On that note, I'm happy to report
that being a grandparent is everything all you grandparents cracked
it up to be. You did not over exaggerate. If you would, open
your Bibles with me to Numbers chapter 11. It is such a blessing
to be able to be with y'all here this evening. You know my great
love for y'all and for your pastors. It's a blessing to be here. I
titled the message this evening, Why hast thou afflicted thy servant?
I took my title from verse 11 of Numbers chapter 11. And Moses
said unto the Lord, wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?
And wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou
layest the burden of all this people upon me? Now the children
of Israel that Moses was leading are just like you and me by nature.
They were so concerned about the flesh that they simply couldn't
trust the Lord to provide for them and bring them to the land
that he had promised to give them. Even though in the past
the Lord had miraculously and wondrously delivered them and
provided for them many times, yet when the slightest difficulty,
the slightest pain, the slightest hindrance to the flesh comes
up, They were so focused on the flesh that they could not trust
the Lord to deliver them. And that attitude displeased
the Lord. It was evil to the Lord. And
their attitude made their leader Moses so miserable that Moses
said, having to lead this people is an affliction from the Lord. We would think, oh Moses, you've
been given this honor, you know, to lead Israel. Moses called
it an affliction. He asked the Lord, what did I
ever do to deserve this heartache? And you know, the children of
Israel, I mean, I feel for Moses. They constantly complained about
everything. even though the Lord so richly
blessed them. That's just very convicting to
me, how easily they complain. They're good at it. Look at verse
one of Numbers chapter 11. And when the people complained,
it displeased the Lord. It was evil to the Lord. And
the Lord heard it and His anger was kindled. And the fire of
the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the
uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses,
And when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.
And he called the name of the place Tibera, because the fire
of the Lord burnt among them. Now you've known people like
this, somebody they just constantly complain about everything and
everyone. It's tough to be around, isn't
it? And that complaining, they're not just complaining about the
people around them, and you know, it's easy to find fault. They're
complaining about the Lord, about the Lord's providence, about
the Lord's dealing with them, about the Lord's provision for
them. And the children of Israel could not be satisfied with the
provision of the Lord. Look at verse 4. 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? Let's skip down to verse 6. We'll come back to verse 5
in a minute. But now our soul is dried away. There's nothing
at all beside this manna." And that's how they said this manna,
just this disgusted, this manna before our eyes. And the manna
was as coriander seed and the color thereof is the color of
bedellum. And the people went about and gathered it and ground
it in meals or beat it in a mortar and baked it in pans and made
cakes of it. And the taste of it was as the
taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the
camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. Now the Lord gave
the people this manna freely every day, every night, except
for the Sabbath day when they collected twice as much, so they
didn't work on the Sabbath day, but every evening when the dew
fell, they went out and collected this manna freely, as much as
they could eat. I mean, these people are not
going hungry by any stretch of the imagination. They had plenty
of manna, and that manna is bread from heaven. It's a picture of
Christ, the bread of life. Christ, the bread from heaven.
And that wasn't good enough for them. They wanted meat too. They
complained about their lack of meat so much. They even said,
they went so far as to say, it was better for me to be a slave
back in Egypt. Verse five, we remember the fish
which we did eat in Egypt freely. cucumbers and the melons and
the leeks and the onions and the garlic. Their complaining
went so far as to say I had it better when I was a slave in
Egypt. Now I know about slavery just
what I've read, but it's hard for me to imagine someone that's
been a slave and is now set free to say, I'd rather be a slave. These people must have forgotten
what it was like to be a slave. To have no recourse, to have
no, you're not in control of your life at all. They must have
forgotten one day, Pharaoh sent his army and they took every
boy baby two years older and younger and killed him. Just
threw him in the aisle, killed him. You're saying that's better than
what I, now? They must have forgotten Pharaoh getting mad at them one
day and saying, you have to make bricks without straw. And if
your number, your count of the bricks goes down, I'm going to
beat you. And he did beat them with whips and rods and how they
treated them. And now all they can think about
is their bellies and say, you know, I was better off when I
was a slave. Now what makes this worse is
remember this, Egypt, bondage in Egypt is a picture of bondage
to the sin and to the law. They're actually complaining
and saying it's better to be a slave to sin than Christ's
free man. They're complaining and saying
the law can provide for me better than God provides for me by His
grace. It's no wonder Moses said, leading this people is an affliction. Why do I have to keep doing this?
Now if you will for just a moment, Consider Moses as a pastor, as
the leader of this people, leading God's local flock. I don't want
to be the guy that makes my pastor's job harder. I don't want to be
the guy to make him miserable every day. I've been at this long enough
to know this. Somebody will. Somebody's going to. I don't
want it to be me. I really don't. I don't want
it to be me. Years and years ago, Brother Henry told me one
time, he said, you're going to be somebody's pastor someday.
And I thought, this man, this is the sign. The man's lost it.
He's lost it. But he started telling me things. And it shocked me, the trouble
people gave this man. I mean, it just, I couldn't believe
it. I don't want to make life harder
for the man. He's not perfect. Whoever he is, he's not perfect.
But I don't want to make life harder for the man who's doing
his best to feed Christ to my soul. Look over Hebrews chapter
13 for just a second. Hebrews chapter 13. Look first at verse seven. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, which
is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Look
over verse 17. Obey them that have the rule
over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy,
and not with grief, for that's unprofitable for you. Now what
is it to obey the pastor who has the rule in the church? Well,
in case you don't already know it, let me make this clear. It's
not him micromanaging your life. You know how to live your life.
That's not it. Obeying the pastor who has the rule in the church
is believing his message. It's believing on Christ. He's
there to preach Christ to you. It's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. To obey his message is to believe
on Christ. It's to cast your soul on Christ. Now that's profitable for you.
Oh, that's profitable. And to refuse to trust Christ,
to refuse to listen to the message of the gospel, just because for
whatever reason, you've got crossways with the pastor, that's not profitable
for your soul. Very dangerous for your soul,
as a matter of fact. Now you take that principle,
and you apply it to your interactions with everybody else too, particularly
those people right here. Try to make it a little easier.
These are your brothers. These are your sisters. Try to
make it a little easier for them. Don't be so hard to get along
with because you're complaining all the time. You're a Debbie
Downer all the time. Don't do that. We've got enough
trials and heartaches. We don't need to make it harder
for each other along the way. We really don't. Just do whatever
you can to make the journey through this life easier for your brethren,
because I promise you they're having a tough day. It's already
tough enough. Now, that's something that would
be helpful to us if we'd heed it. And if you read many of the
old writers, that's all you're going to get from this passage.
But that's not the point of this passage. The point of this passage,
just like every other passage of scripture, is Christ. The
point of this passage is this. Christ is better than Moses. He has done everything that Moses
could not do. Now look back in our text. Let
me give you Numbers chapter 11. Let me give you six examples
of this. Number one is this, the father
afflicted his son for the sin of his people. Moses wondered,
what have I done to earn this affliction from the Lord? How
have I not found favor in God's sight that he's put this affliction
to lead this people upon me? Well, how much of an affliction
that was, you can gauge. But I'm telling you this, the
Lord Jesus Christ was afflicted. Oh, he was afflicted, and he
knew why. He cried from the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? He didn't ask that question for
his own information. He already knew the answer to that question.
He asked that question so you and I would know what would happen.
The father forsook the son because the son was bearing the sin of
his people. The father afflicted his son more harshly that He
afflicted anyone ever before or since. And the Father did
that to His Son who had done nothing but please Him, ever. Remember there in Proverbs 8,
it's the Savior speaking. He talks about before time began,
before creation, He was daily with His Father and He was daily
the delight of His Father. The Father delighted in the Son.
His son was made flesh, dwelt here on the earth, made under
the law. He obeyed his father's law perfectly. So well he honored and magnified
it. The father was so pleased with his son, he spoke audibly
from heaven and said so. He hadn't said that to anybody
else, but did by the son. Oh, the father's pleased with
his son. Then can you tell me why the
father would afflict him so harshly? I can tell you why. It's because
the sin of God's elect was made Christ's. It was laid on him. Moses asked, why have you laid
the burden of this people upon me? Oh, the father, he laid the
burden of sin, of all of the sin of all of his people. He
put that burden on his son. Now that burden, my sin alone,
I'm not able to bear it. It would damn me. Your sin alone,
you're not able to bear it. You're not able to bear the weight
of it, the burden of it, it would damn you. The Father took all
of the sin of all of his people at one time and put that entire
burden on Christ our Savior and it didn't crush him. He carried
it away. He carried it away. The sin of
God's elect actually became Christ's sin. when the father made him
sin. Now he never committed a sin,
but their sin became his sin. All their complaining is now
his complaining. All of their sin against God
is now Christ's. And the father punished his son
with everything that sin deserves. Look over at Lamentations chapter
one. Lamentations chapter one. There
has never been more harsh punishment than the punishment that Christ
received from his father at Calvary. Lamentations 1 verse 12. Here's
his suffering. Is it nothing to you? Verse 12,
all ye that pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow like
unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath
afflicted me in the day, of his fierce anger. It wasn't the Jews,
it wasn't the Roman soldiers, it wasn't the Pilate, although
that was great suffering. The suffering that is like no
other is the suffering wherewith the Lord, his Father afflicted
him on the day of his fierce anger. From above hath he sent
fire into my bones, and it prevailed against them. He hath spread
a net for my feet. He hath turned me back. He hath
made me desolate and faint all the day. The yoke of my transgressions. Not the transgressions of my
people that have been laid upon me. He says the yoke of my transgression
is bound by his hand. Their wreaths are come up upon
my neck. He has made my strength to fall.
The Lord has delivered me into their hands from whom I am not
able to rise up. No one ever suffered like our
Savior suffered. And in his sufferings, The Lord
Jesus Christ did what Moses could never do. You know, Moses, you
know the story when he led Israel out of Egypt. He led them to
the brink of the promised land. The story is told over and over
and over and over again. Moses had to constantly go intercede
with the people for the Lord, with the Lord, didn't he? Constantly.
He had to go make an atonement for their sins. It's just constant
with Moses. not Christ our Savior. When Christ
suffered for sin, he offered one sacrifice for sin forever. You know why it's just one? Because
that one sacrifice got the job done. That one sacrifice put
away all of the sin of all of God's people so that God who
sees everything says it's not there. That's justification. Christ justified his people.
He made them to have no sin. So God's not angry anymore. There's
no reason for Him to be angry. Christ took away the sin that
would make God angry. Now what's left? What's left
in God for His people? Nothing but mercy and grace and
love and forgiveness and acceptance because of the sacrifice of Christ.
One time. Moses had to do it over and over
and over again. Aaron had to offer those sacrifices over and
over and over again. I don't know how many day of
atonement. You know, once a year is a day of atonement. Aaron
had to go through that whole process on the day of atonement.
I don't know how many times he did it. But when he died, they
weren't done. His son had to pick up and do
it too. over and over and over and over again. Christ just had
to do it once. He never had to offer another
sacrifice for sin because the Father's anger was appeased,
took away God's anger from his people forever, something Moses
never could do. And part of the reason why Moses
could never do that is Moses is a picture of the law. So that
brings me to my second point, Moses, the law. can't give life
to anybody, but Christ gives life to his people. Look at verse
12 here in our text, numbers 11. And Moses said unto the Lord,
wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? Wherefore have I
not found favor in thy sight that thou layest the burden of
all this people upon me? Have I conceived all these people?
Have I begotten them? Did I give them life? How is
it they became my responsibility? They're not my children. I didn't
give them life. They're somebody else's children.
We were talking about this back in the study. One of the things
that I have seen so far that is so wonderful about being a
grandfather is I got no responsibility. This kid, that's not my responsibility.
When we brought Holly home from the hospital, Petrified. I mean, I was petrified. Janet's
mom stayed with us for a few days, and she left, and I thought,
what are you doing? I mean, Janet, I know she knows
everything to do, but the woman's got to sleep. You're leaving
me alone with this child? I mean, the responsibility. I
mean, it's scared the living daylights out of me. Now I've
got a grandson. Man, it's just all the cream,
because I've got no responsibility. Moses is saying, why do I have
this responsibility? I didn't give these people life.
They're not my children. I didn't take them to raise. Aren't you glad? That's not what
our savior said. When the father chose the people
to save and he gave them to his son to save, and he looked at
their sin, aren't you glad he didn't say, that's not my responsibility?
No, he took it willingly and gladly. Christ died as the substitute
for his people, so now they must live. See, God's justice demand
Christ die. When he was made sin, God's justice
demand that he died. Now that Christ has died, that
very same justice of God that has to be done demands life for
everyone that Christ died for. Christ died and rose again to
ensure that All of his people are given life. That's why Christ
came. Let me show you that in John
chapter one. John chapter one. Verse 11. He came unto his own,
and his own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power, to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name." Now, why did they believe on his name?
Which were born. They were born, not of blood,
nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. They're born by the will of God. That's why Christ came to give
his people life. Look over 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter
1. Christ came to give His people
life. 1 Peter 1 verse 3, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, with according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope,
a lively living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. See, the resurrection of Christ
from the dead is what guarantees all His people must have life. Christ rose from the dead because
all the sin laid on him is put away under his blood. If he was
made sin for you, you have no sin and you must live. You must
live. Moses couldn't give life to anybody. Moses led, they say, three million
people out of Egypt. Some say that was just the men. The number could be bigger than
that, but just suppose it's three million. That's a bigger crowd
than I can imagine. He led three million people through the Red
Sea on dry ground. And every single person passed
through that Red Sea, 20 years and older, died in the wilderness.
Moses couldn't keep them alive. Moses could not give them rest
in the promised land. But the Lord Jesus Christ gives
all of his people life, a lively, living hope. And this life is
eternal life. It's spiritual life. And that
life doesn't mean you gotta walk through the desert for 40 years.
It means you rest in Christ. Rest in him. All right, number
three. Moses, the law, couldn't carry
his people to the promised land. But Christ does. Look back in
our text again, verse 12. Moses said, have I conceived
all this people? Have I begotten them? That thou
shouldst say unto me, carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father
beareth a sucking child, unto the land which thou swearest
unto their fathers. Why have you given me this people
to carry? I can't carry them. Moses could
not carry those people that he led through the wilderness. He
couldn't carry them to the promised land. First of all, because Moses
was just a man. I mean, there's just so much
the guy can do. But more than that, much more
importantly, Moses represents the law. Moses, the law, cannot
bring Israel into the promised land. That land flowing with
milk and honey. It's a land of rest. It's a land
of plenty. And the law cannot lead those
people into the promised land. Joshua's got to do it. Moses
can't. Because the law never gives anybody
any rest, does it? All the law demands is more and
more and more work. Moses could not give the people
rest. But Christ gives his people rest. See, he fulfilled the law. Christ came and he obeyed the
law in every minute detail. every jot and every tittle, he
obeyed it perfectly for his people. And he gives them his obedience.
That's their righteousness. Because when he obeyed the law,
they were in him. They obeyed the law. Just like
we were in Adam when Adam sinned, God's elect were in Christ. When
he obeyed the law, you did too, if you're in him. And when Christ
obeyed the law, he took the law out of the way. He's taken the
law out of the way. Don't go over there looking for
it. It baffles the mind. Why would anyone who claims to
be a believer want to look to the law to find out how to live?
All the law can do is condemn you. Christ has taken the law
out of the way. Look to Christ, not anywhere
else. Look to Christ. When Christ took
the law out of the way, you know what that means for you and me?
There is nothing left to do. You don't have to keep the law
in order to earn a righteousness. You don't have to keep the law
in order to make God happy with you, which is a good thing, because
we can't. God's people have rest in Christ. Now, come to Christ. Come to him and have rest for
your soul. See, Christ did what Moses, the
law, could never do. Christ carries his people all
the way to glory. He gives them spiritual rest
in this life. It's rest, like I said a minute
ago, from having to keep the law, trying to earn your own
righteousness. You have a rest from that. Christ has given his
people rest from that. And Christ is going to come,
he's going to find his people, and he's going to carry them
all the way through this wilderness here below. And he's going to
bring them to glory. Isn't that what he told us when
he gave us the parable of the good shepherd? He said the good
shepherd came to seek and to save that which was lost. The 99 that don't need any saving,
he didn't come for them. But there's one lost out there.
And what did he do? He's a good shepherd. He went
and sought that sheep. And he didn't seek it in vain,
he found it. And when he found that sheep, he didn't put a leash
on that sheep. and say, now, come on and I'll
drag you all the way back to the fold. He didn't say that.
He didn't get out of shepherd's staff and start beating that
sheep and say, you dumb sheep, you're so dumb, why'd you come
out here? You're going the wrong way. You heard me calling, you
kept going. He just beat the sheep with his staff and say,
now, if you'll follow me the rest of the way, I'll have something
to eat for you at the fold. He didn't do that. He tenderly picks up that lost
sheep It's weak, it can't do anything for itself except go
the wrong way. He puts that sheep on his shoulders and he carries
it home rejoicing. The law can never do that, but
Christ does. He does that for all of his people
because of his love and his grace that he has reserved for his
people. All right, number four, the law can never feed our souls,
but Christ does. Verse 13 in our text, Moses asked,
when should I have flesh to give unto all this people? For they
weep unto me, saying, give us flesh that we may eat. And Moses
knew, what am I gonna do? I mean, this is not a lush hunting
ground they're in. They're in a wilderness. How's
he gonna come up with meat for all these people, you know? Now
remember, Moses is a picture of the law. Of course he can't
find meat for all those people, because the law can never feed
our souls. The law can't give us life and
the law can't feed our souls to sustain life. All the law
can do is condemn. All it can do is condemn us for
our sin. That's why I say don't look to the law to find out how
to live. You'll just be depressed all the time because all the
law can do is condemn and say you're not doing good enough.
But Christ, now He feeds His sheep and He feeds them all they
want. Christ alone is enough to satisfy
the hunger of all of his people. Now, you and I are born in this
world not hungering after Christ. So first thing the Lord does
is make us hunger and thirst after righteousness, and then
he feeds us. And the thing that makes this
so special about the Savior feeding his people He doesn't just go
to the grocery store and buy food and bring it home and give
it to us. He does something so much more special, so much more
glorious than that. He feeds us himself. Christ himself is the meat that
satisfies the spiritual hunger of his people. I show you that
over in John chapter six. John chapter six. Look what he says in verse 27. Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life, which gives life and sustains life, which the Son of Man shall
give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed.
And here the Savior said he gives his people this meat that give
them eternal life. And look at these self-righteous
religionists said, Immediately after he says, this is what I
give you, they say unto him, what shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Oh, they wanna work to earn it,
and the Lord says, I give it to you freely. I give it to you. In verse 29, Jesus answered and
said unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him
whom he has sent. Salvation comes, eternal life
comes by God-given faith. Never our works. The only way
you and I can have eternal life is to believe Christ, believe
on him. But now the Jews didn't understand
what the Lord was saying here. So later on in the chapter, verse
47, he tells it to them plainly. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am the bread
of life. Your fathers did eat manna in
the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am
the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of
this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The
Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, how can this man give
us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the son of
man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him." That's that union
with Christ. It dwells in me, and I in him.
As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father,
So he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is the
bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna
and are dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. Now the Lord here isn't saying
we have to eat his literal flesh like a cannibal or when we observe
the Lord's table, somehow we do some mumbo jumbo over the
bread and somehow it turns into the literal body, the flesh of
Christ. That's not so and that's not
what the Lord's saying. Eating represents believing on Christ. Believing, that's what the Lord's
talking about here, belief. It represents that vital union
with Christ. When you eat food, for long,
you have union with that food. It becomes part of all the cells
of your body. It becomes you. The believer
lays hold on Christ by faith, and we cling to him. See, that's
how we have life, is by being joined to Christ. Believers have
eternal life by union with Christ. Having Christ dwell in us. Christ in you. That's the hope
of glory. See, Christ does for his people
what the law can never do. He gives his people life. And he does it by faith. By faith
in Christ. By trusting he's all it takes
to save me. If God the Holy Spirit gives
you faith in Christ, you'll never die. But if you keep on going
about trying to establish your own righteousness and earn life
by your works of the law, you'll perish. The law cannot give life,
but Christ does. All right, here's the fifth thing. Moses, the law, cannot provide
salvation all by himself, but Christ does. Look back at our
text, verse 14. Moses says, am I able to bear
all this people alone? because it's too heavy for me.
And Moses tells the Lord, I'm not proud. I cannot handle this
people by myself. They're too much of a burden
for me. I can't carry them. I can't drag them. I can't force
them. I cannot give them a heart that
loves you and follows you. I can't make them quit their
rebellion. I can't make them quit their complaining. I can't
make them quit wanting to go back to slavery. They're too
much for me to handle. And if you read on later on in
this chapter, the Lord selects 70 elders, gives them to help
Moses govern the people. He needed the help, didn't he?
Christ our Savior needs no such help. He put away the sin of
his people by himself with no help. The writer to the Hebrews
said when he had by himself purged our sins. He sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high by one offering, one offering. He, by himself, hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. He had no help because he needs
no help. He did it by himself. The Lord
saves his people by himself, and he calls them to him by himself. He said, hear my voice, and they
follow me. A preacher will tell you, come
to Christ 100,000 times. And when Christ says it, you'll
come. My sheep hear my voice, and the voice of a stranger they
won't follow. Christ saves his people, and he keeps them saved,
all by himself. We're kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last
time. Christ saves His people, He calls them, He preserves them,
and He's gonna glorify them all by Himself. The Savior said at
the end of time, He's gonna come before His Father and say, behold,
I and the children which God has given me. They're all here,
they're all made just like me, not one of them's missing. See,
Christ has done for His people what the law could never do,
and He didn't do it as a cooperative effort between us and God. He
did it by himself. Now I'm telling you, that's the
Savior I can trust. All right, here's the last thing.
The death of Christ. The death of Christ satisfied
the Father like our death would never do. Verse 15, Moses says,
and if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of
hand. If I found favor in thy sight, and let me not see thy
wretchedness, You know, normally we'd say, Lord, if I found favor
in thy sight, let me live. Don't kill me. Moses says, if
I found favor in your sight, kill me. I mean, being the leader
of this people is so bad, death is preferable. God forbid he ever allow us to
do that to anybody. That in a relationship with me,
death is better than that. God forbid. But you know what? even if Moses had died, his death
wouldn't have helped Israel any. It wouldn't have changed them
any, would they? I mean, Israel saw the Lord devour people with
fire and open up the earth and swallow them up. They saw the
Red Sea crash down on Pharaoh's army and kill every last one
of them. They saw the Lord kill people
for their rebellion against him, and it didn't change him a bit.
So if they watched the Lord kill Moses, it wouldn't change them
either. But Christ came, and he did what
Moses could never do. The death of Christ took away
the wrath of God for the sin of his people, and it changed
his people, too. The blood applied to our hearts
gives new life, doesn't it? Life that is submissive, life
that bows to Christ, life that trusts Christ, life that has
faith in Christ. Christ took away all the wretchedness
of his people so that the father does not see it. And then he
gives his people eyes to see Christ. So we see something of
his beauty. We don't see it fully yet that
we can take it. We don't see it fully yet, but
by faith, we see it. That's what makes us come to
him. The law can never give us life like that. Christ has. He has by dying as a substitute
so that his people live. And that's what this table represents.
Christ has done for his people what nobody else could do. And
you know what else? He did for his people what nobody
else would do. He saved them from their sins
and brought them to God. Oh, I pray to the Lord, give
us faith. to rest in Him and believe Him. All right, Lord
bless you.