A)A lot of people
find their life to be rather mundane unexciting &
Unpredictable
B) One writer declared that life was like a merry go round w/out the merry
C)
In the book of Galatians in Ch.5 Paul declared in v.25 Since you live in the Spirit – Walk in the Spirit
1) What does it mean to walk in the Spirit ?
Walking in the Spirit is to be led by the Lord & to rely upon the HS power working in your life to live for the Lord - To enjoy the Lord !!!
A)Walking in the spirit is the most interesting wonderful
way to live it is the exact opposite of routine / drudgery & Predictability
B) One of the most powerful Pictures in the OT of the
Spirit filled life / the Spirit led life is Israel in the Land of Cannan
1)
What does Cannan represent for the Believer in JC ?
C) A great Misconception is that Cannan represents
HEAVEN!!!
1) Think about
Cannan: Obstacles, Enemy, Battles
conflicts – Heaven will be void of all of those things
D) Cannan
represents a life of being completely committed to the Lord!
Spirit filled
life - Think of this way!
1) Egypt = world - bondage of sin! Set free from thru the blood of the lamb
The Wilderness depicts a time
after salvation where - Jesus is Savior / not Lord - wrestling w/ allowing Him
to lead { Losing the
Flesh
A)Learning
to trust Him – learning about Him – the more that we learn about the Lord – the
more we see His power & Provision more trust
B) Coming to that place where we are ready to trust
him completely & be led fully by His Spirit!!! – That is what Cannan represents
1) The Spirit filled life – Walking in the Spirit /
leaning on the Spirit – being Led by & Submitted to the Spirit of God
C) Cannan represents faith coupled w/ obedience { Land of
Rest – because God was doing the fighting { Jericho
1) Place of taking hold of the blessings and riches
that are in Christ{ Living according to the Promises of God
D) Canaan represents the Christian life as it out to be:
sure conflicts; battles; warfare - but we are victorious
1) The victorious Christian life is not pictured as
a once and for all victory - but a series of conflicts and battles in which we
move forward
E) A series of Battles & conflicts &
obstacles to overcome where we are relying on and looking to the Lord!
1) Experiencing the Life of God thru the Spirit
taking us forward
Wiersbe -
As you look at
your life do you see yourself wandering in the wilderness or conquering in the
Promised Land? In the wilderness , the Jews were a complaining people; but in
Canaan, they were a conquering people.
In the wilderness, Israel kept looking back, yearning for
what they had in Egypt; but in the promised Land, they looked forward to
conquering the enemy and claiming their rest and their riches. The wilderness
march was an experience of delay, defeat, and death; but their experience in
Canaan was one of life, power, and victory.
Well in our text today we see that there were some among the
Children of Israel who though they were saved – elected not to enter into the
Promised land RD V.1-5
A)SCENE: The Children of Israel find themselves at the
doorway to the promise land - This is what they have been waiting for, for 40
yrs
B)
The Promise of God & the Blessings of the Lord – lay before them to be
Possessed
1)
But
here we read that there were 2 tribes who decided that they wanted to stay on
the other side of the Jordan river – side opposite Cannan
C) IN other words they wanted to live on the fringe of the
Promise land because they saw the land there was a great place for raising
Cattle
1) They
were more concerned about their cattle
than they were about their calling { More concerned w/ their Possessions than
their Position
Now what really floors me is these guys were willing to
forfeit the Promise land & all its blessings { They haven’t even seen it
A)For
40 yrs they have been hearing about the great place – rich land, land flowing
w/ Milk & honey – land of abundance
B)
This Place where God had promised to settle them { bless
them & make of them a great nation
1)
They are willing to forfeit all of that – having not even seen what it
is that they were giving up
C)
A couple of yrs ago someone in the fellowship – really blessed our Family by
giving us some gift Certificates to Cold stone{ My
Favorite Flavor
1)Now
that place is great – Awesome Ice Cream – like home made heard about it But it
is expensive – being the Cheap skate I am – never had gone
D)
So lets say – I get the gift certificates – all I have to do is take the family
down there – order – it is totally Free –
1)
No I am going to settle for – Albertsons plain Vanilla
Before the Children of Israel was a land of rich Flavors of
great blessings – free for the taking –
A)But
What these people were doing was making a decision to settle for less far less
than what God had for them
B)
CH Mackontosh “ They were half & half men, men
of mixed principles men who are content to live on the borderline men who
sought their own things rather than the things of God”
C)
Now these people are like so many Christians today , who are satisfied with
their current spiritual development.
God is challenging them to go on into a full commitment. He
would have them to know and to experience. That rich, full life in the Spirit.
A)But
there are many who are content where they are at !! Content to just be saved
who want to just linger on in the flesh
B)
Who want to live on the fringes of Christianity – they want to live on the
fringe of the blessings of God
C)
They don’t
want to claim the promises of God – they don’t want to move into the fullness of
the Christian life
1)
They
are all too content to settle for a Mediocre – Christian existence
There are many people whose spiritual state is in a plateau,
and they haven’t developed spiritually for years.
A)They’re
still at the same level that they were, ten, fifteen years ago. There’s been no
spiritual development.
B)
But in Reality, to not go forward in your Christian
walk, is to go backward, because God
wants us to always be going forward.
1)
Paul, the apostle, speaking of his own experience said, “I have not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended, by
Jesus Christ. Neither do I count myself complete. But forgetting those things
which are behind, & reaching
forward for those things that are ahead, I press toward the mark, for the prize
of the high calling of God, which is in Christ Jesus”.
C) Now what was true of Paul, should be true of each one of us. I’m certain that all of us can declare, “I have not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended, by Jesus Christ”.
D)
In other words, God isn’t through with me yet. God still has more for me to do.
1)
Pastor Chuck talking
about the New Move { Courson & McClure – “Last
days - The 4 of us can accomplish more together than we can apart – we want to
go out w/ a BANG !!!!
But that was not the case of these tribes: They were willing
to forfeit a greater blessing because they were comfortable in their Present
state
A)And when Moses hears of it – he is upset at their Attitude RD v 6,7
6
And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben:
"Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?
B) There was a great deal of Selfishness in their request – Attitude that said we like it here who cares about our Brothers –
1)
Africa – Health wealth & Prosperity – How do they deal w/ Sudan? They don’t
– they just ignore what is going on there – don’t tell their pp
C)
That is the attitude of the men of Rueben & Gad – by even making this
request it showed they were only concerned about themselves
1) Moses continues v.7
Now why will you DISCOURAGE the heart of the
children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them?
Moses fears this attitude will discourage the children of
Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them.
A)Moses’
fear has a foundation to it. He has
seen this before – He is thinking this is Kadesh Barnea all over again RD V 8-15
Moses fears they will Influence the people to follow in the
footsteps of the previous generation
A)Those
who because they listened to the 10 spies who gave a bad report &
discouraged the People from going into the land of Promise
B)
SO Moses reminds the leaders of the tribe of Reuben and Gad of how Israel
failed to enter the Promised Land some 38 years before:
1)
Because 10 of the 12 spies discouraged the heart of the children of Israel.
C)
What a terrible thing to be used of the devil to discourage other believers to
walking deeper and further with the Lord!
1)
CONTAGAIOUS LIFE - Influence others for the Lord or influence others in carnal living
- Listen
you have a sphere of influence !!!!
D)
And Those that you hang around are going to have an influence on You!!
If you want to press on with the things of the Lord, and go
deeper and further with Him, there is a sure way to discourage that desire –
A)Start
hanging around believers who are content with where they are, and who don’t
want to press on with the Lord.
B) Their complacency will rub off on you! { I
remember a time when I was in HS { Camp on fire – Really wanted to walk strong
1) But I had some friends that were just dead set on
living on the Fringe still holding onto Carnal tendencies
C)
I just wasn’t interested in doing the things that they were doing – movies they
were seeing I wanted to follow Christ
1) Eventually I made a decision that if I wanted to go
strong w/ the Lord I couldn’t be close friends w/ these guys –
In v. 11 Moses gives us some insight concerning why the
discouragement of the ten unfaithful spies worked on the men of that
generation?
A)Because they did not wholly followed Me, said the Lord.
B) If the people had been wholly following the Lord, the
discouraging report would not have influenced them so directly
1)
What made Joshua and Caleb different was that they wholly followed the Lord,
they did not bend to the discouraging report of the ten unfaithful spies.
C)
Listen when we are not wholly following the Lord, we are much more likely to be
influenced by the carnal & the discouraging things around us.
1)
QUEST. Are you wholly following the
Lord?
Well in V.16 –28 THEY SEEK TO STRIKE A COMPROMISE
A)Note this is a picture of God’s permissive will – God says If they will help fight they can stay
B) Now
this is amazing to me God is going to let them see what they are giving up –
take them into the land to fight { But he gives them their desire
C) God allowed them to live on the fringes – He wasn’t going to force them to move into the land
1) But note this yrs later when the Assyrians attacked
– they were the first tribes to be defeated & taken captive
D)
The same thing is true for the believer – God is not going to force his
blessings upon you – he is not going to force you to live on the promises
E)
But He will seek to give you a taste of those
blessings – a glimpse of it because He
so desires that you enter into all that He has for you!!!
1)
He will let you see it in the life of someone else who is really going for it w/
Him – See the Joy the Peace / the Satisfied life they are experiencing
F)
But if you are intent at living on the Fringes – he will let you do so
reluctantly – but he will let you do that
But note this – these tribes that Chose to live on the
fringes of the Promise land not only forfeited the blessings that God has for
them
A)But yrs later these tribes were the first to be taken captive when the Assyrians came & invaded the land
B) So
too the Christian who chooses to live on the Fringes –
who hangs onto the things of the Flesh – Who still wants to be in
Control of his life
1)
Not only forfeit the Blessing of the Spirit filled life - But those who live on
the fringes – have the greatest risk of getting sucked back into the world
C) So Moses said, If you guys go in and fight, until the land is taken, then
you can come back and have this for your possession.
1)
But in v. 23 he says if you don’t, then you have sinned against the Lord”.
and
be sure your sin will find you out.
D)
Now what is the sin that he’s warning them about? It’s the sin of doing
nothing.
Now normally when we talk about sin – we think in terms of
doing something wrong – Breaking the law of God
A)Ask most young kids what sin is they will tell you – being bad disobeying parents / doing drugs etc { Most adults tend to think same
B) But
Moses speaks here of the sin of doing nothing !!! Not doing something wrong –
but failing to do what is right !!!!!
C)
James declared to him who knows the right thing
to do & doesn’t do it to him it is sin
1) So it is possible to sin by doing nothing or not
doing the right thing
D) God had commissioned the tribes of Israel to go into the
land & possess it To trust in Him to overthrow the enemy
1) For
them to not do that would be a Sin -
God calls us as believers to make a mark in this world to be
about the business of the Kingdom of God
A)But
we too can be guilty of the sin of doing nothing !!!!! {Ignoring needs
Not
taking opportunities
B)
Sitting back doing nothing that pertains to the kingdom – nothing that involves
winning others to Christ
1)
We can be guilty of the sin of Silence – not sharing w/ others –
C)
Don’t be GUILTY of the sin of doing NOTHING !!!!!
D) What is God pressing on your heart – Area to deal w/ ? Bitterness ?
Ministry to get involved in? – Walk in the Spirit – Blessings abound
Now in closing I want to address those who are not believers
– Yet to give your life to Christ –
A)You too can be guilty of the sin of doing nothing !!
B) It
is found in that attitude that says I am neutral – You look at someone else
& say – being a Christian is great for you but not for me I am still
searching – I have decided against Christ but haven’t decided for him either
C)
Listen the Bible says to not decide for Christ is to decide against Him
1) Jesus made it very clear – not for me you are
against me { There is no such thing as NUETRAL
POSITION when it comes to Christ
D)
But it doesn’t have to be that way – Jesus invites you today follow Him
Some of you have made a decision to live of the fringes
still holing onto the world – still walking after the flesh – still calling the
shots
A)God wants to lead your life / bless your life – but He is waiting for you to surrender { Calling you to a deeper commitment