Thank you. This morning's scripture reading is from the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, starting at verse 6 through verse 10. That's on page 957 in the Pew Bibles, and the words will be up on the screen behind me as well. So if you'll please rise for the reading of God's word. I just wanted to mention the word they is used in almost every verse in this reading and that's referring to the wilderness generation of Israel. So keep that in mind. 1 Corinthians 10 starting at verse 6. Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written. The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. We must not indulge in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. So ends the reading of God's word. Please be seated. Well, I was debating whether or not to do a specific Mother's Day message or to somehow address mothers in this passage. And though the Apostle Paul is talking about our fathers in the wilderness, there's a real sense in which our mothers were in the wilderness with our fathers as Paul addresses that as John was telling us that this passage talks specifically about Israel's wanderings after God had delivered them from Egypt. And so, as we come to this message this morning, I've entitled it, Set the Table. And the reason why is because when you look at this passage, there's a lot of stuff about eating and drinking. There's a word about craving things, and the word is used in the context of, I'm hungry, I'm craving some food. And we're going to look at Israel and how they subjected themselves to their passions, whether it was food or sexual desires or complaining against God or whatever it was. So the message is entitled, Set the Table. But I have to tell you that with grandkids, they would rather not sit at the table, they would rather go to McDonald's for a happy meal. I can't figure that out. It's a smaller portion. You can either have a hamburger, a cheeseburger, some chicken parts, a small fry, and a beverage. And a toy that they play with for about, I think I timed it, the longest was probably six and a half minutes after they finished eating. And the piece of plastic is just, kids, I hate to inform you, it's just junk. You know, I don't mean to be a downer this morning, but it's just junk. Nobody even plays with it after it's done. The boxes doesn't even have, you know, you know what I'm talking about. And so, We have to ask, why would kids prefer something with less nutrition, more calories, worse for their health, and mom's best meals? Well, I can only say there are probably two reasons. One is the plastic toy, even though it doesn't stick together and it falls apart. Oh, I really hurt somebody's feelings. I didn't mean to share that bad news with the little one. But I think there's another dimension to this, and it's the huge responsibility as a kid to be able to choose what you get to eat that day. Because in many cases, it's one of those things where, mom, what do we have for food? And she's planned out a menu for the week and even that day, and it's like, great, we get to eat that again. But when you go to McDonald's, you get your choices. And what a transition that is. And after all, isn't McDonald's slogan, have it your own way? So as a kid, you know, hey. What's McDonald's? I know they do. You deserve a break today. There you go. All right. Well, have it your own way. Well, we're going to adopt Burger King, because I like Burger King better than McDonald's. But the little crown, you know, that makes my meal to be able to say I'm Burger King. I'm not king of anything else, but Burger King, I can pretend. But, you know, it's interesting. You look at a meal, a happy meal versus a homemade meal. You look at mom's best, which is awesome, versus something that's... I don't need to go any farther than you guys. I need to save time for this message. But you know, when Paul writes to the church at Corinth, their attitude was, I want to have it my own way. That's what they were doing. You know, what's the subject from chapter 8, 9, and 10? What is the subject? Remember the subject in that? It's eating and drinking. They're concerned about their Christian liberty that no one should affect their own lives. They can decide what they want. They want to have it their own way. And that attitude has permeated the whole 10 chapters so far. Have it your own way. Well, do you want Peter or Paul or Apollos as the one you're following? Have it your own way. You decide. You want to go to court with somebody in the Christian faith? Husband or wife, have it your own way. Do what you want. You want to commit sexual immorality, have it your own way. Whether it's the guy in Chapter 5 or the morons in Chapter 6, I look at that church and say, man, what a mess. I have a hard time pastoring a church that's as messed up as that. But the Apostle Paul says to us, as well as to them, with his illustrations from running a race and only one person wins to perseverance and only two people, Joshua and Caleb entered the promised land. Paul says that our generation is really no different than their generation because the Burger King slogan could have been the slogan in the first century. Because they were full of pride, They were happy to put their dirty laundry in front of everybody, even non-Christians in court. They even had members, as I mentioned, who were uniting themselves with prostitutes in the Temple to Aphrodite. I mean, seriously, come on, what is going on in this church? And so when Paul writes this, I would say that their culture is no different than ours. And I would say to the moms here this morning, the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. And so this morning, as we look at the hand that rocks the cradle, I don't mean to step on anybody's toes, but you got the government wanting to rock your cradle, you've got Dr. Spock who wants to rock your cradle, you want Freud who wants to tell you how to raise your kids, and you got McDonald's, I guess it's not McDonald's telling you how to have it your own way, but you got everybody telling your kids, grow up and make up their own rules, do their own thing, have their own way. And I will say this to you, dads, you're not off the hook today because Paul does address the fathers in the text. He says, our fathers were all under the same cloud. And Paul is really not picking on moms in the text. He's picking on dads. They're the ones who are responsible. And so even though I'm sharing this with a mom spin this morning, I want you to know dads, you are just as responsible, even more so before the Lord. And so, if you have your outline in the bulletin there, it's kind of unusual. I didn't know how to come up with three points this morning, so I just, point one is examples. Point two is examples. Point three is examples. Because you're an example. Whether good or bad, you are an example. Bad examples, initially, have sometimes an interesting perspective. You know, the Apostle Paul writes that, I'm trying to think of where it is, something like choosing your friends, young people, choosing your friends wisely because one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. And so when we talk about a bad example, sometimes there's that peer pressure, that opportunity, and I use that, I shouldn't even use that word. Sometimes you are drawn away to do something bad because one of your friends says, hey, let's do this. I mean, our generation is no different than yours. Kids, you grow up, and I had people put drugs in front of me, I had people put cigarettes in front of me. It's like, here's some beer, Ralph, get drunk with us. And I'm just like, why would I want to do that? That's not fun to have a hangover and a headache the next day. That just doesn't appeal to me as an individual. But to many people, that bad example is enticing. It's like, oh, if he's going to do it. And then my parents would say, well, if they jump off the bridge, are you going to jump off the bridge? And it starts me thinking, I guess I know I wouldn't do that. I should think a little smarter, though I did plenty of dumb things. And you have been around for a while. You know those dumb things. But after a while, people look at that bad example and they say, how on earth could they do those things? And I want you to know that as we look at this chapter, and particularly verses six through ten, Paul gives some examples in Israel's history that are bad examples, really bad examples. But it's not just a history lesson. It's not just like, oh, this happened to them. Paul is saying, people, you have that propensity to do the same sins. And you may even be doing those same sins. You know, some lessons in education are simply mental. Math, science. You're right, they just get your neurons firing, you know, how does this formula relate to this, and you begin to think beyond, and some of us become engineers, and you're still thinking that way. But then there are educational opportunities that aren't just historical information, but they're opportunities for us to learn about the nature of God. Israel had that opportunity as they left Egypt. Remember how many days' journey it was from Egypt to the Holy Land? No, it was 11 days. They wandered for 40 years, but it was 11 days. If they had just kept on the path, not murmured, not complained, not said, Moses, why did you bring us out into the desert? They just walked on that path, they would have had an 11-day journey, and they would have been in the Promised Land. So when you look at the nature and character of God during the first few days while they're wandering, God was long-suffering. He was patient. He guided them through the desert. He gave them food. He protected them when they left from the Egyptian army. God was faithful to His promises. I mean, imagine leaving Egypt with two and a half, three million people, and you're walking, saying, we're only a 10 to 11 day journey from home. Let's walk. And isn't this great? God has parted the sea so that we can walk all the way home. The Egyptian army dies, and guess what? God is faithful to his promises. We're going to the land. I mean, imagine talking to one another. We're going to the land that God has promised our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What a joy it is that we are recipients of his faithfulness and his blessings. They didn't do that at all. Point two, examples. Same thing as point one, but now we get down where it's dirty and messy. Paul writes in verse six, he says, you should not crave that we might not desire evil as they did. And as I mentioned earlier, the word is crave. It's the word that's used of hunger and wanting food. And as you may recall, the First Corinthians, the congregation at Corinth, they were self-indulged. We're going to get into chapter 11 where it talks about them getting drunk at the Lord's Supper, they're overeating, they're telling people who aren't as wealthy, hey, you go to the end of the line because I deserve to go first. And so they're indulging in not only this food, but indulging in the culture, in the temple to Aphrodite. They're indulging in even broader than the culture, where Paul says, no one's ever heard of a man sleeping with a stepmom. And you guys are entertaining that, and you're allowing that in your membership. How on earth does that happen? You see, they lacked self-control, but they were obsessed with self-indulgence. And I don't know if you remember this, but as we come to these four examples that Paul lists of Israel, last Sunday morning, the message was entitled... Wow. Thank you. In God We Trust. And I mentioned that I had three examples of In God We Trust. Example number one was Israel. When they left Egypt, they sent in spies. When they were ready in their promised land, they sent out spies. Nothing had changed, but their whole attitude had changed. Remember that? And Paul, in God We Trust, he's gone through some difficult times, and he's trusting in the Lord, even singing praises while he has just been publicly whipped. He's singing God's praises when he's in jail for telling people that Jesus Christ arose from the dead and that Christ is King. Those are the things that he went to jail for and he's still saying God is in the middle of this circumstance? And then there was Peter walking on the water, nothing changed. I mean, he gets out on the water, the storm's still blowing against the boat, nothing changed except he says he began to look at the storm and his faith in Christ began to fail and he begins to sink. And so the question or the statements that I made were, do your circumstances determine the way you see God, or does the way you see God determine the way you see your circumstances? Or do your circumstances determine the way you experience God, or does your view of God determine the way you experience your circumstances? That statement I made and said I could pull out Job, I could pull out example after example in the Old Testament about that very thing. If you trust in God and He is your confidence, you will see your circumstances in a different way because you're seeing them through His eyes. But if you don't trust in God, you're going to see your circumstances as bad as they are, as difficult as they are, and you're going to wonder where is God in all this, because you can't see God through those circumstances, much like Peter, when he began to see the wind and the waves and the storm and began to sink. And so these four examples that Paul gives really still illustrate that point. Do you see God through your circumstances? Do your circumstances determine the way you see God, or does the way you see God determine the way you see your circumstances? And so Paul is giving us some real life stories. And I'm not going to go into those into huge detail. I will just simply reiterate for them and let you know. He says in verse 7, do not be idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. This comes right out of Exodus 32, where Aaron tells the Israelis, he says, hey, you know what? Moses is up on the mountain. We don't even know if he's around anymore. He might have died up there. So I want you to bring me your gold earrings, and your rings, and your silver. And we're going to fashion this idol. And so he fashions this golden calf. And he presents to Israel, he says, this is your God. This is who delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians. And tomorrow we're going to have this great celebration. We're all going to party and have a good time because this Israel is your God. And Moses comes off the mountain. He hears singing and dancing and God's given him the Ten Commandments. And it's like, what on earth is going on? What are these people doing? It's interesting, when Paul addresses that incident in the life of Israel, go back and read it in Exodus 32. He says, don't be idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, you would think he would say, and they fashioned a golden calf. He doesn't even say that. He says the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. My friends, this rising up to play, that word in the first century, you know what that meant? That word comes right out of the temple to Aphrodite, the sexual sins that were involved with the temple and their prostitutes. That's what Paul is saying. And he's saying to the church in the first century, the church at Corinth, this is what happened to your forefathers. They were idolaters. But he doesn't address the idol, and you have to ask why. And I'll tell you the reason why is because every one of us has a different idol. He doesn't want us to say, oh gee, I'm not worshiping a golden calf. I would never do that. I wouldn't bow down to a tree. I'll never do that. But Paul leaves it open for you to fill in whatever your idol is. And he does that by saying your idol will direct what you do. The decisions that you make, the way you live your life, are those things that will determine and demonstrate to everybody what your idol is. So if your idol is self-indulgence, it's going to be evident. It was in their lives. It was in the first century when people in the church were apparently going to the temple and partaking in prostitution. And Paul says, don't you know that if someone joins himself to a prostitute, they become one with her? This is just unconscionable for a Christian to even rationalize a lifestyle like that. He talks about them sitting down to eat and to drink, and that's how he began this whole section. That, I have the right to eat meat offered idols? Sure you do. But you know what, that can whittle away at your perspective on life. As you keep one foot in the world and one foot out, sure it can. And when it says they sat down to eat and play, it doesn't mean they were playing baseball or soccer or jarts. It was sexual immorality. And so when John writes his short little letters and he says, my children, keep yourselves from idols. They weren't in danger of embracing one of the images at the temple to Diana or Aphrodite. That wasn't what they were even addressing in the first century. My friends, children, a house, a friend, a pursuit. Your feelings can become an idol. Whatever directs you, whatever motivates you, whatever you are living for will demonstrate what you are worshipping. And so Paul says, don't be like them. That's what Israel did. They bowed down to this idol, but that's not the issue. The issue is their reaction to it and the emotions and the lifestyle that came from it. So if you want me to tell you what your idol is, I can ask you some questions. about the way you're living your life. I ask myself those questions. It's not like I'm somebody sitting up here holier than thou and I'm some righteous guy. I'm a sinner. The second thing he talks about is immorality. Numbers 25. You may remember this account. 24,000 people died in one day. God opens up the earth and swallows a bunch of folks because they're committing sexual immorality, doing their own thing. There are people who look at this and I'm just gonna hit it really quick. There's a thousand people difference between the numbers account and Paul's account. People go, there's an error in the Bible, the numbers don't match. Well, allow me to clarify something for those who may have that in the back of their head. Paul says 23,000 fell in a single day. It went on to the next day, by the way. If you read Numbers 16, you're going to read that this plague went on to the next day, or the earth swelling. Paul talks about 23,000 in one day, and Moses writes there were 24,000. So Moses is undoubtedly including the next day in this whole situation. But doesn't that tell us something about immorality? You know, it definitely would have spoken to them in the first century. But, I shouldn't say but, I should say and, it definitely should speak to us in our culture as well. The third thing that they did is they tested Christ. Interesting terminology that Paul uses. Let's say they tested Jehovah or they tested Yahweh, but they tested Christ. a Greek language issue or verbal issue here. But it's interesting because if we focus on what it really says, is they tested the Lord. And you look at Exodus chapter 23 verse 20, Christ Jesus is identified as the messenger who went before Israel. against whom they complained, and who protected them, and against whom they tested." And there are at least ten occasions in this period of time where Israel is recorded as testing the Lord. You can pick any time, any one of these occasions. I'm not 100% sure which one it is, but the word test in our English language is really much deeper and richer than just test. Well, I'm going to test you. I'm going to poke you enough times to see if you respond, if that bothers you. Or let's just put my elbow into your face and see if you're trying to eat, and I put my elbow over you. Let's just test you and see if you respond. The word literally means to tempt beyond endurance. In other words, you're at the end of your rope. But Israel tested the Lord. They asked Him in Exodus 17, one of those examples where they're complaining about no water. Moses says to the people, how long will you put the Lord to the test? And the Lord tells Moses to strike the rock and the water would come out, and he did that. But the point is, as these people complained about their situation, they put the Lord to the test. Paul writes, don't be like that. Don't ask yourself, you know, How much can I sin before God really strikes me down? It's funny, last week we had a few of the guys from the Warthogs, and some of those guys seriously have never been to church in their life. And some of them were joking that when they come to this church, lightning's gonna strike. But there are Christians who'll say, You know, the Lord, I'm okay, you know, I can do this. God doesn't really, you know, the decisions I make, yeah, they're not really honoring to Him, but, you know, God forgives. It's, you know, everybody makes a few mistakes. It's really no big deal. It's, everybody does a little hanky-panky, you know, it doesn't matter. So we just, you know, pretty soon, my friends, this testing of the Lord ends up off the rails, way off the rails. And I can tell you this, there's a principle in real life that happens in spiritual life. And listen to me for just a moment. You've all heard, and there's history, and I could give you the particular dam that busted open. But dams, when they're built, they're built and designed to hold back billions of gallons of water. But at some point, winter, pressure, weight of water, that dam begins to shift a little bit and that dam has a little water that gets in that crack from the outside and then it freezes and that crack gets a little bit bigger and then after a few years there's concrete chipping away and that crack is so much bigger that there's now an ice cube hanging from it and as it freezes it busts out more concrete and pretty soon if people don't watch that it just destroys everybody below them. And I will say this, that people don't just fall off the wagon. David didn't just one day say, hey, you know, look at that gal down there. I think I'll commit adultery with her. He didn't just do that. It's like one day he goes from being a faithful follower to the Lord to falling off the wagon. It happens over time. It's erosion. It's a slow process by which your heart becomes cold to the Lord. And Paul says, don't be like that. This is the example that they were. It's interesting in verse 10, the last thing he puts was grumbling. He talks about Verse 10, as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. You know, it's interesting because the word grumble really is verbatim out of the Old Testament. And Paul's got in his mind all these occurrences where they're complaining. And I could give Numbers 11.1. You know, let me just read Numbers 11.1 and 11.4. And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes. They complained, the same word, they grumbled about their hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes. And when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed the outlying parts of the camp. Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. There's our word craving that's used in our text as well. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, oh, that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at. Would that we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you brought us Moses into the wilderness to kill us. Grumbling. We usually don't list that as a big one, do we? I mean, what are your sins? Well, I grumble a lot. I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that. If we were to talk about robbing banks or adultery or stealing or, man, that's huge. Grumbling, are you serious, Ralph? Grumbling is a sin. It's complaining. Think with me for just a moment, and I'm going to try to get this out really quick. It was not that they lacked food. God had provided for them. He had provided for their physical needs. But they wanted something beyond that. They wanted something extraordinary. They wanted something with some flavor. And so they're like, if only we could be like the Egyptians. They eat their food. They have their own philosophy on sexual relationships. The church in Corinth is like, if only we could be like our Corinthian neighbors. They do it all. They have it all. They eat great food at the temple. They get up to play. Today, people are saying, Church, you don't want to be on the wrong side of history, do you? The Bible really doesn't mean what it says when it talks about sexual purity, who to have sex with. That stuff's for generations past. Pastor Ralph, you are an old fogey. I may be a fogey, but am I old or a fogey? I don't know. My friends, I'll tell you what the problem is with the church today. It's let the world define what a relationship is. It's let the world define love. It's let the world define marriage. It's let the world define everything that goes on, rather than bringing the word of God to the culture and saying, this is the will of God for your life. So grumbling is not one of the big sins we would list, but they were complaining about what they were eating. And think with me for just a minute. Seriously, is this a complaint against just food, or is this a complaint against God's provision? You see, it goes back to that phrase, do you see God through your circumstances, or do you see your circumstances through God? I didn't say that right. You know what I'm saying. A complaint about your circumstances, my friends, is a complaint about God's will for your life if you are living in obedience to Him. If you sin and things aren't going well, you know, it's like, I'm lazy, I don't have a job, I'm not getting any money, I don't know what to say, but I can tell you this. It's interesting because Israel thought that grumbling was okay, but it's like a fire. It spreads so fast. It's like a communicable disease because people start doing this, and they start talking. And because it doesn't have the worst impact that adultery or theft would, people just grumble. I remember about 25 years ago, someone grumbled about me. And I'll tell you, you know, what they said was true. They said that I love my family more than I love you. That hurt, though. So I called up every pastor that I viewed as a mentor, from a 65-year-old guy to Ken Smith, who's coming next Sunday. I'll be at a conference. And I said, How do I view that? And they said, it's true. You've got to love your family more than you love the church. You have to let people know that your family is your priority, Ralph, because if you lose your family, if they all go off the rails, it's going to affect your ministry. So ignore it. Ken Smith said something I'll never forget. I'm going to tell you this because I just want to see how well you know your Bible. He said, Ralph, where are the she-bears when you need them? That's what I thought. You don't even get it. First of all, you have to know the King James Version to understand the she-bears, which puts you in the old fogey realm. Secondly, you have to know the context of that phrase, and that's where the kids are laughing because Elijah's bald. And the bears come out of the woods and take care of the business. So when Ken says, where are the she-bears when you need them? He's like, how come we don't have bears coming out of the woods protecting you? Well, anyway, I don't know why I shared that with you, but it seemed like there was some relevancy there. But grumbling seems heartless if you compare it to idolatry, sexual immorality, and yet it's the most contagious, my friends. And it's interesting that Paul lists that as one of those things. It may be because they were grumbling about him. They were saying, oh, Paul thinks he's a super apostle, but we're really super apostles. You get into 2 Corinthians, it gets even more blown out. And they're like, Paul's just this small Jewish guy. He's been, you know, he's disfigured his face because he's been actually stoned for the gospel. Not drunk, but they took stones to kill him. They drug him outside the city, and they were going to kill him. So they threw stones at him, and he's left under this pile of rubble. keeps his life going, and so now Paul can't see clearly. He can't see out of his eyes anymore. So when he talks, he probably looks something that's a little out of whack. And it's like, do you think a super apostle would look like that? All right, we gotta wrap this up real quick. Point three, examples. Since I've already given you the other two points under examples, I'm gonna finish this one. I thought I had you going for a minute. Set the table. Mom, set the table. What that means is this. You have the opportunity as a mom to rock the world and to rule the world. Moms, you have the toughest job on the planet. I will tell you that and I'm not schmoozing you, I'm telling you the truth. But you have to ask yourself, when things get difficult, do your circumstances determine the way you see God, or does the way you see God determine your circumstances? You sit there every day and you do the same thing. You talk to your kids and you try to train them how to eat, how to obey, and guess what? They don't hear it the next day. You start at point one again all over. And you know, the reason why I can relate to you so much is because it's the job of a pastor. I talk to people, give them advice. The world says I can't use the word counsel. But I counsel people from God's Word. And you know what? Like your kids, they go back to the pig sty. They go back to doing the same things they did. And you know, moms, there's Lot's wife. She's an amazing woman. I use that word loosely. God says, you guys, Lot, take you and your wife and your kids and get out of town. Don't look back. You know what she does? Her heart's still back in Sodom. It's where she wanted to be. She longed for the good old days. Moms, when you don't take God seriously, and your kids live with you every day and they can see that, guess what your kids are going to do with your example? They're not going to take God seriously either if you don't. Dad, you think you're off the hook? Wait till June 9th. I'm going to come back to this passage. We'll preach it again for those of you who aren't listening this morning. But there's this concept of discipleship that moms have a particular opportunity to demonstrate. And I say this because there's like the video you saw, there's this impact that moms have. I don't know what it is. There's an impact that a woman has. I'm struggling wanting to give you an illustration, but I'm, I, it's, forget it. I know you want to know now, I shouldn't have said that. We're at a Tiger ball game and there's this drunk guy behind us and he's just like, rowdy. I'm sitting next to my wife and our kids. And Carol's like, you know, this guy's out of control, his language is nuts, blah, blah, blah. You know my wife, she's five foot tall, this guy was probably 240 and 6'2". And I kept looking back, you know, like kind of giving him the look, you know, hey, you got kids here. Who are you? Carol turns around and she says, you know, we have children here. Would you please knock it off? Guy never said another word. But my point is this. Women and moms have the ability to affect the world for the Lord in an amazing way. And when Christ calls us to discipleship, He doesn't tell you that life's going to be an easy road. He talks about taking up your cross and dying daily to yourself. When He talked about the cost of discipleship, He never hid that from anybody. He never said, I'm going to give you a rose garden. He never promised that. Why? Because He knew what self-discipline was and self-denial was. He knew that He would be going to the cross for you and for me. Israel wandered for 40 years in a wilderness, and it's almost as if they had a bottle of shampoo. Wash, rinse, repeat. Wash, rinse, repeat. Grumble, sexual immorality, die. Grumble, sexual immorality, die. Create an idol, sexual immorality, die. I mean, it's as if they weren't even thinking. Israel was unfaithful, and they tested the Lord time and time again. But here's our Lord Jesus. 40 days out in the desert without food. And Satan comes and says, hey, turn these stones into bread. Remember what Jesus said? I will not put the Lord to the test. Pretty amazing stuff. He was content to be hungry and refused to turn the stones into bread. Our Lord succeeded where Israel failed, and his success is the basis for our salvation. Because it proves that he was an innocent sacrifice that would be put on a cross for your sins and for my sins, that our sins would be placed on him. And so when he calls you and me to follow him, it's not because he's saying, hey, do as I say, not as I do. He's saying, this is what I've called you to do. And there is absolutely no excuse. for moms or wives or dads to not set the table properly by being an example of Christ-like self-discipline and self-denial. Granted, his was for your forgiveness and my forgiveness, but his was also as an example to you as a human being to say, walk in this way. My friends, from the very beginning, Jesus knew that he had come to this earth to die, to serve rather than be served. He came to give his life as a ransom for many, Mark tells us. He consistently purposed in his heart to be obedient to the will of the Father, that he willingly said, I will submit myself to this plan for these sinful people. that He would die that agonizing death on the cross, the pain and the agony of all that, being separated from His Heavenly Father, for you and for me. And when there are those, and I will say in my own heart, I'm guilty of this, When I say, Lord, that's too much to ask. Lord, my temptation, sir, whatever. Lord, I would rather take the easy road. When I'm tempted to think that way, I remember what Jesus Christ did for me. That A, my sins would be forgiven, and B, that I wouldn't live in those same sins, but that I would follow him at all costs. My friends, that's the example that Christ set for your forgiveness. It wasn't just an example, but that's what he did to secure your forgiveness. Let's pray together. Lord God, there's a phrase that was used last Sunday during the message, that you can't trust someone you don't know. And how true that is. Israel did not completely understand your patience, your faithfulness, your fulfilled promises. And for that reason, many of them died off. In fact, all of them died off. Not even Moses was able to enter the promised land, but Joshua and Caleb were. And God, I pray this day that you would keep us in your word, that we would have a heart and a desire to read the word of God, to have its truths penetrate our hard minds. that we wouldn't get our cues from the world and our friends, but rather we would get the direction for our lives from the perfect will of God as we see it, as we read it, as it's black and white in the pages of Scripture. Father, may we not be like Israel. May we not find ourselves being idolatrous and bowing before things that call our attention. Lord, may we not be guilty of sexual immorality or grumbling. But Lord, may we honor you with all that we are and all that we have. We thank you for forgiveness. We thank you that you gave them time and time again to repent. We thank you that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. We thank you, Lord, that you give us second chances, and third, and fourth, and fifth. But Lord, may we be faithful, faithful till the end. May we confess our sins where we need to, and may we honor you where we can, when we can, and in all that we have. For the glory of Jesus, increase our faith, that we might be different people, that we might be saved and forgiven. And it's in Christ's name we pray with thanksgiving. Amen.