The joy of the Christian life is not what God provides for you. The peace of God is not what He provides for you. The peace and the joy of God is the confidence you have in Him. And here's the deal, y'all. In order to develop that kind of faith, you gotta be in situations where you have to show that kind of faith.
Welcome back to the Summit Life podcast with J.D. Greer. I'm Molly Vidovich. One of our favorite things about this ministry is hearing from you how God is using Summit Life in your walk with Him. We recently received this message from a listener.
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Well, today Pastor JD explains three tests that God gave the Israelites after delivering them through the Red Sea. How did they do? Let's jump back into Exodus and find out. Here's Pastor JD. Exodus 15, if you have your Bibles with you this morning, Exodus chapter 15, if you are taking notes, I'm calling today's message Wilderness You because it is about a series of tests that God gives to the children of Israel after their encounter at the Red Sea.
Now, nobody likes tests, right? Tests reveal weak spots in our knowledge. But tests can also, however, be opportunities for us to deepen our knowledge and to fill in the gaps of our understanding. In Exodus 15 to 17, God is going to walk the children of Israel through three different tests to see if they have learned the lesson of the Red Sea. Remember, the Red Sea was supposed to be like the defining moment in their faith.
It was the place where God proved to them once and for all how present He was with them. and how committed he was to them. The question I want you to consider today is: did they learn the lesson? And the answer is going to be a resounding no. Yeah.
Which is going to set us up to see that humanity actually needs a different kind of salvation, a deeper level of salvation than what the children of Israel experienced in the Exodus. In fact, that's kind of the main point of this: Israel needs a deeper salvation than the Exodus is going to provide for them.
Now, that said, these three tests and the lessons that That are learned from them, that are learned from them, become so fundamental to the Christian life that the writers of the New Testament we're gonna see are gonna bring up these tests again and again as like a 101 course: the basics of walking with and trusting in God. And so, I'm going to do my best to kind of draw out all those applications for you, okay? But first, let me walk you through the three tests. Test number one, I'm going to call the bitter water bonus quiz. That's in chapter 15.
At this point, Israel has been just three days out from the Red Sea deliverance, where, if you recall, they had watched God literally split an ocean in two front of them and lead them safely through that ocean, then close that ocean on the heads of the pursuing Egyptians and wipe out the pursuing Egyptians forever. They'd even written a song about it. It was momentous. That's found in verses one and two.
So here we are now, just three days later, three days, verse 22, and they hit a dry patch, literally a dry patch. They're camped in a place where they can't find any water. And when they finally find some water, it's bitter, meaning it's defiled or poisoned or tasted like dead fish or had rotting antelope carcasses in it or who knows? Whatever it was, it was undrinkable. And so Israel said, verse 24, look at your Bibles.
Israel said, verse 24, Lord. Lord, this water is undrinkable, but you already know that. And we know that you will always take care of us, Lord, given what we just saw at the Red Sea.
So we trust whatever provision you have for us. Thank you for always being such a good and faithful God. Don't know what your Bible says in verse 24? You're like, you're reading from a different translation than I'm reading from, right? That is not what my Bible says either.
Here's what my Bible says, verse 24. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? Y'all poor Moses. But Moses knows what to do. And so Moses does what they should have done.
He asks God in faith, and God, verse 25, shows him a A fallen tree. And told Moses to throw the fallen tree into the bitter water. And when Moses did, the water miraculously turned sweet and drinkable. The question is, what is God trying to teach them?
Well, obviously. Obviously, the biggest lesson, he's saying, you can trust me. I will always provide for you. But. But this lesson has a little more packed into it than that, because there's obviously something symbolic in the bitterness of the water that God healed.
That's why verse 25 goes on to explain. It was there. It was there at this place that the Lord made for them a statute and a rule. There he tested them, saying, Listen, if you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God. And do what is right in his eyes.
I will put none of the diseases on you. That I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord your healer. This is the first appearance of the name Jehovah Rapha. Which literally means the Lord is my healer. If you trust me and you follow me, God says, I'll do more than just take care of your physical needs.
I will heal you from all the diseases of Egypt. Those diseases are going to represent all the physical and sinful corruptions that they had carried with them from their captivity in Egypt. They represent the corruption of sin. I will heal you, God says, at the deepest level, at the heart level, from all those diseases. And so the people named the place of the bitter water, they named it, verse 23, Mara, which literally means bitter.
To remind themselves that this was the place that God showed them, that he would be not just their provider, he would be their healer. Then, to drive the point home, verse 27, God leads them from there to a place called Elim, an oasis, Exodus says, with 12 springs and 70 palm trees. Which those numbers may not be literal. 12 and 70 are numbers of completion in Hebrew, which means they imply fullness and bounty. Basically, you're supposed to read that like God led them to their version of the four seasons or the montage in Malibu.
And what God says to them is like, look, this is the life that I have for you. These are my intentions for you. Trust me, I got more for you than you could possibly imagine. This is what I want to do in you. The question we ask is, did they learn their lesson?
Test number two, I'll call this one the manna midterm, chapter sixteen.
Now we're a few weeks into the wilderness journey, and they're pretty deep into the wilderness. And by this point, they've eaten through all the food supplies they brought along with them from Egypt.
So they've eaten everything they carried in their backpacks. And so now.
Now they're looking for something to eat. And so they say, verse 2: God, look at it in your Bible. You have faithfully led us thus far. God, what do you have for us now? That what your Bible says?
No. Verse 2. The whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled again against Moses. and Aaron in the wilderness. And then they repeat the colossally stupid line, verse 3, if only we had died in Egypt.
Where we sat by pots of meat and ate bread to the full. First of all, what are pots of meat? I am in for that. But these people are like, man, we had it so good. We had it so good back there.
It was like we were living at the Golden Corral. All you can eat pots of meat, an unlimited yeast roll service. Plus, a queso fountain you can hold your chips under and let the queso run all over your fingers and back down into the fountain just like it has for the previous hundred patrons. Man, we had it so good back then. This, of course, was a ridiculous statement because that is precisely not how it was back in Egypt.
But see, they're doing what we always do with sin, what the entire entertainment and media complex does with sin. They are romanticizing the pleasures. and minimizing the devastation. Adultery is amazing. But let's not talk about the devastated lives in both families that result from that disastrous choice.
Vengeance is so satisfying. But let's not talk about the bitter person you become when you hold that kind of anger in your heart. Right? This material prosperity is awesome, but let's not talk about all the compromised integrity and destroyed family that you leave in the wake of when you pursue something like that. Y'all, if I were God, I would be about done with Israel, but God is a God who is slow to anger.
That's how God will describe Himself in Exodus 34, which means God gets angry. But it takes a while. By the way, fun thing in the Hebrew language, in Hebrew, slow to anger is literally long of nostrils. And you might ask, why would they use long of nostrils to mean slow to anger?
Well, what happens when you get angry? Right? Your nostrils flare. And if you're quick-tempered, your flaring nostrils get going right away. But if you're slow to anger, then you close your mouth and you...
Breathe through your nose slowly, and you say, goosefra, or whatever it is that you need to say to calm down. In other words, you can make God mad, but you really got to work at it. God is more patient. Than the most patient parent, thank God. In fact, let me just tell you, that's how he feels about you right now.
I know some of you feel like God's been upset at you since you were a kid. I want you to understand that this is a God that is slow to anger, and that the fact that you're here this morning means that there is a patience and there's a mercy and there is a very good God that is drawing you because He loves you and that's why you're here.
So, what does God do for these complaining people who are complaining again and again? He feeds them. Again, he does it in royal fashion. Verse 13 says, In the evening, Quail literally came up and covered the camp. Right, Mendew lay all around the camp that evening.
Literally, that evening, quail just came up and landed by their tents. I mean, y'all, that is better than Grubhub, right? Then that night, verse 14, the dew falls on the ground, and when it dries up, it leaves this little fine flake-like thing all over the ground. It's almost like a frost that covered the ground, it says. Verse 31: Now the people of Israel called the name of this mysterious frost, they called it Manna.
Manna in Hebrew is literally man who. Which literally means what the heck is it? Verse 31 goes on to describe what it is, or the best they could describe it. It was like coriander seed. It was white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
It's like I've told you, it's a mix between a Twinkie and a protein bar.
Well, just as with the bitter water bonus quiz, God is doing more than simply teaching him that he'll provide. God is also teaching them lessons about how he'll provide. Remember, this is not just a test, it's a lesson. And so God gives them two rules. Rule number one for the manna: you can only gather enough for one day.
If you try to stockpile this manna, you know, you put an extra supply in your closet or try to stock your prepper bunker with it, fearful that maybe, maybe, maybe one day or one tomorrow you're going to wake up and there's not going to be any on the ground, then whatever you stockpile is going to go bad. Literally, it says chapter 16, verse 20, that it will breed worms and stink up your house. Which, y'all, if that happens in one night, that's like supernatural going bad, right? I mean, it didn't just go bad. God put some stank on it in the evening.
The one exception to this rule was on the eve of the Sabbath. And on that day and that day alone, this is rule number two. You can and must collect enough for two days. You see, on the Sabbath, no manna would fall because God didn't want them out gathering on the Sabbath day. That was too much like work.
So, the Sabbath was their mana pause. I got mana punched for days, so just you get ready.
So, on the eve of the Sabbath, and on that one day alone. You were allowed to gather enough manna for two days, and God would preserve that manna supernaturally from going bad for an extra 24 hours. That was rule number two. What is he teaching them? He's saying trust me I will always take care of you every day.
And don't try to stuck follow that mana because mana's not your security for the future. I'm your security. Don't stockpile the provision. You keep your eye on the provider. You always put me first.
You're going to show that by the fact that you honor the Sabbath because that, putting me first, that is the condition of my taking care of you. Did they learn? The lesson. Test number three. We'll call this the Rock Face Final.
Now we're in chapter 17, and they've got more than enough manna to eat every day. They're riding high with all these. New mana recipes, mana cottie and eggs mana dict and. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches and banana bread, right? They got all these things they come up with.
They got lots of food, but they again find themselves in a place with no water.
Now, y'all, this should be easy, right? It's the exact same test. This should be a piece of cake. They should be like, God, every time we run into a need, you provide it. And in fact, we've already had this one need, and now we have it again.
So, if you did it the first time, you'll do it the second. And after all, if you can kill an entire Egyptian army in the Red Sea and then make quail and protein Twinkies fall from the sky, then water ain't no big deal to you. But is that what they do? Slightest delay and they start doubting.
Now, maybe you're like, well, well, why didn't God just have it there waiting for him?
So they wouldn't even have the opportunity to doubt. It's because he's teaching them faith. That's what I've been trying to tell you. He's not just taking them to the promised land, he's putting the promised land into them. That's what I told you last weekend.
The promised land is the promised land, not simply because it's a place of prosperity flowing with milk and honey. The promised land is the promised land because it's a place of absolute confidence in and trust in God. That's the joy of the Christian life, that's the peace. The joy of the Christian life is not what God provides for you. The peace of God is not what he provides for you.
The peace and the joy of God is the confidence you have in him.
So God is trying to produce that kind of faith in them. And here's the deal, y'all. In order to develop that kind of faith, you've got to be in situations where you have to show that kind of faith. Because faith's like a muscle. You got to develop it.
So let me just ask you this weekend, how are you doing with this? How quickly have you gotten to a point where you throw up your hands? And you're like, God, why have you forgotten me? Why don't I have this? When are you going to take care of that?
When do I get one of those? When are you going to help me in this situation? How long do I have to pray to you before you'll listen? You see, a lot of us say we want great faith, but we never want to be in a situation where we have to show any faith.
So what are you waiting on God to do? And how tempted are you just to give up? Verse 3: The children of Israel say to Moses, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Just to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?
Now y'all that had been comically ridiculous the first time they said it. But now it's just getting downright annoying. This is the third test in a row, and they're still failing in the exact same ways. Y'all, I mean, listen, if the teacher surprises you with a pop quiz. And you get a zero.
Because you know you're just totally unprepared. That's one thing. But when the teacher, after the quiz, after the quiz is done, patiently walks you through the correct answers, and then the next day gives you the exact same quiz. And you write down the exact same wrong answers again? And then she explains it to you again, and then the third day gives you the exact same quiz, and you failed a third time.
I mean at that point we're just going to conclude that you don't want to learn.
So Moses says in bewilderment, why do you test the Lord? And then he cries out to God on their behalf. Again, but this time. God tells him to do something strange. It says, take your staff.
Go to the rock at Hereb and strike it. Water will come out of it and then the people will drink. The word strike here, by the way, implies a blow of anger or correction. If your kid is willfully obstinate time and time again, you might give him a little swat on the backside. And I know, I know some of you are like, we don't spank our kids.
Yes, we are all very well aware of that, okay? But just go with me here for a minute. What's significant here? Is that this blow was not given to the children of Israel? This blow was given to the rock in Israel's place.
What do we see? We're seeing that God pours out his anger for Israel's unfaithfulness, not on them. But on a rock? which then gushes out fresh pure water for the children of Israel. Three tests.
Israel failed all three spectacularly. Right? In the exact same way.
So let me draw for you some practical applications, and then I'll give you a Jesus application. All right, here's the practical applications. What I'm going to do is, I'm going to actually break it down into different components, but you could just say all of them as this one thing. Trust in God's provision for your daily needs. I'm gonna give you several components here, but you can just write down that one thing: trust.
God's provision for your daily needs. Let me break it down to some various components because, fascinatingly, the New Testament takes these three stories we just looked at. And the New Testament applies them to the lives of believers in some really specific ways. The first application is obvious, right?
So right now, if you're taking notes, letter A, stop worrying. Stop worrying. If there's one basic thing these stories teach, it is this: you don't need to worry. Whatever needs you have tomorrow. God can and will provide for them tomorrow.
In Matthew 6, Jesus is teaching his followers why they should not feel the need to worry. Matthew 6, 34, Jesus calling up the imagery of the manna. Jesus says, hey, don't worry about tomorrow. 'Cause tomorrow we'll have Trouble of its own. Told you before how much I love this verse because I read, don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will have trouble of its own.
And I think, well, well, that's exactly what I was worried about about tomorrow. I was worried that it would have trouble. And you're telling me not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will have the very thing that I'm worried about. But Jesus is like, yeah, but guess what else is going to be there tomorrow? I'm going to be there tomorrow.
And the God who took care of you today is going to be present with you tomorrow. Right, his name is not I was, or one day I will be, or sometimes I am. His name is always, ever, only I am in the present. Because he's the God who is always present to supply your need for whatever challenges you face that day. And he does it abundantly.
I mean, think about it, Jesus says, Matthew 6: He says he provides abundantly for the ravens and the wildflowers. You're way more valuable to God than ravens and wildflowers. Jesus didn't die for the ravens and wildflowers, but he died for you.
So you can expect that he'll take even better care of you than he does them. You got a relationship that you're having trouble with? You got a child. It's giving you difficulty, a friend, a spouse, a boss, a parent. What this story tells you is that God will give you the manna you need to face that challenge on the day that you need it.
You facing a difficult decision, a decision that feels overwhelming to you? He's telling you that God will give you the manna of wisdom that you need to make that decision on that day. If anybody lacks wisdom, James says, just let him ask of God, who gives to all men freely and does it without giving a lecture. Is there an assignment ahead of you that just feels like it's too much for you? What this story tells you is that God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound to every good work.
Do you feel lonely? You feel like there's some chapter ahead of you that you're not going to be able to face?
Well, you can, with Paul, say, in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need, because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, because my God shall supply all my need according to his riches in Christ Jesus. How about this one? You feel defeated because you've fallen again for the 1,000th time in the face of some temptation? What this story is telling you is get up because the manna of God's mercies are new every single morning. Trouble may be in your tomorrow.
but a God of mercy who is greater than the trouble. Yeah, he's going to be there too. Listen, I've told you this before, but anxiety is often a symptom of unbelief.
Now I get it. Listen, I know. Anxiety can be complicated. And the reasons behind it, for some of us, are complex. But sometimes Anxiety, for a lot of us, anxiety often just boils down simply to not believing that a compassionate, fully sufficient God is going to be fully present in your future, just as He is today.
That's why we often say that anxiety can be functional atheism. You're anxious because you're just not sure. That a present, sufficient, ever-faithful God is going to be there waiting for you tomorrow with enough manna for that day, but he will be.
So stop. Worry. Here at Summit Life, our mission is simple, to deepen people's understanding of the power of the gospel and advance that great news wider into the world. Just remember, deep and wide. You see, we believe that everyone should have access to the life-changing truth of Jesus Christ.
And through radio, podcasts, devotionals, and more, Summit Life is working hard to make that happen. But we can't do it without the prayers and generosity of friends like you. When you support Summit Life financially, you're not just keeping gospel-centered teaching on the air in your hometown. You're joining a mission that's reaching lives across the globe. And thank you, we send a new resource every single month, something to encourage and empower you to keep God's Word close.
Every quarter, there's a beautiful printed resource, like our annual scripture memory cards, a Bible study, or a book from Pastor J.D. They're specifically designed to help you go deeper in your relationship with God. Then in other months, we send digital resources so that more of your gift can go straight to the heart of this ministry. These tools are also super easy to share with others. Whether it's a small group study, an e-book, or a prayer guide, we want to equip you to take the gospel wider in your world.
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Again, Jesus from Matthew 6, he says, Put obedience first. Just before Jesus said the thing about not needing to worry and because God would be there to provide, here's what Jesus said: He said, But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And then all these things will be added to you. All these things. Refers to whatever you need to accomplish the will of God for the day.
Which includes, obviously, your daily needs. You need to read this verse like a contract. God promises to do his part. All these things will be added to you. As you do your part, seek first the kingdom of God.
The way that the children of Israel expressed God-first obedience in this manna story. The way they expressed that was by not gathering manna on the Sabbath. What did God do in response? He literally multiplied their provisions on the sixth day to make up for what they missed out on the seventh day. There is a principle being taught here that applies to more than just the Sabbath.
Right, follow this. The principle Is that when you obey God first, whatever the command is, and you put Him first, He multiplies your provision to meet your needs.
Now applying this principle starts with the Sabbath When you give God the Sabbath, that is, you stop one day a week for rest and for worship and relationships like He has commanded, God multiplies your time and He gives it back to you. You end up being more refreshed. You're a more full person. I found he even multiplies your productivity. In fact, there's a story that I've shared with you over the years that's honestly, it's not that impressive.
But it was a clear defining moment for me. It was just so personal that I've never forgotten it. It took place when I was a junior in college. and I first decided that I was going to observe a Sabbath. Because like most students, Sunday was a big study day for me.
But I remember having this thought one weekend in church. I was like, you know, none of the other nine commandments do I just break at will. The problem was that this was shaping up to be the busiest semester that I'd ever had. I was taking 21 credit hours. And I got involved in three campus clubs, two of which I was in leadership.
And I was like, I just got no time left to do anything. I need every free second of the weekend. But then I was like, no, no, no, I'm going to do this God's way. I'm going to take off one whole day, 24 hours, for worship and rest and reading spiritual books and hanging out with friends who replenished me. And y'all, that semester, I ended up with the highest GPA I'd had of any semester before.
And I knew, I knew that God was demonstrating to me that if I would honor him first, every time, he would multiply my time. Even more than that, God used those times of Sabbath in that season to grow my relationship with him in deeper ways than I had ever experienced before. I can still remember some of the books I read and some of the ways God showed himself to me. That was by far the biggest blessing. See, I'm talking to a lot of busy Americans who feel like they can't afford the time for a Sabbath.
I usually feel that way, but I'm telling you, when you put him first, God multiplies your provision. That principle runs all throughout the Christian life, whether we're talking about taking the Sabbath or giving the tithe. which means giving God the first and the best of what he gives to you or any other command that he makes. The principle is the same. Obey him first.
Seek him first and his kingdom first, and then all the other things that you truly need to flourish in life. He will faithfully supply to you. You do your part. I promise you he'll do his part. Letter C.
Don't turn. God's provision into an idol. In 1 Corinthians 10. Verse 7 Paul says that ultimately That generation of Israelites failed because they were idolaters. Meaning.
They put something in the place of God. And in this case... It was the mana. You can see that in how they tried to stockpile the manna. Right, the type A Enneagram 6 people back then, they wanted excess amounts of it.
Just in case God didn't show up for them tomorrow, just in case it was something they hadn't understood. But God was like, I don't want you trusting in the manna, I want you trusting in me. Get your eyes off the provision and keep them on the provider.
So God made the excess stockpile manna go bad because God did not want them to trust in it, He wanted them to trust in Him. Get your eyes off the provision, put them on the provider. Mana is not your security for tomorrow. I am. And if they try, if you try to make mana your security, God made it rot.
There's a symbol of what happens. That's a symbol. of anything you trust in more than God. Anything you replace God with, even good things. You see, let's know this.
The great irony of the Christian life. Probably the danger for most of you more than any other danger. Listen. The great irony of the Christian life is that some of God's greatest gifts to us, we turn into idols. I'm talking about things like money.
or marriage or family or whatever. Whatever you cling to for security in the future. Even if it's a gift of God, like the manna was. Whatever you cling to in the place of God ultimately rots on you and stinks up your life. Do you depend on money, for example?
You become greedy and materialistic. And you brag a lot. And you're always anxious about it, and you're jealous of people who have more than you, and you're constantly comparing yourself, and you're never satisfied. Y'all, some of the least satisfied and least happy people I have ever encountered in my life are really rich people. You want to know what's happened?
The man errotted on him. Or if you depend on marriage and family. Those are good things, right? Great things. But if you depend on them, you become...
Possesses and codependent and jealous, and you ruin your family or your marriage, or you start to get bitter that you don't have the marriage or family that you've always wanted, and you're always looking around at other people saying, Why don't I have what they have? What's happening? It's rotting on you. If you depend on your looks for the future. You become obsessive about diet and skin products and plastic surgery and you get jealous of anybody who looks like you want to look.
The manna is rotting. The irony is that you may not even recognize how much this rotting manna is stinking up your soul. I promise you everybody else does. And when they talk about you, they talk about your issue with this thing that's so important to you. You know, listen, I constantly ask myself, what is it that God has blessed me with?
I've turned into an idol. And that I look to now as my security for my future. Is it this church? I mean, this church is a great blessing, but is this like a. Idol is this what I depend on?
Is this my identity? Is this what I trust in for the future? Is it my preaching ability? Right, these are gifts of God. But if I start to trust in them more than I trust in him, they sour and rot on me.
I experience degrees of this all the time. And if I'm preaching good, I feel like, you know, future's bright. I've been successful in this in the past, and obviously I'm going to be successful in the future. And that's got a rotting effect on my soul. I get jealous of those who are more gifted than I am, and there are plenty of those.
Or I get worried about somebody coming along who's better than me, some younger, cooler, funnier guy that y'all want to replace me with. Or an AI preacher, or whatever, you know, whatever's next. Here's another way that you experience it. where I experience it, I start to annoy Veronica. about needing constant affirmation.
Right.
So, if I preach a bad sermon one weekend, and that happens a lot. Bronco's got to scrape me up off the floor on Monday morning with a spatula. Because what's happened is my preaching ability is rotting my soul. Same thing is true for you with whatever you trust in. Good things like your job.
Your marriage. Your looks. Your 401k, your boyfriend. Whatever. Remember, idols are not usually inherently bad things.
They're usually good things. you've elevated into God things. that then turn into bad things.
So what are you clinging to for the future? This is a really important point. Is it the mana? Or is it the mana provider? Because if it's the manna It's going to go bad on you.
All right, one more. And this is the one from the Old Testament. It's the bonus one, letter D. Trust God in new situations. Isaiah says this.
Listen to the Exodus imagery. Behold, God says, I'm doing a new thing.
Now it springs forth. Don't you see it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. To give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I for myself, that they might declare my praise. Obviously, an allusion to the Exodus.
But he's talking about a situation in the present. I'm encouraged by Isaiah's application here because Isaiah is using what Israel experienced there to talk about what God is going to do here. He says to God, Hey, just like you made a way for them in the wilderness, and just like you provided rivers of water for them in the desert, I'm confident you're going to do something similar in our situation. Maybe you're facing some desert in your marriage. I got good news for you.
God can cause new springs of fresh water to sprout up in the dead soil of that marriage. Maybe you're depressed at the bitterness of your own heart. And how you just cannot seem to shake addictions and temptations that you have struggled with your whole life. I got good news for you. He is still Jehovah Rapha, your healer.
And he can make those bitter waters sweet because he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Maybe there is some obstacle in the way of something you believe God's calling you to do, and you don't know how in the world you're going to get around it. I got good news for you. We serve a God who splits oceans in half and brings water out of rocks in the desert. That means He can make a way for you too.
Okay. Those are the practical applications. Trust in God's provision for your daily needs. But that brings me to the Jesus application, which is even more important. It's not trust in God's provision for your daily needs.
The Jesus application is trust in God's Son for your ultimate need. 1 Corinthians 10, Paul makes an important connection. Paul says, I don't want you to be unaware, brothers. That our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the Red Sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food.
Talking about manna. All drank the same spiritual drink. Talking about the water from the rock. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them. That rock was Christ.
In other words, all these tests we just looked at. They prefigured. our relationship with Jesus. Which makes it significant. that Israel failed all of the tests.
Badly. Which sets us up for this. Write this down. Jesus passed all the tests that Israel failed. Jesus at the beginning of his ministry went through the same test that Israel did.
You ever notice that? You recall, remember he got baptized. That's his Red Sea moment. Do you recall what his first temptation was in the wilderness after the baptism? Satan tempted him to turn stones into bread instead of trusting in God to take care of him through this fast God had commanded him to go into, which lasted 40 days, just like the 40 years in the wilderness.
In other words, Satan is tempting Jesus to idolize bread to replace his trust in the provider with trust in the provision. How does Jesus respond?
Well, many of us know that he says, man shall not live by bread alone, but the most significant thing about that quote is where it's from. It's from the time of the Exodus. Jesus was looking at this situation. He's like, oh, I know what's going on here. This is me repeating Israel's test in the wilderness.
But see, I know something they refuse to believe, and that is man does not live by bread alone. It's not manna that keeps us alive. No, it's every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
So if I got to choose between the word of God and bread, I'll take the word of God every time. It's the provider, not the provision that I trust in. Everything Israel got wrong, Jesus got right, which is the heart of the gospel. Jesus lived the life that we were supposed to live, a life without sin. He passed all the tests that we failed.
Then he died the death that we were condemned to die. That's why we say around the summit church, you can summarize the gospel in four words: Jesus in my place. Because Jesus, who was sinless, died under the curse of sin. He could release those of us who are sinful, who are under the curse of sin, and release us from that curse and lead us to new life.
So here's our Jesus applications. Letter A, Jesus crosses the tree. Cast into the bitter waters of our soul that makes them sweet. Charles Furgen said, I've always loved this. Just as when Mara's waters were bitter.
Moses commanded them to take a tree and cast it into the waters, and they became sweet.
So the Spirit of God finding our natures better. Takes the tree of Calvary, casts it into the stream, and everything is made. Pure. Jesus' cross is the tree that cleanses the soul and makes us whole. What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. You see, his blood not only pays the penalty for your sin, it cleanses you and heals you from all the diseases of Egypt. You know, a lot of us realize in our more honest moments that something's wrong with our hearts.
Right? I mean, do you at least have the humility? And the presence of mind to be able to admit that. Our hearts are like polluted wells. We can blame all our problems on other people for a while.
But sooner or later, you're going to have to acknowledge that one of the things that is most broken in your life is. You f. And I can tell you firsthand, no one has lied to J.D. Greer. More than J.D.
Greer. Nobody has broken more promises to me than me. Nobody has disappointed me more than me. And, like I've told you before, I don't think any of us would be prepared for others to see what's actually going on in our hearts, right? I mean, I get to see you on the weekend.
You look so good. You cleaned up. Put on your Sunday best. But I've asked you to consider what life would be like if we could You know, have a little app on our phone, imagine this, or a little monitor attached to your head. That would display at any given point Whether you wanted it to or not, it could display whatever you were thinking at that moment.
What you're thinking about, who you're thinking about, how you feel about somebody. That'd be terrible, wouldn't it? Right? None of us would ever even leave the house. The well of our hearts is poisoned down deep.
We need a Savior who can heal us at the heart level, who can make the bitter waters of our polluted heart sweet again. I saw an article a couple of weeks ago announcing that One of the world's most prolific blood donors. A man named James Harrison had died at the age of 88. He was known as the man with the golden arm. Because his blood had saved the lives, literally, of at least 2.4 million babies.
You see, James Harrison's blood contained a rare antibody called anti-D. that prevented a fatal disease that kills a lot of newborns. The fascinating thing about the article to me was that James Harrison had an aversion to needles. He hated them. They made him want to pass out, and sometimes he did pass out.
Yet James Harrison still donated blood 1,173 times. Because his blood was some of the only blood that could save the lives of these babies. Jesus Christ died because his blood was the only thing that could cure our hearts at the source level. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Jesus is the bread of life. That's your second thing, letter B. He's the bread of life. Y'all, it's obvious there was something deeply mysterious about the manna, the magical way it appeared, the weird Sabbath stuff about how it was preserved. But the way you really know how special this bread was, Exodus 16:33.
Moses said to Aaron, take a jar, put mana in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept throughout future generations. That jar was put in the Ark of the Covenant. Which house the presence of God. It was kept right underneath the mercy seat off that Ark of the Covenant, where they sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice once a year, which makes what Jesus says in John 6:31 that much more significant.
Watch this. Jesus talking to the people that he just fed with the five loaves and two fish. He said to them, Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Well, they respond back to him and they say, oh, yes, Jesus, that's great. Why don't you give us this manna again? And Jesus says to them in bewilderment, I am the manna. I was always the manna. This was me.
I'm the bread of life. What fed them in the wilderness was not bread and frost on the ground. What fed them was me. Whoever comes to me will not hunger. The manna was him.
It was always him. That's why they put it into the ark of the covenant, under the mercy seat, where the presence of God dwelt, because the manna represented Jesus, who would be the very presence of God that sustains our souls. See if there's another thing we can all agree on. Is that our hearts are not only messed up, they feel incomplete, right? We go through life unsettled, often unhappy.
It's like we're on a quest to find something and we're not sure what it is. Health help books tell us certain things that will make us better and psychologists tell us different things and romantic movies tell us it's finding the one. Money counselors and sex therapists point to even more options. The Bible makes it clear that what we're really missing is God Himself. The human heart blaze, Pascal very famously said, has a gigantic void in it.
We spend our entire lives trying to fill that void. We try success and sex and family and. Security plans and Even things like psychedelic drugs, but nothing ever works, he said, because that void can only be filled by the love of God. You ever notice that in all those rom-com movies that we love, the process of falling in love is much more exciting than a lifetime of being in love? And that's because romantic love is exciting as it is, it's not what your soul most craves.
I am telling you, for all you who are unhappy, for all you who feel unsettled, for you who feel incomplete, for those who hunger and those who thirst, what you're looking for is Jesus. He's the bread of life that feeds you. He's the water of life that cleanses you. and satisfies you. Which leads me to the last thing.
See, Jesus is the rock that was struck for our sin. Exodus 17, God told Moses to strike the rock instead of striking the people. And when he did, water flows out that saves the people. In the same way, Paul says, 1 Corinthians 10, 4, Jesus, the rock, was struck in our place. for our sin Just like this rock was struck for the air sin.
And get this. Literally, on the cross, when he was struck, water, remember what it said, flowed out from his side. Do you think that symbolism is accidental? It's kind of random. It's almost like it's hard to explain medically.
No, it's because God the Father was saying to all the Jewish people from heaven, He was saying, Hey, Hey, look. Back to the Exodus. This rock was struck just like that rock was struck, and water is now flowing out of him, just like it flowed out for them and saved their lives. The water that's coming out of his death is going to save your life.
So on the last day of the feast, The Great Day. Jesus stood up and he cried out, if anybody thirsts. Let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Jesus is the sacrifice that cleanses you.
He's the bread that feeds you. And he's the water of life that sustains you. And he can do all of that because he was struck in your place, because he passed every test that you failed. That's why we call him not the teacher, not the example, not the coach, not the guru. That's why we call him.
Savior. Thanks for being with us today. If you'd like to study this message's transcript or explore related resources, you can always find everything at jdgreer.com. A quick reminder that this month's Summit Life resource is designed to keep God's Word close in your heart and in your hands. Request your set of scripture memory cards today with your giftedness ministry.
Until next time. Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Greer Ministries. Yeah.
