In this sermon, the preacher begins by expressing gratitude for God's mercy and anointing to set people free from lust and discontent. The sermon focuses on the story of the Israelites being brought to the entrance of the Promised Land after going through various lessons and trials. However, when they sent spies to explore the land, they became amazed at what they saw. The preacher emphasizes the need to overcome the mindset of lust and complaining, and highlights the importance of believing in God's intervention and the power of the kingdom of God. The sermon references Numbers 11, where the mixed multitude among the Israelites fell into lusting and complained about their desire for flesh to eat.

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. I love the thought of that song, if God said it, I believe it. And he's going to put us to the test of that today, because today my message is called, The Graves of Lust. The Graves of Lust. And the Holy Ghost is going to take a shovel out. And he's going to dig a grave. And he's going to ask for a response. And if God said it, do we believe it? Because he wants a mighty deliverance in his body today. God is present in our midst. And when he is present, he comes with power. He's walking these aisles. He is among us because we preach Christ crucified. Because we preach that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And there is no way to salvation except through Jesus Christ. And when we stand on that truth, we become invincible. And the gates of hell cannot prevail. And darkness cannot hold back the light. And when we begin to preach on that truth, Jesus Christ becomes glorified in our midst. And he delivers his people. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I feel a witness in my spirit today. All day, it's going to be a delivering day. That God is building into his people a belief and trust in him. That if he said it, I'll believe it. And we will see something we've never seen and known in our lives before, in our families before. It's time. It's time. And so many in this house have known his delivering hand. And he's just taking layer upon layer off our eyes and off our spirit. We're finding out he uses us in spite of ourselves. And he can use us in situations we don't think we're equipped. We don't think we can do it. But he comes through. And there's something coming, rising up in us. That God, you're not hindered by me. We're understanding something. That the kingdom of God is going forth to those that believe him. And so today, God is saying, I'm taking a shovel out and I'm going to dig a grave. And it's called the grave of lust. If you would turn with me, please, to Numbers 11. Numbers 11. That's the fourth book in the Old Testament for those that are new among us. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, chapter 11. Now, when I talk about the sin of lust, I'm not talking only and exclusively about sexual lust. Lust, when you look up all kinds of biblical definitions, have some very surprising meanings to it. But lust really is what we're talking about is when there's an intense desire and longing for something. And that what happens is that in this longing for it, our minds get twisted. That's a definition of lust, twisted. And we believe that really the fulfillment of that, if we get this intense longing, it will satisfy us. And that's a falsehood. And yet we, the human heart and you and I, we will persist in it. And the Bible says that we become stubborn and hardened. And in other words, it has a gripping power. We can know things and yet not be released from lust. We can be so, end up with a longing in our heart that displaces a longing that should be for God alone, who is our deliverer from lust. And so it can be a longing to be married. It can be a longing for money. It can be a longing for prestige. It can be a longing for beauty. It can be a longing to be something, houses, land, whatever. But it's something that grows in us. And that when our minds are at rest, our spirit, our minds go to that thing. And it's growing in us and it has a captivating force. Now, one thing that we understand about lust, it can be about good things, not good things, lawful things, unlawful things. But one thing about lust we're going to learn today is that lust in itself is not usually, is not the root problem. That lust is like the branch off a tree. It is not really the root. It is not really the problem. It is not the issue. That there is always something deeper. But also today, the Holy Spirit is going to show us is that the fruit of lust and what it is capable of doing is terrifying. It's not a sin that we can play with lightly. It has a destructive power. It has a captivating power. It has a blinding power that God says the only appropriate response to that is the Holy Ghost says, I need to dig it a grave. It needs to be put to death in my life, in your life. Now, this sin is common to all. We can sit there and we can think, now, I wish so and so was here. But I tell you that this sin is common to man. It's not common to man. It's common to man. Because we are using this larger definition of an intense longing for something that's displacing even our love and our commitment to God. Now, this, the way that the Holy Spirit gave me this experience, this teaching was out of the book of Numbers. And when we're going to look into one chapter in the book of Numbers, we're going to see a snapshot. We're going to see an incident that happened in chapter 11 that's going to shine a light, an understanding light on what I'm trying to say today. And the reason why it's going to be so clear is we're going to put it in context of what's happening in Numbers 11. You see, the children of Israel have been taken out of Egypt. And even though this is common to many, there are so many new believers in our midst that I just want to visit this for one minute. But when God delivered his children, the children of Israel, children of Israel out of Egypt, Egypt is a type of the world in sin. And so he brought them out of bondage and out of darkness, and he brought them out of the chains and the depravity of a life that was going to have them serve as slaves all their lives, never know freedom in spiritual sense, never know what it is to be loved, never known what it is to have an inheritance. And he was going to, and then they die an unknown death, working all their life for another master, never anything of their own to call. And God was taking his people and that spiritual type of what it is to live unredeemed, unforgiven. And they were brought out of Egypt and into freedom by Moses, a deliverer who is a type many times of Christ. Now, the interesting thing is that God had a destination. He wasn't just taking them out of bondage. He was taking them into the promised land. The reason why God saved us and brought us out of sin is to take us into something, into the promised land. Where we begin, where we have a strong faith and confidence in our God. And because he begins to build that into us, because we begin to know who he is, we begin to experience him in love and in forgiveness. We begin to know his greatness. And we begin to able to do exploits. And we are long to give the glory to God and God becomes real to us and those that our lives touch. And God is calling his people into a promised land. But in between the deliverance from Egypt and the promised land was a place called the wilderness of sin. In other words, God knew that a people just released from bondage, even though the chains were off them physically, were still bound, they still have a slave mentality. And they were not yet fit to face the giants that would face him that bar the entrance to the promised land. God was going to prepare and ready a people. He was going to reveal himself to them. He was going to show them their heart. And then they were going to be a prepared people. And he was going to bring them to the entrance of the promised land with everything they needed to enter in and to live victoriously in Christ. Now, the interesting thing about that story in the wilderness story is that God brought, led his people through the wilderness of sin. And he taught them many lessons. He provided for them. He brought water out of a rock. He put shoes on their feet that never wore out. He provided bread from heaven. He took them to the mountain. He gave them the Ten Commandments. And he was teaching them lessons all the time to prepare them for the entrance into the promised land. But we find out in a few chapters after Numbers 11 that that group got to the promised land and could not enter in. And what happened was that God turned them back into the wilderness to wander 40 years. In other words, the lesson that God was teaching them that they needed to know in Numbers 11, so few grasped. And you see, it's a very strategic thing what God is teaching us in Numbers 11 because they needed to know this lesson. They needed to have this understanding because it was a critical key lesson for them to know experientially, for them to understand in their mind because it was critical to bring them into the promised land. They couldn't get in without it. They wouldn't be able to enter and conquer and keep that land without that. And so we have now, we are going to zoom in and look at these people in this lesson. And there are people yet not repelled from the promised land. There are still people in learning mode. And I pray that we're going to be too. Would you pray with me? Father, I thank you for a living word. Now, Lord, I just pray, oh God, that you would come and teach this. Lord, I pray that you would come in great delivering power. Lord, I trust you. I believe you that your word spoken under the power of your Holy Spirit is able to push back every darkness in our life and release us from chains. Lord, you're bringing us into the promised land. And I thank you, Lord, that today I ask you now to come. I say, set me aside for my own wisdom and understanding. Lord, I lean on you as you lead your people forward in this truth. Lord, we'll give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' name. In Numbers chapter 11, there is a story in the first few verses of when the people, after being given the Ten Commandments, they're now encamped and the scripture tells us they began to complain. And it said it displeased the Lord when he heard it and his anger was kindled. And the scripture says the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the Lord had brought a swift judgment against a complaining spirit. And in bringing judgment against a complaining spirit, he says in verse 3, and he called the name of the place Taborah because the fire of the Lord burnt among them. And this is teaching us that God is saying that a complaining and a murmuring spirit brings a fire into us, a burning. And the Lord sees it for what it is. That complaining, a deeply embedded complaining, is really a deep discontent with God and what he is doing in our lives at that moment. Trust me, they did not like the wilderness of sin. They didn't understand what God was doing. They had to go on a day-by-day leading by him. And when they received the promise of deliverance, I'm sure many of them thought they were going to march right into the promised land. But God knew what he was doing and God had a plan. But because now that they were in this wilderness, there is a complaining, a deeply embedded discontent and non-understanding of what God was doing. And the Bible tells us that this place where he judged them for that complaining, he named it Taborah. And that means a place of burning, a burning. And he says, those that will doubt me, those that will not deal with the deep discontent in their heart and won't come to me, but will turn and murmur and complain and set an attitude in their heart that all I can do is judge it. I can't be merciful to you because you have a mindset. He's telling us there's a mindset there that shuts out intervention by me by any other way but judgment. And the wise in heart, I believe, saw this and understood it. And now it sets the stage for what happened in verse 4. It says, in the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting and the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? And now, God, there is a new thing rising up in the camp. God has judged those that have been complaining on the most severest of those complaining, but now something else breaks out into the camp. First, it's like the people absolutely blinded to all that God has offered them thus far because all they can see is what he hasn't done. And now the scripture tells us that the people fell a lusting, but the interesting thing is there's a mixed multitude that started this lusting. And a mixed multitude was really a group of people that were not fully Hebrews that came out with them. And it's a type of people who are not of Hebrew descent. In our day, it's a type of people that may be in the church that they profess Christ, but they don't possess him. They're in the church, but they have not entered into him. And so this mixed multitude fell a lusting. They started longing and craving for things that they felt were not that they needed, that they didn't have. And this mixed multitude represents so many times the world and they're always craving for flesh. That's what their cry went out. Give us flesh. That's all the world understands. We want more flesh. We want things that make us feel good. We want things that make us look good. And we're going to lay our lives down for it. And we're going to become slaves to it. And we're going to live our lives to be known, to be beautiful, to be prosperous. We'll give everything we have. We'll sacrifice our children. Just give me what I want. And the world, this worldly type now begins infecting the church. And it says that the focus on the temporal and the earthly and the selfish and the sensual started to infect the people, God's people that had a residue of complaining. And they began to focus and they began to long and cry for the exact same things. And here we have a cry, beloved, that they asked for quail. Now we have to understand that when we read the whole Exodus story, that God gave the children of Israel all that they needed to make the journey across the wilderness of sin. He gave them water. He gave them food and shelter. He gave them food and the food that he gave them was manna. And the manna is symbolized. As many of you know, that's a daily provision. It came from heaven. It's not a food that's manufactured that you naturally found occurring in the wilderness of sin. It came down daily from heaven, manufactured in heaven and brought down to symbolize to them on a daily basis. You are a chosen people. There's no people on the face of the earth eat what you eat. There's no people that partake what you partake of. And it's a type of spiritual food. And it's an invitation to say that I have called you out of worldly appetites and fleshly appetites because I'm going to feed you spiritual food. I'm going to give you what others don't have. And I'm going to develop in you a taste for the spiritual. And when you get for a taste for the spiritual and you begin to understand and discern what is good for you and what it is that that you begin to partake of me and you get an understanding, no one else on the face of the earth does. So God gave them food and water and shelter and a daily provision of manna. But he also gave them the Exodus 16 quail. Scripture tells us he gave them quail. It doesn't tell us how often, but he understood there was a love of protein among his body. And he gave them quail. Now, the interesting thing here is that when a cry came out from this mixed multitude, they began to infect the children of Israel. And it was like they became blind to where their real sustenance lies. That they enjoyed quail when God sent it, but that their real sustenance, their real life, depended on the spiritual food, on the manna. They grew tired of it. Because the lusting that was in the mixed multitude around them began to infect them, but they had an open door because previously that deep discontent with what God was doing in their lives at that moment and where God was leading them was making them especially vulnerable. And now we have a place where all the people began to cry, we need quail. We need flesh. We don't want just a spiritual diet. Lord, that's boring. God, you've saved us for an abundant life. And Lord, we'd like to be able now, we want what we want. And we don't see one thing wrong with quail. We know you give quail. You've blessed quail. So we just want more of it. And so there begins this cry, God, we don't want a measured amount. We want an unlimited supply. But beloved, it's such a type of a lusting because when a lust gets a hold of us, we begin to think that we have to have it governed in order to be happy and satisfied. We can have man all around for us to collect, but we're not satisfied with it because we're developing an earthly appetite. And the Scripture tells us in verse 6 that when the children of Israel infected by this spirit of lust came, they began to cry, but now our soul is dried away and there is nothing at all besides this manna before our eyes. And this was the cry of their hearts. And this is what was beginning to be said. And it was gathering strength in the camp of Israel. And there was really a very pro-quail movement. And there were many that could rationalize it and say, God gives it. We just need more of it. And God wants to give it to us. And so this pro-quail movement begins to bear the underside, begins to show the belly of what it really is. And it's saying, God, our soul is dried away. You don't understand what we need. Manna is not all that, God, we're human, you know. And God, we need more. We want this. We want that. And our soul is dried away. God, this is getting boring. Lord, my life is so narrow. Those to the left and the right seem to be able to have so much more. There seems to be a feasting in their camp. And there is a deep discontent. And it's a burning. It's a burning. And I'll tell you something. One thing I know about fire. If it's inside you, there's a longing to put it out. And this lusting, this quail looked like the answer to put the fire out. We're going to put out the deep discontent with the quail. We're going to convince ourselves God wants us to have abundance of quail. He wants us to have all the flesh. He wants us to have it all. And it's going to put the fire out. And I'm going to feel good. And I'm not going to be so discontent anymore. And I don't have to look at the deep issues of why I'm discontent. And God, I don't have to have a face and face encounter of you to find out why. What I can do is say, God, I'm convinced in your word. You love me to have quail. And I'm going to begin to cry for it because my soul is dried out. I need something more than man. I want something more than you've given. And they said, you know, all we have is this man. Beloved, what does this story mean for us today? What is God trying to tell us through this story today? Well, an interesting thing is that when I looked up the word quail and when I looked it up, I saw that quail, the quail that God sent, that word was a very interesting word. And it's a word that means to be tranquil, secure and successful. It's also a word that means happy, to prosper and to be in safety. And beloved, God sent quail in measured amounts to a people who are traveling through a place. God sent measured amounts of what it would take for them to feel secure in him, to sense a purpose, to prosper, to be in safety. But he sent it in the amount that he knew that they wouldn't camp there, that they would press through, that somehow he had not called them to live in the wilderness of sin. It's a place we travel through. He was preparing a people to bring them to the entrance of the promised land where they knew him and they could do exploits for him, where your life, the call in your life and the destiny of your life is realized and it's not realized in the wilderness of sin. He knew he had something for them that all the generations would sing of them and tell of what they did. And beloved, that's the call on your life and mine. God has something for us that's so beyond what we could understand if we keep saying, God, I'll go your way and I, Lord, the issues that I have, the deep discontent, I'm going to bring it to my loving Father, an all-powerful God. I'm going to say, God, you're committed to bring me through the wilderness of sin into the promised land. And if there's areas right now where my life is narrow because you've narrowed it, if I'm discontent, if I'm not happy with what I'm about, God, where I sense that you had promised me so much and I seem to live in so little, God, I'm going to trust you with it. The measured amounts of security and safety and prosperity and happiness, Lord, is exactly what I need to keep me moving through the wilderness of sin, to keep growing into you, into a trust, into a dependence where I can face every enemy that awaits me and I look away from myself and I look to you and, Lord, you bring us into the promised land. You bring us into the victory. You are victory. But these people couldn't see that. They weren't ready for that lesson because God said, I'm going after something in you that you need to see and you need to recognize before I can bring you in. And so God gave a measured amount of that security and success of prosperity and safety in order to keep them moving when he says move. Now, the quail that they were crying for is another word and it's a word that means the idea of sluggishness. And they began to cry for something that was going to give them sluggishness and make them heavy. And it's a picture of a quail that is fat and slow in flight from weight. And what they're asking is, God, we want what we want in our terms. We know it'll make us happy. We will be the happiest people crossing the wilderness of sin if you will just give us as much flesh as we want. God, we'll sing your praises and we'll sing your testimony and we will move through the wilderness of sin. And believe me, when we eat all this fatted quail, it's not going to make us sluggish. God, when we want what we want and we begin to long for it and we get mad at you when you won't supply it, God, it won't make us heavy and dull in spiritual things, we promise you. We can eat all the quail we want. And God is saying, when you begin to long and lust for things, he says your focus will turn off me, a lean dependence on me that we can travel through this place fast. And he says you're going to get sluggish and bored and dull. You're going to partake of this quail and all of a sudden your appetite for me and your appetite for spiritual things is going to diminish. You're going to be full from something else. It's going to make you sluggish and dull. You're going to get impatient with the preaching. There's going to be certain types you like and certain things you don't. There's going to be things that I don't want to hear and things that I will gladly hear. What we don't understand is that our appetite for what God says will nourish you and take you through the wilderness of sin, the manna you're losing your taste for. You're beginning to despise it. You're beginning to say, I'm tired of it. You're beginning to say, I know better. I need the flesh. I need the quail. Now, beloved, God knows that when we get something, we are lusting for, we are craving for, it will never satisfy us. He knows that's the very ingredient. As much as complaining and discontent is a fire, lust is double the fire. You see, you know you're dealing with lust because when you get what you want, it never satisfies. There always has to be more. Always has to be more. There is never a satisfaction. There's never a sense of peace. There's never a sense of well-being. Just fatter, heavier, sluggish, sicker. All the while saying, I am in the camp of Israel. And they were. Now, what was God's response to a people that fell a lusting like the mixed multitude? What was God's response when he looked down at his people? And they look like a little flock to him. And he sent a shepherd before him. And he wants to take this flock right through this place with all its entrapments, with all their lack of understanding, with the little bit of trust that they have, because they've just come out of slavery. What's God's response to a people like that? And the scripture tells us in verse 10, then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families. Every man in the door of his tent and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly. And Moses also was displeased. And these subsequent scriptures begin to tell us how Moses began to say he had been so patient with these people, but it was like something about this afflicted him greatly. He could understand the cry for water. He could understand the cry for food. He could understand the need for shelter. But there was something about this cry, this lusting for quail, that even he, he begins to say to God, these people, and they're constant complaining, and the fruit of all this complaining and discontent is bearing in their life. God, I know you. I've met you face to face. And Lord, I know it is your glory to be merciful, to be long-suffering, to be a father with us. But I also know that you visit the iniquity upon rebellious children. And God, I can't deal with them anymore. And he says, just kill me. Kill me. Take me out of here. I don't want to be an arbitrator, because I explain. I try to tell them what you tell me. And they are stubborn-hearted. And they feel they know better. Moses says, kill me and take me out of here. In verse 16, And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be elders of the people, and officers over them, and bring them under the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and will talk with thee there. And I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and I will put it upon them. And they shall bear the burden of the people with thee. Thou shalt bear it not thyself alone. When I read this and I began to meditate, and I said, God, your remedy when your people fall a-lusting, and a greater anointing. Lord, your remedy when we, your people, grow sluggish, when we grow disinterested, when we grow bored, when we grow tired. Lord, I thought you were going to wipe them all out. I thought you were setting up something for another spiry servant or a plague. But your initial response was I'm going to send a greater anointing. God is saying in the last days there's going to be a people given to be lovers of pleasures and lovers of self. They're going to be given into a wholehearted pursuit of laying down their life for vanity. Of being filled in their spirit, sickened by another spirit, by an ungodly spirit that's going to get into them. Unless they're going to overtake them. But still they're your people. And God is saying my remedy for that sluggishness in the last hour is a greater anointing. He says this is what's going to overcome this spirit. And he says I want you to go through the people. And I want you to find 70 of them that were elders and officers. And elders are the old, literally the old men and women. It speaks of people that have some maturity and an understanding. And the officers were people who from every different level of society were to come. And these 70, the old, and those that represented every level of society, every class. There were 70 of them chosen. In other words, it was the common men and women. God says what is my remedy for my people? He says you've looked to Moses. And you feel like that kind of thing that goes on between God and Moses is for him alone. But he says my remedy for this last time, if you can hear it. He says I'm going to take common men and women. Those that have an honest and sincere heart for me. Those that have been blinded up to this point of how deadly the lusting and the longing for other things. Trying to say God, it's legitimate. God, you understand. God, it's not really lust. That's how I provide for my family. You want me to better myself. This absorption with the mirror. This thing to be married. This thing, whatever the list is. Right down to pornography. God, you understand my weakness. But God's saying in this last hour of time, I know how deep it is. And he's saying but those that are sincere. And there's a cry rising in you because my spirit is upon you. That you want freedom. He says I'm going to spirit it around. It's not just going to be the Moses type. But I'm going to take the common among you. And I'm going to call you. And he says the same anointing I put on Moses. I'm going to put on the common man and woman. He says those that have a heart towards me. I'm going to astonish you in my mercy. He says I'm going to put an anointing on you. If you'll turn to me. If you will learn to hate this thing. If you will admit the sluggishness and the death that creeps upon us. Because of longings. Because of lust. The fire is still not put out. He says my only remedy is my anointing. Is my power and my presence. It's the blood that puts it out. And so that's what he did. They brought these 70. And he says you come to the tabernacle. And I'm going to speak with you Moses. And he says when I speak to you. Then the anointing I have on you is going to rest on these 70. But an interesting thing. Is that when the 70 gathered round. Two stayed back the scripture says. Two stayed back in the camp. And it says in verse 26. That Eldad and Medad. And the spirit rested upon them. And they were of them that were written. But went not out into the tabernacle. But they prophesied in the camp. And now here there. These are two men. And they are ones that have a heart. A sincere heart. They're one of the chosen ones. That God's able to rouse from that slumber. And speak and take the scales off their eyes. And begin to see what this lusting. And this deep thing in the camp. This deep discontent is bringing them. And instead of at the tabernacle. They're through and they're in the. They're still in the camp. And they begin to prophesy. And that word is they begin to speak the word of the Lord. And the scripture tells us. That when the spirit rested on these 70 individuals. That they cease not from prophesying. But because these two were not at the tabernacle. And they remained in the camp. The same thing happened. And they began to speak out in the camp. And they began to speak of what God was about to do. And in verse 18 and 20. Starting in verse 18. And say thou unto the people. Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow. This is what they're saying. And you shall eat flesh. For ye have wept in the ears of the Lord. Saying who shall give us flesh to eat. For it is well with us in Egypt. Therefore the Lord will give you flesh. And ye shall eat. You shall not eat one day. Nor two days. Nor five days. Neither 10 days. Nor 20 days. But even a whole month. Until it come out at your nostrils. And it be loathsome unto you. Because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you. And have wept before him saying. Why came we forth out of Egypt? And these men now with an understanding heart. Is beginning to say. God is going to give you desires. Your desires. But it's not going to satisfy you. It's going to revolt many. And it's going to show. What the inward working of what lust does. It begins to make you so fat. So heavy. So disgusting. And that you're going to see this quail. You're going to get your heart's desire. But when you begin to feed on it. It's going to run out your nostrils. And you're not going to eat it. But one or two days. But you're going to eat it. Till you are sickened. Until you are disgusted. And he began to say. And there's a judgment coming with it. And beloved I believe that those. That could be perked in heart. Those that began to understand. God is not playing with our lives. In this wilderness of sin. That the scales began to fall off their eyes. And began to say. God you are God. And everything you do is for a purpose. Everything you do in my life. Every battle that I face. Everything that is working deeply within me. You see. And these men are now speaking. What they are thinking in their hearts. And God is prophesying through these men. And those that with ears to hear. I believe are pricked. And I believe that as they looked at these men. Common men and women. Men with no special credentials to preach. Men and women that didn't seem like leaders an hour before. But in their heart. There was something rising up. And they didn't want to live like they were living. They didn't want to be partaking of what they were partaking. They didn't want that feeding anymore. All of a sudden the Spirit of God was rousing them. And manna began to look to them good again. Manna began with that longing for this true spiritual feeding. And they looked at them. And there would be some in the camp that would say, Where did they get this? And they began to say, The Spirit of the Lord on us can be on you. He can put that anointing. An anointing to break off the sluggishness can be yours also. I know that they must have said in Psalm 81, 12. Where the scripture says, So I gave them up to their own heart's lust. And they walked in their own counsel. They began to say, You walked... We walked in our own counsel. We thought we understood. And so now we've been given over so longing and crying for that which we thought would satisfy. But God says in Psalm 81, I would have soon subdued your enemies. My heart is not that you're overtaken. My heart is not that you're given to this lust. He said, I would have soon subdued your enemies. I would have fed you with the finest of wheat. But as these men were speaking the word of God, the scripture tells us that the wind of God began to blow. And the scripture in the Psalms tells us it was an east wind and a south wind began to blow. And into that camp came an innumerable amount of quail. Scripture says that it was on either side of the camp. It was a day's journey. The quail was in such a radius that it was a day's journey to the east and the west. It was miles wide and it was knee deep. And these quail began to drop out of the sky. It rained quail. And the scripture tells us that the people went out. Can't believe their good fortune. All that we've longed for, all that we want, all that will make us happy. All that God thank you for answering that prayer. The scripture says they went out and they began and the least among them brought back 10 homers, 10 basketfuls. But the scripture tells us in verse 33, and while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people. And the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. And he called the name of that place Kibrat HaTava because there they buried the people that lusted. And there were a people stubborn hearted. That when the spirit of the Lord came upon their peers, when the word of God was preached, when their own heart tried to convict them, their lust would quench it all down. And they would run out. They would grab that quail and they began to eat and they eat just like God said would happen. Then in their insatiable craving, they would gorge themselves till it ran out of their nostrils and God judged them. And it said that those that partook, unheeding, turning their back on every call of God, on every word he had for them, that this is your problem and this is the judgment it will bring. They went ahead and gave themselves up to their heart's desire. Scripture says a plague came and then they were killed in the plague. And then they were buried. The people that lusted. But the camp moved on. And there were people that moved with it. And the Holy Spirit quickened me. And he said the very fact that there were people that moved on meant that there were people that were not buried, people of lust that were buried, but there were people there who buried their lust. There were people died there because they gave into it. They were hard hearted, twisted in their thinking and could not be reproved by the Holy Spirit. And they died there. But the name of that place, Kibrat HaTaba means the graves of the lust. And that means that there was a group of people there that God's Spirit could convict and speak to. And he began to speak hope to them. He said, I'm going to send an anointing and I'm going to release you from that lust if you will turn to me. I will come against that sluggishness in you. Every time you begin in this journey to feel that sluggishness and that heaviness where we've consumed of the world and it's made us heavy and dull and we don't want spiritual feeding anymore. He says, you turn to me because I provided for an anointing and it's yours for the taking. It's yours for the asking. It's provided for you because that's the only thing will overcome it. And so there are people that heard that word. There were people there that saw that anointing on their peers. And they were provoked. And the scales were taken off their eyes and they saw what an unbridled lust and ungoverned passion. A longing for things and even good things. Even the good quail, even the things but it became such an obsession to them. It replaced their love and devotion that made them angry and discontent with God. And yet God said, I'm going to be merciful to you. I'm going to be merciful to you. And I'm going to send my anointing. And there were people there that rose up and what went into the grave was their lust. Not them. What went into the graves in that place, the graves of lust, was everything they'd been dealing with. Everything they were ashamed about. Everything that had captivated them for so long. Things that had got a hold of them because deep down that complaining and distrust was at the bottom of things. God was able to speak to them. He said, I'm taking you to a place far grander than this wilderness of sin. Will you trust me? He said, I understand what's captivated you in a place, in a hard place. He said, I understand the burning in you and you thought substituting manna for something that you wanted would put that burning out. He says, I understand it all. But now it's your turn to understand. Will you choose the anointing I will send to release you? Because I call this place a graveyard for lust. And beloved, in Psalm 105 verse 40, there's a scripture that says, the people asked and he brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of life. The people asked and he brought quails. You know, in Exodus 16, he understood the cry for meat and food. There's legitimate things that we want. There are legitimate things. He has a father he's happy to provide. He says, I'm going to give you quail. I'll give you what you need. Don't worry. I love you. I'm your father. I know what you need. But will you trust me with the amount? Will you trust me in the timing? Will you trust me in the measure? I give it to you. He says, I'll give you the quail. He brought them quail. They asked for it. But he said he satisfied them with the bread of life. They would never be satisfied with quail. We're never to be satisfied with the things of the flesh. He says, I've called you for the promised land. I don't want you knocking around the wilderness of sin, overcome by your enemies. Always giving into the flesh. Always overcome by that. Always your testimony being put into the ground. I'm going to satisfy you, he says, with the bread of life. With spiritual food. And you know that it says in John 6, Jesus said, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. That manna was a type that everyone who came to Christ, Jesus said, I will be your living bread. I bring you to hard places so that you realize how hungry you are for me. I bring you through the dry places where you're bored. Where sometimes that's the hardest thing to endure. When we understand or seem to know it all. When God takes us through that long desert, there's a time in our walk, it seems like we go through a desert. Nothing exciting, nothing new. Just one foot in front of the other. A very dangerous time. But he said, I'll be the bread of heaven to you. I will be the bread of heaven to you. If we have a taste for quail, we need to cry out and say, God, you said you would be living bread. God, I'm eating, I'm partaking of death and it's beginning to show in me. Beginning to appear the way I think and what's coming out of my mouth. And God says, I'll be living bread to you. Take away, push away the death of that flesh and the quail. Push it away. He says, if any man will eat of this bread, he shall live forevermore. He says, the day that I save you, it'll start life. And it will be everlasting life and never ending life. Right through. God says that when you feed on me, when Jesus says, I'm going to show myself to you in your lonely times, in your bored times, if you'll turn to me. Beloved, so many times we miss out on what Jesus wants to be to us because we turn to the quail. We, it doesn't even enter our heads to turn to him, to partake of him. And God says that if any man will partake of me, he shall have life forevermore. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Finally, God took this group of people to the entrance of the promised land. They were a prepared people. God had brought them through all kinds of lessons that he provides in miraculous ways. He subdued enemies. He gave them the law. He began to show them their heart. He showed them the destruction of what's that can happen in their life when it starts with a very small thing, complaining. And a burning about lusting. And these people, God had been handpicking the lessons. He'd been handpicking the teaching. And now we brought this people to the entrance of the promised land and they were prepared. But beloved, when they stood there and they sent spies and they said for 40 days, they searched out the promised land and they were amazed at what they saw. And they couldn't believe how abundant was the fruit and how rich it was. A land of milk and honey, a land that was rich. And it was everything and more that they thought it could be that they thought it would be. But you know the story that was inhabited by giants. Now that shouldn't surprise us. Any promised land, any land worth fighting for is going to be protected. The enemy does not want the people of God into the promised land and easy access. Of course, it's going to be giants there. But they had learned, they had been taught by God lessons. But beloved, were they going to act upon it? They were prepared people. But when they sent the spies in to look what they saw with their eyes, turned 10 out of the 12 away, but there were two. And I tell you something, beloved, that they had began from this lesson of the lusting. I'm convinced they began to feed on that man has never before. Their eyes were opened and they began to eat of that spiritual food. They got a taste for the spiritual. And as they began eating that living bread and every day coming and saying, thank you, Lord, for my salvation. I thank you for this living food. I thank you. I live in a new place with a new mind and a new spirit. And I'm going to feed that life that you've given me with this spiritual food, manna, your life in me and your word. That went to Joshua and Caleb came back to the report with the report. And they heard the other spies. They interrupted them and they said, stop. We can go in now. God has prepared this place. They said, there are bread for us. There are bread for us. They've been feeding on the right bread and they had eyes and they had vision. They had faith. They had trust. That's the promised land. They had been feeding. They pushed away the quail and because they had partaken of Jesus, the bread of life, they saw the impossible as possible. And they said, they're bred for us. We've been feasting on you, Jesus, and our enemies are bred for us. There are nothing. They can't stand before us because they had heard the lesson of lasting. They understood. They're going to push away the flesh and the quail and the man of the spiritual food. The life of Christ is what they desired. And when they came to the promised land, every giant did not intimidate them. Beloved. That is our call. That is our destiny. We are to look whatever hell throws us in the face and say, that is bread for us. I've been eating a higher bread, the bread from heaven. And I can see what you are. You're to be consumed by me. I'm not to be consumed by you. They learned the lesson. Those two learned the lesson. The sad thing is they were a prepared people at the gates of the promised land. They didn't act on what they had been taught. We can hear today that. God bless me. Sister Teresa. But beloved, there's a cry coming in me. God, I want to live this. I want to partake of this. Jesus, I thank you that from this time forward, there is an anointing waiting on me when I feel sluggish and heavy and bored. There is an anointing. At my asking. When there are lusts and there are longings that want to take over my heart and supplant you, Jesus, there is an anointing. And I don't have to fall every time now to the enemy's ploy. I don't have to fall at his feet because there's an anointing. God is taking the scales off his church's eyes. But beloved, let's not be like the majority that got to the promised land and could recite the lesson and never lived it. Could talk about the manna, but never partook it. There is an anointing for our deliverance from lust and sluggishness if we want it in Christ. Hallelujah. Would you stand with me? Jesus, the altar call is simple today. And that is, Lord, I'm coming by faith to receive that anointing. I'm coming by faith to receive that anointing from this sluggishness that wants to take me over. And that anointing that will allow me to push away the flesh. Push away my feeding from the flesh in all its forms. Lord, I've heard you today. And I thank you, I've got a new beginning in you. And that this anointing, all the days of my life, right through, right into the promised land, and this anointing will abide on me. And this anointing, when I step up to the true call of my life, God, when you bring me right to the very threshold, I'm going to be looking away from me saying, God, one more time, send that anointing. You've been faithful through the wilderness of sin, and you have taken off that sluggishness and those lusts off me. And I know what it is to have victory. And I rejoice in you, Jesus. I'm not intimidated by the enemy because I'm not looking to myself. I'm going to run to the enemy because Jesus, you have shown me with your anointing. You are my victory and I go to it. Beloved, we hear so much exhortation and preaching like this, but he is calling us today to experience it, to experience it, that we have this testimony that I have an abiding anointing on me that I don't succumb like the world. Because Jesus, you went to a cross and the fires of lust are quenched by your blood. Hallelujah. I thank you, Lord, for that anointing. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Those that are in the annex, if you'd like to come and join those that are coming that are asking the Lord for that, which he has provided and coming expectantly coming, knowing and I don't do it because we're worthy of this. God's going to give it because we need it, because he loves us, because he provided for it, because that's the way it's going to work. The lusting ends with my anointing, the power to say no to it, the power to ask me for cleansing, the power to go to the root of it, the power to look and see what is the cause of it. And then a trust in you, God, to change it, to change me. When we give him that which we long for, the depth of our being, and we ask Jesus to come in its place for the first time in our lives, we are going to know satisfaction. Beloved, I know what it is to long for things and had myself so convinced that was what would make me happy. And for sure it had to be God's will. But when I was honest enough, finally, after pleading, begging, bargaining, trying to convince God that my way was the right way, he remained a rock in my life. He never moved. He never changed. I kept coming to him and it was like I was batting myself against this mountain. But finally I broke. The rock didn't break. That's his mercy and his love. Finally broken, he began to speak to me and show me what was at the root of things. And finally, for the first time, I knew what it was to be satisfied in Jesus. You know, we can walk many years with him and know what it is to be saved, but not satisfied. There's got to be a testimony that Jesus satisfies. That my discontent has been exchanged for a content because he loves me. He's taking me to a place. I'm going to trust him. What he has planned for my life is far beyond anything I could know. But that is a question of trust. And those that have come forward, God does not despise your struggle. That's why he says, in the burning of the longing, the only thing that puts it out is my anointing. That's my presence. My presence with you. My forgiveness. My cleansing. I'm going to send an anointing and you can say no. I'm going to send an anointing and you're going to have power where you never had power before and I never did. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so now we just come by faith like we do for everything we need. And we come by faith and we say, Lord, I receive that anointing. I see in your word. That's how you dealt with it. I'm your child. You're taking me through the wilderness of sin. And I'm going to receive that anointing that you provided for this deep burning lust and this deep discontent. And I'm going to trust you. You know what you're doing. You love me. The plan and the purpose, God, that you were doing is perfect for me. Good for me will be the best for me. My life, my family. At this moment, many times we just have to, by our will, say, God, I'm going to choose to trust you. The feelings may come later, but God, I know you are my God and you will not deceive me. And so we come now, we're going to exchange our longings. We're going to get Christ and we're going to be satisfied because Jesus satisfies. Living bread, living water satisfies. It's what we need for growth. The other is killing us. And so we exchange death for life. Beloved, if that's you today, if we can raise our hands and by faith, Lord, we come now for that anointing that you have provided. Lord, those that have those deep seated longings, that complaining and discontent, those, Lord, that are struggling right now with the burnings deep inside. Lord, you said you will send an anointing for that. It is the anointing of your blood that cleanses and cools. And then Lord, you say you're going to come as we give it to you and you're going to come as never before. And Lord, you're going to change us. You're going to break us free. You're going to send that anointing to take the sluggishness and the death off us and the feeding in the wrong places and our spirit being poisoned. We're going to be able to turn things off and turn away from things and move in another direction, move into life, sit at a table of spiritual food. We're going to take up what you provided and it's going to be life for us. And God, our life is going to change because we're trusting God in your mercy that says there's an anointing for these deep seated fires, oh God, and we thank you for it. And we're not going to be tricked or deceived out of it. For every time an ember tries to glow up, every time the fire starts to start again, Lord, we're going to cry out, send your anointing, oh God. I am your child and I thank you, Lord, you provided for it. And Lord, we're going to give you the praise and the glory for a vigorous spiritual life, not a sluggish, heavy, dull, bored, narrow minded existence. But God, you're going to bring us into life. It is, we're going to feed on you, Jesus. You're going to expand our minds and spirits and we're going to partake of real life. Oh Jesus, we thank you for that now. As your people, we are, we are bowed before your mercy, your mercy that says I send an anointing for your loss and your discontent and you set us free. Thank you, Lord. We go to the promised land of prepared people and the grace to move into it because we're going to hear you and live this word. Hallelujah. Now let's praise him. Let's praise him for this word. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the message.