God's Faithfulness in our Temptation
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
In our passage last week, Paul introduced an analogy for the Christian life and ministry.
It’s very much like a race we are running.
We labor, and train, and strain toward the finish line.
We sweat, and we hurt, and we push through difficulty knowing that the prize will be worth it all.
We utilize self-control and discipline to press on toward the goal.
Paul ends Chapter 9 in this way.
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
This category of self-disqualification Is now where Paul launches from into chapter 10.
I want you to consider the kind of humility that Paul is displaying here.
He recognizes something about himself.
He recognizes that if he doesn’t discipline himself and maintain self-control, he the apostle Paul, could act in such a way that he could discredit all that he preaches.
He recognizes that he is not above spiritual failure.
And he recognizes that if he fell spiritually, he would bring a lot of people down with him who he has taught over the years.
There is a spiritual humility here that recognizes his own sinfulness, and his own neediness.
Its a spiritual humility he was embodying, but that the Corinthians were not.
This concept of his own deep need for spiritual humility, now leads him to make an argument for the Corinthians to embrace the same perspective.
He makes the argument by pointing back to Israel’s history as recorded in the OT.
So with all that set up, now let’s read verses 1-13 And pray for understanding.
For I do not want you to be unaware, 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.
Lets Pray
In this mornings text we will see
Two Truths about Bible interpretation.
Four Warnings for God’s People.
Three Encouragements
For I do not want you to be unaware, 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.
The first thing we need to take note of in this text is how Paul is utilizing the Old Testament to make his argument.
Follow the argument with me.
Paul is directing your eyes to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and journey to the promised land. .
They were all under the cloud, Paul says
Paul’s referring to the miracle pillar of fire and smoke that led Israel out of Egypt and stood between them and the oncoming army of Pharaoh.
He is referring to the miraculous moment where they passed through the sea on dry ground.
And he refers to their journey through the waters of the Red Sea as their baptism moment.
They went into those waters known as slaves to Pharaoh, and they came out of the waters proclaiming that they were the people of God, freed from slavery, and on their way to a promised land.
They were immersed in the waters of the Red Sea, and immersed in the presence of God himself.
After that, they journeyed through The wilderness,
but they were not alone.
They were sustained by miracle bread from heaven that would appear on the ground every day
and miracle water from a rock struck by the staff of Moses.
and all ate the same spiritual food,
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
The first thing we need to note is how Paul understands the usefulness of the Old Testament.
Truth #1 The OT Helps Us to See Christ More Clearly
Truth #1 The OT Helps Us to See Christ More Clearly
notice again the parallels.
The water of the Red Sea was like their baptism,
And Paul says the rock that Moses struck that produced the water, was Christ.
Christ himself was struck on our behalf and from him flows the living water of eternal life.
Paul understands Israel’s history to be a divinely orchestrated historical foreshadowing of Christ’s work in the church.
The salvation God accomplished for Israel in real history,
was God’s plan For clarifying and highlighting the salvation God would accomplish through Jesus.
The spotless lamb of the passover,
the delivery from slavery,
the journey through the Red Sea,
the provision in the wilderness,
the rock from which miracle water sprang when it was struck… .
They all are real historical acts of God
but they are pointing to Jesus.
Jesus our passover lamb saves us from the wrath of God.
Baptism is our declarative immersion into the waters of the Red Sea…
We rise from the waters to sing that where we are no longer slaves to sin and death…
we are led by the glory cloud of God’s presence through the indwelling Holy Spirit
And Jesus our rock gives us spiritual sustenance for the journey through the wilderness until we arrive to the promised land.
The Old Testament illustrates, explains, foreshadows, foretells, and exalts the beauties of Christ who was the plan for the salvation of man from before the foundation of the world.
The Old Testament should cause you to leap with joy and abound in worship…,
it’s all a prequel to the main event which by faith we are now full partakers
But thats not all…..
Not only does the Old Testament make the work and ministry of Christ in our lives more clear.
It helps us to understand our human nature with more clarity.
Truth #2 The OT Helps Us to See Ourselves More Clearly
Truth #2 The OT Helps Us to See Ourselves More Clearly
As we see the Israelites journey with God,
we are not to see them as pitiful failures with whom we could never identify…
we are to see our sinful selves in them and thus be better equipped not to fall the way they fell.
They were the receivers of so much grace, but they often squandered it
we too are receivers of so much grace, and we too are liable to squandering it.
We are meant to learn from their example…
Paul says this explicitly in verses 5-6, as well as verse 11.
Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
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.
These things took place and were recorded in the Old Testament as examples for us so that we might not desire the evil as they desired.
Christian, this book has been preserved for you for thousands of years, so that this morning you might see the failures of Israel, and not walk in those failures.
God has gone to great lengths to have you sitting in this chair, to hear this word, that you might walk with him.
So what does Paul want us to see about ourselves here…
Why is he referring to the example of Israel…
There are four warnings given in this text, but there is one primary warning being given in this section that the other warnings sort of flow out of.
We are going to begin with the primary warning.
It appears in verse 12 after the therefore.
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
Warning #1 Beware of Spiritual Arrogance
Warning #1 Beware of Spiritual Arrogance
The Israelites saw some of the greatest acts of God’s power recorded in the history of the world.
They walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.
They enjoyed the cloud of God’s presence.
They ate the miracle bread.
They drank the miracle water.
yet despite all of that….
5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Paul’s point is that despite all God’s grace poured out on his people,
his people became spiritually arrogant, and they fell hard.
And it can happen to you too.
12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
There is a place you can get to in the Christian life where you stop self-assessing.
There is a place you can get to where you lose your desperation for the Spirit of God
you can lose your appreciation for your salvation
you can lose your wonder and your awe over the glory of God.
The Corinthians have shown signs of this kind of spiritual arrogance
We have seen in this letter thus far that they have forgotten their need for the Lord,
They have forgotten their need for repentance,
They need their self-perspective adjusted.
They need some self awareness.
It is a dangerous place to be,
and its a tendency that Paul himself is always and actively fighting.
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
The apostle Paul, himself, recognized that he himself was susceptible to such things.
Christian, walk in humility.
Seek the face of God.
Open yourself up to him and others As you run the race.
When you don’t think you can fall, you are perfectly positioned to fall hard.
Israel did,
Corinth did,
and we could to.
Paul’s warnings begin to stack up in verse 7.
Verses 7-11 are warnings in regard to the kinds of things we fall into when we arrogantly think we are above falling.
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.”
Warning #2 Beware of Worshipping the Wrong Thing
Warning #2 Beware of Worshipping the Wrong Thing
Paul references the scene at the bottom of Mt. Sinai where the people of God made for themselves a false god and threw a party.
Despite all that they had seen… they drifted quickly back to the ways of Egypt.
They began to worship what they had seen Egypt worship the way Egypt worshipped.
We too are immersed in a worshipping world.
All people are worshippers, but all people most naturally worship the wrong things,
and if we are not careful, we can assimilate with the world’s ways of worship.
Spiritually we tend to go down the path of least resistance,
and when we are immersed in a world of worshippers worshipping the wrong thing…
the path of least resistance is to join them perhaps even unknowingly so.
The Christian life therefore is a daily self-assessment.
It requires self-discipline, and self-control, but it also requires humble self-assessment.
What am I worshipping?
Who am I worshipping?
Am I worshipping a particular way of life, a dream job, a relationship?
Am I worshipping some future season of my life?
Am I worshipping my self most ultimately?
Even good things can become ultimate things, and thus idolatrous things.
We can even idolize the ministry we do for the Lord, more than we actually worship the Lord.
Beware of Idolatry.
The Israelites fell so quickly as a testimony to us that this is the human heart’s tendency
and we are not above or beyond that tendency.
Paul continues….
We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.
Warning #3 Beware of Immorality
Warning #3 Beware of Immorality
Not only do we live in a worshipping world, but we live in a world that longs for happiness.
We have desires.
And our desire is to be happy.
Our sin natures, however, distorts our understanding of what brings happiness.
And one of the chief lies of the enemy throughout the ages has been that happiness can be found in immorality.
The lie is that satisfaction can be found outside the will of God, rather than living according to it.
And one of the most prominent beliefs in our culture is that sexual Expression brings happiness.
For our present cultural moment, true happiness is understood to be found in totally unbound, uninhibited, free sexual activity with whoever, however, whenever.
It is a denial of God’s good design
it is an empty pursuit that only ends in destruction.
Beware.
Take heed lest you fall.
Sexual immorality of any kind is not the way to happiness.
It is a lie
It will leave you empty, lonely, and self-destructing.
Paul references a moment in Israel’s history where they gave themselves over to sexual immorality and thus suffered a plague where thousands died in a single day.
Judgment is going to fall on those who freely engage in sexual immorality still today, unless they turn and trust Jesus
Beware of this sin. Wage war against this sin. Have no tolerance for this sin.
Don’t play with it,
Don’t test God on this.
The Israelites are often accused of testing God in their wilderness wanderings.
look at verse 9…
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.
Warning #4 Beware of Testing Christ
Warning #4 Beware of Testing Christ
Now what does it mean to test Christ?
Well lets look at the OT text Paul is referencing?
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
To test God in this story at least is to call into question, or to challenge his way as good.
It is to elevate yourself to the place of God as if you can bargain with him
or demand of him what you think is best.
18 They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
This is a new level of spiritual arrogance.…
we can get to the point where not only are we ungrateful for the good gifts of God’s grace… we are demanding of him how we think things should go.
If you are ever in the place where you are arguing with God over the morality of a decision rather than humbling yourself before what he has said, you are in dangerous waters.
We test Christ when we arrogantly put ourselves in the place of Christ.
We test Christ when we challenge the word of Christ.
Now that doesn’t mean we don’t ask questions.
That doesn’t mean we don’t seek answers.
God welcomes our questions, but there is a difference in humbly seeking God, and arrogantly acting as if we know better than God.
Beware of testing Christ.
One of the ways this manifests is in our grumbling.
The Psalms retell Israel’s pattern
19 They made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20 They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land,
having no faith in his promise.
25 They murmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
Christian , have you been murmuring lately?
Despite all that God has done for you and through you, have you been grumbling lately?
grumbling as if you yourself have not been saved by the abundant grace of God.
Beware of Testing Christ in this way.
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.
We have seen two truths about Bible interpretation.
And Four Warnings from Israel’s example.
but, Paul doesn’t leave this section with just the warnings.
He pivots to provide two encouragements
1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man...
Encouragement #1 Your Temptations are Not Unique to Human Experience
Encouragement #1 Your Temptations are Not Unique to Human Experience
One of the ways that Satan pens us into a corner is by convincing us of how special our circumstances are.
If he can convince us that no one suffers like we suffer
that no one is tempted like we are tempted
then we tend to write ourselves a free pass to disregard the word of God because of the uniqueness of our struggle.
This is especially true of our day where everyone is trying to out-trauma one another…
The narrative of the day is that if I can convince others that the trauma in my life is worse than theirs, then my trauma gives me a pass to act or think in a certain way.
Paul wants to simultaneously crucify that way of thinking while also providing you with comfort and encouragement.
“no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.”
thousands of years ago, God’s people were being tempted in similar ways that you are tempted.
You are not special in that regard.
But you are also not alone in that regard.
Peter uses a similar argument to encourage believers undergoing persecution in 1 Peter 5.
9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
Not only are they not unique to human experience.
We could go a step farther, and say that Christ himself has experienced the full array of human temptation and trial.
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
There was a moment in Jesus’ ministry that showed that he was the new and better Israel.
He went into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting, just as the Israelites had gone into the wilderness for 40 years.
he was tempted by Satan, just as Israel was tempted,
But, Jesus did not grumble.
He did not put God the Father to the test,
He did not worship the wrong thing as Satan encouraged,
In that moment Jesus was tempted, and Jesus prevailed like none of us have prevailed.
Jesus experienced what we experience.
Jesus prevailed where we failed.
Jesus died the death we deserved to die.
Jesus rose again, and he is with us now as our representative and our help in time of need.
Be encouraged brothers and sisters… your fight against sin is not unique… and you are not alone in the fight.
Encouragement #2 Your Temptations Are Not Sovereign - God is
Encouragement #2 Your Temptations Are Not Sovereign - God is
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.
Just as the enemy would want to convince you that your temptations are unique, he also would want to convince you that your temptations are sovereign.
He would convince you that they are inescapable.
He would convince you that there is no choice, and no possibility of escaping sins grip on you.
If he convince you that the fight is not worth the effort, then he will successfully get you to stop fighting.
The Corinthians lived in a an idol worshipping society. They were surrounded by Pagan cult worship and prostitution and idolatry and sexual promiscuity.
How in the world could they live set apart lives while immersed in such a world?!
It must have felt impossible.
But Paul Re-orients them to the sovereign faithfulness of God.
God is faithful even when we are not.
God is faithful even when we can’t see his faithfulness.
In the moment of trial,
In the moment of temptation,
God has not left us in chains, he has not left us in an inescapable pit.
He makes away of escape,
he protects his people,
he preserves his people,
he calls his people, and walks with his people, and invites his people into deeper holiness.
Christian we can trust this…
If we feel trapped under the weight of inescapable trial or temptation…, we are not alone.
We can trust our God,
we can call out to our God.
Your Temptations Are Not Sovereign - God is.
So how do we respond to all this?
How would Paul have wanted the Corinthians to respond?
I am not gonna leave us with takeaways, rather I want to leave us with a prayer I think Paul would say is an appropriate response.
Lets conclude with this kind of prayer modeled for us from King David.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Let’s Pray that as a congregation And entrust ourselves to a faithful God.