Common to Man (Part 1)

Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Avendrop. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing

Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the Scriptures verse by verse with No Compromise.

God is faithful. Do you know how great it is to be able to be your under -shepherd and to stand up and say, on the authority of the risen

King's testimony, God is dependable? Think about how many people and how many societies and how many institutions are unloyal, unfaithful, not dependable, yet God is faithful and He's always faithful.

He's steadfast, He's reliable. How many people do you know who are always faithful, always steadfast, always reliable?

And yet Yahweh is all of those, so much so that the word faithful in the

Old Testament is where we get the word amen. God is amen. When God says something, it's true and it's always true.

So let's turn our Bibles this morning to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and get some encouragement from Paul in the midst of a lot of negative comments.

A lot of comments like, watch out for your own selves because if Israel easily committed idolatry, you might too.

If Israel easily slides into sexual immorality, that could happen to you. If Israel tests

God, you might test God. If Israel grumbles, you might grumble and you might save yourself after this barrage from Paul to Christians who are justified by Christ's life and work, confirmed by the resurrection.

I need some breathing room, a little encouragement might help. Is failure the only option?

Am I relegated to just fail and slide into trouble all the time? How can

I have victory, as it were, in the midst of my own self? I'm the problem and so I need some encouragement and that's exactly what

Paul does. And Paul says in the middle of 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the exhortations to flee idolatry, flee immorality, and to flee testing

God, and to flee murmuring, there's some encouragement there. Failure doesn't have to be an option.

You're not defaulted to just always do that. And so this morning we're going to look at 1

Corinthians chapter 10, probably finish 1 Corinthians 10 in the next three weeks, just in time for our two services to have the inaugural first two -services sermon to be on head coverings, so that'll work out just great.

First Corinthians chapter 11 we'll be at then. Tozer said this about God's faithfulness, he cannot act out of character with himself.

He is at once faithful and immutable. So all his words and acts must be and must remain faithful.

Men become unfaithful out of desire, fear, weakness, loss of interest, or because of some strong influence from without.

Obviously, none of these forces can affect God in any way. He is his own reason for all he is and does.

He cannot be compelled from without, but ever speaks and acts from within himself by his own sovereign will as it pleases him.

God is faithful. Stated negatively, God can never forget, God can never fail,

God can never falter, God can never forfeit on his promises. What a great

God we have, a faithful God. And so what Paul is doing in this particular section, chapter 10 verses 11 through 13, is to focus in on a little more warning, but then he wants to encourage.

Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. And then at the very end he says, but you can rely on God's faithfulness.

There's more than just you when it comes to trials. If it was just left up to you, trials and temptations, we'd always fail.

You'd always fail. I'd always fail. But the components when it comes to faithfulness of God wrap himself around us and our problems and there is hope for the

Christian. So much so, 1 Corinthians 1 .9, Paul begins the letter by saying,

God is what? Any guesses? God is faithful. And so this morning

I want to talk to you about the faithfulness of King Jesus, the faithfulness of our triune

God. Failures might discourage you, but God's faithfulness should encourage you.

Well, 1 Corinthians is a book written to a church that's all messed up. And so we here at Bethlehem Bible Church are trying to learn from them, not because we're all messed up.

I think we're messed up, but we're not all messed up. We're on our way in progressive sanctification and we can learn even from a letter like this where Paul takes them to the woodshed, we can still learn.

Even though I didn't pick 1 Corinthians because I thought we were completely discombobulated like the church of Corinth.

So let us read 1 Corinthians 10, 11 through 13 for our passage today.

And you'll see immediately that Paul goes from the negative exhortation to the positive encouragement.

Even here in these three verses with a very famous verse, verse 13. I'm wondering if you really know the context, but we'll read all three now.

1 Corinthians 10, 11, now these things happen to them as an example, but we're written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.

Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands, take heed lest he fall. 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.

Our outline this morning is very simple. I want you to study your Old Testament and let me give you three reasons to study the

Bible or to study the Old Testament in particular. For Paul, of course, the Bible was the Old Testament and he's trying to tell the church, here's how you can study the word of God and the character of God in the

Old Testament so that you don't do what Israelites do. You don't do what human beings are so prone to do because of the fall and the consequence in nature that is in everyone.

Three reasons to read and study your Old Testament. Before I give you the three, I could ask you the question. Don't raise your hand, but have you read through the entire

Old Testament? Now maybe you're a new Christian and you think, no, I haven't, but I'm trying, I'm on my way and for that I say, good job.

I remember when I first got saved, you get a book, you don't know where to start and so like other books, I just thought I better start with the book of maps.

No, I just started with Genesis and just started reading and just kept reading because I thought if God has taken the time to write it and then preserve his word,

I ought to study it. And if this is the Bible of Jesus' day, this was Jesus' Bible, the

Old Testament, I need to know it even though I'm a church member and I'm not in the nation of Israel. I need to know these things.

Just because I'm in the new covenant doesn't mean I can't learn about God and nature's nature and who he is from the

Old Testament. So if you're a new Christian and you haven't read it, that's okay. If you've been here for quite some time and you haven't read the

Old Testament, then may I encourage you, may I get the goat out, may

I get the spurs out, may I just take my heels with these sharp spurs on them and just try to kick them into your ribs now and say, for the glory of God, you should read the

Old Testament. And I've tried to wet your proverbial whistle the last few weeks by going back to the

Old Testament and hasn't it been exciting to see who God is and what man has done and yet God is so faithful?

We need to know the Old Testament. And the automatic default, if you're not thinking correctly, is, well,

I tried Leviticus and I tried the first seven chapters and numbers and they're bogging me down.

I don't know what to tell you. It's like when our kids say at home, Dad, I'm bored. That's a bad thing to say in our household.

I'm bored. The words come out I'm bored, but what they're really saying is, I need some work to do around this house.

The mind of God. And some things may be more exciting than others, but for Paul, when he was trying to teach them, he was saying, look to the

Bible. How many times at our Sunday school classes and IBS classes, we want to teach people a thought or a lesson about God and we say, what?

What does the Bible say? And so I want you to look to the Old Testament because it's not just full of types and shadows and figures and anti -types and all this.

There are examples for you to look at and say, that was good. I should follow that. That was really bad.

I should run from that or look at, that's the same God that I have who in the middle of unfaithfulness, he still remains faithful.

And so by the end of today, I hope that the last few weeks have even stimulated you to say,

Phineas, I want to read about him. I want to study how God used him and Korah's rebellion.

And these things have hopefully motivated you to study and so the outline, three critically important lessons that you can learn from Old Testament history.

Three reasons to read and study the Old Testament. Number one, you need to learn from Israel's bad example, so read your

Old Testament. What's the first reason to read the Old Testament? So that you can learn from Israel's bad example and this kind of dovetails, not kind of, but it does dovetail on what we said the last several weeks.

Verse 11, see how it wraps everything up with the testing God, the idolatry, with the immorality, with the complaining.

Now these things that we've just talked about happened to them as an example, literally as a type, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.

Of course, we look at the Old Testament and we see Christ in the Old Testament, but we see something else too and we see examples for us, either what to do or what not to do.

And Paul is giving cautionary examples. He says when you look at the Old Testament and you see Israel sinning, may they be a deterrent to you.

May you be advised from them and heed the warnings. We're the same as the

Israelites in the sense of human beings affected by the fall. And Paul is saying, don't be like the

Israelites. And so it kind of wraps up everything we've been going through. When you drive down the freeway and you're not paying attention because you're texting or something and you go off to the side of the road, many of those roads and freeways and turnpikes, they have little bumps there and you can tell you're off the road and you just kind of start sounding like what?

So you read the Old Testament to help you realize I am them, they are me, same sinful heart and I'm going off the road.

And if you don't read the Old Testament, then you're missing out on these warnings that God has graciously given you.

I mean, would you ever say to someone who came to you and said, I'm struggling with immorality, I'm struggling with testing

God, I'm a real complainer, I don't have much contentment and kind of worshiping work and money and other things.

Would you ever in your wildest dreams say to the person, I think I could help you, you need to start reading your

Old Testament. That's exactly what Paul's doing. So I'm just waiting for the next person to come into my office.

I've got these troubles. Have you read your Old Testament today? It's like Martin Holt, my dear friend in South Africa, every person he saw, he just went to be with the

Lord in January of this year. Every person he ever saw, the first thing he'd do is he'd walk up to them and he'd say, have you read your

Bible today? And then smile. These aren't just stories. These just aren't metanarratives.

These are written down for our, what's the text say? I like ESV sometimes, but here it just totally dogs it.

It says for our instruction, it's for our admonition. This isn't just learning. This is the word to admonish, to put sense into how parents need to admonish and train children.

Same word from Ephesians chapter six. This is I've got a truth and I want to put it in your mind.

I want to take a funnel out and I want to put that funnel into your brain and then start pouring in some truth.

That's an interesting picture. Just keep moving on. Father says,

I'm warning you, there's a danger over here. Don't cross the street. You go in the front yard, but you're five years old.

You can play in the front yard, play wherever you want in the front yard, but don't cross the street. It's the same kind of admonishment because God loves us and God cares for us, so he gives us instruction, our literally admonition.

First Thessalonians uses the same word. For a period of three years, Paul said, I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

So it's a warning. I want to put this into your mind. You got to get your mind right. I think that was an old

Cool Hand Luke movie, wasn't it? Son, you got to get your mind right. I remember one of my kids disobeyed one time and sinned, and I said, why did you do that?

And he said, because I wasn't thinking right. Oh, who was that? He's the only he. Sorry. I owe

Luke a dollar. I wasn't thinking right. That's the right answer. To love the

Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Repentance is to change your thinking.

And so Paul says, you want to have your thinking changed to think rightly? Of course, read your

Bible, but don't forget the Old Testament. Of course, the principles apply to the

New Testament. Paul is saying, when you read the Old Testament, you see these warning signs.

So when you're driving your car, and when you see the brake light go on, you immediately say the emergency brake must be on.

Well, it's not on, but I still have the red signal that's flashing, and it's the brake light. What do you do?

I just speed up. No, no, something's wrong. This is not like low pressure oil.

My brakes are bad. And so it's like this light going off when you read the Old Testament. You don't read the

Old Testament, you don't see the dashboard. In college, I had a 1972 Plymouth Fury.

This is 1979. And the fuel gauge was broken.

My dad said, it's only going to cost you 25 bucks to get that fixed. And I thought, 25 bucks, that's a lot of money. So I didn't get it fixed.

I would just estimate. Two gallons of gas, it was about 28 cents a gallon then.

And I put two gallons in, 15 miles to the gallon, I can drive 30 miles, and I kept running out of gas all the time.

I couldn't see the warning. If you don't read your Old Testament, where are the warnings? So Paul said, just read the

Bible. And do you know one of the reasons why you should read the Old Testament? This is the same point here, a sub -point of this.

Because the world is wrapping up. The world's about over. That's exactly what he says.

Isn't that insightful? On whom the end of the ages has come. God is wrapping up history now.

So if there's ever a time to read the Old Testament, now's the time because the sovereign God of the universe is finishing history now.

We're close to the end, is what Paul is saying. So finish well. When Jesus comes back, don't you want to have finished well?

So beloved, read your Old Testaments. Today's a good day to start. And just start reading the

Old Testament. Speed isn't the issue, but understanding is. And so just start beginning with Genesis and start reading through.

If you read Proverbs and Psalms every morning, good. Read some of the narratives. If you just read nothing, start.

If you keep reading it, that is excellent. Good job. Keep reading. Number two.

The second reason you should read and study your Old Testament Bible, and all the Bible of course, not just to learn lessons, but so you can see pride in Old Testament saints and then run from it, so that you run from pride.

Why read the Old Testament? Because there's examples of pride that are there and you'll be able to tell yourself, you know what?

I'm no different. And if I'm no different, then if they've fallen, I could too. It'll help you run from pride.

Take a look at chapter 10, verse 12. If the saints of old, the men and women of faith have fallen into sin, do you think you could too?

Do you think David could fall? If David fell into sin, do you think you could? And so Paul says, therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands, take heed, lest he fall.

Oh, I'd never do what David did. I'd never do what that other saint did. I'd never do what

Sennacherib did. When you read the Old Testament, you realize quickly that the self -sufficient heart is the falling heart.

The reliant heart upon God is the standing heart. Israel, God's people, the elect of God fell.

We, God's people, chosen of God, need to take heed lest we fall.

Oh, I'd never do that. Well, then I would say to you, take heed lest you fall. False sense of security can be rooted out by looking at the

Old Testament. Overconfidence can be excised by looking at the

Old Testament. And so what would happen is, in context, the Corinthians would say,

I'm in Christ, I'm justified, I have liberty. And I can go to this pagan banquet. I'm fine.

Nothing's going to happen to me. I'm a strong Christian. And Paul says, take heed lest you fall. You go in there, one thing leads to another.

Have not saints of old fallen who thought they were above it? I can say it this way if I really wanted to get in your minds.

The worst thing you read in the newspaper in the next week that happens in the world that an individual does, you could do.

There's not one of us in this room that's past doing what something someone will do in that news.

The most gross, horrible, horrendous thing that can be done. Our hearts are still wicked.

And so we need to make sure we realize, you know what, let's just stay from that.

Stay away from that. Run from that. Because it's either standing or falling. By the way, this language, standing or falling, if you like the military or if you like battles and warfare, this is the kind of language that is used of a general who says, you know what, we're going to go over there and we're going to kill these people and wipe them out and massacre them.

And they march in boldly with their chests out and then they get ambushed and get wiped out. That's the language.

This is Custer's last stand kind of language. Solomon's exhortation is wise, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

And when you read the Old Testament, you realize, you know, humans aren't very different. And if they could fall, so could

I. So let's not be self -sufficient, should be the lesson. If you say to yourself, well,

I've been baptized and I'm a church member and I'm a five -pointer and I believe in the doctrines of grace and all that, well,

I have an exhortation for you. Take heed lest you fall. It's not an

Old Testament example, but it is before the cross example. Lord, with you

I am ready to go both to prison and to death. Anybody here better than Peter?

The Latosean church was wealthy in Revelation 3 and in need of nothing. That's why prayer is so important because when you pray, you realize you're not self -sufficient, that you are dependent upon this

God. Why read the Old Testament? There's lessons to be learned and will help you from being prideful.

And number three, you can see the faithfulness of God in the Old Testament when you're tempted. Need to remember that God is faithful and that's a good thing to do.

And you can easily accomplish that by reading the Old Testament. Let's look at verse 13. This is a super famous verse.

You probably all know it. It's almost as famous as 1 Corinthians 10 31. But what's the context?

How does it fit in here? He's going to encourage. It's a breath of fresh air. Watch out.

Be careful. And now he says, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful. 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.

Now, one commentator said this is the most difficult passage in the entire book of 1 Corinthians. I just thought it is so much so that people say it shouldn't even really be here.

If you read chapter 10 verses 12 and 14, skipping 13, it almost seems to flow better, they say.

So if I read 10 12, therefore be let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Almost seems to make better sense, they're saying.

But this is obviously here so that you could be encouraged. I don't always have to fall prey to my own emotions and my own heart.

There can be victory in Christ Jesus. Sometimes back in the

Corinthians day, it wasn't as simple as, well, I'll stay away from the idol temple where they have feasts.

You would go to your neighbor's house for dinner, and they would have an idol there and present the food to the idol there, and you could just get sucked into everything right there.

Like, this is hard. Where I turn, there's some temptation to do this and to do that, and if I can soon eat the food, then

I might be doing something with an idol, then along with idol worship is a sexual immorality. This is hard.

I need help. Help me. So Paul, with great pastor's heart, gives the tender words of the spirit of God, you know what?

God's there. God meets our temptation with his faithfulness.

Here's a principle that you need to get into your mind. You don't have to sin. If you're a Christian, you don't have to sin.

If you're an unbeliever, you have to sin. No choice. But Christians don't have to sin.

And don't you like it? Just as God has set limits to the ocean, thus far and no farther, God has set limits to your temptation.

This is as far as I'll allow you to be tempted. That's what he's going to talk about here.

Testing comes upon Christians met with God's faithfulness.

So what Paul is saying is this. No excuses for sin. No excuses for the

Corinthians' idolatry. No excuses for immorality. No excuses for testing

God. No excuses for complaining because God isn't going to give you more than you can handle.

His faithfulness is there. He's set limits. And when you say, you know, I couldn't help myself, basically you're impugning

God's character. No excuse for any compromising.

And if you struggle with other things and you say, you know what? I struggle with sinful anger, with lying, with laziness, with pornography.

There is no excuse for those because God's faithfulness is there. And this is a common demand.

It's common to everyone. These things aren't new and novel, and neither is God's faithfulness.

One reformer said, therefore, once he has taken you under his own faithfulness, you have no need to be afraid.

So long as you depend wholly on him. And hear this great faithful God saying, there's an end to the trial.

The trial won't last forever. Then temptation won't last forever. Failure is not inevitable.

I like that. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Ebendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 8 .30 and 11 a .m. and Sunday evenings at 6 p .m.

We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston, Massachusetts. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org

or by phone at 508 -835 -3400. The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff, or management.