Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2007 : March 11, 2007

Theme: Ponder the Past with Your Faithful God

Church year occasion: Lent 3

I just had the best email sent to me with some amazing news. Here, I'll just read some of it to you. "Good Day, my name is Mr. Fawzi Ameen, a banker here in U.A.E. I write you this proposal in good faith as a brother." Ah, so maybe he's a Christian. "A Crude Oil dealer Late Mr. Barid Emad, made a deposit valued at US$17,500,000." Well, to make a long story short, Mr. Ameen needs to deposit most of this money into a bank account in the U.S. before it is taken by his government because there is no next of kin to give it to. So he wants to name me this man's next of kin. What a nice guy! And I'm a total stranger! I can't believe that out of all the people in the world, Mr. Ameen found me! What are the odds of that! Sure, his English isn't very good, and he wants to make sure I don't tell anyone, and I have to give him my bank account number, but he said that otherwise the transaction can't be made. But $17.5 million! I can't pass that up. Does anyone want to go in on it with me? Why not? What? You mean this is just a scam? How do you know? Because you've gotten tons of these emails? So I suppose sending him my social security number was a bad idea?

This reminds me of that saying, "If you don't know history, you are destined to repeat it." I've gotten probably 1000 of those emails over the years, and thankfully I was never taken in by it. But some people must be or they wouldn't be out there any more. If you don't know history, in this case the recent history of scam emails, you're destined to repeat it.

Paul also wants us to know some history this morning so we don't repeat it. That history deals with temptation and falling prey to it. Every day we're being tempted. Every day we fall prey to temptation. So Paul wants us to Ponder the Past with Our Faithful God and see what we can learn about fighting temptation.

We can learn some good lessons, but unfortunately it will be from some bad Israelite history. The first lesson we need to learn is about idolatry. Paul says, "Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: 'The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.' " Do you know when this happened in Exodus, chapter 32? Moses was at the top of Mt. Sinai receiving the Law from God. What was happening at the bottom of Mt. Sinai? The people who just saw all the plagues of Egypt, the Red Sea part to let them through while it destroyed Pharaoh's army, were guided by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud by day, and even had Christ with them 1500 years before he took on human flesh to save mankind -- they were worshipping an idol! When Moses came down, he told the Levites to go through the camp and strike down their brothers and friends and neighbors because the people were running wild and out of control as they engaged in pagan revelry. That day 3000 Israelites died, and God taught a good lesson from bad history: Don't be deceived. God will not be mocked.

Another incident Paul refers to in verse 8: "We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did -- and in one day 23,000 of them died." In this incident (Numbers, chapter 25), the King of Moab knew he couldn't defeat the Israelites as they were about to enter Canaan, so he got to them another way. The Moabite women invited the Israelite men to their worship services. Sounds like they were practicing good friendship evangelism. One problem: Moab worshiped the false god Baal and their worship services involved gross immorality and kinky sexual acts. So God ordered Moses to kill the leaders who had committed these sins and expose them in broad daylight. Then, in the plague God sent against the people, over 23,000 Israelites died. The good lesson learned from bad history? Don't be deceived; God will not be mocked.

Even casual Bible readers have heard the story of Israel's constant complaining against God's provisions of water, manna and quail. One day God's patience ran out. "The LORD sent venomous snakes among them. They bit the people and many Israelites died." (Numbers, chapter 21) Another time (Numbers, chapter 16) Israel's leaders were complaining, this time about their leaders Moses and Aaron. They were jealous of the authority Moses and Aaron had. They wanted it for their own. What happened? Their leaders, Korah, Dathan and Abiram along with all their goods and families -- including babies -- were killed when God opened the earth up beneath their feet. Incredibly, some continued to complain. So God also sent a plague against the Israelites and "14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah." The good lesson from bad history? Don't be deceived; God will not be mocked.

Saint Paul quotes each of these examples and says, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come." They are still warning examples for us, you and me. You might say, Pastor, those people were pagans, uncivilized, ungodly people. Were they? Paul says in verses 1-4 that they had all these miraculous signs from God and even had Christ with them. Were these people outright pagans, so we should expect this kind of thing from them? Most of them probably were, but they didn't start out that way. Many, if not most, of them probably started out as believers. And this is what happened. A few roadblocks in their lives, and they were ready to worship false gods, commit adultery, complain about God's provision and the leaders God chose over them. There was no excuse. They should have known better. But what happened? "Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. Of the 600,000 men aged 20 and older that left Egypt, only 2 entered the promised land...Joshua and Caleb." All were super-blessed by God, but were guilty of constant idolatry, adultery, complaining and grumbling.

We don't have to have huge insight into God's Word to know what this means. Look around. We all enjoy the countless blessings from God -- food, clothing, homes, health, bank accounts, the same message of forgiveness because of Jesus. But are we still guilty of constant idolatry, adultery and grumbling against God?

Idolatry strikes us as the pet sin of pagans in foreign countries who worship idols and statues. But we haven't learned from history. If we respect, love or trust anyone or anything more than God, it's idolatry. How do you react when you hear the seemingly intelligent theories of so-called science which clearly contradict the truths of God's Word? Which do we respect and honor more? What about the material things of this world which we often regard as necessities? If Jesus would ask us to cash them all in and give the money to the poor to prove our love for him, would he have one less disciple? What about sickness and surgery? Is your greatest comfort that you have the best doctor in town or that Jesus promised long ago to be with you always? Idolatry is not foreign to us. We're guilty of it more often than we care to admit.

Adultery and immorality? We're bombarded with it on all sides -- TV, Internet, movies, magazines, books. Our culture is saying homosexuality is just as legitimate at heterosexuality. And if you're not into one or the other, try both. If you're not sure if you want to be married or whom to marry, live together for awhile, enjoy the privileges of marriage and then decide. Some people in our own circles don't even know this stuff is wrong!

Then there's testing God -- not totally trusting him. God still promises, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." But then I lose my job. Will I be able to retire? Will we be able to pay the bills? And what happens when we get into financial trouble? What's the first area to get cut -- our mortgage payment, our eating out, our car payments -- or our offerings. God will understand. Wait, that goes back to idolatry, doesn't it?

And there's grumbling. The weather, health, hurts, aches, pains, the cost of living, cost of gasoline. If all else fails, try complaining about the kids, parents, teachers, pupils, pastors, fill in the blank. Remember, constant grumbling, idolatry, adultery, immorality brought death to 600,000 men before they reached the promised land. We need to learn a good lesson from history -- we are just like the Israelites! That's why Paul says, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"

We could very easily go home scared to death if we wouldn't go any further. Now Paul comes with the brighter side. He concentrates not on our weaknesses but God's strength. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man." Temptations to any and every sin will be there always. The question is: How will you deal with them? Look to your own strength or to God's? Paul knows the only way to fight temptation -- with the power of God. He says, "...God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." God will provide a way out so we can withstand and overcome those temptations.

God provides the armor. Be sure to put in on. God provides the forgiveness. He provided the Savior, the cross, the payment for every sin and every sinner. Put it on. Apply it to yourself. Regularly confess your need for it and your gratitude for it. Regularly go to your Bible and be assured of God's provision for it. We, of all people, know what God has done for us in Christ. By Jesus' suffering and death in our place he's taken away all our sins of not fearing, loving and trusting him in all things, of complaining over the food God gives us to eat (right, kids?), of looking at someone not our spouse and thinking the grass is greener over there (right, adults?). As often as we've strayed, Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has reached out for us and will always do so. Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind for dealing with your bad history by nailing it to the cross. Listen to his lessons and learn from history, especially as you see your God die for you. Then, in the strength God gives you, fight the temptations that will come.

Adolf Hitler knew his history. He loved history. In fact, his Third Reich was supposedly the third great German empire in history. He even remembered that Napoleon had tried to defeat the Russians by invading Russia about 130 years earlier and had lost his entire army of 600,000 men because he underestimated Russian stubborness and the Russian winter. Hitler knew his history, but he was destined to repeat it. During World War 2 one of his greatest mistakes was to invade Russia. In his arrogance, he thought his blitzkrieging army would destroy the Russian red army and he'd have victory in a few months. But the same thing happened to Hitler's army that happened to Napoleon's, and it turned the tide of the war. Hitler knew history, but his arrogance made him think he could do better.

Saint Paul wants to make sure we know history and that we're not so arrogant as to think we can do better. So take the warnings of history for what they are. Then in time of temptation look to your God who suffered and died for you to be your strength. That is how pondering the past with a faithful God becomes such a blessing to us. Amen.