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1992-10-28
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The following is provided by The Bible Study Center of Irvine,
Kentucky as a thought starter from one of over 2200 in-depth
Bible Studies we have available. If you would like more Info,
write to us at P.O. Box 1, Irvine, Kentucky 40336 or call our
computer bulletin board at (606) 744-6079 OR (606) 723-3333 to
download files of ascii text Bible Studies which you can use
with any type of computer. Most of the Bible studies on the BBS
get into much deeper areas of the scriptures including many
aspects of REVELATION and prophecy for today covered in deep
detail. If you like more depth to your studies than most people
are used to getting, give the board a try. YOU WILL NEVER BE
ASKED FOR DONATIONS, ETC. We offer NO OBLIGATION Bible Studies
WITHOUT anyone pestering you for money or anything else. Our
studies will only interest SERIOUS Bible students and will
DOWNRIGHT BORE anyone else. Over 2200 studies available;
300/1200/2400/9600/14400 baud (v.32/v,32bis/HST/v.42bis) 24
hours a day. This study may be freely posted on other bbs' and
distributed to others provided this leader remains with the
study text at all times.
========================================================================
EAT TO LIVE
Sermon text John 6:30-63; note especially the following verses:
54) Whoso EATETH my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal
life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
56) He that EATETH my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in
me, and I in him.
57) As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father:
so HE THAT EATETH ME, even he shall live by me.
63) It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth
nothing; THE WORDS that I speak unto you, they are spirit,
and they are life.
It is easily understood from JOHN 6 that manna is a "type" or
symbol of Christ, but it pictures Him in a special manner. There
are multitudes of people today who feel certain that when they
partake of what is commonly called the Lord's supper, they are
fulfilling what Jesus said to do here. When we begin to read
these passages of scripture we need to realize that Jesus was not
speaking literally of partaking of his flesh or even literally
partaking of bread and wine (grape juice) as symbols of his flesh.
We cannot receive the fulfillment of a "type" by simply partaking
of another "type" or symbol of the same REALITY. Jesus tells us in
verse 63 that it's the spirit that quickeneth (giveth life). He
continues and says that the flesh profits nothing!
The problem people had back then was that they saw only the
fleshly aspect! When Jesus said, "You must drink of my blood and
eat of my flesh," all they could think of was this literal,
physical body! Jesus made it plain that the flesh profits
nothing! You could have eaten the entire body of Jesus Christ,
and that would not have provided any spiritual help or life!
Jesus said HIS WORDS were spirit and life!
The Church that Jesus purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28) was
built on Christ as a manifestation of the living word of God which
Christians may feed on today just as Jesus taught. The children
of Israel ate the literal manna in the wilderness and they died,
but if you eat the spiritual manna today, you won't die! You will
have everlasting life! Jesus said it is very important that we
eat this bread if we want to live forever with him! If we don't
feed on heavenly bread, we are not going to make it to glory!
Let's turn to the book of Exodus and study the types of manna just
as the Bible gives them. In the 12th chapter we read where the
children of Israel were delivered from the bondage of Egypt's
Pharoah and taskmasters (picturing salvation from the bondage of
Satan and his agencies). Then we come to the place where the
children of Israel began to get hungry. You will find that when
you get saved (redeemed from Egypt), you begin to have an appetite
for spiritual food. You begin to get hungry for the things of
God. I have seen people get so hungry for spiritual things that
they didn't want to eat any physical food anymore (naturally
they still had to). You will find that when the children of
Israel had been redeemed and had gone into the wilderness, they
became hungry. Lets read about it in Exodus 16:1-2:
1) And they took their journey from Elim, and all the
congregation of the children of Israel came unto the
wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the
fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out
of the land of Egypt.
2) And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
Here we have a group of people, approximately two to three million
in number (the Bible shows 600,000 fighting MEN), who had just
been redeemed by this blood of the lamb (as a "type"). Yet where
are they now? The same place you go when you get delivered. They
were in the wilderness of Sin! Someone might say, "Well, the Lord
doesn't save us to sin!" True, but he still leaves you where sin
goes on all around you. The wilderness of Sin was all around them
and it made them hungry. They couldn't find anything there
suitable for food.
When we get saved, we begin to look around us and there is nothing
in this world to feed us! There is nothing here that will satisfy
us when we are a redeemed people! When you were out in sin,
perhaps you went out every night of the week trying to find
something to satisfy! That's why people do things like smoking,
drinking, and partying around with the world. They are trying to
find something that satisfies. When you get saved you suddenly
realize that smoking, drinking, cussing, gambling, lusting, etc.,
do not satisfy anymore! Yet, on every side, it is wilderness,
sinful wilderness, and you are spiritually hungry! As a babe in
Christ, if you are not careful you will begin to murmur as Israel
did! They didn't know how to say, "God we are hungry, feed us."
So what did they do? They murmured and complained! Those people
had just seen the miracle of God in the passover night! They had
just seen the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea! Yet after
all God had done for them, they still questioned whether He could
provide them with food. Looking back it would be easy to condemn
them for their lack of faith. However, no babe in Christ is
strong in faith! So there they were out in the wilderness,
hungry and murmuring. They didn't know that God was going to
bring them some manna.
It's the same situation today. There are people that get saved in
false religion but they are just babes in Christ. They begin to
murmur and complain. They don't understand that if they would
ask God, He would lead them to the truth and a true Pastor
(Shepherd) who would feed them (see Acts 20:28 and Jeremiah 3:14-
15). Instead, they begin to murmur and complain! Sometimes, they
even rebel against God and return to desiring the sinful things
they had left behind.
We read in verse 4, "Then said the Lord unto Moses, behold I will
rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and
gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether
they will walk in my law or no."
Notice that the source of manna is from heaven. He said, "I will
rain bread from heaven." It didn't grow in the wilderness! We
need to get this thing straight. For Bible preaching to be
genuine manna, it MUST be heaven sent! The preacher must get it
directly from God! Manna has to come from heaven or it does no
one any good. Manna from on high is not invented, produced, or
manufactured by men. This is why we constantly emphasize to people
that the Bible contains God's word but it is not God's word by
itself! The Holy Spirit must help us feed on it! If the Bible is
God's word in itself then everybody can get God's word; everybody
can go in the store and buy manna. Let me tell you something; Paul
said the natural man (lost) cannot receive the deeper spiritual
truths (I Corinthians 2:7-14). A lost person can read the Bible,
but they cannot receive the true manna that comes down from
heaven. There is a lot of preaching right out of the Bible that
is not manna from heaven! It is not manna if it is invented,
manufactured, pieced together, or dreamed up by men! A lot of
people are being led astray by false preachers because, as they
say, "he is reading it out of the Bible." Friend, the Bible is
not the Word of God! The word of God comes down from heaven! Men
had the word of God before they even had the Bible! They preached
the word before the Bible was ever printed! You will never find
one place in the Bible where Jesus referred to printed pages as
being the word of God. He called it scripture. The Holy Spirit
has to take the scriptures and reveal the hidden spiritual truths
that lost people can't see due to their spiritual blindness (II
Corinthians 4:3-4, Matthew 13:10, etc...).
Exodus 16:4, "Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold I will rain
bread down from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and
gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them whether
they will walk in my law or no."
Why did God send manna from heaven? Many people don't realize why
God sends His word to us to eat. There are so many people today
who just sit there and say, "Bless me Lord, bless me Lord."
Brother, He didn't send it to bless. He sent it so you would obey
it! He blesses you for obeying it! Someone might say, "Why do I
sit under the sound of the gospel and get blessed?" It's because
your heart is reaching out and saying, "Yes, Lord I'll do it!"
God knows if you mean business and if your heart says "Amen."
When your heart says it is willing, God blesses you. However,
don't ever fool yourself and think that He just sends the word to
bless you. He blesses you for obedience! He sends the manna to
test us and then if we pass the test, we get blessed. I have set
under the Word of God and gotten blessed but the reason I
received a blessing is because I was willing to obey. Friend, if
you set back and are not willing to make a promise in your heart
to do what is being preached you will never get blessed by the
preaching! If you get blessed it will be because of a submissive
spirit.
There are some folks that think just because the word of God goes
forth that they will get blessed. If they don't get blessed they
say it's not the word of God. They had better look out because
that may be what sends their soul to hell. I've known people that
have walked away from the truth just because they didn't get
blessed by hearing it. There is a reason why people don't get
blessed by hearing it! It is because they weren't submissive
enough in their heart to say, "Lord, if this is your will, I'll do
it!" Someone might say, "I'm not sure it's his will." One reason
a lot of people are uncertain is that they are hoping it isn't the
truth. They don't want to measure up!
You can be blessed by false preaching! One way is if you are not
truly saved and a false preacher gives you false comfort. Then
the devil blesses you and you think it's of God.
Another way that you can get blessed by a false preacher is to be
a saint of God who lacks understanding of genuine blessings. Your
flesh can get blessed by his preaching under a false spirit. How
is that? If you are an emotional person he may stir your
emotions and you will probably mistake it for spiritual blessing.
Flesh will bear witness with flesh and you will think it blesses
you. If the preacher preaches about something that the flesh
likes (ie: material prosperity), you will feel blessed, but only
in the flesh. We have to watch out for this thing because this
is how the devil deceives people.
Some people set under the manna of God, get a little burnt, and
don't like it! They say, "This guy must be a false prophet, a
fanatic!" Then they go set under what is suppose to be the word
of God and just feel so good! They are accepting the false and
casting out the genuine! My friend, we have go to be careful of
this thing.
Read with me again from verse 4, "then said the Lord unto Moses,
behold I will rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall
go out and gather a certain rate every day that I may prove them
whether they will walk in my law, or no. In our language today,
we would say, "Whether they would walk in it or not." Most people
would say that manna was sent from heaven to fill their bellies.
No! Manna is sent from heaven to test us. If it's really God's
word it will be a challenge to us to live in such a manner as to
deserve God's blessing. It won't be the kind of message that just
hands it out, "Here come and get it, and I'll heal you, or provide
for you, or bless you." If you want this help from God you are
going to have to be willing to commit yourself to the will of God
and follow Him. If you want physical blessings, you are going to
have to be willing to commit yourself to the will of God whatever
it might be. Preachers come around and give people the impression
that they can just grab these things up. It's not that way! God
sends manna from heaven to test us and if we pass the test He
will provide for us! Any preacher that preaches the blessings of
God and doesn't lay down the conditions for being blessed is
preaching false doctrine.
When I was in false religion, I was always hearing messages on the
blessings of God. They implied that I would be blessed without
being tested. Friend, the preaching is only manna when it comes
and digs into our life and promises blessings if we live according
to the will of God. Away with this devilish preaching that hands
out blessings to everyone.
Reading in verse 4, "then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold I will
rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and
gather a certain rate every day." He didn't send it to those in
Egypt, did he? He didn't send it to those who thought they were
full and didn't have any needs. He didn't come for those that
were well! He came for those who realized that they were hungry
and needed to be filled. The only way we can have the word of
God (manna from heaven) is for God to send it to us personally.
Then we must be willing to labor in order to gather up what God
has sent. Surely if we must labor to earn our physical food
it will be necessary to labor for the spiritual! Many of the
saints in this congregation drive nearly a hundred miles or
more each way just to come here to gather manna.
Verse 11, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard
the murmurings of the children of Israel, speak unto them,
saying, at even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall
be filled with bread: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your
God. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up and
covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the
host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the
face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as
the hoar frost on the ground."
Notice where this manna was accumulated. It was round about the
host. In other words, it was all around the camp. Just think;
there might have been folks down in Egypt that would have liked to
taste some manna but they weren't in the right place! You would
have had to be in the camp of Israel and delivered from Egypt
before you could get the manna. A lot of folks today would like
to have the manna but they are too far away spiritually speaking.
The manna was round; a small round thing. There's truth in that
thought, that thrills me every time I think of it. Friend, do you
realize that no matter where you start in God's word you will
always end up coming back to the same place? You'll find that
truth will always fit all the pieces of the puzzle together
perfectly. Truth in Genesis always fits snugly with truth in
Revelation. Jesus said He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. A round object always has its beginning and ending
at the same spot. This is true no matter where you start, so
what better symbol of Jesus and the word? As you study, you'll
find that you will follow scriptures that intertwine and
interconnect (in thought and teaching) throughout the Bible.
Eventually, you'll end up returning to your original text. For
example, to study Revelation you'll work your way to Genesis and
on through the Bible. You'll eventually end up right back in
Revelation. The Word of God will never contradict itself! The
Bible does because of translation problems, etc. However, God's
word is round like the manna so it "rolls out" smoothly!
Verse 14 said it was a small round thing, as small as the hoar
frost on the ground. Isn't it amazing how something so small
could feed so many? There's lots of it though and God will never
run out. If we had a congregation of one trillion people we
could still get enough out of the little book to feed every one of
them. Can you imagine all those people, 2 to 3 million or more,
being fed by those little round things that lay like frost on the
ground?
Verse 16 says, "This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.
gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every
man."
An omer is three to three and a half quarts. They were going to
have quail in the evening. They needed the manna to last them
through the day. You don't need much strength through the
evening because you are going to bed. The manna is what gave
them strength for their labors through the day. Most people's
stomachs are supposed to hold only a pint and three and a half
quarts is seven pints. The Lord gave them plenty to eat didn't
he? When you eat God's manna, do you eat until you're full? God
wasn't trying to make gluttons out of them but He was trying to
feed them plenty! They probably griped about him giving them too
much! That's the way it goes today too! First people complain
about starving; then they complain about the long messages! It
must have taken a long time to gather three quarts of something
that was as small as frost! It is the same way spiritually. You
can't fill your bucket in a hurry! It is impossible to truly
feed God's sheep with sufficient food in a short period of time.
Thirty-minute sermonettes just won't do it.
If God sent down just enough manna to feed every person it would
have taken a train about 325 box cars long just to
feed about two million people. If there were three million
people, it would have taken nearly five hundred cars. That is a
lot of folks to feed a lot of food to give them. Then every
Friday there would be a double train load coming in! I am
talking about God's gospel train. The gospel train rolled in and
dumped out the manna. I would have liked to have seen that but
it's even better to see the real spiritual manna coming down
today.
In the 14th verse, he said it was as small as hoar frost; a small
round thing. Notice also where it was. It was on the ground! It
is the same way today. You are not going to get it by standing up
and saying how righteous and holy you are! Back then when people
went out to pick up those little pieces of manna they would not
have gotten to do much standing up! They had to bend over and they
may have even gotten down on their knees. Brother, that's how
we are going to have to do it today. If we want to feed on
heavenly food we must get down and humble ourselves! We must get
our eyes open enough to see our own weaknesses and quit allowing
the devil to blind us so we only see our brother's sins! A
holier-than-thou attitude is a stench in the nostrils of God
according to Isaiah 65 and other passages. No one will ever get
much heavenly food to eat until they realize they are nothing and
Jesus is everything!
Israel either gathered the manna or trampled it under their feet.
It was all around the camp so as they went out they either
picked it up or walked on it! It is the same way today with
God's manna from on high. Either you are going to gather it up
or you are going to trample it under your feet. To feed on this
bread of life is to take it into your spiritual being to the
extent that it actually becomes part of you. This will enable
you to live a life influenced by the manna. Otherwise, you are
just trampling it under foot!
Verses 17 and 18 say, "And the children of Israel did so and
gathered some more, some less. And when they did mete it with a
omer he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered
little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his
eating."
Someone might say, "God said for each man take an omer but some
of them didn't and it almost sounds like that was alright." God
wants us to take an omer but if we take less it doesn't mean that
he is going to come and cut us off. It simply means we won't
have as much to eat for strength! Some people require more
strength than others don't they? Some people use their strength
more than others do! Some people labor more to help others find
Christ and so use more spiritual energy. Those who take more
manna have more strength to accomplish more for God. Some take
less but it's not because God wants them to! God's word was
"Take every man an omer" but some didn't. It's the same today
friend. If we don't take it we are the losers.
Verse 19, "And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the
morning."
If you don't "eat" what is preached at a service, tomorrow will
be too late. It isn't going to stay around or hang in the air!
You are going to lose it! Don't just let God's word go in one
ear and out the other. Eat it fresh!
Verse 15, "And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one
to another it is manna, for they wist not (knew not) what it was,
and Moses said unto them this is the bread which the Lord hath
given you to eat."
If you look at the word manna in the Hebrew it means "What is
it?" That is still a good name for the Word of God today as far
as the natural man is concerned! The natural man still says
"What is it; I don't get it; what do you mean?" The natural man
can read the Bible, but he can't feed on the word! To help us
see this type, look in verse 31.
It says, "and the house of Israel called the name thereof manna,
and it was like corriander seed, white: and the taste of it was
like wafers made with honey."
Everyone knows what white symbolizes. White is always a symbol
of purity throughout the scriptures. Someone might say, "it must
be a type of Jesus." Friend, Jesus is a manifestation of the
word of God and the Word of God is just as pure as Jesus. Read
Psalms 119:140 and it will show you the reason the saints of God
love the Word of God. Read Proverbs 30:5 and it will tell you
that every word of God is pure! It's white!
In Exodus 16:31, it said the taste of the manna was like wafers
made with honey. Psalms 19 will tell you that the law and
the judgments of God are sweeter than honey in the honeycomb.
Only a christian can feel that way! No lost person feels the
judgments of God are sweeter than honey in the honeycomb. Why?
because they don't like them a bit! It's not manna to them, it's
only manna to the people of God! Lost people just don't like the
taste of it! If you will notice in verses 19 and 20, you will see
why they don't. "Moses said let no man leave of it till the
morning. (A lost person has to leave it; they cannot eat it.)
"Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them
left of it until morning and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses
was wroth with them."
Is it any wonder why lost people don't like the taste? They
can't get it down, so they leave it until the morning and try
again when it's full of worms and stinking. No wonder they don't
like it! The law of God shows them their need, but it's not
sweet to them! If you don't love God's law and delight in it as
Paul said he did (Romans 7:22), then friend, you are lost! Many
people say, "How do you know whether a person is saved or lost."
Ask them if they love the law of God! If they don't love it with
all their heart, they are not saved (Psalms 1:2 and Psalms 119-
47)!
Verse 15 "And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to
another, it is manna; for they wist not what it was. And Moses
said unto them, This is bread which the Lord hath given you." A
lot of folks just look at it! A lot of folks just listen to the
preaching with their head and not their heart. Friend, you have
got to eat it! It doesn't do you any good at all just to look!
It doesn't do you any good at all just to hear about it! You must
eat it to do you any good! Not everyone likes to eat it today
and not everyone there liked to eat it!
In Numbers 11:4 and 5 it says, "And the mixed multitudes that
were among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also
wept again, and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We
remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the
cucumbers, and the melons and the leeks, and the onions, and the
garlic." Friend, there is nothing wrong with those vegetables,
but they represent (among other things)that which causes the
"stinking breath" spirits of people in Egypt. According to the
scriptures people in sin are a stench in the nostrils of God!
Verse 6, "But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at
all, beside this manna, before our eyes." They didn't like it
did they? Who was that speaking? That was the "mixed multitude"!
Today you have lost people and hypocrites right among the people
of God. They are mixed multitudes and all they do is complain
about the manna! You can always tell a hypocrite or lost person
because they complain about the manna! To a lost person, the
preaching of truth is either boring, too lengthy, offensive, or
is just not of any interest to them!
Verse 8 says, "And the people went about and gathered it, and
ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in
pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste
of fresh oil." Isn't it amazing how people are always trying to
improve on manna. They were trying to fix it up where it would
taste better. They ground it, they beat it, they baked it, and
they made cakes out of it. That means they must have sweetened
it! Isn't that what folks in the religious world are doing
today to the manna from heaven? Brother, they don't like it the
way it is! They have got to bake it, cook the food value out of
it, beat it, or at least, sweeten it and make cake out of it.
Friend, let me tell you something, just the plain manna from on
high will feed you. However, any preacher that changes the manna
(Word of God) is feeding false doctrine! Satan's preachers (II
Corinthians 11:13-15) still make use of the basic manna. They
deceive by changing it here and there. They don't like it the
way God gives it. Someone might say, "Brother Armstrong, I like
to eat the manna. I like to feed on it, but I just can't seem to
find much real spiritual food." I would like for you to see the
reason why many people can't get the manna of God. It's not that
he doesn't want to give it.
Revelation 2:17 (Jesus speaking), "He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the spirit saith unto the churches; to him that
overcometh will I give to eat the hidden manna." Friend,
there is some manna that you can just go and gather up as a
babe in Christ. You can start picking it up and start feeding
on it. Then there is the hidden manna which God has hidden for
a special kind of people. Who are they? Those who are
overcomers! As a babe in Christ, you perhaps haven't had the
opportunity to overcome. You must eat, so he pours you out a
little milk. Friend, when you want to get into the hidden manna
(the meat of God's word) you are going to have to be an overcomer
or he won't let you feed on it! We need it to take us through
hese trying times but, unless we are overcomers, we can't get
it. Someone may say, "How can I be an overcomer?" First you
must allow the milk of the word to give you spiritual strength to
exercise your feeble "baby" faith. Place your trust totally in
Jesus to give you victory in your little battles. As you
overcome, the Lord will allow you to feed on some of the "hidden
manna." Then you will have greater power to overcome the enemy!
When you eat the stronger meat the Lord provided, it will become
a part of you spiritually (just like literal food becomes a part
of you physically). This will make you stronger and help you
overcome in greater battles!"
Remember Paul's words in I Corinthians 2:10 as he spoke of the
mystery wisdom of God's word, "But God hath revealed them the
deep truths) unto us by His spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God." Friend, do you realize
that modern religion has been so deceived by the devil that they
no longer "discern" (ie: know the truth pertaining to....I
Corinthians 11:29) the LORD'S body? They concern themselves
about the type (literal symbolic picture of a spiritual
fulfillment! Our Lord wants to feed us with true manna!
everything that takes place in the Bible (from the creation until
the death of Jesus) is not only true historically, but is also a
spiritually interpreted picture of truth for God's people today!
A true pastor will teach these deep truths to his congregation
(Jeremiah 3:14-15, Ephesians 4:11-15, Acts 20:28). This is the
only reason that we even exist as a congregation. We come from
all different kinds of religious denominational backgrounds. We
live in many different parts of the country (ie: Dayton;
Union; Cincinnati; Middletown; Caesar's Creek; Franklin; West
Carrollton; New Lebanon; Hamilton; Fairfield; Trotwood; Monroe;
Peebles, Ohio area; Newark, Ohio area; Farmland and Brookville,
INDIANA areas), but we gather together every Sunday and Thursday
to gather manna from our precious Bibles! We invite you to come
and "eat" with us!