Friday, September 16, 2011

1 Corinthians 10.1-13 “A Flash from the Past, Part 2”



INTRODUCTION
1.     Subject of the chapter:
·  At the end of chapter nine Paul compares how athletes run to compete for a prize to how believers “run” to compete for an “imperishable crown.”  In the first four verses of chapter ten, Paul refers to five blessings that Israel experienced in the wilderness. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  (1Co 10.5 esv)
2.     The specific issue in verses 5-13
·  Peter uses this word for pleased (eujdokevw yoo-dok-eh'-o) in 2 Peter 1:17 when he describes his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration.  He said that a voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
· What causes God to not be pleased with us?  Paul gives examples of five disqualifying sins.
· In verses 6-10, We must take heed of the disqualifying sins of lust, idolatry, immorality, tempting Christ, & grumbling..
· These particular sins are rehearsed for our example and admonition. We must avoid the tendency to say to ourselves, “Well, I could never do something that bad.” These sins are the ones that we need to take heed of.  This is us!

—————Stand to read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13—————


I. Take heed of Cravings
A. Greek word
ejpiqumevw ep-ee-thoo-meh'-o  “to have a passion for”
Also used in Romans 13.9 repeating some of the ten commandments and is translated “covet.”
Also used in 1 Timothy 3.1 “ If a man desire the office of bishop…”

B. OT allusion
Numbers 11. 4-6, 31-32    (also Psa. 106.13,15)
They were dissatisfied with the manna and wanted meat.  (How soon we forget). 

C. Application  1 Timothy 6  contentment
What is your meat?  It is easier to identify when we can’t get it.  I am afraid that we may not notice it because we can obtain it.


II. Take heed of Idolatry
A. Greek Word
eijdwlolavtrhs i-do-lol-at'-race  lit. to serve an image or idol
used as a sin of unbelievers and believers in 1 Corinthians 5.9-11

B. OT Allusion
Ex 32.6   “Sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”  suggests lewdness or immorality
v.1 Moses delayed; people wanted an image to go ‘before’ them
v.7 corrupted themselves
v.8 turned out of the way commanded
v.8 made, worshiped, & sacrificed to the image
v.9 stiffnecked

C. Application
We would probably never be so crass as to serve a statue.  You cannot serve God and money.
What does God have to “compete with in my life?”
Do you notice the relationship between passions/craving and idolatry?

III. Take heed of Immorality
A. Greek Word
porneuvw porn-yoo'-o  sexual immorality  (root of the word pornography)
1 Corinthians 7.2  The right place for sexual relations is between a wife and husband.  All others fall under the general term.
In 1 Corinthians 6.18 we have the noun form of the word.  It is a sin against our bodies.
It is a sin that carries a special stigma.

B. OT Allusion
Numbers 25.1-9  Israel was on the border of Moab and Barak couldn’t get Balam to curse Israel, so Balam advised Barak to send the Moabite women into the camp to engage them in the worship of Baal Peor and immorality.
Phinehas, the priest, stopped the plague by killing two of the sinners.
Plague killed 24K
Note appearant contradiction:  24K in Num. & “23K in one day” in 1 Cor.
Possible explianations:  1. actual number between 23K and 24K and was rounded differently
2. 23K in one day and the other 1K before or after
3. copyist error

C. Application
Notice the relationship between immorality and idolatry.  When we commit a sexual sin is does something to our spirit.  It is not a sin to be taken lightly.
It is a sin of pleasure over fidelity and therefore a double sin.

IV. Take heed of Tempting Christ
A. Greek Word
peiravzw  pi-rad'-zo    In a positive way to “test or prove”  In a negative way to “ensnare”
used in Matt 4 & Luke 4 of the temptation of Christ
used of the lawyer who tempted Christ with a question in Luke 10.25

B. OT Allusion
Numbers 21.4-9  esp 5   Spoke against God and Moses by questioning his power, faithfulness, and the value of the manna He provided.
comp. w/  Psa. 78.18  “tempted god in their heart by asking for meat”
comp. w/  Heb. 3.8-9 
“Harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.”
“The Israelites tempted Him, or “tried His patience and forbearance,” by rebellion, complaining, impatience, and dissatisfaction with His dealings.”   —-A. Barnes

C. Application
What is the difference between Ex 17 “Is the Lord among us or not?” —- Num 21  and  Malachi 3.7
Mal. 3.7   bring tithes     prove me    see if I do not open the heavens
1. obedience
2. faith-hope  expectation
3. submission (vrs. rebellion)
4. How do we tempt God or “try His patience” today?

V. Take heed of Grumbling
A. Greek Word
gogguvzw  igong-good'-zo    to mrmer, mutter, grumble
Used in Matt 20.11  The parable of the laborers   Those who worked longer “complained” about what they were given.

B. OT Allusion
Numbers 14.2-4 
Why has the Lord brought us into this land to die by the sword...?
questioned God intentions and ability to sustain them.
Would it not be getter for us to return to Egypt?
dissatisfied with God’s provision
Lack of Faith, rebelliousness, questioning God’s provision and intentions

C. Application
What is the opposite of grumbling?  THANKFULNESS  is a fruit of the Spirit Eph 5.20 and commanded Phil’p 4-6  “...with thanksgiving let your requests be know to God…”
What do you complain about?  What sinful attitude does it reveal in you?
Malachi 3.13 It is not useless to serve God.
Galatians 6.9 “And be not weary in well-doing, for in do season we shall reap if we faint not.”
Grumbling is all about me.   Phil’p 2.13,14 “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  Do all things without complaining and disputing,”


CONCLUSION:

1. Presumption is the greatest of all dangers.
2. Temptation works like rocks in a harbor; when the tide is low, everybody sees the danger and avoids it.  But Satan’s strategy in temptation is to raise the tide, and to cover over the dangers of temptation.  Then he likes to crash you upon the covered rocks.
3.  Exodus 13.17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt." 18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.  God knows what we can endure and is faithful to moderate our temptations.
4. We have a high priest who can empathize with our weaknesses (Heb 4.12)  “Let us run with patience … looking unto Jesus.”  “Consider Him who endured such heostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” Heb 12.1-3

1 Corinthians 10.1-13 “A Flash from the Past, Part 1”



INTRODUCTION
1. Background:   
Paul had founded this church during his second missionary journey in the commercial center between the Aegean and  Adriatic Seas that was the home of Aphrodite, the “goddess of love.”  What Los Vegas is to gambling, Corinth was to prostitution and debauchery.
1 Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul while he ministered in Ephesus on his third missionary journey. This letter was most likely written in Ephesus in the first half of 55 AD before the riot of the silversmiths. He was responding to a letter from the Corinthians that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus had delivered to him (1 Cor. 7.1) and reports that he had received about problems in the Corinthian church.
2. The key word for 1 Corinthians is “correction.”  There were a range of issues from divisions and immorality to questions about his Apostleship that he addressed.  Disunity (1-4), Immorality (5-6), Marriage (7), Christian liberty (8-11), Worship and spiritual gifts (12-14), Resurrection (15), and “house keeping issues” (16).
3. Context of passage:
· In chapter 8 he discusses the importance of being sensitive to consciences in areas where Christians have some liberty.  9. But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block...
· In chapter 9 he talks about how he has not insisted on his rights as an Apostle “for the gospel’s sake.”  12  Nevertheless we have not used this right … lest we hinder the gospel of Christ.
· In 10 he talks about things that might disqualify us from finishing well, idolatry, and conscience.
· 11 discusses head coverings and communion.  
4. Subject of passage:
·  At the end of chapter nine Paul compares how athletes run to compete for a prize to how believers “run” to compete for an “imperishable crown.”  He said that he disciplined and subjected his body or made it a slave so that he would not be a “castaway (kjv) or be “disqualified (nkjv, nasv, niv).”  The Greek word here adikimos is the negative form of the word dikimos which appears in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show thyself dikimos unto God…”  We also find it in James 1:12. Turn to and discuss.  “for when he is dikimos, (a noun), he shall receive…
· Then in 1 Corinthians 10:1-15 Paul illustrates this truth with an illustration of the Israelites in the wilderness.  He tells us (1) about the blessings Israel had in the wilderness, (2) rehearses the sins that caused God to be displeased with most of them, and (3) and challenges us to take heed and be assured of God’s faithfulness. 

—————Stand to read 1 Corinthians 10:1-15—————

BIG IDEA: God has given us what we need to follow Him faithfully to the end.
TOPIC STATEMENT: Israel’s wilderness wanderings illustrate spiritual blessings of believers.

First note our connection to the Israelites in the wilderness.  They were our fathers.
Not in a genetic sense as our physical ancestors.  The “you” in this verse included Corinthian gentiles who had no physical relation to Israel.
In a spiritual sense, like Abraham is our father in Galatians 3:7 …”those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”  We all are eager to claim Abraham as our spiritual father, but have doubts about this bunch.  :o)
APPL:  What kind of spiritual connection to you have to your children, in your family?  We can see physical traits, personality traits, but what kind of spiritual traits are you imparting to your children?

I. UNDER THE CLOUD verse 1b
A. OT allusion:  to guide—Exodus 13.20-22  by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way … by night a pillar of fire to give light”
B. OT allusion:  to protect—Exodus 14.19-20  and the pillar of cloud stood behind them … so that the one [Egyptians] did not come near the other [Israel]”
C. NT application:  John 16.13   Holy Spirit, our guide

II. THRU THE SEA verse 1c
A. OT allusion: Red Sea crossing and destruction of  Egyptian army—Exodus 14-15  esp. 14.22, 26, & 30-31
B. NT application: 

III. BAPTIZED INTO MOSES verse 2
A. OT allusion:            —“It is to be remembered that the word baptism has two senses—the one referring to the application of water as a religious rite, in whatever mode it is done; and the other sense of dedicating, consecrating, initiating into, or bringing under obligation to.  And it is evidently in this latter sense that the word is used here…”  ——A. Barnes
B. NT application:  Spiritual baptism Romans 6.3-4   “buried with Him through baptism into death”    “as Christ was raised...we also should walk in newness of life”
C. NT application:  Spiritual baptism  1 Corinthians 12.13 all baptized into one body

IV. ATE SPIRITUAL FOOD verse 3
A. OT allusion: Exodus 16. 2-4 & 14-15  Manna   also Deut. 8.3  ...that you might know...
B. NT application: Matthew 4.3-4  Word of God 
C. NT application:  John 6 esp. v. 26-36  Salvation

V. DRANK OF THAT SPIRITUAL ROCK  verse 4
A. OT allusion:  Water from the rock—Exodus 17.1-2 & 5-6  also Numbers 20.2, 7, & 10-11
B. NT application:  John 4.10-14  Eternal life 
C. NT application: John7.37-39 indwelling Holy Spirit


CONCLUSION:

· We should not get too heady in all these spiritual blessing.  They do not guarantee that God will be pleased with us.  v. 6
· We should be careful not to be spiritually overconfident. v. 12
· God is faithful when we are tempted.  v. 13
· We should use the blessings to increase our faith in, dependence on, and loyalty to the Lord.