Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20070520.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Corinthians: Discipling Believers With Very Sinful Backgrounds
VI. Relating Well To Others Regarding Liberty, License and Legalism
C. Heeding The Example Of Israel's Discipline For License
(1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

At times, God gives us a passage to expound that offers relief from the unsettling, unbridled license to sin we see in others in our day, and today is such a day with our exposition of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13:

(1) For example, we face an unsettling promotion of idolatry in even mainline Protestants. Diane Cameron's article, "The power of Mary" in the May 14, 2007 issue of the national newspaper, USA TODAY, p. 11A reported that as she grew up in Pittsburgh, each May, Protestant girls like her "got black leatherette New Testaments, Jesus stories, but nothing that said, We're glad you're a girl'" like her Catholic neighborhood girlfriends! They honored Mary with "May altars . . . a table with an old lace tablecloth thrown over it. They put their Mary statues on it with flowers and candles that they were allowed to light when they said their prayers." (Ibid.) Ms. Cameron summed up that by their exaltation of Mary, her Catholic girlfriends gained "faith in their girlhood and an image of feminine power." (Ibid.)

Yet, in the book, The Glories of Mary (Redemptorist Fathers, 1931, p. 180-181 as cited in Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, p. 138-139) by Bishop Alphonse de Liguori, a canonized saint of the Roman Catholic Church, we read that "at the command of Mary all obey -- even God . . .'" This claim is distinctly idolatrous in bent, yet the Protestant author of this article in the nationwide paper exalted Mary as does Catholicism to deepen her confidence in femininity, and that inadvertently at the cost of her faith's historic, Biblical beliefs! (Later in this message, we offer an edifying reply to this article!)

(2) Another unsettling sin we see even professing believers openly commit is that of questioning the plan, purpose and character of God: John Armstrong's book, The Coming Evangelical Crisis , p. 35 reports some evangelicals so resist the idea that the lost will suffer an eternal hell that, regardless what passages like Revelation 20:10, 15 teach, they claim God will annihilate the soul of the lost or give them a post-death chance to trust in Christ to avoid eternity in hell!

(3) Indeed, I myself have had believers question me about their doubts on the credibility of the Bible and of God's goodness!

So, we may ask, "HOW does 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, the passage we are set to view today, supply RELIEF in the face of such unsettling, sinful license we see people take in our era?!"

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Pastor, how does 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 give us relief in the face of the license to brazen sin that we see in today's world?!"
  1. Paul revealed that God is so opposed to sins of LICENSE done EVEN by BELIEVERS that, though He has richly blessed them, He is ready to judge them with premature death, 1 Cor. 10:1-11!
    1. On the one hand, both ancient Israel in the exodus in the dispensation of the Law and today's Christians under Grace enjoyed parallel blessings from God, 1 Cor. 10:1-4; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 525f:
      1. Similar to how ancient Israel enjoyed God's guidance and protection by the pillar of cloud, so Christians today enjoy God's guidance and protection, 1 Cor. 10:1-2 with Romans 8:14; Ibid.
      2. Similar to how ancient Israel in passing through the Red Sea enjoyed deliverance from Egypt (1 Cor. 10:1-2), so Christians today have salvation by faith in Christ, Hebrews 2:14-15; Ibid.
      3. Similar to how ancient Israel was "all baptized into Moses," i.e., were united with their spiritual head in God's servant, today's Christians had been united with Christ spiritually in spiritual baptism at salvation, 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ibid.
      4. Similar to how ancient Israel enjoyed the "spiritual food" (NIV) of manna (1 Cor. 10:3), today's Christians have partaken of Christ by faith, God's manna from heaven, John 6:31-35; Ibid.
      5. Similar to how ancient Israel enjoyed the "spiritual drink" from the rock in the desert (Ex. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4), a provision that came from Christ HIMSELF, so Christ is the supernatural spiritual water of life for today's Christians, John 4:10-14; Ibid.
    2. Yet, regardless of the rich divine blessings Israel knew that parallel what we Christians today know, for unbridled sins of LICENSE, God severely judged that entire generation of Israel with premature physical death (including Moses)! Indeed, only Joshua and Caleb made the full trek from Egypt into Canaan, 1 Cor. 10:5; Ibid., p. 526!
    3. This experience for ancient Israel examples God's willingness to administer the SEVERE discipline of PREMATURE DEATH on CHRISTIANS for THEIR unbridled LICENSE (1 Cor. 10:6a, 11)! Paul then itemized several of Israel's sins of unbridled license to make his argument applicable to us Christians (1 Cor. 9:27 with 10:6-10):
      1. First, God killed many in Israel who knew God's blessings that parallel what Christians now know since they materialistically dared to complain about God's manna and lusted for Egypt's food (Num. 21:5-6); Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to 1 Cor. 10:6b.
      2. Second, God had many in Israel slain who knew God's blessings that parallel what Christians now know since they dared to practice idolatry; Ibid., ftn. to 1 Corinthians 10:7; Exodus 32:1-28.
      3. Third, God killed 23,000 in Israel in one day (and more 1,000 later) who knew God's blessings that parallel what Christians now know as they dared to commit immorality, 1 Cor. 10:8; Num. 25:1-9.
      4. Fourth, God killed many in Israel with fiery serpents though they knew God's blessings that parallel what Christians now know since they dared to "question the plan and purpose of God," and thus to challenge the goodness of God's character, Ibid., Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 527; 1 Cor. 10:9 with Numbers 21:4, 5-6.
      5. Fifth, God killed 14,700 people in Israel who knew God's blessings that parallel what Christians now know since they dared to grumble against God's appointed leaders in Moses and Aaron, 1 Cor. 10:10; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to 1 Cor. 10:10 with Num. 16:41-50.
  2. Thus, Paul warned his Corinthian Christian readers to consider their OWN need to avoid similar sins of license or suffer the "fall" of a premature physical death in God's discipline like ancient Israel did for its sins, 1 Corinthians 10:12 with 9:19-27!
  3. With this warning came a gracious promise: God would not let the Christian be tempted above what he was able to handle in God's power at his maturity level; in the temptation, God would provide a way of escape by means of faith (like Joshua and Caleb) that the believer might avoid being a castaway in discipline, 1 Cor. 10:13!
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for salvation from sin to be saved and freed from sin, John 3:16; Romans 6:18. (2) As such, may we BRIDLE the USE of our Christian liberties to please God and edify others, 1 Corinthians 9:19-27. (3) If appalled by the license to blatant evil that we see in others, may we REST in God's will to handle it, (4) and keep living for God and His glory!

Lesson: (1) If we believers revere God so as to BRIDLE our Christian liberty to EDIFY others, we will avoid God's discipline and know His blessing! (2) If we are appalled at the unbridled license in others in such realms as crass materialism, idolatry, immorality, questioning God's plan, purpose and character and opposing His chosen leaders, rest in the fact that God will severely discipline such sin even in believers, and heed God!