We welcome you to the service
this morning. We invite you to take your hymnal turn to hymn
number 137. 137, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. Let's stand as we sing. of wisdom, Prince of glory nigh. I will sing thy pamphlet laws,
and through the day upon thy They faint, and only most I sacrifice
Him to His law. his hands, his feet, sorrow and
love from me. O now, it e'er such joy and sorrow
meet, O Lord of love, For thou, O man, art major, minor,
And earth has done far too small. Thank you. You may be seated as we take
our Bulletin hymn, God our Savior, Three in One, and a song to the
tune of the doxology. The praises come from ev'ry tongue
To God our Savior three in one Who in His blessed Trinity Gave
human race to set us free Father great, who did for his
own glory stay, the love and truth in Christ the Lord, now
he predestined and made known. Who came to earth in flesh and
blood, God, with dream, God, with true love, And all in perfect
righteousness. He was the one who gave us life
when we had none, and through the gospel He revealed, right
to the faith He gave and sealed. Good morning, good morning. it was bound to come to Carolina. Sooner or later, when it gets
so cold, it'll drift down our way and we just have to deal
with it for maybe a couple of weeks or something like that,
hopefully. We thank the Lord for his mercy that preserves
us, gives us a warm place to gather this morning, and we're
so unworthy of the least the least of his many blessings. He gives us a desire to be here. It's a wonder, a miracle of grace,
because left to ourselves, we'd be anywhere else. Let's pray for those that are
on our hearts this morning, sick and so many with bugs and flu
and such things as that. the Lord's people everywhere
that are in the same condition. I want us to read this morning
in conjunction with my message, the seventh chapter of the book
of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter seven. I hope you'll listen to all of
these words. Proverbs 7. My son, keep my words, and lay
up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments and live,
and my law as the apple of thine eye. Speaking of his word, the
word of God. bind them upon thy fingers, write
them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto wisdom, thou
art my sister, and call understanding thy kinswoman, that they may
keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth
with thy word. For at the window of my house
I looked through my casement, and beheld among the simple ones
I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding. Passing through the street near
her corner, and he went the way to her house. In the twilight,
in the evening, in the black and dark night. And behold, there
met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtle of heart. She is loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the
streets, and lieth in wait at every corner. So she caught him,
and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace
offerings with me. This day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet
thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings
of tapestry. with carved works and with fine
linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our field of
love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with
love. For the good man is not at home. He has gone a long journey. He hath taken a bag of money
with him, and will come again at the day appointed. And with
her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering
of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway,
as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction
of the stocks. till a dart strike through his
liver, as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it
is for his life. Hearken unto me now, therefore,
O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not
thine heart decline to her ways, and go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded,
yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the
way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. May we pray. Our Father, this morning we come into your presence as the great
God of heaven and earth. We are so finite, so miniature
in ourselves when we are compared to you. It is a wonder that you
would be mindful of us think any thoughts concerning us, and
especially do any good toward us because of the way that we
are. Lord, nothing but sin in ourselves,
nothing but sinners, vile and wretched, and often self-deceived
And Satan deceived into thinking that we are far better than we
are. But we know that without you,
we can do nothing. We know that we are the wretched,
lost, helpless souls that all fell in Adam. Incapable of delivering
ourselves out of the snare, incapable and helpless to deliver ourselves
from the captivity of Satan. And so in need of your mercy
and your grace, which is in Christ Jesus. Lord, we thank you this
morning for bringing us into this place, for not leaving us
to ourselves. We're not leaving us to the way
that seems right to us, but is the way of death. Help us, Lord,
we do pray. Raise us to life spiritually. Give us eyes to see and ears
to hear, understanding and hearts to believe the things that you
tell us so plainly. in your word, but because our
natural minds are enmity against you, because we are deceived
and blind, because we in this flesh know love not and know
not the things of God. We are dependent upon you revealing
and showing to us and bringing us and calling us and teaching
us the things of your precious gospel. The good news of Christ
and him crucified. The good news that we know not
anything about except you reveal it to us and give us this understanding. We pray in our weakness and we
thank you for all blessing you bestow upon us. We thank you
for every deliverance, for provision, and for protection, and for all
that kind providence that brings us on our journey of life to
the hour which we've now come. We pray, Lord, that we might
hear your word this morning, that we might hear and understand
and give glory to your name. Give thanks to your name for
all that salvation that is in Christ Jesus. Lord, we ask this
morning that you would enable us to worship you. If we've never
worshipped you before, enable us to see in you and see in ourselves
that need to worship you and you alone. We thank you for every
blessing we receive at your hand. We pray for everyone present,
all your people everywhere you've gathered them this day, your
servants who labor in the gospel vineyard, who preach at some
expense the things that are in Christ Jesus, And we pray, Lord,
that you would get to yourself all glory and honor and praise. Lord, we could spend hours reciting
to you all the many needs that we each as individuals have and
our conditions that we may be in that we don't even know that
we're in. But we pray that you know all
things, and you know our needs, and you know that which you purpose
to give us, and we give you thanks and praise. We pray in Christ's
name, amen. And your hymn was, once again,
hymn number 419, I Sought the Lord. And then, Brother Tim,
if you'll wait on the congregation. Lord, how the Lord I know, He
knew my soul, safe and secure in Thee. It was Thine that I
was delivered to, Lord, that is how. Please hold tight on my hand,
oh. I'll walk and sing, all on this
open sea. Cause not to watch as I go. Touch me. Touch me. ?? ?? so In Psalms 31, David says, be thou my strong
rock, for in house and defense to save me. For thine are my rock and my fortress. For thy name's sake, lead me
and guide me. This song, I believe, for this
day and time, Tells us what David's saying right there. ? Sometimes I am discouraged ?
And take my life in vain ? I pity them To murmur and of my lot
complain But when I think of Jesus and all he's done for me. Then I cry, oh, rock of ages,
hide thou me. Oh, rock Of ages hide thou me. No other refuge have I but thee. When life's dark veil I wander
far, far from thee, Then I cry, O rock of ages, hide thou me. Sometimes it seems I dare not
go one step further on And from my heart all courage has slipped
away and gone But I remember Jesus and all is love for me. Then I cry, oh, rock of ages,
hide thou me. Oh, rock of ages, With lies,
dark veil, I wander Far, far from Thee, Then I cry,
O Rock of Ages, Hide Thou Me. A friend is Jesus, sure anchor
for my soul. So tender, true, and gracious,
I'm safe in His control. My help in time of danger, My
strong defense is He. O Thou blessed Rock of Ages,
hide Thou me. O Rock of Ages, hide Thou me. No other refuge have I but Thee
When life's dark vale I wander Far, far from Thee Then I cry,
O Rock of Ages Hide thou me. I have to cry that every day. About every minute of every day. Amen. I want you to turn to a passage
that we were in last week. In first Corinthians. Chapter
10. First Corinthians. Chapter 10. Paul here in reference
to the rock, that rock that we talked about last week, tells us that though they all
drank from the rock, the water that flowed out of the rock when
God commanded Moses to smite the rock. Though they all drank
from that rock physically, that literal water, they did not all
drink of it spiritually. They did not all see what was
represented. They did not all behold spiritually
that that rock was Christ, the coming Messiah. And he says in verse five, but
with many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown
in the wilderness. He writes these words by the
Spirit of God as a warning to those who profess
to believe in Christ at Corinth. There are many such warnings
in the New Testament. And this is because we're not
free. from the weakness of the flesh
while we're in this world. We're far weaker, far easily
more deceived than we ever could imagine. So Paul tells us that God gives
us these things that happened to these people as examples or
as warnings. Look down in verse six. Now these
things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after
evil things as they also lusted. Examples. God gives them for
examples. And then in verse 11, he says
it again. Now, all these things happened
unto them, these Old Testament figures, Israel, the nation,
for in samples or examples, and they are written for our admonition. They're recorded for our instruction. upon whom the ends of the world
are come. They're examples and warnings. And here in these verses, the
people of God are warned not to commit fornication. Do not commit fornication. What is Well, we know, obviously, it
has to do first with sexual sins. As a matter of fact, the Greek
word for this, and you have to remember that Paul was writing
to mostly Gentiles in the most wicked city, idolatrous city,
and promiscuous city of Corinth, but the word is pornuo. That ring any bells? Pornuo. And it means to act the harlot. It means unlawful lust, either
sex. And in verse six again, he says,
it's to the intent these examples are that we should not lust after
evil things as they also lusted. You see, the truth is that we
are all fornicators and adulterers by nature in our minds. hearts. That's what Christ said. You
may think you're better, you imagine an illusion if you want,
but Christ summed it up like this in Matthew chapter 5. He says in Matthew 5 verse 27,
you have heard that it was said by them of old thou shalt not
commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever
looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart. And that's about this descriptive
of every one of us looking and lusting and committing these
sins before we even realize it. He says he's already done it. We lust after evil things. There is this instruction here
not to do so. If we didn't still have the tendency
to do so, Paul would not have been led of the spirit to warn
us and to keep us from it. Do not commit fornication. And you can look back in 1 Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 11 and you can see such warnings as this
everywhere. He says in 1 Corinthians 5 11. But now I have written unto you
not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a
fornicator. or covetous, or an idolater,
or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortion, which such, and
one know not to eat." That's a warning again. Over in chapter
6, another warning in verse 9, "'Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you." Such were some of you. And then in verse 18 of chapter
nine, he says it plainly, flee fornication. Every sin that a
man doeth is without the body, but he that committed fornication
sinneth against his own body. Flee fornication. And then again
in chapter 7 of 1 Corinthians, verse 2, nevertheless avoid fornication. Let every man have his own wife
and let every woman have her own husband. There are all kinds
of warnings in these epistles about fornication. Sexual immorality,
adultery, sexual sins. But the word porno, I'm sure
that's the word we get the word porn from, or pornography. The word porno has also another
meaning. And it has to do with spiritual
fornication. And it means to practice It means to be given to idolatry,
to worship idols, to permit oneself to be drawn away by another into
idolatry. It's to think you're worshiping
the true God, but be worshiping all the time a false god. And it's amazing because Paul
writes these words to these who profess to be believers at Corinth, at the church at
Corinth. But that is exactly What these
Israelites that he's writing about here, they also profess
to be the children of God. But out of that whole generation,
every one of them, God says, died in unbelief. They bore the name. They didn't
drink spiritually from the rock. They called themselves the people
of God, but they were really the children of the devil. They
went all this journey, all this way, saw all these things, but
they were given to idolatry. They were spiritual fornicators. They were given to idols. As a matter of fact, in the Psalms,
it says, for lo, they that are from thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them
that go a whoring from thee. God always speaks of this Israel
as going a whoring from him. They fell to seduction. They
fell to deception. And in Jeremiah 3, he says this,
the Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king,
hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone
up upon every high mountain and under every green tree and there
hath played the harlot. In Ezekiel, he says, yet she
multiplied her whoredoms in calling to remembrance the days of her
youth wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. She'd often say, oh, it was better
that we were worshiping the gods of Egypt, better that we were
eating from the flesh pots of Egypt. Moses, you brought us
out here to die. They were always murmuring against
God, complaining, and all of these things with God, who was
God leading them and directing them, but they look back just
like Lot's wife. They look back to that old and worship that. Hosea said, rejoice not, O Israel,
for joy, as are the people, For thou hast gone a-whoring from
thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every corn floor. They were spiritual fornicators. And they listened to false prophets
because they loved to hear the seducing words of false prophets. He said, the prophets have seduced
you and they've seduced you with this. Say, peace, peace, when
there is no peace. Turn over to the book of Revelation. Let me show you this in the book
of Revelation in chapter two. Revelation chapter two and verse
20. speaking to one of the churches
in Asia. He says, Notwithstanding I have
a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants,
to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. I don't know if they actually
committed a sexual sin or not, but if they did, the first cause
was idolatry. They chose to worship these idols
Because in them, they could do what they wanted to do. They
could satisfy and gratify the flesh. But it began with worshiping
the idols. And I gave her space to repent
of her fornication, and she repented not. Look over in Revelation chapter
17. Revelation chapter 17, verse
1. This is a panoramic view of all
the ages of Satan and his deception of the church and people all
through the ages or his attempts to, whenever God had risen up
and delivered them and got victory over him for them, he says, and
there came one of the seven angels, which hath the seven vows, and
talk with me, saying, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment
of the great whore that sits upon many waters. That means
many people. That means the multitudes, with whom the kings of the earth
have committed fornication. and the inhabitants of the earth
had been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the
spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored
beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of the abominations
and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name
written, Mystery Babylon, the great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with
the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration or great astonishment. She was astonishing because of
her numbers. She was astonishing because so
many followed after her. She was astonished because of
her beauty and what she had to offer. And they drank from her
golden cup the wine of her fornication. The wine of her fornication. You see, everywhere in this book, And we saw it in that seventh
chapter of Proverbs where we read, everywhere, the deception
of the false Christ, of Antichrist, of the devil, of that one who's
transformed into an angel of light, that is everywhere pictured
as a strange woman. That was the warning. Listen, my son. Heed the warning. Make wisdom your sister. Knowledge
your sister. Why? So you will not be deceived
by the strange woman. You see, false religion is likened
to this prostitute. And that description so well
suits her there in Proverbs 7. She decks her bed. She perfumes
herself. She makes herself so appealing. And for that reason, she can
deceive the simple ones. The simple ones. Go back to 1 Corinthians. Chapter 10. Do our text. As in so many places in the Bible, this is no doubt moral instruction. Warning against all of these
things that even naturally and morally, bring people to destruction,
to despair. But while in books like the Book
of Proverbs and books like 1 Corinthians and every other place where some
moral instruction is given, there is a greater instruction. Just
like these Israelites who drank water from that rock, they benefited
from that rock. But they didn't see Christ. They
didn't drink spiritually. They didn't get the spiritual
meaning. And that's what Paul is saying
here. We're to flee fornication. We're to be warned of natural
and sexual fornication and all of these things. But it is especially
a spiritual warning. You say, preacher, you want to
spiritualize everything. This book is a spiritual book. In other words, it takes the
Holy Spirit to reveal it to us. You may get the moral lesson. You may cease from fornication. You may cease from your adulteries.
All these things. And still be lost. Because he's
talking here not only about these things, but he's using them as
an example. And the warning here is a spiritual
fornication. But I was thinking about it. Just like that water and its
meaning, nobody ever sees or heeds a spiritual warning except
God's elect. Men and women can live, and they
can do their dead-level best to cease from fornication, to
cease from adultery, and to cease from a hundred thousand other
moral things, and rightly they should. But they can do that
and still be deceived and lost. Unless they're God's elect. Unless
they're His true Israel. Unless they're His sheep who'll
hear His voice. Look back at our text, and I'll read verses 5 through
11 to you again. Now these things were for our
examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as
they also lusted neither be ye idolaters. As some of them, as it is written,
the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play, neither
let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell
in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ,
as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of
them murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. You mean to tell me that because these people were
simply committing fornication that God rose up in one day and
destroyed 23,000 of them. He could justly do that, you
know, but that was not the case. Turn back over in the book of
Numbers with me to the occasion that Paul is mentioning here. It wasn't just a moral issue. It wasn't just physical fornication, but it was spiritual. It was because of idolatry. Numbers chapter 25. 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 God. You see that? That's what idolatry
always does. It's always calling to you. You remember that mythological
story about the sirens? The island where the sirens were
on and whenever ship would sail near the islands and the seamen
would hear the sirens call and they would get their boats closer
and closer so they could see and always crash them on the
rocks. That's the perfect example of
false religion. These Moabites, God said, Moab
is my washpot. They were heathen. They were
unbelievers. They were those that God had
bypassed. And he says, and Israel abode
in Shittim. And the people began to commit
whoredom with the waters of Israel. 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 to
Baal Peor. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Israel. Come, eat of our sacrifices. join yourselves to our gods. But the Bible says when they
did that, they may have been talking among
themselves and saying, well, there isn't much difference.
They have sacrifices, and we have sacrifice, and they meet
together, and we meet together, You know what the difference
was? It was a different God. There is one God and one mediator
between men and that God, the man Christ Jesus. Now it well may have been that
that religion afforded them with an easy conscience to be able
to commit physical fornication. But you can bet your money on
it right now. It began with spiritual fornication. They called Paul said, and no marvel, for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of life. Therefore,
it is no great thing if his ministers be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose ends shall be according to their works. Because their righteousness is
their works. It is their works. I know why. I mean, how do I know that? Because that's where the emphasis
is. They may talk a little bit about
Christ's work, but they go on to bigger and better things,
more important things, and that is their works or their morality,
their righteousness, But when you choose that righteousness,
you're going to die with it. And you're going to perish with
it. And when you choose a mixture, you're still going to perish.
Because it's Christ alone. Only the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, an idol can be in a
person's mind. That's where all idolatry begins. Imagination. If I have imagination,
if I have in my tradition, if I have in my mind any God that
ain't God, that's idolatry. It's not just
carving up an idol out of stone, whittling one way, taking wood,
metal, casting an image. Idolatry always begins in the
heart, the mind. Remember how this prostitute
we read about dressed herself? Remember her natural appeal,
offering the things that the flesh lusts after? Come lay down
and rest. Come eat yourself to your fill. Come drink yourself into a stupor. Forget all your problems. It wasn't sex there with those
people. It was a God more to their liking,
naturally, who offers health and wealth and prosperity. And that's just like the religions
of this world. Oh, we're loving people. Oh, come have fellowship with
us. Let me tell you this. Biblical fellowship. Fellowship, as it is in the Bible,
involves one fellow. God said, after him that is my
fellow. It's fellowship with God, fellowship
with the people of God, all around one Fellow. If it's not around
one fellow, it's not fellowship. We'll go to the moose lodger. We'll go to this place and be
with people. No, fellowship is with the people
of God and with God himself in one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. When they say we've got something
for the young, We've got something for your old folks. We'll bus
you on a trip when you can't go, when your kids leave you
alone. Something for the divorce, something
for the singles. We'll teach you how to live.
We'll even entertain you on the road to hell. We'll do everything but tell
you the truth. emphasize the truth. We'll do
everything but tell you the true gospel. You want to hear about
a God that in some way loves everybody? We'll tell you a way. You want to hear about a Christ
that died for everybody? We'll figure out a scheme to
work that all in so you won't feel guilty. You think God is trying to save
everybody? Oh, that's our doctrine. You like the idea of rewards? You like the improvement of morality? That's what we're about. God's
people are about the gospel. They say, as a matter of fact,
we won't even emphasize doctrine. We'll make our own definitions
about biblical words and doctrines. We'll make our appeal to the
old writers, the old preachers, to the reformers, to the confessions
and creeds that men have written. which tell you what you want
to hear. That's what he says. They'll heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears. Scratch my ear, preacher. I'll guarantee you in this day
and time, you can find some preacher that'll scratch your ear. You
want to hear about political themes? You want to hear about
morality? You want to hear about the family? You want to hear
about this, that? Somebody will scratch your ear. And we won't emphasize the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified. We'll get that over in one lesson. We'll even say that Christ's
death is for the elect, but it's sufficient, really sufficient
for all. No? No? We'll deny what the Word of God
says about His design. I lay down my life for the sheep. We'll say salvation is by grace,
and then we'll make your works necessary for it. But what we emphasize, and especially for assurance, If any of you got any insurance
based on anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ, you have
no insurance. And it's amazing what they'll
forget or look over or pass over on the basis of unity. We're all moral people, so all
these little differences will pass over then. Or we all have different ideas
about doctrine, but we all agree that Trump ought to be president. will make every appeal. So this Jezebel, that's the description. Jezebel's not just a picture
of a harlot, a whore woman. It's a picture of religion, idolatry. And like that, Proverbs 7, she's
on every tree corner. She's going to reach out and
grab for you. She's going to do it through
your kids. She's going to do it through your friends. She's
going to do it through your coworkers. She's going to do it through
every imaginable way because she wants to damn you to hell. Paul said, I'm jealous over you
with a godly jealousy. Don't ever let anybody imagine
that I'm interested in you, and you here in the gospel, so I'll
have more people to preach to, so I'll have a bigger name, so
I'll have fame, or so I'll have wealth or anything, because I'm
already past any of those things. I'm not gonna have any of those
things. But I'm gonna have Christ. He said, I'm jealous over you
with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that
I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ, a clean, pure
virgin to Christ, not because of your own personal cleanliness,
but because you're perfect in Christ. And they carry on all the time
denying grace. I know, almost 50 years trying
to preach grace. But when you preach grace, salvation
by grace alone, it's not a slogan, it's the Bible truth. When you
preach salvation by grace alone, That's too much grace. It is. Because I'll always say
this, we believe in salvation by grace alone. But, but, there's
no but following grace. If you're saved, or ever are,
it will be by 100% Grace. God favoring you in Christ
plus nothing. Nothing. We won't talk about God's purpose,
even though His grace is a purpose of grace. The sufficiency and design of
Christ did. He purchased the church with
his own blood. We'll leave out all the doctrines
that assure God's glory and speak of God's sovereignty's will. We'll shun salvation by the imputed
righteousness of Christ. Or we might utter the phrase,
But whose righteousness are we going to talk about the most?
Your imagined righteousness. Let me settle something for you
right now. There's only one righteousness. One. And if you don't have His,
you have none. All our righteousness, the prophet
said, are as filthy rags. We'll talk about the sinner's true condition.
We'll say he's dead, we'll say he's this, and we'll say he's
the other blind, and then we'll call on him to do something. You're dead, but now you gotta
believe. What don't we understand about
death? We won't speak of needing the
work of God alone. We'll recognize everybody, and
we'll take care of everyone's children. We'll invite them into
our homes. We'll do all these things. But
we won't emphasize the gospel. by which the Holy Spirit exposes
our self-righteousness and pride. Listen to me. You and me and everyone else
is to hear full of self-righteousness and pride Some others are seeing that in
us, but they can't see it in themselves
because it's so deceptive. Only the Spirit of God enabling
us to believe what it says in this word and to feel it in our souls can
do it. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I know that in
me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. We can't have such negative preaching. You know, I believe it was Micaiah. He asked Ahab, he said, Jehoshaphat
asked Ahab, he said, isn't there a prophet somewhere in the land? Well, he said, yes, there's one,
one fellow, Micaiah. But he said, he doesn't ever
have anything good to say about me. When he called my guy in, guess
what? He didn't have anything good
to say about him. But God's preacher has something
good to say about Christ. That's what the good news is.
It's the news about Christ. And the doctrine of these religious,
it'll be close. They'll be right on a lot of
things. But that's the way of a counterfeit. That's the way of deception. It seems right naturally, but
the end thereof is the ways of death. And it's so bad. Christ said, there shall arise
false Christs and false prophets, and they will show you great
signs and wonders, if so much that If it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect. If it were possible. But it's not. Because God's elect, by the Spirit
of God and Word of God, they're gonna heed this warning. They're
gonna flee that kind of fornication. That's spiritual fornication,
especially. Paul restated it in 2 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6, I believe it is. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, be not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers. It's like the references to yoking
the oxen together. That's why in the Old Testament
you didn't yoke together an ox and an ass together. You put
two oxen together, they pull. Same principle. Be not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? Or what communion hath light
with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord. He's not talking there about solely our physical bodies. He's
not talking there about just the natural things. Not running
with those that cuss and drink and rip and rear and do all that. That's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about forsaking these idols. That's why Paul said, the thing that concerns me most,
the thing I'm most interested about those whom I preach to
is this, that they didn't be not moved away from the simplicity,
which is the singularity, singleness of Christ. I'm afraid they'll be drawn away
to Christ plus the law, or Christ plus this or that. I thought about it this week
many times. There are so many men and women
in this world. Religious folks, moral folks,
and they'd shrink back in horror at the very thought of them ever
being actually a physical fornicator or an adulterer. When all the time, in the eyes
of Almighty God, they're worse because they're spiritual fornicators. about any God will do. They profess to be Christians, but they do not love the God
of this Bible. How do you determine an idol? Feeling? No. You determine what's true and
false based on this word. Not hard if the spirit of God
enable you. But we can be moral, religious, but porno people. because the God we worship is
not God at all. It's easier. Religion comes like that harlot.
She's enticing. She offers ease, offers the line
of less resistance, offers acceptance. She smells so good to the flesh, but she's a stench in the nostrils
of God. You may get the natural moral
lesson here. I hope you do. I pray for grace. God keep me from being that fornicator. But especially that spiritual
point. Help me to know you, the truth,
to delight in your word, to delight in your finished salvation, to
trust in nothing in myself, but to look to Christ alone. Father,
we thank you and we pray that you would take your word Bind our wandering hearts to
thee. Reveal yourself to us. For we
pray in Christ's name. Amen.