Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1–13
Theme: What’s the deal with eating and drinking?
Other Lessons: Ezekiel 33:7–20; Psalm 85; Luke 13:1–9
(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) The Epistle reading serves as our sermon text for this morning.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(D) Memory verses!
1 Corinthians 10:1–4, 13 (NASB95)
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, 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 were drinking from a
spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is
faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you
will be able to endure it.
(E) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
LSB 823:1-2 May God Bestow on Us His Grace
May God bestow on us His grace,
With blessings rich provide us;
And may the brightness of His face
To life eternal guide us,
That we His saving health may know,
His gracious will and pleasure,
And also to the nations show
Christ’s riches without measure
And unto God convert them.
Thine over all shall be the praise
And thanks of ev’ry nation;
And all the world with joy shall raise
The voice of exultation.
For Thou shalt judge the earth, O Lord,
Nor suffer sin to flourish;
Thy people’s pasture is Thy Word
Their souls to feed and nourish,
In righteous paths to keep them. Amen.
Introduction
(A) 1 Corinthians 10:7 (NASB95)
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE
SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.”
(1) That line:
a) “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.”
b) It seems rather strange.
(2) After all, there’s nothing wrong with eating and drinking:
a) we all intend to do both of those things today at some point.
b) And when you have small children around, you know that the natural thing
for little people to do once they’ve sat down to eat and drink is “rise up
to play.”
c) But the apostle Paul talks about it as a bad thing.
d) When the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to play, they were
doing something wrong.
(B) Speaking of eating and drinking, do any of you have a food that, when
you think of it, makes you think of home?
(1) For me, it would be the stuffed green peppers or the meatloaf Mom would
make.
a) Mom would stuff green peppers with a mixture of hamburger and rice, top
it with tomato paste, put them in the oven at 350 degrees for about an
hour, and voila! comfort food.
b) For the meatloaf, Mom would put together hamburger, onions, bread
crumbs, top it off with tomato sauce, put it into the oven for about 1
hour at 350 degrees and again voila! comfort food.
(2) Whenever I eat these things, they remind me of who I belong to, of
whose I am.
(C) Food and drink can do that to us (1 Cor 10:3–4), and our Lord Jesus
knows that.
(1) That’s why in those moments when we’re falling prey to the devil’s
temptation,
(2) when we’ve nearly forgotten where we belong and whose we are, He gives
us His body and blood to eat and to drink.
(3) And in that supernatural food and drink, He gives you that sense of
belonging not to your earthly family but to the family of your heavenly
Father.
(D) What’s the deal with the eating and drinking? Paul explains it this way:
1 Corinthians 10:11 (NASB95)
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written
for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
(E) What is Paul trying to teach us here?
4. Israel belongs to God.
(A) How can you tell they belong to God? By what they eat and drink (verses
3-4).
(1) When they need food, Israel eats the manna that God miraculously
provides;
Exodus 16:13–15, 31 (NASB95)
13 So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the
camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14 When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the
wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the
ground.
15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”
For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread
which the LORD has given you to eat.
31 The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed,
white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.
(2) When they need water, Israel drinks the water that God miraculously
provides:
Exodus 17:1–7 (NASB95)
1 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from
the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD, and camped at
Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that
we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do
you test the LORD?”
3 But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses
and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our
children and our livestock with thirst?”
4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do to this people?
A little more and they will stone me.”
5 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you
some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which
you struck the Nile, and go.
6 “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you
shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may
drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons
of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us,
or not?”
(Ex 17:1–7).
(B) Because Israel belongs to God, God expects them to act in a certain way.
Exodus 20:14 (NASB95)
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
Deuteronomy 6:16 (NASB95)
16 “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at
Massah.
Exodus 20:2–3 (NASB95)
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
3. But Israel forgets that they belong to God (verse 7).
(A) How can you tell they’ve forgotten? By what they eat and drink.
(1) What are the people of Israel eating and drinking?
a) They’re eating and drinking the feasts that go along with pagan
sacrifices.
(2) When the people worship the golden calf, they go from eating manna and
drinking the water God provides to the eating and drinking that accompany
idolatry:
Exodus 32:6 (NASB95)
6 So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought
peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up
to play.
(B) Because Israel forgot that they belong to God, they fall prey to
temptation.
(1) They give in to sexual temptation.
1 Corinthians 10:8 (NASB95)
8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand
fell in one day.
(2) If that were not bad enough, the Israelites began to have illicit
relations with the women of Moab and Midian.
Numbers 25:1–9 (NASB95)
1 While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot
with the daughters of Moab.
2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the
people ate and bowed down to their gods.
3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry
against Israel.
4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute
them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the
LORD may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you slay his men who have
joined themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives
a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the
congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway
of the tent of meeting.
7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he
arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand,
8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of
them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the
plague on the sons of Israel was checked.
9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000.
(3) These relationships drove them further into idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:9 (NASB95)
9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the
serpents.
Numbers 21:4–10 (NASB95)
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around
the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey.
5 The people spoke against God and 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 miserable food.”
6 The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so
that many people of Israel died.
7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have
spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may
remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.
8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a
standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he
looks at it, he will live.”
9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came
about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent,
he lived.
The Israelites despised God’s provision of food and wanted him to give
different food and drink than he already had.
1 Corinthians 10:10 (NASB95)
10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Numbers 14:1–4 (NASB95)
1 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the
people wept that night.
2 All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole
congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or
would that we had died in this wilderness!
3 “Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our
wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for
us to return to Egypt?”
4 So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to
Egypt.”
2. As Christians, we frequently forget that we belong to God.
(A) Why do we forget?
Genesis 3:6 (NASB95)
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she
took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and
he ate.
(1) Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.
(2) That caused all of their children to be set against God.
(A) When we Christians, like Israel, forget that we belong to God, we can
also fall prey to temptation.
(1) When Christians give in to sexual temptation, it’s often because they
forget their bodies belong not to themselves but to the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:18–20 (NASB95)
18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body,
but the immoral man sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is
in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body.
(2) When Christians give in to the temptation to anger, it’s often because
they forget they belong to a God who will avenge wrongdoing.
Romans 12:19 (NASB95)
19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of
God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.
(3) When Christians give in to the temptation to grumble against God and
his servants, it’s often because they forget they belong to a God who will
provide for all of their needs.
a) Did Jesus not say in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John?:
John 14:27 (NASB95)
27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives
do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
b) What did the Lord tell Isaiah to proclaim in chapter 40 of his book?:
Isaiah 40:27–31 (NASB95)
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from
the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the
Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His
understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases
power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble
badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount
up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk
and not become weary.
c) Or what about what we hear in Psalm 121?:
Psalm 121:5–8 (NASB95)
5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.
8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time
forth and forever.
d) Maybe all this is a bunch of bunk! Why even bother believing in all this?
1) Here’s why we should believe what the Lord has said:
a) He is with us
b) we are His
c) He is ours!
1. Jesus reminds us that we belong to God.
(A) How does he remind us that we belong to God? By what we eat and drink.
(1) Under the form of bread Jesus gives us His body broken on the cross:
a) into which we were incorporated when we became children of God in our
baptisms into Jesus’ death.
(2) Under the form of wine Jesus gives us his blood:
a) which He shed to reconcile us to God,
b) even for all the times we’ve forgotten we belong to Him and have given
in to temptation.
(B) In this eating and drinking where Jesus reminds us that we belong to
God:
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NASB95)
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is
faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you
will be able to endure it.
(1) If we feel tempted to abandon God’s design for the human body and
sexuality:
a) we should look to the Lord’s body and blood,
b) which will enable us to endure the temptation.
(2) If we feel tempted to take vengeance on people who have done us wrong:
a) we should look to the Lord’s body and blood,
b) which will enable us to endure the temptation.
(3) If we feel tempted to grumble against God and his servants:
a) we should look to the Lord’s body and blood,
b) which will enable us to endure the temptation.
Conclusion
(A) 1 Corinthians 10:14 (NASB95)
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
(B) This verse (not part of our sermon text for this morning) summarizes
this entire section of Scripture.
(1) Even Israel, who had seen God’s mighty works throughout the exodus,
(2) they acted as if God were not real,
(3) they acted as if they could rely on gods of their own creation or even
themselves to keep them safe.
(4) In our age, there are many gods.
(5) Some are worshiped as such (e.g., Islam, Hinduism);
(6) others gods are much more subtle (e.g., money, pride).
(7) Luther: “A god means that from which we are to expect all good and in
which we are to take refuge in all distress” (LC I 2).
(8) Our society has many such gods, be they wealth, status, reputation, and
yes, even family.
(C) But the one true God does not and will not tolerate shared allegiance.
(1) If we participated in the worship of false gods or in churches that do
not faithfully confess the Gospel in all its purity, this would indicate
that we agree to what that worshiping community believes.
(2) For this reason, we avoid such false worship.
(3) At the Lord’s Table, He offers His body and blood for the forgiveness
of sins and through them creates a faithful community, one committed to Him
and to one another.
(4) He comes to His people in His Word and in the Sacrament of the Lord’s
Supper, which forgives sins and creates a Church faithful to Him.
(5) From being led astray by the many gods of this world, protect us by
Your Spirit, Lord. Thank You for the gift of Your Son, who comes to us in
His body and blood, and for the gift of this congregation in which we hear
Your Word proclaimed faithfully and the Sacrament is rightly administered.
Strengthen us to build up my fellow participants in worship of You. Amen.
(D) Let us pray:
LSB 823:3 May God Bestow on Us His Grace
O let the people praise Thy worth,
In all good works increasing;
The land shall plenteous fruit bring forth,
Thy Word is rich in blessing.
May God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit bless us!
Let all the world praise Him alone,
Let solemn awe possess us.
Now let our hearts say, “Amen!”
Text: Public domain
(E) Philippians 4:7 (NASB95)
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(F) Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.
All of us are waiting and none of us will be disappointed.
The Lord continue to bless us,
shine His face on us,
be gracious to us,
that He lift His countenance upon us,
and give us His peace.
(G) In the Name of the Father…Amen.