Text: 1 Cor. 10:1-13
Facebook live: Christ is faithful and provides you a way!
12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
In the epistle to the Corinthians, Paul speaks of the reality of God’s work in the lives of the Israelites in the desert. Connecting the past working of God in the book of Exodus to those in the Corinthian New Testament church, Paul points to the reality that God was present and went before them in the pillar of cloud by day and also allowed them to pass through the Red Sea on dry ground.
God’s seal and pledge of his promises and care were evident to the Israelites and through the cloud and sea God saved his people from the evil bondage experienced under Pharaoh leading them to freedom.
Paul talks about those ancient Biblical texts and those being baptized into Moses through the cloud and sea which are types of our sacrament of Baptism; where God, through His means, washes us clean from the filth of sin, rescuing us from sin, death and the Devil and making us his children.
God, just as he delivered them, he delivers us and transfers us from the power of Satan into his glorious kingdom, free and marked as children redeemed by Christ.
But Paul continues:
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
Now, most of the Israelites, who had been with Moses in the desert, Paul says, God was not pleased with, for they were overthrown in the wilderness
12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
These are examples Paul says, for the Corinthians and for us. Be on you guard because temptation will come upon you and me and Satan will find subtle ways to draw you back to his realm.
8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.
The call here is to honor what God has given for our own good in the 6th commandment:
Thou shall not commit adultery or as Luther says in the catechism:
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.
Paul continues:
9 We must not put Chris to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,
Maybe you remember the story of the fiery serpents that came into the Israelite camp and their bite caused death?
God provided a way out by instructing Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a pole and lift it in the center of the camp for all to see … and all who looked upon the serpent on the pole would be healed and live.
But some didn’t believe and continued to look away …
10 or grumbled, and some of them were destroyed by the Destroyer.
We in Baptism have all been marked as Christ’s beloved children.
Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy Adams, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted."
His son, Brooks Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brooks Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!"
The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is your perspective.
Silas Shotwell, in Homemade, Sept, 1987.
So, how do we see the right investment and perspective?
Stay in the word, stay in the church, stay in the faith, stay in Christ.
Satan wants you to believe that spending time in worship, praising God through the good times and the bad and fighting against the temptation of the world, which is to say, the temptation that points you away from Christ and His work and love for you is, as Charles Francis Adams said – a day wasted.
God, on the other hand, will use this time to equip you, to sustain you, to keep you grounded when things go well and He will continue to build you up, at those times, when things don’t go well.
Giving you the joy of the Spirit in all you do, trusting in Christ to provide the way of escape, that you may be able to stand and endure it.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
Paul cautions the Corinthians:
7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
God’s provision is faith and it is that gift that He has given you through the Gospel. Both is word and sacrament God gives the Holy Spirit to draw you to faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ who came to live, suffer, die and rise again for each one of us.
God, through those means that he has given, will keep those through those same means by hearing it proclaimed, reading and meditating on the word keep you in His blessed will which is to keep you, in Him, in Christ and to see that you have a way out of the temptations that plague us all and are common to us all.
Christ Jesus and his word are and will always be a way out of the temptations you face. He will comfort you in times of trouble when you feel stuck by sin and its consequences and can’t get away to safety; but also when the windfall of lottery winnings, so to speak, bring the temptation of joy and prosperity in this life God, through His word, will bring a word of caution and grounding at this time too. Be comforted with this blessed news that:
Christ is faithful and will provide you a way!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
These are examples Paul says, for the Corinthians and for us. Be on you guard because temptation will come upon you and me and Satan will find subtle ways to draw you back to his realm.
8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.
The call here is to honor what God has given for our own good in the 6th commandment:
Thou shall not commit adultery or as Luther says in the catechism:
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.
Paul continues:
9 We must not put Chris to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,
Maybe you remember the story of the fiery serpents that came into the Israelite camp and their bite caused death?
God provided a way out by instructing Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a pole and lift it in the center of the camp for all to see … and all who looked upon the serpent on the pole would be healed and live.
But some didn’t believe and continued to look away …
10 or grumbled, and some of them were destroyed by the Destroyer.
We in Baptism have all been marked as Christ’s beloved children.
Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy Adams, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted."
His son, Brooks Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brooks Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!"
The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is your perspective.
Silas Shotwell, in Homemade, Sept, 1987.
So, how do we see the right investment and perspective?
Stay in the word, stay in the church, stay in the faith, stay in Christ.
Satan wants you to believe that spending time in worship, praising God through the good times and the bad and fighting against the temptation of the world, which is to say, the temptation that points you away from Christ and His work and love for you is, as Charles Francis Adams said – a day wasted.
God, on the other hand, will use this time to equip you, to sustain you, to keep you grounded when things go well and He will continue to build you up, at those times, when things don’t go well.
Giving you the joy of the Spirit in all you do, trusting in Christ to provide the way of escape, that you may be able to stand and endure it.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
Paul cautions the Corinthians:
7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
God’s provision is faith and it is that gift that He has given you through the Gospel. Both is word and sacrament God gives the Holy Spirit to draw you to faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ who came to live, suffer, die and rise again for each one of us.
God, through those means that he has given, will keep those through those same means by hearing it proclaimed, reading and meditating on the word keep you in His blessed will which is to keep you, in Him, in Christ and to see that you have a way out of the temptations that plague us all and are common to us all.
Christ Jesus and his word are and will always be a way out of the temptations you face. He will comfort you in times of trouble when you feel stuck by sin and its consequences and can’t get away to safety; but also when the windfall of lottery winnings, so to speak, bring the temptation of joy and prosperity in this life God, through His word, will bring a word of caution and grounding at this time too. Be comforted with this blessed news that:
Christ is faithful and will provide you a way!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
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