In a day of widespread declension, such as this, it may be useful to trace the steps by which a low point is reached, as the discovery of our real state; and its exposure by the Word, is one of the means God uses in order to extricate us from it.
No one sets out on a downward path with the idea of its being that, though God may allow many warnings to come, and even the discipline of His hand to be felt, to awaken from its lethargy the soul that is indifferent. Neither can anyone who is pursuing that way tell how far he will go, though of course his own purpose is to keep within certain bounds. But the power of the enemy is such that we have no ability to stand against him, unless we are going on with God, in the strength He gives to those who are dependent on Him.
In 1 Cor. 10:1-13, we have the steps in the course of declension very fully pictured, and they present a striking contrast to the Apostle's own way as given at the end of the previous chapter. Some have difficulty in understanding Paul's words because they have in some degree disconnected the life-eternal life- from the path in which those who have it should, and more or less do, walk. For some, alas! the deliverance from judgment because of failure in responsibility as children of Adam, by the cross of Christ, is, it is to be feared, deliverance also from responsibility itself. But this is surely not God's way. No; He puts us by redemption upon higher ground than we had left, and with, as a consequence, higher responsibilities. If we are saved by grace—"Not of works, lest any man should boast"-yet we are "Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them," and he who does not more or less walk in that path disproves his title to eternal life. It is still true that without "holiness,... no man shall see the Lord," and one part of Scripture is not in conflict with another, but all is in harmony. Compare also 2 Timothy 2:19.
The outward participation in the things of Christianity was no guarantee of attaining to the rest of God, and it is this that is insisted on in the first verses of chapter 10. They all stood on new ground, and partook of what was God's provision for their need, the bread from heaven and the water out of the rock; yet with many of them God was not well pleased, and they fell in the wilderness-they did not reach Canaan. These things are expressly said to have "happened unto them for ensamples [examples, or types]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."
The first step in the downward course is lust. If God had been retained in their thoughts, they could not have doubted that He would give all that was needful. To desire something different from what God sees good to give, shows that the heart has turned from Him and lost its confidence in His love. To desire what is according to His will, is not lust, and He has not limited us as to what is really for our good: "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." The restless craving of desire is itself a witness that we have turned away from the only One who can satisfy. "He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst"
What follows next is idolatry-a god that suits the low state-with Israel, of course, the golden calf is referred to. It may be only a limitation of the God of revelation, an ideal which suits the fancy or taste, but which is therefore only a reflex picture of the one who forms it—of myself. Hence men deified human passion which was a large part of heathenism. But it is only a human sentiment or idea, for God can only be known through revelation, and is far from being what man's imagination would paint Him: "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself." Psalm 50:21. Unrestrainedness of ways is the result: "The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." Exod. 32:6. "Aaron had made them naked," should probably read, "let them loose." See 2 Chron. 28:19. If God is turned from, how soon the heart is turned to folly! How like the prodigal going off into the far country to indulge himself in every evil! If piety toward God is neglected, then no amount of truth can keep us, or be a check upon the flesh.
Next worldly alliances are formed. If we are down upon the world's level, it will soon be glad of our company, and little by little will take away from us all that savors of the fear of God. It is easy to acquire a liking for what conscience at first refused as evil. If it is not judged, but tolerated, however spurious the plea, it will soon be accepted and delighted in. And it is striking that from Peor, Salaam was forced to speak the highest blessing of the people when he took up his parable the third time; and it was there the people fell into alliances with the Midianites. God's best thoughts and grace toward them are seen in contrast with their own low state and acts. How seductive is the world! How few of us have grace to refuse it, especially in the shape in which it pleases us! For each of us it has a different aspect exactly adapted to our tastes, and what would be an attractive bait to one would not be to another. But "The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world," and "Whosoever... will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
We then have despised Christ, and esteemed the manna as light food. If I share the world's tastes, I shall not see much in the lowliness of Christ to attract me, and the connection between despising the manna and the fiery serpents is important. If He is rejected, the work of death goes on unhindered. It is sin become exceedingly sinful, manifestly by the rejection of Him who came to relieve from it, and death working unhindered in those that despised Him who came in lowly grace to seek and save the lost.
Finally, the dissatisfaction of the heart is openly expressed in their murmuring which brought the judgment of God -no doubt a reference to Numbers 13 and 14, their refusal of the pleasant land, and in heart turning back to Egypt. It was this that brought the full sentence upon them of exclusion from the land which they had openly refused. How solemn the warning! How it should stimulate us to diligence and carefulness to watch against the coming in of what would, if its results were fully known, end in entire separation from God. And "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Self-confidence is a very different thing from confidence in God, though it may carry one on a good way without the discovery being made of what it really is. We "are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." But this is the confidence of one who, knowing his own weakness, has learned to trust Him, and everything else must fail and break down. How beautiful the encouragement given to one beset with the very wilderness trials which the enemy would use to discourage and drive from God into the meshes of his own net.
Do you think your trials are greater than others?-true as it is that "the heart knoweth its own bitterness." "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful." What a word! "God is faithful." Yes, think of Him who is still interested in your welfare, and who, though He may try your faith for your good, will never forsake. Only wait on Him as One who is entitled to the confidence of your heart, and He will make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it, and will give you that for which to praise Him when His delivering hand is seen. To have these exercises is true gain, as to be without them would indeed be loss; and those who seek to fortify themselves against the trials by their own inventions will find how much they have lost in the weakening of their faith, and the consequent obscurity of all that is most precious. To leave the path of faith because of its exercises, to seek one that seems smoother, is to ensure ones own downfall and the missing of even that we aimed at.