Monday, October 21,
2013, 7:10 a.m. – the song title “Wake
the World” was brought to mind this morning. The song artist is Todd
Fields. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 (NIV).
Under the Cloud
For
I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our
ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the
same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the
spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God
was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the
wilderness.
The Israelites were miraculously delivered by God from physical
slavery in Egypt, and they were on their way to the Promised Land. They were
under a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. These were
symbols of God’s divine power, protection and guidance. God appointed Moses to
be their leader. He was their mediator between them and God. And, they were to
follow his leadership. God provided for them and blessed them in many ways,
both physically and spiritually. Christ Jesus, God the Son, existed always. He
is our creator. He was with God the Father from the beginning. So, Christ was
with them, and he provided for them physical and spiritual nourishment for
their bodies and souls.
The same God, who physically delivered the Israelites out of
slavery in Egypt, has provided spiritual deliverance from slavery to sin for us
via Jesus’ shed blood on the cross for our sins. Through faith in Jesus Christ,
as our Lord and Savior, we have the hope and promise of eternal life with God
in glory (our Promised Land). We are on our way to heaven. Jesus Christ is now
our mediator between us and the Father, and we are to follow his leadership
(See Lu. 9:23-25; Jn. 10). We have been given the Holy Spirit within us as a
seal of that promise of eternal life with God. The Holy Spirit serves to
convict of sin, counsel, lead, guide, teach us all things, intercede for us in
prayer, empower and equip us to do God’s will in service to him; protect us
spiritually, comfort and encourage us, nurture us, and to live out Christ’s
life through us as we cooperate fully with his work.
Examples for Us
Now
these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil
things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is
written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in
revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in
one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some
of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them
did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
We read in 2 Timothy
3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God
may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” And, we read in Hebrews 4:12-13: “For the word of God
is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must
give account.”
In other words, the whole of scripture is for our benefit.
It is not just a collection of historical events, stories, liturgy, poetry,
prophecy and Biblical instruction in godly living. There is something that can
be learned in principle from even the Old Testament books, because the people
then were people just like us, who experienced many of the same things we still
experience today. Our culture may be different, and our relationship with God
under the New Covenant is somewhat different from that of the Old Covenant
relationship God had with his people, yet God never changes. He is the same
yesterday, today and forever! His word, too, is alive, and God still speaks to
our hearts, so he can speak to us even through these stories of the Israelites’
trek to the Promised Land, because there are many parallels between their
relationship with God and our relationship with Christ today.
Even though God provided for them all that they needed
physically and spiritually, still many of them turned against him and his
appointed leadership, they went their own way, and they refused to repent time
and time again, so God was not pleased with most of them. And, even though God’s
grace has provided us with all we need to live godly and holy lives in this
present world, many of us have sinned against him or are presently involved in
willful acts of sinful rebellion against God. And, God is not pleased. He is
still a jealous God! We were promised to one husband – Jesus Christ. So, we
should no longer run after “other lovers,” i.e. after the “gods” of this world.
We should not participate in immorality and wickedness in any shape or form –
either in physical or mental participation, or in giving approval to such
things through allowing ourselves to be entertained by the sins of others.
No Temptation
These
things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us,
on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing
firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except
what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way
out so that you can endure it.
Jesus Christ set us free from slavery to sin, so we should
not live in sin any longer. His grace is not a license to continue in sin! His
grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and wickedness. It slays the sinner;
it does not entertain him or placate his sin. When we come to true faith in
Jesus Christ, we die to our old lives of living for self and sin; we are
crucified with Christ so that “I” no longer live, but Christ now lives in me
and through me. We are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away
from sin and toward God, like being changed from a caterpillar into a
butterfly. We put off that old body of flesh, and we put on our new selves, “created
to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness” (See Eph. 4:17-24). So,
God has provided the way out for us so that we don’t have to give in to the
temptations to sin that come into our lives. He settled the issue of sin at
Calvary. He is greater than any temptation we might face, and he has given us
all we need to resist the devil and to flee temptation, so don’t believe the
lie that says you can’t help it.
The Lord’s Jealousy
Therefore,
my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for
yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks
a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a
participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are
many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
Consider
the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the
altar? Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an
idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not
to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink
the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the
Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s
jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
We are to flee (bolt from; run away from) idolatry in its
various forms. An idol can be a hero, an obsession; something admired and loved
to excess, or something that is worshiped as a god. Worship involves loyalty,
commitment, faithfulness, fidelity, a vow (pledge), dedication, steadfastness,
devotion, love, reverence, respect, honor and/or adoration. So, what do we
worship? What gets our heart, time, energies, devotion, commitment, and faithfulness,
etc.? What are we passionate about? What stirs us emotionally? What is
uppermost on our minds when we arise in the morning and when we go to bed at
night? What do we feel we could not live without? There are many things that
could be our idols, such as vehicles, houses, possessions, “toys,” games,
entertainment, careers, people, etc. Basically, whatever gets our hearts,
passion, desires, thoughts, time, etc. has the potential of becoming an idol,
especially if it is “worshiped” over and above God/Jesus Christ.
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we participate in his
death – in his body and blood – through death to our old lives of sin. And, we
participate in his resurrection through being transformed in heart and mind and
putting on our new selves in Christ Jesus. We, as believers in Christ, are now
the body of Christ. And, we are now in daily fellowship with him. We, thus,
partake in Christ day-to-day through our times of prayer, worship, and our
times of sitting at his feet, listening to him speak, and then following him in
obedience and surrender to his will, as well as just through having his Spirit
living within us. So, when we follow after the idols of men instead of
following our Lord Jesus, in submission to his will, it is like breaking faith.
We can’t be in fellowship with the world of sin and with the Lord Jesus at the
same time. We can’t fill our minds with the trash of this world and then expect
to enter into times of sweet fellowship with our Lord. The two don’t mix.
God is calling his church to come out from the world of sin,
to no longer partake in its delicacies, and to put on the full armor of God
with which to fight off the devil’s schemes against us. He has called us to be
a holy people, committed to him. He is a jealous God! He does not want to share
us with other lovers. So, if you are eating and drinking at the table of demons
through idolatry, sexual immorality, greed, gossip and the like, I pray that you
will turn from your sins, and that you will make the Lord your only God today.
Wake the World / Todd Fields
Wake the world
Shine the light
There is one way, truth, and life
Perfect love
Born to die
Son of God, Jesus Christ
Wake the world
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