 All right, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 4, Paul writes, moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. And so I'm gonna give you a Bible study. I know that verse 4 probably was thought of as a platform where it speaks about drinking, because we have some former drunks in here, myself the foremost. And so drinking, oh yeah, let's talk about drinking Christ, but we'll look at that in just a moment. Let me share a couple of things with you and then we'll get into our study, little introductory thoughts. I got saved in 1970 when I was one year old and I got saved when I was 20 years old in 1970, and like many of you came out of a background of a variety of things, including alcohol and drug abuse and the things that go along with that. Many times when I speak into our congregation and I say the things that went along with that, there are those who can hear what I'm saying, they know exactly what I mean by that. There are others who don't have a clue what that means when I say those things that are associated with drugs and alcohol, but those of you who had that kind of bondage know the kinds of things I'm talking about, the stealing that you would do in order to buy your drugs, you know, the immorality that went along with the drinking and the drug taking, and all of those kinds of things, the violence that you can have, that because you're drunk and you think that you suddenly grow six inches and weigh 250 pounds, I mean those kinds of things. And so when I speak about the things that went along with that, that's what I'm referring to, the lifestyle, the things that you did, the things that you were. You know, we all have testimonies, don't we? If you're saved, you have a testimony and you can speak concerning it. You can say this is what I was and this is how I lived and these are the things that I did, but only you and God know your real testimony, right? Only you and God know your real testimony. There is the testimony you give so that people will listen to and understand where you came from, but you do not say all the things you really did, you never will. Only God really knows what you really did. Only God really knows what you really thought. Only God knows what you would have done if you had the opportunity to do those things, and those are also the things that Jesus Christ set you free from. And so when I got saved, you know, the Bible, it speaks very clearly. If any man be in Christ, he's the new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold. And that word behold is a big word. Behold. What a miracle. How amazing. Behold. All things are become new. All things are become new. God has washed away all of my sin. God has washed away all of my past. He's taken my past and dropped it into the sea of his forgetfulness, never to be retrieved, never to be brought up again. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed my sins from me. Bless the Lord for the new life that Jesus Christ gave to you. Bless God for it. Don't ever forget it. It wasn't it wasn't it wasn't something that was cheap. Because sometimes we think, well, if it's cheap, you know, if it's free, it's cheap. No, it's free, but it is not cheap. The blood of Christ is not cheap. And when Jesus poured his blood out for me, I appreciated that. I appreciated it. They didn't understand it that deeply. How can you when you're first getting saved? How can you really understand that? And it's taken me 43 almost 44 years to grow in my appreciation for the grace of God, for the goodness of God, for the love of God, for the compassion of God, for the mercy of God, for the justice of God, for the holiness of God, for the righteousness of God. It's taken me a long time. And I'm still on that path of understanding. But I do know one thing. Once I was lost, but now I'm found. Once I was blind, but now I see. I do know that and I bless the Lord for that because God has made me a new creation in Jesus Christ. And so someone says, well, I'm a drunk, you know, but I haven't had a drink in 20 years. You know, I'm a recovering drunk. I'm not a recovering drunk. I'm a recovered drunk. I'm actually a covered drunk by the blood of Jesus Christ. I've been covered by his blood and I identify with the work of Christ, not the past life. I identify with what Jesus Christ is doing and has done, not what I have done and have been. You need to start seeing yourself for what you are. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Don't let the world tell you that you are simply being recovered. You are recovered. You are brand new. Put on the mind of Christ and understand this. God is able to do abundantly above all we could ask or think. He can transform you and he does transform you and he regard you already as glorifying him because as far as God is concerned, the work is done. When Jesus died on that cross and said, it is finished. This is a finished work we're talking about. You're in process, but in God's sight, it's a done deal. You are new in him. Understand that. Understand that today. And so I better get into the Bible study. That was just on my heart. See, when we, when we got, when we got saved, when I got saved in 1970, I was part of the Jesus Freaks, Jesus movement. It's all about Jesus, Jesus music, Jesus people. It's all about him. It never was about Calvary Chapel. Never was. It's always been about Jesus Christ. It just so happens that I go to a Calvary Chapel and pastor Calvary Chapel, but it's always been about Jesus Christ. He's my savior, not Chuck Smith. He's my savior, but I loved my pastor Chuck Smith because he was my spiritual father and he led me in the ways of the Lord. And I have a son's loyalty to a father and I love my pastor to this day and I will love him forever because he's still alive, though he's passed on to heaven, he just changed residence. He's still alive in Christ, more alive now than ever before. And I still have a love in my heart for that man, you see, but he poured some things into me through the word of God that have helped me in my pastoral and spiritual life. And some of those things maybe I'll be able to share with you today. Now, I'm going to look at this as a teacher, but I hope to be able to take some time to be what I am actually an exhorter and you'll see that in just a moment. As we look at this passage again, First Corinthians chapter 10, we need a context. And we begin in our, we begin our context by remembering chapter eight. You don't necessarily have to turn there, but you may be able to view it. In chapter eight of First Corinthians, Paul set forth the truth that Christians are now free in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he did this by contrasting three things. In chapter eight, he contrasted three things. And I'll use a word, words that start with the letter L. He, he contrasted three things, license, legalism and liberty. Those are three things that, that Paul contrasts in chapter eight. And so to understand this contrast between license, legalism and liberty, we need to remember that many of the Corinthians were formerly idolaters. These, these people had worshiped worthless idols, but they have come to a knowledge of the true God. We know that during the time of Paul, Greek society was a pagan society. And in their religious system, there were food offerings that were made to their gods. So believers began to be confused about what was permissible for them as Christians and what was forbidden to them as Christians. And that question was posed in the form of the things that had been offered to idols. The question that they had formulated, and you need to remember that in 1 Corinthians, Paul is actually answering a series of questions that he's been asked relating to the Christian faith. You need to remember that at the heart of all of this is the question, is it permissible for a Christian to eat food that has been offered to idols? That was a question that Paul had been answering. So at the heart of that question is what would be called Christian liberty. What is permissible if scripture does not specifically forbid it? Now over the years, Christians have argued over various things. We've argued over drinking alcohol. We've argued over smoking. We've had arguments over drinking coffee, playing cards. The church has actually argued over whether women should wear makeup in jewelry. Now me, I'm in favor of women wearing makeup, but not men. The church has argued about dancing, either inside or outside of the church. The church has argued over styles of worship. You don't have a pipe organ, so you must not be worshiping Jesus Christ. You have an electric guitar, you're worshiping the devil. They've argued like that. The church has argued about going to movies or listening to secular music. The church has argued over the length of men's hair, how to dress in church. The church has argued over tattoos that's doing that today. Body piercing, you know? Body piercing. I mean, I see some kids and they come in, they have these body piercings and I look at them and I think that has to hurt. That had to hurt. How could you? Anyway, body piercing. They argue over children in worship services, the length of church services, the order of church services. They have argued, some of you know this, whether we should stand up for the entire church service, and some churches they do this day, they stand. The congregation stands the entire church service or whether we can be seated. I mean, there have been so many arguments over things that in many ways really are not the most important things. Now many feel that these are spiritual issues, but they really don't have a scripture that actually speaks to that issue. So what that has developed is for some to practice any or all of these behaviors, well, that's just sin. But for others, these issues are debatable and should not divide the church. And so throughout the history, the church has generally followed two extremes, either legalism or license. So I'll define that for you, legalism. When I speak about legalism, legalism is what has been called a fleshly attitude that conforms to a code for the purpose of exalting self. So a legalist sees every behavior, attitude or habit as either black or white. When you look into scripture, you find the Pharisees. The Pharisees were legalists. They had rules and regulations that covered every aspect of life. And so you have legalists. But then you have those who are more inclined to what would be called license. License has no black or white. Everything for somebody in that particular mindset, everything's white. Now when living under license, what happens is people begin to no longer care about what the Bible has to say. And what that develops, and we see that today, is Christians who live in a way that is left up basically to personal interpretation and preference. We just do what we like because we're free in Christ. And their rallying cry is grace. And anybody who doesn't agree with them and their interpretation of grace is just ignorant. I was reading something about this particular pastor who pastors a church in another state in the state and the church that he pastors has 16,000 members. That is a huge church by anybody's standards. And yet he's well-known because just recently he said this, he's well-known for saying this, and he has a sermon that went viral, and these are quotes from his sermon. He said, I'm done with religion, stupid rules that somebody other than Jesus thought up for my own good. He said, I grew up in a church community. I was told I was a bad Christian if I had a beer. I know there are different franchises around the country that say if you drink beer, you don't love Jesus. And I bought that for a long time. He goes on to say, well somebody writes, perhaps his view on rules and regulations in Christianity, our best summarized in comments made at the end of the sermon, and this is his conclusion. He said, come and see Jesus. He'll tell me how to live my life. He's enough, screw the rest. Now I have to watch myself because that bothered me. And I don't have that in my notes, and I don't have a certain amount of time to speak. No, I'm not going to say it. I'll keep my mouth shut. I'll let other people speak. That's what we're seeing today. Christianity by vote. Christianity by feeling. Scripture is interpreted by how a person feels after they hear what Scripture says. So a lack of discipleship has been the result. For them everything is relative. There are no guidelines for living. Now I want to make an important note here. It's not legalistic to be obedient to the word of God. Christians are to be Christ's disciples. And we follow his orders. As a soldier follows the general. As a servant follows the master. As the scholar follows his teacher. As a sheep follows its shepherd. Just so at the professing Christian to follow Christ. Obedience to God's word is not legalism. Because legalism produces bad fruit. Christian morality differs radically from legalism. Legalism is obedience to the letter of the law, to the neglect of the spirit of the law. Christian morality is obedience to the spirit of the law as well as the letter. Paul said he has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant. Not of the letter but of the spirit. For the letter kills but the spirit gives life. So how do you define what is permissible if you have no specific Scripture? Freedom in Jesus is balanced by love for him and love for other people. Our liberties are voluntarily subject to our love for other people. Liberty must never cause a weaker brother to sin. Liberty contains the power of choice, the freedom of doing as one pleases in the Lord. And just because I might feel freedom to do something does not mean that I should do that. You see I'll bring this in. Here's an application in illustration. I, like many of you in this room, was not a social drinker. There are people called social drinkers. I wasn't a social drinker. Social drinkers are those guys or those ladies who can have one drink and they nurse it throughout a night and they have it as part of their night. They're a social drinker. They have one beer, one glass of wine. I wasn't a social drinker. When I was 17, I started my night out by drinking a half gallon of wine and a quarter beer. That is not a social drinker. I drank with the idea of getting drunk. I didn't even like the taste. I liked being drunk. Over time I began to like certain tastes but when I began it was just to get drunk. There was a goal. So I never was from the time I began drinking like at 15 until I got saved. I never was one of those guys that would sit with you at a table while you had a beer and I had a beer and we just talked about the Dodgers or God forbid the Angels. Never the Giants. Never the Giants. If you got up and walked away from the table, finders, keepers, your drink was mine. That's the way it was. If you left your dope around me, finders, keepers. It was mine. And I say, man, you know, and that was just me. I was not a social drinker. And those who say you can smoke pot like you drink, that's not true either. I never just took a hit off a joint. Just one hit, just one hit. No, I smoke until I passed out. I'd smoke until I passed out. And that was just my lifestyle. So when somebody comes and says, oh, you're free in Christ, you can have a beer, why would I return to the vomit? Why would I return to the mud that I've been washed from? Why would I use the grace of God to return to old habits that Jesus set me free from? I don't want that way of life. That's why I got saved. And when a pastor stands up and makes issues concerning beer and telling people you can drink, he doesn't know what addiction is. He doesn't have a clue. You do, don't you? You know what it's like to wake up in your own vomit? I do. I know what it's like to wake up with my face filled with vomit. I know what it's like to be in a police station with my best friend barfing on my face all the wine we drank. We drank three bottles of this very cheap wine. I got arrested on Washington's birthday. They put me in the Norwalk Sheriff's substation. I'm passed out on the floor. My friend Bill is leaning over me, vomiting on my face while the sheriff, the deputy, is laughing, saying, hey, guys, you've got to see this. And I'm saying to my friend Bill, stop it. And Bill's saying, I can't. I know what that's like. These beer commercials where these guys are all fit and in shape drinking Miller light, you've got to be kidding me. Show him a real guy with a real beer belly just with no teeth. That's what it's all isn't it? Isn't that really what it's all about? That's really what it is. Why would I go back to that? And why would you? And why would you? Is wine better than Jesus? Is the wine better than the Spirit of God? No, it is not. Once you've tasted the new, you never go back to the old. You don't need the old anymore. I've got the new wine of the Spirit of God. That's Christianity. Anything less than that isn't Christianity. It's a pep talk. It's an inspirational saying. I preach a Christ who sets the captive free. And you can be free. You can be free. Not everything I may be free to do results in my being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. That's true for various, various things. As a believer, I felt I could drink if I wanted to. But the fact is, I don't want to return to the vomit. And 1 Corinthians 6-12 is a powerful scripture for me. All things are lawful for me. But all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me. But I will not be brought under the power of any. You see, we are to do all things through Christian love. That's what 1 Corinthians 8-9 says. And we're not to be a stumbling block to somebody who's weak. We're to seek to be an encouragement to them. Legalism, license, or liberty. But the liberty I have has another L. The liberty I have in Christ is tempered by love. Love for other people. Paul said, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way. So with that in mind, Paul has been illustrating how our exercise of freedom in Christ affects other people. And so chapter 10 illustrates how our use of liberty affects our own lives. Now, if you were to have a verse that was the main point of chapter 10, it would be verse 12. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Prideful over confidence will inevitably lead you to fall. Proverbs 29-23 says, a man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. If you think you're standing, take heed. You need to be aware of the fact that the most valuable vessel in the hand of God is the broken one. Never forget where you came from. I have never forgotten where I come from. It's helped me not to judge people who are still there. It's helped me to love them. It's helped me, because you can get guys. You can get to the point where you think, how can you do that? But for the grace of God, I was that and worse. I was that and worse. So I exalt the grace of God. I rejoice in the grace of God, because he knows what I was. And I know somewhat what I was. And yet he loved me and saved me anyway. And that amazes me. The love of God amazes me. And so it should break you. It should humble you. You see, the Corinthians were in danger of believing that they were beyond stumbling. They were saved. They were baptized. They were well taught. They were spirit-filled. They were maturing in their faith. So in their eyes, they may have thought that they had been arriving at their spiritual maturity. And so they got to the point where they thought they were beyond temptation. They were now freely associating with pagans in their social activities and their social ceremonies. They thought they were beyond falling. Now, of course, we're not to withdraw ourselves completely from other people. Jesus associated with unbelievers and he loved them deeply. But he did that in order to minister God's love for them. Not to party with them. But on the other hand, we're not impervious to influence that will be exerted upon us. We need to be aware of the fact that there are things that we've placed ourselves in a situation where we're around our old friends and they're doing the things we used to do. We need to understand that we're not as strong as we think we are. And we can be drawn back. We have to be careful. Like it says in Proverbs 12, 26, a righteous man is cautious in friendship. The way of the wicked leads him astray. 1 Corinthians 1533, do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. So Paul had said he doesn't wanna be disqualified in ministry. He wanted to remain used by the Lord. And he was pointing out that pride disqualifies you from serving the Lord. So in order to develop that, Paul began to speak of ancient Israel as an illustration. And notice with me in verses one through four here in chapter 10, he uses incidents from Israel's 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. So he's saying basically, when he says, I don't want you to be unaware, he's saying don't ignore the lessons of the past. All that you have learned of the Lord should be remembered constantly. That's why we should be reading the Bible by the way, because the scripture in Romans 154 says everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. So that through endurance and the encouragement of scripture, we might have hope. And he begins now to rehearse. He rehearses scripture, rehearses the history of Israel. And he wants to communicate to them certain things. He wants them to know that all the nation of Israel experienced the grace filled deliverance from physical bondage. He wants them to know that those benefits are spiritual in nature. And he wants them to know that the benefits come from Jesus Christ. So God had done a work. And he wants them to understand that. Now he says in first, he says, all our fathers were under the cloud. All Jews were physical descendants of Abraham. But he's writing to Gentiles. And so he's making it clear that through faith in Jesus they are now Abraham's spiritual descendants. It's interesting in the first four verses he uses the word all five times. That shows oneness and experience. The nation together experienced these events. He says all were under the cloud. Meaning God delivered the entire nation. Believer as well as unbeliever. He says all passed through the sea. God brought them all to safety. He says all were baptized into Moses. All recognized Moses as their leader. All ate the spiritual food which speaks of manna. Revealing that God has the grace to provide. And finally he says all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from that rock. That rock he says was Christ. The presence of Jesus was with them, protecting them, guiding and providing for them. The way he does for you. And that's all written to provide us with one impetus, one thing. And I'll close with this because my time is up. But let me say this, that rock was Christ. That water was Christ. That theme is gonna be built on through all the teachers and testimonies. But let me say this. We do not need the water of the world any longer. Because the water of the world only makes you thirstier. When you drink of what the world says it has to offer you, materialism, sexual pleasures, whatever it may be, you drink of it and you want more. It never quenches your thirst, it provokes it. Because once you've tasted of it, you can have it to it's full and you'll say is that all there is to this. I thought if I had this car I'd be happy. You get the car and then you say, didn't make me happy. I thought if I had this relationship that I'd be happy. You got the relationship, it didn't make you happy. I thought if I had this education, if I had this, whatever it may have been, that I'd be fulfilled and I wasn't fulfilled. And then one day God spoke from heaven and he said what you've been looking for, well if you drink of this water you will thirst again. But if you drink from the water that I give to you it'll bubble out of you, it's living water. We need the water of the spirit. Jesus made it very clear, if any man thirsts let him come to me and drink. He that believes on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. I came to faith in Christ and in the front room, in the city of Lehabra with some friends, I prayed that God would baptize me with the Holy Spirit. God fill me to overflowing, pour your water of life upon me. I wanna drink of you. And the Lord baptized me in his spirit. I didn't have a 10 step program, I didn't have a five step program. I had a one step program, one step to Jesus. And Jesus empowered me, one step to Jesus. And that's what you need today. You need the power of the Holy Spirit. Drink of Christ, he will fill you in the innermost being. He will fill you. Do I wanna go back to alcohol? Of course not. Do I wanna go back to the drugs? No. My dad called me up one day, he said, Dave, you said, I found something in my front yard. Can you come and help me? I said, sure dad, he had a shopping bag. He said, I don't know what this is, but I think you will. And I opened it up, it was a kilo. A kilo, somebody had dumped a kilo in his front yard. And I opened it up and that odor of that weed just waffed it into my face. And I go, whoa, I need a twinkie. I rolled that bag up and turned it into the police. I don't need that. You know what I need and what you need? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.