This Manna

Introduction

Numbers 11:5–6 ““We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.””

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is a concept coined and explained by sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton in their book, ‘Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.

Al Mohler identifies this as the “New American Religion.”

Its tenets can be summarized as the following:

1. ”A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth."

2. ”God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions."

3. ”The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself."

4. ”God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem."

5. ”Good people go to heaven when they die."

Steps of Spiritual Development

Justification - Believe

Sanctification (Takes a lifetime) -

Glorification (The moment that I see him)

Justification

Justification means to declare righteous.

Justification is an act of God whereby He pronounces a sinner to be righteous because of that sinner’s faith in Christ.

Romans 3:21–26 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

If Justification (Belief) doesn’t push you towards RELATIONSHIP it is not true Justification.

That’s why James says Faith without works is DEAD.

How we live reveals what we believe and whether the faith we profess to have is a living faith.

According to a study of US adults, 80% of those polled believe in God. Approximately 70% of the US population still identifies as Christian.

With the 30% of people that remain you would think thats where we should spend the end times preaching to. Unfortunately you would only be part of the way correct.

God has been screaming in this season his intentionality and his focus on the Christian Atheist: Those that profess belief but live as if God doesn’t exist.

American Christianity is one of the most undisciplined religions in the world. We don’t pray, we don’t read, we don’t share, we hide our FAITH to keep people comfortable, we focus on convenience rather than invest in relationships.

But wait…

We wear our Crosses around our neck.

We tattoo our Bible Verses on our arms and pray that people see them.

We deck our Instagram BIO out with Scriptures and Quotes but we don’t have relationship.

Although….

Our Muslim brothers and sisters pray 5 times a day.

Our Mormon brothers and sisters go on mission for 6 to 24 months when they graduate high school.

But we pride ourselves in our individuality and our independence as if God is our genie and sidepiece.

Many admire Jesus but don’t worship or Follow Him.

This phenomenon is not unique to America. Jesus himself addressed this version of American Christianity in

Matthew 7:21–23 ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

This was the ending of Jesus’ sermon the mount

These are not people who lost their salvation. Instead, they never truly had it (I never knew you).

That word knew there in the Greek is the verb: Ginosko

“Ginosko” refers to a deep, intimate knowledge such as when Jesus said “I know my sheep”. “Ginosko” is also used in the Septuagint where we read in Gen. 4:1 “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bore a son …”. The verb in that context describes the most intimate knowledge a man and woman can share. “Ginosko” seems to be almost synonymous with “love” as in John 10:14.

Ginosko is used to refer to the ultimate physical intimacy, sexual intercourse, in Matthew 1:25, which states that Joseph did not “know” (ginosko) Mary until after Jesus was born.

Jesus is looking for intimacy with us. You keep battling with the lifelong process of Santification because you haven’t actually experienced Justification.

John 14:15 ““If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

Matthew 19:17 “And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”” (Zoe life)

Romans 2:6–8 “who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”

1 Corinthians 10:21 “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”