1 Coríntios 10

Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin

1 Coríntios 10

Spurgeon - As both among Christians and Jews the partaking of holy feasts involved fellowship, so if we join with idolaters we have fellowship with them and shall be sharers in their sin. Reformation Study Bible - Although idols are nothing (v. 19), behind pagan rituals is the reality of Satan’s work, and Christians should have nothing to do with that.

1 Coríntios 10

Spurgeon - Communion with the unholy is a challenge to Christ, an open defiance to his kingship. HCSB - Participation in idolatrous rites is a violation of the believer's union with Christ and thus with the one-body relationship that they had with other believers. Therefore, the Lord's Supper and the table of demons are mutually exclusive. (HCSB Study Bible) Idolatry is one of the sins mentioned in Revelation that will result in the judgment of the Second Death (cf eternal punishment) John writing "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Rev 21:8+) Parazeloo is used to describe God's reaction to his people's pursuit of idols, which in effect makes Him jealous (anthropomorphically speaking). (Dt 32:21, 1 Ki 14:22, Ps 78:58, 1 Cor 10:22). Parazeloo is used in a negative sense in 1 Cor 10:22 where it means to provoke to anger. BDAG adds regarding the use in 1 Cor 10:22 says "With sharp satire Paul says that God has reason to be jealous if the Corinthians engage in civil feasts where sacrifice is made to mere secondary divinities (1 Cor 10:20), which is designedly ambiguous, referring either to deity generically (a god) or to the supreme deity of biblical tradition. The Corinthians are in effect insulting ‘the Lord’." Do we really understand the negative effect our idolatry (we all have them in some form or degree) has on our relationship and communion with the Lord God, Who Alone is God? Provoke to jealousy (3863) parazeloo from pará = to the point of, unto, implying movement toward a certain point + zeloo = to desire, be zealous) literally means to stimulate alongside and speaks of of emotional excitement. The idea is thus to excite to rivalry and so to make jealous. This can have a good sense in Romans (Ro 10:19; Ro 11:11; Ro 11:14) where the idea is to make the Jews jealous and want salvation (Yeshua) as their possession and experience. Does my life make anyone (Jew or Gentile) "jealous" and stir in them a desire for Jesus? Parazeloo is a Greek infinitive with a preposition (eis = unto, toward) and carries the idea of purpose. It is of interest that parazeloo is used only in 6 verses in the Septuagint but 3 times in Psalm 37 (Ps. 37:1; Ps. 37:7; Ps. 37:8). In both classical Greek and the Septuagint parazēloō means “provoke to jealousy” or, less frequently, “to emulate, imitate” (Liddell-Scott). We are not stronger than He, are we? - That this question is rhetorical is an understatement! God is omnipotent. Our feeble existence depends on Him, for as Hebrews 1:3+ says the Lord Jesus Christ "upholds all things by the word of His power" and "in Him all things hold together." (Col 1:17+). In other words, we could lift our little finger if He did not allow it! Take a moment to read through the abbreviated history of God's jealousy in the Old Testament as shown in the related passages above. Paul had earlier written that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger (ischuros) than men." (1Co. 1:25+) and "God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong (ischuros)" (1 Cor 1:27+). In 1 Cor 4:10 Paul had sarcastically written to arrogant Corinthians "We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong (ischuros); you are distinguished, but we are without honor." (1Co. 4:10+) Stronger (mighty) (2478) (ischuros from ischuo = to be able) is an adjective which means strong, powerful, mighty (usually referring to inherent physical strength), able, forcible. Ischuros places “stress on the actual power that one possesses rather than on the mere principle of power. Uses of ischuros in the Corinthian letters - 1Co. 1:25; 1Co. 1:27; 1Co. 4:10; 1 Co. 10:22; 2 Co. 10:10; (The other NT uses - Note concentration in the Revelation - Matt. 3:11; Matt. 12:29; Mk. 1:7; Mk. 3:27; Lk. 3:16; Lk. 11:21; Lk. 11:22; Lk. 15:14; Heb. 5:7; Heb. 6:18; Heb. 11:34; 1 Jn. 2:14; Rev. 5:2; Rev. 6:15; Rev. 10:1; Rev. 18:2; Rev. 18:8; Rev. 18:10; Rev. 18:21; Rev. 19:6; Rev. 19:18) 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Amplified All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]. Wuest All things are permissible but not all things are profitable or expedient. All things are permissible, but not all things promote growth in Christian character. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) Zodhiates All things are permissible to me, but all things do not contribute to the common good. All things are permissible to me, but not all things build up. NET 1 Corinthians 10:23 "Everything is lawful," but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is lawful," but not everything builds others up. NLT 1 Corinthians 10:23 You say, "I am allowed to do anything"-- but not everything is good for you. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"-- but not everything is beneficial. ESV 1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. NIV 1 Corinthians 10:23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. GNT 1 Corinthians 10:23 Πάντα ἔξεστιν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πάντα συμφέρει· πάντα ἔξεστιν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πάντα οἰκοδομεῖ. KJV 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. YLT 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things to me are lawful, but all things are not profitable; all things to me are lawful, but all things do not build up; ASV 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful; but not all things edify. CSB 1 Corinthians 10:23 "Everything is permissible," but not everything is helpful. "Everything is permissible," but not everything builds up. MIT 1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful," but not everything is beneficial. "All things are lawful," but not everything is uplifting. NKJ 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. NRS 1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. NAB 1 Corinthians 10:23 "Everything is lawful," but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is lawful," but not everything builds up. NJB 1 Corinthians 10:23 'Everything is permissible'; maybe so, but not everything does good. True, everything is permissible, but not everything builds people up. GWN 1 Corinthians 10:23 Someone may say, "I'm allowed to do anything," but not everything is helpful. I'm allowed to do anything, but not everything encourages growth. BBE 1 Corinthians 10:23 We are free to do all things, but there are things which it is not wise to do. We are free to do all things, but not all things are for the common good. things are lawful: 1Co 6:12 1Cor 8:9 Ro 14:15,20 edify: 1Co 8:1 14:3-5,12,17,26 Ro 14:19 15:1,2 2Co 12:19 Eph 4:29 1Th 5:11 1Ti 1:4 1 Corinthians 10 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 1 Corinthians 6:12+ All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 8:9+ But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. Romans 14:15+ For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Romans 14:20+ Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. LAWFUL BUT NOT NECESSARILY PROFITABLE! In 1 Cor 10:23-30 Paul gives basic principles to guide the believer's use of his or her liberty in a way that brings glory to God (1 Cor 10:31). Zodhiates - many things may be permissible for the Christian, it is not wise for him to live a life of reckless abandonment to self-satisfaction. To be pleasing to his heavenly Father, a Christian must pick and choose that which builds up not only himself, but also others who are members of the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1, Paul gives us rules that can serve as guidelines for individual decisions as to what is permissible and what is not in our redeemed lives. Henry

1 Coríntios 10

Spurgeon - You see, then, dear brethren, that the possession of privileges is not everything. Paul would not have us to be ignorant that all those, who were with Moses in the wilderness, had privileges of a very high order. Did they not all pass through the Red Sea, and so escape from their powerful and cruel foes? Did they not all drink of water which gushed forth from the flinty rock? Were they not all fed with manna from heaven? Yet their privileges did not save them, for while they had the five privileges mentioned in the previous four verses, they fell into the five great sins of which we are about to read; and so, their privileges, instead of being a blessing to them, only increased their condemnation. Nevertheless (but - alla) - A strong Term of contrast. Remember that a contrast often signals a "change of direction," and here is a tragic turn from God's provisions for Israel (1 Cor 10:1-4) to God's displeasure with Israel. In short this verse begins Paul's sobering warnings to the saints at Corinth! With most of them - Note Paul does not say with "some of them," but most of them, most of the nation of Israel that came out of Egypt, Moses recording "your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from 20 years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me." Paul says most but that is an understatement to put it mildly for in fact only 2 who came out of Egypt actually entered the promised land, Joshua and Caleb (cf Nu 14:30+). Brian Bell - Most of them? - There’s an understatement! They estimate 3 million left Egypt…How many of this generation entered into the land?…2!!! (Joshua & Caleb) This had to be an eye opener for the Corinthians. All these bodies full of miraculous food-drink, now strewn all over the desert. Not well pleased – They failed to please God! Paul’s point – Having privileges doesn’t guarantee successful living! Most (pleion) is the comparative adjective from polus which means much or many. Pleion refers to some more or greater in number (or magnitude as in Jn 21:15) Paul used pleion in 1 Cor 9:19 "so that I may win more (pleion)" and again in 1 Cor 15:6 "He appeared to more (pleion) than 500 brethren at one time." (cf all uses in Corinthian letters - 2 Cor 2:6 = "the majority" 2 Cor 4:15 = "to more [pleion] and more people," 2 Cor 9:2 = "stirred up most of them") God was (absolutely) not well-pleased - Amplified = "God was not pleased with the great majority of them." Not is toward the front of the Greek sentence for emphasis! God did not delight in them and thus they incurred not His approval but His disapproval. Lesson? Great spiritual privileges are no guarantee one will lead a holy life. Well-pleased (take pleasure, be well pleased) (2106) eudokeo from eu = good + dokeo = thought) from eu = well, good + dokeo = to think) means literally to think well of and so to be well pleased, to take pleasure or delight in (This is the sense in which eudokeo is used in Heb 10:38). The idea is to find satisfaction in something or someone or to view with approval. To delight means to take great pleasure, to give keen enjoyment, to provide a high degree of gratification. Eudokeo - Mt 3:17; Mt 12:18; Mt 17:5; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22; Lk 12:32; Ro 15:26; Ro 15:27; 1 Co 1:21; 1 Co 10:5; 2 Co 5:8; 2 Co 12:10; Gal 1:15; Col 1:19; 1 Th 2:8; 1 Th 3:1; 2 Th 2:12; Heb 10:6; Heb 10:8; Heb 10:38; 2 Pe 1:17 For (gar) term of explanation in this case giving explaining the dire consequences of God's displeasure. In the next verse Paul begins to explain why God was not well-pleased. They were laid low in the wilderness - Laid low gives us a striking picture of the desert strewn with corpses that were left unburied! This is the very picture presented in Numbers 14:16+ Moses explaining that "Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered (Septuagint = katastronnumi) them in the wilderness." For 40 years, the dead bodies of the unbelieving, disobedient ("disobedient" ~ "unbelief" in Heb 3:18-19+) were scattered over the wilderness. Try to picture hundreds of thousands of dead corpses littered and strewn all over the desert. This is not simply a natural death but represents God’s sentence against the unfaithful, rebellious Israelites. The average funeral rate for the forty years was one funeral every thirty seconds. Only two men were allowed to go into the Promised Land after the forty years. Joshua and Caleb were the men that wanted to enter the land when the others did not. Those who disobeyed the Lord and did not follow His will were disqualified. The average funeral rate for the forty years was one funeral every thirty seconds. In the context of Paul's warning that the saints at Corinth might be disqualified, Paul teaches that most of Israel was in a sense "disqualified." The warning is clear, for Israel "misused and abused their freedom and their blessings. In self-centeredness and self-will they tried to live on the edge of their liberty, and they fell into temptation and then into sin. Overconfidence was their undoing." (MacArthur) Godet - What a spectacle is that which is called up by the apostle before the eyes of the self-satisfied Corinthians: all those bodies, sated with miraculous food and drink, strewing the soil of the desert!” ESV Study Bible - Though they had seen many of God’s miracles, only a few had genuine faith... Hebrews 3:16-19+ For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 4:2+ For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. John MacArthur makes an interesting statement that "Many of the disqualified Israelites were believers who became unfit for God’s service. They became what Paul elsewhere refers to as vessels of dishonor." (MNTC-1 Cor - bolding mine) While I seldom disagree with MacArthur, my question is where is the Scriptural support that many of the Israelites were genuine believers in Messiah, especially since Paul says with MOST God was not well-pleased? I am not saying that is not a possibility (certainly Moses, Aaron, Mariam, but just wonder where that is clearly stated in Scripture. (If you find a passage supporting the premise that many of the Israelites were saved please send me a message and I will amend this comment. Thank you). Laid low (2693)(katastronnumi from kata = down + stronnuo = to spread as coats Mt 21:8) means literally to cover by spreading over with something as by scattering on the ground. To lay low, as if by a hurricane, figuratively to strike down, to annihilate. Figuratively and passive of dead bodies left to lie about over an area. In the Septuagint = Nu 14:16+, Job 12:23. This is the only NT use. Rod Mattoon writes that "Paul was reminding all of us with the lessons of the past that doubt, disbelief, and disobedience can lead to disqualification in serving Christ. Opportunities for reaping God's blessings can be lost when we are fretful and faithless. Don't forget Paul's admonition and warning, " But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (1 Corinthians 9:27)." (Treasures) Jude explains why the first generation of Israelites was laid low - Jude 1:5+ Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed (apollumi) those who did not believe (pisteuo). Comment - Belief that is genuine should issue in obedience as one's general lifestyle. It does not mean we will obey perfectly, but it means the general direction of our life is to obey God and His Word. We will slip and we will fall. Proverbs 24:15 says "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity." In the case of Israel, the majority did not believe God (they were without faith) and as Hebrews 11:6+ says "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." In short, they missed out on God's reward, the right to enter the Promised Land because they failed to believe in Him and in His promises. James Smith - OVERTHROWN BY SIN. 1 Corinthians 10:5-15 They went up out of Egypt a mixed multitude (Numbers 11:4), but not a man of them saw Caleb and Joshua enter into the promised possession (Numbers 26:65) What a warning we have here against secret sin, which leads to backsliding and to final overthrow I. Who were They that Fell in the Wilderness? They had been— 1. Saved out of Egypt. They passed through the sea, and knew something of the God of Deliverance. They had identified themselves with the ransomed host. 2. Baptized into the Name of the God-appointed leader, acknowledging his authority, and professedly his followers. 3. In Full Communion. They did all eat of the same bread and drank from the same Rock (1 Cor 10:3, 4). What privileges were theirs, but how hollow their profession. II. Their Failure. It was great, and brought fatal results. "They were overthrown in the wilderness," There fell on one day twenty-three thousand (v. 8). The character of their failure as backsliders may be seen in that they— 1. Displeased God. With many of them God was not well pleased (1 Cor 10:5). God's displeasure may not be apparent for a time, as He is slow to anger, but if not repented of will certainly ripen into judgment. 2. Missing the Mark. The mark was the Land of Promise, but they missed it because of their unbelief (Jude 3). They failed because they lost their faith in God. 3. Premature Death. Every one of them died, we might say, before their time. God was willing to bring them into the "good land," but evil slays the wicked (Psalm 34:21). Those who wander in heart away from God scarcely realize how they are cutting short their lives. III. The Causes of Failure. They are many, but all have their root in heart-departure from the Living God, by ceasing to honor and obey His Word. Their sins are the sins of many in our own day, who have turned aside in heart from following the Lord. 1. They Lusted after Forbidden Things (1 Cor 10:6). The pleasures of the old unregenerate life are longed for, the bread of God has become stale (Numbers 11:4), God Himself has become unreal. 2. They Worshiped Other Gods (1 Cor 10:7). When any other object is loved and honored more than the Lord our God, then we are idolaters, whether it be our business, our pleasures, our children, or ourselves. "He who loves any one or anything more than Me," says Christ, "is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:37, 38). 3. They Indulged in Social Impurity (1 Cor 10:8). This secret, soul-withering sin is without a covering in the eyes of God. "Be sure your sin will find you out." 4. They Murmured at the Providence of God (1 Cor 10:10). They murmured against Moses, against Aaron, against God's method of dealing with them, and became discontented even with the manna from Heaven (Numbers 14:2). When a professing Christian begins to murmur against God's servants, and to criticize and find fault with God's Word and message, be sure that in heart they are estranged from God, if they ever truly knew Him. IV. The Present Application. These things are all examples unto us (1 Cor 10:6-11). All sins, secret or open, have still the same effect in separating the soul from fellowship with God, and overthrowing the testimony of the life as a witness to the power of Christ. Discontent with the provision and promises of God is the blighted fruit of a doubting heart. Brethren, let us labor therefore to enter into that "rest of faith," lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief (Hebrews 4:11). "You stand by faith; be not high-minded, but fear" (Romans 11:20). "The end of all things is at hand: be you therefore sober, and watch unto prayer" (1 Peter 4:7). Table Talk - False Security 1 CORINTHIANS 10:1–5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:5). Returning to Corinthians today we see Paul turn from an admonition to run to a warning. The Corinthians, like many today, thought they were saved because they had made a profession of faith, because they attended church, because they partook of the Lord’s Supper, and “religious” reasons. But Paul warned them, and us, that outward manifestations and privileges of salvation did not actually save. Salvation does not mean you make a profession and then live how you want; it means you grow in Christ, persevere in holiness, and crucify the flesh. Obviously, this does not mean that a Christian is perfect; but it does mean that as long as he sits back on his laurels, disinterested in the things of God, sinning freely, refusing to fight the good fight and run the race, he cannot be assured of his salvation. (ED: I WOULD ADD GENUINE SALVATION IS NOT SHOWN BY PERFECTION, BUT IS SHOWN BY DIRECTION....OF ONE'S BEHAVIOR, PREDOMINANTLY GODLY OR UNGODLY) “The history of the church affords no incident better suited to enforce the necessity of guarding against false security, than that selected by the apostle,” Hodge wrote. “The Israelites doubtless felt as they stood on the other side of the Red Sea, that all danger was over, and that their entrance into the land of promise was secured. They had, however, a journey beset with dangers before them, and perished because they thought there was no need of exertion. So the Corinthians, when brought to the knowledge of the gospel, thought heaven secure. Paul reminds them that they had only entered on the way, and would certainly perish unless they exercised constant self-denial … It is only by constant self-denial and vigilance, that the promised reward can be obtained. This is the lesson the apostle intends to inculcate.” (Charles Hodge - 1 Corinthians 10 Commentary) Does this “constant self-denial” mean you are continuously in a state of self-denial? Of course not. Again, the Christian life is a struggle, but it is exactly the struggle that makes your life a Christian one. You are constantly seeking to put others first, to obey, even though you are battling remaining sin all the time. The Scriptures are filled with warnings to those who do not persevere in the race, who stray from godliness, who become lazy in their spiritual journey. If we ignore these warnings, we will end up like the Israelites who perished in the desert. They did not lose their salvation because of their negligence, but their negligence proved that they were never saved in the first place. (BOLDING ADDED - ED: AS EXPLAINED IN COMMENTS ON 1 Cor 9:27+, I FEEL DISQUALIFICATION IN THAT CONTEXT DID NOT SIGNIFY ONE WAS NEVER SAVED BUT DID SIGNIFY LOSS OF ABILITY TO SERVE IN THIS LIFE AND LOSS OF REWARDS IN THE ETERNAL LIFE.) CORAM DEO There is a great tension in the Christian life of “working out your salvation” and relying on God’s grace. Meditate on Php 2:12+ and Php 2:13+. Compare Php 2:12 and Php 2:13. Does Paul explain this paradox of human effort and God’s work? Why not? Pray for the grace to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (ED: See related discussion of "Paradoxical Principle of 100% Dependent and 100% Responsible" (100/100)) Related Resources: What is a profession of faith? | GotQuestions.org What is cheap grace? | GotQuestions.org Can a person believe in some sense but not be saved? | GotQuestions.org Why is faith without works dead? | GotQuestions.org 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Amplified Now these things are examples (warnings and admonitions) for us not to desire or crave or covet or lust after evil and carnal things as they did. Wuest Now, these things have been made examples for us to the end that we should not be those who have a passionate craving for evil things as also those had a passionate craving. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) Zodhiates - These things, therefore, became our examples so that we may not be desirous of bad things even as they desired.. NET 1 Corinthians 10:6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. NLT 1 Corinthians 10:6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, ESV 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. NIV 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. GNT 1 Corinthians 10:6 ταῦτα δὲ τύποι ἡμῶν ἐγενήθησαν, εἰς τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἐπιθυμητὰς κακῶν, καθὼς κἀκεῖνοι ἐπεθύμησαν. KJV 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. YLT 1 Corinthians 10:6 and those things became types of us, for our not passionately desiring evil things, as also these did desire. ASV 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. CSB 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things became examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did. MIT 1 Corinthians 10:6 These experiences of theirs have become analogies for us to the intent that unlike them, we should not hanker after evil things with intense cravings. NKJ 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. NRS 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. NAB 1 Corinthians 10:6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did. NJB 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these happenings were examples, for our benefit, so that we should never set our hearts, as they did, on evil things; GWN 1 Corinthians 10:6 These things have become examples for us so that we won't desire what is evil, as they did. BBE 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were for an example to us, so that our hearts might not go after evil things, as they did. These: 1Co 10:11 Zep 3:6,7 Heb 4:11 2Pe 2:6 Jude 1:7, 1 Cor 9:9-10 Examples, Ro 5:14 Heb 9:24 1Pe 3:21 Craved: Nu 11:4,31-34 Ps 78:27-31 Ps 106:14-15 1 Corinthians 10 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Romans 15:4+ For whatever was written in earlier times (aka the Old Testament) was written for our instruction (didaskalia), so that () through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Amplified of Romans 15:4 - For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by [our steadfast and patient] endurance and the encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope. NLT of Romans 15:4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled. 1 Corinthians 9:9-10 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He? 10Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. DANGER SIGNAL: DON'T CRAVE EVIL THINGS Brian Bell associates this passage with Israel's "Quail Bash" (see below). Matthew

1 Coríntios 10

Spurgeon - That is, to go through those unclean rites and ceremonies before their idols which are here called, “play.” Ah, dear friends, may God keep us from the worship of anything which we can see with our eyes, or hear with our ears! May we never become idolaters! You know, we can very easily make idols of our children; we can make idols of our own persons, we can make idols of our talents, of our respectability, and so forth. But, oh! it matters not what the idol is; it is no more pleasing to God if it be of silver and gold than if it were of the mud of the river. No: “Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them.” Do not be idolaters, as some of them were - The command is first in the sentence adding emphasis - Do not be is a command in the present imperative with a negative (see need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) calling for the Corinthians (and us) to stop entertaining idolatry, which some of them were apparently doing. As is a term of comparison. Notice that the word idolaters (eidololatres) is derived from the word for IDOL (eidolon) and the word for SERVANT (latris). Latris is from the noun latreia which describes the service that goes with worship. The point is that they did not just "worship." but served. Idolatry inherently includes enslavement. As Zodhiates says "eidololatres is one who bows the knee to an idol, as if it were God, and serves such an idol." No wonder God hates idolatry, for He wants us to serve only Him! Charles Swindoll says that "“An idol is anything that seizes the adoration that belongs to God. It can be a parent, a child, a spouse, a friend, a reputation, a goal…anything that takes Gods seat on the throne of our hearts!”" Some of them refers to the Israelites, so not all were idolaters. And this command is in the middle voice (reflexive), which means the subject chooses to initiate the action (in this case be an idolater) and participates in the (rotten) fruit of that action. The point is that they (and we) are personally responsible for making this choice and cannot blame it on anyone else. This is especially true if one is a believer - he will be held responsible for his choices. Remember that before one is saved we chased after sin but after salvation sin chases after us! One other point is that while idolaters emphasizes the idea of worship, the fact is that idolatry results in becoming entrapped in servitude to the idol (aka enslavement or bondage, cf Dt 4:19+, Dt 8:19, etc). Here Paul is saying that some of the Corinthians were chasing after the sin of idolatry and that action needed to cease! (And the same applies to our life if we are believers. We have the power to put to death that sin by calling on and depending on the Spirit - Ro 8:13+). Arnold - Paul was warning the Corinthians to avoid any type of idolatry, for they were being enticed back into the pagan temples. Brian Bell has a practical word on idolatry - We all worship! (all humanity are worshipers!) Peter Kreeft said, “The opposite of Christianity is not atheism but idolatry.” You may worship your mind/intellect; your own experience; scientific rationalism. But everyone has devoted themselves to some idol/god. Idolatry is taking a good thing & elevating it to a God thing.. They are really easy to identify idols in other cultures(H.K., India, Thailand,etc.) but often hard to dial into our own idols. We worship our sports teams, our fav bands, our career’s. Some worship their sexual exploits, their hard bodies, their job, their house. Some worship where they live/neighborhood, their car, their clothing/label. What idols do you need to pull down in your life? Zodhiates - The Corinthians lived in a predominantly idolatrous environment. Today, as one visits ancient Corinth, two sights are conspicuous. One is the huge Temple of Aphrodite high on a hill overlooking ancient Corinth which is called Acrocorinth. In this temple a thousand prostitutes served as priestesses. The second impressive sight is the remaining columns of a beautiful temple dedicated to Apollo, the god of light, health and healing, music, poetry, prophecy, etc. Only in 1 Corinthians 8:10 is an idol temple (eidōleion [1493]) mentioned. Of the eleven times that word "idol" (eídōlon) occurs, it is found five of those times in Paul's Corinthian epistles (1 Cor. 8:4, 7; 10:19; 12:2; 2 Cor. 6:16). Of the ten times that the phrase "meat sacrificed to idols" (eidōlóthuton)) occurs in the New Testament, six of those times it is found in 1 Corinthians (8:1, 4, 7,10; 10:19, 28). Of the seven times that the word "idolater" (eidōlolátrēs) occurs in the New Testament, it appears four of those times in 1 Corinthians (5:10, 11; 6:9; 10:7). In 1 Corinthians 10:14 Paul denounces idolatry and urges the Corinthians to flee from it. The Corinthians lived in an idolatrous environment.

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Spurgeon - Fornication in God’s people is peculiarly black and filthy. In the ordinary man of the world, it is evil enough; but when a man professes to be a Christian, he must flee from even the very thought of it, and keep himself chaste, for his body is a temple of the Holy Ghost. Oh, may none of us ever come anywhere near to this great evil, but in purity of heart may we walk before our God! Jack Arnold - Some of the Corinthians were flirting with temple worship and with the temple worship came sexual immorality. Surely, this would invite the judgment of God on them. We Christians live in a sexually corrupt country. America has bowed its knee to the god of sex. If we Christians choose to participate in this evil life style, God will be displeased and may disqualify us from the spiritual race. Are a few moments of pleasure worth this severe discipline?

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Spurgeon - It is a dreadful habit to get into,— that of complaining against God. Occasional murmuring is doubtless sinful, but habitual murmuring becomes a very great evil. I am afraid that there are some who cavil at God’s providence, and cavil at his Word, till they come to be cavillers and nothing else; and what good is a man who can do nothing else but carp, and cavil, and criticize? O beloved, “neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.” In 1 Cor 11:1+ Paul commands the Corinthians (and us) to "Be (present imperative see need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." And what was Paul's example? Instead of grumbling, Paul manifested contentment writing Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Php 4:11-13+) Related Resource: Christian Contentment Gotquestions notes that "while it is not wrong to complain to God, it is wrong to complain about God. Those that did so met the anger of the Lord, as was the case of Moses’ sister Miriam (Numbers 12) and Korah and Dathan (Numbers 16). But note that they spoke against God’s servant and, in doing so, spoke against God Himself." (What does the Bible say about complaining?) THOUGHT - Amidst the trials of your life, are you groaning or grumbling? How you answer that question reflects whether or not you understand and accept the fact that this earthly sojourn is God's time and means of making you Christlike in preparation for eternity. (Romans 8:28-30) (Facts of the Matter) Note why Paul commands the saints at Philippi not to even start grumbling, writring "Do (present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) all things without grumbling or disputing, (WHY? A HIGH AND HOLY PURPOSE) so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, (Php 2:14-15+) COMMENT: Grumbling is so significant because it dims our "light" to the lost world! As noted above, we need the Spirit's enabling power not to grumble (you never grumble do you?)! And in the immediately preceding context Paul describes God's gracious provision writing that "God (HIS HOLY SPIRIT) is (CONTINUALLY ENERGIZING) working in you, giving you the DESIRE (THE "WANT TO" - OUR FLESH DOES NOT "WANT TO!") and the POWER (dunamis - INHERENT POWER TO ACCOMPLISH SUPERNATURALLY WHAT WE CANNOT ACCOMPLISH NATURALLY!) to do what pleases him (Phi 2:13 NLT+). Grumble (1111) gogguzo means to murmur, mutter, make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath. In 1 Co 10:10 it is used with idea of complaint (cf Nu 11:1). Gogguzo is an onomatopoeic word derived from the sound made when murmuring or muttering in a low and indistinct voice with the idea of complaint. In short this word gives us a vivid picture to help us imagine this scene of religious hypocrites making audible expressions of their dissatisfaction with Jesus and His acceptance of a despised tax collector even to the point of willingness to fellowship over a meal with him! Philosophers also warned against grumbling, noting that one ought to accept whatever the gods and Fate would send. Webster's English Dictionary has this note on grumble - to complain in a low harsh voice and often in a surly manner <workers grumbling about the low wages. Synonyms include croak, grouch, grouse, grunt, murmur, mutter, scold; compare complain, bellyache, crab, fuss, gripe, holler, squawk, whine; groan, moan; complain, kick. Gene Brooks in the LXX gogguzo is used to describe the murmuring of Israel in the Wilderness (Ex. 15:24; 16:7-12; 17:3; Num 11:1; 14:2, 27-29, 36;16:11, 14; 17:5, 10) and of Israel’s rebellion against God (Ps 59:15; Ps106:25; 1 Cor 10:10). Destroyer (3644)(olothreutes from olethros = destruction, death, used in Heb 11:28+ to describe the "destroyer") destroyer; in the NT an angel sent as the agent of divine punishment. Only here in the NT and not found in Septuagint. The related verb olethreuo (not found in the NT) is used in Ex 12:23+ to describe the "destroyer" Another sources says the destroyer is "Perhaps a reference to the angel of destruction whom the rabbis called Mashhith" (Destroying Angel - Wikipedia). McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Destroyer = (מִשְׁחַית )PM, mashchith', Exodus 12:23; — λοθρευτής, 1 Corinthians 10:10), an exterminator (see Bromel, De angelo exterminatore, Jen. 1685; also in the Thesaur. Theol. philolog. V. T. 1:301 sq.). The Hebrews were accustomed by a figure to speak of any superhuman agency as that of an angel (see George Bush Note on Exodus 3:2); and whenever this had a providential aspect it was attributed to a divine messenger (2 Kings 19:35; 2 Samuel 24:15,"16; Psalms 78:49; Acts 12:23). (See ANGEL). Even Satan's malignity is represented as thus employed (Job 2:6-7). (See also International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Destroyer) MURMURING AGAINST GOD - Exodus 5:22,23; 16:8,12; Numbers 14:26-37; 17:10,11; Job 15:11-13; 33:12,13; 34:37; Psalm 37:1; 44:9-26; 73:13-22; Ps 78:17-21; Proverbs 19:3; Ecclesiastes 7:10; Jeremiah 15:10; Lamentations 3:39; Malachi 3:14; Luke 10:40; Romans 9:19,20; 1 Corinthians 10:10; Philippians 2:14; James 5:9; Jude 1:16 International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - MURMUR - The Hebrew word ( לוּן , lūn ) denotes the semi-articulated mutterings of disaffected persons. It is used in connection with the complaints of the Israelites in the desert against Yahweh on the one hand, and against Moses and Aaron on the other hand Exodus 16:7-8; Numbers 14:27, Numbers 14:36; Numbers 16:11; Numbers 17:5 . In three places Dt 1:27; Ps 106:25; Isa 29:24 , "murmur" translates a Hebrew word (רגן , rāghan) which suggests the malicious whispering of slander. In the New Testament "murmur" renders two different words, namely, γογγύζω , goggúzō , and ἐμβριμάομαι , embrimáomai . The latter word suggests indignation and fault-finding ( Mark 14:4 the King James Version). The former word (or a compound of it) is generally used in connection with the complainings of the Pharisees and scribes Matthew 20:11; Luke 5:30; Luke 15:2; Luke 19:7 . Related Resource: What does the Bible say about complaining? (aka "Grumbling or Murmuring") | GotQuestions.org

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Spurgeon - The apostle has told us that before, but he tells it to us again, to warn us, by these beacons, lest we come to a similar destruction to that which befell those ancient unbelievers....They were like a ‘book in which we might read our own history in large characters. We see ourselves foreshadowed in them, and we read our happiness or our misery in their behaviour. And they were written - How sad that some preachers today denigrate the study of the Old Testament (cf Andy Stanley), a false teaching that directly counters Paul's words in this passage! It is as if folks like Stanley are saying "Well yes they were written but they are not really helpful for modern Christian living." (See resources below) For our instruction - Amplified = "were written to admonish and fit us for right action by good instruction." Instruction (see more below) is teaching, yes, but it has a deeper meaning of conveying an an admonition or warning, exactly the intent of Paul's preceding 4 examples of Israel's sad sins. The noun nouthesia describes "ethical and corrective instruction in regard to belief or behavior." (Friberg). Instruction "is counsel given to persuade a person to change behavior in light of judgment." (MacArthur) He who fails to learn from spiritual history is doomed to relive it. Zodhiates adds nouthesia "is any word of encouragement or reproof which leads to correct behavior and results in a proper mind-setting (cf uses in Eph 6:4, Titus 3:10)....The Apostle Paul lets us know that our minds must be set on a path that is pleasing to the Lord and under control. As a little child must learn to control himself, so must we in our Christian walk." We cannot test God and grumble, disregarding His abundant and miraculous care of us, and experience no repercussions. The eternal law of sowing and reaping stated by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:7 holds firm: "Be you not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap." One difficulty in fully comprehending this law is that in the physical world it does not always take long to reap the results of that which we sow. If we disobey the law of gravity and decide to test it and throw ourselves from a high place, we shall instantly be injured or even killed. If we touch fire, we shall be burned immediately. But when we disobey the spiritual laws of God, His mercifulness and long-suffering enter into the picture. In His mercy, He postpones the results of our spiritual disobedience. Warning (3559) (nouthesia from noutheteo= literally "put in mind" from noús = mind + títhemi = to place or put -- it describes exertion of influence upon nous implying resistance) is any word of encouragement or reproof which leads to correct behavior. It conveys the idea of giving one counsel about avoiding or ceasing an improper course of conduct. Nouthesia can mean advise given concerning dangerous consequences of a happening or action. TDNT writes that the related verb noutheteo…"means “to impart understanding,” “to set right,” “to lay on the heart.” The stress is on influencing not merely the intellect but the will and disposition. The word thus acquires such senses as “to admonish,” “to warn,” “to remind,” and “to correct.” It describes a basic means of education. Philo and Clement of Alexandria speak about God or Christ warning, censuring, and encouraging us in this way. The idea is not that of punishment but of a moral appeal that leads to amendment. In this sense it takes on the meaning “to discipline.” Philosophy, however, does not use it technically for its own work. Nouthesia - 3x in NT - 1 Co. 10:11; Eph. 6:4; Titus 3:10. Paul had used the root verb earlier in 1 Cor 4:14+ = " I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish (noutheteo) you as my beloved (agapetos) children." Related Resource: What is nouthetic counseling? | GotQuestions.org Zodhiates - Although those events took place many years ago, they are definitely related to our present life and our future destiny. Madame Chiang Kai-shek said, "We live in the present, we dream of the future, but we learn eternal truths from the past." And again, as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., declared, "A page of history is worth a volume of logic." Upon whom the ends (telos) of the ages (aion) have come - We are in the age of grace, the age that will (soon) end when Messiah returns to vindicate His Name and His claim on planet earth and set up His Millennial Kingdom in which His saints will rule with Him. One has to wonder how being "disqualified" in this age (while we are still alive) will impact our enjoyment of His Kingdom and thereafter our enjoyment of eternity. (Just wondering).Have come means "to come down to a meeting (LOVE THIS ONE - THERE IS A "MEETING" COMING, A MEETING IN THE AIR! 1 Th 4:17+ WHEN WE "MEET [apantesis] THE LORD IN THE AIR!" AT THE END OF THIS AGE), to arrive at a goal, to come to." Have come is in the perfect tense indicating it began to come to an end in the past (presumably at the First Coming of Christ which marked the beginning of the "Last Days" - cf Heb. 1:2+) and it is in force or as Zodhiates says "has arrived and is already here." In other words we are now living in the "Last Days." One source says the end of the ages "In Jewish writing the term means the beginning of redemption or the time of the Messiah’s appearing or “the end,”" Paul believed he and his readers were living in the Last Days of world history before the breaking in of the Messianic Age Reformation Study Bible has an interesting note - This statement reflects Paul’s conviction that the coming of Christ inaugurated the “Last Days” (Heb. 1:2+), the time when the great promises of the Old Testament come to pass (cf. 1 Cor 1:20+). By pointing out this theme, Paul helps the Corinthians to realize that the Old Testament events looked forward and applied to them. Moreover, these facts suggest that, given their privileged position, the Corinthians ought to recognize their greater responsibility (cf. Heb. 11:39-40+). MacArthur on the ends of the ages - The ends of the ages refers to the time of Messiah, the time of redemption, the Last Days of world history before the messianic kingdom comes. We are living in a greatly different age from that of the Hebrews in the wilderness under Moses, but we can learn a valuable lesson from their experience. Like them we can forfeit our blessing, reward, and effectiveness in the Lord’s service if, in overconfidence and presumption, we take our liberties too far and fall into disobedience and continual, unrepentant sin. We will not lose our salvation, but we can easily lose our virtue and our usefulness (contrast those who are useful - 2 Ti 2:21+), and become disqualified in the race of the Christian life. Have come (2658) (katantao from katá intensifier + antáo = meet) means to come to or to arrive at and literally referred to finishing a journey or arrive at one's destination. It denotes movement towards a goal, the goal in this case being the return of the Redeemer to set up His righteous kingdom. As alluded to above this verb katantao is related to the word for "meeting," apantesis, (apó = from + antáo = to come opposite to, meet face to face), apantesis describing especially a meeting of two who are coming from different directions! (see 1 Th 4:17+) Related Resource: Jared Wilson - 3 Nagging Problems with Andy Stanley’s Approach to the Bible Thomas Schreiner - The Old Covenant Is Over. The Old Testament Is Authoritative. Michael J Kruger Why We Can’t Unhitch from the Old Testament Heed The Warning Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1,5-11 | Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 14-15; Luke 22:21-46 These things . . . were written for our admonition. —1 Corinthians 10:11 In the months following the devastating Asian tsunami of December 2004, an amazing story of survival emerged from Simeulue Island, the closest inhabited land to the epicenter of the earthquake. A news report said that only 7 of the remote Indonesian island’s 75,000 inhabitants died when 30-foot waves struck just half an hour after the quake. For decades, the people had heard stories told by their grandparents of giant waves that killed thousands on this same island in 1907. So when the ground shook and the sea retreated from the shore, the people recalled their grandparents’ warnings and fled to high ground. First Corinthians 10 describes a spiritual disaster we can avoid. After the people of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt, they continued to turn away from the Lord. Recounting their recurring self-indulgence and its disastrous results, Paul wrote: “Now these things became our examples . . . . And they were written for our admonition” (vv.6,11). The story of their failure has been preserved so we can avoid the same disaster of disobedience. If there are warning signs in our lives today, it’s time to run from self-destructive sin to the high ground of God’s forgiving grace. The Bible is filled with example and teaching On how to avoid all the pitfalls of sin; And if we will learn from its people and precepts, The struggles and battles of life we can win. —Hess A warning heeded is a disaster avoided. Tell Me The Story Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 63-65; Romans 6 All these things happened to them as examples, and . . . for our admonition. —1 Corinthians 10:11 Now that I have grandkids, I’m back into the classic children’s Bible stories. Wide-eyed stories like David and Goliath, Noah’s ark, and Jonah and the big fish quickly capture a child’s imagination! But there’s a danger here—not with the stories themselves but rather with our attitude toward them. If we view them simply as kids’ stories, kind of like the Grimm’s Fairy Tales of the Bible, we miss the point. The stories of the Bible were never meant to be outgrown. There are profound lessons to be learned from the amazing accounts of those who faced giants, floods, and fish! Hundreds of years after the fact, the apostle Paul explained that the things that happened to Moses and the Israelites as they wandered through the desert “happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition” (1 Cor. 10:11). These stories are about us. They mirror the tensions we face daily as we too seek to apply God’s will and ways to the realities of our lives. They teach us of the treachery of sin, our desperate need to trust God unflinchingly, and the importance of staying faithful and true to Him regardless of what happens. Don’t ignore the old stories. You might be surprised what God wants to teach you through them. We learn the blessed Word of God To fix it firmly in our heart, And when we act upon that Word Its truth from us will not depart. —D. De Haan Stories from the past can give us pointers for the present. Real People Read: Psalm 78:1-8 All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition. —1 Corinthians 10:11 Author Ronald Rood visited a class of second-graders and gave a slide presentation of a Hawaiian volcano. The pictures showed molten lava pouring into the sea and steam rising a mile into the air. The scene was so graphic that the children could almost hear the roar. Rood then passed around a piece of lava for the youngsters to examine. After it was handled by two dozen hands, one little boy brought the rock back to the front. Carefully cradling it in his hand, he exclaimed with wide eyes, “Mr. Rood, it’s still warm!” That’s the power of imagination! If only the biblical accounts of God’s people would come alive like that to us. The reality expressed in the stories of the Bible needs to take hold of us. Moses, for instance, knew what it was like to feel insecure. The people he led out of Egypt cried hot, salty tears that left streaks on their windblown faces. Their hearts pounded when they were scared. Their heads hurt when they were tired and hungry. The vessels in their necks bulged when they were angry. Their eyes watered when they laughed. The people of the Bible were real. Let’s ask God to make their experiences come alive to us, so we can learn from their examples (1 Corinthians 10:11). —MRD II The stories in the Word of God Are there for us to see How God has worked in people's lives Throughout all history. —Sper People from the past can give us pointers for the present. J I Packer - 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11 The Bible is as truly a people book as it is a God book, and one of the most interesting and fruitful ways of reading it is to study what it has to say about life. In the Bible you meet all sorts of people, some of them the most vital, virile, forthright, fascinating people you can imagine. And as you read their stories, you learn a great deal about the right way to live and the wrong way to live (or the many wrong ways to live)—both the pitfalls of which life is full and the triumphs in God that those who live rightly may experience. The Bible is focused on people: people to whom God spoke, who either did or did not respond, who obeyed or disobeyed, who found life, who missed life, who entered into spiritual triumph, who experienced spiritual disaster. Studying Bible people is a good way to learn how to serve God. Billy Graham - Learning from Bad Examples These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us. 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11 NIV I find it very encouraging that God included real-life, flesh-and-blood, sinful people in His Word. David committed adultery, Abraham lied about his wife—the list goes on and on. Why are they in the Bible? So we will learn from their wrongdoings. One lesson is that sin always has consequences. Take David. He was a great leader and a good man in many ways. But over the years he became complacent, and instead of carrying out his responsibilities, he fell into immorality (2 Samuel 11–12). And consider the tragic consequences of his sin. Not only did the child born of that illicit union die, but David committed other sins—lying, murder—in a vain attempt to cover up his adultery. Furthermore, his influence for good was lost, and his latter years as king were marked by rebellion and tragedy. God has much to teach us from the examples of His people who failed. But most of all His Word points us to Christ, who alone can forgive us and set our feet on the right path. David Jeremiah - SCRIPTURE All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11 It’s easy for Christians to focus solely on reading the New Testament, thinking the Old Testament was only for Israel. But the apostle Paul discounts that notion when he writes that “all Scripture . . . is profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16). And remember: he is referring to the Old Testament since the New Testament was only coming into existence in his day. A good example of Paul practicing what he preached is in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, which contains warnings for Christians in Corinth from Israel’s history. When we are seeking guidance from God, we can find principles to inform our decisions from all parts of Scripture. Paul warns the Corinthians about idolatry, sexual immorality, testing the Lord, and grumbling by citing instances of the same in Israel’s history. By seeing how swiftly God dealt with Israel in these areas of life, we are warned —and guided —to err on the side of safety. Even the “appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22, KJV) should serve as a warning: flee! If all Scripture is profitable, we will profit from guidance gleaned from all sixty-six books. Charles Stanley - KEY VERSE: 1 Corinthians 10:11 All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. A major function of the Holy Spirit is to guide God’s children. But too often the leadership of the Spirit is ascribed to methods and sources of which the Father has no part. In Knowing God, J. I. Packer helps us to understand the fundamental error and make the proper course correction: Earnest Christians seeking guidance often go wrong about it. They look for a will–o’–the–wisp; they overlook the guidance that is ready to hand, and lay themselves open to all sorts of delusion. Their basic mistake is to think of guidance as essentially inward prompting by the Holy Spirit, apart from the written Word. The true way to honor the Holy Spirit as our guide is to honor the Holy Scriptures through which He guides us. The fundamental guidance which God gives to shape our lives … is not a matter of inward promptings apart from the Word but of the pressure on our consciences of the portrayal of God’s character and will in the Word.… The Spirit leads within the limits which the Word sets, not beyond them. O Lord, I haven’t passed this way before. Guide me this day by Your Holy Spirit. Lead me within the limits set by Your Word. Don’t let me stray beyond them. H A

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Spurgeon says "A man says, "I have great faith, I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never shall." "I have fervent love," says another, "I can stand, there is no danger of my going astray." He who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of....Our baptism, participation in the Lord's Supper, and other privileges, may make us think ourselves secure, but we must take heed, for far more is needed. Table Talk - No matter how strong you think you are, no matter how many sins you have overcome in the past, you should not let down your guard, you should never assume that you are beyond temptation. In another note Spurgeon says "We also are to take heed lest we fall, especially those of us who think we are standing securely. You have seen how terrible was the fate of those unbelievers in the wilderness, who never entered into Canaan, but left their carcases in the desert; now Paul urges us, with such beacons to warn us, to take heed lest we also fall as they did." Zodhiates asks "Who does Paul have in mind? He is thinking of the person who considers himself strong enough to sit in the midst of idolaters and enjoy the meat at the idol temple (1 Cor. 8:10), who thinks that he stands so firmly that he can disregard his environment. The Apostle Paul wants us to use our minds, to think carefully, and not to simply suppose that we are well-grounded. We are to make sure of our foundation....The danger is in thinking that one is standing securely and can run the race well that God has set before him, that he is strong enough and does not need to practice or exercise self-control (1 Cor. 9:25). It is as if Paul were saying, Do not run the race if you are running on presumed strength. You will fall during your race and put to shame the name of Christ and His strength which you think you have.....Paul wants us not to simply think that we stand, but to be certain that we do. He who merely thinks he stands may fall, but he who is solidly grounded on the Lord Jesus Christ will not fall. Larry Richards - These experiences should serve as a warning to those Corinthians who are so sure of their doctrinal correctness. Those who “think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall!”Being “right” is no guarantee we won’t sin! Swindoll - The point of Paul’s typological application (see note above) of the tragic events following the Hebrews’ exodus rang loud and clear. The Corinthians were headed for a similar kind of judgment by the hand of God if they didn’t repent of their own lust, idolatry, immorality, unfaithfulness, and grumbling. In the name of celebrating their liberty from the Law, forgiveness of past, present, and future sins, and their freedom of conscience in Christ, the Corinthians participated in idolatrous practices at the local temples. As Paul explains, this was just one curve on the downward spiral into the pit of demon worship. Believing that their baptism in the Holy Spirit, seal of water baptism, and participation in the grace-giving life of the church provided them an infinite expense account to spend on sin, the Corinthians received a sobering warning from Paul to shock them out of their twisted theology (Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary – 1 & 2 Corinthians) Brian Bell illustrates this verse by asking "Do you think you are an impregnable fortress? Sardis – Rev.3:3 told to “Be watchful.” Sardis was an acropolis, built on a jutting spur of rock, & was impregnable…until Cyrus came along (549bc). He offered a reward to any that could get in. A soldier named Hyeroeades saw a soldier of Sardis accidentally drop his helmet over the edge. When he went down for it, he marked his path. That night he led a band up the cliff by that very path. They found it unguarded – captured the citadel – which was counted too safe!. Take heed Corinthians! Take heed individual believers! Take heed (look, beware, take care) (991) blepo basically means to have sight, to see, to look at, then to observe, to discern, to perceive with the eye, and frequently implies special contemplation (e.g., often in the sense of “keep your eyes open,” or “beware” Seeing with the idea of "seeing to" something = Have your eye on so as to beware of. - to watch, to take heed, to take care. To see with the mind’s eye, to discern mentally, to turn the thoughts or direct the mind to a thing. TDNT says that like horao "blepo also means “to see” with a stronger emphasis on the function of the eye, so that it serves as the opposite of “to be blind.” Blepo It especially stresses the thought of the person who sees. It can also mean “to look at, watch” such as watching a woman with lustful intent (Mt 5:28) or looking at the “speck” in someone else’s eye (Mt 7:3). In secular Greek blepo was commonly used of bringing a ship to land… think of our life as a "ship of faith" moving through the fog, avoiding the dangerous reefs by keeping our focus on the Lighthouse on the shore. THOUGHT - Blepo is a KEY VERB in this letter for it is used 7 times (beginning, middle and end of the letter) and every use but one is a command in the present imperative which is calling for their continual attention, and reminding the Corinthians of their need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey. Oh how they need to depend on the Spirit to kill their sin lest it "kill" and disqualify them (cf Ro 8:13+). It is almost as if Paul was giving the church at Corinth a "watchword" to BEWARE! TAKE HEED! Is this not a good "watchword" for every believer of every age? (That is a rhetorical question of course!) 1 Corinthians 1:26+ For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 1 Corinthians 3:10+ According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 1 Corinthians 8:9+ But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 1 Corinthians 10:12+ Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 1 Corinthians 10:18+ Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 1 Corinthians 13:12+ For now we see (present tense) in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 1 Corinthians 16:10+ Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to be afraid, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am. C H Spurgeon - Devotional - "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."— 1 Corinthians 10:12 It is a curious fact, that there is such a thing as being proud of grace. A man says, "I have great faith, I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never shall." "I have fervent love," says another, "I can stand, there is no danger of my going astray." He who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of. Some who do this imagine that their graces can keep them, knowing not that the stream must flow constantly from the fountain head, or else the brook will soon be dry. If a continuous stream of oil comes not to the lamp, though it burn brightly to-day, it will smoke to-morrow, and noxious will be its scent. Take heed that thou gloriest not in thy graces, but let all thy glorying and confidence be in Christ and his strength, for only so canst thou be kept from falling. Be much more in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more carefully. Live nearer to God. Take the best examples for your pattern. Let your conversation be redolent of heaven. Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for men's souls. So live that men may take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus (Acts 4:13+), and have learned of Him; and when that happy day shall come, when He Whom you love shall say, "Come up higher," may it be your happiness to hear Him say, "Thou hast fought a good fight, thou hast finished thy course, and henceforth there is laid up for thee a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away." (2 Ti 4:7-8+) Amen! On, Christian, with care and caution! On, with holy fear and trembling! (Php 2:12+) On, with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, "Uphold me according to thy word." (Heb 1:3+) He is able (Heb 7:25+), and He Alone , "To keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." (Jude 1:24-25+) Related Resource: Forty Scripture Directions - John Willison, 1680-1750 Don’t Judge - It was F.B. Meyer, I believe, who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances. (Stephen Brown, Christianity Today) Henry Muller - ON THE DANGER OF FALLING YOU say, “I am a Christian; I have nothing to fear.” But on what is your confidence founded? Think not that profession is true faith. The word of God says, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling,” Psa. 2:11; and again, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” Phil. 2:12. He that thinketh he standeth, should take heed lest he fall, 1 Cor. 10:12. Be mindful of your weakness, that you may not be suddenly overtaken of a fault; and let your eye ever be directed to Him who alone can keep you from falling. When you see any one fall, think of your own danger. Fear God, and walk circumspectly, that you may not transgress his word. Try yourself often, whether your heart is right with God, and you are walking in the narrow way. Should you at any time be overtaken by a fault, take heed that you love not the sin, nor continue in it, but go forth with Peter, and weep bitterly; betake yourself again to the blood of the covenant; the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. And let your prayer ascend unto God with earnestness, that he would graciously increase your faith, and render you more watchful in future, and more simply dependent on him, that he may uphold you with his right hand. Then may you express your confident persuasion, with St. Paul, that nothing shall be able to separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Rom. 8:39. I will thus endeavour, by his grace, to keep myself; but should I fall, I will not cast away my confidence that God will raise me up again. I will go before him with a broken and a contrite heart, in the name of Jesus, and beseech him, for the sake of his well-beloved Son, to have mercy on me, and pardon my sin. I will not deem myself safe from the fear of evil, till I have fought the good fight, and kept the faith, and finished my course, and shall at length go to receive the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me in that day. Spurgeon - A caution to the presumptuous (from sermon) “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:12 These strong men sometimes will not use the means of grace, and therefore they fall. There are some persons here, who rarely attend a place of worship; they do not profess to be religious; but I am sure they would be astonished if I were to tell them, that I know some professedly religious people who are accepted in some churches as being true children of God, who yet make it a habit of stopping away from the house of God, because they conceive they are so advanced that they do not want it. You smile at such a thing as that. They boast such deep experience within; they have a volume of sweet sermons at home, and they will stop and read them; they need not go to the house of God, for they are fat and flourishing. They conceit themselves that they have received food enough seven years ago to last them the next ten years. They imagine that old food will feed their souls now. These are your presumptuous men. They are not to be found at the Lord’s table, eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ, in the holy emblems of bread and wine. You do not see them in their closets; you do not find them searching the Scriptures with holy curiosity. They think they stand—they shall never be moved; they fancy that means are intended for weaker Christians; and leaving those means, they fall. They will not have the shoe to put upon the foot, and therefore the flint cuts them; they will not put on the armour, and therefore the enemy wounds them—sometimes well-nigh unto death. In this deep quagmire of neglect of the means, many a proud professor has been smothered. Charles Trumbull -The Christian who is wholly trusting the Lord for victory soon realizes that many Christians about him have not seen the truth of victory, and are not thus trusting Christ. He may be in close contact with Christians who are older, much farther along in many ways, yet not living in the victory-secret that is so precious to him. And then comes the peril of pride. Almost without realizing it the Christian who knows Christ as victory can let slip some word criticizing a fellow Christian who is not in on the secret, or a condescending comment on such a one’s mistake or failure. “Holier than thou” is one of the perils of the Victorious Life. Of course the instant one speaks thus of another, or thinks in his inmost heart thus of another, his victory is gone; he has sinned. And we must recognize this peril if we would be kept from it. The Christian who is living in victory is in himself no whit better than the carnal Christian who is plainly sinning. The self-nature of the two is identical: hopelessly sinful. The only good thing about the victorious Christian is Christ; and we deserve no credit for Christ: the glory and honor and victory are all His. True victory, therefore, must keep us humble: and it will. Collapse After Carmel "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."1 Cor. 10:12 It is the day after the incident at Carmel, the red-letter day in Elijah's life up to now, and he is in full flight, running from a woman! Even at that, it is better to run from Jezebel than after her as in the case of Thyatira (Rev. 2:20), but Elijah has no business heading for the tall timber. Collapse so often follows Carmel. Look out after your big day! We worry about breaking down on a dull and tedious stretch but the most dangerous time is right after success. Peter reaches a mountain peak of confession with "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and within a few minutes he is daring to contradict the Lord! And the Lord who said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee" is compelled within a few minutes to cry, "Get thee behind me Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men"! (Matt. 16:16-24). Peter, the spokesman of God, becomes on the same occasion the spokesman of the devil, crashing from mountain peaks of confession to the swamps of contradiction within seven verses! Our Lord moved from the high day of baptism to the wilderness of temptation. We are tempted most at our strongest moments. The most dangerous time is not the hour of adversity but of success. You can fall farther from the roof of the house than from the front porch! Collapse may follow fast after Carmel. Watch and pray! (Celebrate Recovery Daily Devotional) Little Monsters - Nancy DeMoss Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12 MOST OF US have become so familiar with our sin that we no longer see it for the deadly monster it truly is—more dangerous than wild bears, more destructive than blazing forest fires. Ask Nebuchadnezzar, who lost his mind because he refused to deal with his pride. Ask Samson, who was reduced to a pathetic shred of a man because he never gained control over the lusts of his flesh. Ask Achan, Ananias, and Sapphira, who each lost their lives over “small,” secret sins. You may never crawl into bed with someone else’s mate, but your heart for God can be just as easily destroyed by allowing jealousy, anger, self-pity, worry, or gluttony to go unchecked in your life. Nineteenth-century Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle cautioned against being naïve toward sin’s influence and potential: “I fear we do not sufficiently realize the extreme subtlety of our soul’s disease. We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself to us in its true colours, saying, ‘I am your deadly enemy and I want to ruin you forever in hell.’ Oh, no! Sin comes to us, like Judas, with a kiss, and like Joab, with an outstretched hand and flattering words.” Are you content to maintain a “certain level of sin” in your life, keeping yourself convinced that you can tame and manage it? Mark it down: there is no such thing as a small sin. Every unconfessed sin is a seed that will inevitably produce a multiplied harvest. As Charles Spurgeon warned, “Those who tolerate sin in what they think to be little things will soon indulge it in greater matters.” Run to the cross; confess any sin the Holy Spirit has convicted you of, and trust Christ to root it out of your life—before the monster begins to outweigh you. Please, O Lord, may I never bring reproach to Your name by failing to take sin seriously, by clinging to even a single one. An Exalted View of Self “And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.” Luke 15:29–30 It is easy for us to look around and think that we are better than those around us, and not as much in need of God’s grace as they are. But while such proud thoughts are satisfying to our fallen nature, they are not in line with reality. Near the end of one of his best known poems, “To a Louse—On Seeing One on a Lady’s Bonnet at Church,” the Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote: O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! If we truly saw ourselves as God sees us (for while we may deceive others He always knows not only our actions but our thoughts), we would abandon any pretense of pride. The problem we have is that rather than measuring ourselves against the standard of God’s perfect holiness, we look to those around us and measure ourselves against them. It is easy to find areas in which we are superior (or at least can convince ourselves we are) and focus on those. The problem with this approach is that it is flawed and foolish. “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12). Instead of thinking that we are better than others by looking horizontally, we need to look up and realize that we are just as much in need of God’s grace and mercy as those around us. Growth Principle: Having a high view of ourselves keeps us from having a proper view of God. Safeguard against Self-Conceit - Audie Lewis So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 1 CORINTHIANS 10:12 The danger I am to warn you of, I will now endeavor to describe. A Christian man finds himself for a long time without any remarkable trouble: his children are spared to him, his home is happy, his business extremely prosperous—he has, in fact, all that heart can wish: when he looks round about him, he can say with David, “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage” (Psalm 16:6 KJV). Now, the danger is that he should think too highly of these secondary things and should say to himself, “My mountain stands firm; I shall never be moved.” And then, though the man would never dare to put it in words, yet an indistinct feeling creeps over him that there is no need for him to be so watchful as other people; he would be sure not to fall if he were tempted. In fact, he wonders how some of his brethren can live as they do live; he is sure he could not do so. He feels that he could fight with any temptation and come back more than a conqueror. He has grown so strong that he feels himself a Samson. He knows much more now than he used to and thinks himself too old a bird to be caught with chaff, as he might have been some years ago. “Ah!” thinks he, “I am a model Christian.” He does not say as much, but that lurks in his mind. His heart is much hampered with earthly things, and his mind much bloated with self-conceit. The Predictable Pattern of Relapse “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”1 CORINTHIANS 10:12 If we don’t keep our guard up, we can easily fall back into our old self-defeating patterns. This is called relapse. Alcoholics start to drink again, overeaters regain the weight they’ve lost, gamblers return to the casinos, workaholics fill up their schedules again. It’s easy to slip back into old hurts, hang-ups, and habits. Regardless of the issue, the pattern is the same: • Phase 1 is complacency. Relapse begins when we get comfortable. We’ve confessed our problems, dealt with them, and made real progress. Then we get comfortable and stop praying about it and working at it. Before we know it, we have become complacent. • Phase 2 is confusion. We begin to rationalize and play mental games with ourselves. We say things like “Maybe my problem really wasn’t all that bad. I could have handled it myself.” We forget how bad it used to be. Reality becomes fuzzy and confused. • Phase 3 is compromise. Temptation is back. We return to the risky situations that got us into trouble in the first place. Compromise may begin with little things, but it won’t be long before the ground we’ve gained is lost. • Phase 4 is catastrophe. In this phase, we actually give in to the old hurts, hang-ups, or habits. Hate, resentment, and old behaviors return. But we need to understand this: The catastrophe is not the relapse. The relapse began in phase 1 with complacency. The catastrophe is simply the end result, the acting-out phase of the pattern. PRAYER Father, keep me from complacency and the patterns that could cause me to slip away from you once again. In Jesus’ name, Amen. David Jeremiah - FROZEN IN SIN [The wicked man] shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. PROVERBS 5:23 The story is told of an eagle perched on a block of ice just above Niagara Falls. The swift current carried the ice and its majestic passenger close to the edge of the great precipice. Other birds warned the eagle of the danger ahead. But their words were unheeded. “I have great and powerful wings,” he boasted. “I can fly from my perch at any time.” Suddenly the edge of the falls was only a few feet away. The eagle spread his powerful wings to mount up over his impending doom only to discover that his claws had become frozen to the block of ice. Scripture warns those who think they are immune to sin to be careful! They are on the verge of falling (1 Corinthians 10:12; 1 Timothy 3:6). “I never thought it would happen to me” are words that have hounded many a person until their dying day (Proverbs 5:11–14). Every Christian needs to know that yielding to temptation can happen—and will, unless the instruction of wisdom is embraced. Wisdom says, “Hear me clearly: the road to immorality is the road to destruction.” Will anyone ever forget the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast? With the pictures of the destruction still fresh in our minds, the Army Corps of Engineers is working feverishly to shore up the city’s defenses against future hurricanes that are bound to come. We can all learn a valuable spiritual lesson from Hurricane Katrina: we can never let down our guard. The Bible puts it this way: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV). The moment we think we can coast, the moment we stop actively guarding ourselves spiritually, that may be the moment we fall victim to the devil’s schemes. The good news is that we can endure tomorrow’s storms if we prepare today. Fasting and prayer, memorizing Scripture, developing God-centered relationships—these are all ways we can reinforce our spiritual defenses. Most importantly, of course, we must renew our dependence on God daily. He is the most important shield and fortress in our lives. Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. PROVERBS 4:26–27 Oswald Chambers - THERE IS A TENDENCY TO take ourselves too seriously, until we really begin to wonder if God can do anything before we get up in the morning. We act as though He cannot do anything without our help. May God have mercy! God shows us that a servant of His is not a necessary instrument. Remember how God visibly blessed and led in a certain happening in your past? But after a while, a spell of tribulation came. God laid you aside. Slowly you begin to see that an “instrument” is something that God takes up at His sovereign pleasure and puts down at His will. A “servant” is one who voluntarily chooses what God chooses. The servant chooses to do according to God’s sovereign will. God does the shaking of His servants, not the Devil. Why does He shake them? Because they are backslidden? Dear me, no. He shakes them partly to remove the parasites. Has God shaken you lately? If so, fear not. He does so because He loves you. J I Packer - We are all invalids in God’s hospital. In moral and spiritual terms we are all sick and damaged, diseased and deformed, scarred and sore, lame and lopsided, to a far, far greater extent than we realize. Christians today may imagine themselves to be strong, healthy, and holy when, in fact, they are actually weak, sick, and sinful in ways that are noticeable, not just to their heavenly Father, but also to their fellow believers. Pride and complacency, however, blind us to this reality. We need to realize that the spiritual health we testify to is only partial and relative, a matter of being less sick and less incapacitated now than we were before. Measured by the absolute standard of spiritual health that we see in Jesus Christ, we are all of us no more, just as we are no less, than invalids in process of being cured. (From Rediscovering Holiness) Under God’s care I am getting better, but I am not yet well. Henry Blackaby - Victory is indeed a fleeting experience—and that may be especially true of spiritual victories. You may have held your tongue (victory), but it won’t be long before another rude comment comes your way (temptation). Or you may have controlled your temper (victory), but the next spark could soon ignite a rage (temptation). Thinking about how well you did in a given situation—as opposed to giving thanks for the Spirit’s help—makes you prideful and an easy target for failure. While you’re busy celebrating success, the enemy can catch you off guard and bring you plummeting down. So praise God for your success. Focusing on Him like that will keep you from letting pride suggest that you’re invincible. Some men become proud and insolent because they ride a fine horse, wear a feather in their hat or are dressed in a fine suit of clothes. Who does not see the folly of this? If there be any glory in such things, the glory belongs to the horse, the bird and the tailor. St. Francis de Sales Collapse After Carmel - Vance Havner "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 10:12 It is the day after the incident at Carmel, the red-letter day in Elijah's life up to now, and he is in full flight, running from a woman! Even at that, it is better to run from Jezebel than after her as in the case of Thyatira (Rev. 2:20), but Elijah has no business heading for the tall timber. Collapse so often follows Carmel. Look out after your big day! We worry about breaking down on a dull and tedious stretch but the most dangerous time is right after success. Peter reaches a mountain peak of confession with "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and within a few minutes he is daring to contradict the Lord! And the Lord who said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee" is compelled within a few minutes to cry, "Get thee behind me Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men"! (Matt. 16:16-24). Peter, the spokesman of God, becomes on the same occasion the spokesman of the devil, crashing from mountain peaks of confession to the swamps of contradiction within seven verses! Our Lord moved from the high day of baptism to the wilderness of temptation. We are tempted most at our strongest moments. The most dangerous time is not the hour of adversity but of success. You can fall farther from the roof of the house than from the front porch! Collapse may follow fast after Carmel. Watch and pray! Careless About Little Things - Overconfidence, coupled with negligence, can lead to sad consequences. This is the case when a person is so sure of himself that he becomes careless about little things that may pose a threat. I’m thinking, for example, of a stuntman named Bobby Leach. In July, 1911, he went over Niagara Falls in a specially designed steel drum and lived to tell about it. Although he suffered minor injuries, he survived because he recognized the tremendous dangers involved in the feat, and because he had done everything he could to protect himself from harm. Several years after that incident, while skipping down the street in New Zealand, Bobby Leach slipped on an orange peeling, fell, and badly fractured his leg. He was taken to a hospital where he later died of complications from that fall. He received a greater injury walking down the street than he sustained in going over Niagara. He was not prepared for danger in what he assumed to be a safe situation. In June 1989 a 19-year-old German named Mathias Rust created quite a stir when he flew a Cessna 172 airplane more than 400 miles into Soviet airspace. Rust’s five-hour trip ended when he landed his plane near the Kremlin in Moscow. Soviet officials then scrambled to find out how a teenager could slip past their air defenses. Apparently radar had picked up the craft, but it was presumed to be a Soviet plane and no attempt was made to identify it. Later, air force jets twice flew around the intruding Cessna, but air defense commanders showed “intolerable unconcern and indecision about cutting short the flight of the violator plane without resorting to combat means,” the investigation concluded. (Today in the Word, June 6, 1992) Opportune Time - Anyone who travels to Edinburgh, Scotland will find Edinburgh castle a tower of seemingly insurmountable strength. But the truth is that the castle was once actually captured. The fortress had an obvious weak spot which defenders guarded—but because another spot was apparently protected by its steepness and impregnability, no sentries were posted there. At an opportune time, an attacking army sent a small band up that unguarded slope and surprised the garrison into surrender. Where the castle was strong, there it was weak. (Today in the Word, Feb. 89) Read of King Asa's Sad Example - ASA'S FAITH AND FAILURE. 2 Chronicles 14-16. (scroll down page) A SLOW LEAK - A frog placed in a pan of slowly heating water doesn't know he's being cooked. The body temperature of this little cold-blooded creature changes to correspond with the temperature of his surroundings, so he is unaware of his danger. Before he realizes that he's in boiling hot water, death overtakes him. In much the same way, Peter's "spiritual crash" didn't just happen; it resulted from a gradual decline. The apostle yielded to circumstances that contributed to his downfall. In the upper room he was overconfident. Then, in the garden, he slept when he should have been praying. Failing to understand his Master's redemptive purpose, he resisted the idea that Jesus would have to suffer and die. As soldiers arrested Jesus, the apostle impulsively drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. Finally, gripped by fear when identified by a maid, he denied the Lord he loved. We shouldn't regard Peter's dramatic denial of Christ as only a foreign, first-century failure. It reflects a trauma known all too well to those of us who have writhed in self-condemnation after being untrue to our Lord. And our failures, like Peter's, usually follow a gradual pattern of decline. That's why we must daily acknowledge our dependence on God and obey His Word. It's the only way to avoid the tragedy of a cold heart that gets us into hot water. —M.R.D.II Sexual Suicide - David Roper Warm-up: Proverbs 5:1–23 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife? Proverbs 5:20 I keep seeing my friends fall. I wonder why they do it? What causes men and women to trash their marriages for a transient affair? Why would we give our strength to others and fill our old age with regret (Proverbs 5:9)? Perhaps it’s naiveté. We think we’re invincible, like Samson, man of giant strength— [who] pillowed his great head upon the lap of sin then rose at length “not knowing that his strength was gone.” —Ruth Bell Graham Samson was a fool and so are we if we believe that we will never fall. Everyone is temptable; everyone has a price. The key is to know how vulnerable we are and always be on the alert. We’re overthrown because we’re unguarded (1 Corinthians 10:12). “What can we do?” we ask. We can guard our relationship with God. As the proverb says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). There’s a close relationship between human sexuality and human spirituality; the two are inextricably linked. As Charles Williams noted, “Sensuality and sanctity are so closely intertwined that our motives in some cases can hardly be separated until the tares are gathered out of the wheat by heavenly wit.” Sexual passion is in some inexplicable way a small representation of our more profound, spiritual passion for God. He alone can gratify that desire. So devotion to Christ serves to satisfy our deepest longings and quell our other lusts. But when our love for Christ is on the wane, we get restless for something more and our resolve in every area begins to weaken. We can guard our minds against romantic and sexual fantasies. “Our predominant thoughts determine our inevitable actions,” as someone has said. What we think in our hearts is what we eventually do. Most moral failures aren’t blowouts (hardly anyone plans an adulterous affair), but are rather like slow leaks—the result of a thousand small indulgences, the immediate consequences of which are never apparent. The small sins thus prepare us for the Big One. As Alexander Pope remarked, Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs to be seen; Yet seen too often, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace. “But,” you ask, “how can we deal with our erotic thoughts?” As Philip Melanchthon learned, “Old Adam is much too strong for young Philip!” I agree. Our fantasies are much too strong to subordinate. (ED: MEN READ THAT AGAIN!) Better to re-channel or displace them (SEE EXPULSIVE POWER OF A NEW AFFECTION). Erotic thoughts happen, but they can be controlled. As Luther said, “We cannot keep birds from flying over our heads, but we can keep them from nesting in our hair!” When sexual fantasies intrude into our minds we have two choices: We can either reinforce them, in which case they will eventually become obsession; or we can sidetrack them into devotion, meditation, and prayer (cf. Philippians 4:8). We men can give ourselves to being one-woman men. That’s protection for both us and our spouses (cf. Proverbs 5:15–16). As the wise man counseled, we should “rejoice in the wife of [our] youth . . . [and] be captivated by her love” (Proverbs 5:18–19). We can work hard at cultivating intimacy in our marriages—maintaining its romance, rekindling its love and passion. Men who get in trouble usually do so because they’ve let their marriages drift, permitting them to become dull and unfriendly. If that’s so we must woo our wives again, recapture our first love. All of us—men and women—can watch for infatuations. St. Francis de Sales said, “We must be on guard against deception in friendships, especially when they are contracted between persons of different sexes, no matter what the pretext may be. Satan often tricks those [who] begin with virtuous love. If they are not very prudent, fond love will first be injected, next sensual love, and then carnal love. . . . [Satan] does this subtly and tries to introduce impurity by insensible degrees” (Introduction to the Devout Life). It’s not lust but infatuation that causes our fall. Do we think about one person frequently? Do we look for excuses to be with that individual? Do we look forward to appointments with that one? Do we dress a certain way for him or her? Most erotic relationships begin with that subtle attraction. If we find ourselves drawn to another we must go no further, not lunch nor travel nor time alone. When required to meet for business we can do so in the company of others. We can guard against intimacy with anyone other than our spouses. The secrets of our hearts, our deepest hurts, are reserved for our mates alone. The greatest mistake we can make is to share our inner conflict and marital disappointment with someone of the opposite sex. No other event so radically shifts the nature of a relationship. We suddenly become a lonely person in need of another person’s love. Occasionally a man will meet a woman who comes after him, as the proverb puts it, dressed for the kill and “with crafty intent” (Proverbs 7:10). And women are endangered by those sexual conquistadors who will tell them anything they want to hear in order to have what they want. We shouldn’t kid ourselves. It’s not because we’re so wonderful that they love us. Such people live to bring others down; they have something to prove to themselves, or they want to see how much we’ll forsake to have them. They’re almost certainly acting out some terrible, inner sickness, or playing out some unresolved conflict with the opposite sex. The best course is to stay away from them! It will do us good now and then to ponder well Proverbs 5 and 7. We can publicize our home life, talk lovingly of our mates, and surround ourselves with mementos and reminders of our marriages—pictures of our families together. It’s good for us and it’s good for others. It lets them know we cherish our homes. We can regularly rehearse the consequences of an affair by asking ourselves, “Is it worth throwing away my family and my reputation for this event?” We gain insight through hindsight, as they say, but foresight is the least expensive way to learn. As Proverbs warns, though “the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; [make no mistake] in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave” (Proverbs 5:3–5). Adultery is suicidal; adulterers kill their own souls. We can find someone who will hold us accountable—a non-judgmental friend who loves us and who won’t flinch when we’re honest, who will query us with the tough questions and then ask, as Howard Hendricks suggests, “In your answers to any of the above, did you lie?” And finally, we can ask to be guarded by God every moment of the day (ED: ACTUALLY I MIGHT MAKE THIS THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS - OUR MORNING PRAYER SHOULD INCLUDE Mt 6:13+). We’re never safe. We’re in danger whether young or old; single or married; in the dumps or on a roll. We’ll never be home free until we get Home! Until then, no matter how willing the spirit, the flesh is weak. Jesus warned, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). James Smith - THE STEPS IN PETER'S DOWNFALL. Mark 14:29-72. " Speak gently to an erring one, E'en if a deed of shame be done; We see the deed and instant blame, But not how hard it is to tame A heart of sin that has not died, A rebel will unsanctified. " Backsliding is a process. Eve first saw, then desired, then took, then eat before she gave to Adam. Falling away out of the company and fellowship of Christ is the result of an inward disease preying upon the vitals of our spiritual being. That disease is self-will. Let us follow Peter in his downgrade march step by step. There was— 1. Self-confidence. Peter said, "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I" (v. 29). The "I" here is very self-assertive, comparing himself with the others he believes himself more trustworthy than any. Yet it was written that "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool" (Prov. 28:26). "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). 2. Proud boasting. "If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in any wise" (v. 31). So said they all, but Peter spoke vehemently. Peter was as yet unbelieving and ignorant of his own weakness. Had not the Lord said unto him, "Whither I go ye cannot follow Me now?" (John 13:36). All self-boasting is a contradiction to His Word. 3. Unwatchfulness. He said unto Peter, "Simon, sleepest thou?" (v. 37). Pride and self-confidence are sure to lead to unwatchfulness. It is the consciously weak ones who lean hard. Sleepy souls are easily tempted (v. 38). By his sleep he became insensible to the sufferings of Christ. The next step down is— 4. Ashamedness. "Peter followed Him afar off" (v. 54). Jesus is not so popular now with the multitude. Peter follows; but far enough off as not to be identified with Him. A professing Christian is indeed afar off when he is ashamed of Him and His Word. At this stage the Word of God is neglected, prayer given up, and the company of those who testify for Christ forsaken. 5. Worldliness. "Peter sat with the servants, and wanned himself at the fire" (v. 54). Having fallen out of company with Christ, he now finds his company among those who know him not, and warms himself at the enemy's fire. While the prodigal was spending his all in the far country he was just seeking to warm himself with the coals of the enemy's fire. This is what the backslider is doing in seeking to find pleasure and comfort in the ways and things of the ungodly. A Christian must be cold indeed when he turns to the crackling thorns of worldly delights for heart warmth. 6. Denial. While he was warming himself he was charged with having been with Jesus. But he denied, saying, "I know not" (vs. 67, 68). When a man has gone the length of finding warmth among the Lord's enemies we are prepared for the next sad step—denial. This is often done, if not by lip yet by wicked works. The Lord has uttered a solemn warning to such in Matthew 10:33. 7. Recklessness. "He began to curse and to swear saying, I know not this Man" (v. 71). He had said, "Though all shall be offended, yet will not I," yet he becomes more easily offended than any, and now staggers into the ditch of open profanity. If a backslider be not restored before he goes the length of shameless lip denial the likelihood is that he will soon be found in the ranks of the reckless, the drunken, or some other open sin. 8. Repentance. Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, and when he thought thereon he wept (v. 72). The Lord had not prayed for Judas that his faith fail not, and he went out and hanged himself. It was when the prodigal son thought of his father's house that he said, "I will arise and go to my father." It is usually by some word of Christ that the backslider is brought to think of his ways, and to weep the bitter tears of repentance. Pressing On If I do not experience something far worse than I yet have done, I shall say the trouble is all in getting started. —Mrs. George (Tamsen E.) Donner, member of the ill-fated Donner party,197in a letter dated June 16, 1846 Every age has its perils, but the greatest peril may be in thinking that the trouble “is all in getting started.” Sometimes the greatest hazards lie ahead. Noah, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Uzziah, and a host of biblical people fell into failure near the end of their days. As the apostle Paul reminds us, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”198 “The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil,” C. S. Lewis wrote.199 And the devil’s finest stratagem is sloth, “that great, sprawling, slug-a-bed sin,” as Dorothy Sayers termed it. Sloth is a spiritual indifference or apathy that has many causes, but may grow out of the belief that we’ve arrived and have no more ground to gain. Or, that we have little left to give. “Apathy causes one to fall into a deep sleep,” the Wise Man said, and then added, “that soul will go hungry.”200 Ah, there it is: a spiritual torpor that starves our souls. Slow down, we say to ourselves; you’ve given much. Isn’t it time to refrain from further sacrifice? Spare yourself. Why go on reading, studying, pursuing God. Stop this strenuous following after. No! I say. That is not true. We can never stop growing toward God. Holiness is a dynamic thing, a matter of motion. There is no static balance in the spiritual life. We’re either moving toward God or away from Him. St. Gregory put it simply: “When the soul does not direct its efforts to higher things . . . it stoops to concern itself with low desires.”201 When we fail to direct our passions toward heavenly things, we fall into ungodly desires. Bitter animosities demean us; irritability, petulance, impatience, and loss of temper degrade our souls. So we must never let up, for our adversary does not. He is working every moment to plague and blight our final years. We must pursue God and His righteousness with hearty energy to the end of our days. This was Paul’s driving compulsion: “To know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”202 It must be ours as well. To know Jesus, to experience more of his life-giving power, to patiently bear our portion of His humiliation and suffering, to become like Him in self-sacrificing love—this is the work that must keep us busy to the end of our days. We’ll not “achieve” the righteousness we seek in this life—that awaits heaven—but you and I must “press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us].”203 So, we must pursue the Lord and His righteousness with all our heart, soul, and mind—with a fierce, unyielding resolve for as many days as He may give us. We must spend time in His presence and choose to do His will. Thus He will fill us with His Spirit and deliver us from the perils that lie ahead. But he who would be born again indeed, Must wake his soul unnumbered times a day, And urge himself to life with holy greed. . . Submiss and ready to the making will, Athirst and empty, for God’s breath to fill. —George MacDonald The Pain Of Falling Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12 There I was, sailing along on my rollerblades, my wife at my side. Suddenly, the wheels on my left boot began to wobble, and a second later I was face down on the asphalt. Just like that, I had a broken finger and some nasty cuts on my face. This happened a couple of years ago, but the results of that fall are still fresh on my mind. The pain of falling is still with me, making me much more cautious on my rollerblades. Having fallen once, I take every precaution to avoid doing so again. Falling isn’t good. But for anyone who has stumbled in life, something positive can result—if the fall leads to a more careful way of living. Paul admonished, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Believers do fall. But when we do, our goal must be to learn from our error and to avoid a second spill. If you have stumbled along the course of life’s journey, there’s hope. First, ask God for guidance, for He “upholds all who fall” (Ps. 145:14). Next, read the Word and begin to live carefully by its principles—“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). Have you fallen? Ask God to help you get up and keep from falling again. We’re thankful, Lord, that when we fall We can begin anew If humbly we confess our sin, Then turn and follow You. —Sper When we walk in the Light, we won’t stumble in the darkness. Confidence In What? Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12 While walking through a home-improvement store, I saw a man wearing a bright red T-shirt bearing this melancholy message: “Confidence: The feeling you have just before you understand the situation.” I laughed at this humorous concept, but I also realized that the shirt carried a sane and sound warning. It’s a reminder to all of us who try to get things done through confidence in our own ability or credentials but without consciously trusting in the strength of God. If we think we can accomplish life’s tasks in our own strength, that false confidence will inevitably become our undoing—and we’ll collapse under the weight of our own failings. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this by recalling ancient Israel’s penchant for self-confidence and self-sufficiency. He described everything the Israelites thought they had going for them; then he told how they had turned those benefits into a license to sin and an almost arrogant confidence that would prove to be their undoing. Paul said their self-confidence should warn us. His conclusion? “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Psalm 118:8 shows us the best way: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man,” or in ourselves. Where is your confidence? Let all who think that they can stand Take heed lest they should fall; These words remind us of the truth That God is Lord of all. —Branon Confidence in Christ is the right kind of confidence. Least Powerful People Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 | Bible in a Year: Habakkuk 1-3 Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12 An unusual list called The 100 Least Powerful People in the World appeared in the online publication 24/7 Wall St. Among those selected were corporate executives, sports figures, politicians, and celebrities who shared one common characteristic—they used to be powerful. Some were victims of circumstances, others made poor business decisions, while others lost their influence because of moral failure. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul draws a somber lesson from Old Testament history. The people Moses led from slavery in Egypt toward freedom in the Promised Land kept turning their backs on God who had delivered them (vv.1-5). Idolatry, immorality, and grumbling were among the things that brought them down (vv.6-10). Paul points to their collapse as an example to us, and sounds this warning: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (v.12). Every follower of Jesus can stand firm on God’s promise: “He will see to it that every temptation has a way out, so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it” (v.13 Phillips). All of us have power to influence others in their faith. How tragic to squander it by yielding to a temptation that God has empowered us to resist. Lord, there are temptations to sin everywhere. Help me not to give in. Make me sensitive to see the ways out that You provide. I want my love for You to be real and to encourage others in their faith journey. The best way to escape temptation is to run to God. Martin Luther - WATCH YOURSELF Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Galatians 6:1 This passage gives us a very serious warning. It’s meant to restrain the severity of those who don’t help or console those who have fallen into sin. Augustine says, “There is no sin committed by a person which could not also be committed by someone else.” We are always walking on a slippery path. It’s very easy to fall off if we become proud or get out of line. “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12). David was a holy man, full of faith and of the Spirit of God. He received glorious promises from God and did great things for God. But he fell in such a shameful way. After successfully enduring many trials that God used to test him, and even though he was advanced in age, he was carried away by the passion of youth. If this could happen to such a man as David, how can we ever take for granted our own ability to remain steady? Through this example, God shows us our own weakness so that we will not exalt ourselves but stand in fear. God also shows us his judgment. He finds nothing more intolerable than pride, whether against him or against a brother or sister. So Paul does not uselessly say, “Watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” Those who have faced temptations know how important this is. Some haven’t, so they don’t understand what Paul is saying, and they lack compassion for those who have fallen. Angels fell in Heaven, Adam in paradise, Peter in Christ’s presence. Theophilus Polwheile Spurgeon - Since the first hour in which goodness came into conflict with evil, it has never ceased to be true in spiritual experience that Satan hinders us. If we toil in the field, he seeks to break the plowshare. If we build the wall, he labors to cast down the stones. If we would serve God in suffering or in conflict, everywhere Satan hinders us. He hinders us when we are first coming to Jesus Christ. Fierce conflicts we had with Satan when we first looked to the cross and lived. Now that we are saved, he endeavors to hinder the completeness of our personal character. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Moody - TWENTY-FIVE years ago—and for the first five years after I was converted—I used to think that if I were able to stand for twenty years I need fear no fall. But the nearer you get to the Cross the fiercer the battle. Satan aims high. He went amongst the twelve, and singled out the treasurer, Judas Iscariot, and the chief apostle, Peter. Most men who have fallen have done so on the strongest side of their character. I am told that the only side upon which Edinburgh Castle was successfully assailed was where the rocks were steepest, and where the garrison thought themselves secure. If any man thinks that he is strong enough to resist the evil at any one point he needs special watch there, for the tempter comes that way. Rick Renner - A True Story To Demonstrate The Danger of 'Cracks' in Your Life 1 Corinthians 10:12 There is an incredible story from history that demonstrates the danger of "cracks" in your spiritual life. The story comes from the city of Sardis, where one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation was located ( see Revelation 3:1-6). The city of Sardis was located very high on top of sheer cliffs that were almost impossible to climb. Because of their city's high and remote location, the residents believed it couldn't be penetrated or taken captive by a foreign enemy. It was this overconfidence that led to the demise of Sardis on more than one occasion. Because those who lived in Sardis believed they were impenetrable, they felt sure that foreign aggressors couldn't make war on them. As a result, they became proud, cocky, overconfident, lazy, and complacent. As this apathy took over, the residents smugly concluded that there was no other city as secure as theirs. As a result of this haughty attitude, they stopped giving attention to the foundations and walls of their spiraling city. Thus, while the people's pride and overconfidence kept growing stronger and stronger over the years, they failed to notice that the foundations and walls of their city had begun to deteriorate and form massive cracks at the base of the walls. At first the cracks were small and unnoticeable; but as time progressed, those tiny cracks grew bigger, deeper, and wider. Finally, the gaps in the walls became so wide that a human body could easily slip through them—but the people didn't even realize that they were no longer secure! Due to the massive fractures in the walls and foundations, it had become very easy for an enemy to climb up the sides of the mountain, slip through the cracks, and march right into the city. Yet the city residents were completely unaware of the problem! One night while the city of Sardis was sleeping, an enemy army scaled up the cliffs and slithered through the cracks in the foundations and walls of the city. It took only a few minutes for the enemy soldiers to creep through those fractures and silently make their way up to the top of the city walls. The invading army then settled into military positions with weapons fixed on the main routes of the interior so no one in Sardis could make a move without facing retaliation. When the residents of Sardis awakened the next morning and ventured out into the streets, they were thrown into a state of panic and shock when they realized that they were surrounded on every side by an enemy force. Enemy forces had infiltrated into their midst before they knew those forces were even near! Unfortunately, the city of Sardis is like so many of us. We become so busy with life, so tossed about by everyday cares, or perhaps so confident of our own abilities, that we become unaware of our own spiritual need. We go on in life as though we have no need to deal with the foundations of our lives, not realizing that tiny cracks are starting to form. This kind of negligent thinking is usually accompanied by prayerlessness and insensitivity to the Spirit of God. A Christian who is too busy to get into the Presence of God is a Christian who will soon find himself in trouble, just like the city of Sardis. This is why the apostle Paul said, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). The word "thinketh" is from the Greek word dokeo, which in this case means to be of the opinion, to reckon, to suppose, or to think, as it is translated here in the King James Version. In this verse, the word dokeo expresses the idea of what a person thinks or supposes about himself. There is nothing here to verify that the individual's opinion is correct; only that it is the prevailing opinion he has regarding himself. In just a moment, you'll see why this is so important for you to understand! Next, Paul says, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth...." The word "standeth" comes from the Greek word istemi, which simply means to stand, to stand fast, to stand firm, or to stand upright. But when the words dokeo and istemi are combined together as Paul uses them in this verse, it means, "Wherefore let anyone who has the self-imposed opinion of himself that he is standing strong and firm...." Then Paul adds the next critically important words: "... take heed lest he fall." The words "take heed" are from the Greek word blepo, which means to watch, to see, to behold, or to be aware. The Greek tense indicates the need not only to watch, but to be continually watchful. Paul is urging us to live in an uninterrupted state of watchfulness regarding our spiritual lives and the firm stance of faith that we claim to possess! Why does he insist that we be so watchful? He goes on to say, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." The word "fall" is pipto, which means to fall. In the New Testament, it is used to depict someone who falls into a terrible predicament or into a worse state than he was in before. It can also depict someone who falls into sin; falls into ruin; or falls into some type of failure. The word pipto that Paul uses in this verse emphatically describes a downfall from a formerly presumed high and haughty position. Therefore, it isn't just a little stumbling that Paul is referring to; it is a downward plummet that causes one to sorrowfully crash! When you put all of this together, First Corinthians 10:12 could be translated: "If anyone has the opinion of himself that he is standing strong and firm, he needs to be continually watchful and always on his guard lest he trip, stumble, and fall from his overconfident position and take a nose-dive downward to a serious crash!" We must never become so smug that we fall into complacency. The day we allow that to happen, we are in big trouble! Like the city of Sardis, we may end up with huge cracks we aren't even aware of. That is exactly when the enemy will slip in to take us captive in different areas of our lives. Therefore, we must match our confidence with watchfulness! Unfortunately, it appears that the church in Sardis precisely mirrored the city of Sardis. Jesus told them, "... I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and are dead" (Revelation 3:1). At one time the church in Sardis had a great name and a testimony of being spiritually alive and vibrant. But because the believers in that church got too busy and failed to give heed to the foundational things in their lives, cracks began to form spiritually over time. Eventually the devil found a way to slip into that church to ruin its name and influence. Because of spiritual negligence, this church body lost its vitality until Jesus even said it was "dead." In Revelations 3:2, Jesus told them, "Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God." I love this verse, for it alerts us to the fact that it is never too late to do something to fix the problem! Jesus said, "Locate the problem! Find a solution! Strengthen what you have! Do it before it's too late!" If you have a part of your life that is broken, cracked, or splintered, there is still hope that it can be restored. It may require emergency care to get it on life support for now, but it can be resuscitated and brought back to life again. Preventative medicine is always better than corrective surgery, so learn to take the right steps to avoid these problems. It may seem like it takes a lot of time to stay watchful and prayerful about your spiritual life, but I assure you that it is less expensive and less painful than it is to crash spiritually and then have to fix things in your life that never had to be broken in the first place! MY PRAYER FOR TODAY Lord, help me stay watchful regarding the condition of my spiritual life! I recognize that sometimes I get too busy and fail to pray, wrongly presuming that I am strong enough to be able to survive in a state of prayerlessness. Especially after what I've read today, I realize that this kind of smugness and pride has always gotten me into trouble. Therefore, I turn from apathy and the wrong kind of confidence, and I turn to the Cross! Please examine my heart and help me identify those areas of my life that need to be fixed or corrected. Once You reveal to me what needs to be changed, please give me the power to apply the needed correction. I pray this in Jesus' name! MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY I declare by faith that I am sensitive to the Spirit of God! The Holy Spirit shows me every area of my life that is weak and that needs attention. When the Holy Spirit speaks to me, I am quick to listen and quick to obey. I urgently act to bring correction to every weakness in my character and my spiritual life where the enemy might try to penetrate. Therefore, the devil has no access to me! I declare this by faith in Jesus' name! QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER 1. Are you aware of any areas in your life that have deteriorated and need attention? It could be your marriage, your finances, your relationships, or a whole host of other vital areas of your life. Are there cracks in any of these areas through which the devil may try to sneak up on you and take you captive? 2. If your answer is yes, what do you need to do to seal those cracks and strengthen those areas so the devil cannot successfully lay siege to your life? 3. Can you think of one area in your life that was fractured in the past, but through God's grace is now healed and sealed from any future attacks of the devil? (Sparkling Gems from the Greek) Greg Laurie - THE SPIRITUAL BATTLEFIELD “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) Someone once asked the Charles Finney, “Do you really believe in a literal devil?” Finney responded, “You try opposing him for awhile, and you see if he is literal or not.” If you want to find out if there is a literal devil, then start walking with Jesus Christ and seeking to be in the will of God. You will find just how real he is. I think that many people, after they have decided to follow Christ, are surprised to find that the Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground. It is not a life of ease, but one of conflict, warfare, and opposition. Our choice is simple: will we be victorious or will we be victims on the spiritual battlefield? It has been said that you can tell a lot about a man by who his enemies are. The same is true for us. We are no longer opposing God, but we now have a new, very powerful foe, and he is described in the Bible as the devil. The devil, of course, is not happy with the fact that he has lost one of his own. He is angry that you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. Now you have become a potential threat to his kingdom as well. The closer you stay to the Lord, the safer you are, because you stand in the work that Jesus did on the Cross. Don’t try to engage the devil in your own ability, because he can chew you up and spit you out. But if you stand in the Lord and in His power and stay as close to Him as you can, then you will be safe. Greg Laurie - TEMPTATION’S TIMING Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12) History tells us that during World War II, Hitler had an interesting strategy for attacking the various European nations: he always did it on a weekend. Hitler knew the various parliaments would not be in session, making it more difficult to react swiftly to an invasion. In the same way, the devil will wait for an opportune moment, that decisive time to attack. It may be when our guard is down, when we are not expecting it. It may even come when we think we are the strongest, when we think, “I am doing pretty well spiritually. I think I am really growing. Everything is going great.” Often weaker believers are less vulnerable than stronger ones, because weaker believers recognize their frailty and vulnerability. The Bible says, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” Perhaps recently you have experienced a great blessing in your life. That blessing may involve your family, your career, your ministry, or your personal walk with God. But the enemy wants to rob you of it. Remember, when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove, and a voice was heard from heaven from the Father saying, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). The Bible says that after this, Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness (see Luke 4:1–14). Remember, it’s not a sin to be tempted. Even Jesus was tempted. The sin takes place only when we give in to that temptation, when we open the door to it and entertain it. That is why we should flee temptation and never leave a forwarding address. Greg - Laurie - AFTER THE DOVE Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12) Often after great victories, some of the most intense challenges and temptations of the Christian life will come our way. I have found that after great blessings in my life, after God works in a powerful way, the devil will be there to challenge it. Think about it. After God had powerfully worked through Elijah on Mount Carmel, the prophet became so discouraged that he wanted to die. After Jesus was transfigured, He came down from the mountain to find a demon-possessed person waiting for them. Or recall how Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove and God said, “This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him” (Matthew 3:17). Immediately after what must have been a glorious, affirming moment, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After the dove came the devil. The devil will always be there to challenge whatever God has done. It may come after church, after God has blessed you and spoken to you. You leave the parking lot and get into a petty argument with a family member—or you’re hit with a heavy-duty temptation. You wonder how that could happen. But that’s just the devil’s way. He wants to make your life miserable. Most importantly, he wants to steal anything that God has done in your life. The devil is watching us and he’s looking for vulnerabilities. That is why we need to pray for any person whom we know that God is using. And that is why we need to brace ourselves. The more you step out to be used by the Lord, the more you can expect opposition from the devil. Greg Laurie - AN OPPORTUNE TIME Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:13) In a broad sense, temptation can come to us at any time. Of course, it often happens after times of great blessing. Jesus was tested, or tempted, in the wilderness for 40 days and nights, right after His baptism in the Jordan River when the Spirit of God came upon Him in the form of a dove. After the dove came the devil. After the blessing came the attack. Often after great times of blessing, the enemy will be there, wanting to rob us of what God has done. Maybe you have experienced a great time of blessing in your life recently. Enjoy it, but keep your guard up. The enemy will be there. He will attack you, and he will tempt you. He waits for the opportune time to confront us, and we are often the most vulnerable when we think we are the strongest. If you think that weak believers had better be careful, then I have a thought for you: Strong believers had better be careful, too. The Bible says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Many times temptation can come when we’re relaxing. Take David for example. He was tempted when he was up on the rooftop taking a little rest and relaxation, at the time when kings usually go out to battle. He noticed the beautiful Bathsheba as she was bathing on her rooftop, he lowered his guard, and we know the rest of that story. There is no rest from the spiritual battle. Always keep your guard up, because the moment you think, It won’t hit me here, that is where it will hit you. The enemy is just waiting. He is looking for an opportunity. So keep your armor on. Joni Erickson Tada - Take Heed So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 1 CORINTHIANS 10:12 How many times have you watched someone dive headlong into immorality and thought, Nope, not me; I’d never be caught doing that. Beware. People who view themselves as standing firm are the most susceptible to the most gross type of sin. Upright and obedient Noah stood alone against a carousing, lustful world that drank itself silly. Who would have thought Noah, of all people, would end up drunk? Look at Abraham. He was ready to push obedience to the point of sacrificing his own son. Who would imagine he would be the one to lie straight-faced to government officials? And do it twice! Lot closed his door against the sexual sin in the streets of Sodom, but hardly does he get delivered from the city’s destruction than he falls into incest with his own daughters. Bold and courageous David was brave enough to go up against Goliath, but later on, he made believe he was a madman because he feared his enemies. Then there’s Elijah. We take him to be a rather brave man as he wielded the sword of God’s vengeance against tens of thousands. But the threat of one woman sent him plummeting into suicidal despair. Finally, there’s Peter. He was part of the Lord’s inner circle, following the footsteps of Jesus closer than anyone. Yet he ended up cursing and denying his Savior. First Corinthians 10:6–11 cautions us further about the human side of Noah, Lot, David, and Elijah, “These things [are] examples . . . and were written down as warnings for us.” Just when you think you are doing pretty well, you stumble into a sin that seems so out of character. But it’s not. The character of our body is of sin and death (Romans 7:13). Remember, you won’t fall as long as you’re leaning on Jesus. Lord Jesus, today I stand only in your strength and grace. Keep me from falling into sin as I keep my eye on you. D Martyn Lloyd-Jones - A STEADFAST SPIRIT Renew a right spirit within me. PSALM 51:10 One characteristic of the Christian is always this: A profound distrust of self and a realization of the power of God. Listen to David: “Create in me a clean heart . . . and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). The Revised Version margin puts it this way: “Renew a steadfast spirit within me.” You see, what he was conscious of was his own unsteadiness. Well might David have felt that. He was a man who had experienced God’s blessing, and he had known the joy of the Lord; and yet he had fallen into terrible sins. So he cries out for this renewal and for this reliable spirit within himself. I make bold to say that every Christian knows what this means. A Christian is not a man who relies upon himself. It is only the Christian who knows his own weakness. It takes a Christian to see the darkness of his own heart and the frailty of his own nature. There is a type of Christian, I regret to say, who behaves as if he can do everything. He has had an experience of conversion, and now he is ready to face hell and the devil and everything. Poor fellow, he will not go very far before he loses that sense of conﬁdence. “Let him that thinketh he standeth,” said the apostle Paul to such people, “take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). No; the Christian is a man who knows his own weakness, and he is afraid of it. So he prays for a steady spirit, a reliable spirit. He wants to be a sound man. Adrian Rogers - Who may be tempted? We all are subject to temptation. Don’t get the idea that when you get saved you won’t be tempted any more. You will be tempted. You will be bombarded with temptations in the areas of dishonesty, materialism, sex, greed, and pride. Being saved does not make you immune to temptation, and being tempted is not a sin. Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15 KJV).” But be careful that you guard against pride. Remember what 1 Corinthians 10:12 says: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” The proud person tempts the devil to tempt him, and if you are cavalier or careless about sin, I can tell you that you are going to fall. The person that is in the greatest danger, however, is the person who is trying to fight this temptation in the strength of his own flesh. He thinks, I don’t need to read a book on temptation. I don’t have any problem with temptation. I can overcome it. But without Christ you cannot. God has to make a way of escape for you. Why doesn’t God just kill the devil? Why doesn’t God just remove all temptation from us? Because that’s not God’s plan for us. God’s plan is not immunity, but victory. John Flavel - Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.—Romans 11:20 Did the disciples forsake Christ, though they had such strong resolutions never to do it? Then we see that self-confidence is a sin too likely to the best of people. They little thought their hearts would have proved so cowardly when they were tried. “Even if all fall away,” said Peter, “I will not” (Mark 14:29). Good man; he resolved honestly, but he did not know what a feather he would be in the wind of temptation, if God once left him to his own fears. Little reason have the best of saints to depend on their inherent grace, let their stock be as large as it will. Every merit without the prop of divine preservation is but a weight that tends to a fall. What becomes of the stream if the fountain supply it not? The best people will show themselves but human if God leave them. He who has set them up must also keep them. It is safer to be a humble worm than a proud angel. Adam had more favorable opportunity to maintain his station than any of you. For though he were left to the liberty of his own will and though he was created upright and had no inherent corruption to endanger him, yet he fell. And shall we be self-confident, after such instances of human frailty! “Do not be arrogant, but be afraid,” when you have considered well the examples of Noah, Lot, David, and Hezekiah, men famous and renowned in their generations who all fell by temptations, and when you would think they had never been better provided to cope with them. Lot fell soon after the Lord had thrust him out of Sodom and his eyes had seen hell, as it were, rained on them out of heaven; Noah, immediately after God’s wonderful preservation of him in the ark when he saw a world of men and women perishing in the floods for their sins; David, after the Lord had settled the kingdom on him, which for sin he took from Saul, and given him rest in his house. Hezekiah was just up from a great sickness in which the Lord wrought a wonderful salvation for him. Did such people and at such times, when one would think no temptations should have prevailed, fall, and fall so dishonorably? Then, “if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). O do not be arrogant, but be afraid. Cyril Hocking - 2 Chronicles 26:1–23 PRIDE GOES BEFORE … A FALL KING UZZIAH did what was right as his father had done. But his father, Amaziah, after a good start, had a sad end; see ch. 25. “Be ye followers (imitators) of me”, says Paul, but adds significantly, “even as I also am of Christ”. Whom do we really follow? As long as Uzziah sought the help of God, he prospered. But did he seek the Lord as earnestly as Isaiah?—“With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early”, 26:9. Or was he largely influenced by Zechariah the seer alone?, 2 Chron. 26:5. We need personal conviction and dedication. In his good works, recorded to his credit, Uzziah was marvellously helped till his heart was lifted up with pride. Knowing Uzziah’s presumptuous sin, we might label him a bad man, but God is generous in His judgment of His people. They “have kept thy word”, said our Lord Jesus of His disciples, whose spokesman denied Him thrice, while they all forsook Him and fled. Are we as kind in judging our brethren as is our Lord whose eyes are as a flame of fire? As to what is right, we must judge in the light of God’s Word. As to others’ motives or overall faithfulness, “judge nothing before the lime, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts”, 1 Cor. 4:5; Luke 6:37. Yet in the judgment of His people God is impartial. Past good works do not excuse present disobedience. God resists the proud, so judgment falls on Uzziah. In prosperity beware of self-confidence. “I say … to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think”, Rom. 12:3. In his proud and persistent attempt to offer incense, Uzziah was usurping the place of the priests. To claim the privilege of priesthood as well as of kingship is to claim what God has appointed solely for His Son, of whom Melchizedec is a faint foreshadowing, Gen. 14:18; Heb. 7:1–4. We may begin with high ideals and honest endeavour to please God, but if prosperity comes, beware of pride bringing God’s displeasure and maybe public shame. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall, 1 Cor. 10:12. Bill Bright - I am sobered by the thought that, having served the Lord for more than 30 exciting, wonderful, fruitful years, I might yet dishonor His name and bring disgrace to His cause. I know what has happened to other brothers and sisters in Christ—some of whom had been Spirit-filled Christian leaders, and I know that I too could fail the Lord if I do not continue to trust and obey Him. Even the apostle Paul lived in reverential fear that he might dishonor the name and cause of our Lord. “So be careful. If you are thinking, ‘Oh, I would never behave like that,’ let this be a warning to you. For you too may fall into sin. But remember this: The wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. “You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for He has promised this and will do what He says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it” (1 Corinthians 10:12, 13). For many years it has been my prayer, as I pray on the offensive, “Oh, God, if there is a possibility that I may dishonor or disgrace Your name by becoming involved in a moral, financial or any other kind of scandal that would discredit my ministry and nullify my witness for You, I would rather You take my life first before such a thing could happen.” The Scripture warns all believers that any one of them, too, could fall. No one reaches the place of spiritual maturity or perfection where he can say, “I don’t need the Lord’s help anymore.” The only one who can enable us to live victorious lives is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. COMPLACENCY VS. COMMITMENT Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 CORINTHIANS 10:12 We need to make certain our marriages are divorce proof. Pastor/author Chuck Swindoll asks a great question: “Are there any termites in your troth?” One of those termites could be complacency. First Corinthians 10:12 offers a formidable warning to the one who thinks this infestation of termites can’t reach into his marriage. How many ministers, missionaries and laymen have fallen into affairs and divorce after allowing romantic complacency to settle into their marriages? We need to resurrect the true meaning of commitment. In this age of lite beer, lite syrup and lite salad dressing, it’s no wonder we exhibit lite commitment, too. But for a Christian, commitment is a sacred vow and promise to God. It’s two people who hang in there during the best and worst of times and who won’t quit. It’s a husband and wife who find working through problems much more rewarding than walking out. We need to pass on to our children the real definition of commitment while continually exposing the lies that their peers and the media propagate. A person who does not understand his or her ultimate accountability to God has little reason to fulfill a vow or commitment to another human being. There’s another type of complacency we need to address: We need to fight for other marriages besides our own. A growing number of Christians, upon hearing of the hurt and anguish of their friends, do not reach for their Bibles, but, instead, hastily offer a parachute and say, “Bail out!” Or they simply sit by, saying and doing nothing. They just let it happen. Hey, I understand. When there’s only a slim thread of hope, what are you going to do? You and I have got to go to the guy who just left his family and tell him it just isn’t going to be that easy. He can’t just walk out on them. And that woman in our Sunday School class? She can’t leave her husband for this other guy and think things will be business as usual. Plead, beg and pray with them. And get them some help. It has become so commonplace to hear of the misconduct of a respected public figure that even though we may be deeply disappointed, we are hardly surprised. But how should we respond to the news of a moral failure, whether by a prominent pergon or a friend? We might begin by looking at ourselves. A century ago, Oswald Chambers told his students at the Bible Training College in London, "Always remain alert to the fact that where one man has gone back is exactly where anyone may go back ....Unguarded strength is double weakness." Chambers' words echo Paul's warning to be aware of our own vulnerability when we see the sins of others. After reviewing the disobedience of the Israelites in the wilderness, Paul urged his readers to learn from those sins so they wouldn't repeat them (1 Corinthians 10:1-11). He focused not on past failings but on present pride when he wrote, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Co 10:12). The head shaken in reproach is a common response to public sin. More helpful is the head that nods, "Yes, I am capable of that," then bows in prayer for the one who has fallen and the one who thinks he stands. —DM Blessed Savior, make me humble, Take away my sinful pride; In myself I'm sure to stumble, Help me stay close by your side. —D. DeHaan Unguarded strength is double weakness! -- Oswald Chambers The Deceit of the Devil "(She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows." Proverbs 7:11-14 In addition to his long career as a political leader, including several years spent as Secretary of State and candidate for President, William Jennings Bryan often filled pulpits as a preacher. His powerful rhetoric opened the Word of God and challenged men and women to repent. In one memorable illustration, he told of a man from his hometown of Salem, Illinois, who once had been a drunkard. The man was convicted of the error of his ways, and signed a temperance pledge to stop drinking. But as Bryan told the story, each time he went into town, he continued to tie his horse up at the hitching post in front of the tavern where he used to drink. It wasn’t long before he was back inside with his old friends, drinking once again. The devil for centuries has been convincing people that they are different—that they can get close to the edge with temptation without going over. He delights when Christians believe that they are strong enough to resist continual exposure to temptation without giving in. He knows he is close to triumph when we forget Paul’s admonition, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). The devil doesn’t play fair. He doesn’t care what he has to use to lure us to sin. Anything—even good things—can become tools in his hands. We need to walk through the world with our guard up and our eyes fixed on Jesus. Only then can we triumph over temptation and win the victory. Growth Principle: Satan is a master of deceit. Only by clinging to the truth can we hope to overcome his deception. Keep Your Guard Up "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1 Corinthians 10:10-12 We must never forget that we have an enemy whose purpose is to destroy us and render us ineffective in God’s service. One of the most dangerous weapons in his arsenal is pride. When we become proud we let our guard down, thinking that we are not at risk—and in that moment the devil strikes. Many men and women who served God for years and accomplished much for Him have fallen prey to the snare of pride. Winston Churchill knew the importance of guarding against pride in light of his prominent position and many accomplishments. He was once asked, "Doesn't it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech, the hall is packed to overflowing?" "It's quite flattering," replied Churchill. "But whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big." God has given us every talent and ability we have. His Spirit empowers us to work for Him. We have nothing of which to be proud. Paul reminds us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Since we have nothing that God has not given us, we have no basis for pride. Yet it is easy for us to look around and declare ourselves the architects of our lives—and thus allow the devil a devastating means of attack. Growth Principle: Do not allow pride to lure you into a false sense of security—keep your guard up so that you will not be destroyed by the devil. Be Careful! Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 | Bible in a Year: Exodus 19-20; Matthew 18:21-35 Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12 Several years ago my wife Carolyn and I were hiking on Mount Rainier in Washington when we came to a swollen, glacial stream. Someone had flattened one side of a log and dropped it across the river to form a crude bridge, but there was no handrail and the log was slippery. The prospect of walking on the wet log was frightening, and Carolyn didn’t want to cross. But she found the courage, and slowly, carefully she inched her way to the other side. On the way back we had to walk on the same log, and she did so with the same care. “Are you afraid?” I asked. “Of course,” she replied, “that’s what keeps me safe.” Again, fully aware of the danger, she made her way to safety. Much of life poses moral danger for us. We should never assume in any situation that we’re incapable of falling. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Given the opportunity and circumstances, any of us are capable of falling into any sin. To believe otherwise is sheer folly. We must watch and pray and arm ourselves for every occasion by putting our total trust in God (Ephesians 6:13). “God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 10:13), and He will give us the strength to keep from falling. The hand of God protects our way When we would do His will; And if through danger we must go, We know He's with us still. —D. De Haan God provides the armor, but we must put it on. (ED: RELATED RESOURCE - "Paradoxical Principle of 100% Dependent and 100% Responsible" 100/100) When Someone Falls Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12 It has become so commonplace to hear of the misconduct of a respected public figure that even though we may be deeply disappointed, we are hardly surprised. But how should we respond to the news of a moral failure, whether by a prominent person or a friend? We might begin by looking at ourselves. A century ago, Oswald Chambers told his students at the Bible Training College in London, “Always remain alert to the fact that where one man has gone back is exactly where anyone may go back....Unguarded strength is double weakness.” Chambers’ words echo Paul’s warning to be aware of our own vulnerability when we see the sins of others. After reviewing the disobedience of the Israelites in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:1-5), Paul urged his readers to learn from those sins so they wouldn’t repeat them (vv.6-11). He focused not on past failings but on present pride when he wrote, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (v.12). The head shaken in reproach is a common response to public sin. More helpful is the head that nods, “Yes, I am capable of that,” then bows in prayer for the one who has fallen and the one who thinks he stands. Blessed Savior, make me humble, Take away my sinful pride; In myself I’m sure to stumble, Help me stay close by Your side. —D. De Haan Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. —Proverbs 16:18 Orange Peels Read: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 49-50; Romans 1 Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. —1 Corinthians 10:12 Back in 1911, a stuntman named Bobby Leach went over Niagara Falls in a specially designed steel drum—and lived to tell about it. Although he suffered minor injuries, he survived because he recognized the tremendous dangers involved in the feat, and he had done everything he could to protect himself from harm. Several years later, while walking down a street in New Zealand, Bobby Leach slipped on an orange peel, fell, and badly fractured his leg. He was taken to a hospital where he died of complications from that fall. He received a greater injury walking down the street than he sustained in going over Niagara Falls. He was not prepared for danger in what he assumed to be a safe situation. Some of the great temptations that roar around us like the rushing waters of Niagara will leave us unharmed, while a small, seemingly insignificant incident may cause our downfall. Why? We simply become careless and do not recognize the potential danger. We mistakenly think we are secure (1 Corinthians 10:12). We must always be on guard against temptation. A victorious Christian is an alert Christian who watches out even for those little “orange peels.” Take the name of Jesus ever As a shield from every snare; If temptations round you gather, Breathe that holy name in prayer. —Baxter Whenever we fall, it is usually at the point where we think we are strong. 1 CORINTHIANS 10:12 - Several years ago a severe ice storm hit southern lower Michigan, causing great damage to trees. As I surveyed the destruction, I checked the two large white birches in my backyard. One had lost some of its limbs, but its partner had suffered a worse fate. The entire tree had toppled over and was completely uprooted. Why the one and not the other? The answer was simple. Instead of standing straight up, this thirty-five-foot tree had grown at a pronounced angle. So when the heavy ice accumulated on its branches, it fell in the direction it was leaning. If we don't live in fellowship with the Lord each day, our lives will lean toward some weakness or besetting sin. Then if a crisis comes or if we are caught off guard, we will be unable to resist the pressure of our circumstances. Let's stand tall in the strength of the Lord so it won't happen to us. —D. J. D. WE NEED GOD'S STRENGTH TO KEEP US TRUE AND STRAIGHT IN EVERYTHING WE DO. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. Amplified For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently. Wuest A testing time or a temptation has not laid hold of you with the result that these have you in their grip, except those to which mankind is continually subject. But God is faithful who will not permit you to be tested nor tempted above that with which you are able to cope, but will, along with the testing time or temptation, also make a way out in order that you may be able to bear up under it. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) Zodhiates Absolutely no testing has overtaken you which does not pertain to mankind, but God is trustworthy who absolutely will not permit you to be tested beyond what you are able to endure, but will, together with the testing, provide the way out. NET 1 Corinthians 10:13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it. NLT 1 Corinthians 10:13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. ESV 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. NIV 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it. GNT 1 Corinthians 10:13 πειρασμὸς ὑμᾶς οὐκ εἴληφεν εἰ μὴ ἀνθρώπινος· πιστὸς δὲ ὁ θεός, ὃς οὐκ ἐάσει ὑμᾶς πειρασθῆναι ὑπὲρ ὃ δύνασθε ἀλλὰ ποιήσει σὺν τῷ πειρασμῷ καὶ τὴν ἔκβασιν τοῦ δύνασθαι ὑπενεγκεῖν. KJV 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. YLT 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation hath taken you -- except human; and God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able, but He will make, with the temptation, also the outlet, for your being able to bear it. ASV 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it. CSB 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it. MIT 1 Corinthians 10:13 No testing has taken hold of you but what is commonplace for human beings. God is faithful; he will not permit you to be tested above what you are able to withstand. But simultaneously with the test, he will open a way of relief that you may be able to endure it. NKJ 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. NRS 1 Corinthians 10:13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. NAB 1 Corinthians 10:13 No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it. NJB 1 Corinthians 10:13 None of the trials which have come upon you is more than a human being can stand. You can trust that God will not let you be put to the test beyond your strength, but with any trial will also provide a way out by enabling you to put up with it. GWN 1 Corinthians 10:13 There isn't any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps his promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, he will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape. BBE 1 Corinthians 10:13 You have been put to no test but such as is common to man: and God is true, who will not let any test come on you which you are not able to undergo; but he will make with the test a way out of it, so that you may be able to go t has: Jer 12:5 Mt 24:21-24 Lu 11:4 22:31,46 2Co 11:23-28 Eph 6:12,13 Heb 11:35-38 12:4 Jas 5:10,11 1Pe 1:6,7 5:8,9 Rev 2:10 3:10 but: 1Co 1:9 De 7:9 Ps 36:5 89:33 Isa 11:5 25:1 49:7 La 3:23 Ho 2:20 1Th 5:24 2Th 3:3 2Ti 2:11-13 Heb 6:18 10:23 11:11 1Pe 4:19 1Jn 1:9 Rev 19:11 who: Ex 3:17 Ps 125:3 Da 3:17 Lu 22:32 Joh 10:28-30 Ro 8:28-39 2Co 1:10 12:8-10 2Ti 4:18 1Pe 1:5 2Pe 2:9 provide: Ge 19:20,21 Ps 124:7 Jer 29:11 Lu 16:26 Ac 27:44 Jas 5:11 1 Corinthians 10 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries NOTE: There are a few notes on this page, but there are many more comments at 1 Corinthians 10:13 Commentary. TEMPTATION WILL NOT BE MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE The question that the trials of Israel experienced in 1 Cor 10:5-11 raise the question did the children of Israel experience more than what God could expect them to endure? Paul answers this question in this verse, not only for Israel in the past but for the Corinthian saints in the present! John MacArthur makes an excellent point as to why Paul made this statement in the context of just mentioning 4 examples of sins to which the Corinthians were very vulnerable and were likely incessantly tempted to commit (and the same is true of believers today for America is like national "Corinth" so to speak). Paul’s answer is that a Christian should recognize that victory is always available, because a believer can never get into temptation that he cannot get out of. (Absolutely) No temptation (test peirasmos) has overtaken you but such as is common to man - "If our temptations were such as none else had ever endured, and there were no way out of them, we might give up in despair; but it is not so. The Lord will not try us too much, too long, or too often. Grace will bear us through." (Spurgeon)

1 Coríntios 10

Spurgeon - I should like to see this verse put over the top of every “sacramental” table in every “church” in England: “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” If this text were properly understood, every crucifix would be broken to pieces, and the altars themselves would be cleared away to make room for what should be there,— the table of the Lord; and we should have no more worship of visible things, which is idolatry. O ye who are the dearly-beloved of God, flee from it! Keep as far from it as ever you can. I remember reading of a man of God who was the rector of a certain parish, and who had in the church a very ancient sad famous painted window of which he was somewhat proud. In the design there was a representation of the Godhead,— the Father was there, and oh, how blasphemous! — he was represented as an aged man; and, one day, this clergyman, who had seen no evil in the window, heard a rustic explaining to a companion that that was the God whom they worshipped. The rector did not deliberate for a moment, but he threw a stone right through that part of the painted window. I suppose that was an offence against the law of man, but certainly it was not against the law of God. He would never have that figure replaced on any account whatever, and I think that he did well: “Dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” Put it out of your sight; do not tamper with it, but hate it with a perfect hatred. In God’s eyes, it is one of the most fearful of sins. He has said, “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,” and he will have nothing to come between us and the pure and simple worship of his invisible self. MacArthur gives multiple forms of Idolatry which I summarize below - for detail click his sermon 1 Corinthians 10:14-15 The Truth About Idolatry Libeling the character of God is idolatry Worshiping the true God in the wrong way is idolatry (As Israel did in Ex 32:1-4+, especially verse 4). Worshiping any image is idolatry. (cf John 4:24+) Worshiping angels is idolatry. (cf Col 2:18+, Rev 19:10+) Worshiping demons is idolatry, and is closely associated with worshiping images, behind which are often demons. (See Rev 9:20+) Worshiping dead men is idolatry. (See Ps 106:28-29+ - Is worship of saints / Mary biblical?) Supreme loyalty in our heart to anything other than God is idolatry Covetousness is idolatry (Eph. 5:5+; Col. 3:5+). Inordinate desire, or lust, is idolatry (Php 3:18-19+) Are any of the various worship styles unbiblical? | GotQuestions.org Flee (escape) (5343)(pheugo) means to flee away in the sense of to take to flight in order to seek safety. To flee in the sense of to escape something, being made safe from danger by eluding or avoiding it (He 11:34+, Mt 3:7, Acts 27:30). To flee in the sense of to avoid, shun (Webster = to avoid deliberately and especially habitually), have nothing to do with (1Co 6:18-commentary). To vanish or disappear (Rev 16:20+, Rev 20:11+). Webster defines flee as to run away often from danger or evil or to hurry toward a place of security. Pheugo is the root of our English word "fugitive" defined as one who escapes from something or someone. Pheugo - 29v in NT - Mt. 2:13; Mt. 3:7; Mt. 8:33; Mt. 10:23; Mt 23:33; Mt. 24:16; Mt. 26:56; Mk. 5:14; Mk. 13:14; Mk. 14:50; Mk. 14:52; Mk. 16:8; Lk. 3:7; Lk. 8:34; Lk. 21:21; Jn. 10:5; Jn. 10:12; Acts 7:29; Acts 27:30; 1 Co. 6:18; 1 Co. 10:14; 1 Ti 6:11 2 Ti 2:22; Heb. 11:34; Jas. 4:7; Rev. 9:6; Rev. 12:6; Rev. 16:20; Rev. 20:11 Paul describes the pathogenesis of idolatry in Romans 1 and also gives the consequences.... Romans 1:18-32+ - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image (eikon gives us English icon - Is religious iconography considered idolatry?) in the form of corruptible man (IDOLATRY) and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over (paradidomi into the power of) in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over (paradidomi) to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge (they tested God and for them He "failed the test") God any longer, God gave them over (paradidomi) to a depraved (adokimos) mind (nous), to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled (pleroo in the perfect tense = continuing state!) with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God (THEY ARE NOT IGNORANT OF THE TRUTH - THEY SIMPLY DON'T CARE! THEY HAVE NO FEAR OF GOD!), that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Steve Gallagher describes "sexual idolatry" writing - Deeply embedded within the heart of man is a spiritual altar. Every human has the capacity—no, the need—to worship. The objects of that worship are the things or persons which have taken the preeminent position of importance in the person’s life. Whatever they may be, they cast their looming shadow over all of the other aspects of his life. It is this position in the human heart that God demands to occupy. Jesus said as much when He cited Deuteronomy 6:5 as being the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) This intimate relationship with Him was to form the basis of all religion. Unfortunately, in his fallen spiritual condition, man’s natural tendency is to give that affection to something else. People prostrate themselves before all kinds of things in this earthly life: careers, homes, personal attractiveness, other people, food, entertainment, sports, drugs, etc. Truth be known, most people have acquired several idols. Even churchgoers crowd God into a secondary or even nonexistent position in their lives. Jesus rightly said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) For many, the powerful human drive for sex becomes the overriding passion of life. Kept in its proper place, sex is a marvelous means for a married couple to physically express their love to each other. However, when a person begins to indulge in some form of illicit sexual behavior, this passion can quickly get out of control. As the neighborhood drug pusher entices someone with free marijuana in order to lead him into hard core drugs, so will Satan subtly lure an unwitting victim into bondage with a few satisfying sexual experiences. Gradually the object of the person’s fantasy—whether it be some particular act (oral sex, orgies, exhibitionism, etc.) or a specific type of person (blonde girl, men, children, etc.)—grows into a monstrous idol which lodges itself within his heart. Over time this ravenous beast takes over and begins to drive the person’s life. Eventually he loses control of how often, with whom, and under what circumstances he will engage in sex. He has become addicted to the euphoria associated with sexual activity in much the same way others become addicted to the high of alcohol or drugs. Thus, his sexuality and capacity to worship become fused into a corrupted, nearly irresistible drive to worship at the altar of sexual idolatry. (At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry - recommended resource if you are wrestling with this "idol") NO OTHER GODS - Greg Laurie Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14) When God gave the Ten Commandments, He began by saying that we should have no other gods before Him. Idols can be a lot of things. Essentially, an idol could be defined as anyone or anything that takes the place of God in our lives. An idol is any object, idea, philosophy, habit, occupation, sport, or whatever has one’s primary concern and loyalty, or that to any degree, decreases one’s trust and loyalty to God. Alan Redpath defined idolatry this way: “Our god is the person we think is the most precious, for whom we would make the greatest sacrifice, who moves our hearts with the warmest love. He or it is the person who, if we lost him, would leave us desolate.” This definition really opens up the possibilities doesn’t it? A lot of things could qualify as idols in our lives. It is a true but terrifying fact that a person can attend church every Sunday and still be an idolater. Is there one thing in your life that, if God asked you for it, you would say, “Absolutely not”? Is there one thing, that if the Lord required it of you, you would say, “Anything but this”? If so, then maybe that thing, that pursuit, or that passion is an idol in your life. Is there an idol in your heart today? Is there someone or something more precious to you than God Himself? Any person or pursuit that takes the place of God in your life will not satisfy. Let Him be your Lord. Let Him be your God. He will satisfy you. False Images Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. We may find that our imaginations are held captive by an image or ideal that makes demands of us. We may be focused on the image of “the perfect body” and find ourselves swept into compulsive eating disorders, depression, or sexual addictions. We may be focused on the image of “the good life” and find ourselves swept into workaholism, stealing, or lying to try to appease the image we worship. We may have an image of ourselves as “the black sheep of the family” and slavishly live our lives playing out that role. We don’t talk much about idol worship in our culture, except perhaps when we talk of celebrities. Idolatry can be defined as image worship; it may involve becoming a slave to the ideas an image represents. This is the second commandment: “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods” (Exodus 20:4-5). The apostle Paul warned, “So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols” (1 Corinthians 10:14). In his protective love, God warns us not to let devotion to an image enslave our lives. The images we worship are more likely to come through television or other media than from an idol carved from stone. But we need to ask ourselves, What are the images and ideas that drive our compulsive behaviors? Taking inventory of the things we consider important may alert us to the false gods in our lives. Greg Laurie -NO OTHER GODS Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14) When God gave the Ten Commandments, He began by saying that we should have no other gods before Him. Idols can be a lot of things. Essentially, an idol could be defined as anyone or anything that takes the place of God in our lives. An idol is any object, idea, philosophy, habit, occupation, sport, or whatever has one’s primary concern and loyalty, or that to any degree, decreases one’s trust and loyalty to God. Alan Redpath defined idolatry this way: “Our god is the person we think is the most precious, for whom we would make the greatest sacrifice, who moves our hearts with the warmest love. He or it is the person who, if we lost him, would leave us desolate.” This definition really opens up the possibilities doesn’t it? A lot of things could qualify as idols in our lives. It is a true but terrifying fact that a person can attend church every Sunday and still be an idolater. Is there one thing in your life that, if God asked you for it, you would say, “Absolutely not”? Is there one thing, that if the Lord required it of you, you would say, “Anything but this”? If so, then maybe that thing, that pursuit, or that passion is an idol in your life. Is there an idol in your heart today? Is there someone or something more precious to you than God Himself? Any person or pursuit that takes the place of God in your life will not satisfy. Let Him be your Lord. Let Him be your God. He will satisfy you. Something Else To Serve My beloved, flee from idolatry. —1 Corinthians 10:14 Today's Scripture: Judges 3:1-11 If you were to spend 26 hours a week staring at the same object, what would you call that? If you were so mesmerized by what you saw that you couldn’t tear yourself away from it, what would it become to you? If you let it change the way you think and act, would it be too powerful? If you let this object show and tell you things that you knew were wrong and that God didn’t want you to be involved with, would it be replacing Him? Wouldn’t that be called an idol? The average American family spends 26 hours a week watching television. It certainly isn’t the only idol we have in our society, but it’s one of the most powerful. Other things that might be displacing our devotion to God are sports, money, work, hobbies, or even other people. Perhaps music or movies or the Internet has captured our devotion. Idols come in various forms, and they can control our lives. When they do, we need to look again at God’s anger with the Israelites to see what He thinks of idols. They served Baals and Asherahs (Jud. 3:7), and “the anger of the Lord was hot” against them (v.8). The gods of this world are empty and vain, They cannot give peace to our heart; The living and true One deserves all our love— From Him may we never depart. —DJD An idol is anything that takes the place of God. BRIGHT BLUE CRAYONS Flee from the worship of idols. 1 Corinthians 10:14 THERE WAS ONCE a man who had a son he loved very much. The boy wanted to be an artist, so the father gave him a bright blue crayon. It was the boy’s favorite color. The son cuddled and held the crayon tightly, even taking it to bed with him at night. He loved his bright blue coloring tool. “Someday I’m going to be an artist,” said the boy. Then one day the father saw the boy talking to the crayon. He had placed it in the center of the desk in his room and stood gazing down at it with admiration. “I so wish I had some paper,” said the boy. “O great blue crayon, please bring me something to write on.” The father was grieved, but he remained silent. Over the days to come the boy stopped talking to his father, but he continued to worship the crayon. “I know that you gave me the skill to be an artist,” he would say, “and someday you’ll bring me some paper. But only when you think I’m ready.” Weeks went by, but still the father hadn’t heard from his son. All the while he continued to watch from a distance as the boy hugged and cradled his blue crayon. He longed for even a short visit with his beloved son, but his boy was much too busy. It’s a simple and strange little fable but not as farfetched as you might think. We laugh at the young boy’s antics and wonder how he could be so naìve and ungrateful. But haven’t we all done the same thing? Years ago I longed to be a writer and prayed for God’s help and guidance. Then my first book was published, and I held it in my hands, admiring my name on the cover. I thanked God for his kindness, but my thoughts were mainly focused on my new career. I used the book to build a résumé and continued to approach publishers. The book became proof of my skill and ability to write, I thought. Surely it would help me procure another contract. “O great and mighty book, please bring me another book to write,” I said, though not in so many words. All the while the Father who gave me the skill in the first place and opened the door for my first book, stood by wondering why I had forgotten him. Who among us hasn’t cuddled and idolized a bright blue crayon from our Father? Haven’t we all bowed down to a lifeless idol or two, forgetting all about the one who really loves and cares for us? And all the while he sits by watching, wanting desperately to say to us, “I’m the one who provided the crayon. Don’t you think I’d give you some paper too? All you have to do is ask!” (Embracing Eternity - Tim LaHaye) Warren

1 Coríntios 10

Spurgeon - This is the rule at the table; let us always observe it. Much evil may come out of eating and drinking: it was by eating that man first fell from innocence, The table must be watched lest it become a snare unto us. For the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience' (suneidesis) sake - One refrains from eating for the other person's sake. The phrase for conscience' sake refers to the other person's conscience (as he explains in next verse).

1 Coríntios 10

Spurgeon - And if anything you might do would not glorify God, do not do it. Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you (present tense - continually) do, (present tense - continually) do all to the glory of God - This verse hardly needs a comment. We are to do anything and everything in such a way that God is glorified! Notice that both verbs "do" are in the present tense which calls for us to live a life that continually brings glory to our great God! The only way we can live this way is by being continually filled with God's Spirit (Who will enable us to glorify God) (Eph 5:18+) and continually walk empowered by His Spirit (Gal 5:16+). It is our responsibility to GLORIFY GOD, but it is ONLY by His supernatural power that we can do this beloved (see 100/100). In the context of this section what Paul is saying is that "The purpose of using our liberty carefully and selflessly is to glorify God. Paul is saying that even in the most mundane, routine, nonspiritual things of life, like ordinary eating and drinking, God is to be glorified. His glory is to be our life commitment." (MacArthur) THOUGHT - Jesus commanded us to live in such a way that our lives would give glory to our Father in Heaven, declaring "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) before men in such a way (CRITICAL CAVEAT) that they may see your (VISIBLE) good works, and glorify (doxazo) your (INVISIBLE) Father Who is in heaven." (Mt 5:14-16+) In other words, when believers live lives that are "supernatural" our lives are like "compasses" pointing "true north" to the unseen but our very real, living God, Father of lights. For example, when something negative happens to us, let's say in the home, at the workplace or at school, and we respond with a Spirit enabled (Eph 5:18+) response such as "in everything give thanks (present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey); for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Th 5:18+), those around to witness your response, both believers and unbelievers. have just seen a "miracle," because they know it could not be the "old us" (the fleshly us), but it has to reflect a Supernatural Source. The believers who witness the "miracle" will be challenged and encouraged (to live the same way), while the unbelievers will have seen the glory of the Father, which will call for a response to either accept or reject the truth that God the Father exists and that He is personally involved in the lives of His children and that they (the unbelieving ones) can have a similar personal relationship with Him through belief in Christ. Who knows, the "Peter Principle" may "kick in!" Recall Peter gave an instruction and a command in (1 Peter 3:14-15+) - "But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify (aorist imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense (apologia) to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope (elpis - cf Col 1:27+) that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence." Father, by Your precious and powerful Holy Spirit please give every believing reader the opportunity for this great experience this week, for Your glory. In the Name of the Lord of glory. Amen. Peter Grainger - The most important factor of all is the glory of God—does what I do honor and please God? What is it that most dishonors God and fails to give Him glory? It’s that all human beings have sinned and fall short of His glory (Rom. 3:23). What brings glory to God? When sinners are saved—when people are put right with God through Jesus and begin to live in a way that glorifies Him. The governing factor in every decision should be to follow that course of action which will be most likely to lead to others becoming Christians and to avoid any action which might cause them to stumble. To God be the glory! Great things He hath done! So loved He the world that He gave us His Son; Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son: and give Him the glory! Great things He hath done! Related Resources: Need for the Holy Spirit to obey NT commands (or "How to Keep All 1642 Commandments in the New Testament!") Filled with His Spirit/Richly Indwelt with His Word - Chart Comparing God's Sovereign Power/Our Human Responsibility - Paradoxical Principle of 100% Dependent and 100% Responsible" The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks "What is the chief end of man? The answer is in effect a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." Glory (1391) doxa from dokeo = to think) in simple terms means to give a proper opinion or estimate of something. Glory is something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration. It describes renown, a thing that is beautiful, impressive, or worthy of praise. It follows that the glory of God expresses all that He is in His Being and in His nature, character, power and acts. He is glorified when He is allowed to be seen as He really is. To be where God is will be glory. To be what God intended will be glory. To do what God purposed will be glory. Ryrie says that the glory of God "is the manifestation of any or all of His attributes. In other words, it is the displaying of God to the world. Thus, things which glorify God are things which show the characteristics of His being to the world. Puritan Thomas Watson said "Glory is the sparkling of the Deity… We may see God's glory blazing in the sun and twinkling in the stars (Ps 19:1)… A sight of God's glory humbles. The stars vanish when the sun appears." Glory speaks of a manifestation of God's true nature, presence, or likeness. The basic idea in the word doxa is that of manifestation. The glory of God is the manifestation of His Being, His character and His acts. The glory of God is what He is essentially. Glory, therefore, is the true apprehension of God or things. The glory of God must mean His unchanging essence. Doxa in the Corinthians Letters - 1 Co. 2:7; 1 Co. 2:8 = "the Lord of glory"; 1 Co. 10:31; 1 Co. 11:7; 1 Co. 11:15; 1 Co. 15:40; 1 Co. 15:41; 1 Co. 15:43; 2 Co. 1:20; 2 Co. 3:7; 2 Co. 3:8; 2 Co. 3:9; 2 Co. 3:10; 2 Co. 3:11; 2 Co. 3:18; 2 Co. 4:4; 2 Co. 4:6; 2 Co. 4:15; 2 Co. 4:17; 2 Co. 6:8; 2 Co. 8:19; 2 Co. 8:23 Related Resources: Overview: The Glory of the LORD References: The Glory of God Shekinah Glory | Precept Austin TORREY'S TOPIC GLORY OF GOD Exhibited in Christ John 1:14; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 1:3 EXHIBITED IN His name Deuteronomy 28:58; Nehemiah 9:5 His majesty Job 37:22; Psalm 93:1; 104:1; 145:5,12; Isaiah 2:10 His power Exodus 15:1,6; Romans 6:4 His works Psalm 19:1; 111:3 DESCRIBED AS Highly exalted Psalm 8:1; 113:4 EXHIBITED TO Moses Exodus 34:5-7; 33:18-23 His Church Deuteronomy 5:24; Psalm 102:16 Enlightens the Church Isaiah 60:1,2; Revelation 21:11,23 Saints desire to behold Psalm 63:2; 90:16 Declare 1 Chronicles 16:24; Psalm 145:5,11 The knowledge of, shall fill the earth Habakkuk 2:14 Related Resources: McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Glory of God. The Jewish Encyclopedia Glory of God Reformation Study Bible - The Glory of God God’s goal is His glory, but this needs careful explanation, for it is easily misunderstood. It points to a purpose, not of divine egoism, but of divine love. Certainly, God asks to be praised for His praiseworthiness and exalted for His greatness and goodness; He asks to be appreciated for what He is. But the glory that is His goal is a two-sided, two-stage relationship: on the one side He reveals His glory in acts of free generosity, and on the other, His people respond with adoration, giving Him glory with thanksgiving for what they have seen and received. Human beings were made for this reciprocal fellowship of love, and Christ’s redemption makes it possible for those who had fallen. Human nature is fulfilled through seeing God’s glory and returning praise to Him, just as God has pleasure in revealing His goodness to those who receive it (Zeph. 3:14–17). “Glory” in the Old Testament is associated with value, riches, splendor, and dignity. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God proclaimed to Moses His name; that is, He revealed to Moses something of His nature, character, and power (Ex. 33:18–34:7; theological note “ ‘This Is My Name’: God’s Self-disclosure” at Ex. 3:15). Accompanying the proclamation was an awe-inspiring physical manifestation, a bright cloud like a burning fire (Ex. 24:17). This glory of God’s presence is often called the “Shekinah” or the “Shekinah glory.” It appeared at significant moments as a sign of God’s active presence (Ex. 33:22; 34:5; cf. 16:10; 24:17; 40:34; Lev. 9:23–24; 1 Kin. 8:10–11; Ezek. 1:28; 8:4; 9:3; 10:4; 11:22–23; Matt. 17:5; Luke 2:9; cf. Acts 1:9; 1 Thess. 4:17; Rev. 1:7). New Testament writers proclaim that the glory of God is now revealed in Jesus Christ (John 1:14–18; 2 Cor. 4:3–6; Heb. 1:1–3). God is glorified in the acts of salvation, because they exhibit His incomparable condescension, His inexhaustible love, and His limitless power. “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jon. 2:9), and those He saves have contributed nothing to their salvation except their need (Is. 42:8; 48:11). The praise for salvation belongs to no one except God. This is why Reformation theology was so insistent on the principle, “Glory to God alone” (soli Deo gloria), and why we need to maintain that principle with equal zeal today. Related Resources: Show Me Your Glory - youtube by Steve Lawson on Exodus 33:18+ (56 minutes you must invest) (other messages) The Intrinsic Glory of God Preaching the Glory of God from the Old Testament - Iain D Campbell The Glory of God The Glory of God Christ the Glory of God The Primacy of God's Glory The Gospel of God's Glory For the Glory of God by R.C. Sproul The Glory of God's Grace TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE (Amazing Grace) Frances R. Havergal, 1836–1879 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) In this day of self-centered living and pleasure-oriented lifestyle, the total commitment to God of body, mind, and possessions portrayed in this text is difficult for many Christians to achieve. Even though we realize that we have nothing we have not received and that we are only stewards of the good gifts God has entrusted to us, we often fail to apply this basic truth to our daily lives: The gold that came from Thee, Lord, to Thee belongeth still; Oh, may I always faithfully my stewardship fulfill. —Unknown It was said of Frances Ridley Havergal, author of this text, that the beauty of a consecrated life was never more perfectly revealed than in her daily living. She has rightfully been called “The Consecration Poet.” “These little couplets that chimed in my heart one after another” were for Frances Havergal the result of an evening in 1874 passed in pursuing a deeper consecration of herself to God. “Take my voice and let me sing always only for my King” was personally significant for Frances. She was naturally very musical and had been trained as a concert soloist with an unusually pleasant voice. Her musical talents could have brought her much worldly fame. However, she determined that her life’s mission was to sing and work only for Jesus. The line “Take my silver and my gold” was also sincerely phrased. At one time Frances gathered together her many fine pieces of jewelry and other family heirlooms and shipped them to the church missionary house to be used for evangelizing the lost. Nearly fifty articles were sent with “extreme delight.” Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee; take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love; Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee; take my voice and let me sing always only, for my King. Take my lips and let them be filled with messages for Thee; take my silver and my gold—not a mite would I withhold. Take my love—my God, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store; take myself—and I will be ever, only, all for Thee, ever, only, all for thee. Receiving Honor Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen. Proverbs 25:6-7 Lenny Skutnik had no intention of being a hero that day. The staffer at the Congressional Budget Office in Washington was having an ordinary winter day when Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River shortly after takeoff. Those who survived the crash faced death as the plane sank in the icy waters. A helicopter dropped a rescue line to one of the survivors, but she was too weak to hold on. Lenny Skutnik saw what was happening and dove into the water. He swam out to her and pulled her back to shore, saving her life. Two weeks later, President Ronald Reagan invited Skutnik to attend the State of the Union address, and in describing the accident said: “And we saw the heroism of one of our young Government employees, Lenny Skutnik, who, when he saw a woman lose her grip on the helicopter line, dived into the water and dragged her to safety.” Skutnik was honored by the president of the United States, not because he tried to draw attention to himself but because he did what was right in a crisis. Satan tells us that we need to be sure everything we do is seen and praised. Yet God reminds us that attempts to promote ourselves eventually backfire. Only the honor that God orchestrates is sure. Psalm 75:6–7 says, “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” It is much better to leave recognition in the hands of God. We can trust Him to see and properly reward all that we do for Him. Better still, when we do “all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), we are completely free from the being elated or deflated by the finicky approval of men. Growth Principle: When we leave our honor in the hands of God, we free ourselves to do all to His glory. A W Tozer - The Sacrament of Living Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace which the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas—the sacred and the secular. As these areas are conceived to exist apart from each other and to be morally and spiritually incompatible, and as we are compelled by the necessities of living to be always crossing back and forth from the one to the other, our inner lives tend to break up so that we live a divided instead of a unified life. Our trouble springs from the fact that we who follow Christ inhabit at once two worlds—the spiritual and the natural. As children of Adam we live our lives on earth subject to the limitations of the flesh and the weaknesses and ills to which human nature is heir. Merely to live among men requires of us years of hard toil and much care and attention to the things of this world. In sharp contrast to this is our life in the Spirit. There we enjoy another and higher kind of life—we are children of God; we possess heavenly status and enjoy intimate fellowship with Christ. This tends to divide our total life into two departments. We come unconsciously to recognize two sets of actions. The first are performed with a feeling of satisfaction and a firm assurance that they are pleasing to God. These are the sacred acts and they are usually thought to be prayer, Bible reading, hymn singing, church attendance and such other acts as spring directly from faith. They may be known by the fact that they have no direct relation to this world, and would have no meaning whatever except as faith shows us another world, “an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). Over against these sacred acts are the secular ones. They include all of the ordinary activities of life which we share with the sons and daughters of Adam: eating, sleeping, working, looking after the needs of the body and performing our dull and prosaic duties here on earth. These we often do reluctantly and with many misgivings, often apologizing to God for what we consider a waste of time and strength. The upshot of this is that we are uneasy most of the time. We go about our common tasks with a feeling of deep frustration, telling ourselves pensively that there’s a better day coming when we shall slough off this earthly shell and be bothered no more with the affairs of this world. This is the old sacred-secular antithesis. Most Christians are caught in its trap. They cannot get a satisfactory adjustment between the claims of the two worlds. They try to walk the tightrope between two kingdoms and they find no peace in either. Their strength is reduced, their outlook confused and their joy taken from them. I believe this state of affairs to be wholly unnecessary. We have gotten ourselves on the horns of a dilemma, true enough, but the dilemma is not real. It is a creature of misunderstanding. The sacred-secular antithesis has no foundation in the New Testament. Without doubt, a more perfect understanding of Christian truth will deliver us from it. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our perfect example, and He knew no divided life. In the presence of His Father He lived on earth without strain from babyhood to His death on the cross. God accepted the offering of His total life, and made no distinction between act and act. “I do always those things that please him,” was His brief summary of His own life as it related to the Father (John 8:29). As He moved among men He was poised and restful. What pressure and suffering He endured grew out of His position as the world’s sin bearer; they were never the result of moral uncertainty or spiritual maladjustment. Paul’s exhortation to “do all to the glory of God” is more than pious idealism. It is an integral part of the sacred revelation and is to be accepted as the very Word of Truth. It opens before us the possibility of making every act of our lives contribute to the glory of God. Lest we should be too timid to include everything, Paul mentions specifically eating and drinking. This humble privilege we share with the beasts that perish. If these lowly animal acts can be so performed as to honor God, then it becomes difficult to conceive of one that cannot. That monkish hatred of the body which figures so prominently in the works of certain early devotional writers is wholly without support in the Word of God. Common modesty is found in the sacred Scriptures, it is true, but never prudery or a false sense of shame. The New Testament accepts as a matter of course that in His incarnation our Lord took upon Him a real human body, and no effort is made to steer around the downright implications of such a fact. He lived in that body here among men and never once performed a non-sacred act. His presence in human flesh sweeps away forever the evil notion that there is about the human body something innately offensive to the Deity. God created our bodies, and we do not offend Him by placing the responsibility where it belongs. He is not ashamed of the work of His own hands. Perversion, misuse and abuse of our human powers should give us cause enough to be ashamed. Bodily acts done in sin and contrary to nature can never honor God. Wherever the human will introduces moral evil we have no longer our innocent and harmless powers as God made them; we have instead an abused and twisted thing which can never bring glory to its Creator. Let us, however, assume that perversion and abuse are not present. Let us think of a Christian believer in whose life the twin wonders of repentance and the new birth have been wrought. He is now living according to the will of God as he understands it from the written Word. Of such a one it may be said that every act of his life is or can be as truly sacred as prayer or baptism or the Lord’s Supper. To say this is not to bring all acts down to one dead level; it is rather to lift every act up into a living kingdom and turn the whole life into a sacrament. If a sacrament is an external expression of an inward grace, then we need not hesitate to accept the above thesis. By one act of consecration of our total selves to God we can make every subsequent act express that consecration. We need no more be ashamed of our body—the fleshly servant that carries us through life—than Jesus was of the humble beast upon which He rode into Jerusalem. “The Lord hath need of [him]” (Matthew 21:3) may well apply to our mortal bodies. If Christ dwells in us, we may bear about the Lord of glory as the little beast did of old and give occasion to the multitudes to cry, “Hosanna in the highest.” That we see this truth is not enough. If we would escape from the toils of the sacred-secular dilemma, the truth must “run in our blood” and condition the complex of our thoughts. We must practice living to the glory of God, actually and determinedly. By meditation upon this truth, by talking it over with God often in our prayers, by recalling it to our minds frequently as we move about among men, a sense of its wondrous meaning will take hold of us. The old painful duality will go down before a restful unity of life. The knowledge that we are all God’s, that He has received all and rejected nothing, will unify our inner lives and make everything sacred to us. This is not quite all. Long-held habits do not die easily. It will take intelligent thought and a great deal of reverent prayer to escape completely from the sacred-secular psychology. For instance, it may be difficult for the average Christian to get hold of the idea that his daily labors can be performed as acts of worship acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. The old antithesis will crop up in the back of his head sometimes to disturb his peace of mind. Nor will that old serpent, the devil, take all this lying down. He will be there in the cab or at the desk or in the field to remind the Christian that he is giving the better part of his day to the things of this world and allotting to his religious duties only a trifling portion of his time. And unless great care is taken, this will create confusion and bring discouragement and heaviness of heart. We can meet this successfully only by the exercise of an aggressive faith. We must offer all our acts to God and believe that He accepts them. Then hold firmly to that position and keep insisting that every act of every hour of the day and night be included in the transaction. Keep reminding God in our times of private prayer that we mean every act for His glory; then supplement those times by a thousand thought-prayers as we go about the job of living. Let us practice the fine art of making every work a priestly ministration. Let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there. A concomitant of the error which we have been discussing is the sacred-secular antithesis as applied to places. It is little short of astonishing that we can read the New Testament and still believe in the inherent sacredness of some places. This error is so widespread that one feels all alone when he tries to combat it. It has acted as a kind of dye to color the thinking of religious persons and has colored the eyes as well so that it is all but impossible to detect its fallacy. In the face of every New Testament teaching to the contrary, it has been said and sung throughout the centuries and accepted as a part of the Christian message, that which it most surely is not. Only the Quakers, so far as my knowledge goes, have had the perception to see the error and the courage to expose it. Here are the facts as I see them. For four hundred years Israel had dwelt in Egypt, surrounded by the crassest idolatry. By the hand of Moses they were brought out at last and started toward the land of promise. The very idea of holiness had been lost to them. To correct this, God began at the bottom. He localized Himself in the cloud and fire, and later when the tabernacle had been built He dwelt in fiery manifestation in the Holy of Holies. By innumerable distinctions God taught Israel the difference between holy and unholy. There were holy days, holy vessels, holy garments. There were washings, sacrifices, offerings of many kinds. By these means, Israel learned that God is holy. It was this that He was teaching them, not the holiness of things or places. The holiness of Jehovah was the lesson they must learn. Then came the great day when Christ appeared. Immediately He began to say, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time … but I say unto you” (Matthew 5:21–22). The Old Testament schooling was over. When Christ died on the cross, the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom. The Holy of Holies was opened to everyone who would enter in faith. Christ’s words were remembered, “The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.… But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21, 23–24). Shortly after, Paul took up the cry of liberty and declared all meats clean, every day holy, all places sacred and every act acceptable to God. The sacredness of times and places, a half-light necessary to the education of the race, passed away before the full sun of spiritual worship. The essential spirituality of worship remained the possession of the church until it was slowly lost with the passing of the years. Then the natural legality of the fallen hearts of men began to introduce the old distinctions. The church came to observe again days and seasons and times. Certain places were chosen and marked out as holy in a special sense. Differences were observed between one and another day or place or person. The “sacraments” were first two, then three, then four, until with the triumph of Romanism they were fixed at seven. In all charity, and with no desire to reflect unkindly upon any Christian, however misled, I would point out that the Roman Catholic church represents today the sacred-secular heresy carried to its logical conclusion. Its deadliest effect is the complete cleavage it introduces between religion and life. Its teachers attempt to avoid this snare by many footnotes and multitudinous explanations, but the mind’s instinct for logic is too strong. In practical living the cleavage is a fact. From this bondage reformers and puritans and mystics have labored to free us. Today, the trend in conservative circles is back toward that bondage again. It is said that a horse, after it has been led out of a burning building, will sometimes, by a strange obstinacy, break loose from its rescuer and dash back into the building again to perish in the flame. By some such stubborn tendency toward error, fundamentalism in our day is moving back toward spiritual slavery. The observation of days and times is becoming more and more prominent among us. “Lent” and “holy week” and “good” Friday are words heard more and more frequently upon the lips of gospel Christians. We do not know when we are well off. In order that I may be understood and not be misunderstood, I would throw into relief the practical implications of the teaching for which I have been arguing, i.e., the sacramental quality of everyday living. Over against its positive meanings, I should like to point out a few things it does not mean. It does not mean, for instance, that everything we do is of equal importance with everything else we do or may do. One act of a good man’s life may differ widely from another in importance. Paul’s sewing of tents was not equal to his writing of an Epistle to the Romans, but both were accepted of God and both were true acts of worship. Certainly it is more important to lead a soul to Christ than to plant a garden, but the planting of the garden can be as holy an act as the winning of a soul. Again, it does not mean that every man is as useful as every other man. Gifts differ in the body of Christ. A Billy Bray is not to be compared with a Luther or a Wesley for sheer usefulness to the church and to the world; but the service of the less gifted brother is as pure as that of the more gifted, and God accepts both with equal pleasure. The “layman” need never think of his humbler task as being inferior to that of his minister. Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act. All he does is good and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For such a man, living itself will be a priestly ministration. As he performs his never-so-simple task, he will hear the voice of the seraphim saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). Lord, I would trust Thee completely; I would be altogether Thine; I would exalt Thee above all. I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee. I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing presence and to hear Thy speaking voice. I long to live in restful sincerity of heart. I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thoughts may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every act of my life may be an act of worship. Therefore I pray in the words of Thy great servant of old, “I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee. “And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen. More Than Just A Job Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31 Today's Scripture: Colossians 3:22-4:1 George Herbert was a gifted 17th-century English poet. At one point in his life he wasn’t sure he wanted to do what God wanted him to do. Being the pastor of a church didn’t appeal to him, even though he sensed that God was directing him to that vocation. He hesitated because he felt that he would have to give up too much. After a time of rebellious struggle, he came to realize that submitting to Christ’s lordship is the way out of self-centered bondage and opens the door to authentic freedom and fulfillment. He also came to realize that serving the Savior does not usually entail heroic martyrdom. Rather, it is the willing and worshipful performance of the most menial tasks for His glory. Many of God’s people are troubled because they can’t give themselves to what is called “full time ministry.” All of us, though, whatever our vocation—accounting, farming, nursing, homemaking, or something else—need to recognize that we are always to work for the Lord. In Colossians 3:23 we read, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” Thinking It Over Is it difficult to give your best to your employer? Why? How can you glorify God today in your work and in your relationships with co-workers and supervisors? All Christians work for the same employer. Living For God Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. —Colossians 3:23 Today's Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 The practice of some believers in Ireland centuries ago can help us in our spiritual journey today. They wanted to be aware of God’s presence in every activity of life. For example, they would say this prayer when they woke up in the morning: “Thanks to Thee, O God, that I have risen today to the rising of this life itself.” An Irish housewife, starting a fire at dawn, would whisper a prayer that the Lord would kindle in her heart a love for her family, friends, neighbors, and enemies. Many believers would end their day with these words: “I lie down with God, and God will lie down with me.” The practices of these Irish believers challenge us to perform even the most mundane and humble tasks “as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). We are to carry out the apostle Paul’s directive: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Those Dirty Jobs Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31 Today's Scripture: John 13:3-17 Before he became an outspoken critic of Communist oppression, Milovan Djilas was one of Yugoslavia’s top Marxists. Jailed in his early twenties for his anti-government activities, he took on the repugnant task of smuggling party literature through the prison sewer system. He was willing to perform such duty, he says, because “no job is dirty, low, or inconsequential.” If a former communist who didn’t believe in God could be so committed, we who serve God, whose purpose is infinitely higher, ought to have a similar attitude. A supreme motive enables us to perform the most menial labor with a sense of divine mission. Christ, by His washing of the disciples’ dirty feet, set an example for us to follow (John 13). If God’s saving purposes are to be accomplished in this world, society must function with predictable order. Somebody must collect garbage, work the fields to provide food, and labor in factories to produce necessary goods. Because of the inter-connectedness of life, we should be grateful for those who do the drab and menial tasks. Teach me to do the humble task The very best I can, And not to seek a higher place That is not in Your plan. —Anon. Don’t let the trivialities of life blind you to the supreme importance of the eternal. Virtuoso -1 Corinthians 10:31 Today's Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1 A major US newspaper has called Christopher Parkening “the leading guitar virtuoso of our day, combining profound musical insight with complete technical mastery of his instrument.” There was a time, however, when Parkening gave up playing the guitar professionally. At the height of his career as a classical guitarist, he retired at age 30, bought a ranch in Montana, and spent his days fly-fishing. But early retirement did not bring him the satisfaction he had hoped for. Then during a visit to California, he was invited to a church where he heard a clear presentation of the gospel. Of this he wrote: “That night I lay awake, broken over my sins. . . . I had lived very selfishly and it had not made me happy. . . . It was then that I asked Jesus Christ to come into my life, to be my Lord and Savior. For the first time, I remember telling Him, ‘Whatever You want me to do with my life, Lord, I’ll do it.’” One of Parkening’s favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, . . . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” He has taken up the guitar again, but this time with the motivation to glorify God. The gifts we offer to the Lord Are by His standards measured; Our sacrifice and lives of praise— Such gifts are highly treasured. —Sper We were created to give God the glory. To eat to the glory of God - J.R. Miller "Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do — do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 Nothing in life is left out — "whatever you do." It extends even to eating and drinking. We are to do all things to the glory of God. This means that we must do everything in a way that will please Him. One who eats self-indulgently or gluttonously, or who eats food that is injurious to his health, or who does not use the strength he derives from his food in living obediently — is not glorifying God. In all our life, in everything we do, we are to think of what will honor God. The universal principle! George Everard ("The Right Principle!" 1866) "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do — do it all for the glory of God!" 1 Corinthians 10:31 This same principle is applicable in all common actions and every day affairs. No single moment of our lives, no single action — ought to be taken outside of the sphere of this rule. Our rising up and lying down, the disposal of our time, the spending of our money, our social gatherings, our conversations, our recreations, the way of conducting the affairs of our household, the books we read, buying and selling, business transactions of various kinds — all these, and a multitude of other suchlike matters, are all to be ordered under the daily guidance of this same principle. We are to do all to glorify Him who is . . . our Creator, our Savior our Preserver, our most loving Father. Reader, beware of neglecting to exercise this universal principle in little things. Great occasions for serving God occur but seldom; lesser ones arise every moment. Little things are not to be despised. "He who despises little things, shall fall little by little." Little omissions of duty, little acts of disobedience, as they may seem to us — may prove a great hindrance along our path. A few grains of dust, or a small insect in the eye, will often cause great pain and annoyance. A little stone in a horse's foot will make it stumble again and again. The Christian will find much the same thing from the indulgence of apparently trivial sins. They will . . . harass the mind, destroy the peace and comfort which he might enjoy, prove a stumbling-block to him as he endeavors to run the heavenly race. Give It Your Best! Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31 Today's Scripture: Colossians 3:16-25 On the 80th birthday of the famous musician and conductor Arturo Toscanini, someone asked his son what he considered to be his father’s greatest achievement. He replied, “For him there can be no such thing. Whatever he happens to be doing at any moment is the biggest undertaking in his life, whether it be conducting a symphony or peeling an orange.” We ought to have a similar attitude as we serve Christ. By yielding to the Holy Spirit, we can have such a strong assurance of doing the Father’s will that we’ll be able to engage in every endeavor with zest and enthusiasm. Toscanini gave himself so completely to every task that he could become totally involved in peeling an orange or in conducting a symphony. How much more we as God’s children should take continual delight in the deeds of love we do for the Lord and for others! Whatever you are working on, Engage in it with zest, Because your work is for the Lord, And He expects your best. —Sper It's a great thing to do a little thing well. Pascal’s Prayer Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. — 1 Corinthians 10:31 Today's Scripture: Philippians 4:4-13 Blaise Pascal, the brilliant 17th-century intellectual, made significant contributions in the fields of science and mathematics. He established the groundwork for the development of mechanical calculators and modern hydraulic operations. As a young man, Pascal had a profound encounter with Jesus Christ. This life-changing experience motivated him to refocus his study from science and math to theology. Pascal wrote a remarkable prayer that can help each believer in facing the tasks of life. He prayed: “Lord, help me to do great things as though they were little, since I do them with Your power; and little things as though they were great, since I do them in Your name.” Pascal’s supplication is profoundly scriptural. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13) and admonishes us that “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Pascal echoes these admonitions to depend upon God for His power and to view every act as important, since it will reflect on His glory. If you have some work to do, Start this very hour; You supply the willingness, God supplies the power. —Anon. Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God. —William Carey Oswald Chambers - Still human! Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Cor. 10:31. The great marvel of the Incarnation slips into ordinary childhood’s life; the great marvel of the Transfiguration vanishes in the devil-possessed valley; the glory of the Resurrection descends into a breakfast on the sea-shore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God. The tendency is to look for the marvellous in our experience; we mistake the sense of the heroic for being heroes. It is one thing to go through a crisis grandly, but another thing to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, no one paying the remotest attention to us. If we do not want medieval haloes, we want something that will make people say—‘What a wonderful man of prayer he is!’ ‘What a pious, devoted woman she is!’ If you are rightly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the sublime height where no one ever thinks of noticing you, all that is noticed is that the power of God comes through you all the time. ‘Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!’ It takes Almighty God Incarnate in us to do the meanest duty to the glory of God. It takes God’s Spirit in us to make us so absolutely humanly His that we are utterly unnoticeable. The test of the life of a saint is not success, but faithfulness in human life as it actually is. We will set up success in Christian work as the aim; the aim is to manifest the glory of God in human life, to live the life hid with Christ in God in human conditions. Our human relationships are the actual conditions in which the ideal life of God is to be exhibited. Drifting snow and bitter cold threatened the lives of Indian evangelist Sadhu Sundar Singh and his Tibetan companion as they crossed a Himalayan mountain pass. Fighting the "sleep of death," they stumbled over a mound in the trail. It was a man, half-dead. The Tibetan refused to stop but continued on alone. The compassionate Sadhu, however, shouldered the burden the best he could. Through his struggling, he began to warm up, as did the unconscious man. But before reaching the village they found the Tibetan—frozen to death. Jesus taught that if we put our selfish desires first, we become losers. But if we use our lives for His sake, we receive life in abundance. Only when life's energies are put into the cause of Christ do we know the joy of being finders instead of losers. —D. J. DeHaan. YOU DENY CHRIST WHEN YOU FAIL TO DENY YOURSELF FOR CHRIST. Oswald Chambers - Shallow and profound Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Cor. 10:31. Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow concerns of life are not ordained of God; they are as much of God as the profound. It is not your devotion to God that makes you refuse to be shallow, but your wish to impress other people with the fact that you are not shallow, which is a sure sign that you are a spiritual prig. Be careful of the production of contempt in yourself, it always comes along this line, and causes you to go about as a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than you are. Beware of posing as a profound person; God became a Baby. To be shallow is not a sign of being wicked, nor is shallowness a sign that there are no deeps; the ocean has a shore. The shallow amenities of life, eating and drinking, walking and talking, are all ordained by God. These are the things in which Our Lord lived. He lived in them as the Son of God, and He said that “the disciple is not above his Master.” Our safeguard is in the shallow things. We have to live the surface commonsense life in a commonsense way; when the deeper things come, God gives them to us apart from the shallow concerns. Never show the deeps to anyone but God. We are so abominably serious, so desperately interested in our own characters, that we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life. Determinedly take no one seriously but God, and the first person you find you have to leave severely alone as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself. John

1 Coríntios 10

Spurgeon - What we may do lawfully it will frequently be better not to do lest we injure others: for their sakes we must deny ourselves, for selfishness in a Christian is a grievous vice. No offense (677) aproskopos from a = not + proskopto = strike at, to trip, dash against as foot against a stone) literally means without offense, without stumbling, not stumbling or not tripping. Not causing others to stumble or fail. Not giving offense (thus inoffensive). NIDNTT adds that aproskopos means "both giving no offense, unobjectionable, blameless, and taking no offense, unhurt." Used only 3x in NT - Acts 24:16; 1 Co. 10:32; Phil. 1:10+ "so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;" 1 Corinthians 10:33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved. Amplified Just as I myself strive to please [to accommodate myself to the opinions, desires, and interests of others, adapting myself to] all men in everything I do, not aiming at or considering my own profit and advantage, but that of the many in order that they may be saved. Wuest even as I also in all things accommodate myself to all, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, in order that they might be saved. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) Zodhiates In like manner, I accommodate myself to all people in all things, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. NET 1 Corinthians 10:33 just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved. NLT 1 Corinthians 10:33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don't just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved. ESV 1 Corinthians 10:33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. NIV 1 Corinthians 10:33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. GNT 1 Corinthians 10:33 καθὼς κἀγὼ πάντα πᾶσιν ἀρέσκω μὴ ζητῶν τὸ ἐμαυτοῦ σύμφορον ἀλλὰ τὸ τῶν πολλῶν, ἵνα σωθῶσιν. KJV 1 Corinthians 10:33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. YLT 1 Corinthians 10:33 as I also in all things do please all, not seeking my own profit, but that of many -- that they may be saved. ASV 1 Corinthians 10:33 even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved. CSB 1 Corinthians 10:33 just as I also try to please all people in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, so that they may be saved. MIT 1 Corinthians 10:33 Do just as I do in this regard: I please everyone in everything, not seeking my own advantage, but seeking to benefit many that they might be saved. NKJ 1 Corinthians 10:33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. NRS 1 Corinthians 10:33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. NAB 1 Corinthians 10:33 just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved. NJB 1 Corinthians 10:33 just as I try to accommodate everybody in everything, not looking for my own advantage, but for the advantage of everybody else, so that they may be saved. GWN 1 Corinthians 10:33 I try to please everyone in every way. I don't think about what would be good for me but about what would be good for many people so that they might be saved. BBE 1 Corinthians 10:33 Even as I give way to all men in all things, not looking for profit for myself, but for the good of others, that they may get salvation. 1Co 10:24 1 Cor 9:19-23 Ro 15:2,3 2Co 11:28,29 12:19 1 Corinthians 10 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries PAUL'S PURPOSE: LIVE IN SUCH A WAY THAT MANY ARE SAVED Just as I also - In like manner - "The use of this phrase connects this verse with the previous one in which Paul's advice to the Corinthian believers was that they not become a stumbling block to all three classes of people among whom they lived, that is, the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Christians who make up the church of God. Paul wants his fellow Corinthian Christians to realize that he himself practices what he preaches, and there is not any group of people against whom he consciously discriminates. However, since his desire is for all to be saved, his concern is that he build societal contacts which hopefully will yield spiritual results, the salvation of those who are not saved and the edification of those who have been saved." (Zodhiates) Please (present tense - continually - aresko) all men in all things - Amplified = "Just as I myself strive to please [to accommodate myself to the opinions, desires, and interests of others, adapting myself to] all men in everything" Paul is a "people pleaser" NOT in a negative sense as we usually think of the phrase, but in the positive sense that it would be profitable to all men and ultimately that they might be saved. Later in his "definition" of love Paul writes that supernatural LOVE "does not seek its own" (1 Cor 13:5+). And so what Paul is doing in this verse is to give us one of his basic principles for all his behavior, not seeking his own profit and as stated earlier, ultimately he does this for the glory of God. Not (present tense - continually) seeking (zeteo) my own profit but the profit of the many, so that (THE HIGH PURPOSE) they may be saved - This personal goal of Paul is also similar to that he expressed earlier when he declared "To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. " (1 Cor 9:22-23+). Jack Arnold - Paul pleased all men as best be could in questionable practices so as not to offend. He does not mean that he pleased all men in the preaching of the gospel or in his stand for genuine Christian morality. What he is saying is that in the area of questionable practices, he would not be a stumbling block of any kind. He loved Christ and the gospel more than his own rights and liberties, so he set them aside (if necessary) to reach people for Christ. His one goal in life was to win men to Christ and to build them in Christ, and he was willing to pay any price to achieve that goal. He would not have anything in his own life that would keep an unbeliever from responding to Christ as Savior and Lord. If a person has his heart set on the conversion of people to Christ and the salvation of all men, this will go a long way in regulating his conduct in the area of questionable practices. It will affect his dress, his intake of food and beverages, his style of living, his entertainment and his interaction with the world. This will all be done not by rules and regulations but by a heart which wants to please Christ and win men to Him. This is the best and highest motivation for Christian living. Profit (sumpheros - the adjective related to sumphero from sun = with + phero = to bear or bring) means beneficial, advantageous, expedient; profitable; bringing welfare. it signifies that which makes for one’s best interests. TDNT - "This word means “accompanying,” “suiting,” or “useful.”" This adjective has two primary uses in Greek literature prior to the New Testament: (1) “accompanying” (e.g., “hunger is the sluggard’s companion”) and (2) “suitable, useful, profitable” (cf. Liddell-Scott). By New Testament times this latter usage predominated. It is used in the Septuagint in 2 Maccabees 4:5. Now based on this great aim of Paul, he gives us a command Be (present imperative see our need to depend on the Holy Spirit to obey) imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ (esp Php 2:3-5+). (1 Cor 11:1+) Arnold - He abandoned his rights, set aside his liberties and made unbelievable sacrifices because he loved Christ and others. Anything that would offend or cause another to stumble or be injured, Paul would gladly and voluntarily set aside to reach a soul for Jesus Christ. We are to follow his example. What Paul did, he only copied what he saw in the supreme example of Christ who set aside all His rights and liberties as the God-Man to die that sinful men and women might be saved. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of love and concern for others. We can only follow Paul because Paul followed Christ. Paul's Practice - James Smith, 1860 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:3-5 The less we indulge SELF, the better. Selfishness is . . . the bane of our happiness, a bar to our usefulness, and renders us unlovely to both God and others. One of the most beautiful traits in the character of our Lord and Savior, was his unselfishness. He never seemed to please himself, or consult his own ease. He was everyone's servant, and everyone's friend. All who applied to him were received, all befitting requests were granted, and through his whole life, his own testimony was illustrated, "The Son of man came not to be served — but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Next to the Savior, perhaps no one carried self-denial so far as the apostle Paul; let us look at his admirable words, "Just as I myself strive to please [to accommodate myself to the opinions, desires, and interests of others, adapting myself to] all men in everything I do, not aiming at or considering my own profit and advantage, but that of the many in order that they may be saved." 1 Corinthians 10:33 (Amplified bible) PAUL'S SELF-DENIAL. "Not seeking my own profit." We are naturally selfish, and seek our own health, wealth, and gratification, as our grand end. Selfishness clings to us, and appears more or less in our whole conduct. But the gospel calls for self-denial, and bids us take up our cross, and follow our self-denying Master. The gospel requires dedication to God, that we may live to him and for him; and it directs us to seek the good of others, of all that are around us. What the gospel requires — true grace produces; and it will struggle and fight with all our selfish principles until it prevails. It did so in Paul, who suffered the loss of all things for Christ, and rejoiced in the sacrifice; who devoted his whole life to seek the good of others. He could say even of his bitterest enemies, who cried, "Away with him," and sought to take his life, "My heart's desire, and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved;" and this desire influenced his conduct, and regulated his whole life. What an admirable example! O for grace to copy it day by day! PAUL'S BENEVOLENCE. "I seek the profit of many." He could say, "As poor, yet making many rich." "I seek to please in order to profit." Therefore he became all things, to all men. He accommodated himself to their prejudices and interests, when they did not run counter to the word of God. He never went to the extent of his own liberty — but always asked, "Is this expedient?" He consulted the best interests of the greatest number, not sparing himself, or thinking much of his own labor. He sought to benefit and bless all he could, therefore he gave as a reason for his accommodating spirit, "that I may save the more." Lord, fill me with such benevolence, that I may not seek my own selfish interests — but the welfare of others; and of as many others as possible! PAUL'S DESIGN. "That they may be saved." If saved ourselves, we should seek to save others. In proportion as we realize the value of salvation, and enjoy it in our own souls — shall we seek the salvation of others. Paul laid himself out to save all he could, as he testified when speaking of Jesus, "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily." What a noble, what a magnanimous spirit! O that every one of us possessed the same! If such a spirit, leading to such conduct, inspired all the members of Christ's church — then what glorious results we should witness. Does not Paul's self-denial reprove us? Have we not been far too selfish? May he not bring the same charge against us, which he did against the Philippians, "All seek their own interests — and not the things which are Jesus Christ's." May he not well address us, as he did the Corinthians, "Let no man seek his own interests — but every man another's welfare." Ought not this subject to produce sorrow, and lead to a new course? It ought, and if it works effectively in our minds, it will. We have lived long enough for ourselves! It is time that we became interested in the souls of others, and began to live for others. Lord, rouse us up, and make us sorry for our past conduct, and give us grace to act differently in future. Does not Paul's conduct account for his great success? Surely it does. Would not we be more happy and profitable to others — if we were less selfish, and more thoroughly imbued with the self-denying spirit of Christ? Do we not live too much to ourselves? Do we not think too much of our own comfort, and pleasure, and ease? Can we look back on the past without grief on this account, or forward to the future without seeking grace to act differently? If we really love immortal souls, and if we desire the prosperity of Christ's church — shall we not seek grace to go and do as Paul did? We should follow him, as he followed Christ. Let us make him our model, and keep the whole of this fine passage frequently before our eyes. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God — even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 O how Christ-like! Admirable example! Lord, give us grace to copy it accurately, by keeping it always in view! People Pleasers - James Scudder For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. 1 Corinthians 10:33 The Apostle Paul seemingly contradicts himself in Galatians when he claims that he doesn't aim to please men. Earlier, when addressing the Corinthians, Paul said that he tried to "please all men in all things." But, instead of a contradiction, Paul actually gives us a very important principle when dealing with others. When it comes to the truth of the Gospel, there was no fudging on Paul's part. He wouldn't lower his standards or change his message to accommodate those who didn't believe. He believed that if he watered down the Gospel to please people, then He would cease to be serving Christ. Yet, when Paul talks about "pleasing all men in all things," he is describing the sacrifices that often have to be made to win people to Christ. He would do whatever it took to win someone to the Lord. It is possible to reach the lost without losing our boldness and fervor. It may take sacrifice on our part. It may involve a late night visit to a hospital, paying for someone's dinner, or giving someone a ride to church. It may even mean missing a day of work or a couple of hours on the phone. But, if we win the person to the Lord, the sacrifice is well worth the effort. Pleasing people doesn't mean changing the message of the Gospel, but going the extra mile to share God's love. And it is an effort with eternal rewards. A good life is the best sermon. F B