God's Grand Narrative: Lessons From The Past Series

Begin message with an Interview with Clay Warnock from The Call on Foster Care. Questions are:

1. How many children are currently in care in our local area?

2. How many homes are available for these children?

3. What do these children need from the church?

We’re in a series of sermons in the middle of 1 Corinthians. The Bible is arguing for you to give up your rights for the sake of others. As we approach the subject of fostering care, can you not forgo your rights for the sake of one of these little ones?

Today’s Scripture

“For I want you to know, 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” (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).

Inside the believer’s mind, there is something very close to assurance yet is as dangerous as the “running with the bulls” in Spain. It is presumption. Presumption is an idea taken to be true though it is not known of certain. And Paul is speaking of spiritual presumption, the most dangerous kind. While the Bible teaches that a true Christian can never escape God’s grace, there is a dangerous and willful resistance to God’s Spirit. And Paul warns of the danger of the presumption.

1. Blessings for the Present

1 Corinthians 9:27 represents the thought still hanging in the air as the tenth chapter opens. Paul concludes the previous chapter with these words: “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Paul warns of being “disqualified” and as he warns of this, he shows us an example from the past. Paul links back to this sentence with the first word in verse one: “For.” He wants to give us reasons for his impassioned plea to forgo our rights for the sake of others. In arguing to give up one’s rights, he shifts from personal examples from his own ministry to a discussion of the Old Testament.

Today’s passage is laden with symbols from the Old Testament book of Exodus and the Israelites’ trek through the wilderness. He does not rehearse the past events to understand the past but to better understand the present. A quick read of these first four verses displays allusions to…

the cloud (Exodus 13:21),

the sea (Exodus 14:21-22),

manna (Exodus 16:4, 14-18),

and the spring from the rock (Exodus 17:6),

If you are not familiar with the stories of the book of Exodus (2nd book in your Bibles) then I encourage you to look over the devotional material prepared for you this week. Here are examples – this generation is facing a grave danger when you eat in the presence of an idol. Here is a warning – this generation cannot afford to be like those of the Old Testament. He couples these multiple examples from the book of Exodus with a connection to the present. His connection is through the little three-letter word “all.” In the first four verses (one long sentence in the original language of the New Testament, Greek), he uses the word “all” five times:

“our fathers were all under the cloud …” (verse one)

“all passed through the sea …” (verse one)

“all were baptized …” (verse two)

“all ate the same spiritual food …” (verse three)