1 Corinthians 10:6-13
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 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.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ[a] to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 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.
Sermon Notes
Paul mentions there are specific things we should follow. We must not indulge in sexual immorality. In Numbers 25, it talks about people who partook in sexual immorality. This is a problem that a lot of young people are struggling with because we are heavily exposed to this in our culture. We may think, because nothing happens to me, I can do it again. That is how we are conditioned to think. But the Bible says, you will surely perish.
We may often make excuses such as it is too difficult to overcome, others do it too, or it is ingrained in our culture, but the Bible says do not conform to the patterns of this world. Paul wrote this letter to the faithful members of the Corinthian church because although they identified as Christians, they were struggling and this matter had to be addressed to them.
At ANF, we have guidelines we should follow. Do not watch porn. Do not have sexual relations before marriage. Do not have sexual relations outside of marriage.
When you date…
1. Just hold hands, do nothing more. Set the boundary. If you can’t resist the temptation, marry early.
2. Don’t close the door when you are alone.
3. Don’t take an overnight trip together
We must never put Christ to the test. What does that mean – putting Christ to the test? We often think God tests us, but we never think of it the other way. In Deuteronomy 6, it says they tested God at Massah when Moses hit the rock and water flowed out of the rock. Sometimes we do not believe when he has already promised. We put God to the test by not believing in God’s power. In Numbers 21, the people became impatient and told God that he didn’t have good intentions for them. They questioned God’s goodness. We put God to the test in our lives when we don’t believe his good intentions and don’t believe in his power. When Satan challenged Jesus by tempting him to jump off the cliff and Jesus said ‘don’t test God.’ When we use God for our own purpose; that is the third way we put God to the test.
We must not grumble. In Deuteronomy, they murmured because the Lord hated us. When the people of Israel faced difficulties they started to grumble. The Bible teaches us if we keep grumbling we will surely perish. Grumbling can be a habit and is a sin. To complain about someone or something in an annoyed way is the definition of grumbling.
We shouldn’t follow these examples. A good example we could follow is Jamie, who was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It was a perfect chance for her to complain and ask ‘why me’? Rather, she was thankful the cancer was found early and through this, she can be connected with her house church members more intimately.
Psychologists studied those who lived a happy life and found they were living by 4 mottos. “There must be a way”, “there must be something good I can learn”, “there must be something good waiting for me after this”, “it could be even worse”. Those who were studied were in similar situations as everyone else around them, their lives weren’t perfect. But when they experienced hardship, those were the thoughts in their head, which led them to a happier life. We could support these 4 phrases biblically. Give thanks to God in all circumstances.
Don’t be isolators, don’t engage in sexual immorality, don’t put god to the test and no grumbling. Paul warns those who think their lives are okay, by telling them if they follow the examples of those in the Old Testament, their lives will perish.
We may be discouraged even though we have received God’s instruction when we are tempted. Paul’s conclusion is that he is not discouraging us but encouraging us. In v. 13 he says everyone has the same problems. God is faithful. We can overcome this temptation because God is faithful. Not because our faith is great, but because our God is faithful. Faith is defined as something that happens even if we don’t want to do it.
God’s faithfulness:
1. He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. If God tempts us beyond our ability so we fail, we cannot say he is a good God. God’s goodness will never let us be tempted beyond our ability, he doesn’t want us to live a cursed or ruined life because He is good. We can trust how good He is to us.
2. But with temptation; he will also provide a way of escape. Our God has power to carry out his good intentions for us.
We all make mistakes. This is not to condemn, but to encourage. We can learn from our mistakes and failures. God is here to comfort us, but also to correct us so we can live a life of blessings.
Jessica’s Reflection: I am guilty of grumbling. I need to stop.
Reflection Questions:
- Share your thoughts after hearing the sermon.
- What stood out to you the most?
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