I was hoping he'd say something,
because I'm already sweating bullets. Now I'm going to be able to withstand
that temperature. Turn if you would to Exodus 15. Exodus 15. I'm going to let everybody get there
until I stop here and the page is turning, and then I want to
ask everybody a question. Exodus 15. I want you all to do something
for me. I want you to think back to a time when you were thirsty,
but not just any time. I'm talking about the thirstiest
you ever remember yourself being. I'm talking about a time to where
you could have won a million dollars, somebody would have
given you a brand new car, and you really just wouldn't have cared. All
you wanted was a cool drink of water. Everybody has an experience
like that, right? Everybody knows what it's like
to be so thirsty. Does everybody have that? Pick
up in verse 22, Exodus 15. So Moses brought Israel from
the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur,
and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters
of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was
called Marah. And the people murmured against
Moses, saying, what should we drink? And he cried unto the
Lord. And the Lord showed him a tree,
which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made
sweet. There he made for them a statute
and an ordinance, and there he proved them, and said, if that
will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and
will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear
to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put
none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the
Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee. Now, in this
passage of scripture, I see four things. There's four points I
want to bring out to you. First, I see a great trial, and I see
an evil response. Second thing I see is a picture
of false religion, but also a believer's response to the message of false
religion. Third thing I see is this. I
see a picture of how a bitter sinner, someone like me, someone
who is distasteful to God, how I can be made sweet. And the
fourth thing I see is this, just a beautiful picture of faith,
a very simple and beautiful picture of faith. So we're going to cover
those four points. Now, for a moment, since we're
using our imaginations anyways, what I want you to do is think
of yourself as one of the children of Israel. Imagine yourself as
one of the children of Israel in the Exodus. All right? So
focus on that for a moment. The Lord had just passed over
Egypt. And so during the Passover, you can hear the screams of the
Egyptian families as their firstborns are being killed off. But you're
safe and sound in that house with the blood over the door.
And on the side post, that great picture of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the refuge that's found in him. Then they cast you out. They say, get out of here. Get
out. All you Jews, get out of here. You're a plague to us.
Go. Take our gold. Take our cattle. Take whatever you want. Get out
of here. Go. And you and about 2 million of your countrymen,
you begin your journey. And eventually, you get to the Red Sea, and the
Lord parts the Red Sea. Two huge walls of water with
a dry seabed, a path for all two million of you to get to
the other side of the sea. And you make your journey, all
two million of you. And by the time the last Israelite gets
to the other side of the sea, he turns around, and here comes
Pharaoh and his army. And then you watch those walls
of water come down, and the Lord just completely wipes out all
your enemies. What an amazing sight that must have been. What
confidence these people must have had at this time. But then
you enter the wilderness of Shur, and you have no water. The first
day goes by. Sure am thirsty. I feel it right
here. I'm thirsty. But, I mean, look
what the Lord did for us. We've just been emancipated from
Egypt. He wiped out all our enemies. He poured out a sea. No doubt
water's gonna be right around the next bend. No doubt, right?
But it's not. Second day goes by. You start
thinking, I really am thirsty. I really just need some water.
But no doubt, the Lord's always taking care of us. It'll be right
around this mountain, no doubt. It isn't, though. The third day
comes. There's a point of interest. In these conditions, most experts
would agree, three days is about the maximum amount of time a
man can go without water. You are literally so thirsty,
you're close to death. Now, this is a wilderness, but
it's not a wilderness as you and I would understand it in
Kentucky. This is a desert. There is nothing here but rocks
and sand and mountains and the hot beating sun. That's all that's
out there. It's not just you, though. You've
got your whole family with you. If you've got small children
with you, look over at them real quick. They're with you. And
they're thirsty, and they're tugging on your pant leg. Daddy,
I need a drink of water. Mommy, I need some water. Maybe
they faint. Maybe they fall out. You think, Lord, we need water
right now. We need it right now. We can't wait. And remember,
this is a big, long group of people, right? Two million people.
So somebody from the front of the caravan, they say, hey, we
just found water. We just found it. It's right here. You think,
I knew it. I knew it. And you know what happened? That
first guy from the group, you know what he did. He went running.
He just dove right in, right? He's going to refresh himself.
He's going to get a big drink of water. And he comes up out of that water
with a mouthful, and he spits it right out. The water's bitter. They could not drink it. Now,
what they do next is evil, it is wicked, and it is completely
inexcusable, and I know me, and I know that apart from the grace
of God, I would have done the exact same thing in these circumstances.
They murmured. Scripture says they murmured
against Moses, but who were they murmuring against? The Lord. Now, I said all that to say this.
In this world, we're going to have tribulations. The scriptures
make no doubt about that. There's going to be trials and
tribulations, but they are not without purpose. Everything the
Lord does, he does on purpose, and he never brings unnecessary
suffering to his people. The first cause, or the first
reason for it, is the very glory of God. And the second cause
is our good. That's true. But the scripture
goes actually into some detail as to what tribulation worketh,
or what it achieves in a believer. And I want to look at this briefly.
Turn, if you would, Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5 and pick up
in verse 1. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein
we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not
only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation
worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us. Three things that are mentioned
here. The trial and tribulation worketh in a believer, patience,
experience, and hope. And I just briefly want to talk
about these for a second. Now, patience. What is that? It is
a cheerful endurance. And as I looked at these, what
I saw is that I want to, I want this. I want to grow in this
grace. I want to be a patient man. And
this is what I mean by that. When the Lord brings trial and
tribulation and adversity in my way, I want to be delivered
from having an immature, bad attitude where I'm kicking rocks
and murmuring against the Lord. I want to be delivered from that.
I want to be brought to a place where I'm in a voluntary subjection
to the will of the Lord, so much so that the prayer of my heart
really is, Lord, your will be done and not mine. I want to have a cheerful endurance. Do you want that? I want to grow
in that grace. Don't you? Patience worketh experience. Now that word experience is proof,
proof, and it's in reference to faith. Now understand, tribulation
does not produce faith. Faith is a gift of regeneration.
It's the gift of God, but rather it strengthens faith. It galvanizes
faith. It exposes faith. And I want
that, don't you? I want to grow. I want to have
my faith strengthened. I want to trust the Lord Jesus
Christ alone, nothing doubting, and not just for all my salvation,
which I do. I want to trust him to put the
food on my table tomorrow. I want to trust him to take care of
my family. I want to trust him to provide everything I need. I want to be brought to a spot.
I want to be brought here. And when I'm brought to a place
of trial and tribulation, that I pour out my heart before the
Lord, because that's what we should do. If you're brought to a place
of trial and tribulation, pour your heart out before the Lord.
You're commanded to do that. And then seek the means he would
use to deliver you from that trial, because if the Lord's
going to deliver you, he's going to use means. While you're doing that,
while I'm doing that, I want to be brought to a place where
I shut my mouth, and I don't murmur, and I patiently wait
for the Lord to deliver me. Patience and experience, I want
to grow in that. Hope, what is hope? Hope is a confident expectation
for the future. Todd has told us that time and
time again. But your hope is only sure if the expectation
is certain. And we know this. Any man or
woman who's looking to the Lord Jesus Christ alone right now,
your hope is sure. Your salvation is sure. Trial
and tribulation shows me this, chiefly more than anything else.
It shows me that this world is not my home, that I am just passing
through. And Claire, you talked about
this briefly. But we are walking through the valley of the shadow
of death. There's no doubt about that. And as much as I'm thankful
for my family, I'm thankful for the relationships I have with
you all, love my brothers and sisters in Christ, but I'm just
a pilgrim here. I'm just passing through. But
at the end of that valley, we know our end. We're going to
meet our Redeemer face to face. There's not going to be any more
suffering. There'll be no more tears. There's going to be no more pain.
And we're just going to sit and dwell in his presence forever.
Now, that gets me through the day. Now, I agree with Todd. He said this time and time again.
I do not want trial and tribulation. I can completely identify with
that. I want to get out of every trial I can, mainly because I
break so easily under them. And that's the point. But I do
want to grow in these graces. I want to grow in patience and
experience and hope. Now, that was the first point. A great trial and an evil response.
Here's the second point. a picture of false religion,
but also a true believer's response to the message of false religion.
Now, what is the condition of the Israelites at this time?
What is their condition? They're thirsty, right? What is thirst? What is that? It is a conscious
need. And this particular need, if it is not met, you'll die.
They were a needy people. They had a conscious need. And
if that need wasn't met, they would die. And I wanted to say
this. If you have been brought to a place to where you are a
needy sinner, you have a great need of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a blessing that is. Not every man has that need.
In fact, most men don't know that need. They have it. They
have no knowledge of it whatsoever. But if you've been brought to
the place to where you're really a sinner, you truly are a needy
man and you can't provide for your own needs. And if your need
isn't met, you'll die. What a blessing that is because
you have already been shown mercy. Now, in verse 23 of our text,
you don't have to go back there. I just want to point something
out. The wording there is they could not drink of the waters. They could not. It's not that
they didn't want to. It's not that they just didn't
have an occasion to. It's that they could not. So I would pose
this to you. Let's say you and your family
are so thirsty that you're about to die, right? And you come across
a pond. And it's full of pond water where cows bathe themselves.
And you know that water smells bad. It's going to be disgusting
when you taste it. But you know it's clean enough it's going to keep you
alive. Would you drink it? Yeah, you would. Yeah, you would. I'll
use my son, for example. Everybody knows Tuck. I can't get that
boy to eat or drink anything. I have to shove it down his throat,
right? But even Tucker Greenleaf, if he was so thirsty he was going
to die, he would probably drink a cup of stagnant pond water
if he thought it would keep him alive. The issue is not that
the water was bitter in the sense that it tasted bad, because if
that was the case, they would have drank it to keep themselves
alive. It was bitter in the sense that it was brackish. brackish. Now what does that mean? What
is brackish water? If you don't know, don't feel
bad. I had to look it up. This is brackish water. In short,
it's salt water. That's it. But how the water
becomes salty is of some interest. Brackish water goes something
like this. It implies that there is a clear,
clean stream of good flowing water. It's good for the drinking.
It will support life. And as that stream runs along, A tributary
flows in, and it's a tributary of saltwater. And where the two
streams meet, a pool is formed, and the pool is brackish. The
clean water has been polluted with the saltwater, and the whole
pool becomes salty. Say, what in the world are you
talking about? This is a picture of false religion. It will be
very, very hard to find someone preaching under the banner of
false religion who will say, listen, salvation has absolutely
nothing to do with the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
it has everything to do with a man's personal obedience to
the law. You will hardly ever hear that. But here's what you
will hear. You need the shed blood of Jesus
Christ. But you have to do your part, fill in the blank, whatever
it is, to make his work effectual for you. They take the clear,
clean stream of salvation by grace to the shed blood of Jesus
Christ, and they interject the saltwater, the seawater, of man's
works, and they pollute the whole pool. The whole pool becomes
brackish. Now, what are you talking about? Why do we even care? How do I
know if I'm listening to a brackish message? How can I know if the
message I'm listening to has been infused, has been polluted
with works religion? I'm going to give you a few facts
I know about saltwater. I looked up, and we're going to draw some
spiritual parallels, if the Lord will allow. This is the first
fact I know. Saltwater can never quench a thirst. In fact, the
more saltwater you drink, the thirstier you'll become. And
this is true for every true child of God. The message of false
religion, the message of salvation by works, no matter how subtle
it is, it will never quench our thirst, it will never satisfy
our need. As soon as you say, salvation's
here, you just have to do this, and whatever that blank is, come
up to the appropriate will, make your confession before God, whatever
it is, whatever that fill in the blank is that I have to do,
Where my salvation hinges on that thing I have to do, that
will never quench my thirst. It never meets my need. Because
if salvation is in any way dependent on me, I'm done for. I won't
make it. We're a needy people. We're in
need of a righteousness we can't come up with. We're in need of
a sin atonement we can't make. We're in need of a new heart
we can't give ourselves. We're in need of faith we can't muster.
We are needy people, and if we hear this message that makes
salvation in any way dependent on what we must do, we will leave
thirstier than when we showed up because it will never meet
our need. Here's the next thing I found
out about saltwater. Objects in saltwater are more buoyant.
What do I mean by that? Let's say you take two pools
of water. You've got a saltwater body and you've got a freshwater
body. Take the same object, throw it in both bodies. That object
is more likely to float to the top in the saltwater body and
is more likely to sink to the bottom in the freshwater body.
What do you mean? Take the natural man, throw him
into the message, what does he do? If it is a brackish message,
if it is a message that's been infused and polluted with works
of religion, the natural man will rise to the top. Work's
religion will always find glory for the natural man, but not
in the gospel message. You throw the natural man in
the gospel message, and he sinks directly to the bottom. In the
gospel message, we are revealed for who we truly are. We are
ungodly, unrighteous, unable, and unwilling, and we sink right
to the bottom. Now here's a question, a question
I had. How much salt does water have to contain before it's harmful,
before it'll kill you? Well, in an earthly sense, I
have no idea. I tried to look it up and I don't know. I don't know how much salt has
to be in this cup before I drink it and it's harmful to me. But
in a spiritual sense, I know very, very well. Any at all.
You take one grain of works religion, you make salvation in any way
dependent on something I must do, and you have polluted the
whole pool, it is now all works. Salvation is either completely
and utterly dependent on what Jesus Christ has done, it is
finished, past tense, or it is completely and utterly dependent
on what a man must do. And the Lord will meet you on
the ground you come to him on. If you come on the grounds of grace,
pleading nothing more than the shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, What a blessing he will meet us on those grounds. That's
the way I want to come. If you want to come on the grounds
of your own personal obedience, suit yourself, but understand
your debt. Your debt is this, to keep the law every time, all
the time, outwardly and inwardly, in the very imaginations of your
heart. Is anybody looking for that responsibility?
Can everybody meet that responsibility? No, we don't. All right, we saw
a great trial and an evil response. We saw a picture of false religion
and a believer's response to false religion. Now, how can
a bitter sinner like me be made sweet? Turn and look back at
your text in Exodus 15 and look at verse 25. Verse 25, and he, speaking of
Moses, cried unto the Lord. And the Lord showed him a tree. Now, quick question, where was
that tree the whole time? It was right there. Moses just
couldn't see it until the Lord revealed it to him. Go back reading. Which when he had cast into the
waters, the waters were made sweet. Now, let's change the
types for the moment. You and I are now the waters
of morrow. What is the natural state of
the waters of morrow? They're bitter, right? They're
bitter. They're distasteful. That is
our natural state before God. We are bitter. We are distasteful
to God because of our sin. Now, how did we get in this condition? Interestingly enough, the story
of our fall begins with the story of a man and a tree. Now, what
do I mean by that? Go all the way back to the garden.
Adam, he was created upright. He was created innocent, and
he was given one command. Do not eat of this tree, the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the day you eat
thereof, you shall surely die. And what does Adam do? He disobeys
God. He dies. He dies spiritual. And
he passes on that fallen nature to every descendant after him.
Now if somebody says, are you blaming Adam? I absolutely am.
So should we point a finger at Adam? Absolutely we should. And
as soon as we get done, turn around and point the finger back
at yourself. Because we were in Adam. He was our federal head. He was our humanity. But we were
in Adam. That means when he ate the fruit,
I ate the fruit. When he disobeyed God, I disobeyed
God. We are no victims in this thing.
But just as our fall, the story of our fall begins with the story
of a man and a tree, the story of our redemption concludes,
finishes with the story of a man and a tree. What am I talking
about? Turn to Galatians 3 and look
at verse 13. Galatians 3, verse 13, Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now, notice that word hath. It's
past tense. It speaks of completion. This
is how redemption was accomplished. It's done. And the picture here
is actually very simple. Just as the waters of Morrow
were made sweet, they were bitter and they were made sweet. They
were made to be what they were not before. The Lord Jesus Christ
was made a curse for us. He was made to be what he was
not before. On the cross, the Lord Jesus
Christ was cast into the bitterness of the sins of his elect. and
he bore those sins in his body on the tree. Notice the pattern
there. And because of those sins, because he was cast into the
bitterness of those sins, he was cast into the bitterness
of his father's wrath. And all the wrath that was reserved for
every member of the elect was rained down upon him, and he
suffered that punishment. And he bled, and he died, and
he put that sin away. Understand this, and it gets
said a lot, but we can't hear it enough. Sin demands death. It is not without consequence.
Blood must be shed, somebody's gotta die. But for every member
of the elect, the Father's wrath was rained down upon him and
he bled and died and he put those sins away so much so that they
really are no more. Gone, blotted out, and that means
the reason for shame, the reason for guilt, that's all gone. Believer,
you have no reason for guilt, you have no reason for shame,
because when the Father looks at you, all he sees is Jesus
Christ. And you've never done anything wrong, and you've always
done that which is right. You have been made sweet. And it's all because a man hung
on a tree. The God-man Jesus Christ. That's
how a bitter sinner can be made sweet. I told you the last point
here is a picture of faith. Look back at your text and look
at verse 26. Exodus 15 verse 26, And said, If thou wilt diligently
hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which
is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments
and keep all his statutes. I will put none of these diseases
upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am
the Lord that healeth thee." Now, if we read this without
understanding, it would certainly inspire fear, wouldn't it? If
the only thing that's keeping the Lord from raining down punishment
upon me is my personal obedience to the statutes and the commandments
of his law, I've got a serious problem, because I'm a sinner. All I've done is sin since the
day I was born. But thankfully enough, that is
not the meaning. What is the meaning? There are four conditions
that are listed here, and here's the first one. If thou wilt diligently
hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God. What does the voice
of the Lord thy God say? In Matthew 11, 28, it says, come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Somebody says, why? Give me a
reason to come. I'll give you five briefly. And
here's the first one, because it is not just a gracious invitation.
It's a command. It's a command to everyone who
meets the description that's being brought out here, heavy
laden and labored. Now, do you meet that description?
Is there anyone here who is heavy laden with the burden of your
own sin to where your sin is crippling to you? You can't get
rid of it. Anyone here who's labored. You've
tried to work your way out of your sin. You've tried to work
yourself into the favor of God and it's done you absolutely
no good. Is there anybody in that boat? Because if that's
the case, you are commanded to come right now to the Lord Jesus
Christ alone and believe on him. Here's a second reason. Because
of what is promised. Rest. Does anybody have an interest
in that? Cease from labor. No works left
to perform. Nothing left to do. Just rest. Peace. Peace with God. Your warfare
is accomplished. Does anybody have any interest
in that? Here's a third reason, because you have nowhere else
to go. If you have no confidence in your works, they're nothing
but filthy rags. They're dead works. They cannot
produce life. If you have no confidence in your feelings or
your experiences, where else are you going to go? Where else
can you find refuge? Fourth reason is this, because
you'll die if you don't. Todd said that about three months
ago, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Here's the fifth reason. If you're
called to the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for you not to
come. See, grace is both irresistible and invincible. And as soon as
the Holy Spirit calls you, You come running. You've got no other
choice. And you want no other choice.
Now, some may say, all right, so I'm just going to sit around.
Hopefully the Holy Spirit calls, you know, we'll see what happens.
If that's your response, then he has not called. This is the
response of a believer. Lord, draw me. Call me. Bring me to you. I recognize
that I can't get to you on my own. But if you draw me, if you
come to me, where I'm at, and that's what I need. I need a
God who will meet me where I'm at, down in Lodabar, down in
death, down in the land of inability. That's what I need. Come to me
and draw me to yourself. That's what I need. Here's the
second condition given in the 26th verse. It's, do that which
is right in his sight. I would ask this, the Lord Jesus
Christ, when the father looks at him, has he always done that
which is right in the sight of his father? Is he completely
pleasing? Absolutely holy? Utterly righteous? Yeah, he's always done that which
is right in the sight of his father. We are in him. He is
the head, we are the body. The head can go nowhere that
the body doesn't follow. We are in him. That means, when the
father looks at you, He sees someone who has only done that
which is right in his sight because of who you're in. The next condition, keep all
his statutes. Now what's a statute? This is
actually kind of interesting. A statute normally refers to
a decree. And here's how it works. A decree is like this. When this
happens, do this. It speaks of a particular response
to a particular circumstance. So when this happens, here's
what you do. Here's the first thing I thought
of, and you don't have to turn there, I'll read it to you. First John 2.1, my little
children, these things write unto you that you sin not. And
if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous. What's the condition? What has
happened? I've sinned and done nothing
but sin. What's the prescription? What
am I to do? You flee to the advocate. This is a very special advocate.
He's actually the judge's son. And all he has to do is walk
up to the judge, and he shows him the nail prints in his hands
and his feet. And he shows him the wound on his side, and the
judge says, whatever he wants, he gets every single time. Flee
to the advocate. Beg him to represent you before
his father. Now, a second way we can understand
this decree, I think, is the eternal decree of God the Father. Before time began, God the Father
made a decree. He said, these people I love
and I have chosen in Christ are going to be brought back to me.
They're going to be redeemed and brought back to me safe and
sound. Now, the question is, where did
he lay the responsibility for that task? He laid it squarely
at the feet of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ kept his father's
statute. He kept that decree. Nothing
left to do. The work truly is finished. Just
rest. Finally, the last condition that's
given in the 26 verses, give ear to his commandments. And
I want you to turn to this, 1 John 3, look at verse 23. The last condition is give ear
to his commandments, 1 John 3, 23. What does that mean? And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another as he gave us commandment. This is the sum
and substance of the other three conditions. This is it right
here. Your commandment is to believe on the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. His is the voice we hearken to.
He's the only place of refuge. He is the one who has done that
which is right in the sight of his father. We trust his perfect
righteousness. He is the one who has kept his father's statutes
and his decree. We trust his finished work of
redemption. Your commandment, what you shall do, is to believe
on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you love your brother
and sister in Christ. To sum it up, turn over to Luke
9. Look at verse 11. I want to talk for a moment in
conclusion about how the Lord refers to himself in the end
of the story. He says, I am the Lord that healeth
thee, and that's one of his names, Jehovah Rapha. Luke 9, 11. And the people, when they knew
it, followed him, and he received them, and spake unto them of
the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. Now notice that word, it, is
in italics. And you guys know what that means.
It means it's provided by the translators to give a better understanding
of the verse. But I think it actually reads better without
it. Not when they knew it. It's when they knew him. When the Lord had revealed himself
to them. What did they do? They followed
him. How do you follow somebody? You look to him. You keep your
eyes on him. And this is beautiful. And what
did he do? He received them. This man received the sinners.
And he spake to them. He spoke to them like a man speaks
to his friend. And he healed them that had need
of healing. I'm gonna leave you with this.
If there is anyone here who is sin sick this morning, and I'm
gonna use the example that we get in the Old Testament, leprosy.
If a man had leprosy, how do the scriptures refer to him?
They say that this is Simon, a man who has leprosy. No, he
was Simon the leper. See, his disease defined who
he was. If there's anyone here who is
in that boat, your disease, your sickness, sin, it defines who
you are. You're a leper. Sin sick from
the top of your head to the sole of your foot and everywhere in
between. If you are in that boat, flee to Jehovah Rapha. Follow
him, look to him. and you have that blessing, he'll
receive you. And he'll speak to you like a man speaks to his
friend, and he will heal you of all your diseases. Thank you
for your attention. Appreciate it.