1 Corinthians 10:12-13 So, if you think you are standing firm, be
careful that you don't fall!  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.

 Most of us have had warnings all our lives.  You know what I mean, those
warnings that parents like to throw at you.  And although as a kid I
didn't necessarily grasp the parental point of view, now as an adult I
get it.
 For instance our parents warned us to be careful about those we hung
around with as friends.  That's because the truth is that we will become
what those we hang around with are.  If our friends are morally loose or
if our friends use language that is trash you will find that you will
have the same morals and language they do.  Just give it time and it will
happen.  And by the way, the measure of what you are is not how you
behave when parents are around but rather how you behave when you are
responsible for yourself or when there aren't any parents around.  That's
who you are.  So how do you behave on your own?
 Our parents warned us about the music we listen to or the movies that we
see.  Now I realize that the rock and roll of my years is now called "the
golden oldies" and by the standards of today's music is really quite tame
yet the truth of the matter is we are a less moral society because of
that music and the impact it had.  You just can't listen to hours of
songs on love and sex, often without a moral content and not be affected.
 So the truth of the matter is that we are quite used to hearing
warnings, at least warnings about keeping our lives in this world
straight.  But do you realize that those warnings are also spiritual in
nature?  Many may not recognize the spiritual side of such warnings but
it is clear that what we do in life does indeed have a spiritual impact.
Few texts bring out that fact as clear as the one we have before us.
Let's then consider this text with the theme: EXAMPLES FOR US.  1st. Look
what they had.  2nd. Look what they did.  3rd. Learn from the Truth.
 The section before us is one where the Apostle Paul is trying to help
the Corinthian Christians in being Christian.  The city of Corinth was a
wide open city, filled with immorality, adultery and idolatry galore.
The Corinthians needed to be warned because they were having attitudes
that were contrary to the ways of God.  For instance, they seemed to have
a "I can do what I want because God forgives me" attitude.  As a result,
they were becoming careless in dealing with public sins (the young man
who married his step-mom), in dealing with fellow Christian (they were
suing one another because of lovelessness), in dealing with sexual
immorality (everybody else is!  And how true that is when the religions
of the day use sex as a part of worship) and even with their own
marriages (divorce in the name of Jesus).  There are a few more things
that can be added to the list, but I think you get the picture.  These
Christians were using their freedom in Christ as an excuse for sinning
and it was damning to their souls.
 So the Apostle wants to lead them to see their problems, wants to lead
them to reconsider their attitudes that were bordering on Godless.  To
help them see, he turns to God's Word and the very history of God's
people.  In that history are lessons for them to learn (and for us too)!
 How does Paul begin his lesson?  He points out what these Israelites
had.  They were God's special chosen people.  They had been blessed and
watched over by the Lord ever since God chose Abraham to be the one who
would father the Savior of the world.  They have been a people whom God
directly blesses in numerous ways.
 Consider those blessings as Paul lays them out. He starts with how the
Israelites were freed from their slavery in Egypt and lead to the land of
Canaan.  He speaks about that pillar of cloud and fire that lead them and
he speaks of how these people were saved by crossing the sea to escape
the pursuing Egyptians.  He speaks of how God had given them a leader,
Moses.  (Do really think about what is said here in connection to Moses.
"They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.")  He
speaks of the manna and water that God supplied during their journey
calling it spiritual food because it was food directly supplied by the
Lord.  In other words, these Old Testament people had visible proof and
clear evidence of God's grace and mercy upon them.  They knew first hand
about God's goodness and love.  Paul is even sure to point out that what
they had was because of and through Christ the Lord!  (That's the
implication of the phrase "and that rock was Christ!)  In other words,
they were a people awesomely, fantastically and graciously blessed by
God.
 That same blessing Paul is reminding the Corinthians they have.  God in
Christ, has delivered and saved them.   God in Christ was directing their
lives and showing them the path of salvation.  It was a path found in
Jesus, a path that showed God's redemption because Jesus won the victory.
 It is a path where God grants everything that is best for the sake of
our souls.  It is the path we still have before us today.  It is the path
of salvation by grace through faith.  It is the truth of how our Lord and
Savior grants and gives us all things necessary for our eternal life.
 And how did these people respond to this love, this grace and goodness
of God?  The list is pretty telling.  Note what is said about these
things as Paul gets ready to lay them out.  He says, "Now these things
occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as
they did."  Please note that!  Every one of these things listed occurred
because of the evil of men's hearts.  Evil that was born because of what
men wanted to do.  In doing such things God and his will were cast aside,
God and his will were ignored!  Make no mistake, these examples are
called works of evil!  This is God's pronouncement on what took place and
I know of nothing that changes God's opinion on these things.  I believe
these things to still be evil today.
 What are the examples?  Idolatry!  The Israelites had made and set up
the golden calf and declared it to be god.  Some have argued that the
intent of the people was good, they just wanted something visible to help
in worship.  Doesn't matter what their intent was.  God calls it evil and
a horror.  God says that in this action they abandoned his truth and his
wonder for what was manmade and false.  The Israelites had given
themselves up to idolatry, false gods.
 They committed sexual immorality.  Numbers 25 records the event.  The
Israelites were lead to join the Moabite women in their sexual worship of
Baal.  God was appalled and angry at such disregard for what He
commanded.  The Israelites jumped in and just joined the world and what
it was doing rather than following and obeying the Lord.  The fact that
God took 23,000 out tells us how he feels about such things.
 They whined and complained against the Lord's blessings of manna and
quail.  For that the Lord sent among them poisonous snakes and thousands
died.  Such complaining was really a challenge to the authority and
goodness of God.  They were accusing God of not caring, not taking care
of them.  Worse yet, they were telling God that his blessings were not
good enough.  Not a wise thing to do.
 And finally he speaks of how the Israelites grumbled against the leader
God had sent them, namely Moses.  They had decided that Moses was a
rotten leader, selfish and to demanding, and who did Moses think he was.
For that many of them were barred from entering the Promised Land (and I
might add as Hebrews does, entering heaven itself) and many were also
destroyed by God's avenging angel.  God had given Moses to show them what
was right and good.  Moses was God's representative and to dishonor Moses
was to dishonor God.
 Paul points to all these things as warnings for us, examples of how not
to treat and deal with the Lord.  In light of these things we should
examine our own lives and attitudes toward the Lord.  Idolatry?  Ask
yourself this, On most Sunday's are you worshiping the Lord or St.
Mattress?  Immorality?  Are we joining the world and declaring good and
right what God calls evil?  Grumbling?  Are we living our lives filled
with thanksgiving for all the tremendous blessings we have or are we
bashing the Lord because our state's economy is struggling?  Are we
practicing our faith, following Jesus and his Word or are we just going
along with the world and its ways.  Oh, yes, these things do serve as
examples.  Examples of what the Lord considers to be evil and destructive
to souls.
 Paul wants our focus to be right.  He wants us to grasp that God is for
us not against us.  He wants us to be sure of God's love and blessings in
Jesus not flushed into the world's sewer of sin.  All of this because of
the gift we have in Jesus.
 That's right, think of what we have in Jesus.  The treasure of eternal
life and salvation!  The forgiveness of sins because Jesus died for our
sin.  The gift of faith poured upon us by the Holy Spirit that changes
our hearts and minds and fills us with the wisdom of God.  That's what we
have.  A God of love and grace!  A Lord who gave his very life that we
might live and not be afraid!  A Savior who directs our lives in his Word
and keeps our hearts and minds focused on Him and his gracious love.   It
is a love that stays with us no matter what the turmoil or temptations
that this world might throw our way.
 Then we reach those two most important lessons that Paul comes to.
Lesson one: "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you
don't fall!"  Don't be so smug in your faith that you think you can't or
won't lose your salvation.  Don't think that since you know Jesus and you
have faith (by your opinion) that everything is peachy and fine.  Clearly
this passage is telling us that we can fall away, we can lose the
salvation that has been prepared for us in Jesus.  It's just a matter of
throwing Jesus out of our hearts.
 You realize that Jesus taught the same lesson?  Think of the parable of
the sower of the seed.  The seed among the rocks Jesus said was the man
who heard the word, received it with joy and then fell away because he
had no root.  The seed among the weeds Jesus describes as the man who
hears the word but the worries of life choke it out.  What do you think
was fallen away from or choked out?  It was Jesus.  It was faith that
died.  Be careful that you don't fall.  You cannot stand without Jesus,
cannot be involved in evil and remain a child of God.
 The other lesson is also important.  It's the lesson that gives us hope
and help.  It says, "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."  We will be tempted.  Temptations
when yielded to are damaging and hurtful to faith.  This passage says
that God will not give you beyond what you can bear.  If you think you
can't take it it is only because you don't have faith and trust in God
and his promises.  You can't take it because you are trying to rely on
your strength rather than on God's goodness.
 Note that this passage says that God will provide a way out.  It is also
a word that implies that God gives the strength and wisdom to endure.
The temptation before you either has a way out, that is, it can be
brought to a God pleasing end or the temptation before you is bearable
and God is using it to test your faith, to strengthen your faith because
this temptation makes you turn and rely on God.
 Then end result of what Paul is teaching is to give the challenge: Live
either God's way or the worlds.  Clearly he is showing that God's way is
better.  God's way is the eternal way.  God's way is the path to heaven.
God's way is found in Jesus and His Holy Word.  That's the way it is for
all true believers.  That's the challenge of our faith.  Keep Jesus and
his Word as the focus, turn and rely on God in all things.  God help you
in this.  Amen.