Are you worshiping idols?
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Children’s Message
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Question: Are you worshiping idols?
I’m sure you are thinking, “Of course not!” But are you certain?
Normally we think of idols as being only the graven images, or an object like the Golden Calf. In our day you might think of the Buddha statues you may see at some Asian food restaurants.
If a statue of an idol is required for worshiping idols, maybe you are doing just fine. But it is not so simple. Idolatry isn’t about a statue, it is about trusting in a false god.
Martin Luther asked, What does it mean to have a god? “A god means that from which we are to expect all good and in which we are to take refuge in all distress.”
So what you should ask yourself is, “Where do I expect good to come from and where do I run when I’m afraid.”
1. Which God has delivered you?/Beware that many of your spiritual ancestors fell into idolatry!
1. Which God has delivered you?/Beware that many of your spiritual ancestors fell into idolatry!
A. “I do not want you to be unaware.” = Be aware! or Beware!
A. “I do not want you to be unaware.” = Be aware! or Beware!
i. Paul is warning us
ii. “our fathers” -
a. the Israelites were the ancestors of the Gentile Corinthians, and by extension so are we.
b. The people who have God’s Word, the Israelites and the Church are a family, God’s people.
c. Paul is showing the connection between the Israelites and the Corinthians. He is about to make more connections.
B. Your spiritual ancestors, the Israelites were all delivered by Christ
B. Your spiritual ancestors, the Israelites were all delivered by Christ
(v.1b) “They were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,”
(v.1b) “They were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,”
Led by God - cloud by day and pillar of fire by night
The Exodus - passing through the Red Sea on dry land
(v. 2) “and all were baptized into moses in the cloud and in the sea
(v. 2) “and all were baptized into moses in the cloud and in the sea
Notice: The Israelites were not touched by or immersed in the water (that was the Egyptians!)
The picture here is:
i. separation from the Egyptians, the pagan idol worshipers. Set apart
They were delivered from slavery to Egypt, we who are baptized into Christ are freed from slavery to sin & death
ii. unity as the people of the one true God.
Distinct from the rest of the world and united in worship of God and thus the rejection of all other gods.
“baptized into Moses” - preposition: into/to/unto/for Moses - symbolical baptism united the people with God’s representative Moses.
Moses was a type of Christ
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
(v.3) “and all ate the same spiritual food” - Manna
(v.3) “and all ate the same spiritual food” - Manna
(v.4) “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.”
(v.4) “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.”
OT account of God pouring water out from a rock to quench the thirst of the Israelites.
See Exodus 17:1-7 & Numbers 20:2-13 (and a well in Numbers 21:16-18 )
Notice also that although there are only two accounts of God pouring water out of a rock, the people ALWAYS had water to drink as they followed God around in the desert
Jewish legend: a rock that followed them around
The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians III. Old Testament Examples and the Lord’s Supper in Warning, 10:1–22
the rock which Moses struck rolled along on the journey of the Israelites until at the time of the death of Moses it disappeared in the Sea of Gennesaret.
The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians III. Old Testament Examples and the Lord’s Supper in Warning, 10:1–22
the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan says on Num. 20:19: “The well that had been given as a present to them climbed up with them on the high mountains and from the high mountains came down with them into the valleys, surrounded the entire camp of Israel, and refreshed them, each at the door of his tent.”
the Rock was Christ - all of the Israelite believers were delivered by Christ (even though He had not come to earth as a man yet.
C. v.(5) “NEVERTHELESS, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”
C. v.(5) “NEVERTHELESS, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”
2. Do you desire evil?/Four warnings (“Examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” )
2. Do you desire evil?/Four warnings (“Examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” )
#1 (v.7) “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.’”
#1 (v.7) “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.’”
And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
This is not saying that you can’t sit down while you eat or drink, or that food and drink are evil. It is also not saying that it is evil to play or have fun.
It is referring to a specific case of idolatry and then making it into a more generalized way of talking about an attitude of rejecting God, not recognizing where these good gifts came from, and choosing to embrace sin and go our own way.
#2 (v.8) “We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.”
#2 (v.8) “We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.”
While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab.
Their god is their sinful lusts
#3 (v.9) “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,”
#3 (v.9) “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,”
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
Ungrateful -
Their god is their belly
#4 (v.10) “Nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.”
#4 (v.10) “Nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.”
Numbers 14 (curse upon the entire people and among the adults only Joshua & Caleb were allowed to enter the promised land of Canaan) and Numbers 16 (14,700 died)
To Grumble or murmur (according to Lenski) is “to give audible expression to unwarranted dissatisfaction.”
UNBELIEF
Not trusting
Accusing God of misleading us and mistreating us
Do you have an attitude of gratitude or of grumbling?
3. Which way do you turn when temptations come?
3. Which way do you turn when temptations come?
A. If you think you are standing (doing just fine)
A. If you think you are standing (doing just fine)
(v.12) “let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
As they say, “There but by the grace of God go I.”
B. A comforting word… God is in control of temptation
B. A comforting word… God is in control of temptation
He puts a limit on how much you can be tempted (not to exceed your ability to resist)
He limits Satan, the tempter
He knows how much you can handle
He gives you a way of escape
Christian, You don’t have to sin. It is not inevitable.
This is not to say that you won’t sin or fail, or that you must do resist in your own strength. The point is that God is in control and He is providing a way out for you.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Looking anywhere but Christ will lead you to destruction and you will not be allowed into the eternal promised land
Look to Christ
He is the one who delivered the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.
He is the one who delivers through Baptism.
He is the one who fed the Israelites with Manna in the desert
He is the one who feeds you in the Lord’s Supper and who is the Bread from the Heaven, the Bread of Life. When you eat Christ’s food you will be satisfied and sustained for eternity!
He is the one who is with with you when you are being tempted. Nothing else will satisfy, nothing else will