Don’t Let Bitterness Block Your Blessing | Jonathan Evans Most Christians will live a bitter life as bitter believers because they're waiting on heaven not knowing that they have the cross for earth. That righteousness has been given to them and is supposed to be utilized in Morrah. So that while I'm in Morra, there is still something sweet there. >> He did not take them out of Morrah. He just changed the nature of the provision in it. In this world, you will have trouble. It will be mur. But however, conversely, yet I have already overcome the world. So you got to learn how to insert me in your marrah so that your morah turns from bitter bitter to bittersweet. How do you insert Jesus? In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So you got to take this and throw it into your bitterness. ((music playing)) >> Forgive me Lord for complaining. ((music playing)) Forgive me for my entitlement, for operating as if you owe me something. ((music playing)) After you carried the cross, forgive me, Lord, for complaining. Just take a second and think about How much gratitude we should have >> if he doesn't do >> not another thing. ((music playing)) His eye is on a bird. He knows every hair on your head. >> Yet we lose faith and complaint. So forgive us, Father, and thank you, Lord, for what you've already done. Help me to be content right where you have me >> and to not complain because complaining is synonymous with faithlessness. So Lord today we just lift up our hands in gratitude and we just want to take a moment to say thank you Lord. Thank you, Lord, for healing me, saving me, choosing me, making me worthy when I'm not worthy. Thank you, Lord, for reconciling with me. Thank you, Lord, so much for restoring me. Thank you, Lord, for adopting me. Thank you, Lord, for no longer making me a stranger or an alien, but bringing me into the family of God. Thank you, Lord, for pulling me off the doorsteps of hell and allowing me to come live forever with you. Thank you, Lord, for not just giving me life in eternity, but giving me abundant life in history. Thank you, Lord, for providing for me. Thank you, Lord, for giving me hope. Thank you, Lord, that when I'm grieving, I don't grieve as those with no hope because you have given me victory. So let me just take a moment to say thank you Lord and forgive me of the sin of complaint and being ungrateful. We love you Lord today and we claim that you alone are our provider in Jesus name. All God's people said >> amen. Give him a hand clap of praise in the building online. I'm going to have you stand to your feet as we get into God's word. We're going to go to Exodus 15. As we continue to walk through the wilderness, we're going to go to Exodus 15 and we're going to start reading at verse 22 and I'm going to conclude at verse 25. If you're ready, say, "Amen." >> Amen. Verse 22 says, "Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shure, and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water." When they came to Morrah, they could not drink the waters of Morrah, for they were bitter. Therefore, it was named Morrah. Watch. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. Therefore, he made for them a statute and regulation, and there he tested them. Today, I want to talk to you from the title, It's bittersweet. >> It's bittersweet. You may be seated. I don't know if you know it or not, but following God can bring joy. >> Following God can bring sorrow. Following God can bring you into immense hope. Following God can bring you into despair. Following God can bring you into clarity. Following God can bring you into confusion. Following God can bring you into abundance. Following God can also bring you into lack. In other words, following God can be a seessaw of ups and downs. But I need you to understand that just because your circumstances change does not mean that God is sketchy. >> Maybe God knows his people are sketchy, so he allows circumstances to change to test them. Has nothing to do with God's character being out of place. has everything to do with the development of our character. Following God is not going to be some easy street. You're going to have to walk through seasons that are called a wilderness >> because he wants to know, do you really have faith in the very things that you celebrate? It took three days for the Hebrew people to complain after the splitting of the Red Sea. Isn't it ironic that after they walk through water, they're complaining that they have nothing to drink? >> Have we not seen enough and heard enough at this point? How long does it take you and I to lose faith in God? For the Hebrew people, it took three days. For some of us, it only takes three hours. >> We'll be fighting in our cars directly after service. >> We'll be full of complaints right after worship. We'll be cursing right after hearing the word. >> We'll be spewing poison after using the same mouth to pray. >> We'll lift our hands frustrated for the purposes of abuse and we were just lifting our hands for the purposes of praise. How quickly we forget >> and turn on God even after he has made a way out of nowhere in our circumstances. Have we not seen enough? >> Have you not heard enough? >> The people after getting the Red Sea split, they experienced the Passover. >> They experienced the presence of God in the cloud by day and the fire by night. They experienced the pariclete which is the Holy Spirit who split the Red Sea and the eastern wind and dried the ground so that the chariot wheels don't get caught in mud. And now you get to a problem and your fall back is to complain. I was reading and I was like these people And the Holy Spirit pricked my heart and said, "No, you're reading about you." ((applause)) >> How quickly we forget. And they were lacking something real. Water in the wilderness is a need. You go three days without water, you're going to feel like you're about to die. >> So because of their lack, they landed in a place called Murra. Murah means bitter. So they are now in a state of bitterness. Okay. So, let me talk to people in this audience and online that hold two titles. You are a bitter believer. >> They're still believers cuz they have the Passover, but they're located and in a state of morra, which means they are bitter even as a believer. And it is true that people under the sound of my voice and online around the world can hold those titles at once. >> Why? How did they get there? Well, they went from surplus to lack. And as soon as they went to lack, they got bitter. Their circumstance changed and their faith changed with it. >> And we wonder why God has to test us. Many of you have lacked something real just like they were lacking something real. They were lacking water. Many of you have lacked love in your life. And lacking that love to you has caused you to turn bitter. You may be lacking a father in your life, a mother in your life. And that lack or something you have lacked has put you in a state of bitterness. Maybe you're lacking fairness or opportunity or you're lacking some sort of justice or maybe you're lacking something in your life that you feel like you need and you're not getting it. So while being a believer, you're holding another title that the people were holding called bitter. Now bitter is a dangerous place to be. And the reason why even as a believer it's dangerous to be bitter because then you begin to look for things to satisfy in that place. And in that place, the water that should have satisfied was just as bitter as the state they were in. Many of us are chasing things only to find out that when we get it, it doesn't taste like we imagined. You went from one bitter relationship and you're going to the next one to get it to satisfy. But then when you get there, it's just as bitter as you are. You're looking for power or fame or notoriety or some type of acknowledgment. You're looking for affirmation. You're trying to hydrate yourself from something you were lacking only to find out that it does not satisfy. It reminds me of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:11. He said, "I got all of this stuff and it's all meaningless. >> I've attained almost the whole world and it is meaningless to me. It has not filled the hole. It does nothing." Let me ask you a question. What are you looking for? Where are you going? What do you think your provision is? And why is everything failing? Maybe it's because it's not what God wants you to look to. >> And he uses a tool called nothing you look for will satisfy. And the people, they failed back on complaining. Which tells me that a miracle does not necessarily build a sustaining faith in a believer. It does however build a term of celebration but not necessarily a sustaining faith. A sustaining faith is the decision of the believer who decides and has a conviction that God is trustworthy. >> It goes beyond celebration. It's when my celebration now becomes a conviction. And if I don't move from celebration to conviction, you can celebrate every Sunday. You'll still be complaining by Wednesday. >> What we know how to do in the church is celebrate. And we should because we bring back up to you the miracles of God. what he has done on the cross, what he has done in your life and it prompts you into a term or time of celebration amongst the saints. The problem with Christianity is not that we don't know how to celebrate. It's that saints are not convinced. >> They do not live life with a conviction that God is trustworthy even in my wilderness. >> Which makes us fickle. What kind of testimony is that that we celebrate on Sunday, we get out in the world and we're complaining just like everybody else. What a testimony, Lord, of the Red Sea split in my life. What a testimony of you giving me the resurrection, not just for you, but transferring it to me. What a testimony that you give me life and life more abundantly. What a testimony that you healed me. What a testimony that you brought my marriage back, my son back, that you got me off of addiction. What a testimony it is. Other than it's not because we go out of the doors and we lack all conviction when we hit a hard time. >> Your Christianity is not most displayed in your celebration in church. >> It's most displayed in your conviction in Morrah. You know, when someone has conviction because they're in morra, which means they should have anger, but they're still producing love. You know when a saint has true conviction because it's not that they're not in morra, >> it's that they're in a place that should bring them into complete anxiety, but they're still walking in peace. ((applause)) >> You know a saint when you see one because they should be complaining cuz you're in morra. You are actually lacking something. But your life still produces gratitude. >> That is the the difference between celebration and conviction of the believer. It's easy to celebrate Red Sea. >> But who are you going to be when life turns bitter? >> Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 4 8 and 9. He said, "I was hardpressed but not crushed." He said, "I was perplexed, but not driven to despair. I was persecuted, but I'm not forsaken. I was struck down, but I was not destroyed." In other words, he said, "This is my reality, but my reality doesn't overtake me because I have victory in Jesus Christ." >> This is the true state of the believer. It's time to move past just celebrating. And if celebration is all we're good at, then God will send you right to Morrah >> because he'll put you right back in the classroom to take the exact same test over and over and over again until he develops you to be consistent and not sketchy. People ask all the time, "Why is it that God won't take me to the next level?" "Cuz you keep failing the test." >> Teachers don't take students to the next level if they can't pass the test. >> So, we're praying for something that we won't pass. >> They are in a state of bitterness and their fall back is to complain. They didn't have a problem with celebration. >> Um, I hope you know that the Christian life actually means more about suffering than celebrating. ((applause)) >> That's why I had to ask for forgiveness. Even when we talked as a family about the transition OCBF and Tony Evans, I was taught and I was complaining and I felt the Lord right on my heart. What are you talking? It's been 48 straight years of me being faithful and you have one year that you feel like it's off and you tripping. How long? The Bible says in Genesis 6, he says, "How long will I strive with you?" >> Come on. >> Your fallback plan is to complain after I've been consistent with you day after day. >> The miracle is enough to get up. Praise the Lord. >> We want life to be a celebration. Jesus like, "Listen here, bro." The moment I was born, Herod was trying to kill me. >> The people that I came to save rejected me. My own disciple betrayed me. I was crucified. My whole life was trauma. What y'all talking about? I'm not asking you to do anything that I myself has not already done on a level that you can never imagine. But I will sanctify those who have already been made perfect. >> Israel, you know, they had a song when they came through the Red Sea. They had the mass choir and the tambourines and they sang, you know, the song, he reigns forever. He reigns forever. Where's Roy? He reigns forever. forever more. Y'all think I'm making this up? Look at Exodus 15:18. >> The Lord shall reign forever and ever. >> That was their song. >> He shall reign forever and ever until I don't have water for three days. It's interesting how we celebrate in the words we use and how quickly we turn. I thought he reigns forever over the earth and is the creator of all things. >> Wow. >> But only if I feel good about my circumstances. Otherwise, what he's going to get from this child is a complaint. This is for us to examine myself and ourselves >> with our with our life of complaint or gratitude >> to God. Um I have five kids. Got five kids. Um I know, bless me. It I always say it's my wife's fault. It's my wife's fault. Have five kids. It's her fault. Here we go. I'll stay away from that now. Um, but my kids will do this when they get hungry. Dad, I'm starving. Watch. Are you going to feed us? And I'm I'm I'm ((applause)) because they ain't never missed a meal in their entire life. every meal has magically showed up and they have been able to eat every meal. But somehow when they get hungry, >> they lack the faith that the father who came through every day before for years is somehow going to not come through just because they're hungry today. Help us >> and we are those children. >> Thank you Lord for not killing me. ((applause)) >> Have you ever been around people Okay, just muse. Have you ever been around people who just complain? ((applause)) It will drive you insane because it seems as if no matter what you do, a complaint is around the corner. So since we are those people, thank you Lord for your patience with us. The fact that he's patient when we complain is another reason for us to be grateful and not complain >> because like this >> he can just get annoyed and take you out. >> He Let me make sure we understand. >> He owes us >> nothing. So, what are we talking about? >> The people fell back on complaint. And this is what gets me. Then he Moses cried out to the Lord. Verse 25. And the Lord showed him a tree and he threw it into the waters and the waters became sweet. So after the grumbling which came after the Red Sea where God did this big thing and three days went by and the people started complaining, he still provided for them. >> What greater love is there than this? that even while in our sin, a man would lay down his life. >> Beautiful. >> Some of you are thinking this is just a church service and you just came to church because it's Sunday and your mom brought you or your dad led you. But God is trying to teach you. is trying to teach you what your life should look like. >> It should look like a life of complete gratitude to the Savior. Worship is not just singing and lifting your hands. It is your entire life that you live to God because of what he has done and who he is. ((applause)) >> But that only comes if you have a conviction. If you don't have a conviction, you'll always be complaining. >> Um God said, "Hey, Moses, >> y'all ready?" >> God said, "Hey, Moses, you see that tree over there? Go get it. Take the tree, throw it into the water." Moses got the tree, threw it into the water. The water became sweet. Okay, let me do it again. Hey Mo, you see that tree? He showed him a tree. That means instructions. >> Go get it. Then Moses goes and takes up the tree. Moses then takes up the tree and walks it to the water. And he inserts the tree into the water and the water then becomes sweet. >> One more time. Moses go get the tree. >> He takes a tree. I'm going say it a different way. And he inserts the tree into the bitterness. >> You know when he inserts the tree into the bitterness, then the bitterness is transformed. >> Let me say it one more time. Moses who is the savior of the people >> and who is a Old Testament type of Christ. >> I need you to go get a tree. >> When the one who represents who Jesus is in the New Testament and the Old Testament goes and takes up a tree, he takes the tree to the bitterness. When he puts the tree and inserts it into the bitterness, the bitterness is transformed by the savior who took up a tree, who stuck it into the bitterness. Yeah. God made him who knew no sin to take on bitterness for you and give you the sweetener of righteousness so that your bitterness can become sweet. Oh, he bore our sins on the cross and took the bitterness so that you can live righteously. >> The chastisement of your peace was upon him. So, he's telling Moses, "You as the savior need to go get a tree and I want you to place it in the bitterness. And when it's placed in the bitterness, the bitterness will be transformed." That is not just for heaven. >> Okay. >> Jesus took up a tree. >> Curse is the one who gets caught on a tree. He took up a tree and put it into your bitterness >> so that your bitterness can become sweet. Most people use the cross just for heaven. >> No, no, no, no, no. in the wilderness when you're in Morrah, the same cross that saved you for heaven is the same tree you need to insert on earth. But how do you do that? I understand how to accept Christ. I don't understand how to utilize the cross as I walk through the wilderness. Stuck on the cross is your sin. >> Permeating from the cross is righteousness. Jeremiah 31 says that the word of God is written on your heart. So the way you utilize the cross now that your bitterness is stuck to it is you take the word that has been written on my heart which is this and you start inserting it into your bitterness. So if you do not know the word you're going to be bitter bitter instead of bittersweet. >> Okay. Most Christians will live a bitter life as bitter believers >> because they're waiting on heaven not knowing that they have the cross for earth. >> That righteousness has been given to them and is supposed to be utilized in Morrah so that while I'm in Morrah there is still something sweet there. >> He did not take them out of Morrah. He just changed the nature of the provision in it. In this world you will have trouble it will be mur but however conversely yet I have already overcome the world. So you got to learn how to insert me in your morah so that your morra turns from bitter bitter to bittersweet. How do you insert Jesus? In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So you got to take this and throw it into your bitterness. It says that Moses threw the tree. He didn't roll the tree. He didn't gently place the tree. He didn't softly set the tree. Throw is an aggressive term. It means he took up the tree just like Jesus did. It was aggressive. He went after it. took up the tree and he threw it. >> That means there was a splash. ((applause)) >> Christians are so gentle with the word. ((applause)) >> We have an aggressive faith >> that we are called to live aggressively even with sin. And he says, "If you're sinning, cut that thing off." ((applause)) >> We be This word is a transforming word that has been written on your heart not just for heaven, but for you to throw it in your bitter situation on earth. Otherwise, you will be stuck as a bitter believer because you're utilizing the cross for tomorrow instead of today. >> Many of us are waiting on the sweet by and by and we'll just be bitter till we get there. >> Moses, go get the tree and throw it into the >> water. And when the tree hit that water, >> see, there is power in the cross. ((applause)) Okay, >> you got that part. >> Um, you see this right here? Many of you are bitter and it is yes because you're lacking something and the thing that you're lacking is like water. You actually need it and so you're complaining because you're going through life in Morrah and in Morra there is nothing but bitterness there. So if you don't add the cross to it, you have nothing to counterbalance your bitterness. This is why if you're bitter, you can go to counseling and you're still bitter after counseling. You can get advice and you're still bitter. Somebody can be nice to you and you like, "Why you being nice to me? You don't want me to be nice to you?" >> Because in the state of bitterness, it seems like everything is just as bitter as I am except God has given you a tree. ((applause)) >> Okay. So, this is what it looked like for Moses. Um, for those of you who have no father, that is true. That is something you need. That hurts. However, Psalm 68:5 says, God says, "I am your father." >> He says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So, you're in morra because you have no father, but you also have a tree of salvation that's given to you to let you know you actually do have a father and he will never leave you nor forsake you. And he is so proud of you that he gave you his word. There's nothing more powerful than a father blessing his child. >> Do you know that you have your father blessing his child in the word? If you will get in the word, you will experience a blessing from your heavenly father. His word will start blessing you if you start taking up the cross. And when you realize that God is your father, it doesn't mean you're not bitter, but at least you'll have a tree to throw at it. ((applause)) And when you throw God's word at your sit aggressively, >> in other words, with conviction, I believe it. >> Some of you are dealing with health issues that make you bitter. But when you realize Exodus 15:27 says that God is Jehovah Rafa. He has the ultimate say. Your doctors don't. What they said don't it. He is strong in your weakness. Read the word while you're in Morrah and take up the word and throw it at it. ((applause)) >> Some of you are dealing with loss. So, you're sitting in grief as if the Bible doesn't say in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 that we don't mourn as those with no hope. You pick up the cross that tells you in 1 Corinthians 15 that you have victory. Oh death, where is your sting? You read the word in John 11:25 that tells you those who believe will live even if they die. So while you're in MRA, you take up the cross and you throw it at it. Some of you are bitter financially, but I know my word says in Philippians 4:13, "God will supply all your needs according to his riches and his glory. Take what is true in the cross and take it and throw it at your circumstances." >> Some of you are bitter politically. as if God rides the backs of donkeys or elephants. ((applause)) It reminds me of Joshua 5 when the captain of the Lord comes in and Joshua says, "Whose side are you on?" And the captain said, "I ain't on your side, neither am I on their side. I'm the captain of the Lord's army." In other words, I'm running all of this. You think you something because you're able to argue your side and God is like, "What are you talking about? >> Why wouldn't God choose Joshua and the people he chose?" Because he's above them, too. >> You take the word of God, >> if you're burdened politically, and you go to Psalm 22:28 that says, "God is king and rules every nation." You go to the book of Daniel that says God raises up kings and then he tears them down. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of lords. So I may be in morra, but I'm going to take the truth and throw it at it. Some of you have personal failures, but doesn't Romans 8:28 says he will work all things out for good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes. You may have personal failures, but you got to take up the cross in this life with conviction and you got to throw it at it. >> Oh, wait, wait. Oh, hold up. We're still in Marrah. But when they went to the cross, somehow they found living water there. >> Jesus says in John 4:10 and John 7:37, "Come to me and I will give you living water." >> And it will flow like rivers. >> God's not taking you out of morra. >> He's just taking mor out of you. and giving you living water. >> He gave them nothing until they turn to Jehovah Gyra. >> Who is the one who provides? If you feel like you're bitter, bitter, and nothing will satisfy, welcome to the test. Um, I'm about to close, but that's not where it ends. >> In Exodus 15, he changes the water >> to give them living water. In Exodus 16, y'all remember this. They then com the next chapter. They complained about food. >> Now you hungry and you compl I just split the Red Sea. I just gave you living water and now you're hungry and you're grumbling again. And the Lord who provides rain down mana from heaven. ((applause)) >> In one chapter he tells you he's the living water and the very next chapter he tells you he's the bread of life. >> The whole thing is about your conviction in Jesus Christ. the whole thing. >> Is he credible? >> Is he credible? >> Do you really believe he's credible? >> Do you believe his word is credible? >> Oh, we'll see after the celebration's over. the living water and the bread of life. We have to get to a place where we go beyond the celebration >> where we can live in morra and insert the cross. >> Don't throw a complaint at it. Throw a cross at it. If you can remember that thing, then the job that the spirit wanted to accomplish today is done. Let's stand to our feet. Thank you Lord once again for blessing us with your patience that continues to provide when we complain. Now, as you go into Morrah, still carry the same morale that you had when you celebrated him for his miracles. Amen. Let's give him one hand clap of praise one time before we go.