Series Title: Questions About the Church
Sermon Title: How Can the Church Help Me Win in Life?
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10: 1-13
As Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, he knows that they have a lot of evil influences. We’ve already talked about how big of a city and how important of a city Corinth was. It was important for the transportation of goods because of its location on the isthmus between northern and southern Greece. People from all over the known world would have come through there. Alongside the worshipping of false gods that the Greeks did, there would have been other religions of the people who had settled there. Some of these religions were fertility religions, which means that they worshipped their false gods through sexual activity. Being a metropolitan kind of city, it would probably have been similar to cities like New York, or Los Angeles. We hear about the crime and the slums. There would have been a lot of temptation to live a lifestyle that was not pleasing to God.
The Christians in Corinth would have needed help to WIN in life the way God wanted them to WIN. And just like God does for us, God gave them the church, His people, to help them WIN in life.
If you are saved, God has given you the church to help you WIN in this life. It’s true that, if you are saved, you already have received eternal life. So, you have actually already won the war. But because of our human nature and the battle that takes place, we are constantly fighting between the physical and the spiritual. Sometimes it’s within ourselves, and sometimes it’s in our relationships with other people.
Now, God gives us help to win this daily battle. He gives us the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us, but that’s a message for another day.
I. God gives us the church to help us WIN at life through the Witness of the church, (1 Cor. 10: 1-6)
Now, one of the most ready examples of what I’m talking about is Paul himself. He had preached among them. He had taught among them. They had heard his testimony of how he stood firm in his faith, and faced persecution during the year and a half that he spent there. He was an example to the fact that you could live a righteous life in the face of temptation and persecution.
Then, Paul goes back into Jewish history. Some of the Christians in Corinth could have come out of the Jewish faith, because Paul first went into the synagogue to preach about Jesus, and when some Jews became abusive toward him, he went into someone’s house. But even if they did not come out of a Jewish background, Paul is giving testimony about the people of God.
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
God led them with the cloud by day, and God provided a way of safety through the sea. These were God’s people and He was leading and protecting them.
2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
This phrase “baptized into Moses” doesn’t mean baptism like we think of baptism. Instead, it carries the idea of being dedicated to the leadership of Moses, who was, of course, being led by God.
3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Here is a word of testimony that God’s people were being provided for by the hand of God. And Paul brings Christ into this Old Testament account. We don’t have record that Jesus manifested Himself to them in a physical sense. But Paul is declaring that it is through Jesus that God the Father provided for the people of Israel.
So these experiences of the people of God are a witness that God will provide to help His people WIN in life.
Now, they not only had a positive witness, but they, also, had a negative witness.
5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
Because of their disobedience at a certain point, God did not allow the adults that had come out of Egypt into the Promised land, except for Joshua and Caleb. He made them wander through the desert, or wilderness as we call it, for forty years, until that generation had died out.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.
If you are going through troubles, if you are facing temptations, if you have fallen on hard times, if you are finding it difficult to live for Jesus, God has given you His people, the church, who will bear witness to the fact that you can live for Jesus regardless of outside pressures and circumstances.
There are people in the church who have had hard times, who have lost jobs, who have lost loved ones (husbands, wives, children, parents, and other close family members and friends). There are people in the church who have faced temptations, and some have the testimony of not giving in to that. Others have given in, and faced the consequences of their sin, but have found forgiveness, and bear the witness of a gracious, merciful God.
God has given you the witness of this church to help you WIN in this life. And that’s why you need to get to know some of these people. That’s why you need to be in a Bible Study class, so you can interact with the people here. Their witness will encourage you, and help you to WIN in this life.
II. God gives us the church to help us WIN at life through the Instruction of God’s Word with God’s people, 1 Cor. 10: 7-11)
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry."
Here, Paul goes back to the Scripture, “as it is written,” and he mentions several events that are recorded in Scripture. This first event is found in Exodus 32. Because Moses was taking so long in receiving the Law of God, the people got restless, and turned to worship an idol. In the city of Corinth, there were many religious practices there, many idols worshipped. Paul says, “You can WIN against idolatry. Look back into the Scripture at God’s people. They gave in to idolatry.” And he doesn’t mention it here, but they were judged by God, and 3000 died that day.
8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did — and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
In Numbers 25, we read of the men of Israel committing sexual immorality with Moabite women, whom God later told them to consider enemies. Because of this sin, they were invited to worship false gods, which they did, and God brought judgment on them. Paul says, “Learn this lesson from the Scripture, and don’t give in to this sin.”
Oh, the people of God tested the Lord often. Numbers 21 refers to a time when...
Num 21:5 (NIV), they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
Paul says in verse 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did — and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did — and were killed by the destroying angel.
One instance of their grumbling, or murmuring, is recorded in Numbers 14. And God tells Moses, “I’m not going to put up with these people any longer. I have provided for them. I have protected them. I have performed miracle after miracle before their very eyes, and they still rebel against me. I will destroy them all, and fulfill my promise through you, Moses.”
Paul is a part of this church at Corinth. He knows that they have had victories, and he knows that they have had failures. And he says, “Take a look at the Scriptures with me. See how the people of God failed Him? See the judgment that God brought on them? He says in verse 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us....
God wants you and me to WIN in this day-to-day life. And He has given us the church, His people, to help Instruct us in His Word.
You say, I can read the Bible by myself. Yes, you can, and yes, you need to.
You say, I can study the Bible by myself. Yes, you can, and yes, you need to.
But God still wants you to get together with His people and study His Word together. Why? Because God, through His Holy Spirit, is constantly opening up our understanding of what His Word means deep down. And Christians are at different levels of spiritual maturity. I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago. And God can use those who have already received the understanding of His Word to instruct those who haven’t.
In a Bible Study group, you can talk about what you understand, about what you don’t understand, about what it means to you and your life, how it applies to your life, how to live it out. God has given you the church—PEOPLE—with whom you can do that, because He wants you to understand His Word so you can win in life.
III. God gives us the church to help us WIN at life through the Needs that are met through the church, 1 Cor. 10: 12-13)
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
Here’s a person who believes everything is OK in their lives spiritually. Paul says that there’s still the possibility of falling.
We fall spiritually when we are lacking something, when we have a need. And so, when Satan presents a temptation to us, he often does so in an area of need in our lives. And he wants us to believe that we can meet our need, we can fulfill our need, ALL by ourselves.
Paul has been talking about idolatry, sexual immorality, testing God, grumbling against God—all temptations that the believers in Corinth were facing day after day. Temptations that they try to meet their own needs without remaining faithful to God. Paul deals with that in verse 13. Let me break it down for you.
13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man…
Paul says, “These temptations aren’t new.” He’s already pointed out through the Scripture how Israel faced the very same kinds of things.
And God is faithful;
He’s saying, “Folks, you can trust God. And God…will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
The temptation is NOT more than we can stand. We don’t HAVE to give in to it. As a matter of fact, he says, But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
There’s an escape! When we are tempted, we can open up God’s Word ourselves and be strengthened and encouraged to remain faithful, and we need to do that. And when we are tempted, we need to go to God in fervent prayer, pouring out our hearts and our need to God. And we need to do that.
But God has also given us the church—His people—to have a part in helping to meet those needs we have. We don’t have to give in to the temptation and resort to sinful actions to meet the needs we have.
I sat in a courtroom as a witness for the motel I was working for, and, we were waiting on our case to come up, and one of the cases that was presented, was a man who stole food from a grocery store, and the reason he gave was that he and his family were hungry. Now, it is a terrible thing that we have hunger in our country, as rich as it is. But it is never right to meet even that need by disobeying God. What a great testimony it would have been if this man came to the people of God—the people he worshipped with regularly, the people he prayed with regularly, the people he studied the Bible with regularly, the people he served with—and he said, I’m down to my last $5, and I need help to buy some food. And some of the people gave right then; some went home and took food off their shelves or prepared some food and took it to his house. And they did that until he found work that would provide—what a testimony that would be.
You and I should be involved in church, or with God’s people, so that, when needs come up that seem to be more than we can handle, we have God’s people to come to and we can be assured that it’s not too big, and perhaps, God wants to meet that need through His people.
Conclusion
God wants you and me to WIN at this earthly life, and He gives us the church to help us WIN:
Through the witness of the church, through the Instruction of God’s Word in the church, and through the needs that are met by His people.
If you are a Christian, you need to be active in church. You need to worship God with His people. You need to study the Bible with God’s people. You need to develop some friendships with God’s people. You need to find out how God wants you to serve His people, and serve His people that way. And you need to help God’s people take the Gospel message to somebody else. If you’re not involved with God’s people this way, you’re missing out. And you need to determine today that you are not going to keep putting it off, but you’re going to start getting involved with God’s people.
Maybe you’re here this morning and you’ve never put your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Sadly, just attending church doesn’t make you one of God’s people—it doesn’t bring you into God’s family. So when it come to winning in this life, you won’t have the kind of help from God’s people t hat you need to win the day-to-day battles. You need to admit to God that you are a sinner. You need to repent—to turn away from your sin. You need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who came to die for your sin. And you need to put your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
