You can head to class with Mrs. Shore. And the rest of us, please take our Bibles and open up to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And if you have a church Bible, it is page 1192. All right, if you have a church Bible. All right. All right, Matt. See you later, buddy. Examples are great educational tools. Sometimes if you're learning something, it's very helpful to have an example. Children studying maths, lately I was talking to our kids about their classes in school and stuff, and Kaylee said that in her math she'll have just a little bit of tutorial, and then she'll have her math problems. With that, they give you an example. It's a good, positive example. It shows you how to do it, and then you follow suit, and you learn how to get it done. Sometimes you get the opposite of that. You get an IKEA flat pack. And, you know, you pull it out and there'll be these pictures with examples, right? And it'll have this big, you know, line across it. Do not, you know, use a hand screwdriver. Don't use a power tool. You know, you'll blow right through that thing. And so examples come. As good and bad, they come as positive and negative. And that's the same in the Word of God. As we come to the Word of God, we'll see good and bad examples, we'll see positive and negative examples. And so there's good examples, like Paul, one previous chapter, 11. Paul said, be ye followers of me, example, even as I also am of Christ, example. Philippians 3.17, brethren, be ye followers together of me, and mark them, which walks, so as ye have us, or an example. Paul was a godly man. We talk about in Sunday school about godliness, the doctrine which is according to godliness. Paul had the audacity and boldness as a godly man to say, follow me as I follow Christ, as a good example. And the prophets were good examples. James 5.10 says, take my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering and affliction and of patience. And that goes with Sunday School as well. We're talking about patiently enduring. And the Word of God says there, look back and see these guys, what they went through, what they endured, and their faithfulness as a good example. Timothy was told to be a good example. 1 Timothy 4 verse 12 says, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. And so the challenge is to us, be a good example, just like with Timothy. Timothy, you be a good example. But then again, in the Word of God, there are bad examples. Sodom and Gomorrah is a bad example that God gives us in His Word, 2 Peter 2, verse 6. says, in turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemn them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly. And so everybody since then that is living in sin and disobedience to God ought to look back at Sodom and Gomorrah and say, you know what, it's not a good idea to continue in a path of disobedience because of the bad example Sodom and Gomorrah, what God did there to them. Esau as well, we've been studying a little bit about Jacob and Esau in our Thursday night, but the Bible says in Hebrews 12, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, that example, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. And so, in our text today, Paul is the teacher. He's got his new class, the Corinthians, many newly saved believers in Corinth, and he's giving them instruction to benefit them. And so as he does that, he's going to give them a good and bad example as he teaches them to live in victory. In chapter 9, He has ended by challenging them to keep their body under discipline to win the incorruptible crown. And so verse 24 says, know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth a prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly. So fight I, not as one that beateth the earth. But I keep unto my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway. Paul said, I'm striving for the mastery. And even those that run in a physical race state, they're tempered in all things so that they can run and run well. And Paul's challenging them at the end of chapter 9, which precedes our text this morning. He's saying, hey, discipline your body. Even I do that as the Apostle Paul. I keep under my body. I bring it into subjection because I don't want God to shelf me. I don't want God to take me, put me on a shelf as a broken vessel that he cannot use. And that brings us into chapter 10, living victory. And Paul wants them to be victorious over their flesh. And so the example is not, this morning, an educational example. I want to call it an edificational example. And it's to help them in their spiritual discipline. And the example, if you remember, as we read it already this morning, the example is Israel. And so the Bible says in verse 6, all right? And Aaron, I'll be standing right with you in a second, buddy. All right? I talked about Aaron in Sunday school. I'll tell you the story later. But not really. No, not a problem. Israel, verse 6, the Bible says the stories that took place there were an example. Okay? In verse 11, all these things happened unto them for example. So again, Paul's going to use both good, we're going to start good, and bad. to help us and to help the Church at Corinth live in victory over the flesh. You know, we need to live in victory over our flesh. You read the Book of Romans. We're studying it in Sunday School. We're going to get into it. Paul's going to talk in depth about how the flesh is opposed to God. We're almost there. Chapter 6. We're really going to get into it. And in that battle of the flesh, But we can live in victory, and God would have us to do that. So may God help us to look at this example this morning and benefit from the example of Israel. So let's pray. Father, I pray now as we come to the Word of God, Lord, acknowledge that I have no ability of myself to speak, and Lord, that I must have the enablement of the Holy Spirit. And Father, that we stand before you as a people in need of the grace of God. Father, I pray that you help us to live in victory over the flesh. Father, just like Paul, we've got to strive, we've got to be diligent, we've got to fight, we've got to seek to be the disciplined person that we need to be. God, we need this help that we're going to see in the Word of God. And so I pray, Father, speak to our hearts this morning. Would you help us? Would you strengthen us? I pray, Father, give us ears to hear and grace to apply the truth that you've given. Father, I'm asking that you'd have your way in this time. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. And so 1 Corinthians chapter 10. versus 1 through 13 is our text. And so we're just going to follow like an edificational example that Paul has. And so the first thing is a good example. And it's just facts that Paul's going to give us. And it basically is this. Understand your position. Understand the position that you have in God. And Paul wants them to understand that there have been others that were likewise the children of God, just as they are the children of God. And so he's speaking about Israel, and he says, they were delivered by God, and so are you. And so verse one says, moreover brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. And Paul is speaking about. His people to these people by the way If you're saved today your child Abraham by faith and imputed righteousness that we've studied out in our study in Romans We're all children of Abraham by faith praise God But Paul is a Jew and he's reminding them in his heritage our fathers. Okay, the Jewish Heritage that we have they Were delivered by God and so are you all our fathers were under the cloud verse 1 and all passed through the sea. So what is it? It's that God saved them. God delivered them. Why? Because they were the people of God. Okay? And so that story, if you want to turn back to the beginning of your Bible, you can. Exodus chapter 14. In Exodus 14, verse 13, is where the story, where we'll begin. It says, Moses said unto the people, fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today. For the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the Lord said to Moses, wherefore Christ fell unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. But where they are, and I'll just stop for a second, they are standing at the Red Sea. And if it's, again, where they believe they did cross, and it's the Gulf of Aqaba, they've just come down a dry riverbed with cliffs on either side. So they've got cliffs on either side of them. They've got the Red Sea in front of them. And they've got the armies of Egypt behind them. And they're despairing. And what can we do? And God says, He, tell them that they go forward. Verse 16. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. And I will give me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his hosts, and upon his juriests, upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten the honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel removed and went behind them. And the pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these, so that the one came not near the other all the night." And so God's got a band of separation between them and the enemy and he's protecting them. In verse 21, and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and And the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on the right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And he came to Pascha, and in the morning watched the Lord look up to the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud. And he troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels, and they draved them heavily, so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And the Lord said to Moses, stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon the chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as one of them, but the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore." And so, As Paul's speaking to the church at Corinth and as he begins to speak to them about understanding their position, he begins with the fact that there have been people of God in the past that were saved, delivered by God, and so are you. And if you're here today, by the grace of God, as a child of God, there was a point in your life where you personally exercised faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, His death, His resurrection, and God in His mercy made you His people. It's the same here with Israel. They were delivered by God. Secondly, they were identified as God's people and so are you. And so verse 2 says that we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And this baptism that he is referring to is the fact that that water set them apart as the people of God. It identified them to other people as they looked at the people of God. They identified them as the people that passed through the waters of the Red Sea. You remember Rahab did that in Joshua 2, verse 10. She says to the spies that she's harboring there in her house in Jericho. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom he utterly destroyed." And so as Rahab looked at the children of Israel, understanding that God is their God, the thing that stood out to her in her mind was the fact that they had passed through the sea. What other God could so identify his people as God did as his people passed through the water. Joshua reminded the children of Israel about that in Joshua chapter 4 verse 23. It says, For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up from before us, until you were gone over. that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God forever. And so Joshua says then, look, you are identified as the special people of God. How so? Well, God delivered you. God brought you through the water. And the point being is this, that water identified them as the people of God, the water of the cloud and the water of the sea. Is there not likewise a water that identifies us as the people of God? And the answer is, yes. And when you got saved, the Spirit of God began to work in your heart. I want to identify with Christ. And we've just recently had a baptism. By the way, Lord willing, we've got a baptism coming up. Jake wants to get baptized. So if somebody else wants to get baptized, let me know. But passing through that water is a precious, obedience to God that identifies us with the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus is a picture in that regard of our salvation, what Jesus did to affect our salvation. You know that baptism is commanded. Acts 2.38, as Peter was preaching at Pentecost, and the men began to cry out under conviction and say, what should we do? Remember what Peter said, he said, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And I don't have to belabor the point this morning with our church and those of you that are well-versed in scripture. We understand that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. And yet, we don't want to diminish the fact that baptism is commanded by God as an obedience in identifying with the Lord Jesus Christ. So very important, as Paul says to them, You are delivered by God and you are identified with God just like Israel as the people of God. And then they were spiritually satisfied by God and so are you. It says in verse 3 that they did all eat that same spiritual meat and did all drink that same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them And that rock was Christ. And so they had that spiritual meat. It was manna. We have something that I think is primarily from the US, but whether or not you can get it here, I don't know. You tell me. Angel's food cake. Angel's food cake is kind of like manna, I suppose. We give it a heavenly term, but we angel's food cake. Manna was food that God I mean, that's incredible. We're going to get to eat in heaven. The Bible does speak about that. But this is special food. This is not food that any other people, other than the children of Israel, got to eat. It was something given to them by God. And notice the emphasis of what Paul is speaking about. He's speaking about spiritual meat. It was food from God, that God provided, that satisfied that hunger in the heart, or in the body of the Israelites. Then there is spiritual drink coming from the spiritual rock. And you remember the story as Moses was commanded by God to satisfy the thirst of the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 8.15, who brought forth water out of the rock of flint. And God took pity on Israel. They thirsted. And there's a wonderful picture that God's going to give. And there's a rock. And the rock is a picture of Christ. And it's struck. And that's a picture of the crucifixion. And the water of life flows out. And it's that living water that God gives. And it flows along a path. because it says it followed them, a path that they would walk, a place through the desert that God would provide water because God cared about the spiritual, the physical meat and the physical drink. But notice Paul's emphasis, the spiritual, right? And it's because of this this morning. In a man's heart there is a There is a spiritual thirst, there is a spiritual hunger that God alone can satisfy. Alright? And the Bible does tell us that it used to be that spiritual satisfaction was primarily for the Jews, even as that Gentile woman came to the Lord Jesus Christ, and she has a daughter that is demon-possessed, and she's crying out, and she's got a spiritual need, and she knows that Jesus can meet the spiritual need. Remember what Jesus said? He said, it's not neat to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. And she said, shoot, Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. And the point is that it was primarily for the Jews. But the faith in this woman is that, no, there's got to be some for me. There's got to be some for me. But it was kind of a right picture for us. It used to be that those were God's people, and the blessing primarily was there. But that changed. That changed as Jesus Christ came and he brought the bread of life for all people, the water of life for all people. John 6 verse 30, they said therefore unto him, what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? Our father said, eat manna in the desert, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said unto him, Lord evermore, give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. Are you hungry today? You know, does your heart cry out with thirst like David? My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where the water is to see thy power and glory. So as I've seen thee in the sanctuary. Has there ever been a time where in your heart, in your life, you were just saturated with God and you were satisfied in God and there was a preciousness and you look at that and say, ah, I'm a child of God and God is meeting my spiritual needs, right? And Paul goes, you know what? There have been other people like that. The children of Israel. They were identified as the people of God through the water. They were delivered by God through the Red Sea. They were satisfied by God spiritually, just like you, Corin. That spiritual satisfaction is for God's people. So we understand that this morning. Paul's got a good example. He's just letting the church know, hey, there have been other people that have been the people of God just like you. But why is he saying that? Because he's going to go to a bad example now. And that is Israel's failure. And so, you need to understand your position. Yes, praise God, you're a child of God and Israel, and just like Israel. But withstand your desires, because that's where Israel failed. They understood they were the people of God, but they failed through their desires, and he's telling them, look, so can you. And so verse five, it says, but with many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. intent that we should not lust, okay, that word means desire, the word lust in the Bible is strong desire, often wicked desire, but the Bible does use it in other ways, the spirit lusted, okay, I'm talking about the Holy Spirit and that just means he has a strong desire, okay, and so that we should not lust after what? Evil things as they also lusted. And so he's writing to you The church at Corinth, what is Corinth? It was an idolatrous city. They've gotten saved, and they can say something like this, Hey, Pastor Paul, praise God, I am born again. I'm a child of God. Praise God, I've got the Holy Spirit. I've got discernment, right? I am making it almost feel supernaturally, as we are to a degree, empowered against it, but can make them overconfident to the point that they thought, I can just go to these parties that my friends from the idolatrous temple are having. And there might be some things that, yes, are objectionable, and things that used to be part of a past life. But I've got it. I'm fine. And Paul's just saying, look. They were the children of God. You're a child of God. They failed through lust. They failed through wicked desires. And he's trying to help them understand that they also can fail through the flesh. Because the flesh is weak. Jesus said, Mark 14, 38, Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. It's like Peter, I'll never deny thee. And they fail. It's that sense that we all have that there is a weakness in this human flesh. And Jesus said, hey, you need to spend time in prayer. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except you abide in the vine, no more can he except you abide in me. There could be an over-confidence that is, hey, I'm saved and so therefore my flesh is sanctified. Listen, the flesh is never sanctified. The flesh is always contra Christ. And so the Word of God says, Paul said, for I know that it's in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And we read plenty of stories in the Bible where somebody is favored by God and then they fail. I was struck by it this past week as I read the story of King Saul, you know, the new appointed leader of the children of Israel as their king. And it's just, the story's just beginning and they're battling against the Philistines and Jonathan's gone out, his son has gone out to fight against the Philistines. And now Paul is waiting to take Israel into battle, and he's waiting for Samuel to come as a prophet, and offer a sacrifice to God, and to ask God's blessing, and it's forbidden of the king to offer sacrifices. He can't do that, but Samuel can. But Saul did, because he gave in to his wicked flesh. And the Bible says in 1 Samuel 13 verse 12, King Saul said, therefore said I, the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord. I forced myself, therefore, and offered a burnt offering. You know, King Saul forced himself like a kid opening a cookie jar. You know what I'm saying? What did he do? He had a desire, and it was a strong desire, but he had no faith and no confidence in God coming through. So he forced himself. No, what he did is he did what he wanted to do. You know, that's what sin is. Sin is when I allow myself to do what I want to do instead of obeying God. What is that? That's obeying the flesh. And the flesh is weak. The Bible says, James 1.14, but every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And so that temptation comes. And there's going to be a desire. I mean, temptation is not temptation without desire. There's going to be desire, but we've got to have victory. And so what do we need to know? Well, let's understand what desires our flesh has that are going to pull us away from God, just like the other people of God. By the way, is my flesh any better than Israel's flesh? No. Is my flesh any better than the Corinthians' flesh? No. Praise God, us and the Corinthians have the Holy Spirit, alright, as far as with us. That is a blessing that God's given. But our flesh is no different. And so, Paul lists four wicked desires that our flesh has. And the first is a wicked desire to replace God. Verse 7. says, neither being the idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Moses is away, he's getting a walk from God in Mount Sinai, and Israel's down below. And I'd say it like this, Israel was impatiently waiting for Moses to come back. It's amazing how quickly this takes place, and Exodus 32 verse 1 says, And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we what not what is become of him. It's incredible to read the story that Israel has God. They've seen the parting of the Red Sea. They've seen God's miraculous deliverance to them. And yet God's distant, God's silent for just a wee bit. And all of a sudden, they are making gods. Exodus 32 verse 24 says, and I said unto them, whosoever therefore hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And Aaron is the high priest. And he makes an idol. And again, it's an incredible story. You think, Aaron, how could you so fail to do this idolatrous thing that Israel demanded of you? And if Talmudic tradition is correct, the Talmud, They say the sudden disappearance of her from the narrative of Exodus is explained by the claim that her was killed when he tried to prevent the making of the golden calf. OK, that's kind of a mythic tradition. But if you remember on that day where Moses was holding up his arms, and as long as his hands were up, Israel was in victory, but as his hands came down, they began to fail in the battle. There were two men, there was Aaron and there was Hur, staying up, Moses' hands on either side. And so, by tradition, they say, at this point, Hur died. Possibly. If it's correct, they murdered the man of God who tried to stop him. When we look at Israel, we say, Israel, how could you do that? But let's stop and think about our lives. When God is silent, what do you turn to? Well, it seems like, you know, my needs aren't being met and God's not coming through. And just think about the things that can creep into our lives. Entertainment. And, you know, nothing else makes me happy but my favorite sports team or my favorite, you know, this or that that is on the telly that I've got to see. Activities. relationships, materialism, sport, pleasure. I mean, stop praying, stop attending church, stop putting God in his proper place. What creeps in there? See, Israel had their flesh desire something other than God and they gave in to that desire by falling into idolatry. And so the wicked desire to replace God. And then the wicked desire to gratify the flesh, verse 8, says, neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and 20,000. Some of you may know the story of Balak, the king, I don't know if they call him the king, but the head of the Moabites. He hired Balaam, a prophet that, I get confused when I read about it in scripture. He's a prophet that could speak as the oracles of God. He could declare God's message, so he had great I don't know how to describe it other than power, the God given. He hires Balaam to come and to curse the children of Israel. So Balaam does come. But God says, hey, you can only say what I tell you to say. And every time he stands up to curse, he ends up giving a blessing. And it happens, I think, three times. Finally, Balak is upset. Every time I hire you to curse them, you bless them. And finally Balaam says to Balak something like this. You know, these people are the children of God. They have the blessing of God. The only way to defeat them is to lead them into sin. So, seduce them into sin. And then what? Then God will judge them. Okay? So He's going to lead them astray through wicked desires. And so the Bible says in Numbers 25 verse 1, And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit kordah, sexual sin, with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifice of their gods, and the people to eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, slay ye every one of his men that will join them to Baal Peor. And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." God's judgment is coming. They've gotten into the sin of fornication, their sexual sin in the camp, and there are people on their knees before God, weeping and asking for God's blessing. And a man comes with a whore, a Mubaish woman, they enter into a tent to commit sin, right, as all this is taking place. And when Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and he took a javelin in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel, and those that died in the plague were 24,000. Now you notice in our text it says 23,000. In the other account, the Old Testament, it says 24,000. Some people say, well, why are the numbers different? The commentators suggest 23,000 died in the plague, 1,000 were killed, like Phinehas taking and killing those Moabites. And so the sin of wicked desire and gratifying of the flesh. And has the flesh changed? No. Is the church as prone to the sin of fornication as the Old Testament people got? The answer is absolutely yes. As Corinth, yes. Jesus himself said to the church at Pergamos, but I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam. who taught Balak to cast his stumbling block before the children of Israel, to give things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. And the Lord's saying, hey church, I've got a problem, because you have in your midst a teaching that accommodates sexual sin, and that's a problem. And he said, a church. And so Paul even said in chapter 5 of this book, it's reported commonly that there's fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And so that stands very common in the church there, and saying they're accommodating it, and you need to get rid of it. I was witnessing to a man yesterday, He's a good person that's going to happen because of his goodness. And I said to him, I said, have you ever lied? And he hemmed and hawed and talked himself out of that. When I said, have you ever taken God's name and name? He jumped right in and said, oh yes. Well, who's ever taken the name of the Lord, that God and name? He will not hold him guiltless at taking his name and name. I said, have you ever looked at a woman to lust after who wasn't your wife? And that's a straightforward question, but every man understands that the weakness of the human flesh is such that there's not a man that's never struggled with that. OK? And so I confronted him with that. And he said this. He said, well, we know we can't touch. That's wrong. OK? But we understand you can't not just not touch. You can't look with lust. Jesus said it, Matthew 5, 28. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And so that danger is prevalent in our society. We've got immodesty everywhere. I pity the kids that go to school, the young men that have to walk around with a bunch of young ladies in miniskirts all day long. Because there is a desire in the fleshly heart of man that is a corrupt desire. And immodesty does not help. Immodesty does not justify sin. But immodesty is leading men to sin, just like Bathsheba. Immodest on the top of her house. David was guilty, and Bathsheba was guilty. So what do we do? Well, Job had a good plan. Job was a righteous man. In Job 31, verse 1, he says, I made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? By the way, in God's list of righteous men, he lists three. Job is one of them. I forget the other two. I think it might be Noah and Daniel. OK? Job is one of them. But even as a godly man, what did he have to do? He said, I made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? And then in Psalm 101, verse 3, David had this plan. I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. And so King David said, too, and by the way, this would have saved King David from sin if he had kept this. I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. Listen, as a church, let's say to us, we've got to have controls over the things that are coming into our house. You know, if we're going to be serious about dealing with this sin, our telly can't be like our neighbor's telly. Our computer can't be like our neighbor's computer. There has to be a control that is set up to guard the purity of our house. Why? Because this sin was given by Balaam to Balak to curse who? The people of God. Does Satan know today that this is crippling our churches? And the answer is, yes. And so what we need to do, by the grace of God, we need to go to God and say, God, that desire is prevalent. God gave victory. We're going to get to the victory part, by the way. We're going through, this is Israel, people got, this is their wicked desire. We're going to get to the end, okay? The end's going to be good as far as God's victory. But then the wicked desire to complain. Verse 9 says, neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also were tempted and were despoiled of servants. Okay. We just talked about two serious sins, idolatry and fornication. But now as we come to this and look at this. The wicked desire to complain? I mean, we look at that and say, in comparison to idolatry, fornication, this is seemingly insignificant. Yet it's not. And so the Bible again says, verse 9, neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also were tempted and were destroyed of serpents. The root sin of complaining is a heart that's turning away from God, right? And so when you see Israel in idolatry or Israel in fornication, what had taken place, in their heart they had become grieved against God, they began to turn away from God. And so Numbers chapter 21 verse 4 says that they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to encompass the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this life bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. Israel. God is part of the Red Sea. God has provided manna. God has provided the water out of the rock. Israel should have been on their knees saying, God, I thank you, I praise you, God, you're meeting my needs and you're so good. And though we're going through a trial like we looked at in Sunday School and it's tough, I'm gonna endure, I'm gonna be patient, and I'm gonna come to hope, and I'm gonna see what God can do. But instead, their heart, they began to open their mouth, they began to express complaint against God. I was witnessing on Monday in Edinburgh, and I met a man, and I... On Sunday nights, we were touching on the man of the wild, found in Proverbs chapter 6, the naughty man. And some of the characteristics that we talked about, I began to see in this man, as he's speaking with me, and he's this far away, and I'm wondering, mentally, is he sound? And he began to blaspheme Christ. He began to complain against God and say, if there is a God, and we hear this a lot, if there is a God, why are all these innocents killed? Why is all this taking place? What are they saying? God, if there is a God, God, you're guilty. Guilty. Right? That's the heart of the person complaining against God, saying if there is a God, why? It's his fault. Right? We need to be very careful in our hearts as it's so easy to begin to complain You know, we've got something going on in our lives and the flesh wants to voice it. The flesh wants to say it. The flesh wants to utter, I'm grieved by that. We need to be very careful because that, again, is a wicked desire that leads to rebellion against God. And that's the last point here. Their flesh, they had a wicked desire to murmur and rebel. Verse 10. It says, neither murmur ye, as some have also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. So their heart begins to complain, and then they begin to chide against their leadership that they had, Numbers chapter 14. It says, and all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses, against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness, and wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey. Were it not better for us to return into Egypt, and they said one to another, let us make us a captain, and let us return into Egypt." Murmur, it's one of those I don't know how to appeal words. Sounds like what it is, all right? Murmur. And in that, they began to say, we're not gonna follow you anymore, okay? We're gonna make our own leader, a rebellious guy. You know, it's an easy thing to do, to chide. How's your heart today? On your day 40, that God's given to you, some murmuring. That's a wicked desire of our flesh that is pointed out to us. As we just conclude this section, I want to, I know I'm almost out of time, but I want to get on to the next section just because I don't want to leave us like, ugh. But we listen to that and we think, Kind of like, at nights, when we watch with the kids, I'll watch a cartoon with Nelson and Mack. Mack, when he was really young, it was hard to get him to go down at night, so we started this thing, we'll watch one Donald Duck cartoon, and then it lights off, you know, it's just our routine. And there's one cartoon where the ranger is with this Humphrey the Bear, and Humphrey the Bear is part of that camp, and Donald Duck's got his honeybee farm on the other side. Okay, this is deep for Sunday, all right? But, um... Humphrey the bear is kind of out there. And the ranger is saying, this is the line. See, this is the line. You do not cross this line. And all the bears are like, uh-huh. And he's looking at Humphrey. Humphrey, do you get it? And he's like, uh-huh. And he's standing on the side of Donald Duck. He's on the wrong side of the line. And we could today, we could look at it and we could say, uh-huh, I get that. I get that. Israel is bad. Israel has sinned through fornication, idolatry. They've sinned through complaining and murmuring. But that's not me. Do you see? We can begin to think, ah, but that's not me. Well, listen, we've got that flash. And so what? We need victory. And I want to give this to you. And so we're just going to press on. I'll try to abbreviate. We've got to understand our position. We're a child of God. We've got to withstand our desires so that we can get to Paul's point, his application. And that is standard ground. Standard round. Verse 11, Now all these things happen unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. So Paul's saying, hey, yes, discouraging to look back. They were the people of God. They failed greatly. It was miserable. They messed up. But it's for our benefit that God has recorded it so that we can look at it and we can go, you know what? I don't want to go the same way. I want to stand for the Lord. And so here's some points to help us with victory. First point, you're as prone to failure as any other child of God. Verse 12 says, thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. Notice how he said, you think you stand. You stand because God has got you propped up. God, by your strength, you have made my mountain to stand strong. So said David in Psalm 29, or 28. It's God. Don't be critical if somebody else falls into sin, or struggles with sin. Don't be critical of that person thinking, I would never do that, because except by the grace of God, dear Gawain. Paul said that. He said, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of me that is considering thyself, lest I also be tempted. And so as we deal with people, we're going to encourage one another to the Lord. We understand we're flesh, and so we're going to come alongside, and we're going to say, hey, you can have victory. We need that victory. Let's fight and stand for the Lord, because we're for Him. I think if you stand and take, He lets you fall. And then, you can have victory by humbly depending upon God. Verse 13. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is coming to man. Okay. Temptation is a part of our human experience. Because you're human, you're tempted. Jesus became a man and he was tempted. He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Praise God. He was victorious. But the fact is this, you're going to be tempted. And so, we can't say today, well nobody's ever experienced this. Nobody's ever gone through this. Nobody ever has endured this. No. Everybody has. Everybody has. If you think a preacher that gets up here and preaches on a Sunday or on a Thursday is somebody that does not struggle with sin, you're sadly deceived, right? Because we're all tempted with sin. It's common to man. But you can have victory. How so? Because God is faithful in every temptation. And so it says, it's such as is common to man, but God is faithful. I can't say today, God, I'm just going to have to sin because you're not faithful. I'm just going to have to go that path of defeat because, God, you're not faithful. No, God is faithful. God is faithful every time, every day, every moment of every day. Paul himself found help in God. He could have quit. His flesh wanted to quit. But in Acts 26.2, it says, having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day. Witnessing both the small and great. You know, are you struggling? Have you trusted God? You know, are you struggling with sin? Have you trusted God? Have you taken it by faith and said, but God is faithful? It's that verse we looked at already today. He that hath done a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Being convinced of this very thing, right? God is faithful. And then, Find victory as well in the fact that God will not allow temptation greater than your ability to withstand. It says He will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able. No. You can't say today, but pastor you don't understand, it's too much. It's too much. I would have to say to you that then God's word has lied. Because God said you'll never be tempted above that you're able. That means in every situation in life, if you fail, whose fault is it? Your fault. It's not God's. And so I can know that today, if I'm struggling, I'm trying to stand for God, I can just say, you know what? God is faithful. He is not going to allow me to have something in my life that's greater than my ability to overcome. Because He's promised that. And by the way, it's personal, isn't it? Above that, ye are able. Somebody might have greater victory, somebody might have greater strength in that area, but God says you're not going to be tempted, above that you're able. And then third, for victory, God providentially will provide a way of deliverance, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it. And so, there's your way. Now you've got to pay attention. You're set on a plane, and as you get ready to take off, what do they do? Surgeons come out and say, let us direct your attention to this. And they give you the escape route. If the accident happened, there's a lot of people, and you see it on every flight, maybe it's just so familiar that people are like, I've heard this, I've heard this, I've heard this. But if they don't know it, shame on them if tragedy takes place and they could have evacuated, they could have saved themselves, but they didn't listen to the instruction that was given. And so shame on us this morning, when we fall into sin, every single time, it's because we did not take the way that God provided for us to escape. And let me give you some escapes real quick. Flee fornication, 1 Corinthians 6, 18. Flee it. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body. And so the way of escape is flee. James 4 7 submit yourselves therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you. What's the way to escape? God, I need your help I'm not gonna go there. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna submit to Satan. I'm gonna resist Satan, right? Ephesians 4.28, let him that stole steal no more. How do I get victory, pastor? I just, I steal. Hey, don't steal anymore, but labor, working with your hands, the thing which is good, that you may have to give to him that needeth. Become generous, and guess what? You're giving stuff away, you're not gonna take. Psalm 119.9 is the best one that I can leave with us, because it's general. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, By taking he thereto according to thy word. And so here it is, Quoran. I want you to live in victory. I want you to have victory. And they go, Paul, we're the people of God. We're born again. We've got the Holy Spirit. And we're just going to go to these parties. And it's OK. Paul says, no, no, no. That's what Israel did. Israel were the people of God. They went through the water. They were identified as the people of God. They were provided for by God. But the desire got the best of them. They lusted for idolatry. They lusted for fornication. They lusted to complain. They lusted to murmur. And they rebelled against God. And you can do the same thing. So let him that thing if you stand in it. Take heed. Bless people. And have the humility to understand. You know, except by the grace of God. Do you know why? But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that your ego, even though this desire is common to man, we're going to struggle with it. God's faithful. He's not going to let you be tempted above that your ego. And so I'm going to end with this this morning. Are you living in victory? You know what Revival is? Revival is a church that is experiencing victorious Christian life. It will not happen if we are living in the defeated people of God life that Israel lived. It won't happen. So what do we do? We've got to stand. He's temperate. He's disciplined. Paul said, I therefore so run, not as I'm certainly so fight, I'm not as one to beat the air. We take the challenge that's luring us this and inspect your life and say, God, is that desire that Israel failed through, is it in my heart? Is something eclipsing God in my life? Idolatry. Is it lust? Have I become casual with my eyes and not careful with my heart? The things I think about, the things that I look at, or am I very guarded from the sin of fornication? What about complaining? How easy is it for me to say, God, you know, I don't like this. I wish, and griping against God. And then murmuring in support of what God's given. See, Paul would have us inspect our hearts and say, you know what? Live in victory. God's faithful. And so, let's pray. Father, I preach love this morning. I pray not to the hindering of the message. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would help us all just to look in our hearts and to consider our lives. What if we're not fighting and standing? We're defeated. We don't have to be tempted. Why should we be tempted if we're feasting on ungodliness? But Father, we want to stand for God. It's going to be tough. And there's going to be battle. And many others have failed. And so I pray that with humility of heart and mind this morning we consider the fact that, you know, somebody got sprayed through the sand. Father, I ask that the Spirit of God speak to our hearts in the quietness of this moment. We'll just take a moment, Lord, and search our hearts before you. And Father, if there's anything that displeases you, I pray, Spirit of God, that you confess it, forsake it. And Father, take the path of victory. Begin to look to you for victory. Lord, I don't expect to live in defeat and letting those desires quench us, but, God, we want to be good runners like Paul. So, Father, in this moment, now, as we bow our heads in prayer, may the Spirit of God speak to our hearts. Savior, you asked a good question when you said to men, He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. And the humility in the older men made them go out first, because they understood that they struggled with sin. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would help us acknowledge that. And I skipped that verse, Lord, in my text this morning that I meant to share. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, it's a serious topic this morning because it deals with the destruction of the church and the destruction of the Christian. And Father, the key to understand and acknowledge this morning, we struggle with the flesh. But Father, I pray that we take the way of victory. And so God, bless us now as we stand and sing this hymn of invitation. May the Spirit of God continue to speak to our hearts. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.