Resist (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)
When I was a preteen, Dad didn’t preach full time, and our preacher hailed from the Midwest. “Fred” (not his real name) taught me much about Scripture, and he helped me grow in my faith.
About a year and a half into Fred’s tenure, he royally chewed the church out one Sunday morning. There wasn’t a sermon that Sunday; instead, Fred got in the pulpit and said that some folks had complained about the way he hugged women. He told us he like to hug people, and he had no inappropriate thoughts at all. After saying all that, Fred just walked out of the church building.
Maybe a year later, Fred moved his family back to the Midwest where he was working with another congregation. And it wasn’t long after that, we learned that Fred had an affair with the church secretary, left his wife, and ran off with the secretary. He then started attending a denominational church. His career looked so promising, but Fred took a huge fall.
How many Christians take a huge fall? Have you known a dynamic preacher who fell into sin and left the Lord? Have you known a godly elder who fell into sin and left the Lord? Have you noticed a brother’s close walk with the Lord before that brother fell into sin and left the Lord? Have you worshiped beside a dear family member who later fell into sin and left the Lord?
The Corinthians stood in danger of falling into sin and leaving the Lord. To prevent that Paul wanted them to understand: “God’s people can fall.”
Scripture (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)
Let’s not forget the context in 1 Corinthians. Paul has been writing about two issues in that church. One: Some were eating meat sacrificed to idols and upsetting the faith of others by doing so. Two: The church was boasting about gross sexual immorality in their midst. Keeping those issues in mind will help make sense of what Paul wrote in this morning’s passage.
verses 1-2:
When the Israelites left Egyptian bondage, they were baptized into Moses; when he leaves the bondage of sin, a Christian is baptized into Christ. Although they had been baptized into Moses, the Israelites fell; the Christian can be baptized into Christ and fall.
verses 3-5:
The Israelites “all ate the same spiritual food”—manna—and they “all drank the same spiritual drink”—the water from the rock. At verse 16, Paul talked about the Lord’s Supper, the Christians’ spiritual food and drink. The Israelites consumed spiritual food and drink, and they fell; Christians consume spiritual food and drink, and they can fall.
verse 6:
God inspired men to record the Israelites’ mistakes so that Christians wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes.
verse 7:
The Old Testament citation refers to the idolatry with the golden calf. Rabbis considered the idolatry with the golden calf the most embarrassing episode in Israel’s history, and the Corinthians were in danger of embarrassing themselves with idolatry by eating food sacrificed to idols.
verse 8:
God killed Israelites for engaging in sexual immorality. The Corinthians, therefore, couldn’t escape judgment for sexual immorality.
verses 9-10:
The Israelites faced severe punishment both for putting Christ to the test and grumbling.
verse 11:
God inspired men to record the Israelites’ sins “for our instruction.” In other words, the Old Testament stands as a warning about what happens when you persist in sin.
verse 12:
The Corinthians had to be careful or they would fall as spectacularly as the Israelites.
verse 13:
The temptations the Corinthians were facing weren’t unique; the Israelites had faced the same type of temptations in the wilderness. God wouldn’t allow the Corinthians to be tempted beyond their ability to withstand the temptation, but God would give them a way out.
Application
“God’s people can fall.” God saved the Israelites and gave them spiritual food and drink; however, they fell into both idolatry and sexual immorality. God saved the Corinthians from sin and provided them with spiritual food and drink; however, they were engaging in idolatry and sexual immorality. You have been saved from the bondage to sin, and you consume spiritual food and drink; you can fall into a host of sins because “God’s people can fall.”
How must you live because “God’s people can fall?”
One: Remember.
Paul urged the Corinthians to Remember; he said, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction.”
The Corinthians needed to Remember two truths:
Remember what constitutes sin.
The idolatry, sexual immorality, testing of Christ, and grumbling of the Israelites stood as a stark reminder to the Corinthians of what sin is. The Corinthians knew Israel had sinned only through the inspired accounting of history. You only know sin through the word of God: “If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Rom 7:7).
How well do you Remember what constitutes sin?
Remember the consequences of sin.
The Israelites faced severe consequences for their sin, and Paul reminded the Corinthians about those consequences with a not-so-veiled threat—you can face serious consequences for sin, too. There are grave consequences for sin: Hebrews 10:26-31.
How well do you Remember the dire consequences of sin?
Two: Respect
You need a healthy Respect for falling: “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”
Peter demonstrated the great danger in thinking you stand. Jesus told Peter that he would betray the Lord, but Peter said, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away” (Matt 26:33). You know how well that worked for Peter. What if he had had Respect for falling? He might never have betrayed Jesus around that fire because he knew he needed to be careful.
You can fall; in fact, every single child of God can fall. Respect your ability to fall.
Three: Rely
You need to Rely on God’s help to keep you from falling: “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.”
When you are tempted, Rely on God’s help. Even before the temptation gets to you, God has helped you—that temptation won’t be more than you yourself can handle. Therefore, no matter how strong the temptation, you can Rely on the confidence that you can handle that temptation because God himself says you can.
Further, when you are tempted, Rely on God’s providing the way of escape. Peter could have walked away from the fire instead of betraying Jesus. David could have gone back to bed instead of calling for Bathsheba. Pilate could have listened to his wife instead of handing Jesus over to be crucified. Ananias and Sapphira simply could not have given money to the apostles instead of lying about the amount.
Those men and women of old should have looked to Joseph’s example. When Potiphar’s wife tormented him to lie with her, he ran out of the house instead of sinning against God. In a very real sense, Joseph went to prison to keep from sinning against Almighty God.
There is always a way to escape sin. Don’t ever say you just can’t help it; instead, when you’re tempted, Rely on God’s way of escape and flee.
What do you need to flee this morning? Do you need to flee sin and flee to Jesus as we stand and sing?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.