1 Corinthians 10:1

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Israel had every blessing yet fell in the wilderness—a sobering warning that grace is no license for sin.

Presumption Is a Dangerous Thing

The tale has been told to me many times by my parents. Thankfully, I don't personally remember the event, but in the story my dad confidently asserts that he had hold of me—after being scolded by my mom for setting me on the handrail of an eight-foot-high deck in front of our old house. Apparently, he did not have as good a hold as he thought. So the saying "it's because you were dropped when you were a baby" hits a little close to home. Presumption can be a very dangerous thing.

In chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians, Paul presented the principle that although we Christians have liberty to do whatever Scripture does not forbid as morally wrong, we are at times to limit or forego those liberties for the sake of love—for God first and for our neighbor. In chapter 9, Paul showed how that principle worked in his own life. He lived a life of self-denial and discipline, all for the sake of the gospel, to win as many as possible—Jews and Gentiles alike.

Paul's Boldness Versus the Corinthians' Presumption

Paul was bold, but we should not miscategorize his boldness as arrogance. His boldness stemmed from his surety that the message he preached was real and true. His Christian life was a continual exercise of humility. His discipline may have seemed burdensome or extreme to some, but his aim was never to misuse his liberties in such a way that he became unfit to preach the gospel. There was no place in Paul's life for presumptuousness—no assuming liberties on the basis of grace.

The church at Corinth, however, did not imitate Paul in this. They assumed God's grace and presumed a right standing with God even when their actions were contemptible. This was a church filled with divisions, seditions, and immorality, all the while crying, "We have liberty in Christ!" Paul says this is incongruent—there is no way you can live this way and still be in right relationship with God. They were wise in their own eyes, heady, high-minded, tolerant of things Scripture clearly calls sin.

They considered themselves saved and therefore safe. They were rescued from bondage, baptized unto salvation, partakers of the body and blood of Christ—they partook of communion just as we did this morning. As a result of all these outward signs, they figured themselves safe. "We're God's chosen generation, the elect gathering of His church. So what else is needed? It's okay to continue indulging in idolatry and immorality. We've got Jesus now."

Paul Turns Us Back to the Exodus

Paul's response is important not just for the church in Corinth but for the church in the United States today. He calls our attention back to those who came before us under the old covenant—the children of Israel. God had called His people up out of Egypt and sent Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." How many of us have seen that Charlton Heston classic reminding us of the exodus?

In verse 1 Paul says, "all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea." It's interesting that he says our fathers. Corinth was a mixed multitude of Jews and Gentiles, yet even the Gentile believers could call Abraham their father by faith, for he is the father of the faithful. In Exodus 13:21, the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. This was the presence of God in His Shekinah glory, guiding and protecting His people.

Then God led them to a place where, humanly speaking, they were trapped—the Red Sea before them, mountain ranges on either side, and the Egyptian army bearing down. But God told Moses to stretch out his hand, the sea parted, and Israel crossed on dry ground.

Baptized, Fed, and Sustained by Christ

Paul relates this to baptism in verse 2: "and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." Egypt in Scripture is a picture of the world. Redeemed from over 400 years of slavery, Israel went down into the water and came up out of it, like our immersion in baptism. They left Egypt behind, died to that world, and rose to walk in newness of life. When the waters closed over, there was no going back.

The Corinthians had experienced the same thing. Many today would say, "I've been redeemed from the bondage of this world. I've been buried with Christ through baptism, as Paul speaks of in Romans 6, and raised to walk in newness of life." If that's the case, how can we live any longer in that old life? That was exactly the Corinthians' problem. They had said with their words that they no longer identified with Egypt, yet they still lived that way—committing the very sins they would condemn in their own city—while excusing it with, "We have liberty in Christ, and God is forgiving."

Verse 3 says they "did all eat the same spiritual meat." A few days into the wilderness, hundreds of thousands of people had no food. They cried out, and God provided miraculously. In Exodus 16, they woke to find a substance on the ground and asked, "What is it?"—which is what the word manna means. Moses said, "It is bread from heaven." Jesus said in John 6, "I am the bread that has come down from heaven. I am the bread of life." Every one of them ate that spiritual food.

Verse 4 says they "did all drink the same spiritual drink." In Exodus 17:6, God told Moses to strike the rock of Horeb, and water came forth in abundance. Paul says they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, "and that Rock was Christ." Christ was there in the wilderness, not incarnate, but sustaining them through their forty years of wandering—as again in Numbers, when Moses, at his wit's end with the complainers, disobeyed and struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it.

God Was Not Well Pleased

They all went through the Red Sea, all ate the manna, all drank from the rock. "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness" (verse 5). This is the classic understatement of the Bible. If you've studied the Old Testament, you know that all but two of that entire generation died in the wilderness. The word "overthrown" can be translated "strewn through the desert" because of their sin.

Why was God displeased? Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to please God. They did not put their trust and confidence in the One who had delivered them. All were redeemed, all baptized, all fed, all given drink—and yet all but two fell because of the sin of unbelief. Many other sins are listed, but unbelief was at the root of all of it.

Written as a Warning to Us

In verse 6 Paul says, "Now these things were our examples." The New Living Translation reads, "these things happened as a warning to us"—that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted. The Greek word translated "lust" is elsewhere translated "desire," and is not always negative. Desire itself is not bad, so long as it is directed to the Lord and every thought brought captive to the obedience of Christ. But when desire attaches to the things God has forbidden, it leads to sin.

James tells us all sin begins at this level. "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust"—the same Greek word, epithymia, we find here. We can never say, "The devil made me do it." That's a lie. It's our desire. When desire conceives, it brings forth sin; and sin, when finished, brings forth death. The seed of sin is always in our desires. You will never be tempted by something you don't already desire.

The newest Lego set down at Toys R Us probably won't tempt you this morning—but there's a good chance some fifth graders next door would be tempted to steal it, because they have a desire for it. Meanwhile, that new GMC or Ford truck might captivate you to the point of coveting it. You'll never be tempted by what you do not first desire.

The Progression: Idolatry, Immorality, Testing, Murmuring

That desire for evil things is always the first step in the progression of sin. Verse 7: "Neither be ye idolaters... the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Idolatry is the result of lust. Paul references Exodus 32, where Moses went up Sinai for forty days and the restless people asked Aaron to make them a god. Aaron molded their gold into a calf, and they worshiped it, saying, "This is the god that brought us out of Egypt." The word "play" has a sensual foundation—it speaks of immorality. Idolatry always leads to immorality.

Verse 8: "Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand." This likely references Numbers 25, when Israel passed through Moab and got involved with the Moabite women, who brought their idolatry in among the people. A plague followed. Paul says 23,000 died in one day; Numbers says 24,000 total died—immorality that began as a desire for evil and moved through idolatry.

Verse 9: "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted, and were destroyed of serpents." In Numbers 21, the people grew tired of the manna God provided morning, noon, and night, and began to test Him—"Can't God do anything more than this?" God allowed serpents into the camp, and many died, though Moses, inspired by God, gave them a means of deliverance.

Verse 10: "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer." The destroyer is likely a reference to the same angel used at the Passover to kill the firstborn of Egypt. Fast-forward, and Israel is now guilty of the very sins the Egyptians were guilty of, murmuring against God's provision and protection—so God allowed them to be overthrown. They were proud and presumptuous: "We have Abraham as our father, Moses as our deliverer. Surely we can do whatever we want. We have liberty." In that, they displeased the Lord.

Examples Written for Our Admonition

Verse 11: "Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." Two thousand years ago Paul knew we were living in the last days—how much more advanced now. All these Old Testament events were written for the church to learn from, to be instructed and warned.

Why are so many problems happening in the church today, especially in the West? Why such tolerance of sin within the walls of the body of Christ? Perhaps because we have not considered the examples of the Old Testament. Many say, "We're a New Testament church; we don't need the Old Testament." Paul didn't say that. He said all these things were written for us.

George Santayana is credited with saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." How much more blessed to learn from another's mistakes than from your own. Israel trusted in their lineage, their leaders, the priesthood, the temple, the covering of God's presence—all positional things—but they did not possess the promises. They never entered the promised land or the rest God had for them.

Liberty Is Freedom From Sin, Not License

God was not such a respecter of persons that He would spare Abraham's descendants from judgment because of their sin. Just because Abraham was their father and Moses their leader did not entitle them to continue in sin. This is a vital lesson for the church today. We start to say, "We have Jesus as Lord, we pay tithes, we partake of communion, we attend church—so it's okay if there are some things in our lives that aren't glorifying to Him, because He's gracious."

Yes, He is gracious and forgiving, but our liberty in Christ does not give us opportunity to pursue sin while holding on to Him. So what if you've been baptized? So what if you attend church and sacrifice in tithes? If you perpetually continue in sin, Paul would say, "Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that have died to sin live any longer therein?"

Verse 12: "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Israel thought they stood on the basis of the covenant with Abraham. They saw God's blessing, redemption, protection, and provision—yet they fell in the wilderness. There are those who think they stand but are approaching a fall. And there are those who, like Paul, do all they can to stand. In Ephesians 6:13 he says, "having done all, to stand."

I absolutely believe God is able to keep us from falling, and that those He calls He sanctifies, justifies, and will one day glorify. But it is not guaranteed that we cannot fall—that's why Scripture gives so many warnings. The liberty God gives is not so we can walk the line and see how close we can get to sin. He has set us free from the power of sin so that we can flee it. The unregenerate cannot help but sin; they are slaves to it. But God has redeemed us from Egypt and said, "You don't have to go back there anymore."

God Is Faithful

You might say, "Pastor, you live in a Christian bubble; you don't understand the temptations out there." Notice verse 13: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful." Reach over and circle that in your neighbor's Bible: God is faithful. We at times are faithless; we fall. God is faithful. John uses those same words in 1 John 1:9—if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us. He wants to remove sin from our lives.

"He will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." The Greek word for "temptation" is also translated "test." What God intends as a test in my life, the enemy would love to use as a temptation to draw me toward sin. But we have a choice. The unregenerate has no choice—he will sin. The one saved by the righteousness of Christ has been given both the choice and the power to no longer sin.

The Way of Escape Is Endurance

Here's our mistake: we think the way of escape means God will pluck us out of the bar, away from the pornography, out of the dishonest situation—rapture us away from the temptation. That's not what happens. He makes a way that we will be able to endure it, that we will be strengthened in the midst of it. God does not promise to remove the pitfalls, but He aids us in navigating the journey. We are safest when we run to Him in the midst of temptation.

We have wrongly assumed that fleeing or retreating is the weak thing to do, when in fact it's the mature thing—to flee immorality, idolatry, and youthful lusts, and run to Him. We ought never test our liberty to see how close we can get to the world. You're setting yourself up for a fall. Israel was led into the wilderness for the very purpose of being tested. Deuteronomy 8:2 says God led them forty years "to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart."

God has allowed us to remain in this world to experience temptations that fall into three categories—the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. They are common to every one of us. None of us has experienced something so unique that no one else has gone through it. And God makes a way of escape because He is faithful—proving us, testing us, transforming us, and humbling us, so that we would not be those who think they stand, but who stand upon the foundation that is Christ.

Flee—and Let God Fill in the Blank

Paul's final application, which we'll look at more fully next week, is verse 14: "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." To Timothy he says, "Flee youthful lusts." Why didn't he tell Corinth to flee youthful lusts? Because their big problem was idolatry. God speaks individually to each of us. He knows our weaknesses, He knows our frame, that we are dust—He created us. He says, "Flee," and then He fills in the blank. Flee idolatry. Flee immorality. Flee lust. Whatever it is, flee—and God will give you the power to do so. It's a challenge, a warning, an exhortation that, if we respond to it in faith, will bring great victory in our lives.

Closing Prayer

Lord, I ask that You would plant Your word deep in our hearts as we prepare to go. Remind us of these things this afternoon, this week. Lord, when we come to a place where we are sensing temptation, help us to recognize that it's a test, and that You've counted us worthy of it because You've prepared us. I pray that You would enable us to rely upon the way You've equipped us. You've given us Your Spirit. Lord, when confronted with a temptation which in reality is a test, teach us to cry out to You, that You would show us the way to endure it. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.