1 Corinthians 10:1-13 - Part A

The example here is the nation of Israel.

They had been liberated. They had been set free. They had been given their liberty, but they have used their liberty.

Talk about liberty. They were given liberty God sprung them from the bondage of the slaves in Egypt. God gave them literal freedom to care of them out in the wilderness by what they do with their liberty used this truth to be gone but it doesn't make it any less real world of believers are watching how you live today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip shares a vital lesson from Israel's history on how to use your personal liberty to glorify God and encourage others not want to tell you about… It will encourage the good plan that God has for us.com recently published an article with 22 tips for how to completely change your life and when found complicated. The Bible tells a different story about how to change your life. The Bible says repent and return to God reminds us we need to always insert but God to every situation here. Skip, I think what God is a phrase that appears 45 times in Scripture.

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Call 819 to 1884. Get online securely connectwithskip.com/offer: finish chapter 10 as we join, skip, height support back in chapter 8 of first produced the topic of which we are still dealing with that is personal liberty as Christians. What can I do as a believer. Is it okay is it lawful for me to do.

There are black-and-white parameters. Most of us understand the thou shalt not's of the Bible. But there are certain things that are gray areas and Paul touches on them because it was one of the things the Corinthians asked him about so in chapter 8 he I think it's chapter 8 I know chapter 7 now concerning the things which you wrote to me that's reintroduces the answering of questions they wrote to him, a series of questions they have one of them is answered in chapter 7 chapter 8 is another one and there is a transitional phrase that I I have been telling you about the last few weeks.

I just want you to get it in your memory and it's this little phrase now concerning when Paul says now concerning in this book he is introducing a topic that happened to be in the letter. The Corinthian sent to Paul, Paul, what about staying single versus staying married now, concerning those things that you wrote to me about any addresses that another issue they had was being invited to a house and eating meat that had been sacrificed to a pagan idol in a pagan temple not as applicable today in our culture, but it was huge in the Corinthian culture. What about that Paul will be due and so in chapter 8 now concerning things offered to idols. He then uses chapters 8, nine and 10 to deal with the issue broadly about Christian liberty in light of the fact that some believers are weak in their faith. Number one, number two, you are being observed not just by other believers but by unbelievers, so these are considerations that you must keep in your mind when you have to discern what you can and cannot do as a believer. What things you can and can't get involved then in chapter 12.

He introduces another topic they wrote him about they said hey what about spiritual gifts and so chapter 12 now concerning spiritual gifts and in chapter 12, 13, 14.

He deals with that the use of spiritual gifts in the assembly, then chapter 15 he deals with the whole doctrine of the resurrection. So he's dealing with a number of topics they wrote to him. They asked about food that was sacrificed to an idol and in chapter 8.

If you remember, he said, look, we all have knowledge, don't we all may know that that statue just a piece of water, a stone or a piece of metal, but not everybody has that knowledge and you might have that knowledge. But I'm saying you also need love to govern your decision not just knowledge is what I know better I can eat anything I want to. No matter who would sacrificed you because I have knowledge of that. I'm glad you have knowledge now have love as well. Knowledge puffs up. Love builds up a separate dinner chapter 9 Paul is still on the same subject, but he uses himself as an example, he goes look I'll use myself as as an example. I'm an apostle life. Certain rights of financial remuneration. I have rights to take with me a believing wife like Peter didn't like the other apostles did. But even though I have those rights in those privileges and I also have the knowledge that it's okay for me to do certain things and it's even scripturally based for me to do that. I have chosen to forego those privileges because I want to boast in the fact that I've made the gospel free of charge wherever I go. Other churches have supported me, but I never ask anything from you guys in court.

Still the same overarching truth Christian liberty. Now in chapter 10. He continues that, but now a different example. In the example here is the nation of Israel. They had been liberated.

They had been set free. They had been given their liberty, but they abused their liberty. Talk about liberty.

They were given liberty God sprung them from the bondage of Egypt. They had been slaves in Egypt. God gave them literal freedom and took care of them out in the wilderness, but what did they do with their liberty. They abused and so he's gonna swing back in and answer some of the issues that we dealt with in the previous chapters but we begin in chapter 10 verse one took us long enough to get there but here we are, moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware the old King James is I don't want you to be ignorant. It's an interesting introduction because is what I found whenever Paul says hey you guys, I don't want you to be ignorant about this. It is usually an area where Christians display the most ignorance. He said the same thing concerning eschatology, the coming of the Lord. I don't want you to be ignorant of the coming of the Lord or our gathering together with him in first Thessalonians. That happens to be a huge area of ignorance when it comes to spiritual gifts. I do want you to be ignorant, brethren of spiritual gifts, and yet many believers are ignorant or misguided when it comes to the use or exercise of spiritual gifts within the church. In fact, you could count five times in the New Testament were Paul says I don't want you to be ignorant going to be ignorant, don't want you to be in your all five of those happen to be areas.

Christians display a lot of ignorance and it's a controversial area. Paul wrote to clear it up. In fact, that would be a fun series to do sometimes is to look at those five areas and just sort of unravel the trumpet anyway, I digress. Moreover brother I do not want you to be unaware or ignorant that all our fathers know we speaking about Jewish fathers Jewish forefathers. All of our fathers, that is the nation of Israel in the wilderness were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. Was he speaking about the cloud of God's glory. The Shekinah glory of God in the wilderness number was up, it was a covering of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night and the sea that he speaking about is the Red Sea. I don't want you to be ignorant all of our fathers were under the cloud, all passed to the sea. All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea back in the desert years when Israel wandered to the wilderness for 40 years.

By the way, they didn't have to be in the desert 40 years it it if you were to walk from Egypt up along the Gaza Strip toward Israel.

You just to walk, it wouldn't take you more than seven days to get from the place where they were at Donna down of the Nile Delta in Egypt, you go up the Gaza Strip. You got the via Maris in your write up initial ticket seven days. It probably since or two or 3 million of the Israelites, it wouldn't have taken the more than a month so there was a legitimate wilderness experience they had. They were delivered brought into the wilderness was a legitimate wilderness experience they had should've less than a month. It lasted 40 years. That's the illegitimate wilderness experience. It took them 40 years and God promised them as they complained over and over again will get into this in this chapter are God told them that they were all going to die in the wilderness, and they complained about their kids.

They said our kids are kids are good.you don't care about her children a guts and really say what I'm gonna deliver your children to make sure they get into the promised land, but y'all gonna die in the wilderness and their gonna go in there without you, and 2 million to 3 million of them died during that 40 year journey only to Joshua and Caleb made it through. But God graciously provided a cloud in the cloud, the Shekinah glory of God was a covering.

The Bible says in Psalm 105, the God spread out a covering over the children of Israel, which was a huge blessing because to be in the Sinai wilderness. It would be like camping out in Phoenix during the summer and having the move is a few million people to that kind of a heat but what if God provided for Phoenix.

Every summer a cloud cover so that this the harmful rays. The sun couldn't penetrate. That's essentially what the Lord did with that cloudy spread it out so serving the Lord was cool and then there was that pillar of fire by night. So they had a nightlight as well that illuminated and the clutter it just must've been awesome. Now it was an advanced GPS system GPS not global positioning system of God's positioning system, God kept them in the wilderness and then whatever that cloud began to move her that pillar of fire began to move. They would pack up their belongings and they would move to stay cool to stay under the cloud and they would stop wherever God stopper of the cloud stop they would camp there and then they would move on our fathers. The Jewish fathers went under the cloud passed to the sea. That's the wilderness experience were all were baptized into Moses and into the cloud in the cloud and in the sea that is was in a mob. It was a community of God's people being immersed, led by Moses into the trough of where the Red Sea once flow though they went through on dry ground and got to the other side but they were all as a human community in unity and solidarity with each other and God delivered them and walked through that with them then verse three all ate the same spiritual food all drank the same spiritual drink or they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. It says they all eight of that same spiritual food. We know what they ate. During that wilderness wandering the manner God brought bread from heaven, but it was interesting stuff. It was interesting because God must have injected the manner with all the needed nutrients, all the necessary vitamins and proteins because in Deuteronomy chapter 8 toward the end of the wilderness march the Lord said, I brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand brought you out into the wilderness and he said during that time, your garments didn't wear out. That's miraculous. Wearing a garment for 40 years.

Look at what you have on imagine wearing that for 40 years. How right that would smell and how afraid it would be but then imagine, if every time you cleaned it you wash to the didn't spray it and get all the didn't it just kind of kept it shape and you can work for 40 years and I know you get tired of it. Nonetheless, because the same fashion for 40 years. But that was God's gracious provision but also he said your garment didn't wear out, and your feet did not swell those 40 years, medical experts, I have read say that the idea of the swelling of feet happens when you have the same diet over and over again if you don't add variety to you have all the right balance of nutrients, so that's why same manna must have at all that was necessary that spiritual food that God gave them to sustain life.

So their feet wouldn't swell so they could maintain homeostasis.

They could be vital and and live well during those 40 years manner was also interesting because it says they could grind it in their grinders they could beat it in their mortars, they could make it in thereof. And so it had interesting properties so I don't know if Mrs. Moses wrote a book of thousand and one ways to prepare manna with all sorts of recipes, but no doubt there was a banana bread or mint manicotti would be 100. There would be manna soufflé all sorts of different varieties that you could do with it and I told you before that one of the Scriptures say that it tasted like wafers baked with honey. That's why say when I eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut. I think will yeah this is man-to-man hot. Now manna must've tasted like that I do get caught up on the matter thing I do love okay so so God provided a date the same spiritual food. They drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. It's an interesting Scripture we know in the Old Testament the water was a problem when you're in the desert. Sources of water for 2 million people would be an issue when they complained on one occasion we don't have enough water a few occasions and we know that Moses was told to go up to to the rock and hit it with his staff and offload water enough water must've had a lot of subterranean pressure to bring water to the 2 million souls plus livestock and and to nourish later on. Moses was told to speak to that rock. He got mad misrepresent the Lord.

Indeed, it said, must we bring water out of this rock, you know the story, but according to Paul, he says now that rock was Christ. There's a lot of ways to look at data most people look at that in a spiritual kind of way.

They spiritualize the text a little bit saying that, spiritually speaking, Christ is the living water. The satisfiers of the soul and all that benched.

That's true and perhaps that is in Paul's mind, let me suggest another possibility there was a Jewish legend that persisted and Paul would have been aware of the legend and the legend, the Jewish legend was is that the rock in the wilderness that Moses struck the brought forth water actually appeared wherever the children of Israel would camp so they Pulled up Move miles away. The be there.

There was that same rock that would provide water for the and so it just sort of followed and was a Jewish legend that the rock followed them wherever they went. Now that's just a legend and I don't naturally believe that to be true could be true but there's a Jewish legend. It could be that Paul was aware of the legend and he said you know you're right. Knowing about the legend, knowing what they believe there was a rock that followed you, but that rock was in a literal rock that rock was the person of Christ who sustained you during the wilderness march and it could be here that the idea is that they at that time under Moses were anticipating the coming of the Messiah. We know that Moses predicted another would come that was like him in the New Testament identifies that other profit as being the Messiah that was introduced by Moses to wait for the coming of Messiah.

So under Moses. The children of Israel anticipated the coming of Messiah, the rock of their salvation. And it's interesting that Jesus at Caesarea Philippi did say to his disciples, standing before this huge rock in Caesarea Philippi, he said upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, and he used the Greek word pet the and pets means a massive stone and the word that is used here in the Greek language for the rock that followed them was Christ is the same word pet that massive brought a course in Matthew 16 when Jesus brought this truth up.

He was speaking about the massive confession of belief that he was the son of God, because Peter and said I know you are you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Flesh and blood and reveal this you Peter. My father who is in heaven. And I say you are Peter to process a tiny little pebble, but upon this pet to draw this massive stone of your confession of who I am all build my church on that all build my church on that elbow. My people, and that so they drank from the St. they drank the same spiritual drink drink the drank from that spiritual rock that follow them that rock was Christ but now they have this incredible liberty. They have a newfound freedom. They're not slaves in Egypt, where they can do with this liberty but with most of them God was not well pleased for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

As I mentioned only two of the 2 million or so survived Joshua and Caleb, why did they survive faith.

They applied the promises of God to their lives and they mixed the promises with faith and the test of that faith took place in numbers 13, when Moses sent 12 emissaries to spy out the land, and they spidered out the looked at it the came back in the broader report in the 12 spies told the children of Israel. What they found in the new land they got a given event and this is what they said no they brought back these two guys about this huge pile of grapes that was so large it took two men to carry them between their shoulders. That was the fruit of the land is evidence of the blessing of God and so they brought the fruit out in the 10 spies said well as you can see the land is indeed good and abundant that the Lord has given us, but the cities are huge and fortified, and the people are pretty tall.

The sons of antic are there there in enormous and we are grasshoppers in their sight. Joshua and Caleb came forward and said let us go in at once and take that land, for we are well able to take in the 10 dissenters said no. We can take it. There's two thirds of its Joshua Caleb said their bread for us food for us.

Easy Pickens big targets easy to hit Medicine.

Let's go for, but the people of Israel listened not to the joyful hopeful report to him in gloom and fearful report and so because they chose to believe that God's it really okay to die in the wilderness and the wandered around for 40 years and that entire generation perish except for those two, Joshua and Caleb.

Not much is change today.

You put your ear to the ground. You read the news you listen to the news you look at your twitter feed. There's basically the voices that are hopeful and things are getting better in great numbers, emotional and horrible doom and gloom for you. This FSI hearing and listen to and is a believer, you should listen to the promises of God and filled with hope that Skip message from the series expound first Corinthians. Skip to share how you can keep these messages coming your way and connect others around the world with God's truth. God's Holy Spirit lives in us. Why, to help us live out our faith in this world and our heart is to come alongside of you to do the same. That's why we work to make these Bible teachings available to friends like you and you can help connect even more people to God's word today through a generous gift. Here's how you can give now to impact others lives with God's truth. Visit connectwithskip.com/donate to give a gift that's connected with SCIF.com/don't call 800-922-1889 two 218. Thank you for your generosity and come back tomorrow. This shares why it's vital to know the noise of the world and God