In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Right, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and from verse 1
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea,
and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat,
and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them,
and that rock was Christ.
OK, so what's the cloud he's talking about in verse 1?
Well, it's from Exodus, where the children of Israel have just escaped Egypt,
so we've seen basically a picture of salvation, haven't we, in the Passover,
and then I believe the picture of separating from the world in the Exodus from Egypt,
as we know, 2 Corinthians 6.17 says,
Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.
That separation, it's not that we have to go and live separately and be away,
but it's talking about being obviously different, isn't it, to the world,
and that's how we should as Christians be, we should separate from the world spiritually especially.
Now, turn to Exodus 13, just have a quick look at this cloud in Exodus 13.
And verse 21, Exodus 13.21, now they're escaping through the wilderness,
and it says, And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way,
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night.
He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
And we see it again in 14 and verse 19, so chapter 14 of Exodus and verse 19,
And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them,
and the pillar of the cloud went from before their faces to behind them.
And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel,
and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these,
so that the one came not near the other all the night.
Keep a thumb there in Exodus anyway, we're not going to go back for a second to 1 Corinthians,
but okay, so basically God's confounding their enemies, isn't he?
The cloud is confounding them, he's a light in the dark as well.
Then in verse 21, it says, And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
so this is a parting of the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind,
all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground,
and the waters were walled unto them on their right hand and on their left.
What an amazing image, isn't it? If you really think about that, it's absolutely amazing.
And we read and hear these stories a lot, and probably everyone's heard,
a lot of people would have heard this story from young, wouldn't they, as well,
the parting of the sea, and just an amazing thing.
Imagine being there for that, and seeing that.
Now, when it says here, it says here that our fathers were under the cloud,
as we've just seen, they all passed through the sea.
And then it says in verse 2 of 1 Corinthians 10,
and we're all baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
And the baptised unto Moses here, it's a picture of baptism, isn't it?
The passing through the sea is a picture of baptism,
I think especially with the cloud there as well, it's like total immersion, isn't it?
And it's a picture of that.
Now, he then goes on, he says in verse 3,
and did all eat the same spiritual meat.
Now, the spiritual meat is both the manner that God provided in Exodus 16,
and you don't have to turn there,
but it basically describes it as like coriander seed, white,
and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
Sounds pretty nice, doesn't it?
But I also believe that it's a picture of the word of God,
often referred to as meat as well,
because then separately, I know some people say it's also a picture of Christ,
I don't know, because then separately he then talks about the spiritual drink,
doesn't he here?
The spiritual drink is both the water that God provided from the rock of Horeb in Exodus 17,
and clearly is referring to Christ because he says that, isn't he?
That spiritual drink which is Christ.
Turn to Exodus 17, we'll just see that quickly.
Exodus 17 verse 6, he said,
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb,
and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it,
that the people may drink, and Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Okay, now, look what he said there.
He said, I will stand before thee there upon the rock.
Okay, and who's standing upon the rock there?
Well, we've just seen him in verse 1 there,
he says that rock was Christ, he's a spiritual drink,
but it's the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it, standing there,
because he can't have been God the Father,
because no one would have been able to be in his presence.
So Jesus Christ there is standing upon the rock in Horeb,
which is pretty amazing, and I think you can easily glance over that
when you're reading Exodus.
Jesus Christ was with them long, long before Bethlehem, wasn't he?
Jesus Christ, as we know, in the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God,
the same was in the beginning with God.
Okay, and I know I don't want to preach to the choir here,
but the world is constantly trying to, I believe,
because it wants to separate Jesus from God,
as if Jesus only really appeared and became a person 2,000 odd years ago,
but Jesus Christ was from the beginning, wasn't he?
And Jesus Christ was the one leading them,
and Jesus Christ was the one who stood upon that rock,
and it was Jesus Christ that they were really drinking,
it's that picture of salvation, isn't it?
It's that picture of that spiritual water coming from Jesus Christ.
But Paul's point here, although he's giving us a few truths there,
Paul's point is that even though as a group,
as a group they all went through the same experiences together,
and those experiences, they're all under the cloud, weren't they?
They all passed through the sea, all baptised,
all ate the spiritual meat, the spiritual drink,
but many of them still failed the trials and tribulations, didn't they?
So they've all been through the same thing, but they all still failed.
They've experienced that, they've experienced the sea parting,
the cloud above them, the fire by night,
yet still when it came down to the crunch, they failed.
Yet in verse 5, not all of them, but many,
because it says in verse 5,
But with many of them God was not well pleased,
for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
This is 1 Corinthians 10, obviously, verse 5.
So keep a finger, because we will be flicking back to numbers as well in a second.
But, OK, it says in verse 6,
Now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things,
as they also lusted.
OK, so the examples as to not behave,
not examples to use as a defence of our behaviour.
OK, and it might sound obvious, but like I was saying earlier,
there can be a habit,
I'm just a Chrissy, well look what happened with them,
you know, look what, children of Israel, we're just like those.
No, the examples are for us not to behave like that.
And we have these examples,
they didn't have those examples, did they?
OK, we do have these examples.
Now, nowadays lust is usually,
if you talked about lust to a non-believer,
they basically think you're talking about sexual desire,
OK, as opposed to love.
Lust, not love, or something like that.
But in the Bible it's often talking to desire eagerly to long for something, yeah.
Turn to Numbers 11.
Numbers 11, and this is a good example of lusting here.
Numbers 11, because he says,
to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
So, Numbers 11 and from verse 4,
it says,
And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a-lusting,
and the children of Israel also wept again and said,
Who shall give us flesh to eat?
OK, so the lusting here is for different food to what God was providing, OK.
OK, verse 5,
We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely,
the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.
So, they're lusting after their old life.
And if you read the book of Exodus,
their old life wasn't going too well, was it,
before they came out of Egypt.
OK, verse 6,
But now our soul is dried away,
there is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes.
OK, what's wrong with the manna?
And the manna was as coriander seed,
and the colour thereof is the colour of delium.
OK, so I was having a look,
and delium kept changing every image I saw.
Basically, they're clear stones
and it seems to have a reddish-brown tint, some more than others.
But it sounded like quite a nice-looking food, doesn't it?
That sounds quite attractive.
Verse 8,
And the people went about and gathered it and ground it in mills
or beat it in a mortar and baked it in pans and made cakes of it,
and the taste of it was as a taste of fresh oil.
Now, I don't know about you guys,
I've had pretty fresh oil,
and I'm sure it's talked about olive oil here,
and it tastes good, doesn't it?
And there's a big difference between fresh oil
and the sort of oil that we're getting in our, you know,
whatever oil from the shops.
There is a big difference, isn't there?
And you can taste it when it's fresh oil.
Wow, does it taste good.
So this is some good stuff.
This manna sounds amazing.
And it says here,
When a Jew fell upon the camp in the night,
the manna fell upon it.
So they're getting provided it for free,
no hard labourers before in Egypt.
There was a lot of hard labour, wasn't there?
I mean, they were having to do double the work, weren't they, at the end.
Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families,
every man at the door of his tent,
and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly.
Moses also was displeased.
Now, you can see why, can't you?
You can see why going through that.
But we're going to see with some of the clear examples they give
that so often we look at this, don't we?
Look at how the children of Israel behaved,
and we think, how could you?
And, oh, I wouldn't have been like that.
But is that really true?
Because we all fail in many ways, don't we?
And we can all be like this in one way or another.
Now, verse 7 of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 7 says,
Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written,
The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
OK, now this is referring to Exodus 32,
where Moses was up in Mount Sinai.
So turn to Exodus 32.
These examples are here for us, aren't they, for a reason?
So let's just have a quick look at some of them.
So Exodus 32, and from verse 1,
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,
the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron,
and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us.
For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
we what not what is become of him.
OK, so basically a short time without the word of God,
because that's what it is, isn't it?
Because Moses is preaching them the word of God,
Moses is relaying what God is saying to him,
a short time without it, and they're turning to idols.
And I think there's a great lesson there, isn't there?
Just that alone, just that verse alone,
that that time without leadership, without a structured leader,
without the word of God being preached to them,
and they're turning to the idols of the world.
Straight pretty soon after, isn't it?
It's not long he's been up there.
Oh, we don't know what's happened to him, and now they're turning,
they're saying, right, make us gods.
They want to make their own gods.
Now look at verse 2,
And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings,
which are in the ears of your wives,
of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Oh, why have the boys got earrings on?
That's my first thought there.
No wonder they're turning to false gods.
But verse 3 says, And all the people break off the golden earrings,
which are in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool,
after he had made it a molten calf.
And they said, These be thy gods, O Israel,
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it,
and Aaron made proclamation and said,
Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.
Now when you look at this, I don't know about you,
but I just look at this and think of, like,
a typical liberal church pastor here, of Aaron here.
So he's just kind of, he's just combined their kind of false gods
and their worldly stuff, and just combined it in,
because he's made the molten calf,
but then he's built an altar and said,
Tomorrow's a feast to the Lord.
So it's just this funny sort of merging of it all together, isn't it?
But another thing I think about when I see this is,
basically these so-called churches which are just full of idolatry.
You know, your sort of Catholic type churches.
And it's not just the Catholics,
and obviously the Orthodox churches are big on this sort of stuff,
but if you've seen any of these so-called Church of England churches,
which are more of these, they call them higher churches and things like that,
it's all the same, full of it, full of pictures and paintings of different,
you know, stained glass windows of different so-called biblical figures
and all these different crosses and dead saints and all this stuff.
And it's trying to merge it together, isn't it, there?
And that's what Aaron's doing there.
He's just trying to merge it together with this false god
and then saying it's a feast to the Lord.
And in verse 6 says,
And they rose up early on the morning,
offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings,
and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.
So what was this playing?
What was this rising up to play that they did?
Well, jump forward to verse 17.
So jump forward to verse 17.
Okay, and when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted,
he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
It's obviously pretty loud, yeah?
And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery,
neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome,
but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
So there's a shout and singing.
So shouting and singing, isn't it?
Shouting and singing.
And it's not, you know, one leader preaching and shouting.
This is a group of people who are shouting and singing disorderly.
It sounds a bit like a charismatic church now, doesn't it?
It sounds like a charismatic church.
They're shouting, they're singing, they're probably whooping,
doing all this weird stuff.
And then we see what else they're doing.
And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp,
that he saw the calf and the dancing,
and Moses' anger waxed hot,
and he cast the tables out of his hands and braked them beneath the mount.
So now we've got the dance.
This is definitely some sort of Pentecostal-type church now.
They've just gone full circle here, haven't they?
I mean, just seeing all of this from God,
and look at this idol worship, these false gods,
and where we're at now.
We've gone from orderly, we've gone from that,
to shouting, singing, dancing, to what?
So it says here,
and he took the calf which they had made and burnt it in the fire
and ground it to powder and strawed it upon the water
and made the children of Israel drink of it.
Now that is proper church discipline, isn't it?
That is the sort of church discipline we're talking about.
If we were doing that here, wow, I mean,
we would all be a liar, wouldn't we?
Okay, that's the church discipline.
And like I preached the other week,
there are many idols in the world, aren't there?
There are many idols in the world,
and we could apply that in many ways.
It's not just the molten calf, is there?
We can all make idols, and without the word of God,
without leadership, without that,
without hearing that word of God preached,
I think many people can start to turn to idols.
Okay, there are probably,
you could probably take a lot of things from that passage,
and obviously he's talking about not basically,
not turning, I think as well,
not turning worship and church into some sort of party
and everything else is another thing you could take from that.
Dancing at church is wicked, all right?
Dancing at church, but it is really, isn't it?
Because it's ridiculous,
and as you see this, you see this in these churches
and the stuff going on there,
and there's nothing biblical about any of that, is there?
Okay, back to 1 Corinthians, verse 8, 1 Corinthians 10, 8.
Neither let us commit fornication,
as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Now this is from Numbers 25.
So we go over to Numbers 25 here.
Okay, Numbers 25 and from verse 1.
And Israel abode and shit him,
and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Okay, so this is fornication between the men of Israel and the daughters of Moab.
Okay, now this sounds, oh it is, isn't it?
It's en masse, you can see this sort of,
it's almost as if it's okay because they're not their own godly women.
Well it's just, it's the women of Moab, it's the women of the world.
And we see here verse 2 there,
and they called the people unto the sacrifice of their gods,
and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods.
Okay, why are they bowing down the false gods here?
Basically, you know, for want of a better phrase,
because they're chasing skirt, aren't they?
They're chasing women, they're chasing these women of the world,
and you know what, you know, I've seen this over years,
you know, from when I was younger, I've seen it with people.
Do you know how far many men will go once they've got that idea in their mind?
How far they'll go once they're set on the idea of chasing a girl,
chasing ladies, whatever it is,
because they can get pretty soul-minded on this.
I know people that have been like that,
and you might look at that and think,
well, Christians bowing down the false gods,
yeah, I reckon so, I reckon they'll do also.
Once people start really seeking after that sort of thing,
and that's a wicked, wicked sin,
then next thing you know, they're just doing more and more and more
while they're chasing that.
And that's why, you know, fornication is wicked,
it is such a damaging sin,
but the lengths people will go to once they start getting that idea in their mind.
We see that here, don't we?
And obviously, don't even entertain the idea,
don't even entertain the idea.
Verse 3, it says,
And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peol,
and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.
Okay, so this is the god of the Moabites,
they're like many plays on the name Baal,
it's basically Satan, isn't it?
It's Satan, just one of the representations of him.
Now, what's interesting in this is that Balak,
the king of Moab, just before this, okay,
he's just hired Balaam,
Balaam is this prophet,
to curse Israel, and then God stopped him,
God prevented him.
So, turn over to Revelation chapter 2.
Turn to Revelation chapter 2.
Okay, in verse 14, Revelation 2.14 says,
But I have a few things against you,
because thou hast here them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
this was this prophet,
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block
before the children of Israel
to eat things sacrificed unto idols
and to commit fornication.
So basically, Balaam's being prevented by God
from putting curses on them,
so instead he basically teaches Balak
to lure, and Balak's the king of Moab,
to lure the children of Israel
through fornication and idol worship,
which is what we're seeing here, yeah?
This is what we're seeing is what they've done.
But isn't that still a tactic used by the devil today, wouldn't you say?
Is that still a tactic used by the devil today?
To lure, basically, children of God,
to lure them in a fornication with the world,
to idol worship,
and like we said, there's many different idols,
not just that obvious false god,
and it's through that lure of fornication.
And we have Christians, we have to be really aware,
we have to, as parents as well, be really aware of this
because it is massive.
Fornication, I think I heard a stat recently,
it's something like 97%, this was in the States,
of people when they marry are not virgins.
I mean, that is wicked, isn't it?
If you put it next to the word of God,
and many of us will look at that like,
well, because we're desensitized to it, aren't we?
We are, we've been massively desensitized to it,
but it's a big issue, it's a massive issue in this world,
and there's kids growing up in this sort of culture,
that is a big thing that we really need to train our kids on
and teach them on and be strict about that, don't we?
Okay, well, what's the result?
What's the result of that?
Well, have a look at verse 4 here.
And the Lord said unto Moses,
Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord
against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord
may be turned away from Israel.
More church discipline.
And Moses said unto the judges of Israel,
Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought under his brethren
a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses
and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel
who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
How bold is this guy?
How bold is he that he's just in the middle of all this,
they're all weeping, and he's just brought in this Midianitish woman
in the sight of them all.
And that's just bold defiance,
that's that sort of rebel, isn't it?
That person just can't be told anything.
That's that person in a church who it doesn't matter what the leadership say,
they're not being told nothing.
They'll literally just do the opposite in front to show how bold,
because they've got real issues with submitting.
We'll see what happens.
And when Penahas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it,
he rose up from amongst the congregation
and took a javelin in his hand,
and he went off the man of Israel into the tent
and thrust both of them through,
the man of Israel and the woman through her belly,
so the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
Now that's some proper church discipline again, isn't it?
The javelin, that's what we need in the church,
like javelin here, just to really get a reminder of what could happen.
Now it says here, those that died in the plague were 24,000.
Okay, now when we think of a plague, we think of sickness, don't we?
But here it's basically talking about a judgment of God.
A plague is judgment of God.
And notice the difference here between the 23,000 mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10a
and 24,000 here.
Well, and some people go, oh, that's a contradiction.
Well, 23,000 died in one day, but 24,000 died total,
so the other 1,000 were some time before or after that.
But there's a big lesson here about fornication and where it leads, isn't there?
There's a big lesson in that story about where fornication leads
and how it's used against us as Christians.
Fornication, a lure of fornication.
Like I preached about, I think it was two weeks ago,
and the ways the devil tempts us.
And that's a big way, isn't it?
That is in the world, that's in everyone's faces all the time, all the time.
And that is a big problem, that can be a big temptation for many people as well.
And this is a lesson about that, how much God hates it as well.
And what he did, I mean, 24,000 dead because of that.
And if that doesn't help, just imagine the javelin,
the javelin through yourself and whoever the fornication's with.
But that's a good lesson for us.
And back to 1 Corinthians 10, let's see the next lesson from verse 9.
Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted
and were destroyed of serpents.
Who were they tempting? Christ.
They were tempting Christ back in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament Christ. Like I said, the same was in the beginning.
And just make that point, because sadly there are many Christians here
that just feel like these two separate gods, the God of the Old Testament,
it's Jesus Christ that they were tempting.
Now turn to Numbers 21 now.
So Numbers 21, and from verse 1 here.
OK, let's see what this tempting is.
And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
So they're basically just off the back of a great victory thanks to God,
clearly thanks to God, they've even made that deal with God,
a bit of hardship, and they're speaking against God and Moses.
Look at verse 5.
People spake against God and against Moses.
OK, again, we look at that and think, how do you do that?
But we can do the same, can't we?
We can have just had a blessing from God, and soon after we are complaining
when things don't go our way.
Verbally complaining.
We've probably all heard, most of us have done this at times in our life,
haven't we?
When you're complaining about the next thing that doesn't go our way,
having just been on the back of a blessing from God.
And when you're complaining against God, you're tempting him, aren't you?
When you're complaining against God, you're tempting him.
And here they're complaining that they've come out of Egypt, the world,
so they're complaining about basically having come out of the world,
and they're complaining about what they've come out to.
And that's wicked, isn't it?
Because do we really want to be back in the world?
People can look back and think, oh, I had it better then,
or it wasn't so hard when I was back in my old life, or whatever else,
because we have this slanted view, and we quickly forget, don't we?
Quickly forget, like they did.
They have quickly forgotten how bad life can be
when you're out in the world and without God.
Verse 6, and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people,
and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died.
Okay, and another way to deal with it,
and I'm guessing that God wasn't happy there.
That sounds like he wasn't happy.
He's come out with something novel there.
He's just put the snakes out on them.
Okay, verse 7,
Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole,
and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man,
when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Okay, obviously a picture of salvation,
as Jesus said in John 13, 14, 15,
and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.
But it's a picture of salvation, isn't it?
It's not that they're suddenly saved now because of that serpent.
But the original lesson there, isn't it, is not to tempt Christ.
Don't complain about the hard parts of the Christian life.
There are going to be hard parts.
But we're so much better off.
We're so much better off than where we were, aren't we?
I mean, we're saved. Salvation alone.
If you got saved and then your life was just an absolute train wreck
compared with the time, the sin for a season you had before,
you're still so much better off, aren't you?
So much better off because you're not going to hell for eternity.
Okay, back to 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 10 now.
Okay, next one.
Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Okay, so the murmuring is different to the tempting
where it's more grumbling and complaining quietly, I think.
I think that's where it's just that difference there.
It's a low voice. It's not open.
God, why have you done this? Why is my life like this?
It's just this low, grumbling, murmuring, complaining.
It's not as much of an open complaint like outright complaint against God
but it's still wicked, isn't it?
It's still wicked. It's discontentment with God.
Now regularly we see the children of Israel murmuring against Moses and Aaron
and I think that this particular bit we're talking about here being destroyed of the destroyer
is talking about number 16.
So have you got number 16?
Okay, so number 16.
This is straight after the attempted rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Okay, number 16. Look at verse 3.
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron
and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy,
every one of them, and the Lord is among them.
Wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?
Okay, jump to verse 12.
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, which said, We will not come up.
Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey
to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?
Moreover, thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey,
or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.
Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.
Okay, so this is rebellion, isn't it? This is clear rebellion.
But see the angle, see the deceit in it.
It's a subtle deceit, isn't it?
In verse 3, they're saying here that you take too much upon yourself,
seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them.
Wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above?
Did Moses lift himself up?
Or did God pull him out from among them?
He was ordained of God, wasn't he?
Look at verse 13 and 14, when he's talking now to Dathan and Abiram,
Isn't it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey?
Was that where they were at in Egypt?
They weren't a land that floweth with milk and honey, they were under hard bondage
to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself again altogether a prince over us.
Oh, you've lifted yourself up?
Well no, he's ordained of God.
Verse 14, moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey,
thou hast given us inheritance of fields and of vineyards.
Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men?
We will not come up.
So again, they haven't finished their journey yet, but they're just changing it a little bit
and making out that he's the problem, that Moses is the problem.
What's the result? Verse 31, jump forward to verse 31.
And it came to pass that he had made an end of speaking all these words,
that the ground clave asunder that was under them,
and the earth opened their mouth and swallowed them up,
and their houses and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods.
They and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit,
and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.
And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them,
for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
And they came out of fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
Okay, pretty obvious what God thought about it.
But, have a look at verse 41.
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.
How do you get from that, from God doing that to that?
I'll tell you how, because they've been deceived, haven't they?
Because, as we see, Korah is mentioned in Jude's passage about reprobates,
but they've got them down as people of the Lord.
They've deceived many, like we talked about before.
They've deceived many with the rebellion, with the little subtle things,
the little changes of the truth, trying to make out the leadership of most of the problem.
And now, the people have got them down as people that,
Look what you're doing to the people of the Lord.
You know, poor old Korah, poor old Dathan, Barham, you know, how could you do this?
And now, look, now they're murmuring against Moses and Aaron.
So, it says here in verse 42,
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and Aaron,
that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation,
and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation,
and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment.
And they fell upon their faces, and Moses said unto Aaron,
Take a sense from put farther in, from off the altar, and put on incense,
and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them,
for there is wrath gone out from the Lord, the plague is begun.
Again, that's that judgment of God.
And Aaron took, as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation,
and behold, the plague was begun among the people,
and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people,
and he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed.
Now, that's some love and forgiveness for Moses and Aaron, isn't it?
That's some love and forgiveness from them.
Now, they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred,
beside them that died about the Matta Korah.
So the people that are murmuring, the people that are murmuring,
he's killed fourteen thousand, seven hundred of them.
And Aaron returned unto Moses, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,
and the plague was stayed.
Like, we could learn so much from that story, couldn't we?
And there's a lot you could go into.
But especially how ridiculous murmuring is, and how it's often caused by deceit.
It's often caused by wickedness, isn't it?
And then the deceit.
And then you can have people who are of God who are murmuring and complaining
because they've been manipulated into that.
And we see what God thinks of it, don't we?
What does God think of it?
He killed fourteen thousand, seven hundred people.
OK?
Verse eleven, back to 1 Corinthians 10.
Now, all these things happen unto them through ensembles,
and they are written for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.
OK, ensembles are basically examples.
Romans 15, 4 says,
For whatsoever things are written aforetime are written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
OK, so it's for us that, you know, we can get the comfort of that,
we can get the hope, but look at verse eleven where we just were.
It says, but also, it also talks about for our admonition,
which is gentle reproof, caution.
We should be looking at these passages and getting caught and thinking,
wow, OK, God is serious about this.
It's not just, oh, well, they're those people in the Old Testament,
that was that angry God, but, you know, we're just human, we're just human.
No, God's given that for a reason, and we as Christians should be studying that
and going, I need to make sure I don't behave like that,
or I do behave as the good examples, yeah?
OK, it says here, it says,
a writiful admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.
OK, when you first read that, you think,
yeah, it's talking about the end of the world is coming upon us.
I don't think it actually means that, because when you look at ends of the world,
have a look just quickly at Romans 10 18.
So Romans chapter 10 and verse 18 says,
but I say, have they not heard?
Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth
and their words unto the ends of the world.
And then just, I'll just, don't turn there,
but Psalm 22 27 makes that really clear where it says,
all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord,
and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
So what he's basically saying is,
there are examples in the Old Testament to go out now to all people,
to all kindreds, to all nations.
It's not just Jews.
So those passages in the Old Testament weren't just for the Jews,
they're for us to give those examples,
to show them to other people throughout the world who are getting saved,
to show them how they should behave,
and how they shouldn't behave as well, yeah?
Was it just, oh, these are isolated,
oh, they've got some quite cool stories, yeah, have a look.
No, they're written and recorded for a reason for us to show people.
Okay, now look at 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 12.
Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall.
Right, this is a great verse, isn't it?
Quoted many times, many people will use this verse,
it's a great standalone verse, isn't it?
But we can, can't, we can get so confident
after little success in our Christian life, can't we?
It's so easy to do that,
so easy to just get that little bit of success,
just get over that little challenge,
get that little improvement,
and then think, I am the picture of Christianity, you know?
Look at me, and like we said, that's a big risk for us,
being the only church in the country
that preaches the whole counsel of God,
or I'm trying my best to do that,
and people here want to hear the counsel of God,
and also the only church that's going out soul-winning,
the only church that's going out soul-winning,
and one of the only churches even with the Word of God,
and with the right Gospel,
and having that, there is that risk, isn't there,
that we think that we're better than we actually are.
But look at this, it doesn't say take heed because he will fall,
because then there's the opposite way,
where it can go two ways, you can either go,
get all confident, look at me,
or you can go the other way, you can look at this verse,
and then think, well yeah, I'm going to fall anyway,
I'm just a sinner, I'm just a sinner,
oh, I'm just another sinner, and you hear that a lot, don't you?
Yeah, we are, there's no doubt, we're all sinners, we know that,
we know that there's none that doeth good, not one,
but it says here, it says,
wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall.
You don't have to fall, you don't have to,
like we saw earlier in 2 Peter 1,
we've been given what we need, okay,
yeah, you're another sinner, but you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit,
guided by God, you have the ability to resist temptation,
we do have the ability,
and we see in a second, because in fact, let's have a look,
verse 13, what does it say?
There has no temptation taken you, but such is common to man,
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you
to be tempted above that you're able, but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it.
God isn't going to let you get tempted above what you're able,
and that's the amazing thing to think of, isn't it,
that we are able to deal with what comes,
yeah, we often fail, we often fail.
2 Peter 2, 9 says, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation,
to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.
There is always a way out, I believe, without sinning,
I think there's always a way out without sinning,
and I don't just mean, well, if you're perfect,
no, God actually, I believe, provides a way out
for someone of your ability, of that individual ability,
I think it's personal,
I think there's always a way that you personally can achieve,
that you can do that, that you're able,
because there are temptations,
I think if all of you looked and thought about it,
there are temptations that you know you couldn't cope with,
whatever it is, whatever your weaknesses are,
there are certain ones that you know,
you know if that was in your face right now,
that temptation to do whatever it is,
you know you wouldn't cope with it,
but do you get those temptations?
Do you really get those ones that you know 100% you couldn't deal with?
I don't think you do,
I think you'll only get them when you can deal with them,
but it's still up to you,
and I'm not saying God isn't tempting you,
but I think that he does help you,
but again when you're in the will of God especially.
Turn to Psalm 34,
I believe that there is a way out,
I believe that we don't have to just sin and go oh I'm just like that,
yeah we will all sin,
but we need to be trying our utmost,
and understanding that God's there for us.
Psalm 95 says,
Harden not your heart as in the provocation,
and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.
So the trick's not to harden our hearts,
not to become stubborn or turn from God,
when we go through tough times,
yeah when the testing times come.
Now Psalm 34 is a great,
I think you know it'd be tempting if we had time to just read the whole psalm,
but some highlight verses,
but read that psalm on your own another time,
it really makes this point,
but have a look at verse 4,
Psalm 34 verse 4,
I sought the Lord and he heard me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Verse 6,
This poor man cried and the Lord heard him,
and saved him out of all his troubles.
Verse 7,
The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him,
and delivereth them.
Verse 15,
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
and his ears are open unto their cry.
Verse 17,
The righteous cry and the Lord heareth,
and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
Verse 18,
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,
and savours such as be of a contrite spirit.
It's a humble spirit isn't it?
Verse 19,
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
Verse 20,
He keepeth all his bones,
not one of them is broken.
And verse 22,
The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants,
and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
So the whole point is that we can trust God in times of temptation can't we?
We have to put our trust in God,
it's not about us,
it's putting our trust in God and he can deliver us.
And we don't have to,
oh well I'm just a sinner,
nah, never mind,
God will forgive me.
Yeah, God will forgive you,
he does forgive us doesn't he,
amen for that.
But we need to be trying our best at understanding that there is a way out,
there is a way out,
without resorting to sin.
Look at verse 14 of 1 Corinthians 10.
So going on to there he then says,
Wherefore,
my dearly beloved,
flee from idolatry.
So wherefore,
so God has made a way to escape from idolatry,
and remember idolatry is the worship of anything that isn't God,
the worship of anything that isn't God.
So don't make idols,
flee away,
flee it,
the first sign of any sort of idolatry,
that could be in your life when you're starting to make an idol of someone or something in your life.
Flee it,
get away from that early because that's a hard thing to deal with.
Okay verse 15 he says,
I speak as to wise men,
judge ye what I say,
judge ye what I say.
Now I think he's alluding to chapter 8,
1 and 2 here,
where we saw this a couple of weeks ago,
he says,
Now as touch of things oft done to others,
we know that we all have knowledge,
then he says,
knowledge puffeth up,
and charity edifyeth,
and if any man think they knoweth anything,
he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
But he's saying he's speaking as to wise men,
judge ye what I say,
we do,
we do have knowledge.
He's saying if you're wise you should get this,
but this isn't for the person obviously described without knowledge,
as in chapter 8 verse 7,
where he says,
How be it there's not in every man that knowledge,
for some with conscience of the idol unto this,
how eateth it as a thing offered unto idol,
and their conscience being weak is defiled.
So he's talking to people who believe they have knowledge.
Okay verse 16 here,
1 Corinthians 10,
The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not the communion of the blood of Christ,
the bread which we break,
is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
So obviously he's referring it to the Lord's supper,
also known as the Lord's table communion,
which we're going to cover more next week in chapter 11.
But the juice and the bread is obviously a symbol, isn't it,
of Jesus' blood and body given for us.
Okay verse 17,
For we being many are one bread and one body,
for we are all partakers of that one bread.
Okay 1 Corinthians 12 27 says,
Now ye are the body of Christ,
and members in particular.
So our church is the body of Christ.
Our church is the body of Christ.
And verse 18 in 1 Corinthians 10 says,
Behold Israel after the flesh,
and not they which eat of the sacrifices,
partakers of the altar.
Now look at that,
Israel after the flesh.
Paul is referring to the physical people, isn't he?
But that implies then, obviously,
that there's a spiritual Israel too, doesn't it?
If there's an Israel after the flesh,
is there not an Israel after the spirit?
Yeah, and the only reason I say that is because
we're just awash with all that, you know,
and obviously, you know,
I preach it before I keep preaching on that,
this sort of, this crazy Zionism nonsense.
But Romans 9, have a look at Romans 9 and verse 6,
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect,
for they are not all Israel which are of Israel,
neither because they are the seed of Abraham,
are they all children,
but in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
That is, they which are the children of the flesh,
these are not the children of God,
that's Israel after the flesh,
but the children of the promise accounted for the seed.
The promise is through Jesus Christ, isn't it?
So Paul is making the distinction here,
and then using the example of what we read last week
in 1 Corinthians 9 about the priests.
So he's saying, behold Israel after the flesh,
are not they which eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
And this is them eating the sacrifices like we saw
that come to the altar.
And he says in verse 19, what's that then?
That the idol is anything,
or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything?
Okay, the answer obviously is no,
in terms of being compared to God,
and we saw that in 1 Corinthians 8.4 where it said,
as concerning therefore the eating of those things
are offered in sacrifice unto idols,
we know that an idol is nothing in the world,
and that there is none other God but one.
Okay, so verse 20, okay,
but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to devils and not to God,
and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
Right, so as we covered a couple of weeks ago,
behind all these idols are false gods and devils, aren't they?
And man loves false religion, we know that.
Man's always loved false religion.
As early as Cain, man loved false religion.
And obviously there's a lot of deception, isn't there?
But there is some power.
There are some lying signs and wonders, aren't there,
that do serve to convince the masses.
And that's the truth, there is some power.
I don't know how much power they have,
and yeah, of course, there's a lot of lies,
there's a lot to see,
but there is some power in false religion.
I mean, you're talking about billions of people
in different false religions, aren't there,
who are convinced some of them seem to be by them.
And there's some weird stuff that happens
in many types of false religions, some weird stuff,
and you might call it supernatural, whatever else,
but it's because behind are all the devils, aren't they?
Okay, verse 21 says,
you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils,
you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table
and of the table of devils.
Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?
Are we stronger than he?
All things are lawful for me,
but all things are not expedient.
All things are lawful for me,
but all things edify not.
So verse 21 there,
so I believe here that there's a difference
between eating some food like we saw a couple of weeks ago
that's been sacrificed to an idol
and yoking up with false religion.
There is a difference there.
If I want a kebab,
I don't think it's a problem that it's halal, for example.
If I go to a kebab shop,
I don't have to start questioning them or anything else.
I don't think that's a problem.
But I'm not going to go to some Ramadan feast, though, am I?
I'm not going to go to a feast of Ramadan
and sit there with them where they're going on about halal
and eating their food.
There's a big difference there, isn't there?
I could go and eat a kosher bagel somewhere
and not really worry about what it's gone through to be kosher,
but I'm not going to go to a Hanukkah celebration
and start eating kosher brisket and feasting on it with them
and worshipping their false version of God.
And verse 22, he says here,
he says that we'll be provoking the Lord to jealousy.
And again, in this world, we can think,
oh, what, the Lord's jealous?
What sort of sinful God have we got?
But no, jealousy's a good thing, isn't it?
God's jealousy is a good thing.
He's not talking about envy here, is he?
He's not talking about envy or coveting.
It's talking about the jealousy of God.
Exodus 25, you don't have to turn there,
Exodus chapter 20, verse 5,
talking about graven images in the Ten Commandments says,
Thou shalt not bow down thyself them, nor say them,
for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
He's a jealous God, and that is a good quality, isn't it?
Should he not be jealous about things like his?
Should a husband not be jealous about his wife
or a wife jealous about her husband?
They should be, shouldn't they?
We should in many ways.
And two, right, that God's a jealous God.
He doesn't want us seeking after idols and false gods
and yoking up with them.
And then he goes on to say,
are we stronger than he?
And obviously, no, we are not.
But the principle applies, I think,
for other idols in our lives,
and we're provoking God to jealousy
when we're putting other things above God.
And I'm not going to repeat all of that
from a couple of weeks back, but we are, aren't we?
As soon as we start raising things above God,
we're provoking the God of this world,
the God that we've just read about
killing this many thousands,
sending fiery serpents and everything else,
the jealous God of the Bible,
which is a good quality,
but we are provoking him
when we're lifting up other parts of our lives,
other things in our life,
other people in our lives, other things.
We're lifting them up above God.
We're putting them of more importance.
We're provoking God to jealousy.
And we don't want to do that, do we?
Because he will chastise us.
He will chastise us in life.
And like we said, when you recognise,
and I think when we start to look at it,
we start to realise, wow, maybe we are being chastised
when you're doing things like that.
And in verse 23, verse 23 there, he says,
all things are lawful for me,
but all things are not expedient.
All things are lawful for me,
but all things edify not.
So just because we're not under Old Testament dietary law,
it doesn't mean that we should be getting involved
with things and foods and eating practices
that cause problems.
But it's also not just ourselves.
It's also not just for our own edification, is it?
Because he says in verse 24,
let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.
And just because it all goes together,
I'm just going to read to the end of the chapter on that.
Whatsoever is sold and the shambles that eat,
ask him no question for conscience sake,
for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast
and you be disposed to go,
whatsoever is set before you eat,
ask him no question for conscience sake.
But if any man say unto you,
this is offered in sacrifice unto idols,
eat not for his sake that showed it.
And for conscience sake,
for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
Conscience I say not thine own, but of the other.
For why is my liberty judge of another man's conscience?
For if I by grace be a partaker,
why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do,
do all to the glory of God.
Give none offence, neither to the Jews,
nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God,
even as I please all men in all things,
not seeking mine own profit,
but the profit of many that they may be saved.
Just going back to verse 24 there,
so there where he's saying,
let no man seek his own but another man's wealth,
he's obviously the context has just been defined
then in the following verses.
He's not saying you've got to give all your money
to someone else when you go to work, is he?
But what he is saying is that we're trying to get
our mindset right on the love of charity towards others.
And how many of us could really say
we focus on other people's gain,
on other brothers and sisters at their least,
let alone other people that we walk into?
Yeah, when we're in soul winning mode, for sure we are,
but we're doing that at other times as well.
In verse 25 he says,
Whatsoever is sold in the shambles at,
he's asking no question for conscience sake.
That's basically a butcher's market, the shambles.
We don't have to worry about whether or not
it was sacrificed to a false god or not, okay?
You don't have to start questioning,
was it, was it, or wasn't it?
And remember he's saying here that he's talking
unto wise men, we saw in verse 15.
He then says, for the earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof.
So this is quoting Psalm 24.1 which says,
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and they that dwell therein.
Okay, it's not sinful, you're eating meat
that originally came from God, aren't you?
So you're eating meat that originally came from God.
It's not a sinful thing to be doing that,
but verse 27,
If any of them that believe not,
this isn't now talking like we saw in chapter 8
about a brother or sister in Christ,
this is someone that doesn't believe,
bid you to a feast and you be disposed to go,
whatsoever is set before you eat,
asking no question for conscience sake.
Right, this is a feast, not a religious celebration, is it?
Okay, this isn't being invited down to the mosque
for their, you know, worship of Allah or feast,
this is just the feast,
this is not being invited round for a meal,
maybe like a dinner party or whatever else, okay?
He says, you be disposed to go, you want to go to it,
whatsoever is set before you eat,
asking no question for conscience sake.
Verse 28,
But if any man say unto you,
This is offered in sacrifice unto idols,
eat not for his sake that showed it,
and for conscience sake,
for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
Okay, why for his sake?
So he says, eat not for his sake that showed it,
because you'd be giving some sort of validity
to the idol now by eating it, wouldn't you?
Okay?
Now, yeah, and you know what I believe?
You know what I believe?
This is a great verse or great little passage
which you could apply
to this ecumenical Christian nonsense, couldn't you?
You could really apply this principle here
because we should be making a stand
because for the onlooker's sake,
for the unbelief's sake,
they need to know that their false religion,
their wicked false religion,
because they are wicked false religions,
they're not compatible with Jesus, are they?
They are not compatible with Jesus.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.
No man cometh to the Father but by me.
Oh, but what if you offend them?
What if we offend them?
But it's better than sending them to hell, isn't it?
It's better than sending them to hell.
And all these so-called Christians donning yarmulkes,
you know, kissing the popes out,
and they're not Christians, most of them, are they?
But these Christian leaders,
oh, we're just trying to have this sort of,
you know, everyone can be friends together,
there's many paths to God.
What are you doing with that?
And yeah, a born-again child of God,
surely wouldn't be doing that.
But the least they might just,
oh, well, I don't want to offend them.
Oh, well, we want to try and reach them in the right way.
We want to, you know, just get involved with this and that
and hopefully one day get a chance to give them the gospel or something.
You're not helping anyone like that.
You're damning them to hell.
Because you're going and you're giving credibility to their false God.
And this is what we see, don't we?
We see this in this wicked liberal Christianity,
where they're just basically teaming up with these people.
Like I said, I've got it when we're here,
I've got some stupid emails telling me about
I could join in with the interfaith community in Southend
and come to the meetings with all the different cults in Southend
and be some sort of buddy of them all, you know,
and talk about issues that affect us all.
What issues affect us all?
The one issue is that they need to get saved.
And what else are you going to say to these people?
There's nothing else to say to them.
And then I started thinking about other things as well.
I was thinking about what about things like yoga?
Anyone ever dealt with that before?
Because there are Christians that think that it's okay
to go and do spiritual things like yoga.
And when I say spiritual, it's false wicked spirits, isn't it?
And they're going and doing these worship,
I don't even want to try and demonstrate,
worship poses, snake poses, you name it,
like somehow that's all right.
No, because I'm there because I might reach some,
or it's good for my, you know, it helps me to be calm,
it helps me to be supple or whatever else.
No, it's wicked. It's absolutely wicked.
All you're doing going there as a Christian,
if you're actually being honest enough to some of the Christians,
you're giving credibility to false gods,
to false, to idols, to devils.
They're devils, aren't they?
And that's why we have to make a stand.
We have to make a stand.
We have to make it clear that no, that is a false god.
And when we go out on the door,
yeah, we're not trying to get into arguments and rouse,
but it has to be clear, doesn't it,
that whatever they're trusting him,
whatever god it is, he's not the god of the Bible.
He's not.
But he says here the earth is the Lord's
and basically people need to acknowledge that
and trust him as their saviour, don't they?
That's why, because the earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof.
And people have to acknowledge that.
They can't be just, oh, well, there's lots of different gods
or different paths to their own version of God
or whatever, you know, they want to call God today,
whatever they want to merge together out of the Bible
and out of the Koran and out of, a lot of the time now,
New Age mysticism and everything else
and whatever the movies have told them
and, you know, Morgan Freeman
and whoever else has been god on the big screen,
you know, and then we'll just make our own mishmash of God.
No, that ain't God.
That ain't God.
And we need to be clear, don't we?
We need to be clear as Christians and stand up for that.
And that's why, if someone said,
this has been sacrificed to an idol,
for those unbelievers you should be saying, no, no,
no, I don't want to eat that.
I don't want to eat that halal food, thank you.
You're making a point that it's halal.
I don't want to eat it.
If I go to a shop and they're going, oh, by the way, it's halal,
really then, based on this, I should be saying no.
I should be saying, no, I don't want it.
It's been sacrificed to an idol.
That's not the God of the Bible.
That's not the one true God.
And in the same way with the Jews,
the same way with any of it,
and that's our modern version, you know,
that's how we can apply it to our lives today.
But back in 2,000 odd years ago,
and like we talked about in Corinth,
I think there were a lot of gods, a lot of idols,
false gods, obviously, and for them,
they're being told there, you've got to make that stand there.
You've got to make that stand.
And we have to make that stand in our lives, don't we?
And it's not just yoga.
There's so many other things.
Like I said before, there's natural health, which is good.
There's herbs and just simple things that have been,
for thousands of years, how people have got well.
But then there are people that then take you,
then delve into all sorts of false gods
and false religions through that,
and versions of spiritualism and other things,
and you've got to make a stand with all of this stuff.
And it's getting murky in the water.
It's not as obvious now.
What is a false god and what isn't?
Verse 29, he says, and by the way, on that as well,
versions of Christianity as well.
Versions of Christianity.
So not, you know, Church of England, whatever, you know,
Methodists, Catholics, you name it, and some of that's more obvious.
But even, you know, the Pentecostals or whatever,
if it's not grace through faith, it's a different god, isn't it?
It's a different god.
And that's got to be clear, hasn't it?
We've got to make that clear.
No.
No, I don't want to.
Oh, no, I don't want to go and hang out with someone
because I might get them saved if I go down to their Pentecostal church.
No, it's wicked.
It's wicked.
If they haven't got the right gospel, it's a false god.
Okay, verse 29.
Conscience I say, not thine own, but of the other,
for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?
Okay, so the conscience is theirs.
It's not your own.
It's that other person, so that he thinks twice about his false religion.
And that's what we're trying to do here, isn't it?
We're trying to show them that, no, no, it's not okay.
It's nothing different.
But why is someone else's conscience important?
He says, for if I by grace be a partaker, verse 30,
why are my evils spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
Right, so why is it bad of us to eat if it's not a sin
and we're giving thanks to God?
Well, he says here, why, in verse 31,
whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God.
Now, that's not saying I'll give thanks to, you know,
he's not talking about, oh, just as long as you're praying
because everything that we do is for God's glory
and if that means abstaining so as to have more chance
of getting someone saved in the future, so be it.
That's what we're doing for the glory of God.
So why don't I want to be sitting down and eating
that clearly sacrificed for an idle food
because that's not to the glory of God.
The glory of God would mean for me to abstain
to make it clear for that person to actually think again
about their false God.
Verse 32 says give none offence neither to the Jews
nor to the Gentiles nor to the Church of God.
Right, he's not talking about not offending them.
He's not talking about not offending them.
The word offence there, which we use today as being offended,
it means to not give a stumbling block to people,
don't give a stumbling block to them,
neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles nor to the Church of God.
Now, this is another verse, used out of context, isn't it,
by the racist dispensationalists, or I thought of this word,
the dispen-racialists, who love to separate people, don't they,
based on their so-called genetics, yeah?
So, just bear in mind, like, what we've just read through,
we've just gone through the whole context of this,
and then they suddenly just grab this verse, yeah,
just rip it out of 1 Corinthians 10 and go,
look, three types of people, Jews, Gentiles, Church of God.
You know, and then it's suddenly dispensations,
different ways that the Jews are getting saved,
you know, it's different to how the Gentiles get saved
and they're treated as different people.
Anyone heard this stuff before from this verse?
Anyone heard that preacher?
Okay, this is apparently proof that there are three kind of people
in God's eyes, you know, all with a different gospel,
but it's a context, it's so important, isn't it?
Paul hasn't just thrown that in there, there,
to suddenly give us some truth about dispensations
and about the Jews actually, you know, contrary to what Galatians says
and Romans 9 and many other places, oh, no, contrary to that, actually,
they are now physical people.
No, no, in fact, those people will continue to be a physical people
that God recognises as a people of Jews.
Forget what it says in everywhere else in the Bible.
No, Paul is just saying to not cause a stumbling block
to those known as Jews or Gentiles
or be stumbling blocks to our brothers and sisters in their walk with God.
Okay, it's pretty simple, isn't it, when you just read it in context.
But, by the way, they were also, the brothers and sisters in Christ,
were also previously known as Jews and Gentiles, weren't they?
When unsaved, but now they're the Church of God by one gospel
and one name, like Paul, who was a Jew.
Anyway, Romans 14, 13 says,
let us not therefore judge one another any more,
but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block
on occasion to fall in his brother's way.
And that's what's important, isn't it,
that we don't create that stumbling block for a brother either.
And he says here, he finishes it off in verse 33,
even as I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit,
but the profit of many that they may be saved.
And that's the focus, isn't it? It's not for our own profit.
Be it a good meal or anything else like that,
our goal is to get people saved.
And if that means, you know, not having a Ramadan feast or whatever,
but if that means kicking that kosher kebab into the gutter
and going and getting a nice British sandwich,
then so be it. I'm willing to make that sacrifice.
But seriously, we should, shouldn't we?
Our goal should be salvation to people and whatever the cost,
as long as it's not making us sin.
On that, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word.
Thank you for the truths in the Book of Corinthians.
Thanks for just making it clear that our priority should be getting people saved.
Thank you for the earlier part of that chapter,
for all those examples that were given from the Old Testament
that are highlighted for us to learn from, to be edified by,
to be warned by as well.
And we pray that you help us to take heed of that,
you know, lest we do fall.
And we pray that we have a great week now going forward.
Pray that you just bless us all.
Help us be safe on our journeys home
and help us to all gather here next week to honour and worship you.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.