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Tim James

A Memorial

Exodus 16:27-36
Tim James March, 1 2023 Video & Audio
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The sermon titled "A Memorial," preached by Tim James, explores the theological significance of the Sabbath rest in relation to God's provision of manna during Israel's wilderness journey, as articulated in Exodus 16:27-36. The preacher emphasizes that the Sabbath, instituted by God, symbolized rest and reliance on divine provision rather than human efforts. Key arguments include the nature of the manna as a miracle and a memorial, reflecting God's unearned grace and sustenance for His people, while highlighting the Israelites' failure to obey God's command by seeking bread on the Sabbath, representing the human inclination towards unbelief. Scripture references such as Exodus 20:8-11 establish the authority and importance of the Sabbath command, paralleling it with the fulfilled work of Christ as the ultimate source of rest for believers. The practical significance of the sermon underscores the necessity of recognizing Christ's completed work for salvation, moving away from a works-based righteousness to abiding in the grace of the Lord.

Key Quotes

“The Sabbath means rest... it's not the people's rest, it is the Lord's rest.”

“They went outside the tent looking for what was not there... They simply wanted to attribute something to themselves for salvation, but it simply ain't there.”

“This pot of manna was to be a memorial of the singular and sustaining provision from the Lord, which is the gospel, the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“The believer does not rest because he has contributed to his salvation. He rests because there is nothing to do. Everything's already been done.”

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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Remember Sylvester, he's going
in for his nuclear test tomorrow on his heart, see what's going
on. So remember him in your prayers. Fred's going for his second round,
third round of chemotherapy on the 7th. Continue to remember
him in your prayers. Also, the Bugarach family, remember
them. Cindy West's family and Jasper
Queen's family. So remember these folks in your
prayers. Continue to remember Patsy Ledford, who just got word
that she's doing some better, and Dee Parks, and the others
who requested. Other than that, I haven't got
any announcements. Julie, how are you doing? I know
that the doctors didn't remove your sass. That's good to know. Hymn number
212. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. Oh, all the fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon this I speak. but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. ? No other fount I know ? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus ? Nothing can more sin atone ? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus ? Not a good that I have done Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. M number 255, blessed assurance. ? Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
? Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine ? Air of salvation, purchase
of God ? Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood This is my
story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. This is my story, this is my
song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst
on my sight. Angels descending ring from above. Echoes of mercy, whispers of
love. This is my story, this is my
song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. This is my story, this is my
song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. Perfect submission, all is at
rest. I and my Savior am happy and
blessed Watching and waiting, looking above Filled with His
goodness, lost in His love This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this
is my song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. If you have your Bibles turn with
me please to Exodus the 16th chapter. We'll read verses 27
through 38, or 36 rather. The title of my message tonight
is A Memorial. We'll read this in conjunction
with verse 26. Six days ye shall eat, or ye
shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in
it there shall be none. And it came to pass that there
went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather,
and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses,
How long refuse you to keep my commandments and my laws? See,
for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he
giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Abide ye every
man in his place. Let no man go out of his place
on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh
day. and the house of Israel called the name thereof manna,
and it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was
like wafers made with honey. And Moses said, This is the thing
which the Lord commandeth, fill an omer of it to be kept for
your generations, that ye may see the bread wherewith I have
fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth out of the
land of Egypt. And Moses said to Aaron, Take
a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up
before the Lord to be kept for your generations. And the Lord
commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to
be kept. And the children of Israel did
eat manna forty years, until they came into the land inhabited. They did eat manna until they
came into the borders of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is
the tenth part of an ephod. Let us pray. Father, we come
in the name blessed righteousness and perfection of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is altogether lovely, the
chiefest among 10,000, the bright and morning star, the rose of
Sharon and the lily of the valley, of whose kingdom there is no
end, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, who, having purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high,
expecting till his enemies were made his footstool. We thank you, Father, for the
great work that you have accomplished on behalf of your children, those
whom you chose from the foundation of the world, those who you predestinated
to be conformed to the image of your son that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. We thank you for that perfect
sacrifice that he offered unto you, wherein he put away our
sins by the sacrifice of himself, and you made him to be unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and fixed it
so that no flesh can glory in your presence. You did it all,
and we praise you for it. Pray for those of our company
who are sick, for those families who have lost loved ones, the
Arch family, the West family, The Queen family, Lord, we ask
for them. Continue to pray for Brother
Fred as he awaits his next chemotherapy. Pray for Brother Crow as he's
getting ready to go for this nuclear test. Pray for Dee Parks
as you continue to minister to him and his family. And pray
for ourselves tonight as we gather here that you might be pleased
to meet with us by your spirit to take the things of Christ
and reveal them unto us. Give us grace this hour to bow
our heads in worship and thanksgiving and praise for all the great
things that you have done and for your greatness itself. All
glory belongs to you and none to us. And as much as we are
able in these sinful bodies to offer you praise and thanksgiving,
we do so. In the name of Jesus Christ we
do it. Amen. Now the last portion of this
chapter finds the children of Israel
once again disobeying the Lord's commandment concerning the manna. The Lord had commanded that it
was to be gathered for six days and a double portion was to be
gathered on the sixth day. None was to be gathered on the
seventh day because there was none to be gathered. No work
was to be done on that day and the people were to remain in
their homes The seventh day would later become one of the Ten Commandments. It is not yet the Ten Commandments.
The Lord has not yet said, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
That doesn't happen for two chapters yet. And when they come to Sinai,
the Lord hands down the laws. But it would become one of the
Ten Commandments, and more was said of it than any of the other
commandments. That's an interesting thing. If you'll turn over a
few pages in your Bible to Exodus chapter 20, Here the Ten Commandments are
listed in verse 8. It says, Remember the Sabbath
day, and keep it holy. Six days thou shalt work, or
thou shalt labor, and do all thy work. But the seventh day
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do
any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, man's servant
or maid's servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within
thy gates. For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is therein. and rested
the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day,
and hallowed it, or made it holy." So a great deal is said about
that Sabbath day in the Ten Commandments. Now, other commandments are explained
a little bit, but this commandment is explained really elaborately
by the Lord in the giving of these commandments. Its importance
was not in the fact that it was a special day, a special day,
but it was important because it pointed to something. It told
something. It said that as we just read.
It's the Sabbath of the Lord and it's to be kept because the
Lord created the heaven and the earth in six days and on the
seventh day he rested and therefore he hallowed the day because he
had finished the work. This of course we know. as it
is the creation, it pointed to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, to which no human
effort was ever included, only Christ's work was done. We read
that it was the Lord's Sabbath. Now, the Sabbath means rest,
that's all the word means, Shabbat, it's the Hebrew word Shabbat,
it means to rest, it is the Lord's rest, it's not the people's rest,
it's never referred to as the people's rest in all of scripture,
it's referred to as the Lord's rest, even in Hebrews chapter
4, when it talks about the Lord finishing His work, He entered
into His rest, It's His rest. This is something about the Lord. It's not about us. I know people
talk about the Sabbath day and they talk about the new Sabbath,
you know, that they call Sunday the new Sabbath. It's not the
Sabbath. It's still the Sabbath. As far as the day goes, it is
Saturday. It is Saturday. It starts Friday
night. at sundown and stays all the
way through sundown on Saturday. That's the Sabbath day. It hasn't
changed. The early church did not meet
on the Sabbath day. They met on the first day of
the week, which is Sunday, and so we follow that example here,
but a lot of people think that Sunday is the Sabbath. I remember
Nicy Rattler many years ago. I was in the hospital. I've told
this story many times, but we were sitting there talking, ask
what she's gonna cook this Sunday. She said, well, I don't cook
on Sunday. That's the Lord's day. Lord, that's the Sabbath
day. I said, well, do you eat? She says, yeah, we go out and
eat. So get somebody to cook, but I'm not going to cook. We'll
get them to break the law, but not me. So that's that. But people
have that weird, weird view about it. They believe. And if you
meet legalists today and a lot of good old landmark badness
will tell you that Sunday's the new Sabbath. It's not. It's not. Sunday is the Lord's Day. It's
the Lord's Day. It's the day that the children
of God worship together. It is the Lord's rest, it's not
the people's rest. The people had done nothing in
creation. In fact, they did not exist for
the greater part of creation. The Lord made all things to sustain
the life of humanity before he made the man out of the dust.
He made the man from the elements that he had created and did it
all in six days. That's the Word of God. Now having
finished creation, since there was nothing left to do having
finished it, he quit creating is what it means when he rested.
He quit creating because he had finished the work of creation.
And on the seventh day, In the book of Genesis, there is no
mention of the evening and the morning of the day, which is
an interesting thing. All the other six days started
out with the evening and morning, which is also significant because
it means going from darkness to light. Remember, darkness
was upon the face of the earth, and the Spirit moved upon the
waters, and the Lord said, Let there be light, from darkness
to light. Every day didn't start out from morning to evening like
we talk about. It was from evening to morning.
But on the seventh day, that's not mentioned. On the seventh
day, that's not mentioned. The reason for that is that the
creation of the world was a picture of the new creation, the old
creation. We know that the Bible speaks of Christ and what He
did. And Genesis 1, 1 through 3 is about, well, actually the
first two chapters is about what Christ did in the new creation,
creating the new creature. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
availeth anything but a new creature, a new creation. That's you who've
been born of God. you're a new creation. Now that
new creature is the saved sinner. Having finished the work of salvation,
our Lord is said to have entered into His rest and there was no
evening and morning. Why? Because there is no evening
and morning for the child of God. The new creature is said
to walk in the light as God is in the light. Jesus Christ is
the light of the world, the Son of Righteousness arising with
healing in his wings. Now, because the entire work
of salvation was finished on Calvary's tree, because there
is nothing left to be done, the new creature does nothing, does
nothing. He stays inside his house, the
temple, the body, the church of God, resting in the Lord's
rest, because there is nothing to do, abiding in the doctrine
of Jesus Christ. Now the believer does not rest
because he has contributed to his salvation. He rests because
there's nothing to do. Everything's already been done.
Religion despises that. Religion wants to say, Let's
work till Jesus comes. Let's do this. You must be busy.
You must be busy about the Lord's work. Listen, if you're a child
of God, your works are ordained and you're going to do them.
You don't even know what they are. You don't have any idea
what they are. God's already ordained them.
He's equipped you for them, and you will do them. You and your
works will meet somewhere in your life along this road, and
you will do the works. You won't know the works. You
won't say to yourself, Oh, I've done a good work. You won't know
that. What you'll be doing is living Taking care of the household
of faith. Husbands loving your wives. Wives
loving your husbands. Mothers and fathers taking care
of their households. Well, that's everyday stuff.
Our Lord said if a person gives another person a cold drink of
water, it'll be remembered in heaven. We don't think of that.
We think big stuff. Building stuff and making an
impression on stuff. And people like what they call
today on the internet, an influencer. You're not an influencer. You're
not an influencer. None of us are. What do we do? What are our works? I don't know
what they are, but they happen in this thing called life. Every
day. Every day. They're ordained of
God, and you will do them. You will do them. And He will
remember them. You won't, but He will. There never was anything for
us to do in the matter of salvation. There never was anything for
us to do. His Lord has finished the work. and for the children
of Israel to do no work on the seventh day of the week was a
memorial to what God had accomplished for them. In this case, it was
realized in the supply of manna, and it's called, because he said,
I want you to take a pot of this manna, and I want you to take
it and put it out, and I want you to put it and keep it forever.
A pot of manna, so wherever you're at, and even when you go into
the promised land, you'll be able to look, and there'll be
that pot of manna. and you'll know that's how the Lord sustained
me. The manna, the bread from heaven, was a memorial for the
children of God. But in verse 27 we see the carnal
humanity cannot contain themselves when something is prohibited.
The Lord said, Don't go out on the Sabbath day, don't go out
on the seventh day and pick it up because there ain't going
to be no bread there, but what did they do? to pick up some bread. They go out to gather, but the
Lord said there ain't going to be none, but they go out and
gather. That's what happens when people are faced with the law.
That's what happens when a natural man is commanded to do something.
Immediately there is rebellion. Paul talked about that in Romans
chapter 7. Romans chapter 5 first, he said
this, what happened when the law entered, and that means the
law is not eternal because at a point in time it entered. And
it says in Galatians it was ADDED because of transgression, so
it didn't enter until transgression. And moreover, the law entered
in verse 20 of chapter 5, moreover the law entered what? That the
offense, that the SIN might ABOUND. In other words, the law entered
to DEFINE that this person is really sinning against God. That's
what it did, define what they were doing. But thankfully, where
sin abound, grace did much more abound. But over in Romans chapter
7, this is how he describes the entrance of the law, or in his
own existence, what happened when he realized that the law
was holy and just and good, and he was a sinner. He said this,
that under the works of the law, certain things take place. In
Romans chapter 7 and verse 5, he says this, For when we were
in the flesh, that is without Christ the motions of sin or
the passions of sin were which were by the law did work in our
members to bring forth fruit unto death the motions of passions
the passions of sin which were by the law then he goes on to
say down in verses 8 and 9 he says but sin taking occasion
by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,
for without the law sin was dead." He said, when I didn't understand
what the law said, I thought I could keep it. I didn't kill
nobody. I didn't cheat on my wife. I didn't bear false witness.
I thought I was keeping the law. He said, I didn't realize what
the law was saying. It was saying something about me, about my
inward self. he said but sin taking occasion
brought all manner of confusion for without the law sin was dead
for I was alive without the law once but when the commandment
came sin revived and I died when the commandment came back here
in the wilderness to not do anything on the seventh day not to go
out and gather what did they do they went out to gather That's
what they did. Because humanity, natural humanity,
cannot contain itself when it's prohibited from doing something.
What a picture this is of the natural mind. Search as you may
to find themselves involved in salvation. The scripture plainly
declares that they will find none. Men want to have a part
in salvation, but they ain't going to find nothing. The Lord
says don't go out and gather because there ain't none. There
ain't no manna out there. It's also a revelation that men
will seek to find something they can see when the one who saves
the elect cannot be seen. The believer walks by faith and
not by sight. These some, in verse 27, left
their abodes to find some manna because they did not believe
God. That's the simple reason. God
said, Don't go out there, there ain't gonna be none. They said,
We're going out there and find some. But they found none. But he said, there ain't none.
They don't believe God. Unbelief never becomes belief.
It stays unbelief until the day we die. The only time our unbelief
will leave us is when we put us in the dirt six foot under
the ground. Up to that point, unbelief is
still going to remain. Paul dealt with this over in
Romans chapter 10. This matter of looking for Christ. In Romans chapter 10, he says
in verse 4, for Christ is the end. of the law for righteousness. In other words, it's Christ's
righteousness. The law don't produce it. Christ
is our righteousness to everyone that believeth. For Moses described
the righteousness which is of the law. This is what the law,
when faced with the law, does. That the man which doeth those
things shall live by them. In other words, if you're going
to live by the law, you've got to keep all the law all the time, every waking
moment of your life. If you offend in one point, you're
guilty of all the law. he says but the righteous which
is of faith speaketh on this wise say not in thine heart who
shall ascend to heaven let's go outside this tent who shall
ascend to heaven that is to bring christ down from above or who
shall descend to the deep that is to bring christ up from the
dead we got to see him even though the lord said he's in glory if
we walk by faith and not by sight we want to see him Even though
the Lord said there ain't no man out there, they're going
to go out and check out. But what saith it? The word is nigh
thee, the commandment was given, even in thy mouth and in thy
heart, that is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe
in thine heart that God is raised from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. Thou shalt be saved. They went outside the tent looking
for what was not there. That's what people do too. They
go outside of Christ to look for some reason that they can
attribute to themselves for salvation and it simply ain't there. There
ain't none. The Lord said, go on and look. Don't do it. There
ain't none out there. Once again, the people have been proved by
the manna and they have failed. It says in verse 28 and 29, And
the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse you to keep my commandments
and my laws? see for that the Lord hath given
you the sabbath thereof therefore he giveth you on the sixth day
the bread of two days abide ye every man in his place let no
man go out of his place on the seventh day this is what the
Lord has said and so the Lord has heard their has seen what
they've done and the Lord seems as if he's almost
exasperated by them he said well the Lord don't get exasperated
he said this over in one of the prophets he said I am broken
with your whoreish heart we can't even imagine God speaking in
such a term but that's what he said I am broken and he's exasperated
with his people we know in Genesis chapter 6 he says I repent that
I ever made this outfit I repent that I ever made it so here he
says to tell Moses how long are you going to not keep my commandments
because they went outside the tent though it's not recorded,
Moses surely told the people of God's displeasure. For in
time they did abate. In verse 30 it says they did
stay in their tents for some time. And in verse 31 they gave
the Lord's provision a name. It says this, And the house of
Israel called the name Manna. That is, they called the bread
Manna. And it was like coriander seed white, and the taste of
it was like wafers made with honey. So they called it Manna. The first letter is the uppercase,
it's capitalized. In the prior mentions of it,
it was just they said Manna. And what they were saying was,
what is that? What is it? That's what Manna means, what
is it? But by capitalizing it, it gives it a different thrust. The first letter uppercase, it's
properly called, what is it? Now it's called properly, what
is it? And this name designates something. It designates that
it's a thing that the people had no part in producing. This
stuff just showed up. It is an admittance that this
little seed that tastes like a wafer, a coriander seed that
tastes like a wafer with honey, didn't come from them. They're
saying, what is it? And they give it the name. That's
what they're gonna call it from here on out. Every time it shows
up in the morning, it's going to be MANNA. That means it's
from heaven. This is heaven's bread. This
is God's provision. That's what they're saying by
giving it a capital name, by naming it MANNA. And in verse
32 through 34, we find the MANNA also will be a memorial. Moses is told to take an Omer,
and an Omer is about two quarts or two liters, of manna and save
it for perpetuity look at verse 32 it says and Moses said this
is a thing which the Lord commandeth fill an almer of it to be kept
for your generations that they may see the bread whereof I have
fed you in the wilderness when I brought you forth from the
land of Egypt And Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot, and put
an omer full of manna therein, and lay it before the Lord to
be kept for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses,
so Aaron laid up before the testimony to be kept." Now, this was done
so that when they entered the Promised Land and all the way
through the wilderness, they could SEE it and be reminded
how the Lord fed them while they were in the wilderness, so it's
a memorial. this was a pot of manna and you know that a pot
of manna is said to rest in the ark of the covenant it's that
pot along with the broken tablets of the law and Aaron's rod that
budded they're all under the mercy seat in the ark of the
covenant however the pot of manna was probably not inside the ark
it was probably attached to the ark because the Lord said the
people could see it you couldn't see what's inside that ark Nobody
could. Looking inside the ark was sure
death. When David was bringing back the ark on that ox cart
with the first trip, he didn't do it like the Lord told him
to do it. And the ark shook. The ox cart shook and Uzzah reached
up and just touched the ark. God drew and quartered him. Slaughtered him is the word.
That means to draw him and quarter him like you do a lamb. Cut him
into four pieces. He just touched the ark. And
then when it went through Bathsheba's 50 some men wanted to see what
was inside the ark so they lifted the lid and God killed 50,000
men that day just for looking at the ark. So that pot of manna
ain't inside that ark because they can't look inside that ark.
That pot of manna is attached to the ark somehow. The manna
was attached to the ark and referred to the ark is referred to here
as the testimony. Well the ark doesn't exist yet.
It hasn't been made yet. But remember This is the word that
Moses wrote. He wrote the first five books
of the Bible, and so he's thinking ahead of what's going to be called
the testimony, and sometimes it's called the Ark of the Testimony,
and that was before the Lord. Now there is some disagreement
as to the material makeup of the pot. Some say it was an earthen
vessel of that material. Some people say that it would
not last 40 years and beyond. Some say therefore that the pot
was gold. Others say that it was brass,
as these would endure a long time. However, if the Lord can
preserve the manna in perpetuity, its bread, making a dirt pot
to endure would not be too difficult, I don't think. The record is that of those 40
years of the wilderness journey, the shoes and the raiment of
the people did not wear out. for 40 years and it even says
in Deuteronomy 8 that the raiment didn't wear out and their feet
didn't swell. Walking around for 40 years their
feet didn't even swell. They didn't get old. Didn't get
old. Can the Lord keep the man in
a dirt pot? Yeah, I reckon he can. If it
was an earthen vessel it would certainly fit the testimony of
scripture concerning Christ and his preachers. We know that.
An earthen vessel would fit the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That which was from heaven was contained in an earthen vessel,
wasn't it? He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He
was found in the fashion of a man. He was the last Adam, and Adam
means red dirt man, and he is called in Corinthians the last
Adam. In him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily in a body,
the body of the Son of Man. Scripture says, Without controversy
great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. The
manna from heaven was contained in an earthen vessel made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, Scripture
says. The manna in an earthen vessel
also pictures the preacher of the gospel. We are just dirt
pots, as one old preacher said. Scripture says he remembers our
frame and he knows that we are dust. That's why they say at funerals,
ashes to ashes and dust to dust, because that's what we're returning
to. That kind of language is used to describe the preachers
of the gospel. In Romans chapter 9, it describes all the children
of God. Romans chapter 9, verse 21, it
says, Hath not the potter the power over the clay of the same
lump? to make one vessel under honor
and another under dishonor. Doesn't the potter have the power
to do that? What that certainly means, that as a potter makes
forth his pots, his bowls, his pictures, his vases, he does
those things, he makes some to be trophies, beautiful artwork. Have you ever been to some of
these places? I went to the Mud Daubers one day because I had
a friend who was in my karate class with me. gorgeous artwork
they do with this spinning wheel and the clay. Some of the things
are beautiful, but some of them were just plain old bowls to
be used for a while. That's what our Lord is talking
about. The potter has the power to make of his people out of
the same lump, the Adamic clay, to make some trophies, beautiful
trophies, beauty for holiness. beautiful for situation as it
says in scripture you're a trophy of his grace you're one of the
pretty ones but he also makes some vessels to use and then
discard those vessels are not vessels
of mercy wherein mercy is given to them they are vessels of wrath
vessels made to destroy is the language used here what if God
willing to show his wrath and make his power known, endured
with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath, made to destroy, fitted
to destruction. He made them to use them for
a while, and then discard them, throw them out on a pile of potsherds.
What if he did that, that he might make known the riches of
his glory on the vessels of mercy, that's the trophies of his grace,
which he had aforeprepared to glory? What if he did that? Well,
they're both just pots. The difference is one is a vessel
God has designed to put his mercy on, to glorify himself. Paul the Apostle, as he was preaching
the gospel in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, or
chapter 5 rather, no, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, after he set forth
the fact that under the old covenant there was no life, there was
nothing but death in chapter 3, He says in chapter 4, verse
5, He says, For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the
Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels earthen vessels, dirt pots, that the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. That's grace. Why
does God save us old dirt pots? So he'd get all the glory. So
nobody can look at the dirt pot and say, well, there's where
the power comes from. No. It comes from above. It comes
from above. In Colossians chapter 1 when
Paul talked about preaching, We're dirt pots filled with the
Lord Jesus Christ, filled with the Spirit of God. Paul said
to the Colossian church, the church of Colossae, in Colossians chapter 1 verse
25, he says, Wherefore I am made a minister, according to the
dispensation of God which is given to me, to fulfill the word
of God, even the mystery which has been hid from the ages, from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints. to whom
God would make known what is the riches of His glory in this
mystery among the Gentiles, which is this, Christ in you, you old
dirt pot. That is the hope of glory. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. This pot of manna was to be a
memorial of the singular and sustaining provision from the
Lord, which is the gospel, the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. this is what kept them alive in the wilderness until
they crossed the Jordan and entered into the land of milk and honey,
and it says in verse thirty-five, and they ate that banner for
forty years. For forty years. Father, bless
us to understand who prayed in Christ's name. Amen.
Tim James
About Tim James
Tim James currently serves as pastor and teacher of Sequoyah Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Cherokee, North Carolina.

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