Monday, February 13, 2012

Learning from Bad Examples (1 Corinthians 10:1-13) John MacArthur

There are so many ways in which we can prepare our hearts for a time around the Lord 's Table. The cross is the focal point of the whole of Scripture and therefore there are a lot of places you can go to choose for that heart preparation that looks at the provision of Christ.

One that you might not consider, however, is the tenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and so I want you to turn to that...the tenth chapter of 1 Corinthians. I really had prepared something else, but this afternoon I think the Lord gave me a little bit of clarity on what might be most helpful to you as we enter into a brand new year. Of all churches, we are the most blessed in many ways. We are so highly privileged. We have been given such immense blessing, so many gifted people, so much ministry, so much provision to feed our souls and to build us up in the knowledge of Christ, so many opportunities for service, we stand as a highly privileged congregation of people. And I know you know that very well.

And on the one hand, we have been celebrating that privilege all through last year. I feel last year was, from my standpoint, the greatest year in the history of this church and I don't expect next year to be any less than that, but I will always look back on 2011 as one of the greatest, if not the greatest in my own assessment and my own experience in the life of this church since I came here in 1969, for many, many reasons. And I think as we look at the future, we have no reason to assume that God is going to bless us any less as we remain faithful. But the more highly privileged we are, the more careful we need to be because I think the Lord is gracious and the Lord is merciful and the Lord is kind and the Lord is good but He is selective about whom He blesses. And what you have in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 is a kind of a warning to a very blessed people, a warning to a very blessed people...

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