One Very Mature Use of Holy Scripture (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

I. Losing vs. Being Disqualified

Whether you were following the action or not, last month both Milan and Cortina, Italy, hosted the 25^th Winter Olympic games. The Winter Olympics are, of course, an international, multi-sport competition that focuses on cold-climate events like skiing and skating and hockey, and yes, even curling. But think about this: what would it mean for an athlete or a team, not to lose the competition, but to be disqualified from the competition? There's a difference, isn't there? A team might be disqualified for any number of reasons: not competing according to the rules, doping, or far more unlikely, even somehow proving to be impostors rather than the real athletes.

II. The Passage: “Written Down for Our Instruction” (10:1-13)

I'm thinking about that word “disqualified” because it's the very last word in the last chapter we studied in our last message. That chapter was 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and that final verse is verse 27. Paul wrote, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be... disqualified.” As you may remember from our previous study, begin-ning in verse 24 of chapter 9, Paul paints the picture of an athletic competition, specifically, a foot race. Why does he employ this racing metaphor? To encourage the Corinthian Christians to spiritually run with the same focus and discipline that a devoted athlete would exemplify. It's the very thing Paul seeks to do... “lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

I want us to think carefully about that word, and the imagery in which it's embedded, because in the very next chapter, chapter 10, Paul begins to illustrate that idea. Notice the word “for” at the beginning of chapter 10, verse 1. Do you see that? That word is both a connector and a clue about what Paul will do next. So... where does the Apostle go? How exactly does he illustrate that word “disqualified”? I would suggest that...

Paul is warning and encouraging God's new covenant people in Corinth, by reminding them of God's old covenant people in Israel, so they might see both their sin and their Savior clearly.

He explains this new covenant/old covenant link by describing (in verses 1-4) the spiritual blessings we have in common. Then in verses 5-12, he describes the spiritual dangers we have in common. Finally, in verse 13, Paul describes the spiritual hope we have in common. Let's dig deeper into each of these ideas.

First, notice how Paul explains the spiritual blessings we have in common with ancient Israel. Paul doesn't simply say, “You are God's covenant people, just like ancient Israel was God's covenant people”. No. He frames things in terms of the sacraments or ordinances; that is, in terms of baptism and the Lord's Supper. For those emancipated by the blood of Christ, we are baptized into Christ, right? But fourteen hundred years before Christ, the Hebrews who were emancipated from Egypt, by the blood of the Passover lamb, they we're (v. 2) “baptized into Moses” in both “the cloud and in the sea”. In the same way, just as we are spiritually nourished at Lord's Table by his body and blood, they were also nourished by grace; by (v. 3) “spiritual food” and (v. 4) “spiritual drink”, for the “Rock that followed them... was Christ”. Paul is not saying that all of these things are exactly the same. He's simply helping the Corinthians to understand that the ancient Israelites were also recipients of the Father's provision and the Son's grace.

It's critical they see that similarity, in order that, second, they will also humbly consider the spiritual dangers we have in common. Though the Hebrews were so richly blessed in these ways, with a kind of baptism into new life, and rich spiritual provision, nevertheless, many of them foolishly squandered what God had given them. Paul highlights a number episodes here from both the book of Exodus, and the book of Numbers: the making of the golden calf in Exodus 32 (Paul quotes Exodus 32:6 there in v. 7), he speaks of Israel's sexual immorality as recorded in Numbers 25, and also one of the people's many instances of grumbling in Numbers 21.

What point is he making by listing these examples of faithlessness? He's describing for the Corinthians how, in spite of such amazing blessings, many of these people were ultimately... disqualified. They were (v. 5) “overthrown in the wilderness”. They were (v. 8) struck down by plague, 23-24,000 of them, in fact. They were (v. 9) “destroyed by serpents”. Why? Because of three things that the Corinthians absolutely should have recognized as serious issues in their own midst: sexual immorality, idolatry, and putting God to the test. While sexual immorality was tackled in 1 Corinthians 5 and 6, we've talked about how this whole section (8:1 to 11:1) is really addressing one issue: the thorny issue of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. As we have seen and will see, Paul's not simply talking about temple meat that made its way into local meat markets. He's also tackling this issue of Christians eating in the temple of a false God.

It's because of all these connections, both the blessings and the dangers, that Paul issues num-erous warnings here: (v. 6) “...that we might not desire evil as they did.” (v. 7) “ Do not be idol-aters as some of them were...”. (v. 8) “ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did...”. (v. 9) “ We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did...”. (v. 12) “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Were these believers seeing grace as a license to sin? Did they somehow believe that God's judgment was a thing of the past, therefore, they could do whatever they wanted to do with their new found freedom in Christ?

When Paul painted that picture for them at the end of chapter 9, that picture of a race track, he wasn't talking there about the danger of losing. He was talking about the danger of being disqualified. The Greek word used there carries with it the idea of something that proves itself to not be what it ought to be. Paul's not writing there about our normal struggles in the faith. He's talking about faithlessness. When I asserted last week that Paul was only speaking at the end of chap. 9 about future commendation or reward, I see now that I was mistaken. The “imperishable” wreath of 9:25 is not just any reward. It is the greatest prize: the crown of life. No. We are not competing to secure that crown by our own efforts. But if those who have been called to run fail to heed the warnings of God's word about a life of worldliness and faithlessness, they will in the end prove themselves to not be what they claim to be or ought to be. They will be disqualified.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

But these realities help us understand why our third point is so precious. In the closing verse of this passage, v. 13, Paul describes the spiritual hope we have in common, which is... the faithfulness of God. One OT writer put it this way, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; [23] they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lam. 3:22–23) Okay. Notice how the opening statement in v. 13 simply summarizes everything he's said up to this point in chp. 10: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.” 'Corinthians, you are not experiencing anything new or unique when it comes to tempt-ation. That means you really can learn from your spiritual fathers. But even better, you really can rest assured that your heavenly Father is not surprised by or unprepared for such temptations.

No... “God is faithful...”. Okay. Stop there. Did you know that Paul has made that exact same statement before in this letter? It was in 1:9. Let me read that verse in context, starting in 1:7...

...you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, [8] who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

How is God's faithfulness there in 1:9 linked to God's faithfulness in 10:13? By the fact that God will sustain his people by not letting them be tempted beyond their ability, “but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” We can never say, “Well, I simply could not heed God's warnings about my sin because... my sin was too powerful. It overwhelmed me. I could do nothing against it. There was no escape.”

III. A Divine Warning Label

Brothers and sisters, as we've seen this morning, this passage contains both sobering warnings and reassuring encouragements. But I don't want us to miss how these things have come to us. Look again at verse 6, “Now these things took place as examples for us...” He fully forms that thought a few verses later in verse 11, “Now these things happened to them as an example [i.e., these judgments were also meant to warn those who witnessed them and survived], but they [the sin and the judgment] were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” That last phrase was simply meant to remind them that because of Jesus, they lived (and we live) in the “last days”, in ( as Gal. 4:4 or Eph. 1:10 puts it, in) “the fullness of time”.

That means, according to Paul, the Old Testament scripture accomplishes its highest objective and greatest good in how it serves the Church. And it is meant to serve us, to bless us, in many ways. As we've talked about in recent weeks, as he tackles this topic of idol-sacrificed meat, Paul is also providing for believers in this section several marks of maturity in regard to the Christian life. We've talked so far about a mature use of knowledge, a mature use of our rights, and a mature use of discipline. But one of the things we clearly see in this passage is one very mature use of holy Scripture, specifically at this time, the writings of the Old Testament.

It would be right to say that the very best way to use Scripture is as a means of knowing God; not simply about God, but actually knowing and walking with God. But if we break that down, I think we can also say that the mature believer uses Scripture... as a divine 'warning label'. If by grace, through faith, we take God seriously, then we will also take sin seriously. If our freedom in Christ is like a life-giving prescription, then we have to keep in mind that God puts a warning label on that bottle. And as we've talked about this morning, that labels warns us about misuse. If we only think about our freedom in terms of resting in Christ, or finding comfort in Christ, that could be a mark of immaturity. While always starting with that precious theme of resting, God wants us to think about racing as well. As we heard last time from Hebrews 12, running in faith calls us to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (that is... that which can trip us up).

You see, the mature believer embraces the fact that his or her name is on the prescription bottle. That means the stories, the accounts, the proverbs and prophecies of God's word, are there to both warn and encourage you (!) in your battle against sin and your pursuit of holiness. That means the story of Eve's doubt is ultimately about your doubt, and Cain's envy is ultimately about your envy, and Moses' pride is ultimately about your pride, and Aachen's greed is about your greed, and David's lust is about your lust, and... Israel's idolatry is ultimately about your idolatry. Is that how you read Scripture? As you hear its warning and read its cautionary tales, are you convicted? Are you sobered? Are you stopped in your tracks? Are you redirected?

Wonderfully, through the power of his Spirit, Scripture is like a personalized letter to each one of us. It's as if God sent you a note or text or email saying, “Bryce... Jan... Naomi... Tim, I was thinking about you and what you've been dealing with, and because I love you, I have some-thing I want you to read. Please consider it carefully. Signed, your heavenly Father.”

You see, as we touched on earlier, God's word also encourages us that when we are pressed by temptation, God's faithfulness is always present. How? When hurtling down that path toward sin, God always, always, always provides an off-ramp. As Paul makes clear in v. 13, that “way of escape” does not necessarily mean escape from the situation or sin's enticing pressure. It does mean that God always provides us with grace to “endure” the temptation.

Scripture provides us with those stories as well, doesn't it? Stories of wisdom, stories of self-control, stories of integrity, stories of endurance. Stories of faith. Think of Noah. Think of Joseph. Think of Job. Think of David. Best of all, think of Jesus Christ. The Israelites may not have recognized the Rock who was with them, but we do. He's the One who loved us and gave himself for us on the cross... where God's judgment was poured out; not on us, but on Jesus. Yes. Paul reminds them here that judgment still awaits the faithless (even the impostors), that sin still has consequences, and God's people should be deeply sobered by such warnings. But we rejoice together in the fact that, because of Jesus, God “will sustain [us] to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Let us be grateful for the warning label that is God's word. May God use it to humble us, to sober us, to make us vigilant, and most of all, to drive us to himself; that we would be nourished by Jesus, by means of his broken body and shed blood. God truly is faithful.