But in this chapter for several weeks, we want to speak again this morning on John six and verse thirty-one. We've read the chapter two or three times, but I want to select three or four important verses. John six and thirty-one. Our fathers did eat manna in the desert. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat, Then said Jesus, then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth his life unto the world. Verse forty-eight. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever. The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give. for the life of the world. Last week we were noticing a number of things about the manner in the Old Testament. If you want the background for our message this morning, read the sixteenth chapter of Exodus. For what Christ is saying in these verses is the next position of the sixteenth chapter of Exodus. We noticed nine things, if I recall rightly, last week. relative to the manner being a type of Christ. It was from heaven. It was small. It was round. It was white. It was sweet. It was like four o'clock. And it came with the due and the glory of God was associated with it. And it was associated with the Sabbath, meaning it was also identified with bread for God's people. Nine remarkable things about the manner. But now we have sever more remarkable things about this manner which fell in the wilderness. The first is it fell in the wilderness of sin. Now, if you want truth for that, you'll find it in the first verse of Exodus sixteen, this manner fell in the wilderness of sin. Why God called it that I do not know. Why it was named the wilderness of sin, I do not know. God never records anything without significance. What a type it is of the world in which we live. What a wilderness of sin this world is. No matter where you go, sin is predominant. A wilderness speaks of a place that is barren, destitute of true life. That's true of this world. It's a wilderness of sin. And here is where this manna fell, and it fell to a people who were murmuring people. The children of Israel were murmuring against God. After all of the Lord had done for them, they murmured against them. And what did God do in response to their murmuring? He rained down manna from heaven, angels who? One wonders why he didn't rain down fire from heaven, for that's what they deserved. As he did in the nineteenth chapter of Genesis, he rained down fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And here we find this murmuring, complaining people after God had blessed them so much, and they murmured, and God responded with blessing them with Nama. He rained down manna upon them when they needed judgment. One wonders how much longer God is going to tolerate this wicked ungodly word, trying to push God out of his own universe. And yet God in sovereign grace is pouring out his blessing on all hearts who want to be blessed. when this world is inviting the judgment of God, God is still blessing it with the gospel. And here are these people. All that God had done for them, they murmured. They murmured. They did not have to build bridges across the Red Sea or the Jordan. God rolled back the waters to let them through. They did not have to fight the Egyptians. God drowned the Egyptian army. They did not have to fill the ground. God drained straight from heaven down upon this nation. They did not have to dig wells. God sent them water out of the flimsy rock. They did not have to mend their shoes or their clothes. Well, the Bible tells us in Deuteronomy, thirty-nine of twenty-nine, their shoes did not wear out, nor did their clothes. for forty long years. How wonderful. They did not need any doctors or nurses, but the Bible tells us there wasn't one feeble person among them. They did not have to wonder whether they were to stay or to move. God said, I'll send you a cloud. And when I want you to travel, that cloud will begin to travel in the direction I want you to go. When I want you to stop and encamp, that cloud will stop. God was doing everything he could for this people. They didn't have to worry about the temperature like we do today. For in the daytime, God sent a cloud to shade them from the scorching sun in the desert. At night, that cloud turned into a pillar of fire to keep them off. They didn't have to worry about the temperature. These hot days we worry a lot about the temperature. And when it gets up around a hundred and five, I'm thinking of a cooler temperature up north. But here are these people going to the wilderness. And God even took care of the atmosphere, the temperature in which they live. What could God do more than he did to these things? Yet they murmured against the Lord. They shall wonder, are we as God's people murmuring with all the blessings we have? Satan didn't remind Eve of all the good things they had. He reminded her of one thing that God withheld from them, and she wanted that. The devil never tells us or reminds us of all the good things God gives us. He generally collects something that we think he's withholding from us. Thus you have this murmuring deeper. This manner was needed. Needed because there was no life without this manner. How were they going to be sustained? Where were they going to get the energy from? to travel throughout that wilderness. And so this manner not only fell in the wilderness of sin, it was needed. Without it, there would be no light, no sustenance. Sin is active in our world today, along with Satan. What's sin doing? Sin is devastating the life of men, ruining lives, blasting hope. wrecking characters, leaving sorrow, sadness, and death in their trade, both sins and sins. What this world needs is Christ, only Christ. He's the only answer to man's plight in this poor world. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Yet men seem blind as to this that they need. yet don't seem to want. Also, when you think of this manner, it couldn't be bought. No, it couldn't be earned. It was simply received. God drained it down from heaven. That shows us what God gift for us is today, for God so loved the world and what a sinful world, a wicked world, an ungodly world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. God loved his people. And he sent them, he gave them to now. That's what your Bible says. This is the bread which the Lord has given you. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Salvation has to be free. God is too rich to sell it, man is too poor to buy. How could you buy salvation? Where would you begin? A Rockefeller, a false, with huge bank accounts, couldn't write out a check that would impress the Almighty. Salvation is free. God owns the world. And he's giving man salvation free. Money can buy a bed but not sleep. Money may buy books but not brains. Money may buy food but not appetite. Precious wealthy people would pay almost their last dime for a good appetite because they're sick. Money may buy finery but not beauty. Money may buy a house but not a home. A lot of homes are not heavens. They're there to both hell. One thing different between a house, bricks or mortar, and a home. A home is created by many women with proper attitudes toward each other. That home. Far better live in a cottage. Where there's love, desperate at dinner of herbs, where love is, when a stall of ox and hatred, their risk is lost. You may buy a house, but another thing you can't buy a home. You've got to make it. You may buy medicine, but you can't buy health. You may buy luxuries that you can't purchase, culture. You may buy amusement. but no happiness. You may buy a crucifix, but you can't buy a savior. You may buy a church Jew, but you can't buy heaven. Salvation is free. In these days, our economy is in a mess, inflation. Things are going up all the time, becoming more costly. Back in Bible days, A day's wage was a penny. And when you can think back over your own life, think how cheap things used to be. Where are they today? Constantly going up and going up and going up. Material things are getting more costly, more expensive. There's only one thing that's the same price a day that was nineteen hundred years ago. That's the gospel of free. God has not gone up. Hence, salvation is free. It may cost you your pride, but it well works the price. Salish, how wonderful is God's salvation? Material things are costly and temporal. Spiritual things are free and eternal. That's what God wants you to have this morning. His gifts. the Lord Jesus Christ. This manner was satisfying. It says he satisfied then with the bed from heaven. Yes, Christ satisfied. Christ is the light. His love, his peace, his joy, his rest, his riches, his food, his drink. All that man longs for naturally is found in Christ spiritually. The natural heart of man wants life. They want love. They want peace. They want joy. They want rest. They want riches. They want food. They want things. These things are the natural desire of the human heart, but pure pain for them. But remember, God is offering you all these things spiritually, in Christ, free. And yet few want. They don't want to see. The only thing about this manner, it was within the reach of all. It fell on the face of the wilderness. How wonderful. A child could pick it up. It was just outside the door. It fell on the face of the wilderness. Those days they lived in tents. All they had to do was open the tent door and it was right there. Right at the door. God's salvation is right at your door. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I'll come into him and sit with him and be with me. A child can pick up the manna. A child can receive Christ. It's just that simple. He says, Come unto me, all ye that laborer, and they're heavy laden, and I, will give you rest. I wonder if you're willing this morning to just simply, as a child, receive Jesus Christ as you receive. No room for excuse. There's the manna on the face of the wilderness. God had it there fresh every morning. All they had to do was pick it up. No need to be educated. This shall be a prince. No, the same food for all. No matter the nature of the man or woman who lived in that tent, they could have been poor, uneducated, almost unrecognized. But there was a manor, the same place, the same quality, outside that prince's tent. And friend, remember, Christ is for all. The ground around Calvary is level ground. One standing before God. All on the same plate. Fight for who's the level with. There is equality here. On the same ground. Calvary and Romans three and twenty-three. All have sinned. and come short of the glory of God. Here's equality. God is no respect for the person. There is one Christ only, one door, one way, one salvation. Christ is within the reach of all, but all those reach for us, that's the sad day. He's within your reach this morning. And all he wants you to do is grasp the sheep. And this manna was abundant. Wherever you look, you saw the manna. And there's an abundance in Jesus Christ. The one thing they had to do, and that was stoop, because it was on the ground, they had to bend the knees. And this was what man doesn't like to do. He doesn't like to bend his knees. You're going to have to bend it. You'll bend it voluntarily in this day of grace, though you'll be forced to bend it in the future. For God says every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, with the glory of God the Father. They had to bend the knee. Man will not come down before God and take his true place. Man, because of the pride of his heart, will not beg, says God, and yet he's a beggar. Yet because of the pride of his heart, he will not beg. Pride goes before destruction, a hearty spirit goes before all. You know, one could not gather this manner for another. Every man, according to his eating, said the Lord, Every man. The woman had to get there for him. The boy, the girl, the mother, the father, each one. It was an individual man. Let me tell you, friend, this morning, it's something you've got to do. No one else can do it. Of course, you've got to do it. There are certain things you may do, brother. parents can do things for their children, children can do things for their parents, husbands can do things for their wives, wives can do things for their husbands, friends can do things for friends, neighbors for neighbors. But there's one thing no one else can do for you, and that is, we receive Christ. No man can by any means redeem his brother, give to God a ransom for. This is something you've got to do yourself. It's got to be personally done. You know, some people have been willing to give organs of their body to someone else. We had two brothers at this chapel one time, and one had bad kidneys, and his brother had two good ones. And he gave a good one. One had the true good and gave one of his kidneys for his brother and his brother's alive today. I've known people to give organs of their body. I remember reading about a man who had true good eyes, and he gave one of his eyes to somebody who was blind to the true might be. Men can do these things. Do something wonderful for another. A friend hears something No one can do for you. And that is received, Jesus Christ. This is your response to this. You have got to accept the Savior for perish. David said concerning Absalom, O Absalom, Absalom, my son Absalom. Would God have died to thee? No, David, you can't die for Absalom. But then no one can die for you. Only one did and could on that the Lord Jesus Christ be died to you. A thousand other humans could have died to you, and that wouldn't have put your sins away. Only one could have died to you and did die to you, that you might be saved. This was the only means of saving a life, this manner, how important it was. This food should not be made, though manufactured in the wilderness. Friend, this food was taken of this morning, the manner which came down from heaven man can't make it. Not in the bakeries of men. You can't manufacture it, and you can't mix it. And yet the children of Israel did. They sought to mix it and make taste of it. God says you've got to take it as it is. Don't add anything to it. It's pure manner dangerous to you. Don't try to add to it or extract from it. It's got to be as it is. Don't try and make case for it. As they did and they got punished for it, we're living in a day when men are trying to mix their thoughts. with the thoughts of God for the plan of salvation. The Mormons have the Mormon Bible and Bible that God endorses. They try to mix it. Mary Baker Eddy had her Bible and this Bible. You can't mix the thoughts of men with the thoughts of God. God won't tolerate it. If you follow the scriptures, modernism, long grace, No need trying to mix law with grapes that got to be pure of this, or no grace at all. And when they made those cakes, the man of Austin's taste, his sweet taste. It tasted like oil, and not like the honey it tasted before they tried to mix it. And friend, if you try and mix anything with God's cousin grace, the old old story of Jesus and his love, the sweet story of the love of God for sinners. We try to add anything to that, so mix it with us. The mind and the thoughts and the works of man at last which take. Nothing like the old old gospel, pure, sweet, and capable to meet man's needs. How many are trying to mix the gospel with other things. I'm going to read you some verses out of the Bible to show you what they did with this manner in Numbers eleven. And the mixed multitude that was among them fell alupting, and the children of Israel also wept again and said, Who shall give us flesh to it? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt, really. The cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the garlic and the onions. Yeah, they remembered those smelly things. But now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all but shy this manner before our eyes. And the manner was as coriander seed and the color of as the color of a delium. And the people went above and gathered it and ground it in mills or beat it in mortar and baked it in pans and made cakes of it. and the taste of it rather the taste of all see what they did with that pure manner think of associating something else with jesus christ the holy sinless spotless son of the living god yet man will try to act or add something to him mix him with religion or various kinds and you also read all the in Numbers twenty-one, and the people speak against God and against Moses. Wherefore have he brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither any water, what a lie. They had bread every morning and water out of the rock. No bread nor water. And our soul loatheth this like bread was fed up on this manor. Our soul loatheth it. I'll tell you what happened. And this is what happened. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and bit the people, and much people died. That's what happened to them when they rejected the manner, or tried to mix it, or despise it. And if that happened in the Old Testament, their attitude toward the manner God judged and punished. What God's going to do to those who despise the person of Christ and reject him or try to add something to them? Their own works, their own life, their own merits, not the dishonor that God's in a disgrace with Jesus Christ, and God says, I'll punish that. How so? They said they loathe this light bread. There's nothing beside it. They wanted something new. Isn't that true today? You're living in a strange age. People are turning from the old-fashioned gospel. They want something new, some of these Asiatic religions. Weird gospel, culture, and what have you, turning away from the pure gospel of the sovereign greatness of God. They had to get it in God's time, and that was early in the morning. Because God says when the sun comes up, it's going to melt. You'll have to get up in the morning. Early to get this manna. Yes, some would sleep. They'd hear the others getting up and getting their manna. Oh, well, I'm going back to sleep. There'll be some when I get up. When they got up, the sun was up and the manna was gone. They slept too long. Others are receiving Christ, and you better receive him too, and not go to sleep. You'll get this manner in God's time, or you'll never get it, and God's time is now. You know, God told us, they were to get on the sixth day the amount of manner. He said, I'm going to give you a double supply on the sixth day, and it'll see you over it. The Sabbath day. I'll not send you any man-armed son on the Sabbath day. That's the day of rest. So you'll get twice the amount on the sixth day. Then I'll see you over to the first day of the other week. Do you know what they did? They went out on the Sabbath day, and there was none. That's a downright unbelief. God told them there'd be none. God is telling men and women today there's a time coming when there'll be no shager available. The time to be shager is right now. The way this world's going, the day's not far off when there'll be no shager available. The Wednesday night meeting was carved and taken up. Mentioned last Wednesday night and about. the son of righteousness, righteousness appearing with healing in his wings. That's the beginning of the millennium. And before the millennium there's going to be seven years tribulation. The gospel you're hearing today and have the chance to accept, there'll be none during the tribulation for you. And there'll be none in the millennium. This is your day. And God is telling you when you can be saved. And it's in the day of this. Because there'll be none. After Christ comes, none will you. Unbelieve. How sad those words. Too late. Jesus has come. Forever. Farewell. Goodbye. Nevermore. Never again. are solemn words of truth. For some of you who've been so near to picking up that manner, yet you have. And God is constantly reminding you of the time when there'll be none. There'll be no gospel preached like you hear it now. No savior at hand. You know, God said you pick up that manner this morning. And don't you keep it over till the next morning, for if you do, it'll breed worms and stink. And it did. Some of them did that very thing. They kept it over till the next day and it spread worms and stink, the smell of death. The gospel of God places a favor of life unto life and death unto death. You can be saved a day in this day of grace. Put it off. And it will be the savor of death, the smell of death. Yours is the choice. How wonderful. God is offering you his salvation now. Thou shalt not thyself or tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day it is in for. Christ alone is the bread of life. Some have tried to stave their hunger for Christ by the narcotics of skepticism. Others try to stave off their hunger for Christ by the drugs of paganism. Others that try to stave their hunger for Christ by indifference, like the bears in winter, they're not hungry because they're asleep. hybernation. The reason you have no hunger for Jesus Christ is you're asleep. The devil's got you asleep. If you ever got woke up you'd have a hunger for Christ. And don't forget, friend, everything depends upon you receiving Christ. And Christ only, he alone will meet the hunger of your soul and the one else. And he is the one in whom that is fed enough and to spare. All that you need is in Jesus. Are you going to receive him? Are you going to receive him this morning? You know, this manna, it contained all the ingredients of true bread for the body. Yet it wasn't grown in this world. It didn't come out of plants, out of the earth. get it all the ingredients, all bread for the bodies that had sustained them for forty years. If it didn't come out of the earth, man didn't go to reap it. God set it down. Send all the ingredients to meet the hunger of your heart, and are found in the bread which came down from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has all those wonderful ingredients. that will save you. Those elements that will save your soul and satisfy the hunger of your heart. In the Civil War, a soldier boy was cheerfully wounded. News reached his family. The father found out where he was and heard it when he got there. His son... was semi-conscious. The attendants nor the fathers could reach him. And as they sat there, the fathers said, Son, here is a local thread from your mother. I just brought it to you. The son said, Thread from home. Give me some. But now he went back to those freshly baked loaves of bread from mother's heart. He says, dear me, the father was able to break that loaves and give that boy some of that bread from home. And this is a true story from that moment on that boy rallied and lived. Whether it had a psychological effect, no one knows. But then I want to say this. Here is bread from home. It's fresh. It's warm. Not from the heart of a mother. But from the heart of God. God loves you. He showed him giving his son bread from heaven. That he wants you to take. It's right out of heaven's day for this. And many have partaken in this bread down nineteen hundred years. And in shame and sacrifice. Old bread from home. Dying, sinuous bread from heaven. Jesus Christ. And you can have your portion this morning by simple faith. And as God rained down that night, manner from heaven when those children of Israel, those who wanted it, they got it. Free without money, without price, without work, without merit, it was a gift from God. God has brought His Son right to your door. No, says the Apostle, if this word is in your mouth, the word of faith which we preach, The Spirit of God has touched the gospel right in your mouth. All you've got to do is swallow it. Believe it. If God loved me, he gave his son to die for me. He shed his blood to put away my sin. And as a poor, lost, dying sinner, I'm going to accept Christ this morning. It's my opportunity. It could be my last. For not only is the Lord coming, but those days are taken away when you'll be caught. You'll breathe your life without Christ. What are you going to do with the Lord Jesus more? What is your answer? Yes or no? I will or I won't. And this is now less the rote than... the Holy Spirit of God is begging you to receive Jesus Christ. Receive him now. You'll never regret it. Bread from heaven. Bread from home. Jesus Christ. Will you take him? Will you take him now? Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend for thy presence. We ask thy blessing on thy word. We thank thee for the Savior thou hast provided, for poor sinners. We trust that some this morning will open their hearts and receive it. It is not one of us here who accepted Christ, who regretted it. We only wish we had done it sooner. He has not had this appointment. He's been all that he promised to be. Love, joy, peace, happiness, contentment, and light forevermore. So we thank thee for the message of Christ in the gospel. May someone this morning deceive him. And deceive him now. We ask it in his worthy and precious name. Amen. Shall we sing three hundred?