1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,120 or contact us at mylibertybaptist.org or just 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,760 look us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,280 First Corinthians in chapter #10. 8 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,040 Say, pastor, why are you in the Word so soon? 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,800 And the question is, well, why can't we be in the Word so soon? 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:34,920 Amen. It's church. 11 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:36,200 And that's what we're doing here tonight. 12 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,680 And so First Corinthians chapter #10 we are going to have a short 13 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,520 meeting after church and to be a different meeting than normal. 14 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:42,560 Normally we have a business meeting. 15 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,480 We ask those who are not members to be able to depart. 16 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:46,760 And that's not the case this evening. 17 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,080 And so we're going to ask you to stay behind just for a few 18 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:50,800 moments. But we are in First Corinthians 19 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,840 chapter. #10 and you may remember we started through this 20 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,960 section of First Corinthians chapter #7 chapter 8 chapter #9 21 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:02,200 now we're chapter #10 and I mentioned what we're going to 22 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:04,440 get in this part and we're going to go 1 chapter a time. 23 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,440 How do you remember that? A few weeks ago? 24 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:08,520 Oh good, nobody remembers. So I guess I don't need to 25 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,000 continue. But so a few weeks ago we're do 26 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,080 1 chapter a time. We did that with Chapter 7. 27 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,120 We did that with chapter 8. Kind of got a little bogged down 28 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,600 in chapter #9 took two weeks to be able to go through it. 29 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,280 And now in chapter 10, I just looked at it in study and said, 30 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,040 you know what, it's going to take more than one week and 31 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:25,280 we're just going to take what we need. 32 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,720 You know, as a pastor, my desire is sometimes to be able to get 33 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,440 us to a certain destination. And for me, the destination to 34 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,800 make sure that we get through First Corinthians as the Lord 35 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,800 allows us. But there is also the part where 36 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,080 it's not as much about the destination, but about what we 37 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:42,080 learn on the way to the destination. 38 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,520 Really the issue is not, hey, let's get through First 39 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,360 Corinthians as fast as we can. The issue is, are we going to 40 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,520 learn what God has for us in First Corinthians? 41 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,200 I hope that's the case. So as that we are only going to 42 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,240 get through just the first 11 verses or so here tonight from 43 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,600 first Corinthians chapter #10 now Paul is going to be talking 44 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,440 to people of Corinth about their sinful predicament. 45 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:05,040 You say, what is that sinful predicament? 46 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,280 Well, pretty much everything we've read from chapter 1 to 47 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,360 Chapter 9. The church at Corinth is a very 48 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,480 worldly church, a church. The church at Corinth is so far 49 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,480 away from that which God has called them to do that Paul's 50 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,160 had to do a lot of readjusting, has he? 51 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,080 This is not just talking about spiritually, just changing the 52 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,760 drapes. This is not spiritually just 53 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:26,400 trying to make a few changes here and there. 54 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:29,760 There's a wholesale change that the people of Corinth need to 55 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,720 make because they were very far away from that which God has 56 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:35,920 called them to do their fighting with one another. 57 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,280 They're allowing sin to run rampant within the church. 58 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,520 Not only allowing it to run rampant within the church, but 59 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,120 they're kind of proud of the fact of how open minded they 60 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,200 are, allowing sin to run rampant through the church. 61 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,080 And so there's all these things that are taking place. 62 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,200 They're suing one another and taking one other court, not even 63 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,920 able to handle the most basic of issues like believers ought to 64 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:59,960 be, but rather going to ungodly magistrates asking them to fix 65 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:03,480 the problems that they can't fix by themselves within the body. 66 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,400 And so Paul is going to address these issues here again in 67 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,680 chapter #10 and he's going to address really the issue of 68 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,080 eating meats to idols again later on, not in the text that 69 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:16,600 we're reading tonight, but later on. 70 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,080 But he's going to set the table this evening with this idea of 71 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,080 taking thoughts from the Old Testament, taking teachings from 72 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,880 the Old Testament, and reminding the people of Corinth of who 73 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,000 they are and what they need to be by looking at the example of 74 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:33,920 the Old Testament. Now, maybe you're here tonight 75 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:37,080 and you thought, how relevant is the Old Testament to us in our 76 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,560 daily life today? Maybe some would say, well, 77 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:41,520 isn't it just important we read the New Testament? 78 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,280 It's even important that we read the Old Testament. 79 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,000 The Old Testament has gone away now that Jesus Christ has died 80 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,920 on the cross. And my answer to that is, I 81 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:50,960 don't know where you heard that, but you certainly haven't heard 82 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,960 it at Liberty Baptist Church. Because the Bible tells us to be 83 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,080 aware of the whole council of God. 84 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:00,440 That from cover to cover that we are to know the word of God and 85 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,080 to allow it to influence our life to be more like Christ. 86 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:05,880 And so we're going to see that here tonight in First 87 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,240 Corinthians chapter #10 And so you remain seated. 88 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,400 We'll begin reading in verse #1 where it says, Moreover, 89 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:13,360 brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant. 90 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:15,560 Ignorant how? That all our fathers were under 91 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,560 the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and we're all 92 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,600 baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 93 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:25,080 And did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all 94 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,800 drink the same spiritual drink. For they drank that drank of 95 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,560 that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was 96 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,000 Christ. But with many of them God was 97 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,240 not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 98 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,960 Now these things were our examples to the intent. 99 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,360 We should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 100 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,520 Neither be idolaters, as were some of them. 101 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,600 As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose 102 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:51,440 up to play. Neither let us commit 103 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,760 fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day. 104 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,720 Three and 20,000 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them 105 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:00,760 were also tempted and were destroyed. 106 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,000 Of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of 107 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,920 them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. 108 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,680 Now all these things happen unto them, foreign samples, and they 109 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,320 are written for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are 110 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:16,760 coming. We'll stop in our reading right 111 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,360 there. You know, we have a tendency to 112 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,640 think, and I think our generation thinks this. 113 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,360 And I say our generation, I'm speaking broadly, knowing that 114 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:26,840 there technically are many generations who speak here 115 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:29,520 tonight. But if I was to broadly say our 116 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,320 generation, I do believe that often times it's the fact that 117 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:36,280 we believe that we are the most unique generation that ever 118 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:39,040 existed. Like we are the ones that are 119 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,880 going through the most hardship of all the people in known 120 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,720 civilization, that the hardship of hardships really belongs to 121 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,240 us here today. Have you noticed this? 122 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,040 This is just the way of our human condition. 123 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,760 I don't know if it's because we want to feel more special, if 124 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,720 it's because we want to feel more important than those who 125 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,880 have gone on before, but this is always the case. 126 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,200 Every four, four years, what do we hear? 127 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,520 This is the most important election of our lifetime. 128 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,160 I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing that every four 129 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,480 years that they drum us up into this place of saying it's the 130 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,000 most important election of our lifetime. 131 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:15,320 Why? Because, well, it's the next 132 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,920 election, I guess. But this is what is always said. 133 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,960 Every generation of young people that goes before, the generation 134 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,320 that is after them says these are the most rebellious people 135 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,120 I've ever seen. That is always the case, is that 136 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,640 you could say that about the younger people in the 70s and 137 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,160 the 60s and you could say it about the younger people today. 138 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,280 That's always the case. These young people that are 139 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:36,200 coming up and usually the older people that are saying that 140 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,080 about the younger people weren't so great when they were younger 141 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,360 themselves, but yet the case is said that we are the unique. 142 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:45,760 Well, we've never seen young people like that are out there 143 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,480 right now. The moral decline that is found 144 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:52,960 in society is always spoken of as in this certain generation is 145 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,680 more unique than it's ever been in any other generation. 146 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:58,440 People don't work like they used to. 147 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,000 Nobody keeps their word anymore and the list goes on and on and 148 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,240 on. We talk about it, but every 149 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,800 generation before talked about it, about the generation that 150 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,240 was before them. Now listen, I want to be careful 151 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:11,440 here tonight. There's some things that I 152 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,080 understand because I could see some of you, the wheels are 153 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:15,720 turning a little bit this evening because you're thinking, 154 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,320 pastor, are you not saying that things aren't getting worse and 155 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,240 worse? And the answer is, well, yes, 156 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:23,040 things are getting worse and worse. 157 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,360 Why do I say that? Well, because the Bible says it. 158 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,120 Second Timothy chapter 3 verse 13 says, But evil men and 159 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:34,520 seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being 160 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:36,640 deceived. There's no doubt about the fact 161 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,640 that things are getting worse, or as the old preacher once 162 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,720 said, worser and worser, that things are getting worse out 163 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,040 there all the time. And it shouldn't surprise us 164 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,440 because this has been told to us in the word of God. 165 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,640 No, people aren't following the Lord in the way that they used 166 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:52,920 to. There was movements of God in 167 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,160 the past where there were great revivals even in this nation of 168 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,920 which we're not seeing the same stirrings as we did in other 169 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:01,520 times. I wouldn't argue that here 170 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,320 tonight sin abounds in more vengeance avenues and avenues 171 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,520 than it ever has before. We can't argue that this evening 172 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,600 that sin is more easily accessible than it would be in 173 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,240 maybe any other generation. These aren't the types of things 174 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:16,640 that I'm trying to tell you tonight. 175 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:18,720 But what I'm really trying to say is this. 176 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:24,320 The problems of this life remain unchanged over 6000 or so years 177 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,440 of human history. That the real problems of life 178 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:29,760 that we deal with remain unchanged. 179 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,600 Sure. Has sin changed its wrapping 180 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:34,039 paper? Yes. 181 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,120 Has sin changed the way it presents itself? 182 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:40,679 Absolutely. But is sin still sin? 183 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,880 Absolutely. And we are not so unique in this 184 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:49,760 generation that we are dealing with things in a way that no one 185 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,080 else has dealt with it before. Certainly they are coming at us 186 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:57,200 in different forms and different forums, but the issues of life 187 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,400 remain the same. People were worried 6000 years 188 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:04,480 ago, people were worried 2000 years ago, and people are 189 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:08,120 worried today. People got angry 6000 years ago, 190 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,640 people got angry 2000 years ago, People got angry or get angry 191 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,200 today. This is the human condition. 192 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,360 This is what we see. And so we talked about this for 193 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,080 a moment. We asked ourselves, do you deal 194 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,040 with sin? And do you suffer through 195 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,360 trials? Are are you tempted? 196 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,200 And if the answer is yes, which it ought to be yes. 197 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:32,640 That we have to remind ourselves we're not nearly as unique as we 198 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,600 think that we are. The issues of dealing with sin, 199 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,480 dealing with temptation, the trials of life, that we're not 200 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:46,720 as special as we think we are. Say, Pastor, that doesn't sound 201 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:48,640 very encouraging at all. In fact, sounds like you're just 202 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,800 talking down to us. And the answer is yes, that's 203 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:52,440 exactly what I'm doing. I'm talking, No, I'm not doing 204 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:53,960 that. I'm not doing that at all. 205 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,880 It ought to be encouraging to us tonight, and This is why. 206 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:03,880 Because the issues of life that we deal with are addressed very 207 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:08,880 clearly and addressed very plainly in God's holy word that 208 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:11,320 the issues of life that we think cannot. 209 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:14,400 Be relevant because the word Internet's not in the Bible, 210 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,320 because the word. Nicotine's not in the Bible 211 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,200 because social media is not in the Bible because. 212 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,120 None of these issues are in the Bible. 213 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:29,360 How helpful? But this old, dry, dusty book, 214 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:31,200 how helpful could the Old Testament be? 215 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:34,800 Don't you know Leviticus is in their pastor and numbers, a 216 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:36,360 whole book of people counting things. 217 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,080 And well, it's not the old book, but it's a lot of the book. 218 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,880 But anyway, is it important? Yes. 219 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,200 Is it helpful? Absolutely. 220 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,520 And we find that because we are not so unique as we think we 221 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:54,760 are, that the issues of life, no matter what comes our way, can 222 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:59,400 be found. Diagnosed and helped by what we 223 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,800 see in the word of God. So as Paul looks at Corinth's 224 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,440 present, he wants to hearken to Israel's past. 225 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,200 And so if we were pretending tonight that there were slides 226 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:11,800 on this. TV, which they are not, not 227 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,520 because of the sound men, but because of the unsound pastor #1 228 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:16,720 would be this. You're supposed to laugh at 229 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,720 that. Number one, is this looking at 230 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,040 Israel's past example. Number one is this. 231 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,720 Looking at Israel's past example, in the first few 232 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,520 verses, Paul makes an appeal to this largely Jewish church. 233 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:31,160 Or rather, it's largely Gentile church. 234 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,520 Excuse me, a church that maybe not as well versed in the 235 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,920 history of the Jews as the Jews would be, but he makes an appeal 236 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,560 to them about to them to look back at Jewish history. 237 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,320 And as such, he references several events we're familiar 238 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:47,720 with. Just in the beginning, from 239 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:51,400 verse one to verse #6 Paul mentioned several different 240 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,520 things he says in verse one. Moreover, brethren, I would not 241 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,680 that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under 242 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:00,240 the cloud and all passed through the sea. 243 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,200 What is Paul doing? Well, he starts by explaining 244 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,840 God's goodness to his people and he says, don't you remember when 245 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:10,000 you passed under the cloud? Don't you remember when you 246 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,240 passed through the sea? Now of course we understand 247 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:14,840 passing through the sea would have been the experience of the 248 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,720 Red Sea. When Israel was there up against 249 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:21,960 the Red Sea, the Egyptians were hard behind them, ready to 250 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,720 pounce on them if you will. But yet God held the Egyptians 251 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,400 back, held the water up. Israel went through as on dry 252 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,760 ground, and as soon as Moses said the word by the name of the 253 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:35,600 Lord, what happened? All the waters came back and the 254 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,800 Egyptian army was drowned. But it wasn't just that that 255 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,480 Paul references here, but rather the fact that they were under 256 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,400 the cloud. Now, maybe in the past you've 257 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,000 seen pictures, depictions about the pillar of cloud by day and 258 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,600 the pillar of fire by night. You know what I'm talking about 259 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,080 in the wilderness, how they went through and the pillar of cloud 260 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,320 went before them by day and the pillar of fire went before them 261 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:57,680 at night. I think sometimes our mindset of 262 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:00,520 what the pillar of cloud actually is, is actually a 263 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:02,880 little bit off. And the reason why is because 264 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:07,840 Proverbs, or rather Psalm 105 verse 39 says he spread a cloud 265 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,920 for a covering and fire to give light in the night. 266 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,080 I believe was there a pillar? Yes. 267 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:14,840 You know why I believe it? Because the Bible says it. 268 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:18,680 Exodus chapter 13 says so. But I believe it was not just a 269 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:22,080 pillar that was just up in the middle of the air, but rather 270 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,960 from that pillar extended large amounts of cloud covering. 271 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:29,080 Now why would that be important? Well, because Israel was in the 272 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,040 desert. I don't know about you, but I'm 273 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:32,200 not spending a lot of time in the desert. 274 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:34,440 But I do know this. I've spent some time in Southern 275 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:39,800 California where the temperature was 115° and people say, well, 276 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:41,320 it's not the heat, it's the humidity. 277 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,040 With 115, it's the heat. I don't care if there's 0 278 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,480 humidity when your shoes are melting on your feet. 279 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,080 I don't tell me it's not the heat, it's the humidity because 280 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,760 that's the way that it is. Could you imagine the Israelites 281 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,120 for 40 years out in that intense type of heat? 282 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,560 Yet what did God do? He not only used that pillar, 283 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:01,720 but I believe extending from that pillar a cloud that would 284 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,760 overspread the people of Israel to keep them temperate during 285 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:09,040 the day and then warmth during those very cold desert nights 286 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,920 that also could exist. What am I saying? 287 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,400 That God took care of them, sometimes even in ways that we 288 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,920 don't even think about and that we even comprehend. 289 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,240 Do you think God gave up on the Israelites for 40 years? 290 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:22,960 God never gave up on the Israelites. 291 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,080 Did God give up on you? But we've given up on him 292 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,040 plenty. He hasn't given up on us. 293 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:30,640 It says that they pass through the sea. 294 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,920 It says in verse #2 that they were baptized, They were 295 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,120 immersed passing through the water unto Moses. 296 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,400 And the fact of the matter was that they were passing through 297 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,560 the water. And as such, they identified 298 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,360 with Moses in the way that we could say that as we are 299 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,160 immersed in baptism, who do we identify with? 300 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,160 Jesus Christ? Romans chapter 6. 301 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:52,520 You can read the first few verses, explain that to you 302 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,480 quite well. And so Paul says, listen, God 303 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:59,320 has taken care of the people of Israel over and over and over 304 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,200 again. But that's not all it says in 305 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,160 verse #3 they ate the same spiritual meat. 306 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:06,160 What kind of meat are we talking about? 307 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,720 Certainly we think of meat and we think of the quail, but 308 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:10,120 oftentimes the Bible talks about meat. 309 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,800 It's also talking about what we would call meal at the same 310 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,800 time, a bread. What type of spiritual bread 311 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,760 would have fallen from heaven for 40 years? 312 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,160 It tasted like wafers and honey and coriander seed. 313 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:23,760 What would that be? Well, that would have been the 314 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:25,680 mana. What was incredible about mana 315 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:27,000 as they looked at the mana that was. 316 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:29,520 On the ground and they said what is it? 317 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:34,640 And that's why it's called mana, because in the Hebrew what is it 318 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:37,800 is the word mana. So literally they go, what is 319 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:38,760 it? And every day for 40. 320 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:39,720 Years they're eating. What is it? 321 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,920 And they baked it, and they fried it, and they made it every 322 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,680 different way possible. But God sustained them through 323 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:52,040 that blessed mana for 40 years. Exodus 16, verse 35. 324 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,480 And the children of Israel did eat mana 40 years until they 325 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:59,040 came to a land inhabited. They did eat mana until they 326 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,680 came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. 327 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:06,360 They drank of the same spiritual drink, it says in verse #4 for 328 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:09,240 they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. 329 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:11,720 And that rock was Christ. Boy, there's so much that I 330 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:13,840 could just really get into right there. 331 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:16,920 For those who say, well, Jesus Christ just appeared in the New 332 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,560 Testament. Jesus Christ is all over the 333 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:22,280 word of God. Jesus Christ, was that wrong 334 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,560 first. Smitten and the water came out. 335 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,480 Second to be spoken. To But what did Moses do? 336 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:33,200 He smote the rock a second time. By the way, the rock Jesus 337 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,120 Christ is not to be smitten twice. 338 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,080 He was smitten once. Why is that important? 339 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,800 Well, because those who partake of the Eucharist believe they 340 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,200 are crucifying Christ afresh every single time they receive 341 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,680 it. But it's crucified once and then 342 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:53,280 spoken to the rock. And it says here that that rock 343 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:55,480 is what they drank from the water. 344 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:59,120 And I didn't even realize this until recently, but Paul builds 345 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:03,000 up on a rabbinical tradition that said Israel was supplied 346 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,599 with water by the same rock throughout all the wilderness. 347 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,960 That wherever they went, they literally picked up the rock, 348 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:11,960 took it with them, and wherever they went, they were supplied 349 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:13,800 with water. Now I can't prove that to be 350 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,440 true, but it does say this. Wherever they went, they drank 351 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:18,319 of the water and the water was Christ. 352 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,440 So whether that water followed them along, it carved its own 353 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:23,920 path through the desert and they followed that, or whether the 354 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,839 rabbi's would have the the priest would have lifted up that 355 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:29,800 rock and taken it wherever it needed to go. 356 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,040 You said what must have been a big rock. 357 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:32,720 Listen, God can make water come out anywhere. 358 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,800 Do you mean water come out of a jawbone of a donkey? 359 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,120 Are you kidding me? He doesn't need it to be a rock 360 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:40,880 that's so big that looks like New Hampshire granite. 361 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,720 You know what he needs? Thanks, Rick. 362 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,920 You know what he needs? He needs to do whatever he deems 363 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,480 necessary and supply the people with their water. 364 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:56,160 I don't know if you know this, but Israel was a mess. 365 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,480 I don't know if you're aware of this, but God was good to them 366 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,960 despite the fact they were a mess because a lot of what took 367 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:08,240 place that we just read happened after they got themselves into 368 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:14,480 trouble and not before. John 73738 Going back to the 369 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,720 living water, imagine this, Jesus in the last day of the 370 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:23,400 feast stood up and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let 371 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,440 him come unto me and drink. He that believeth all me, as a 372 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:31,080 Scripture has said, said out of his belly shall flow rivers of 373 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:34,920 living water, proclaiming himself to be that living water 374 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,280 from the rock that was smitten. And God was good to the people 375 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:42,240 of Israel. But like I said, despite his 376 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,320 goodness, they didn't do good. Look at verse 5. 377 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,240 But with many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were 378 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:53,000 overthrown in the wilderness. Well, how did they sin? 379 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,760 Well, we'll see that in a moment because it's of great relevance. 380 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,960 But it's a reminder to us just in looking at this. 381 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,160 But with many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were 382 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,080 overthrown in the wilderness. Let's read verse 6. 383 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:06,760 If I'm going to stop you, don't go too far. 384 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:08,960 Now these things were our examples. 385 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:13,800 Stop. Paul is saying everything I just 386 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:15,680 told you and what is about to come. 387 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:20,240 But everything he just told you is our example because even 388 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,000 though God was good to them, they weren't good to God. 389 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:29,160 So Paul starts right here. And he says this, you need to 390 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:33,800 know what happened in the past. You can read on later verse 6 391 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:35,840 and verse #11 as well. We'll look at that in a minute. 392 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,840 But you need to know what goes on in the past because it will 393 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,400 help you avoid making the mistakes of the future. 394 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,320 You ever heard this before? Those who fail to learn from 395 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:51,560 history are doomed to repeat it. And people that think the Old 396 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,400 Testament or even the Bible itself is irrelevant to life 397 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:59,560 today are missing out on thousands of years of learned 398 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:05,560 experience of people that didn't love God and some that loved God 399 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,160 and then didn't do what God told them to do. 400 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,240 And also of the experience of those who did love God and 401 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,920 followed God and gave us a path of which to follow so we can 402 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,840 succeed in this Christian life. We were in Scotland a few weeks 403 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:23,160 ago and. We went to a place called 404 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,680 Sterling, Scotland, and there was a battle there from William 405 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:28,040 Wallace. And no, I'm not talking about a 406 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,320 movie, all right. But there was a real man named 407 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,400 William Wallace who fought in a battle called the Battle of 408 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,000 Sterling Bridge. And what's amazing about going 409 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,880 to a place as old as Scotland? You know, Easton's 300 years 410 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:40,000 old. And I thought that was old till 411 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:41,400 I went over there. And they've got like 412 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:43,680 toothbrushes that are older than that over there. 413 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:45,840 And actually, I think about probably not. 414 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:51,720 But anyway, we stood on the bridge of where the battle took 415 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,000 place. Now it wasn't the same bridge 416 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,160 because the battle was in 1298. But this, this bridge was new. 417 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,280 It was built in 1400s and we stood on this bridge. 418 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:03,640 And you can see how the battle took place. 419 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:07,840 What William Wallace did was he caused this large contingent of 420 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:10,640 those from England to pass on a narrow bridge. 421 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:14,560 And then on the other side, they got caught in marshy ground and 422 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,680 then someone came behind and took the pins out of the bridge. 423 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,200 To be able to separate the groups from one another and 424 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,120 William Wallace won and the and the Scottish people win a huge 425 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:27,080 victory against the people of England that day in narrowing 426 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,520 them down and then getting them on the other side. 427 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,160 Say, Pastor, why is that important? 428 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,880 Well, there was a battle hundreds of years before called 429 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,520 the Battle of Thermopylae in the Greco Persian War. 430 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:42,640 And you may not know what I'm talking about, but you may have 431 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:47,480 heard of the Spartans who ended up getting a much larger 432 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:53,120 contingent to go into a very small space and ended up not 433 00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:56,440 winning the battle, but really winning the day because they 434 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,640 were able to keep that larger contingent at Bay for a longer 435 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,720 period of time. What are you saying, Pastor? 436 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:03,600 You can learn some things from history. 437 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:06,960 Ask Hitler about going to Russia in winter. 438 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,760 He could have learned from Napoleon. 439 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,880 We could go on and on this evening just about history, just 440 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,560 about military history, but I'm not here to talk to you about 441 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:18,680 military history, as much as I love history. 442 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,520 No, I love this word more. And I'm here to tell you tonight 443 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,680 there are some people who have gone on before us, including the 444 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,680 people of Israel who showed us some things to do and that 445 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,760 showed us some things not to do. What do we need to do? 446 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,760 Follow their example of what we should do. 447 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,720 Follow their example of what we should avoid. 448 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:41,560 Get in the word and know what this word says because they are 449 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:46,040 an example for us. So we're going to look back at 450 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,640 the past of Israel. But #2 Paul also says this. 451 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:50,880 He wants us to look at our present efforts. 452 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,560 Look at our present efforts. Pick back up again in verse 6 453 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,560 where it says now these things are examples to the intent. 454 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:02,520 What we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 455 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:08,200 Now Paul's going to hear in this next point present some things 456 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,280 that Israel did wrong. He talked about all the 457 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:12,800 blessings that they had. He says despite this, there were 458 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:18,520 some things that they did wrong. Now in my Bible I have in 459 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,080 brackets here, the word should not. 460 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,120 Now you know, if you go into the Greek and you look at that word, 461 00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:25,240 should not you know what it means? 462 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,880 Should not means don't do it, OK? 463 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,320 Don't let somebody try to talk to you out of what this means 464 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,440 says don't do it. When it comes the issue of lust, 465 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,120 don't do it now. What's the first word of verse 466 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:40,640 #7 Can you say that out loud? What's the first word of verse 467 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:45,080 #8 What's the first word of verse #9 What's the first word 468 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,280 of verse #10 Say, pastor, isn't your job to talk right now? 469 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,480 No, but I like giving a rest and let you all doing it together. 470 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,600 All right, should. Not neither. 471 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,640 Neither, neither, neither. I have those old bracket in my 472 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,400 Bible. Why is that? 473 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,000 Because there's some things that God says. 474 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:05,880 The people of Israel should not have done. 475 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,480 They shouldn't have done this, neither should they have done 476 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,520 this, neither should they have done this, and on and on it 477 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:14,560 goes. Well, what should they have not 478 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,600 done? Don't lust after evil things as 479 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:21,920 they also lusted to. Verse #7 Neither be adulterers. 480 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,440 Verse #8 Neither let us commit fornication. 481 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,200 Verse #9 Neither let us tempt Christ. 482 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:36,960 Verse 10 Neither murmur ye says they shouldn't have done these 483 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:38,920 things. Did they do those things in the 484 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:40,640 wilderness? They did them in spades. 485 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,160 Why do you think they marched around for 40 years? 486 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,920 They did it before it caused them to go for 40 years, and 487 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,600 they did it during the 40 years they were disobedient. 488 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,680 Now, considering the fact that the people of Israel were 489 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,800 wandering around the wilderness somewhere around 1300 years or 490 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:03,280 so before Jesus Christ walked this earth in His incarnation, 491 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:06,440 let me ask yourself, let's ask ourselves this question. 492 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:10,000 We're looking at maybe 3300 years of history between US and 493 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:11,680 the people of Israel. That's that's just an 494 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,480 estimation, but let's just say it's a long time. 495 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,200 Do you think people deal with lust today? 496 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:23,720 Do you think people deal with idolatry? 497 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:28,280 Today you think fornication is a problem, Today do. 498 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,200 You think tempting Christ is a problem today? 499 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:35,480 I think murmuring is a problem today. 500 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:40,520 You know, it's interesting. Paul's not writing this to us. 501 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,280 He's writing this to Corinth. Let's remind ourselves of who 502 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,600 this is being written to. It doesn't say First Liberty 503 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,200 chapter 10. You know, I understand who this 504 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:52,040 is being addressed to tonight is very relevant for us. 505 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,120 I'm not trying to take that away, but I'm talking about the 506 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:56,560 person, the people that was written to was the people at 507 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,400 Corinth that there was the people of Israel. 508 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:06,320 They did these things and then about 1300 years later there's 509 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:07,880 people in Corinth. What are they doing? 510 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:14,280 They're doing these things. And we look about not quite 2000 511 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,080 years later and what do we see? People are still doing these 512 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,960 things. We're not as special as we think 513 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,720 we are. Does it look? 514 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:25,480 Differently. Sure it does. 515 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,720 Is it more accessible? We could argue yes, but are 516 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:35,200 these still the root? Issues of life for our flesh. 517 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:41,320 The answer is yes, and as such the word Internet may not be in 518 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,160 your Bible. Actually, if it isn't. 519 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:44,480 Your Bible. You got the wrong Bible. 520 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,040 The word smartphone is not in your Bible. 521 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,680 The word nicotine is not in your Bible. 522 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,320 But the. Issues of life, no matter what 523 00:26:56,400 --> 00:27:00,720 you look for, are all found in this blessed book. 524 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,080 It was relevant for the people of Israel. 525 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,240 It was relevant for the people of Corinth and is relevant for 526 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:12,040 us today in the present. Do people deal with lust today? 527 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,000 Well, that's the first one listed. 528 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,280 Absolutely. By the way, the people of Israel 529 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,920 were lustful after the men of Israel, lustful after women. 530 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:24,280 That was an issue of bail peor, but they also fell in their 531 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:29,400 lusts to quail. You say pastor who lusts after 532 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,440 quail. Well, the Bible tells us that 533 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:38,920 they were had this inordinate affection because they didn't 534 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,280 want bread anymore. That came from God. 535 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,800 And they said, boy, oh, man, we're in Egypt. 536 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:46,840 We ate well. Yeah, right. 537 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,560 You ate real well. That's why you're slaves. 538 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,720 This isn't my message. But sin distorts your thinking 539 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,480 about everything. That's why you can look at 540 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,320 something that is a substance that will hurt your life and you 541 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,880 say this makes my life better. That's why you can look at 542 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,000 something that you know could destroy marriage and say it 543 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,920 could make it better. That's why you could look at an 544 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,760 action or a thought process and think that it will make you 545 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:16,960 wiser, but it actually makes you more dense spiritually, because 546 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,480 this is what sin does. It distorts what reality is. 547 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,520 And they look at this, the idea of having quail as something 548 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,640 that's remarkable because they had so much food in Egypt and 549 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:29,280 they didn't have a lot of food in Egypt. 550 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:31,760 That's why they're crying to God to get them out of Egypt. 551 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:36,440 Amongst everything else, they lusted after those things. 552 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:42,240 They were idolaters After the calf, they were fornicators. 553 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:47,200 As I mentioned at Bale Pure with Moab, remember Balaam couldn't 554 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:53,080 curse them and Balaam found an end around and that was this he 555 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:58,400 told the people Moab try to get your women that don't love God 556 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,680 to get together and carnal relationships with the men of 557 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:07,440 Israel and it did the trick and men's hearts were turned from 558 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,040 God. They tempted the Lord. 559 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,600 Numbers 21, verse 5 And the Lord and the people spake against 560 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,400 God, against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us up 561 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:18,320 out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? 562 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:20,760 For there is no bread, neither is there any water. 563 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,320 And our soul. Lo, this, this light bread. 564 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,760 After God did all of that, they kept saying, God, what are you 565 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,280 going to do next? That sound familiar to anybody? 566 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:33,720 OK, it does, because nobody said anything good. 567 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:34,720 Let me come down here for a minute. 568 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:37,920 God's been good to you. Amen. 569 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:40,680 Let me just ask you this, how many times He has to prove 570 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,000 Himself to you now? How many more times does He have 571 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,520 to prove Himself to you? We get to the point that we're 572 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:48,960 not careful, we're tempting Christ. 573 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:51,960 How many more things does He have to do for you? 574 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,160 Well, God, if you just do this one more thing, the fact He 575 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,360 saved your soul ought to be enough for me to save, serve Him 576 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:01,280 for a lifetime. But I'm worried about how much I 577 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,640 have in my bank. And if He doesn't come through 578 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,200 the way I do, the way I want, then He's not good enough. 579 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,320 That's tempting. Christ's friend say, well, well, 580 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,120 Christ isn't here. Well, he wasn't there with 581 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:18,600 Israel. He was there and he's here and 582 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:20,320 murmuring. Murmuring. 583 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:22,480 You know God killed more people from murmuring than anything 584 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:27,360 else in the Bible. God killed more people from 585 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:29,760 murmuring. Than any other thing else in the 586 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,160 Bible. You can look it up. 587 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:34,320 See I thought it would be something else. 588 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,760 And if I'm wrong, which I know it's hard to believe, but if I 589 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,720 was wrong, don't tell me, it's not high on the list. 590 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,720 Depends on how you reckon it. But I would say that it is #1 if 591 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,520 not very high on the top, but we think of it as just something 592 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:51,880 that's very minimal and very small. 593 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,800 But God looks at it differently. So what do we see here? 594 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,480 They were dealing with it all those years ago, and we're still 595 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:08,960 dealing with it today. The question is why does this 596 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:13,240 generation of Christians think we're exempt from these issues? 597 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,520 And I would even go a little bit farther and say this because it 598 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:22,040 makes clear here that God says don't do this, neither do this, 599 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:24,240 neither this, neither this, neither this. 600 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:28,840 So why does this generation of Christian also often think, and 601 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,280 I'm talking in generalities here. 602 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:35,160 What is this generation often think that we are exempt from 603 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,040 the holy living that God commands us to have in the 604 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:41,800 Bible. Yeah, that response is why it 605 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,560 doesn't get preached normally, because nobody likes it. 606 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:45,720 My flesh doesn't like hearing that. 607 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,000 My flesh doesn't want to say it because I know I'm going to have 608 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,280 to be accountable to it. But God says don't. 609 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,160 Do it. And he said it to people. 610 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,320 The Old Testament don't do it. He said it to people in the New 611 00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,480 Testament. Corinth, you shouldn't do it 612 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,240 either. And he's saying to us today, 613 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,720 don't do it. Be a different people. 614 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,680 A peculiar people, Titus, chapter 2 zealous of good works, 615 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:19,280 that we ought to be different now. 616 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:20,600 The people of Israel were blessed. 617 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:26,280 Have you been blessed? Yes, the people of Israel were. 618 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:29,800 The people of God, by the way, I should mention, are still the 619 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:31,800 people of God. God's still working through 620 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:33,760 them, even though they don't follow him. 621 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:36,440 God's still working in his program through them. 622 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,000 But let me ask you this, are we also in one sense, the people of 623 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:43,160 God? We've been adopted in the 624 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:47,480 family, haven't we? If we've been blessed and we're 625 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,480 the people of God, just as they were blessed and they were the 626 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:55,120 people of God, and they fell far away, couldn't the same easily 627 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,120 be said of us if we're not careful? 628 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:00,800 God still cares about holy living. 629 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,640 There are people who say, well, let's just Pharisaical often 630 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,880 times, Liz, I'm not saying there can't be Pharisaical attitudes 631 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:11,040 out there and we need to avoid those because you know what? 632 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:16,720 Pharisaical attitudes are sin. It's also sin to be proud of 633 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,800 your holiness. Guess what? 634 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:20,560 You don't have as much to be proud of as you think you do. 635 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:26,000 We're just sinners saved by the grace of God, and we know who we 636 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,000 are, where we come from, and where we're going. 637 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,240 But we know it's not because of us, it's because of Him. 638 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,240 But if that could happen to the people of Israel, couldn't 639 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,480 happen to us. And if it happened to the people 640 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,440 of Israel, and God said they shouldn't have done it, and 641 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,960 Paul's looking at the people of Corinth and saying, you 642 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,160 shouldn't do it, where does that put us? 643 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:53,160 Well, we shouldn't do it either. So we see the past of Israel. 644 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,520 We see the present with their actions. 645 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:58,320 But #3 I also see this looking for our future escape. 646 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,320 Go down to verse #13 drop down to #13 Here's a verse that 647 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:04,960 you've heard before. And I tell you, put this in your 648 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,159 pocket right here. There hath no temptation taken 649 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:12,639 you, but such as is common to man, but God is faithful that 650 00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:14,159 that really goes back to going back to there. 651 00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:16,239 I was about to go ahead. That cuts back to what we're 652 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:20,760 saying when you think you're the only one that's been having the 653 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,719 hard times. We've all had hard times. 654 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,400 No, I'm not trying to diminish the hardness that you've gone 655 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:31,159 through, but I will say this. You are not allowed to take the 656 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:34,800 hardness and the harshness of your life and use it as an 657 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,360 excuse to live life however you want to live it. 658 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,159 You're not allowed. And that's true whether you're 659 00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:46,040 the one that dug yourself in the hole or whether someone else put 660 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,960 you in that hole and try to put the cover on top and lock it. 661 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:55,679 Either way, you are not entitled to act however you want because 662 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:57,720 you are the first person who's gone this way. 663 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:00,920 You're not that special, you know, I'm not saying you're not 664 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:01,720 special to the Lord. Don't. 665 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:04,400 Don't get weird on me here. I'm just saying you're not the 666 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,400 first person to go through these issues. 667 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:08,480 And that's not meant to be a slam. 668 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:12,560 That's meant to be a comfort, because you're not a pioneer 669 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:15,560 going down the Oregon Trail who's gonna end up dying with 670 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:19,240 dysentery. Some of you by a certain age 671 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:21,000 might understand what I'm talking about as a computer 672 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,840 game. But anyway, you're not the first 673 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:25,920 person, OK? It wasn't funny, I'll admit it, 674 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:28,480 all right? But you're not the first person 675 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,160 like a pioneer. There's a lot of people who've 676 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,280 gone before who have had very unique situations much like 677 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:37,120 yours. And Gods help them, He'll help 678 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,600 you. There's no temptation taking 679 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,600 you. But such as common to man, if 680 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,320 you If you only circled 4 words in your Bible, maybe this should 681 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:49,760 be it. But God is faithful. 682 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,760 If you only circle 4 words in your Bible, maybe it would be. 683 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,120 But God is faithful. It's an answer to a lot of 684 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,840 questions. I had someone on Sunday 685 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,240 afternoon asking me some hard questions. 686 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:05,840 And I'm not saying that I couldn't answer them. 687 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,640 I, I, I answered them the best I could from the Bible. 688 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,840 But I mean hard questions from life, you know, you know what I 689 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,560 mean. And really it comes down to this 690 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:17,840 much of what he was asking me. Do you believe that God is 691 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:21,840 faithful? Do you believe that he's 692 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:23,280 faithful? Because if you don't, then you 693 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:30,240 see in every shadow you see God as a sinister being, and instead 694 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:36,880 we in every crevice of his creation we see nothing but God 695 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:41,040 or God at work. This is what we see. 696 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:44,720 God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above 697 00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:48,160 that which you're able, but will with the temptation also make a 698 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:50,640 way of to escape that you may be able to bear it. 699 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:58,480 Satan would destroy us in a minute if God let him. 700 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:04,720 Satan want to destroy Job, Satan want to destroy Peter. 701 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:10,320 But any temptation that we go through, any difficulty that we 702 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:15,040 go through that comes from the hand of Satan has been filtered 703 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:18,800 through the Father first. Do I understand all that? 704 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,880 I don't know that I do, but I do know this. 705 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:26,040 God is not unaware of what is taking place in this world. 706 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,000 There is nowhere where Satan is moving the chess pieces on this 707 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,840 world where he has put a check or checkmate on to God. 708 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:38,840 Where God said I didn't see that move. 709 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,680 God says I didn't, I was going to play it that way and look at 710 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:50,840 how he played it. No, God is in control and even 711 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:54,160 in your temptation He is so good. 712 00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:58,160 He'll make a way of escape and He's good. 713 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,400 All temptation is filtered through our Heavenly Father and 714 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,400 we need not worried if a temptation can be handled. 715 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:08,000 You know, there are times that sin feels like an out of body 716 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,200 experience. There are times that you can go 717 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:16,600 through and make decisions and it almost feels like you're on 718 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:22,520 autopilot and you're just doing it and feeling it. 719 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:26,120 And it's almost like you just can't stop yourself. 720 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:30,440 And you wonder, is there a way to escape? 721 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:35,040 And I want you to know that even in the midst when you feel like 722 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:41,240 that, you can drop to your knees and there's a way to escape now, 723 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:45,160 help you with something. Usually the way of escape is 724 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:48,600 much easier when you're not that close to the sin. 725 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:55,240 You know, it's a lot easier to escape the bottle if you don't 726 00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:56,400 go to the places that have the bottle. 727 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,240 It's a lot easier to escape using if you stay away from the 728 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:06,600 people who use. It's a lot easier to stay away 729 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:09,040 from anger if you avoid the triggers. 730 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:10,320 Now you say my triggers are people. 731 00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:12,040 I know it's hard. I'm sorry for that. 732 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:13,960 You're going to you're going to struggle with that. 733 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:16,600 I know, I know. Yeah, maybe you could. 734 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:18,600 Maybe you can work remote the rest of your life. 735 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:21,000 I don't know. But even then, you could just 736 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:22,760 punch out your screen. So what are you going to do? 737 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:26,600 What I'm saying is the way of escape doesn't have to be at the 738 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:29,320 last possible moment. God, why didn't you come 739 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:32,200 through? Well, maybe God could say I gave 740 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:37,280 you about 100 chances on that off ramp and you didn't take any 741 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:42,720 of them. Now, is sin different today in 742 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:44,240 the sense that it comes to us differently? 743 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:48,080 Yes. The sin of pornography is so 744 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,360 much more pervasive than it was 50 years ago. 745 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,800 It's so much poor pervasive than it was 30 years ago. 746 00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:59,080 Who could have ever imagined that you could find pornography 747 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:02,600 in your pocket? So what are you talking about, 748 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:07,040 this device? Who could have imagined? 749 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,840 And there's some who willingly put it in a child's hands and 750 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:13,920 not even know what they're doing. 751 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:16,640 I'm not, I'm not telling you when you should give your child 752 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:17,840 a cell phone. That's not my business. 753 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:18,760 I'm not the priest. You're home. 754 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:22,320 But we'll tell you this. I wouldn't have my child a 755 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:27,040 loaded gun and I sure wouldn't hand them a phone without some 756 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:30,160 kind of restrictions because I love them far too much. 757 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:33,360 That's right, pastor. They're they're, they're pure. 758 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:36,480 Their minds are pure. So should yours. 759 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,960 And there's some off ramps that God's helped you with. 760 00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:47,960 Take them. When you miss one, take the next 761 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:54,200 one, take the off ramp. God's made a way of escape. 762 00:40:58,800 --> 00:40:59,800 We're getting ready to close here. 763 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,440 There's more I could say. I don't know, maybe maybe you 764 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:06,680 feel like this this evening. You think pastor is good, but 765 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:11,360 it's, it's not really for me. Like it's like, like I'm beyond 766 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,800 this. I'm doing pretty well in my 767 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:16,320 spiritual life. You say, pastor, nobody thinks 768 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,200 like that. You'd be surprised. 769 00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:26,120 Now, most people won't say that. They would never say it, but we 770 00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,080 and I say we because if I'm not careful, it can come to me as 771 00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:31,680 well. It's not that we say it, but we 772 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:34,200 just act in a way that seems above it all. 773 00:41:36,720 --> 00:41:39,400 Did you hear me say we? I'm including myself in that. 774 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:42,960 We all could. The pride of the flesh could 775 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:47,280 just, I don't know. I mean, it's me. 776 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,440 I mean, pastor, I've been saved for a lot of years. 777 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,200 Or pastor, I'm better than I used to be. 778 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:53,520 You're better than what you used to be, but you ain't what God 779 00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:58,160 wants you to be. If you think Christian is just 780 00:41:58,160 --> 00:41:59,720 about getting better, you've missed the mark. 781 00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:02,280 Christian is about being like Christ. 782 00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:04,280 He didn't save you to make you better. 783 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:05,760 You could find a program to make you better. 784 00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:11,360 God wants to transform you into the image of his Son. 785 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:15,800 But if you have that thought process, if you struggle with it 786 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:19,200 like I do, Paul, drop verse #12 in for us. 787 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:22,800 Wherefore let him that thinketh, he standeth. 788 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:29,520 Take heed lest default. Just when you think you know it, 789 00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:31,520 you're about to find out you don't. 790 00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:36,600 Just when you think you're in a place where you know better, 791 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:41,840 Satan says I got my boy right where I want him. 792 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:46,640 I got my girl right where I want her because she thinks she's 793 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:49,280 doing fine. That's the perfect way of 794 00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:52,800 knowing she's not doing fine. He thinks he's doing great. 795 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:56,680 He's not doing great. If you're a senior St. with us 796 00:42:56,680 --> 00:43:00,640 here tonight, if you've been saved a long time, it's easy to 797 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:05,240 hear these messages and just think, I mean, I don't really 798 00:43:05,240 --> 00:43:08,480 deal with most of these things may remind you that when it 799 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:11,840 comes the issue of lust, when it comes the issue of fornication, 800 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,440 when it comes the issue of murmuring, when it comes the 801 00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:19,440 issue of idolatry, far before the actions come the thoughts. 802 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,520 We'll prove that pastor. Well, may I introduce you to 803 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:30,640 Jesus Christ because he says when it comes the issue of 804 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:34,400 adultery, way before the physical act comes down to 805 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:37,600 thinking, right? Way before the issue of murder, 806 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:41,760 it comes down to thinking right. So maybe you look at that list 807 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:44,080 and you're thinking, well, I mean, I don't don't commit 808 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:45,680 fornication. I'm doing all right. 809 00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:48,400 Lost is not that much of a problem for me. 810 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:51,120 I'm doing all right. I don't tempt Christ, so I'm 811 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:54,240 doing OK. Well, I don't deal with these 812 00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:55,880 things. And you may not deal with those 813 00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:59,240 things on the outside the way you think you do, but you better 814 00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:04,480 watch the thought process and the heart because Satan can so 815 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:07,880 easily slip that in. And we think we're good. 816 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:13,960 We turn to first Peter chapter 1 very quickly. 817 00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:15,560 First Peter chapter one. I'm trying to decide if we 818 00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:17,400 should turn there. We're going to turn there. 819 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:25,840 First Peter chapter 1, verse #13 because this could be you 820 00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:28,680 tonight. I made mention of this a couple 821 00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:31,640 weeks ago in the message that I preached about David having a 822 00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:33,400 breakdown. But let's look at this further. 823 00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:35,600 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind. 824 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:37,320 You know, girding up the loins of your mind. 825 00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:39,640 Is that the looseness? The slackness is there? 826 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:42,120 Cinch it up. That's what girding the loins 827 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:44,440 would be. Get that slack to cinch it up. 828 00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:48,320 Be sober, hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought 829 00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:52,040 unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient 830 00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:54,920 children, not fashioning yourselves according the former. 831 00:44:54,920 --> 00:44:57,600 Lust, your ignorance, what does it say? 832 00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:03,160 But as he which hath called you is holy, so in the same manner 833 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:06,320 I'm not adding that. I'm saying that's what that word 834 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:09,720 so is. In the same manner, be holy in 835 00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:13,520 all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be holy, 836 00:45:14,240 --> 00:45:17,600 for I am holy. You know, churches do the most 837 00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:22,120 for the world when they look the least like the world, and people 838 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:26,280 do the most for the world when they look the least like the 839 00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:29,800 world. People are watching. 840 00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:34,680 People are watching. I could tell you stories of 841 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:38,120 people that I've interacted with that have come across church 842 00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:40,480 members from Liberty Baptist Church that I've had to 843 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:43,240 apologize for that person being part of Liberty Baptist Church. 844 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:49,240 Hey, pastor, what are you talking about that someone says, 845 00:45:49,240 --> 00:45:50,600 oh, I know someone from that church. 846 00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:55,120 And now I can't say that I can believe everything they say 847 00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:58,840 because that's just there's a word against what happened. 848 00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:03,320 I will say this, shame on us if we're not the people God has 849 00:46:03,320 --> 00:46:06,680 called us to be because there's the people that are counting on 850 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:10,840 us to be like Christ. Well, how do we know what to do? 851 00:46:11,240 --> 00:46:13,120 Oh, to be like Christ. I need to look to the Gospels. 852 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:15,760 That's true. But you also look at the New 853 00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:18,960 Testament and guess what? You should look at the Old 854 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:22,000 Testament. It was all written, for example. 855 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,840 It's all written for our help. And I'm not just telling you to 856 00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:27,840 read your Bible. Hey, read your Bible. 857 00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:30,280 That's good. Be a person of the Bible. 858 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:34,320 Let your thought process be of the Bible. 859 00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:37,040 Let the Bible be a major part of your day. 860 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:40,000 Why? Because let this mind be in you, 861 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:44,320 which was also in Christ Jesus. We're not so special that we're 862 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:47,120 only ones going through trouble. It's gone through in the past. 863 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:48,200 It's gone through in the present. 864 00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:50,560 Go through in the future. Let's see the road map that 865 00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:54,120 God's given us in His Word. Thank you for listening to the 866 00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:56,720 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 867 00:46:57,120 --> 00:47:00,320 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 868 00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:03,440 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 869 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:08,320 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 870 00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:12,240 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 871 00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:15,320 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.