3/7/21 1 Cor. 10:1-13 “The Cure for Temptation!”

05 Mar 3/7/21 1 Cor. 10:1-13 “The Cure for Temptation!”

3/7/21    1 Cor. 10:1-13     “The Cure for Temptation!”

One of the great things about being grandparents is that we can go and watch the kids in their games.  We get to see them as they begin their journey in the world of football and volleyball.  We get to watch them grow on the basketball court.  Or it may be in golf or tennis.  Some kids love to play chess or an instrument in the band.  We are so fortunate in our world today that there are many things that the young people can get interested in and they are all for the most part good things.  But now the government wants to take these activities away.  Will it never stop??  Anyway, there is also one thing that our grandchildren and all other children like them have in common when they start out in these things.  None of them are very good at the things they do when they first start out.  This is something that all of us have in common.  None of us are very good at things the first time we do them.  So, I think that one of the jobs as a grandparent is that we are not to coach or teach the child how to do something, but rather we are to encourage them to keep trying.  I will gladly let the younger people do the coaching and I will do the encouraging.  It is no wonder that being a grandparent is so much easier than being a parent.  In today’s Scripture we find a little bit of coaching and also some big encouragement.  Let’s find out how we can get encouraged when there is so much negative surrounding us.

As I said it is a joy to watch young children and how they learn.  When they are very young and are playing with blocks, they will continue to pile them up until they fall over.  It doesn’t matter how high they have gotten; they always will try to put one more on the pile.  Then it falls over.  If there is a step or some obstacle in the living room where they might trip, they will go and fall over it a couple of times and soon they will find a way over it or through it or around it where they do not fall and get hurt.  And when they do get hurt or scared, they know that they can come to Mom or Dad for help and comfort.  Children learn these things at a young age and they will retain them for a lifetime.  This is their history and it is important to how they develop.  So, when someone comes along and tells me that history is not very important, I have to disagree.  There are many, many things that we all have learned from history, whether it is personal history or world history.  History is important and this is where Paul begins today.

One of the things that I like to stress in my sermons is that the Bible is a history book.  Technically it is historical theology.  The theology of God is the most important aspect of the Bible.  But it is written in a historical context.  So, today we have once again Paul going back in history to tell the people and us about the present and the future.  I personally feel that we should teach more history in school.  But that is a whole other arena.

Paul says don’t be ignorant.  He reminds them that God was with them and leading them by the cloud during the exodus.  He is telling them that it was God who opened the Red Sea so that they could cross.  God provided them food and water.  In a nut shell, God took care of all their needs during this time.  These are the things that they need to remember from their history.  They need to know this so that they can move forward with God.

But they also need to know what happens when they do not follow God.  This is something that we have forgotten in today’s world.  The church in Corinth is having trouble.  Their culture is one where just about anything goes and they are in the habit of worshipping all sorts of idols.  So, Paul wants them to remember what happens when they are faithful.  Paul is reminding them that they are all part of God’s family through Jesus Christ.  So even though they seem to be at a little a little out of sync at the moment, Jesus still loves them and cares.  Things are good when we are faithful.

We are not much different from Paul’s listeners because we also need to be reminded of what God has done for us.  The season of Lent that we are in right now is one time when we should be remembering all the things that God has done for us.  God did all the things that Paul is talking about here for you.  God knew you 3000 years ago when all these things happened.  Then God sent Jesus Christ to live with us and show us the way to Him.  On Good Friday, Jesus died for you.  You may live because Jesus has died, was raised and went to heaven.  Jesus has done all kinds of miracles since then so that you can be where you are today.  He has done all these things because He loves you.  He loves you.  You need to remember our history.  You need to remember all the love that God has provided for us so far.

The reason for all the remembering lies in what Paul tells us next.  First Paul reminds them that God was not pleased with them after they left Egypt.  He had them wander in the wilderness for 40 years.  They were in the desert until a whole generation had died.  He scattered them over the desert.  In another incident after the death of Jesus, the followers of Jesus wanted to stay in Jerusalem.  As we read this story in Acts about a different kind of scattering, we find that God had other plans and once again He scattered the disciples all over the Middle East so that the word of Jesus would spread.

Then Paul tells them not to follow idols.  He is pretty specific about this.  Corinth was a city of idols.  Some of the people from the early church there lived on the edge of Christianity.  They thought that maybe they could worship idols one day and Jesus the next.  After all, this is what everyone else did.  Many times, it is a terrible idea to do what everyone else is doing.  God does not want us to follow anyone but Him.

Paul goes on to say that because of the bad things that are happening from following the false idols, the people are sinking into immorality.  God tells us many times that we are not to chase anyone outside of our marriages.  He tells us in Genesis and other places that we are made to be together as a man and a woman, a husband and a wife.  There are no variations here.  Today, they are telling us that there are more than two sexes.  How ridiculous!  However, when there are variations in our world, we are commanded to love these people even if they are not in right relationships with God.  If you go back and look in Numbers 25:1-9 you will find that roughly 23,000 people were killed because of sexual immorality.  This is a piece of history they needed to know and us too.

Paul is also telling them not to test the Lord and do not grumble.  In both of these cases, many people died by the snakes and the avenging angel.  This is the history of the people.  God does not tolerate disobedience forever.  These people died so that there would have an example for all generations of what happens when we don’t follow Jesus.

We live in a world today that tells us that anything goes.  We are told that if it feels good then go ahead and do it.  Our government wants all of us to make government our god.  We are told there is no God or we are told what a loving God will and won’t do.  Most of these people who tell us how to live a satanic life like this have never even read the Bible.  Once I was talking with a pastor of the area and they told me that we cannot believe the history of the Bible, only the theology.  I was really taken back but I replied that if we don’t believe our history, then we have nothing to believe.  Then a little later, I was told by another pastor in the area that the stories of Genesis were just nice stories to prove a point.  Science has proven that these stories couldn’t happen.  I told that pastor that I had no trouble believing everything in Genesis as history.  I find that there are no inconsistencies.  I was being attacked by my own colleagues.  Always beware!  There are many who are dressed in sheep’s clothing who are nothing but wolves.

And here we go again.  Many people say that God didn’t kill all of these people.  My question would be that if He didn’t, then who did?  God did all these things because He loves us today.  It would take more time than we have here to explain how God loves us through these things but He does.  These are examples of what not to do.  This is our history.  Our God is an all-loving God who is full of mercy and justice.  In our modern world we only have time for a god of mercy.  After all, we can take care of our own justice.   So, our society thinks ‘who needs God?’  And this idea is getting us nowhere fast!

Now we are coming to the love of this section.  Paul tells us that this warning is for us as well as the ancient people.  I think that it is amazing that some of these writers included us in their visions.  But when you think about it, they were God inspired so what else would we expect.  God is telling us that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear.  Just this line is enough to preach many sermons.  So, I’m just going to touch on it lightly today.

As I stated, these people probably lived in a world that wasn’t much better than Sodom or Gomorrah.  Corinth was a major shipping port.  It was a pagan religious center for all religions.  These various religions really practiced some awful types of behavior.  If you can think of the worst kind of behavior, then it was probably practiced at some church in Corinth.  Many of the permanent residents there were from Rome.  These were not good Romans but they were the ones who had been cast out of Rome, Rome’s misfits.  These were not a high class of people with high morals.  And there was also a small Jewish population.

The early Christian church came from these people.  These people had come from lives of debauchery and deception.  Sounds like the United States today!  They had turned from all these evil ways and started new lives with Jesus.  However, it was not that easy for them to stay connected with Jesus when all their old friends and old ways were constantly around them trying to lure them back into their old disgusting lives.  God is trying to tell them that they will not be tempted beyond what they can bear and they will also be given a way out when this does happen.  In other words when this temptation gets to the point where we can no longer resist, God will give us a way out.

Now let’s take a look at how we do with all of this in our modern world, after all Paul states in verse 11 that this is for us also.  We like to think that we have it much better today than they did at the time of Paul.  I will grant that we do have more gadgets and things to make our lives easier.  But I do think that the societal problems that they had are pretty much still with us today.  Satan has pulled off a major coup in this country by allowing us to think that we are in charge of everything.  He has slowly led us down a path to where it has been generations now since we have loved God as a country.  There is sin everywhere and we are bombarded by it.  We are told that the Bible isn’t true and we believe it because some so-called scientist tells us so.

Everywhere we look there is nudity and sham marriages!  It is on our TV’s, in our movies and in our shopping centers.  Beer is the choice drink of anyone who wants to be an athlete.  The list goes on and on.  But even today, God is telling us that He will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear.  He will give us a way out if this does happen.

Most of the time we only want to read the first part of this where we will not be tempted more than we can bear.  We don’t want to know that God is also providing a way out if we choose to take it, if you choose to take it!  In other words, you do not get Scott off free in this deal.  You have to make a decision to follow God’s ways out of the different temptations that you have.  I think that it is sad to say that many times we don’t want to be led away from temptations because they have become too important for our way of life.

And yet Jesus knows all of these things and He loves you just the same.  He wants you to break free from temptation and work for Him.  He has given you the tools to do this if you really want to get free.  As hard as it may seem, the only way to total freedom is to surrender to Jesus.  Otherwise, you are just trapped in a world full of sin and temptation.

This is why I always tell you to pray and pray and pray.  Come to church and listen to the Word of God!  Come and fellowship with other believers about anything and everything.  Read your Bibles on a daily basis.  These are just a few of the ways that God has given us to get out of the way of temptation.

And of course, you also have times where you just want to be alone with God.  I think there are times when we all need this which is why I emphasis prayer so much.  Anyway, the next time you are alone in prayer time with God, ask Him to enter you with the Holy Spirit and have a God moment with the very creator of the universe.  Let Him help you put aside the temptations you have, that we all have.  Go to the King of kings and let Him fill your heart. And thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.