Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
ROM 13:12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
ROM 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
2CO 12:21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.
REV 3:19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent.
REV 3:20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.
They lived in fear of the Egyptians at this first Water Test, Exo 14:10. In fear of the Lord; Exo 14:31. In fear of Moses; Exo 14:31. They entered into emotional revolt in Exo 15:1-21.
For at the Red Sea in Exo 14, they had too much water.
At Marah beginning with Exo 15:22, they not only had a little water but this time it was the wrong kind of water.
Marah means bitterness.
Heb 12:15 "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;"
Heb 12:15 (AMP) Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God's grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing),
in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it‑‑
They were shallow and superficial and totally dependent on entertainment, dependent on signs and wonders, although the signs and wonders accomplished absolutely nothing.
There were springs of water all over the place, but they could not drink the waters of Marah.
The waters were bitter!
They flunked the "too much water test", at the Red Sea, now they are going to flunk the "Wrong kind of Water" test, where they had plenty of water but the wrong kind.
If your life is governed by emotions, you will fail when the Lord brings in the different tests for the purpose of spiritual advance.
One of the reasons that you will fail....is found in "the waters of Marah Test" or the subject of bitterness.
They had "plenty of water" at the first test which was the Red Sea but now they have the test of the "wrong kind of water", the water of Marah or bitterness.
In Exo 15:11, what two words stand out = "working wonders."
EXO 15:13 "In Thy lovingkindness or in Your grace You led the people whom you have redeemed.
They were saved people. They had already believed in TLJC. They had eternal life.
The wilderness will reveal the weakness and wickedness of God's people and their failure under pressure.
The purpose is to magnify the power and the mercy of the One who brought us to the place of testing.
Prin- The wilderness not only gives us a revelation of ourselves, but it also makes manifest the ways of God.
They thought that they found what they were looking for and then all of a sudden that which they found becomes a source of bitterness to them.
The thrill of the catch is the chase!
Grumbled is the Hebrew verb "lun" which means to murmur, to complain, to be mal-content, to express dissatisfaction.
Note that they speak as if Moses is the one responsible for their situation.
Many believers look for someone to blame when the Lord leads them to a place like Marah (bitterness).
Bitter people look for a scapegoat.
The Lord might give you and me some bitter water to drink once in a while, just to reveal to us where we are spiritually?
One thing about a man of doctrine...his spiritual strength is totally from the Lord not from the acceptance of man or woman
A man of doctrine will not allow people to let him down - to manipulate him - will not listen to the judgmental criticism that comes from apostate believers.
Prin - The more you recognize doctrine the more that you recognize your own helplessness.
JAM 1:8 being a double‑minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Bitterness can come from the intensity of suffering of mind and body or from something that is difficult to bear, something that causes animosity and reaction.
Suffering causes bitterness to people who do not understand problem-solving devices, principles, and give number one priority to relationship with God.
Ridicule is also a source of bitterness, Lam 3:14-32 .
When truth is taught, people react in bitterness.
Jam 3:14 "But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your right lobe, do not be arrogant and do not lie against the truth."
Job 7:11 "Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
The word anguish in Job 7:11 is the Hebrew noun tsaq which means stress. Job has converted adversity into stress in the soul through the use of bitterness.
Bitterness motivates complaining and is self-destructive.
Job 10:1 "I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul."
Bitterness also motivates gossip and the creation of the public lie, Psa 64:3 "They have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed their bitter speech like an arrow."
The bitter soul is contagious and pollutes others in Heb 12:15 "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by it many are polluted."
The contamination occurs when you either believe the garbage coming from the bitter soul or react to the bitterness of another person.
You are defiled or polluted when you react to the bitterness in your own soul or the bitterness expressed by someone else.
The more things in life to which we react, the more things in life that cause us to react.
You can actually react your way into a psychotic or neurotic believer.
prin-Impersonal love is the problem solving device to deal with bitterness and anger in others.
Bitterness is self-induced misery, as well as chain sinning.
Wrath is a strong hatred and resentment.
Clamor is loud, noisy, vociferous or boisterous confusion and quarreling.
Bitter people amplify the flaws of others out of proportion; they have multiplied them beyond reality.
Bitterness produces a hardness or harshness totally incompatible with grace orientation and contradictory to the PPOG.
Bitterness assumes that you are right is someone else is wrong.
Bitterness refuses to take the responsibility for one's own sins or failures and attaches the blame to others.
The result of bitterness plus vindictiveness is an arrogant, malicious resentment, an unforgiving mental attitude of resentment, and irreconcilable enmity which makes a person hard, unbending, and locked in self-righteousness.
"Kind" is gracious action toward one another--the interaction of impersonal love among members of the body of Christ as the royal family of God.
"Compassionate" is the capacity for impersonal love for all mankind based on maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in the soul.
Recovery = Isa 38:17 "Behold, bitterness became deliverance to me. In Your love You have delivered my soul out of the pit of destruction; for You have cast all my sins behind my back."