Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10219 - Manna From Heaven - Exodus 16

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#10219 - Manna From Heaven - Exodus 16 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles with you at
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Exodus chapter 16. I've entitled our Bible study
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Manna from Heaven. It's such a great chapter here
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in Exodus 16. And while you're turning to
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Exodus 16, I'll remind you of Galatians chapter 5 and verse
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17. Paul would write to the churches
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in the Galatian region. He would say for the flesh or
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for the flesh lust against the Spirit and the spirit against
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the flesh. And these are contrary to one
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another so that you do not do the things which you wish.
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Has anybody lived that out today?
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Can I get an Amen? The flesh lust against the
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Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh.
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By now you know that there's an ongoing battle in your life
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between the Spirit side, God living in you and your old
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nature. Or I, like one brother, defined
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our flesh as your old sinful habit patterns.
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What comes naturally unrestrained by the Spirit,
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There's a battle going on. We call it spiritual warfare,
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and we use that phrase so often that we may neglect to even wake
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up thinking about putting on our spiritual armor.
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In Ephesians 6 there's an intense fighting going on and
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there in Galatians in chapter 5, the word lusts literally means
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to turn upon or to turn against or the lust, how we commonly
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think of lust to deeply desire and your flesh has deep desires
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that are contrary to the desires of God for your life.
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The chapter before us in here in chapter 16 of Exodus, we see
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this battle lived out in real time.
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The intense cravings, normal cravings, quite frankly, the
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cravings of hunger after the children of Israel just had
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these cravings of thirst. And if left unrestrained, these
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internal cravings, even things that might even start good, will
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lead us away from God's best in our lives.
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They're not only dealing with thirst in the wilderness,
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they're also now dealing with hunger.
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And we left off in chapter 15 with victory over the waters of
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Mara. We learned, didn't we, that the
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antidote or the healing balm for bitterness in your life is the
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cross, the forgiveness of sin, God's work of forgiveness in us.
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Now forgiveness releases us, gets us through the waters of
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Mara into the palm deserts of Elim, the shade and the fresh
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wells, the soothing place of refreshment and rest.
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But it doesn't last that long. Notice in verse one.
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Now they journeyed for Elam. Can't stay there forever.
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You got to go back into real life and all the congregation of
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the children of Israel came to the wilderness of seen.
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Now we say sin because it's spelled that way, but it's
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really seen which is between, between Elam and Sinai on the
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15th day, the second month after they departed from the land of
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Egypt. And the whole congregation of
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the children of Israel, say with me, murmured or complained
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against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
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And the children of Israel said to them, oh, that we would have
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died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat
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by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full.
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For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this
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whole assembly with hunger. It doesn't take long, does it?
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Victory, victory, defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat,
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defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat. Don't you forget?
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Don't you remember the freshwater?
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Don't you remember the palm trees?
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Don't you remember the wells of freshwater?
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And so quickly hunger takes over.
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They've been moving together for about a month and 1/2 or so and
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it's it's significant. We read it in a in a air
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conditioned room with Bibles on our labs.
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But this is a pretty significant movement away from all the
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trauma and the stress and the fear and their, their thirst is
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real. Their hunger is real.
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These are not like idle things that perhaps we haven't
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experienced in such a long time. This is real.
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The desert's hot. If you ever go to Israel with us
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and we head out in the time of the year where it's super hot in
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the desert. I mean, you could tell the
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difference between the the area of the Vallely and out in the
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wilderness. It's it's super hot and you get
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really sweaty and you get hangry and it gets frustrating.
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Certainly that's where they are. They come to this wilderness
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area that's known as thorns and clay if you look up the word.
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And it's here in the place of thorns and clay that they again
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begin to complain. Now, as bad as it was, and it
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was very bad in their life of slavery in Egypt, there were a
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few things that they could look forward to.
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One was predictability. They knew what their day would
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be like. They knew where their food was
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coming from. They knew where they would sleep
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or rest if they were able to do that.
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Their life was relatively predictable as much as it wasn't
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desirable, and it wasn't what they desired for because they
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cried out to God for a deliverer.
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They certainly didn't want to live that way.
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But their life of faith, now they've gone from a life of
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slavery to a life of faith. The life of faith, as you all
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know, is unpredictable. You don't know what a day will
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bring. If you prefer to have a
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predictable life and you like your schedule and your calendars
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and you like to plan ahead, then that's a constant battle between
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your spirit in the flesh, where you are leaning on your
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schedule, leaning on your day, leaning on your plans.
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When the Lord saying no, I want you to lean on me, I want you to
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trust me, I want you to seek me first, and all these other
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things will be added unto you. The predictability of having
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food and fresh water was gone as they didn't know where they
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would be next. And as their food is running low
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and hunger was beginning to take over their body, their
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carnality, the humanity, their carnal nature begins to react
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and they complain. And in their carnality and in
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their flesh and in their hunger and then their frustration, they
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forgot they had a selective memory.
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And they forgot the pain and the sorrow and the hardship and the
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emptiness and the anguish and the depression and all the other
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reasons why they cried out to God in the 1st place.
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Friends, let me just remind you that in times of crisis and
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pressure, this is a familiar response.
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Even in believers, when times get tough and times get hard and
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they're unpredictable, it's easy to forget the faithfulness of
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God in your own life. It's actually quite predictable.
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You begin to forget God's faithfulness in the past and his
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faithfulness in the present, which drowns out your your
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belief in your faith in God's faithfulness in the future.
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In times of crisis and pressure, we just don't think spiritually.
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We begin to think practically. For example, very simply, I'm
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hungry, where will I get my next meal?
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Rarely. And you have to look at it in
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your own life. I'm sure there's one person in
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here that would disagree, but rarely when you're hungry, you
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say, Lord, would you just please lead me to where you want me to
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go eat today Instead, you're thinking, well, I had this
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yesterday. I had this lesson and I don't
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know, and I brought something from it from home and you're
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automatically thinking how you're going to satisfy your
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flesh. It's immediate.
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You're already looking to, hey, I'm hungry.
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I, I, I know there's provision. I'm not going to seek God on
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that provision because I already know I have it.
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And if you don't have it or it's a time of difficulty, then your
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flesh rises up. And there is that phrase today,
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as I used already, there is that phrase that's used to describe
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the person that is hungry and angry at the same time.
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They say you're hangry. The Bible says you're in the
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flesh. It sounds a lot more attractive.
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Or, you know, I'm just angry. No, you're like a carnal,
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fleshly person right now. Calm down.
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Get back into the spirit. Now, that works really well when
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you use that, don't you? It's like, get some right back
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in the spirit right away. But it's so often that we
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replace biblical words with more attractive words to describe
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exactly what's happening. You're getting hungry and it's
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affecting you, and we're suffering as a result.
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There's that hunger, and then there's that difficulty.
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Like, you know, when we we're under pressure, it's easy for
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our flesh to rise up and we complain and we grumble and we
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moan. The flesh starts to take over
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things, you know, get that. We start to take things into our
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own hands to try to get out from under the pressure, get out from
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under the situation. Couples begin to fight, singles
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begin to compromise. Kids begin to rebel.
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Christians begin to what we would call flesh out instead of
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walking in the spirit. And here in verse 3, this is
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what's happening with the nation, or at least a few with
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the nation. They're hungry.
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They're hungry, they lose it, and they begin to complain about
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it. They begin to complain about not
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being in Egypt anymore. Imagine that they begin to
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complain about not being and then accuse Moses in his
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obedience to God, accuse Moses of bringing them into the
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wilderness to murder them. That's what deliverance, their
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deliverance has become. This is the same people that
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God's already shown himself faithful, same people that the
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waters of Morrow were dealt with, same people that God gave
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them, Elam, same people that are just a few days later.
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Now they're accusing the deliverance that they
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experienced. They walked over on dry ground.
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They watched the Egyptians get buried in the water as the
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waters came and drowned in the waters.
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They're the ones moving forward. And what has been, what is the
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greatest spiritual event that's used so many times in the
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Scriptures to remind the children of Israel and us of
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God's faithfulness? What have they reduced it to?
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An accusation against Moses that he brought them out.
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He brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.
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It would have been better if we died.
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Notice what he says. It would only if we would have
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been, if we would have died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt,
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when we had all that food, the pots of meat, and we ate bread
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to the full. You've brought us out into this
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wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
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They begin to miss their slavery and their pots of meat,
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beginning to not like their lives.
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Why? Because they're hungry.
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Hunger may not be the place where the flesh rises up in your
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life, but I assure you there's more than a few flesh points in
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your life. You know how they say you have
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pain points, pressure points? You also have flesh points.
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And perhaps it's not hunger. Maybe food's not a big deal for
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you. But I promise you there's
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something that's a big deal to you.
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There's something that is used that when things are
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discomforted, it changes you as you lose the battle of this
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flesh lusting against the Spirit.
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Now, in this case, we have a little bit of insight in the
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Book of Numbers of what's happening behind the scenes.
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Would you turn over to Numbers Chapter 11, because it's not
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merely the hunger among the children of Israel.
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Notice turn over just a few pages to the right in Numbers
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Chapter 11, we gain insight of who's instigating this or at
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least partially where it says in verse four and numbers 11, it
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says now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to
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intense craving so that the children of Israel also wept
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again and said, who will give us meat to eat?
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And they remember the fish and that they had freely in Egypt
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and the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and
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the garlic. And now our whole whole being
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verse six is dried up and there's nothing at all except
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this manna before our eyes. What was the catalyst or partial
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catalyst of this besides hunger? It was this mixed multitude.
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Those that came out with them, like we would call them hanger
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ONS, you know, they were hanging on and they weren't real
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followers of God. They were Egyptians, mixed
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multitude. They wanted the blessings of
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God, but not the boundaries of God.
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They wanted to be around the people of God.
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What would we call them today? We probably would call them
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backsliders. If we were referring to them.
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We'd probably call them lukewarm Christians.
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We would probably call them fake Christians.
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Perhaps people that want the environment, they kind of want
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the morality, but they don't want the commitment or the
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sacrifice or the obedience or a whole host of other things.
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And following God, you could say that they were a bunch of
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spiritual freeloaders taking advantage of the faithfulness of
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others. But notice in Numbers 11, they
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influence the children of Israel, which is another warning
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for us today and when we're battling in the flesh.
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And the warning is this, when we listen to ungodly counsel, it
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will lead us to an ungodly decision.
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You might want to jot that one down.
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When you listen to ungodly counsel, it will lead us to an
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ungodly decision. Or the Bible would say, don't be
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deceived. Evil company corrupts good
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habits, bad counsel, bad decisions.
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And one of the worst pieces of counsel that you will ever
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receive or ever think or ever build up in your mind is this,
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that your life apart from Christ in the world was better than
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your current difficulty today when you were facing whatever
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you're facing, You know, when I was in the world, didn't face
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these kind of things. No, no, you faced worst kind of
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things actually, because everything you faced was apart
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from God. On top of everything you faced
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in the world apart from God, you were also an enemy of God.
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And there's nothing back there for us.
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I mean, really, was there life in the world really that good?
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Was your life in the world really without those problems?
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I mean, in the world, you were without God.
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You were apart from Him. You had no hope, no future.
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You were buried under the weight of your sins.
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Your guilt plagued you. You couldn't get a night's
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sleep. You were frustrated.
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Everybody around you was frustrated.
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Was it really that good? Some of you in and out of jail.
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Some of you couldn't stay sober for a day.
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Some of you couldn't wait for your next fix.
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Was it really that good? Some of you?
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Every relationship you had was broken.
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People were avoiding you. Was it really that good?
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You see, like the children of Israel, we are in this process
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of change. We're in this process of
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maturity. And one of the tools that God
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uses in our lives to grow us up is testings, like allowing a
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little hunger into our lives or a taste of bitterness here and
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there. As we learned last time, every
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one of us has Mara or two in our lives.
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Every one of us brought to a place where we thought it was
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one thing, but it's another. And God with the children of
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Israel didn't give them all their tests at one time.
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Isn't that true for us? He doesn't give us all our tests
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at one time. Little by little, He would tell
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the children, I'm going to drive the enemy out before you.
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But little by little, you and I were not able to.
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We're not able to handle it all at once.
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And this life of maturity is really the question when we
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think of tests and a little hunger, a little thirst, a
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little bill that needs to be paid, a situation with one of
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your kids, a significant health thing that doesn't go like what?
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What do you, What do you hear from heaven except that God says
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we do you trust me? And our answer is, yeah, but and
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then we fill in the blanks and then do you trust me and says,
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yeah, but will you rely upon me? Yes, but and then God is so
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gracious to us. He allows us to express
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ourselves and share all of our concerns.
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As a matter of fact, he tells us, cast your cares upon the
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Lord because he cares for you. And with each little victory,
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we, we, it may be imperceptible, but those around you can see.
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You may not be able to see it, but those around you can see.
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All these little imperceptible victories in your life have made
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you a stronger woman and a stronger man.
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Some people look at your life. I know this is hard for some of
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you to believe, but some people look at your life and they see
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you as a hero of the faith. You're a hero of the faith to
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them. That's what your life
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demonstrates. You're like, you go home and
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look in the mirror. A hero in the faith.
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Yeah. Because each time that questions
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been asked of you, you say yes, but and you move forward.
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And every time that questions been asked of you say yes, but
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and you move forward. And all those little steps, they
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make progress. And here you are as it is this
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day, an example of God's faithfulness.
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And to so many, you're a hero of the faith and you're like, no,
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what is Nobody's emailing me, calling me a hero of the faith.
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Nobody's calling me. No, you know what they're doing?
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They're praying for you. They're talking to God about
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you, appreciating you. You're you're getting him
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through a day. You're getting him through a
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moment right now. There's people thinking about
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listen, listen. There's people thinking about
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quitting. And God is bringing you to mind.
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And they choose not to quit tonight because of the
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demonstration of your faith. Now, right now, I know there's a
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battle right now between the spirit and the flesh because
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some of you, you have such a sensitive conscience.
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All you can think about is all your failures.
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And you're just like, no, no, you know, no, I'm not as no,
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don't call me a hero. Don't let.
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And you're like, no, no, don't take it out of God's hands.
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God is at work in your life. And there are people thinking
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about Egypt, going back to Egypt.
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And you're the one in your life is the one that say, no, they
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didn't go back to Egypt. I know their story.
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I'm not going back to Egypt. I'm going to keep going forward.
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Notice what God does. Come back to Exodus 16.
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Notice what God does with this. You got to love the grace of God
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here. Then the Lord said to Moses,
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wipe him out. Look at his response to
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complaining and murmuring. Behold, I'll rain bread from
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heaven for you. And the people should go out and
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gather a certain quota every day.
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That I might test them whether they'll walk in my law or not.
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And it shall be on the 6th day that they shall prepare what
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they bring in, and it'll be twice as much as they gather
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daily. Verse six.
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And then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, at
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evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the
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land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see
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the glory of the Lord, for he hears your murmuring against the
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Lord. But what we are that what?
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But what are we that you murmur against us?
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And Moses also said, This shall be seen when the Lord gives you
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meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the
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full. For the Lord hears your
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murmurings, which you make against him.
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And what are we? Your murmurings are not against
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us, but against the Lord. And what a what a sight the
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glory of the Lord must have been in response to the complaints.
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God appears to them and He provides for them and notice
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verse 11, you know, as you jump ahead, notice in verse 11 it
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says, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, I have heard the
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murmurings of the children of Israel.
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I've heard in God's answer to the complaints of the people, He
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met their needs. He gives them bread and gives
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them a test, a test of today. Just as I was speaking about
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maturity and growth, the tests come today.
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We're not worried about the test tomorrow or next week or next
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year. The test comes today.
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And the test for them is that God will provide bread from
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heaven and they're, they get it daily except on the 6th day when
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then they were to get double so they could provide for the day
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of rest. There was going to be no savings
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account for them to rely upon. Think, think about, we think
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about living this way at the direction of God, even just in
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food alone and food alone. You, you will go and get your
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daily food and you won't be able to store any in the freezer.
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You can sell your freezer and you can sell your refrigerator
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and you can sell the other freezer in the garage and you
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can get rid of your Costco memberships and you just, you're
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going to get food just, and you don't even need to worry about
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choices. You get one choice.
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It's going to be the best. It's God's choice.
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But no, our whole way of life will be transformed.
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And then you can't save any. No savings account.
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What if it wasn't food? What if it was money?
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Day by day, no savings. You go out and you get the money
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you need for today. That's it.
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Just today. Yeah, but you don't understand.
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We got we got to rent in 30 days.
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No, you're going to get today. You just today you don't.
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No savings. It's so contrary to our way of
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life and how much God has blessed us.
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But here they are. They're being tested in this
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unique way. And Moses just wants them to
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know that God's going to take care of them.
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And he wants them to understand that they're murmuring and
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complaining is not against him, but against God.
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And you think about all the things that we complain about
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and all the things we're upset about, and we're upset about the
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will of God in our lives. And so Moses gives him that
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God's not going to withhold anything.
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He's just speaking the reality. It's a test, it's a growth, it's
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maturity. And so he says in verse 9, Moses
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spoke to Aaron, say to all the congregation of the children of
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Israel, come near before the Lord, for he has heard your
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murmurings Now came to pass as Aaron spoke to the whole
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congregation of the children of Israel, that they look toward
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the wilderness and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in
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the cloud. And the Lord spoke to Moses,
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saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of
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Israel. Speak to them saying, at
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twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you'll be filled
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with bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.
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So it was that quails come up at the evening and covered the
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camp. And in the morning the dew lay
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all around the camp. And when the layer of dew
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lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a small round
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substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
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And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one
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another, What is it for? They did not know what it was.
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And Moses said to them, This is the bread which the Lord has
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given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord
24:38
has commanded. Let everyone gather it according
24:41
to each one's need, one Omer for each person, according to the
24:45
number of persons, and let every man take for those who are in
24:50
his tent. And the children of Israel, over
24:52
17 did so and gathered some more, some less so when they
24:55
measured it by OMERS. He who gathered much had nothing
24:58
over, and he who gathered little had no lack.
25:01
I love that every man had gathered according to each one's
25:06
need. And Moses said, don't let anyone
25:09
leave any of it till morning. The glory of the Lord comes even
25:15
in the glory God says. I've heard their complaints.
25:19
I'm sending help and God comes through with this bread, which
25:23
we know is manna. Manna, the word means what is
25:26
it? That's what they're saying right
25:28
here. We don't see, we've never seen
25:30
anything like this before. It's nothing like we're used to
25:34
and in their hunger and in their need and in their complain even
25:38
God comes through and provides so faithful to us.
25:43
Everyone gathered if you needed a lot, you got a lot.
25:46
If you needed a little, you got a little and everyone had what
25:49
they needed. Notice now in verse 19, Moses
25:53
gave the instruction, don't let anyone leave it till morning.
25:56
Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses, but some of them
26:00
left part of it until morning. And it bred worms and stank, and
26:05
Moses was very angry with them. Now who?
26:08
Look, look who's in the flesh? And a careful study in the life
26:12
of Moses as a leader will yield to you a revelation that one of
26:17
the problems that Moses dealt with his whole life was anger.
26:24
It's what gets him in trouble at the end of his life, getting
26:27
angry at the people that God loves, that he doesn't enter
26:31
into the Promised Land. And we've still stood there.
26:34
We used to go on that side in Jordan, and we stood there on
26:37
Mount Nebo overlooking the Promised Land in a similar place
26:42
where Moses saw the Promised land and never got to go in.
26:44
Although God is gracious, he does end up going in, in the new
26:48
covenant and the Lord brings them in.
26:51
So beautiful to have that personal gathering there with
26:56
Jesus because God is so gracious to us.
27:00
It was a very simple instruction, wasn't it in verse
27:02
20 or verse 19? Don't leave any till morning.
27:06
It's just what you need today. That was the instruction, very
27:08
simple. Sometimes the simplest things
27:11
are hardest to follow. They didn't listen, so the worms
27:14
came in. It's stink.
27:16
And this is what disobedience does.
27:19
This is what we beg our kids to understand.
27:22
This is what pastors around the country, around the world beg
27:24
their congregations to understand.
27:26
This is in our own personal walks, what we're trying to
27:28
understand and wanting to understand.
27:30
Disobedience will bring corruption.
27:33
It will make everything. It will ruin everything.
27:38
It'll make you in your life stink.
27:40
It will open up doors to other evil and sin in the simplest of
27:46
disobedience. The manna was a gift from God
27:51
even in the midst of difficult response.
27:53
It was to be gathered other morning.
27:56
It was to be consumed. And then it was the God was to
27:59
be looked to in the morning for His provision.
28:03
It was designed to get their eyes back on Him and offer their
28:06
circumstances. And I want you to notice that
28:09
manna. It was to be a personal
28:12
experience. It was to be personal.
28:16
They were to go gather it. Those that went out to gather,
28:20
they would gather for their home, but they would gather
28:22
under the Lord. They'd bring it back into their
28:24
home and they would declare, where did that come from?
28:26
The Lord gave it to us. It's God's provision.
28:31
And you can anticipate the relational aspect of all the
28:34
families talking about the faithfulness of God.
28:37
And it's too often that our sin and the difficulties and all our
28:41
trials that that gets so much attention in our homes and in
28:45
our families when the Lord is training us to look for him and
28:49
His faithfulness. Let me show you something in our
28:52
final moments. We'll see how far we can get.
28:54
Go over to John chapter 6. I want to show a few things
28:57
before we head out besides the rest of the chapter.
29:00
But notice in John chapter 6, this whole scene, true story is
29:04
used by Jesus. Later on in his ministry.
29:08
He refers to this and uses it as a spiritual analogy to himself.
29:12
Notice with me John chapter 6 in verse 23, excuse me verse 32.
29:21
I have that backwards. Notice John 632 Then Jesus said
29:25
to them, most just surely I say to you, Moses did not give you
29:28
the bread from heaven, which we know that what is the bread from
29:31
heaven? Manna.
29:33
But my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
29:37
For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives
29:41
life to the world. And they said to him, Lord, give
29:44
us this bread always. And Jesus said, I am the bread
29:49
of life. He who comes to me shall never
29:52
hunger, he who believes in me shall never thirst.
29:55
Jesus prefigured by manna mana being nothing else can satisfy
30:01
you. Nothing no one else can satisfy
30:03
you. I mean, you can get just the
30:05
right car, just the right model, just the right accessories and
30:09
then one scratch and it's over. You finally save up for whatever
30:13
it is you're saving up for maybe the the brand new phone and you
30:16
know they've got three more versions all ready to release
30:19
holding out on you. And you're like, oh man.
30:23
And you're trying to gain satisfaction.
30:25
You work so hard, you work so hard, you work so hard.
30:27
You finally get the position that you've always wanted.
30:30
The salary, the salary, those of you over the years that have
30:35
noticed your salary increasing and you say yes and Amen.
30:38
But then you got to read all the fine print because when your
30:41
salary increases, so do your taxes.
30:46
And you're like, what is this? I know you can work 30 years for
30:51
a goal and I'll come to find out it wasn't what you wanted after
30:54
all. It didn't satisfy.
30:58
The more you make, the more they take, the more you make, the
31:02
more you want. Now, certainly it's a blessing
31:05
and it's a beautiful to have raises and to grow in that
31:08
everything. But what?
31:10
Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
31:14
You won't regret that ever. It wasn't too long ago where I
31:18
was closing out the the probate for my parents and I watched my
31:24
parents live this way their whole life and I never agreed
31:26
with them but they didn't care. They were week to week people,
31:32
not quite day-to-day, but they lived week to week.
31:35
And I don't know what age I was, I was older, probably in junior
31:39
high or high school. By the time they got a bank
31:41
account, they were cash man and I knew where they hid it, which
31:48
got me into some trouble, but that's how they lived.
31:51
And so at the end of their life they had just a little bit
31:54
leftover. And each one of them, each one
31:58
of you talk, especially my dad. I remember there was a dispute
32:00
within the estate situation I had to take care of took me two
32:03
years. It was really rough.
32:05
It was a state and, and there was one part of it that I was
32:07
just going to fight for my parents, man, because I worked
32:09
so hard and they were, and I was going to fight for this.
32:12
And, and, and I, I felt like though the, the Lord was
32:15
reminding me of my dad and my dad would say he would if he was
32:20
sitting there at that time saying, OK, this is how I want
32:23
you to settle this son. That's why I want you to settle
32:25
it. Just give it to them.
32:26
I could hear his voice and he would say, because I signed, I
32:29
that's the agreement I made. I signed up.
32:32
Exactly what they're asking for is exactly what I signed up for.
32:36
And then of course, I would argue with my dad, even though
32:38
he wasn't there, But it's not fair.
32:39
It's not fair. I'm going to prove a point.
32:42
But we ended up letting it go because my role in suddenly
32:46
United State was to honor my parents by honoring the Lord.
32:51
And I know if my dad, my dad signed the paper, it was right
32:55
there in front of me. And so I had the privilege, as
32:58
hard as it was for me personally, to carry out his
33:01
wishes and just to move on. Listen, there's nothing in this
33:07
world that will satisfy you. Only the bread that comes down
33:09
from heaven, the true bread of life.
33:13
Even as believers, we can get right back on that treadmill.
33:15
Treadmill in this world as believers, which leads to like a
33:19
double frustration because we weren't satisfied before and now
33:23
we've received the bread from heaven.
33:25
But now we're not following even the simplest of commands.
33:28
Don't leave anybody any for tomorrow.
33:29
No, no, no, we got to leave some like some of you are just like
33:32
straight up savers. You know who you are you're like
33:35
well, just a little bit no, I mean just a little no, because
33:39
it's going to stink up everything.
33:42
It's going to lead to more difficulty in your life.
33:46
Just gather enough, notice what he says here.
33:48
Come back to the text in verse. Come back to verse 21.
33:55
So they gathered it every morning, every man according to
33:57
his need. And when the sun became hot, it
33:59
melted. And so it was on the 6th day
34:02
that they gathered twice as much bread, 2 omers for each one.
34:05
And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses
34:08
that he said to them, This is what the Lord has said.
34:11
Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.
34:16
Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil, and
34:19
layout for yourselves. All that remains to be kept
34:22
until morning. So they laid it up until
34:24
morning, and Moses commanded, and it did not stink, nor were
34:28
there any worms in it. Why?
34:30
Because they were obedient. Disobedient brought the worms
34:33
and the stank obedience exactly where they belong.
34:37
And then Moses said, verse 25, eat that today for today is a
34:41
Sabbath to the Lord. Today you will not find it in
34:44
the field, 6 days you'll gather, but on the 7th day, which is the
34:47
Sabbath, there will be none. And it happened that some of the
34:51
people went out on the 7th day together.
34:54
Isn't that the way it always is? And it came to pass.
34:57
Some people did not obey. They're going to God is bringing
35:02
tests in their life to bring maturity.
35:04
And what do we do? We're going to test God and just
35:08
see just a little bit. And it says they went out, they
35:11
found none. And the Lord said to Moses, how
35:13
long, verse 28, do you refuse to keep my commandments in my law?
35:17
See, for the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore He gives
35:21
you on the 6th day bread for two days.
35:24
Let every man remain in his place.
35:26
Let no man go out of his place on the 7th day.
35:28
So the people rested on the 7th day, and the House of Israel
35:32
called its name Manna. It was like white coriander
35:36
seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
35:42
And when Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord has
35:44
commanded, Fill an Omer with it, to be kept by your generations,
35:48
that they may see the bread which I fed you in the
35:52
wilderness, which I brought you out of the land of Egypt.
35:55
Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot, put an Omer of manna in it, lay
36:00
it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations.
36:03
You know, basically if you like to write in your Bibles next to
36:06
these verses, you could just write, Don't forget the
36:08
faithfulness of God and set things up to remind you of the
36:12
faithfulness of God. Because you're going to get
36:14
hungry again and you're going to get thirsty again, and you're
36:19
going to have a provocation of your flesh again.
36:22
You're going to worry again. You're going to fear again that
36:26
you're going to misinterpret something again.
36:29
The flesh is always lusting against the Spirit, and these
36:32
reminders help to bring the level down so that faith can be
36:36
activated once again. That's what my office is filled
36:41
with. Every time I look up, there's a
36:43
little thing that reminds me there's so much.
36:45
I have to keep recycling them little gifts that people give or
36:49
a Little Rock I brought back from Israel or a little
36:52
communion cup of a special time that the Lord has met me there.
36:56
Like these memories, they're so needed because life takes over
37:01
and difficulties take over. He says make sure you set this
37:05
up. Don't forget this.
37:08
And you would imagine well, but they're getting it every
37:10
morning. How would they forget it?
37:11
Well, when you get something every day and twice on the 6th
37:14
day, you begin to take it for granted and you don't remember
37:20
the faithfulness God, you begin to expect it.
37:25
You begin to be upset if you don't get it.
37:28
The flesh lust against the spirit.
37:31
If you want to study more on this in Deuteronomy chapter 8 we
37:34
read more of about this mana. It's unlike anything you've ever
37:39
heard of. Angels, food and whatever it
37:43
was, God created it with just the right ingredients to sustain
37:47
the nation nutritionally, practically and spiritually,
37:51
everything that they needed. And we don't have time to
37:55
develop it here because I have a couple points left still.
37:57
But notice the Sabbath rest is in the heart of God.
38:01
It began in the Garden of Eden and creation, but it's pre law.
38:05
The idea of rest and honoring the Lord.
38:07
This rhythm of rest. You guys cannot continue to work
38:11
seven days a week and I'm speaking to you church.
38:13
I'm speaking to everyone listening on the radio.
38:15
You cannot keep up the pace that you are right now.
38:18
You were meant to rest. The word of the Lord is for you
38:22
to rest at the very minimum a six to one ratio.
38:27
But if you can take advantage of A52 ratio, rest.
38:31
If you can go to bed early or rest.
38:34
If you can turn the TV off, rest.
38:36
If you can put the phone down, rest, rest, rest.
38:40
Do you get it yet? Rest, Rest by faith in the Lord.
38:44
You can't go seven days worrying about that.
38:47
You got to rest in the Lord. He is your rest.
38:50
You can't go seven days a week running on that kind of energy,
38:53
freaking out in anxiety. You need to rest.
38:57
Open up your Bible, begin to read it.
38:59
You'll hear the voice of the Lord.
39:00
You'll begin to pray. And as you present yourself to
39:03
the Lord, you're going to see Him lead you and guide you by
39:06
His Spirit. Like for example, if you're
39:10
really wrestling with something right now, you have deep, deep
39:13
anxiety. As you begin to pray, the Lord
39:16
would lead you to think of someone else that deals with
39:18
anxiety and then prompt you to reach out to them.
39:22
So for a few moments of time, God says, I don't want you to
39:24
worry about yours. I want you to reach out to this
39:26
brother or this sister. I want you to minister to them
39:31
because it's in ministering to them and in your faithfulness
39:34
that I'm going to relieve their anxiety.
39:36
And look, for the last half hour you haven't said anything about
39:39
yours because you're encouraging someone in the faithfulness of
39:44
God. And haven't you found this to be
39:46
true? When you're encouraging someone
39:48
in the faithfulness of God, guess who's also being
39:50
encouraged? You and me.
39:55
That's such a beautiful gift from God.
40:01
God gives His perfect provision in manna, and it's just like the
40:05
Lord, just what we need when we need it, just like the Word of
40:09
God. I know that some of you that are
40:12
new to the Bible, the Bible doesn't make much sense yet and
40:14
it's hard to read in Genesis. Then you get to Exodus,
40:18
Leviticus, like you just like, I'll forget about it.
40:20
And then you go over to the New Testament, you're like, I don't
40:22
know, Matthew's kind of hard and Mark and I don't know are they
40:25
talking about and there's so much difficulty in it.
40:28
But listen, this is the perfect provision for every issue in
40:31
your life, the word of God. This is the perfect provision.
40:34
And although it's hard now, it won't be hard forever.
40:38
And while it's challenging now, it won't be challenged.
40:40
It's challenging forever, but it will be very hard and
40:43
challenging if this book isn't something regularly digested
40:47
like mana daily fresh mana, taking in daily, day after day.
40:55
There is no day of rest from the word of God.
40:58
That's what's that's why it's different from manna.
41:00
You can take it in multiple times a day.
41:02
It always comes to you fresh. The Lord has a fresh word.
41:06
All you need to do is take it in, take it in, take it in.
41:08
You don't have to read it like a student.
41:10
You don't have to read it to understand every English word,
41:13
every Hebrew word, every Greek word.
41:14
Just take it in, take it in and allow the manna of God to
41:19
sustain you. If you're taking notes, let me
41:21
give you 7 ways that manna can be compared to the Word of God.
41:25
I thought this was great. I don't know where I got it.
41:27
I didn't do it myself. I got it from someone.
41:29
I love it. So #1 Mana was supernaturally
41:32
given, and even as the Word of God is not from man, but from
41:37
God, it is God's word. It is alive and powerful #2 Mana
41:42
had to be eaten, not admired. I like that they didn't pick it
41:47
up and look at it and go, oh, look at my pretty man out here.
41:50
Look at this is so great. No, they consumed it.
41:53
They needed it. They wanted it.
41:55
God's word isn't meant to be admired either, but to be
41:58
devoured and consumed. Can I get Amen on that?
42:02
Please take me up on a church. The Lord will honor his word.
42:06
It will not return to you void, but it's not just to be admired.
42:09
So you can have a nice, you know, fancy Bible that looks
42:12
good on the shelf. Take it in, take it in #3 mana
42:16
was to be gathered every day. What was taken in today wasn't
42:20
for tomorrow. Even so, just as God's Word
42:22
needs to be taken in, it's our daily source, our moment by
42:26
moment source of wisdom #4 mana was to be taken in with hard
42:31
work. It required effort to go out and
42:35
gather the mana. And studying God's Word and
42:38
applying it to our lives requires work and effort and
42:42
time #5 manna was gathered in the morning.
42:46
And I find it to be a great resource.
42:48
God's Word is great to take in before you start the day.
42:53
Doesn't have to be exclusive, but if they we're going to
42:56
follow the pattern of manna taking in the Word of God in the
42:59
morning before you leave, before you head out, so valuable, so
43:04
beautiful. Number six, manna was to be
43:07
gathered by bending down. I thought that was great,
43:10
bending down. It wasn't taken off the trees,
43:14
but by being on their knees. Reminds us of how the Word of
43:18
God is to be taken in with a humble heart, a heart of
43:21
reception #7 Mana confused the natural man, Mana confused the
43:29
mixed multitude didn't understand it.
43:32
Just as the Word of God is only understood through the Spirit.
43:36
And then finally #8 manna was despised by the mixed multitude.
43:42
There are people who come to church, they own a Bible, they
43:45
sing, but God's Word means nothing to them.
43:47
But remember what the Psalmist said, Psalm 119, verse 50.
43:50
He said, this is my comfort and my affliction.
43:53
For Your Word has given me life. Your Word has comforted me.
44:01
Let me give you another list. And then one final thing on
44:03
spiritual warfare. Manna is a deeper picture and
44:07
type of Jesus. I have four things for you to
44:09
consider when it comes to manna and Jesus #1 just as manna
44:14
descended from heaven, so Jesus came down from heaven to us, the
44:18
living bread. Just as manna #2 was physically
44:22
nourishing to Israel, so Jesus spiritually nourishes us #3 Just
44:28
as manna cannot be hoarded, so Jesus ministers to us His word
44:32
daily, moment by moment, as we come to him #4 just as manna
44:37
filled their stomachs and gave them rest, so Jesus said, come
44:41
to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you
44:44
rest. Rest for your souls.
44:50
Manna was God's gift. I'll give you another one.
44:52
Manna was God's gift to the children of Israel in their
44:55
rebellion, even as Jesus is God's gift to humanity and their
45:00
rebellion against God. At the end here they were to
45:08
gather it, save it, declare it. They were to remember God's
45:15
faithfulness, even if briefly. They have.
45:18
So I had to remember their failure.
45:20
See, we have the ratios all wrong.
45:22
The Bible says there is therefore now no condemnation
45:25
for those that are in Christ. But it seems like so many today,
45:28
they spend 90% of their life in the realm of condemnation and
45:31
10% in the realm of forgiveness. But it should be flipped around.
45:35
99% of our time should be focused on the faithfulness God,
45:39
the faithfulness of His forgiveness.
45:41
Even as His forgiveness does remind us of what we've been
45:44
forgiven of. The focus should be Him and not
45:47
ourselves, and we have to learn how to fight.
45:52
It's learned. It's important church, that you
45:54
learn how to fight not only the enemy of our souls from without,
45:59
but also the enemy from within the flesh in the battle, their
46:04
victories. There's defeats.
46:07
God allows us to feel a certain amount of pain and certain
46:10
measure of difficulty. For sure you will and I will
46:14
never go, you know, go to the measure of pain that Jesus felt
46:19
on our behalf, the suffering He had on the cross for us.
46:22
God has limited. Listen, God has limited what we
46:26
will experience. We will not experience the
46:30
fullness of what Jesus experienced for us.
46:33
Therefore, we're limited in the pain that we will experience
46:37
because He knows you. Each one of you is different.
46:39
You have your own cup of suffering that you will face.
46:43
It's been measured by the Lord. And He wants you to feel enough
46:47
pain, Church, so that you'll empathize with the pain that's
46:51
in this world, with the trauma that people have gone through.
46:56
He wants you to identify with Jesus who suffered so that you
47:00
might be able to identify with those who are suffering.
47:05
And in your suffering, your confidence is deepened.
47:07
Your faith is deepened. Your roots go down deeper.
47:10
You were talking not too long about the roots of bitterness,
47:14
but you know, your roots of faith go far deeper than that.
47:18
And even the pain that you walk into the room with.
47:24
I received a text message today from a friend of mine.
47:28
We've been praying about his cancer diagnosis because he's a
47:32
pastor friend of mine and he means a lot of encouragement
47:36
into my life. But on one of the check
47:38
insurance not too long ago, he let me know that they found a a
47:41
Melanoma on his head and he wears hats all the time.
47:47
So they were very concerned that they would find it later because
47:51
they didn't see it for so long. And today the text came in with
47:55
the results. Because he had surgery, they had
47:57
to cut open the top of his head and and then leave it exposed
48:01
while they do the biopsies. So he's laying in bed.
48:06
I mean, I didn't even, I didn't conceive of that yesterday
48:08
because I was checking in on him and I didn't hit me that he was
48:11
answering me with a hole in his head.
48:14
I mean, I've already known he's had a hole in his head, but now
48:16
he has a literal hole in his head and he was just texting me
48:19
back. Give me the update.
48:21
Like, hey bro, I'm with you, man.
48:22
I wish I was in the hospital with you.
48:24
I just can't be there right now. And the test came back today,
48:28
positive and negative. He got some really, really good
48:32
news about the cancer and the type of cancer and the treatment
48:35
that's going to come, but some difficult news that it spread
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and they don't know yet to what degree.
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And that's life, isn't it? It's life.
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And so we stand with him, we pray with him, we pray for him.
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I hope to be with him in a couple months and I'll be there
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myself on behalf of my family, on behalf of our church family
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who loves him very much. This is life.
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This is where the gospel lives. This is the power of the gospel.
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Even among us as believers, we need to be reminded of the
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faithfulness of God. Take that pot of manna out.
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Maybe that pot of manna for you is is your salvation.
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I was talking to a mom. I think it was a mom.
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I can't remember exactly. We're talking about her
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backside. It was a mom.
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It was a backslidden kid and after she was sharing and all
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the things I was just be able to look her in an eye and go.
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I was your kid. Let me be faith.
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Let me be a build faith for you because I was your kid.
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Everything you described, I was worse, if you can imagine that.
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And what did God do? He reached someone that was
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unreachable. Saul Tarsus was that kid, except
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he was religious on top of it. Listen, church, the gospel was
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meant to be lived out. It was meant to be.
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It was meant to have your roots go down deeper to another level
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you've never gone before, to reach another group of people
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you would have never reached before.
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To take the gospel into the unknown.
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I know we think of the mission field and it is, believe me, we
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are 100% all on board for taking the gospel where it hasn't gone
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before. We want to go.
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We want to support ministries, yes, But you know, there are
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many, many places through your pain and suffering, you will
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take the gospel where it hasn't gone that way before because you
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haven't been there before with the pain that you're carrying
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and the victories that you have and the fears you deal with and
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the manna that you take in. And remember, they were to get
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it for their house so they could take it in for those in their
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house. And God is broadening your house
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by bringing people a new person at work or a new diagnosis or a
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new difficulty or a new hospital bed.
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How can we not think of Marilyn when we think of this of all the
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years we walk with that sister? I mean, there are hundreds of
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people that have heard the gospel because of Marilyn.
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You know that, right? I mean, she's the real deal.
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And if you don't know Marilyn, she sits right up here behind
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Bianca, as loud as loud can be because that's how God made her
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a beacon of light. Who now in her life has been
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diagnosed as cancer free. Isn't that great?
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The Lord is so good with her. It's all a part of God's plan.
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Church manna sufficient. All that we need.
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Jesus is the bread of life. You think Manna's great, So I'd
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love to see man. I'm going to wake up early and
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check the backyard tomorrow. No, no, no.
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You got something better than manna.
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You have something better than a burning Bush.
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You have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the new covenant of
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the blood of Jesus Christ that has forgiven you of all of your
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sins. He's promised never to leave or
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forsake you. What he's begun in you, He is
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faithful to complete it. You can trust Him no matter
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what. Amen.
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Lord, thank you for this little insight on Manna.
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And I know that we could go in a lot of different directions, but
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we receive what you have for us tonight.
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And there is just that need of provision where story after
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story after story of real life people struggling and suffering
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and battling and fighting. There's that sense, God, where
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you've been so faithful to us, but we still get in the flesh.
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We still freak out in fear. We still refuse to humble
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ourselves and Lord, I just pray over our church, a spirit of
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humility, Lord, that the situations in our life would not
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harden US and and bitter us, but would break us and humble us.
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That we would follow God, your, your, your path to the cross,
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the place of sacrifice, the place of reeling obedience to
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the point of death, Lord. And I pray for the pain that's
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among us, the hurt, the fears, the anxiety, the torment.
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I think of one someone right now, Lord, just tormented in
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their mind. It's not a little battle.
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It's a ongoing, constant tormenting battle.
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Lord. I just pray deliverance over
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them, Lord, that they might walk by faith that you would relieve
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the pressure. I pray for my brother Sean,
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Lord, as he has the diagnosis. I know there's such great
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encouragement, but I pray you would give him strength.
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And do they fix his head, Lord, and bring the immunotherapies
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back, Lord, they would just be cancer free.
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I know not everyone wins their battle or like Lawrence, but all
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of us are going to meet our maker.
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All the days are written for us, have been written in a book.
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Our days are numbered and so God, as you teach us, teach us
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to number our days that we might live full lives, fully faithful,
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faithfully, that you might be our All in all or in Jesus name,
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Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study, delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
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Grace that's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
54:43
integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
54:47
online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.