WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.140 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church Sermon Podcast. 00:04.880 --> 00:08.260 We're so glad you're here, and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.460 --> 00:12.020 builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.560 --> 00:15.160 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.160 --> 00:17.840 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.220 --> 00:20.240 So welcome, and enjoy the message. 00:21.300 --> 00:30.340 I love the book of Exodus as God redeems his people out of the slavery and the bondage of 00:30.340 --> 00:37.260 Egypt and into the goodness and the grace of the promised land. And so we're going to look at the 00:37.260 --> 00:49.560 entire chapter this morning. I want to welcome those who are joining us from Olive Drive. Now, we Americans are a hard people sometimes to satisfy. 00:50.220 --> 00:54.280 We've become accustomed to such a high standard of living 00:54.280 --> 00:58.180 that it can produce unrealistic expectations for life. 00:58.700 --> 01:07.700 And when life is anything less than perfect, sometimes we feel cheated. In Exodus, we find three stories right 01:07.700 --> 01:16.640 in a row of God's people complaining, because unfortunately, sometimes God's people complain. 01:17.400 --> 01:27.540 But thankfully, COVID stopped all complaining among Christians. Isn't that great? Now we're just grateful all of the time 01:27.540 --> 01:33.620 and focus on God's blessing and goodness within our life. Wouldn't that be great? 01:34.500 --> 01:41.640 Now, the truth is here at Valley, we don't get a lot of complaints. And so this message 01:41.640 --> 01:47.260 is primarily directed to us as individuals, because if we're really honest, 01:47.560 --> 01:55.680 we can struggle with complaining within our life. We can even develop a heart or an attitude, 01:55.880 --> 02:06.820 a spirit of complaining. Now, much of our complaining really is an expression of not being thankful for what God has blessed us with. 02:07.640 --> 02:13.080 And so complaining is not a matter of our circumstances. It really is a matter of our 02:13.080 --> 02:21.360 heart. It's a habit of focusing on what is wrong instead of focusing on what God is doing. 02:22.280 --> 02:26.720 Now, when you and I focus on what's wrong, that's pretty depressing and discouraging, 02:26.800 --> 02:34.360 isn't it? But when we focus on what God is doing, that becomes an encouragement to our heart 02:34.360 --> 02:48.220 and within our life. Now when you have a fever, it indicates that something is wrong in your body. And when we complain, it's always an indication that something 02:48.220 --> 02:57.180 is wrong within our soul. It's an indication of a heart that is not fully trusting and surrendered 02:57.180 --> 03:08.360 to the Lord within our life. You know that complaining makes everything worse. It erodes our joy. It harms our influence. It 03:08.360 --> 03:17.060 insults the goodness of God. And for many of us, it's a real problem. It also affects those who 03:17.060 --> 03:26.700 are around us. If you complain, then you just suck the joy right out of everyone else's heart. You sour the mood and you poison 03:26.700 --> 03:35.060 the well of everyone around you. Now, most of us don't have any idea the impact that our 03:35.060 --> 03:45.900 complaining has on others. But later in the Exodus story, ten complaining spies discourage millions of people from following the Lord. 03:46.420 --> 03:56.540 Just a few complainers can dampen the enthusiasm of a whole family, a whole congregation, or even a whole ministry. 03:57.360 --> 04:09.240 And so let's begin reading in verse number 1. And they journeyed from Elam, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, 04:09.360 --> 04:16.120 which is between Elam and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 04:16.120 --> 04:29.220 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Now keep in mind that these people had just seen 04:29.220 --> 04:36.820 the mighty display of God's power in the plagues of Egypt. They had just experienced days before 04:36.820 --> 04:46.880 the parting of the Red Sea. They were able to see the visible presence of God in a cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 04:47.040 --> 04:53.300 Now, you would think by this time they were so dependent upon the goodness of God and so 04:53.300 --> 05:09.760 appreciative for all that God had done, but instead we find that they were a very immature people who had a long way to go, a lot like we do sometimes. Complaining is an expression of 05:09.760 --> 05:17.840 spiritual immaturity within our life. Now, a little baby whines at the slightest discomfort, 05:17.840 --> 05:27.180 don't they? I mean, just the littlest thing, and they start to whine or to cry. But a mature adult is able to tolerate a great deal 05:27.180 --> 05:35.840 more without complaining. And so complaining is evidence of an immature Christian. It's a 05:35.840 --> 05:49.760 characteristic of one who has not yet learned to trust God to provide and to lead them within their life. It's the inability to see God's goodness and God's 05:49.760 --> 05:56.940 grace. God had done so many amazing wonders and things for the people of Israel, and yet they had 05:56.940 --> 06:09.140 forgotten all of them. Look what it says in verse number three. and the children of Israel said to them, oh, that we had died by the hand of 06:09.140 --> 06:13.920 the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full, 06:13.920 --> 06:20.000 for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 06:21.080 --> 06:26.880 Now, they begin to think of the good old days, but, you know, complaining often exaggerates the past, doesn't it? 06:27.640 --> 06:30.440 Their memory of the past wasn't even accurate. 06:30.840 --> 06:32.500 They were slaves in Egypt. 06:33.280 --> 06:37.040 They had forgotten the bondage and the beatings of slavery. 06:37.260 --> 06:41.240 They had forgotten the genocide that Pharaoh unleashed upon them. 06:41.680 --> 06:49.340 And constant complainers often exaggerate the past. Now, when we constantly are 06:49.340 --> 06:55.260 focused on the past, we can't focus on what God is trying to teach us in the particular moment 06:55.260 --> 07:02.200 in life that he has led us to. God had led them exactly where they are through the pillar of fire 07:02.200 --> 07:06.680 and the cloud by day, and yet they were unable to learn 07:06.680 --> 07:14.020 the lessons that God was trying to teach them. Look what it says in verses 4 through 9. 07:14.740 --> 07:19.260 Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall 07:19.260 --> 07:25.380 go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not. 07:30.880 --> 07:35.720 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, At evening you 07:35.720 --> 07:39.760 shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall 07:39.760 --> 07:45.920 see the glory of the Lord, for he hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we that you complain 07:45.920 --> 07:51.400 against us? And Moses said, this shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening 07:51.400 --> 07:56.120 and in the morning bread to the full. For the Lord hears your complaints which you make against him. 07:56.460 --> 08:02.560 And what are we? Your complaints are not against us, but against the Lord. Then Moses spoke to Aaron, 08:03.280 --> 08:05.900 say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, 08:06.100 --> 08:13.520 come near before the Lord, for he has heard your complaints. Now, if I was the Lord, I would be 08:13.520 --> 08:17.840 thinking about wiping all of these people out. I'd done all these wonderful things for them, 08:17.900 --> 08:26.440 and now they're complaining. They don't trust me and so forth, but that's not how the Lord responds. God responds to our complaining 08:26.440 --> 08:36.660 with grace. Now, in our home, our official policy is we do not negotiate with terrorists or kids who 08:36.660 --> 08:53.260 whine. That's just how it works. I mean, that's not completely true. We might negotiate with terrorists, but we don't negotiate with kids who want, all right? Now, look at God's response, though. He extends grace 08:53.260 --> 09:01.000 to them in their unbelief and in the hardness of their heart. He provides manna for them to eat. 09:01.820 --> 09:06.880 Now, you don't stop feeding your kids when they say or do stupid stuff. I mean, 09:06.900 --> 09:09.820 if my parents had done that, I would have starved to death as a kid, you know? 09:10.560 --> 09:19.200 And God doesn't stop loving you or me when we sin. Even when we're ungrateful whiners, 09:19.620 --> 09:25.120 God loves us, and he extends his grace to us. 09:28.600 --> 09:32.439 See, God, wherever you are at, loves you. 09:32.440 --> 09:37.739 Whatever you have done, God loves you. 09:37.740 --> 09:40.700 If we could only understand the depth and the width and the height and the expanse and the breadth of God's love, 09:40.700 --> 09:43.160 then it would change our life forever. 09:43.520 --> 09:46.840 We would never be the same, and no decision that we 09:46.840 --> 09:53.720 make would ever look the way that it does. You see, you cannot do anything to cause God to love you 09:53.720 --> 10:05.760 more. His love is an infinite love in Christ. Notice what it says in verse number 10. 10:06.360 --> 10:10.839 It says, 10:10.840 --> 10:16.519 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, 10:16.520 --> 10:18.739 that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 10:18.740 --> 10:20.679 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10:20.680 --> 10:30.159 I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. 10:30.160 --> 10:35.340 Speak to them, saying, At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. 10:35.740 --> 10:39.980 And when the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a small round 10:39.980 --> 10:45.520 substance as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one 10:45.520 --> 10:51.400 another, what is it? For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, this is the bread 10:51.400 --> 10:56.720 which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. Let every man 10:56.720 --> 11:02.000 gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of 11:02.000 --> 11:15.140 persons. Let every man take for those who are in his tent. Then the children of Israel did so and We see in this passage that God says, 11:15.300 --> 11:18.360 what I'm about to do is to demonstrate my glory to you, 11:19.100 --> 11:21.360 that you may know that I am the Lord. 11:22.480 --> 11:26.980 You see, understanding that God is the main character of life 11:26.980 --> 11:37.440 erodes our complaining. All of this is about God's glory, that they and we may know that God 11:37.440 --> 11:47.040 is the Lord, that God is a glorious God. We see the glory of God manifested in His provision and His care and His 11:47.040 --> 11:54.900 love for them. You see, the only way for us to complain is for us to think that we're the center 11:54.900 --> 12:07.980 of the universe. We complain about the rain, but some farmer out there is thanking God for the rain, for the food and the substance that God is giving to him. 12:07.980 --> 12:11.720 We often think in terms of just ourselves, 12:11.920 --> 12:16.660 and that leads to our attitude being one of complaining. 12:17.720 --> 12:22.280 You and I are not the main character in the film. 12:23.060 --> 12:29.720 Your life is a theater of God's glory to demonstrate that he is the Lord, 12:29.840 --> 12:37.580 that he is good, and that he is gracious. Why do we get upset when terrible things happen to us? 12:38.200 --> 12:45.740 Well, it's because we think that terrible things shouldn't happen to the main character, right? I mean, he can't die. 12:46.060 --> 12:54.220 He's the main character. And so we begin to look at life as if it's all about us. But if you 12:54.220 --> 12:59.880 recognize that you are not the main character of your life, then you have different expectations 12:59.880 --> 13:07.380 for your life. Suddenly, you just want your life to point to the Lord Jesus Christ because he is 13:07.380 --> 13:16.840 the main character of the story. You know, the best way to feel good is to feel small. 13:18.020 --> 13:25.880 We love to look out at the Milky Way and up at the stars. You know why? Because it makes us feel small. 13:26.780 --> 13:32.980 We love to look at the Grand Canyon and the vast expanse of that giant place on earth. Why? 13:33.540 --> 13:51.000 Because it makes us feel small. And we feel best when we feel small. If you want to feel bad, try feeling big. And you will be miserable because you were not meant to be the main character. 13:51.860 --> 13:55.780 If you want to feel good, then try to feel small. 13:55.980 --> 14:00.140 And you'll feel great because that aligns with who you really are. 14:00.860 --> 14:08.860 It aligns with reality as it truly is. You see, we feel good and grateful when we recognize 14:08.860 --> 14:18.060 that God created everything, that he is so big and glorious and great, and I'm glad for any 14:18.060 --> 14:27.480 little thing that God gives me within my life. The key to gratitude is to understand that God is the main character 14:27.480 --> 14:37.660 of our life. And now, everything within our life, triumph or tragedy, good or bad, 14:38.200 --> 14:46.660 can point to the main character of our life, the Lord Jesus Christ. And suddenly that resets everything. It changes our 14:46.660 --> 14:55.980 thinking. It resets our heart, and it puts our spirit in alignment with God. Notice what he says 14:55.980 --> 15:05.020 in verse number 18. So when they had measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, 15:05.100 --> 15:06.780 and he who gathered little had no lack. 15:07.260 --> 15:10.080 Every man gathered according to each one's need. 15:10.300 --> 15:15.000 And Moses said, Let no one leave any of it till morning. 15:16.100 --> 15:20.200 Notwithstanding, they did not heed Moses, but some of them left part of it until morning, 15:20.300 --> 15:24.140 and it bred worms and stank, and Moses was angry with them. 15:24.660 --> 15:36.340 And so they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need, Now God provided bread or manna for them, 15:37.240 --> 15:43.480 and notice that he gives them exactly what they need for one day. 15:43.480 --> 15:51.080 No more and no less. Here's the principle. God gives us just enough 15:51.080 --> 16:00.280 grace for the day. You know, when you need grace, God supplies the grace that you need. 16:01.000 --> 16:08.560 But He only gives us enough grace for the day to teach us to depend upon him each and every 16:08.560 --> 16:17.200 day. Now, our mind often goes to hypotheticals, doesn't it? What if, and, or, or buts, right? 16:17.540 --> 16:27.060 But God doesn't give us grace for the if, and, or, or buts, right? He gives us grace for today. He gives us the grace that we need right 16:27.060 --> 16:36.260 now in this moment. And so there's a principle. When you're suffering, shorten the time frame. 16:37.100 --> 16:43.740 And the more intense the suffering, the shorter the time frame needs to be. If we think, well, 16:43.800 --> 16:46.220 how am I going to do this for another five years? 16:46.280 --> 16:50.540 It becomes absolutely overwhelming because God only gave us grace for today, not for the next 16:50.540 --> 17:00.640 five years. Instead, pray for God to give you enough grace for today, and he will supply his 17:00.640 --> 17:06.580 grace. If it's extremely tough suffering, then shorten the time frame to maybe an hour 17:06.580 --> 17:12.960 or 10 minutes. God, give me enough grace to get through the next hour. It's kind of like our 17:12.960 --> 17:19.480 headlights. You know, when you're driving home at night and the headlights are on, they don't show 17:19.480 --> 17:27.340 you the way all the way to home. No, they just show you for what's right there in front of you. And it just 17:27.340 --> 17:32.360 gives you what you need right then. And that's the way God's grace is. God doesn't give us the 17:32.360 --> 17:35.960 grace for all the things we're going to face. You don't even know what you're going to face. 17:36.780 --> 17:43.300 You couldn't possibly predict it correctly. What God does is he gives us enough grace for that day 17:43.300 --> 17:45.060 so that we learn to depend upon him. 17:48.220 --> 17:50.119 And he gave them manna, and he said, it's only going to last for one day. 17:50.120 --> 17:54.159 Why? So you learn to depend upon me. 17:54.160 --> 17:59.519 And trust me to provide for you each and every day. 17:59.520 --> 18:00.640 Notice what it says in verses 22 through 30. 18:05.240 --> 18:09.040 And so it was on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 18:09.520 --> 18:11.920 Then he said to them, This is what the Lord has said. 18:12.000 --> 18:15.300 Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. 18:15.660 --> 18:18.120 Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil, 18:18.120 --> 18:21.160 and lay up for yourself all that remains to be kept until morning. 18:21.640 --> 18:24.800 But they laid it up until morning, as Moses commanded, 18:26.520 --> 18:33.179 and it did not stink, 18:33.180 --> 18:39.639 nor were there any worms in it. And Moses said, Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. 18:39.640 --> 18:46.859 Today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, 18:46.860 --> 18:48.659 the Sabbath, there will be none. Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 18:48.660 --> 18:51.900 And the Lord said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 18:52.360 --> 18:57.580 See, for the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. 18:57.940 --> 19:02.320 Let every man remain in his place. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 19:02.420 --> 19:06.240 So the people rested on the seventh day. 19:07.660 --> 19:11.300 Notice, on the other days, they gathered one day, 19:11.340 --> 19:13.280 and if they gathered two days, it went bad. 19:14.700 --> 19:18.440 But on the day before the Sabbath, they were to gather two days, 19:18.560 --> 19:22.940 and God was to preserve it so that they could rest upon the Sabbath. 19:23.380 --> 19:26.860 Notice, God set up a system where they could not be lazy. 19:27.980 --> 19:31.120 They had to get up early in the morning 19:31.120 --> 19:34.880 to gather their food and their bread 19:34.880 --> 19:36.540 so that they could eat. 19:36.640 --> 19:38.619 They had to labor. 19:38.620 --> 19:42.260 And the idea is that labor creates leisure. 19:43.360 --> 19:48.420 You know, you can't have all leisure, and you also can't have all labor. 19:49.000 --> 19:52.840 If you have all labor, you're going to burn out, and you're going to be worn out. But if you have 19:52.840 --> 20:00.540 all leisure, then you're not able to really have purpose and productivity within your life. And so 20:00.540 --> 20:06.520 we need both. We need achievement, and we also need enjoyment within our life. 20:06.940 --> 20:15.600 Here's the principle. Rest allows us to reflect upon where God is working and to be grateful. 20:16.640 --> 20:25.560 You know, we should spend at least one hour each week thinking about the last week and just being grateful for what God has done. 20:33.120 --> 20:45.520 Sometimes we just need a moment to ask God where he is working within our life and to be grateful for what God is teaching you. The Sabbath is about reflecting upon the past, present, and future goodness of God. And that takes time. 20:46.400 --> 20:51.840 To set aside time to be thankful and enjoy the blessings of God 20:51.840 --> 20:54.320 and most of all to enjoy the presence of God 20:54.320 --> 20:56.460 and your relationship with God. 20:56.800 --> 21:00.340 The Sabbath allows us to get our minds and our hearts 21:00.340 --> 21:02.840 off of the world and onto God. 21:02.840 --> 21:08.400 And it's a wonderful blessing to stop and to rest in the 21:08.400 --> 21:17.560 Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the goodness and the grace of God. Notice what it says in verse 21:17.560 --> 21:25.600 number 31. And the house of Israel called its name Mna. By the way, that means what. 21:26.360 --> 21:27.900 So they asked, what is it? 21:28.320 --> 21:30.540 And then they said, we're just going to call it that. 21:30.680 --> 21:31.720 What is it? 21:31.720 --> 21:34.460 And they called it manna. 21:35.800 --> 21:38.240 And it was like white coriander seed, 21:38.300 --> 21:40.940 and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 21:41.460 --> 21:44.140 Then Moses said, this is the thing which the Lord has commanded. 21:44.320 --> 21:50.220 Fill an omer with it to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the 21:50.220 --> 21:55.280 wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt. Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot and put an 21:55.280 --> 22:00.020 omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations. As the Lord 22:00.020 --> 22:05.060 commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept. And the children of Israel 22:05.060 --> 22:10.500 ate manna forty years until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they came 22:10.500 --> 22:18.060 to the border of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah. Now God says, 22:18.140 --> 22:27.620 I want you to take some of this manna, and I want you to put it in a jar, and I want you to keep it as a reminder for future generations of how God 22:27.620 --> 22:34.400 provided for you in the midst of the wilderness. You see, the Bible says in the New Testament 22:34.400 --> 22:38.540 that the book of Exodus, the story of the Exodus is for you and I, 22:39.280 --> 22:47.000 to encourage us to trust in the Lord, to warn us against unbelief, and to encourage us to recognize 22:47.000 --> 22:53.500 the glory and the grace of God within our life. God says, I want you to remember what I have done 22:53.500 --> 23:07.160 for you. Complaining forgets God's providence and goodness to us. Now, you would think after all that God had done for them that they would 23:07.160 --> 23:15.000 never complain again. God had parted the Red Sea. He had delivered them out of Egypt in great signs 23:15.000 --> 23:28.180 and wonders. He had provided fresh water. He had provided daily food, and they saw God's goodness. By the way, if you want to know what your idols are, 23:28.980 --> 23:34.240 look at what you complain about. That is what you care about more than God. 23:35.280 --> 23:40.840 That's what you're trusting in for your comfort and your security and your desire. That's what 23:40.840 --> 23:45.600 you're looking for, for satisfaction more than God. And in their case, 23:45.720 --> 23:55.100 it was food. Now, how many times do we complain about the same things that we complained about 23:55.100 --> 24:00.820 in the past? I mean, we complain about finances, how we're going to make it. 24:01.640 --> 24:06.900 We had the same complaint years ago, and yet God supplied our need. God took 24:06.900 --> 24:13.060 care of us, so why are we still complaining about the same thing? We complain about the problems 24:13.060 --> 24:19.940 in the world and all that's going on, and yet we complained about all the problems in the world 24:19.940 --> 24:27.840 years ago, and God sustained us. I mean, you think complaining about politics or complaining 24:27.840 --> 24:35.180 about the economy or complaining about things going on is new? God has supplied us in the past, 24:35.220 --> 24:40.720 and He's taken care of us in the past, and He'll take care of us in the future. And when we learn 24:40.720 --> 24:47.420 that God supplied in the past, it teaches us that God will supply in the present 24:47.420 --> 24:55.040 and in the future. See, contentment does not come from having all of our needs met. 24:55.040 --> 25:00.420 There are plenty of people who have all their needs met and yet are not content. 25:01.900 --> 25:05.920 Contentment comes from recognizing that all of our needs are met by God, 25:06.940 --> 25:16.120 of focusing on His goodness and His grace, to recognize His providence and how that He is 25:16.120 --> 25:30.280 always at work. Sometimes we can't see it. Sometimes we can't feel it, but God is always at work within our life. Now, I want to give two points of 25:30.280 --> 25:39.040 application from this story. The first is, when you are tempted to complain, pray for a positive 25:39.040 --> 25:46.340 attitude. You know, having a positive attitude changes everything within life. 25:46.760 --> 25:50.400 You can have two people go through the same circumstances in life, 25:50.440 --> 25:53.540 and one come out with a bitter, hard heart, 25:53.620 --> 25:56.680 and the other come out with just a wonderful, joyful spirit. 25:57.000 --> 26:01.880 It's about the attitude and the trust that we have in the Lord 26:01.880 --> 26:09.140 of recognizing that He is at work. And so pray. If you're 26:09.140 --> 26:16.820 complaining about a person, then pray for them. When I begin to pray for someone, 26:17.660 --> 26:29.100 immediately I start loving them more. God does something in my heart. He shares his heart in my heart for that person. And so if 26:29.100 --> 26:35.180 you want to love people more, then pray for them more and God will grow your love for them. 26:36.300 --> 26:40.900 As you begin to pray for them, God begins to work in your heart and give you a heart 26:40.900 --> 26:47.180 after his own heart. But also we have to learn to overlook people's flaws and 26:47.180 --> 26:54.840 to focus on their strengths. And when we are positive about other people, often they become 26:54.840 --> 27:02.420 positive about us. That is just the way that it works. Now, if you're complaining not about people, 27:02.500 --> 27:10.400 but you're complaining about circumstances, then pray about those circumstances. We all have things in our life that aren't right, 27:11.040 --> 27:17.020 that are wrong, and we all have reasons to complain if we choose to. But when we pray 27:17.020 --> 27:23.160 about our circumstances, immediately you become alert to ways that God is working in your 27:23.160 --> 27:28.920 circumstances, and you become thankful for God using your circumstances to mature you. 27:30.380 --> 27:35.620 You focus not on the circumstances, but you focus on what God is teaching you 27:35.620 --> 27:38.360 and what God is doing within your life. 27:39.360 --> 27:42.940 And you will find that a positive attitude increases your energy level. 27:43.480 --> 27:44.980 It makes you more productive. 27:44.980 --> 27:45.259 It strengthens your relationship. It makes you more productive. It 27:45.260 --> 27:52.480 strengthens your relationship. It makes life more enjoyable. But most of all, it deepens our walk 27:52.480 --> 28:02.120 and our relationship with God. A positive attitude flows from a heart that is trusting and rejoicing 28:02.120 --> 28:06.420 in the Lord. The second point of application is this. 28:06.740 --> 28:10.880 The cure for complaining is trust in God. 28:11.440 --> 28:14.800 Really, that's the main point of the passage, 28:15.160 --> 28:18.980 of who God is, that he is good and he is gracious 28:18.980 --> 28:22.800 and he is worthy of our trust. 28:24.100 --> 28:29.940 Now, complainers love to use the word but in a negative way. Have you ever 28:29.940 --> 28:38.920 noticed that? God parted the waters of the Red Sea, but the water is bitter and we're out of water. 28:39.680 --> 28:45.700 It's a good land flowing with milk and honey, but there are giants there. 28:50.480 --> 28:51.940 I like the weather, but it gets really hot in July, have you noticed? 28:56.740 --> 28:58.180 I mean, she's a good wife, but she's always late. 29:02.060 --> 29:06.519 We have a good team, but we didn't win big enough, you know. 29:06.520 --> 29:09.360 And when we complain, it's never good enough because complaining removes God out of the equation. 29:10.960 --> 29:15.160 But in the Bible, we find that the word but 29:15.160 --> 29:18.540 is used in a positive way because it considers God. 29:20.640 --> 29:22.480 Joseph was sold into slavery, 29:22.480 --> 29:25.380 but God used it to save many people alive. 29:25.780 --> 29:31.540 Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, but God shut the mouth of the lions and brought glory to his name. 29:31.780 --> 29:35.520 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace, 29:35.520 --> 29:39.140 but one, like the Son of God, was in the midst of them. 29:41.040 --> 29:54.120 You see, the Bible recognizes that God is in the midst of our circumstances and the difficulties that we face and that he's teaching us and that he's working in those things for his greater glory and our greater good. 29:55.080 --> 30:06.920 In the New Testament, the apostle Paul said of Ephesus, there are many adversaries here, but God has opened a wide door for the gospel to be spread. The disciples of Jesus came and they said, 30:07.060 --> 30:09.000 we have nothing to feed the people, 30:09.140 --> 30:13.320 but we do have a lad here with five loaves and two fish. 30:14.000 --> 30:16.980 In the book of Acts, it says there was great persecution 30:16.980 --> 30:20.600 that came upon the church, but the word of God spread 30:20.600 --> 30:23.600 and many people came to faith in Christ. 30:24.600 --> 30:28.740 Jesus says no man can come to the Father, but you can by me. 30:29.720 --> 30:34.960 The book of Revelation says that nothing impure can enter into heaven, 30:34.960 --> 30:40.100 but those written in the Lamb's book of life will. 30:41.260 --> 30:52.380 The cure for complaining is faith in God. As soon as we begin to look at God, 30:52.960 --> 30:59.860 we recognize that our circumstances aren't in control. God is in control. Other people 30:59.860 --> 31:09.140 aren't in control. We're not in control, but God is in control. Now, we see in the New Testament 31:09.140 --> 31:18.580 that Christ is involved in all of these stories. Right before this, they came to Mara where the 31:18.580 --> 31:23.340 water was bitter, and they couldn't drink it. And God said, throw a tree into the water, 31:23.500 --> 31:25.120 and it will sweeten the water, and you'll 31:25.120 --> 31:32.600 be able to drink. And in the New Testament, we see Christ on the cross, and it is a tree that 31:32.600 --> 31:40.640 makes life sweet, isn't it? We look at the most bitter thing in history, the Son of God dying on 31:40.640 --> 31:47.600 the cross, and we see the most sweet salvation of sinners come out of that so that we can know 31:47.600 --> 31:56.500 God for all of eternity. In John chapter 6, Jesus said, I am the bread that comes down from heaven. 31:57.340 --> 32:02.220 I am the one who will give you identity and fulfillment. I will give you forgiveness and 32:02.220 --> 32:05.720 salvation, community and relationship. I am the 32:05.720 --> 32:14.820 one who will satisfy your soul. Later, they ran out of water again, and God says, I want you to 32:14.820 --> 32:19.900 hit the rock, and water came out of the rock. And Paul says, Jesus Christ is the rock from which we 32:19.900 --> 32:27.900 can drink. He is the one who satisfies our thirst. He is the one who satisfies our hunger for God. 32:29.960 --> 32:35.960 And so the Bible ends with an invitation for anyone who is thirsty to come to Jesus, 32:36.520 --> 32:45.020 and they will never thirst again. He is the one who satisfies the thirst within our heart for a relationship with God. 32:45.140 --> 32:46.880 And that is how we end today. 32:47.980 --> 32:53.760 We invite you to come to Jesus and to never thirst again, 32:54.440 --> 32:56.760 to receive forgiveness of sins, 32:57.400 --> 33:00.420 to receive fellowship and communion with God, 33:00.420 --> 33:08.320 to receive eternal life, to receive meaning and purpose in life that cannot exist apart 33:08.320 --> 33:16.460 from Christ. If you are thirsty, Jesus is the water of God who will satisfy your thirst. 33:17.060 --> 33:26.620 If you are hungry and you know there's something you want more, that life cannot satisfy, that things cannot satiate, 33:27.000 --> 33:34.180 and the circumstances cannot bring about, then the Bible says, come to the Lord Jesus Christ. 33:34.380 --> 33:47.000 He is the bread of life from heaven, and He will satisfy your hunger. He will give you salvation, and He alone will give you satisfaction. 33:49.100 --> 33:53.620 Let's bow together in an attitude of prayer. 33:54.780 --> 33:58.180 Here in a few moments, we're going to have an invitation. 33:59.560 --> 34:10.380 There's going to be music playing, and there's going to be pastors and counselors here at the front. And as we stand and as we sing, we want to invite you to come and say, I want to give my life to Christ. 34:12.640 --> 34:18.880 I've been thirsty, and I've tried to satisfy that thirst in so many ways. 34:20.040 --> 34:25.560 But today, I recognize that Jesus is the living water who will satisfy my thirst. 34:28.000 --> 34:29.480 Maybe you've been hungry. 34:30.620 --> 34:33.680 You've recognized your sin and you feel the guilt of that. 34:33.780 --> 34:35.140 You feel the conviction of that. 34:35.140 --> 34:39.320 You feel the alienation that sin brings between you and God. 34:39.640 --> 34:43.220 And you hunger for a relationship with your maker, your creator. 34:43.600 --> 34:46.680 You were made for God to know and enjoy 34:46.680 --> 34:54.120 him. Maybe this morning you would say, I'm hungry. I'm hungry for my sins to be forgiven and for my 34:54.120 --> 35:00.180 soul and my heart to be made white as snow. I'm hungry for a relationship with God. I'm hungry 35:00.180 --> 35:07.880 for purpose within my life. I'm hungry for a relationship that only Jesus can satisfy. 35:09.020 --> 35:14.400 We invite you to come and say, I want to give my life to Christ. I want to put my trust and my 35:14.400 --> 35:20.640 faith in Him. The Bible says Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin, and He rose from the 35:20.640 --> 35:31.080 dead. And the Bible says if we will turn from our sin and put our faith in Jesus, the Bible says that we will be saved. So we invite you to come and give your life to Christ this 35:31.080 --> 35:35.980 morning. Maybe you've given your life to Christ, but you say, I've never followed him. Believers, 35:36.140 --> 35:42.240 baptism, you like to come and say, I want to be baptized. I want to profess to the world that I 35:42.240 --> 35:47.340 believe in Jesus. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God until salvation. 35:48.640 --> 35:52.260 You can come forward, and we'd love to talk to you about that and set up a time 35:52.260 --> 35:56.260 for you to go public with your faith through Believer's Baptism. 35:57.340 --> 36:01.660 Maybe the Lord's leading you to join this church, be a part of this family, 36:02.300 --> 36:05.960 a place where you can grow, a place where you can be fed, 36:06.520 --> 36:12.600 a place where your hunger can be satisfied with the Word of God and the Son of God. 36:13.780 --> 36:17.500 You can come forward and say, I want to be a part of this church. God's leading me here 36:17.500 --> 36:25.640 to grow and to serve. Maybe this morning you're here and you say, 36:25.640 --> 36:26.739 you know, 36:26.740 --> 36:31.220 I think I needed this message. 36:33.000 --> 36:35.120 You know, if that's you, you're not alone. 36:36.880 --> 36:38.880 I preached this message to myself 36:38.880 --> 36:40.640 long before I preached it to you 36:40.640 --> 36:42.640 because I needed it. 36:44.140 --> 36:44.939 Maybe you say, 36:44.940 --> 36:47.660 I've been complaining about a lot of things in my life 36:47.660 --> 36:51.740 and maybe the Holy Spirit's convicting you of one of those things or a few of those things. 36:52.300 --> 36:57.700 Maybe you've even developed a spirit of complaining, a negative attitude of unthankfulness 36:57.700 --> 37:06.220 and ungratefulness within your heart. And right where you are, you can come forward and pray here. You would like to 37:06.220 --> 37:13.880 come to the Lord and say, God, I want to confess this sin before you. I haven't been trusting you. 37:14.000 --> 37:18.540 I haven't been grateful. I haven't been looking for what you're teaching me. I haven't been 37:18.540 --> 37:29.220 looking for what you're doing. I've just been fighting you instead of following you. Right now, you can come before the Lord 37:29.220 --> 37:48.380 in prayer and ask him to forgive your sin, to give you a clean heart and a right spirit before him. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time. 37:49.060 --> 37:56.040 We thank you for your word that, Lord, just as you supplied for the people of Israel out in the wilderness, 37:56.320 --> 38:00.920 that you supply our needs with your grace. 38:02.000 --> 38:04.960 Lord, we're thankful for your goodness and your grace. 38:06.760 --> 38:13.600 I pray, God, that we would see it, that we would look for it. Lord, that our life would be about your glory and grace 38:13.600 --> 38:27.780 at all times. God, I pray that you would create in us a clean heart and a right spirit before you. Lord, that we would stay away from complaining. 38:29.340 --> 38:33.640 And Lord, instead, we would focus our heart on praise 38:33.640 --> 38:36.360 and trusting you. 38:37.640 --> 38:39.440 Lord, work in this invitation. 38:39.700 --> 38:40.860 Draw us to yourself. 38:41.760 --> 38:43.200 Bring sinners to salvation. 38:43.480 --> 38:47.100 Bring saints to sanctification. Have your will and 38:47.100 --> 38:53.160 your way within our hearts and our lives as we trust you and as we surrender to you. 38:53.900 --> 39:09.820 In Christ's name we pray. Amen. If you enjoyed this message, and if you did, we would be so grateful if you left us a review. Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast if you would like to be notified when a new sermon is released. 39:10.500 --> 39:17.420 If you feel the Lord calling you to take the next step in faith through salvation, service, or giving, don't wait. 39:18.160 --> 39:21.220 Reach out to us by texting PODCAST to 88988. 39:21.520 --> 39:26.720 That's PODCAST to 88988 or connect with us on one of our social media platforms. 39:27.380 --> 39:33.940 You can also visit our website, valleybaptist.org to find even more great resources. No matter where 39:33.940 --> 39:39.300 you are in your journey, know that we love you. We're praying for you and we can't wait to see 39:39.300 --> 39:40.820 what God will do in your life.