Five Examples For You And I

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 9/22/24 a.m.

For many years Monterey, a California coast town, was a pelican's paradise. As the fishermen cleaned their fish, they would throw the FISH HEADS and other useless parts to the pelicans. And so as time went on the birds got fat and lazy. But then something happened. Somebody figured out that they could use those parts of the fish to make things like fertilizer. And so the fishermen quit throwing the scraps out. When the change came the pelicans continued to just set there. They didn’t go out and fish for themselves. They waited around and grew skinny and sickly. A lot of them starved to death. You see, they had forgotten how to fish. They NEEDED an EXAMPLE. So finally the problem was solved. The people who cared about the Pelicans went down to another area and caught some other Pelicans and brought them up to Monterrey. They were released among their starving cousins, and the newcomers started catching fish. Before long, the hungry pelicans saw the example, and the famine was ended. SOUND FAMILIAR?

In our lives we’ve ALL HAD EXAMPLES to LOOK AT. SOME GOOD and SOME BAD. Examples how to live our lives and examples how NOT to live our lives.

I want us to look at 1 Corinthians 10 this morning. It’s interesting to me because this Chapter is a continuation of what Paul started in Chapter 8 and kept going through Chapter 9.

In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul taught the people of that church two principles.

First of all, an idol really is nothing, and he wanted the people of the church to have this KNOWLEDGE, he wanted them to know that it was fine for them to go ahead and eat the DISCOUNTED MEAT that had been offered to IDOLS.

But the second principle went along with the first. LOVE is more important than knowledge. So even though they may “know” eating meat sacrificed to an idol is all right for themselves, if it caused a brother or sister to stumble, they SHOULD NOT do it, because it wasn’t the LOVING thing to do.

That’s some IMPORTANT TEACHING.

Then 1 Corinthians 9, Paul showed them how important it was for Christians to give up their “rights.” Just as Paul gave up his “right” to be supported by his own preaching of the gospel, so some of the Corinthian Christians must sometimes give up their “right” to eat meat sacrificed to idols. This was all based on the principle of LOVE towards a weaker brother.

At the end of Chapter 9, Paul showed us how a Christian must be willing to give up things, even some “good” things, for the sake of winning the race that God has set before them.

So that gets us up to Chapter 10. Let’s go ahead and turn there in our Bibles, and we’ll read Verses 1-13.

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

So Paul starts out Chapter 10 by saying that he doesn’t want the people of the Corinthian Church to be IGNORANT, UNLEARNED or UNAWARE. He wants them to really GRASP what he is saying, so he’s gonna use the Children of Israel as an example to them. And here’s the deal I want you to get. You and I today can still use the Children of Israel as an example to us today.