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. . . . . . . Well, good evening, everyone. Welcome back to Mountain Baptist Church. Take your song books and turn to song number 91. Thank you. Song number 91 in your song books will sing Hiding in Thee. If you would stand. We'll sing song number 91. Hiding in Thee. In the calm of the noon tight in sorrow's lone hour my times when temptations cast o'er me its power in the tempest of life on its wide heaving seas thou blest rock of ages I'm hiding in Thee hiding in Thee hiding in Thee thou blest rock of ages I'm hiding in Thee how often the conflict when pressed by the fall have I fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe how often when trials like sea billows have I hidden in Thee oh thou rock my soul hiding in Thee hiding in Thee thou blest rock of ages I'm hiding in Thee I'm hiding in Thee I'm hiding in Thee I'm hiding in Thee I'm hiding in Thee hiding in Thee I'm hiding in Thee I'm hiding in Thee Song 134 and your songbooks will sing My Anchor Holds Song 134 Though the angry searches roam my tempest driven soul I am peaceful for I know wildly though the winds may blow I've an anchor safe and sure that can ever more endure and it holds my anchor holds on your wildest thin old gale on my bar so small and frail by its grace I shall not fail for my anchor holds my anchor holds mighty tides about me sweep perils lurk within the deep angry clouds or shade the sky and the tempest rises high still I stand the tempest shock for my anchor grips the rock and it holds my anchor holds my wildest thin old gale on my bar so small and frail by its grace I shall not fail for my anchor holds my anchor holds I can feel the anchor fast I meet each sudden blast and the cable though unseen bears the heavy strain between through the storm I safely ride till the turning of the tide and it holds my anchor holds my wildest thin old gale on my bar so small and frail by its grace I shall not fail for my anchor holds my anchor holds troubles almost fellows or me roll tempter seek to lure astray storms obscure the light of day but in Christ I can be bold I've an anchor that shall hold and it holds my anchor holds my wildest thin old gale on my bar so small and frail by its grace I shall not fail for my anchor holds my anchor holds Amen That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave That's the song I have to go down an octave Yeah, that's 55. We got that. We had 55 saved last week. Where are you guys at? Actually, no, that's obviously from Romania. The Romanian soul-winning mission that went really well there. But good job with the soul-winning. Keep up the good work. And then as far as our service time, so this Wednesday, we're going to have a normal service, 7 p.m. So nothing different there. And then the next day, we're going to be having the retreat. So like I said, when it comes to the check-in time, it's usually around 2 o'clock, but you may be able to get in earlier than that on Thursday, depending on when the cabin's ready. And then I'm pretty sure checkout's like 10 a.m. or something like that. So your checkout's going to be like on Sunday at 10 a.m. So you better not be checking out at 10 a.m. because you better be here by that point, no. But so it's really up to you guys as far as whether you want to leave from there or you want to come home on Saturday and leave. We never stay there until Sunday just because we have a lot of kids and that's a lot to deal with on Sunday morning in a place that's not our house. But Pastor Berzins is going to be in for the retreat. His family is going to be here for Sunday, but he's going to actually be flying back that Saturday. So but he will be here for the retreat. He's planning on preaching for us, so that'll be fun. And if you have any questions, you should have one of those sheets that was made up for the list of things that you should bring. Get your coffee mug if you're an adult. That's about all I got right now for the retreat. And then we have the prayer meetings on there. Don't forget about the regional soul meeting times this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And you really want to be on the WhatsApp there to see where you'll be meeting up and all that. 1 Thessalonians 1 is our memory chapter for the month, and we are going to be going through the whole book. So this is a good one if you want to try to memorize a small book in the Bible or a medium-sized book. And then Jonah 3, 10 is our memory verse for the week. We've got the birthdays, anniversaries, pregnancies being prayer for my wife under the pregnancy list there. So pass that halfway point. So just pray everything goes well. And pray that we can fit all the car seats in our van because I don't want to have to buy a new vehicle. So I'm not really joking with that prayer request. So please pray that I can fit these car seats in there and get all five kids in that van and buy a new one this year. Anyway, that's about all I've got for announcements. Brother Dave is going to come and sing one more song. Brother Joseph is going to be reading 1 Corinthians 10 for us. Don't forget offering boxes in the back there, mother-baby rooms for the mother-babies only. And that's it. All right. Song number 86. Song number 86 in your song books. We'll sing in the garden. Song number 86. I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses and the voice I hear falling on my ear the Son of God discloses and He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known He speaks and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing and He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known I'd stay in the garden with Him though the night around me be falling but He beds me go through the voice of woe His voice to me is calling and He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known All right, we'll have Brother Joseph come and read the scripture for us. 1 Corinthians 10 If you'll turn there. And if you found your place there, you'll say amen. Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ but with many of them God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness Now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted neither be I dolters as were some of them as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play neither let us commit fortication 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 of serpents neither murmuring ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer and all these things happened unto them for examples they are 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 there hath no temptation taken you but such 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 wherefore my dearly beloved flee from idolatry I speak as to wise men judge ye what I say the cup of blessing which we bless is not the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is not the communion of the body of Christ for we being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread behold Israel after the flesh are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar what say I then that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything but I say the things which with the Gentile sacrifice they sacrifice to devils and not to God I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of devils do we provoke the Lord to jealousy are we stronger than he all things are lawful for me but all things are not expedient all things are lawful for me but all things edify not let no man seek his own but every man another's wealth whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat asking no question for conscience sake for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof if any of them that believe not bid you to a feast and ye be disposed to go whatsoever is set before you eat asking no question for conscience sake but if any man say unto you this is offered in sacrifice unto idols eat not for his sake that showed it and for conscience sake for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof conscience I say not thy own but of the other for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience for if I by grace be a partaker why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks wherefore whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do do all to the glory of God give none offense neither to the Jews nor the Gentiles nor the Church of God even as I pleased all men in all things not seeking mine own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved let's pray Lord Father thank you for this time we're able to gather back together Lord I ask you be it Pastor Robinson Lord I thank you for your pure and holy word you've given to us and edifies this afternoon in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So you're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 I want you to kind of hold your place there we'll be getting back there but go back with me to Matthew chapter 6 and I'm going through the Lord's Prayer if you will it doesn't call it the Lord's Prayer but we kind of know it as the Lord's Prayer because it's the model prayer if you will that Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray or how they ought to pray basically you know kind of the model I'm looking at it as bullet points this is what you should be praying for and we're coming down to the end of the prayer really we'll have one more sermon where I get into kind of the finale of the prayer so we kind of dealt with the first sermon was more so like how do we start off a prayer who are we praying to and then the last sermon Lord willing the next Sunday I'll be getting into how we end a prayer and just kind of the conclusion of a prayer but in verse 13 we'll read the whole prayer here if you will in verse 9 of Matthew chapter 6 it says after this manner therefore pray ye our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and here's what we're going to be getting into tonight and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen so that portion right there that we're going to be getting into is lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil and I'm going to be hitting more so on where it talks about lead us not into temptation which obviously will end up if we don't go into temptation it's delivering us from evil you can definitely see where there could be another portion to this of like where the Bible says that your word may have free course and that you deliver us from unreasonable or wicked men and how it's not really dealing with temptation but more so just delivering us from wicked people so there can definitely be that aspect in this prayer but I'm going to be really hitting on not being led into temptation and really just dealing with the fact of how we should be praying that we're not being tempted and getting into those situations go to Matthew chapter 26 when Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane before he goes to the cross he has his disciples there and he specifically has Peter, James and John go with him a little further than the rest of the disciples and he's asking his disciples to pray watch and pray and if you remember he keeps coming back and they're asleep and the whole story there that happens three times but in verse 41 there Matthew 26 it says watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak so watching and praying watching a lot of times you're awake you're not sleeping you're awake you're alert you're sober and praying that ye enter not into temptation so this is something that's very common that Jesus is telling us is that basically we're praying that the Lord would not lead us into temptation meaning this is that I don't believe it's saying like if you don't pray this the Lord is going to lead you into temptation I believe what it's basically saying is like lead us in a manner that we won't get into temptation if we're following his steps we're not going to be getting into all this temptation Mark 14 you don't have to turn there but in verse 38 the same parallel pacifist says watch ye and pray lest ye enter into temptation the spirit truly is ready and the flesh is weak and the thing that I want to point out here is that he's stating here is that your spirit is willing your spirit is ready your spirit is saved so when we're talking about being tempted we're talking about being tempted in the flesh as we were seeing also forgive us our debts we're talking about fleshly debts we're talking about fleshly sins spiritually speaking we're good to go whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God whosoever is born of God sinneth not so we're not worried about sins spiritually speaking because we're washed by the blood but physically speaking we still have the flesh and in the flesh dwells no good thing and the same thing here when we're dealing with temptations we're dealing with temptations in the flesh okay these physical temptations that we all still have and the thing that you need to realize with this is that and you may not have realized how much this just this model prayer just debunks a lot of false doctrine I want you to think about this Jesus is saying that we need to pray that God doesn't lead us into temptation but if when you get saved and you make Jesus Lord of your life that you're just not tempted to sin anymore how would this even make any sense why would Jesus tell his disciples hey I need you to watch and pray that you enter not into temptation if it's not possible for you to enter into temptation anymore because now you're just you know God man of a creature because you made Jesus Lord of your life and you don't worry about temptations and what it really comes down to is that all those people are a bunch of hypocrites and they all are tempted and they all still are tempted with those sins that they had before they're just lying to you like you know what I got saved I was smoked but then you know what I'm not tempted with that anymore now maybe that's true and there's just a miraculous cold turkey like cut off that you had but that's not usually the case with most people most people that have a habit it's hard to break even if it's not even a bad habit even if it's just like a habit that you have habits are hard to break hence why they're called habits you know like there's something that you just do out of doing it all the time anyway go to James chapter 1 James chapter 1 so I'm going to be heavily dealing with the fact of that we're not being led into temptation and this is a prayer that we should have that we're not being led into temptation and delivering us from evil I do believe couples with that so if you're tempted and you fall you're going to be delivered into you know you're going to be into evil you're going to harm is going to come from that but I'm also all for praying for safety and that the Lord would deliver us from wicked people and from harm and all that and I think that's in there as well you could look at it like it'll lead us not in temptation to where I have to shoot somebody to save my family from you know being harmed or something like that you could definitely see how that would apply but I'm more so dealing with fleshly desires and temptations that is a more everyday occurrence right we're not usually having to like use lethal force on people actually I've never had to so and I hope I never do but you could definitely see how that could apply with this verse but in James chapter 1 verse 12 it says blessed is the man that endured temptation but when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed so what you have to understand is that it's saying that blessed is the man that endured temptation but the prayer that is being made is that we don't even get into the temptation does that make sense like obviously if you're being tempted blessed is the man that endures that temptation but what you have to understand that is stating here is that don't say that God is the one tempting you with evil right some people will say well you know it says here that God tempted no man in context though what is it saying it says in verse 13 don't say that you're tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with what evil neither tempteth he any man with what evil so obviously he tempted Abraham and he tempted other people he put people through trials and temptations if you will of whether they were going to obey his voice but he's not going to tempt you with fornication or tempt you with adultery or tempt you with idolatry he's not tempting you with evil so he's not going to tempt you with eating really poorly and eating reesey cups and all this other stuff I'm bringing it real right now you're like I don't deal with all reeseys he hit me the thing is though what we have to understand is the thing I want to get across here is that when we're saying lead is not in temptation we're basically stating keep us away from those temptations you want to be in a path where those aren't even at hands reach but when we're tempted we're drawn away of our own lust and lust when it hath conceived bring it forth sin and sin when it is finished bring it forth death but here's the thing where does the lust come from to begin with but the eyes the beholding of the eyes so when it comes to temptation the big thing is what are you looking at to bring it on kind of a real level and I'm just speaking on my own experience when it comes to eating okay when it comes to eating like sweets because I have a big sweet tooth when I would diet I would torture myself by looking at like Google images of like cookies you know you'd be on Pinterest and you'd be like it looks delicious I could almost taste that right now and I'm like lusting after these cookies you know and it's stupidity though okay like why then I'm like well I'm having a cheat meal this Saturday it's like well I wonder how that happened you know like how did I get into that like how did I go from like dieting to over here I'm eating like a whole batch of cookies how I got there though was because I was looking at it good night it's like a flock of birds that just flew anyway you guys didn't see it I felt like I was an Alfred Hitchcock movie for a second there but I'm giving you a kind of a real example because when we're dealing with sin or temptations food is a great example of temptation okay and there is aspects of like being slothful and being a glutton and stuff like that that's definitely sinful but really it does give you a good aspect or an idea of understanding how your flesh hungers for those things that aren't good for you and how do you get to the point where you're just eating stuff that you shouldn't be eating and all that okay go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 but I want to get this point across is that God is not tempting us to sin okay and he may put us through trials and tribulations and temptations if you will but he's not tempting us with evil I don't believe he's just like putting you know like for us men he's putting beautiful women in our way to like see if we're gonna stay faithful you know what I mean like no but if we're not praying that God will lead us to the point where that's not happening then we can't expect that to be the case right just because God's not putting those temptations there doesn't mean that they won't be there and we need to be praying that that's not even on the radar okay and in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 12 here the first thing to realize when it comes to the enduring temptations is that you can be tempted notice what it says here in verse 12 wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall if there's ever a verse to memorize it's that verse right there because we need to all know that we can all fall and if you think that you can't fall you're in the worst case possible because now you're in this sense of security that you can never fall to anything and now you're not gonna be basically putting in any type of precautions to not fall and notice what it says in verse 13 it says there hath no temptation taking you but such as is common to man know this is that all the temptations that you're dealing with as long as you're not a reprobate okay if you're a normal person it's natural it's common to man meaning everybody deals with those temptations now there may be some temptations that some people deal with more than others or it's a stronger temptation for others right you know for example you know smoking and drinking is just not something that I struggle with or like where I'm just like I can't walk down this aisle where there's alcohol because I'm just so tempted that I really want this right or the well I guess there's not a cigarette aisle but you know you know what I'm saying like you're at the gas station you see all the cigarettes and you're like man I'm just really tempted by that right now just blinders no I just don't struggle with that but I'm also not gonna say listen there's just no way that I'm ever gonna be smoking or drinking or anything like that obviously I'm not gonna say that but there's gonna be things where it's gonna be a stronger temptation to where I need to put more cards right so when it comes to this it may be different for different people depending on what their temptations are or where they're all common to man okay but there's gonna be some that are more of a proclivity for you than others okay so but keep reading there it says there hath no temptation taking you but such is this common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it so we're supposed to be praying that God doesn't lead us into temptation but if we do get into temptation he's saying there's a way out you can't escape that temptation you don't have to yield to any of these temptations okay and so we need to remember that that God is able to give us these temptations or I'm not able to let us escape these temptations and gives us the strength to bear it but when it comes to temptations you know what it's better just not to even be in those temptations okay I don't believe God is just saying I want my servants to just be under temptation all the time on the sins that they struggle with and they should just be constantly under that temptation and just dealing with that and winning that battle because it's just not gonna happen you know the strongest of us are just not going to be able to fight off temptations that we struggle with on a regular basis if we're just getting hit with it full bore all the time it's just not gonna happen now is it possible that we can deal with it sure but I don't believe God is gonna let make us go through those temptations for that period of time he knows our limitations okay go to Galatians chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6, Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1 Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1 Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1 I want you just to see that how the Bible is very clear hey you're not above being tempted okay none of us are above being tempted we need to all realize that you know you could look at someone that has fallen and be like man how'd that person get there because you're you know for example maybe your marriage is going great or you're just you know you're living for God just everything's going well right now or whatever the case may be and then that person like completely screws up their marriage that person commits adultery this person commits fornication you'd be like how in the world did they go down that far what you have to realize is that we can also be tempted you can be tempted that can happen to you and even if it never happens to you or it's never even an opportunity you should still have it in your mind that it's able to happen okay so in chapter 6 and verse 1 it says brethren if a man be overtaken in a fall ye which are spiritual restore such in one in the spirit of meekness it doesn't stop there though right it's basically saying like if someone's overtaken in a fall you can imagine someone's tempted they fell into that temptation or they just have a fault in general it's basically saying you know ye that are spiritual help them help the weak but then it says consider thyself lest thou also be tempted so when you're helping other people out just know hey I need to be careful that when I'm helping this person out I don't get tempted in the thing that they're dealing with right and make sure that you're always putting guards on yourself that hey consider yourself in this matter so if someone is dealing with a certain temptation or struggle and you have those same proclivities you're probably not the best person to help them out with that let me help you out with your drinking problem and then that person's got this past of being like this prolific drinker you know like that's not the best person to be putting in that situation so they don't fall into it too and the same thing we need to think about with any type of temptation is that hey we need to consider ourselves it says bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ so obviously we want to help people out but we just need to be careful that we're not going to fall into the same things they're maybe dealing with right and then in verse 3 here I love this verse it says if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceives himself it reminds me in first Corinthians talk about he that thinketh he knoweth ought as he ought to know he knoweth he that thinketh he knoweth ought knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know say that five times fast but basically if you think you know like I know I know the Bible you know it's like those people are running to you like oh you know I know the Bible I know it all it's like then you know nothing as you ought to know because the person that tells me that yeah I know I know that Bible I know everything about that Bible as soon as you say that you told me you know nothing about the Bible then because the people that know the Bible well are the ones that realize how much they don't know more than ever okay but the same thing with temptations is that when you think oh you know I got this down pat you know I can't be tempted with that you think you're something you're deceiving yourself and so we need to be careful when it comes to temptations that even if we're not dealing with that temptation at the time that we don't get sucked into it okay go to first Corinthians chapter 7 and I'm going to give an example of a temptation if you will and that's dealing with fornication which can obviously go into adultery as well because you know basically adultery is fornication if you will within wedlock or outside of wedlock I guess when it comes to if you're married and you're committing that act with someone other than your spouse in verse 1 it says this and the thing that I want to kind of hit on with this chapter right here is we want to try to avoid the temptation right the whole point I believe of this prayer is to avoid the temptation and then there's all these verses about like when you're tempted you know endure that temptation when you're tempted do with it this way God will give you strength to overcome it and all that right but the ultimate goal is that we're not in those situations so here's an example in verse 1 here it says now consider the things which you wrote now considering the things which you wrote unto me it is good for a man not to touch a woman nevertheless to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband so what are we trying to do avoid the temptation of fornication so here's one don't touch each other right I mean if you're not holding the hand of you know your girlfriend boyfriend whatever then it's not going to go any further than that and you're going to avoid fornication and then basically saying if you really want to avoid fornication get married and that's where it really gets into the idea of how do we avoid temptations well you know there's the idea of marriage there's the idea of just not touching each other right if you're not touching each other at all see some people misrepresent this and be like listen you know so and so touched so and so's hand they're in sin that is not what this passage is saying this passage is basically saying if you want to avoid fornication you know it's not good for a man to touch a woman right because as soon as you start like holding her hand then you're kissing and then it goes on to other things right so it's just one of those things that one thing leads into another and if you really want to avoid it it's kind of like you're not going to be an alcoholic if you never take the first sip right when you take that first sip of alcohol it's not like you're a drunkard automatically but if you never took the first sip you'd never become a drunkard that's kind of the idea that we're getting with there keep reading there now for married couples you want to avoid adultery don't put yourself in the situation for adultery to happen verse 3 here it says let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence and likewise also the wife unto the husband the wife hath not power of her own body but the husband and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body but the wife the fraud ye not the one not one the other except it be with consent for a time that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again that Satan, notice this, tempt ye not tempt you not for your incontinency so unmarried couples to avoid fornication, don't touch each other to avoid fornication get married, you know, I mean that's kind of like the ultimate way of kind of avoiding fornication because then obviously in marriage it's fine but married couples to avoid adultery due benevolence has to happen and the Bible is very discreet on what it's describing there but it's basically coming together, husband and wife coming together, that's what it is if that's happening then adultery is less likely to happen I believe the number one case for divorce, and you can say it's finance is all you want, but is adultery but what leads to that point, and what leads to that point is the lack of due benevolence and that's why spouses go to someone else, if that's happening on a regular basis at home then why would you be seeking it elsewhere now when it comes to adultery or getting into these situations I mean young people, when it comes to fornication, you don't want to be alone with girls with a boy, you don't want to be alone with them, with no one around and as far as like in their house, in their room that's just right for something to happen that shouldn't be happening don't put yourself in that situation, and you can say listen, you know, we're not going to do that all this stuff, but you're just putting yourself in a time of temptation and we should be praying that we're not led into temptation but we need to be smart about that, when it comes to adultery husbands, we need to not put ourselves in situations where that can happen and the thing is that we need to be praying, and let me give you an example of what I mean by this, as far as praying that we're not led into temptation before I was married, and maybe this is just coincidence okay, before I was married when I would go to the gym or I'd go somewhere else this is going to sound really, this is going to sound really arrogant please just bear with me in my folly for a second I didn't have a problem meeting girls I didn't have a problem talking to girls, girls would often even approach me, and all this stuff let me leave it at that, so before I was married that was not a problem for me to talk to girls to get girls numbers, like all this stuff once I got married, automatically I'm like I need to make sure and guard myself from that, but the Lord has been very maybe where I got ugly, got fat, I don't know what happened, right? I did get fatter I was a little skinnier when I got married it was false advertisement, sorry Holly and then I stopped but that stuff kind of stopped, and I believe the Lord was helping me in that, right? of course your ego wants that, right? You want everybody to like you you want to think you're just like the stud walking into the gym you're the stud wherever you go, and everybody likes you, all the women like you but as a married man, I don't want that, honestly you shouldn't want that, married men, you shouldn't want girls fawning over you when you're married, okay? and everybody's going to be like, yeah, Pastor Robinson thinks he's just a stud I'm trying to give you an example of just me personally on how that pretty much just kind of went from one level to nothing but I believe the Lord was helping me with that because that would be a major temptation, right? I don't want to deal with on a daily basis, right? and so when it comes to this, I could say, listen, I've been married for eight years never had a problem with it, never had a situation where I've ever had to like flee away from a situation or worry about that situation or anything like that, and I could say, you know what, look at me, I'm doing great but you know what, wherefore let him that think if he stand to take heed lest he fall, maybe the Lord has just made it so just easy for me to not deal with that temptation, and you know what I say to that, keep that coming, right? I don't want to deal with that temptation, I don't want to see if I'm weak in that area right? So that's just one example of like, we need to be praying that the Lord, we're walking in a way where we're not even, it's not even at hands length, it should be to the point where you have to go so far out of your way to get to that temptation that you're just willingly wanting to just delve into some temptation but it's not just coming to your doorstep. That's what we should be praying for. Go to Proverbs chapter 7. Let me give you an example of someone that doesn't basically is being leading themselves into temptation. Proverbs 7 is a great example of this. Proverbs 7. Proverbs 7. Maybe I'm just old, maybe that's what it was, you know, I'm just old, like this guy's just old, he's this old guy coming in here. I feel old after putting that roofing up though. Proverbs 7 verse 6, this is a story here in Proverbs dealing with basically a young man that's void of understanding and how he gets caught up in fornication, if you will. And especially young people, I want you to listen to this because even if you're a girl, listen, this can this still applies to you, okay? Obviously this is talking about a young man dealing with a girl, but this can go the other way as far as temptations are concerned. Verse 6 here says for at the window of my house I look through my casement and beheld among the simple ones, I discern among the youths a young man void of understanding. Now simple ones is not a compliment there. Simple ones means simple minded. Simple and understanding, okay? Void of understanding, if you will, as it says later. Verse 8 it says passing through the street near her corner. So this young man is passing through the street near her corner and he went the way to her house so notice that he's walking towards this, right? He's walking towards where this woman is at on the corner towards her house and notice when this takes place. This is a very crucial aspect when it comes to avoiding temptation. Do your activities during the day. At night, you know that old phrase, nothing good happens at night? There's a lot of truth to that. It says in verse 9, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. Let me give you a reason why that's the case in a lot of cases. Well, it's concealed, okay? So you think no one sees you, no one's going to ever see you. In Proverbs 9 17 it says stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. The idea of things done in secret and the idea there that it's being concealed, it's you know, stolen waters are sweet and eating things in secret is pleasant. You know, sin is pleasurable for a season. Okay? But just remember that the judgment comes after that. But when it's done at night, it's being concealed, all that. So how do you stay away from what this temptation is about to happen? One, don't go towards it. Don't seek it out. Don't be walking towards that temptation. But two, don't do things at night besides sleeping, okay? Sleeping is what you should be doing at night. It's no marvel that the drug addicts in the world and all the meth heads they sleep during the day. They're all nocturnal. And everything they do is at night. It's like there are a bunch of meth heads. They can do it all during the day and maybe the same. But for some reason they want to do all their acts at night under the concealment of darkness, okay? So, verse 10 there says, and behold there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart. So you could say, well man, this woman just popped up out of nowhere. This woman attired as a harlot. But the question I would ask is what are you doing out the middle of the night walking on the corner of the street toward this woman's house? Do you see how you're not really just like falling into temptation here and it just came out of nowhere. You're walking in that direction. You're out there in the middle of the night. What are you doing, right? Now, it says she is loud and stubborn. Her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now on the streets and lieth in weight at every corner. So she caught him and kissed him with an imputed impudent, I can't even speak, 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. By the way, that's a lie. You have a harlot sitting on the corner. Yeah, I've been looking all day for you. You are the one that I've been looking for all of my life. I think that's a song, but that's a lie and they're trying to basically reel you in. Now, keep reading there in verse 16. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. What do you think is about to happen here? How many times does this bed have to be mentioned before you know exactly what this woman is trying to do to this young man? It says, Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with love. For the good man is not at home. He is gone a long journey. I'm guessing that's the dad, unless this is adultery, which I guess you could take it in both directions there. It says, He hath taken a bag of money with him and will come home at the day appointed. With her much fair speech, she caused him to yield. With the flattering of her lips, she forced him. Now, do you think that she forced him physically? Now, in today's world, in the weak guys that are out there, and the feminine guys that are today, maybe it is possible. And the women taking testosterone. But let's just be honest, I don't believe this woman was physically forcing this guy. She forced him, meaning that with her speech and all this flattery and all this stuff basically caused him to yield into doing something that he didn't want to do. I think what this is stating is that he knew he shouldn't be doing this, he didn't really want to do it, but he's being tempted into doing it. Verse 22, it says, He goeth after her straight way as an ox goeth to the slaughter, as a fool to the correction of the stalks, till a dart striked through his liver, as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his light. Harken unto me now, therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, 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. So, what can we learn from this story? Well, one, don't be doing things at night and just seeking out temptations. Don't put yourselves in those situations. Okay, if you're single and young, you don't go out to the bars and go out to the nightclubs and expect to just be coming home unscathed when it comes to these sins. And we need to not put ourselves in those positions thinking, well, no, I can't be tempted, I won't be tempted, I won't yield. Many strong men have been slain by her. I mean, David the king is a great example. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 11, 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11, a man after God's own heart, the sweet psalmist of Israel, David the king. He messes up. And what it really comes down to, when I think of David messing up, there's two things that are going on there. I believe, one, he didn't have a good relationship with any of his wives. Wives, that's the first problem. You should have one wife, not multiple wives. But even though he had multiple wives, he didn't have a good relationship with any one of them then, because he's getting up in the middle of the night from his bed. But I want you to see what's going on, first of all, in verse 1 here. So what are we talking about, not being led into temptation? Well, how are we not being led into temptation? Well, we need to keep ourselves away from it, essentially. And in 2 Samuel chapter 1 verse 11, it says, Notice what it's saying. It's a time for him to go forth to battle. So where was David supposed to be? He's supposed to be in battle. He's supposed to be working, right? If you're doing what you should be doing, you're not going to be getting into those temptations to begin with. I'm not saying to work yourself to the point where you're about to break. But here's the thing, if you're working long hours, and you're working, you get home, you eat dinner, and then you're spending time with your kids, and you're doing whatever you need to do, you don't have time to get into that stuff. You don't have time to go down to the corner and meet this woman or whatever. Do you see how when you're busy and doing what you should be doing, he wouldn't even have this temptation. It would have been nowhere on the radar. He wouldn't have had to deal with it or even think about it if he was just doing what he should have been doing. So that's number one. Number one, just do what you're supposed to be doing, and then you're going to end up not getting into these temptations. Does that mean you'll never have any temptation? Of course that's not true. But when it comes to, for example, this past year or two, from working a job to trying to get this house built to church and everything else, to have time to eat maybe every once in a while. It's just one of those things that it's not that I'm some super Christian. I just didn't have time to do anything else. So there is an aspect of just working yourself so hard to where you don't even have time to get into that or even watch things you shouldn't watch or do things you shouldn't do. But I want you to say that even in those times, I'm still trying to put up guards because even in that time where you're working hard and you don't really have much time to do anything, that doesn't mean you still can't fall onto sin. That doesn't mean you still can't fall into temptation. So we still need to be guarded when it comes to that. But keep reading there in verse 2, it says, And it came to pass in the evening tide that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house. Now let me ask you a question. If it's evening tide, why isn't he sleeping? You know why? Because he's not working hard. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet. There's times where I'm like, I really kind of want to watch this or do this and I'll like, every single time I'll put something on that I want to watch and it'll be something as simple as I just want some little entertainment of watching this guy try to climb this mountain and see if he dies. It's one of those things that it's like a National Geographic thing and you're like, will he survive or not? And I'll be like, I want to watch this. I want to see if he survives or whatever. It's like a documentary. And then I'll put it on and immediately I'm out. Just gone. I'm like, why do I even try to do this? As soon as I hit that couch, I'm like, I'm out. And then I wake up with a creek on my neck and try to mosey off to the bed at 2 o'clock in the morning. I'm just giving you a little bit of my life right now, just what I'm doing. But when it comes to this, you know why he's not sleeping? Because he's idle. Idleness is the devil's workshop. Idleness of the mind is the devil's workshop and that is the truth of the day is long. And you know what? He wouldn't have gotten into this sin if he was in his bed with his wife and that due benevolence was happening. But then it goes on to say that then David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. Now the rest of the story is that obviously he calls her over and ends up getting her pregnant and then he ends up murdering Uriah to cover up this pregnancy and just all these sins just compile as you go down the line. But if he was doing what he should be doing, he wouldn't have been up on that rooftop. If he was working hard, he'd be sleeping. So he wouldn't be on that rooftop. And if he had a good relationship with his wife, he wouldn't be he wouldn't be even worried about looking at other women because that's getting fulfilled. Does that make sense? Like there's a lot of things that lead into temptation and problems that cause those temptations to even be there. So you don't want to be led into temptation? Well obviously ask the Lord to kind of guide you in a way that that's just not going to happen. But also you need to be doing certain things that are guarding yourself from those temptations. The last one is dealing with 1 Corinthians chapter 6 I'm going to hit on this one real quick because I want to get to the last thing I want to hit. I said this is the last but it's not. I want to just hit on the idea of fleeing fornication a little bit more. You say, man you're really hitting on fornication. Well you know what that's a major sin and it's one that a lot of people deal with. Everybody deals with it. Everybody that's an adult or an adolescent or that age. And you know what kids you need to hear it too before you even at that age that this is something to be aware of. In verse 18 of 1 Corinthians chapter 6 it says, Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body. The Bible talks about abstaining from fornication and all this throughout. If there's a sin that I think about that's mentioned a lot about abstaining from and staying away from, it's fornication. And so this is obviously a major one that the Bible hits on and I think that this is common to man. Very common to man. And it's one that's real that you need to be thinking about. Go to Genesis chapter 39 dealing with the story of Joseph and the fact that he literally flees fornication. I mean technically this would be adultery as well but fornication is kind of a bigger term that would encompass adultery. Adultery would be what this would have been if it would have taken place, but I believe fornication is still qualified as fornication as well. In verse 7 here so get the story. He sold to Potiphar. Joseph sold into Egypt. Potiphar buys him and basically puts Joseph over everything that he's got. And this is a case where Potiphar's wife is coming on to Joseph. So she's married to his master and notice what it says in verse 7. It says, and it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and she said, lie with me. But he refused and it goes on with the story. But I want you to see verse 9 there basically he's giving a reason, like hey your master put me over all of his house and all this, but at the end of verse 9 there it says, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And the thing that you have to think about if you're in a temptation to commit fornication or adultery is that it may be concealed between everybody in the world but you and that person. And somehow in this crazy social media world it's concealed, but in my eyes I don't think you could ever conceal anything anymore. Like everything is just gonna come out and all that. So that should be a warning shot anyway, but here's the thing what you should be thinking about is that God sees it. God's going to see it. I don't care how dark it gets. I don't care how secret it is, I don't care how far away you are, you could be literally 100 miles from any living person off the grid besides you and this other person and God knows about it. And you're sinning against God. So that is something that should be at the forefront as far as why you're not doing it. Because I think that's a reason why a lot of people get into these sins, they think well no one sees this, no one's gonna ever know. Another thing to think about when it comes to committing adultery is that think about your spouse doing that to you. And how angry that would make you. And how much that would break you. And then I think you'll think twice about it. Just think about how that would make you feel and how betrayed you'd feel. How low that would make you feel. And then I think that you'll have a little better understanding like I should never even get close to that. Think about that, getting more close to that. Just completely put it as far away as possible. But obviously we know the story here in verse 12, well actually look at verse 11. So she keeps doing this day by day. And he keeps refusing. So Joseph's a great guy. Obviously he's staying strong in this. He's refusing, he's getting out of there, all this. But in verse 11 it says, And it came to pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business, and there was none of the men of the house there within. Which gives you an idea of like hey, you should always probably have people around you and not just be left alone with somebody because this is possible to happen. Now this wasn't really Joseph's fault, right? He's just doing his business. He can't help but be like that no one was in there. It's just kind of setting up what would constitute an area where it's going to be really tempting. And then it says in verse 12, And she caught him by his garment and saying, Lie with me. And he left his garment in her hand and fled and got him out. And he literally flees for an occasion. To the T, he's running out of there. I don't know what garment he had on, but whatever she grabbed onto, it must have come off of him. It could have been like a shirt, it could have been a coat, it could have been whatever. I don't know what it is. It doesn't really say what the garment is. All we know is that it's his garment and she got a hold of it and she has it in her hand. And then she ends up basically on a dime saying this guy tried to force me and then he gets put in the prison. So Joseph, doing the right thing, ends up getting punished for it. But in the end it says, But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy. And you know the story. Joseph ends up being the second in command in Egypt. Because he follows the Lord and he does what he's supposed to be doing. But at the time, he's obviously like, I'm trying to be right and I just keep getting punished for it. But Joseph is a great example of that. Now another thing to think about too, during temptations and not being led into temptations, is purposing in your heart what choice you're going to make. You don't want to just be like, alright, I know what the Bible says but I haven't made a choice on which route I'm going to go on this area. You need to make that choice way before you ever would even get close to a situation that's questionable. A good example of this is Daniel. In Daniel 1, in verse 8 it says, But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat. So if you know the story, basically they were bringing meat to him and he said no and he's going to eat pulse and all this other stuff. The idea there is that he purposed in his heart beforehand before it even came to him that he was not going to do it and then he talked to the captain of the eunuchs and got it to where he didn't have to eat this meat. And that's a whole other sermon for another day, but the idea there is that you purpose in your heart beforehand before you even get to the case where you have to make a choice or take a stand on an issue that you've already purposed in your heart, I'm not doing that. I'm going to keep that commandment. And I'm not going to waver on that. So when you get in that situation, it's not a matter of like, well, should I? No, it should be a matter of like, this ain't happening. And then get out of that situation, right? Don't just linger there. I'll be like, oh yeah, I was steadfast as a rock and then I stuck around for another 30 minutes. Because listen, you might be steadfast and true to stick into your word and to what you're going to do when you first are in that situation, but if you linger, that's going to start dwindling. And I'm just giving you some advice to deal with temptation. Go to Matthew chapter 4. The last thing I want to show you here is that when it comes to enduring temptation, Jesus is the best person to go to when it comes to someone that endured temptation. The Bible says about Jesus in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 14, it says, So when you think about, well, how can I endure this temptation? Look to Jesus. Jesus was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. So Jesus is someone that has endured temptation. And He's able to sucker them that are tempted, the Bible says. And sucker means like to help. So He's able to help you. He's been tempted. He can help you in your temptations. Now, Matthew chapter 4 is the famous passage dealing with Jesus being tempted by the devil. And let's see how Jesus deals with this temptation. The devil is literally called the tempter. But in verse 1 here, this is the last thing I'm going to show you, it says, So not only is he being tempted, he's hungry because he's been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. So if you want to get close to God, do that. But in verse 3 it says, He said, Now I want you to see a common theme. I'm not going to go through each point here and really talk about what's being said and what he's being tempted on. But there's a common theme about how Jesus responds to the devil. I want you to see if you can catch it. I'm going to read the rest of this, but I want you to see if you can catch it. The devil taketh him up into the holy city and seteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and he saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down. For it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning me, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Did you notice the theme of how Jesus answered them in all three of those cases? He said, It is written, and he quoted the word of God. You know what, you want to know a good way to endure temptation is to add the word of God on the forefront of your mouth in mind. You say, well, you know, how will that, you know, when it comes to fleeing fornication, have those verses memorized. That this is the will of God for your life. Even your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication. Flee fornication! Every sin that is committed is without the body, but fornication is a sin against the body. And your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. And what the Bible talks about if you defile the Holy Ghost, or defile the temple of the Holy Ghost, you know, those type of warnings that are going out there, right? But any sin, you can think about how, listen, if you have the word of God and you have a verse just on your tongue saying, no, no, this ain't happening, this is what the Bible says on this. It is written. You know, it is written. I mean, think of adultery. It is written, thou shalt not commit adultery. I mean, I know it's a simple one, but you can think about other verses, too. But in Psalm 119 and verse 9, it says, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. The Bible says in Psalm 119 105, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. How do you do that? The word of God being your guide. Lean not unto thine own understanding. Lean on his understanding, on his word, and have that at the forefront of your thoughts and minds, hearts, and your tongue. Memorize it. If there's a sin that you're dealing with, memorize a verse that talks about that sin. If you're struggling with alcohol, then you need to memorize Proverbs 20 and verse 1. Wine is a mocker, and strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. And you should have that verse just ingrained in your mind every time you see alcohol and be like, I'm not unwise. I'm not deceived by this. And you should be thinking about it. And so when you're dealing with the Lord's prayer here, these model prayers, I believe every time we go to prayer, at least on a daily basis, these things should be something that you're thinking about and praying for. That the Lord does not lead us into temptation. That he delivers us from evil, right? Basically, you think about the guy that's going to the slaughter is that the Lord will lead us away from that slaughterhouse, right? The idea is that you're not going to get into that, and that the Lord will lead you away from that. And there's ways that you can make sure that you're following that path that God has said. And I believe that God can do things and move things that are even outside of our control when it comes to how we're following the Lord, that will cause those things to be easier. And so that's something that we need to be praying for on a daily basis. Lord willing, next week we'll be capping off this study, if you will, with kind of that finale of the prayer. And hopefully it's been a blessing. Like I said, when it comes to this series, I'm more so preaching at myself because I want to be better at praying. And obviously I pray, but if there's a weakness that I have it's that I'm not like this prayer warrior like I'd like to be. Or someone that's just really good at praying and just really consistent all the time and praying for everything that I should be praying for. It's something I personally need to work on and get better at. So hopefully this will help others as well. But let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the souls that were saved today and throughout the week. And just pray that you'd help us to learn how to pray. And thank you for teaching us through your word on things we should be praying for and how we ought to pray. And just pray that you'd just help us to do this on a daily basis. And Lord, specifically I pray with this passage on delivering us from evil but to start off to not lead us into temptation. And Lord, if we do get into temptation, I pray that you help deliver us from that and help us to endure it. And Lord, we love you and pray also in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So Brother David, come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed. ... ... Alright, take your song books and turn to song number 97. Song number 97 in your song books, we'll sing I Need Thee Every Hour. And if you would stand, we'll sing song number 97. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...