Our text is from Numbers chapter 11, but I want to read with you a passage from the gospel as recorded by John in chapter 16. John, the gospel as recorded by John, chapter 16. In the course of the sermon towards the conclusion, I'm going to turn just briefly to John chapter 15. John 14, 15 and 16 all belong together as one discourse of Christ in what's known as the upper room, the night of his betrayal. And he's comforting his disciples before he goes to the cross on that Thursday evening And He promises them and to the church through them this coming of the great and Holy Spirit. And so, from John chapter 16, we read in verse 13, albeit when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All things the Father hath are mine, therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and show it unto you." And then in that connection, our text from Numbers chapter 11, because of course what we read in John chapter 16, what Christ told about the Holy Spirit is really the fulfillment of what Moses himself speaks of here in Numbers chapter 11. Christ himself is the better and greater Moses. It might be a nice thing to have him who is called the Spirit of Moses upon you, but how much greater and more blessed is it to have him who is the Spirit of the risen and descended Christ upon you. So our text from Numbers chapter 11 that runs from verses 10 and following, and I suppose if we were to pick out one verse of that whole passage, we might fix on 29, 1129, Moses said unto him, Envious thou for my sake? Are you jealous for my sake that others are prophesying in the camp? Wouldst thou glad that all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord would put his Spirit upon them? Well, beloved, that petition of that good man of God, of course, did come to pass on the day of Pentecost and following. Keep in mind that as we mark the great redemptive event of Pentecost today, that Pentecost had its Old Testament parallel in a harvest festival. A harvest festival that took place fifty days, hence the word Pentecost, 50 days after Passover. What we know as Good Friday and Easter. But 50 days after Passover. And it was then in the springtime of the year, during the month of what we call May, that they would begin the harvest of their field. Because, of course, the rains fell over what we know as the winter. But it wasn't so cold there, but that's when the rains fell and they began to harvest the grains from the field and the olives from the trees during the month of May, in the springtime of the year. And as they began to harvest, they had the harvest festival that had to do with, of course, bringing the first fruits to the tabernacle and temple and waving them before the Lord to give thanks to the Lord for the beginning of the harvest and giving that over as a tent to the priests for their livelihood as well. Now, the love of that harvest, you understand, ties in with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and that from two perspectives in the first place, the Holy Spirit Himself and the gifts of the Holy Spirit is and are the first fruits of the harvest of the cross of Christ, the death and resurrection of Christ, the blood-sprinkled soil, if you will, out of the blood-sprinkled soil comes the Holy Spirit with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And that is to be celebrated and marked. But that's what Pentecost is. His outpouring ties in with the great work of Christ crucified, as in risen from the dead. That's this crucified, risen and descended Christ might begin to give us the first fruits, the beginning of the harvest, benefits of the work he has accomplished. That in the first place, the Holy Spirit himself and his gifts, the beginning of the harvest that we reap from Christ's great redemptive work. But in the second place, beloved, What you read here ties in with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because of what the Holy Spirit makes of us or enables us to become prophets. It's called the priesthood of all believers. But the great evidence of the priesthood of all believers is what we call being a prophet, which means able to bear witness that Jesus is Christ and Lord. Do you do that? Do I do that? You say you have the Holy Spirit? Do you bear witness that Jesus is Christ Savior and Lord. To whom do you bear witness? To whom do you bear witness? To whom do I bear witness? How high is the fence on our witness, beloved? Do people know that you are a Christian? People know that I am a Christian. Do they have to step on their tiptoes, so to speak, to look over the fence of our lives to discover whether or not we are Christians? Is our fence so high that they kind of have to hoist themselves up and peek over and say, yep, yep, I think they're Christians. Is that how it is? Or is it self-evident and apparent who we are and who we are and who this Jesus is? I know you do bear witness in your homes, in your families. Mothers do that to their children. Mothers are prophets in the home, aren't they? Aren't you? You're teaching your children that Jesus is Christ and Lord. beloved, it must not stop there. It's not just a matter of teaching our children that Jesus is Christ and Lord and they know that he is Christ and our Lord. Others, it must be plain to others as well, beloved, that Jesus is Christ and he is our Savior and he is the only Lord, it must not be the love that we ignore everyone else. You know, we have this high fence and we're not sure they're Christian. So, I don't know if I want to bear witness, talk to that one. I don't know if he's a Christian. Our fence is so high. They want to know they're going to have to hoist themselves up and look over our fence. Really? That's how the apostles lived? I don't know if they're So I don't know if I want to bear witness to them, talk to them. And the gospel went forth how? And the Christians spread the word how? It has to do, beloved, with our lives, with our work, whom we know and about whom we are not embarrassed to speak and to make known He is Christ and Lord. It must not be that our Christian lives are so private, beloved, that it says, as it were, this is private property. Trespassers will be prosecuted and that means you. We talk. We live. In communities. Declaring who we are and who He is. And that we serve Him, that through Him is salvation, and Him alone. That, beloved, must also be understood. Of the coming of this One who enables all the people of God to be prophets, those who bear witness to the name of Jesus as Christ and Lord and the very revelation of truth and the one only way of salvation of that this passage foretells and has things to teach us below. The beginning, this is a beginning, this is an outpouring but it's not the outpouring is it? An outpouring that in itself foreshadows a greater outpouring and That's what I also want to deal with in the course of the sermon in the second and third points. And we must understand this, too, by the way. When we preach this morning, we don't simply preach the Holy Spirit. That's not the purpose of the sermon, simply to preach the Holy Spirit and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We must preach Christ. The Holy Spirit enables us. He has come that we might bear witness to who the Christ is. that also must become apparent. And that's why that second point, it's historical gospel parallel, as that refers to Christ. And I want to lift something there from John chapter 15. Moses' complaint answered by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Not the outpouring, that waits, but an outpouring that, of course, points ahead. The historical occasion itself, it's historical gospel parallel. and the great fulfillment and outpouring. Israel has come to Moses and Aaron complaining again with a persistence and with a vigor, and they are sick and tired of the provisions of the Lord God. manna, manna, manna. It's coming out of our ears. And Moses is overwhelmed by his pastoral falling and the responsibilities of being an office bearer of this people, and he asks to be released. You read this passage and you can tell that Moses is all for term eldership. That's what he's for. He's for term eldership. Three years and I'm done. Let somebody else take it, Lord. If someone wants to be a pastor for the whole of their life and their whole career, they can have it. Three years is enough for me. Two years is enough for me. I might serve a little longer and now I'm done. Find somebody else, Lord. The burden is too great. And they came to him, beloved, with these complaints. You, Moses, must supply what we lack, what we crave. We hold you responsible for bringing us here and through these things into this wilderness, and we hold you responsible for the hardships we are undergoing. And now you, sir, must bring a remedy. That means, as far as we're concerned, something different to eat. And Moses says in 14, I am not able to bear all those people alone, because this burden is too heavy. for me. And as well in verse 11, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant, O Lord? Wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all the people upon me? And I have to deal with them. He goes on to say, They're your people, Lord. I didn't beget them. I'm supposed to carry them as a Father, where do I have flesh to give all this people? Lord, they are your burden. Relieve me of this responsibility and of this task. And he gets, of course, to the point that he's ready to die. And if you're not going to relieve me of this burden and this responsibility, then I just assume It would be a mercy to be simply slain quickly out of hand rather than have to die inch by inch over weeks and months dealing with those people with all of their complaints. And of course, from our point of view, we can understand and to a certain extent we can empathize and be thankful the Lord didn't lay it upon us to have to lead this people through that wilderness or even ourselves have to endure what that people had to endure going through that wilderness. If you've seen pictures of what they had to march through, you could almost really understand why they would be prone to complain. It would be pretty difficult not to join in complaining and wanting something different and a bit of relief even as a people. But to be that man Moses and to be the object of all of their frustration and anger, Lord, I'm thankful it didn't fall to me. And you have Moses here to use a phrase ready to throw in the towel so to speak. And if you're not going to relieve me, as I tender my resignation in just slaming out of hand, it would be a It would be a favor and a mercy. We can understand it, beloved, but you understand that for all that this complaint of Moses was a sinful complaint, and in the end, it is not to be justified as a response. It did not give evidence of great spirituality. And it certainly was not the response of faith. And there's sin involved, certainly. You can read it and you realize he's, I suppose, exaggerating in his frustration, as though the Lord has laid the burdened upon him alone, and you expect me, Lord, to give them food. I can't give them food. When in the world, beloved, did the Lord expect Moses to give them food, to manufacture food? Did the Lord ever expect that, require that of Moses? Of course not. The food came from the hand and the wonder work of God. And now for Moses to say, where can I give them all this food? Is that what the Lord is expecting of him? not even speaking fully truthfully before the face of the Lord. One can understand, of course, where he's at and why he wants to resign. And, of course, this isn't the last time some office bearer appointed by the Lord to deal with the people of God and the requirements of the office and the demands of the nation, and the church should be ready to tender his resignation and just throw in the towel, as they say, and come to the point of despair. We have Moses here, certainly you and I hear the echo of Elijah. under his juniper tree. Lord, let me die. I'm the last one left, I think. All the rest just ignore me, and they're just going on their way to perdition. No matter what word I bring, let me die. I'm done. Even the Apostle Paul, you know, was ready to tender his resignation, too, when the Lord was requiring of him with this impediment he had, whatever it was, Paul insisting, Lord, remove the impediment, because if you don't remove the impediment, I can't go on. I'm done. Three times. It wouldn't take no for the answer until finally the Lord said, that's enough, Moses. The impediment remains. Now get up and continue your ministry and apostleship. My grace is sufficient. Seek it, find it, and do what is required. You think this is simply a matter of your own human strength? What about the Spirit? Pray for the Spirit, and the Spirit will enable you to do what you cannot do on your own. And you can go on to talk about Luther. I suppose if I were to say something a little bit humorous, it seems if you read his life, there comes a point he tenders his resignation about every month. as things got him down, as the Reformation didn't progress according to his agenda and his desire. And then the Lord would deal with him and he would continue, of course, to function up and down in his own emotional and spiritual life. That's how he was. But in the end, wore out from the demands of what the Lord placed upon him in the Reformation. And prayer finally standing him in good stead. And Calvin himself, ready to leave Geneva. And when he was thrust out the first time, he admits later, when they thrust me out, I went rejoicing. It was a relief. The demands of the city and the church and the people, I'm done with it. I can go to the life of a scholar and I don't have to deal with the pastoral ministry anymore. Thanks, Lord, for thrusting me out. That's really what he was feeling at that time. And he only came back with the greatest reluctance and urging. Proving what, beloved? That they were men. Mere men. And for all of their abilities and all of their gifts, they were not the mediators and they were not the great shepherds of the sheep. And if the church ever depends upon a mere man, beloved, the church of Christ is doomed. For the preservation of the church, no mere man, no mere men are capable and qualified, if you will. If the church of Christ depends on just one man. I don't care how great his ability. In the end, she would have perished from the earth. It's not that the Lord doesn't use men with great gifts. They may be used, beloved, but their salvation, their preservation doesn't depend on them one after the other. There came a point in their ministry where they acknowledged their own inadequacy and were almost ready to throw in the towel and if they weren't they broke down and had to be given relief for who knows how many months that they might put themselves back together again. You can read their biography, read Spurgeon's biography and so on for all his gifts collapsing and being sent to the southern coast of France more than once to recuperate again due to the demands placed upon him. Too much love for any one man. And let not the church ever put a hold of her confidence in any one man. I don't care if his name is John Calvin. I don't care if his name is Moses. I don't care if his name is the Apostle Paul. The church of Christ, beloved, in this waste, howling wilderness, with all of her needs and all of the weakness of nature, of her nature, our nature, needs more than a mere man. And whatever you want to say about this, shall we call it a petition? Complaint of Moses that had this saving virtue at least, he recognized that. It's answered by the Lord, you know, as a prayer. Is it a prayer? It seems like a complaint and not even completely an honest This complaint of his, this so-called petition and complaint, is of course filled with inaccuracies and exaggerations and so on, just to give evidence of the hole he was in, the point of despondency. If you look and read what he has to say, this people, this is thy people, Lord, not my people. Let me, let me die. Am I to carry them in my bosom? Where, where do I have flesh to give all this? This people I'm not able to bear. It's too heavy and so on. If you look at it, you can say at least this for this petition. And I bring this up, beloved, because one would hardly want this to become the pattern of our petitions as office bearers, if office bearers become despondent and overwhelmed in the office. Lord, let me die. I tender my resignation and so on. But at least the prayer of this old man of God had this to say for it. He wasn't reacting against the people and saying, word, the people are demanding so much of me. Get rid of the people. He would do that 38 years later with a rock, wouldn't he, as we have just recently seen. Then he said, they might as well be reprobate, Lord, I don't care anymore. That's another stage. At least he's saying let me die, not saying let the people die. You want to save the people, Lord, you save the people. Let me die. I'm pretty much done at this point. I can't bear them alone. And there is this. He recognizes his own Of course, what he does along the way is really to call into question the adequacy of God's grace and provisions, and the Lord makes that known as well, of course. You know, when he says after Moses says, you're going to give them food for all this hundreds of thousands of people? You're going to kill all the flocks and herds? How in the world can you ever bring enough flesh for this people? And the Lord says, is the Lord's hand wet shirt, Moses? Because you can't, I can't? Call into question even the adequacy of the Lord. There's problems in his petition and his prayer. Don't think there's not. But at least he noticed his own inadequacy, his own insufficiency, and prays for relief. And the Lord in his goodness, beloved, the Lord in his goodness, mercy, has respect unto this petition of complaint. And he hears it because he knows how much he has been requiring of this Moses and that he is a mere man for all the gifts that he has been given. The Lord responds by saying, gather to me 70 men, verse 16, of the elders of Israel whom thou knowest to be elders, and bring them to the tabernacle of the congregation. And in 17, I will come and talk with thee there, And I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and put it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, so that thou bear it not thyself alone." And the fruit of that, of course, the result of that is a gather at the tabernacle and the Lord gives upon the seventy who are chosen from amongst the people this measure of the Holy Spirit. Seventy of them, beloved. You understand right away that itself is a symbolic number. Seven times ten. That seventy should have been selected. Seven, the number of the covenant, as you know. Six plus one. The labor of man plus God. Then you have rest and you have, as it were, heaven itself. The Holy Spirit coming to dwell with man, to make of man and the human race a church out of the human race. A church times ten, so there is a certain kind of fullness here, as well as it has to do with the whole of the congregation. But the Spirit Himself is called the seven-fold Spirit. Revelation chapter one, verse four, speaks of the seven Spirits which are before His throne. That has to do with the Spirit as the seven-fold Spirit. The Spirit of the covenant, of the promise, you see, of the covenant promise. To bring the Word, God's Word to bear. and through the Spirit of God dwelling with his people, having fellowship with them. So, this matter of seventy itself, symbolic in its significance, and if you divide the twelve tribes into the seventy, you get about seven men per tribe. Seventy-two, of course, would be, sorry, six men per tribe. two are not here, but that probably has to do because it counted as well as Joshua and Caleb would be seventy two. They also have a portion of the of the spirit. So it's not as though the spirit has to fall extra upon them, but about six men then per per tribe. If you add Joshua and Caleb to their respective tribes would also have this measure of the of the spirit, but But I want us to note in connection with the seventy elders who would now be appointed to assist Moses and also to have the measure of the of the Holy Spirit is that they are made prophets in the first place. In the second place, the text refers to receiving the spirit of Moses. What does that mean? And then in the third place what's interesting about this outpouring of the Spirit is that there are two exceptions In verse 26, two men in the camp by Eldad, and the name of the other was Nedad, the spirit rested on them also, but they went not out into the tabernacle, they prophesied in the camp. They never made it, if you will, to their installation before they ever got to the tabernacle to be installed, the spirit on them, and they began to prophesy in the camp, and that was reported, and we want to consider the importance of that as well, because that's significant. Moses himself notes that that is significant in response to Joshua's reaction. But in the first place, when the Spirit comes upon these 70, Moses is told that they will become prophets. Understand, beloved, what that has to do with. Not foretelling the future. That's not the heart and soul of being a prophet, that you can foretell the future. That's an indication that one is a prophet, just like the miracles. That's not the heart and soul of being a prophet, that you can perform miracles. You can find prophets who perform precious few miracles and didn't foretell much about the future. But for all that, they were prophets, like Elijah, who didn't do a whole lot of predicting about the future either. But what was the heart and soul of Elijah's prophecy, prophetic service? He spoke the word of God with understanding, and he took the word of God and he applied it to the lives of the people. That's the heart and soul of being a prophet beloved, and that's what was going to be true of these men, too. They would be able, through the camp, to take the word of God, which was being written down, you understand. The Pentateuch. The law. The Word of God was now in written form. And in connection with that law in written form, the Spirit comes that these men might know that law and then throughout the camp be able to apply that law, that Word of God to the lives of the people. So they didn't have to go running to Moses every time and say, we have this difficulty between ourselves. Who's right? Who's wrong? These men were able to do that. They had an understanding of the law. I have an idea of the law because they didn't have books all over the place, but the Spirit worked these men so that they knew the law. They could quote the law. The Lord gave them the ability to know the law. Maybe they read it once and the Spirit enabled them to know that Word of God and to apply that Word of God and how they were to live. and the sacrifices and the worship and the feast days and keeping those things to the mind of the people, so they didn't forget Pentecost, you know. Did you remember this morning it was Pentecost? Maybe you forgot. These men would make sure that the Israelites wouldn't forget a feast day, because if they forgot, it was sin. The Spirit in them to bring the Word of God to bear upon the lives of the people and to confront these people with the Word of God and what He required of them. And then it's called the spirit of Moses. Not because he was Moses' spirit, but the point is, he's the same spirit, you see, who was upon Moses. That's what he says. The Lord came down in a cloud, in verse 25, spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and gave it to the seventy elders." It wasn't Moses' spirit, it was the same spirit who was upon Moses and working in Moses. That same spirit now outpoured himself, moved himself in the heart and mind of the other seventy. And so it's called the spirit of Moses and that's why they all go to the tabernacle so the people could see that these were not self-ordained men, not self-appointed men, but that this came from the Lord and that the same spirit that he placed upon Moses he was placing upon these seventy men as well to be authorities, if you will, in the camp when it came to the matters of God's law and applying God's word and law and then able to make judgments and assessments as well, so that every little trouble that happened in the camp didn't have to go to the feet of Moses to receive his judgment again. And so you had to love this outpouring of the Spirit with a certain kind of measure, if you will. Not the fullness of the Spirit. This is an outpouring of the Spirit. There were things these men could not understand concerning the fullness of the gospel. They weren't even supposed to be able to understand things concerning the fullness of the gospel, lest Christ be dishonored. The understanding of the fullness of the gospel has to wait till the Son of God comes in the flesh, the one greater than Moses, to receive of His Spirit. Then there is a greater understanding concerning the whole way of redemption. Until that, He comes and makes everything clear as the Word of God. They see things in a real kind of mist and without the sharpness of detail, if you will, but enough to know the way of salvation and what pleased God in that Old Testament The Spirit comes, but it's in measure, and there is a withholding of the fullness of his blessing until that greater Moses, of course, would come with his great work. So it's called only the Spirit of Moses. It's in measure. It is not yet the Spirit of Christ, but in measure. And knowledge is withheld, and knowledge is not yet delivered. in its fullness and in its clarity concerning God's full way of salvation and redemption, the fullness of the gospel. But in that connection, beloved, as the Spirit has come, two men never made it. That's this Eldad and Medad. They're out in the camp yet when the Spirit falls upon the sixty-eight who have gathered with Moses, and they are installed. And then later comes the report that two haven't made it. They haven't really been officially installed, if you will, and yet they're prophesying in the camp. And Joshua is jealous. He says, envy here, you envy me. You're jealous for my I say, Joshua hears that two have not been here with Moses and they have not been officially installed, if you will, before the eyes of all the people. And how in the world can they function out there, Moses? He's afraid. He's afraid they will become competition, you see. Moses will speak and then Men out in the camp will speak, and maybe they'll contradict what Moses has to say, and those people have to choose between Moses as the one great voice of God over against these others who are saying something else, and Joshua doesn't quite trust it. And he sees authority going from his beloved Moses, his beloved Calvin. Pick another name. I can't. He's too sure. I want the authority of the church, our churches, to go to other men, you know. We honor just this particular one. What will the church be without this particular one? Someone says, you're jealous for my sake. I can appreciate that, young man, but I'm not jealous for my sake. I'm happy to hear that they are prophesying out in the camp. The Spirit has fallen upon them as well. That's significant, beloved. You understand what they were doing. You may be sure, beloved, what they were saying, they never made it to the tabernacle, what they were saying was people repent. Don't forget, beloved, this is in the midst of a coveting, a lusting for more flesh. They're telling the people, be satisfied with the manna that we have received. Moses already talked, you know, about the separation. Sanctify yourself, because the Lord is going to come with more food. But they're telling the people, this is not right. The spirit is not right here. There's a spirit of bitterness and complaint. We don't like to hear this. This is not of the Lord. There must be a repentance. People, to sanctify yourself. Prepare your hearts. to receive this food, lest the Lord judge us." You may be sure they were speaking words of rebuke to that nation in accordance with what Moses has already made known, the Lord has already made known. Get ready yourselves. The spirit that you are displaying, this attitude of bitterness and complaint, is not spiritual. Not of God. Not pleasing to Him. Have you no satisfaction with what the Lord has given you? Thanks for what the Lord has given you? But the point is, beloved, Moses is not looking over their shoulder. And that's what Moses notices. It's not necessary that every one of these men now, before they say anything, themselves run over to me and say, you know, Moses, I need a sermon outline before I preach my sermon. Can you give me a sermon outline? And now I'll go back to the people and I'll bring your sermon to them. Because I can't do without you. Moses didn't have to give them a new sermon outline below. They were on their own with the Spirit. You can make your own sermons. Bring your own word. Thanks be to God. You don't have to read Calvin Institute every time before you make a sermon. You can understand the Word of God yourself. The church is thankful for that. You will not have to coach them every word they say. I'm thankful. These men are out in the camp. The Spirit is moving in them. And He is the Spirit of the Lord. And now the Lord, through these men, will be taking care of the people. I am relieved. Don't be jealous, Joshua. Don't have to be afraid. The Spirit is not of them, like it would be of Chordathin and Abiram. This is the Spirit of the Lord, and they will bring the same word I brought, because they will simply take the words I wrote and apply them to the lives of the people. No one man, beloved, no one man, but one in the end, Christ Jesus, is sufficient. And it's called the spirit of Moses here, but of course, in essence, it's the spirit of Christ with a certain kind of measure. But I want to point out now, as we come to conclusion, these two great matters. This is pointing essentially to Christ, first of all. We don't simply preach the Holy Spirit this morning. We preach Christ and the Holy Spirit will have us preach Christ. And that, of course, has to do with the gospel. There is this parallel, as I have said, in the gospel accounts, especially in the gospel as recorded by John. John chapter 15 in which Christ Himself speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit and the coming of the Spirit. And what the Spirit is doing in Numbers 11, the Spirit Himself is doing this, pointing ahead to, of course, Christ Jesus, who was going to be the better Moses. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, beloved, there's also something else that's going to be better. What else is going to be better? What were they complaining about? That's the context, you know. What were they complaining about? Manna. Manna. Manna. Manna. It's coming out of our ears. We're weary of this manna. Every day again, manna. Friday morning we pick up double manna. So on the Sabbath day we have to eat more manna. We're weary of the manna. Give us a different taste. Give us a different menu. We'd rather be back in Egypt with the spices and the entertainment and whatever else. We have a taste for something else than simply this manna. understand the loved, in essence, they were complaining about Christ, Christ Jesus, who is, of course, the bread from heaven. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and they perished. He who feeds on me, eats me, shall have everlasting life. I am the better manner. I'm the one to whom the manna pointed, of course, and they are unhappy, beloved, with this manna. Essentially, they're unhappy with Christ. Now, you can say they didn't know so much about Christ, they didn't see so much about Christ in that manna, and that may be sure, but, beloved, that manna was a revelation of God, just as Christ is. What did that manna reveal to them about God? That God is a God of provision, and they aren't happy with the provision of God, are they? And, don't forget, that manna is a revelation of a God of mercy, grace, and love. When He provided them with manna of love, He was having mercy upon them, and it was, as it were, a grace unto the church. A grace only to the elect, but the The carnal knew about that grace too. Don't think they didn't know about that grace and mercy and about that love. You're raised in the church of love. If you're carnal and a person is carnal, he still knows about God's grace and mercy and love. And you know what he does? He tastes it. That's Hebrews chapter 6. They taste it. They don't swallow it. They don't digest it. But they... I don't like this grace. I don't like this mercy. I don't like this sovereign, sovereign love. I spit it from me. I get rid of it. Why? Why don't they like the taste, if you will, of grace and love and mercy as they move it around their mouth, but they refuse to swallow it and be thankful and digest it? You know why? Because it means they are indebted to God. And natural man, beloved, doesn't care to be indebted to God. I'm not going to be simply indebted to God. So that everything I am, I owe to Him. I'm completely dependent upon God. All of my reliance has to be upon God. I have to follow where God leads. I'm sick of this manna! See? of being simply, as it were, indebted to God. We want other things as well. We'll just soon be back in Egypt's land. Give us the taste of Egypt's land again and a different menu as well. And that's the sin. And you find the love is parallel. You find it's parallel in the days of Christ and the rejection of Christ by this people posterity, if you will, their colonel posterity in the days of Christ. In the gospel account, Christ says to his disciples in chapter 15 that when the comforters come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, the street of truth who proceeded from the Father, he will testify of me and you will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. And yet, beloved, what's true about the nation at this time? They despise Christ Jesus. Manna and Moses, beloved. What better picture do you have of Christ than Moses and Manna, which the nation despised. And so their posterity later despises Christ, of whom Moses and Manna, of course, are simply a picture. Why? Why do they despise Christ Jesus? He tells the disciples, I am hated without a cause. That's what he says. They hate me without a cause. You know why? That's in verse 23. He said, Hades me, Hades my father also, and they hate me without a cause. Why? Verse 22 of 15. If I had not come and spoken to them, they hadn't had no sin. Now they have no cloak for their sin. If I had not done among them the works done by no other man, they had had no sin. But now they have seen and hated Me and the Father." Because He had a way of exposing them, beloved, in their sin. When these men would bring the law, what does it do? It exposes man in their sin. When the Word comes, beloved, it brings us a self-knowledge. And who likes the true knowledge of self? Who, beloved, likes the true knowledge of self? I'm a good guy. To know me is to love me, you know. I'm really a good guy. And then the Word comes. And it opens you up. It exposes you. If I'm going to be saved, I will have to be a debtor to grace and grace alone. I will owe it all to God. That's the teaching of the Spirit below. That's the teaching of the Spirit, too, the knowledge itself, the first point of the Catechism, as you know. And then to know the Redeemer and our need and how He is the complete provision of God. That's what the Spirit, beloved, brings home. And so we learn. Just this, too, then, understand that in that connection, this Jesus of the Gospel is greater than Moses. because this Jesus by his spirit can do what Moses could not do. Change the hearts of the people. He says, Christ Jesus says he is the comforter but he instructs and through him I will do what Moses could not possibly do and change the hearts of the people. And notice, beloved, Christ does not tender his resignation. This is the night of his betrayal, isn't it? In the Gospel, it's the night of His betrayal. You're all going to forsake Me and flee. And upon Me will fall the burden of the whole of My people. And what does Christ say? I resign, Lord. I'm done. The burden is too great for Me. They're Your people, not Mine. I'm not going that way. Is that what He said? God be thankful of this Mediator. didn't in despair, faced with his people who would forsake him and flee, does not resign. He says, nevertheless, not my will, father, but thine be done, and place the burden of the guilt upon me, that they might be thine, that I might purchase them, and in the end give them thy good and holy spirit as well. And that he did. And we, beloved, are the benefactors. And the one he pours out in the end is the Holy Spirit, isn't he? He is the Spirit of truth. That's what Christ calls him here. When the Comforter is come, whom I will send you, the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. And you shall bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. And so, beloved, he sends his spirit as the spirit of truth, to comfort. And that word literally means, empirically, one who walks beside and speaks and teaches. And that's the Holy Spirit. He walks beside us, as it were, and He speaks and He teaches. Concerning what? Concerning whom? Concerning the Word of God and Christ Jesus Himself as the fulfillment of the Holy Scriptures in whom there is salvation. And he doesn't fall below simply on a few, a select few, though it's true not all become preachers, if you will, not all hold special office in the church. Still he falls upon women as well as men, whether women hold the special office or not. They are in the office of all believer and are in your own right prophets also, having the spirit to speak the truth in your homes, as I have said, to bear witness to the truth, but also to assess the preaching. Maybe one doesn't preach, maybe one couldn't preach. But the people of God hear what's preached and they assess and say that's true. By the Spirit they know that's true or that's wrong, that's false, that's not biblical, that's not apostolic. The Spirit tells me that's not apostolic according to the Word. And so they, and you, assess by the Spirit, who enlarges the understanding, you see. Enlarges the understanding and gives us maturity in dealing with the Word and the Gospel. And where the Spirit works, beloved, there's not competition. There may be competition amongst some, but that's not in the Spirit, you know. I'm in the spotlight. I want everyone to listen to me. I want to be the last voice on Synod. I want to be the great voice on Classics. I want to lead the whole denomination. Listen to me. You may have that in a church. That's not of the Spirit. It's not Christ's Spirit. Where Christ's Spirit is working in its thankfulness, I'm not the only one. There are others who labor with me to whom I will listen, that I might hear the Spirit. And there is a unity and there is a love and a respect, one for another, in the Spirit. Because I'm not the only one who has the Spirit of Christ. Others do too. God be thanked. Lest I end up like Moses, thanking it all depends upon me. And no man beloved is sufficient by the Spirit beloved. The Church becomes sufficient, doesn't she? We become sufficient by the motions and mind of Christ, the greater Moses beloved. Christ Jesus and His Spirit and the manna, the Word that satisfies us. Thanks, Lord, for the showers of blessing and the unity we have in one and self, the self-same spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for Thy gift of the Spirit and of the Word and of Thy Son, who makes it all possible and real and who comes to us to make us his own. Give us the spirit of humility. Give us the spirit of gratitude. Grant to us the spirit of service and not to be ashamed of bearing witness to his great name, Jesus, who is Christ and Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.