(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the title of the sermon comes from that verse. It comes from the memory verse. Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed. Take heed, what does that mean? Listen, pay attention, take heed. Why? Lest he fall. The title of the sermon this morning is, Lest He Fall. Is it a good thing to be standing? Or is it a good thing to have fallen? Where do you want to be as a Christian? Standing strong for the Lord or taking a big fall and embarrassing yourself in that fall. What do you think is better? Standing. Standing obviously is much more important. And what we're going to get out of this chapter is a Bible study on the history of Old Testament Israel. Okay, now some of you guys may recall half of this chapter. I've already preached on half of this chapter. That was three weeks ago when I was preaching on whether we should eat things that were offered unto idols. So that half of the chapter, I'm not going to be focusing too much on it. Yes, I'm going to read over it. Yes, I'm going to give a quick summary. But if you want to know about those verses, about eating things offered unto idols, then I recommend you go back and listen to the sermon three weeks ago when I preached on 1 Corinthians chapter 8. But we're up to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 right now. And let's start off with verse number 1. So again, it's a history of Old Testament Israel that we're going to be focusing on this morning. And the first things that we're going to learn about of Old Testament Israel are just how blessed they were by God. Just how much God loved them. Just how much God was able to deliver them from the hands of the Egyptians. We're going to start off with the blessings of Israel. And then we're going to see the cursings of Israel. We're going to see how they stood. How they stood for the Lord. But then we're going to see how they fell on their faces before them. Not in worship, but fell in sin. Fell in doing the wrong thing. So let's look at verse number 1. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 1. Moreover, brethren. Who are the brethren that's Paul writing to? To the church in Corinth. Okay, to the Corinthians. To the New Testament church. That's including us. So moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant. What does it mean to be ignorant? It means to not have knowledge, right? To not know what's taken place. Paul says I'm writing these things to you so you would not be ignorant. So you would have the knowledge of what's taken place in the Old Testament times. Had that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. So this is going to be a bit of a Bible study again. Just like Thursday, but maybe not as many verses. So I want you to keep a finger in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and turn to Exodus 13. Okay, so keep a finger or a bookmark, whatever you got. 1 Corinthians 10. Turn to Exodus 13. We're going to spend some time in the book of Exodus as well as we go through and see this journey of Old Testament Israel. But just to lead you up to this. So Exodus 13 is where you want to go. This is after Israel were delivered out of Egypt. When Moses was sent by God to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. You guys remember, you know, we've looked at the Passover not long ago either. We looked how God came and killed the firstborn of all the Egyptians. But all the Israelites that had the blood of the lamb and the doorposts, he passed over them. They did not lose any life, okay. And it was through that grief, through all these plagues that God put in Israel. Through the grief that finally came upon Pharaoh. He let the people of Israel go. He let them journey out the next day, the next morning they came out of their houses and in haste they left, right. That was a picture of salvation. You're saved by the blood. You're saved immediately. It's not a process. Once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved. So they left Egypt immediately, okay. But then as they left Egypt, God didn't only just deliver them out of Egypt. He was protecting those people. And so what we read about here is where in verse, back in, you don't have to turn there. I know you're in Exodus 13. Go to Exodus 13, 21. But then what we read in 1 Corinthians 10, 1 was that our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. So the first thing I want to show you is what took place under the cloud. So when Israel left Egypt, look at verse 21, Exodus 13, 21. It says, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way and by night a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. So once they were delivered out of Egypt, the Lord led their way. And this is what we're learning as a church. Once you are saved, God's not done with you. He's going to lead you. He's going to protect you. The pillar of cloud was to lead them, but obviously they were going through deserts. They didn't have necessarily shade, and God provided shade for them in that cloud. God protected them. God provided their needs. But then at nighttime, instead of being a cloud that they were over, it was a pillar of fire. What's fire? What do we use fire for? Especially if you're in the middle of the wilderness, you need fire to keep warm. You need fire for light, and God's going to keep you warm. God's going to give you the light. God's given us the light of his scriptures that we can walk according to his past, that we can walk according to his will. The same things that we read about in the Old Testament, God gives us that same blessing through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's just done differently. Instead of it being this outward miracle, we have everything we need in the Word of God. We have everything we need. We can speak to him, right? We can read what he has to say to us through the scriptures, and the Lord protected Israel being under that cloud. Now, look at verse 19. Drop down to Exodus 14, verse 19. Oh, sorry, before you do that. Sorry, Exodus 14. So the next chapter, Exodus 14, verse 13, it says here, And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still. We want to be people that stand still. We want to make sure that we stand strong for the Lord, and lest we fall. We don't want to fall in our sin. Now, the reason Moses is saying these words to the people is because Pharaoh had a change of mind. He wanted those Israelites back to be enslaved in his service. So he sends an army, he sends chariots to go and get them. And they're afraid because they've got the armies, they've got the weapons, they've got the horses and the chariots. And they could die, right? They could die. And so Moses says, look, stand still. Fear ye not, stand still. And see the salvation of the Lord. So who's going to protect them when the enemy goes against them? The Lord. And same for you. If you're saved, you're a believer, you're a child of God, fear ye not. Stand still. Why? Because in seeing the salvation of the Lord, the Lord can save you not just from your sins, not just from hell, but from physical harm that may come our way. And then he says, which he will show to you today for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, in verse 14, and ye shall hold your peace. So who fights for us as believers? The Lord fights for us. I mean, that's a great person to have in your corner if you're going to have a fight, right? Having the Lord himself fighting for you. And look at verse 19, Exodus 14, verse 19. And the angel of the Lord, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud, remember that pillar, how they were under that cloud? And the pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind them. So the Lord's protecting them from the army of the Egyptians. In verse 20, and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud and darkness to them. So the Lord caused this cloud to be a dark cloud to the Egyptians. He made it dark. Even if it was daytime, he made it dark so the Egyptians could not see where they were. They could not see where the Israelites were. But then look at the other side. But he gave light by night to these so that one came not near the other all the nights. So the Lord made it dark for the Egyptians, but he made it light for the Israelites, right? This cloud that protected them so they could not calm and harm the Israelites, okay? But then if you can quickly go back to 1 Corinthians 10, stay in Exodus, please don't move away from there. But 1 Corinthians 10 verse 2, it says, And we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Now what's that referring to? Well back in verse 1 it said, And they all passed through the sea. Do you guys know what that's about? That's when they pass through the Red Sea. Do you guys know that story? They walk through a sea. The Lord does an amazing miracle. He passed the waters and Israel are able to go through that water, saving them from the armies of the Egyptians. Go back to Exodus 14. Exodus 14 verse 21, let's read about that. Exodus 14 verse 21, the Bible says here, so remember the Egyptians, the army, they want to kill the Israelites. They want to bring them back to enslave them, but then look at verse 21, And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. So the Lord creates dry land in the middle of the sea. I mean that's an amazing miracle, right? And then verse 22, And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. So just imagine these huge walls of water on your right and on your left, and you're just passing through this narrow way. And then verse 23, And the Egyptians pursued, so now the Lord lets the Egyptians follow them, pursue them, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. All of it, his whole army goes into the sea. Verse 24, And it came to pass that in the morning watch, the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels. So the Lord takes off, I don't know how, but he takes off their chariot wheels. They can't move, they're in the middle of the sea, and they drive and they drive them heavily, so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. So they realized, whoa, our chariot wheels have just come off. Let's get out of here. The Lord's fighting for them again. Let's get out of here. They knew that they could not stand against the Lord of Israel. And verse 26, And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon the chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it. And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. They remained not so much as one of them. They were totally destroyed. But then look at this, verse 29, But the children of Israel walked upon the dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on the right hand and on the left. Sorry, I thought I was reading the same passage again. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. So we have the Lord completely destroying this army. Now think about those two huge walls of water that you're passing through, and then they just collapse on you. Have you ever been to the ocean? Have you ever been to the beach and just been totally taken out by a wave? I mean I remember one time as a child I went to the beach, and I wasn't paying attention. This huge wave just came, and I think I got concussed by the wave. It was so strong it took me out. I feel like I blanked out for a minute, and I just woke up on the shore. Just woke up like, what happened? And there was just a wave, just a wave that knocked me out. Imagine just being totally two huge walls of water just falling upon you. I mean you just be wiped out, and the armies of the Egyptians were totally destroyed at that point in time. The Lord delivered them, and they feared the Lord. Not just the Egyptians, but the Israelites feared the Lord. They could see just how powerful their God was, and God could just destroy a whole army in one shot like that, okay. We ought to have a healthy fear of the Lord as well as believers. But again if you go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 2, I just want to point out to you there that it says, they were all baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And so as they passed through that Red Sea, our learning from that is that was a picture, that was a type of baptism. So once you're saved, once you're delivered by the blood of the Lamb, okay, and you left Egypt as it were, you've left your sins, you've left you know the power of sin over you, you've been saved okay from hell, you've been saved from your sin, the next step for you as a Christian is to be baptised. That's what the Israelites were demonstrating when they passed through the Red Sea, that it was a baptism, they went through those waters, and so baptism ought to be done by immersion through the waters and out of the waters in the same way, okay. So I'm just trying to show you here that a lot of these Old Testament stories are New Testament teachings, okay. Don't just read the stories and go, wow that's an amazing story. Think about how do these stories represent what we now have in the New Testament, because they do. The Lord has the big picture in place when he has these stories, when he does these miracles, okay. Now if you're back to 1 Corinthians 10, look at verse 3. And did all eat the same spiritual meat. So the Israelites all ate the same spiritual meat that we ate of. And you say, what is that about? Well in the Bible, meat doesn't always mean meat, what we call meat, okay. Many times in the Bible, now meat is a meat, but it's where we get eat from, right. We say eat comes from meat and we can eat anything. We can eat vegetables, we can eat meat, we can eat, you know, anything. Meat in the Bible often just represents food. You won't find that word food in your Bibles, but you'll often just find the word meat. So when it says they ate the same spiritual meat, you may be wondering, well what meat is that? You don't need to turn there, just stay in Exodus or in 1 Corinthians. I'll just read to you from John chapter 6. John chapter 6 verse 31. Jesus, sorry this question gets asked to Jesus. It says, our fathers did eat manna in the desert. You guys know that story about the manna in the desert? As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. So there was a time when the Israelites were so hungry they didn't have food. So the Lord does a miracle. He rains down manna, some heavenly bread from heaven, okay. And it says, and he gave them bread from heaven to eat. Now are we going to eat manna that falls, literally eat manna from heaven? Is God going to drain manna from the sky right now so we can eat? Now Jesus responds to that in verse 32. Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. The true bread from heaven. Verse 33. But the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Who's that? Jesus is referring to himself, right? Verse 34. Then said they unto him, Lord evermore give us this bread. You know they want to experience the same bread that the Old Testament Israelites experienced, that manna that fell from heaven. I mean that would be an amazing experience, right? And they say give us that bread. Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So God promised, gave them this manna every day, every morning, it would fall from heaven and they would eat that in the desert. That's how they sustain themselves and Jesus says, hey, that was a type or that was a picture of me. I am the bread from heaven. If you receive me and eat of me as it were, obviously through salvation, then we will never hunger and we will never thirst because it's a done deal. You're saved forever and you've been given eternal life, okay? Back to 1 Corinthians 10 verse 4. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 4. And they'd all drink the same spiritual drink. So what drink did they drink? For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. They had a rock that they drank from. You're in Exodus, turn to Exodus 17. Let's read about that. Exodus 17 verse 1. Now have you ever drunk from a rock? Have you ever gone to a rock and drank water out of that rock? It's impossible. It's a miracle that God did to the Old Testament Israel. Exodus 17 verse 1. And all the congregation, all the congregation of the children of Israel, journeyed from the wilderness of sin after their journeys according to the commandment of the Lord, are pitched in Rephidim. And there was no water for the people to drink. There was no water. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses and said, give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, why chide ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there for water. And the people murmured against Moses and said, wherefore is this that thou has brought us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord saying, what shall I do unto these people? They'd be almost ready to stone me. They want to kill Moses. They're so thirsty. And they just, they've lost faith in the Lord. They've lost faith that the Lord will provide for them, even though he's delivered them out of Egypt, even though he's part of the Red Sea, even though he's rained mad from heaven, they're still like, what are you going to do? We're going to die here, Moses. We can look at Old Testament Israel and go, man, what a stiff-necked people. But again, these are lessons for us because if we're not careful, we too can become stiff-necked like that, lose faith and fall instead of standing. Now look at verse five. And the Lord said unto Moses, go on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand and go. Behold, I will stand before thee upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink. So God says, hey, take your rod, smite the rock with your rod, and there will come water out of it. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. They got water out of the rock that they drank, that sustained them and their cattle, their children. Now, if you notice in 1 Corinthians 10, 4, it mentioned that rock was Christ. So again, an Old Testament picture, that rock that the waters came out of, that was our picture of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our rock, okay? That's why we can stand firm and not fall, because we have the rock of Christ, which we ought to stand upon. We have his words, which we ought to stand upon. Obviously the Bible is the word of God, but Jesus Christ, one of his titles is the word, is the word of God. These things go together. And if you want to stand strong as a believer, again, you stand on Christ, you stand on his word, but it's not just a dead rock. It's a rock which flows living water, okay? It's sustained, not just supports us, but it sustains us. Just the way the Old Testament Israelites were sustained by water. I mean, these things do not go together. Water does not come out of a rock, but yet Jesus Christ is both the rock and the water which sustains us, okay? Now, you might've noticed in 1 Corinthians 10, 4, it says the spiritual rock that followed them, okay? Now, that doesn't mean that rock literally got out of its place and followed them, okay? Because this didn't just happen once. This happened twice, okay? So it's the miracle that followed them. It's the fact that water that came out of a rock was something that continued for them in their journeys. The second time this happened is in Numbers. Turn to Numbers. Please turn to Numbers, the book of Numbers, chapter 20. Numbers, chapter 20, verse 7. Let's read about the second time this took place, okay? Numbers, chapter 20, verse 7. The second time this took place. Numbers, chapter 20, verse 7. The Bible reads, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, again, and by the way, I won't read it all, but again, they were murmuring the Israelites. They were complaining to Moses about the lack of water. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, take the rod and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock. Now pay attention to the words here. Remember God said the first time, to smite the rock with the rod. Remember to hit the rock. What's he saying this time? Speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water. So are they meant to hit the rock or speak to the rock? Speak to the rock. And it shall give forth his water, and thou shall bring forth to them water out of the rock. So thou shall give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock. And he said unto them, He now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice. And water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank and their beasts also. Did Moses obey God? Did he speak to the rock or did he smite the rock? He hit it again didn't he? He did it twice this time. The water still came. It wasn't Moses. It wasn't the power of Moses that brought the water out of the rock. It's the power of God. Obviously he still wants to provide for his people. But then look at verse 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, because ye believed me not. Now did Moses believe that water would come out of the rock? Of course. But he did not do what God asked him to do. And when you don't do the things that God asks you to do, God says you don't believe me. And even though you may believe what you read in the Bible, but if you're not doing what it says, then the Lord says you don't believe it then. Because we ought to be doers of the word and not just hearers only, right? He says because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. Remember they were on their way to the promised land. And because they disobeyed God, Moses and Aaron were not allowed to enter into that promised land. All the work they've done leading Israel out of Egypt, but because they disobeyed the Lord they were not allowed to enter. That sounds pretty harsh. I think that sounds... To me that seems pretty harsh, right? This one mistake by Moses. But again, what did the rock represent? Jesus Christ. And the Bible doesn't really expound on this, but here's what I think that went wrong. The first time they took water out of the rock, they had to smite the rock. They had to hit the rock. And because the rock represents Christ, I believe this pictured his crucifixion. The fact that he would die for our sins. And how many times did he have to do that? Just the once, right? The once for all mankind. And so I believe that's why the first time, that's how God wanted it to be, okay? But not to smite the rock twice a second time, okay? This was another rock. This was another location by the way. Because why? Christ died once for all. He doesn't have to be crucified over and over again, okay? And that's why I believe God was so harsh in his punishment because now they had taken away that picture where it was meant to be smited once, which was to die once for our sins, but then they kind of destroyed it. They hurt that type. And that's why many times in the Old Testament, Christ, God seems so angry, so wrathful and said, but they've done something so little, they've done something so small, but he strikes people dead sometimes for doing the wrong thing. Why? Because those things are meant to represent Christ, okay? And if we spit in the face of Jesus Christ, if we don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you're yet in your sins and you're going to go to hell. And so God takes these things seriously. The pictures of the Old Testament teaching us about Jesus Christ and teaching things to us about the New Testament, okay? So now we see the problem. We see, hey, Moses now, hey, that's your punishment. You're not going into the promised land. Now this is not about salvation. Obviously Moses was saved. He was a saved man. Some people associate the promised land with salvation. I don't believe that's right. I do believe if you want to take a type, the promised land can kind of mean a successful, prosperous Christian life that we have, okay? But salvation is not about us journeying and doing the works for the Lord and fighting the battles. Salvation was pictured when that Passover land was crucified and the blood was shed for them and then they were delivered out of Egypt. But now go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We've seen the great blessings of God. We've seen how he's delivered them. We've seen the great miracles. We've seen how they pass through the waters. God destroyed the armies of the Egyptians. We've seen how he provided light and safety through that pillar. We've seen how he provided the manna from heaven. He provided their meat. He provided the drink through the water that came out of the rock. We see these amazing miracles, right? These amazing miracles to Israel. And you would think if I was in there, if I was one of those Israelites and I saw all those things, boy, my faith would be so high. Boy, my faith would be so strong in the Lord. We would think that. But what's our memory verse? Pay attention, take heed. If you think you stand because you may fall one day. And we see just how badly Israel fell. We see this now in the cursions that God put upon Israel in chapter 5, verse number 5. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 5. But with many of them, God was not pleased. Sorry, was not well pleased. Okay, and we see he wasn't even pleased with Moses when he disobeyed him. For they were overthrown in the wilderness. Man, they were on their way to the promised land. And if you know the story, most of them, especially the older generation, died in the wilderness. Okay, they were overthrown in the wilderness. But now look at verse 6. Now these things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And again we can say, man, these Israelites are so stiff-necked. Why? Why? Why did God record this for our example? Because we're stiff-necked. We're made of the same flesh and blood. And we can make the same mistakes that Israel made. We read about them now here in verse 7. Neither be ye idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Now go back to Exodus chapter 32. So what is this about? The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Isn't play good? I mean don't our kids play after the service and run around? Isn't that a good thing? Well no, the play they did in the Old Testament. That's basically saying they were just rebelled against God. And you'll just see how badly they did. Exodus 32 verse 1. Exodus chapter 32 verse 1. I better start to hurry up with these things. Verse 1. But when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount. So Moses went up into Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments from God. And so he delayed to come down out of the mount. The people, these are the Israelites. The people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Up, make us gods. Make us gods. But didn't they have the Lord God? They wanted other gods. Which shall go before us. And as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt. We want not what has become of him. We don't know what happened to him. We don't know what's become of him. Why has he taken so long? And Aaron said unto them. And this is a big mistake from Aaron. Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives of your sons and of your daughters and bring them unto me. And all the people break off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it a molten calf. And they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. So they make a golden calf out of the earrings and the jewelry they had that they took out of Egypt. And they say, These be thy gods. Would you want to worship a cow? Is that our God? Or would you want to worship that pillar? That pillar of fire? That pillar of cloud that they got to see? That was their God, right? Instead, they do what the Egyptians did when they came out of it. They learned about all these gods of the Egyptians when they were there for those 400 years in captivity. And then they come out and they want gods just like the Egyptians. Verse five. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. So now they're worshiping this God. And Aaron made proclamation and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. What Lord? You know, that look, that golden calf did not represent the Lord of Israel. And they rose up. This is the verse, number six. And they rose up early on the morrow and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. So what's this play that they're going to worship and sacrifice? Because they built an altar. They were going to worship and sacrifice this golden calf, this false God. How disgusting, right? Drop down to verse 27. Verse 27. So Moses hears about this. And obviously Moses is very angered. Look what happens in verse 27. And he said unto them. Sorry. So Moses is so upset. And he says, Who's on the Lord's side? Who's willing to stand for the Lord? And the Levites, they're the ones that say, Yeah, we're on the Lord's side. We don't want to worship this golden calf. So what does Moses say to the Levites here in verse 27? And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side. Put on your sword, get your sword. And go in and out from the gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. So go and kill all these people that are worshiping this false God. Go. I mean, this is a this is a massive slaughter. This is the God of the Bible. This is his commands. This is how much he hated. This is how disappointed he was. Okay. And how much he hated the worship of false gods. Verse 28. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And there fell all the people that day about three thousand men. Three thousand men slaughtered for worshiping this false God. Three thousand. That's a big number. But that's not the biggest number that we see in the Bible that God slayed. If you go back to 1 Corinthians 10 verse 8. It says, Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Twenty three thousand Israelites died. I mean three thousand is huge. But twenty three thousand died in one day. What story is that? Go back to Numbers. Numbers chapter 25. Numbers 25 verse 1. I'll just try to hurry along guys. I won't wait for you to turn too quickly. But Numbers 25 verse 1. I'll just keep reading. And the Lord abode in Shittim and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. So they start committing fornication. They take women that believe in another false God. These women of Moab. I've already preached on this when I preached on fornication. And look at verse 2. Not only are they committing fornication with the world. But then look at this verse 2. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods. They went to sacrifice gods again. False gods. And the people did eat and bow down to their gods. Again they worshiped. I mean are these Israelites going to learn? But you know what? Are we going to learn? Are we going to learn from their mistakes? Verse 3. And Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses. Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun. This is the same god that we worship. This is pretty scary. I mean cut off their heads and hang them up. That the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel. So he went to the godly men of Israel. Slay ye everyone his men that were joined unto Baal Peor. So kill every man that went to worship these false gods. And then look at verse 9. Sorry. Yeah numbers 25 verse 9. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. So twenty four thousand men died during this time. I've said this before but 1 Corinthians 10 mentioned twenty three thousand. That's because twenty three thousand died in one day the first day. But then another thousand died after that. So that's where the twenty four thousand come. So yeah I mean three thousand get killed. Man that's pretty scary. But now twenty four thousand. I mean is Israel going to learn? Are they going to learn from their mistakes? Go back to 1 Corinthians 10 verse 9. Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. So this is the story when Israel were attacked by serpents. If you're back in numbers please numbers 21. We read about this in numbers 21 verse 5. Numbers 21 verse 5. So again the Israelites are murmuring against God. They're angry against God and God sends snakes to bite them. And to kill them. Verse number 5. Numbers 21 verse 5. And the people spake against God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread neither is there any water. And our soul loateth this light bread. So now they're saying we don't even like the matter that we're eating. We're not this man is miracle from heaven. They're not even enjoying that anymore. Okay they're complaining against God. They're murmuring against God. Verse 6 and the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. And they bit the people and much people of Israel died. So they died from the venom of these snakes. Therefore the people came to Moses and said we have sinned. For we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And this is the story I won't keep reading where the Lord asked Moses to create this brazen serpent. This bronze serpent where it's lifted up and the people looked upon the serpent. And they were healed from the snake bites. And they no longer died from the venom. Because why? Because that bronze serpent represented Christ being crucified. All these Old Testament pictures that we read about of Jesus Christ. You see how Jesus Christ is the focus of the Bible. Our focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though his name is not mentioned in the Old Testament. Plenty of passages and pictures and foreshadowings are given to us of Jesus Christ. Back to 1 Corinthians 10. Say numbers by the way. But 1 Corinthians 10 verse 10. Neither murmur ye. So don't murmur. Don't complain. Don't murmur against the Lord. As some of them also murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer. Destroyed by the destroyer. Now that murmuring is found in Numbers 14. Numbers 14 verse 1. Numbers 14 verse 1. The Bible reads. And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel what? Murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said unto them. Would God that ye would God that we had died in the land of Egypt. Or would God we had died in this wilderness. So again they're thinking we're gonna die. We're gonna die in this desert. We're gonna die in this wilderness. Now I want you to go to Numbers 16 now. Two chapters over okay. We get a little bit more information. Like just we get back to the act. We get straight to the action here. Numbers 16 verse 19. Because if you guys know about a man named Korah. He was a very wicked man okay. And he was one that was leading this complaining and this murmuring against Moses and against God. Numbers 16 verse 19. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them. Unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation. Now drop down to verse 31. I just wanted to give you the context that it's this man Korah. That had gathered the Israelites against Moses and against the Lord. Verse 31. And it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words. That the ground clave asunder that was under them. So when Moses speaks against Korah. Guess what happens? The ground under Korah and his followers just collapses. And they fall into the earth okay. The whole ground just collapses. Another miracle. Sorry I'll just read verse 31 again. It came to pass as he made an end of speaking all these words. That the ground clave asunder that was under them. Verse 32. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses. And all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods. They and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit. What's the pit in the Bible? It's hell. These people go straight down to hell. They didn't have time to die. They go straight down alive into hell. Into the pit. And the earth closed upon them. And they perished from among the congregation. So God just sends these people straight to hell. In front of the whole congregation of Israel for murmuring and complaining against God. And for complaining against Moses. And look at verse 35. Drop down to verse 35. And they came out of fire from the Lord and consumed the 250 men that offered incense. 250 men that offered incense. So not only did Korah and his followers go down to the pit. But this fire came out of God and killed all these other men. That also they didn't go into the pit but they were also offering incense. They wanted to be the leaders, the spiritual leaders of Israel. They wanted to overthrow Moses and the Lord destroys them. This is pretty scary stuff, right? So we see the curses of God upon those that hate him. Now let's learn from this. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 11. Now look at all this. Look at these words. Now all these things happened to them for, what's the next word? N samples. Okay, so it's N samples to the Israelites of old. But then look, it says this. And they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. So what's our admonition? That's a gentle correction. It's something we can learn from, right? The Lord wants to gently correct us by showing us the extreme cases of Israel in the Old Testament. Okay, so the Old Testament is written to you. Yes, I encourage you to read the New Testament first. If you haven't read the Bible cover to cover, read the New Testament first, then the Old Testament. But don't disregard the Old Testament because there's lots of things for us to learn from. There's admonition from us. We can read about the Old Testament Israelites. Now there's something I want to tell you that has nothing to do with the sermon really, but just for your information. Notice that it says there, these things happened to them for N samples. Now yes, the King James Bible was written in an older English. And a lot of people want to change N samples to examples. Okay, look at verse number, let's have a look. Look at verse number, in the same chapter, verse number, let's have a look. Verse number six, yeah, verse number six. Now these things were our examples. Notice that in the King James Bible, God uses examples. And N samples. Okay, now I know we've lost that in our modern English, but I just want to explain this very quickly to you. Okay, now both of them have samples. N samples, examples, they're both about samples that you can watch and learn from. Okay, but think of the prefix before the word. N-e-n and example-e-x. Okay, so think about how we use prefixes today in English, right. If you exit a building, e-x, exit, are you inside the building or outside the building? You're outside the building, right. But if you enter, e-n, enter the building, are you inside or outside the building? You're inside the building, right, if you enter. Okay, so that's the difference between N sample and example. One is on the outside and one is on the inside. And notice in verse number 11, it says, and all these things happen unto them because it happened to them for N samples. They were in this, right. They were the children of Israel. These were their N samples. The Lord taught them within their own people, right. But then for us, we're not part of Old Testament Israel. We look at this from the outside and that's why it's our examples. Okay, you see that? Now, let me give you just a quick example of this. Let's say my children, you know, I've got, you know, all my children and I tell my children, don't play with fire. You're not allowed to play with fire. But then I find one of my kids playing with fire inside the house, okay. Now, I'm going to take that child and discipline them or I'm going to smack them or whatever. Now, when I smack that child, when I discipline that child for playing with fire, to that child, it's an example, right. They're learning from this mistake. Whoa! But to all my other kids that aren't getting the discipline but they're seeing this from the outside, that's an example to them, right. They're learning from something that's not taking place directly to them but it's taking. So I just want to tell you those words because these words are important. I want you to think about the words that we have in the Bible because they're perfect and preserved words of God that we have. It's not just our Old English example. No, God has a purpose for using two different words. So keep that in mind when you read through the Bible. Look at verse number 12, 1 Corinthians 10 verse 12, the memory verse. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. So in summary, we see these great blessings of Israel. We think, man, these people, this nation ought to be so great. This nation ought to be full of faith. This nation ought to be praising and worshiping the Lord God. We think that, right. And we think when we're saved, hey, we're going to be the same. We're going to be praising God. We're going to be in church. We're going to be reading the Bible. But it's that moment when you think you stand that you can fall. And that's why I say be careful. Pay attention. Listen to the examples of the Old Testament because how badly do they fall? Worshiping false gods, committing fornication, committing idolatry, being bitten by these snakes and God cursing them and destroying them. This, you know, killing thousands of Israelites. They fell so badly. This is our learning, guys. We need to be careful as Christians to stand and to remain standing. Pay attention. Hey, as I stand strong for the Lord, is there anything in my life that can bring me down? Be conscious about that. Pay attention, okay. Make sure that you continue growing in the Lord. Don't get comfortable with where you are because when you get comfortable, that's when you're going to fall. That's when you're going to start letting the world influence you. That's when you're going to allow temptation to have its course, to run its course. Look at verse 13. Talking about temptation, verse 13. But hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man? So every temptation you go through, every trial and difficulty you go through that could cause you to sin, the Bible says it's common to man. Okay, you're not special. The things you struggle with are the same struggles that everybody struggles with. The same struggles that the Old Testament Israelites struggled with. But God is faithful, okay. God is faithful who will not suffer you or allow you to be tempted above that ye are able. So God's only going to allow you to be tempted to the point that you can actually fight back. Okay, then you can overcome that temptation. God would never put you in that situation where you've got no choice but to sin. Okay, that's how God is faithful. He gives us that opportunity. And why is it so important? Why is it important to go through temptation? So we can strengthen ourselves. So we can grow in our faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, okay. It's important to go through difficulties, okay. But God uses that so we can overcome sin. So we can learn to overcome sin. And then it says this, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it. So God gives us opportunity if you're ever tempted to sin. God gives you the opportunity at that point to escape that so you don't sin. So if you do sin, who's to blame? You or God? Yourself, okay. And you've got to think about that when you sin. God gave me a way of escape. God told me he did. Why didn't I choose that escape? Why did I give in to my sins? Look at verse 14. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. Okay, what's fleeing? Physically removing yourself from that situation. Running for your life. If you're fleeing, you're running, kicking and screaming for your life. And if you find yourself in a situation, I'm talking to the young people now, where you might have friends that are not Christians, friends that are worldly, friends that use bad language, that say dirty jokes, friends that may one day ask you to take drugs with them, or drink alcohol, or whatever it is. And you don't know how to deal with that situation. I tell you right now, one legitimate way is just to flee. Just get out there. Just run. Run for your life. Who cares what your friends think of you? As long as you worry and are concerned about how God thinks about you, so you can stand and not fall. That's the theme of this morning's message. That you would stand and not fall. Fleeing, escaping is a legitimate way to escape all that. Now let's read 1 Corinthians 10.15. I'll get through the rest of it very quickly. I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? So it's basically saying like the Old Testament Israelites, they had all these pictures of Christ, but we in the New Testament have something similar. And that's the bread and the cup that we partake of, you know, the bread being the broken body, the grape juice being the blood of Christ. That's our pictures to remember what Christ has done for us. Verse 17. For we being many are one bread and one body. We're one body. This church is one body. I need all of you, okay. This church isn't just Kevin. It's not just pastor Kevin, okay. This church is everybody and I need everybody involved in this. We're one body, okay. Imagine losing an arm. I mean you can still operate, but you'd be disabled. You'd be able to do a lot less if you lost your arm, if you lost a leg, if you lost a part of your body, you wouldn't be able to function to your full capacity. And so it's great when everyone's in church and when everyone's able to help and contribute because we are that one body and when everyone's here, we can function to our full capacity. But then it says this. 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 altars, partakers of the altar. So I'm not going to go through all this. The next verses, I've already covered this in quite a lot of detail. Like I said, three weeks ago, 1 Corinthians 8, if you want to go back and learn about that, please feel free to go back and do that. It's about eating, whether we can partake of things offered to idols like the Old Testament's Israelites did wrongly. But verse 19. For what say I then that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything, but I say that the things which are the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and drink the cup of devils. Sorry, 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 and other's wealth, whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat. Ask you 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, ask you 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 thine own, but of the other. For why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? If I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all for the glory of God. So again, just in summary, should we partake of food offered unto idols? Well, we can. We have the liberty to do so, okay? There's no problem in that, okay? But just the two things when we ought not to partake of food offered unto idols. Number one, when you're partaking of that meal, if it is in honor of that idol, if it's in honor of that God, right? It's not something you just bought at a shop that was offered unto idols. But where you're eating and feasting together, where people are honoring false gods, then that's when you ought not to eat food offered to idols. And that's the big mistake that the Israelites did, right? They worshiped false gods. They sacrificed unto false gods. The other reason why you shouldn't eat food that's being offered to idols is if you have a weak brother and they can fall, they can get confused. Why are you doing that? And it causes them to sin, then you've actually sinned against not just them, but against the Lord. So there's nothing wrong with eating food that's sacrificed unto idols, as long as you keep these two things in mind. We're not celebrating a false god or we're not causing a weak brother to stumble and to fall, okay? Verse 32. I'm almost done now. Verse 32. Give none offense. Don't go out offending people on purpose, all right? Now the truth of the word of God is gonna offend people. We stand for the word of God. I'm not saying we need to water down God's word, okay? But don't just be an offensive idiot on purpose, all right? Don't just go around offending people in your liberty that God's given you. Yes, stand for the word of God. Yes, but why should we not go around offending people? Give none offense to who? Neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. Now obviously Paul is a Jew, and he's saying, look, he doesn't go around trying to offend the Jews, okay? If you remember, yeah, he doesn't go around offending the Jews because he's trying to save them. He's trying to win them to the Lord. If you remember the previous chapter, I'll just read it very quickly. 1 Corinthians 9, chapter 9, verse 20. Look at that, just going back there. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 20, he says, and unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law, as without law, be not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak, and I have made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. So the reason why Paul says don't go around offending people is because we want to be able to preach them the word of God so we can gain them, so we can win them to Jesus Christ, that they would be saved. And so don't give offense to the Jews, or to Gentiles, or to even the church. Why? Because we come to church to learn spiritual food. We come to partake of the word of God, and people are getting offended, and having fights, and causing divisions. That's going to stop the effectiveness of our church. Now some people have taken this verse to say, well God has three groups of people. He's got the Jews, and that's God's chosen people, and then there's the Gentiles, that's the unbelieving world, and then there's the church, and the church are also God's chosen people, because they're saved people. Some people have taken this passage to say see God has three different groups of people, and they call this dispensationalism. I'm not going to spend time on that right now, but let me give you a quick way to answer this, right? So they'll say see Jews are different to everybody else, even though the Bible says there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek, right? But how do we understand that? Now again this church was in Corinth. Do you know which country that's in? What nation that's in? Greece. That's Greece. So is Paul writing to Jews, or is he writing to Greeks? He's writing to the Greeks. He's writing to Gentiles. Now stay in the chapter there. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Look at verse number, let's see where is that? Verse number one. Verse number one. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse one. Look what he says to the Greeks. Look what he says to the Gentiles. Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our, all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. So are these Old Testament Israelites the father, I'm talking about the spiritual fathers now, are they the spiritual fathers of just Paul and the Jews? No. All our fathers to the Greeks as well, okay. Abraham, Moses, you know David, you know, I mean who are some great men in the Old Testament Bible? They are all our spiritual fathers, whether they're Jews or whether they're Greeks, we can learn from them. God has given these men in the past so we can learn from and we can gain from their faith, especially the great men of God. And so they're not just the fathers of the Jews, but they're also the fathers of the Greeks because it's not about a physical line. Your DNA means nothing. God is not a respecter of persons. And so you are a spiritual people of God. You are the Israel of God because you're in Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, yeah, he was physically of the Jews, but we gain the promises. These people in the Old Testament, these great men of God are our fathers because we're in the Lord Jesus Christ. As they were in the Lord Jesus Christ, right, they partook of that rock that gave the waters of life. They partook of that manna, that all these spiritual things represent to Christ. And when you are saved, you've also partook of Christ. We are of the same body. We are the same people. The believers in the Old Testament, the believers in the New Testament, we all make up that one body in Jesus Christ. Verse 33, the last verse in 1 Corinthians 10. Verse 33. Even as I please all men in all things. So he's not trying to offend people, right? We saw that already. He's trying to please people. He tries to make people, he's pleasing people. He's a people pleaser. But again, he doesn't neglect or compromise the Word of God to do so, okay? Not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved. Again, the heart of Paul, he wants to win the unbelieving world, the Jews, the Gentiles. He doesn't go around offending them. He does, he tries to please them where possible so that he can win the lost. And that's what I want for our church. I don't want our church to be this church that just offends people for no reason. If we offend people, it's because the Word of God offends people. It's not because I offend people. It's not because Callum offends people or whoever, okay? No, it's because the Word of God offends people. But we try to please people, why? Because we want to win them to the Lord. We want to see them saved from hell so they won't be like Korah that has this ground swallowed up and they descend straight into hell alive. They didn't have time to go through the natural course of death. That's all I've got for you this morning. Let's pray.