GRASSROOTS CHRISTIANITY

The Danger of Disqualification

1 Corinthians 10:1-14

Jerry A Collins

8/28/05

SCC

Ø What does it mean to be disqualified for service?

Ø What kind of negative example was Israel?

Ø How can I expect a way of escape from temptation?

One of the first cars I owned was a 1960 belaire. It was so full of rust that you could not wash it because the body would deteriorate. We had a 1963 chevy sitting in our driveway for a number of years. My dad had hoped to put some money into it and get it running again. So my grandfather and I towed this car to his house and took the engine out of the belaire into the chevy. I can still remember the afternoon we got the engine running in the chevy. I was so anxious to give it a test run. My grandfather left for his afternoon shift at Chrysler and I just could not resist taking the car for a drive to my friends house a couple of miles away. While he was at work I took off and sure enough my friend was impressed with what we had done. I began to drive back home when a policeman passing me immediately put on his brakes and turned around. I noticed this and turned off the main road onto the dirt road leading to my grandfathers house. Sure enough the policemen followed and pulled me over. When he approached he asked for drivers license, registration, insurance. I only had license. He asked what I was doing and then began a Q&A about my car. Where is the hood? Where were the headlights? Turn of your turning signals. Wiper blades. Put foot on brake. Honk the horn. Nothing worked. We had not gotten that far yet. Just the engine running. Returning from his car he explained he could give me 25 different tickets. But considering my situation he would only call for a tow truck to take my car to the house. My grandmother was waiting and saw us pull into driveway and she was crying thinking either I had an accident or I was going to jail. Now my newly found freedom had been misused. I had overextended was reckless and unrestrained and paid the consequences. The Corinthians were misusing their new-found freedom in Christ too. They had a problem with overconfidence, arrogance and pride. It led to divide into competing groups, to exceed what was written in scripture, to tolerate immorality, and to take believers to court. Unfortunately, there is a vivid example of this they are confronted with. Israel was reckless and unrestrained after her physical and spiritual freedom from bondage of Egypt. As a result, God disciplined them by cutting short the lives of most of Israelites. They were disqualified for service for God in spite of their advantages.

1. DON’T EQUATE CLOSENESS TO GOD WITH USEFULNESS TO GOD 1-5

The word ‘for’ refers back to the disqualification for service mentioned in 9:27. ‘Not being ignorant’ refers partly as reminder and partly new teaching. ‘Fathers’ refers to Abe and all spiritual descendents of him up to that point. Here are 4 advantages these had when leaving Egyptian bondage.

(1) Spiritual guidance were all under the cloud. During Exodus when cloud moved they moved. God’s presence in the cloud and nation secure as long as remained under it. It would go, they would pack and go. It would stop they would unpack and stop. “Next time it stops I m not going to unpack” so then it stops for a month. Then finally decide to unpack when cloud moves again. If cloud goes in circles so will you. Theu it God may lead you in opposite direction from promised land. You don’t want to follow his leadership your faced with decision. Do you want freedom to do what you want or do you want he security of God’s presence? Cannot have both. Jesus said so!

(2) Miraclous deliverance all passed thru the sea. God does not promise you that the authority He will place over your life will be good. Sometimes he puts you under the authority of rash people who are capricious in their behavior. When they are unreasonable, don’t resist it but remember you are a servant of Christ and let the Lord fight for you. Tho he has place this authority over you He will not allow him to harm you. Israel escaped from the hands of Pharoah.

(3) Spiritual identification all were baptized into Moses. Moses was called by the Lord to lead Israel. By following his leadership thru red sea separating from Egypt they were joined to Moses compelled to follow him who was following God no matter where it mite lead them.

(4) Supernatural provision all ate same spiritual food. Spiritual in sense that bread and drink was not provided by natural means but from heaven. God provided physical food thru spiritual means. So provisions were of a divine source rather than natural one. The word ‘rock’ was of a massive bedrock not just a large boulder. It is upon this rock that the church would be established and built-that is Jesus Christ. And Christ was also provider in wilderness. NB Yet this proximity to God did not automatically produce success 5. Just the opposite. All but 2 were disciplined, disqualified, died in desert. Laid low means spread over so corpses of Israelites literally strewn all over the wilderness. Judas was close to Jesus but disqualified. Don’t mistake attending services, youth group, devotions, xain family insulates you from uselessness to God. You have to take responsibility.

2. WATCH OUT FOR THE SIN THAT DISQUALIFIES YOU FROM BEING USEFUL TO GOD 6-10

Here are some examples f the kind of sin that renders us useless to God and destined for discipline by Him. (1) Craving evil things 6. They craved for pleasures of Egypt while going opposite direction. God gave them what they wanted but while the meat still in their teeth He struck them with plague Num 11:34.

(2) Being idolaters 7. Hardly out of Egypt, they made a golden calf and paid for it with their lives Ex 32. The quote in vs 7 means they were caressing these idols with their affections, and actions. We make idols of God into image we want him to be and massage and caress that image. God hates it. (3) Acting immorally 8. Going after women of a foreign land they also assumed the worship of their gods Num 25 and thousands lost their lives because of idols and sex.

(4) Questioning God 9. Some presumed to question God’s plan and purpose on way to Canaan. As that very plan unfolding. They were not satisfied with it and wanted a different plan. Many were then killed with snakes Num 21. (5) Grumbling 10. Rebelling against God’s appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron—challenging His wisdom, grace, goodness, complained of the decisions--Korah, his family and thousands who murmured were killed. Point is there are consequences for our sin. One of those is disqualified from being useful to God. He does not need us anyway. So don’t make it hard for Him to use you. He may have to remove you. (1) Learn from bad examples-don’t repeat them 11. These should warn us enough to persuade us to change our behavior in lite of judgment. Tho we are living in a different age we too can fail thru disobedience and sin and disqualify ourselves. (2) Don’t allow your freedom in Christ make you overconfident about how useful you are to God 12. When we feel most secure in ourselves—when we think our spiritual life is strongest, our doctrine soundest, our abilities ablest, our morals purest—we should be most on guard and most dependent upon the Lord. (3) We escape temptation by passing thru it 13. None of us have temptations that are unique. We all face them and deal with them. No one, not even Satan, can make us sin. We have a choice and faced with temptation if we do not look for way to endure it we will look for way to indulge. There is only one way we can pass the test. We escape temptation not by getting out of it but by passing thru it. God does not take us out of it. He sees us thru it by making us able to endure it. Jesus met his head-on. He escaped by enduring them in father’s power. So; (1) Our first defense is to turn to our heavenly Father and place matter into is hands. (2) Next, must trust God that he has allowed it to come into my life for my good and to prove our faithfulness to him for sake of His glory and our spiritual growth. (3) Then focus on JC Heb 12:3-4.