Not All Examples Are Worthy To Be Followed
God’s word tells us which ones are to be imitated or followed, and which ones to NOT follow. Yet we are to learn from each of them.

Introduction
The Bible instructs us to learn lessons from the past.
Romans 13:4
See what a blessed people the Israelites were, and how they behaved.
But sometimes, their behavior caused them to be cursed instead of being blessed.
Let us learn some lessons that will help us along our everyday journey.

All Our Fathers
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
Paul speak of ancestors of the Jews
God protected them by a cloud
God brought them out of Egypt on dry ground.
God fed them
And God gave them water.
God took care of them, even after they disobeyed.

With Most, God Was Not Pleased
1 Corinthians 10:5
God killed most of the Israelites.
Why?
They were unthankful and untrusting of God despite everything God had done for them.
The primary problem was a lack of faith.
We must learn not to depart from God.

These Became Examples
1 Corinthians 10:6,11
What happened in the Old Testament days were things that would be examples that New Testament Christians should learn.
The OT was all the first century Christians had as far as scripture, and they were to learn from the OT scriptures.
The Holy Spirit would guide them in truth for the present age.
That we should not crave evil things, as they.
What are evil things?
Anything opposed to God,
Anything that causes Christians to stumble.
Anything that diverts our attention away from God.
Evil always corrupts.
That is what Sin does.
Do not become idolaters, as they…
Idolatry is anything that is put in a higher priority above God.
Things, possessions, watching sports, making money, family or friends, etc.
Man makes his own gods.
They are all an abomination before God.
Nor let us act immorally, as they
Usually immorality is associated with sexual perversion.
While true, it goes much further.
Not being a good or nice person falls in this category.
Lying, stealing, cheating, and other things like this.
Let us not try the LORD as they
Specific reference is the unfaithfulness and God sending serpents to bite them.
Then Moses lifted up a standard of a snake that if people would just look to it, they would live.
But we can try the Lord in many ways today, and sooner or later His patience will run out.
Nor grumble as some of them did.
This is where many of us might fail the Lord.
Never satisfied,
Always complaining,
Avoiding getting involved, and then grumbling about those who do.
Not being content is dangerous for every Christian.

Take Heed
1 Corinthians 10:12
This means to really pay attention and exercise the caution against the danger.
How can one pray to the Lord with thanksgiving when they complain about almost everything?
We are talking about our souls, and we must take heed (pay attention) to what we are actually doing in our lives.
Many of the Israelites lost out on their blessings for the various reasons listed.
Is there any question, that we could also lose out on our spiritual blessings if we follow the same examples?
Our sanctified, saved souls could be forfeited.
Be careful because Satan is always trying to devour souls 1 Peter 5:8.
Peter proudly proclaimed that he would never deny Jesus, yet only a few hours later, he did.
If all the great people of faith had problems, why do we consider ourselves that we should be any different?
We cannot give up in our spiritual journey.
We know God is willing to help us, but God is not going to do all the work.
That is our job and responsibility.

God Can Protect
1 Corinthians 10:13
God will always provide the way of escape.
The question is, will we take that way?
We must resist the devil, we must be sober minded, we must be vigilant in our resistance.
God can protect and He will, IF we are striving to be obedient to Him, and put our trust in Him.

Conclusion
Yes we are to learn lessons from the past.
We find the good examples and follow them.
We see the bad examples and learn not to copy them.
We must watch ourselves, lest we too become condemned.
God is there to help all along the way, if we let Him.

By Carey Scott

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