WEBVTT 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:06.500 I've got a little survey that I want to do. This 00:00:06.500 --> 00:00:08.519 is a raising your hand survey. Are you ready? 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.259 I want to know where all of the first born are. 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:15.279 If you're a first born, raise your hand. Okay. 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:20.300 These people think they're in charge. Okay. All 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:24.679 right. Are there any babies in the, any, where's 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:27.280 the babies of the family? The last born. Okay. 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:32.130 Okay. Very good. What about the middle children? 00:00:32.969 --> 00:00:37.350 We love you too. We're glad you're here. Yeah, 00:00:37.869 --> 00:00:40.450 very good. There's a lot of, there's something, 00:00:40.789 --> 00:00:43.270 and then Justin, you said you're an only kid. 00:00:43.409 --> 00:00:45.070 Are there any only kids in here? Okay, there's 00:00:45.070 --> 00:00:46.869 a couple of you. Oh, we love you. That's great. 00:00:47.170 --> 00:00:51.649 Okay. There are, there's something to birth order. 00:00:52.310 --> 00:00:54.590 I, some people make a big deal out of it. I didn't 00:00:54.590 --> 00:00:58.000 really think much of it until. I became a dad, 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:00.200 and I've kind of seen some of the different things 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:04.840 that happen with birth order in our family. Growing 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:07.739 up, it was just me and my brother. I'm the oldest, 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:13.700 and he's the youngest. And Megan, my wife, is 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:17.640 the baby. So an older married the youngest, and 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:20.640 she's the youngest of four, and her other three 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:25.099 are brothers. So she is spoiled, is what she 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:29.459 is. And is she glaring at me? She's glaring at 00:01:29.459 --> 00:01:31.640 me, isn't she? Okay, I'm a little scared. Anyway, 00:01:33.379 --> 00:01:35.420 so I didn't think about it there very much, but 00:01:35.420 --> 00:01:38.200 when I got kids, I started noticing things. One 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:43.280 day we were on the playground and Milana, my 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:45.980 oldest, did the monkey, you guys know monkey 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:49.010 bars? She did the monkey bars. and she did it 00:01:49.010 --> 00:01:50.730 for the first time and I was so excited. I'm 00:01:50.730 --> 00:01:52.769 like, good job, Melana, you did it. You didn't 00:01:52.769 --> 00:01:54.969 think you could do it and you did it. And she's 00:01:54.969 --> 00:01:58.049 two years older than Audrey and Audrey, this 00:01:58.049 --> 00:01:59.810 is literally Melana's first time doing it. Well, 00:01:59.810 --> 00:02:01.290 Audrey just climbs right up and then she does 00:02:01.290 --> 00:02:05.510 it right after her, no struggle. And your kids 00:02:05.510 --> 00:02:06.890 are different, aren't they? They're not all the 00:02:06.890 --> 00:02:11.310 same. But I think I was so proud of Melana celebrating 00:02:11.310 --> 00:02:13.349 her and then Audrey just does it and she's two 00:02:13.349 --> 00:02:15.969 years younger and she saw the challenge of doing 00:02:15.969 --> 00:02:19.120 that as doable. and got to see her sister celebrate 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.419 for it. So she went up and did it. And in short, 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:25.159 there are different advantages for different, 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:27.659 you know, ages, different birth order, you know, 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:29.900 kids that are first born get a lot of their parents' 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.960 attention and then never a middle child or a 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:34.759 younger child get, they get divided attention. 00:02:35.379 --> 00:02:37.580 But the middle child, my daughter, the younger 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:41.240 child got the power of example. She got to see 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:44.479 Melana do something. She saw this challenge as 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:46.939 doable and got to see her sister celebrated for 00:02:46.939 --> 00:02:50.159 it. And in short, the second born get the advantage 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:53.599 that comes from the power of example, right? 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.280 You get to see somebody do what you didn't, you 00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:59.580 know, get that someone your age doing that. Sometimes 00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:06.569 example is good. Sometimes example is bad. That 00:03:06.569 --> 00:03:12.409 can be true. You can learn from both. Now, some 00:03:12.409 --> 00:03:16.669 have said you can live and learn or you can listen 00:03:16.669 --> 00:03:21.569 and learn, right? And living and learning without 00:03:21.569 --> 00:03:24.210 listening and learning can really be painful. 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:28.270 Who agrees? You can go by the School of Hard 00:03:28.270 --> 00:03:30.469 Knocks if you want. Anybody ever been to that 00:03:30.469 --> 00:03:32.710 school? We have any graduates from the School 00:03:32.710 --> 00:03:36.969 of Hard Knocks, right? The truth is we all learn 00:03:36.969 --> 00:03:40.330 both ways. Sometimes some things we learn by 00:03:40.330 --> 00:03:42.969 the example of others. We learn by someone going 00:03:42.969 --> 00:03:45.009 through something and going, I'll never do that. 00:03:45.289 --> 00:03:47.469 Like, thank you for enduring that pain so that 00:03:47.469 --> 00:03:51.439 I don't have to. Sometimes we hear. From our 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:53.280 parents, we hear from people who are wiser than 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.759 us and they teach us stuff and then we can learn 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:58.879 that way. And we really are a mix of both of 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:00.919 those. Nobody's perfect. Some of us have learned 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:03.879 the hard way. Some of us have learned the easier 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.180 way, but we all learn, right? Some of you don't 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:07.979 learn. Some of us don't learn. Sometimes we don't 00:04:07.979 --> 00:04:11.800 learn and that can be painful too. But we certainly 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:15.360 live in a time where we have a lot of advantages 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.500 from others. How many of you guys have ever learned 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:21.589 how to do something that you needed fixed maybe 00:04:21.589 --> 00:04:24.209 who's learned something on YouTube anybody ever 00:04:24.209 --> 00:04:27.170 do that you got to fix something and like you 00:04:27.170 --> 00:04:29.310 search for it and you can be specific like how 00:04:29.310 --> 00:04:32.009 do you check we have these door handles if you 00:04:32.009 --> 00:04:35.529 ever see a Toyota Sienna from the early 2000s 00:04:35.529 --> 00:04:38.790 late 90s almost all of them have the handles 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:41.230 different color than the rest of the car because 00:04:41.230 --> 00:04:43.550 that particular I'm sorry Toyota if I'm messing 00:04:43.550 --> 00:04:46.329 you up here but that the handles come they actually 00:04:46.329 --> 00:04:50.699 break really easily and so I held the laptop 00:04:50.699 --> 00:04:55.360 with the YouTube how to fix a Toyota Sienna door 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:57.560 handle. And I held it while my wife fixed it 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:00.959 for us. It was really nice. I'm glad I can be 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:05.819 a help to her, right? She's so handy to have 00:05:05.819 --> 00:05:09.360 around. It's really cool. But my point is like 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:11.860 we can look and we can get the example and we 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:13.579 can learn and we have that all over the place, 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:15.740 don't we? Like we live in a time where books 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:18.899 aren't a new technology. You can go find out 00:05:18.899 --> 00:05:22.040 how to run a business like this guy who's done 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:25.259 a great job on it and you can learn how to do 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:27.100 your finances from someone who's rich and knows 00:05:27.100 --> 00:05:30.139 what they're doing. You can learn a lot of things 00:05:30.139 --> 00:05:31.920 in a lot of ways and that can be an incredible 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:35.740 thing. So we have a lot of advantages that way. 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:40.879 We certainly live in a time where we can do that. 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:43.939 Now, this is stated, this idea of learning from 00:05:43.939 --> 00:05:46.920 other people's examples is stated in the text 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:48.300 that we're gonna look at today. If you have your 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:50.319 Bibles, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 if you're 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:53.399 not already there. Our Bible reading each week 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:57.420 is that we do before the, as we, as part of our 00:05:57.420 --> 00:06:00.259 worship, becomes what I end up teaching on most 00:06:00.259 --> 00:06:06.250 of the time. And this is the 21st sermon. that 00:06:06.250 --> 00:06:08.730 I've done as we've gone through the book of First 00:06:08.730 --> 00:06:11.610 Corinthians. We're kind of coming back to it 00:06:11.610 --> 00:06:13.170 now after the Easter season. By the way, we had 00:06:13.170 --> 00:06:15.350 a great Easter, didn't we? It was amazing. It 00:06:15.350 --> 00:06:18.209 was so cool. We had, I think, 570 people that 00:06:18.209 --> 00:06:21.470 came and God really worked well. Not that numbers, 00:06:21.810 --> 00:06:24.569 people, we count people because people count, 00:06:24.649 --> 00:06:26.850 amen. So I'm not upset about that, but that's 00:06:26.850 --> 00:06:29.089 just God bless. We had people get saved. God 00:06:29.089 --> 00:06:31.550 did some amazing things. But we're coming now 00:06:31.550 --> 00:06:33.810 back to this study in First Corinthians. And 00:06:33.810 --> 00:06:35.829 just to remind you, or if you're here for the 00:06:35.829 --> 00:06:39.110 first time, is we've done this to just kind of 00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:42.509 see where we are. Paul's writing this letter 00:06:42.509 --> 00:06:45.129 to a church called Corinth. It's one of three 00:06:45.129 --> 00:06:47.290 that he wrote to them. We have two of them. One 00:06:47.290 --> 00:06:52.269 of them is, we don't have. But he is, he's doing 00:06:52.269 --> 00:06:54.050 a couple things. In the early part of it, he's 00:06:54.050 --> 00:06:56.420 like kind of. correcting them. They were a church 00:06:56.420 --> 00:06:58.660 that made a lot of mistakes. They did a lot of 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:00.560 sins. They weren't doing things all right way. 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:05.139 You see Brion Baptist Church and I've seen, you 00:07:05.139 --> 00:07:06.560 know, all these different, you'll hardly ever 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.540 see a church named Corinthian Baptist Church, 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:10.600 right? Because the church was a messed up church. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:14.199 They had a lot of problems. And then they also 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:17.800 had written him to ask him questions. He had 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:21.269 started their church. And he had won many of 00:07:21.269 --> 00:07:23.649 them to Christ. They were Christians because 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:27.490 of his influence through the power of the gospel 00:07:27.490 --> 00:07:32.410 and the Holy Spirit. But they had asked him some 00:07:32.410 --> 00:07:33.970 questions. They had questions about marriage, 00:07:34.129 --> 00:07:36.670 about divorce, and about singleness. They had 00:07:36.670 --> 00:07:38.949 specific questions about eating meat that was 00:07:38.949 --> 00:07:43.089 offered to idols. This brought up this subject 00:07:43.089 --> 00:07:46.389 of the limits of our freedom in Christ. And Paul 00:07:46.389 --> 00:07:49.680 had answered, saying that an idol was nothing, 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:52.860 that idols are just carved figurines that somebody 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:57.110 makes. Eating meat that's offered to idols if 00:07:57.110 --> 00:07:58.850 you're not doing it to honor that idol if you 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:00.670 just got meat at the market that was Discounted 00:08:00.670 --> 00:08:02.050 because that's this was something that would 00:08:02.050 --> 00:08:04.529 happen there Meet in the market that was discounted 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:06.930 because it had been used in worship or whatever. 00:08:07.209 --> 00:08:10.389 That's not a sin He says we have freedom to participate 00:08:10.389 --> 00:08:12.970 in that Paul also said that we must be wise in 00:08:12.970 --> 00:08:15.649 those areas because While it may not be a sin 00:08:15.649 --> 00:08:18.889 to exercise your freedoms in Christ It can cause 00:08:18.889 --> 00:08:21.389 people to sin and create problems when you do 00:08:21.389 --> 00:08:24.069 that He told them that they should consider forgoing 00:08:24.069 --> 00:08:27.529 their freedoms if it caused harm to another brother 00:08:27.529 --> 00:08:32.309 with their own participation in actual sin or 00:08:32.309 --> 00:08:35.590 violating their own consciences. He then used 00:08:35.590 --> 00:08:37.830 himself as an example. That was chapter eight. 00:08:37.830 --> 00:08:40.690 And then in the chapter nine, he says, I have 00:08:40.690 --> 00:08:43.350 some freedoms. I have a freedom as a minister 00:08:43.350 --> 00:08:47.110 to the gospel. to be supported by my gospel ministry. 00:08:47.149 --> 00:08:49.730 But I've decided, he said, not to exercise that 00:08:49.730 --> 00:08:52.090 freedom. I didn't take any money from any of 00:08:52.090 --> 00:08:54.450 you. I've lived off of the work that I do that 00:08:54.450 --> 00:08:56.450 isn't the gospel, because I don't want there 00:08:56.450 --> 00:08:59.730 to be any, I don't want to be any hindrance to 00:08:59.730 --> 00:09:01.309 the gospel going out. That's what he said in 00:09:01.309 --> 00:09:03.529 chapter nine. So he's given the example of, hey, 00:09:03.529 --> 00:09:05.570 I have freedoms, just like you have freedoms. 00:09:05.830 --> 00:09:08.450 But if my freedoms cause somebody else to sin 00:09:08.450 --> 00:09:11.929 or limit my ability to share Christ to other 00:09:11.929 --> 00:09:15.379 people, I'm not gonna do those. What a good example 00:09:15.379 --> 00:09:18.220 for us. That's kind of where he ended in chapter 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:21.379 nine. When we get to chapter 10, Paul continues 00:09:21.379 --> 00:09:24.379 with this theme of freedom in Christ and idolatry. 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:28.100 He does this in large part by using an example. 00:09:28.259 --> 00:09:30.940 This is why I brought up examples. He is using 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:35.279 an example of the wilderness generation, the 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:40.320 children of Israel that came out of Egypt, delivered 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:43.700 by God through Moses. and he's pointing to these 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:47.399 people in the Old Testament as a bad example. 00:09:47.620 --> 00:09:50.580 Now one of the reasons, this is just one of the 00:09:50.580 --> 00:09:52.519 many reasons that I believe that this Bible is 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:54.299 actually written not just by man but written 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:59.279 by God, is that if man alone wrote it, all of 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:03.820 the examples would be good examples, okay? They 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:05.960 wouldn't give, I wouldn't write, I'm gonna write 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:09.159 and I'm gonna tell you how bad I am, right? That 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.659 usually doesn't happen. these are kind of bad 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:16.419 examples that Paul is pointing to. And there's 00:10:16.419 --> 00:10:18.639 clarity here about God's perspective on their 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:23.519 behavior. And Paul says, this ought to be a example 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:26.500 to you. I'm writing these things, these things 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:29.460 are written in the Old Testament as an example 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:33.799 to us. We don't have to live and learn. We can 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.019 listen and learn. Who thinks that's good? You 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:40.360 can listen, you can read. The word of God, God 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:43.580 wrote a book. And when he says don't, what he's 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:46.399 saying is don't hurt yourself. When you choose 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:48.639 to sin, you choose to suffer. I don't want you 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.120 to suffer for sin. If you're in our Sunday school 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:53.799 today, he says, if you're gonna suffer, don't 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:56.700 suffer for evil's sake. Maybe you need to suffer 00:10:56.700 --> 00:10:58.519 for Christ. Don't suffer for being an idiot. 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:03.679 That's kind of in the Bible. Okay, so. We don't 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:05.980 have to live and learn. We can listen and look 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:09.279 and read and observe and learn so as to live 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:11.480 without the same consequences that they had. 00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:14.940 So today's message, if you listen, could be an 00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:17.899 exercise in pain avoidance. Who's for pain avoidance? 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:20.779 I'm for pain avoidance. Let's do that, okay? 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.980 Who is for avoiding pain, right? We will overcome 00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:29.240 temptation and avoid that pain. When we heed 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:31.659 the example of the wilderness generation, that's 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:34.080 the sermon in a sentence. What was their example? 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:37.299 Well, let's look at what he says. Number one, 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.600 these people, this wilderness generation, they 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:44.580 experienced the work of God. They experienced 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:47.600 the work of God. Let's dive in, verse one, chapter 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:50.879 10. If you're there, say amen. Okay, here we 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:54.080 go. First Corinthians 10, one, here it is. Moreover, 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:57.779 brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant 00:11:57.779 --> 00:12:01.200 how that all our fathers were under the cloud, 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.559 and all passed through the sea, and all were 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:07.299 baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 00:12:07.779 --> 00:12:10.279 and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:13.580 did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they 00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:15.820 drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:20.289 and that rock was Christ." Now, Many of you have 00:12:20.289 --> 00:12:23.169 heard the story of Exodus in the Old Testament 00:12:23.169 --> 00:12:25.629 of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Exodus 00:12:25.629 --> 00:12:28.370 is the second book in the order that we put in 00:12:28.370 --> 00:12:31.549 the Old Testament. If you're old enough, if you've 00:12:31.549 --> 00:12:33.649 been to church as a kid, you think of Moses as 00:12:33.649 --> 00:12:36.429 either Charlton Heston, a flannel graph figure 00:12:36.429 --> 00:12:39.649 or a vegetable. It's one of those three, depending 00:12:39.649 --> 00:12:43.309 on what your generation is, right? So this may 00:12:43.309 --> 00:12:45.830 not be your first time hearing about... God delivering 00:12:45.830 --> 00:12:48.850 his people out of Egypt. But if it is your first 00:12:48.850 --> 00:12:50.529 time hearing about this, I'm glad you're here, 00:12:50.909 --> 00:12:53.929 don't let that bother you. What gets summarized 00:12:53.929 --> 00:12:57.389 in four verses here is what God's people, the 00:12:57.389 --> 00:13:00.450 Jews, experienced and what he is describing in 00:13:00.450 --> 00:13:03.610 the Old Testament book of Exodus. God in Genesis 00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:06.950 had promised a nation through a man named Abraham. 00:13:07.649 --> 00:13:10.409 He told him that, Abraham, that he would have 00:13:10.409 --> 00:13:13.610 a great nation. He would have as many kids as 00:13:13.610 --> 00:13:15.889 the sand of the sea and the stars in the sky. 00:13:15.889 --> 00:13:17.750 He's gonna have all these kids. What was interesting 00:13:17.750 --> 00:13:20.330 is when he gave him that promise, he had no kids, 00:13:20.590 --> 00:13:23.929 right? And he was old. He was like really old 00:13:23.929 --> 00:13:26.750 and had no kids. His wife was old. And so God 00:13:26.750 --> 00:13:30.090 made him this incredible promise. God did what 00:13:30.090 --> 00:13:32.629 he said. He promised him those people. He also 00:13:32.629 --> 00:13:35.509 promised him a land. The Abrahamic covenant, 00:13:35.570 --> 00:13:38.529 that promise was you're gonna have a bunch of 00:13:39.410 --> 00:13:41.610 a nation, you're gonna have many nations that 00:13:41.610 --> 00:13:44.190 come from you. Also, you're gonna have a land, 00:13:44.889 --> 00:13:49.690 this promised land, right? And so Genesis tells 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:52.230 us about Abraham, then his son Isaac, then his 00:13:52.230 --> 00:13:57.590 son Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel, 00:13:57.950 --> 00:14:02.950 right? And Israel had 12 sons. And those 12 sons, 00:14:04.190 --> 00:14:06.870 the last of those 12 sons was a guy named Joseph. 00:14:07.230 --> 00:14:10.769 And Joseph was his favorite son. In fact, that 00:14:10.769 --> 00:14:13.570 was kind of memorialized famously by this coat 00:14:13.570 --> 00:14:16.669 of many. You guys have watched these too, okay. 00:14:17.149 --> 00:14:20.649 And so he has this coat of many colors and his 00:14:20.649 --> 00:14:24.809 brothers hate Joseph, the 12 sons of Israel, 00:14:25.009 --> 00:14:27.149 the 12 sons of Jacob. These 11 of them, they 00:14:27.149 --> 00:14:30.309 hate Joseph. And so they sell him into slavery. 00:14:30.570 --> 00:14:31.750 Now I don't know if you've ever been mean to 00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:34.409 your brother or sister, but you probably never. 00:14:34.590 --> 00:14:36.830 and sold him into slavery. That's what happened. 00:14:37.149 --> 00:14:39.470 He ends up going to Egypt. They think he's dead. 00:14:39.629 --> 00:14:42.350 They tell their father he's gonna die. Long story 00:14:42.350 --> 00:14:46.570 short, he goes from being a slave to being in 00:14:46.570 --> 00:14:49.649 jail to becoming number two in the nation. The 00:14:49.649 --> 00:14:51.309 Bible's super interesting. You should go back 00:14:51.309 --> 00:14:54.009 and read. It's an incredible story. And God uses 00:14:54.009 --> 00:14:57.730 Joseph to preserve his family. Eventually Israel 00:14:57.730 --> 00:15:01.460 and all his kids. came to Egypt, they came to 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:04.379 the land of Goshen because God used Joseph to 00:15:04.379 --> 00:15:07.840 execute a plan to save Egypt and through saving 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:13.000 Egypt, save his family. But they came out of 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:17.559 that promised land. And over time, the 70, the 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:20.240 dozens that showed up in Egypt became hundreds 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.240 and thousands and hundreds of thousands and even 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.480 millions. And there came a Pharaoh that didn't 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.340 remember all the good that the... Joseph and 00:15:27.340 --> 00:15:29.440 his family had done, and they just saw him as 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:31.500 a threat. So what do they do? They put him into 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:36.559 slavery. They made him work. They endured forced 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:38.919 labor and all the abuses that come with it. They 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.919 endured Pharaoh wanting to kill their kids. And 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:44.759 then God raised up Moses to deliver them, and 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.820 boy, and this is my point, boy, did they see 00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:53.200 God work. God sent through Moses plagues to Egypt. 00:15:53.610 --> 00:15:56.509 All the plagues impacting false idols or false 00:15:56.509 --> 00:16:01.070 gods that the pagan Egyptians worshiped. They 00:16:01.070 --> 00:16:03.289 worshiped the Nile River, and God turned that 00:16:03.289 --> 00:16:06.529 river into blood. They worshiped the sun, and 00:16:06.529 --> 00:16:09.250 one of the plagues was darkness. You know what 00:16:09.250 --> 00:16:12.610 God was saying is? They're not real, I'm real. 00:16:13.889 --> 00:16:16.490 Don't worship pagan made -up gods. You wanna 00:16:16.490 --> 00:16:20.429 see something cool, here I am, right? They were 00:16:20.429 --> 00:16:22.490 involved in ancestor worship and the last of 00:16:22.490 --> 00:16:24.110 the plagues was the worst, the death of every 00:16:24.110 --> 00:16:27.690 firstborn son. Eventually Pharaoh said they could 00:16:27.690 --> 00:16:31.450 go. He's like, just get out of here. Leave, right? 00:16:31.870 --> 00:16:33.909 And at the time of their leaving, this is amazing, 00:16:34.309 --> 00:16:37.129 the Egyptians that were there took out their 00:16:37.129 --> 00:16:38.750 earrings and their gold and their riches and 00:16:38.750 --> 00:16:41.610 they gave it to their slaves as they left. Hey, 00:16:41.929 --> 00:16:43.950 you gotta go and we're gonna finance your going. 00:16:44.090 --> 00:16:48.590 Get out of here. No more plagues. Eventually 00:16:48.590 --> 00:16:51.929 they came as they were leaving to the Red Sea. 00:16:52.389 --> 00:16:56.330 Pharaoh changed his mind, as politicians tend 00:16:56.330 --> 00:17:00.230 to do, and he gave chase to this people. Hey, 00:17:00.429 --> 00:17:03.289 our workforce is leaving, what have I done? And 00:17:03.289 --> 00:17:06.670 he chases after them. And God was leading them, 00:17:06.670 --> 00:17:09.730 this is amazing, in the Exodus, God was leading 00:17:09.730 --> 00:17:12.549 them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar 00:17:12.549 --> 00:17:17.890 of fire by night. God physically then, as the 00:17:17.890 --> 00:17:20.710 Egyptians were coming, put his cloud and his 00:17:20.710 --> 00:17:24.410 fire between the Egyptians that were coming to 00:17:24.410 --> 00:17:26.609 kill the Israelites, or take them back, and the 00:17:26.609 --> 00:17:29.630 Israelites. And then God told Moses, I want you 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:31.349 to take your staff and put it over the Red Sea. 00:17:31.690 --> 00:17:34.890 The Red Sea parted right down the middle, and 00:17:34.890 --> 00:17:37.450 the children of Israel walked through on dry 00:17:37.450 --> 00:17:40.009 ground. When the last of the Israelites got to 00:17:40.009 --> 00:17:42.569 the other side, the water came back and killed 00:17:42.569 --> 00:17:46.200 the entire. This is awesome. The entire, this 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:47.740 would make a good movie. Have you guys seen this? 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:55.279 The whole army is gone, right? And then God had 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:57.259 delivered them. Had he delivered them in a way 00:17:57.259 --> 00:18:02.220 that was very dramatic? Yeah. What is it? Cecil 00:18:02.220 --> 00:18:05.680 B. DeMille or whatever? Like, is it incredible? 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:10.240 And then he continued to deliver them through 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:12.930 the wilderness. He provided bread. What was the 00:18:12.930 --> 00:18:17.490 name of the bread? Manna. He provided quail, 00:18:17.750 --> 00:18:21.109 food to feed them. He provided water through 00:18:21.109 --> 00:18:23.470 a rock to give them water and quench their thirst. 00:18:24.089 --> 00:18:28.089 God had freed them. He had financed their journey. 00:18:28.609 --> 00:18:30.869 He had delivered them from certain death with 00:18:30.869 --> 00:18:34.200 a famine. Then. They became slaves, but then 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:36.460 he freed them. He financed their journey. He 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:38.779 provided plagues for their enemies. He provided 00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:41.680 leadership through Moses. He provided protection 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:45.420 from Pharaoh. He provided provision for their 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:47.700 bellies and directions from his presence. Had 00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:51.000 God shown up? God had shown up in amazing ways. 00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:57.380 Had they experienced God? They had experienced 00:18:57.380 --> 00:19:00.059 God in more like tangible ways than maybe we 00:19:00.059 --> 00:19:04.640 might feel like we have, right? Have you ever 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:08.299 wanted like a cloud from God to take you to the 00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:09.900 next step? Like, I don't know which job should 00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:11.400 I take? And then like, there's a cloud going 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:13.859 this way, okay. Who thinks that would be cool, 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.200 right? Like that kind of direction from God. 00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:19.019 Like they had experienced the visible, physical, 00:19:19.819 --> 00:19:23.680 miraculous, incredible provision of God. They 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.829 had experienced it. And this is what Paul's referring 00:19:26.829 --> 00:19:32.410 to in this verse. And he says five times, and 00:19:32.410 --> 00:19:35.650 on the next slide, I think I highlight it. He 00:19:35.650 --> 00:19:37.589 says, and this is what the point he's trying 00:19:37.589 --> 00:19:40.869 to make. I don't want you to be ignorant how 00:19:40.869 --> 00:19:45.809 that all our fathers run the crowd. That whole 00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:49.390 generation, there's nobody that was like, I wonder 00:19:49.390 --> 00:19:55.920 if God does miracles. Does this God exist? Does 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:59.559 he do anything tangible? They knew it. All of 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:04.119 them were under the cloud. All of them passed 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:08.220 through the sea. All were baptized unto Moses 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:11.400 in the cloud and the sea and did all eat the 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:14.720 same spiritual meat and did all drink the same 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.539 spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual 00:20:16.539 --> 00:20:19.940 rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. 00:20:21.130 --> 00:20:24.529 They were baptized or immersed into Moses. They 00:20:24.529 --> 00:20:26.470 followed Moses into the wilderness because of 00:20:26.470 --> 00:20:29.650 the obvious providence of God through those plagues, 00:20:29.789 --> 00:20:31.309 the deliverance through the sea and the direction 00:20:31.309 --> 00:20:33.410 from the cloud. They were baptized in the moment 00:20:33.410 --> 00:20:36.930 into Moses in the sense that he introduced God's 00:20:36.930 --> 00:20:39.450 revelation of the Old Covenant, the law, the 00:20:39.450 --> 00:20:42.210 Ten Commandments of God. Their identity was with 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:45.549 Moses as their God -given, God -ordained leader. 00:20:45.990 --> 00:20:47.990 That was so cool to see those people baptized 00:20:47.990 --> 00:20:51.180 today, wasn't it? And man, what an amazing thing. 00:20:51.740 --> 00:20:54.359 When people get baptized, they're identifying 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:58.180 with Christ. He was alive, he was buried, he 00:20:58.180 --> 00:21:01.319 rose again. If any man be in Christ, he's a new 00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:04.319 creature. The old is gone, the new has come. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:07.339 When you see that, you're identifying with who? 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:11.200 Jesus, right? So he says, they're identified, 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:14.220 these guys were identified with Moses. How? Moses 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:16.500 is the one speaking on behalf. He wants us to 00:21:16.500 --> 00:21:19.500 go, so we're following. Moses, we're identified 00:21:19.500 --> 00:21:21.700 with him. And Paul uses that language of going 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:23.380 through the sea. It's kind of like a picture 00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:27.160 of this water, this baptism. Hey, we're with 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:30.319 Moses now. We're with God because God is with 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:32.400 Moses. We're with Moses. That's the idea. Do 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.680 you get it? It's not some weird baptism, some 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.299 other baptism. God had provided for them spiritually 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:42.079 and supernaturally. He provided the food, the 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:46.599 water from the rock. A rock that produced enough 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:48.579 water to bring life to all the people living 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:51.359 in the wilderness. He says here, it's a picture 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:55.980 of Christ. Christ is our source of life and sustenance. 00:21:56.099 --> 00:21:59.559 That's the picture here. So he says, all, all, 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:01.819 all, all, all. They all experienced it. They 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:04.980 all knew it. But in verse number five, there's 00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:10.480 a gigantic but. But with many of them, God was 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:17.920 not well pleased. You get it? For they were overthrown 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.720 in the wilderness. What does that mean? Not everybody 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:27.839 that saw God work ended up going with God. And 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:32.359 as a result, they were overthrown in the wilderness. 00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:38.000 This is described in Exodus 32. In Exodus 20 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:40.319 to 31, God gives Moses the 10 commandments in 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:43.500 the law. When Moses gave the law to the people, 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:47.240 he said, here's the law, they said, we receive 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:50.420 it, we're gonna obey it. That lasted for about 00:22:50.420 --> 00:22:56.200 five minutes, okay? At the end of chapter 31, 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:58.700 verse 18, it says, and he gave unto Moses when 00:22:58.700 --> 00:23:00.880 he had made an end of communing with him on Mount 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:05.299 Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone 00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:09.759 written with the finger of God. Moses had left 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:12.480 in chapter 24, the children of Israel and gone 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:15.259 up to Mount Sinai and received from God his law. 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:18.799 After having given them the basics, the 10 commandments 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:21.900 in Exodus 20, by the end of 24, he goes up and 00:23:21.900 --> 00:23:27.000 gets more. God gives it to him. And then 32, 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:30.059 one, here's what it says. And when the people 00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:34.640 saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:40.910 Mount, how long was his delay? 40 days. How long 00:23:40.910 --> 00:23:44.329 have they been in Egypt under slavery? Hundreds 00:23:44.329 --> 00:23:51.069 of years. Are you getting it? For hundreds of 00:23:51.069 --> 00:23:53.309 years, they have been told God's gonna promise, 00:23:53.509 --> 00:23:55.650 God made a promise to our people, I'll bless 00:23:55.650 --> 00:23:57.410 them that bless thee and curse them that curse 00:23:57.410 --> 00:24:00.769 thee. You're gonna have a nation like the sand 00:24:00.769 --> 00:24:02.309 of the sea and the stars of the sky. You're gonna 00:24:02.309 --> 00:24:04.349 have a promised land. It's a land that's flowing 00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:08.910 with milk and honey. Sounds sticky. It's amazing, 00:24:09.430 --> 00:24:13.769 right? You're gonna get that. And then Moses 00:24:13.769 --> 00:24:17.990 says, I'll be back. He's gone for 40 days. And 00:24:17.990 --> 00:24:22.950 hey, read the rest of the verse. The people gathered 00:24:22.950 --> 00:24:25.289 themselves together unto Aaron and said unto 00:24:25.289 --> 00:24:30.089 him, up. You know what? It's bad. You're a bad 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:32.589 leader if you can be controlled to do the wrong 00:24:32.589 --> 00:24:38.849 thing by your followers. Good leaders do right, 00:24:39.450 --> 00:24:45.089 because it's right. Up, make us gods. Is that 00:24:45.089 --> 00:24:50.170 possible? Can you make a god? Up, make us gods, 00:24:50.369 --> 00:24:54.109 which shall go before us. Which shall go before 00:24:54.109 --> 00:24:57.789 us? Who's going before you? What do you think 00:24:57.789 --> 00:25:00.910 that cloud is up on the mountain? Are you with 00:25:00.910 --> 00:25:06.619 me? For as for this Moses the man that brought 00:25:06.619 --> 00:25:09.579 us up out of the land of Egypt we want not was 00:25:09.579 --> 00:25:15.039 what has become of him What oh? Yeah, that's 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:16.779 God's plan deliver you into the wilderness and 00:25:16.779 --> 00:25:21.640 then take your leader and run away He thinks 00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:23.880 that's a dumb plan like that's obviously not 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:29.019 God's plan Verse 2 and Aaron said unto them You 00:25:29.019 --> 00:25:32.519 people are crazy. I'm not doing it Is that what 00:25:32.519 --> 00:25:36.640 he said? No, he said break off the golden earrings 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.660 which are in the ears of your wives your sons 00:25:38.660 --> 00:25:43.420 your daughters and Bring them unto me Let me 00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:46.220 put that into context. Hey, you know how God 00:25:46.220 --> 00:25:48.819 used the Egyptians to finance you getting out 00:25:48.819 --> 00:25:51.359 of here Because usually slaves don't have gold 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:55.079 earrings and now you all got gold earrings We're 00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:59.740 gonna use that that thing that God provided To 00:25:59.740 --> 00:26:03.410 make something to worship other than God Who's 00:26:03.410 --> 00:26:08.970 with me? Verse three, and all the people break 00:26:08.970 --> 00:26:10.849 off with golden earrings which are in their ears 00:26:10.849 --> 00:26:14.089 and brought them into Aaron and he received them 00:26:14.089 --> 00:26:16.470 at their hand and fashioned it with a graving 00:26:16.470 --> 00:26:23.009 tool. You shall not have before any graven image, 00:26:23.250 --> 00:26:26.150 right? He had a graving tool after he made it 00:26:26.150 --> 00:26:29.170 a molten calf and they said, these be thy gods, 00:26:29.390 --> 00:26:32.329 O Israel. which brought thee out of the land 00:26:32.329 --> 00:26:42.950 of Egypt. Sin makes you stupid. Verse five, and 00:26:42.950 --> 00:26:46.170 when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it 00:26:46.170 --> 00:26:48.569 and Aaron made proclamation and said, tomorrow 00:26:48.569 --> 00:26:52.630 is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early 00:26:52.630 --> 00:26:55.089 on the morrow and offered burnt offerings and 00:26:55.089 --> 00:26:58.190 brought peace offerings. Now they're doing the 00:26:58.190 --> 00:27:00.930 ceremonies that God had taught them. but they're 00:27:00.930 --> 00:27:06.289 doing it to a God that they made up. And the 00:27:06.289 --> 00:27:09.589 people sat down to eat and drink. That's the 00:27:09.589 --> 00:27:13.390 idea of they partied. They're gorging themselves 00:27:13.390 --> 00:27:21.109 and they rose up to play. The play here has this 00:27:21.109 --> 00:27:24.589 idea. Some commentaries even say that this is 00:27:24.589 --> 00:27:28.559 like sexual sin. It's the party, it's lasciviousness, 00:27:28.619 --> 00:27:30.140 it's the party lifestyle and all that goes with 00:27:30.140 --> 00:27:34.700 it. Here's the first lesson. Even though they 00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:39.819 experienced God's providence, God's power, God's 00:27:39.819 --> 00:27:45.359 provision, God's protection, God's freedom, they 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:49.920 were slaves and now they're free, they did something 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:53.839 to bite the hand that fed them. They fought against 00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:58.029 the God that freed them. They used their freedom 00:27:58.029 --> 00:28:04.630 to forsake God's ways. As a result, they were 00:28:04.630 --> 00:28:08.170 all overthrown. First Corinthians tells us and 00:28:08.170 --> 00:28:10.849 Exodus tells us in the wilderness. They did not 00:28:10.849 --> 00:28:12.490 make it to the promised land. There's a whole 00:28:12.490 --> 00:28:15.349 bunch of people that didn't make it. In Exodus 00:28:15.349 --> 00:28:18.970 32, Moses intercedes on their behalf. He destroys 00:28:18.970 --> 00:28:21.869 their idol, he executes many who lead the rebellion, 00:28:22.250 --> 00:28:25.150 and then God sent plagues to them. It's not a 00:28:25.150 --> 00:28:29.369 happy occasion. And here's the lesson for us. 00:28:30.430 --> 00:28:34.730 We may think, if I saw God act like that, I would 00:28:34.730 --> 00:28:39.769 never forsake Christ. If I saw Christ in a pillar, 00:28:39.849 --> 00:28:43.579 in a cloud, in a fire, If he's literally communicating 00:28:43.579 --> 00:28:46.519 to us and showing his hand, if God really did 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:50.180 that, I would never forsake him. We have seen 00:28:50.180 --> 00:28:54.240 more than what they saw. We have access to the 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:56.559 whole of God's word and the evidence of God's 00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:00.079 working in history. They saw God provide, they 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:02.819 saw the Red Sea parted, they saw the cloud and 00:29:02.819 --> 00:29:05.000 the fire leading them and protecting them, yet 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:08.519 they did not all obey. Some disobeyed and the 00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:12.470 results, that they fell in the desert. We who 00:29:12.470 --> 00:29:14.450 know Christ sometimes fight against the will 00:29:14.450 --> 00:29:19.210 of God. We disobey. We take Him for granted. 00:29:21.529 --> 00:29:24.369 He is the Lord and at times we believe that we 00:29:24.369 --> 00:29:28.650 are in charge rather than Him. We have experienced 00:29:28.650 --> 00:29:30.529 freedom much like they have experienced freedom. 00:29:30.849 --> 00:29:33.309 We were enslaved in the world and needed freedom 00:29:33.309 --> 00:29:35.990 that only could be found in Christ. And we did 00:29:35.990 --> 00:29:38.730 find it, yet we mess up, we forget, and as a 00:29:38.730 --> 00:29:46.269 result, we may fall. So here's the lesson. You 00:29:46.269 --> 00:29:50.029 can experience all that they experienced and 00:29:50.029 --> 00:29:55.569 still disobey God. Does that make sense? And 00:29:55.569 --> 00:29:58.109 God, there's no condemnation to those who are 00:29:58.109 --> 00:30:00.769 in Christ Jesus, but there are consequences of 00:30:00.769 --> 00:30:08.259 sin. So don't rebel. Don't be stupid. Don't let 00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:12.559 sin make you stupid. Because of that, number 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:15.400 two, here's the second lesson. They ignored the 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:18.740 will of God. Verse six through 10. Here's what 00:30:18.740 --> 00:30:22.160 Paul says. Now these things were our examples. 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:25.819 You know what he's saying? Listen and learn. 00:30:27.339 --> 00:30:29.980 Don't live and learn, listen and learn. Who thinks 00:30:29.980 --> 00:30:31.779 it's better to live and learn, to listen and 00:30:31.779 --> 00:30:34.099 learn? I'm confusing you. Who's better to listen 00:30:34.099 --> 00:30:37.880 and learn? He's saying pay attention so we don't 00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:40.339 want to the intent that we don't lust after evil 00:30:40.339 --> 00:30:43.859 things as they also lusted neither be ye idolaters 00:30:43.859 --> 00:30:46.279 as those as were some of them as is written the 00:30:46.279 --> 00:30:47.960 people sat down to eat and drink and rose up 00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:50.779 to play neither let us commit fornication as 00:30:50.779 --> 00:30:53.960 some of them committed and fell in one day three 00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:57.500 and twenty thousand neither let us tempt Christ 00:30:57.500 --> 00:31:00.180 as some of them also tempted and were destroyed 00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:05.349 of the serpents neither murmur ye as them Some 00:31:05.349 --> 00:31:07.490 of them also murmured and were destroyed of the 00:31:07.490 --> 00:31:10.569 destroyer. The people that experienced verses 00:31:10.569 --> 00:31:14.029 one and five, one through five, one through four, 00:31:14.490 --> 00:31:17.450 all coming through the sea, all delivered by, 00:31:17.829 --> 00:31:19.910 you know, all receiving the manna and the quail 00:31:19.910 --> 00:31:22.549 and all that Christ had done, those same people 00:31:22.549 --> 00:31:25.210 lusted after evil things in verses seven through 00:31:25.210 --> 00:31:29.859 10. This was written, both here in 1 Corinthians 00:31:29.859 --> 00:31:32.940 and in the Old Testament, to serve to us as examples 00:31:32.940 --> 00:31:36.859 of evil to avoid. Neither is expressed four times. 00:31:37.339 --> 00:31:40.900 You guys see that? He said, neither, verse seven, 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:44.799 be ye idolaters. Neither let us commit fornication. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:49.279 Neither let us lust. Neither let us tempt Christ. 00:31:49.380 --> 00:31:52.740 Neither murmur ye. He's saying, take their example 00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:59.309 and don't do that. Don't do that. You have idolatry. 00:31:59.470 --> 00:32:02.309 Next slide. They have a sin. There's a consequence. 00:32:02.509 --> 00:32:04.930 I gave you a reference. He's saying these things 00:32:04.930 --> 00:32:08.809 are written. They lived and learn. You can listen 00:32:08.809 --> 00:32:13.750 and learn. Avoid number one, idolatry. 3 ,000 00:32:13.750 --> 00:32:17.650 were killed. Another 20 ,000 apparently, if you 00:32:17.650 --> 00:32:19.710 read at the end of chapter 32, fell by the plague. 00:32:19.769 --> 00:32:23.069 They fell in the desert. They died. God hates 00:32:23.069 --> 00:32:28.589 sin. There are consequences to sin. Even those 00:32:28.589 --> 00:32:31.269 who are in Christ can suffer consequences to 00:32:31.269 --> 00:32:35.309 sin. Paul says later in first Corinthians, some 00:32:35.309 --> 00:32:37.349 of you, you're taking the Lord's supper and the 00:32:37.349 --> 00:32:38.789 way you're taking it is you're not discerning 00:32:38.789 --> 00:32:40.170 the body and blood of the Lord, you're just taking 00:32:40.170 --> 00:32:42.609 it out. And for this cause some are weak and 00:32:42.609 --> 00:32:45.529 sickly among you and some sleep. Sleep means 00:32:45.529 --> 00:32:48.269 dead. There still can be consequences. There 00:32:48.269 --> 00:32:52.089 are Christians who through death provide more 00:32:52.089 --> 00:32:58.910 value on this earth than by their living. This 00:32:58.910 --> 00:33:00.970 will bring a lot of more visitors in, won't it? 00:33:01.410 --> 00:33:05.569 Great sermon, Pastor Ben. Yeah. He's saying, 00:33:05.630 --> 00:33:08.730 don't do idolatry. Like Pastor Ben, I don't have 00:33:08.730 --> 00:33:11.009 a little Buddha. I don't have, you know, I don't 00:33:11.009 --> 00:33:13.670 have a bail. I don't have a moleck, you know, 00:33:13.670 --> 00:33:16.109 in my house. Is there something that's getting 00:33:16.109 --> 00:33:19.569 devotion that really should go to God, but you're 00:33:19.569 --> 00:33:22.730 giving it to that? It may not look like some 00:33:22.730 --> 00:33:24.950 weird little God. It may not be a golden calf 00:33:24.950 --> 00:33:30.130 that's graven for some religious ceremony, but 00:33:30.130 --> 00:33:34.490 notice, notice, you guys gotta get this right? 00:33:35.650 --> 00:33:38.970 Did they really care about cows? Were they like 00:33:38.970 --> 00:33:42.109 really in love with cows? What had God just told 00:33:42.109 --> 00:33:45.529 them not to do? No God before me, no graven image. 00:33:46.690 --> 00:33:50.109 Remember my day, don't mess with my name. Honor 00:33:50.109 --> 00:33:54.160 your father and mother. Don't commit adultery, 00:33:54.220 --> 00:33:57.400 don't steal, don't murder, don't bear false witness. 00:33:57.619 --> 00:34:00.859 Are you with me? The God I make up doesn't give 00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:07.059 me any rules. The God I worship over here, I 00:34:07.059 --> 00:34:09.519 like this God better because what I do with this 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:11.800 God, this part of the religion, I get to sit 00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:13.980 down and eat and drink and I get to rise up to 00:34:13.980 --> 00:34:22.289 play. Do you get it? I like the false religion 00:34:22.289 --> 00:34:24.670 better because it doesn't have any expectation 00:34:24.670 --> 00:34:29.449 of me. That God didn't send his son to die for 00:34:29.449 --> 00:34:32.730 you. And by the way, the thing that you're loving 00:34:32.730 --> 00:34:37.170 and want to do will destroy you. God doesn't 00:34:37.170 --> 00:34:39.610 give you the rule because he hates you. He's 00:34:39.610 --> 00:34:43.670 giving you the rule because he loves you. Do 00:34:43.670 --> 00:34:49.949 you get it? Don't do idolatry, don't do, next 00:34:49.949 --> 00:34:57.909 one, fornication, sexual sin. Listen, it's destroying 00:34:57.909 --> 00:35:04.730 our country. Sexual sin is destroying our country. 00:35:05.610 --> 00:35:11.809 It's destroying families, it's destroying marriages, 00:35:12.869 --> 00:35:16.010 it's corrupting our kids, it's dividing our nation. 00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:24.820 Stop! Don't do fornication. Don't tempt Christ. 00:35:27.219 --> 00:35:28.840 You know what tempts Christ? What do you mean? 00:35:29.239 --> 00:35:32.000 God, I love that you died for me. That's where 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:35.579 your Lordship ends. I wanna do what I want. I 00:35:35.579 --> 00:35:39.760 want you to save me, but I don't really want 00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:43.599 you to tell me what I should do with my life. 00:35:45.239 --> 00:35:49.480 Our God's a jealous God. And there's a devotion 00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:51.079 that should go to him that doesn't go to anything 00:35:51.079 --> 00:35:55.820 else. And then murmuring. You know what murmuring 00:35:55.820 --> 00:36:04.159 is? It's complaining. Man, they brought us here. 00:36:04.219 --> 00:36:06.420 I'm so tired of the manna. I'm so tired of the 00:36:06.420 --> 00:36:11.360 quail. Remember in Egypt, they had onions. It 00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:16.039 was so good. When did they become from like California? 00:36:17.320 --> 00:36:23.719 Yeah. It was awesome, bro, you know? And what 00:36:23.719 --> 00:36:25.980 they should be saying is like, we got beaten 00:36:25.980 --> 00:36:28.800 stuff and we were forced to hard labor, but they 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:35.840 had onions. Wasn't this dumb quail, right? Moses, 00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:38.420 you just brought us out here to kill us. And 00:36:38.420 --> 00:36:41.219 now they're mocking the God that provided salvation 00:36:41.219 --> 00:36:45.760 for them and wants to bring them to the promised 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:48.820 land. And guess what? If they would have obeyed, 00:36:48.820 --> 00:36:50.519 they could have gotten there in like a couple 00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:53.480 of weeks, not 40 years wandering in the wilderness. 00:36:54.780 --> 00:36:59.340 Why was this written? For our example. We should 00:36:59.340 --> 00:37:02.719 avoid idolatry, worshiping, prioritizing the 00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:04.920 creature over the creator, fornication, a specific 00:37:04.920 --> 00:37:08.099 kind of idolatry that prioritizes the flesh over 00:37:08.099 --> 00:37:10.440 the spirit at the expense of the spirit. Peter 00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:13.480 says in 2 Peter 2 11, dearly beloved, I beseech 00:37:13.480 --> 00:37:16.440 you as. strangers and pilgrims abstained from 00:37:16.440 --> 00:37:21.420 fleshly lust, which war against the soul. It 00:37:21.420 --> 00:37:24.019 wars against your soul. Three, attempting Christ, 00:37:24.059 --> 00:37:25.659 questioning the goodness and faithfulness of 00:37:25.659 --> 00:37:29.099 God in Christ. Murmuring, expressing doubt about 00:37:29.099 --> 00:37:31.840 the provision of God that exhibits a rebellious 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:35.380 attitude to him. Verbally questioning in an accusing 00:37:35.380 --> 00:37:39.780 way that purposefully ignores the evidence of 00:37:39.780 --> 00:37:43.139 God's goodness and authority. All of these behaviors 00:37:43.139 --> 00:37:46.000 came with a consequence. And that leads us to 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:47.840 the third lesson they teach, and we'll be done. 00:37:48.360 --> 00:37:50.920 Number three, they warn us of the discipline 00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:54.099 of God. The discipline of God. Verse 11, here 00:37:54.099 --> 00:37:58.820 it is. Now all these things happen unto them 00:37:58.820 --> 00:38:03.320 for in samples. And they are written for our 00:38:03.320 --> 00:38:05.579 admonition. You know what admonition, you know 00:38:05.579 --> 00:38:07.920 what it means to admonish? Admonish means stop, 00:38:08.019 --> 00:38:13.409 don't do that. Don't live this way. our admonition 00:38:13.409 --> 00:38:16.030 upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore, 00:38:16.030 --> 00:38:19.869 he says, let him that thinketh he standeth, take 00:38:19.869 --> 00:38:22.210 heed lest he fall. You know what he's saying? 00:38:22.769 --> 00:38:25.789 He's saying, if you think that because you're 00:38:25.789 --> 00:38:28.610 saved, you can live any way you want and do anything 00:38:28.610 --> 00:38:31.050 you want, and God's just gonna be forgiving and 00:38:31.050 --> 00:38:32.929 loving and merciful, and there's no consequences, 00:38:33.449 --> 00:38:35.809 if you think you can stand on your own two feet, 00:38:35.989 --> 00:38:37.789 being rebellious against God in that way, even 00:38:37.789 --> 00:38:41.349 if you're saved, you need to take heed, lest 00:38:41.349 --> 00:38:44.500 you fall. Not fall to temptation, although that's 00:38:44.500 --> 00:38:46.900 part of it, but fall the way they fell. How did 00:38:46.900 --> 00:38:51.380 they fell? They died. There's a consequence to 00:38:51.380 --> 00:38:54.800 sin. It's not just falling in, oh man, I messed 00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:57.559 up again. It's falling in, there's consequences 00:38:57.559 --> 00:39:04.599 to my actions. Do you get it? So he says, verse 00:39:04.599 --> 00:39:09.280 12, take heed, look, be careful, make a plan. 00:39:09.880 --> 00:39:14.269 Think about your life. Choices. Think about the 00:39:14.269 --> 00:39:16.030 thing that could destroy your marriage. Think 00:39:16.030 --> 00:39:17.750 about the thing that could destroy your kids. 00:39:18.070 --> 00:39:19.590 Think about the things that could destroy your 00:39:19.590 --> 00:39:22.690 family. Sin, when it's finished, brings forth 00:39:22.690 --> 00:39:27.050 death. Jesus says it's from the penalty of sin, 00:39:27.409 --> 00:39:29.510 but we're not yet saved from the presence of 00:39:29.510 --> 00:39:32.030 sin. It can still destroy your life, even if 00:39:32.030 --> 00:39:35.849 you're saved. Do you get it? And if you think 00:39:35.849 --> 00:39:38.329 you can do whatever you wanna do, you need to 00:39:38.329 --> 00:39:43.110 take heed, lest ye fall. And then he says this 00:39:43.110 --> 00:39:45.150 incredibly encouraging thing. If you think I've 00:39:45.150 --> 00:39:47.789 been really negative today, here's the encouraging 00:39:47.789 --> 00:39:52.150 part. Who's for encouragement? Okay, verse 13. 00:39:53.289 --> 00:39:57.250 There is no temptation taking you, but such as 00:39:57.250 --> 00:39:59.090 is common to man. You know what he's saying? 00:40:01.789 --> 00:40:07.130 The devil has like two or three plays. Lust of 00:40:07.130 --> 00:40:10.809 the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. That's 00:40:10.809 --> 00:40:13.380 it. He's running the same play over and over 00:40:13.380 --> 00:40:15.420 and over and over and over and over again. Are 00:40:15.420 --> 00:40:18.900 you with me? Everything that people get tempted 00:40:18.900 --> 00:40:23.260 with, it's all the same thing. You can live and 00:40:23.260 --> 00:40:26.900 learn in this generation. I'm sorry, you can 00:40:26.900 --> 00:40:29.320 listen and learn because there's so many ways 00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:32.940 to learn from people who have learned the hard 00:40:32.940 --> 00:40:37.099 way. There's no temptation taking you, but such 00:40:37.099 --> 00:40:39.579 is as common a man. Everybody deals with the 00:40:39.579 --> 00:40:42.909 same stuff. The same kinds of things. Maybe not 00:40:42.909 --> 00:40:44.530 the same exact thing, but the same kind of things. 00:40:45.210 --> 00:40:48.250 God is faithful who will not suffer you to be 00:40:48.250 --> 00:40:51.469 tempted above that you're able. You know what 00:40:51.469 --> 00:40:58.889 God wants? God wants you to obey. And God's willing 00:40:58.889 --> 00:41:07.130 to help you to obey. Who's glad for that? The 00:41:07.130 --> 00:41:09.889 God who divides the sea and brings the plagues. 00:41:11.010 --> 00:41:14.130 who provided his son so that you could be saved 00:41:14.130 --> 00:41:23.329 is wanting to help you not sin. Are you excited? 00:41:23.469 --> 00:41:27.309 Come on, this is great. This is good news. He 00:41:27.309 --> 00:41:29.210 wants suffering to be tempted above that you're 00:41:29.210 --> 00:41:31.610 able, but will with the temptation also make 00:41:31.610 --> 00:41:36.070 a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it. 00:41:38.460 --> 00:41:40.500 He's given you His Holy Spirit. He's given you 00:41:40.500 --> 00:41:43.139 His Word. He's given you His people. He wants 00:41:43.139 --> 00:41:48.320 you to be able and you have a choice. You have 00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:53.519 a choice. You can choose. I can choose. And I 00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:55.199 have a Holy Spirit, a governor that can help 00:41:55.199 --> 00:42:01.199 me with my choice. Yeah. I think it's amazing, 00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:04.539 right? He will with meditation also make a way 00:42:04.539 --> 00:42:06.800 to escape that we may be able, that ye may be 00:42:06.800 --> 00:42:10.619 able to bear it. The Corinthians lived in a dangerous, 00:42:10.920 --> 00:42:13.199 debauched, deteriorating culture spiritually. 00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:15.480 They were not out in the wilderness like the 00:42:15.480 --> 00:42:17.679 children of Israel. They were surrounded by even 00:42:17.679 --> 00:42:20.079 greater temptation. And how are they to deal 00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:22.699 with a temptation in such a culture? Paul tells 00:42:22.699 --> 00:42:25.099 them that they're not unique in this sense. Every 00:42:25.099 --> 00:42:27.400 temptation they fought has been dealt with by 00:42:27.400 --> 00:42:30.519 people since the fall in Genesis 3. He tells 00:42:30.519 --> 00:42:33.000 them that whatever they're facing, God expects 00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:35.099 them to be able to handle. He's protecting them 00:42:35.099 --> 00:42:37.820 from temptation that they cannot handle. He's 00:42:37.820 --> 00:42:40.980 providing from temptation for them. There's a 00:42:40.980 --> 00:42:44.940 path for victory over temptation or a path of 00:42:44.940 --> 00:42:48.880 deliverance from temptation. Is this thing on? 00:42:51.800 --> 00:42:55.679 There's a path for victory over temptation or 00:42:55.679 --> 00:42:59.519 there's a path of deliverance from temptation. 00:43:02.059 --> 00:43:04.480 Sometimes you keep failing on temptation because 00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:10.420 you keep walking by it. Run. Get away from it 00:43:10.420 --> 00:43:12.820 flee fornicate if you can't handle the internet 00:43:12.820 --> 00:43:23.059 you don't have to have it Really yeah If you 00:43:23.059 --> 00:43:26.940 can handle There's a there's a path of deliverance 00:43:26.940 --> 00:43:33.059 from it We have a will we're able to make choices 00:43:33.059 --> 00:43:36.099 and we're responsible for our church choices 00:43:36.349 --> 00:43:38.769 What an incredible peace and comfort it is to 00:43:38.769 --> 00:43:42.150 know that God knows what we're dealing with and 00:43:42.150 --> 00:43:44.829 protects us from temptation that we can't handle 00:43:44.829 --> 00:43:47.369 or a way out of the influence of that temptation. 00:43:47.630 --> 00:43:51.110 We can be assured then that in the spirit, temptation 00:43:51.110 --> 00:43:57.309 can be defeated or avoided. I can't be perfect, 00:43:57.449 --> 00:44:01.210 but I am being perfected. Does that make sense? 00:44:01.960 --> 00:44:05.219 I can't be perfect, but I can be perfected. And 00:44:05.219 --> 00:44:08.320 he loves me and he cares about me. And he provides 00:44:08.320 --> 00:44:10.539 a Holy Spirit and discipline and people to help 00:44:10.539 --> 00:44:13.380 me to begin to make the right choices. And so 00:44:13.380 --> 00:44:16.280 you can wrap up the application of this whole 00:44:16.280 --> 00:44:20.199 sermon like this. Let him that thinks he stands, 00:44:20.840 --> 00:44:28.400 take heed lest he fall. That make sense? Now. 00:44:31.630 --> 00:44:34.510 Here's how you can apply it. Pick a sin that 00:44:34.510 --> 00:44:38.269 you've committed recently. Pick a sin. Why did 00:44:38.269 --> 00:44:42.670 you give into that? Was there a way to escape 00:44:42.670 --> 00:44:47.750 that temptation? How could you have defeated 00:44:47.750 --> 00:44:49.670 that temptation? How could God have defeated 00:44:49.670 --> 00:44:52.809 it on your behalf? What scripture could you have 00:44:52.809 --> 00:44:56.210 had at the ready to fight that temptation? And 00:44:56.210 --> 00:45:00.099 how does God view that thought behavior? The 00:45:00.099 --> 00:45:05.280 answer is repentance. Repentance is I am changing 00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:09.619 my mind. God is changing my mind. And I begin 00:45:09.619 --> 00:45:12.800 to see differently. I begin to see as God sees. 00:45:12.940 --> 00:45:16.280 I view the sin the way that God views the sin. 00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:19.380 Does that make sense? It's a change of mind. 00:45:20.119 --> 00:45:22.739 If God has disgusted that by that, then I'm disgusted 00:45:22.739 --> 00:45:26.650 by it. Does that make sense? There's that change 00:45:26.650 --> 00:45:29.010 of mind. How does that happen by the Holy Spirit 00:45:29.010 --> 00:45:31.809 living inside of me? Now here's the good news. 00:45:32.570 --> 00:45:35.809 If you don't know Christ as your savior, then 00:45:35.809 --> 00:45:39.409 in some ways you don't really have a shot. See, 00:45:39.409 --> 00:45:44.150 the Bible says that we're all sinners, even believers 00:45:44.150 --> 00:45:48.070 are, and our sin separates us from God. But God 00:45:48.070 --> 00:45:51.769 loved us so much that he became flesh and he 00:45:51.769 --> 00:45:54.460 dwelt among us. and he never did anything wrong. 00:45:54.480 --> 00:45:57.539 He always did the right thing. But then he died 00:45:57.539 --> 00:45:59.460 the death that you and I deserve to die on the 00:45:59.460 --> 00:46:04.179 cross. He shed his blood on the cross to pay 00:46:04.179 --> 00:46:07.480 for your sin and mine. And the Bible says that 00:46:07.480 --> 00:46:09.500 if we call in the name of the Lord to save us, 00:46:10.699 --> 00:46:12.599 he says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth 00:46:12.599 --> 00:46:14.300 the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that 00:46:14.300 --> 00:46:17.360 God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 00:46:18.139 --> 00:46:20.380 Okay, I can be saved from the penalty of sin. 00:46:21.250 --> 00:46:23.329 I can not go to hell, I can go to heaven, not 00:46:23.329 --> 00:46:26.670 because I'm doing it, because God saved me, right? 00:46:27.789 --> 00:46:29.550 It's not something I do, it's something that 00:46:29.550 --> 00:46:32.170 I'm trusting in him to do for me. But what's 00:46:32.170 --> 00:46:34.670 cool is that's not the end, that's the beginning. 00:46:35.750 --> 00:46:38.349 Then his Holy Spirit could come live inside of 00:46:38.349 --> 00:46:41.489 me and he can help me to walk and to grow and 00:46:41.489 --> 00:46:43.909 not to be perfect, but to be growing in perfection, 00:46:44.150 --> 00:46:47.710 to be perfected, to be matured in Christ as I 00:46:47.710 --> 00:46:51.289 face that temptation. And that is an ongoing 00:46:51.289 --> 00:46:54.690 process. Salvation is not a process. It's a crisis. 00:46:54.869 --> 00:46:58.070 It happens in one moment. It's a decision. I 00:46:58.070 --> 00:47:01.510 believe that my sin was paid for by Jesus and 00:47:01.510 --> 00:47:04.449 I'm trusting in him to get me to heaven. That's 00:47:04.449 --> 00:47:07.289 what happens at salvation. After that, now I 00:47:07.289 --> 00:47:09.610 need Jesus to help me to grow in my walk with 00:47:09.610 --> 00:47:15.670 him, to grow in freedom from sin, taking heed 00:47:15.670 --> 00:47:19.320 lest I fall. Does that make sense? We don't do 00:47:19.320 --> 00:47:23.219 that so that we can be saved. We're already saved. 00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:27.099 Now we do it because we are saved. Does that 00:47:27.099 --> 00:47:33.199 make sense? That's why. If you're not saved, 00:47:33.260 --> 00:47:36.320 you need to ask Christ to save you. If you're 00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:38.400 not saved, you don't know for sure you're going 00:47:38.400 --> 00:47:41.219 to heaven. The Bible says you can know that your 00:47:41.219 --> 00:47:43.199 sins are forgiven and heaven is your home. He 00:47:43.199 --> 00:47:44.699 says in John, these things have I written unto 00:47:44.699 --> 00:47:47.699 you that you may know that you have eternal life. 00:47:48.719 --> 00:47:51.500 That's an amazing thing. And if you're in here 00:47:51.500 --> 00:47:54.000 today and you're struggling, even after you've 00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:57.719 been saved or with sin in your life, there is 00:47:57.719 --> 00:48:00.300 no temptation that's taking you that's not common 00:48:00.300 --> 00:48:07.059 to man. God's faithful. He will with you, he 00:48:07.059 --> 00:48:09.239 will deliver you from it or he will make a way 00:48:09.239 --> 00:48:14.840 of escape that you may be able to bear it. How 00:48:14.840 --> 00:48:16.119 do you need to respond today? Would you bow your 00:48:16.119 --> 00:48:16.239 heads?