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.
Paul starts out his lesson to the people by showing the people of Corinth just how BLESSED the Nation of Israel was.
A. They were all led by the CLOUD. They weren’t let go from Egypt just to walk around aimlessly. God didn’t say “Ok, good luck guys. I hope you find a nice home.” No, He had a place planned out for them. The Land of Canaan. They had a CLOUD to lead them. God would be there with them every step of the way. All they had to do was follow.
God doesn’t SAVE US from the Bondage of Sin and then leave us High and Dry. No, He has a plan for each one of our lives.
He will LEAD US and GUIDE US by His WORD. The Bible.
He will LEAD US and GUIDE US by His Holy Spirit.
And He will LEAD US and GUIDE US by other believers. We’re a family here and we care about each other. We’re here to lift each other up when we’re going through a trial.
B. And then it tells us that God parted the Red Sea for them to cross over. They were trapped there between the WATER and the INCOMING Egyptian Army. They were like SETTING DUCKS but then God reached down and sent a STRONG EAST WIND that SPLIT the SEA in TWO and DRIED out the GROUND. They were able to pass over and when the Egyptian Army went to cross over, the WATER COLLAPSED UPON THEM. God made a WAY when it looked like there was no other way. And Verse 2 tells us that they were all BAPTIZED unto Moses in the CLOUD and in the SEA. This is an EXAMPLE of God’s love and power, but also a picture of baptism.
By “passing through water,” all of Israel identified with Moses. He was their SAVIOR who led them out.
And back in Paul’s day and today, we as BELIEVERS and FOLLOWERS of Jesus are BAPTIZED. We IDENTIFY with our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST as we “PASS THROUGH” the water of BAPTISM. Romans 6:3-4,
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
C. Back to 1 Corinthians, in Verses 3 and 4 Paul points out that the Children of Israel were fed and watered throughout their PASSAGE as they travelled across the WILDERNESS.
Each morning they would go out and gather MANNA and QUAIL to eat. God provided.
And God provided WATER. A rock SPEWED out a RIVER of WATER not once but twice. No doubt the Nation of Israel would have DIED without that LIFE GIVING WATER. And that rock SYMBOLIZED JESUS and the SALVATION He brought.
Every single one of us today would be LOST and we would be SPIRITUALLY DEAD without Jesus Christ. He is our SALVATION.
These were the BLESSINGS that were given to the Nation of Israel. But here’s the SAD PART. A lot of the Children of Israel were DISPLEASING to the Lord. After all that God had done for them and they couldn’t live a life that was pleasing to Him. And because of that, they were OVERTHROWN in the WILDERNESS.
And so Verse 6 begins with, “Now these things were our examples” FIVE THINGS that got the Nation of Israel into trouble. FIVE TIMES where they SCREWED UP. FIVE EXAMPLES that we need to look at this morning to keep OURSELVES out of TROUBLE.
So before I get into these FIVE THINGS let’s go to the Lord in Prayer. Brother _____, would you lead us?
I. Look at what Verse 6 ends with. “we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.”
Now it’s interesting to me that when the Nation of Israel crossed the Red Sea and journeyed into the wilderness, God KNEW that they would have to have FOOD. He KNEW they would have to have WATER. But yet the people began to worry and complain. In Exodus 16 they had barely crossed over and they began to MURMUR. “Oh, I wish we would have stayed in Egypt. We had BREAD and FLESH POTS to eat from.”
They LUSTED AFTER what they had left behind in Egypt.
So God sends MANNA for them to eat in the wilderness. Exodus 16:4, “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.”
And so all they had to do was go out and pick it up off of the ground. What could be easier? So that was fine and dandy for a while but, once again, they began to MURMUR and COMPLAIN. In Numbers 11 they were tired of MANNA. And so they ground it up, baked it, made cakes out of it. Turned into a GRUEL. But they weren’t SATISFIED. They LUSTED AFTER the FLESH they had to eat back in EGYPT.
And so in Verses 18-20 of God said this,
“And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.
19 Ye shall not eat one day, or two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20 But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?”
And so Paul warns the people of Corinth to NOT LUST after EVIL THINGS. The THINGS that they had LEFT BEHIND. The things that God had SAVED THEM FROM.
ILLUS: There used to be an old joke about Deacon’s kids and Preacher’s kids going out into the world to build a TESTIMONY. “I heard Deacon Billy Bob’s son is out there BAR HOPPING.” “Oh well, he’s just building a testimony for later.” OR “Sister Sally’s daughter is out there chasing anything that breathes.” “Oh well, she’s just building a testimony for later.”
You know what folks. I hope MY KIDS and YOUR KIDS don’t have a TESTIMONY of what GOD has delivered them from. I hope MY KIDS and YOUR KIDS don’t BATTLE lusting after the things they USED to be INVOLVED in. I hope my kids DON’T KNOW what it’s like to be DRUNK.
But listen, IF we have left things behind. IF God has delivered YOU and I from the things of this world. We don’t need to be LUSTING after them. Give them to GOD and let Him keep them!!! Our SINS, our MISTAKES, our PROBLEMS, let God have them and QUIT THINKING about them.
James 1:14 and 15, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
We cannot forget the things of the past. But we don’t have to DWELL on them either. I heard about an old fellow who had a little analogy. He said, “I can’t stop a bird from landing on my head but I can sure stop him from building a nest on it. It’s time to stop LUSTING after the PAST.
II. Now look at Verse 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.”
In Exodus 32, Moses is up on Mt. Sinai talking with God. And so Moses is up there with God and his brother Aaron is down with the people. So let’s read what happened in the first 6 Verses of Exodus 32.
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord.
6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”
Now think about this for a minute. Why in the world would the Children of Israel DEMAND that Aaron make this Golden Calf? What did they hope to GAIN from it? Well, they wanted SOMETHING that they could see. Moses was gone and as far as they knew he might never come back. So who would LEAD THEM?
“Hey Aaron, make us a god that will go before us. Something that we can see and follow.” So Aaron did it and they all jumped up and danced around it.
So Paul warns the people of the church there in Corinth to be careful. There was only ONE GOD that they should be following. In the past some of these folks had been involved in IDOLATRY. They had worshipped false idols. But that was something in their past that they shouldn’t never go back to.
I doubt if anyone here has ever BOWED DOWN to a false idol. There’s probably no one here that has ever called upon BUDDAH, CONFUCIOUS or any other FALSE GOD. But every one of us have probably had things in the past and maybe things today that get between us and the TRUE and LIVING GOD. I could name some of them but I won’t. I think the Holy Spirit of God is pretty good at letting us know when something ain’t right. We can ignore it but God has given us these EXAMPLES of things that we need to be aware of. And when we do things. Let me clarify this. WHEN MITCH DOES THINGS that he knows is WRONG and the Holy Spirit speaks, he better listen. And if GOD is speaking to YOU TODAY about things in YOUR LIFE, you better listen.
III. “Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.”
Another EXAMPLE from the Children of Israel. They seemed to not be able to control their SEXUAL DESIRES with the women from the NATIONS they were passing through. Numbers 25:1, “And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.”
How in the world did they think God would allow this? Maybe it came down to JUST NOT CARING. Not caring that God had commanded them to ABSTAIN from FORNICATION. Not caring that God had told them to not join in with the people of the land. That’s found in Exodus 34.
Sexual immorality was something that the Children of Israel dealt with and it was something that the Corinthian Church also dealt with. Paul had told these folks in
1 Corinthians 6:18-20, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
The Children of Israel dealt with Sexual Immorality, the Corinthian Church dealt with it and the CHURCH TODAY still deals with it. I don’t like preaching on this subject but it HAS to be mentioned. God’s first institution that He established was the FAMILY. He CREATED MARRIAGE. It was and still is HIS DESIRE for the FAMILY and the HOME to PROSPER. And the ONLY WAY for this to happen is if the Mothers and Fathers will be TRUTHFUL, HONEST and FAITHFUL to each other. The ONLY WAY for this to happen is for VIRGINITY to be TAUGHT to our YOUNG PEOPLE. ONE MAN for ONE WOMAN after MARRIAGE. We MUST have INTEGRITY in MARRIAGE.
And how are we going to have INTEGRITY in MARRIAGE if the SO-CALLED ministers of God are not FAITHFUL in their own marriages?
One by one, pastor after pastor, evangelist after evangelist FALL to SEXUAL IMMORALITY. What is going on? Why does this happen? How can it be? I’ll tell you what I think it is. PRIDE!!! That’s why Paul told us in Verse 12,
“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
Let the Children of Israel be an EXAMPLE to us. Let the Church at Corinth be that EXAMPLE. Be careful in the RELATIONSHIPS that you have. Be careful in what you ALLOW yourself to LOOK AT. And be CAREFUL what you allow your MIND to DWELL ON.
IV and V. The fourth and fifth EXAMPLES are about the same. Paul says in Verse 9,“Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.”
Then in Verse 10 he says, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”
Paul is here referring back to Numbers 21, Verses 5 and 6.
“And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.”
The Children of Israel were once again complaining and griping and so God had had enough. Here came the SNAKES. Hissing, Slithering and Biting the people. Can you think of anything much worse? People began to die.
And there was NO CURE until God, in His MERCY, made a way. Moses was to put a BRASS SERPENT upon a POLE. And if the people who had been BITTEN simply looked up at the SERPENT ON THE POLE, they would be HEALED.
And so Paul tells the people of Corinth, don’t TEMPT JESUS in the same way that the Children of Israel did. This was an EXAMPLE to them. Don’t COMPLAIN and MURMUR. Don’t let PRIDE and SELFISHNESS become a PROBLEM in your LIFE. So how were they to do this?
And how are we able to do this today? How are as FOLLOWERS and BELIEVERS in Jesus able to LIVE a LIFE that is PLEASING to HIM today? Some try to do it on their own. Some think they’re successful. “God’s REALLY HAPPY with me. I’m REALLY GOOD. I’m REALLY TALENTED. I’m REALLY SMART. I’m a REAL ASSET to God.” I don’t think so. Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
I don’t care who you are, you’ll NEVER be good enough.
So HOW did those in the Corinthian Church become pleasing to God? How do you and I today make HEAVEN our HOME? Here’s the answer. Are you ready? Just as the Children of Israel LOOKED upon the Brass Serpent, we LOOK to Jesus. There is NOTHING we can do on our own. It’s all about what Jesus did for us on the Cross of Calvary. We look UPON HIM as He hung on the CROSS in AGONY and SHAME. He is the EXAMPLE for you and I today.
Hebrews 12:1 and 2,
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
He LAID DOWN His life for us so we give our life to Him.
We ended our reading today with Verse 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.”
JESUS has given each one of us a WAY of ESCAPE for the TEMPTATIONS that come up in our lives. And He has given each one of us a WAY of ESCAPE for the SINS we have committed. But we must give our lives to Him.
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
ILLUS: I love this story. In 1981, a Minnesota radio station reported a story about a stolen car in California. Police were staging an intense search for the vehicle and the driver, even to the point of placing announcements on local radio stations to contact the thief. On the front seat of the stolen car sat a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, were laced with poison. The car owner had intended to use the crackers as rat bait. Now the police and the owner of the VW Bug were more interested in catching the thief to save his life more than to get the car back.
Too many people run from God to try to escape His will or His punishment. But what they are actually doing is ESCAPING his rescue.
Listen, God showed us the way to have ETERNAL LIFE and He gave us EXAMPLES here in 1 Corinthians 10. EXAMPLES of how to live a life that is pleasing to Him. If God has spoken to your heart, I’ll ask you to come.
Let’s Pray
