Beginning of chapter 10, this
word, moreover, reminds us that this is a continuation of the
thought from chapter nine. And so let's get that in our
minds, what we've looked at in chapter nine, where Paul had
just exhorted now the Corinthian church to run, run this race
that's set before us to obtain, to obtain the incorruptible crown
of righteousness, of glory, it's called a crown of glory, it's
called a crown of righteousness. It's for those who lay hold of
Christ. In him we are righteous, in him
we are glorified. Whom he did predestinate, then
he also called, and whom he called, then he also glorified. And this
crown of glory pictures that. He tells them, Paul in chapter
nine, how that he keeps himself in subjection and in a spiritual
sense, beats on himself. He said, I keep under my body,
and that means to beat black and blue. I keep under my body,
and here's why. And Paul now, as we've seen in
the first chapters of this book, knows that many
of these Corinthians were professing believers And yet they were involved in
sin, that as he put it, he said this, you're acting like lost
people. And he said, even the world is not named in some of
the sins that I hear that you're involved in. He's teaching them
that that profession of faith will not save them. As millions
of sinners since then, they thought they could just be baptized,
you know, and have their ticket to heaven and live for themselves. live according to their own fleshly
desires and lusts and have no regard for Christ. He's teaching
them that believers don't do that by God's grace. That's not
how believers behave. That's a warning flag. That's
something to be warned about. It's no contradiction. Now think
about it this way. It's no contradiction for Paul
to say what we know that he said, I know whom I have believed.
With confidence, full confidence and assurance in Christ, he said,
I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded in his ability
And that's our confidence, his ability. I know that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him by his grace against
that day. But also to say in the last part
of chapter nine, that if he were to presume he was saved and yet
have no heart of constraining love for Christ, that he himself
would be found a reprobate. That's what he said. That's why
he beat on himself. He opposed his own flesh. We as
believers have to do that. We have to not agree with or
submit to the foolishness that our flesh longs for. And that's
what he's saying here. He did that, and he said, if
I don't, he said, I do that lest I myself, when I've preached
to others, should be a castaway. It's no contradiction to say
my confidence is in him, in his ability. But if I say that I
love him, if I say that I believe on him, faith without works is
dead, and I'm dead with it. You see that? No contradiction.
Those are both true in every believer, in everyone's case.
And so that's what we have here in this text. And then of course,
implying clearly that if he, Paul, might be found to reprobate
after having preached to others, then certainly these Corinthians
who were living like lost people. Remember 1 Corinthians 3, 3,
for you are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you
envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as
men? He's not stating the obvious there that they walk like men
because they are men. He's saying you're walking like
lost people. And so the implication when he
says, I myself, I keep under my body lest I myself should
be found a castaway. Then he's saying that these men
certainly needed this solemn exhortation. And you notice that
we're saying some of them, some of them, some of them. That's
what our text said when he was talking about the Israelites
in the wilderness. Some of them were idolaters.
You see those words over and over? Some of them, some of them.
It's good to be reminded of that because when you're reading the
letters to the churches in Revelation, for example, and you hear the
horrible You know, you're tolerating blasphemy in the church? Well,
you gotta remember, he's writing to the whole church, not every
individual in that church. Some of them were tolerant of
the blasphemy. That's implied there and clearly
stated here. But look at verse 12 in tonight's
text, and that'll get us on the right path here in our thinking
with regard to all of the verses that come before it. Verse 12,
wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall. That's what he was saying about
himself at the end of chapter nine. I want to take heed now. I wanna know that my faith in
Christ was given by him and that my heart truly is for Christ
and I'm not just saying that and living for myself. And I
oppose this flesh. He said in another place, I'm
crucified with Christ. And I mortify my flesh. He said, every day, I mortify
this flesh. I remember what we read, I believe
it was in Colossians or maybe this study where we said, we
are dead with Christ and then he said later, we mortify or
make dead our fleshly appetites that we live out in this world
or don't by his grace. So think about this now, if you
think you stand, and I do, don't you? Do you think you stand before
God? accepted in Christ and saved and precious in his sight? I believe I do. Take heed. Take heed lest you fall. You
can have all confidence in Christ and still the exhortation is
examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. It's not examine
yourself to see if you're good enough. Examine yourselves again
and again to see if your faith is in Christ alone. If your trust
is in his ability and not your own. If you're living for him
and not yourself. But our confidence in this, as
we'll see all through this, Paul is sitting here exhorting us
to live right. That's what he's doing. But all through it, the
motivation and the evidence is Christ. all through it. So let's think about that. Take
heed now, take heed. That's what he's saying. In all
of this text, the truths in verses one through 11, they're standalone
truths and wonderful ones, but they're leading up to in this
context and pointing ahead to this warning right here. He's
saying, look at all the wonderful outward manifestations of God's
grace the Israelites enjoyed in the Old Testament, and even
then though, many of them failed. They didn't please God. So that's
where he's going with this, and it's good to know that right
up front. There are stated in the context of this solemn exhortation,
what we're gonna look at now. So look at verse one. Moreover,
brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all
our fathers, remember what he just talked about, I myself will
be a reprobate. And I don't want you to be ignorant
how that all of our fathers were under the cloud. God's chosen
people, pictured by the earthly Israelites, they were under the
cloud. and all pass through the sea
and we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And isn't that our wonderful
experience? Are we not in that place too?
Every group of believers, every true believer can say this truthfully. And every even professing believer
that may be a fake. And this is part of being a believer.
It's not just come walking down an aisle, make it a profession.
In fact, it shouldn't even involve that at all. That's foolishness. But listen, what a wonderful
thing. They were all under the cloud. Now verse five is coming. Verse five's coming up. But with
many of them, God was not well pleased for they were overthrown
in the wilderness. Oh, but let's bask a little while
here in verse one first. They were under the cloud. Have
you ever thought about that, what that meant? To be under
God's cloud. God remembers that we're dust.
Thousands, if not everybody, would have died in the wilderness
without that cloud. It was a necessity. But that cloud was a lot more
than that, just physical life. Every step they took, by day
and night, because you remember at night, the cloud, the pillar
of cloud was a pillar of fire at night to warm them and to
ward off. If you, in many places in the
Old Testament, we see how a lot of people were killed by wild
animals in those days. And certainly many of them would
have been, That pillar of fire was their protection and their
comfort in life. Warmth. And they took every step
in that wilderness knowing that God was with them. Is that us? Are you under the cloud? I believe we are. I believe we
constantly have manifestations of his grace that teach us and
comfort us and keep us. It's God Almighty. It's the one
that loved you with an everlasting love that requires this journey
of you. That wilderness journey was no
picnic. And our journey is not either.
And we go through things in this life that are just excruciating, but it's
God that required the journey, and he's not gonna send us on
our own. They had an everyday reminder of that, constant reminders
of that. This trial, this hardship maybe
that you're going through, this trek through dry and uninhabitable,
inhospitable, even deadly ground that they trod, he sent you that
way. He's the one that sent you that way. You have no choice
in the matter. You're going on this trip whether you like it
or not. But it's God that sent you. Seems like an impossible
trip sometimes, doesn't it? The burden of it seems like it's
gonna bring us down, all the way down. But the cloud is the
shadow of God's hand. Look at verse 13. Let's look forward to verse 13
with regard to this. There hath no temptation taken
you, no trial, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able.
He will not allow it, but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape that you may be able. to bear it,
God is faithful. You see what we were saying a
while ago? The same thing that Paul, yes, I'm a wretch. My flesh is still
very much alive. I have to beat myself up every
day. But God's faithful. He's able to
keep that which I've committed unto you. And so the exhortation
is to us to live for His glory. But it doesn't make us look to
ourselves in that endeavor. It causes us to look to Him.
He will not suffer you to be tried beyond what you're able
by His grace to endure. He's not gonna let that valley
of darkness and death that he sent you through to be your ruin. He'll shade you, he'll pick you
up. He's not gonna suffer it. He'll refresh you with knowledge
and reminders that these light afflictions, which are but for
a moment, they seem overwhelming now to us, but these light afflictions
are just for a moment and they worketh for us a far more exceeding
weight of glory. This is so because no matter
how dark it gets, he's with us and we'll be with him soon. We're under the cloud and we
pass through the sea, delivered from the bondage of this evil
world because when God looked at us, he saw the blood of his
own precious lamb. and now we're free. Do we not
walk that way? Are we under the cloud? Have
we passed through the sea? No more bondage. Bless God, being
free. But being free, free from the
law, free from condemnation, free from the wrath of God against
our sin that we deserve, free. But being free, shall we sin
that grace may abound? God forbid. God forbid. Look at verse three. We did eat
all the same spiritual meat, all of us, and did all drink
the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual
rock that followed him, followed them, and that rock was Christ. Isn't that beautiful? We don't
have to guess about these types and pictures in the Old Testament,
what they were. The Lord said, I'm that manna
that came down from heaven. Moses didn't give you that, God
did, and it's me. And that rock was Christ, that
rock was smitten. In order for life to come forth
from that rock, it had to be smitten that God's people might
live. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. Smitten, smitten
rock, life for us. The rock could only be smitten
once. Why? For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. That rock followed him. It followed
him. Let your conduct be without covetousness
and be content with such things as you have, for he hath said,
I will never leave you nor forsake you. so that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. The rock sustained them. Had to have the rock. Without
the rock, they're goners. Our Lord Jesus said, whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.
but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water, springing up into life everlasting. That manna was Christ,
that rock was Christ, the pillar of cloud was Christ, the pillar
of fire was Christ. God supplied all of their need,
physically and spiritually. And how did he do that? Christ,
Christ, Christ, everything was Christ. Philippians 4.19, but
my God shall supply all your need according to his riches
and glory by Christ Jesus. Always has been that way. Always
has been that way. His first child was supplied
the same way that his last one will be. on this earth. In the wilderness, Christ was
all. And in this wilderness, our wilderness,
Christ is all. And then comes the warning. The preface of the warning is
that Christ is all. And there's an inherent warning
in that. If you say Christ is all, there's
an inherent warning in that. Because if Christ is all, then
missing Him is the end. If Christ is all, then without
Him, you're lost, you're dead, you're doomed. And here's that warning, verse
five, but with many of them, God was not well pleased, And
how do we know that? Because they were overthrown. You see, God doesn't overthrow
people that he's well-pleased with. Religion says, oh, if you're
in Christ, you know, you're sure for heaven if you were already
there, but then, oh, but if you don't live the Christian life,
you're going to hell. I don't get that. I don't follow that. If you're in Christ, you're not
gonna be overthrown. God was not well-pleased with them, and
he overthrew them in the wilderness. And that word is brutal, overthrow. They were strewn over the ground
like straw. The word means prostrate, and
it means slain. All right, get that out of your
head now. Let's take a minute. Let's take
a minute to get that out of our head. Wow. It means slain. It means he can screw them on
the ground like straw. Isn't it a terrible thing the
way the Lord speaks of those who hate him? This religious
world wants to be all lovey-dovey about God. But he says, if you
don't abide in the vine, you're not worth anything but burning.
That's what you're good for, burning. And that's how he speaks here.
He just threw them, his people that he loved, they're gonna
make it. He's not gonna suffer you to
fall. He will not allow it, according to our text. But those with whom
he's not well pleased, those who are not in Christ, those
who like many of these Corinthians made a profession, oh how we
love Jesus, but their life, James said, show me your faith without
your works and I'll show you my faith by my works. There's
two different kinds of faith. You can't read the book of James
thinking that it's about faith versus works. If you do, it won't
make a lick of sense. You've got to understand the
book of James in that it's talking about two different kinds of
faith. The one that God gives and the one that people just
come up with because somebody told them they needed to make
a decision for Jesus. One of them will save you according
to our Lord Jesus. If you have the faith that he
gives, he said that your faith has saved you. The other one
is worthless. And that's what we're talking
about here. Many of them, God wasn't well pleased with them.
And he strewn them throughout the wilderness like straw on
the ground, lifeless, dead, dry. They all experienced the same
outward advantages of Christ. They knew the truth, but they
didn't receive the love of the truth. How do we know that? Because they were acting exactly
like these Corinthians were. like they were lost people. Many
of them were. And that's the impact of this
warning. Paul is saying to these Corinthians, the whole gist of
this passage shouts to them that look what happened to the people
in the Old Testament that were like you. God destroyed them for it. Look
at it in verse six, and we'll read several verses together
here. Verse six, chapter 10. Now these
things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after
evil things as they also lusted, neither be ye idolaters as were
some of them, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and
drink and rose up to play. The God of heaven and earth didn't
do things the way they wanted him to, and so they made a new
one. Verse eight, neither let us commit
fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and
20,000. Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted
and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye as some of
them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. What evil things
did they lust after? What evil things is that? Well,
we remember them telling Moses, you should have just left us
in Egypt. At least there were garlics and leeks there. At least
the food tasted like something there. We remember that. And I'm sure there was a lot
more. The evil things that they lusted after, what all was mentioned
in what we just read. But look, it boils down to this. It doesn't matter specifically
what it was. It was not Christ. They lusted after that which
was not Christ. And the spiritual truth of this,
that's exactly the problem. That rock was Christ. The manna
was Christ, but they wanted other stuff. Christ was not enough. That's
the problem then and now. That's the warning to us as well
as the Corinthians. If Christ is enough, then you're gonna make it. And if you're his, he's enough. He sees to that, he's not gonna
let you fall. Simon, I've pricked for you that
your faith fail not. Satan hath desired you. Satan
hath taken many and sifted them as wheat, but not you, because
I have interceded. The picture is simple, that Christ
wasn't enough for them. That's how you know. Again, James
said, show me that faith without thy works, and I'll show you
my faith by my works. Your works will show whether
Christ is enough for you or not. It's not that they were treated
by God on the basis of their works. That's clear in the text
that that wasn't the case. If that were true, all of them
would have fallen. He called the whole nation of Israel stiff-necked
and rebellious people. but it's a matter of being saved
by grace through faith that works. Faith worketh by love. Having
the faith that does not work because there's no heart for
Christ. Faith works by love. So if there's no love, where's
the faith? If God treated all of them based
on their works, they would have all been goners, but God would
not suffer many of them to fall. That's the difference. And others,
he strewed them dead in the wilderness and left them where they lay.
On what basis? What think ye of Christ? Is he
enough? If you love Christ, it's because
he first loved you, 1 John 4, 19. That faith that God gives is
satisfied with Christ, not lusting or murmuring for other things.
It comes by grace, not by works, lest any man should boast. And
when some of them did tempt Christ and were destroyed of serpents,
what was the safeguard? of those who did not die. What
was the remedy? What was salvation then? Same
as it is now. Look and live. The serpent lifted
up. As that serpent was lifted up
on a pole, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone
which believeth on him might have everlasting life. It's not
complicated, is it? The answer for them was not to
quit murmuring. They murmured and God sent fiery
serpents into the camp and bit the people. The poison was deadly
and they started dying like flies. What was the answer? Don't you
ever murmur again? Nope, look to Christ. That is key to our text. Now all these things happened
unto them, verse 11, for in samples. and they are written for our
admonition. And you remember why it says in the book of John, why
the whole book of God was written that we might believe. That was
the answer here. You're a murmuring bunch of rebels.
ungrateful, you have no use for Christ, you just want your flesh
to be satisfied. You're God-hating rebels. What
are we gonna do about it? Look to Christ. They're written for our admonition
that we are admonished in all of this. He's our only hope. Upon whom the ends of the world
are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed, lest he fall. That's kind of a beautiful phrase,
isn't it? The ends of the world are come upon us. In other words,
all these years later. That was relatively the beginning
in this illustration that Paul gives of the Israelites and the
Old Testament. In the beginning, These things were true, and here
we are, those upon whom the ends of the world are come, and Christ
is still all. He's still our only hope. He's
still our motivation. He's still our goal. He's still
the purpose for which we desire to do anything right. And he is our righteousness when
we don't, because we ain't gonna. Not according to his standard
of righteousness. In your best state, you're altogether
vanity. So we don't just need an example.
We don't just need a motive. We need a savior. And he's all,
he's all of it. Not minimizing the motive. We
have a real good reason to not live for ourselves. But we need
more than that, we need him to save us. And that's what he does
by his grace. The same truth applies even here
in the ends of the world. What think ye of Christ? Is Christ
enough or do you lust after the pleasures of this world and your
flesh? I'll tell you this, and again,
our text is loaded with this simple truth. If you are yet
carnal, like some of these were, the answer is not to stop being
carnal. The answer is to look to Christ,
take heed, to hear this more sure word of prophecy as a light
that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day
star rise in your hearts. And those of you who know the
Lord Jesus Christ and yet you find that you're no match, even
yet, for the trials of this flesh, for the evil. Seems like you
can't beat yourself up enough, King. You can't hate yourself
enough. If you find that you're no match
for the trials of this world and this flesh and this life,
take heart knowing this, there is no temptation that has taken
you but such as is common to man. We always think, well, boy,
nobody knows the trouble I've seen. That sounds like a song. Yeah, they do. Yeah, they do. And our Savior was tempted in
all points like as we are. And thank God yet without sin,
that's our righteousness right there. But God is faithful. That's what
you need to know when you're overwhelmed, when you're taken
in a fault, like we read, I believe this past Sunday morning, when
a brother is overtaken in a fault, When that's you, God is faithful. We, of necessity, are unfaithful
by the wording of this. If we were faithful, we wouldn't
need to rely on the faithfulness of Christ. I just love, this is so beautiful.
But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that you're able? If we're not tempted beyond our
capacity, if we are not swept up by the corruption of our flesh
and swept away, if that's true because Christ did not allow
it, then where would we be without him? Where would we be if he did allow
it? What if God did suffer it? What
if he had not prayed for Simon that his faith fail not? But here's how he does it. He
will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you
may be able to bear it. It kind of sounds like all of
our hope is in what he does. It kind of sounds like if we're
not gonna fall, it's gonna be because of Christ. May he keep us lest we dash our foot against
a stone. unto him that is able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy. Unto him be glory both now and
forever.