| Introduction Pride and self-reliance are deadly attitudes for a Christian to have. The Corinthians thought they had arrived in their spiritual walk. They thought it was time to relax and congratulate each other. They were convinced that they were so strong in their faith the world, the flesh, and the Devil no longer posed a threat to them. It may not be apparent at first glance, but Paul is continuing the discussion he began in chapter 8 concerning eating food offered to idols. You remember that there were two issues: eating meat that had been offered to idols and was now being sold in the market and eating meat offered to idols in the temple of that particular idol during a time of worship. Some in the church thought that they had the right and authority to do whatever they wanted regardless of how it affected others in the church or even themselves. The passage leaves us with the impression that at least some in Corinth relied on their baptism and their partaking of the Lord's Supper as the cause for their acceptance before God. The moreover in the beginning of the chapter, which is better translated as for, connects what Paul is about to say with his concern for disqualification he just addressed in 9:24-27. So, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 develops Paul's concern with disqualification. The Israelites in the wilderness had experienced amazing things, yet many of them were disqualified. The Holy Spirit wants us to run the race of life with precision and endurance so that we are not disqualified. I. These Stories in the OT Were Written for Our Benefit, 11, 1. A. There is a current school of thought in the Reformed world that teaches that the OT narratives should never be used in preaching as examples for what we should do. B. The problem with that idea is that Paul says that they were written precisely for that purpose. C. Not only were these narratives (stories) written for our examples, the very things that happened to them happened for our benefit. D. Paul expected the Corinthians to know the OT, 1. II. The Means of Grace apart from Faith in Christ Are Nothing, 1-5. A. Means of grace are things that the Lord has given his Church in order for her to grow closer to him. B. In the Reformed tradition, we believe that there are four primary means of grace: 1. The reading and specially the preaching of God's Word; 2. Prayer; 3. The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper; 4. The fellowship of the saints. C. The goal of these means of grace is to point us to Christ, to show our inability to sustain ourselves by our own strength, and help us persevere to the end. D. There were means of grace in the Old Covenant as well – here Paul lists two events that were designed to point God's people to Christ. E. Yet God was displeased with them; they were disqualified, 5. F. Why was God displeased with them? G. Why do you think Paul picked these two examples to bring before the Corinthians? III. Don't Rest on What You Have Done in the Past; Rather, Rely on God's Present Grace to you, 6-10 – Four Warnings! A. These things are written so that we can learn to desire what is good, 6. B. In v. 11, Paul says they are written for our admonition. C. The four warnings are against idolatry, fornication, testing Christ, and complaining. We will cover them next week. Conclusion God hasn't changed. What he wants his Church to be hasn't changed. We do well do learn from the examples of the Old Covenant, so that we might have a clearer picture of whom God is and what he desires of us. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/lessons-from-wilderness-1-cor-101-13.html | |||
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Friday, August 16, 2013
Lessons from the Wilderness - 1 Cor. 10:1-13
