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Since 1970's Christians serious about what God says in his word have been standing up to choose life over death. Christian serious about God's word have stood up for those living in their mothers wombs. Life is life, no matter if it is in a mother's womb or on the hospital bed. However, there are some very heavy emotional arguments that are used to justify murder, whether that be at the beginning of life or the end. We have a wonderful word of God, which encourages us just as it encouraged the Corinthians to not be fooled by emotional arguments. God is still God. God still responds to sin. Despite evidence to the contrary, he hasn't grown lax. Because God still responds to sin, he also provides a way out.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things 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 got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Until Jesus comes on the Last Day, there will be suffering. It's a sad truth. The Israelites endured hardships while they were enslaved in Egypt. Even while Jesus walked this earth, there was suffering. People in Corinth and people throughout history have had to deal with suffering. The question is, why? “What causes bad things to happen to people?” Paul uses the bad things that happened to the Israelites as a lesson for us. The Israelites had been rescued by God, both physically, and spiritually. He had rescued them from the physical hand of the Egyptians and also spiritually through baptism. Though they had been rescued, they sinned. They turned their worship away from the true God to a God of their own making, they turned from God's plan for marriage to their own plan for marriage. They turned from God's way saying their way was better. They complained and grumbled against God. Their sins were selfish. They didn't like how God was handling things, so they made up a God they could follow. They didn't like the commandments of God, so they made up commandments they could follow. God calls selfishness sin. Paul says watch out, because God still responds to sin. God responded when the Israelites worshiped other gods. God responded when they went against his commands and intermarried with the nations around them, when they didn't like how God was handling things, God responded. People died, their bodies never entered the promised land. But God's response here on earth is not always the same. 23,00 people died in one day for breaking God's plan for marriage. Imagine if today God would put to death all those who broke the 6th commandment, how many would die? A lot more than 23,000. If we look to God's response to sin just looking at physical things like suffering and death, God's response to sin here on earth isn't consistent. But that's here on earth. God's response to sin beyond this life is completely consistent. All sinners will rot forever in hell. Don't let the suffering you see or don't see fool you into thinking that God's values have changed. They haven't, look to the scriptures to see what brings condemnation from God. Don't use the suffering you see on earth to determine what God's values are. Stand firm with what God says in the Bible. He still says turning your allegiance away from the Word of God to a word you can stand is wrong. Turning away God's standards of marriage, life, and so on to standards you can stomach is wrong. If you need evidence that God responds to sin, look to the Bible, not the news report. The same God we read about in the Bible is the same God that is around today. Learn from our forefathers, they suffered because they sinned. Don't think you're off the hook if you don't see suffering for your sin! Not all suffering is the result of a specific sin. Bad things don't have to have a reason. Jesus reminds us of that in our Gospel lesson today. Terrible things happened to people. People were killed and people wondered why? The people thought that those who died and had their blood mixed with the blood of animals and those who died when a tower fell on them had done something to deserve it. Jesus says they people who died were just as guilty as the people who lived. We're all sinners, so we're all guilty, and all deserving of bad things to happen to us. If you think you don't deserve bad things to happen to you, be careful! God still responds to sin. He may respond specifically for a specific sin, he may not, but one thing is perfectly clear, He definitely responds to sin. So be on the watch. Don't think that things are okay because things are okay. If things are not okay, turn to your God, because he still provides a way out. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. God provided a way out for the Israelites. There was no specific sin that caused the Israelites to suffer in Egypt, and God delivered them. When specific sins caused them to suffer, God provided a way out. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. Isn't it always a temptation to think that no one has dealt the problems we are dealing with? That our struggle is unlike anyone else's struggle throughout history? Because it is so unique, therefore there is no way I can beat it? There's no way anyone could stand with all the pressures I'm dealing with. You can be 18 months and feel like this. Kids can be drama queens, thinking that their cut or bump on the head is such a dramatic thing, but as parents, we reassure them, “There, there, it's not so bad.” We can be drama queens too. We focus so much on the problem we lose focus on God. My temptation, my bad thing that has happened to me, my suffering, it's unique. No one has suffered as I have suffered. To that God says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.” “There there, God says, “It's not so bad. It's not so bad because I am bigger than your problem. I am bigger than your temptation. I am bigger than your sin.” God answers, “I provide a way out.” Your body is a body that is heading for death, I provide a way out. I will transform that body on the last day. Your life is a life that is heading for death, and God says, “I' provide a way out through Christ.” Through Him, you will be rescued from death and from its suffering.” Just when you think God has lost his ability to help, he says, “I am faithful.” I provide a way for you to stand. I provide strength to defeat your temptation. I provide life when your body is saying death. You ever hear that phrase, “God never gives you more than you can handle.” That's not what Paul says in 1 Corinthians, is it? He says, “God never gives you more than you can handle with HIM.” We think about it, every day we're given more than we can handle without God. Every day I am enslaved to sin with no ability to get out of it just as the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt with no hope...until God intervenes. And when it gets to end of life issues, when there is suffering and pain involved, and you complain that God has not intervened, remember that God has already intervened in your life. God has already given you a way out. Your baptism. On the day you were baptized, God rescued you from the enslavement of sin. Your way out was through water and the word. When you are suffering and there is pain, and it leads you as it should to how sinful we are and the sins we have done, remember, God intervened. He rescued you through the water. He is leading you out from this world of sin and death to the promised land of heaven. That is your way out, and God sill provides it. Your life is important. This world seeks to define life on its own terms. Life that isn't wanted isn't worth anything. If another child is an inconvenience, it isn't worth it. If your quality of life isn't what you want, it is not worth it. All life is important to God. He still responds to the taking of life. He still responds to sin. He still provides a way out for all, even those born of unfortunate circumstance and those living in unfortunate circumstances. God does not change. |