1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Well, good morning, my name is Andrew Evans. 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:06,240 Let me welcome you to Church of the Resurrection. 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,080 It's great to be with you, great to be opening up God's word with 4 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:10,200 you. We are coming today to a 5 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,520 challenging passage, a good passage, First Corinthians 6 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:15,200 chapter 10. So let me encourage you to turn 7 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:19,200 in your Bibles to 1st Corinthians chapter 10, again in 8 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,600 the Pew Bible, that's on page 900. 9 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,800 And before we get started, let me pray for us. 10 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,360 Father, I praise you that you are God. 11 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,200 Who speaks. Would you speak to us today? 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,440 Would you draw us to yourself through your word? 13 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:47,280 I pray this in Jesus name, Amen. Now here at Church of the 14 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,080 Resurrection, we are nearing the completion of several renovation 15 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,440 projects in our building. The kitchen has most of the 16 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,520 fixtures in it. The elevator is making good 17 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,720 headway from all appearances. From the banging that I hear 18 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:08,480 during the week the the parish hall, doesn't it look great? 19 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,480 It's we're really close to being done there. 20 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,840 We had some great celebrations there. 21 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,840 So we are getting close. Lord willing, before too long, 22 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:24,200 all of these will be completed. And when they are done, we will 23 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:31,880 be free, free, free from the stress of finishing them St. 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,440 free from the, the project management. 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,920 Our budget will be free of the money that we've spent on it, 26 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,400 the obligated money. But more than that, we will be 27 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:47,120 free to use these places. Well, well, we just just think 28 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,840 about the elevator. When that elevator is finally 29 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:54,240 done, people with disabilities will be free to access every 30 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,280 floor of this church. Praise the Lord, what a gift 31 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:04,600 that will be a great day. Completion brings freedom, But. 32 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,680 But freedom can breed complacency. 33 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:14,520 Even when all these places are completed, we will need to 34 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,320 steward them well. We'll need to actively watch 35 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:19,360 them. We'll need to maintain them. 36 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,080 We'll need to clean them. We'll need to fix problems when 37 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:26,480 they inevitably arise. Freedom for it to be true. 38 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,720 Freedom cannot breed complacency. 39 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,920 And there's a parallel here with our Christian faith. 40 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,440 One of the glorious truths of our faith is the completed work 41 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:44,160 of Jesus on our behalf. Our salvation doesn't depend on 42 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,360 us adding anything to what Christ has already done for us. 43 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,240 When he was hanging there on the cross and said it is finished, 44 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:58,400 he meant it is finished. The work is done, all of our 45 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:03,280 sins are paid for, We are ransomed from the power of 46 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,000 darkness and evil. All we have to do is look to 47 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,680 Christ in faith. This is where the great 48 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:14,360 Reformation doctrine of solafide by faith alone is pointing us. 49 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,640 We must look not to ourselves, but to the completed work of 50 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:22,400 Christ by faith for our salvation. 51 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,440 We don't add anything to it. Just look in faith to Christ and 52 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,480 you are free. And this principle of our 53 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:35,080 freedom has been the animating force, you could say, of 54 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,600 animating principle of Paul's letter over the last couple 55 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,600 chapters. He's telling them I am free in 56 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,320 Christ. Here's how I use my freedom. 57 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,440 I lay down my rights for the sake of others. 58 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,080 I fill up my freedom with mission, and you can too. 59 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,600 My friends in the Corinthian church, my friends at Church of 60 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:57,080 the Resurrection, you are free. If you are looking to Christ in 61 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:03,800 faith, you are free. But but your freedom must not 62 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:08,040 breed complacency. You must not become 63 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,720 overconfident. Presume on your salvation. 64 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:16,440 Otherwise, just like if you take on an old church building and 65 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:21,200 and renovate it and then take it for granted, the whole thing 66 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:27,600 could start to come apart. So Paul's rhetoric here in this 67 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,760 part of the chapter, this part of the book is it's actually 68 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:31,560 taking a little turn. And it's really interesting to 69 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,160 see how it's taking this turn. He started off this section in 70 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,120 chapter 8 by basically assuming the strength of the Corinthians. 71 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,680 My friends, you are free. You are strong. 72 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,440 Now use your strength and your freedom to help those around 73 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,600 you. But here at the end of Chapter 74 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,440 9, in the beginning of chapter 10, you can, you can almost feel 75 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:51,440 him sort of leaning in a little bit. 76 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:56,840 Maybe his voice drops a little bit and he's inviting the 77 00:04:56,840 --> 00:05:04,320 Corinthians to see you may not actually be as strong and as 78 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:10,800 secure as you think you are. Because overconfidence breeds 79 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:18,040 complacency. Complacency tolerates sin, and 80 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:23,560 sin destroys. This isn't just a risk for the 81 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:25,160 church in 1st century Corinth, though. 82 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,480 This is a risk for us as well. We can identify different 83 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,280 reasons for complacency, perhaps, but I think that many 84 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:34,560 of them, perhaps all of them, come back to a a 85 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,720 misunderstanding of our freedom. Maybe we think of our salvation 86 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,280 as a kind of key. We just receive it at one point 87 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:42,680 of time and then we're good to go. 88 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,600 We, you know, we can get through the door at the end of our 89 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,080 lives. So does it really matter what we 90 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:51,720 do if we just have that key? Maybe we think of our salvation 91 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,920 as making us, you know, respectable. 92 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:58,480 We're saved. We don't, we don't do certain 93 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:00,520 things that the pagans out there do. 94 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,000 We see the movies and I'm like, that's crazy, that's wrong. 95 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,280 We might struggle here and there, but gosh, you know, we're 96 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:10,600 respectable people. Our sins. 97 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,120 Our sins are respectable, respectably small. 98 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,080 Or maybe we take our freedom as a license to indulge. 99 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,840 We've, you know, we've cast off the prudish shackles of our 100 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:28,640 Puritan forebears and realized that indeed, it is OK to drink 101 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,000 alcohol and enjoy other good things in life. 102 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:37,120 And so we do. But how easily does a freedom to 103 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,240 enjoy become a license to indulge? 104 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:45,520 And so we can become not only possessive, but even 105 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:50,800 self-righteous in our sinful overconsumption. 106 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:59,160 Our freedom in Christ is a great and a glorious truth, but 107 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,800 overconfidence in that freedom can breed complacency. 108 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:09,240 Complacency tolerates sin and sin destroys. 109 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,480 This is the context for Paul's words here to Corinth and to us. 110 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,360 His point in this section, to give you a thesis statement, is 111 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:26,080 this sin will destroy your soul, so flee sin. 112 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:32,480 Your sin can actually undo all that Christ has done for you or 113 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:34,000 you think that Christ has done for you. 114 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:42,440 So my friends, flee sin Paul here in this passage walks the 115 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:46,880 Corinthians through 8 steps to fleece sin to fleece sin. 116 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:48,840 So grab your Bible. Let's look at this passage 117 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,120 together. Look at these at this these 118 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:55,680 eight points. So the first step is to identify 119 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,000 with God's people identify with God's people. 120 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,400 Look at verse one with me, for I do not want you to become to be 121 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,120 unaware, brothers, that our fathers, we're all under the 122 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,320 cloud and all passed through the sea. 123 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:13,600 Paul here is referring to the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt 124 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,480 when God saved them from slavery. 125 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,120 And I think that Paul here would have started to raise some 126 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,800 questions for them to really grab their attention when he 127 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:27,560 calls them our fathers. Didn't Christ free us from the 128 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:29,480 Jewish law? How could they? 129 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,120 How could the Corinthians, particularly the Gentile 130 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,520 Corinthians, be connected to the the Jewish people of the Old 131 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:40,440 Testament? Paul continues to drive home his 132 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:42,360 point here. Verse 2. 133 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,960 All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 134 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,480 OK, baptism, it's a Christian, right? 135 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,200 Not exactly a Jewish thing. Jews had a kind of baptism, but 136 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,760 it's not, it's not central. It's really central. 137 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:56,800 Why is Paul talking about baptism here? 138 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,240 Verse 3? All ate the same spiritual food. 139 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,640 All drank the same spiritual drink. 140 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,760 OK, Paul, I'm getting uncomfortable here. 141 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:09,200 Food and drink. That's what we do with the 142 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:13,880 Lord's Supper every every week. Are you saying that they are 143 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:15,480 doing the same thing that we're doing now? 144 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,640 Are we doing the same thing as them every Sunday? 145 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,200 For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed 146 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:28,320 them, and the rock was Christ. Now don't get lost in this image 147 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:30,120 of a floating rock. We can talk about that 148 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,880 afterward. Look at the central point he's 149 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,600 making here. For the Israelites in the 150 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:39,200 wilderness, it was Christ who was feeding them. 151 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,200 Christ fed them in the wilderness, just like Christ is 152 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:48,600 feeding his people now. Everything that the Israelites 153 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,200 were experiencing was part of God's salvation plan, and it is 154 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,560 the same salvation plan that we are experiencing today. 155 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:02,680 Same God, same salvation. The ancient Israelites were just 156 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:06,880 as much a part of God's people as we are today. 157 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,560 Now, the Corinthian Christians probably felt superior to the 158 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:14,160 Jews. The Corinthians had knowledge. 159 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:15,840 They had freedom. These are both true. 160 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:21,400 But the Corinthians are still receiving the same salvation 161 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:28,080 from the same God that God began unfolding with Israel millennia 162 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,080 earlier. Israel back then was feeding on 163 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:35,360 Christ in the future, just like the Corinthians. 164 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,720 And just like we are feeding on Christ and His work in the past. 165 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:44,440 We all have the same Savior. We must identify with God's 166 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,520 people and not separate ourselves from them. 167 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,480 So that's the first point. Second, we must learn from their 168 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,120 example. Learn from their example. 169 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,880 So our forefathers in the wilderness all had the same 170 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:04,080 nourishment that we did, right? Baptism, Sacramento, meals, 171 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,560 God's word, all nourishing them and all nourishing us with 172 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:10,840 Christ. But what does their example show 173 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:12,720 us? Even though they received that 174 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,040 nourishment, even though they experienced God's salvation, 175 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,440 they fell. This is verse 5. 176 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,440 They were overthrown because of their sin. 177 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,400 God rejected them even though they had experienced its 178 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,720 salvation. And my friends, if that happened 179 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,240 to them, the same could happen to us. 180 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,360 We've experienced an exodus, an exodus from slavery to sin. 181 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,680 So we must learn from them. Verse 6. 182 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:46,000 Now these things took place as an example for us that we might 183 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:51,640 not desire evil as they did. Now in premarital counseling, 184 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,720 one thing that we ask couples to do is to create a family tree 185 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,400 each each remember the couple just go look at their family 186 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:59,560 tree, go interview parents and grandparents if you can, and, 187 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,440 and learn about the, the family history of the spiritual 188 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,040 history, the physical history, the sort of mental, emotional 189 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,080 history. It's a great exercise. 190 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,080 And then they, they give this family tree to the, to the 191 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:14,960 partner, to the intended. And it's really valuable to know 192 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,520 what the patterns are in our families lives, right? 193 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,680 These things don't dictate to us what our future is, but they 194 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:26,240 show us where there may be tendencies, they show us where 195 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,320 there may be weaknesses. And so we have to pay attention 196 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:35,720 to those things. Maybe cancer, maybe an 197 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:37,920 addiction. You need to pay attention to 198 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,280 those things and maybe take some pre emptive steps against them. 199 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,200 And there's a parallel here between Christians this side of 200 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,520 Christ and the stories of the people of Israel. 201 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,840 They are our family. Their problems are our problems. 202 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:59,800 We shouldn't merely respect them, but we should learn from 203 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,360 them. Because they are spiritual 204 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:03,600 ancestors. We should learn from their 205 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:05,520 successes and their failures the same. 206 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,640 God was at work in them as is at work in US. 207 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:15,560 Third, we must see sins connections with clarity. 208 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:17,320 See sins connections with clarity. 209 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:22,880 This is verses 7 through 10. So Paul here lists 4 failures of 210 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:24,360 the Israelites in the wilderness. 211 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:28,200 They were idolaters in verse 7. This is the golden calf 212 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:32,120 incident. They were sexually immoral verse 213 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,800 8. They put Christ to the test in 214 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,680 verse 9. They grumbled verse 10. 215 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:42,520 Now these are all serious things. 216 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,720 I think we can agree the list feels a little random though. 217 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,960 Like, why these things, Paul? Why are you talking about these 218 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,840 things? Now, remember the context for 219 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:53,880 what he's talking about here. Paul is addressing the question 220 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,840 of whether Christians should be able to eat meat that's been 221 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:03,840 dedicated to idols. He's addressing a matter of food 222 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:09,320 and drink, and all of these examples that Paul has chosen 223 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:15,040 here of Israel in the wilderness stem from matters of eating and 224 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:19,320 drinking, matters of food. This is obvious in the first 225 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,680 example, right? Verse 7, Do not be idolaters as 226 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:25,400 some of them were. As it is written, the people sat 227 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,040 down to eat and drink. So they were worshipping the 228 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:33,200 calf and having a party, eating and drinking, having a feast for 229 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,600 the calves. But all the other stories 230 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,440 actually do as well. I encourage you to go back and 231 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,200 look at them. There are numbers 25, numbers 232 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,760 21, and numbers 11, so go check those out. 233 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,560 See the link now. Sometimes eating itself can be 234 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,400 wrong. Exodus 32, the story of the 235 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,640 golden calf. The feasting is in honor of the 236 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,960 golden idol, the golden calf. They shouldn't have been eating 237 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,120 in that way. Eating the food in that context 238 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:08,760 was wrong, but sometimes eating can actually lead to other sins 239 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,600 as well. Israel ate with Pagan nations, 240 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:18,360 and they drew them into sin. Israel failed to be grateful for 241 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:22,000 what they ate, for God's provision in the wilderness, and 242 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:28,160 so they grumbled and complained. Friends, sin is slick. 243 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,960 It will find a way to slip in. Even things that in the abstract 244 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:42,120 are not sinful per SE can become twisted, is the example of 245 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:46,240 Israel here shows. Even something as basic as food 246 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,400 can lead our loyalties away from God. 247 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,640 Sin can connect itself, can attach itself to even good 248 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:00,960 things, and we must see these connections with clarity. 249 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,680 Dig past the immediate act when you're thinking about something 250 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,160 and think about what's connected to it at the level of the heart. 251 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,760 Is sin twisting something that is good in order to draw you 252 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:16,640 away from God, cause you to rely more on yourself or on something 253 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:21,720 else, and not to rely on God? Look for those connections. 254 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,400 See those connections. See sins. 255 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:33,320 Deviousness with clarity. 4th We must understand the consequences 256 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,880 of sin. What happened to many of Israel 257 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:42,040 when they sinned? Paul here doesn't mince words. 258 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:46,040 They were destroyed. Sin led to their destruction, 259 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,880 and I think we are to read that as eternal destruction. 260 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:55,560 Few people had had such an experience of God's saving power 261 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:02,920 as Israel, hadn't they? They saw first hand God saving 262 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,160 them. How often do we say I just need 263 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,599 to see God at work, Where is he? They saw him. 264 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:14,200 But even after experiencing the powerful exodus, that didn't 265 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:20,960 prevent them from rebelling and ultimately losing the life that 266 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:24,960 God had given them. My friends, we worship a 267 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,440 gracious God. We are offered boundless, 268 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,160 infinite forgiveness. But this forgiveness is not a 269 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:38,520 license to sin. God saves us from sin so that we 270 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,320 can live for him in righteousness. 271 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,120 The ongoing presence of sin in our lives should make us 272 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,480 tremble. Now, the stories of Israel are 273 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,440 really dramatic here, aren't they? 274 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,520 You know, 23,000 died in a single day. 275 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,040 God, they tested God, God sent serpents. 276 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:04,680 The people died, but what happened so rapidly for them can 277 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:10,840 happen much more slowly for us. Tolerate a little sin here. 278 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,240 Allow, you know, some light idolatry there. 279 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,880 After all, at least I'm not as bad as those other guys. 280 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:26,560 I'm not doing that. But in that indulgence of sin, 281 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:32,200 our heart will change. We will become hardened to God 282 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:36,240 and to his ways. And after a few years of this 283 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,040 living in sin, we will be far from God. 284 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:46,680 We will be far from trusting God and far from eternally safe. 285 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,360 Faith leads us to following God. Sin leads us to separate 286 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:55,400 ourselves from God, even for eternity. 287 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:58,520 These are the consequences of sin. 288 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:06,360 We must understand these consequences. 5th We must look 289 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:11,200 with hope to the end of the age. Now verse 11 here is a kind of 290 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,640 hinge in this passage, turning us from the examples of what we 291 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,920 should not do toward what we should do instead. 292 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,640 And here at the end of this verse, he drops in this little 293 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:26,520 line that we are those on whom the end of the ages has come. 294 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,600 Paul here is pointing us to the way that Christ has inaugurated 295 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,200 the final age. He's inaugurated the end of time 296 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:40,320 in his death and resurrection. His complete work at the cross 297 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,760 and at the empty tomb has brought about, has inaugurated 298 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:49,040 this new age, and we are living in that dawn. 299 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:54,400 We see the glory of what Christ is bringing. 300 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,080 He's bringing peace, life, wholeness, flourishing. 301 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,800 We see that. We even taste that. 302 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:08,520 And yet we are still standing at the brink and we still feel the 303 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:12,760 shackles of sin and the pull of temptation in between these two 304 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:18,640 epochs. And so in Christ, not only do we 305 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,000 see with greater clarity the work that God is doing. 306 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,360 And the goodness of this final age. 307 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,200 But we should also be yearning for him to come and to complete 308 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,720 that work. In a word, Paul here is inviting 309 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:39,520 us to faith look with hope to the consummation of the end of 310 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:46,720 the age. 6th Because we have faith in God's work to bring 311 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,640 about this completion. We must turn our eyes away from 312 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:56,040 ourselves and fight presumption. Verse 12. 313 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:01,000 Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he 314 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,040 fall. And this verse is actually the 315 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:06,520 central exhortation of the whole passage. 316 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,160 The Corinthians thought that they were strong, they thought 317 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:12,800 they were free, they thought they were standing tall, right? 318 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:20,720 And Paul says, be careful, be careful, Do not presume on your 319 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,840 own strength. There is always the possibility 320 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:32,320 that we can drift from God. Don't trust in your own 321 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:37,160 strength. How many examples do we have in 322 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:41,080 the Old Testament of people who started out so well in their 323 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:45,680 walk with the Lord and then drifted far from God? 324 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:53,880 Great King Solomon inherits the Kingdom of David, Asked to have 325 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:59,080 wisdom from God, which is the best possible thing to ask for. 326 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:07,480 Starts out so well, and then he slips and slides and falls over 327 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,560 years and years and at the end of his life we have no idea 328 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,640 where he is in his standing with God. 329 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,600 We must not presume on our own strength. 330 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:22,680 We must stand guard. Fight the presumption. 331 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:29,640 So for fighting presumption, we are then fighting temptation. 332 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,800 Seventh, fight temptation with God's faithfulness. 333 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:35,560 Fight temptation with God's faithfulness. 334 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,320 Verse 13 No temptation has overtaken you. 335 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:43,800 That is not common to man. God is faithful and He will not 336 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,240 let you be tempted beyond your ability. 337 00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:49,480 Sometimes when we're in the throes of temptation, we can 338 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,960 feel like we are just utterly alone, can't we? 339 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,280 That nobody understands the strength of what we're 340 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,040 experiencing? And see where Paul here 341 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:03,480 redirects our attention. God is faithful. 342 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:09,960 God will not abandon us. He will not leave us. 343 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:16,880 So my friends, when you were tempted, don't turn inward, turn 344 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,120 toward God. Remember that God is with you 345 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,080 and will give you more strength, will not give you more than you 346 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,680 can handle. He will give you the strength to 347 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,800 fight. He may stretch you, but you can 348 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,480 always resist. And so, my friends, you can 349 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:39,200 fight temptation, you can fight sin by drawing it near to God, 350 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,720 by remembering his faithfulness and then fighting, knowing that 351 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,880 he will not abandon you and that in fact he is with you. 352 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:52,080 Notice here how Paul is not undermining the doctrine of 353 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,000 solafide. Faith alone. 354 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,800 We are saved by faith alone. Even here, even when we're 355 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,640 struggling against sin with all of our strength, we are doing so 356 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:07,200 with faith. It is faith from first to last. 357 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:14,760 So trust in God's faithfulness. 8th And finally, we must look 358 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,440 for the way of escape, end of verse 13. 359 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,960 With the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, 360 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:22,680 that you may be able to endure it. 361 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:28,360 We are called to escape sin. We aren't called to just sit in 362 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:30,840 temptation, hoping that we can endure it. 363 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:35,920 We are called to act, looking at to how we can get out of 364 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,120 temptation and escape sin. If you're an alcoholic, you 365 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:43,360 don't go sit at a bar and hope to avoid a drink. 366 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:46,200 If you're struggling with lust, you don't spend time on your 367 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,560 phone late at night. Leave the bar, put away your 368 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,160 phone. Escape temptation. 369 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:59,040 Actively look to flee the temptation to sin and look with 370 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,960 the eyes of faith, knowing that God will provide a way out. 371 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:11,520 Sin is not inevitable, you can act to fight it and God will 372 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,240 provide to you that way of escape if you will take it. 373 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,040 So these are the 8 steps that I see Paul giving the Corinthians 374 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,280 and giving us for how to fight temptation, identify with God's 375 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,920 people through the millennia, learn from their example, and we 376 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,720 learn from them by seeing sins, connections with clarity, and 377 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,680 then understanding the eternal consequences of sin. 378 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,480 We must look with hope to the end of the age. 379 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,000 As we turn away from a presumption about our own 380 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,200 strength, we instead turn to faith in God's faithfulness. 381 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,520 And as we do that, we are looking with the eyes of faith 382 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:53,600 for a way of escape. This is sort of this passage in 383 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:57,560 in eight points. Now, I think that there are 384 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:02,560 broadly three kinds of people who will hear this passage. 385 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,480 Now, one, maybe this is you, the Christian who's, you know, 386 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:10,880 following Jesus, killing sin in your life, successfully fighting 387 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:15,680 sin. When you see sin, you repent and 388 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,560 it ends. And this passage says to you, 389 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,320 keep it up, keep going, don't go complacent. 390 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,520 The Lord is with you. Keep looking to him in faith and 391 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,880 keep fighting. And the next person, second 392 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,000 person, is a person who perhaps is very much like the 393 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,960 Corinthians here. You're at peace, you're 394 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:42,040 comfortable, and you're allowing sin and temptation to creep into 395 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:47,560 your life. And if that's you hear Paul's 396 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:52,640 word to you very clearly, your soul is in danger. 397 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:59,640 Grazing sin in the name of freedom can lead to your 398 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:04,680 destruction. Repent of your sin. 399 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,280 Fight temptation. Turn away from sin and toward 400 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:13,280 the life that Christ offers you. You must not presume on the 401 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:18,680 graciousness of God. One way that we do this is by 402 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:22,240 confessing our sin. Bring it into the open. 403 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,440 Ask Christians around you to walk with you as you're fighting 404 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:31,520 sin. The clergy here, we're ready to 405 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:35,680 walk with you, to hear your confession, to assure you of the 406 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:40,440 good news of the gospel, and to walk with you as you seek to 407 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:45,240 kill sin. Now, the third person who hears 408 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:51,480 this passage is someone who feels stuck and you're desperate 409 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,800 to get out. But you feel stuck in sin. 410 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,200 Like you're like your feet are stuck in quicksand and you just 411 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,960 can't quite get out. You're just stuck. 412 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,880 And you hear the warnings of Paul and you say, I know that 413 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:11,160 and I'm terrified. Am I going to be destroyed like 414 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,560 Israel? That's the terror in your heart. 415 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:22,360 This passage meets you in that terror and should encourage you 416 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,320 to fight sin, but to fight sin with hope. 417 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:33,280 Turn your eyes to Jesus first. Look at all that He has endured 418 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,600 for you. See the temptations He has 419 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,640 endured. See the victory He won for you 420 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:45,440 at the cross and at the empty tomb, and then fight, knowing 421 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:50,200 that your victory is secure. Bring God's people into your 422 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:54,600 fight, not out of shame, but with a hopeful expectation that 423 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:59,640 God in fact will bring you out. He will deliver you and set you 424 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,080 free. Don't look at your sin with 425 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:06,760 shame. Look to Christ and then with 426 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:12,160 God's people. Fight the sin for all of us. 427 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,320 We must look to Jesus no matter where we are. 428 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,440 As we encounter this passage, we must look to Jesus, the founder 429 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:24,280 and the finisher of our faith. He saves us both from the 430 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:30,200 condemnation of sin as well as the power that sin has over us. 431 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:31,960 It's hold. It's slavery. 432 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,160 The German reformer Martin Luther was probably thinking 433 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:43,000 about this floating rock when he wrote the the first verse to 434 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:48,480 possibly his most famous hymn, Rock of Ages. 435 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:54,400 Cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. 436 00:29:55,240 --> 00:30:02,480 Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed be 437 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:11,960 of sin, the double cure cleanse me from its guilt and its power. 438 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:14,560 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 439 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:15,680 Spirit, Amen.