Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of First Corinthians, chapter 10. First Corinthians, chapter 10. Yesterday morning, I got up and I always try to prepare ahead. And this passage of Scripture
was born to my heart. And I've read it, and I've heard different ones much
wiser than I. say this, if the Lord ever impresses
a passage on your heart, stay right there. And so I began to
seek the Lord's guidance and leadership on this passage of
Scripture. And so I stand this morning with
fear before Him, respect for the leadership of His Spirit
Pray that Almighty God might bless these words to our heart.
1 Corinthians 10. Actually, I'm
going to deal with the first 13 verses, but I want to just
look at verse 13 right here. 1 Corinthians 10. There hath
no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. but God is faithful, who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will
with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it." Now, I've always In reading that passage
of Scripture and really hearing men give an interpretation of
that Scripture, and this is what they said, that whenever we're
tempted, the Lord won't allow you to be tempted above or beyond
that which you're able to resist. And with the temptation, He'll
also make a way for you to get out of it and not yield to it. You know, there's always an escape
for you to be able to resist. the temptation to sin. Now, would you say that as a
general rule, that's probably about what you thought it was? Well, the only problem with that
is that it's just not the interpretation of that scripture. That's just
not, you know. If that interpretation is right,
then what it's saying, What that interpretation just said was
any temptation, any test, any trial can be resisted if you will take what God has
provided, a way of escape, if you will appropriate what the
Lord has provided and make use of it, if you'll make a good
use of it, then you'll be able to resist that temptation and
always remain faithful. It's possible for you to always
be able. If you'll just step up to the
plate, if you'll always pull yourself up by your bootstraps
It's there if you'll just do it. Now that's, now you think
about it, if that's what's being said. Now you know what that's
going to lead to? Pride. Pride. That's going to be able, that's
going to say, well, the reason that I'm faithful, is because
I've taken what God offers and I made good on it. If you think
about it, that's truly the heart of free will, Arminian doctrine. Now, you think about what it
just said. Now, if that's the case, what about Romans 7? Turn to
Romans 7, verse 15 to 18. Romans 7, verse 15 to 18. Now listen to the Apostle Paul. Here is the Apostle Paul, and
he says in Romans 7, verse 15, For that which I do, I allow not. I know not. For what I would, that is, Always
be faithful. That do I not. What I hate, that
do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. What does that mean? That means that the law exposes
what we are. sinners. Paul says, if I'm doing what
I know I don't want to do, now then it's no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Well, evidently, Paul,
what you've done there then is you've just not appropriated
what God has supplied. You just failed to, well, based
on what the Apostle Paul just said, I cannot, I cannot, Mark, keep
myself from sinning. I cannot keep myself, I cannot
not sin, and it's because of my flesh. I just don't have the ability
to take something offered by God and make good on it. I just don't have the ability. Now, on the other hand, I'm not
excusing my sin. I loathe it as every believer
does. Paul the Apostle who said, The
words that we just read also said in Romans chapter 7 and
verse 24, it said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? I see in me that is in my flesh
there dwells no good thing. I hate it. I despise it. Every believer despises what
he sees in himself. Listen to David. The 51st Psalm after he had taken
Bathsheba and committed adultery with her and killed her husband. Listen to Psalm 51.1. He said,
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according
unto the multitude of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions."
Look at verse 9, 10. Hide thy face from my sins. Blot
out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 19, 13. Keep back thy servant also from
presumptuous sins. Arrogant and proud. Let them
not have dominion over me." A believer sees himself as not able to not
sin. And he hates it. He hates it.
He hates it. It makes me sick at my stomach
to think of what I am by nature. Thanks be unto God. This is 1
John 1, 9 and 10. Oh, what hope, what peace. 1 John 1, 9 and 10. If we confess our sins, and I
heard Brother Henry say this, and I'm so thankful. He said
not all of them because he said we don't know the depth of all
of them. Don't ever think that you're going to confess every
one of them because you don't know what you've done. We're just
a cesspool of iniquity. But if we confess what we are,
not excusing them. I'm not talking about an antinomian,
which means that there's no law at all in his heart. When I say
no law, it's not that he's trying to obey it. That means that there's
no governing conscience about him. An antinomian is one that
says, well, since I'm saved by grace, what difference does it
make? That's an unbeliever. That's
an unbeliever. An unbeliever says it doesn't
matter. It matters. If we confess our
sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his words not in us. So here's a believer. A believer is one that's been
made sensitive to what he is by nature. He knows what He is. He confesses what He is. And
He hates it. He despises it. He longs after
faithfulness before God Almighty. He longs after it. And He's come
to this conclusion. Oh, Lord, who's going to deliver
me from the body of this death but You? You're the only one. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Well,
back in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, the fat passage is not saying
what we just said that most people think it is. There's an appropriating
factor that's given. God's going to make a way of
escape, and He kind of hands it into your hands to make good
on it. And if you'll take it and appropriate
it, then you'll always be able to resist that temptation. If
it's not saying that, then what What is it saying? What's the
fullness of 1 Corinthians 10, 13? There hath no temptation
taken you, but such is common to man. But God's faithful who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able, but will
with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may
be able to bear it. I know that that Scripture is
so. I know it's so. So what does it mean? Let's look for just a few minutes
at what the Apostle Paul was commissioned to set forth and
teach by the Spirit of God in this passage. It starts back
in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and the Apostle Paul was
moved upon to relate the deliverance of Israel, natural Israel, out
of Egypt. And through that deliverance,
He was going to teach what man are by nature, what man is by
nature, but here's what He's teaching. The faithfulness of
God Almighty to His people. This is the heart. I've entitled
this message, Deliverance from Temptation. Deliverance from
Temptation. What is the Spirit of God teaching
in this passage of Scripture? Well, here's the first thing
that I know, and I'll just take each verse and then come down
to 13 and then conclude this message with verse 13. All right. Here's the first thing I know.
There's always tares among the wheat. I know that. Verse 1 says,
Moreover, brethren, I would not you should be ignorant, how that
all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through
the sea." Everyone in the General Assembly that came out of Egypt,
the whole nation of Israel, all the General Assembly, everybody
that came out of Egypt following Moses came out and appeared at
first to be grounded, solid, thankful, and willingly submissive
to God. All of our, I don't want you
to be ignorant, all our fathers were under the cloud. They all
passed through the sea. They all were following the Shekinah. God Himself was delivering His
people and guiding them by a physical symbol of God's presence. He guided them, directed them.
There was a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by
night. He guided them. All of them were
under the cloud. They all passed through the sea.
They witnessed the miraculous deliverance of God from the Egyptians
and then the Egyptians' demise. They all saw that. They all witnessed
that. All of them came out and saw
that miracle. They were all there. They saw
God take a wind, a mighty wind, and blow all night and divided
that water and dried that ground and water stood up and Moses
led them across and they walked across on dry ground. All of
them, all of them, they were all there. And then he said in
verse 2, and they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in
the sea. That terminology there, and I
tried to get the heart, you know when we're baptized. A baptism
is an outward confession. Water doesn't save. Water is
water. It doesn't save. It's saved by
the grace of God, the power of God. But baptism is an outward
confession of my union with the Lord, my belief in Him. I'm confessing God's mercy and
grace to me, my trusting in Him. It's an outward expression, ordained
of God, of my union with, so that terminology, they were all
baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, seems to indicate
their identification with, their trusting God's leadership through
Moses and Moses' preaching of Christ. Moses was preaching the
gospel. You know how I know that? The
Lord said, Moses spoke of me. Moses knew God. Moses was a believer. And God always saved His people
the same way, by grace through faith, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not of themselves, lest any man
would boast. So they were baptized or identified
with Moses and Moses' preaching of the Lord. as Moses led the
nation of Israel, directed by God. They followed Moses as Moses
followed the Lord. That's what it said. They all
came out, all followed the cloud, all went through the sea, all
baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, verse 3, and
did all eat the same spiritual meat. Forty years. Forty years. That's how long
they eat manna. Forty years. And Almighty God
supplied manna every morning. One day on the Sabbath day, there
was not going to be any manna. They had to gather two days,
the day before, the day of rest. And it would stay good for two
days. Any other day? One day. They're
going to have to trust God. They're going to have to trust
Christ. They're going to have to trust God's supply. But the
Lord sent that manna, and the Scripture says they did all eat
the same spiritual meat. I'm talking about the same manna
that Moses and Caleb and Joshua ate. Everybody else ate too. Everybody ate of that same picture,
the bread of heaven Himself. And they appeared for a while
to love it and approve of it. The Scripture says in verse 4,
And did all drink the same spiritual drink that they drank of that
spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. You remember, the people came
to a point and there was no water. And they murmured against Moses. Murmured against God for what
they did. And they said, we don't have anything to drink. And the
Lord told Moses, He said, I want you to take your staff. And He
said, you strike the rock. And out of that rock is going
to come water. In fact, the Scripture says,
the Lord says, I'm going to stand on the rock and you strike it.
Well, that's a serious thought. God Almighty said, I'm going
to stand on the rock while you're striking it. He struck the rock
and water came out of that rock. And the Scripture says that that
rock was Christ. And that rock followed him. Now,
people can try to, you know, kind of explain that part away
and stuff like that. Just like that, I'm convinced,
just like that cloud moved, that rock moved. They watched that
rock follow them. You say, well, that'd have to
be a miracle. Yeah. It'd have to be a miracle for
the water to come out of it. Water just gushing out of a rock
in the middle of the desert. They all drank. That spiritual
rock was a rock that set forth the glory of Christ. And they
all drank from it. Followed the cloud, went through
the sea, followed Moses in his preaching, ate the manna, drank
from the rock, all of them. But, verse 5, with many of them,
God was not well pleased. For they were overthrown in the
wilderness. This is how we knew that God
wasn't pleased with them. Because God, in time, overthrew
them in the desert. Now, I want you to, I just, pretty
much most of the references, I ran these references. If you
have some references, I've got some in the middle of my Bible
in the margin here. They all relate back to the Old Testament
where that Scripture set forth what was being said here in 1
Corinthians. It says in verse 5, for they
were overthrown in the wilderness. Let's just look at Numbers 14.
We're going to be looking at Numbers in Exodus quite a bit
here. But Numbers 14, 29-30. Numbers
14. Numbers 14, 29 and 30. Scripture says, it is the Lord's
promise to those that disobeyed Him, your carcasses shall fall
in this wilderness. Now, they were going to the promised
land. And this is God's promise to those that resisted Him, didn't
believe Him. Your carcasses shall fall in
this wilderness. And all that were numbered of
you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old
and upward, which have murmured against Me, doubtless you shall
not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell
therein, save or except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua,
the son of Nun. Now, here's the Lord just telling
them, say, everybody that came out of Egypt, 20 years old and
upward, that murmured against me. Moses didn't murmur against
the Lord. God didn't let him go in, and
you know why. God told him to speak to the
rock the second time. He struck it one time by one
offering. He hath perfected forever. God
told him, He said, You speak to the rock. And Moses struck
it again. God told him, He said, You're
not going in. You're not going in. The 20 years old and over
that came out of Egypt except for Joshua and Caleb, everybody
else perished. Everybody else. Scripture says,
verse 5, back in 1 Corinthians 10, many of them God was not
well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Before I go
on to the next verse, I want to ask this one question. Of
all those that came out of Egypt, so many of them perished. They
appeared as though when they came out, they appeared as though.
to be following Moses. They appeared as though. They
followed the cloud, the sea, ate the manna, drank the water.
They appeared as though. My question is this. Can a believer,
a true believer, fall from grace? No. Absolutely not. John chapter 10. Here's what
our Lord says. John 10, 27. to 29, My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, they follow Me, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." Can
a believer fall from grace. No. No. I give them eternal life. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and he that cometh
to me I will in no wise, for no reason, cast him out. He shall not be overthrown in
the wilderness of this world. He will not. Back in 1 Corinthians
10, something in the wilderness. Something that set forth that
the scripture says in verse 6, 1 Corinthians 10, 6, these things
were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after
evil things as they also lusted in the next 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
5 verses, in the next 5 verses, The Scriptures are going to set
forth something or some things that those that rebelled against
God did. And all of the things that they
did in those next five verses right there are set forth as
our examples to teach us this is what a tear will do. This is what one that appears
to start well will do. This is what one that appears
to be a follower of Christ will do. This is what they will do. What they did, the Apostle says,
these were for our examples to the intent that we should not. All right? Here's the five things,
all right? What did they do? What did they do that caused
God Almighty to overthrow them in the wilderness? And let me
just say it so you can understand exactly what I'm saying. All
these five things right there, they're spiritual things. They
did something physically, but they were spiritual rebellion
in their heart was what it was. What they're going to set forth
right here, what Paul the Apostle is going to set forth under the
inspiration of God's Spirit is what they actually did in setting
forth what their heart truly dictated. They didn't know God. All right, verse 6. Verse 6,
the latter part of verse 6. Now, these things were for our
examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as
they also lusted. Turn to Numbers 11, 4-6. Numbers
11, 4-6. What did they do? What did they
do that was an example to us to take heed against? Numbers 11, 4-6. And the mixed multitude. that was among them, fell a lusting. And the children of Israel also
wept, or returned and wept again, or started complaining and murmuring
and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish
which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, the melons, the
leeks, the onions, the garlic, And now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all beside
this manna before our eyes. The mixed multitude that came
out with them. Just hold your place right there
in numbers for a second. Turn back to Exodus 12, 38. I this
was this. Do you know, I might have to
admit this. I'll go ahead and do it. But. You know, whenever the nation
of Israel came out. You know, always in my mind,
it was always just Israel. It was just Israel that came
out, just Israel. But I just read I just read in
numbers. It said in the mixed multitude.
Well, if you look back in Exodus 12, And verse thirty eight it
says. And or thirty seven and the children
of Israel journeyed from Ramses to suck off about six hundred
thousand men that were on foot six six hundred thousand foot
that were men beside the children and a mixed multitude went up
also with them. And flocks and herds. Even very
much cattle for now mixed multitude. I tried to find out now. It wasn't
just the nation of Israel that came out. I looked, I looked
up, find out. Who is this mixed multitude?
Well, evidently it was. Those that were not. Israelites. It was just some from the surrounding
areas, some some Gentiles for and for whatever. reason, whether
they had married in, whether they just didn't like the Egyptians,
they were tired of the plagues, the business reasons, whatever
the reason. It was a mixed multitude from
the surrounding areas, those that were not just Israelites,
and went with them. Then when I looked up mixed multitude,
you know what it means? Riffraff. Riffraff. Scum. Scourge. Just, you know, the dregs of
society. It says the mixed multitude back
in Numbers 4. The mixed multitude that was
among them, Numbers 11.4. fell a-lusting, started complaining. You've got to be kidding me.
They started complaining, and the nation of Israel started
listening to them. And it says, and the children
of Israel, so you know that there's two different groups. You've
got the mixed multitude and children of Israel, Freddie. You've got,
you know, the children of Israel also. I started crying about
it. Crybabies, you know. I just don't
have any fish. We used to have fish back there. I didn't have any fish. And I
don't have any cucumbers anymore. And I don't have any leeks anymore.
I mean, we had all of that stuff back there. And besides that,
all we've got is manna. That's all we've got to eat.
is manner. What they did was, this is what
they did, they lusted after the things of this world. 1 John 2.15, Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. The love of this
world and all of its pleasures above God and His worship I'll take that which I think
I need." They complained and lusted after what the Scripture
says was evil things, worthless things, injurious things, harmful
things, things that evidence what they said back in Numbers
11. It said, We need some meat. I like meat. I like meat. If you give me a choice of anything,
it will be meat first. That's what I want. But you know
what? If I start desiring what I think
I need above what God Almighty is pleased to supply, when they
said all we've got is manna, what they said is God's provision
and ultimately the provision of His blessed Son, the provision
of Christ only, grace only, God's mercy only, that's just not enough. It's just not enough. Is that
all you people got here is just preaching? What have you got
for the kids? You don't have any game shows? You all don't
have a basketball team? Is this all you do? Well, God
heard the complaints. We'd be better off if we were
back in Egypt. At least we've got some fish there. All we've
got is just right here. Well, the Lord heard their complaints,
lusting after evil things, things that they loved according to
the flesh, and accusing God of not providing. If God really
loved us, we'd have something other than this. I can tell you
that. Can you see that? Can you imagine? This is what the world says.
Christ only? Faith only? Grace only? Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. You're going to have to have
something else. I'm going to have to have something else.
I'm going to have to add something to that, Gene. I can't. Oh, no. Oh, no. I'm not doing that. The
Lord heard their complaints and Almighty God gave them what they
wanted. Man, I wish we had some meat.
Look at Numbers 11.31. Just turn the page. Numbers 11.31. And there went forth a wind from
the Lord and brought quails from the sea. and let them fall by
the camp, as it were, a day's journey on this side, and as
it were, a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp."
That means in all directions, not just one way and this way.
All around. All around the camp. A day's
journey. As it were, two cubits high,
three feet deep, sixteen to twenty miles. A day's journey. Sixteen to twenty miles. Three
feet deep marked quail. Flew in and God piled them up. You want some meat? That's what
you want. The Scripture says, verse 32,
And the people stood up all that day, all that night, all the
next day, and they gathered the quails. He that gathered least
gathered ten homers. And they spread them all abroad
for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was
yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the
Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smoked the
people with a very great plague." Be careful what you think you
want. God may give it to you. and let
you perish with it. I told you this before. There
was a doctor that I knew in Franklin, Tennessee. And he told me one
time, he said, you know, I hope that God never takes my money
away from me. I hope that I've always got a
lot of money. I hope He never tries me. He's a pretty wealthy guy. But I'll tell you this. He has no heart, no interest
for the gospel. One day, one time, he was there.
He was there. But not anymore. Lusting after
evil things is to not be content with God's supply. Scripture
says, My God shall supply all your need according to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. They tired of hearing that men
were saved by grace, fed by grace, kept by grace, and eating just
manna, that is, hearing the gospel, continually tired them. Surely you've got something else
to say. Surely, as I've said before,
you've got some more material than this. We want to add something
to what you're saying. It always works. Back in 1 Corinthians
10. I've got to hurry. Verse 7. Here's the next thing to do.
Neither be ye idolaters as some of them, as it's written, the
people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Exodus 33. Exodus 33. One of those scriptures that
just you read it and you just say. But for the grace of God. Exodus
30, I said 33, I meant 32. Exodus 32, verse 6. And when
the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mouth,
people gathered themselves together under Aaron and said unto him,
up, make us gods. Let us go, that shall go before
us, as for this Moses, this man that brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him. And Aaron
said unto them, Break off the golden earrings which are in
the ears of your wives, your sons, your daughters, bring them
unto me. And all the people, break off the golden earrings
which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron. He received
them at their hand and fashioned it with a graven tool after he
had made it a molten calf. And they said, These be our gods,
O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron
made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." Right in front of that golden
calf. This is the Lord. And they rose up early on the
morrow and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings,
and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play." What did they do? They wanted
to walk by sight. I've got to see something. The
flesh needs a visual. The flesh is repulsed with faith. faith in Christ, waiting on the
Lord. We'll worship the God of our
hands. I can make myself a God. Stephen, preaching in Acts chapter
7, he was telling this group of Jews what was actually going
on. And then Acts 7 verse 38, he
was explaining. what the nation of Israel was
doing back then. In Acts 7, 38, this is He that
was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to
Him in the Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received the
lively oracles to give unto us, to whom our fathers would not
obey but thrust Him from them and in their hearts turn back
again to Egypt. saying unto Aaron, Make us gods
to go before us. For as for this Moses which brought
us out of the land of Egypt, we want not what became of him.
Made him a calf." They made a calf in those days and offered sacrifice
unto the idol. That's when Aaron said, We're
going to make a sacrifice unto the Lord. They made a sacrifice
unto the idol and rejoiced in their works of their own hands. What did they do? They trusted
in their own will. This is what they did. They trusted
in themselves to worship the creation rather than the Creator and desired
bondage and darkness over freedom and light. And in their hearts,
the Spirit of God revealed through Stephen. what men do today who
hear the gospel and will not hear it. They leave. The Scripture
says back in Acts, they desired Egypt. In their hearts, they
went back to Egypt. They went out from us. They were
not of us, for had they been of us, they would no doubt have
continued with us. But they went out that they might
be made manifest. They were not all of us. Here's
the third thing they do back in 1 Corinthians 10, number 8. Neither let us commit fornication
as some of them committed and fell in one day. Three and twenty
thousand. Now the reference is back to
Numbers 25. Numbers 25. Numbers 25, verses 1 to 9. And Israel abode in Shittim. And the people began to commit
whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people
unto the sacrifices of their gods. And the people did eat
and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto
Baal Peor. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord. against the Son that the fierce
anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said
unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were
joined unto Baal Peor. And behold, one of the children
of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman
in the sight of Moses, in the sight of all the congregation
of the children of Israel who were weeping before the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation. While they were weeping and begging
God to have mercy, he brought in one of these women from the
outside. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron,
the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation,
took a javelin in his hand, and went after the man of Israel
into his tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel,
the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from
the children of Israel, and those that died in the plague were
24,000. Now, truth, I know that physical fornication, sexual
relations between unmarried, which Almighty God forbids, but
this speaking primarily, what did the people do in the wilderness? That Almighty God set forth as
being that which was judgeable. And they died in the wilderness.
What was it? The example that the Holy Spirit
teaching is primarily, not only, which I do agree, I know it is. I mean, physical relations between
unmarried people, God Almighty forbids. The Scripture says back
in Hebrews 13, we just studied this, just not too long ago. Marriage is honorable in all
in the bed under the phial, but whoremongers and adulterers God
will judge. True. No doubt. No doubt. But
what we're speaking of right here, what was Israel doing that
was an abomination before Almighty God? It was spiritual adultery. Spiritual adultery. Spiritual
fornication. and the judgment of God was upon
it. Revelation 19, 1 and 2. Revelation 19, 1 and 2. And after
these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven
saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power
unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His
judgments, for He hath judged the great whore which did corrupt
the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of
the servants. at her hand. What they did was
their spiritual adultery. What is that now? What is spiritual
adultery? Trying or attempting, which they
can't do, but they try, to mix works with grace. To say, we're saved by grace. God offers it. It's a gracious
offer. But you have to make good on
it. You have to accept it. You have to do something. To
say that I must do something is to say that God's not able.
To say that I must do something is to say that the blood of Christ
is not sufficient. It's to say that God Almighty
cannot save His people with that fickle, feeble, impotent man. And the Lord judged him for it. Verse 9, neither let us tempt
Christ. I looked that up. I read it this
morning and I thought, tempt Christ. It means this, to try
or to question or to test the origin of God's actions. to bring into question why. What are you doing? What do you
think you're doing here? What are you doing? Neither let
us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed
of serpents. Numbers 21, 5 and 6. Numbers
21, 5 and 6. And the people spake against
God, against Moses. And this is what they said. They
spoke against God and Moses. Wherefore, or why, have you brought
us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is
no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth
this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people. And much people of
Israel died." The charge again? They were tired of God's provision. They were tired of Christ. They
were tired of God's leadership. They started questioning everything
He did. And God sent the snakes. and
gave hope to his people with a look at the brazen serpent. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 10. Neither murmur ye, as some of
them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. What do you mean, Paul? Numbers
14. Numbers 14, verses 1 to 5. And all the congregation lifted
up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And
all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron.
You know the thing that keeps coming back to me over and over
and over? How the people murmured against God, against God's man,
against His goodness and mercy and grace. They murmured against
Him because of their own rebellion. They were the ones, we're the
ones that's wrong. We're wrong and we murmur against
God? Against God's revelation because
of our rebellion? Well, we are wretched people.
All the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the
people wept that night. All the people of Israel murmured
against Moses, against Aaron. The whole congregation said unto
them, would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, Or would
God we had died in this wilderness? And wherefore hath the Lord brought
us unto this land to fall by the sword? And our wives and
our children should be a prey. Were it not better for us to
return unto Egypt? And they said one to another,
Let us make a captain. Let us return unto Egypt. Then
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly
of the congregation of the children of Israel. Look at verse 11.
And the Lord said unto Moses, How long? Will this people provoke
me? And how long will it be ere they
believe me for all the signs which I have shown unto them?"
Here the people doubted God's ability to save. And they said,
We can't and we won't trust God. We're not going to. Murmur against Him. I wish we'd
have died back in Egypt. It's only by the mercy of God
that all of them didn't. Can you imagine, I wish I'd have
died having go all this. I mean, think of the troubles,
Mitch, that you've had. I mean, since the Lord called
you out of darkness, the trials, the tribulation, the grieving,
the things you see in yourself and outward. Oh, I wish I'd have
died as an unbeliever. That's what they were saying.
I wish I'd have died in bondage. I wish I'd have died in darkness. Back in 1 Corinthians, let's
read verses 11 and 12, then we'll look at the last one. Now, all
these things happened unto them for examples. And they're written
for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Wherefore, let him that thinketh, he standeth. Take heed lest he
fall. You know, look at Paul, chapter
9 of 1 Corinthians. few verses, verse 26 and 27,
Paul says, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight
I, not as one that beateth the air. He said, I'm not just shadowboxing.
I keep unto my body, and bring it unto subjection, lest that
by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be
a reprobate, be found to cast away. Paul said, I realize this. All of these things that happened
to them. The Scripture sets forth now
in verse 13. Here's the interpretation of
the Scripture. There hath no temptation taken
you. But as such is common to man. All of the things that they were
tempted to do that they did succumb to. To trust God. To murmur against God. To resist
God. To question God. Be arrogant. Be thinking, is this all you've
got? Is that all you've got is the gospel? Is that it? Is there
anything else? Have you got any onions? Have you got any leeks? Have
you got any fish? Is this all you've got? Why? Why are you making me go through
what I'm going through? I wish I would have died in Egypt.
There hath no temptation taken you, but such is common to man.
We're all sinners. We all have that old wicked,
depraved heart. But here's the mercy of God to
His people. But God is faithful who will
not suffer or allow you to be tempted above that you're able. The Lord didn't give them faith.
And they did just exactly what their old wicked heart dictated. That temptation to resist God
and rebel against God came upon them. And they did just exactly
what they wanted to do. They rebelled against God. And
that same temptation is common to every man, every believer
and unbeliever. And the only reason an unbeliever
does it is because he wants to. And the only reason a believer
doesn't rebel against God is because God keeps him. Keeps him by the power of God
through faith. He will not suffer you to be
tempted above that you're able, but will with the temptation
also make a way of escape that ye may be able to bury. You want
to know what the way of escape is? He's given you faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. He will with
the temptation. And don't tell me that we're
not all tempted to resist God and question God. You hear that
in your conscience and you know I'm right. There is not one temptation
that's not common to all men. Why does a believer not rebel
against God and leave? Because God Almighty keeps him
by By the grace of God, He shall,
He will not suffer you, allow you to be tempted above that
which you are able to resist in leaving Him. He shall make
a way of escape, seeing Him who is able to keep His people, seeing
Him who is more desirable than the things of this world, and
that is only by the grace of God. Lord, thank You. Thank You that You keep us, that
You sustain us, that You would not let us leave. Lord, teach
us these things for Christ's sake. Amen.