The Bible Baptist Church located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor David Edmondson. This morning I'll be speaking
to you out of the Old Testament book of Numbers. Numbers chapter
11. In verse 18, we find Israel with
contempt, dissatisfaction, and with an inward desire to return
to the slavery and bondage of Egypt represented by sin and
this world in which we live. They ask this question, They
said, who shall give us flesh to eat? They loathed, they hated,
and they were opposed to the manna that God sent from heaven. They called it light bread. You
know, nothing that God sends in the way of provision for his
people is insignificant or light. This manna was the sole provision
that God gave for sustaining life. It was the bread of heaven
that kept them alive. And child of God is Christ who
gives and sustains life in you. God's manna had ceased to be
enough for them. They wanted something more and
it had to do with the flesh and it always does. What a picture
this is of man's dissatisfaction with Christ by nature. He will
not have this man to rule over him. And even when God reveals
to a man that Christ is their only hope of eternal life, that
he's the only provision that God provided, so many times they
want more. Christ is not enough. That insatiable
desire for the nourishment that this Egypt of a world has to
offer is still on the mind of many, and many a professing Christian
desires what this world has to offer. God sent manna and the
people loathed it. John said, love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. God said, you
want meat, I'll give you meat. If you want this world more than
me, God says, I'll give you this world until it spews out of your
nostrils. In verse 19 here in Numbers 11,
God said, you shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days,
neither 10 days nor 20 days, but even a whole month. until
it come out of your nostrils, and it'll be loathsome to you,
because that you have despised the Lord which is among you,
and have wept before him, saying, Why come we forth out of Egypt? To add anything to Christ's work
is certain death. To trust in anything other than
Christ's perfect righteousness is the broad way that leads to
destruction. To desire anything other than
the bread from heaven, the manna, which pictures Christ no other,
is to leaven the whole loaf in that lump being us. To desire
more than God's one provision is spiritual suicide. To be dissatisfied
with Christ is to be serving the wrong master. Now, if any
man or woman love Egypt, love this world and its appealing
delicatessence, give great cause for one to seek God and make
their calling and election sure. In verse 21, we read, And Moses
said, The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen,
and thou hast said, I will give them flesh that they may eat
a whole month. Shall the flocks and the herds
be slain for them to suffice them? Or shall all the fish of
the sea be gathered together for them to suffice them? And
the Lord said unto Moses, And here's the question that I want
you to consider this morning. Is the Lord's hand waxed short? He went on to say in verse 23,
thou shalt see now whether my words shall come to pass unto
thee or not. I want us to consider that question.
Is the Lord's hand waxed short? It's the Lord that asked this
question. So it definitely needs to be carefully considered. The
question is a very simple question. It's a yes or no question. Is
the Lord's hand waxed short? We could ask it this way. What
is it that the Lord is unable to do? Is He who never changes
somehow changed? Is He who is all-powerful had
His power diminished? We live in a world where in church
buildings you consistently hear statements like, God wants to
save you. How about this one? God is trying
to get your attention. Now, I don't know about you,
but God got my attention without any effort on His part. Religious
men tell the lost God wants you to give him your heart. That
is not so. While the king's heart, along
with everyone else's, is in the hand of the Lord, and as the
rivers of water, he turneth it, meaning the heart, whithersoever
he will. Proverbs 21. whosoever, whenever,
wherever, however God sees fit, He has the power to turn the
rivers of water on earth, and He has the power to turn the
heart of a man within his own soul. Recently, I had someone
send me a picture of a local pastor standing at the front
of his church in front of a big screen. And that big screen had
posted up on it. These words, God has a need of
you. Now, before I go any further,
let me say this without any reservation. God doesn't have any needs at
all. He's God. The caption underneath
the picture was, the reason we fight insignificance in the church
is because hell knows that God needs us. In other words, if
hell and the devil can defeat you, he renders God helpless. He renders God needful. That's
the most ridiculous statement I ever heard. No one that knows
God could say such a thing. The reason the church fights
insignificance is because we are insignificant. God has no
need, he's God. What is a worm? That's what scripture
refers to sinful men and women as, worms, maggots. What is a
worm or a maggot going to do or offer to help God? The Lord Jesus said to sinners,
you cannot come to me that you might have life. You don't have
the ability to come. You know why? Because you're
dead in trespasses and sin. The only way any sinner can come
to God is for God to give them life, make them able and draw
them by his spirit. The Lord said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. Your will is not to come. He
went on to say, you have not the love of God in you. He said,
I came in my father's name and you received me not. How can
you believe which honor one another and seek not the honor that cometh
from God only? Now, what was the honor that
they were not seeking? Well, the very one who was standing
in front of them was the honor of God, that being the Lord Jesus
Christ. We talk about man's will. Man's
will is not to come to God that they might have life. You will
not come to me. And no sinner will unless God
makes them willing in the day of His power. Now friends, I'm
not making this up. This is what the Bible plainly
teaches. I heard a man just this month
say, God loves us because we love Him. Well, it's just the
opposite. We love Him because He first
loved us, 1 John 4, 19. Now I'm telling you, He had to
love us, choose us, call us, and save us, which gave us the
life and ability to love Him in return. If my only hope was
God loving me because of my love for Him, I am headed for hell. I'm dead in trespasses and sin.
I can't love God. God has to give me life before
I can ever trust in Him. All my hope and confidence lies
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord and my
God. Salvation is God's work. It cannot
fail. It must come to pass because
the God of grace cannot fail. His hand is never too short. While he wrought wonders in Egypt,
he divided the Red Sea. He rained down manna from heaven. He caused water to flow from
a rock in Horeb. Surely he could give Israel this
flesh that they desired for a month. But they doubted him. And so
did Moses, and so would have we. You think of the great unbelief
Moses showed in the two questions he asked the Lord. In verse 22,
Moses said, shall the flocks and the herds be slain? Will
that be enough to suffice and provide meat for a month? Why,
we brought these cattle out of Egypt to start all over again
in the land of promise. Shall we eat them all up in a
month now and have nothing when we arrive? show that all the
fish is a second by show all the fish of the sea be gathered
together they may eat flesh for a month lordy you don't drop
fish and our camp like you do the manner now listen what unbelief
that is we do the same thing but it's still the question is
is the lord's hand wax short now i'm just wanting to talk
to you this morning I don't have a lot of notes here. I want to
speak to you from my heart. Does the Creator expect the creature
to fulfill his promise for him? He that promises fulfills. He is faithful that promised.
God's people become fully persuaded. Fully persuaded of what? That
what God has promised, He's able to perform. Romans 4.21. Does
not creation prove it? Well, the first day of creation,
God declares and displays His sovereign majesty and omnipotent
power over all things. Well, just the first words of
the Bible prove it. In the beginning, God created. He created the heaven and the
earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light, and
there was light. And God saw the light, that it
was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. And
God called the light day, and the darkness he called night,
and the evening and the morning were the first day. Now who can
read those verses and ask this question, is the Lord's hand
waxed short? Well, it certainly wasn't in
creation. Has something since changed? Has all of a sudden
God's hand waxed short? David said, whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did he. And he did it in heaven and in
earth and in the seas and all deep places, while he causeth
the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh
lightnings for the rain. He bringeth the wind out of his
treasuries. Psalm 135 verses 6 and 7. Has man's will rendered God helpless? Has man's will dethroned God? Is God now dependent upon man
to let him save them? That is not the God of the Bible,
dear friend. Is man now controlling his own
destiny? No. No, he's not. It's God who makes lightnings.
It's God who sends the rain. It's God who brings the wind
from his treasuries. Has the lightning stopped? Has
the rain ceased from falling? As the wind come to an end, is
the Lord's hand whacked short? Praise the Lord from the earth!
Fire, hail, snow, and vapor, stormy winds, fulfill His word! Psalm 148.8. With such a God
as this, should we not believe Him? Why, His own disciples said,
What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey
Him? the great Creator, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He created the wind, and He controls
the wind. Even the seas obey Him, and He
still controls the wind and the sea. Even the storms of life
that blow us about, God sent them, and God's in control of
them. Does God's providence not prove
it so? Has God stopped working all things
together for the good Of those that love Him who are thee called
according to His purpose? Has God stopped working all things
together for the good of His elect people? No, God hasn't
changed. Neither has His sovereign hand.
It's still not whacked short. Our God does what He wills in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand. No, it has not whacked short. And God knows what's best for
us. We certainly don't. Lord, not my will be done, but
thy will be done. That's the prayer that a believer
prays. Lord, don't let us have our will.
Don't let us have our way. I don't know what's best for
me, but God does. Lord, teach me thy way and lead
me in a plain path because of mine enemies, my sin. Teach me thy way, O Lord. I'll
walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy name."
That's what faith is. It's submitting to Christ as
your righteousness before God. It's trusting in the way which
God has provided to save sinners. There's only one way that you
can come to God, and that is Jesus Christ, who is the way,
the truth, and the life, and no man cometh to the Father but
by Him. What a great sin to desire more
than what God has provided, especially when his one provision is his
begotten darling son. Is submitting to Christ become
a loathsome thing to you? Is trusting in Christ alone is
your only means of salvation? Does it fall short? Do you want
something more? There is nothing more. What a
great sin to desire something other than Christ. My, my, does
God neglect to take care of his people on earth? Do you worry
about clothing? Well, consider the lilies of
the field. Do you see how they grow? They don't toil or work
or spin, and Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of them. Do you worry about food? Do you worry about what you shall
eat and what you shall drink? You shouldn't, for your heavenly
Father knoweth that you have need of all these things, but
seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things will be added unto you. Is God less effective
and less bountiful today than He was in the time of creation?
Is God less powerful than He was in the time of Adam or the
time of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David? Is He the Lord
that changes not? Or is He not? Is He the same
yesterday and today and forever? Or is He not? Is the Lord's hand
whacked short? Is there any token of God's grace
that shows His power to be failing? Are sinners not still saved?
Is the gospel still preached? Yes. Are sheep still coming to
the fold? Yes, they are. Is God's Word
still quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword? You
better believe it is. Can God still convict the heart
of a sinner? It's He that looks on the heart.
It's He that gives new hearts. Can God still melt the heart?
Yes. The King's heart's in the hand
of the Lord, and so is yours, and so is mine. Is the Lord's
hand wagged short? I hope you answered no to that
question. In creation, providence, and
grace, the unanimous verdict is that God is still almighty. The God of the Bible still does
what he wills. He still wills every promise
that he gives, and he still fulfills every promise that he purposed.
And did you know that there is only one creature that God made
that ever doubts him? There is but one species that
would ever think that God's hand is shortened. Man. Man. Angels have never doubted
God. Why, with demons and devils it's
the same. Devils believe and tremble. But man, the most favored of
all creatures, is the very one that mistrusts God. You see,
the sin of unbelief is the high and black and infamous sin that
ascends a soul to hell. But the child of God knows, because
God has revealed it to them. God has made it clear that His
powerful, sovereign, omnipotent hand is not waxed short. It's not made ineffective. Now
that phrase, whack short, means curtailed, or frustrated, or
discouraged. I hear men today preach Jesus
Christ, God the Son, God the Father, as a frustrated and defeated
God and Savior. It's true. God never wants, oh,
God wants to save you. No, God never wants. He saves
whom He will. He has mercy on whom He will. God never needs. God never tries. God's not trying to save sinners.
It's a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Paul said, of whom
I am chief. Our strength is our weakness
because in our weakness Christ is made strong for us. Our poverty
is really our wealth. Though Christ was rich, yet for
your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might
be rich." Why do we doubt God? You know, there are some that
have faith in Christ. They believe that Christ can
save sinners. He just can't save them. I guess
they think themselves to be super sinners. Well, let me tell you
something. Jesus Christ is a super savior. He's not Jesus Christ
superstar. No, he's God. Jesus Christ is
God. And God is able to do everything
that He promises. There are some that are convinced
of their sin, but they're afraid to trust their soul to Christ
saying, well, He can't save me. I'm so guilty. I'm so wretched.
I'm so callous. I can't repent as I ought. I
don't feel as I ought. I don't believe as I ought. You're
exactly right. And neither do I. But it's not
dependent upon you and I. It's not dependent upon our faith.
It's dependent upon his faith. That's right. I've sinned against
his light and knowledge, and I've sinned against mercy shown
to me, against the constant grace that I've received, and I've
grieved his spirit. But he can still save to the
uttermost those that come to God by him. God asks, is the
Lord's hand whacked short? God says, thou shalt see now
whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. Did he
not save the chief of sinners, Saul of Tarsus? Why then can
he not save you? Are you a greater sinner than
he is a God? Has Christ's merits lost their
savior? My wife recently began to make
homemade bread and when she bakes that bread, oh, you can smell
it all over the house and it smells so good. It has such a
good savor and I can just taste that bread by smelling it. Has
Christ lost his sweet-smelling Savior to you? I can assure you
that He's not waxed short of any grace. You see, the problem
lies with you and I. If you knew the Savior, you'd
trust Him. That is so true. The reason sinners don't trust
Christ is because they don't know Christ. To know Him is to
trust Him, and to trust Him is to know Him. And if you ever
see who Christ is, you will trust Him. He's the only one who can
save. Is there anything that would
make you ask, is the Lord's hand wiped short? To any who are still
unsure, it will not be that way forever. It will not be that
way for much longer. Why? Because the last part of
our text says, thou shalt see now whether my word shall come
to pass unto thee or not. Now God is not bound by time. God is eternal. So when God says,
thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto
thee or not, is that now or a later time? Is now in this life or
in the judgment? Is now today the day of your
salvation, or is now in that day that we stand before God
and give an account of what we thought of Christ? Is now while
there is still breath? Is now while there is still a
heartbeat? Or is now when it's too late?
There is gonna come a time that it's too late to trust in Christ.
Just like Noah, he built that ark for 120 years. All were welcome
to come into the ark. But one day it began to rain
and the ark door was shut. God shut it. And everyone on
the outside of that ark perished. There's coming a day when the
door will be shut. Friends, Christ is that ark.
Get into Christ. He's the only one that can shelter
you from God's holy wrath that is going to fall on this world
of unbelievers. The Lord God of heaven and earth
says, Behold, all souls are mine. The soul of the Father and the
soul of the Son. All souls belong to God. God has the right to do what
He will with His own. He says, The soul that sins,
it shall die. God says that the wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. But God also
said, Choose this day whom you will serve. God also said, He
that hath the Son hath life. Do you know what else God said?
God asked, why will you die? God also said that he has no
pleasure in the death of the wicked. Why won't you trust him? Don't
question whether you believe yourself to be one of God's elect
or not. I have people all the time say,
well, maybe I'm not one of God's elect. Come and bow to Christ
and show that you are. Election doesn't save sinners,
Christ does. Coming to Christ proves you to
be the elect of God. No man comes to the Father except,
except God is the exception, except the Father draw him. And if you come to Christ, it
proves that God called you and draws you and elected you. Wondering whether you're one
of God's elect or not is foolish if you love the Lord Jesus and
trust in what He's done for you. Salvation's of the Lord. Period. Not you and the Lord. Not something
that you add to what Christ did to make it complete. When the
Lord Jesus fulfilled salvation for His people, you know what
He said from the cross? It is finished. It's finished. The work is done. There's nothing
for you to do. There's nothing for you to add.
It's finished. Christ has finished the work.
He, the Lord Jesus, was made to be sin for you. He who knew
no sin. He didn't know any sin, but he
was made. God made him to be sin. God took
all your sin. past, present, and future, and
put it on Him. He was made to be sin for you,
that you might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. God
requires perfect righteousness. There's no way for you to provide
it. Only Christ can provide it for you. So come to Christ. Trust in Him. Believe in Him. Know that He has put your sin
away. It's God who's made it so. For Christ's sake, amen. You
have been listening to a message by David Edmondson, the pastor
of Bible Baptist Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a
copy of this message or to hear other messages of God's free,
sovereign grace in Christ, you can write to our mailing address
at P.O. Box 652 Madisonville, Kentucky
42431. or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky,
and our service times are Sunday morning Bible study at 10 o'clock
a.m., worship services begin at 11 o'clock a.m., Wednesday
evening services at 7 o'clock p.m. Please tune in again next
Sunday morning at 10 o'clock AM for another message of God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.