“Learn Your Lessons When It Comes To Christian Living”
I. Listen to warnings written in Israel’s history (1-12)
II. Look to the Lord to get you out of temptation (13)
Dear Friends in Christ,
My car has a yellow light that turns on when the gas in my gas tank level gets down low. With another car that we had, that meant that you had plenty of time to finish what you were doing and then fill up with gas some time later. The car I drive now doesn’t work that way. I know this from experience. When the yellow light turns on, I better fill up with gas soon or it may not start again. It took getting stranded twice in order for me to learn that lesson. Do you think I’ll repeat that mistake again? Not if I learned my lesson I won’t. I told a little four year-old girl that she shouldn’t take her toy into the McDonald’s Playland because she would probably lose it. She insisted that it wouldn’t get lost. Within ten minutes the toy had vanished to the land of lost toys. Do you think she learned a lesson for the next time?
Live and learn. Look at history so you don’t repeat the same mistakes. You’ve heard that advice. You probably have a dozen lessons you learned the hard way or from experience. You probably have learned another dozen lessons after watching someone else make mistakes.
Why should living day to day as a Christian be any different? The Word of the Lord that stands forever is full of timeless truths when it comes to Christian living. What was true for the believers at Moses’ time, was true for the Christians living in Corinth, and is true for God’s people sitting in his house this morning.
In a letter address to a church in Corinth, Paul wants to teach a lesson. He uses history and he uses God’s promises to teach about Christian living. Today let’s listen to the Lord tell us, “Learn Your Lessons When It Comes To Christian Living” I. Listen to warnings written in Israel’s history; II. Look to the Lord to get you out of temptation.
I. Listen to warnings written in Israel’s history
A. Corinth was the New York City of ancient Greece. It was a hustling, busting, thriving, commercial metropolis. Goods, ideas and culture flowed freely through the streets, market places, and pagan temples. The who’s who of the citizens hung out at the Temple of Aphrodite. This was the country club. It was the place to be seen and noticed; it was the place to rub elbows. If want to be part of the temple scene, you’re going to slice up a steer to sacrifice to your favorite goddess. And surely you’re going to stick around for some sex-play worship with some of the temple prostitutes. This was Corinth.
The Christians in Corinth had grown up with this for years, and now they had a struggle on their hands. It seems that some of them wanted to walk the tight rope, or tiptoe along the edge of the cliff, and even had jumped off into this swirling whirlpool of immorality and sin. After all, they’re baptized, communing Christians, and they can handle themselves. “We know how far to walk out, Paul, without falling into it.”
B. Here is where Paul attempts to draw their eyes to warning signals flashing in Israel’s history. “You Corinthians need to listen to the warning bells sounding off in Israel’s history.” He says, “I want you to know, fellow Christians, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all went through the sea. By baptism in the cloud and in the sea they were all united with Moses”[GWN] (1,2). When God led the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt, he did so by having a cloud go before them. As they marched through the dry ground of the Red Sea, the walls of water stood at attention. Covered by the cloud, surrounded by the sea, Paul says, “That reminds me of our baptism. Just like we are brought into a close relationship with our go-between Jesus at our baptism, so the Israelites were brought into a close relationship with their middleman Moses.” These Israelites, Paul says, even had supernatural food and drink from Christ himself (manna and water from a rock).
But then he gives a kicker, “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert” (5). Like a hurricane hurling bodies every which way, Israelite bodies were thrown all over the desert floor in death. Remember that the first group of Israelites, all those over 20 years old died in the wilderness, died except for Joshua and Caleb.
C. Paul then goes on to rattle off a dirty laundry list of why these people had died. Some of them worshipped an idol by engaging in pagan practices. Some thought having sex with people to whom they were not married was an o.k. practice. Many of them put God’s patience to a test by not trusting him wholeheartedly. Some of them hurled complaints against God and the leaders of his people. God’s action that followed was this – he killed them. God is serious when it comes to listening to him and obeying him.
But listen to what he says to the Corinthians and you about all this. “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us” (6a). Listen to warnings written in Israel’s history. Failing to honor God as Lord by your worship and offerings can and did bring death. Engaging in sex acts outside the boundaries of marriage can and did strike people dead. Questioning God’s rule and control of our lives by putting up a lack of trust in him can and did end lives. Complaining about what God hasn’t given to you, instead of singing praises of thanks for what he has, can and did make people stop breathing.
D. Listen to the warnings written in Israel’s history. Because you are a baptized and communing member Corinthians, you people before the Lord today, watch your footing. “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (12). Having your name typed on the membership list of a church doesn’t give you a pass from repentance. Because you eat and drink the supernatural meal from God himself in the Lord’s Supper, doesn’t mean that you get a license to live the way you want, rather than the way your Savior wants.
Listen to the warnings written in Israel’s history. Being honest with ourselves, we know we’ve done the exact same things. We’ve stood on the shaky ground and our knees buckled under the pressure to sin against God. But you and I are “ones on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (11b). Jesus has already completed living a spot-free life, dying the death as our substitute, and conquered the foe of death by rising from the dead. God has completed his plan of ridding us of our guilty verdict through Jesus. So now when it comes to our Christian living, learn this lesson – listen to the warnings from Israel’s history. Watch out where you place your trust. Being secure in ourselves can lead to deadly consequences. It’s Jesus our Lord to whom we are to turn in trust.
So what happens when we are tempted? Is it an automatic that we cave in, go crashing to the ground, and be pinned down as a loser to the temptation? Absolutely not! Christian people learn your lessons when it comes to Christian living. Look to the Lord to get you out of temptation.
II. Look to the Lord to get you out of temptation
A. Paul writes, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear” (13a). When God allows you and me to be tested and tried, he doesn’t whip up an extra, super-duper, high-powered test laughing to himself, “Now I’ve got them! Now I’m going to stick it to them! And they’re finally going to fall. This will surely do it to them.” The Lord doesn’t stand with his hands greedily rubbing together trying to catch us once and for all. No, instead he says, “What you go through is what other humans are going through, too.”
B. God is trustworthy when it comes to testing us. You can trust that he has already made you his child, so what Father is going to want to hurt his own child? You can trust that he is faithful to all his promises to you – he will be your shield and fortress (Ps 46); he will work all things for your good (Ro 8:28); he will not let your foot slip; he who watches over you will not slumber or sleep (Ps 121). He is faithful to his promises. And because of these promises, he will not let you be tried and tested more than what you can handle. God isn’t going to put one thousand pounds of pressure on your back, when he knows that you can only handle fifty. He won’t bring more sickness or hurt into your family than what you can withstand. He won’t let you experience more severe financial hardships than what he knows you can endure. He won’t let your emotions be weighted down with more than you can bear. God is faithful to his promise.
C. He also says, “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (13b). If we think that our excuse is, “It’s simply destiny that I’m going to fall into the same traps I’ve fallen into before.” Paul, right here, takes away our excuse. When a temptation comes along, God makes an escape route right along with it that allows you to bear the temptation or test. The way to endure it is always there. Your faithful and trustworthy Lord has promised it. Learn your lesson when it comes to Christian living. Look to the Lord to get you out of the temptation and to help you endure it.
Concl. The Lord had King Solomon write that there was nothing new under the sun. But what has happened in the past can aid us in our Christian living. Make use of reviewing Israel’s history that serves as a warning even 3000+ years later. Beware of standing firm in yourself. Be watchful toward the Lord to get you out of a temptation. Learn these lessons for your Christian living. Amen.
