!

Take Heed Lest You Fall! 1 Corinthians 10:1-13"

"

I. Introduction! " In todays passage, the Apostle Paul gives a strong warning to the Corinthians. Why does he do this? What is the purpose of a warning? If you are a parent, Im sure that you give many warnings to your children: Dont touch the stove, or you will burn yourself, Look both ways before you cross the road, or you will get hurt, etc. You tell these things to your children, because you love them, and you dont want them to get hurt. " " As a car guy, I cant help but think of warning lights on a car. What is their purpose? They tell you if your car if overheating. Their purpose is to protect your engine. What happens if you ignore a warning light when you are driving? You will soon end up on the side of the road in need of a wrecker and owing a large sum of money to your mechanic." ! Well, the warnings in Scripture function in much the same way. They warn of that if we ignore the gospel call to repent of our sins, we will undergo the displeasure of the Lord. And so, in todays passage, Paul gives a grave warning to the visible church, which is based upon the judgment that Israel experienced in the old covenant. Main Idea: Though formal membership in the covenant people of God includes many spiritual benets, if it is not combined with true repentance and faith in Christ, it will ! result in Gods just punishment.! II. Body! ! A. First, formal membership in the covenant includes ! ! many spiritual benets (v. 1-4).! ! ! 1. Initiation in the covenant is marked by baptism.! " " " a. For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, " " " " that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all " " " " passed through the sea, and all were baptized into " " " Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Corinthians " " " " 10:1-2, ESV)." " " " " i. Notice Pauls repeated use of all here. (He " " " " uses it ve times.)"

!2

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! " " "

" " ii. These realities were true of everyone in the " " covenant community." " b. And notice that Paul calls the Israelites our " " fathers even though the Corinthians church was " " composed mostly of Gentiles." " " i. We see here the great continuity between the " " old and new covenants. " " " ii. Indeed, all of human history is centered upon " " Christ, from creation to consummation." " c. 17C Scot theologian John Macleod noted: 1. The " Israelites were baptized, both adults and infants, for " the apostle declares it. 2. They were not immersed, " a fact [to] which Moses and other inspired writers " " testify. 3. The Egyptians who pursued them were " " immersed. 4. The Israelites had baptism without " " immersion, and the Egyptians immersion without " " baptism." 2. Spiritual food and drink are given in the covenant.! " a. And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank " the same spiritual drink (v. 3-4a)." " " i. This refers to manna." " " ii. It also refers to the water which was supplied " " when Moses struck the rock." " b. Paul is tying the manna of the Israelites with the " sacrament of the Lords Supper." " " i. Sacraments are not merely human acts, in " " " which we simply remember how Christ died for " " us on the cross." " " ii. Rather, they are rst and foremost Gods act. " " God provides us spiritual nourishment through " " the sacraments. They are a means of grace by " " which God ministers the gospel tangibly to us." 3. Further, Christ is the source of these benets.! " a. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that " " followed them, and the Rock was Christ. (1 " " " Corinthians 10:4, ESV)"

!3

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! ! " " " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " i. How amazing that it was Christ who" " " " " ministered to his people even in the old "" " " " covenant!" " " " ii. God is often called a rock in the Old "" " " " Testament: The LORD is my rock and my " " " " fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in " " " whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of " " " my salvation, my stronghold (Psalm 18:2)." " " b. This ministry of Christ to the Old Testament " " " church was only possible, because Jesus is God." " " " i. Indeed, the Bible teaches very clearly that " " " " Christ was active in the world before his "" " " " birth to Mary." " " " ii. But while he was concealed from them in the " " " old covenant, now he is gloriously revealed to " " " us in the gospel! What a blessing it is to live in " " " the glorious new covenant." " " c. This should be a great encouragement to us." " " " i. Oftentimes, we think that we are in a spiritual " " " famine, devoid of any nourishment." " " " ii. But that is not the situation at all. Let us not " " " forget that Christ is always with us, providing us " " " spiritual food." B. Secondly, a lack of repentance leads to Gods ! ! just punishment (5-12): Nevertheless, with most of them " God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the " " wilderness Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. Let us be very clear what this means. " Paul is not denying the doctrine of the Perseverance of the " saints, i.e, that the elect will persevere until the end. In fact, " these warnings are the very means by which God preserves " the elect. God warns us so that we will repent, and the elect " will be saved. In order to understand these verses properly, we must distinguish between merely formal covenant membership and the unbreakable union with Christ that comes through faith alone. Paul is warning the visible church, the covenant " " community, that they too will be punished if they do not repent from their sins. Pauls target here is not the true assurance of

!4

" " " " " ! " " " " " " " " " ." " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! " " "

salvation which the Holy Spirit gives believers, but rather the" unholy presumption upon Gods promises that is made by the wicked. As one theologian has said, Gods promises are " prostituted if they are used to undermine the need for ongoing obedience and striving after the Lord. (Caneday)" ! 1. Idolatry brings punishment.! " " a. 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 (1 Corinthians 10:7, ESV)." " " " i. Paul highlights eating and drinking and " " " " playing here, because some of the Corinthians " " " were attending the pagan festivals and " " " " " engaging in similar revelries." " " " ii. As Christians, we must not participate in any " " " activity which condones idolatry." " " b. It is often a temptation for the people of God to fall " " into idolatry." " " " i. While visiting places like Buddhist temples or " " " Moslem mosques is not wrong, we must be " " " " very careful not to participate in their idolatrous " " " celebrations. " " " " ii. And even though Roman Catholics afrm the " " " doctrine of the Trinity, it is idolatry to partake in " " " the ritual of the mass or use images in worship." " " c. So often we are not content to worship God as he " " as commanded us. In fact, did you know that when " " Aaron had the golden calf made in Exodus 32, his " " " intent was not to worship another god per se, but to " " worship Yahweh through this image." " " " i. We prefer to seek spiritual fullment with " " " " our own manmade methods." " " " ii. But pure and undeled worship should be at " " " the top of our priorities." ! 2. Sexual immorality brings punishment.! " " a. We must not indulge in sexual immorality as " " " some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in " " a single day (1 Corinthians 10:8, ESV)."

!5

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

" i. Gods punishment seems very harsh here. " " Why was God so angry? The Lords anger was " aroused against Israel, because they were his " covenant people whom he had separated from " the nations to be a holy people unto himself." " ii. And so, those who are part of the covenant " community, and yet wilfully choose to reject the " gospel, will be punished more harshly than the " rest of the world." b. Today we also see the intimate connection " between idolatry and sexual immorality." " i. As the Western world has abandoned "" " Christianity, so it has increasingly embraced " " sexual immorality and homosexuality." " ii. And that is why any attempt to show the " " world the truth of biblical norms for sexuality is " futile if it is not also combined with the " " " preaching of the gospel. It is futile to teach the " Gods law concerning sexuality in our culture if " a person is not born again." c. Time and time again I have seen a connection " between what one worships and how this is " " expressed in sexuality. Paul ties the two together in Romans 1: They exchanged the glory of the !! immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore ! God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to ! impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among ! themselves, because they exchanged the truth ! about God for a lie and worshiped and served the ! creature rather than the Creator For this reason ! God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For ! their women exchanged natural relations for those ! that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise ! gave up natural relations with women and were ! consumed with passion for one another, men ! committing shameless acts with men."

!6

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! ! " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! ! " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "

" " i. It is no accident that the Roman Catholic " " " Church is full of both idolatry and sexual " " " immorality. The priests who lead in idolatrous " " " worship are also those who molest young boys." " " ii. The connection between sex and worship " " " can be very subtle. I knew one young man who " " gradually fell away from the church. He was " " " raised in the church and professed faith in " " " Christ. Indeed, he was quite eager to study that " " Bible initially. But something happened. He met " " a woman who was not a believer. He knew it " " " was foolish to date her, but he did it anyways. " " Soon they were committing sexual immorality. " " In this state, he could no longer come to " " " church. He felt to guilty, and it didnt interest " " " him anymore anyways. He left his Bible at my " " house, and he didnt want it back. So I am " " " reminded of him every time I see it." 3. Testing the Lord and grumbling brings ! ! ! punishment.! " a. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of " " them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor " " grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed " by the Destroyer (v. 9-10)." " " i. Grumbling seems like a minor sin to us." " " ii. But it was characteristic of the sin for which " " the unrepentant Israelites were condemned." " b. We test Christ when we become impatient with " " his provision in our lives." " " i. Like the Israelites, we think that our desires " " " are better than Gods provisions." " " ii. And we grumble against him for not giving us " " what we want." " c. If you are like me, you many not even realise that " you are grumbling against God." " " i. We like to justify our grumbling." " " ii. We think our suffering so bad that we are " " " entitled to this attitude. But if we are honest "

!7

" " " " " " ! ! ! ! " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " ! ! " "

" " " with ourselves, then we realise that we are " " " " guilty of this sin, and we need to repent of it. " " " " One of the marks of a true saint is " " " " " " thankfulness. Thankfulness for our undeserved " " " salvation in Christ and for Gods provision in " " " " our lives at every moment." C. Thirdly, God protects his people in the midst of ! ! temptation (v. 13).! ! 1. Do not justify your sin by saying that you have ! ! especially burdensome temptations.! " " a. No temptation has overtaken you that is not " " " common to man (v. 13a)." " " " i. These sins that Paul has just mentioned, " " " " idolatry, sexuality immorality, testing God, and " " " grumbling, are all common to man." " " " ii. It is common for criminals to plead that they " " " were forced to do a crime because of " " " " " extenuating circumstances." " " b. Paul wishes to assure us here that we are "" " " indeed able to conquer our trials and " " " " " temptations." " " " i. We have the Spirit." " " " ii. So there is no temptation that is too strong " " " " for us to avoid." " " c. But we tend to think we are special cases." " " " i. We think other people dont undergo the kind " " " of temptations that we do." " " " ii. Some reason like this, for example: I dont " " " " want to be sexually impure, but since God has " " " not provided me a spouse, I am unable to help " " " myself. We know that that is false reasoning, " " " " but we allow ourselves to wallow in self-pity, " " " " and thereby succumb to the temptation." ! 2. But the good news is, God will not let you be ! ! tempted beyond your ability.! " " a. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted " " beyond your ability (v. 13)."

!8

" " " " i. Notice how this gospel promise it based upon " " " " the covenant faithfulness of God." " " " " ii. Because he is faithful to his promises, we " " " " " can know that he will aid us in the midst of our " " " " temptations if we cry out to him." " " " b. God knows the difculty of our trials and " " " " " temptations." " " " " i. We can never say to God, You dont " " " " " " understand." " " " " ii. Christ knows temptation better than anyone." " " " c. God is sovereign over our trials and temptations." " " " " i. God has a purpose in your trials and " " " " " " temptations." " " " " ii. It is to bring you unto perfect maturity in " " " " " Christ." ! ! 3. God will provide the way of escape.! " " " a. But with the temptation he will also provide the " " " " way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 " " " Corinthians 10:13, ESV)" " " " " i. We see here the gracious nature of our Lord." " " " " ii. He actively provides for us a holy path to " " " " " take." " " " b. There are many situations when we feel that there " " " is no alternative." " " " " i. What is a man to do if he is given the choice " " " " between compromising his integrity at his " " " " " workplace, or quitting and losing the salary " " " " " which provides for his family?" " " " " ii. But we are reminded here, that even in these " " " " dire situations, God will provide." " " " c. But God always provides a way for us to obey " " " " him." " " " " i. There is always a better way than sinning." " " " " ii. And if we trust in Christ, as he is presented in " " " " the gospel, we need have no worry that we will " " " " be left high and dry. He watches over us in " " " " " every situation that we encounter." III. Conclusion!

!9

! Finally, as we have seen, though we in the visible church are afforded many spiritual benets, they are of no avail if we do not each personally repent and persevere in faith to the end. Thankfully, this perseverance is not something that we do on our own, but God guides and protects his elect in every situation. God calls us to run the race set before us. If you arent running this race, if you refuse to repent of your sins, God gives you a strong warning today. This is Gods grace. He is calling you to deny yourself and turn to him. If you heed Gods call to turn from your sins, forgiveness is yours in Christ. Let us pray.