Do you know what the problem with bad breath is?
The problem with bad breath is everyone can smell your bad
breath except for you. And so it is with complaining.
Often we're very good at sort sort of detecting the smell of a
complaint in other people's mouths, but we're very bad at
realising we're the one who's complaining.
So today I want you to do something.
Would you do a favour for me with every single one of you?
Now just consider I actually might just be the biggest moaner
in the room instead of thinking to know that message that's for
them or him on on that row there.
He's a real winch bag. No?
This message actually might be for me and I need to sort out
this this issue of complaining. I've got 4 chunks for you today,
4 headings that I'd like to split this message into.
The first one is this memory is a mirage.
My second heading is manners on the menu, my third heading is
melting the monas and my 4th and final heading is Moses's moment
of madness. OK, firstly memory is a mirage.
Just look at verses four and six with four to six with me.
Now the mixed multitude who are among them yielded to intense
craving. So the children of Israel also
wept again and said, who will give us meat to eat?
We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers,
the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic.
But now our whole being is dried up.
There is nothing at all except this manner before our eyes.
You see, the Israelites have been delivered, but they hadn't
been delivered. You can take the Israelites out
of Egypt, but you cannot take the Egypt out of the Israelites.
And it is true that memory is a mirage, isn't it?
We're very good at only sort of remembering the the good things
in our past. And and here the Israelites,
here they were, is all they could remember were these leeks,
these cucumbers, the fish. They're acting like back in
Egypt, they were trapped like Princess, like they were looked
after and they were waited on hand and foot.
They've forgotten the baking bricks in the blistering sun.
They've forgotten being battered, being beaten, being
bullied by the Egyptian's whip. They'd forgotten their babies
that were drowned in the Nile. And above all, they'd forgotten
their calling. They'd forgotten their
distinction as God's people. These were not to be any man's
slave. No, they had a high calling.
They were God's people. Have you ever heard of the
singer Adele? Just nod your head if you've
heard of the the contemporary musician Adele.
She sung a song. Well, she sung many songs, but
there's actually a quote that I really like that I heard many
years ago and I'd like to share it with you this morning.
She once said this turning 25 was a turning point for me.
Slap bang in the middle of my 20s, teetering on the edge of
being an old adolescence and a fully fledged adults.
I miss everything about my past, the good and the bad, but only
because it won't come back. When I was in it, I wanted out,
and that's what the Israelites were like when they were in
Egypt. They wanted out.
They they called out for a deliverer to save them.
And yet when Moses delivered them, they wanted to go all the
way back into slavery. One of my favorite verses in the
Bible is Ecclesiastes 7, verse 10.
And it goes like this. Do not say why were the old days
better than these, for it is not wise to ask such such questions.
I'll say that again. Do not say why were the old days
better than these, for it is not wise to ask such questions.
I wonder if you've ever heard people say this.
Those were the good old days. I wonder if people ever say
that. We can all be tempted to say
that, that those were the good old days once you've ever heard
people say it in a bad way, where they say, oh, I used to
have some good days back then, partying, having lots of fun.
You know, maybe I was a little bit promiscuous.
Everything was so good back then, but were they really?
That's the question that needs to be asked.
People who live like that, they forget the hangovers, the
emptiness, the strain that it put on their family, on their
work. They forget how miserable they
were and if that was you. And perhaps sometimes we can
look back and and see Christianity sometimes, and it
might be difficult and tough when we look back and think
those days they were so much better.
But you've forgotten that God delivered you from that, and He
brought you to those still waters because you were actually
restless and unsettled in your ways of sin.
But sometimes there can be good reasons why we take a trip down
memory lane. What about this one for
evangelism? I wonder if there's anyone in
the room, Whoever went to a Billy Graham crusade, Just raise
your hand. Was anyone who went there?
Or have you ever seen Billy Graham on maybe on YouTube or on
a video? Well, Billy Graham, at the end
of his messages, he used to always say, you know, if anyone
wants to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, you come forward
publicly because Jesus always called people publicly.
And what happens, quite literally, thousands of people
would come forward and receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
And yet now we see an evangelist like Billy Graham and these
great numbers coming forward in in our land, in Blackpool, in in
London, when I used to work for young life.
I think, please don't quote me on this, I've got it wrong.
But I think Vinny Commons comes here sometimes, does he?
Maybe he doesn't. But the evangelist of Vinny
Commons and Vinny used to always tell me about a a preacher
called Lance Pipworth who used to preach in the open air in
Llandudno. And one night in particular,
Lance was preaching and you know the promenade in Llandudno.
There was so many people that were listening that half of the
promenade was cut off. And at the end of Lance's
message he said would anyone like to come forward and and
take a Gospel of John? And because so many people are
interested in the gospel, they had to form 2 orderly cues to
receive gospels of John. And now when I preach in the
open air, when, you know, my friend Paul Sparks preaches, do
we have people coming into orderly queues?
Maybe to laugh at us, But we don't have that that same kind
of sort of interest. And the reality is now we're in
a generation of sowing rather than reaping.
Sometimes there might be a temptation to look back at at
better days, when when our health was better, when simple
tasks didn't cause us so much pain.
Or we weren't always living in this state of anxiety, thinking
what's going to happen on this scan or what's going to happen
tomorrow. Perhaps we look back at the days
when the churches were fuller, when there was a morality in
this land, a desire for godliness.
Perhaps you're in a marriage and it's difficult, or a
relationship and no one knows about the pain that you carry.
But God knows. And you might look back and
think, oh, those were better days.
What does a scripture say? It says don't do it.
It's not wise to ask such questions.
It's not wise to look back because it's all we have is
right now. OK, Secondly, manners on the
menu. Now look at verses at 7:00 to
8:00 with me. Now the manner was like
coriander seed and it's colour, like the colour of bedulum.
The people went about and gathered it, ground it on
millstones, beat it in mortar, cooked it in pans and made cakes
on it. And it's taste was like the
taste of pastry prepared with oil.
Manor was actually an incredible substance.
It it wasn't monotonous it, it could yield sorts of different
varieties, you know, there was a flexibility to it, something
that we all appreciate. In the north of England, in
Warrenton, Wigan, it was free. Here they were, you know, at
night, you know, they they they slept.
And in the morning the Manor was there.
There was no toil to get it. It was pleasant to the eyes.
It was Angel's food. It was bread of heaven.
But you know what really the most wonderful thing about Manor
was? It was this.
God chose it for his people. That's the beautiful message of
the Bible from beginning to end, that God looks after his people.
If there's something good that the Lord wants you to have,
he'll give it to you. He'll give it to you if you want
it. And yet, what did the Israelites
say? No, no, no.
This man, no. We want meat, God.
We want that instead. Well, if meat was the best thing
for you at that specific time, I would have given you the meat,
says the Lord. But no manner is what I've given
you right now and I'm asking you to be content with it.
That's why I don't know if you've heard of the the Word of
Faith movement, this idea of naming it and claiming it.
That's why that can be a little bit dangerous if you don't know
what it is. It's basically this idea.
Suppose I'm in my neighbourhoods and I look out at my neighbour's
cars and here I am with my, you know, 12 year old car and I see
my my neighbour and he's got a brand new Mercedes-Benz.
And I look at it and I think I'd really like a Mercedes-Benz.
Oh, I'd love that. On my drive.
Do you know what? I'm going to take this to the
Lord. I'm going to pray and I'm going
to say Lord God, I have enough faith.
I have enough faith that one day I'll wake up and a Mercedes-Benz
will arrive on my drive. Can I tell you why?
That's not only a little bit silly, but it's also a dangerous
thing to do. I'll tell you why.
Because when we do that, we're telling the almighty Creator,
the God of this universe, what we want instead of being content
with what the Lord has provided for us.
People say I need to be rich gods.
No, no, that would ruin you. I need to be successful.
No, you'd forget me, says the Lord.
I want to marry that person. That's the person for me.
No, no, the Lord says that's not my will.
Can I ask you all a very personal question right now?
I wonder what's the one thing that you desire more than
anything else and yet you don't have it right now.
Just quietly think of it in your mind.
What's that one thing you long for?
Because if it's not a a godly thing, if if that makes sense,
can I say this? You won't be content until you
finally give it to the Lord and say Lord, I accept your will.
That is one of the hardest prayers in the world to pray,
particularly when we're going for a difficult time to say.
Not my will, but yours. Oh God, have you heard of the
Lady Corrie 10 Boom? I'm sure you know that name.
If you don't know who Corrie 10 Boom was.
She was a Dutch Christian who ended up in a concentration camp
for hiding Jews in her shop. And what you need to know about
Corrie 10 boom is she was put in barracks 28 with her sister in
this concentration camp and in barracks 28.
It's it sounds a bit strange when I say this, but barracks 28
for some reason the Nazis didn't go in there as much and bully
those who lived in there in all the other barracks around.
They gave them a really hard time, but for some reason, they
didn't enter into Barracks 28. And one day, Betsy Corrie's
sister, is leading them both in prayer.
And you can sort of picture it in your mind's eye.
Here they are. They're praying.
And And Betsy says, Lord, God, thank you for giving us food.
And here's Corrie. She's sort of non.
Yes, Lord, thank you for food. Lord God, thank you for your
words. And Corrie's nodding ahead.
Yes. Yes, Lord, thank you for your
word. Lord God, thank you that we have
clothes on our back now. Sorry.
Yes, Lord, thank you for the clothes on our back.
And Lord God, thank you for flees.
In Jesus name. Amen.
And at this point Corrie looks up and says, I'm sorry, Betsy.
No, I'm sorry. I can't say Amen to that.
How can I thank the Lord for these fleas?
They they bite us, they irritate us.
They cause us so much mystery. How can I thank God for them?
And Betsy? Said Corrie.
The Bible says that we are to give thanks in all
circumstances. So we give thanks for the fleas.
And Corrie sort of dwelled on it for a moment and said, yes, I
suppose you're right. Thank you God, for the fleas in
Jesus name. Amen.
Now, years later, after Betsy passed away, Corrie found out
why those Nazis didn't enter into Barracks 28.
They had a problem with fleas and those Nazis didn't want to
get bitten by the fleas. And my dear friends, you and I
have fleas. I hope not literally, but we all
have things, don't we, That biters, the irritators that we
see no good for. And we say, Lord, why have you
put this in my life? And sometimes it's only when we
take a step back. Sometimes it might only be when
we get to glory with the Lord that will only understand.
Oh, that's why the Lord gave me fleas.
Now I see why that's hit me and hurts me and causes difficulty.
OK, thirdly, melting the moaners.
Just jump over to verse one with me.
Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, for the
Lord heard it and his anger was aroused.
So the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some in
the outskirts of the camp. Now twice we see Israel
murmuring and the first time is here in in verse one.
So if you've got a Bible in front of you, just have a look
in verse one. See.
Can you see what is the reason why they were complaining?
It doesn't say. In other words, it was so
trivial. It was so minor that it wasn't
worth the ink to write in Scripture.
And isn't that kind of a bit like you and me?
You know, sometimes we we can be complaining about things that
are so trivial. Like, I can't believe that I had
to, you know, walk a little bit further to get to church today
with these runners or and then by tomorrow we've completely
forgotten about it. We can so often complain about
little things, but then notice this.
It says they're complaining. It turns into combustion.
A fire breaks out to consume them in the camp.
It's almost as if God said, OK, if you're going to complain
about these little things, we'll give you something now to
complain about. And again, can you relate to
that? Sometimes we can be complaining
about the price of milk or the buses late or or this and that.
And then something big hits US, something hot hits US right
between the eyes and we see now I'm starting to feel the heat
and it just puts everything into perspective.
And you think I've lived so long, so negatively, and yet the
Lord has been so good to me. The second time we see them
murmuring is is over this miracle of receiving manner from
above. You see, they wanted meat
instead. And this is the interesting
thing in Exodus 16 verse four. You don't need to turn there.
It says this. Then the Lord said to Moses,
Behold, I will reign bread from heaven.
For you and the people shall go out and gather a certain quote
every day that I may test them whether they will walk in my law
or not. So in one sense I know I keep
pointing at that as if there is manner there.
But in one sense it wasn't about the manner.
It was about the fact that the manner represented the word of
God. And by them rejecting the manner
they were rejecting the word of God, they were rejecting God
himself. And that's what hurts so much.
And then what did God do? He answered their call and he
gave them what quail. He gave them quail.
Now what happened to the quail? Did they enjoy the quail?
No, it was it was cursed. And we don't actually know what
the curse was. But what we do know is this.
If we twist a situation to try and obtain what we want, we
actually have a reason to fear. Because God didn't give this
quail from a place of his generosity where he gives often
to us, He gave it from a place of anger.
And that's why the the people of Israel, they soon came to
despise it. And that's also something that I
think reminds us of ourselves. Again, I'm asking you very
personal questions today, but I wonder if there's a a lust or a
craving or a desire that isn't wholly at all.
And and you long for it. You you set your mind on it.
Maybe it is. You want that Mercedes-Benz.
Maybe you're in a perfectly wonderful house, but you want
that bigger house because the Joneses down the road have it.
Or maybe it's something more secretive, something more
shameful, and you chase after it.
You know what it's like when we get these things, As soon as
it's in our mouth like that, quail, it becomes rottenness.
And we think, why did I chase that so much?
Why did I leave the Lord so much?
Why did I become so obsessed with that?
Because once I had it, it left me more empty than when I began.
Or maybe there's someone in this room right now and you don't see
that about lust. Lust is very precious to you.
Well, there's a word for you here because in verse 34 we see
what's at the end of the road of lust.
What does it say? Death.
They called those those graves. They called it Kibrov Hatavar.
Now again, don't want to put you on the spot here, but imagine
your gravestones in front of you.
It's not a pleasant thought to think about on Harvard, but
imagine your gravestones in front of you and there's a title
on the top of it. What would you like your title
to be? Maybe a wonderful grandmother,
someone who loved the Lords. Well, I'll tell you one thing I
wouldn't like on my gravestone. I wouldn't like this title that
they had. And it was the graves of
lusters. And one of the most terrifying
thing about all of this, as we look at the Israelites after all
these warnings, after the Lord sent a fire in into the camp,
After he cursed the quail. After his fire was kindled,
after the Lord was so angry, did the people of Israel learn their
lesson? No.
Psalm 78, verse 32 says this. In spite of all this, they still
sinned. They were slow to learn the
lesson. And that's been my story so
often. There's been times when God
really has. He's chastised me.
Sometimes the Lord may, even if we're living in willful sin,
make us crawl. He smashes us right down to the
ground, not in a in a horrible way but because he wants us to
walk with him. Because he knows the dangers of
sin. And sometimes God can do these
things and and we can say in a knee jerk reaction, Lord, I'll
never return to these sins. I'll follow you, I love you,
I'll commit myself to you. And then the months go by and
what happens just like that, that that proverb.
Just like you can take the pig you can wash it clean but it
will run straight back to the mud just like the dog returns to
its vomit. So often we are so quick to
returning back to our foolish ways.
OK, fourthly, Moses's moment of madness.
Just look at verses at 14 to 15 with me.
I am not able to bear all these people alone because the burden
is too heavy for me if you treat me like this.
This is Moses speaking. Please kill me here and now if I
found favour in your sights. And do not let me see my
wretchedness here. We see Moses at his lowest
point. This is a broken man.
This is a man who loathes his calling, who laments the work
that God has called him to, and he wants to release from it.
And friends can I say this. There are very few things that
will discourage God's messengers more than to be criticized, to
be nagged by God's people. To always, you know, always
laying into the the preacher, or always laying into the
leadership or or whoever. That would break any man, even
the patriarch Moses. And that's why we're to
encourage one another. Not just the leaders, but all of
us. We all need encouragement.
We all need to build one another up and say kind things, because
none of us know the kind of week that that we've had.
And then what did Moses do? How did he respond to all this
complaining? Well, not only was Moses
suicidal, but he also complained too.
So Moses complaints, right? So if Moses complaints, why is
it that God wasn't angry at Moses?
I'll tell you why. Because when Moses complained,
he took his complaint to God. Now, this is so crucial because
in the moment of a crisis, in the moment of a difficulty, it's
almost as if God is asking us this very vital question.
Why did you become a Christian? Did you become a Christian so
that I would serve you, or so that you would serve me?
Because in the moment of a difficulty, when all the
blessings are stripped away, when we're left with just the
Lord Jesus Christ, God wants to see, is Christ Jesus enough?
Will you hold fast to him? Or will you run to the world,
Francis? Or will you wait on the Lord and
walk with him through this difficulty?
You see, some of the godliest Saints in history?
They really did mess up. Job was also suicidal.
David, if you've read the Psalms at times, David spoke to the
Lord in ways you and I would never dream of.
And Moses, as we've just seen here, he forgot his calling.
But what was Moses's title? He was called the what?
The meekest man on earth. You're right.
Yeah. And what was David called?
He was called a man after God's own hearts.
And then Job, Right at the end of Job, God actually said to Job
only You have spoken rightly about me.
So why were these men so blessed even though they they said all
of these things? I'll tell you why.
Because they waited on the Lord and they directed their cry.
So Lord God. And that's why it's OK at times
for us to be confused. That's why it's OK at times to
be frustrated and even to ask questions to God.
Because in those times, God is saying to us, I don't love you
because you put on a happy face. I don't love you because you say
the right things, or because you try to live a moral life.
I love you because I am God and because I bought you with my
son's Precious Blood. That is why I love you.
Perhaps there is someone here today who is frustrated.
Perhaps there's someone who's struggling quietly behind the
scenes. Maybe you're confused.
Maybe you've got so many questions.
What would I say to you? I'd say come to Christ as you
are. He may not take the pain away
from you, but he does promise that he'll hold your hand
through the pain through those trials.
Just like you know Moses. There was there was many times
when Moses, he interceded for the people.
He stood in the gap. Here was God's wrath and here
was the people of Israel, and they were moaning and God's
wrath was coming for them. But Moses, he, he interceded.
He pleaded with God. There was once when when Moses
actually cried out. If you will not forgive this,
people blot out my name from the book of life.
In other words, I'm prepared to lay down my own salvation for
this people and friends. You and I have a great high
priest. You and I have a Moses.
You and I have a man who intercedes for us.
The Lord Jesus Christ stands in the gap.
Here we are our sin, our rottenness, our failures.
Here's the wrath of God. It's coming.
But Christ, if you like, takes the bullet for us.
The Bible says he's the propitiation for us, and that's
a big word. But in other words, it means he
turns it away. He absorbs that wrath, all the
punishment on the cross, it was absorbed and he turned it away.
Just like a miracle took it away.
He took it himself for us. That is the most wonderful
message. And that's why I sleep well at
night, knowing that I have a high priest who's not dead.
For on the third day he rose from the grave, and right now
he's in heaven forever, pleading forever.
He's praying right now. When you pray a prayer, do you
know this? The Lord Jesus Christ prays with
you. He takes your requests to the
throne. And when you came to him, if
you've come to him and said, Lord God, forgive me, wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow. The Lord Jesus Christ took that
request, and with a covenant and blood it was sealed.
And you're saved because Jesus died on that cross for you.
Do you know that? For yourself, friends, Have you
met the risen Lord and let him turn your life upside down?
As I as I finish, I didn't know which.
I had two illustrations, but I'll just share one of them with
you. I'll be honest, I'm not going to
go into details, but I've had a very, very tough week this week.
In fact, here's a big secret I nearly asked.
Well, I did. I ask Paul Sparks.
Just just write another message, just in case.
I can't make it this week because it's been a tough week.
It was something that's actually kind of, it sounds really weird,
but helped me get through this week is some friends of ours
lent us the the DVD box set of Little House on the Prairie.
Have you seen that? OK, I've never seen it before,
so don't tell me what happens. We're only up to season Season 4
now, so no spoilers. And it was really helpful.
And I was kind of interested as I'm watching these, knowing that
this was filmed back in 1974, which I know none of us were
born around back then in 1974. But back in 1974, I was
thinking, I wonder where this cast is now.
I wonder what's happened to them.
And so the little girls who are in that, they're in their 50s.
One of the, the lady who played Carolyn, she's, she's 77 now and
I'm watching it. And then the main man, the man
who plays Charles Ingalls, Michael Landon, who actually
directed it, he produced it. Where's he, do you know what
happened to him? He died of pancreatic cancer.
And so I I looked at it a little bit more and I I heard an
interview with him and it was just when he heard about the
diagnosis and this is what Michael Landon said.
He said when you get that diagnosis, it's not as if you
suddenly love your family more because you've always loved them
to pieces, but you do start to notice things more.
And you want to be there to notice those little things that
you'd missed. And friends.
That's really the heart of this message.
The Lord gives us little things, little things to look at, little
things to notice. You know, just walking around
Sainsbury's might seem mundane, but it's a gift, isn't it?
To have breath. You know, watching my little son
yesterday playing football, just watching him run around after a
ball, he's not very good. But it's a gift, isn't it?
That big oak tree outside your house is beautiful.
The conquers on the floor, all these little gifts, and God
gives them every single day to us.
So I'm just saying, I'm a moaner.
I complain, but let's just take time to just give thanks to this
wonderful God. And let's notice these little
things and praise the one who saved us and put a smile on our
face because we're redeemed in Him.
Let me say a little prayer and I'll.
I'll pass back over to Robert. Gracious God, we mean this when
we say it, but we truly do love you.
We really do. We thank you that you have given
us life today. You've given us food, clothes on
our back. You've saved us with your own
son's blood, and we have so much to be grateful for.
Lord, if perhaps we are given to a negative spirits and
complaining, please would you be patient with us and help us to
turn from this sin, help us to have love and help us to notice
all these little things that you give us every day and to be
present in the moment in this life right now.
For we do not know what will be around the corner, what will
happen tomorrow. Thank you for being with us this
morning. We prayed you would be and you
have been. Thank you, Lord, we pray these
things in Jesus name. Amen.