As I begin this message, I want
to have you consider three things. I want you to consider, first
of all, the location where the manna was given. Consider where
the manna was given. According to the first verse,
it says it was in the wilderness of sin. We've said that the wilderness
of sin, the word sin is not a theological word, it's not the wilderness
of depravity, but rather of thorns and thistles and such things.
It's in the wilderness, the wilderness. What is a wilderness? A wilderness
is a homeless location. No one would think of building
a house in the wilderness. Moses had a good understanding
of the wilderness because he spent 40 years of his life on
the backside of the desert in the vicinity of where the children
of Israel are now, as we find them here in Exodus chapter 16. Know this, that the wilderness
is a picture of, it's a type of the world. And the world is for the children
of God a thorny place. This world is not the friend
of grace, it's not the friend of the gospel, and it's not the
friend of the children of God. When our Lord Jesus came to this
world, he came to a wilderness. There was no room for him. when
he entered into this world, no room in the inn, no place for
him to lay his head. During the days of his public
ministry, he had a borrowed grave for his crucified body. And this
sums it all up. This world is a wilderness. It's not your friend. It's not the friend of those
who believe the message of redeeming grace. This vile world, its immorality,
and its false religion is diametrically opposed to the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace. And if you make it known to your
family and to your friends and your acquaintances and your neighbors,
you will find the world is not your friend. They'll put up with
you. They'll say nice things to you,
to your face perhaps, but the gospel that we dearly love, the
grace of God that's been shared abroad in our hearts, the message
of the Redeemer, and of His successful work upon the cross of Calvary
for all of His people that God might be just and justify the
ungodly. This message that we stand for,
this message that goes forth from this pulpit, from Bill's
pulpit, and the pulpits of several men, this message is not warmly
received by the world. This world is a thorny place. It's a wilderness of sin. And
never was that more apparent than when our Lord Jesus was
here. He came as the light. And when
he exposed the false religion of the Sanhedrin of the Pharisees,
their religion of works, their religion of do, their religion
of law-keeping, their religion of honor the precepts and get
to glory, their religion that consisted of their own self-righteousness,
which Isaiah says is really just filthy rags, they were absolutely
opposed to Jesus of Nazareth and everything that he stood
for. Theirs was the religion of this world. And the religion
of this world is deadly. It's deadly. We cannot walk hand in hand with
the religion of this world. Amos says, can two walk together
except they be agreed? The word of God teaches salvation
by grace and grace only. Works have no part in it. You
know, the children of Israel were instructed that God would
send the manna. And He faithfully sent it every
morning up until Friday morning, He sent a double portion. But
they had nothing to do with the sending of the manna. They didn't
ask for it. They didn't pray for it. They
had no thought of where their meal was going to come from and
therefore they murmured against God. And that which they never asked
for, God freely gave. And isn't that the way it is
with grace and with salvation? That which we weren't seeking
for, we found. and the salvation that is in
the Lord Jesus Christ that we had no interest in, we suddenly
found ourselves under the preaching of the gospel deeply interested,
deeply interested. So consider the location where
the manna was given in the wilderness of sin. Surely it would be impossible
to find a more fitting title to accurately set forth the very
character of this vile world as a wilderness of sin. The second
thing I want you to consider is consider the critical issue
of the lack of food. It was a barren wilderness. And
as Moses led the children of Israel, he's following the pillar
of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night, one pillar, one
pillar revealing itself as a cloud during the day and a fire at
night. As he faced the wilderness, following
the directive of God, He knew very well the wilderness could
not in any way sustain the children of Israel. As I just said, he had experience
in the wilderness. Chapter 3 and verse 1 of Exodus
tells us that he had lived in this vicinity and he knew the
entire nation The entire nation, whatever provisions they had
brought out of Egypt had now been depleted. They had no food. He knew they had no food. And
he's leading them out into the wilderness of sin. And that will
give you some idea of the confidence he had in God's great power to
provide for all these hundreds and hundreds of thousands of
people. With no visible, no tangible evidence of food. And knowing
what he knew about the barrenness of the wilderness, Moses says,
let's go. Let's go. This is the way God
says to go. And so he begins to lead these
people. A conservative estimate of the total number of Israelites
who came out of Egypt would be two million. After all, they
had 600,000 men who were able to go to war. Keep in mind that
God said to gather an omer, anywhere between six and seven and a half
pints of food per person per day for two million souls, that'd
be about 12 million pints of manna, nine million pounds of
manna to be gathered daily. That is 4,500 tons of food. I remember a preacher many years
ago, he said it would take 10 freight trains, each having 30
cars, and each car having in it 15 tons to carry one day's
supply of manna. So Moses, he had some concept
of the vast amount of food this is going to take and he had a
thorough understanding of the inability of the wilderness,
the world. Remember the wilderness pictures
the world. He had a knowledge of the fact the world cannot
meet the needs of the people of God. and it can't meet your
need. The only one who can meet our
needs, I'm talking about our spiritual needs. Our needs cannot
be met by anything that is of this world. Where did the manna come from?
Look at verse four. Then said the Lord unto Moses,
behold, I will reign bread from heaven. That's where it's gotta
come from. If you and I are to be helped,
if we're to be fed, if we're to receive life giving manna,
it must come from above. John the Baptist said in John
chapter three, a man can receive nothing, nothing except it be
given to him from heaven. Our Lord Jesus had previously
in John chapter three said to Nicodemus, except a man be born
of the water and the word, and before that born again, that
is born from above. Can't even see the kingdom of
God. We need a work done within us, a work that is not of this
world, that is of another world. It is of a spiritual world and
it must come from above. The only help and hope we have
is that the God of grace and mercy and glory will do something
for our foul hearts. Oh, God, save us. Oh, God, purify
us. Oh, God, clothe us. We're naked
before you. We have no garment to cover our
shame. Oh God, put the garment of the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, clothe us with that. And it's not just a covering
for the outside, make us thoroughly righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. That work is only done from above. Only God can do that. I say to you, All of you who
are here, and I say to those who are watching by way of the
internet, never doubt the ability of God. Oh, what can God do? Anything
he pleases, anything that is consistent with his holy character, that which David said, that which
the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, on earth, under the
earth. He does his will. So consider
where the manna was given. It was given in the wilderness
of sin, number two. Consider the critical issue at
hand, the lack of food, at number three. Consider that time when
the manna was given. We say, well, they were hungry.
That's pretty obvious. That's when the manna was given.
But really, I'm looking for another answer. When was the manna given? After they murmured. After they
murmured. They didn't all, two million
people didn't get down on their hands and knees and say, oh God,
feed us, we're hungry. Oh no. Watch these verses. Okay, verse two. And the whole
congregation of the children of Israel murmured. They had
murmured before when they got to the waters of Marah, but now
it's the whole congregation. It's a mass of people. You see,
murmuring is infectious. It spreads. It's an amazing thing. Thanksgiving
is contagious. You're around somebody who's
talking about how good the Lord's been and how wonderful and how
giving He is to us to give us the grace of God, to give us
Christ the Savior. If you're around somebody who's
talking like that, that's kind of infectious, you know, and
you start talking the same way. But murmuring, Oh, that's really
infectious. You get the belly aching and
complaining. That is really infectious. Well,
you think you've got it bad, brother. Listen to what's happened
to me. Listen to what I'm going through with. It's contagious.
So the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children
of Israel said unto them, what to God? Would to God we had died
by the hand of the Lord. We wish God had killed us in
Egypt because things were so wonderful there. We sat by the flesh pots, smelled
the aroma, smelled that lamb roasting. Boy, didn't that smell good.
We just had it made. We ate bread to the full. For you have brought us forth
into this wilderness to kill the whole assembly with hunger. Then said the Lord unto Moses,
and you kind of brace yourself. Oh no, here it comes. Behold,
and that's the Holy Spirit's exclamation point. Behold, God
says, I will rain. I will rain bread from heaven
for you. It's going to be a big, big supply
of bread from heaven. When did it happen? Right after
they murmured. Look down at verse seven. Notice how God words this. what
they did and then what he did. And what they did in no way made
what he did for them to be deserving of what he did for them. It's
kind of in spite of them. And isn't that the salvation
that we enjoy in Christ Jesus by free and sovereign grace?
It isn't because of anything we've done. It's in spite of
what we've done. It's in spite of our rebellion.
It's in spite of our depravity. It's in spite of our sinfulness. In spite, we haven't been seeking
the Lord. He hasn't been consulted as to
how, on our part as to what he could
do for us, no. In the depths of our sin, God
comes to us. And my friends, that is free
and sovereign grace. Look with me. Verse seven. And in the morning, then you
shall see the glory of the Lord. Watch it. for or because. Because that he heareth, not
your thanksgiving, not your worship, not your praise. It's because he heareth your
murmurings against the Lord, against Jehovah, against Christ. And then Moses and Aaron add,
And what are we that you murmur against us? Look down at verse, I'll keep
reading, verses eight and nine. And Moses said, this shall be
when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat and
in the morning bread to the full for that the Lord heareth your
murmurings which you murmur against him. Verse nine. And Moses spake unto
Aaron, saying to all the congregation of the children of Israel, come
near before the Lord, for he hath heard your murmurings. I mean, they didn't do anything
positive. There's nothing on their part
that anybody could say, boy, Bless their hearts, they're really
doing good. They're really putting forth a good effort here. Absolutely
not. There's not one ounce of goodness
in all of them put together. They all murmured and yet look
what God did for them. Look at verse 11 and 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Now
speak unto them, saying, and it's words of mercy. At evening
you shall eat the flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled
with bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. You see, Here's what the Lord
does. He paints a picture of their
blackness, of their foulness, and then He shows His marvelous
grace. Reminds you of that, Pat, turn
to Romans 5. Just hold your place. Doesn't
it remind you of this over here in Romans chapter 5? You see, a darker background
could hardly ever be imagined. They murmured, they murmured,
they murmured, they murmured. Did God give them what they deserved? I've had people say to me, I
just want what's coming to me. There are legalists who say that.
God knows I've tried. I'll tell you what I want. I
want what Christ has merited for me. That's what I want, Bill.
That's all I want. Really, I just want Him. I just
want Him. In Romans chapter five, I'll begin at 19. For as by one man's disobedience,
many, the many, the many that Adam represented and stood for,
the many were made sinners, legally declared to be sinners. Hey,
you're not a sinner because you think you're a sinner, you're
a sinner because God says you're a sinner. That's what God says. So by the obedience of one shall
many, the many that Christ represented be legally considered to be constituted
to be righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, and if there's
a case of where this is true is right back here in our text
in Exodus chapter 16. But where sin abounded, murmuring
abounded, Murmur is all love. Murmur, murmur, murmur, murmur. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. It's super abounded. That, verse
21, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness. unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. I say a darker background couldn't
be painted concerning these people here in Exodus chapter 16. These are the same people who
had been spared the 10 plagues that God sent upon the Egyptians. Wow. These are the same people
that Pharaoh said, get out of town. And the people said, you
want my jewels? You want any gold? Uh-huh. You
want my silver? Yeah. Take it all, just go. And they go out with great wealth,
with a high hand. And these are the same people
who witnessed the Red Sea open up very, very wide. And the people,
all of them went through on dry ground. And they got to the other side and
the Egyptians, they're making haste to come right through that
same opening. I don't know who the leader of
those were, but he wasn't too smart. I mean, you know, last
time He came to that place, it was just water. There's something
different here, and the difference is because it's the people of
God are there. See, God opens a highway, a highway
of safety for His people, a highway of salvation. Christ is that
way. All the way through to the other
end. And they go in. Their chariot
wheels start falling off. The horses are bucking, and I
can just see them. I can just see them there, and
that jello either side. Suddenly, it like dissolves,
and the waters just come back. These are the Israelites who
experienced all those things. And then they get to the far
side and they see all those Egyptians washing up on shore. Moses, lead us in a song. Let's sing a song of redemption.
Let's rejoice in the Lord. Oh, how good God is to us. And they start singing. Miriam,
you ladies join in now with your timbrels and you sing too. It's these same people who murmured
at Marah. Brought us out here to die of
thirst. And God sweetened the waters
with a tree. And somebody emailed me, thanked
me for the message which I brought on that. I tell you, the cross
of Christ The gospel of substitution and satisfaction. It won't make
the trial go away, but it sure will make it sweeter. And it's
like I talked to a lady today, in fact two ladies today, who
both essentially said the same thing. Both of them having physical
issues. Said, it's the Lord. I rejoice
in him. bringing his will to pass. These people are now murmuring,
complaining, upset. Aren't you thankful God doesn't
reward you according to your iniquities? He didn't reward these people
according to their iniquities. I mean, they're murmuring on
every hand. We're talking about patients
a while ago. These are some impatient people. We want bread, we want
it right now. It got to the waters of Mer,
we want water, we want it right now. The whole congregation. And God
said, here's what I'm gonna do for Israel. I'm gonna open up
the windows of heaven. Oh no, we're gonna pour out fire
and brimstone, no. It's gonna rain, it's going to
rain. Listen, when God sends rain,
there's an abundance of it. I'm gonna rain bread from heaven
upon us. And don't you feel that way as
you think about your own sinfulness and depravity? God rained the
gospel of grace into my heart. He rained spiritual life into
me. He just opened up the windows
of heaven and he poured out, poured out into my soul the very
life, the life that is the Christ himself. Manna. And we know that the manna which
Jehovah provided for Israel is a beautiful type of the food
that God has provided for our souls. The food is his own word. Written word, which I dealt with
last week. And the incarnate word, which
I want to deal with a little bit this evening. And I can barely
get into the rest of the message, but I want you to turn to John
chapter six, Can't hardly preach about the bread from heaven that
God sent without referring to our Lord Jesus in John chapter
six. John chapter six, and you will
remember the context that our Lord has fed 5,000 men plus.
plus or in addition to the women and the children, with a little
boy's lunch. That's a story that a lot of
us learned in Sunday school years ago, and Sunday school teachers
here, you've taught that. It's such a wonderful lesson
here. That little lad, and the Lord fed them all. And then the
next day, some of them followed him around the sea, the Lake
of Gennesaret, and they followed him. And so the issue of bread
came up, and the bread that the Israelites feasted upon in the
wilderness, what we're talking about back there in Exodus chapter
16. And I'll begin at verse 31. John 6, 31. They said to our
Savior, our fathers did eat manna in the desert. As it is written,
he gave them bread from heaven to eat, but they left out the
word Lord. The Lord gave them bread from
heaven to eat. Verse 32, then Jesus said unto
them, verily, verily, and we know something very weighty is
about to be said. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. He wasn't in heaven
to send it. But my Father giveth you the
true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is, and
this is just a little two letter word, but boy is it big. For
the bread of God is he, it's somebody, which cometh down from
heaven and giveth life unto the world. Our Lord takes that story and he says, that's really about
me. That's about me. I remember I
grew up in a free will, pre-millennial, King James Version, air conditioned
church in Bassett, Virginia. And I'd learned all of these
stories from when I was real little. But they didn't bring Christ
in. And I'm gonna tell you something, if we're not shown Christ from
the Old Testament, whoever's behind the pulpit, he has failed. Or if it's a Sunday school teacher,
he or she has failed. Our Lord identified himself as
being that true bread, which comes down from heaven. He said
in verse 35, Jesus said unto them, I am, I am the bread of
life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But
I said unto you that ye also have seen me and you don't believe, In fact, you know what? A little
bit further over here, and I forget exactly which verse it is. Oh,
look over here, and I'll just kind of tie this together, and
then I got one more thing I wanna show you next, it's 16. But look at verse 60. I'm gonna
jump around here a little bit. Many therefore of his disciples,
his pupils, his students, when they heard this, when they heard
his teaching, said, this isn't hard, this is intolerable, this
is offensive saying, this is an offensive saying, this is
offensive doctrine. We don't like your doctrine.
Who can hear it? Who's gonna listen to this kind
of preaching? When Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples, those very people, guess what? They did exactly
what their forefathers did. I'm telling you, it's contagious.
It's so contagious, it has carried through hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of years. They're still murmuring. They
murmured at him. And he said unto them, let this
offend you. All doubt is removed as to who
the man pictures. Go back to Exodus 16. I'm going
to show you one more thing, and then the Lord willing, next Wednesday,
I'll just pick up where I'm going to leave off tonight. Point number
one of 14 points. Here's point number one. I'm going to give you this to
know. It's what the Lord said in verse
7. And in the morning, then you
shall see the glory of the Lord. And then look again at verse
10. And it came to pass as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation
of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness
and said, behold. Remember that's the Holy Spirit's
exclamation mark. Behold the glory of the Lord. It appeared in the cloud. Before Moses had finished and
Aaron had finished speaking here in these first few words, beginning
the chapter, they looked toward the wilderness, out through the
wilderness of sin. They looked straight toward Mount
Sinai. And of course, there was a pillar
of cloud. but there was something unusual
about that pillar of cloud. The glory of God shined in that
cloud. There was more than a common
brightness. There was a radiance about that
cloud that went before them, a bright beam of light and glory
shining in it. Christ who is the brightness
of the Father's glory. revealed himself. He's the express
image of the person of God. He appeared in some visible display
of his great majesty, which made it obvious to them there's the
glory of the Lord. And I'll tell you what, when
the Lord shows you Christ the Savior, Christ, your manna who
feeds your soul. Christ, your redeemer. Christ,
your righteousness. Christ, your all in all. You'll
see the glory of God shining in the face of Christ Jesus.
A radiance, a radiance that you will not see anywhere else. except in the Son of God who
loved us and who gave himself for us. Well, that's it. Let's sing a closing song, 291. Number 291. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more.