Standing Firm
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Standing Firm
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567
Are you confident that you are standing firm in your relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ? Standing on the foundation of God’s deliverance, sustenance and divine presence has
led many Christians to conclude that they are unshakeable in their faith. Surely those who stand
on the practice of Lord’s Supper, prayer, reading the Bible and are experiencing God’s blessings
in their lives will not be so entangled by sin that God will give them His wrath? In 1 Corinthians
10:1-13 Paul gave a dire warning to the church of Corinth and to us today: if you think you are
standing firm be careful that you don’t fall. In other words, if you think that being a pastor,
deacon or prominent member of the church or an elderly person with vast spiritual experience is
insurance against loosing favor with God then think again! The first part of this sermon will
review the analogy Paul draws between Israel and Corinth to show that the moment those who
stand on the mountains of God’s blessings forget who got and keeps them there will fall because
closeness to God is a product of His power, not ours! The second part of this sermon focuses on
Paul’s warning that He who did not spare His chosen nation His wrath for having disobeyed
Him, will not spare wrath against those of this final age! The last part of this sermon will focus
on Paul’s assurance that those who rely on the power of Christ are standing on unshakeable
ground for He will not permit them to be tempted beyond what they can bear or endure!
The Blessed can Fall from Grace
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our
ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate
the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank
from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were
scattered in the wilderness (verses 1-5, NIV)
By using the phrases “brothers and sisters” and “our ancestors,” Paul invited the
Corinthians to see “themselves in light of a new identity formed through their adoption into the
covenant people of God.”1 Christ destroyed the hostility and barrier between both Jew and
Gentile and reconciled them both into one church through the cross (Ephesians 2:14). This
1
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary
(Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 445–446.
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means that both Jew and Gentile believers at
Corinth2 shared the same spiritual
descendants.3 Paul stated he did not want the
Gentile believers to be ignorant of the fact
that the promise made to Abraham that he
“would be heir to the world” and a “father of
many nations” was not fulfilled by following
the law but through faith (Romans 4:16-17).4
Abraham is the father of both Jewish and
Gentile Christians in virtue of their faith in
God.5 Having established common ancestry
Paul masterfully invited “ALL” Corinthians to
see the Exodus events of God’s chosen people
as “authoritative ethical instructions,” a warning that “even on top of a mountain of God’s
blessings anyone can fall!6
In verses 1b to verse five Paul draws an analogy between the blessings of the Israelite
people in the Exodus and that of the church of Corinth and in doing so “invited” them to no
longer be ignorant or “clueless”7 of the lessons they might learn from their “forefathers.”8 In
these few verses Paul outlined five advantages enjoyed by Israel that are also enjoyed by the
church of Corinth.9
1-2.
Guidance and Protection. For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers
and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through
the sea (verse 1). Paul’s reference to the “cloud” and “through the sea” refer to the story of
God delivering Israel from Egypt in Exodus 13-14.10 For our liberated forefathers the pillar
of cloud not only served as a theophanic guide (Exodus 13:21) as they travelled in the
wilderness11 but also as supernatural protection for the people as they crossed the Red Sea
and were delivered from extermination by the Egyptian army (Exodus 14:19-20)! Likewise,
did not the Corinthians also experience God’s guidance (Luke 1:70), protection (1 Peter
2
C. K. Barrett, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Black’s New Testament Commentary (London: Continuum,
1968), 220.
3
Lee Martin McDonald, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Acts–Philemon, ed.
Craig A. Evans and Craig A. Bubeck, First Edition. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2004), 311.
4
James R. Edwards, Romans, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books,
2011), 111.
5
C. K. Barrett, 91.
6
Alan F. Johnson, 1 Corinthians, vol. 7, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2004), 154.
7
Marion L. Soards, 1 Corinthians, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books,
2011), 200.
8
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 445.
9
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), 525.
10
Marion L. Soards, 200.
11
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 447.
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1:5)12 and deliverance from being under the
law that only brought death (Romans 7:10)?
13
Those who were “held in slavery by their
fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15) were freed
by Him who gave Himself for humanity’s
sins so that they might no longer be slaves to
the present evil age (Galatians 1:4). The
Devil who roars and seeks to destroy us (1
Peter 5:8) we should not fear because greater
is He who is in us than he who is in the
world (1 John 4:4)! And when it comes to
God’s presence we truly have been blessed
beyond measure. While there has never been
a place where humanity could go where God
is not (Psalms 139), having the Holy Spirit living inside of us is an honor because He offers
to commune with our spirit whenever sought (Romans 8:16).
3. Baptism. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea (verse 2). For a
modern-day Christian to read “baptized into Moses” can be somewhat disturbing14 for there is no
Jewish parallel given for such a baptism.15 Understanding the deliverance of Israel from Egypt in
“explicitly anachronistic terms” 16 Paul
formulated this phrase to “make the
metaphorical parallel to baptism into Christ as
clear as possible.” 17 Being baptized into
Moses means that upon their deliverance from
the Egypt, our forefathers were “initiated and
inaugurated under God” 18 as a nation whom
would be required to follow His laws and
covenant19 as presented by Moses, God’s
entrusted servant. Likewise, the Corinthians
have been delivered from their enslavement to
sin and have been “baptized into the body of
Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13) of which He is the Head (Ephesians 1:22) and in whom they trusted
(Matthew 12:21; Ephesians 1:12).20 Just as the people were expected to obey the laws of Moses,
the Corinthians are expected to obey the laws of Christ.21 Being in a covenant with God is a
12
David K. Lowery, 525.
Ibid.
14
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 139.
15
C. K. Barrett, 221.
16
Marion L. Soards, 200.
17
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 447–448.
18
W. Harold Mare, “1 Corinthians,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans through Galatians, ed. Frank
E. Gaebelein, vol. 10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), 249.
19
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume
(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2261.
20
David K. Lowery, 526.
21
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 447–448.
13
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blessing for it means we have been adopted into God’s family (Ephesians 1:5) and now have all
the spiritual blessings and rights as heirs (Galatians 4:7)!
4-5. Spiritual Food and Drink. They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same
spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that
rock was Christ (verse 4). When Paul prefixed food and drink with the term “spiritual” he did
not mean that he saw them as immaterial22 but that the source of the manna and water provided
to the children of Israel were objects of
grace23 miraculously provided by God.24 For
Paul the manna and water the Israelites
received was to be an analogy pointing to the
Lord’s supper.25 Manna typified a type of
Christ crucified,26 bread that came down from
heaven that once eaten would lead to eternal
life (John 6:31-34).27 When Paul said the
water the Israelites drank was from the
spiritual rock that was Christ it is difficult to
interpret what he meant, either through
allegory, analogy or metaphorically.28 Since
Moses got water from the rock at the
beginning and end of the wilderness
29
wanderings (Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:2-13), a Jewish exegetical tradition developed in
which a supernatural rock the size of a large round vessel surging and gurgling with water
travelled with the Israelite people.30 This rock typifies the preexistent “wisdom of God” or
Christ.31 Christ then was the source of the supernatural water for both our forefathers and for the
church of Corinth (John 4:10–14).32 For Paul, the elements of the Lord’s Supper are to be seen
as food and drink of the Spirit, blessings given to both our forefathers and the Corinthians! 33
22
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 448.
W. Harold Mare, “1 Corinthians,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans through Galatians, ed. Frank
E. Gaebelein, vol. 10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), 249.
24
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 448.
25
Ibid.
26
Matthew Henry, 2261.
27
Ibid.
28
Alan F. Johnson, 157.
29
Leon Morris, 140.
30
Lee Martin McDonald, 311–312.
31
Alan F. Johnson, 158.
32
David K. Lowery, 526.
33
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 449.
23
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Nevertheless, God was not pleased with
most of them; their bodies were scattered in
the wilderness (verse 5). Even after having
received God’s blessings of His presence,
protection, baptism and the Lord’s supper;
most of our forefathers chose to sin against
God and as a result were scattered in the
wilderness. For Paul the wilderness journey of
our forefathers is to be a warning34 that “great
initial spiritual blessings are not guarantee of
continuing divine favor” 35… anyone can fall
short of the glory of God!
Those who Fall Risk Receiving God’s Wrath
6 Now
these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts
on evil things 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 got up to indulge in
revelry.” b 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—
and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test
Christ, d as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not
grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
Paul warns the Corinthians that even though by God’s grace they were not disciplined
every time they sinned did not mean that God does not punish those He loves when they set their
hearts on doing evil in His sight! Paul lists four major sins36 that led to Israel perishing in the
wilderness.
1. Idolatry. Do not be idolaters, as some of
them were; as it is written: The people sat
down to eat and drink and got up to indulge
in revelry. Using a direct quote from Exodus
32:637 Paul references one of the most
notorious moments of sin in the history of
Israel, worshipping the golden calf.38 Despite
all the blessings they had received, instead of
obeying God they chose to create an idol and
give credit to many “gods” for delivering them
34
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 139.
35
Alan F. Johnson, 155.
36
Alan F. Johnson, 158.
37
Marion L. Soards, 202.
38
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 455.
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from Egypt.39 Paul mentioned the golden calf not only to warn both the Corinthians40 and us
today that God punishes those who worship creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).
While we cannot imagine how anyone would be so foolish to practice idolatry, is not
anything except God that our hearts cling to and rely upon an idol? 41 Or do we foolishly
think that our golden calf of lust for money, fame and power is less heinous to God than
theirs was? God is still a jealous God and as such demands no other gods but Him!
2.
Sexual Immorality. We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—
and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. Here Paul is referring to the event in
Numbers 25:1-9, when after having had sexual relations with the Moabite women,42 some of
the Israelite men went to the sacrificial rites
and then partook of meat that had been
offered to the Moabite gods and then bowed
themselves down to these gods.”43 In response
to their participation in gross sexual
immorality44 they received punishment from
God in the form of a plague in which twentyfour thousand Israelites perished!45 Paul
mentioned this incident to remind the
Corinthians to stay away from fornication, for
many of them liked to frequent a temple
dedicated to Venus which had a thousand
priestesses, all common prostitutes.46 We too
are warned by God to flee from sexual
immorality which are sins against one’s own body (1 Corinthians 6:18). God will not
overlook our lust for the flesh anymore than He did Israel!
3.
Testing God. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by
snakes. Here Paul is referring to the time when the Israelites complained that God brought
them out of Egypt to the wilderness to eat detestable mannan and to die of thirst (Numbers
21:4-9).47 For not having faith in God’s plan and provision48 God sent venomous snakes
39
Ibidl
C. K. Barrett, 225.
41
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 458–459.
42
Marion L. Soards,.
43
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 460.
44
Ibid., 459.
45
Leon Morris, 141.
46
Matthew Henry, 2261.
47
David K. Lowery, 527.
48
Ibid.
40
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amongst them and many Israelites died.49 Paul
most likely mentioned this incident for they
were struggling with the Christ’s plan on how
they were to get to heaven (1 Corinthians 1:183:20)!50 Every time that we look for a way out
of trials and tribulations instead of persevering
and maturing in the faith (James 1:1-4) are we
not just as guilty as our forefathers for testing
God? Will not the same God that punished
Israel for testing Him punish us as well?
4.
Grumbling Against God. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed
by the destroying angel. Here Paul is referring to a passage in Numbers 16:41-49 in which
Israel spoke rebelliously against God’s
appointed leaders Moses and Aaron and as a
result many were swallowed up by the earth,
burned to death or died by a plague. What
sparked this rebellion was Moses’ request that
Israel make tassels on their garments to remind
them to obey all of God’s commands.51 Is this
not a warning for us today? Will those who
have overcome the world through belief in
Christ be held accountable for obeying His
commands that are no longer a burden to
follow (1 John 5:3-5)? When one refuses to
obey God one’s foundation and favor with God is far from secure!
Overcoming Temptation and Standing Firm
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as
warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you
think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation
has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful;
he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are
tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
49
Leon Morris, 141.
David K. Lowery, 527.
51
Matthew Henry, 2262.
50
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Lest we missed the point Paul finished by summarizing the main theme of 1 Corinthians
10:1-13 as being “if you think you stand firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” After having read
this passage one can’t help but wonder: if those who had God’s protection, presence, baptism
and Lord’s Supper succumbed to idolatry, sexual
immorality, testing and grumbling against God;
what hope did the Corinthian or today’s
Christians have that holiness can be maintained?
Paul addressed this question by first ensuring us
that our temptations are common to others who
have successfully preserved and not sinned.52
Paul implores us to not be disillusioned53 into
thinking that this means we can remain faithful
by trusting in the false securities of our own
strengths, abilities or desires.54 The key to
standing firm is to trust in God’s faithfulness55 to
not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can
bear and to either provide a means to escape or the strength to endure and not sin. The problem
is that most Christians are not looking for a way out by resting on God’s promise of escape or
endurance but in way to indulge in the sinful desires of their hearts!56 I want to leave you with
this final quote:
“We live indeed in a tempting world, where we are compassed about with snares. Every
place, condition, relation, employment, and enjoyment, abounds with them; yet what
comfort may we fetch from such a passage.”57
52
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, 468.
C. K. Barrett, 227.
54
C. K. Barrett, 229.
55
Ibid.
56
David K. Lowery, 527.
57
Matthew Henry, 2262.
53
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