Good morning, and it's so good
to be here with you. And we greet those who are joining
us on Zoom, and we greet those who will be joining us on Sermon
Audio. This morning, we're going to
be in the gospel according to Numbers. And truly, as we read
this passage of scripture, we do find that a gospel message
is here, as we always find throughout the Old Testament. And this gospel
message is mentioned by our Savior, the Lord Jesus, in the New Testament. So if you would turn with me
to the book of Numbers chapter 21, and we'd like to begin reading
with verse four, and go through verse nine, and We're not going
to spend a lot of time on the latter part of this section of
scripture because it has to do with the bronze serpent or the
brazen serpent, but we want to read a couple of verses in the
New Testament that deal with this section of scripture after
we read this. It says after the great defeat
of the Canaanites in verses 1, 2, and 3, that, and they journeyed
from Mount Hor to, excuse me, and they journeyed from Mount
Hor by way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom, and
the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way."
Now, I just want to add this in here at this moment, that
the travels that the children of Israel made there in the Sinaitic
Peninsula, after they crossed the Red Sea, they were to spend
some time at Mount Sinai, and they did that. They were to spend
some time building the tabernacle, they did that. They were to spend
some time and setting aside Aaron as the high priest, and other
priests that would be appointed, and they did that. And then,
not long after that, after they completed all that, they journeyed
over to Kadesh Barnea, and it was at that point we find the
spies went into the land, they were commissioned by Moses to
go into the land, and we know the account. Ten came back with
an evil report, and two came back with a good report, God
will give us this land. The scriptures tell us that those
two, Joshua and Caleb, had been given a different heart. And
they were then sent to wander for 38 years in that area. Now, the most direct route from
Egypt to Canaan is about 160 miles, according to what I read
online. And that's a pretty treacherous
route through the mountains and so forth. And most people never
took that. They took an easier route that
was about 350 miles. And it was much easier walking.
It was longer, but it was much easier walking. Now the Sinaitic
Peninsula, we think of it in our minds how big it was, but
it was, it is 23,000 square miles, which is a pretty good piece
of property. But right here in Oregon, we
have three counties. That's Slate County, Harney County,
and Mallier County, the southeastern counties of the state of Oregon.
And in those three counties alone, there's 27,963 square miles.
So comparing the Sinaitic Peninsula at 23,000 and three counties in Oregon, 27,963, We find that it wasn't a very
big piece of property that they were traveling over, and they
were quite a host that were doing the traveling. And when they
went around after they were told that one generation was going
to die off, all those that had left Egypt until 21 years of
age, they were going to die off in that 38-year period. They
wandered and wandered and wandered and no doubt crossed their paths.
several times, but we do remember, too, that those children of Israel,
as they wandered, they were directed by a pillar of fire and a pillar
of cloud. So they were not left alone.
Now, in this passage of scripture, it tells us that they were discouraged
in a way, and we find that oftentimes we meet with circumstances similar
to this on our life. I don't know about you, but I've
thought a number of times, wouldn't it have been wonderful that when
the Lord saved me, after I'd heard the gospel and the Lord
saved me, gave me the Lord Jesus Christ, gave me the new birth,
that if he had just promoted me to glory, how wonderful that
would have been. And we find that this is not
often happening. We find one person in the scriptures
that we know of, and that was the thief on the cross. It was
not long after the Lord saved him that he was promoted to glory.
But most of us, it's not that way. And we find out it is, we're
either gonna do what the children of Israel did here, or we're
going to go to the scripture and find out what the Lord does
for us. And I'd just like to bring out
a couple of verses of scripture in the New Testament that share
with us that God does these things to his people, and he has a reason
for doing it. It's just not happenstance. The
journey was long. Our journey may be long, too,
and it may be troublesome. And they seem sometimes to be
going backwards instead of going forward. toward Canaan land.
And sometimes that's the way it is with us. Sometimes it feels
like we might be going backwards. In fact, we might have two steps
forward and three back. But we find that maybe God has,
and he does, he has a real purpose in that. And because of the length
of the way, how many we might say as they no doubt did, Many
of those folks might have said, boy, I wish those folks that
went in there would have come back with a better report. We
wouldn't be doing this. Well, we think of how many missed opportunities
that we may have had in our life to do what we knew was the best
thing to do, but we didn't do it. And yet we found that God
is the only one that can make good come out of evil. He did
that in the garden, he's doing that today. He did that with
Israel, and we find even in the lineage of the Lord Jesus that
there were many things that took place that God has asked us not
to do. We're not to sin that grace may
abound, but we do find that the Lord is training us and giving
us peace and the knowledge that he is the sovereign king and
he leads his people as he so directs. In the book of James
chapter one, would you turn there with me? James chapter one. In
James chapter one, verses one through four, we find some instructions
that are given to us by this man of God. He's a secretary
for the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a secretary for the Holy
Spirit. He's a secretary for God. And he has written down
some instructions for us Then these instructions no doubt were
given to the children of Israel and there were only a few that
understood what was happening. Here it says in James chapter
1 and verse 1, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ, to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting
my brethren, my fellow brethren, my saved ones, those who know
the gospel, who know Christ, Count it all joy when you fall
into diverse temptations. Now the translators may have
made a better choice if they'd have put there, when you fall
into diverse testings. And God does that to us every
day. Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience or endurance. So we have this
example found here in the scriptures and in the book of Numbers. There's
some people that are not going to be complaining about the way.
There's some people that are not going to be complaining about
the circumstances or the food or those things. They have a
comfort that the Lord is doing all things well. He's a sovereign
king. And we know that all things work
together for the good of them that love God, to those who are
called according to his purpose. So we have that. Count it all
joy when you fall into diverse testings, knowing this, that
the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have
her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing. You may be mature. So when these
things come along, we can just trust the Lord in the matter.
That's what we have to do, is trust the Lord in the matter.
And we find that the children of Israel at this point, a bunch
of them, they were not gonna follow those instructions. And
also, if you will turn with me over to the book of 1 Peter,
1 Peter chapter one, 1 Peter chapter one. In 1 Peter chapter 1. And there, let's begin reading
with verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers scattered abroad through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia. These are different parts of
what we know as Turkey, and the strangers are those, as he calls
out in verse two, elect according to the foreknowledge of God,
the Father, that certainly gives us understanding that God did
not look down through time and choose the people because he
saw that they would choose him, but this has all taken place
before the foundation of the world, before they had done any
good or evil. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
in the sprinkling of blood of Jesus Christ, grace and peace
be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. I am convinced that there were
some among Israel at this time, we read about in Numbers, that
understood like Job understood. I know my Redeemer liveth and
on the earth again shall stand. And though I die, buried, put
away, whatever happens to our body, yet I shall see him. And then he goes on to say, to
an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, fadeth not away.
We have nothing to do with this. We cannot destroy it. We cannot
mar it. It's in the hands of God. It's
reserved in heaven for you. who are kept by the power of
God through faith into salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. And that certainly is not our faith that keeps us. We're
kept by the power of God, wherein we greatly rejoice, though now
for a season, if need be. You are in heaviness through
manifold temptations or testings. Now notice here in verse 7, that
the trial of your faith be in much more precious than gold
that perishes, though it be tried with fire. These people were
under severe persecution. They'd been sent out to the farthest
points of the of the kingdoms of these peoples, and they were
under persecution, and the Apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit
to write into them, excuse me, the Apostle Peter was to write
into them, and he's just sharing with them, these things are happening
for the purpose of Almighty God, and the trial of your faith is
much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be
tried with fire. might be found unto the praise
and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. So even though
the Lord saves us and leaves us and we go through these trials
and tests and it looks like some have less than others and some
have more than others, we pray that God would bless us with
great courage and great faith in these matters, that he'd provide
that and we'd be able to say it's been good, it's been good,
even though it was a trial, it was a test. We go back here now
to the book of Numbers, back to the book of Numbers, and we
find there in the book of Numbers chapter 21 what these people
did. They saw no benefit of what they
were going through, they saw no benefit, and they complained
to God, and they bring out these reasons for their complaint.
And every one of them is so, well, it indicates, it truly
speaks what is in their heart. And we'll spend some time on
that subject about the heart this morning. It says, and the
people, Numbers chapter 21 and verse five, and the people spake
against God. Now, that is such a serious,
serious issue that the people would speak against God. People
speak against God. Now, it is truly, truly much
better to speak to God. We're gonna find that out through
the prophets of old, we find it through the apostles, we find
the instructions that are given to us to speak to God in prayer
in our most serious times. Speak to God in prayer. You know,
he's going to answer prayer according to his will and purpose, and
by his grace, by his free and sovereign grace, He will convince
his people that his way is the right way. He is sovereign, yes,
but he is too good to do bad things. He has this all set up,
and it's for his glory and his honor and his praise, and it's
for our growth and maturity. And we find it is much better
to speak to God in prayer or to speak to God in meditation.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
acceptable unto thee, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
to speak to God in thanksgiving, thankful for all He's given us,
thank for the spiritual gift, every good gift and every spiritual
gift cometh down from the Father of light. So we have everything
that we have in Christ Jesus is provided. We provide nothing,
we have nothing to give, we have nothing to honor God with except
that which we return to Him and that is of to return to him prayer
and meditation, thanksgiving, and those spiritual gifts that
God has given to us. To speak against God is to speak
against his oversight, his directorship, his leadership, his purpose,
his way, and his word. to speak against God is to speak
against his word. He will do what he sees is necessary
to do in his purpose, and he'll carry it out. And these folks
also speak against Moses. It tells us there that they spoke
against God and against Moses. We find these folks here, these
Israel, the people speak against God and against Moses. They spoke
against God's chosen ambassador. and they spoke against God's
chosen under-shepherd, and they spoke against God's chosen leader. There was no one else there.
It was Moses. Aaron has been taken, and here
it goes on, we find there is much revelation about the hearts
of these people in just a few words as recorded here. This
is a revelation of their heart condition, speaking against God
in such a harsh manner, speaking against this man Moses in such
a harsh manner. And this is not just making fun
of them, it is speaking against them. You know, as we think about
this, The hearts of these Israelites exhibit the same corruption and
deceitfulness as we might find in the hearts of the Egyptians
that they left or heading towards the Hivites where they're headed
to. Those people, we think they have corrupt hearts. Well, these
Egyptians had corrupt hearts and these Hivites have corrupt
hearts, but these Israelites have corrupt hearts. My goodness,
they are coming against God and against Moses, and they're complaining
about what God provided for them. He provided them liberty. They
left Egypt. They were in severe bondage,
and they're complaining about that they don't have any bread.
They don't have any bread, any slave bread, it might seem. They are truly ruined by the
fall. Notice that as we look at this, the complaints truly
exhibited a bad heart condition and is revealed by their mouth.
It goes on to say here, wherefore have you brought us up out of
Egypt to die in the wilderness? They were in serious slavery
down there in Egypt, and God set them free and provided everything
for them. He opened the Red Sea up for
them. He drowned all of the Egyptians
for them. And we find that this is just
how God's gonna do it, and natural man is gonna retaliate against
a free, grace God. They're just gonna retaliate,
and so they do. There is no bread, no slave bread,
and there is neither any water. That's just not true. We find
that the Lord has provided water for all those years. Nobody's
gonna travel 40 years without water. There's been water. We
know twice, at least, it was from a rock. So God's provided
them water, and he's provided them bread. You know, it wasn't
slave bread. They ate that, they perished.
This bread, we find out that they went through 40 years and
their clothes didn't deteriorate and their feet didn't swell and
they had health that was given to them because God gave them
special bread. This, and it tells us here in
verse five, neither is there any water and our soul loatheth
this light bread. Light bread, what is that? That's
the manna. That's the manna, that's the
manna from heaven. That's the food of angels, that's
what God gave to them. They have brought us out of Egypt
to, many of this would hardly be a memory. Many of those people
that are traveling through the wilderness now, most of them,
it would just hardly be a memory. And many of them have been born
during this 40 year period and they're moving there. a memory and they said, we'd
rather have Egypt than what we have right now. We have the leadership
of God. We have his man leading us. We
have the tabernacle. We have all of this service to
remind us that the Messiah is coming. There's no bread, no
bread like Egypt bread. And we find there was no end
of quail. They had all the quail. And then it tells us here, We
loathe, we loathe. To most people, their salvation
is of very little value, just like these people. They've been
set free from Egypt, and yet they're still in bondage. And
most religion is nothing more than that. We just have a, we've
asked Jesus into our heart, we've gone forward, we've signed a
card, we've done all the things that the preachers ask us to
do, And virtually, we've just traded a religion for more slavery. Now they tell us we have to do
this, and we have to do this, and we have to do this, and we
can't do that, and we can't go there. And all of this stuff
takes place. So they just exhibited what their heart is. It is a
heart of bondage. We'll trade one bondage for another
bondage. Well, that's what these people did. They don't think
much of what they have. They are still in slavery. Our
soul loatheth this light bread. Turn with me if you would as
we think about this to the book of Deuteronomy chapter eight.
Deuteronomy chapter eight. This word loatheth and this word
light have some similar meanings. My grandfather, he despised that
new white bread that you can take and pull out the middle
of it and push it together and have a ball about two and a half
inches across. He loved grandma's homemade bread. They hated that light bread.
Well, that's not what they're talking about here in this book
of numbers. They're not talking about light
bread that you get at Safeway or something, Oven Joy, which
I remember my mother paying $10 for 10 loaves. And Nancy and
I bought some 25 loaves for $1 in a bread war in Salem. It made
sandwiches, and that's about it. Well, not much nutrition
in it. Well, that's not what they're
talking about here. They're talking about manna, and they use the
term loatheth. They grieved them. They abhorred.
It was sickening, dread, disgusted, weary of, and then that word
light means contemptible or worthless. they had two words to describe
the problem that they had with this manna. Now, as I mentioned,
turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy chapter eight. Deuteronomy chapter
eight, beginning with verse one. We have a recap here of 40 years,
and it tells us here about this manna. In the book of Deuteronomy
chapter eight, beginning with verse one, all the commandments,
which I command thee this day shall you observe to do, that
you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which
the Lord swear unto your fathers. Now, this is a conditional agreement. The Lord said, you keep my law
and I'll keep my side. Well, we know later that the
scriptures tell us twice in the book of Numbers and we find in
an Old Testament reference that They didn't keep their part and
God regarded them not. It wasn't part of the everlasting
covenant. We're thankful that the church
is under the everlasting covenant. It cannot be taken away from
us. We cannot send it away. We cannot sell it. We cannot
grieve it away. It's given to us by almighty
God and it's reserved in heaven for us. Well, it goes on to tell
us here that you may live and multiply and go and possess the
land which the Lord swear unto your fathers. And thou shall
remember all the ways which the Lord thy God led thee these forty
years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know
what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldest keep my commandments
or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered
thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest
not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee
known, know what man doth not live by bread only, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
thy raiment wax not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell
these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine
heart that as a man chastened unto the sun, so the Lord thy
God chastened thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the
commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and
fear him. We find here that, as it's recapped,
40 years of history is brought up here. We have much the same
brought up over there in the book of Acts, where Stephen is
talking about what went on over there in the Old Testament that
we've been studying. These people, as they looked
upon the manna, a perfect bread, It was material that made a perfect
bread. It had all the vitamins and nutrients
that they needed to sustain their bodies. They didn't have rickets. They didn't have all the diseases
that come as a result of not having the nutrients that we
need. Vitamin C loss, what was it?
They called it English limes because they found out that limes
would take care of that disease. Well, these people did not have
problems with all of those diseases because they had this perfect
bread. It, to them, though, after having
it for some time, it was contemptible, it was worthless. The description,
using two negative words, loatheth light bread. Now this manna was
given by God from heaven, he brought it and it was a food
that he provided for them that was perfect. Now, the word manna
means what is it? You know, we can find many similarities
between this manna and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. To many,
what is he? Who is he? To the elect, to his
church, he is altogether lovely. To the world, there's no, worth
in him. He's just, he's unnecessary. But to the church, to the elect,
he is altogether lovely. He is the most beautiful, head
and shoulders above all else. This manna was given and we find
that it was small and round. It was a small round thing. In
another place it was like corander seed, white. The taste of it
was like wafers made with honey. So the description And, you know,
it's much the same way today. In the preaching of the gospel,
we look and we hear preachers preach Christ, preach Christ,
preach Christ in him crucified, preach the gospel of Christ,
preach the gospel of Christ in salvation, the gospel of Christ
in all attributes and characteristics of God. On our behalf, salvation
by Christ, salvation through the blood of Christ, we're indebted
to Christ. And people will say, is that
all you're going to preach? Well, that's all we have to preach.
Christ and Him crucified. All of the accounts in the Old
Testament pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, counted to Him. All of them, those sacrifices
that were made around the tabernacle and later the temple, was a picture
of Christ and Him crucified, the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. This is a picture of it. And
nobody is going to approach God without a substitute. I am reminded
again that when the Passover took place in Egypt so long ago,
40 years prior to this, that in every household, there was
a death. Now, without the blood, there
was a death of the firstborn. With the blood, there was the
death of a lamb, a substitutionary lamb. And your salvation is dependent
upon the death of a substitutionary lamb. The lamb of God was taking
away the sin of his people, the sin of the world. This manna,
what is it? It is, and you know, the Lord
is like that, it's round. There's no imperfection with
him. There is just nothing that we can find fault with him. God
didn't find fault with him. We find that Pilate didn't find
no fault with him. He is the darling of heaven.
He came down here and he became sin for the church, but he was
not a sinner. He was, he had sin. imputed to
him, placed upon him, but it never changed his character.
He's always the son of God. If you'll turn with me to the
book of Exodus chapter 16, Exodus chapter 16, if you would. We
notice over here in the book of Exodus, there's a couple passages
of scripture that share with us about this manna and the importance
of it to the children of Israel. It was so much different than
the bread that they'd had down there in Egypt. It was not very
high quality bread. It would just barely sustain
life, didn't have everything that was necessary. And yet when
it came to a bread that fulfilled all the requirements and everything
was supplied by the Lord, these people found a problem with it.
In Exodus chapter 16 and verse 35, and the children of Israel
did eat manna for 40 years. until they came to a land inhabited. They did eat manna until they
came into the borders of the land of Canaan. For 40 years,
God provided tons and tons and tons of manna for these folks
to make bread with, and the sweetness of the taste, it was such a sweet,
that's just like our Savior, the Lord Jesus, the sweetest. kindness, lovingness, God Almighty,
for the church, taking care of the church, providing all the
church's needs, everything that God demands Jesus Christ fulfills. And so it's a wonderful thing
to find how this manna represents our Savior, the Lord Jesus. And
then we find what these people's hearts were like when it came
to eating this. We loathe it. We are tired of
it. It's just, we don't want this
bread. Well, we find over in the book
of John, chapter six, that the Lord picks up on this very subject. this very subject of manna and
that he is the bread of life. He is the manna from heaven.
He, not very many people recognize him as the Lord. He came unto
his own and his own received him not. He came into the world,
the world knew him not. But those his people will recognize
him as revealed to them that he is the Lord. Peter's words,
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And the Lord
Jesus Christ response to that was. Flesh and blood hath not
revealed this unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. Flesh
and blood didn't reveal this. So what we know about God as
he saved us and revealed unto us the Lord Jesus, what we know
is revealed. We will not dig it out, it must
be revealed to us. Now it is important, it's incumbent
upon us to be in the Word of God and study the Word of God,
but the Lord alone can reveal the message that is there. The
Lord alone can reveal to us the message of Christ in the Word
of God. Otherwise, it is just gibberish. It just doesn't mean
anything. We find that the Word of God
is spiritual, and by nature, we're not spiritual. The Bible
is spiritually discerned, and by nature, we have no discernment.
We can't understand what it's about. We find more works in
it, and it's all about grace. We find more to do in the Bible,
and it's all Christ has done it. We find, we do and do and
do, and the Lord reveals to his people, I've done, I've done,
I've done. It is finished. And we, by nature,
continue to do because we cannot hear those words in our heart.
The Lord taught that Moses did not give them the bread of heaven,
but God did. Let's look here, if you would,
in the book of John, John chapter six. Let's go over to the book
of John chapter six, and notice this passage of scripture on
our behalf. John chapter six, and we have
the Lord speaking here, and what wonderful words he has to share
with us in this passage of scripture about the bread, about the bread
of life, that he is the bread of life. He is the sustainer
of life. He has every, vitamin and nutrient
for our spiritual well-being. There's nothing that goes unnoticed. There's nothing that is not purposed.
God takes care of it all. He's in charge of it all. It's
the perfect bread. In the book of John, chapter
6, verse 31, we find here that there was a group of people saying,
our fathers did eat manna in the desert. As it is written,
he gave them bread from heaven to eat. They're telling the truth. God did give them manna and it
was bread from heaven. Now notice here in verse 32,
then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven, but my father giveth
you the true bread from heaven, even the manna. Moses didn't
give. He couldn't conjure up manna
for them. God gave them that manna. Moses
had nothing to do with it, except he came and was an ambassador. He was a go-between. He was the
lawyer on their behalf. And God provided them manna,
this perfect angel's food, if you please. And so Moses had
nothing to do with that. He wasn't just an ambassador,
he was a go-between, just like anybody sharing the gospel. We
have nothing to do with how that gospel is going to be responded
to in a person or in a person's heart. We can't get there. So
Moses prayed, God gave this manna, and we find here that the Lord
Jesus said, my father, giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth
life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread. You know, that almost sounds
like what that woman at the well said, give me the water that
I don't have to come down here every day. And he is talking
about his self as the water of life. And he's talking about
himself being the bread of life. And naturally we are not able
to comprehend it. We just cannot comprehend that.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger. Shall never hunger for these
spiritual things. They're provided for us. And
blessed is he that hungers and thirsts after righteousness.
That's this goal. That's the interest that God
gives to us. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also
have seen me and believe not. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. You have seen me and believe
not. But there are those, the elect,
the church, those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world, those written about, in the Lamb's Book of Life, those
they have been given, they shall come to me, and I will not cast
them out, but you will not believe. Why? Because they're not the
elect. For I came down from heaven to do, not to do my own will,
but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will which sent me, that all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing. but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day." How do we know that this is the Son, that this is
the Savior, that this is the Messiah, that this is the Christ?
Flesh and blood does not reveal that unto us, but the Father
in heaven reveals that he's the Son, makes us know he is the
Son of God, that he is the God-man, that he is the Messiah, that
he is the Christ, that he is the one, the true one that came
down from heaven. This is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the
last day.' And the Jews then murmured at him, because he said,
I am the bread which came down from heaven, and now they begin
surmising in themselves. Is not this Jesus, the son of
Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that
he saith, I came down from heaven?" You know, we cannot comprehend
that question without the revelation of Jesus Christ. By the new birth,
we cannot comprehend that. Jesus, therefore, answered and
said unto them murmur not among yourselves no man can come except
the father with father which hath sent me draw him and i'll
raise him up at the last day i am the true bread it isn't
until god reveals me unto my people those i'm going to die
for that they shall know me as the savior thou art the christ
the son of the living god You know, over there in the Old Testament,
the people that knew nothing about God said, we loathe this
light bread. We loathe this contemptible bread.
We loathe it. It is not for us. We want that
slave bread. We want works. We want works. We don't want grace. We don't
want this bread that came down from heaven. We want to grind
it ourselves. We want to make our own bread. We want to have
something to do with it. it's verse 45 it is written in
the prophets and they shall be taught of god every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the father cometh unto me
god is involved they are taught of god the father is involved
not that any man has seen the father save which is of God,
save he which is of God, he has seen the Father. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
I am the nutrition of life. I'm the bread of life. What a
glorious statement the Lord makes here about himself, that he is
the glorious life of the believer. He's the bread of life. He has
exactly what we have need of. There's nothing left out. These
folks that came and brought that report, we loathe this light
bread. We don't have any bread, we don't
have any water, and we loathe this light bread. You know, what
came out of their mouth revealed truly what was in their heart.
The Lord shares that with us again here in the New Testament
in the book of Matthew. If you'd turn with me to the
book of Matthew chapter 12, There's three readings in the book of
Matthew I want to look at that have to do with the subject of
what comes out of the mouth. It's not what goes into the mouth.
It's not eating bacon. It's not eating some other food. It is what comes out of the mouth,
the words that come out of the mouth. Notice with me here in
Matthew chapter 12 and verse 34, they truly share what is
in the heart. The heart speaks through the
mouth. And these people are coming to
Moses and they're directing their attack against God and saying,
we loathe this light bread. We do not like it. It's not satisfactory. We want something else. and we're
not having the water that we need, and on and on it goes.
God's taking care of every need they have, and they're not satisfied
with it. You know, people who are not satisfied with Christ
would not be satisfied in heaven. If they're not satisfied with
his purpose, they would not be satisfied in heaven. If they're
not satisfied with election, they would not be satisfied in
heaven. If they're not satisfied with grace, if they're not satisfied
with the blood of Christ, they would not be satisfied in heaven. That's the nature of man. Here in the book of Matthew chapter
12 and verse 34, it says, O generation of vipers, how can ye, being
evil, speak good things? These people, by nature, could
not speak good things towards God. The fool has said in his
heart, there is no God. I have no reverence of him. They
almost sound like what Pharaoh said when Moses came and said,
let my people go. Who's your God? I don't owe him
anything. Well, here, O generation of vipers,
Can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh. What comes out of the heart?
I'll never forget visiting with a person one time, and we was
talking about where we went to church, and he says, I go to
the early service and I get that over with. And I says, you said
more than you really meant to say. Oh, oh, oh, I didn't mean
that. Well, he did. It was just to
work. Go to church early, get it over
with, and then you can do the rest of the stuff you want to
on the rest of the day. Well, I go to the 10 o'clock
and the 11 o'clock service because I want to. I want to hear about
the Lord. I want to hear about salvation
and Christ Jesus, but I don't care what it is. I'm not going
to say I get that over with. The most serious thing I do and
the most pleasant thing I do, and you know, it is going to
church. going and hearing the gospel,
go to a sermon audio, go to a fellowship meeting, how glorious that is,
how uplifting it is, and we need that word. Well, along the same
line, if you turn with me to the book of Matthew chapter 15,
Matthew chapter 15, and here in verse eight, Matthew chapter
15 in verse eight, this people draw nigh with me with their
mouth, but and honors me with their lips, but their heart is
far from me." What a statement about their heart, just as we
find with these Israelites. They came and complained to God,
found fault with God, found fault with Moses, found fault with
where they were, who they were, what they were doing, found fault
with their food, found fault with their water, and detested
what God had provided them with. What natural statement that is.
They draw nigh with their mouth and honoreth me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me. And in that same chapter of the
book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 15 verse 11, Matthew chapter
15 verse 11, not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man,
but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
And then we find as the disciples, they said here in verse 12, then
came his disciples and said unto him, knowest thou that the Pharisees
were offended after they heard this saying? But he answered
them and said, every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted
shall be rooted up. Every plant which my father hath
not planted. Well, there's a bunch of tares
that have been planted. But they shall be rooted up.
My father didn't plan them. Let them alone. They be blind
leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch.' Then answered Peter and said
unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are
ye also yet without understanding?" You know, that's so informative
about Peter and the rest of the church there, and it's about
us. If it is not shown us, if it's not revealed to us, if it's
not declared to us, we can't understand it, just like the
rest. We see Christ and him crucified.
Lord, reveal the rest of it to us. Do not be yet understand
that whatsoever enters into a mouth goeth into the belly and is cast
out into the draught. But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come from the heart and they defile the man. When those people came to Moses
and spoke against God and spoke against Moses and came and spoke
against the way and purpose of God and his word, they are revealing
what their heart is. For out of the heart proceedeth
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man, but to eat with unwashed hands defile not a man." What
a statement. Out of the heart. For out of
the heart proceed all of this. You know, we don't have to use
our hands to commit a robbery. It's already been done in our
heart before we get to that point. So he says, out of the heart
proceeded evil thoughts, murders. adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness and blasphemies. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And we certainly
see that as we go back over here to the book of Numbers chapter
21. We see this very thing about the heart of those Israelites,
those people that had just in the previous verses had destroyed
the Canaanites. Now we have them compassing.
Just, they've just wandered around and the way is difficult, no
question, hard and difficult. And yet these people spake against
God and against Moses. Their hearts are deceitful. Their
mouths reflect what's in their heart. We will not have this
man rule over us. The people speak against God
and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us?
Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Really, their salvation meant
nothing. They'd rather be in bondage than to be out here,
because still, they're in bondage. They're wanting to do it themselves.
And wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in
the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither
is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread." It
is detestable. We loathe it, and it's detestable. Same thing every day. You know, when it comes to the
gospel, it comes to Christ. There is no variation. Now, we may look at at the Lord
from different sides of different scriptures, Old Testament, prophets,
history as we look at. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and
Numbers and Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch of Moses, the five
books of Moses, they all have their point. And their point
is Christ and Him crucified. He is the Savior of His people.
The prophets wrote about it. The history has recorded it.
The Psalms declare it. And so these people speak against
God. It's truly, we see that they,
are ruined by the fall, and there's no guiding light in them. Now,
we'll not get into this next section of scripture here, but
we just wanna make a reference here, so we prepare for our next
time together. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of
Israel died. The Lord did this. It's not Satan
that did this, the Lord did this. It's not the devil that did this,
the Lord did this. Sent fiery serpents. Therefore,
the people came to Moses and said, we have been caught. We have sinned, for we have spoken
against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that
he take away the serpents from among us. And Moses prayed for
the people. And the Lord said unto Moses,
make thee a fiery serpent, set it upon a pole, and it shall
come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon
it, shall live. What a statement. And this is
brought up by the Lord himself in the third chapter of the book
of John. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so
shall the Son of Man be lifted up. Must be lifted up. So we'll look at that in our
next lesson as we study the gospel according to Numbers written
by Secretary was Moses and we find here the gospel. This is
we have the problem We have the heart is deceitful. It reflects
their attitude towards the Lord and The fiery serpents come,
bite many people, many people die, and then we find the Lord
takes care of the solution, and that is a brazen serpent. Well,
God bless you as we worship together and as we look into his word
and study the gospel, particularly here in the gospel according
to numbers.