The First Steps to Maturity

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Start with Application Testimony

[Give people an opportunity to share a testimony from last week’s exhortation]

Last lesson’s exhortation: Practice the Spiritual Gifts that God has given you to the point that you become comfortable them.

INTRO

We are going verse-by-verse, in a topical study through I & II Corinthians

Current Topic: Becoming Mature - The personal discipline of becoming like Jesus

So far we have talked about how...

Our faith is built on Christ alone. Jesus is the source of our life and our new way of living.

The Holy Spirit unites us to the work of Jesus and empowers us to do the work of the Gospel.

In this next mini-series, are going to talk about personal discipline and the process by which we grow in maturity, reaching toward the standard set by Jesus Himself.

For this first lesson, we’re jumping into 1 Corinthians 10, where Paul offers practical steps toward maturity and holiness while addressing the Corinthians questions about food sacrificed to idols. In the next two lessons, we’ll backtrack to chapters 8 and 9 to where that conversation began.

READ

1 Corinthians 10 CSB

1 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They 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 that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did. 7 Don’t become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party. 8 Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in a single day twenty-three thousand people died. 9 Let us not test Christ as some of them did and were destroyed by snakes. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. 11 These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. 13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it. 14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, since all of us share the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons! 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 23 “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up. 24 No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person. 25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, 26 since the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it. 27 If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. 29 I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thanksgiving, why am I criticized because of something for which I give thanks? 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.

EXAMINE

#1 | We must train ourselves to stop desiring evil things

We all have the same opportunity to live a holy and healthy life.

1 Corinthians 10:3–4 “They all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink...”

The difference is not what we are offered, but what we choose.

What shapes our path is whether we choose to keep wanting evil things.

1 Corinthians 10:5–6 “Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did.”

In order to be mature we have to be teachable and learn to consider the consequences of our choices.

#2 | We must take the path that leads away from temptation

We are all equally tempted with sin.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity...”

We shouldn’t waste time thinking we are worse than other people or believing there isn’t hope.

What matters is whether we walk towards the temptation or away from it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “...But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.”

Temptation can feel irresistible, but it isn’t. That feeling is a part of the way sin deceives us.

If we flirt with temptation and give it time in our lives, we will almost certainly fall into it.

We have to train ourselves to look for the escape route that God has provided, and then be wise enough to take it without delay.

#3 | We must prioritize what is beneficial

Just because “we can” do something, doesn’t mean we should.

1 Corinthians 10:23 “‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything builds up.”

One of the biggest differences between maturity and immaturity, is thinking about the effects of our choices.

It doesn’t matter if something is allowed. It matters if that thing is beneficial.

We must consider everyone’s benefit - not just our own.

1 Corinthians 10:24 “No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person.”

You can’t be mature and be selfish.

Being mature means caring about others and realizing that our decisions impact them.

We reflect the image of God (a.k.a. glorify Him) when we prioritize health in ourselves AND for others.

1 Corinthians 10:31–33 “...do everything for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.”

REFLECT

Let’s take a moment to pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight and draw our attention to what He wants us to see and understand today

APPLY

Process the passage together with these questions:

[Allow the conversation to go where people take it - we want people to feel the liberty to explore the topics of the passage that stand out to them. Select the questions from below that you think are right for the conversation, or add your own. Questions should be focused, yet open-ended. Wherever the conversation goes, help your group “land the plane” on the core idea of the lesson when you wrap up.]

How can we tell if we’re desiring the wrong things?

How can we learn to recognize and take God’s escape route more quickly?

What are some habits or practices that help shape our desires toward what is good?

Where we want to “land the plane”

We must train ourselves to stop desiring evil things, to take the path that leads away from temptation, and to prioritize what is beneficial. We all have the same access to God and the same opportunity to walk in holiness, but the direction of our lives is shaped by what we truly desire. If we keep craving what is evil, we’ll drift toward destruction - but if we train ourselves to desire what is good, we’ll walk in the strength and freedom God provides. Maturity isn’t about rule-following; it’s about loving what is good and reflecting God’s character.

Exhortation for the Week

Identify the number one change you need to make in the things you currently desire, and then begin to make that change.

FOOTNOTES

The Old Testament Examples in verse 5-10. Paralleling the fivefold blessings enjoyed by Israel in their newfound freedom from Egypt, Paul proceeded to recount a fivefold failure experienced by Israel during this time. He began with the Israelites’ craving for the pleasures of Egypt, summarized in their plaintive cry, “Give us meat to eat!” (Num. 11:4–34, esp. v. 13) God gave them what they wanted but while the meat was still between their teeth, He struck them with a plague. The Israelites named the cemetery for those who were killed “Kibroth Hattaavah” (“graves of craving”; Num. 11:34). The application to the Corinthian situation was obvious (cf. 1 Cor. 8:13). 10:7. Second, many in Israel failed by participating in idolatry (Ex. 32:1–6) and paid for it with their lives (Ex. 32:28, 35). Apparently some Corinthians were interested in more than meat in the pagan temples (1 Cor. 8:10; 10:14). For those who thought they as Christians could take part in idolatry with impunity, Paul intended, with illustrations like this, to knock out the false props which supported their behavior (v. 12) before God intervened and took their lives. 10:8. A third failure among the privileged Israelites was in the area of sexual immorality. In the Israelites’ case the immorality was associated with idolatry (Num. 25:1–2), which also characterized much pagan worship in the first century. But the Corinthians indulged in immorality in contexts other than idolatry, as the instances of rebuke in 1 Corinthians 5:1 and 6:18 illustrate. As God had brought death to the immoral among the Israelites (Num. 25:4–9), He could do in Corinth (e.g., 1 Cor. 5:5), a sobering thought for the libertines who said, “Everything is permissible” (6:12; 10:23). A possible solution to the apparent discrepancy in the death count found in Numbers 25:9 (24,000) and Paul’s figure of 23,000 may reside in the phrase one day. Moses and most of Israel were mourning the death of those who had been executed by the judges (Num. 25:5) or killed by an ongoing plague. Meanwhile Phineas was dispatching an Israelite man and Moabite woman in their last act of immorality (Num. 25:6–8), which brought to completion God’s discipline of the immoral Israelites and ended the death toll by plague at 24,000, a number probably intended as a summary figure. Another explanation of the 24,000 in Numbers (contra. Paul’s 23,000) is that the former included the leaders (cf. Num. 25:4), whereas the latter did not. 10:9. The Israelites’ fourth failure was the presuming of some to question the plan and purpose of God on their trek to Canaan. As a result they were killed by snakes (Num. 21:4–6). Did the Corinthians think that they knew better than God the path that would bring them to heaven? (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18–3:20) 10:10. Israel’s fifth failure, which God disciplined with death, occurred when they spoke rebelliously against God’s appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron (Num. 16:41–49). Was Paul facing a similar situation as an outgrowth of the Corinthians’ party spirit? (cf. 1 Cor. 1:11; 4:18–19) It is possible that each of these failures found expression in the Corinthian issue of eating food sacrificed to idols. David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 526–527.

“Everything is Permissable.” The words, Everything is permissible for me, had apparently become a slogan to cloak the immorality of some in Corinth. The statement was true but it required qualification. Paul qualified liberty with the principle of love applied to both neighbor and self (cf. Mark 12:31). Liberty which was not beneficial but detrimental to someone else was not loving (1 Cor. 8:1; 10:23) and was to be avoided. So too, liberty which became slavery (I will not be mastered by anything) was not love but hatred of self. David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 516.