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)
…and… “all drank the same spiritual drink …” (verse four)
The Exodus generation had privileges just as you have privileges. All of these stories recall their miraculous deliverance. When you think of the parting of the Red Sea, the manna raining down from heaven when they are hungry, the water spewing from the rock to quench their thirst, and the cloud that showed the way through the desert, the Exodus generation was blessed. God had miraculously delivered them from bondage under Pharaoh. Their Lord’s Supper was the eating of the manna from heaven as they traveled from Egypt through the desert. Their Lord’s Supper was the drinking of the water that gushed from the rock during the days of the desert.
They received their baptism into Moses, the cloud, and the sea. They were baptized as the walked through the Red Sea and found deliverance. They enjoyed God’s protection and guidance. God’s actions on their behalf serves as a paradigm of salvation itself.
Likewise, you are blessed. Like the Exodus generation, if I measured your blessings on a scale from 1 to 10, you would score yourself a million. They were miraculously delivered from Egyptian slavery; you were delivered from sin’s slavery. You used to worship idols, but now you have experienced baptism. You used to have no purpose in life, but now you eat the Lord’s Supper. Christ has quenched your thirst for this life and the next.
Blessings for the Present
2. Lessons from the Past
“Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6).
“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” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
And what is the lesson? “Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (1 Corinthians 10:5).
This needs to be heard. This needs to be underscored. Nearly all of Israel perished despite God’s generosity with them. Nearly all of Israel bankrupted themselves spiritually even though liberally withdrawing from God’s checking account. And they were severely judged. Don’t miss the significance of the OT example. They were baptized, they ate the Lord’s Supper, and yet they committed idolatry. You are baptized, you eat the Lord’s Supper, and you are in danger of committing idolatry. I began this morning by talking about a dangerous attitude – the sin of Presumption. Presumption is an idea taken to be true though it is not known of certain. Presumption is coasting. Coasting may save gas in your car but it kills your spiritually.
While the true Christian knows no sin can pry him lose from the grip of God, presumption is Satan’s counterfeit. Whenever God mints a coin in the treasury of heaven, Satan sets about his work of counterfeiting God’s currency. And unless you rely on the Spirit for discernment, you will not be able to tell the difference. Listen carefully to the Bible’s warning: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:13). God’s work is to assure the godly. We can never be too confident of God’s power to keep the godly from evil: “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1:12). This is God’s doing. And this is wonderful place to be. Yet, there is an unholy presumption where Satan counterfeits God’s work. Where you stand in a precarious place. And this is the lesson from the past: “Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (1 Corinthians 10:5). Everything hinges on this sharp and crisply expressed contrast in verse five. God was displeased with most of them and their bodies are scattered over the desert. Only Joshua and Caleb survived to enter to the Promise Land. What did they do to bring such a devastating judgment on themselves? The sin of spiritual presumption. Spiritual is the“…one who thinks … he stands” (1 Corinthians 10:13). When you are a new Christian, small sins jar your confidence. Yet, a long-time believer becomes a callous believer if they are not vigilant.
It is by small acts of carelessness that we coast into presumption. The ear of the one firing the howitzer cannot hear soft sounds any longer. It is by small acts of omission of the spiritual disciplines that cause you to later fall. It is by the small swings of the axe that the mighty oak falls. To understand why such a terrible judgment came upon them is to comprehend the stark contrast between their five privileges (where we looked the the word “all”)… …and their five rebellions. Just as Paul describes “our fathers” by using the word “all” five times, he now gives five examples from the same “Fathers.”
2.1 They craved evil
“Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6). This first example isn’t so much an example as it is the general stuff from which the other four failures emerge. Paul is saying in effect, “If you are not careful, you will be derailed by an insatiable craving.” “If you are not careful, you will be derailed by idolatry as Israel of old was.” The media portrays people as torn between good and evil. The media portrays an angel on one shoulder with a devil on the other. Yet, here is an example of your presumption. The Bible says in contrast… “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9)?
The Christian who truly knows his own heart prays, “God spares all eyes but Your Own that awful sight of my heart.” Our hearts are spring-loaded to evil. In so many places of our lives, we have the devil on the right shoulder and the left. We crave evil.
2.2 They Committed Idolatry
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). Paul is referencing the worship of the golden calf in Exodus 32:6.“Idolatry is the de-Godding of God” (D. A. Caron) The great reformer, Martin Luther, when he was commenting on the Ten Commandments, what he noticed was that the first two commandments referred to idolatry and then the other eight commandments were like, sexual sin, stealing, lying, murder. And what he surmised was if you never broke the first two commandments, you wouldn’t break any of the others. If you’re a person who does drugs, who lies, who gets violent, who murders, your real issue is not that you have those sins – the underlying cause is the fact that you are an idolater.
As Christians many of you continue to worship but you devote ourselves to created things. So all of a sudden, it’s a human being that we worship. It’s a job that we worship. It can be a silly little thing like a vintage car, to where you are going to restore a vehicle because you’re a dude who has decided that that is of highest value and worth to you. So, thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars go to your vehicle. Your devotion is to your hobby. Or to your season tickets… Your home improvement projects… Or to your flawless lawn… We worship created things. The hours of adoration go to your pet. Or to your education… Perhaps your appearance… That’s where your time, energy, and money go. Idolatry is enslavement to something we love.
2.3 The Engaged in Sexual Immorality
“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).
2.4 They Tested Christ
“We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents…” (1 Corinthians 10:9).
2.5 They Grumbled
“…nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:10).
To give up your “rights” in favor of someone else requires diligence and drive. To give up your rights to sake a orphaned little one in takes determination and discipline. Be careful about presumption for spiritual presumption is nothing more than pregnancy that soon gives full birth to pride. Many of us replace these words with our favorite words such as desire, privilege, gratification, and enjoyment.
A person says to themselves, “I go to church. I’ve been baptized. I eat of the Lord’s Supper when it is passed around at church. I am well fed spiritually. I am flourishing in the eyes of God. I’m not one of those who attend such and such church. My pastor is a model of perfection. Surely, I am well fed. Surely, I will stand.” The sin of presumption: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources estimates that the state’s estimate 55 million ash trees are facing certain death after the discovery of emerald ash borer beetle. This exotic beetle kills trees by tunneling of its larvae under the tree bark, which disrupts the flow of water and nutrients. If effect, the beetle starves the trees. Amazingly, the beetle is not as big as penny. Discovered near Detroit in the summer of 2002, the beetle found its way to the States from China. It is now it fifteen states as well as Canada. And to date, scientists have found nothing to stop its deadly work.
The sin of insisting upon my rights… If you could weigh this sin upon the scales of eternity, you would run from these as if I threw a boa constrictor in your lap.
Blessings for the Present
Lessons from the Past
3. Grace for the Future
“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 10:13).
We can never be too confident of God’s power to keep the godly from evil: “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1:12).
God’s grace will guard true believers against the sin of presumption. God’s grace will grant you the discipline necessary to prevent you from disqualifying yourself: “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
