknowledgment of the Bless-er. 3. Listen to the text for this morning (read). The history of Israel was recorded for a reason beyond satisfying our curiosity. God gave us this revelation in order that it might affect how we live in order that we might be protected from potential disaster and ruin. 4. I am confident that what we have been given here teaches us two important lessons about God and His blessings. The first is… 1

I. BLESSINGS FROM GOD DO NOT GUARANTEE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (1-5) A. God’s blessings to the nation of Israel (Paul mentions three blessings from the wilderness wanderings) 1. “Under the cloud” – in regard to direction – Moses recorded in Exodus 13, 21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. How incredible it must have been visibly to be led by God everyday. 2. “Through the sea” – in regard to protection – This is an obvious reference to the crossing of the Red Sea as the children of Israel left Egypt. What a story of protection and deliverance! The whole nation – perhaps 2.5 million people – were set free from slavery and set on the path toward establishing life in the promise land. All of the people on that journey were identified with Moses as God’s people directed and protected by Him. Further all of the people… 3. “Ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink” – in regard to provision (Exodus 16) - 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat… 35 The

people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land.

God fed them all – not just the faithful ones. He fed them all. In the next chapter we are told, 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” They all drank – all 2 plus million of them drank the water that God supplied in the middle of the desert! Even the ones who complained the most about being thirsty and how uncaring God must be toward them to allow them to be in such discomfort – even they drank the water from the rock. So here is the… 4. Key question: Why did God grant these blessings? It was not because of their obedience or their gratefulness or their overall likeability. They were often an ungrateful, stiff-necked, blasphemous bunch! But God blessed them because of His grace and His mercy and His care. God does not necessarily or commonly grant 2

blessing based on our behavior or performance. He does so based on His character. Note what follows in the text. After His blessing, came… B. God’s judgment of the nation of Israel – Paul tells us that God was… 1. “Not pleased” – All came out of Egypt. All crossed the Red Sea. The cloud and fire led them all. All were fed. All were given water to drink. But most, most did not please God. Perhaps most were not true believers. At any rate, most did not please the Lord. And because God was not pleased, most were… 2. “Overthrown in the wilderness” – I take this to be a reference to what happened in the desert after their failure to obey the Lord and enter the land. In Psalm 106:26, we read, Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness. And they did. At the end of a 40-year journey only two of that generation entered the land. So here is the… 3. Key question: Why did God judge His people? He judged them because they had rejected His counsel and His leadership and His provision and His promises and His grace and His love. See, all of these things were symbols or Christ – the manna, the water from the rock, the rock itself, the cloud and the fire, the deliverance from Egypt – all of that was a picture, an illustration of Christ. But they missed it! Will we miss it? Do I see life in the whole as “to me to live is Christ?” Or is it just about me? C. Drawing conclusions based on these observations 1. There is no direct correlation between apparent material blessings and faithfulness. Surely we can see that. Further I would remind us that… 2. Common grace is not the same thing as saving grace. How often I have heard people say concerning the good fortune in the lives, “I must be doing something right. Look how blessed I am.” God gives good gifts. He provides much to many regardless of their behavior or their faithfulness. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. Material blessing is no more an evidence of God’s favor than is difficulty and trial an evidence of God’s disfavor. There is common grace that comes to all. Saving grace is another matter. I do not believe that all who died in the wilderness were unbelievers who went to hell, but I am reasonably sure that more perished for eternity than were saved. All received blessings. All were not saved. A third conclusion would be this: 3

3. Just a few can hold back the judgment of God on the many for a time – There were occasions when it was only Moses who kept God from wiping out His people. Remember the account of Abraham as he interceded for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah? If 10 righteous people had been found, those cities would have been spared. In certain circumstances, you might be the only one that holds back the judgment of God. Blessings from God are no guarantee of a relationship with God. The second lesson to be learned is that… II. STORIES FROM GOD WERE NOT JUST FOR ENTERTAINMENT OR INFORMATION (6-13) What we are given is a warning, a wake-up call in the way we live. Paul provides us with… A. Examples of failure to learn and the consequences that resulted. He speaks of… 1. The desire for evil (6) – This may well have been a summation of the four sins that Paul is about to articulate, but it does remind us of our tendency to do that which does not please God. We are all “prone to wander” and that seems to be most prominent when we begin to get restless with God. That evil manifests itself in the following ways: First it is manifested in… 2. The draw toward idolatry (7) – The quotation Paul uses is from Exodus 32:6. I think you know the story. Moses was on the mountain meeting with the Lord. The people were below, growing anxious concerning Moses’ long absence and their desire for something more than an extended wilderness campout. With the help of an accommodating Aaron, gold was collected, melted down and fashioned into a calf-shaped idol complete with an altar. Remember, these were God’s people – chosen by Him and delivered from slavery by Him and provided for by Him every day – and they demeaned Him by worshiping a metal image that they themselves had made! We may not throw gold in the fire and proclaim, “out came this calf” but we set up other idols that we tend to worship. Such idols may have four wheels and a motor. It might be a sporting event or celebrated celebrity. Anything to which I would give my undivided attention and deepest affection, in place of my attention and affection to Christ, has for me become an idol. Israel worshiped graven images, religious icons, nature, the sun and moon and stars, shrines, poles, trees, and anything else they could think of that might be a substitute for God. We are prone to the same responses! It is amazing what we substitute for God! And God still is not pleased. It would do us good to pay close attention to this matter! 4

3. The indulgence of immorality (8) – Once again Paul gives us a reference to his concerns. The account comes from Numbers 25. God’s people started mixing it up with “the daughters of Moab.” Joining to them in relationships resulted in joining with them in the pagan worship of Baal. God was not pleased and He brought upon the nation a plague resulting in 20,000 plus funerals. God was not pleased with immorality then and He is not pleased with immorality today. 4. The determination to test Christ (9) – Listen to this text in Numbers 21:4-9 – “… they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.’ 6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” Paul’s commentary on this account was that the people were, “put(ting) Christ to the test.” In their impatience and ingratitude they were speaking against God, challenging His motives and His methods. Have you ever done that? It is not a minor offense. We need to take notice. And finally Paul speaks of… 5. The tendency to grumble (10) Paul calls us back to the account in Numbers 14. The spies had checked out Canaan and the majority report was to reject God’s command to possess the land because the enemy was just too big and too strong. Because of their unbelief and rejection of God’s promises, God declared a 40-year funeral march in the wilderness. So, did the people repent? No. They grumbled. 26 And

the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall this wicked

congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. And for the 10 spies who brought the bad report, we are told, 36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad 5

report about the land— 37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land— died by plague before the LORD. Grumbling against the Lord is not a small matter. It cost a whole generation their lives. All they did was walk around in circles accomplishing basically nothing when they could have enjoyed the wonderful blessings of God in the place promised to them. Will we learn anything from these examples? Hear what Paul is saying: “Do not be idolaters as some of them were…we must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did…we must not put Christ to the test as some of them did…nor grumble as some of them did…” How are we doing? What else should we take from this? Paul gives us… B. Instructive principles essential for victory (11-13) If we take what we have been given from the first 10 verses, I think we are left with three principles to remember and to implement. The first is… 1. The principle of arrogance (12) – Most of us hold an inaccurate assessment of our importance and significance, which often leads us to arrogance. We are confident that we are okay with God, and how we live is at least better than most. So, graded on the curve, we are in pretty good shape – and maybe we are – but we must be careful! We must take heed. When we begin to think we are invincible, we are at the door of defeat. Like the confidence level of the Israelites after the fall of Jericho, they were certain that the little, defenseless Ai would pose no problem. A mere 3000 men would prove to be more than enough firepower to overthrow the city. But Ai kicked their keister, resulting in 36 dead in a humiliating defeat! Whether it is a human enemy or temptation from Satan, be careful. If you think that on your own you can handle it, you can stand, take heed lest you fall. And while we are thinking about temptation, note the very next verse, which reminds us of … 2. The principle of ignorance (13) Please understand that… a. All are tempted – No one is exempt, nor is anyone singled out. We are not unique in this area and the temptations that press us to cave in are common. b. All have fallen to temptation – The reason why we have fallen is because we have broken faith. We failed to trust God. We ignored the promises of God – His promises of His provision and grace and blessing and strength and satisfaction and joy. We were duped into thinking that perhaps He was after all holding out on us, leaving us out of some wonderful experience that we could have outside 6

of His blessing and directive. How foolish is our ignorance of His way and the way of the enemy. And that leaves us with one final principle… 3. The principle of assurance (13) – God is faithful… a. In regard to our ability to escape – We are not promised the eradication of temptation. In fact, we are pretty much guaranteed here that temptation will be a part of life. God does not author temptation but He can and does use it for our good. When we are tempted, we can learn about the provision of God, the grace of God, the love of God, the sovereignty of God – and we will, either by resisting or after we have shamefully yielded to it. God does not always or even often keep us from temptation, but He always makes a way out of it, a way to successfully navigate through it. Why? Because He is a faithful God! He is faithful… b. In regard to our ability to endure – To endure temptation is to resist it until it ceases to be our desire. In other words, we do not give in to sin, but we resist until the desire to act in an unrighteous way passes. Now that sinful desire can and probably will return – maybe in a few moments or in a few hours or in a few days, but for a time it passes. The endurance to stand, to resist, to defy the lies of the enemy, these are a gift from God. He gives us the ability to resist. He does that with His words of promise. He does that with His presence. He does that with His power to push away the enemy. He does that because He is a faithful God. Conclusion 1. Here are my recommendations of application based on this text. First be a reader and a student of the OT Scripture. Put yourself in those stories. Be on the lookout for life lessons. Be slow to judge but quick to personally apply. 2. As you read the NT, when OT passages and events are referenced, go back and rethink those passages. They were given for our instruction and warning. If we fail to see them as such, we will likely repeat the failures and sins of those about whom we read. 3. Remember that God gives blessings not so much because we are good people, but because He is a good God. Accept His blessings and live in light of them giving glory to Him and using those blessings to exalt His name. 7

4. When you are tempted, don’t wallow in self-pity (“I alone must face these trials”) or immediately give up and give in (“I am so weak”). Rather remember God’s presence and rely on His power and look for His provision and then watch as He opens the way for you to endure and finally escape the snares of enemy while He leads you in victory. “I don’t want you to be unaware…God is faithful.”

8