Well, tonight, here we are. And for all of you adults here, welcome to the Teen Bible Study. Because that's what we're going to do tonight. Because we have a series going on, and we're going to continue it. And we'll just let you in on it. Because it really doesn't matter how old you are. But I'll have to give you a little bit of review. So, you know, at review time, you know what I did? I forgot my bag. So I have my wife's bag. She has different stuff in her bag than I have in mine. But I don't know if I can make it back there. So if an adult beat you to the answer, then I might have to hit them with a piece of candy. So we'll see. All right? So we're going to get started tonight. Now, it's been a while because we had VBS in between this series, right? And then, and by the way, last week, they got to hear your whole week of VBS in one session, by the way, as much as I could squeeze in. So that's what we did. But we're going to come back to our subject. So before we start, we have a tradition. Which one of you young men of the teens is going to pray for us tonight before we start? Don't everybody just jump up at once. Come on. These people don't care. OK, go ahead, John. Amen. Okay, so what we have been doing for about, I looked actually, about nine years. You say, how long is it? Most of them aren't with me for nine years. What do we have? I guess if we get you in seventh, we get you for six years, right? So you get most of it. But in fact, let's start here. Romans chapter 15, everybody turn to Romans 15. This is a Bible study tonight. That means you're gonna turn in your Bible. I don't have a whiteboard and no screen tonight. We're gonna do just regular good old fashioned Bible study. Romans chapter 15 is really the key A key verse for this series that I've been doing for about nine years. And what happens is, as you'll see, we have to sometimes pull over and park a while depending on what the Bible does for us. But in Romans 15, I'm just gonna dive right into one verse, verse four. Who would like to read verse four for us tonight? Nice and loud so everybody can hear. That's a grand verse. Now what were the things that were written before time? Where are they? What part of your Bible? Yell at me. You're all too far away. In the Old Testament, right? So the Old Testament gives us a lot of information, actually. Now, last week we talked about those seas of history, the seven seas of history, but in fact, the Bible gives us all kinds of other history in between all that. And so one, well, how many of you liked history in school? Raise your hand. That's more than I thought I'd see. As for me, I hated it. And you know what I hated? Anybody here with me didn't like history? What's the thing you hated most about history class? The teacher. Well, that doesn't count. Actually, I did have a boring high school history teacher. What else didn't you like about what you had to learn in history? Dates. Dates. Dates. I'm with you. That was the thing that really turned me off to history because I could not remember all those dates. And you say, what happened in, you know, I mean, some things, you know, like 1776, I could remember that one. But when you start to get into that medieval history, oh, but you know what happened? When I was 15, I got saved. And then I started reading the Bible. And then all of a sudden, history had a whole new aspect to it. And then I was really, really, really sorry that I didn't. Now, I didn't flunk history. I just didn't like it. I didn't really always get A's in it either. I got B's. But I didn't like it because of that. But when you get into Bible history, you begin to see history from a whole different perspective. But you know, after I learned about... This is all intro for you people. After I learned about biblical history, I found one thing far greater than a date that really helps us understand, and that's people. Now, you might not know 1860, but you know Abraham Lincoln, right? Now, Mr. Rekus, what was his time? When was he president? Abraham Lincoln. Okay, that's why he was a history teacher. So, I'd have never told you when he was born. So, everybody here probably heard of Abraham Lincoln, but how many of you knew all those dates? I just kind of knew 1860, and that was about it. Good news is, you don't actually have to know the dates of Bible history. Now, you kind of ought to have an idea. Now, you all know about Bishop Usher, right? So, he was able to calculate that creation happened in 4004 BC. I'm assuming that the four is there for the common era that he didn't even know about yet. But I don't know how he came up with that. Well, I do know. He used the genealogies that are in the Bible. And we know that there could be some. Everybody didn't get in there. But at least that gives you some idea. And most of you, if you look in the column reference of your Bible, somewhere along the line, they'll put some dates. And if they're honest, they'll put a question mark after that date. But what we can do is we can trace history through people. And so what we've been studying are key people. If you get the key people through your Bible, you'll really begin to get a good handle on that Old Testament history. And you'll be able to kind of latch onto things and say, oh, this happened then, and that happened there. If I give you somebody, I used to play this game on my bus. I just gave them two names. I said, who came first? So we'll start with an easy one. Who came first, Adam or Noah? Oh, if you don't get that one, you're done. Okay. We don't even have to talk about the chicken and the egg. Everybody knows the chicken came first because God created chickens before they laid eggs, right? Okay, who came first? Okay, teens, you ready? Who came first, Othniel or Sampson? Who wants to answer that? I have my bag. You always say Othniel. OK. Ready? I can't reach you back there. You have to come get it. You come part way, I'll toss it. Yeah. How many of you adults knew that? Few of you. See, I'm glad you're learning something. Okay, there you go. Oh, you still didn't catch it. All right. Does everybody know that those two were judges? So, you know, so you begin to just kind of put people in order. Now, that might have been tough for some of you that didn't know the order of the judges. But how about who came first, Abraham or Moses? Everybody? Abraham, right? Now, you go out into the world and you ask them that question, they'll look at you with a dumb stare. They don't know. But it's important for us to know these things. Because the things that were written before time were written for our learning. that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Hope, why? Because God works in history through people. And the way he worked and the people he chose to work in and through teaches us a lot about God, about how he works and how he deals with humankind. And so that's what we've been studying for a while. And we've been on this. And by the way, you don't get the same amount about each person, do you? Okay. Who came first? Samson or Shamgar? I knew somebody would say that. Shamgar. How many of you know who Shamgar is? Every one of you should put your hand up. I told you. Okay, what order was Shamgar among the judges? Who can tell me? This was just trivia, by the way, because we didn't spend much time on Shamgar, about five minutes. See, you don't even remember. Shamgar, he was the third judge, okay? He was the third judge. How many verses are there in the Bible about Shamgar? Who would like to take that trivia question? How many verses are there about Shamgar in the Bible? Two. There you go. Two. One verse gives us all the history of Shamgar, and then the other one is in actually Deborah and Barak's song where they talk about Shamgar, and that's it. That's all you get for him. Meanwhile, if you want to read about Moses, you're going to take some time. So now you understand why I've been doing this for a while as we've marched through. We started with Adam. But key people. I mean, I didn't do the genealogies. We do key people. Who's the next key person in the Bible after Adam? Key people. Key leaders in the Bible after Adam. Abel. Who said that? Oh, OK, here. I can't. This is terrible. I need a delivery man. Bob, you want to be my delivery man? All right, that'll work. We're going to give you some exercise tonight. Here it comes. Ready? Oh, bad throw. I'm also known for bad throws, so. OK, Adam, Abel. Who's the next big figure after that? We're gonna minimize Cain. How about the people that God used? Ah, I have to give you Enoch, even though we don't know what he did except walk with God. Whoops, I'm sorry. I can't get over this pulpit. But if you're talking about leading key people If you're going to jump from Abel, Adam, Abel, and then how about key person for a big event? I'll give you a little hint. Noah. Everybody said that. I can't empty my bag. I'm sorry. Noah. So we begin to see this pattern of people. But it's really important for us to put them all in perspective, right? We have worked our way through all the way to whom? Who are we on, teens? Who are we talking about? Bella? All right. David. We're on our way to Solomon. We talked about Solomon because of the very, very important. Bob, you just stay up here. Until, I'm sorry, I didn't make that clear. Okay, I'm looking for, this is not a good collection. Yeah, Bella likes dark. Here, give her dark. I have a few people that like dark in this group. I'm one of them. So, we're talking about David. And David has taken a while. And in fact, in this study that we've been doing, as you turn to 2 Samuel, while I give you this bridge, he's ready. David had his ups and downs, right? OK, this is for the teens. I'll bet you there are some adults that know this. But what was the highest point of David's life, in my opinion? What was the highest point of David's life? The most important event in his life. How's that? I'm getting ready for Micah. Is that Micah? Man, you're good. What do you like? You want chocolate or sugar? I thought he'd like chocolate. Here, give him a chocolate. The Davidic Covenant. So if you wanted to read about the Davidic Covenant, where would you go? I already gave you 2 Samuel. So where are you going to go after that? No, no, no, it's in 2 Samuel. Where's the covenant? Come on, teens, you should know that one. Where do we read about the Davidic covenant? Christina? Second Samuel 7. Thank you. Second Samuel 7. I think she'll like that. OK? So everybody go to Second Samuel 7. And again, this is review for us. Pardon me? In 2 Samuel 7, we have the whole account of how, what did David want to do? Okay, he wanted to build the temple, right? Who did he say that to? You have to raise your hand, Adolph. Adolf. Nathan. Okay. Here, just grab something for him. Nathan. And so, David told Nathan what he wanted to do, and Nathan just made an assumption that, hey, God's with you, go do it, man, do it. But God turned Nathan around, didn't he? And God came back with this covenant instead. And what did God do with David's desire to build a house for God in the covenant that he made with David? What did he do about a house in the Davidic covenant? Come on, y'all need to wake up. He said, you're not gonna build me a house. And then what did he say? Okay, all the way, you have to go all the way to the back. Cheryl. That's not the covenant. That's part of the covenant. That's an aspect of the covenant, but there's a bigger part, there's a bigger, bigger thing about the house building. What did God promise David he was gonna do? He said, I'm gonna build you a house. I'm gonna build your house. And I'm gonna bless all the earth through Your seed, does that sound familiar? What other covenant does that sound like? The Abrahamic covenant, right? Where God said, Abraham, who had no children at all, through your seed, all the families of the earth are going to be blessed. So we begin to put these people together. And if you were with me back when we studied about Abraham, we learned that. And then we come to David and we say, oh, look at that. What's this? The Davidic covenant is another stepping stone in which God is going to bless all the families of the earth, just like he promised Abraham. If you will, if we were gonna make an outline, David's covenant would be a sub point of the Abrahamic covenant. Right? And on and on and on and on. So let's take a look then at what happened because David, he struggled. Who did he, who did David struggle with up to this point? Saul. Saul, the other important figure who was famous and became infamous. Right? As God worked through that whole situation, David learned a whole bunch of lessons. Okay, teens, if I asked you what is the most notable characteristic of David's life before God, what characteristic would you say it would be? I wrote this on the board many times. I don't have a board now. If I did have a board, I'd put an H up there. Humility. Who said that? Okay. Give Deli some candy. He doesn't want any candy. All right. Humility. David, you can eat it for him. David exhibited humility in his life, and that was a great great aspect of his life as he submitted to God and wanted to please God. What does the Apostle Paul, this is a New Testament question. I never taught you this. What does the Apostle Paul call David when he preaches to the people in Antioch and Pisidia? How about that? Now, there is a trivia quiz. That should be in Bible trivia. What does he call him? A man after God's own heart. He got it. A man after God's own heart. OK, how many of you know? about how famous David was in his sin. And yet he was called a man after God's own heart. So what we're gonna get to, and we, kind of where we ended before VBS, and then I threw a whole bunch of stuff at you, we're gonna look at this bunch of stuff now, okay? Good. So from 2 Samuel 7, where the covenant is, We see not only God giving David the aspects of the covenant, but in verse 18 of 2 Samuel 7, if you look there, you begin to see David's humility come out once again. Because it's really interesting to see David's reaction to this covenant, to this promise. It's a marvelous promise. I'm gonna establish your seed forever. I'm gonna establish your throne forever. I'm going to, and your son is going to be the one to build me a house. Your seed will build me a house. And all these different aspects of what God promised to David. And all of that, all of that points to the very end of that promise. And we know that that's not just talking about Solomon, is it? Who was it talking about besides Solomon? Everybody back there should know this one. Who was that covenant really talking about when it talked about David's seed? Jesus. Jesus. Who said that? Oh, see, you're planted in the midst of them. Okay. So Sonny gets, you can give her what she wants. I don't know what she likes. She's not in my class. There you go, you pick her one. Jesus, and all of those things were pointing to Jesus, the final fulfillment of all these covenants that God made with Israel. So David comes in verse 18 as he listens and can't really, if you think about it, David couldn't have even ever thought about Jesus at that point. He just knew that this was an overwhelming promise. And what did he do in verse 18? When he went in before the Lord, which probably means somewhere near where the, holy place was at that point. You can take that up in your studies. Where was the Ark of the Covenant anyway? Some kind of tent. Where was the tabernacle? Where did it go? All kinds of good questions, by the way, as you go through Bible history. But what position did David take as he went in verse 18 before the Lord? What did he do? What did he do? He sat. Jonathan got that one. Jonathan got that one. He sat before the Lord. What does that indicate about David's attitude toward this covenant and towards the Lord at this point? If he sat before the Lord? Humility. He humbled himself. Did you know that oftentimes your bodily position is indicative of the state of your attitude and soul and mind? And so David sat. Thanks, Bob. I think we'll cut it off there. We're done with review. We're going now into new stuff. Yeah. So David sat before the Lord. And he exhibits all kinds of beautiful characteristics as he responds to God's promise. And it teaches us a lot. And when we look at these people in the Bible, God just didn't give them to us so that we could read a story. We can learn from these people. By the way, we learn how to be and we learn how not to be, right? From everybody we see in all of these accounts, I'll use the word story, but I kind of like to say accounts because that's what they are. The Bible is not a storybook. It's a book of truth. It's a historical account of God's working among humankind. And so David humbles himself before the Lord, and he basically, at the end of this, says, thank you. You won't see the word thank here, but when he says, verse 28, and now, oh Lord God, thou art that God. Boy, I hate to just pass that out, but you need to read the verses before that and understand what he means by that God. And thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant. Therefore, now, let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee. For thou, Lord God, hast spoken it. And with thy blessing, let the house of thy servant be blessed forever." In other words, David said amen to the covenant. He said thank you for the covenant right there. He said, I believe you, that you're gonna do what you say. That's a good thing to emulate for us. When we read God's promises in his word, what do we do? Just look at, oh, okay. It needs to sink down into our, it needs to knock us down to the floor, that we might sit before the Lord and say, so be it. Let it come. Thank you. for what you've promised me. And now I'll wait on you." This is beautiful. Oh, look at David. Okay, now we're going to do a little survey. Or we'd never finish this. Chapter eight. If you just look at chapter eight, we're not going to read it all. I will summarize. What did David do in chapter eight? Can anybody take a quick look over chapter eight and tell me generally what David did after this with his kingdom? I'll give you five seconds and then I'll tell you. I shouldn't have told you that. What did he do? He defeated his enemies. By doing so, what did he do with his kingdom? He increased it. He built the kingdom. He said, hey, God said he's going to bless me, so I'm going for it. And he enlarged the kingdom. And then in chapter 9, we have a beautiful story. Again, shows us the character of a man after God's own heart. If you want to be a man or a woman after God's own heart, study David. Study the things that he does. In chapter 9, what does he do? This is a famous story, most of you probably have heard it before. By doing what? So David blesses Mephibosheth, or as my Jewish studies teacher said, Mephibosheth. He was Jewish, so I figure he knew how to say it better than I do. I still say Mephibosheth, though. Yeah, he says, hey, I made Jonathan a promise. And I need to bless somebody in the house of Saul. And sure enough, he had a son still alive and lame. And David brings him to his palace and lets him live there and feeds him there and takes him from a pauper and makes him like a king's son. And then in chapter 10, we begin to see something a little different. Another characteristic of David, we've seen this characteristic before, but somebody headed him off at the pass and he didn't finish the job, if you know the story of Nabal. But here in chapter 10, David again wants to show kindness. If you look at the first couple of verses to, the son of the king of Ammon, named Hanun. So David sent some messengers and said, I want to send a funeral greeting. His messengers were the sympathy card that he sent to the king of Ammon, because the king of Ammon had taken care of his parents while he was running from Saul. So he had a special relationship with him. And so he sends his servants. And what did they do to his servants? They humiliated them. They cut off their beards, which was a great humiliation of that day. And then they cut off their robes so that they had to walk naked. And so it was very humiliating. And it was a terrible thing. And David said, OK, I was going to show you a kindness. Now I'm going to beat you up. So David takes revenge on these ungrateful Ammonites. Something's changing. Now everybody knows what's in chapter 11, don't you? David, the man after God's own heart. David, who sat before the Lord in humility, basking in the promise that God had given to him. David. The apple of God's eye. David commits adultery and murder all in one chapter of your Bible. David did that. Wow. What happened to David? David was human. And if a man as admirable as David was could sin like that, what about you? What about me? The things which were written aforetime were written for our learning. And we need to take heed to the things that we learn. If David could fall, I can fall, you can fall. So we need to heed the warnings of scripture. And David's life is a warning to us as we see it. And then of course, we're gonna move into what comes after that. Because David's life doesn't finish here. And so we see, and some would do, and I think you can count it, when Nathan the prophet comes and confronts David about what he did in chapter 12, verse one, the Lord sent Nathan unto David and he told him a story, right? And at the end of the story about the man with the sheep and the rich man that came and stole his sheep, Nathan tells David, by the way, David condemned the man that stole the poor man's sheep. Nathan tells David, thou art the man, right? What did David say right after Nathan said, thou art the man? Hm. I have sinned against the Lord." David, sinned against the Lord, hid this probably for some would say a year. And I won't go into everything that happened because you all know what happened. He pretended like he was doing a favor to the widow after he killed her husband, or had him killed. And yet, when he is confronted with his sin, look at David's reaction. See, this is the difference between someone whose heart God has touched and not. Because even though David did these horrible things, as soon as he was confronted, we understand what was going on in David's heart during that whole time, don't we? He doesn't say, get out of my face, Nathan. He doesn't say, well, you know, if you were in my position, then you might have done the same thing. He doesn't make excuse. And isn't that what most of us do when we're confronted about our sin? We have a reason for our weakness. We have a reason why we sinned. David, Put up no reason. He put up nothing. He simply admitted what he did. He confessed. And this is what the Christian life is about, folks. A Christian is not sinless. And I hate that bumper sticker. You all know that bumper sticker? that says, I'm not perfect, I'm just forgiven. Number one, it's not just forgiven. I'm forgiven. That's a big thing. It's not just. But I'm not perfect. But that's no excuse. Because I'm forgiven, the Apostle Paul said, I'm reaching. I'm not just forgiven, I'm reaching. for what he apprehended me to be. I want to apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. David's reaction to sin tells us, again, a lot about David. And we don't need to follow his sin example, but we need to follow his reaction. Because when we are confronted about our sin, whether it be by the word of God and the Holy Spirit working within us, or whether it be by a friend who cares enough to tell us what's wrong about us, we need to say, I have sinned before the Lord. We need to follow this example as well. And so David repents. And look at Nathan's response. As soon as David confesses his sin, Nathan said, God's forgiven your sin. That's the God we know. That's the God of the Bible. He has the power to do that. Even this. Just imagine if this... If they had television, this would have been everywhere, right? They'd have been writing books about him. They'd have been having tabloids and all that stuff about David. This is just between David and Nathan and God. Therefore, we all know about it now. No television needed. But David repented and God forgave. Now, the other lesson that we learn in the chapters to come is that there are still consequences to David's sin. We can be forgiven, but we can't take away the natural consequences. The principle of sowing and reaping that we see all through our Bible can live in parallel with God's forgiveness. Now, to be forgiven for eternity through Jesus illustrates that very thing because, you know, Romans 3, 24, it's so important for us to understand that God was just. God could be just in justifying sinners. Why? Because he paid that price. We have to understand that. People really need to understand that's what forgiveness is about. That's what justification is about. God doesn't sweep anything under the carpet. He takes care of the payment. He's still righteous in what he does. And so he's righteous in forgiving David. And so Nathan says, you won't die because, by the way, that's what happens to murderers and adulterers under the law. He said, you won't die. But, verse 14, how be it? Because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. That was number one. Now some people would say, because David said, as the law commands in the story, that the man should restore four sheep for the one he stole. And that's just right out of the law, by the way. Some people say David had a fourfold consequence. The words, his own words condemned him. I've counted a few different things and I think I could count four. I might be able to count five but I don't know if it's consequence of this or not. Have you ever counted? The first consequence, obviously, as God says, this child isn't going to live, that was conceived in sin. And the child goes to God. David prays, fasts, begs God to save the life of this child, and God doesn't. And David accepts it. Again, look at the attitude. He knew he sinned. He went to God, confessed, was forgiven, and whatever God brings is right. That's his attitude. And so we see David here chastened in that. The next major thing we see through these chapters is, of course, the horrible sin of one of the sons of David. And a lot of this comes as a result of David's sordid family, which is a mess. And so yeah, even a man after God's own heart can make a mess. And from that mess, of course, Amnon sins. with his half-sister, who was the full sister of Absalom. So Amnon and Absalom go at it. Absalom kills Amnon for that. So how many of those things do you want to count for your four? You can put this all together. But then what happens? Well, then we see a little way down the line, because of this crazy thing that happens between Absalom and Amnon, the half-brothers, who's the next to rebel? Absalom. Now, Absalom says, I'll be the king. And so Absalom starts a rebellion. And you have what? How many chapters you have? 15, and David flees from Jerusalem, and you can just keep going through all these chapters until finally Absalom is killed by Joab against David's wishes, and David now is mourning the loss of another son, Absalom. Even though Absalom rebelled against him, not only personally as his son, but before the nation of Israel rebelled against him. David is still heartbroken over this rebellion of his son. And now the death of his son also puts David at odds with Joab because Joab was part of what they brought to eventually kill Absalom. Finally, as David's getting up there in age, and he wills the kingdom to Solomon, the next son of Bathsheba, by the way, there's another rebellion. One more son. Who is that? Adonijah. You have to get into 1 Kings for all that. But what we see is consequences. David's household, isn't it interesting? God said, I'm going to build you a house. And we know obviously that that promise goes far beyond the household he had at that time. And his household in his near term falls apart because of his sin. We never see a complaint from David about everything that God brings upon him. David understood he didn't deserve anything from God. He didn't deserve that covenant, and he didn't deserve the blessings of God. Yet God blessed David because of who the Lord was, not because of who David was. What lessons we can learn from a man like David, and we need to follow these examples. And then finally in the aftermath of it all, David finally in chapter two of 1 Kings, gives his last warnings to Solomon, and David dies in verse, where is that? I'm still in my old Bible at home. Thank you. 10. David slept with his fathers, was buried in the city of David, and the days that David reigned over Israel were 40 years. Long time to reign. Had a long reign. And then God puts Solomon in his place over the kingdom. And then there's a whole lot more to be fulfilled. of that Davidic covenant. So what do we learn from David? Let me just summarize a few things. You could probably make a list about three times what I'm going to give you. But as I alluded before, even the life that we saw of David before chapter 11 of 1 Samuel, we see a successful man, don't we? Generally speaking, in the eyes of the world, David was a successful man. So what lesson can we learn for our lives? Beware of success. Beware of success. The world we live in clamors after success of some kind or another. It might not even be You know, these days it's mostly you're successful if you have a lot of money. Or you're successful if you have a lot of people that think you're famous. And sometimes that goes together if you live in Hollywood or, you know, something like that. This is how people measure success. And we all have to be aware of success. You might not ever be rich and you might not ever be famous, but you can have success in your life. And when that success comes, we need to be so, in fact, look in the mirror and remember who I am. And don't ever let that success go to your head. Always remember that what I have or what I am is because of the Lord my God. It's not because of me. or we go the way of David. Beware of success. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10. You've probably heard this before. In fact, verse 13, you've probably maybe even memorized. When I first got saved, my sister gave me a little packet. It had five verses in it. Verse 13 was one of them for me to memorize. And it's a great verse. But look at verse 12. By the way, no, let's look at verse 11 first because that goes right along with what we read in Romans when we started. Now all of these things happened unto them, speaking of the Israelites as a nation, for and samples, examples, for they are written for our admonition, that's a warning, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore, ah, when you look and see that word, you gotta look back to see why. It says wherefore or therefore, gotta see what it's there for. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Are you successful? Take heed lest you fall. Take heed. David, the man after God's own heart. Successful. Did not take heed from that rooftop and he fell. How about us? Do you have success somewhere? Be careful. Don't let it, as we say, go to your head. Instead, let the word of God dwell in our hearts. And beware of success, knowing that anyone, anyone can fall. As long as we're here in this life, there's an old man that we're supposed to put off, and there's a new man that we're supposed to put on, and we still have to make that decision every day. Even though God tells us very clearly, you don't have to follow that old man. Sin shall not have dominion over you. You're not under the law, but under grace. What does that mean? That means I now have the power to obey God instead of just trying externally to fulfill this law that slew me, Paul says, because I am basically a sinner. Left to myself, I will sin. Left to God and his spirit, he'll give me the power to say no. And therefore, in verse 13, when we are tempted, not if, when, when we are tempted, what does verse 13 tell us to do? Well, there is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man. Did you ever hear somebody say, but you don't understand, I'm different? No, you're not. We're all the same. We're all subject. Now, the thing that tempts you more than it tempts me, that might be a different issue for both of us. But you know what? I have one of those over here. We all have the same problem. But there's no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man, because temptation is common to man. but God is faithful, who won't suffer you to be tempted above that which you're able, literally, which you're able to bear. But what will he do with that temptation? What's it say? Make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. What's the next verse tell him to do in the context? Flee, idolatry. Flee, that's a good word for us to remember. Because we need to flee. Here, the subject that he's talking about to the Corinthians is idolatry. But you can fill that blank in with anything you want it to be that might tempt you. Flee. Which way do you flee? To that way to escape that God showed you. He'll show you if you want to see it. See, our problem is that we don't feel the pain of temptation oftentimes, do we? If David from the rooftop would have known this verse, wasn't written yet, but if he'd have known this principle, he'd have said, oh, eyes turn this way, right? But he didn't, did he? He did what we do. We play with the temptation. You know, Jesus was tempted and said no. There's no sin in being tempted, but there's sin in playing with the temptation. And that's what finally will get you. Don't play with temptation. Look for the way to escape. Find the way to escape. It's there. David didn't, but we can learn from David. Know, then, your own weaknesses. We all have them. Long time ago, I had suggested to me, I can't remember who it was, that just sit down and write down all your sins. First you say, oh, let's see, I can't think of anything, right? Oh, then you start, then it just, you'll fill pages, right? If you really are honest and really let that go. But that's important for us to understand. Not so much just to discourage ourselves. but to recognize our vulnerabilities. And now, I go to the scripture and I go to the Lord and I say, help me. I need help here. And by the way, maybe this year I need help here, next year I need help there, right? Don't think you're standing all the time. When you think you licked something, beware. We're all susceptible. And therefore, one more, James chapter four. James chapter four. And I would recommend you start at the beginning of the whole chapter, I won't do that. But after James admonishes us He says, verse 7, submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. What a promise. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts. Note it's your hands and your heart. They have to be together. Your outside has to match your inside. and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. And finally, we're back to that characteristic. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. Hopefully these lessons from David can help all of us tonight, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much that you've given us so much to teach us, and yet we need to still learn it. As we read our Bibles and we see all the things that you've given us, both by precept, principle, and example, show us what to follow and show us what to shun. Help our hearts to be close to yours. Let us hear your spirit. Keep us in your word daily so that you might speak to our hearts and our minds, showing us those ways that we need to escape and showing us how to walk before you in the land of the living. Thank you, Lord, that the power is not of us. The power is of God. And so give us obedient hearts and faithful hearts, in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you.