29th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 John 5v16-17)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


We have all said at one point or another that there is nothing that God can't forgive. I fully understand the sentiment and it is mostly true but not completely. The vast majority of sins can be forgiven and if we ever see a brother committing one of these sins we should earnestly call upon the Lord on our brother's behalf (v16).


This is a great challenge to our own sinfulness. We often rush to condemn a fallen brother when we should actually be praying for him. The majority of sins can be forgiven and therefore they do not lead to death (v16). We should pray that the Lord would restore our wayward brothers and sisters and give them life (v16b). Was John talking about physical death? No. All humans will die once but there is a second death for those who reject Christ. Anyone who has shunned the offer of the Gospel will have a place “in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur” (Revelation 21v8), this is the second death.


The Gospel is good news for sinners of all kinds. There is hope in Christ for the liar, adulterer, slanderer, thief and chief of sinners. However there is a sin that cannot be forgiven and therefore it always leads to death. John says that this sin exists and we are not duty bound to pray for the one who commits it (v16c). All wrongdoing is sinful and the majority of sin does not necessarily lead to death (v17) but there is a sin for which there is no hope of forgiveness.


What is this unforgivable sin? It is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? Jesus cast out demons by the power of the Spirit and the Pharisees declared Him to be Satanic (Matthew 12v22-32). This is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This is the unforgivable sin. It is ultimately a sin of terrible unbelief that assigns the work of God to the enemy himself. It is a sin that sees the glory of the Gospel and spits all over it. It is a sin that shows such hardness of heart that the individual in question cannot and will not repent. It is an awful spiritual condition and Christ's teaching should serve as the strongest of warnings to the one who has no time for the things of God. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, it will receive its due reward in the lake of fire.


Can a Christian commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? No. The child of God has been transformed by the Gospel and Holy Spirit. The individual who has received a new heart from God will be kept to the very end. Will such a person sin after their conversion to Christ? Yes. But will they be eternally lost? No. The true Christian is no stranger to the grace of repentance and the assurance of forgiveness that the Gospel gives.


This is not so for the blasphemer of the Holy Spirit. Such a person has no regard for Christ and thinks Jesus to be evil and His truth to be a lie. I do not write this with arrogance but with holy fear. Sin is always rotten and corrosive but sometimes it can also lead a man to such hardness that there is no longer any hope of salvation. 


What should we do in light of what we have heard? Three things. Brothers and sisters, keep a close eye on your own soul lest you be deceived by the deceitfulness of sin. Secondly, pray earnestly for fallen brothers and sisters calling them back to Jesus. Finally, if you ever come across someone who you suspect may have committed the unforgivable sin, be wise. You can never know anyone’s heart so declaring such a person to be doomed is not within your remit. Even so, you are not bound to pray for such a person’s salvation. Instead I would suggest when we meet raging sinful unbelief, we thank God that He has kept us from such an awful state. Thanks be to God, for the one who has been born twice will die only once.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q78 What is forbidden in the ninth commandment? The ninth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own or our neighbor’s good name.
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28th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 16:1-36 focus v21-36)


Message (Alan Burke)


Sabbath is a gift to us from God. Here the Lord was teaching his people just that and its necessity. While keeping the food throughout the week would result in it begin full of maggots and smelling, on the six day they were to gather enough for two days because there would be no manna or qual on the seventh. But then the Sabbath comes and v27 some of the people went out to gather but found none. This wasn’t a complicated set of questions, they weren’t expected to be proficient in maths and English or maths and Hebrew and know all their three dimensional shapes, they just needed to trust in the Lord and not go out looking for the Manna. The Lord says to Moses because of the peoples actions, v28 “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? The Lord had tested his people, he was trying to teach them through it that he could be trusted and the need of the Sabbath. None of what here was a big ask but they still couldn’t do it.


Remember where this comes in the book of Exodus, for the Ten Commandments haven’t been given yet by God to his people and there is a reason because the Sabbath is a creation ordinance. What I mean by that is that it was given in creation for the pattern for life, six days to labour and the seventh to rest. For; By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Ge 2:2–3). From creation, before the law was given God has set apart a day to be observed as a Sabbath. Look to verse 23…23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. The day itself is holy. Holy meaning it is set apart, it is concentrated for a purposes and that purpose is to be God’s day. 


What does this mean for us, after all the sabbath to the Jews is our Saturday. For the Christian the Sabbath is no longer a Saturday but on the first day of the week, in Mark’s gospel (16), Luke’s gospel (24) and John’s gospel (20), each one records how Jesus rose on the first day of the week. In Acts 20 we learn how… 7 On the first day of the week they came together to break bread, the first day. Revelation 1:10 speaks of that first day as the Lord’s day (9-11). The sabbath had been on the last day after creation was completed, now the Christian Sabbath is the first day of a new creation, it is the day that we come together as the people of God to worship him, it is the day we set aside as a holy Sabbath rest, and it is a foretaste of the eternal Sabbath rest that awaits all the people of God (Hebrews 4:9-10).


The Lord from the beginning has given his people a sabbath, for our good and his glory. The culture that surrounds us no longer sees the need of a day for rest and worship and if we are honest we prefer to be able to do what we like on the Sabbath, like the Lord is spoiling our fun if we have to actually rest and worship. The Sabbath though was given to bless his people, the Israelites struggled and we struggle with it to, we find it hard to understand, they found it hard to understand, but God himself has given it to us and observes it for it wasn’t only the people that rested on the Sabbath here it was the Lord himself. From Genesis to Revelation God has set aside one day a week as a holy day, for those who do not observe the sabbath the onus is on to justify why from the scriptures, why the sabbath does not matter, why it should no longer observe it. If we do not observe it as such then why? 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q 77. What is required in the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbor’s good name, especially in witness bearing.
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26th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 16:1-36 focus v13-30)


Message (Alan Burke)


The people were hangry, the Lord though provided again miraculously in abundance for his people so that they would know that he is the Lord. The quail came and covered the camp in the evening and dew in the morning that left thin flakes like frost. They called it manna meaning what is it. Look down to v 31, because this was bread like wafers made with honey, they had sweet bread every morning, they might not have had the honey nut cornflakes or the coco pops or Frosties, but this was sweet wafer like bread, some of you are porridge people, every morning, you might add a bit of sugar or salt, but the Lord was providing not just something bland but something enjoyable for the people and it could be baked or boiled. 


This was a gift of God to his people, new every morning, fresh every day, all they are being asked to do is to trust his provision towards them, to learn to trust him, and there is a sense that they should have already learnt but the Lord is patient with them. They were to gather what they needed, keep none of it until the morning. What the Lord was doing in this was testing his people whether or not that they would have faith in his provision and they couldn’t even trust him that he would provide for him.


While they were to only gather what they needed and to eat it all that day they had a backup with all the livestock that they had and had a big BBQ in the wilderness the people or rather some couldn’t even trust the Lord that they would be provided for. Look to what comes in v20, for some paid no attention and kept some of the manna until morning. They couldn’t obey the simple instruction, like if you cant follow the simple things how are you ever going to follow the big stuff, the Lord knew how they would respond before he tested them but still provided. 


For those who kept the food until morning they experienced the consequences. It was full of maggots and began to smell. Again are we so different, maybe we are, maybe you are told something and on the first time you are good at hearing and responding, doing what you are told, sadly though I’m still like I was as a child and many of us are, I find it hard to hear and listen even when I know the consequences. Often we’ve been told, we know and understand but we do our own thing anyway just as the Israelites did. 


God here provides in abundance, he was providing for his people even though they had failed to trust him, that the condition of their hearts known to him, he shows that wherever they are that he will provide for him, he tested them, but it wasn’t so he could point the finger, that he could pounce on them when they failed, no it wasn’t that. God was testing his people to teach his people he could be trusted, the Lord could have given them enough at the beginning of the week to do them but he didn’t, he did it daily, so that they could learn that he would provide for them. And he does the same with us, he tests, gives us trials, puts temptations in our way to help us to learn to trust in him, to shape us to the people he wants us to be. 


In all of this, the daily provision the Lord’s prayer comes to mind. The fourth petition says, give us this day our daily bread. Alright you might have an intolerance to wheat, you might need gluten free, but there Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily bread, it is a physical request not a spiritual request. We are to pray for our daily bread, for what we need. The Israelites were to gather enough for each day and double on the sixth day for the Sabbath and he was teaching his people through it that h would provide for their daily needs, day by day. What we are asking God in this petition is that he would give us those daily necessities for life in this life. But what is more he gives us the only thing we truly need, not the necessities of daily bread but of salvation through his Son.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q 75. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth, or may, unjustly hinder our own, or our neighbor’s, wealth, or outward estate.
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27th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 John 5v13-21)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


It wasn't for nothing that John wrote his letter. As 1 John draws to a close, we see John's reminder that he wrote so his hearers would know that they have everlasting life (v13). Why would they need such a reminder? Because they were surrounded by false teachers who were set on undermining the faith. These individuals taught that Christ hadn't come in the flesh, they denied the Father's work and they saw no need for obedience in the Christian life.


John spoke clearly to the church in the face of falsehood and stressed that they could be confident in the faith they professed. How so? By knowing that when a Christian prays for anything in accordance with the will of God, He both hears us and blesses us with what we need (v14-15). This doesn't mean that we can ask God to make us rich and He'll immediately fill our bank account. Instead, we pray rightly when we ask for God's will to be done and His desire is for our growth in holiness. The child of God has access to the throne of grace and by this almighty privilege we can know that we have been saved. 


Secondly, the Christian can be sure of salvation by seeing a work of sanctification in their lives (v18). Anyone who is truly born of God does not delight in their sin and make a practice of it. This isn't to say that a Christian will be sinless. I have said multiple times in these devotions that we are at the same time justified and sinful. The Christian will not be free from sin on this side of heaven but while we are here, we are to wage war against our sin (mortification) and desire holiness (sanctification). God will protect us in this life and the evil one will not pluck us from the Lord's hand. By this we can know that we are saved.


Thirdly, the Christian understands the nature of this world. Christians have been born again by God whilst the rest of the world lies in the power of Satan (v19). This knowledge makes us wise as we pilgrim through this life and it causes us to be unsurprised when the world turns it's guns upon the church.


Finally, we can be certain of salvation because Jesus has come and blessed us with spiritual wisdom and understanding (v20). It is because of Christ that we have discerned the truth of the Gospel (v20b). He is truth and we are in Christ by faith. Jesus is the true God and it is only in Jesus that one can enjoy eternal life (v20c). If we have come to trust Christ then it is sure evidence that a supernatural work of God has taken place in our lives.


Brothers and sisters, truth lies in the gutter in this modern age and we are often told that we have believed in vain. It is not true. John's apostolic teaching states that we can know and be sure of salvation. Keep yourself from idols who cannot save (v21) and instead be rooted and grounded in Christ.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q76 Which is the ninth commandment? The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
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25th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 John 5v6-12)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Did you know that mystery surrounded the whereabouts of Adolf Hitler after the war? The common belief was that Hitler died in his bunker but nevertheless some believed that he had been spirited away to Argentina where he lived until the early 1960s. Why the uncertainty? Because the witnesses all seemed to say different things. The Germans reported Hitler's death and cremation whilst the Russians said they had no evidence to support these claims. What do I think? Hitler died in his bunker and never set foot in Argentina - but I might be wrong.


Thankfully we can be sure of the faith we profess. You cannot be a Christian without knowing Christ and we have a threefold witness to the truth of Jesus Christ our Lord. Firstly, Jesus came by water (v6). What does this mean? Jesus was baptised in the Jordan river with the voice of God declaring "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3v17).


Secondly, Jesus came by blood. If the water reminds us of Christ's baptism then the blood takes us to His cross where the blood of the Lamb was shed for the sin of His people. Without the shedding of Christ's blood there can be no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9v22).


At this stage some might argue that the first and second witnesses refer to events that are long in the past. How can we be sure that Christ lived and died? Because the third witness is the Holy Spirit and He cannot lie. The Spirit testifies to the work of Christ and assures us that we have not believed in vain (John 16v13-14). The water, blood and Spirit agree (v8) that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.


God's testimony concerning Jesus is greater than anything we could receive from our fellow men (v9) and should absolutely be believed. To reject Christ is to make God a liar for we are taking God's testimony and trampling it into the dirt. But for the one who gladly receives God's testimony he has life in Christ the Son (v12).


You may be aware there is a certain amount of debate over 1 John 5v7-8 which is sometimes referred to as the "Johannine Comma" It is believed that the original text was quite short while a later addition made it much longer and much more pronounced in declaring the Trinity. I'll not say anything more on the issue other than the shorter text is to be preferred. Ultimately, the debate does nothing to harm the thrust of the passage. The Christian faith is no mystery and Christ is no enigma. How can we be sure? The threefold witness of the water, blood and Spirit all agree that Jesus is Lord.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q74 What is required in the eighth commandment? The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.
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24th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 16:1-36 focus v1-12)


Message (Alan Burke) 


Have you ever heard of the term hangry? Some of you no doubt will have while others of you may be scratching your head. Hungry is a term that is used to describe when someone is irritable or angry because they have not ate. Maybe you’re one of the kind of people that can last for hours without food or maybe you’re a grazer either way we know from our own experience that we can all get hangry and there are some people in our lives that we know we need that as meal times approach they need to be fed. Today we pick up and the people have God have left Elim where they had a foretaste of what the Lord had ahead of them and they have now gone a little further and they come to the desert of sin. It’s not that it was aptly named because of the sin of the people for it actually has nothing to do with the English word sin rather the desert of sin is called that because it is in the region of Sinai.


Look what they accuse Moses and Aaron off, why they are grumbling, it comes in verse 3, 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Bitter slavery is what they experienced in Egypt, they cried out to the Lord and they have forgotten that. They long for the pots of meat that they ate, all the food they wanted. Now I can’t imagine that things were that good in Egypt, I doubt their meat pots were filled with all that they could eat, but they are looking back longingly, it would be better in their mind to have died in Egypt. Do we hear just how tragic this is, they are telling Moses and Aaron we’d be better off dead than here or as slaves in Egypt. They were saying that they wished they had never been saved by the Lord.


They had it hard didn’t they? It was so tough for the Israelites in the wilderness, no food, the poor Israelites were starving, it’s not like they left with nothing to eat. Look back to chapter 12:38, do you see what we are told there, not that there was a mixed multitude that went with them but also, do see that, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. They had plenty to eat, fried eggs were on the menu, they could make cheese with the milk, they could even have a big BBQ in the wilderness, they could have been filled. 


Their issue was a lack of trust in the Lord. Whenever we grumble as believers, when we complain, we are basically saying God you haven’t done enough for me, what you have given me doesn’t live up to what I expect of you. Our grumbling and complaining can complain about our spouse, our kids, the job that you have, could be any number of things, that show we aren’t content with our lot. Sadly when we are not content, ever grumbling we are showing the condition of our hearts, they are known to the Lord but we are revealing our hearts to others by our attitude. What we need to do is to look to what the Lord has done for us through his Son, the salvation that he has brought us, why are we grumbling when this for us will be the only hell we ever experience and we have something so much better that awaits us where we will dwell with our Lord for all eternity.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q 73. Which is the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.
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22nd June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 John 5v1-5)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


I was once asked in a job interview about my "red lines" or to put it another way, I was asked about the things that I wouldn't compromise on. That interview was a very long time ago and I can't remember my response but I do know that there are several "red lines" when it comes to following the Lord.


What do I mean? John said that to be a Christian is to believe that Jesus is the Christ (v1). The person who follows Jesus is someone who believes and acknowledges Jesus to be the chosen one of God. Christ is the Saviour and friend of sinners and anyone with a credible profession of faith cannot escape the reality of the person and work of Christ.


Furthermore, a true believer is someone who loves the Father (v1b). Marcion was a man who once did his best to divide the Old and the New Testament. He believed that the God of the Old Testament was angry and malicious whilst the God of the New Testament was full of grace. Marcion was wrong. Scripture teaches us that there is one God who has revealed Himself in three persons who are all equal. We cannot call ourselves Christian if we have no love for the Father nor are we on the right path if we pit the Father and Son against one another.


Talk of "red lines" can seem to some as unnecessarily confrontational. Is any of this really that important? Absolutely. The Lord has spoken and declared that the follower of Christ loves God and obeys His commandments. In turn, this displays itself in how we love our brothers and sisters in the faith (v2). Once more this can be described as a "red line" of the faith. We are not saved by obedience but obedience is the fruit of saving faith. Indeed, the Christian doesn't consider obedience as a chore, John states rightly that God's commandments are not a burden (v3).


Therefore, pulling all of this together, we can state our "red lines" of the faith in this manner - a Christian declares Jesus to be the Christ and looks to Him by faith. This person is not a Marcionite but instead someone who loves the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This declaration and love displays itself in willing obedience to the commands of God.


Ultimately, a true Christian will be kept until the last day and never fall away. Such a person will overcome this evil world and all of it's traps and snares. How is this victory assured? By our faith (v4). Who will overcome and see heaven? The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (v5). 


A faith that relegates Jesus to a lesser position or one that denies the Father or one that mocks any notion of obedience is no faith at all. May we not be deceived by the modern day Marcionites or those for whom obedience is an optional extra. By God's grace may our faith be found genuine when we stand before Jesus Christ our Lord.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q72 What is forbidden in the seventh commandment? The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.

21st June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 15:22-27 focus v27)


Message (Alan Burke)


Where we are is in the wilderness, with fickle people who as the end of ch 14 told us they feared the Lord and they believe in the Lord and his servant Moses (14:31) well it’s now three days later, the Lord hadn’t lived up to their expectations and they are grumbling. Moses cries out to the Lord, he answered and the bitter water is made sweet. Now we are told of a decree and law, a state and a rule that the Lord makes for them. Initially here this is to do with the commands and the decrees that he has already given them, to give head to all that he has instructed them. The Passover, the Feast of unleavened bread, the consecration of the first born. The passover and feast of unleavened bread were to be yearly reminders the consecration of the first born would if it hadn’t already happened it would in the coming days where the women who were pregnant gave birth, where the animals gave birth, just because they were saved didn’t mean life didn’t have its normal routines and the people would have to do as the Lord commanded them. 


There is also a future element to this, prophetic element. For it looks to what the Lord would give to his people, for in the future he would give them commands and laws as his people, they would lay out what the Lord required of them and in preparation for that he tells them this now. For later in the book of exodus in chapter 19 when the Israelites arrive at Sinai that the law is given to Israel so what is it here, well it acts prophetically to what the Lord would give his people, the Law that would come at Mount Sinai, obedience to the Lord their God is a non negotiable. 


In all of this the Lord wants his people to hear his voice, to obey it, to be transformed into a holy nation. This transformation involves more than simply being a redeemed people, it means living in response to what the Lord has done. For this is only the first stop on their journey, they would be quick to grumble but the Lord wanted them to carefully listen to his voice, do what is right, pay attention. Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments (Jn 14:15). There are lots of people in this world who call themselves Christians and they might confess him with their lips but they are not living in obedience to him, they are not listing carefully to their voice, they are not paying attention to his command and living to keep his decrees and they are all to quick to grumble. We though are to try to keep his commands, all of them. We are to follow the word of the Lord. 


The Lord had been gracious to his people, they didn’t deserve the salvation that they received, and they grumbled, yet the Lord took them from Marah to Elim. It is a glimpse for them of what is to come, the land flowing with milk and honey. There at Elim the Lord provided his people everything they needed and a foretaste of what was to come. For the believer we live in the now and not yet. We like the Israelites have been saved by our Lord and God all through what he has done. We have been redeemed by Christ Jesus, his blood that was shed for us. And we live between the first advent of Christ and the second advent of Christ when he will come again to judge the living and the dead. When we face Merah, times of bitterness remember only one step along the way, there will be Elim’s but ultimately we are being taken not to the promised land but to glory, to dwell with our heavenly Father in the new heaven and the new earth. There will be many highs and lows along the way in the Christian life but what lies ahead is far better that makes the Eilm’s along the way look like a run down service station in the sticks where you can even get an ice cream on a hot summers day. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q 71. What is required in the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbour’s chastity, in heart, speech, and behaviour.
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20th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 John 4v18-21)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


There was once an American Confederate General called Stonewall Jackson. His real name wasn't "Stonewall", in reality he was Thomas Jackson a descendant of his Coleraine born grandfather. Why did he get the name "Stonewall"? Because in the face of one particular assault he stood firm like a "stone wall". Why was "Stonewall" so resolute and fearless? Some suggested it was his fear of God which made him so fearless of anything else.


Jackson was a Christian and therefore he lived his life in the fear of God. What do we mean by this? The true fear of God loves the Lord and seeks to honour and obey Him rightly. The false fear of God believes God to be a tyrant who is just itching and waiting to punish. John understood this difference and stated that "there is no fear in love" (v18). If you love God and He you, then you do not need to shrink back from him as if he were a monster. Any incorrect fear has been cast out by the perfect love of God and so the Christian fears God rightly not fearing Him due to any future punishment (v18b).


The fear of God loves the Lord and seeks to obey Him. Therefore, if we fear the Lord rightly then we are to love our brothers and sisters. If we claim to love God but harbour hatred for a brother then we are liars (v20). Instead if we love the Lord then we must also love our brother (v21), there can simply be no justification for us to despise a fellow Christian. Why not? In light of the fact that God loved us first (v19). If we have been loved in such a grace filled and generous manner, then we are to love others freely and liberally in return.


Brothers and sisters, we do not fear God out of a dread for any punishment that He might bring. We fear Him because we love Him and because we fear Him, we obey Him, not least by loving our fellow Christians. I think Solomon said it best "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. " (Ecclesiastes 12v13-14)


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Q70 What is the seventh commandment? The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
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19th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 15:22-27 focus v25-26)


Message (Alan Burke)


Many years ago I use to work in a clothes shop in the Maiden city on Ferryquay Street. It was a wee independent shop which has gone the way of the Dodo and been replaced by a Concern Book shop. My boss was one of those guys who was great at customer service, they would come in with their grumbling and usually he would find some way to placate them and as soon as the customer was out the door he’d be cursing their name. Even in customer service where the customer is always right we might be good to someone’s face but when their back is turned it is another thing entirely. As we read this passage before us the actions of Moses are commendable, he doesn’t have grumbling customers but the people of God looking for a drink and instead of doing what they do and grumbling, biting back he cries out to the Lord. It’s hard to do what we know is right when we are getting it in the neck as Moses was. 


The people were taking aim at him even though it was the Lord who had brought them to this place. Notice what Moses does, he didn’t complain, he didn’t grumble back at the unthankful people, he didn’t “say you think you know it all, if you can do a better job you lead everyone”, he could have seen the red mist but he didn’t do what we often do just like the people and grumble right back he instead cried out to the Lord. The People responded with grumbling, Moses responded by crying out to the Lord, he knew that what he needed to do in all was to have faith in the Lord, to look to him to seek his guidance. Moses cried out is reminiscent of how the people cried out because of their slavery in Egypt (Ex 2:23). There the Lord hear the cry of his people and here the Lord heard the cry of Moses in the midst of this. The Lord hears the cries of his people in the midst of what they face, if they are coming to him in faith, looking for his help, he hears and he answers. 


That is just what the Lord does here. For the Lord showed Moses a piece of wood and he threw it the water and it became sweet. Do you remember the first plague the Lord used the staff of Moses to turn the water of the Nile to blood, Moses in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials struck the nile with the staff (Ex 7:20). There is a connection with what is taking place as the people are in the wilderness and what had taken place. You might not see that connection but look down to verse 26, where the Lord warns his people that if they pay attention to him he will not bring what he brought on the Egyptians, the Lord is doing the opposite of what he did to the Egyptians, he is showing his mercy. 


The people had grumbled, Moses cried out to the Lord. So here’s a wee question for you, what is your go to response in this life, grumbling or crying out to the Lord. Are you the kind of person that will be on the telephone giving off about what you’re facing, grumbling about what you don’t like, what has been said to you, or are you crying out to the Lord asking for help for what you’re facing, for help to accept the things you might not like or wisdom to know what to do, are you crying out to the Lord for help for forgive that person for what has been said to you? What is it, your response in this life, grumbling, or crying out to the Lord?


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WSC
Q 69. What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbour unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.
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