 We'll begin at verse one here in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. I'm going to do some review as we look at this passage I'm only taking you to verse 13 tonight, so it's only going to be a two-hour study But beginning at verse one reading to verse five more over brethren I do not want you to be unaware that our fathers Were under the cloud all passed through the sea all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea I'll ate the same spiritual food and I'll drank the same spiritual drink For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ But with most of them God was not well pleased for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness So we're gonna have a real upbeat Bible study tonight as you can see As we look at this I will give you a little bit of a reminder in a context so that we can roll into chapter 10 And see some of what what Paul is speaking about I would remind you that in chapter 8 when we looked at chapter 8 Paul was Setting forth a principle and the principle that he gave to us in chapter 8 is a principle of Christian liberty and As I was sharing with you in chapter 8. There's where Paul contrasted license and legalism with Christian liberty and Was sharing that there are some who are so legalistic that there's absolutely nothing you can do that is pleasing to God Then there are others that say you can do anything you want and God is pleased with that And then there's the liberty that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ that brings a balance for our lives And and so he had made it clear in chapter 8 verse 9 that that the Boundaries that he had been establishing in the Lord were that all things were to be done all things were to be done through Christian love So when we went through that we moved on obviously to chapter 9 and in chapter 9 Paul gave us a personal illustration of how this principle works in real life And he made it clear that he could receive wages from them But he was willing to serve them without their support And again, that was because of his love for Christ and for his love for them Because his primary concern was to win souls for Jesus Christ and so we've been seeing how love works and how God's liberty works in somebody's life So chapter 8 and chapter 9 illustrate how our exercise of freedom in Christ affects other people But chapter 10 Illustrates how our use of liberty affects our own lives and so that's where we're going to be looking here in chapter 10 now verse 12 we'll get there eventually, but verse 12 is actually Where you'll get the main thought of this passage because in verse 12 here of chapter 10 He says let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall Do not become Overconfident we'll look at that in a moment because over confidence that is really based not on the scripture and the spirit but on on pride Overconfidence will inevitably lead you to fail. It says in Proverbs 29 23 a man's pride shall bring him low But honor shall uphold the humble in spirit And so that's really what we're going to look at by the time we get to verse 12 We need to be careful that we aren't pride prideful and overconfident in our own abilities you see The Corinthians were in danger of believing that they were beyond stumbling They were after all saved they had been baptized. They were well taught. They were spirit-filled. They were maturing in their faith and So in a practical sense, they began to think that they had arrived at the apex of spiritual maturity With that thought that they've arrived at spiritual maturity They also began to think they were beyond temptation And so because they thought they were very mature and beyond temptation They began to do something that I've seen Christians do in my lifetime They began to freely associate with with non-believers in their social activities and the variety of ceremonies that they celebrated and They began to think of themselves as being beyond falling Now on one hand We're not to withdraw ourselves completely from other people. We know that God hasn't called us to be monks and monasteries You know bricked into certain cells and staying away from the stain of actual contact with human beings There are some in the church who in the past have thought that that's what they were called to do He hasn't called us to do something like that Because if we were to withdraw ourselves from those who don't know the Lord then who's going to tell him about Jesus Christ God has called us to do that. That's our responsibility is to communicate the gospel of Jesus And we have a great example in the Lord himself According to Luke 15 1 and 2 it says all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him But what happens? Well, it says the Pharisees and scribes complained saying this man received sinners and eats with them So Jesus received sinners and ate with them then and he still does and so what the Lord would have us to do is to To be around people so that we can minister to them the loving gospel So we're not to withdraw ourselves from people But on the other hand, we're not impervious of the influence that is exerted upon us We need to be aware of the fact that That the world and you know this I'm just speaking to those who know the world is extremely powerful and the influence of the world is amazingly powerful It only takes a generation to completely brainwashed to be brainwashed To change the entire new generation that follows When I was a young man many many years ago I Can barely recollect I'll try There were some things that we simply knew were wrong We knew that men weren't supposed to marry other men We knew that We knew that you shouldn't steal people's things We knew that we knew that you shouldn't climb into people's open windows and and harm people We knew that we knew that adults ought not to be with children. We knew that We knew that certain magazines were the kind of magazines that you ought not to be reading because they were wrong to look at We knew all of these things We knew these things because our generation of parents taught us these things are wrong but my generation was brainwashed in a variety of ways through the arts through education and The things that we grew up knowing was wrong are things that my generation really has begun to forget and The children that were raising have been raised in an environment that is entirely different than what I was raised in and So that's why it's okay For you to cheat if it helps you to attain what you want That's why it's okay for a teacher in an Orange County school Who happens to like one of her students who's running for an ASB class? that's why it was okay for her to Rig the election so that her favorite student would be elected and When that was discovered by one of those little brainiacs in high school who actually hacked into the system in the school and Discovered evidence that there was this kind of fix that had happened and reported it That's why he was kicked out of school for breaking into the computer And she was reprimanded lightly for rigging an election for her favorite student and when that happens in in our educational system, it is Communicating a huge message to the kids that you can do what you want with no penalty For us obviously something like that wouldn't have happened. There were no such things as computer We used the back of this in various, you know, we used to have to actually write You know, we anyway when we used to dial phones We used to actually be able to slam them up for a man. You can't do that. You can push like that all you want It doesn't make the same great sound We actually use phones to talk on not to write on but that's another thing. That's an entirely different thing Entirely we were raised to know right from wrong but what has happened is people are all their consciences are being calloused and They're not aware of what right is and what wrong is to the same degree and what is happening is this kind of influence Is actually entering into the life of many Christians and so many Christians think exactly like the world Exactly like the world reason is it's because they know more about the world than they know about the Bible Because they're not reading the Bibles because they don't pick up the Bible in the morning to the devotions Because they don't listen to Bible studies outside of once maybe twice a week because they're really not in the word and therefore the world has their attention much more Than the Lord is getting it because they're not disciplining themselves and so if you're not in the word and if you're not allowing God's Holy Spirit to lead you Then you indeed are going to be Influenced by this world in Proverbs 12 26 it says a righteous man is cautious in friendship But the way of the wicked leads them astray Paul later in 1 Corinthians 15 will say at verse 33 do not be deceived evil company corrupts good habits and he warns us about that And so as we look at this the apostle Paul is beginning to speak and he's beginning to minister to them and so in chapter 10 verse 1 Paul is continuing what he has already begun to say he had said in verse 27 that he didn't want to be disqualified Paul wanted to remain humbly usable by the Lord because pride will disqualify you from service And so to develop this Paul is using ancient Israel as an illustration and he refers to incidents from Israel's 40 year wandering in the wilderness And so that's what you're seeing here so in verse 1 he writes moreover brethren I don't want you to be unaware that all of our fathers were under the cloud all passed through the sea In other words when he says I don't want you to be unaware he's saying don't ignore lessons from the past All that you have learned of the Lord should be remembered constantly what God has taught you should be revisited often And the word of God especially is a great place to remain in Romans 15 4 says everything that was written in the past was written to teach us So that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope And so God's word is intended to communicate to us those things that will engender hope within us And so he's beginning to rehearse here in chapter 10 the history of Israel And he wants to communicate to them three basic things one he wants to communicate that all the nation of Israel experienced the grace filled deliverance from physical bondage Two he wanted them to know that those benefits were spiritual in nature and then three those benefits all come from Jesus Christ And so he's going to share these things with them to help to develop them So one he says all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea Now he's writing as a Jew and he's writing to Gentiles Gentiles who have been through Christ included in the blessings of God All Jews were physical descendants of Abraham But he's writing to Gentiles who have no physical descendant from him They have faith in Jesus though and so they're Abraham spiritual descendants And as he begins to speak here in the first four verses he uses the word all five times So that shows a oneness and experience the nation together experienced the events that he's speaking about one They were all under the cloud Now God when you when you read the book of Exodus you see that God delivered the entire nation The entire nation and as he delivered the entire nation that included those who trusted him and those who did not And he led them out as it says in Exodus 13 21 it says By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way And by night a pillar of fire to give them light so they could travel by day or night And so one he wanted to remind them that they were all led out of the wilderness Then he goes on to say they all passed to the sea Once again with no distinction God brought them all to safety It says in Exodus 14 21 and 22 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea And all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land The waters were divided the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground With a wall of water on the right and on the left Can you imagine that? I can't imagine that Can you imagine that? How unbelievable that would have been To walk through this place that should have been all muddy and everything And have a wall of water on either side of you You would think that that would have permanently given you some insight into the ways of God And the majestic power of God You would have thought that But it's interesting that the nation of Israel didn't think that way He goes on to say all were baptized into Moses When it says all were baptized into Moses It's another way of saying all recognize Moses as the leader They were united with Moses The New Testament concept of baptism in Christ is an identification with Jesus Christ And the Old Testament usage here, baptized into Moses Is another way of saying they identified with Moses Who was the leader of the nation of Israel He goes on to say and they all ate the same spiritual food That speaks of manna They ate manna till it was coming out of their nostrils They ate manna pancakes Manacotti, I mean they ate a lot of manna And they ate it all the time Manna means what is this basically And it was heavenly food that God had provided for them In Exodus 16 verse 15 it says when the children of Israel saw it They said to one another, it's manna For they knew not what it was Moses said to them, this is the bread which God has given to you to eat Bread from heaven Now using that as an illustration Jesus later on made mention in John 6 verses 31 through 35 He said this, he said our forefathers ate the manna in the desert As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth It's not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven But it is my father who gives you the true bread from heaven For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven And gives life to the world Sir they said, from now on give us this bread Then Jesus declared, shut up you are so dumb No he didn't say that Jesus declared, I am the bread of life He who comes to me will never go hungry He who believes in me will never be thirsty Is that true for you tonight by the way? You come to Jesus you never spiritually hunger again You see when I got saved I gave my heart to Christ And that spiritual hunger was satisfied And that spiritual thirst that I had was quenched by Jesus himself And so when I got saved I didn't want Jesus in Buddha I didn't want Jesus in Muhammad I didn't want Jesus in any other religious person I had what I needed in Jesus Christ And a lot of problems that I see with people today Is they want a little bit of Jesus and a little bit of something else And he never called me to a partial discipleship He never called me to believe in him a little bit He said, pick up your cross daily and follow me He said that he is the way the truth and the life And that no man comes to the Father but by him In Jesus Christ I basically just the boat that you'll say Took me to him I cut that boat from the dock and let it go free Because there was no turning back I had a relationship with God through Jesus Christ And over these last 41 almost 42 years of following him He has never done me wrong He has never done me harm He's never given me a moment where I regretted Receiving him as my Lord and my savior Because he's the one who is the bondage breaker The transformer The one who gives life The one who gives joy The one who gives peace The one who gives love He's everything He's the bread of life And that's what you need in your life isn't it To have the bread of life You know every culture has bread Every culture has one form of bread or another And I've eaten some great bread in various countries I have to confess French bread is pretty good I like it I like Jewish bread an awful lot I like Mexican bread I like a lot of bread But you know the best bread I've ever had is the bread of life And that comes through Jesus Christ And he quenches your thirst Because before you had him You had a spiritual thirst But now that you come to him He quenches that And so Jesus Christ is that bread That is being referred to He is the bread from heaven It says that they drank the same spiritual drink In Exodus 17, verse 6 It says there I will stand before you there upon the rock and the orb You shall smite the rock There shall come water out of it That the people may drink And Moses did so and decided the elders of Israel Now as that happened And we need to remember that The people were thirsty there in a wilderness So sometimes if you read that passage You think about the smiting of the rock You may be thinking some small pebble That busts open or whatever It was a massive rock that was broken open And the water just poured out of it Enough water to satisfy the thirst For some two million or so people and their animals An abundance that came flowing out In that wilderness And what is being pointed out here In verse 4 is that rock was Christ The presence of Jesus was with them Jesus is the one who protected them Jesus is the one who guided them Jesus is the one who refreshes them In John 7, verses 37 and 38 It says in the last day That great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying If any man thirst Let him come unto me and drink He that believeth on me as the scripture has said Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water Not only did you have God pour into you His spirit, that living water But here's a very important thing That water also flows out of you to other people The most selfish thing a person can do Is to go to heaven alone What God has called us to do Is to share with other people And the way that we do that Is by drinking of the water And when that water quenches our thirst All we are are thirsty people Showing some other thirsty people Get a good drink of water And we just point them to the Lord Jesus Christ And you don't have to be The greatest theologian in the world You have to be saved But you don't have to be The greatest theologian in the world You just need to know that once you were lost And now you're found Once you were blind, now you see Once you were dead, but now you're alive And you need to know who satisfies those things It's the Lord Jesus Christ That's why, and I've told you this story so many times But that's why when I got saved And the follow-up minister said to me You need to read the Bible and pray You need to fellowship and tell somebody else The four basic things that we always tell new believers Read the Bible, pray, fellowship Tell somebody else That's why as a brand new believer in Christ No theology, no theological training at all I just picked up the Bible and did what I was told I started reading Matthew And as I went through Matthew I went through all the New Testament Till I got to the book of Revelation It didn't take me an awful long time to get there Because I wasn't working, you know I didn't like to work So I wasn't working, I was a hippie My dad worked hard enough for both of us And that's when I got to Revelation 9 As I've shared with you so many times And that's when I was in the den And came out of that den and went into the kitchen Where mom and dad were at the kitchen table And that's when I held the Bible in my hand And I said, mom, dad, this is the Word of God And I said, hear what the Word of the Lord says to you And I read Revelation 9 And talking about men with ironed teeth And women's hair, scorpions, dings People wanting to die for five months and unable to And I read Revelation 9 to them And I said, I don't know what this means But I do know this It isn't speaking to me, it's speaking to you And I said to my dad, dad, you are a good man You are the best man that I will ever know But you will be the best man in hell If you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ Daddy, I love you And I don't want to go to heaven without you Bow your head and pray You're about to receive Jesus as your Lord and your savior I was a 20-year-old Five years of drug addiction and alcoholism Who had just been saved for maybe three weeks And my dad bows his head and receives Christ And my mom bows her head and receives Christ And it wasn't because I was some great theologian It was because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt That Jesus Christ breaks the bondage He sets the captives free You need him to go to heaven You must be born again And I loved my dad and my mom so much I had to tell him the truth I will talk to my mom every three days I talk to her twice a week She lives in New Mexico And has been there now for a number of years And quite often in the midst of our conversation My mom gets very quiet and she'll say to me Thank you, thank you son And I'll say for what, mama? She'll say for not living in New Mexico No, she doesn't say that She'll say move to Maine No, she doesn't say that She says thank you son for bringing Jesus to this family For bringing Jesus to this family To my brother, to my sisters And I've shared with you how God breaks the bondage I talked to my sister Becky twice a week too Because my mom lives with my sister And my sister Becky lived as a lesbian for almost 30 years But you give her the gospel of Jesus Christ And she gave her heart to the Lord And she's transformed God breaks bondages And he satisfies the thirst that you have in your soul And Paul is reminding them of that Jesus was that rock He's the one who pours out that water But in the midst of all of that verse 5 With most of them God was not well pleased For the bodies were scattered in the wilderness Their bodies were scattered in the wilderness Because even though they journeyed They did so in unbelief Hebrews 319 says we see that they could not enter in Because of unbelief Hebrews 4-2 says unto us was the gospel preached As well as unto them But the word preached did not profit them Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it They heard the message of deliverance But their faith would not accept that The way that I as a New Testament times individual Could hear the gospel But because I wouldn't exercise faith and receive Just because I knew something Didn't mean that I had applied that Because there needs to be a reception And application through faith For a transformation to occur And so just because somebody is raised in a church Doesn't automatically make them a Christian And they did not apply faith to the message that they heard And thus God was not pleased with them It says in verse 6 Now these things became our examples To the intent that we should not lust after evil things As they also lust it Their behavior is placed here now And we're going to see this under the heading of rejecting God These things he says became our examples And so they lusted after evil And he begins now to list these things that they did In verse 7 he says Do not become idolaters as were some of them As it is written the people sat down to eat and drink And rose up to play Nor let us commit sexual immorality as some of them did And in one day 23,000 fell Nor let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted And were destroyed by serpents Nor murmur as some of them also murmured And were destroyed by the destroyer Well, they became first of verse 7 idolaters What did they do? It's an interesting story It's found in the book of Exodus 32 Moses was receiving the law He hadn't returned The children of Israel who were waiting for him Began to get anxious They had been raised under Egyptian idolatry And so they began to speak to Moses' brother And said to him, fashion for us a God So Aaron says, break off your earrings And bring them to me And so they bring the gold earrings to him He puts them in the fire And he creates an idol A calf Now Moses is there on the hill With Joshua The mountain and he hears the sound In the encampment Joshua says something like It's a sound of war Moses says it's not the sound of war that we hear They're partying That's a paraphrase of the Hebrew Children rose up to play He comes down And he finds what's going on And addresses his brother What is this that you have done? Well, they wanted a God So they brought their gold to me And I threw it in the fire and this thing popped out Aaron makes a story of lying dog And what does Moses do? Moses takes it, grinds up this golden calf Drops it in the water, forces them to drink it Those who are on the Lord's side come to me They come to him, he sends them through the people And they enact capital punishment For the idolatry that was introduced Well, who is there receiving the law of God And this is an example that is being used here They became idolaters even as he says In verse 8 speaks about the fact that they Committed sexual immorality They fornicated Let us not commit sexual immorality As some of them did and in one day 23,000 fell Numbers chapter 25 verses 1 and 2 says While Israel was staying in Acacia Grove The men began to indulge in sexual immorality With mulbite women Who invited them to the sacrifice To their gods People ate and bowed down before these gods What they did is they entered into Unlawful sexual intercourse And in doing so, they were judged Unlawful is not in reference to Whether the law permits The law, speaking of our law in the 21st century Permits things that are immoral You can watch pornography if you want But just because it's legal, is it right? Of course not There are laws that we have that make Immoral acts legal You can receive an abortion whenever you want Even when the baby is just about to be born But does that make it right? No, because there are some laws That are on the books that may be Making certain activities legal But they will never make those things Lawful in terms of God accepting it As being proper Today, it's no problem for people To sleep around, live together And we've basically just chosen The way that we speak concerning it A woman introduces her fiancée to me Very often what she's really saying Is I'm living with this guy Because we've legitimized fornication By giving it a French name My fiancée It's a nice snobby way of saying we're fornicators But that's what happens We have a tendency of legitimizing Things that God forbids Fornication is one of those things That God forbids And it's called unlawful Not because the law doesn't permit it But because God's law forbids it Because that's called sexual immorality And what happened during the time Of Moses in that period Is they began to rise up and do things That God was not pleased with And thus they were judged, they were dealt with In verse nine he says they tempted Christ They were destroyed by serpents Well they tempted Jesus by not trusting The Lord to provide for them In Psalm 95 verse nine it says Your fathers tested me, they tried me Though they saw my work In numbers 21, 5, and 6 It says they spoke against God and against Moses And said why have you brought us up out of Egypt To die in the desert, there's no bread There's no water And we detest this miserable food They were sick of manna And the Lord sent venomous snakes among them They bit the people and many Israelites died So it's reminding them of how they tested God Verse ten he said they murmured He says don't murmur as some of them Also murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer That's interesting how he added murmuring I mean these other things that you're looking at Are pretty bad things, idolatry, fornication And all of that and those are bad sins Have you ever considered murmuring Or grumbling and complaining to be something God doesn't like, most people don't Because we're just sharing our hearts We're just saying what's on our mind, right? God says I hate murmuring The word murmur is an interesting thing It's literally just the sound murmur That's what complaining and grumbling In the ears of God is like It's grumbling and it's complaining In Numbers chapter 16 You have these men that are mentioned They're Korah, Dathan, Aburim There were 250 leaders There were influential followers And they rebelled against Moses And what happened is they thought themselves To be equal to Moses and as a result God judged them When you read that passage it speaks How the earth opened up and swallowed Korah, Dathan and Aburim and then fire consumed The 250 influential leaders and then a plague Killed 14,700 other sympathizers So don't complain about me again, ever You'll all be crispy critters Or the ground will swallow you Now why would he say that? Corinthians were in danger of duplicating this sin Here's something for you God in Proverbs chapter 6 says There are seven things These six things I hate, yea, these seven things I hate these seven things Now when God says he hates something I pay attention to that I hate this is what he says What is it that you hate God? A proud look A lying tongue Hands that shed innocent blood A heart that devises wicked imagination Feet that are swift in running to mischief A false witness who speaks lies And he who sows discord amongst the brethren Isn't that interesting? He who sows discord amongst the brethren God says I hate, I hate That is something to be aware of The next time we're complaining About how we're treated About how things are going on About a church That out of talus God hates that And he says don't murmur Because God deals with those who do He did it in a very powerful way in the Old Testament He still hates it by the way Now verse 11 All these things happen to them as examples They were written for our admonition On whom the ends of the ages have come Therefore let him who thinks he stands Take heed lest he fall No temptation has taken you except such As is common to men but God is faithful Who will not allow you to be tempted Beyond what you are able But with the temptation will also make the way Of escape that you may be able to bear it Getting back down to where we began Over confidence Let him who thinks he stands take heed Lest he fall Keep a close watch on yourself Don't yield to pride Have this mentality that old saying There but for the grace of God go I We're no better than anybody else Probably worse than most Keep that in mind Over confidence will destroy you The apostle Peter was there with the Lord In Caesarea Philippi You remember the story Jesus asked the question Who do men say that I the son of man am And the response some say Jeremiah Some say Elijah some say John the Baptist One of the prophets Who do you say that I am The apostle Peter Thou art the Christ The son of the living God Blessed are you Simon by Jonah Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you But my father You've received spiritual revelation That couldn't have gone to the apostles head He was such a humble man The night that Jesus is betrayed And they're having that supper And the devil having put into the heart Of Judas Iscariot to betray him Jesus begins to speak This night you're going to Forsake me This man Judas having already gone out to finish his deed And who is it that stood up Though all forsake you I never would And you could almost see the apostle Peter Looking around that table at all these other guys Losers I would even die with you Oh would you really? Yeah I'm Peter I want to receive revelation Don't you remember how you said That the father revealed this unto me I still got it And bottom line is I would never betray you I would die with you Simon Simon Satan has requested you In order that he might Sift you even as wheat is sifted But I have prayed for you That your faith fails not And when you are converted When you return Strengthen your brethren And how do you think the apostle Peter Felt at that time Being kind of pointed out in front of everybody I would die for you No you won't For I tell you this night You'll deny me three times Did he do it or didn't he Well we know the story we've read it Sure it did Pride comes before a fall Always does As a young man at Biola Back in 1973 My professor Dr. Mitchell Was teaching us through the book of Daniel And he got to chapter nine And when Dr. Mitchell got to chapter nine He said in the eight chapters That we've already looked at I want you to note with me There is no sin recorded concerning Daniel I mean that's true It's not that he wasn't a sinner All have sin fall short of the glory of God It's just that God Didn't record one of his sins So you read the eight chapters And you see a man of faith With no sin recorded And yet Dr. Mitchell said to us And I'll never forget this He said this is a man Who quite obviously Had the imprint of God in his life And yet when he's reading Through the scroll of Jeremiah As is recorded in Daniel nine And he sees that God had stated He would bring judgment on the nation He puts that scroll down And he begins to pray And he says God We have sinned against you He and my teacher said I want you to notice Daniel identified with the nation of Israel As a sinner amongst sinners And he said this And I've never forgotten And he said if you expect to be used by the Lord Never put yourself above those whom you minister to You are all in need of the grace of God And not one of you has ever arrived Beyond somebody else You need to depend on Jesus Christ Listen that is the most basic Helpful thing I can give you tonight That's the most basic Helpful thing I can give you tonight Because in the body of Christ There can be such spiritual pride When you catch yourself saying How could they do such a thing You succumb to it You know how they could have done such a thing Because but for the grace of God You could have done that Or something similar yourself I'm aware of that I'm aware of my own weaknesses I'm aware of my own flesh I'm aware that the enemy lies at the door And he wants to take advantage of me I'm aware of that I wake up in the morning Aware that I am one of his targets That he wants to take me out If you smite the shepherd The sheep will be scattered Who does the enemy go for He goes for the leaders He always does If I fall I don't fall alone I take my wife and break her heart I take my children and shame them And break my children's heart I hurt my grandchildren I hurt all of my friends I will hurt my pastor I will hurt my pastor friends I will hurt my sheep If I go down A lot of people go down with me So I ask God every day Strengthen me That I might remain faithful Because sin lies at the door Because there's always the opportunity To heal to the flesh And Father in Jesus' name I do not want to think that I stand I need to take heed lest I fall There is no temptation taking you But that which is common to man What you go through is the same thing That others go through on a daily basis What you go through is not unique It is something that others go through And that's what he's talking about here He says no temptation is taking you Except such as it's common to man But God is faithful who will not allow you To be tempted beyond what you are able But we're with the temptation Make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it It's like you're in a mountain pass You come to an area that At one time you were able to go through But it's been blocked What the Lord does is he makes a way of escape The enemy is behind you He clears the debris out of the way And you have the freedom to shoot through that You have the ability to get to safety All you need to remember is that You in Christ can have victory Because in Jesus Christ it is available But you reach out to Christ in order to have it We will all have times of testing But there's no temptation taking me That can overcome me If I remember that I can do all things Through Christ who strengthens me And that's kind of where I live, frankly Because I want to with you I want to finish well I want to hear the words of Jesus Well done, my good and faithful servant I want to hear him say enter into the joy Of your Lord that has been prepared for you On the foundation of the world I want to hear that, do you? One of these days when you stand before him And he looks at you and he says well done Now to me that's worth everything See right now we have the Olympics going on Someone's going to get a little bronze thing Or a little silver thing and a little gold thing And you know I really admire athletes I really do, I think that these people Phenomenal in their skills They gave up their entire life So they could show that when they're 92 years old To somebody else and say well I used to do And I was on a Wheaties box and I arrived And then you have someone say well done You won the 100 meters, yeah And that's fantastic but it doesn't last Because four years from now somebody else Will hear well done You won the 440 or whatever You run 400 meters and you'll hear that Guys let's shoot for something higher Something deeper, something permanent Something real, something that lasts It's one thing to hear your presidency We're proud of you, you represented The United States well That would be a thrill to hear It's better to hear that God of the Universe Say well done You represented the kingdom of God well Now that's something worth keeping in mind May God help us to be like that