Privilidged to Preach

1 Cor 10:1-5

1 Cor 10:1-5 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 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. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

In Pauls letter wasn’t dealing with the rise and fall of nations, but the lesson was much the same. ... letter is instruction addressing many believers who think they are mature, but who are not acting like it. They are not reflecting the character of God, they are not living out the commands of Christ, and their gospel witness is drained of its power, and they are a divided, and diluted church. They reflect the weak ecclesiology of our generation that describes the church is just a collection of every kind of sinner. They have become no more than a facade of strength, like so many of our churches today. The work of the Gospel will cost you your time, it will cost you your talents, it will cost you your treasures, and at times even your liberties, and maybe your life. But Its worth it, its all for the sake of the Gospel.

George Whitfield:“OTHER MEN MAY PREACH A BETTER GOSPEL THAN I, BUT NO MAN CAN PREACH A BETTER GOSPEL.”

Learning the false promises of privilege: We have been privileged with great things...

1. Great Leadership is no guarantee you’ll be blessed in the work of the Gospel

Our Fathers(10:1) We had spectacular leadership: Abraham, Moses, David, Kings and the prophets. John 5:39-40 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” The only leadership that guarantees our success is the leadership of Christ in us! Paul says that he doesn't want the Corinthians to be "unaware" or "ignorant" of the ancient people of Israel as they left Egypt (v. 1)

“all” They all had leadership: notice v1-4 where it says all, all, all, all. Sometimes grammatically the all would be assumed in english, and added for clarity. But here in the original greek, he very forcefully says… all, all, all, all. it is the universal condition for those in the kingdom of God.

You have the blessing of citizenship

You have the blessing of sonship,

You have the blessing of shepherding, Psalm 23

Luke 3:8 John the Baptist responded to the scribes who were wanting baptism: “Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The Crowds come and say what must we do to be saved?

The soldiers come and say what must we do to be saved?

the Tax collectors come and say what must we do to be saved?

2. Great Guidance is no guarantee you’ll be blessed in the work of the Gospel …cloud, and pillar

They all were under the cloud, which spoke of God's direct guidance (Exodus 13:21-22 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.” ; 14:19, 24).

the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night… a spectacular display of the guidance. “They all were under the cloud”, which spoke of God's direct guidance (Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19, 24).

It was referred to over and over again:

Exodus 40:34 “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”

Numbers 14:14 “and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.”

Nehemiah 9:12 “By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go.”

Deuteronomy 1:33 “who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.”

Psalm 78:14 “In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.”

If I thought I could win one more soul to the Lord by walking on my head and playing the tambourine with my toes, I'd learn how! - William Booth

3. Great Experience is no guarantee you’ll be blessed in the work of the Gospel … baptized in the red sea

They all passed through the Red Sea, giving them a first-hand experience of God's mighty power (Exodus 14:15-31).

They all were "baptized" into Moses through the cloud and the sea. This speaks of their permanent, experiential "identification" with Moses as they followed him in these great miraculous experiences (Exodus 15:1-21).

Gal.3:27 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

“If Jesus preached the same message [we] preach today, He would have never been crucified.” ~ Leonard Ravenhill

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4. Great provision is no guarantee - spiritual food

For 40 years, 6 days a week. And they never went hungry. (eating manna)

They all ate of the spiritual "food"; that is, they daily received direct provision from God in the form of manna (Exodus 16:4, 15, 35; Psalm 78:24). The lord provided quail… THey had hot wings and krispy kreme every day...

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“Today Christians spend more money on dog food than missions.” - Leonard Ravenhill

Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things. Give heart and mind and soul and strength To serve the King of kings.

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5. Even the Great presence of Christ is no guarantee you’ll be blessed in the work of the Gospel … the rock was Christ

They all drank from the "spiritual" rock that followed them; which was Christ. This may speak of the way God provided for the people of Israel in the wilderness through the water that came from the rock—but it served as a picture of Christ as the water of life (John 7:37-38). It is some reference to the pre-incarnate presence of Christ at work in God’s people. That it was said to have "followed" them indicated Christ's continual provision (Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-11).

Jesus had His hand in the affairs of His people...here providing them w/all the water they needed. (Ex.17:5-7 water from rock)

John 7:37-38 “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ””

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"One of the greatest rewards that we ever receive for serving God is the permission to do still more for Him." — Charles Spurgeon

Conclusion:

The only way to be blessed in the work of the Gospel… Paul is going to say clearly in chapter 1 Cor 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Therefore at times, you lay aside your comforts and privileges of this world, and look to the imperishable crown in the next. Its when you take on the sacrificial love of Christ… And he will use you.

Phil 2:7-10 “... emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”

What will God say to you at the judgment seat? you had more bibles, books, access to radio and video, and podcasts, and communication means of all kinds. You have super communication tools in your pocket, and your home… you could speak to people around the world… and you never helped one person come to faith in christ?

Mark Fackler, Article on Dl Moody Quote

Perhaps the line most frequently attributed to Dwight L. Moody (and spoken by his character in the only film on Moody’s life) is the famous quotation: “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”

In fact, Moody did not originate the line. Henry Varley, a British revivalist who had befriended the young American in Dublin, recalled that in 1873 Moody asked him to recount words they had spoken in private conversation a year earlier, just before Moody’s return to the United States. Varley provides this account (as recorded in Paul Gericke’s Crucial Experiences in the Life of D.L. Moody):

During the afternoon of the day of conference Mr. Moody asked me to join him in the vestry of the Baptist Church. We were alone, and he recalled the night’s meeting at Willow Park and our converse the following morning.

“Do you remember your words?” he said.

I replied, “I well remember our interview, but I do not recall any special utterance.”

“Don’t you remember saying, ‘Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him?’ ”

“Not the actual sentence,” I replied.

“Ah,” said Mr. Moody, “those were the words sent to my soul, through you, from the Living God. As I crossed the wide Atlantic, the boards of the deck of the vessel were engraved with them, and when I reached Chicago, the very paving stones seemed marked with ‘Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.’ Under the power of those words I have come back to England, and I felt that I must not let more time pass until I let you know how God had used your words to my inmost soul.”