We come now to read God's Word together. We are going to read from 1 Corinthians 10, verses 1 through 13. You can find this on page 1782 in the Pew Bible. 1 Corinthians 10, verses 1 through 13. For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink. for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry. We should not commit sexual immorality as some of them did. And in one day, 23,000 of them died. We should not test the Lord as some of them did and were killed by snakes. and do not grumble as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. This is God's word for us. Let's bow our heads for illumination. Heavenly Father, we come to you now. Jesus, this word is not an easy one. It's not a pleasant one. Lord, it is contra to our flesh. I pray, Lord, that you would send us your spirit and strengthen us that we might have a greater understanding of it, hearts that are willing to respond to this understanding, and a comfort that passes after it, that comes with it. Lord, I pray that you would mightily advance the preaching of this word today. Be with your servant. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. This passage, as I mentioned here, in 1 Corinthians, is not an easy one to swallow. It's not a pleasant one at the forefront. And I do confess of myself that my flesh doesn't want to cooperate. It makes me uncomfortable. The words of comfort are rather in the background, and the stern warning that Paul wants to bring forward is at the forefront. And it is a stern warning. But these types of warnings throughout the Bible are not uncommon. Just take an example of Jesus' own ministry in life. How many times he says similar things like this, Matthew 7, 13 through 14. Enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the path that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way that leads to life. And there are few who find it. Again, the same chapter, Matthew 7, 21. Jesus, again, another warning. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, many on that day will say that. But he will say, depart from me, for I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness. Again, Matthew 22, 11, Jesus says, many are called, few are chosen. Our passage says similar things to us today. It shows the all who shared in God's benefits, the many who perished in sin, and the implied few who escaped. Our passage theme then today is a call to us all, take heed lest you fall. Take heed lest you fall. We are not in glory yet. There is danger on every side. And if we do not stand in the might of God, we will not stand at all until the end. Our proposition then is let us find no security in our works or our own gifts, but in God alone who makes this way of escape for us. We will look at this under three headings. All had God's benefits. We'll look at verses one through five. All had God's benefits. And the second, many perished in sins. That will be verses six through 11. And then, we few who escape. The final two verses, 12 and 13. Few who will escape. So beginning with point one, all had God's benefits. Paul, at the very beginning of this passage, calls for us to not be ignorant. He says, I do not want you to be unaware of these things. As though there's a serious danger in Corinthian church, that is, that they don't seem to be aware of, and Paul wants to draw their attentions into this one thing. Perhaps that these people were falsely feeling themselves safe, falsely anticipating themselves as though they've already reached glory and they're so safe and so secure they can live any life that they wanted to now. Paul speaks to them concerning all these wonderful benefits, too. And he brings them under to remind them not only of the warning, but yes, you do have all these benefits, but they're pointing towards something, right? And so this is what we see with Paul as he says, I don't want you to be ignorant of this fact, brothers, that our forefathers. Now he does something very unique here when he says our forefathers. Remember, these are Gentiles that he's speaking to as a Jew. And he's about to speak of a Jewish heritage, Jewish promises, a Jewish covenant, and he's bringing them into it. Here, Paul, throughout this passage, really the first five verses, Paul speaks of an unparalleled continuity between the old and the new. He's saying the old benefits of the old covenant are the same benefits in a spiritual sense that you enjoy, Corinthians, and us today as the church, and the same threats that those people of the old endured and suffered, those same temptations and threats are yours as well. There's an unparalleled continuity implied with this whole passage of the old to the new. So beginning with the first of these all statements of Paul, not to negate the fact that all of us have these as our forefathers, but that's more implied than it is explicitly stated, Paul is going to say that they have all gone under the cloud, all have passed through the sea, that is to say, God's redemptive acts of God's deliverance have been declared to them and publicly demonstrated before them. They all had a baptism as a sacrament for them as well, as they were baptized into Moses, our passage says, which is basically Paul using an Old Testament idea a New Testament idea and implying it on the old, that is. And he says they all drank and ate of the same spiritual food. Now, he doesn't explicitly say the Lord's Supper, But we can very easily see that that is what he's implying, is that Lord's Supper that we have was also present in the old, in a spiritual sense. As that rock that followed them was Christ. Now we'll go through these each, throughout these verses, specifically verse by verse here. We go through these verses, what is Paul getting at when he says all these benefits? What's the actual idea that he has in his mind? It's what we call the visible church today. The visible church. No matter who's sitting here, who professes the true faith, all have those visible benefits. All of us do. And he's saying they all had those same benefits. This idea of the visible church is the same of the old and new. We all share in the public visible benefits. Now here's the problem. Although many of the people had these external benefits, few had the internal one. Few had the internal. Now let's go through the passes. What exactly is the benefits they had? What does it mean when he says all were under the cloud? First, Paul is speaking that they all had God's care and government, and that would imply a protection of the Lord. They were given laws. They were given officers of the Old Testament. They had God's tender care with them as their king at all times. We can see that throughout the wilderness wanderings they had the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, God going before them and God as their rear guard. The continuity of that to the New Testament is that Christ is king and he is presently with us as well. He is the flame of our life. He is the warmth in the darkness. He is the shade and shield protecting his church from harm. He promised us, such as he said to Peter in Matthew 16, verse 18, that even the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. This is a promise of the Lord Jesus Christ that his church will endure on the earth forever, until the end of the age. It is a public benefit that anyone who comes into this visible church shares that benefit. that even in spite of all our enemies and all threats, this church will endure. And the name of the Lord Jesus will stand until the end of the age. Now, it also says that they all pass through the sea. If you keep reading, it says they all pass through the sea. Now, what does this mean? I sort of briefly said it already when I was going through them really quickly. It is a public demonstration of this redemption, a public demonstration of redemption. that all of them got to hear, all of them got to see, the nations surrounding them got to hear about these people and what God did for them? That's the old, God did a public demonstration there. What about the New Testament? Well, Paul seems to think, and he does say in Galatians 3 verse 1, that through the preaching of this gospel, there is a public demonstration of Christ crucified. in the New Testament, Galatians 3.1. He says, I have portrayed Christ crucified publicly among you. Again, a public demonstration. Also, Jesus didn't die in some random corner of the earth with no one to see him or hear about him. But it was a public demonstration as well on that cross. That news by the declaration of the word is a public demonstration to all people in the church. They all share in that same benefit. And then we come to the next one. They all were baptized into Moses. Now this is quite an odd phrase. There is no Jew today or back then before Jesus' coming who would use this particular phrase. It's a very interesting way to put it that they were baptized into Moses. There's no Jewish tradition or interpretation of the law in such a way. So what can we gather from that? Basically Paul is assuming, he's basically presuming because of what God has revealed in the New Testament And it's true, Paul's assuming correctly, that when he looks at what God has revealed in the New Testament, he looks backwards at the old, that that is true there too. And so they were under the administration of Moses, just as we are now under the better administration of Christ. And what is that baptism that they received then? It is a public declaration of God's sign and seal to these people. Now obviously the Old Testament was circumcision. It was circumcision. And the New Testament is baptism, which portrays the joining and the death and life of Christ. But this continuity here, what is the shared benefit, then, of this baptism, of baptism into the cloud and to the sea? It's basically saying that these are my, God is declaring, these are my people. And I am their God. It's a public sign of saying that they are set apart for my name. We see also, not only is it a declaration of this covenant belongingness, but it's also what Peter says at Pentecost, Acts 2, verses 39 following. Receive baptism for the remission of sins, a sign and seal of the promises of God's salvation. That's why Paul here is looking at baptism into Moses as through that redemptive act, through the passing, through the actual exodus was a baptism because it was a promise to the people of his redemption. And it was definitely pointing forwards of a greater redemption to come through the only son of God who had come for them. This baptism here then shows, that Paul is speaking of, shows actually a, which we will not get into super in depth, but a wonderful continuity of baptism in the old and new. It shows a profound defense for what we believe here, the infant baptism. It shows that the same benefits of that sign and seal and the same promises were there in the old, just as you have them today in this visible church as well. And it means, and it should be applied to the same such people as it were for them. It's for all in the visible church who do profess the true faith and their children. And then third, or finally, excuse me, the third verse that is, they all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink. This goes on to a remarkable statement of Paul saying, with that rock that followed them was Christ, as Christ being a source of spiritual life for the people, not only now, as he has come in the flesh, but he was the source of life for them too, as they would eat and feast of him back then as well, should they live. We speak of these things, the Word of God, baptism, Lord's Supper, prayer, having this fellowship with God, usually as the means of grace. And so this is the final means of grace here, the Lord's Supper that Paul is drawing our attention to. It again points to the redemption, to the promises of salvation as well, that God who led them out will surely sustain their life and bring them to the end. God is with them all the way to the end. It says, in the wilderness, that is, that God gave them manna, and Moses, who cracked open the rock, gave them water to drink from, and it was showing as a sign to them, as surely as this food that you eat sustains your physical body, so God, Christ of the rock, sustains your spiritual life. Paul points to all these benefits, then, And now with a great clarity of this continuity, but also the participation of all those in the visible church, they all had the same benefits. And this is what really is the problem then, though. Although they had all these benefits, verse 5 says, nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. And there's actually some quite vulgar language here, especially in the Greek. When you read it, it says their bodies were scattered in the desert. God is the active agent here who is slaying them because of his displeasure. It's a very vulgar, as I said, description of it. God is terribly displeased with these people. It's a warning for us today. As we look at these things that happened to them, that's what this passage is saying to us. Now, these things occur to us for examples, to us, to warn us, to bring our eyes to attention, that all these external benefits does not mean you're safe in glory. The external, that's the key word. The external benefits does not mean you're safe in glory. Because they all had those benefits, just like you all have those benefits. Yet the multitudes died and perished in their sins. Paul says, do not be like these people. Do not be the one who feasts on the external benefits and never cries for the reality of what they point to. Paul is saying, come, feast upon Christ, who is your life. Don't be content with the physical, the external only. Cry out for the reality of what they point to. And he goes then into the many who did perish in sins and didn't seek for what they pointed to. We'll look at point two now, the many who perished in sin. Going through verses six and up through 11. It shows how although they had all these wonderful gifts and privileges, they turned and lusted after evil things. As it says here, they set their hearts, they set their hearts on the evil. And it's warning us to not be like them, to not want those things as well. Paul speaks from Galatians 1, verse 4, where he says, what was the purpose of Christ's coming? Christ came to deliver us from this present evil age. But instead, these people loved this world and this age over against God and the world to come. They longed for the treasures that they could have of this age, the pleasures that this age could bring them, and forgot the God who brought them through that sea. He warns us to not do the same thing. Now, we see also then, what is this evil that they set their hearts to do and how did it outwork? This is what Paul says, idolatry is the first, and second, immorality, and then he'll go on to a separate category of discontentment. So we'll look first at idolatry here. looking at verse 7. This is the setting their hearts on evil, how the first way that this worked out. We see the people in Exodus 32, they started building a golden calf for themselves. Now to us at the forefront, that might seem like really ridiculous. Why would you build a golden calf? when the God of all power and glory has just manifested himself, bringing you through the exodus, redemption? Why would you build a God fashioned after the Egyptians' gods that obviously had no power to save them? Now, that might seem absolutely ridiculous to us. But it's, again, showing that their eyes were fixed on the things of this world. That is what they understood of their present age. power of the bull. That is like our God. We can fashion something that would demonstrate as a sign to us that this is the powerful God. And we'll name it that God who just rescued us. Clearly, the name of the Egyptian God was wrong. And this is the real name of this bull-like God, fashioning a God of their own imaginations. They lusted for things of this world, as Paul says, but this act of their doing is more like what Romans 1.23 says, that they exchanged the glory of God for that of a created thing or a creature. Another way of showing that this thread is still alive and active today, just as it was for them to worship and serve the creation rather than the creator, People all the time we see are tempted to give their lives for a love of this present world. People all over the world are still worshiping that golden calf in a metaphorical sense. They're working and laboring themselves down to the bone to get a nice luxury home. They're working themselves to death just to get a five-star restaurant meal with some woman. They're working themselves to death to worship this car that they can get, fashioned by the hands of men, or to get some luxury house off on the coast of the beach. This passage describes also their hearts. Looking at the people, it goes on to say, as it was written, people sat down to eat and drink, probably referring back to that sacramental language of they all drank, ate and drank of the same spiritual food. They ate and drank, but then they got up to indulge in pagan revelry. In the Greek, it's really just one word here. It's just they ate, drank, and played. Ate, drank, and then played. essentially what it's trying to get at. The translation here is actually really good because it's actually getting at the heart of the problem. It's pointing at the hearts of the people. They intoxicate themselves with the gifts of God externally, but then sought for themselves more fleshly pleasures. Treating God's good gifts as though they were commonplace, as though they were profane, and they did not honor and revere the things of God that were given to them, rather treasured whatever would fit their fancy. Therefore, they commit idolatry in their heart. Another writer puts it this way. As they are these people of God just brought through this wonderful redemption out of Egypt, they think themselves safe, having all these wonderful benefits, thinking that they can now do whatever they want, just like the Corinthians. They think themselves safe and they offer sacrifices where actually no real sacrifices because they were to a pagan god. They set up choirs which were no real choirs. They sang hymns which were actually their own funeral songs. They were filled with strong drinks and intoxicated with their wine and folly. So reveling and caressing in the live long night that they were unwary of the future that was coming for them. They lived wedded, he says, to pleasant vices, while justice, their unseen watcher, and the punishments they deserve stood ready to strike. And here Paul calls for us. Take heed, lest you fall. calls for us to take heed lest we fall, to examine ourselves as well. Examine our hearts. What are our hearts doing with the things of God? What are our hearts doing with our lives? What are our hearts doing as we take all these external gifts of God? Do we use them to point to the internal and growth of the internal, the spiritual strength? Paul continues going throughout this letter Corinthians verse now eight, we should not commit sexual immorality, continuing how this lessing of their evil hearts goes on. A tactic of the enemy then is if he can't get you to just outright do idolatry, well then maybe he can get you in another way. If he can't get you with the love of an idol, well then maybe he can get you with the pleasures of the flesh. You think, this is exactly what happened in the wilderness wanderings, when Balaam couldn't just outright curse them. He couldn't get them to just outright apostatize with idolatry. What does he do? He sends the Moabite women to them. This is a tactic of our enemy. The same tactic back then is the same tactic today. We can think, though, of the warning of Proverbs, like Lady Folly As Solomon writes, she is standing at the door calling for you, literally saying, come, have your fill of pleasure. Oh, but we must read what it says. He was led like an ox to the slaughter. For she has slain the wounded and the strong man alike. Her pathways were the descent into death, and her house was a highway to hell. This warning that Paul gives, it almost blanket covers all sort of sexual morality, and even giving your life over to somebody who is unequally yoked. By this statement, it's not just a warning to not go with the woman who's not your wife, but go to the Moabite women who would draw you away from God, who doesn't believe in God at all, who would draw your hearts away from the living God. Paul warns us then and to us today, don't marry somebody who's not a believer. And also, don't give your life to have this carnal pleasure for a moment and reap an everlasting displeasure. Flee from them, he says. Do not end up like the 23,000 who perished in their sins and never turned unto the Lord. So warning from Paul to us, take heed lest we fall. Now there's a second category here of this lusting, or another category, excuse me, of this lusting for evil things in our hearts. It says in blanket statement, as we look at verse nine and 10, a heart of discontentment. The scripture speaks of this as a way of tempting Christ, tempting the Lord. That's what it says here. We should not test the Lord as some of them did and were killed by snakes, obviously serpents. We can think metaphorically of such things. The reference is obvious. What is he talking about? Numbers 21.5, where it says they tempted the Lord. where it says, they cried out to God, our soul hates this worthless bread. Our soul hates this worthless bread, discontent with the things that God had given them in this wilderness. Psalm 78 speaks of it this way in verses 17 and 18. They tested God by asking God for the food of their own fancy. That is to say they were discontent with all the benefits God was providing and wanted more. They wanted better. They didn't want trial. They didn't want difficulty. And thus they put God to the test. all these abundant gifts outpoured on them, all these wonderful things, this wonderful act of delivering them out of the hands of their oppressors, this wonderful act of drawing them out of Egypt through the Red Sea crossing, this wonderful act of the cloud and the sea passage, the wonderful act of the baptism of Moses, as Paul puts it, this wonderful food and drink that God is displaying, that he will be their sustainer of their lives until the end. all these wonderful benefits, all these wonderful acts of God. He has demonstrated again and again and again his mighty power and his worthiness of being trusted and relied upon and worthy of being loved. And yet they cry out, oh God, how I hate the ways that you have supplied for my needs. They cried out, I hate. Obviously they didn't say the word baptism, but I hate how this baptism tells me how I belong to you this way. Now I have to live in such a difficult lifestyle, contrary to this world. I hate how your preacher Moses is always telling me the will of God and disciplining me and correcting me all the time. They cried out, my soul hates the food that you have supplied. that sustains my life. They wanted instead the food of their own fancy. They cried out, give me the comforts and treasures of Egypt. Give us the men of our own choosing that will tell us what we want to hear. Give me my pleasures. Let us lead ourselves, they would cry out. It's all too easy for our flesh to be tempted to say such things, Paul says. The same temptation then, it's the same temptation for the Corinthians, it's the same temptation for us today. How easy is it for us to complain? It's too difficult for me to pay attention, this sermon is boring. How easy is it for us to complain? I don't want to limit myself to worship the way this church worships. I want to be free. How easy is it for us to say I want to satisfy my own desires and feel good and not corrected or brought to discipline myself or brought to grow? How easy is it for us to say is it really worth it to suffer for living a godly life? and complain against God when the trials come. Instead of seeing what James says is a joy that is strengthening our faith, drawing us unto Christ, that we might reach our heavenly home. How easy is it for us to long for Egyptian treasures. How easy is it for us to not like the food, the word of God that he has given us, when it speaks discomfort to us sometimes. Beloved, take heed lest you fall. That's what Paul is saying here. Turn your hearts unto the living God. Turn your hearts to him who has demonstrated he is worthy of our love. Verse 11, he says again, these things, he repeats himself. These things happened as examples, and they were written down for our warning, for our warning, because they are important for us today. And it says, we're moving on to the third point here, the few who do escape, it says, so if you think you are standing, Paul opens up essentially in this section by telling whom he's writing to, who should pay attention to this most thoroughly, to anyone who thinks that he's already fine. It's actually quite a discomforting statement to whom he's addressing, because I personally like my assurance. I personally like my comfort and security. But he says, to you who have no feeling of worry, no feeling of wondering how you will stand, to you who think you're fine, you're all right, you got it all together, you're the one who needs this most. Does this mean that Paul doesn't want us to have assurance? Is assurance bad? No, that is not at all what he's trying to get at. What Paul is trying to do is make them come to a realization that they need to self-assess, is my assurance a good one? Or is my assurance a false one? Is my assurance a true assurance? One that is grounded upon faith in the living God who will sustain me? Or is my faith just in these external benefits alone? Do we have, essentially this is what Paul's saying, do you have the reality of all those spiritual benefits that the church, visible church, enjoys? Now, some older theologians, when they come to this passage and they are addressing, how can we distinguish between the fruits of a right assurance and the fruit or evidence of a fake assurance? Interesting enough, as many of them as I read, they actually almost paralleled each other in how they said it. They came up with four basic summary statements. First, a true assurance, a right living in God, is distinguished from a false because it gives birth to a sincere humility. Paul says in Galatians 6.14, God forbid I boast in anything but the cross of Christ. through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. A true standing in God firmly, securely, is one of sincere humility who doesn't point to himself, but points all things to Christ our Savior. The false gives birth to a pride that points to himself, his own comforts, his own strength, all that he has done, It says, this is why I know I'm fine. I did those things. I did it right enough. I've been there enough. I've listened to enough sermons. I've read that scripture enough. I've been baptized. I've ate that bread and wine. I'm fine. It points to itself again and again and set it to what all those things are pointing to. Secondly. A true assurance leads to increase of discipline, not less. Increase of discipline, not less. Look at David from Psalm 51. David, restore to me, restore to me the joy of my salvation. This is his repentance cry, obviously, but this final, this next portion, he says, uphold me with a willing spirit. Uphold me with a willing spirit. an assurance that is in God and not yourself. A true assurance has the fruit of one who cries out to God, uphold me and work within me the way of life everlasting. As Paul says in Philippians 2 verses 12 to 13, work out your salvation with fear and trembling for who? Who works in you? God is the one who works in us. A false Is that what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3 verses 2 through 5? For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money. They will have a form of godliness, the external, a form of godliness, but deny its power, the internal. A form of godliness on the exterior, but internally they have none of that godly power. Now the true, again, as Psalms 139 says, will lead to self-examination. Like Paul is calling us to here in verse 12, examine yourselves. As David cried out in Psalms 139, oh Lord, search my heart, test me, and know my thoughts, see if there be any evil way in me, and lead me then in the life everlasting. The false is satisfied with appearance, avoids accurate investigation, covers its ears to reproof, and cannot bear with correction. And finally, the true, the fruits of a true assurance, as aspirations, a longing for a greater intimacy with God, a longing for a greater intimacy with God's people. Look at 1 John 3. 1 John 3, verses 2 and 3. but the false is content with the rituals. It has its fill, but then it rises to play, as our passage says. It has its fill, but then rises to play to find other pleasures, not crying out for more and more of God. Now, This passage so far has been very stern of a warning. This passage up to this point has been Paul calling for us for reasons then for this self-examination, and then the call of the self-examination, take ye lest you fall. But now he turns to something beautiful, something wonderful that should encourage us all as we go. Verse 13, he says, no temptation has seized you except what is common to man. Now that is not comforting, though. If Paul leaves it at this, he's basically saying, and this temptation that threatens everybody equally in the same way, well, they just need to muster up enough strength. If that's where it's left at, that's how it sounds. But he goes on to say, but God is faithful. But God is faithful. And so the emphasis of this passage then isn't on what is common to all men, but on God who is faithful. And the good news is not that you have to muster up enough strength to just stand firm enough, but that As you would look at throughout the whole book of Corinthians, there's these strong men, there's weak men, there's wise men, there's foolish men, there's debaters, there's not. There's these wonderful men and there's these not-so-great men. But here in this passage, Paul says, okay, but all of them, because all things are common, these temptations and threats are common to all men, we are all as one desperate men. in need of a mighty God. And this brings us all equally on this playing field. We are all desperate men in need of a mighty God to protect and save. We need a God who is faithful, who will give us a living hope that will not fail. This passage then speaks of God being faithful to something. It's faithful to a specific promise. Faithful to a promise. So pointing at God then, what is his promise that he is comprehending, or the idea of this internal that I keep speaking about? Well, as we read Corinthians, Paul leaves this to the very end of his letter, actually, which is very unique of his writing, because usually, like Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, he brings it right at the forefront, like Christ crucified and resurrected. But that's actually mentioned last in Corinthians, which is very unique. But although it's written last, it's clear throughout Paul's entire letter that that has first in his priorities. Because this has brought, this has brought something new for us. That is a climactic redemptive act that has an impact to the promises of God being fulfilled. And God is faithful to those. What does it mean that Christ died and was raised? It says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 45, that he has become the life-giving spirit. He has become the life-giving spirit. And that the work of redemption is accomplished in the life of Christ, and he who has now fulfilled and obtained the inheritance for himself and was ascended into heaven now sends gifts to men. What is that gift? but the newness of life of that spirit. That is the internal working, who takes all those external realities and brings you to their internal significance, who brings you into Christ, who brings you into the life of Christ, who guarantees and secures you. He is the seal of your inheritance for the future. He doesn't leave you to fight in your own flesh. He doesn't leave you with this check-the-box self-evaluation. He doesn't leave you on your own. But God is faithful, for he has promised to send his spirit. And Christ has come and died. He has paid your price. He has raised the newness of life. He has become the life-giving spirit. And he sends his spirit into his people to strengthen them, to guard them, and keep them on their way throughout this wilderness journey. It says, such as Ephesians 1, 18 through 23, he works in us now with the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the heavenly places. Paul essentially then here is saying, comparing this evidence of God is faithful and he is working this promise. If you remain in the power of the flesh, you will die. But he who by the spirit of life within themselves puts to death the deeds of the flesh, they will live. Think of God who has given us all these external benefits. We get to hear God's word. We have received his sign and seal of baptism. We have the ability to come before him in prayer. Of course, don't forget the Lord's Supper, which tells us again and again that Christ crucified and raised for us and now is our sustainer of our life. Do you think that he who gave you all these things delights in the death of those who bear his sign and seal? Or can you hear his call to you today that all who have strayed, all who have sinned, all who have been tempted, and all who are far off come by faith, receive and apply Christ, by faith grab hold of Christ, By faith, receive and apply his death and life in yours. By faith, grab hold of all these external benefits and spiritually be fed. Die to your sins more and more and walk now into that newness of life by his spirit. Why would you remain on the path that leads to death? Turn now. by faith unto Christ. Turn to God who is faithful, who leads us into the way everlasting as David cried, who brings us through a new Red Sea of a greater redemption as we pass into the newness of life. Here now with the Spirit within us, it is God who goes before us, Holy Spirit, as it says in our passage, that he will provide a way out. It is God who goes before us and it is God as our rear guard. He is faithful to keep us. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but he will always be with you to help you to flee. Both the new life he has given you in Christ and the eternal life he has promised you in Christ, he will not take away. But your reliance for persevering, beloved, is not on you, but on God, the Almighty, who works all things together to keep you from sinking into despair and to the depths of your sin. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we have taken your word and heard it. as difficult as it is, Lord, I pray that you would take this word and nourish us with it. I pray, Lord, that you would take this Holy Spirit within us and empower us to put to death more and more our sins. Lord, we all here, we desire to look to you who is faithful. Turn our eyes away from us and look unto Jesus. Let us cast all of our cares upon him, all of our hope upon him. I pray, Lord, that we would do these things, that we would take heed properly and not look to the pleasures of this world, the idols of our hearts, or to the strength of our flesh, but be content in you who gives us all things we need to lead us to our heavenly home. We ask this in Jesus' name, for his sake, amen. Let us rise and sing together a song of response. 454, nearer still nearer, rising to sing.