1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-11 – For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

THEME OF THE DAY. HEED THE WARNINGS. The Bible is full of warnings. God so loved us that He gives us warnings in the forms of commands and examples. Sure, they are negative and may make us “squirmy” when we read or hear them. And I would add, we probably read them in private more than hear them in public. For instance, how much do we hear in sermons on God’s wrath, hell, judgment, damnation, repentance, and the warning passages to flee sin and worldliness that include the soul-damaging consequences if we don’t heed them? It is not loving to avoid these uncomfortable but Biblical truths. It is one of the highest expressions of love to warn people of these “hard” things in our Bibles.

Today’s scripture is one of those “hard things” we must confront. What we read is God’s warning to not follow bad examples. These examples were His people of old who brought great displeasure to Him by their refusal to heed His warnings. They were warnings to avoid four things; idolatry, sexual immorality, presuming upon His grace, and complaining of His dealings with them. Even though these bad examples lived a long time ago, God has not changed. He still warns us, His New Covenant people, to stay away from the same things. Yes, these four sins are alive and well in our world and God commands us, “Avoid, sustain, fight against” all of them for they not only displease Him, but will wreck our spiritual lives.

First, we must avoid idolatry. Idolatry is committed when we put anything or anyone above God in our lives. Even good things. God has no rivals so let’s ensure we create none. It brings great displeasure to Him.

Next, we must avoid sexual immorality. Did we know this sin is mentioned in over half of the New Testament? It appears in three of four Gospels, and eight of thirteen letters penned by the Apostle Paul. It literally means “to engage in illicit sexual activity.” However, we must not keep that so restricted. Remember what Jesus said of adultery; just the look is enough to commit the sin. Our culture is given over to sinful sexuality. It is everywhere; movies, social media, internet, advertisements, and we are commanded to be pure. This sin is not just an “old sin”. It is alive in our world today and must be fought against.

We also must avoid presuming upon or testing Christ. How may we commit this sin? By not fighting sin, all sin; by thinking “I am saved, I really don’t need to daily die to self and pursue holiness.” Presuming upon the Lord is living passive toward His commands.

Finally, we must avoid complaining of circumstances. This is what displeased God most with His people of old. They rebelled by complaining over God’s provision for them. And nothing has changed. The Israelites in the wilderness are examples not to follow. They serve as warnings reminding us of how seriously God takes sin in His people. May we do what they did not – heed the warnings of God. He means business when it comes to sin.

PRAYER: “Lord, help me to learn to follow not only good examples but to avoid bad ones.”

QUOTE: “God’s warnings are to heed and that for our good.”