1 Corinthians chapter 10. Paul says in verse 1, moreover
brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all
our fathers were under the cloud, that cloudy pillar that led them
through the wilderness. and they all passed through the
sea, speaking of the Red Sea parting and them all walking
through it, and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in
the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, that manna
that came down from heaven, and did all drink that same spiritual
drink, but they drank of the spiritual rock that followed
them, and that rock was Christ, but with many of them, that were
under the pillar and under the cloud. God was not well pleased. As a matter of fact, as far as
the adults go, only two of hundreds of thousands of people came into
the promised land. Now that ought to make me and
you think. Only two. You know, we think, doesn't seem
like there are many believers. Yeah, it does seem that way.
And it's always been that way. And in the Old Testament time,
remember, only two of all those hundreds of thousands that left
Israel who were over 20 years old made it in. They were all overthrown, the
scripture says, in the wilderness. Verse six, now these things were
our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil
things as they also lusted. Now what comes into your mind
when you hear that verse of scripture? Well, we think of sexual sin. We think of materialism. We think
of lusting after more. having more power, having more
of this world, lusting after evil things. And that is something,
by the grace of God, I hope I'm just content with Christ. And
I don't want to lust after evil things. But really, if that's
all we get from this, we ought not lust after evil things. We
ought not want a bigger house. We ought not want more. We ought
not want more of this world and so on. If that's all we get out
of this, we've missed the meaning. And that's very important for
us to understand that. If that's all we get, we miss
the meaning. Now this is a reference to what
took place in Numbers chapter 11. Would you turn with me there,
Numbers chapter 11. I want to read, first of all,
the last couple of verses of this chapter. Verse 33, and while the flesh
was yet between their teeth, Eret was chewed. The wrath of
the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote
the people with a very great plague. And he called the name
of that place Kibroth-het-teh-avah because there they buried the
people that lusted. It's actually called the graves
of lust. That's what he named this place,
where these people died and they buried them. And Moses named
that place the graves of lust. Now, let's look at the beginning
of the chapter in verse four. And the mixed multitude that
was among them fell in lusting. Now, who was this mixed multitude?
These were not Israelites, but they went with Israel. They saw
the benefit of being an Israelite. If I saw the Lord acting on behalf
of some people the way he did on behalf of Israel, I'd wanna
join up with him. They felt like this would be to their advantage
to be with him. But I think it's interesting,
they're called the mixed multitude. And that word means interwoven. blended. They mixed works and
grace. They mixed law and gospel. They were the mixed multitude. They were not true Israelites.
They were the mixed multitude. And the mixed multitude that
was among them fell a lusting And the children of Israel also
wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember
the fish, which we did eat at Egypt freely, the cucumbers and
the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but
now our soul is dried away. There's nothing at all beside
this manna before our eyes. We are sick and tired of manna. That's all we have. We want something
else. It became dissatisfied. The scripture
says they fell a lusting and it was because of them being
tired of manna. That's all they had to eat. And
they said, we want meat. We want something else. This
manna is not sufficient for us. It's not sufficient for our taste. We remember, and he names six
different, the leeks, the onions, the garlic, that we had freely. The melons on the other side
of the Nile when we were in Egypt, things were better then. Now
all we have is manna and our soul is drying We need something
else. We need a variety. Variety is
the spice of life. We need something other than
this manna. Verse seven. The manna is described,
and the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as
the color of bdellium. And the people went about and
gathered it, and the scripture says they ground it in meals. or beat it in a mortar and baked
it in pans and make cakes of it. They were trying to do something
to make it taste different. We're tired of this. And they
did whatever they could. They baked it, they cooked it
in different ways, they ground it up, trying to make it taste
better to them. It no longer tasted good. Now, what does the scriptures
say of the taste? The taste of it was as fresh
oil. It didn't taste that way to them,
but that was still the way the taste. You see, the taste had
not changed. They had changed. They no longer
enjoyed this manna. We remember the garlic and the
melons and the stuff that tasted so good. And now all we have
is this manna. Now something took place later
very similar to this. Turn to Numbers 21. Verse four. And they journeyed from Mount
Hor by way of the Red Sea to encompass the land of Edom and
the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. You ever been there? You're discouraged. You're not up. You're not positive. You're discouraged because of
the way. I didn't think it was gonna be
like this. Disappointed. Things have not been as you thought
they would have been. They're discouraged because of
the way. Now, I can say this with full
conviction. Anytime we're discouraged, and
that's the common conundrum of humanity, discouragement, but
anytime we're discouraged, we're forgetting that the Lord's on
the throne. Isn't that so? Anytime. But the people were
much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against
God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us
out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there's no bread, neither
is there any water. And our soul loatheth this light
bread. Now all of a sudden, manna had
become light bread. Insubstantial. Not enough to
truly satisfy. It's light bread. We don't like
light bread. Kind of like light mayonnaise
or light, you know, it's not the same. We don't, this is light
bread. We don't like Light bread, we
want substantial bread that can satisfy us. Our souls loathe,
that's strong language, isn't it? Our souls loathe this light
bread and here's what they had to say about manna. It's drying up our soul. It's not enough to satisfy us.
Look back at verse six of Numbers chapter 11. But now our soul is dried away. There's nothing at all beside
this manna before our eyes. All we have is manna and our
souls are drying up. Have you, I know you have. I have. I've seen people over
the years grow weary of the gospel. It becomes dry to them. Dry doctrine. Cold. Drying up our souls. And these
people do not perceive it's not the doctrine that was dry. It's
simply they became dry and the doctrine became dry to them. They'd become hardened and didn't
perceive that the problem was not the doctrine. But then the
manna had not changed, they changed. Now that's what's going on here.
The manna has not changed, they changed. There's nothing at all
beside this manna. Our souls loathe this light bread. Now let me tell you what I'm
not talking about. We have all heard preaching that seemed to
be lifeless. You've heard sermons where you
didn't get anything out of it. It seemed lifeless. It seemed dry. You weren't being blessed. You
were not being spoken to. Perhaps the preacher had not
prepared or what he says seems cliche. There's no power or freshness
in his preaching. No heart. He may say things that
you wouldn't disagree with. You would agree with what he
says, but you're getting nothing out of the preaching. Heart,
there's no word for you, there's no power. It's almost like listening to
artificial intelligence. You hear the language and you
know there's no heart behind it. No heart. You may tell the preacher, probably
best not to, Keep your thoughts to yourself. If you think my
preaching is dry, don't tell me. Say, that was great. But
the point is there can be preaching where
the preacher says the same things over and over, ad nauseum, and
if you tell him he's preaching the same things, he'd reply,
that's what I'm supposed to do, but that's not what I'm talking
about. I'm not talking about that, and we've all heard that,
and please pray for me, because I preach thousands and thousands
of times, and I will dry up, and I will not be fresh if I
don't have the power of the Holy Spirit in my preaching, so pray
for me. Pray that the Lord would enable
me to preach the gospel and the power of His Spirit. This is talking, this is not
talking about hearing powerless preaching because we've all heard
powerless preaching and it's difficult to deal with and pray
for the man that the Lord would quicken him and that he would
enable him to not preach that way. But what this is talking
about is talking about hearing the gospel and saying, I need
more. This is what this is referring
to. is not enough. I need more than
this to motivate me, to move me. This is not enough. If this is all I have, my soul
will dry up. That's what they said about this
man. I'm tired of manna. That's why
I entitled this message. I'm tired of manna. Verse 10. Now verse 9, after, and when
the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon
it. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families,
every man in the door of his tent. We can't take this manna
anymore. We want something else. This
is just not enough. I want something that tastes
better. I want something that moves me more. I want something
else. This is not getting it. They
were weeping, upset. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled greatly. And Moses also was displeased. He heard all this. The Lord heard
all this. And Moses, verse 11, and Moses
said to the Lord, wherefore has thou afflicted thy servant? Wherefore
have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden
of all this people upon me? He was so upset, I can't take
it anymore. I can't take dealing with this anymore. And as a matter
of fact, he said, give me some other people, put the burden
on them too, so I don't have to bear it alone. And Moses made
that request and that's where the Lord gave him those 70 elders
to help him out. But it didn't take away from
the problem of these people, the way they were conducting
themselves. Turn with me for a moment to
Psalm 106. Verse 13. They soon forget his works. Psalm 106 verse 13. They soon
forget his works. They waited not for his counsel,
but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in
the desert. And he gave them their request.
They were given quail till they couldn't eat anymore. But look
what it says next. He sent leanness into their soul. Oh, I don't want that to happen
to me. For the Lord to send leanness into my soul, to give me my request.
He gave him a lot of quail, but send leanness into my soul. Now
let's pick up reading back in verse 18 of Numbers chapter 11. Say thou unto the people, sanctify
yourselves again tomorrow and you shall eat flesh. For you
have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give
us flesh to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt. Therefore the
Lord will give you flesh, and you shall eat. You shall not
eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor
twenty days, but even a whole month, until it come out of your
nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you, because you despise
the Lord which is among you. And you have wept before him,
saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? And Moses said, the
people among whom I am are 600,000 footmen. And now said, I'll 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, is the Lord's hand whacked
short? Thou shalt now see whether my
word shall come to pass. Look at verse 31. And they went forth, when? from
the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall
by the camp, as it were, a day's journey on this side, and as
it were, a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp,
as it were, two cubits high upon the face of the earth." Now,
that means for three feet high, there were quail everywhere. That's a lot of quail. That's
what they were asking for. We want meat. He gave them this
meat, didn't he? I mean, you couldn't even walk
three feet high, piled with these feathered fowl that they were
going to eat. Verse 32, and the people stood up all that day
and all that night and all the next day, and they gathered the
quails. He that gathered least gathered 10 omers, and they spread
them abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the
flesh was yet between their teeth, Eret was chewed. The wrath of
the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote
the people with a very great plague and called the name of
the place Kibrothatehah, because there they buried the people
that lusted. Graves of lust, where they were
dissatisfied. And really what this is, is they
were dissatisfied with the gospel. That's it. The gospel was not
sufficient to satisfy them. They needed something else. And Paul tells us that this was
written as an example for us not to follow. Now, question. I'm asking myself this. I'm asking
you this. Am I content with Christ alone? Am I satisfied to be saved by
Jesus Christ? Is there something else I need
to excite me? To motivate me? To stir me on? Am I satisfied with the Lord
Jesus Christ? Now, I want to grow in grace.
And if you're a believer, you do too. I want to grow in grace
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If
you did not read, hear Gabe Starlinger's message on growing in grace,
I suggest you get and listen to it. It was a great message. And one of the things that thrilled
me so much about that message, and I made this statement, Every
time I hear grow in grace, I think I need to grow. I need to do
something. I need to up my game. I need
to be more humble. I need to be more loving. I need
to be more gracious. I need to be more zealous. I
need to pray more. I need to read the Bible more.
Grow in grace. And the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior. Jesus Christ. You grow in grace.
It's growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. To Him be the glory, both now
and forever. When you really desire Him having
all the glory, you know what that means? You're growing in
grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to grow in grace. I don't
want to be static. I don't want to be stagnant.
I don't want to be like the Laodiceans, neither cold or hot. I don't
want to be like the church at Sardis. You've got a name that
you live and you're dead. You're living in the past. You're
living on your past experience. I want to grow in my need of
grace. I want to grow in my dependence
on grace. I want to grow in my confidence
of the grace of God. I want to grow in my rejoicing
in the grace of God. I want to grow in my understanding
of the grace of God. I want to grow in my love of
the grace of God. I want to be gracious. I want
to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. But I never want to be tired
of man. The gospel of Christ is the true
bread that came down from heaven. Now would you turn with me to
2 Corinthians chapter 11. Paul says in verse two, I'm jealous
over you with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. Now what's the simplicity
that's in Christ? All you need is manna. And you're
satisfied with that manna. And you do not need anything
but that manna. You are completely satisfied
to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. The singleness, the onlyness
of Christ. I love when The Lord was transfigured
before the disciples, before Peter and James and John, and
his face shined as the sun, and his raiment was glistening white
as light, and they didn't know what to say, and they watched
as the Lord, Moses and Elijah, appeared to the Lord, and they
were speaking to him on the manner of transfiguration, and at this
time, Somehow, I don't know how else to say it, His deity was
bursting through His humanity. And they could see this is not
a mere man. And Moses and Elijah They speak
of the decease which he should accomplish. Think about that.
When Moses and Elijah are talking to the Lord Jesus Christ at that
time, what are they talking about? They're talking about his death.
What he would accomplish by his death. The full glory of God.
The complete salvation of his people. Even in glory, that's
what they were talking about. This decease which he should
accomplish. Peter answered, nobody asked
him anything, but he answered, Lord, it's good for us to be
here. Let us make three tabernacles. Now, could he have said anything worse
than that? I don't think he could have. This is a disciple of Christ. This is Peter. He said, Lord,
it's good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Elijah, and one for Moses. At that time,
the scripture says a bright cloud came down and overshadowed them. They hit the dirt. They were
scared. And they heard from the bright
cloud the voice of the father. This is my beloved son. Hear ye him. And they're afraid to look. They're
down, I can see them down and just waiting for a lightning
bolt to, all of a sudden the Lord touched them. And the scripture
says they saw no man save Jesus only. Jesus only is the simplicity
of Christ. The onlyness. of Jesus Christ. The character of God, the being
of God, the attributes of God, the essence of God is seen in
Jesus only. What do we know of eternity past?
That's a mysterious subject, isn't it? But what do we know
about eternity past, before there was a creation? Jesus only. That's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Why did God elect a people? Jesus only. Why did he elect
you? Jesus only. You have never been separate
from him. What is the Bible all about? Jesus only. How can God be just
and justify the ungodly? How can he do something like
that? How can he be absolutely just and yet justify somebody
who's unjust when he said, I'll by no means clear the guilty.
How can he do that? Jesus only. What is the ground
of salvation? Jesus only. What is the object
of faith? Jesus only. What's the reason
for forgiveness? Jesus only. What is the message to preach?
Jesus only. What about all the other stuff
in the Bible? How can you say that when there's so much other
stuff in the Bible? What do you mean Jesus only? All the other stuff in the Bible,
if you don't understand what I'm saying, you don't understand
any of that stuff. That's the truth. If you understand
Jesus only, you won't be asking things like, well, what else?
Tell me how to live. Tell me what to do. If you think
in those terms, you've never really seen Jesus only. That's the simplicity of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Who gets the glory in salvation? Jesus only. What is the only motivation that's
right? Jesus only. Everything else is
wrong. That's the simplicity that's
in Christ. You don't need anything else.
Somebody says, well, you need to, I need something else. Then
you've never seen Jesus only. You've never seen the glory of
this person. If you had, you wouldn't be thinking I need something
else. You just wouldn't. Turn with me for a moment to
Colossians chapter three. Verse nine. Lie not one to another, seeing
that you put off the old man with his deeds and have put on
the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. Do you know that every believer
is a creative act of God created in Christ Jesus? How much did you have to do with
the first creation? Not a thing. How much do you
have to do with the second creation? Not a thing. You're a creation,
the creation of God. You put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew. Circumcision or uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but Christ is all. And in all. Jesus Christ is all that God
is. Show us the Father, and it sufficeth
us. You're looking at it. That's
what the Lord said. He that has seen me has seen
the Father. He's all God requires. He's all in the scriptures. He's
all in salvation. He's all I have. He's all I need
and He's all I want. You know, the straight gate is
so narrow that if you have anything other than Christ alone, you
can't get through. Christ is all. He's all in my salvation. He's
all in my acceptance. He's all in my motivation. He
is all. Paul said in Galatians chapter
six, verse 14, and remember who's speaking here. This is the apostle
Paul. This is the man that God brought
up into the third heavens and taught him the gospel directly.
This is the man who wrote 13 books of scripture. What did
Paul say? He said, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's all
I glory, that's all I have confidence in. What about when you were
taken up in the third heavens? No, no. That's not what I glory
in. That's not what I have confidence
in. I have confidence in who Christ is and what he accomplished
on Calvary's tree and nothing else. That's eating manna and not being
tired of it. And it motivates you. It blesses
you. All you want is manna. In Hebrews 1, 3, we read, when
he had by himself, don't miss the by himself. It doesn't say
he purged our sins. If it said he purged our sins,
it'd be true, but it says he by himself purged our sins. You
know what that means? You and I didn't have any participation
in this thing. None. He did it by himself. resting in that is eating manna
and not wanting anything else, not needing anything else. By
one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. By that one offering, by his
death on the cross, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. But don't I need to be taught
how to live? If you eat that manna, you know
how to live. You live by the faith of the son of God who loved
you and gave himself for you. If someone is bucking against
manna only, it's because they've never really understood my grace
is sufficient for thee. That's the issue. Our souls are
tired. They're drying up, having nothing
but manna. We want something else. If I ever see the beauty and
the excellency of Jesus Christ, my manna, I won't want anything
else. And if I'm wanting something
else, it's because I've never tasted the heavenly manna. Not
truly. Now this is our greatest danger.
I am tired of manna. I find no satisfaction in manna. I need something else. Manor
has become light bread, insubstantial. It's not enough to satisfy me. I've got to have something else.
I've got to look to something else. I've got to look at something
other than this manor. May God give me and you the grace
And this is a gift of grace to find complete satisfaction in
this glorious meal of man of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that does everything for
us. We understand the whole Bible in light of this one truth of
Jesus Christ and him crucified, the manna. We understand the
whole Bible. And to be stressing out, I need something else, means
we haven't really seen the beauty of that manna. And we've never
really tasted how good it tastes, because if we do, we won't want
anything else. May God put that in our hearts. Let's pray together. Lord, we're so easy to go off, be led astray by our
own wickedness, by our self-righteousness, by trying to work something up,
by trying to do something outwardly to prove to others things that we have no business doing. Lord,
cause us to feed, to truly feed in our hearts and souls on this
heavenly manna, thy dear son. And Lord, deliver us from lusting
after anything else, because Lord, that's what it would be.
It'd be lusting after something other than your son. Deliver
us from that for Christ's sake. Take this word and bless it for
your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.