Amen. We'll remain standing for the honor of God's Word, and I would like to call your attention tonight to Exodus chapter 17, verse 1 to 7. Exodus 17, 1 to 7. I will read it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst. So Moses cried to the Lord, what shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, pass on before the people, take in with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the stuff with which you struck the Nile. and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Mereba, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, Is the Lord among us or not? Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we now come to your word. to read it and to hear it. And as we do that, we ask you now to bring us to the green pastures of your Word so that our soul would be satisfied, our minds and our hearts would be instructed, so that when we stand before you, when we walk with you, our God, we will not be like those Israelites in the wilderness who put you, their God, to test. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen. You may be seated. When you don't have or get what you want, how do you act? How do you respond to God? Do you still trust the Lord and His unfailing goodness to you, or you rebel and assault the characters of God? As we hear the message tonight, I want you all to ask yourself the question I just asked you. In our text tonight, we see the Israelites being deprived of water in the wilderness. And instead they keep trusting the Lord. The Lord who over and over again provided all their needs. We see them rebelling against Him and accuse Him of harm. Now remember who the Lord has been to this people so far. He brought them to the wilderness to test them. He delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians, but it was so clear for the people of Israel, they were brought to the wilderness by God to be tested. In Psalm 81, 7, the psalmist tells us, in distress you call it and delivered, in distress you call it and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret of tender. I tested you at the water in Meribah. I tested you. They are here to be tested by God. They are here to be tested that whether they will keep trusting the Lord for provision, they will keep trusting in His goodness, unfailing love for them. But do you know what they are doing now? The Lord brought them to the wilderness to test them, but now to the opposite, now they are testing the Lord. Verse 2, all the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages according to the commandments of the Lord and camped at Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. The lesson to all of us tonight is this. God's unmerited favor and forgiveness are greater than the rebellion of his people. Romans 5 20, the apostle Paul tells us this. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin is increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. One of my favorite hymns is marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. This is exactly what we see and learn in our text tonight. God manifesting not His wrath and judgment upon the people of Israel who rebelled against Him, who put Him to test, who assaulted His good name and His faithfulness and goodness, but showing His grace, His mercy to a rebellious and undeserving people. I don't know how many of you always reflect and meditate on the grace of God. I don't know how many of you have grasped and comprehended the nature and the meaning, the beauty and the glory of God's grace upon your own life. By God's grace, we will consider this under three points tonight. First, I want us to consider the occasion for the rebellion. You will see that in verses one and two. And then I want us to consider the lawsuit that the Israelites brought against their God. It's like a court drama. You will see these people without any shame. charging God for harming them. Verse 2 and 3. And then we'll consider together the sentence, the judgment in verse 4 to 7. So first, the occasion for the rebellion. The occasion for the rebellion, you will see that in verses 1 and 2. God brought these people to the wilderness, to Rephidim, and there was no water. He brought them to this specific place in the wilderness. And they were thirsty because there was no water. Now remember, the people of Israel has been enslaved in Egypt for hundreds of years. And where we are in the book of Exodus now is that the time of their deliverance had come. God sent Moses as a deliverer to Egypt to deliver his people from the hand of the Egyptians. The Lord divided the Red Sea into two parts and made His people walk on a dry land. God killed all the firstborn in Egypt, preserving the lives of all their firstborns. He defended them. He protected them. He delivered them. There was no people at the time who saw miraculous things being done for them by the Lord. This generation of the people of Israel have seen some of the greatest miracles in the history of the world. But now, notice what they're doing. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? Now the first thing I want you all to see is that it was God who led these people to the wilderness. Have you noticed the word? In verse 1, all the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin, it is not, you know, sin that we commit, it's the name of the place, by stages. Now listen to this, according to the command of the Lord. Which means, God had told Moses, Moses, I want you to bring this people to the wilderness where there will not be water. By God's commandment, they were led to the wilderness. God knew what he was doing. Moses knew what was happening. To test them, in chapter 16, verse 4, God told the people, then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not. I want these people to be in the wilderness, to be tested by me. I want to test them whether they will walk according to my will, according to my law or not. Again, I'm going to read a quote from Charles Spurgeon. Faith is the foot of the soul to carry it through the commandments of God. Faith is the essential tool or means by which God's children can fulfill God's will. Love makes it go faster, but faith carries it. You see, when faith is weakened, when faith becomes weak, then follows doubt. Then fellows, what? Rebelling against God. God told Moses, you see, get the people to the wilderness. Now let me tell you this, beloved. If you are a Christian, this is your life. If you are a Christian, this is your life. There will be time in your life where God will bring you to wilderness to test you whether you love him or not, whether you will obey him or not, whether you leave your Christian life to do his will or not, he will bring you to some kind of wilderness to test your faith. Remember what Paul tells us in Ephesians 1 11, God works all things, all things, according to the counsel of His will. James 4, James exhorts believers, when a new year comes or a new opportunity presents itself to you, say this, if God wills, we will do this or that. Psalm 115, 3. Our God is in the heavens. He does all that He pleases. Who is in control? God. You and I are not in control of anything. He's in control. And He does all things, all things that pleases Him. You see, that's exactly what happened here. The sovereign Lord led his people to this specific place with no water. The wilderness, you know, wilderness in every direction. And from a human standpoint, their circumstances was going to end badly. and see how they responded, facing the test of thirst and need for drinking water. Give us water! Why did you bring us to the wilderness? To kill us, our children, and our livestock? They're charging God, we'll come to that, for having an intention of killing them in the wilderness. Do you see when our heart rebels against God, how bad it becomes? They're accusing God and Moses of a harmful purpose. They were saying, Moses, you and God You don't have a good purpose for us. In fact, your purpose is harmful. This is the God who delivered them from Egypt by His mighty hand. The one who provided all their needs. When they were hungry, He provided manna to them. When they were thirsty, you remember, He turned the bitter water into a sweet water. Now these all are forgotten. Because they are in the business of rebelling against God. This is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides. Now they are saying, He's not going to provide. He's not going to give us water. You see, remember, keep this in mind. They're not doubting His ability. They're not saying, God cannot help us. What they are saying is, He's not going to help us. He's not a good God. They are denying His goodness, His providence, His kindness. They are saying, God is not a kind God. He's betraying us. And notice Moses' response in verse 2. Therefore, the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? If any Christian would be in a very dangerous place in his Christian life, it is when that Christian tests the Lord. You see what Moses is saying? Your quarrel is out of place. The fact that you're testing your God is dangerous. Moses is saying, why are you testing God? Because his patience can run out. And it did run out. We all know what happened in the wilderness. Over 100 Thousand men, women, children were killed in the wilderness in the space of 40 years because of their rebellious. Why do you test the Lord? Deuteronomy 6, 16, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him in Massah. In the Hebrew language, Massah means test. Matthew 4, 7, Jesus responded to Satan, to the devil. It is also written, Do not put the Lord your God to test Instead, rely on His Word and trust in His promises. When true faith is present, obedience always follows. Not in this case with the Israelites at the wilderness. They didn't believe that God's goodness, providence, is the expression, the evidence of who God is. His faithfulness, Him being covenant keeper. You see, they were saying to Moses, God is no more a good God. God is no more to be trusted. We can't trust this God. He's not going to help us. Let me ask you this. When you find yourself in a condition like this, is this how you respond to God? Is this how you rebel against God? To the extent that you deny His goodness, His providential care, His faithfulness? You deny His attributes, His holy and perfect attributes, Him being good? Him being kind, Him being truthful to His promises. That's where they are. Secondly, we see the lost suit in verse 2 and 3. But the people thirsted there for water. And the people grumbled against Moses and said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? Why did you bring us? You see, the people didn't stop in doubting the Lord quietly, silently. You know, we often do this even as believers. You know, quietly, silently, we doubt our God. We question His love, His faithfulness, His care for us. But they didn't stop there. They were so vocal. They said, give us water publicly, in the open. They said, why did you bring us to the wilderness? To kill us and our children and our livestock? It was said in the open. There was no shame in the life of these people to whom God done so much good. They were full of His faithfulness, full of His kindness, full of His love. Even the neighboring people, neighboring countries, They always talk about their God and how He helped them, how He rescued them. Even the neighbors testified that their God was good to them. Now they were very vocal, and in verse three they charged God. That's why I told you it's like, you know, you have been in a courtroom and you have people who are bringing charge and the accused is God himself. Can you believe that? They charged God. They are in court bringing charge against God and the charge was betrayal. He betrayed us. He brought us to the wilderness to kill us. He's a murderer. Notice verse 4. when they said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? So Moses cried to the Lord, listen to this, what shall I do with these people? He's asking God, they are almost ready to stone me. Do you see that? In Israel, who was stoned in Israel? Covenant breaker. Remember the woman who was counted in adultery? They were going to stone her because she broke marriage covenant. She was a covenant breaker, so they were ready to stone her until Jesus intervened. Now they are saying, God must be stoned. He's a covenant breaker. Do you see how far they have gone? Charging God as a covenant breaker is not to be trusted. Do you see what they are saying? We want divorce. We don't want a relationship with you. We can't trust you. I want you all to see the ugliness of the heart of a Christian who rebels against God. That's what they're doing. They're accusing God Do you see the seriousness of this sin? Charging God as unfaithful, one who breaks his promise. What does the scripture tell us about the character of God? Joshua 21, 45. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. All come to pass. It's faithful. II Timothy 2.18, if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. It's not only about us, it is about his covenant, the covenant that he established between him and our father Abraham. He's a covenant keeper God. He's faithful, even when we are faithless. He remains to be faithful. Psalm 105 8. He remembers His promises forever. The promise He made for a thousand generations. Not only the generations in the past, but this generation and the generation to come. Our children, grandchildren. He will be faithful to all generations to whom He promised it. What did he promise to Israel? Even through the wilderness, I'll make sure that you arrive to the promised land. And now they are saying, we can't trust you. You're unfaithful. You're a covenant breaker. That was the charge, beloved. That was the charge. Remember what Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 10. All these are written for our instruction so that we would not rebel against God. For our instruction. You delivered us from Egypt with the intention to kill us here in the wilderness. We want to separate ourselves from you. That's what they're saying. And that brings us to the sentence. That brings us to the sentence. And listen to what happened. Moses asked that, what should I do with these people? They're almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go." Now, I want you all to give your full attention to what is going on here. This is a time of sentencing. And God is saying, let me now judge. Let me judge. They came to me with the charge. They're accusing me. These are my people. I delivered them. They're rebelling against me. And I'm God. I'm the Lord. I'm the maker of heaven and earth. Let me judge. And he told Moses, but I want you to take witnesses with you. Take witnesses with you. This is a court proceedings. I'm going to sentence, I'm going to judge. Moses, take witnesses with you and take the stuff that you used at the Nile. The stuff with which you struck the Nile and the water in Nile turned into blood. I want you to use that stuff right now. See what's going on here? Moses using the staff, striking the water in the Nile, turning it into blood, was a judgment from God. It was the manifestation of God's wrath upon the Egyptians. You see what God is saying? If I do the same, Israelites, you all are guilty. And you deserve to die. The wage of sin is death. Right now, I have every right to kill you. That's the sentence. You are guilty. And you deserve to die. Romans 6.33, the wage of sin is what? Death. And Ezekiel 18.20, the soul that sins must die. That's the sentence. But now notice how God is showing his mercy. God is saying, you are guilty, you deserve to die. But for the sake of my name, for the sake of my covenant, because of who I am, merciful God, abounding in life kindness, I'm not going to destroy you, but I'm going to give you what you don't deserve. First, I'm not going to give you what you deserve. That's mercy. And I'm going to give you what you don't deserve. That's grace. Because God told Moses, when you strike the rock, Water will come out from the water, and the people will drink water. I will have, what, mercy on these people. I'm not going to destroy them. Listen to what God told Moses. Pass on before the people taking with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the stuff with which you struck the Nile and go. Now listen to this. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock of Horeb and you shall strike the rock and water shall come out of it and the people will drink water from a rock. Yes, that's a miracle. That's a miracle, like the manna. It's a miracle. But what is amazing is when God told Moses, I'm going to, what, stand before you. Do you understand what's going on here? If you are in court and the judge is pronouncing the sentence, Who stands before the judge? The guilty. And God is saying, I'm going to stand before you, Moses. I will take their place. I will take their guilty. I will become a substitute in their place. I will take their guilty. and I will give them mercy and grace. Listen to Paul, how Paul helps us to understand with what's going on here. For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, 1 Corinthians 10, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud. and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ." The rock was Christ. The one who took our place. The one who became a substitute for His people. Isaiah, in Isaiah 53, tells us God the Father laid all our, what? All our iniquity upon Him. He took all our sins upon Him. He made Him sin. He was sinless. So that you and I, 1 Corinthians 5, 21, so you and I would become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Paul tells us he passed all our sins. You see, he didn't minimize our sin, he didn't throw our sins under the rug, but he put them upon himself, God in the flesh, the Son of God, the Messiah. He carried our sins and he went to the cross and died on our behalf. This is our rock. That's why you see God has called it in the Scripture, the rock of our salvation. Our refuge, the rock of our salvation. That much God loved us. That much God forgave us, brothers and sisters in Christ. We deserve to die. We deserve to be destroyed forever. but instead you and I stand before the judge, the judge of all, God himself, he stood in our place. That's what's going on here. Now a warning to all of us. In one sense, you see, we see the grace of God, the mercy of God, the nature of his preserving grace. But we also see a serious warning here. The reason why I selected Psalm 95 as a call to worship is for this very reason. Listen to the psalmist. Oh come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. He's the rock of our salvation. But then when you go to verse 8, the psalmist said, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as at Meribah. as on the day at Masa in the wilderness when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For 40 years I loathed that generation and said, they are a people who go astray in their heart and they have not known my ways. Therefore, I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest. Where are you tonight? Are you rebelling against God? If you are rebelling against God, this is the danger where you stand. But do you want to enter into his rest? Do you want His mercy, His grace, His favor in your life? So as you have been exalted by the psalmist, do not harden your heart as Meribah, as on the day at Massa in the wilderness. Maybe you are in the wilderness, even right now. But you are in the wilderness for the good of your soul. You are in the wilderness to be sanctified by God. So trust Him. Rely on His promise. Do not rebel against your God. Repent. Run to Jesus, the rock of your salvation. He was the one who took your place at Calvary. He was the one who atoned all your sins by being a substitutory lamb for you. Beloved, do we all want to be spared? from his wrath, and we are spared from his wrath, because we believe in his son, Jesus Christ. For us, those of us who are in Christ, there is no condemnation, but the warning, the warning stands, brothers and sisters in Christ, because those who were in the wilderness, they were his remnant. Those who tested his mercy, his grace. You see, he told them, he told them, here is the sentence. As far as you're concerned, as far as how you behaved before me concerned, you should die. But I will have mercy on you. I will stand on your place and take the punishment upon me so that through true faith, you would obey me. So let us obey our God. Let us trust Him. Beloved, let us not rebel against our God, even being in a wilderness. Let's pray. Our gracious and heavenly Father, Lord, we are marveled by your mercy, by your grace. We too rebel against you. We too, sometimes vocally, sometimes silently, we accuse you, we blame you. We even sometimes, Lord, criticize your good name, your faithfulness, Would you forgive us tonight? Would you have mercy upon each and every one of us? Especially when we rebel against you. O Lord, bless us with obedient heart. Even as the psalmist exhorted us, help us now not to rebel against you. like the Israelites in Mareba, in Massa, in the wilderness. Lord, help us to repent and to put our trust in you, the faithful God, and to your unfailing love. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.