https://youtu.be/_Z4RClvbP8g

Choose the Cup of Blessing: 1 Corinthians 10:13-21

Introduction

This evening I want to talk about two things, I want to talk about Idolatry and I want to talk about Blessing.And did y’all know that when it comes to blessing verse Idolatry the book of first Corinthians puts them as a choice. You can either choose idolatry or you can choose blessing, today I wna tot encourage all of us to choose the cup of blessing, amen?!

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Would y’all turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10?Now we3 are fixin to read a large chunk of text, tryh your best to follow a long and then I am going to recap and explain it a bit.

1 Corinthians 10:1-12 ESV  (1)  For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,  (2)  and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,  (3)  and all ate the same spiritual food,  (4)  and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.  (5)  Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  (6)  Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.  (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.”  (8)  We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.  (9)  We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,  (10)  nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.  (11)  Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.  (12)  Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Now Paul here is talking about the exodus… and at one point in time Moses goes up to the mountain to get the 10 commandments and all the people he was leading fall into some crazy sin.Verse 7 says this: 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.”Paul in this passage talks about Idolatry as a warning for Christians. We need to be aware of the reality that we as Christians are just as capable of making Idols as anyone else.Paul compared our Idolatry to the Idol the Israelites made.Remember, the Israelites, free from the bondage and slavery of Egypt, on their way to the promise land, led by the Lord who was covered by a cloud. This very Israelites who were so literally close to God, and had seen so many miracles, they so quickly feel into Idolatry when Moses was away talking with God. And they made this golden calf to worship.And Paul’s warning to us is “If it happened to them, it can happen to us!”Paul warns us in this passage of some modern Idols that the Israelites also fell into. Particularly in verses 7-10.Paul warns against Idolizing religion: Thinking that if we are religious enough then we can go to heaven. We worship good works instead of God, we worship Pastors, Churches, and Theologies instead of keeping our focus on Christ.We are then warned about idolizing our own version of God: The Israelites called the Golden calf “The lord who delivered them from Egypt”. They did not like that God was meeting with Moses for so long, something like 40 days, so they said “Let’s make our own version of God who we can see and worship right here in front of us” so they made a golden calf to worship.We do the same thing when we decide we don’t like what God says or what He does or who He is,