The Solution For All Our Problems
I Cor. 10:1-13 "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; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 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. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 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]."
Let us first consider the statement of this scripture in context. In dealing with the many problems that exist among the carnal members of the Church at Corinth, Paul is pointing out that their problems are only unique in time and place. He uses the experience of God’s ancient people to drive his point home.
The Old Testament was given to Israel as their rule of faith and practice. The law and the terms of that covenant were fulfilled in Christ. (See Matt. 5:17-18, Luke 24:44, Col. 2:14-17) We should never try to place ourselves back under the law. Religions that do this are in essence asserting that Christ did not come to become our Passover on the Cross.
But Paul is telling us that the Old Testament still serves us well today. The Ten Commandments were not merely ten suggestions. In reiterating the principles of the Law Jesus would say, "But I say unto you." In doing so, He made it clear that we could be law breakers in our heart.
In addition, Paul is pointing out that the Old Testament is filled with types, shadows, figures and symbolism that should speak to us today. A number of lessons are easily seen in this passage. Christ, as the Rock speaks to us of His eternality and faithfulness to His people. We are warned of the dangers of lusting for material and worldly things. We see the chastening hand of God upon the awful sins of idolatry and fornication, both physical and spiritual. We get a glimpse of His judgment upon those who murmur against His appointed spiritual leadership. It is clear that Paul was exhorting those at Corinth that in spite of their problems, they did not have to follow the path of their spiritual forefathers. But that real and lasting solutions can only be found in Christ.
But some would say today: "But you have no idea what it’s like to be married to her...." "Listen, friend, you just couldn’t understand being married to such a selfish slob." "How could anyone ever understand what it’s like to work for the sort of egotistical and heartless boss I work for. He makes my life at work a misery. He’s just a ------ tyrant." "But you couldn’t understand what its like to work with the sort of crowd I work with. You wouldn’t believe how selfish and self-serving some of them are. When you work with such a mob of back-stabbers, you’ve got to watch your back all the time; especially if you’re a Christian." "But the other kids’ parents don’t make rules like mine do." And my favorite, "It’s just not fair!"
Some might say that only worldly people woud make such excuse, but Christians are prone to voice similar protests. Although many times the complaints are legitimate and are based upon real life situations that are difficult to confront, just what do such statements say? They all seem to say one thing, "Please excuse me from my responsibility to respond like a Christian to the problems and perplexities of life. My problem is just too unique and difficult."
WE CAN FACE LIFE’S PROBLEMS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THEY ARE NOT UNIQUE. Is it true that any particular Christian is called to face situations that are unprecedented, confront a crisis that is too complex, solve problems that are insoluble, bear burdens that are unbearable of live a life that is unlivable for Christ? But even if God were to allow a Christian to face a test that was absolutely and utterly unique, would this be an adequate excuse for a response or conduct that is not Christ-like?
I’m afraid not. Not if we believe the Word of God. Paul makes this clear when he says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:.." Although many of us are inclined to make such excuses, this statement settles the matter. Such sin and failure under pressure simply cannot be excused by pleading that our problems are unique and unprecedented
Why? Because we all always face the same basic problems. This has always been so. Paul tells the people at Corinth that the particular cultural problems they faced in their sin-cursed city of pagan gods and terrible immorality, were no different to those faced by the ancient Hebrews wandering in the wilderness of the Sanai. If you scratch beneath the surface of time, people, race and place, these archaic people faced the same problems, perplexities and pressures as those who live in the end times. We can look to the ancient history of God’s people and understand that it has all happened before and should be an example for us to learn by. Unless we wish to perpetuate the proposition that, "The only thing man learns from history is that man does not learn from history."
Of course, each problem does have its special features. No two situations are exactly the same. But in every equation of conflict there remains one all important constant. God has not changed. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. His eternal Word has not been altered. It endures forever and is eternally settled in the heavens. Great is His faithfulness. There is no shadow of turning with Him. His compassions do not fail. As He has always been, He forever will be.
I’m afraid there is also another constant that always seems to complicate the equation of conflict. When you spiritually penetrate the heart of modern man you will find his heart is still deceitful and desperately wicked. (Jer. 17:9) Modern man’s vertical and horizontal relationships are still as sullied and soured by sin as they were in Biblical days. This makes the message of the scriptures just as sure, sound and essential as it was on the day the scroll that Paul sketched was unrolled and shared with the saints at Corinth; and then later with other saints in other churches in that first century. Lost and sinful men who still rebel against the laws of the God of this universe still find the only solution for life’s most basic problem is God’s offer of love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
WE CAN FACE LIFE’S PROBLEMS WITH CONFIDENCE THAT CHRIST HAS GONE BEFORE US. This message is focused upon and fleshed out in Jesus Christ. He too faced the problems we face. The redemption story tells us that He was no stranger to the pressures, problems and perplexities of life. He knew hunger and thirst and exhaustion and weakness in the flesh. He was misunderstood. He was hated. He was despised. He efforts to help and heal were not always appreciated. He knew disappointments and discouragement. He experienced loneliness and isolation; even in the midst of the fickle and superficial crowds. His love made Him completely vulnerable. He experienced the bitterness of rejection and even betrayal and denial by those who were closest to Him.
It is significant that our Saviour began His public walk through this sin cursed world by facing everything the wicked one could throw at Him on the Mt. of Temptatio. Praise God! He came through it all with the colors of His perfect life flying high for all the world to see. After forty days of fasting, when His hunger must have been almost unbearable, He did not give in to the deepest and natural desires. He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by the words that come from the mouth of God." In this He clearly marked out the way for all those who stand on the brink of personal disaster today. We have the same spiritual bread to sustain us today.
It does not matter how great the challenge or severe the test. The Word of God and the Son of God can show us the way out of the darkness of our personal despair into the light of His powerful presence. No, we are never alone. He knows the depth of our sorrow and the size of our hurt and heartache. He has known them as well. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb. 4:15-16)
In the test tube of trials and the crucible of crisis He tasted the bitter cup for us. Yet He neither made excuse nor failed in His faithfulness. If ever there has been a case in which someone could have correctly made excuse and called for an exemption or exception because their case was different or unique, His case is such. But at the moment of His most excruciating pain and agony we hear Him plead instead, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do." He neither shirks nor shrinks from His awful self-appointed task. He dies a vicarious sacrifice not only in order to save us from the wrath to come, but to clothe us in His own righteousness. What a blessing that in this same crisis of the cross He was also being qualified and confirmed as the one Who could understand our greatest problems and sympathetically be with us in the times of our greatest tests, trials and tribulations.
This is the basis and background of God’s statement, "There is no trial that has overtaken you but such is common to men." We can depend upon the truth of that statement. We can also be sure He will hold us responsible to meet life’s problem in His strength. Since He conquered death, hell and the grave by His life and death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave, we are to be overcomers and more than conquerors through Him that loved us. He expects us to follow His example. With Him, there are no special cases or plausible excuses.
In a day when relativism permeates the so-called Christian cultures of the world and the humanistic philosophy of irresponsibility permeates every aspect of our society, it is doubly imperative that we as God’s people recognize our basic responsibility for our own actions and respond accordingly. We need to avoid the excuses so commonly given today that rationalize sinful conduct. We cannot blame circumstances , society and others for unacceptable and destructive behavior.
WE CAN FACE LIFE’S PROBLEMS WITH AN AWARENESS THAT THROUGH THE POWER OF GOD OTHERS HAVE NEGOTIATED THE SAME SHOALS OF LIFE. Even we who are born again of His spirit are still in the flesh. Our egocentricity sometimes leads us to feel that we facing pressures and problems that are just too perilous for us to successfully navigate.
It does help to know that others have successfully passed this way before us. Through the years when visiting those who are facing surgery in hospital, I have found it is usual for them to be quite concerned. But I have also noticed that when they are told of others who have successfully survived such surgery with a minimum of complications, they are often much encouraged.
Years ago as we were traveling through the redwood forests of Northern California we came upon a giant sequoia that had a tunnel hewn through it for vehicles to pass through. We were in a camping van. Looking at the opening we were convinced we could not pass through. We were at the point of turning back when we noticed a dimension sign assuring us that many such vehicles had made it through before us. If they had, we could. and so we did!
It is obvious Paul was assuring the church at Corinth, and us also, that other brothers and sisters have, by the grace of God, made it through what we may view as life’s most difficult problems. And because they have, we can also. If others have survived being maligned, misunderstood and misused, so can we. If others have faced unfair and unjust treatment, so can we. If others have gone through rejection and betrayal, so can we. If others have faced circumstances and situations at home, work or in the world that appear absolutely overwhelming, so can we. If others have heard bad news that brought their world crashing down around them, and then gone on, so can we. If others have had to say good-bye to the dearest one of their life, so can we. If others have walked through they valley and shadow of death with the Good Shepherd at their side, so can we.
WE CAN FACE LIFE’S PROBLEMS WITH THE GODLY HELP OF EACH OTHER. Just as our Savior, by passing through the tests and trials of life, became imminently qualified to minister love and healing to His people, so are God’s people uniquely placed to do the same. Paul said as much. "Blessed [be] God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." God has not only given the members of the local body the ministry of reconciliation but the ministry of comfort and encouragement as well. "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." (I Thess. 5:11)
But it is a well know fact today that many churches have commonly abdicated the God-given responsibility of ministering to each other in times of stress and need. This has resulted in the development of a whole class of so-called professional Christian psychologists and counselors, and even Freudian psychiatrists, operating outside the God-ordained fellowship of the New Testament Church, who are looked upon as the experts in the field. Even though most have been trained in the God-denying philosophies of secular humanism, relativism and Freudian psychology, many Christians look upon them and the mind altering drugs they dispense as being the ultimate and final solution for spiritual problems that are so often described as emotional and psychological illnesses.
Just how do most of these experts dispense help to those who go to them? My experience and reports I have received indicate they spend much of their time telling Christians that their value system is all wrong. That they have been inculcated with standards and values that are too strict. That if they will lighten up and loosen up a bit and water down their puritanical convictions, they will be able to face life’s problems. This is exactly what a Christian friend of mine was told some forty years ago. The expert even recommended that he go out and have an affair or two. Of course, he was subsequently supposed to lie to his wife about it.
As I have often said, Christ did not design His local church to is be a display case for self-righteousness or religiosity. It is to be a place of help and healing for harrassed and hurting sinners who have been saved by His grace. A spiritual haven and emotional hospital for the lonely, isolated and alienated. His spiritual community should have the first century image of loving, forgiving and healing those who gather together to build one another up and provoke on another to good works.
If there has ever been a day when the members of the Body of Christ in any locale need to remember to one another’s burden, this is that day. (Gal. 6:1-2) There is a crying need for those who name His Name to regard their brothers and sisters as more important than themselves. There is a desperate need for those who will look at for the needs of others as a matter of first priority. (Phil. 2:3-4)
How often do we see brothers and sisters who are willing to lovingly reprove or rebuke those who have gone or are going astray? Either to warn them from harm’s way or rescue them when they have fallen into pit of sin? What has happened to the vital ministries of exhortation and encouragement among God’s people today? Why is it no longer the norm, as God ordained it to be, for faithful believers in the flock to lift each other in good works and by so doing mutually edify (build up) the body of Christ?
Could it simply be that it’s all too easy to go with the flow of the world and abdicate personal responsibility for the welfare of the members of the body? Could it be that we have succumbed to the elitism of our time and believed the psycho-babble that tells us that we are incompetent to counsel and help each other? Is it much easier and less troublesome to call in the so-called experts who deal in "professional help"? Ignoring the obvious scriptural principle that since all emotional and psychological problems are normally spiritually based, then it is impractical, if not impossible for those who are not spiritual to bring spiritual solutions to bear upon a situation or problem? In doing this, are we not going counter to the clear spiritual principle Paul enunciated when he said, ".. . Ye who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness . .."?
Just how great is our God today? Is it true that He is still able to do "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us"? Is Christ still the answer to all our problems in this the 21st century? Was John exaggerating when he said, ". . . greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world..." Was Paul deluded when he said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Were they, and other Biblical writers, merely engaging in meaningless hyperbole when they spoke of the Great God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords still on His throne today?
Can God’s people return to Him for solutions to life’s most perplexing and difficult problems? Can they resume their role of a ministry of comfort and encouragement? Can the once again respond to Paul’s admonition, "No trial has overtaken you but such as is common to man." With Jesus Christ in our hearts, His love in our life’s and His Word in our hands, we can seek and find His solutions for life’s greatest problems!
