Learn from the Law I
1 Corinthians 10:1-4, 13 · Vern Peterman · Oct 25, 2009
1 & 2 Corinthians, No. 20
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926146277426

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Today the Lord is desiring to teach us, teach us who are not under the law from the law. So that's a distinction I think it's important to make. All of this chapter, and we're going to be looking at just the first 13 verses of it, a baker's dozen if you will. Just the first 13 verses here is what we'll be looking at, but the whole chapter consists of Paul drawing lessons from the first five books of the Bible, known as the law, alternately called, you may have heard the word Torah, or the books of Moses, or the Pentateuch, different names for those first five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers and Deuteronomy. So, very interesting. The Lord's going to teach us who are not under the law, that is, you're not required to keep the law of Moses. I'm glad you didn't all bring sheep here today. But you are in a place to learn from the law, as we'll see here.

All scripture is inspired. It is all inspired by God. That is, God breathed is the meaning there. And Paul wrote to Timothy and said, it's profitable for us. All scripture is inspired and profitable for us. So there are lessons to be drawn from it, good lessons, profitable lessons, even if some of them are a tad tough. So it is valuable for us to study the law, even though we're not under it. Paul's basis for learning the law, the Israelites were God's chosen people, as we are who are in the church. Different bodies, but both God's chosen people. So there is some lesson to be drawn from this section of the law. So here we have lessons from the Israelites. for the believers there at Corinth and for us here at Holly Hills.

That, by the way, is an overhead, and what's interesting is you can look at that picture and pick out whose car is where. I think Nancy and I have ours about in... Well, you can't see where I'm pointing anyway. Okay. Alright. We, like the believers in Corinth, can learn things from the Law of Moses, even though that was then, this is now. Heard that before? Okay. That was then, this is now.

We are both God's chosen people and also Another reason, God does not change and neither does the sin nature. His cautions today have to do with be careful because the sin nature, and believers are still wrestling with it as long as we're in these bodies, the sin nature does not change either. That inclination to try to find life apart from God.

So the reason we can learn from the Israelites, also known as the Jews or Hebrews, is they gave us some really good, really bad examples. And Paul is going to point to some of those here this morning. One of the things that Paul is going to point out twice in this passage And we're going to see good evidence of it. He says in verse 6 of this chapter, Now these things happened as examples for us. Why?

So that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Then in verse 11, Now these things happened to them as an example, for they were written for our instruction. That last part, they were written for our instruction, Paul tells the believers of the church at Rome something quite similar. He says, for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, as an example and for our instruction. That's what they're there for. So you wonder, boy, look at all these things. These people had all kinds of troubles and they did this and did that. Why is that there?

It is for us to draw lessons from, for us to draw biblical principles and truth from. One of the things that we're going to see in this passage, and he's not done here, he issues a warning about being guided by our feelings. Remember that verse that I read about craving? That's a part of what he's talking about here.

Now it's obvious that when you're driving you don't want to be guided by the feeling of anger. We have a significant problem with that and we know what kinds of troubles that leads to. It's also obvious that it's not a good idea to be drawn by a feeling of sleepiness while you are driving. Some of those things are quite evident, but I'm referring to some of the other feelings that may be less evident that we might be just as prone to drive by. By the way, I don't believe in driving by faith either.

In various ways and at various times, people have lived life by their feelings. You might have noticed that. People have lived life guided by their feelings and in some cases it's quite obvious that doesn't work so good. But there are other instances where people are less prone to recognize the hazard.

Feelings can be viewed as authoritative. I know something because I feel it strongly. Feelings can be authoritative and someone will feel something strongly and feel that that's justification and reason for doing something. I am justifiably angry, someone might say. We can also have the sense of feeling something deeply and having felt needs met. Oh, that met such a need in my heart. Well, was it a biblical need? Was it truly meeting a need biblically? That's a different question. It can seem at times like it validates a ministry.

Nancy and I had a rather difficult time at a church we were at in Carson City. We had various reasons to finally decide to leave there. I had been an elder and actually part-time on staff there. We parted in the middle of, well, no, the beginning of the song, Make Me Drunk With Your Holy Spirit.

I would get the response from people, you laugh, oh boy. They took it seriously, and I was told I was in sin for rejecting it. Anyway, people responded, but they felt blessed, so it must be a God thing. People will justify many things by saying, I felt blessed. I felt blessed, therefore it must be God's doing. It must be God's will. It must be God's work. Well, not necessarily.

Feelings, even those deep emotions, certainly have a God-given place. There is a place to feel deeply when they're evaluated, guided, and supported by God's Word. But feelings are not a substitute basis of authority. This is where we run into trouble, when people say, well, I feel this, or I feel blessed, or I feel strongly about something, therefore, that determines what's right. No. And therein lies the difficulty. It is a problem in the life of every single believer, if they embrace this. I've seen it be a problem in marriages, in families.

Our marriages, for those of you who are married or contemplating it, are not based upon how we feel. Our marriages are based upon God's intent and revelation. That's what our marriages are based upon, not how we feel. Now, lest you misunderstand something, Nancy and I have been married next month, 36 years. I'm crazy about her. I'm nuts about her. But the basis of our marriage is not how I feel about her or how she feels about me.

It's what did God intend? What does God want? What did he reveal, not how do I feel? Because that might change. When we come to various places where we have a decision to make, Feelings are not the primary place to start for making the choice. Oh, there are some things that are neutral. If you really like the blue Chevy instead of the yellow one, go ahead and buy it. That doesn't matter. But ultimately, feelings are not the last and final word on making decisions when we have a fork in the road.

They just aren't. Now, feelings are not a substitute basis of authority in relationships. A marriage can come apart at the seams either because the couple is squabbling and arguing or because they're not communicating at all. Feelings are not the basis of the marriage. Should they be in the marriage? Yes, but they're not the basis of the marriage. Feelings can cause church splits. And guess what? Both sides will feel justified. feel justified? Is the church split, biblically justified? Typically not. Certainly not on the basis of just feelings.

Even music can be something that people respond to very emotionally, and yet we have to come back to what does God's Word say? What does God's Word guide us to in this particular thing? It's interesting in having the services we do here. I have had instances more than once where after the exact same service, one person will come up and say, I hated that song. And another person will say, I love that song. What is it? It's feelings. In the end, what can I do? I go back and I look at God's word. What does God's word say? That's what really determines it. I may end up agreeing, I love it or I hate it, but God's Word is the final measure.

So Paul issues this warning and we have this feeling meter. This felt really bad, this felt really good. Good or bad feelings can be used, I said can be, not ought to be, used as a final measure of what's spiritually true and what is morally and ethically right. It doesn't feel right. That approach in the believer's life, and in marriages, and in families, and in the church, makes our feelings a tool of the sin nature. A tool of the sin nature. It's not again that I'm opposing feelings. I have feelings myself. But, but, it's are the feelings the basis, or are things based upon what God has revealed? That's the question.

When we believers embrace that feelings are what call the shots, that feelings are what determine what I do and don't do, when we do that and let the sin nature manipulate us and use us as instruments, that's when we who are believers, who are going to spend eternity in heaven, can actually experience death in this life. Spiritual death is not a separation of relationship, but of fellowship. Separation of fellowship is what we experience in this life as believers.

Biblical faith is founded in the facts. And hopefully I don't have any more words with F in them. Biblical faith is founded in the facts. Essentially the foundation there is spiritual facts from God's Word. Faith or belief and trust, and by the way, in the original language of the New Testament, those are the same word. Our nuances in English are exactly that. Faith, belief, and trust are placed in the spiritual facts of God's Word.

Feelings derive from that. That's one reason why I can get very, very excited every day about my relationship with Nancy. Because our relationship, though the feelings are intense, are founded on that I get to live out with her for every day the Lord gives us the eternal romance between Christ and the church based on Scripture.

That's cool. And frankly, it's exciting. That is cool. That is feelings based in faith in the facts. And that holds a marriage together. Not just chasing a feeling by itself. You see, the sin nature often favors this approach. Faith in the feelings. And then the difficulty is, what happens when the feelings change? Uh-oh. Okay? That's trouble. That's trouble. The foundation then for faith in the feelings is, what does the sin nature want to manipulate next? We become manipulated by the sin nature when we simply place our faith in the feelings.

Israel, as we turn to the passage here, had five spiritual advantages. Somehow we'll get that right. Okay, five spiritual advantages. Number one, and you have this also in your handout on page one, the cloud that led the Israelites in their wandering through the desert was powerful and visible evidence of his presence His loving care and His guidance.

They had a cloud by day they could follow, and when they would stop, the cloud would stop. They had a pillar of fire by night. The Lord was with them all the time. It didn't matter the location. It didn't matter day or night. They had that constant, continuing presence of the Lord visible to them. Number two, they experienced God's miraculous deliverance.

Can you imagine what it would have been like? Here you are, you're the Israelites, you've been slaves for centuries. And now you're up against this big body of water and behind you are these Egyptians and they want you dead. What's that going to feel like? Now, right in the middle of this time of great terror and figuring we are all slaughtered, Moses goes and puts his rod over the sea in the water's part.

And he says, go ahead, walk through. Do it. So the water's part, and there miraculously in front of them is their deliverance by the Lord. With all those people there, and by the way, they had little kids and older folks and all their stuff, they crossed and it took a while. Imagine you're walking and here's these walls of water on each side of you. That takes faith. Of course, your faith is motivated by those Egyptians behind you, but it's faith. So here they walk across and get across this parted sea and trusting the Lord for every step, for every breath. This is amazing. What I see is water on each side. I go, yeah, I guess I didn't breathe water. It's okay.

Finally getting to the other side and what allowed them to pass this break in the water God ends that and uses the very same sea through which he delivered them to terminate their enemies, the Egyptians, right behind them. He delivered them through it and then used that very same sea to protect them. Wow. You would think that that would impact them for the rest of their lives. That they would never again have any problems walking with the Lord or walking by faith. Not so much.

Number three, they were led by Moses, God's appointed leader, for their redemption from Egypt. Moses was the one leading them. Moses was the one with whom they associated. Where the cloud went, where the pillar of fire went, Moses went and they went. They were with Moses all along the way.

Paul makes a point in here about baptism, and one of the points we want to make, here is a general principle for what baptism means for them, the time of John the Baptist, and on into our own time. Baptism is an outward expression of the identification of a believer with their object of faith, and that's why he could say they were baptized into Moses. They were baptized into Moses. What happened when they went through the sea and under the cloud, call it a dry baptism if you will, but they were baptized into Moses.

It was an identification with their object of faith. So got that? Alright. So that's why he would say here, our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. That was their dry baptism, if you will. In fact, they were really glad they didn't get wet. Then as we go through that, number four, they all ate the manna that God faithfully provided for them.

Now, this word manna is interesting. If you look at the Hebrew and try to translate it, it means a whatness. I don't know if you ever talked about a whatness before, but I'm sure it came out of something like, Dad, what is this stuff? Right? Wondering, but this is the manna that was left for them. The Lord had it there every morning, faithfully, except on the seventh day when they were supposed to have collected enough not to go working on the Sabbath day.

Five, they all drank water that came from the rock, and the rock stands for God's provision through Christ. So they had five spiritual advantages. Now, we in the church have parallel advantages, and if you're skeptical, let's go through them. Number one, as believers in Christ, we have God's guidance through his written word, with the Holy Spirit, along with his presence and indwelling power.

For us, it is different, and yet it is parallel. It is something similar. Number two, we also are all miraculously saved and delivered by Him. No question about it. It's a miraculous salvation and deliverance just like the Lord delivered the Israelites by parting the sea and protecting them from the Egyptians by drowning them. The Egyptians that was.

Number three, we who believe are united with Christ having been baptized into Him. As Paul started off 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30, by God's doing you are in Christ Jesus, placed into him and identified with him. Number four, Christ is the bread of life for us.

After the Lord fed the 5,000 along the Sea of Galilee, this is in the beginning of John chapter 6, verse 14 verses, It was right after that that the Lord walked on water, and we don't have a picture of it, but Peter tried to, or began to. And it was after that that Christ said, I am the bread of life, twice. And between those verses, he said, I am the bread that came down out of heaven. So we have a comparable manna, if you will, the Lord himself.

And number five, Christ our rock is also the living water. This is what he told the woman at the well. Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst, but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. You have eternal life through Christ, Him. But as we see in verse 5, God was not pleased with most of them. When I say most, I mean most with a capital M. Why?

Because only Joshua and Caleb entered the promised land. That's most. Two guys went into the promised land. The rest of them didn't get there. Though they did and didn't do things. What do I mean by that? They did certain things that they were not supposed to do. And they didn't do things that they were supposed to do. So as to displease God either way, the biggest problem was that they didn't believe what God had revealed. They didn't believe was the big problem. Israel's failure to walk by faith in what God revealed resulted in physical death.

We as believers, there's oh yes a few places recorded in the New Testament and it is possible that the Lord could bring physical death about We will see that again as we proceed through 1 Corinthians. But the bigger and broader principle, our unbelief pays spiritual death as a wage, Romans 6.23. Now, as we move on into verse 6, it is a matter of not caving to the craving.

This is what I'm talking about, letting feelings govern our lives. Now, I know about craving. I do. I really do. When I was in high school, I was in a constant push to try to gain weight. I'll tell you, it never worked. It works now, though. Okay. That's me at the top of the water tower.

This is my typical breakfast. One dozen eggs and some cheese. A loaf of bread, a steak, and a pound of bacon. Half gallon of milk, minimum. Half gallon of OJ or apple juice. Sometimes a bowl of peaches and cream. That's my typical breakfast. I really crave the food. The difficulty that we encountered raising our boys is that they thought that was normal. So I understand craving, I really do. Craving can be for many things, can't it? It's amazing what a human heart can come to crave. You'll hear various accounts of that. Some of us crave an adrenaline rush. Some of us crave consuming things.

It's not that here this morning we're asking you to deny that people have various feelings. No, that's not the purpose. It's not that we're urging you to simply ignore them. We're not to be like Spock who doesn't understand feelings and emotions. That's not the Christian thing to do. That's not my point.

Everything is to be founded on and measured by what God has revealed and had revealed. It's trusting in heart and action what God has revealed in his word. That's the truth. That's biblical faith. Faith in God's revealed facts. Remember, it's faith in God's revealed facts. The feelings are built on top of that, not faith in the feelings.

So now, as we go into verses 7 through 10, Paul profiles four problematic practices. And if possible, we'll get more Ps in that. Just as Moses recorded that the Israelites had their problems with four practices, so the Corinthians had similar problems, spiritually and morally. One of the main reasons that the believers in Corinth had these similar problems was because of their activities in the pagan temples.

And that's why we've said earlier that this is really continuing on his theme of meat sacrifice are offered to idols. Because what they would do in the pagan temples, the pagan temples were kind of like the restaurants of the day. Hey, let's go over to this temple and get a bite to eat. They would have all sorts of things that you could eat over at the temple. and you'd pay a certain contributory fee and could eat there at the temple. Well, along with that, they would have sacrifices to the idols and they would oftentimes have various kinds of sexual immorality going on at the same time, as well as worship of the idols.

And so that's why When Paul lays this out, he has these items, these four problems, in spite of the advantages. Remember, he's listed their advantages. But in spite of that, and the first one he lists is idolatry. When the people of Israel played in the presence of the golden calf, this is the one that was made by Aaron when Moses was up on the mountain, it's possible that this involves sexual immorality.

And we have some references to that that would indicate that that's a possible to likely occurrence. But then this second one, later on in the Book of Numbers, it records that most certainly they got involved in sexual immorality along with their religious feasts. This custom, this pagan custom of having the pagan temples involving various kinds of sin and immorality was a long-standing and widespread practice. Ah, the third one, dissatisfaction.

Israelites fell into almost chronic dissatisfaction, as you read through the account from Exodus on into Deuteronomy, with what God had provided for them. They'd look at this manna and they'd say, what is it? They would get to a place and they'd say, Lord, I don't see any water around here. How are you going to take care of us? And then they'd start getting dissatisfied. They would put their own assessment of adequacy and provision ahead of the Lord's, as if the Lord didn't know they needed water and needed food and needed all these things.

They would count their own judgment superior to God's and be very dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction is the opposite of thankfulness. Got that? The opposite of thankfulness. Thankfulness for what God has provided and what He's given. and His grace and His blessing, recognizing that God knows what we need and He knows what's adequate and sufficient. And you know what? We have a channel of dissatisfaction into most of our households. It comes in on the form of this rectangular screen for a great many of us.

And I can tell you, having been through business school, that the advertisements are designed to make you dissatisfied. So ladies, they're designed to make you dissatisfied that you don't have eyelashes so long you can trip over them. They're designed to make you dissatisfied with that. Guys, they're to make you dissatisfied that you can't get those six-pack abs until you have all 20 of the ab machines that they sell, right? That's the way the world is. It wants to sell you stuff and sell you stuff and sell you stuff. We are electronically, optimally dissatisfied. That's the way it works.

The next one is grumbling. Moses recorded ten, let's count them, ten separate instances of grumbling among the Israelites from the time they left Egypt until the time that they entered and rather came to the border of the Promised Land. Ten different episodes of grumbling. One instance, recorded by Moses in Numbers 11, 1-3, says that God judged Israel's grumblers with fire, and they lost their lives in the process.

Now, we've got to talk about this feeling thing again. Those who fell into the various practices we just looked at most likely felt justified in their feelings and practices, as did the believers in Corinth in their feelings and practices. Oh, there are various justifications. We feel like it because it feels good. I'm not feeling it. Ever heard those in our own culture? Yeah. Having the feelings call the shots in our lives.

In other words, we look at what does the feeling say and we obey that rather than look to what does God say. That is idolatry. When we look to the feelings ahead of what God says and use it as an alternative basis of authority, that's idolatry, even if you can't see the idol. No doubt the Israelites and the Corinthians had feelings behind their sins. Oh, strong ones. Maybe everybody's feeling that way was a justification.

As we get to the last verse there, This is one unlike the others that I put right in your handout. No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

I want us to take a look at this verse and examine some things. Observe what this verse says about God's character. and what God will not allow and what God will do. What is God's character? He is faithful. What will God not allow? Who? God, the one who is faithful, will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But will do what?

He will provide the way of escape so you'll be able to endure it. One other thing. This word ability comes up a couple of times in the verse and even in the very last part of it. I want to make one very important point that comes out of scripture and that is this. Our ability is never our own ability. It's His ability through us. It's His ability through us. Key difference. He is able.

And looking at Hebrews 13.5, we'll look at that shortly here. The other part is take note that the escape does not automatically mean you get out of the problem. Oh, I'm glad that's over. Well, that was close. Right? Ever hear those?

But enduring while going through the temptation and trial. This word endure means to bear under. The way of escape is not, oh boy, that trial's over, oh boy, that temptation has passed me, but bearing up under it. It's going through it with God providing sufficiency. The two usages of you are able and you are able in this verse refer to God's ability and what He does. That's the way of escape. It's His ability.

Not that we got out of the problem. This is not a promise that God will take you out of every problem you ever encounter. Sorry. Some Christians will think, thanks a lot God, that's not what I signed up for. Guess what? That's exactly what you signed up for. Yeah. That's exactly what you signed up for so that you can learn to depend upon him. Nancy and I heard it said by one pastor, you need what's happening to you. Wow. You need, got that word? Need what's happening to you. God designed it that way. Now about that Hebrews 13, 5 passage. It's an important one.

He says there, make sure that your character is free from the love of money. Be content with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. Twice in there is the strongest way possible in the Greek language behind those words to say no. Not even sort of. And you could put it this way, not even the slightest chance, not even a remotely possible, absolutely not. I will absolutely not ever desert you, nor will I ever, ever forsake you. Not a chance. No way. Not happening. Not even remotely possible.

He's with us always. He's able. Whatever's coming our way. And by the way, we don't know what's coming our way, do we? But whatever it is, He's able. He's able. What we see from these verses, including the 10-13, is contentment comes from knowing God's character and believing Him. It comes out of relationship with Him. Do you believe what he says?

This is the problem the Israelites had. They're out there in the desert. I don't see any water. I'm thirsty. I got kids. Have you ever dealt with three infants and no water? It's a mess. Right? The Lord knows what you need. Right? There's this song I think that puts together what a lot of scripture passages, and I added some more at the bottom, but that's not all of them lay out.

And it says, He is able, more than able, to accomplish what concerns me today. He is able, more than able, to handle anything that comes my way. He is able, more than able, to do much more than I could ever dream. He is able, more than able, to make me what He wants me to be. See, God is able. He has the ability. And that's why verse 13 talks about what you are able to do. It's because He's able. It's because of his character. It's because of what he does that you have the ability. And with the Lord, you are able because he's able.

Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage, boy, we see some really good, really bad examples. And yet in it, we see your character. You have not changed. You are ever faithful. you ever are ever providing for us and including giving all that we need by your grace for all that is required of us in the circumstances that we're in. We thank you that you're able through the midst of circumstances of all kinds of magnitude of difficulty and all kinds of duration. Thank you that you're able. We thank you and give you praise in Jesus name. Amen.