If you got your Bibles, you're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. I'm gonna read verse one to down to verse number 15. I'm gonna jump right in this morning, because I'll give more of the introductory commentary after we read our verses, all right? I'm gonna try to keep myself on target. Maybe. All right, so look with me in 1 Corinthians 10, verse number one, and we're gonna introduce ourselves to what it is we're gonna be focused on for the next, I don't know how many services. Verse number one, it says, moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant. how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. We'll explain a little bit of that in just a minute. And did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock By the way, capital R typically is always gonna be denoting a specific reference to a specific individual, and therefore, when you have a capital letter of that nature, it's not the beginning. Y'all know some grammar, right? I don't know it much myself, but if there's a capital letter in the middle of a sentence, it's dealing with something proper. which like a proper name, a proper person, not just an inanimate thing. And so it's not just dealing with a rock, it's dealing with the spiritual rock, that spiritual rock. And then it goes on and defines who that rock is. That rock that followed them and that rock, it was Christ. And by the way, just looking back, you say, Old Testaments for the Jews. The church in the New Testament age shouldn't pay attention to anything in the Old Testament. I have a Greek word for you for that one. All right, so, that's a whole bunch of junk. You know why a lot of people don't want to go back and look at the Old Testament and all that went on in the Old Testament? Because it resembles too much of the way we're acting. We don't want to be reminded that God did not favor the way people acted in the Old Testament. His people. We'll get there. I'm getting ahead of myself. And Paul's dealing with it right here. So he's pointing out their past, and he said, even in the Old Testament, even in the history of our people, the rock that was following them, the rock that they were dependent on was the same Christ that we preach today to the church. He was already there back then. And he goes on in verse number five, but with many of them, now here's why we wanna stay away from it. With many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Anybody wanna tell me the timeframe of when that happened? It is a time frame when Moses went before the Lord and he was gone for longer than the people anticipated he would be gone as he met with God and received the direct instructions from God as to how his people, God's people, were to conduct themselves in all manner of righteousness and holiness as the people of God. And when Moses was gone, meeting with God, receiving the instructions of the thou shalt and thou shalt nots, you know, rules for life, the people rose, they sat down, ate and drank and rose up to play. And by the way, that wasn't just a simple play. It was a lustful, ungodly, wicked, sinful, sensual play. And just look around our world today, look around, look in the church even, and you will find a struggle with the sensual. We're not different from the people of Israel in the Old Testament. we have the same problems and struggles, and we have to have the same determination that they were told that they needed. Look in here, verse number eight, neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed. Again, understand, it's not saying all. He's not dooming and condemning everyone that existed in the children of Israel. He's pointing out In each of these things, it's some of them. Some of them committed fornication, and it says, and fell in one day, three in 20,000. There were millions of them, three in 20,000, so 23,000 of them, God dealt with very harshly. They died because of their fornication, because of their unclean living, okay? But there were millions of them. Going on in verse number nine, neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now, all these things happened. Now, again, here's why. Why did all this happen? Why is it all recorded? Why do we still have it to read today? Now, all of these things happened unto them for in samples. That word, don't get stuck on words, that word in sample is very simple to explain. It's called example. In sample, example. It's the same thing. It is something you look back to and understand what you should or should not do based off of what you see from the past. Someone set an example, whether positive or negative, and that example was recorded, that example is known so that we can glean understanding. So it was, now all these things happen, verse 11, unto them for in samples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore, let him that thinketh, now here's some key verses we often talk about, but look at the context of what he's dealing with. Wherefore, let him that thinketh, he standeth, take heed, lest he fall. I don't need all that junk. I've got it under control. I can, oh, hey, famous last words. I can handle it. As my pastor and brother Rusty in Louisiana always said, how is that working for you? Verse number 13. There hath no, here's another good one. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. He did not say that he would not give you more than you can handle in life. That's not what it's saying. God is faithful, who will not suffer you. He will not place in your way a temptation above that you are able to handle. Now you say, hold on a second, so all these temptations that I've got, that I keep giving into, why does God allow them? Hold on, time out. Now we're blaming God for our failure? Well, if God knows I can't handle them, then why does he let them in front of me? He says he won't give me more than I can handle in the area of temptation. You're forgetting one element. If you claim to be a child of God, as in myself, claim to be a child of God, the only reason that we're falling for things we should not be falling for is because we're not tapped into that which is available to us to give us the strength to resist. Which means by natural deduction that we are verbally claiming something, we're not literally and actually living. I can do all things through Christ. Okay, then why do we keep failing? Because we're not focused on Christ. We just wanna use his name as a way to look good. We're not actually connected with the power that he has given every child of God to resist temptation. If I can do all things through Christ, Which is, by the way, look at the context of that passage of scripture, it's dealing with the resisting of sin. The resisting of temptation. I can do all things through Christ. The ability to set aside the flesh, force the flesh out, So God has preeminence in my life. I can do all things through Christ. Then if I am failing, it's because I am not doing through Christ. I'm trying to do through me. I claim him, but do it my way. I claim him, but work in my power. I point to him while I'm doing my thing. Man, don't get me sidetracked. Nevermind, I'm going there. Can I just say it, I'm not trying to put doubt on anybody, period, but can I say this, and it's because this is true. One thing I am so tired of is the sports world. Now I know there are some genuine individuals that know Christ as their Savior, and okay, I'm not downing all of that, so don't go out telling everybody, the pastor thinks nobody that plays sports can be saved. That's not what I'm saying. But by their fruit ye shall know them. give you a couple of simple examples, and I can't even tell you what they said, but I'll give you a couple of examples, and some of you might have heard it. As of recently, you know, last week, when all you Alabama fans were greatly depressed, and you almost had a repeat, but, well, moving on. At home, moving on, okay, moving on. I gotta keep going. They interviewed the quarterback very quickly, like they do at the end of the games. They interviewed the quarterback from Vandy, and he was very quick to push forward how much Jesus had done this, and I wanna give the glory to Jesus. Boy, it sounds great, doesn't it? It sounds really good. Want to give the glory to Jesus, and it's in his timing, and we knew that he was gonna bring about some things. We'd just been patient and waiting. We knew God was gonna give us a victory. We knew God was gonna do some great things for us, and I just want to give God and give my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all the praise. And then in a split second, somebody said something, and he's all hyped up, And he spits out a filthy four-letter word. Yeah, Vandy, we're the best! I mean, and he just, he spit out a filthy four-letter word. Pumping up his excitement how great they were, they won. Hold on a second. Two seconds ago, you were speaking the name of Jesus and how wonderful he is and giving him the praise. And then just moments later, you're spewing out filth. Now here's the thing, is that young man a child of God? I can't speak on that. I don't know. He knows, the Lord knows. I can't judge whether or not he truly is saved. What I can tell you is there's something missing. And before you think I'm getting all self-righteous, and I say that for maybe those that'll watch later because trust me, people get really mad at this kind of stuff, Before you think I'm getting all self-righteous, just understand I already know the times when I have done the similar scenario in different ways. Claim who it is I serve and then turn right around and fail because I didn't trust in Him to give me the strength to stand like I should have. And may I say, it doesn't matter what we would call the great severity of differences. Well, that was just a small thing, preacher, that's not a big, no, it's still a failure when I should have been what he wanted me to be. It doesn't matter if I claim to be following God and then in my personal life, I have, doesn't matter what size of a failure, I have a failure that is not in reflection of the one I claim to follow, I have a problem. but it's not just players that do it. You got coaches that one week are praising God, and oh, I just wanna thank the Lord for giving us a victory, the next week, or sometimes even in the same interview, start using filthy language. Even in positive, I wanna say how proud I am, a blankety-blank of these guys, blankety-blank. And just a few minutes ago, you were using God as the platform to lift him up. Hold on a second. How does God equate with and mix with such a life of using a language that is openly known to be opposite of what people would expect of somebody who follows God? That was my rant. but it does apply. These things were given to us according for the children of Israel to see and know that we could take caution. Wherefore, he says, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape that ye may be able to bear it. Every temptation has a way of escape designed by God. Everything that comes in front of you, every barrier that comes in front of you that would cause you and I to end up being an opposite example of Christ to be the opposite of what we claim. Every temptation, every barrier God has given through his son, Christ Jesus. I can do all things through Christ. He has given us a way of escape, a way of getting around, a way of defeating and living in victory in this life as a child of God and truly for his glory. It goes on in verse number 14, wherefore my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say. Let me pray and then I'll give you the title of what we're gonna be looking at for a little while on Sundays, Sunday morning, Sunday night. We're just gonna kind of stay in this until the Lord says you're done. But let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning. I pray you'd help us, help us to see this introduction to all of this, and Lord, that it would set within our hearts, Lord, this is what we need today. Your word, the reminder of things that have already happened to others. Lord, and how we're just replaying the same failures. in our lives that others have already done and we've been shown the dangers and the hurts and the problems with it. Would you help us to wake up? Would you help us to see it and apply what is needed by the leading of the Holy Spirit to our personal lives? We ask it all in Christ's name, amen. I'm gonna try to move quickly. I can tell you right now, I'm just gonna have to split part one into two. Part one's gonna be an A and B, all right? I'm gonna give you some introductory stuff, and then I'll just tell you, I'll have to tie it together tonight, okay? So you gotta come back. But it's called a cliffhanger. But let's look very quickly, okay? In this passage of scripture, There is a key important aspect to the Christian life that is a great misunderstanding. There's a principle that is laid out here and it would save so many individuals that claim to be a child of God, it would save so many so much heartache and failure if we get a hold of this principle instead of letting ourselves be misled with inaccurate information, all right? One of the most inaccurately informed sections of the Bible to a degree would be the entire process with the children of Israel. I'm gonna prove it in just a moment because it has infiltrated the way we think. the wrong influence and the wrong teaching, and even singing, has influenced the way we think about life. And because of that improper influence, we have completely missed powerful principles from God's word for the whole reason why you can go to the Old Testament, and I know Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Numbers, I know all of that is not the most enjoyable reading. Matter of fact, if you wanna fall asleep, start in the book of Deuteronomy. Go to Leviticus. Trust me, if you're having a hard time sleeping, read those books of the Bible. You might get a chapter in and you'll be sleeping like a baby. They're not the easiest to go through. But in the midst of all that information that is given about the children of Israel, Exodus can be a lot of fun to read. But if you don't understand the premise of the principle of of accurate truth concerning what took place and what each of those things that you see and the places they went and the areas that God moved in their lives. If you don't understand the major aspects of God working with the children of Israel from Exodus all the way through Numbers and even into Joshua, and Deuteronomy and Joshua especially, if you don't understand the major aspect of what each sectioning of those areas they went to and the places they were at, what they stand for, what they symbolize, what they are, you miss the entirety of the principle of God's word that we need to understand concerning life. And not just life in general, but life as a child of God. We can look to the past for the children of Israel. And as Paul said, he said, well, yeah, but this was still New Testament time. Yes, New Testament church age. Do you realize we're still in it? Paul is writing to the church at Corinth. Yes, but Paul was, he was writing to the Jewish people. No, he wasn't. Do you know what Corinth is? Corinth was one of the most wicked centers of the Gentile cities. Most of the people saved and most of the people that gave their life to Christ in Corinth were not Jews. They were Gentiles. They came out of idolatry. They came out of worshiping other gods. They came out of all the things the world had to offer and place their faith and trust in Jesus. And he is pointing back and saying, now, let me show you. Some are Jews, some are a mix of Jew and Gentile, so they have a little bit, whichever mother or father was a Jew, possibly were told stories of the Jewish lineage and the Jewish background. And so there is knowledge, but may I say, as time goes on, have y'all ever noticed that as time goes on, stories tend to change a little bit? As time goes on, the things that were easily known, generations haven't got a clue and all they know about it is what is shared with them because they weren't there. You know, it was a lot easier in some ways, a lot easier for people in the very early days of the church to come to an understanding of who Christ was because many of them, and especially in the Jewish cities, many of them met him, saw him, witnessed the miracles. Many of them possibly even were around when he was crucified. Many of them knew the people who had seen him after his resurrection. Many of them had multiple different reasons as to why they could believe what they are hearing because I can now Logically, I can put it with this, and I can put it with this, and I can put it with this, and it has to be true. Now we are at a point, we are so far removed 2,000 plus years later, there's no one alive today within multiple generations that saw him, that witnessed the miracles. Why is there a growing number of scoffers and a growing number of those who make fun of and throw doubt towards whether or not he even existed? We're so far removed from it. There's literally no one there to say, nope, nope, I was there. Say what you want, but I saw it with my own eyes. We don't have that anymore. What do we have? The account of God's Word. that must be true. If it is not true, and if it is not accurate, then you cannot trust it. And if we don't have anything to trust, we have nothing to lean on. And by the way, that is exactly what people who are trying to tear up and cause doubt in the Word of God, that's what their whole entire purpose. If we can sever them from the foundational understanding of being able to trust the Word of God, they have nothing to fall back on. This is where your hope of who Jesus is, of what He did. and what we can receive from the offered gift of salvation. This is where it comes from. By the way, the Old Testament has its level of importance just as the New Testament. It is all God's word. Looking back at the Old Testament Israelites, it is an over and over and over again reminder to us of how we act and what we do and the struggles that we have. Just read their history. They look a lot like us. They act a lot like us. Oh God, we love you. And then all of a sudden, somebody offers something that looks shinier and prettier and better. Oh, we want that. God, you will guide us. And then all of a sudden, a very well-spoken and very, very dominant appearance individual who has all the answers and who has a very good political stand, all of a sudden, oh, we're gonna follow them. They're the answer for everything. Hold on a second, wait, who are we following? Israel said, you're our God. And just a couple of generations later, we want a king. Like everybody else, listen, they did exactly what we continue to do. Read their, honestly, you'll just see yourself over and over again in how we tend to treat God. You see it in exactly what they did. And by the way, why were we given that? So that they could be the example, the examples for us to understand, look at what happened and look what it did for them. Why would you wanna repeat it? in a new modern age. Let's just repeat it with a new modern twist. Why? It's still gonna turn out the same way. You reject truth and it doesn't pay. It brings about consequence. Not getting very far. Here it is, all right. What is that misconception? What are those things? Well, we find as we are reading, and we're gonna go back, we're gonna look at some of these things, but I'm speaking ultimately, and preachers have presented it in an improper way. Gospel singers and songs have presented it in a wrong way, and we even find it in our hymn book. I'm gonna get you to take your hymn book in a minute, and I'm gonna take you to a couple of songs. You say, preacher, you gonna destroy a couple of songs? Yes. And honestly, I'm a little disappointed that people that claim to be Bible-believing, following, just because these songs, these songs have been around for a long time and they've encouraged a lot of people. Are we living by emotion or are we living by truth? Because truth has been watered down to the point where it's beginning to affect the way we view the Christian life. Y'all want the title, here it is. Here's the title, Why So Many Die in the Wilderness. Why So Many Die in the Wilderness. And the misconception I'm speaking of are four major areas that are found in the majority of the life of the children of Israel. There's Egypt. There's the wilderness, there's the Jordan River, and there's that all-famous Promised Land. They've been misrepresented. Egypt, not as much. Most people understand where Egypt, we'll get on that later. But, may I say, even the Red Sea, the Red Sea is a picture of something. I'll show you that in a little while. Actually, tonight, you won't get there until this morning. But the wilderness, you understand they went through the wilderness before they ever reached the Jordan to begin with. There's no way to avoid it, okay? There's a reason for it. And it pictures something. The Jordan River pictures something. but it's not what we're presented to believe in a lot of cases. The promised land is a reflection, is a picture of something, but it's not what it's often preached or sung to be. And we have a misconception about this Christian life, and we are living the Christian life according to the misconceptions and not according to truth. Let me, can I introduce you some songs? Y'all ready? Y'all got a hymn book right there? If you got a hymn book, grab it out real quick. And this is not to be, there are a lot of songs in here that you're thinking, uh-oh, uh-oh, they're about to go the wrong, no, they don't, they don't. They're really good, they're very encouraging. They look at glory and the presence of God for what it is. They don't bring in misconception to it. And so there's a lot of really good songs. But I'm gonna give you three of them this morning very quickly that, present what I'm talking about. You know, everybody says, well, you're saying that, but prove it. Where's your evidence? Okay, here's the evidence. You ready? Go to hymn 560. Hymn 560. Brother Rice could be writing these down now. Don't make this mistake. Okay. Hymn 560, and you may not know all three of these. I do know all three of these. I have sung them nearly my entire life. I just never really paid attention to what it was I was being encouraged to believe. All right, here we go. On Jordan's Stormy Banks, how many of y'all know this song? On Jordan's stormy banks I stand. I mean, it can be very encouraging sounding, very uplifting sounding. Listen to the words. On Jordan's stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to Canaan's fair and happy land where my possessions lie. That sounds really good, except for what continues to present the entirety of the thought. It says, I'm bound for the promised land. The promised land, I'm bound for the promised land. Oh, who will come and go with me? I'm bound for the promised land. Now, the question is, what is the promised land they're talking about? What is the promised land? And it goes on, verse number two. All o'er those wide extended plains shines one eternal day. Hold on a second. Hold on. Go to the promised land. Did they live there eternally? Nope. First error. There God the Son forever reigns and scatters night away. Wait, wait, hold on, hold on. Did God reign in the promised land for the children of Israel at all times? No, and once they were in there, after a while they said, we want a king, give us an earthly king. We want to be like all the other people in the world. We don't want God leading us, we want a man leading us. And by the way, was there ever nighttime in the promised land? Oh, there was. So by now y'all know, they're describing glory. The writer is describing heaven and the presence of God, which is in eternity, yes. But he's mixing it with religious thoughts. And I say religious very lightly because people are at times very, they have great religiosity, not a whole lot of biblical foundational truth. Go on, no chilling winds nor poisonous breath can reach that healthful shore. Sickness and sorrow, pain and death are felt and feared no more. Can somebody remind me when Joshua and all them went in and fought and I mean, did people die? Was there sickness? Was there sorrow? I mean, y'all remember after Jericho and they went to go conquer Ai without God? Because we don't need him. Look what we did at Jericho. God specifically told them, this is not your battle, this is mine. I'm gonna prove it by how I'm gonna bring you about and bring about the victory. And then after everything that happened, happened at Jericho and it proved they had no hand in it, they still thought they did it. Y'all ever noticed how God works and God works and God works and God does, and then when we start telling other people about what happened, we make it sound like we made a whole bunch of really good choices? Okay, y'all with me? Don't look at it like a calf looking at a new gate. You know what I'm talking about? I'm not alone in this, all right? Just like, preacher, that just must be you. I don't know what you're talking, yeah, right. Okay, we've all been there. In the moment it happens, we know it's God and we thank God for it. And then as soon as we start talking about it and sharing everything, all of a sudden, we were the ones that made the great decisions. We made the great move. Boy, I tell you what, I really don't know what it was, but I just decided I need to go over here. Man, look what happened. What do you mean you don't know what it was? Back there, you were saying, thank God for guiding me. Over here, you're saying, I don't know what it was, but I just made a really good decision. Come on. we tend to steal God's glory real fast and don't even realize what we're doing. The last one, when shall I reach that happy place and be forever blessed? When shall I see my father's face and in his bosom rest? You don't stand on the banks of Jordan and say, Lord, when are you ever gonna let me come over? Mm. By the way, God did not keep the children of Israel out of the promised land. They chose not to go in. They weren't waiting on the river saying, God, When do we get to enjoy what you've given? No, they're on the banks of the river. They're looking to go in. They send the spies and the spies come back with information and they say, wow, look, it is exactly how it said. But we're gonna have to work for it. It's not as easy as we thought it was gonna be. He said it's flowing with milk and honey. God didn't lie to us, but he didn't tell us everything. I mean, we're actually gonna have to face some giants. We didn't sign up for this. It's not a picture of heaven. I'm gonna get ahead of myself, so I'm gonna leave it alone. Go to another one, all right? Go to hymn 547 very quickly, and I'm gonna end quick. I know it's 1213, by mine, 1213. Y'all have 1213? This says 1213, I'm going by it, all right. 547. ♪ Cane and land is just inside ♪ Ooh yeah, all right. Now, this is not necessarily Horrible, but it is something we have to consider, okay? Majority of this song is not completely awful. You read the verses, that doesn't really bother me. What bothers me is the misconception of Canaan, the misconception of the promised land. ♪ There will be no sorrow there in that tomorrow ♪ We will be there by and by Wait a second, hold on. Was there sorrow in Canaan? Yes, there was. What are they pointing to? They're pointing in this song, it's being pointed again, Jeff Gibson, I'm not tearing him down, because as a whole, the song is decent. As a whole, it has been very encouraging. Listen, I love singing this song. You wanna talk about, you know, a song that kind of just gets the blood flowing. Moses led God's children forty years. He led them through the cold and through the night. Though they said, let's turn back, Moses said, keep going. Canaan land is just inside. There will be no sorrow there in that tomorrow. ♪ We will be there by and by ♪ ♪ Milk and honey flowing ♪ ♪ That is where I'm going ♪ ♪ Cane and land is just inside ♪ Boy, that'll pump you up. As a whole, it's not a horrible song, but there is a little bit of inaccurate teaching. When you are living in the promised land, you're not living in heaven. Heaven is a promised land. It is a promised place, but it's not Canaan land. Canaan was the place of promise that God told the children of Israel, I'm gonna take you to in this life. It's not a picture of heaven, folks. It's a picture of now. We're gonna tie it together tonight. I'm gonna give you one more, just so I can destroy it, just for the fun of it, since I'm in a negative mood anyways. How about 557? And this one, people, oh, you can't do that! ♪ I won't have to cross Jordan alone ♪ Jesus died, all my sins to atone. When the darkness I see, he'll be waiting for me. I won't have to cross Jordan alone. Now watch, hold on. Say preacher, that's such a beautiful song. And it's blessed so many, I understand. Emotionally, It really helps. Emotionally, it gives me what I'm looking for. But biblically, it's teaching me something that's not true. No, I won't have to cross death alone. The Lord's with me. And when death comes, yes, I'm gonna see him face to face. And it's gonna be a lot better than it is now. Hallelujah. Or as we say down here, hallelujah. But here's the problem. Even the verses, when I come to the river at the ending of day, when the last winds of sorrow have blown, there'll be somebody waiting to show me the way. I won't have to cross Jordan alone. Only one problem, Jordan is not a picture of death. Matter of fact, it's not, I take it back. I take it back. Because when I explain it tonight, you're gonna say, wait a second, you said it's not a picture of death. Jordan is not a picture of physical death in this life passing over into heaven. Let's be more specific. There is an aspect of dying when it comes to Jordan's picture, but it's not a picture of physical death passing into heaven. Jordan is actually a picture of something else that now takes me to a point where I can cross over. in this life while I live into the promised land for the child of God while living. But here's what, you'll get the gist. Again, I'm sorry, if you can't make it back tonight, you're gonna have to go back and watch it to get the full understanding of all this. That's the only hard thing about breaking things up But if we're not careful, you say, preacher, what are you dealing with as a whole? I gave you the title. Why so many die in the wilderness? Millions of the children of Israel died in the wilderness. And there are Christians today, or even those that claim to be Christians today, and they are dying in the wilderness. And the wilderness is not where God meant you to live. Well, you know, this world is just hard. Yeah, but so was Canaan. It had giants. Sound familiar? It had mountains, and it had valleys, and it had hard times, and it had sickness, and it had encouragement, and it had discouragement, and it had everything. It was a smorgasbord of life. Sound familiar? Y'all ever experienced all those things? But here's the thing, too many people are living in the wilderness trying to thrive, and they're not supposed to be there. So why do so many die in the wilderness? I'll just give you, this is not the entirety of the message, but I'm gonna give you a little bit of the cat out of the bag. They die in the wilderness because they're living a life where God never wanted them to be. Because we convinced ourselves, whether we believe it or not, we've allowed ourselves to be convinced that the promised land is heaven one day. Jordan is death. The wilderness is just the life the Christian deals with in this desert land. Three strikes, you're out. All three of those perceptions of what these things reflect and represent are wrong. You say, boy, you sound pretty confident. I do, because the Bible's very clear. You come back tonight, and I'll show you what Egypt, the wilderness, Jordan, and the promised land actually are. And then we will continue next Sunday, Lord willing, and we'll begin to look at what happened with the children of Israel that caused them to live life in the wilderness and die. By the way, it'll be an eye-opener if we pay attention. Because many are dying, in the wilderness of life today and call themselves Christians. And they've never experienced where God really wanted to take them. Because they're claiming over here, and it might be true, I am not the judge of that, God is. It might be true that the God they claim truly is the one they have placed their faith and trust in. but they're living over here while speaking about over there. Can I just encourage you? Don't be a wilderness-wandering Christian. It'll kill you just like it did them. Let's pray. I know we didn't get into every.