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Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – It’s Time to Celebrate—N... · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Let me have you turn, if you will, to a
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Speaker 1: numbers Chapter ten. Let me read a few verses in
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Speaker 1: this chapter, and then over into chapter eleven, so we
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Speaker 1: prepare ourselves for this morning's message Numbers ten. Let's begin
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Speaker 1: at verse eleven. If you're not familiar with your Bible.
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Speaker 1: Over in the Old Testament Genesis, followed by Exodus, a
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Speaker 1: book named Leviticus, and then the fourth book of the
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Speaker 1: Bible is Numbers, named after the numbering of the people
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Speaker 1: as preparing to march into and invade the land of Canaan.
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Speaker 1: So we're in the middle of the march here in
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Speaker 1: verse eleven of chapter ten. Now it came about in
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Speaker 1: the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth
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Speaker 1: of the month, that the cloud was lifted from over
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Speaker 1: the tabernacle of the Testimony, and the sons of Israel
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Speaker 1: set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai.
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Speaker 1: Then the clouds settled down in the wilderness of Paran.
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Speaker 1: So they moved out for the first time according to
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Speaker 1: the commandment of the Lord through Moses and down in
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Speaker 1: verse thirty three. Thus they set out from the mount
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Speaker 1: of the Lord three days journey with the ark of
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Speaker 1: the covenant of the Lord, journeying in front of them
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Speaker 1: for the three days to seek out a resting place
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Speaker 1: for them. The cloud of the Lord was over them
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Speaker 1: by day when they set out from the camp. Dropped
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Speaker 1: down to chapter eleven, few verses here. Now the people
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Speaker 1: became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing
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Speaker 1: of the Lord. And when the Lord heard it, his
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Speaker 1: anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned
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Speaker 1: among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
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Speaker 1: The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed
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Speaker 1: to the Lord, and the fire died out. So the
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Speaker 1: name of that place was called Tabarah, the Hebrew word
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Speaker 1: means burning, burning. Because the fire of the Lord burned
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Speaker 1: among them, the rabble who were among them had greedy desires,
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Speaker 1: and also the sons of Israel wept again and said,
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Speaker 1: who will give us meat to eat? We remember the
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Speaker 1: fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the
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Speaker 1: cucumbers and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions
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Speaker 1: and the garlic. But now our appetite is gone. There
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Speaker 1: is nothing at all to look at except this manner
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Speaker 1: attempted to go look at the end of something like that,
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Speaker 1: aren't you. That's the way they were feeling in their complaining.
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Speaker 1: I'd like us to stand for our time of prayer together.
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Speaker 1: Let me give you just a few moments here of
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Speaker 1: quietness for you to bring before the Lord. Whatever you
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Speaker 1: came with on your heart. Maybe a need unrelated to
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Speaker 1: what was just read. It may be directly related to
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Speaker 1: what you have heard. It may have to do with
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Speaker 1: some concern you have that's really hundreds, maybe even thousands
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Speaker 1: of miles away, and may be a praise gratitude. New
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Speaker 1: things are wonderful things when they come from You, Father.
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Speaker 1: On our staff, this week we celebrated the birth of
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Speaker 1: a new baby. How grateful we are for You're giving
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Speaker 1: a new life, such healthy life, to a Brent and
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Speaker 1: Kristen as they enjoy the birth of their first born,
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Speaker 1: a lovely and wonderful little boy. The new anticipation that
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Speaker 1: is ours is wonderful, and we are living these days
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Speaker 1: on tiptoe and anticipating the pleasure of the new sights
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Speaker 1: and sounds and smells of a refreshing place of worship, instruction,
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Speaker 1: joy and celebration, a place to grieve the loss of
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Speaker 1: those who die, a place to celebrate those who join
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Speaker 1: their lives in marriage. A place to gather in the
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Speaker 1: seasons of the year, and to be still and remember
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Speaker 1: that you were God, and to stand to our feet,
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Speaker 1: and to acknowledge that there is one who is above
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Speaker 1: us and beyond us, who surrounds us and lives within us.
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Speaker 1: How grateful we are, our Father, and you have heard
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Speaker 1: those words from us since our inception. We thank you
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Speaker 1: for the new dreams that accompany a new place. New
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Speaker 1: children being reached and loved into the kingdom, little precious lives,
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Speaker 1: some of which are in our special education department. And
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Speaker 1: though their minds don't work like others, they know they're loved,
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Speaker 1: and they're secure, and they're protected. Thank you for each one,
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Speaker 1: even as the Son of God taught. Inasmuch as you
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Speaker 1: have done it unto the least of these, you've done
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Speaker 1: it unto me. Thank You for the excellence that will
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Speaker 1: mark our music ministry. For the way those songs will
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Speaker 1: find a place as the seed of the Word is
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Speaker 1: sown in the soft soil of the heart. Thank you
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Speaker 1: for the way you minister through the arts, through the
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Speaker 1: proclamation of truth and the meditation upon the application of it,
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Speaker 1: And how you will use these facilities literally to change
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Speaker 1: our lives. We find ourselves in the midst of our gratitude, Lord,
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Speaker 1: anticipating how you're going to provide and who you will
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Speaker 1: use in the process. And we really do want you
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Speaker 1: to know we want you to use us individually. We
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Speaker 1: live in no dream world where those funds will come
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Speaker 1: from outside. They will come from the sacrificial giving of
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Speaker 1: sacrificing saints. And speaking of that, Father, thank you for
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Speaker 1: sacrificing your son, in loving us so much, you deposited
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Speaker 1: him in the arms of a frightened young Jewish who
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Speaker 1: had never had a baby and never known a man,
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Speaker 1: giving her the responsibility of rearing him, knowing he was
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Speaker 1: your son and our savior. We acknowledge our Father at
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Speaker 1: this time of year, the blessedness of the birth of
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Speaker 1: God in flesh, and we exalt his name together through Christ,
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Speaker 1: our Lord, our Master, whom we honor and adore, we pray,
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Speaker 1: and we commit these funds that are given now in
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Speaker 1: his name, and all the saints said, amen, please be seated.
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Speaker 1: We've all heard the old expression that some people see
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Speaker 1: the glass as half full and others see the glass
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Speaker 1: as half empty. Everything depends on perspective, there are always
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Speaker 1: those who look at the dark side and seem to
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Speaker 1: find a reason for complaint, no matter if there are
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Speaker 1: many reasons for them to see the bright side and
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Speaker 1: the light side. An older gentleman lay quietly in a
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Speaker 1: hospital with his wife of fifty five years sitting at
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Speaker 1: his bedside. Is that you Ethel at my side? Again?
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Speaker 1: He whispered, Yes, it's me. It's me, dear, she answered tenderly.
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Speaker 1: He softly said to her, Remember fifty five years ago,
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Speaker 1: when when I was in the veterans hospital, you were
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Speaker 1: with me. Then you were also with me when we
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Speaker 1: lost everything in a fire, and Ethel, back when we
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Speaker 1: were very poor, you were with me there too. She
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Speaker 1: nodded slowly, Yes, I was there. The old man's side
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Speaker 1: looked out the window and then turned and looked over
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Speaker 1: the top of his glasses at her and said, I'll
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Speaker 1: tell you, Ethel, your bad luck and old Roger. Can
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Speaker 1: you imagine fifty five years of that kind of life?
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Speaker 1: Some of you ladies say yes, I can imagine. But
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Speaker 1: the funny thing about it is that in all of
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Speaker 1: the complaining, no matter how many may complain, when the
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Speaker 1: progress is right, the progress continues on. I also came
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Speaker 1: across in my preparation a wonderful old Arabic proverb that says,
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Speaker 1: the dogs bark, but the caravan rolls on. Wouldn't you
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Speaker 1: like that those dogs may bark, but that caravan rolls on.
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Speaker 1: I suppose if we paraphrased it in light of our
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Speaker 1: series on these ancient Hebrews, the people may fuss, but
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Speaker 1: the journey to Canaan continues on. After all, it is
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Speaker 1: a promised land. It isn't a wishful place of dreams.
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Speaker 1: It isn't some wizard of oz hope. It is a
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Speaker 1: promised land, and they'll get there. They'll get there. While
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Speaker 1: you're turning to numbers chapter ten in your bibles, let
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Speaker 1: me add a question to their situation. How could anybody
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Speaker 1: complain in light of the blessings that had been theirs
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Speaker 1: thus far? Let me said another way, how could any
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Speaker 1: dog bark if he realized the hand of God's favor
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Speaker 1: on the people? Stop and think? For over four hundred
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Speaker 1: years they have been enslaved no longer, because thanks to
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Speaker 1: the Lord's rescue through Moses, the exodus has occurred, though
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Speaker 1: cornered by their enemy. There in that cul de sac
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Speaker 1: unable to escape, They went through the Red Sea, and
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Speaker 1: then turned and watched that same red sea swallow up
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Speaker 1: all of their enemies. They'll never again know the lash
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Speaker 1: of the Taskmaster on their backs as they build another
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Speaker 1: edifice in Egypt. What a blessing. They are free, free
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Speaker 1: at last, and they will never get lost. There is
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Speaker 1: a cloud by day, and they will never be cold
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Speaker 1: because there is a fire through the night. They will
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Speaker 1: never wonder what God expects, because at Mount Sinai, he
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Speaker 1: with his own finger wrote in a stone tablet exactly
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Speaker 1: what he expected of his own. They would never wonder
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Speaker 1: where God was. As soon as the tabernacle they built
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Speaker 1: was constructed, the light the Chkina of God flooded the
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Speaker 1: holiest of all, and his presence was never lifted as
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Speaker 1: they walked in harmony with him. They would never know
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Speaker 1: what it was to be absent from their God. Blessing
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Speaker 1: after blessing after blessing, favor after favor. They would come
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Speaker 1: to a land that they did not even have to
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Speaker 1: worry about occupying. The Lord said, it's yours. Just invade
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Speaker 1: it and drive out the enemy. Why they would They
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Speaker 1: would live in cities they didn't build, and they would
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Speaker 1: fill houses that they didn't furnish, and they would drink
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Speaker 1: water from wells they hadn't dug, and they would eat
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Speaker 1: fresh fruit from the vine and the orchards. They didn't plant,
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Speaker 1: blessing after blessing after blessing. But would you believe it?
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Speaker 1: The dogs kept barking, As is true in your company,
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Speaker 1: as is true in the church you once attended, as
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Speaker 1: will be true in this church, and may already be
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Speaker 1: going on. There will always be dogs barking. There will
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Speaker 1: always be people who complain, no matter how great the blessings,
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Speaker 1: no matter how many favors of grace are laid at
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Speaker 1: our feet. That's exactly where we find ourselves in the
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Speaker 1: history of Israel. It's time to celebrate, not complain. It's
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Speaker 1: time for them to rejoice and sing and dance and
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Speaker 1: live every day on tiptoe, knowing it's only a matter
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Speaker 1: of time before the land will be ours to claim.
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Speaker 1: I mean, the ultimate squatters' rights. Just move in, take over,
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Speaker 1: and it's yours. No offer was ever better than that.
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Speaker 1: They have every reason to be on that trail, dancing
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Speaker 1: and celebrating. They will not go hungry, they will never
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Speaker 1: lack for water, they will never starve. They will never
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Speaker 1: be lost, because God in grace will get them from
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Speaker 1: Egypt to Canaan safely, exactly as he has planned. But
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Speaker 1: wouldn't you know it, in the middle of the journey,
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Speaker 1: time after time they whine and they complain instead of celebrate.
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Speaker 1: Welcome to the real world, Moses. Now in numbers Chapter ten.
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Speaker 1: They have finished building the tabernacle. They have marshaled the
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Speaker 1: families around the tabernacle ready for the fight. They are
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Speaker 1: on the journey again, moving from where they were to
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Speaker 1: where they are going, and they get three days underway.
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Speaker 1: Watch it verse eleven. It came about in the second year,
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Speaker 1: in the second month, on the twentieth of the month,
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Speaker 1: the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the Testimony,
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Speaker 1: and that told him, pull up the tenth pigs, wrap
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Speaker 1: up all of your belongings, roll up the tabernacle, put
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Speaker 1: it on the poles. Put the poles on your shoulders.
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Speaker 1: Were on our way to Canaan. There's a new land
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Speaker 1: awaiting us. So they moved out. Verse twelve. The sons
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Speaker 1: of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness
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Speaker 1: of Sinai. Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness
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Speaker 1: of Paran. They didn't even have to pray about it.
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Speaker 1: They didn't ever have to wonder or wonder where we stop?
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Speaker 1: I wonder where the Lord It went to the wilderness
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Speaker 1: of Paran, and it stopped. So they stopped verse thirteen.
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Speaker 1: So they moved out for the first time, according to
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Speaker 1: the commandment of the Lord through Moses, verse thirty three.
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Speaker 1: Thus they set out from the mount of the Lord
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Speaker 1: that Sinai three days journey, with the ark of the
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Speaker 1: Covenant of the Lord, journeying in front of them for
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Speaker 1: the three days to seek out a resting place for them.
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Speaker 1: The cloud of the Lord was over them by day
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Speaker 1: when they said out from the camp. Now, how good
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Speaker 1: can you have it. You've got the Cloud, You've got
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Speaker 1: the arc, You've got Moses, You've got the organization put together.
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Speaker 1: You have the promise of God. You have food to eat,
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Speaker 1: you have water to drink. You have your family safely
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Speaker 1: by your side, no enemies around. They've all been removed
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Speaker 1: in the Red Sea. You're on your way to the
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Speaker 1: land of Canaan verse one, chapter eleven. The people became
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Speaker 1: like those who complain of adversity. Oh man, look at
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Speaker 1: that verse. Instead of celebrating their complaining. Instead of the
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Speaker 1: wonderment of us, of a joy and the excitement of
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Speaker 1: song before God, they're whining. In fact, the Hebrew is
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Speaker 1: a little bit complicated here. It may it may read
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Speaker 1: just like the new American standard. Then again, it could
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Speaker 1: read according to one of my references, now, the people
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Speaker 1: became truly mur us. Interesting word, murmur us and offense
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Speaker 1: to the Lord's ears. The term means to murmur, and
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Speaker 1: it may be related to an Akkadian term to sigh. Oh,
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Speaker 1: that is this statement that people complain of adversity, to sigh,
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Speaker 1: to sigh, I think we would have the colloquialism to
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Speaker 1: wine to wine. We who have reared children need no
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Speaker 1: explanation of that word. No matter where you go, no
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Speaker 1: matter how short a distance, no matter how comfortable the car,
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Speaker 1: if there is more than one in the back seat,
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Speaker 1: they murmur and whine. Meet how much longer? Were we
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Speaker 1: almost there? I'm hungry? I have to go to the bathroom.
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Speaker 1: I mean, you're not going out of the driveway five
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Speaker 1: minutes before they have to go to the bathroom, or
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Speaker 1: are we almost there? Just think of your kids in
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Speaker 1: the back seat. Whenever you're going on a journey and
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Speaker 1: there's more than one child in the seat. There's a
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Speaker 1: fight that's going to go on. We would leave our
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Speaker 1: home in southern California to drive four hundred miles north
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Speaker 1: to Mount Herman Christian Conference Center. Wonderful highway, comfortable car,
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Speaker 1: just the right temperature, pillows, blankets, whatever needed. And we
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Speaker 1: weren't out of our cul de sac before that. Say
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Speaker 1: are we all there? In? Don't sit so close to me.
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Speaker 1: He's touching me. You know how it go just enough
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Speaker 1: to where you out They are complaining in the hearing
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Speaker 1: of the Lord. Done a little analysis of the complaining,
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Speaker 1: and I figured out their complaining because of about five reasons. First,
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Speaker 1: they formed the habit of fussing. It's a habit. They
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Speaker 1: did it three days out. Did you notice that in
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Speaker 1: verse thirty three of chapter ten, twice he says they
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Speaker 1: were three days on the journey. You say, well, where's
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Speaker 1: the habit? Well, Exodus fifteen, Exodus fifteen. Turn you're just
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Speaker 1: thinking I'm going to read that. I want you to
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Speaker 1: turn and look at Exodus fifteen, verse twenty two. You
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Speaker 1: got to see it. See the habit. Twenty two of
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Speaker 1: Exodus fifteen, Moses led Israel from the Red Sea. They
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Speaker 1: went into the wilderness of Sure. They went three days there.
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Speaker 1: It is again in the wilderness, and they found no water.
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Speaker 1: They came to Marah. They couldn't drink the waters of Mara,
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Speaker 1: for it was bitter. Therefore it was named Mara, which
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Speaker 1: means bitterness verse twenty four. So the people there we
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Speaker 1: are again complaining. The dog start barking. The caravan is moving,
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Speaker 1: but the dog start to bark. The people grumbled at Moses, saying,
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Speaker 1: what shall we drink? Because this water is bitterer. I like,
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Speaker 1: this water is bitter and terrible. This is terrible. What
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Speaker 1: shall we drink? As if the Lord is gonna starve
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Speaker 1: them out? Think God's gonna be in heaven saying okay, die,
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Speaker 1: just die without water. He's not gonna do that. But
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Speaker 1: they're whining. They formed the habit they could take three
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Speaker 1: days of discomfort, and then it kicked in. Then we
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Speaker 1: start to murmur, that's about right. We can handle anything
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Speaker 1: about three days. Then we don't like it. Here's a
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Speaker 1: second reason. Rather complain than trust God. They'd rather complain
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Speaker 1: than trust God in their discomfort. You will observe that
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Speaker 1: about complaining in your life. And others. You start to
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Speaker 1: complain when you focus on what you don't have rather
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Speaker 1: than trusting God to provide what you need. It happens
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Speaker 1: every time. There's a third reason. They listened to those
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Speaker 1: who refused to walk by faith. Look down at verse four.
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Speaker 1: The rabble who were among them? The rabble who were
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Speaker 1: among them. If you trace the rabble back to the
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Speaker 1: beginning of the Exodus, you will find that these are
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Speaker 1: people who were not Hebrews. They were gentiles who came
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Speaker 1: in on the journey to get out of Egypt. They
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Speaker 1: were people who had never known the Living God, and
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Speaker 1: they were mixed in with those who did know the Lord.
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Speaker 1: Those who were true Hebrews by blood were mixed with
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Speaker 1: the group that was not. And they're called the rabble,
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Speaker 1: and they're running with the wrong crowd. Complainers inevitably run
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Speaker 1: with complainers. I mean, who wants to complain all alone
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Speaker 1: in the office. If you are a complainer, you have
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Speaker 1: fellow complainers. You're joined at the hip, usually at the
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Speaker 1: water fountain or the coffee table where you're going to
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Speaker 1: sit down for your break. You complain alongside those who complain.
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Speaker 1: Because you run with complainers. They're called here at verse four.
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Speaker 1: The rabble who were among them had greedy desires. Also,
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Speaker 1: the sons of Israel wept again, so they listen to
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Speaker 1: those who didn't walk by faith. Number four. They focused
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Speaker 1: more on what they didn't have than on what they
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Speaker 1: now had. You will observe what they wanted. They had
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Speaker 1: greedy desires. Verse four, last sentence, who will give us
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Speaker 1: meat to eat? We remember complainers always remember the good
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Speaker 1: old days. Now they forgot that it was under slavery.
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Speaker 1: They forgot they were living in the ghetto. They forgot
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Speaker 1: about the lash of the taskmaster. They forgot about Pharaoh's
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Speaker 1: godless lifestyle that he promoted. They forgot about how miserable
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Speaker 1: it had been. All they remembered was what filled their stomach.
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Speaker 1: We remember when we used to eat fish free in Egypt,
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Speaker 1: fresh from the Nile. It was wonderful. We had the
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Speaker 1: cucumbers and the melons, and the leaks, and the onions
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Speaker 1: and the garlic. Man, that is fantastic. I guess they
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Speaker 1: wanted those kind of spices and delicacies and that which
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Speaker 1: would add to their diet. And now our appetite is gone.
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Speaker 1: There's nothing to look at, said this man. Now the
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Speaker 1: manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that
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Speaker 1: of padellium. People would go about and gather it and
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Speaker 1: grind it between two millstones, or beat it in the mortar,
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Speaker 1: or boil it in the pot, make cakes with it,
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Speaker 1: and its taste was as the taste of cakes baked
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Speaker 1: with oil. Missus Moses cookbook had a thousand and one
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Speaker 1: recipes how to fix man and ate it raw. They
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Speaker 1: sliced it for sandwiches, They baked it, they broiled it,
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Speaker 1: They cut it up in pieces that made skewers. They
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Speaker 1: did all kinds of stuff were still manna. We remember
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Speaker 1: how delicious the variety was in Egypt. Now all we
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Speaker 1: have is man it. They're like spoiled children, which means
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Speaker 1: fifth they were not grateful for what God provided. He
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Speaker 1: gave a manner. The Solomis calls it angels food. Isn't
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Speaker 1: that great? You didn't want Angels food. You wanted Egyptian food.
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Speaker 1: Why because we're used to Egyptian food. It's like serving
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Speaker 1: your kids something new you ever tried. You tried that.
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Speaker 1: All discouraged mothers are looking at me right now. I
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Speaker 1: remember when I did, what's the white stuff in the
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Speaker 1: means I don't want to go over their house. They
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Speaker 1: serve stuff with strings in it and green and let
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Speaker 1: me see, it takes a heavenly appetite to enjoy a
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Speaker 1: heavenly food. They're like spoiled kids. They had a sour
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Speaker 1: attitude of gratitude. In fact, verse six says, we've lost
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Speaker 1: our appetite. Well, if they've lost their appetite, why are
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Speaker 1: they dreaming about onions and garlics and leagues and melons
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Speaker 1: and all other stuff. Sounds to me like they don't
28:02
Speaker 1: like what they're supplied with, and they've lost an appetite
28:05
Speaker 1: for what that is, and so naturally they turn on
28:08
Speaker 1: the leader. Isn't that fine? Verse two. The people therefore
28:13
Speaker 1: cried out to moses' course you got us into this mess.
28:19
Speaker 1: We were so great in the ghetto. It was great
28:24
Speaker 1: back there in Egypt. At least we had a roof
28:26
Speaker 1: over our head. There were a lot of rats, but
28:28
Speaker 1: we had food that was fresh from the Nile. It
28:31
Speaker 1: was wonderful. We could just slice up vegetables that we grew.
28:35
Speaker 1: It was just terrific. But you took us out here.
28:43
Speaker 1: Moses finally got discouraged, he got demoralized. It happens There
28:50
Speaker 1: isn't a mother listening to me right now who doesn't understand,
28:54
Speaker 1: especially mothers of small children. They finally where you down,
29:03
Speaker 1: they win. I've seen mothers with two or three children
29:07
Speaker 1: in grocery carts at grocery stores, and the mothers look
29:13
Speaker 1: like they're on their last rope. Don't do that. Don'ta no,
29:19
Speaker 1: you can't have the tic tac no dota, no no death,
29:21
Speaker 1: the tomato gonna I'm never gonna bring you again. I
29:24
Speaker 1: guess she's gonna leave them with somebody when she grocery
29:27
Speaker 1: store finally wears Moses down. Verse ten. Moses heard the
29:34
Speaker 1: people weeping. Notice how many there are now they're weeping
29:39
Speaker 1: throughout their families. Notice how it's spread. Each man at
29:44
Speaker 1: the doorway of his tent. Verse ten inns and Moses
29:51
Speaker 1: was displeased. Even great leaders can be demoralized if there
29:55
Speaker 1: are enough complainers. Look at verse ten. Moses heard the
30:00
Speaker 1: people weeping throughout their family. How many are growing now
30:03
Speaker 1: in the numbers they've got people in their families. Each
30:06
Speaker 1: man at the doorway of his tent. He's standing at
30:08
Speaker 1: the doorway of the tent. Oh man, I can't my
30:12
Speaker 1: wife she wants to give up and go back. I
30:14
Speaker 1: got kids that don't want this is terrible? Where's Moses?
30:17
Speaker 1: And he kept hearing people say in it, And the
30:20
Speaker 1: end of verse ten says Moses was displeased. It means
30:24
Speaker 1: to be demoralized, depressed. There's not a leader listening to
30:29
Speaker 1: me right now who doesn't know that feeling. I don't
30:32
Speaker 1: care if you've got four your company before long it's
30:37
Speaker 1: three against one. It's amazing how they can happen. Or
30:41
Speaker 1: there'll be two of them, or there'll be one with
30:43
Speaker 1: a sour attitude, and that one with a sour attitude
30:46
Speaker 1: will poison others in the group. And as the numbers grow,
30:50
Speaker 1: the complaining grows, and invariably the leader gets the blame.
30:56
Speaker 1: One of the toughest responsibilities of the is to stay
31:00
Speaker 1: focused when folks don't like you. Verse eleven, Dear Moses,
31:09
Speaker 1: I call this Moses lament. Moses said to the Lord,
31:16
Speaker 1: why have you been so hard on your servant? So
31:20
Speaker 1: he's a little blame in that. Why have I not
31:24
Speaker 1: found favor in your sight? That you've laid the burden
31:26
Speaker 1: of all this people on me? There's some exhaustion in that.
31:32
Speaker 1: Was it I who conceived all this? People as a
31:34
Speaker 1: little sarcasm. I tried to talk to you out of
31:40
Speaker 1: this at the bush. You and I worked this through.
31:44
Speaker 1: I told you it was not going to work. I
31:47
Speaker 1: mean I did not volunteer for this. I mean, did
31:51
Speaker 1: I conceive these people? Was it I who brought them forth?
31:54
Speaker 1: That you should say to me? Carry them in your
31:57
Speaker 1: bosom as a nurse carries a nursing. I've got a wetner,
32:00
Speaker 1: two million people. I can't do it. Where am I
32:03
Speaker 1: gonna get meat to give all this people? For they
32:06
Speaker 1: weep before me saying give us me that we may eat.
32:10
Speaker 1: Look at verse fourteen. I am all alone. I've had it.
32:14
Speaker 1: I quit in so many words, that's what he's saying.
32:19
Speaker 1: Verse fifteen. Kill me at once? How's that for? Prayer? Lord?
32:26
Speaker 1: Kill me at once? Cannot take it anymore. He's been
32:33
Speaker 1: operating pretty much solo since the exodus. Stop and think
32:38
Speaker 1: that's a tough job. It's a tough job if he
32:42
Speaker 1: just had twelve ask Jesus. But he's got two million.
32:48
Speaker 1: I mean, stop and think about that. Just the bathroom
32:54
Speaker 1: facilities is enough to keep you occupied for I'm not
32:58
Speaker 1: going to go there though. I mean, we got people
33:00
Speaker 1: having babies, we got people losing babies. We got we
33:06
Speaker 1: got old folks dying. We've got heat and cold and discouragement.
33:15
Speaker 1: We got those that can't keep up. We've got those
33:18
Speaker 1: that are physically infirmed. We got a it's a rat's nest.
33:23
Speaker 1: This is a problem. And finally Moses has it up
33:29
Speaker 1: to hear and the Lord steps in. By the way,
33:32
Speaker 1: remember it all started with the complainers. So the Lord
33:38
Speaker 1: steps in. Let me pause and say, he never just
33:42
Speaker 1: shrugs off a complainer. He deals with them. If you
33:48
Speaker 1: are a chronic complainer, count on discipline. You're gonna get it.
33:55
Speaker 1: And the Lord has one hundred and one ways of
33:56
Speaker 1: dealing with you. The Lord never just kind of shrugs
33:59
Speaker 1: and says, well, you know, will they ever learn. He's angry,
34:04
Speaker 1: and his displeasure is demonstrated. It's called in the verse
34:10
Speaker 1: the fire of the Lord. Verse one. His anger was kindled,
34:17
Speaker 1: and the fire of the Lord burned among them and
34:20
Speaker 1: consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. It's a
34:23
Speaker 1: little unclear whether it consumed people or maybe the outside.
34:29
Speaker 1: A fire burned close to the outskirts of the camp,
34:31
Speaker 1: and it was hot and frightening, but it was clearly
34:35
Speaker 1: from the Lord, and it was designed to purge, to
34:39
Speaker 1: bring them to humility before him. Verse two. The people
34:42
Speaker 1: cry out and Moses praise, and the Lord causes the
34:46
Speaker 1: fire to die down. After sending fire, he takes care
34:54
Speaker 1: of Moses. Look at verse sixteen. This is gracious. The
35:00
Speaker 1: Lord never once says, shame on you, Moses for responding
35:03
Speaker 1: like this. I love that the man's exhausted. He's working
35:09
Speaker 1: what fifteen eighteen hours a day, maybe more. He's trying
35:13
Speaker 1: to carry it all alone. And the Lord finally says
35:16
Speaker 1: to Moses, you need help verse sixteen. Gather from me
35:20
Speaker 1: seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know
35:23
Speaker 1: to be the elders of the people and their officers.
35:26
Speaker 1: Bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them
35:28
Speaker 1: take their stand with you. Not good. You need some associates.
35:34
Speaker 1: Palll need some folks to share the load with you.
35:38
Speaker 1: And it's too much for you. And verse seventeen, I
35:41
Speaker 1: will come down and we'll speak with you, and I
35:43
Speaker 1: will take of the spirit upon you, and I'll put
35:46
Speaker 1: it on them, and they'll bear the burden with you,
35:49
Speaker 1: so that you shall not bear it all alone. And
35:52
Speaker 1: this must have been wonderful, he relieves. Moses concern and well,
35:58
Speaker 1: what about the people that want meat? I can't provide
36:02
Speaker 1: the meat, and seventy elders can't just manufacture meat. Meat,
36:07
Speaker 1: you want meat? Look at verse eighteen. Say to the people,
36:12
Speaker 1: this is really good. Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you
36:17
Speaker 1: shall eat meat. For you have wept in the ears
36:22
Speaker 1: of the Lord, saying, oh that someone would give us
36:24
Speaker 1: meat to eat, for we were well off in eagy
36:26
Speaker 1: of Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you
36:30
Speaker 1: shall eat. Watch it. You shall eat not one day,
36:35
Speaker 1: not two days, not five days, not ten days, not
36:38
Speaker 1: twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out
36:44
Speaker 1: of your nostrils. You're gonna have meat to you can't
36:48
Speaker 1: stand it. It'll be coming out of your nose. You
36:53
Speaker 1: will have meat like you've never seen meat. Moses doesn't
37:00
Speaker 1: get it. Verse twenty one. The people among whom I
37:04
Speaker 1: am are six hundred thousand on foot, probably referring to
37:07
Speaker 1: the men. Yet you have said I will give them
37:09
Speaker 1: meat in order that they may eat for a whole month.
37:12
Speaker 1: Where are we gonna get the meat? All this meat
37:14
Speaker 1: you're talking about, should flocks and herds be slaughtered to
37:17
Speaker 1: be see Moses back in charge. Leaders do that, should
37:21
Speaker 1: all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them? Duh,
37:26
Speaker 1: you're not near the sea. You can't get fish out
37:28
Speaker 1: of the sea if you're not near him. The Lord
37:31
Speaker 1: said to Moses, is my power limited? I love that line.
37:35
Speaker 1: I got it underlined in red. Is the Lord's power limited?
37:39
Speaker 1: Now you shall see whether my word will come true
37:41
Speaker 1: for you or not. Will you relax, Moses, I'm gonna
37:47
Speaker 1: provide the meat I made. The quails just gonna whistle,
37:54
Speaker 1: and they're gonna come flying. Moses went out and told
37:58
Speaker 1: the people the words of the Can you imagine carebody listen,
38:03
Speaker 1: not not one.
38:07
Speaker 2: Day, not two days, not five days. You'll live it
38:11
Speaker 2: for a month. You're gonna have meat gathered everybody together.
38:17
Speaker 2: Lord came down the cloud Verse thirty one. Now there
38:22
Speaker 2: went forth a wind from the Lord, and it brought
38:26
Speaker 2: quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp.
38:30
Speaker 2: About a day's journey on this side, and a day's
38:32
Speaker 2: journey on the other side, all around the camp, about
38:34
Speaker 2: three feet deep on the surface of the ground. That's
38:37
Speaker 2: all around the camp. Quail three feet deep.
38:41
Speaker 1: The people spent all day, all night, all the next day,
38:45
Speaker 1: and gathered the quail. He who gathered at least gathered
38:48
Speaker 1: ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves all
38:51
Speaker 1: around the camp. While the meat was still between their
38:54
Speaker 1: teeth before it was chewed. Is the biblical text exquisite?
38:58
Speaker 2: Or what?
39:00
Speaker 1: While the meat was still in their mouth before they
39:03
Speaker 1: even swallowed it? You know what? To tearing at this
39:07
Speaker 1: to grab in the ron. Allen does a wonderful job
39:12
Speaker 1: with this scene. Listen to this paragraph. The scene must
39:16
Speaker 1: have been similar to a riot people screaming, birds flapping
39:20
Speaker 1: their wings everywhere, the pell mell movement of a meat
39:24
Speaker 1: hungry people in a sea of birds. Dare we picture
39:28
Speaker 1: people ripping at the birds, eating flesh before cooking it?
39:32
Speaker 1: Bestial in behavior. They must have been like a sugar
39:36
Speaker 1: crazed boy in a child's daydream, afloat on a chocolate
39:41
Speaker 1: sandwich cookie raft in a sea of chocolate syrup, nibbling
39:46
Speaker 1: at the cookie before drowning in the dark. Sweet. See
39:49
Speaker 1: the great I think it is that was writing. I mean,
39:54
Speaker 1: they got quail everywhere, and while they are chewing the quail,
40:01
Speaker 1: the Lord struck the people with a severe plague, and
40:07
Speaker 1: they died by the hundreds, so they named the place.
40:14
Speaker 1: Look at the Hebrew word kibrav hatava. Check the reading
40:25
Speaker 1: of that, and you will see graves of craving. We'll
40:30
Speaker 1: call this cemetery the graves of craving, and you'll never
40:39
Speaker 1: forget the episode with the complainers. Instead of dancing, there
40:48
Speaker 1: was now mourning. Instead of grace, there was not grief,
40:53
Speaker 1: and all who had been greedy died and were buried.
40:57
Speaker 1: And the name of the place was called the graves
41:01
Speaker 1: of craving, because instead of celebrating, they were complaining. Done
41:11
Speaker 1: a lot of thinking about this. Complaining has a three
41:15
Speaker 1: dimensional effect. First it impacts the complainer, then it impacts
41:20
Speaker 1: other people, and certainly it impacts the leader. How about
41:26
Speaker 1: the complainer. When the complainer does his fussing and whining
41:32
Speaker 1: and murmuring, he or she is denying that God is
41:36
Speaker 1: at work and in control. Mark it down. If you
41:39
Speaker 1: are given to complaining, it is because you are focusing
41:43
Speaker 1: on the horizontal and not the vertical. You are denying
41:48
Speaker 1: that God is in the midst of this situation, and
41:51
Speaker 1: he is at work and in full control. I could
41:55
Speaker 1: give you a dozen examples of that in my own life,
42:00
Speaker 1: and I found myself in the midst of the complaining.
42:02
Speaker 1: I look back later and realized I missed the whole
42:05
Speaker 1: point that God was in full control. When the complainer complains,
42:12
Speaker 1: he denies that God is in control and is in charge.
42:19
Speaker 1: And that means you or that means me. Second, how
42:24
Speaker 1: about other people complaining? Never happens solo. When you complain,
42:31
Speaker 1: you impact those around you. You work at a desk
42:34
Speaker 1: and you've got someone at the desk next to you.
42:36
Speaker 1: You're complaining, poisons them, You bring up things they didn't
42:41
Speaker 1: even think of. Here they are working hard to keep
42:45
Speaker 1: a good perspective and there you are dumping your cesspool
42:49
Speaker 1: over on their land. They're trying to grow good crops
42:53
Speaker 1: and you're poisoning them. They're trying to get a big
42:56
Speaker 1: job done and you're there needling them over stuff that
42:59
Speaker 1: you don't like. And who died and left you in charge?
43:04
Speaker 1: Is a good question. My kid used to ask me
43:07
Speaker 1: that never did like that question, But I asked that
43:13
Speaker 1: question President Abraham Lincoln. I mean, today we look back
43:19
Speaker 1: and he's quoted probably more than any other president. But
43:23
Speaker 1: in his day they despised him. Remember he was one
43:30
Speaker 1: who was assassinated that's how much they hated him. The
43:35
Speaker 1: names he was called, those that are fit for literature
43:39
Speaker 1: are the most humiliating names and insulting names you could imagine.
43:48
Speaker 1: During the years he was on this earth, he wrote this,
43:53
Speaker 1: If I tried to answer all the criticisms of me
43:56
Speaker 1: and all the attacks leveled at me, this office would
43:59
Speaker 1: be close to all other business. My job is not
44:04
Speaker 1: pleasing people, but doing the best I can. By the way,
44:09
Speaker 1: where are those leaders today? My job is not pleasing people,
44:16
Speaker 1: but doing the best I can. If in the end
44:18
Speaker 1: I'm found to be wrong, ten legions of angels swearing
44:22
Speaker 1: I was right will not help me. But if the
44:26
Speaker 1: end proves me to have been right, then all that
44:30
Speaker 1: is said about me now will amount to nothing. I
44:34
Speaker 1: call that great perspective. You who are leaders, take heart.
44:39
Speaker 1: That's the way to view it. It's hard to do it,
44:42
Speaker 1: but that's the way to do it. When you complain,
44:46
Speaker 1: you poison other people. There's probably not a worse place
44:52
Speaker 1: for it to happen than the Church of the Living God.
44:57
Speaker 1: It's the devil's favorite art, favorite one. I don't worry
45:07
Speaker 1: about bad theology ruining this ministry. I don't concern myself
45:11
Speaker 1: with facilities, ruining the ministry or lack of such. I
45:14
Speaker 1: don't worry about land. I don't worry about the rules
45:17
Speaker 1: of the city, the requirements of the permits. I don't
45:20
Speaker 1: fret over neighbors that are not going to like this
45:24
Speaker 1: or won't like that. I won't not bothered by that.
45:27
Speaker 1: I am concerned about the unity of the body. We
45:30
Speaker 1: keep that together. We make it. Folks that breakdown, we won't.
45:37
Speaker 1: The third has to do with the leader. For the complainer,
45:42
Speaker 1: he denies that God is at work and in control.
45:45
Speaker 1: For the others, it demoralizes them from the poisonous lips
45:49
Speaker 1: that spread the venom. But for the leader, it's discouraging.
45:57
Speaker 1: It's discouraging trying to get a big job done. It
46:00
Speaker 1: is difficult to stay on target because of it. Let
46:11
Speaker 1: me remind you, and I would do this if I
46:13
Speaker 1: had been Moses standing in his sandals. Our blessings have
46:17
Speaker 1: far outnumbered our tests, haven't they. Our future is far
46:24
Speaker 1: more exciting than our past, isn't it. Our potential is
46:31
Speaker 1: far greater than our appearance. If we continue to work together.
46:40
Speaker 1: God wants those who celebrate, not complainers. He said, well,
46:48
Speaker 1: what in the world could we possibly complain about. I
46:55
Speaker 1: don't like these chairs. I wish we had the old
47:00
Speaker 1: patio chairs. They had arms and I fit them better
47:09
Speaker 1: than I fit these new chairs. I don't like the color.
47:13
Speaker 1: Who picked the colors? And where's the cross? Oh? Not there?
47:22
Speaker 1: Oh no? Who chose the lettering on the signs? This
47:31
Speaker 1: is the bathroom? Who chose to put it there? And
47:39
Speaker 1: a thousand other things we could pick? Say, well, we
47:45
Speaker 1: wouldn't do that. Trust me, it'll be the most incredible
47:53
Speaker 1: things if you get your eyes off the focus of
47:56
Speaker 1: the Lord. I mean, how many office is does the
48:00
Speaker 1: staff need? We could have put a lot of children
48:05
Speaker 1: in there. Look at the size of Pastor Chuck's study?
48:13
Speaker 1: What is this? King? Tut Now? I'm sure what I've
48:20
Speaker 1: named will not be that significant, but it'll be something
48:24
Speaker 1: you like. The sound system in here. We think you'll
48:27
Speaker 1: love it there, but a few of you won't. When
48:30
Speaker 1: I sit here, I can't hear as well as when
48:32
Speaker 1: I said, well, then sit over there, don't sitting here.
48:45
Speaker 1: It is terribly important. It was then and it is
48:50
Speaker 1: today that we go as a united front, confident in
48:58
Speaker 1: God we'll make it. But you start picking, and you
49:06
Speaker 1: start fussing, You've just read your story. My friend Ken
49:15
Speaker 1: Gangle was searching out a place to get his final degree,
49:19
Speaker 1: a PhD in education, and he went to the University
49:22
Speaker 1: of Kansas as one of those spots. In his book,
49:26
Speaker 1: A wonderful book on coaching ministry teens, I want our
49:36
Speaker 1: staff to read that book, he tells a true story
49:39
Speaker 1: of what happened at the University of Kansas when he
49:41
Speaker 1: visited the graduate dean in the School of Education. He said,
49:45
Speaker 1: we had a fascinating conversation with something like this. The
49:49
Speaker 1: dean said to Ken, you say you're an administrator at
49:53
Speaker 1: a Bible college. Yes, is that a church related school
49:58
Speaker 1: of some kind? Yes, certainly church related, not affiliated with
50:03
Speaker 1: any particular denomination. Pause. I used to go to church,
50:09
Speaker 1: said the dean, really, said, doctor Gangle, tell me about it. Yes,
50:16
Speaker 1: I used to go to church. And I remember one
50:18
Speaker 1: thing about my church, and what is that? They fight?
50:30
Speaker 1: Ken writes. I still find his response startling. Imagine the
50:35
Speaker 1: things he could have named preaching, buildings, music, denominational affiliation.
50:42
Speaker 1: Yet this man chose to associate church people with quarreling
50:48
Speaker 1: in a discussion with a person he had known five
50:51
Speaker 1: ten minutes. They fight, In my opinion, he concludes, working
51:01
Speaker 1: at unity in the congregation stands right beside proclaiming the
51:05
Speaker 1: Gospel as two major priorities of ministry. Couldn't agree more.
51:11
Speaker 1: You know why most folks won't even visit Stonebrough Community
51:14
Speaker 1: Church who've never been here. They don't want another fight.
51:20
Speaker 1: They're up to here with that. I don't blame them.
51:25
Speaker 1: I mean I fight at the office, I fight on
51:28
Speaker 1: the streets, I fight in the traffic, I fight the lines.
51:34
Speaker 1: I fight for this, I fight for that is one
51:36
Speaker 1: place I don't want another fight. That's a church. Yes,
51:48
Speaker 1: it's important that we proclaim truth. Yes, it's valuable that
51:51
Speaker 1: we have facilities that will meet the needs. Yes, it's
51:54
Speaker 1: essential that we pay our bills. Yes, it's important that
51:58
Speaker 1: there be a good staff that would supply the leadership
52:01
Speaker 1: that's needed. Yes. Volunteerism is going to be the secret
52:05
Speaker 1: of our future. Yes yes, yes, But I will tell you,
52:09
Speaker 1: let disunity begin, and we're going to live on borrowed time.
52:16
Speaker 1: The place will become poisoned. I'll get discouraged, and it
52:19
Speaker 1: won't be long before the blessing of God will lift
52:23
Speaker 1: and there'll be another story of another fighting church that
52:33
Speaker 1: is so important to me that we face that and
52:35
Speaker 1: deal with it and prepare for the other side. That
52:40
Speaker 1: I felt it was worth a message today to make
52:42
Speaker 1: you feel good. We are all equipped with sufficient muscles
52:49
Speaker 1: to ruin the ministry, and they're all hidden behind our teeth.
52:57
Speaker 1: Strongest muscle in the body, it's right behind your teeth.
53:05
Speaker 1: Comes from the heart, pours out through the lips, and
53:12
Speaker 1: before you know it, hearts are broken, dreams are shattered,
53:18
Speaker 1: expectations are dashed, and the ministry is crippled. Let's don't
53:28
Speaker 1: go there. Let's don't go there. You know what I
53:36
Speaker 1: really think. I don't think we will, but I think
53:40
Speaker 1: it needed to be said. I'd like us to bow
53:44
Speaker 1: our heads. I'd like you to close your eyes. We
53:50
Speaker 1: won't belong here. For all I know, there's a mixed
53:57
Speaker 1: multitude among us. I don't know who you are. You're
54:01
Speaker 1: not branded. We can't tell by looking. But maybe you
54:05
Speaker 1: don't even have the Lord in your heart. And if
54:07
Speaker 1: you don't, I can understand. All you're going by is
54:10
Speaker 1: the flesh, and you don't have the spirit of God
54:14
Speaker 1: to cleanse your lips and to soften your heart. So
54:19
Speaker 1: everything is from the human point of view. Maybe it's
54:24
Speaker 1: maybe it's appropriate that I just say to you, come
54:27
Speaker 1: to the cross, start there. Start there. For some of you,
54:33
Speaker 1: that's the answer. Now talking to others of you who
54:37
Speaker 1: have made habits, you've got your own three day habits.
54:41
Speaker 1: You like it for a while, and then when you
54:43
Speaker 1: don't get your way, you start making life miserable for everybody.
54:48
Speaker 1: Don't go there. I won't go there, and I ask
54:54
Speaker 1: you not to go there. We're not here to please people.
54:58
Speaker 1: We're here to do what's right, Lincoln wrote. We're here
55:02
Speaker 1: to do what's best, and sometimes it means you won't
55:06
Speaker 1: be pleased, believe it or not. Sometimes it will mean
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Speaker 1: I'm not pleased. But we're here to do what is
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Speaker 1: best for the flock, for the community, for the future.
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Speaker 1: We're here to set things in order so that when
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Speaker 1: it outlives us, it'll still be in great order. Now,
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Speaker 1: to the rest of you, I urge you to be
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Speaker 1: a person who thinks through God's eyes. Lord, you're in control. Lord,
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Speaker 1: You're directing the affairs of the ministry. You brought it
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Speaker 1: into being, You will sustain it. You will guide us
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Speaker 1: as a flock. You will guide our leaders. You will
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Speaker 1: help us make the best decisions. And you will give
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Speaker 1: us some of the best years of our lives. Helped
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Speaker 1: me to be part of the answer, not part of
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Speaker 1: the problem. That's a great prayer. Just before Christmas, Lord,
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Speaker 1: I give you the gift of my response. I give
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Speaker 1: you my heart as my gift to you and so
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Speaker 1: our Father. On the on the eve of a wonderful season,
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Speaker 1: and on just a few weeks before we enter a
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Speaker 1: new land, I pray that you will find us pulling
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Speaker 1: together with one another, encouraged by what you provide, and
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Speaker 1: overjoyed that we have had a chance to invest in eternity.
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Speaker 1: Remind us again, our Father, of the big picture. Sure
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Speaker 1: lest we become petty and poison us with our tongues,
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Speaker 1: lead us into a unity that is rarely seen in
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Speaker 1: a world that's used to churches fighting and complaining. Make
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Speaker 1: us a different kind of place. Start with me, Start
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Speaker 1: with me. Help me to model this kind of thinking
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Speaker 1: and leading so that it becomes contagious. For those who've
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Speaker 1: never come to your son, I pray that you will
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Speaker 1: keep them miserable, uneasy, restless, sleepless until they find that
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Speaker 1: peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. I ask
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Speaker 1: this in the name of your Son in our safe. Amen. Amen.
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Speaker 1: The preceding message It's time to celebrate not Complain, was
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Speaker 1: copyrighted in two thousand, two thousand and two, and twenty eighteen,
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Speaker 1: and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty eighteen by
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Speaker 1: Charles Arsland All inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication
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Speaker 1: of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited