"These Things Were Our Examples" (I Corinthians 10:1-12)

"These Things Were Our Examples" from I Corinthians 10:1-12 was preached by Dr. Mark McElreath at the City Baptist Church of Atlanta on March 22, 2026.

Find out more about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta at www.mycitybaptist.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the City Pulpit. Bible messages from the pulpit ministry of the City Baptist Church in Atlanta. Well, take your Bibles with me. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and we're continuing working our way through this book of 1 Corinthians. And let's begin reading 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse number 1. The Bible says, Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted, neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand, neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for in samples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. Would you make note of this phrase, and we'll take this for the theme of the Bible message this morning, from verse number six, this phrase, these things were our examples. These things were our examples. All through the Word of God, all through the Bible were given examples of how we should live, and many examples as well of how we should not live. And we can all think about in our lives, God has given us examples in family and business, in personal relationships, and education, of here are examples to follow. And the Lord also gives us examples, doesn't he, of what we should not follow. And here we find as Paul is writing here to this church of Corinth, and we've been working our way verse by verse through this book. Now we come to the point where, as he's been dealing with them about their Christian liberty and about living for the Lord in Corinth, he's going to go back and give us some historical examples. He's going to draw from their understanding of the Old Testament and draw from these examples. In fact, we find the phrase, these are our examples in verse 6, and then in verse number 11. Now all these things happen unto them for in samples, and they are written for our admonition. He's saying, I am giving you an opportunity to watch what they did, and we're going to find out in a moment, they did not respond correctly to the blessings of God, because I do not want you to live in that way. But let's take consider these things were our examples. Now, if you're taking notes, would you write this down? Number one, write this down with me. God's people were blessed. God's people were blessed. If you're here this morning, you say, Pastor, God has been very good to me and I'm blessed. Would you say amen? Amen. I think if we were able to get up this morning, we're able to get dressed, we're able to walk in this place, we're able to be here with God's people, we're a blessed people. And we find here in verse number one, he says, Brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud. Now he's going to talk here about God's people in the wilderness. That God has brought them out of Egypt, bondage in Egypt. He's brought them across the Red Sea into the wilderness, and now all the wonderful blessings that he poured out upon his people during this time. In fact, if you'll hold your place in 1 Corinthians 10, go back with me to these Old Testament examples in the book of Exodus. And if you'll hold your place in Exodus, we're going to read quite a few passages from it because Paul is just going to walk us right through the story of God's people in the wilderness. We find when we come to the book of Exodus, chapter 13, it actually tells us this in verse 21. Exodus 13, verse 21. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night. Now he says, you remember our fathers, and they passed through the cloud. You know what that picture of the cloud is? It's a picture of what's called the Shekinah glory of God. It is a symbol for us of God's presence. In the wilderness, God's very presence goes with them. They knew his nearness. It actually says in verse 22 of Exodus 13, He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. In the day under the sun of the desert, there's a cloud over top of them, keeping the sun from baking them. At night there's a pillar of fire, and as it moves, they move. And they're reminded all the time. When they look up, they see the cloud. At night they see the pillar of fire, they're reminded of the presence of the Lord. Now, if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior today, do you know what you have? You have the Holy Spirit living within you. And whatever you face, and whatever you go through, and whatever you're going to deal with this week, you have the presence of the Lord with you in that setting, with those people in that place. And here he says, I want to remind you, they all, and in fact you might want to mark that little word in 1 Corinthians 10 where it says, they all were under the cloud. They all knew that. They were all a part of that. But he doesn't just stop there. Now stay in Exodus because we're coming back there. But he also says in verse number 2 in 1 Corinthians 10, he says, and were all baptized unto Moses. Or I'm sorry, also in verse 1, I don't want to miss this second part of verse 1. He says, All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. Now what is he talking about there? Back in Exodus chapter 14. We're going to flip back and forth a little bit. It's going to be okay. Exodus 14, verse 21. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. What sea is this? This is the Red Sea. Remember, they've come out of Egypt. They're in the wilderness. God's leading them to the promised land. And they come to the Red Sea. No way around it. No way under it. No way over it. And who's behind them? The armies of Egypt behind them. Pharaoh's changed his mind. We're going to go back and get them. There's nowhere to go. God divides the Red Sea. His children walk across on dry land. And as the Egyptians start coming across, what happens? It starts getting muddy again. He starts pulling the chariot wheels off, and the sea is going to crash back down on the Egyptians. Look at verse 30 of Exodus 14. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day. Look at verse 31. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. Have you seen any great works of the Lord? Oh, we've all seen them, haven't we? You know what this is? It's a symbol of God's protection. And Paul is walking the church at Corinth through this story. Do you remember how God took his people and he protected them as they crossed the Red Sea and He made his presence known with a pillar of cloud and pillar of fire? Back in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, you know what he says in verse 2? He says, And all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Now, this is not speaking here of water baptism of the New Testament, all right? Don't get theologically unhinged here, alright? But he's talking about this step of obedience after they come out of Egypt. You know, Egypt is the greatest picture of redemption that we have in the Bible, coming out of Egypt, which is a picture of sin, and then God bringing them across the Red Sea. It's a step of obedience, the same way water baptism is for us in the New Testament. Not a part of salvation, but a step of obedience. But then what does he say? Look at verse number three. Verse number three, he says, And did all eat the same spiritual meat. And what does the Lord do? Exodus chapter 16, would you look at verse 14? And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. Exodus 16, verse 15. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is what? Mana. For they wished not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. Now, there's going to come a time where you know what they say? We don't like this light bread anymore. But you know what Moses says? This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. Now, let's apply it this way. Has God given you some things to live on right now? Well, let me encourage you this. This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. Do you remember where they are? They're in the wilderness. No lethal supermarket there, right? No whole foods, no publics, no Walmart supercenter there. But every morning, what do they have? They have the provision of God on the ground. You know what it is? It's a symbol of God's provision. And this is exactly what he wants for them to eat. Now maybe you say, Pastor, at this time in life, this is not what I want to eat on. This manna is not what I want to be taking in all the time. But you know what it is? In the words of Moses, this is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. And let us be thankful for it. We find God's protection, God's presence, God's provision. But not only that, look in 1 Corinthians 10, look at verse 4. He says, And did all drink the same spiritual drink. They eat the same spiritual meat, and they drink the same spiritual drink. Now what is he talking of? If you're still in Exodus, look at chapter 17. And look at verse number 6. Exodus 17, verse 6, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Moses is going, is told by the Lord, this rock in Horeb, I want you to take your staff, I want you to smite the rock, and water's gonna come out. Now, you don't know this, but I know this. We have someone that's in resource extraction here today. I'm not gonna call them to the platform, but I don't think they've ever just hit a rock and water come out. I don't think that's the way it normally works, does it? And yet God takes them all the way out in the wilderness, and the very thing they would think is an impediment is the thing that they strike and water comes out of it. Now look back in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 4 because he says, They did all drink of the same spiritual drink. And by the way, this is a symbol of God's provision as well. But he says, For they drank of that spiritual rock. Is rock capitalized there? Yes. This is not just any old rock. This is speaking of someone. They drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was who? Christ. Now this is interesting. You say, where do we find Christ in the Old Testament? Well, apparently he followed them all the way through the wilderness. This was not just any old rock. When they drank of this spiritual water, you know what it was? It was a picture of the living water that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to bring. It was a picture of that sustenance that we as the church would get to know. And by the way, if you're here this morning and you're looking for water, you're looking for a way to fill the desire that you have in this earth. And if you're looking anywhere else other than the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to find no sustenance and no satisfaction. This rock is Christ. He brings the spiritual meat in the manna. He brings the spiritual drink from the rock. He's pointing here. He's saying, I have taken care of you. I've taken care of God's people all the way through the wilderness. And you know what each and every one of us can truly say? God has blessed us with great spiritual blessings. And he's trying to drive this point home to this church at Corinth. He says, Now, look, I've talked with you about lots of things in chapters 1 through 9, but here in chapter 10, I want to remind you, God has been good to you. And you know what? God's been good to us, He's been good to this church. And we have, as He says here, all walked through these things. We've all seen these things. You know, one of the wonderful things about a church is we all get to watch God work together. I love coming in, I love us all singing together. I love it when we all pray together. I love it when we all greet one another. I love the all things that are part of church. But we all get to watch God work. We get to watch Him work in lives and work in our city and our community and guide and direct and provide. But here's what happens. Would you look at verse number five? Because all of these are seen by his people. But look at verse 5, 1 Corinthians 10. But with many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now they they all saw the blessings. The blessings are wasted on these people. Why has God given us such blessings? Why has God been so good to us? Why has he provided such wonderful good things for us? Well, he provided such wonderful things for his people, but it says here that many of them with many of them God was not well pleased, and they were overthrown in the wilderness. Would you make note of a second thing? God's people were blessed, but secondly, God was not pleased. God was not pleased. Why wasn't he pleased? Well, Hebrews chapter 11 and verse number 6 tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please him. Without faith. Without faith, it's not improbable to please him. Without faith, it's not maybe likely you can please him. It is impossible to please him. Why would God bring his people out of Egypt and bring them under the cloud and lead them with a pillar of fire and provide the manna and the water and the wilderness and bring them across the Red Sea? All of these spiritual blessings. The blessings were not the goal. Bringing them into Canaan, the promised land, was the goal. All the blessings were just to get them to that final point. You know what Canaan is? You know what the land of promise is that God's trying to bring the Israelites to? It's a picture for us of the victorious Christian life. But you know what many times happens? Many times we just wander in the wilderness and never make it to the promised land. We munch on the manna, we drink from the water from the rock, we think about the old times that when we cross the Red Sea, we kind of remember all the great things we got to do in Egypt. God brought us out of Egypt. And he brought us across the Red Sea, and He's bringing us to the promised land. And yet we find here He's not pleased in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 5, because they were overthrown in the wilderness. What is he talking about? He's talking about Numbers chapter 13. If you want to turn there, you may turn there, but I'm going to read it to us. In Numbers chapter 13, where he's done all these wonderful spiritual things, all these spiritual blessings. And he brings them to the Jordan River, and he says, Now we're going to cross the Jordan River. We're going to go into the promised land. And they come to Jordan. They come to the brink of the Jordan River. And the Bible tells us in Numbers chapter 13 and verse number 30. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. I'm thankful for a Caleb, and there's a Joshua there with them. Those two good spies, they say, God brought us here. He brought us this far, brought us across the Red Sea, sustained us by manna and water in the wilderness, and he's going to bring us in. But here we find verse 31 But the men that went up with him, the other ten, said, We be not able to go up against the people, for they're stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel. And they say, Can't do it. Can't go any farther. I know God's brought us this far, but I don't think he can take us in. I mean, you know, there's walled cities there, and there's giants there, and there's a lot of things we're going to have to face. It's scary in there. Look, I want you to remember all the things God's done in your heart and in your life and in our church. Because God has more for each and every one of us. God has more for you as a Christian. God has more for me as a Christian. He didn't just bring us in the wilderness to wander in the wilderness. He brought us out of Egypt and into the wilderness to bring us into Canaan. God's got more for our church. Oh, it's exciting. I love looking around and watching the renovations being done on the outside. We're going to move pretty soon into the inside, and there's going to be renovations done in the sanctuary. But that's not the goal. It's just a part of the journey. God has so much more for us. In fact, he says in Numbers chapter 14, if you're there, he says in verse 22, Because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. What does he say? He's saying, Those ten spies that said, We can't go in, they're right. Because they're not going to go in. How'd you like to be among those ten? Those ten spies hold sway over the millions. Many believe one to three million Israelites. And those ten men say, eh, we can't do it. And everyone says, All right, we can't do it. Could you imagine in this church if we're moving forward with the Lord, following the Lord, seeking to reach our city for Christ, and you're among one of the ten spies that says, we've done enough. This is as far as we're going to go. We can't push anymore. No. Let's be the Joshua and the Caleb that say, look, if God's opening the door, let's walk through it. Let's continue to follow him. But they're overthrown in the wilderness. You know what happens? God says, all of those 20 years old and older are going to walk for the next 40 years in this wilderness, and they're going to die in the wilderness. And I'm going to bring in the younger generation. Those under 20 years of age in 40 years are going to come into the promised land. That's the overflowing or overthrowing in the wilderness. God will use people that want to be used. God will use people that want to follow him. God will use people that will trust him for more. God help us not to get out in the wilderness and say, you know, we're fine with just a little man and water from the rock. We don't want the promised land. Sometimes we come to a point in our Christian life where we're growing or we're advancing or we're moving forward with God and we decide to stop right where we're at. We think, this is okay. I can plateau right here. By the way, there's no plateauing in the Christian life. You're either moving forward or you're going backward. There is no neutral in the Christian life. You've either got your foot on the gas pedal or you're going in reverse. And here we find God's people say, We're going to stop right there. And you know what happens? For 40 years, they have the longest death march you've ever seen. Until all of those 20 years and older die. And God says, I will bring in the younger generation. A church could, as a group, see great spiritual blessing. But the individuals miss out on what God is doing. Sometimes it's exciting to be a part of the activity and the bustle and all that's going on. But let me ask you, what is God doing in your heart and your life specifically? Don't just say, here's what God's doing in my church. What is God doing in your heart? How is God moving in your spirit? Go back with me, please, to 1 Corinthians 10, because we find here God's people were blessed, but God was not pleased. Would you make note of a third thing as we come to verse 6? Thirdly, we find, we have been warned. What have we been warned of? Verse 6 says, now these things were our examples. Why were we giving these examples? He actually says, to the intent. It means there's an intentional reason. I've told you this story, church at Corinth. He says that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. What is he saying here? Lust very simply is wanting anything outside the will of God. You know what the will of God was for them? Across the Red Sea, come into the wilderness, know my blessing, and enter into Canaan. And yet they said, We want to stay in the wilderness. That's lusting. That's wanting something. Outside the will of God. And God said, I'm not going to bless that. If God has showed you a way you're supposed to live or what you're supposed to do, don't desire something else. Because you know what you'll happen? You'll wind up out in the wilderness. You'll wind up dying out in the wilderness. You know what he goes on to say? Look, he gives these neither statements. Look at verse number 7. He says, neither be ye idolaters. Look at verse 8. He says, neither let us commit fornication. Verse 9, neither let us tempt Christ. Verse 10, neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured. Now you look at some of those and you say, those are pretty serious sins. I would never be involved in those kind of things, Pastor. If you stop moving forward with God, anything could happen. If you stop advancing with the Lord, you could fall into any of these sins. You know why? Because he says, look, these are given for examples. These are God's chosen people. They saw the Red Sea parted. They woke up every morning and manna is on the ground. They watched Moses hit the rock and water comes out. And yet they came a point where they took all those things for granted and they said, We won't go any further. And you know what they did? They became idolaters, fornicators, tempted Christ, and began murmuring. And if we do not keep moving forward for the Lord, we'll fall into each and every one of these traps. Look at verse 7. He says, Neither be ye idolaters as were some of them, as is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. You know what they thought? We've got it made. We've got everything we need now. This is all just about eating and drinking and playing. They start, in fact, verse number seven, they start worshiping a false God. They make a golden calf deity and start worshiping it. We'd never do that, Pastor. Something's got to be in charge. And if God's not in charge, something will take his place. Idolatry literally is worshiping of false deities, and we know that that's true. But also it's putting anything in the place that God's supposed to be in. Well, say, Pastor, how do I know if I put something else in God's place? You put something or someone in God's place if they're the one that gets to make the decisions for your life. If they're the one that's in charge. If they're the one that rules at the end of the day. He says here, neither be ye idolaters. Look at verse number 8. He says, Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Fornication is a sexual relationship outside of marriage. And you think, oh, we'd never be involved in that. We never do something like that. And yet they turn back when God says, move forward, and they begin to fall into sexual sin. In fact, he says in verse 8, and fell in one day three and 20,000. 23,000 died for this sin in the wilderness. This references Exodus chapter 32, where he speaks of this. Look at verse number 9, because he says, Neither let us tempt Christ. What does that mean? Tempt means to try or to test or to wear out the long-suffering of someone. They tempted Christ in the wilderness. What does that mean? They kept wearing out his good graces and his long suffering. Look, God's been long-suffering and patient with every single one of us. But the Lord talks about, especially in his prophetical books, the cup of the Lord's wrath. You can imagine a cup, if you were to set it under a sink and turn the water on, that water starts filling that cup. It rises and rises and rises and rises until it comes to a point where it fills up and it pours out over the sides. And he is saying, there will come a point where God's wrath will fill up to a point where it will be poured out. And there came a point in the life of God's people where his long-suffering and his patience went so long until finally his judgment was poured out upon them. And this is what happens when we do not watch and listen to the examples God has given to us. He says, They tempted Christ in verse 9, and some of them also tempted and were destroyed of the serpents. Speaking of the story in Numbers chapter 21, where fiery serpents start going all throughout the camp, and those that get bitten by them die. And God tells Moses, I want you to create a brazen serpent, lifted up on a pole, and those who look upon it, they'll be saved. Now the power was not in the brazen serpent on the pole. The power was in God Himself to heal them of these serpent bites. But the point that he's making here is, you have pushed me so far that now my judgment is going to be poured out upon you. God help us that we don't become a church. Could you imagine being a church? We've seen all the blessings of God, we're moving forward for God, and then we just decide to put the brakes on and stop. And God, in loving kindness, comes to us to push us forward and to get us moving again and to get us active again. And eventually we tempt him, tempt him so to the point where he has to start judging us. He has to start pouring out his wrath upon us, not because we're unsaved, but his judgment upon us as disobedient children. That's what he's doing here. Look what he says in verse number 10. He says, And neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed. Not of serpents in verse 9, but destroyed of the destroyer. Who is that? I believe that's Satan himself. What's murmuring? I think murmuring sounds just like it. The word itself. Murmur, murmur, murmur, murmur, murmur. You ever been around someone who murmured? That's not a pleasant thing. And you know what? As bad as it sounds in our ears, do you know who hates it more than we do? God Himself. And can you imagine waking up every morning, the man that you need on the ground? That water still flowing from that rock in the wilderness, and start complaining. God gave us food and water again today. God protected us with a cloud again. God had that pillar of fire out by night. If we're not careful, we'll get used to his blessings and we'll start complaining and murmuring about them. I think it's interesting that's the last one in the list, because I think it may be the most heinous that's listed here. It says that they were destroyed of the destroyer. You know what God doesn't want to see happen? The devil to get a little foothold, a little toehold, just a little complaining, just a little murmuring. Well, you know, I don't like that that much. And the devil says, I'll grab a hold of that, and I will destroy them. But you know how he rounds all this up? He says in verse 11, he says, Now all these things happen unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition. Admonition means to put into one's mind. Paul, remember, Paul's writing this church at Corinth. He's correcting things in the church. He says, Look, I want to bring this to your mind. You know these stories. You've been given these examples. They're for your benefit. He says in verse 11, they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. He's speaking of the end of the age. This is speaking here in verse 11 of the end of the time of the Gentiles. That's who he's living in this time. These stories are for us all the way till Christ comes back, is what he's saying. And he says in verse 12, Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Who's he talking to? Anyone that reads this story and says, That'll never happen to me. That's the one that thinks he standeth. And if you've read these things this morning, you think, oh, I'm I'm okay, I'm safe from all that, Pastor. You're the closest one to falling off the cliff. He's giving a warning to me. He's giving a warning to you. You've seen all the blessings of God? Yes. But are you exercising faith and following Him? Is He pleased with your life? Is He pleased with my life? He's giving us a warning. In fact, Proverbs 16, verse 18 says, Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Pride goeth before destruction. God help us to be a church that knows all his wonderful blessings and acts in faith upon them. Look, if you're here today and you say, Pastor, God is speaking to me. God's leading me, He's pushing me. He wants more from me. Then look, He wants to see more done in your life than you want to see more done in your life. He's giving you all the tools and all the help you need to do it. Then keep moving forward with him. Don't stop in the wilderness. Enter into the promised land. Maybe you're here today and you say, Pastor, I don't know this spiritual rock. I don't know Christ. Well, then you can't know all these spiritual blessings. If you're here today and you don't know Christ, then you're bearing the weight of your sin. You will always be wandering in Egypt. You're never even going to get across the Red Sea. You're going to be in Egypt. In bondage to your sin. And you're never going to get out. Look to the Lord today. Accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. But, Christian, let me encourage you, keep moving forward with the Lord. Don't turn back, don't look back. Keep advancing with Him. Thank you for listening to the City Pulpit. For more information about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta, please visit www.citybaptistchurch.com.