Spiritual Progress

Deuteronomy chapter 1, we'll read verse 1. These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness in the plain over against the Red Sea between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazarath and Dizahab. There are eleven days journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir on to Kadesh Barnea. Eleven days.

And it came to pass in the fortieth year in the eleventh month on the first day of the month that Moses spake unto the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them. After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites which dwelt in Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan which dwelt at Astaroth in Edreai. On this side Jordan in the land of Moab began Moses to declare this law saying the Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb saying ye have dwelt long enough in this mount.

Now we'll come over to chapter 8. Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 1. All the commandments which I command thee this day shalt ye observe to do that ye may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee and approve thee to know what was in thine heart whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not.

Neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee neither did thy foot swell these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his son so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to fear him. For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land a land of brooks, of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of oil, olive, and honey, a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness. Thou shalt not lack anything in it, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

When thou hast eaten that art full then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments which I command thee this day. Lest when thou hast eaten that art full and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied and all that thou hast is multiplied then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage.

The Lord will bless to us the reading from his word. It was the mind of God that Israel should move on and possess the land which he had given to them and promised to them and that in that land they would be a worshipping people remembering the good things that God had brought them into and they would be a testimony unto the Lord to the nations that were round about. That's the overall thrust of what we have read here this morning but when we open this book and start to read in chapter 1 we find that Israel has not made the progress that they ought to have made in their relationship with the Lord.

There were about 11 days journey from Mount Horeb from Mount Sinai into the land of Canaan to the borders of the land of Canaan just 11 days but what should have taken 11 days took them 40 years and they had not moved forward as they could have done as they should have done in fellowship with God and in confidence in God but rather their progress has been hindered and they have not developed the way that they ought to have done. Now these things in the Old Testament are written for our learning. Deuteronomy is the reiteration of the law.

The word literally means the second law but it is simply the words which Moses has already spoken to them is being spoken again they're being reminded of the things that have gone before and we need that too in our experience don't we? We've been hearing some things this morning that we need to be reminded of. Now Mount Horeb where we begin to read in chapter 1 Mount Horeb was the place where the covenant was given where that covenant was formed with Israel that covenant of law. We relate to that not that we are in a covenant of law but we are in a covenant of love.

We love him because he first loved us. A covenant is a two-way street there are two parties involved. Our brother has been mentioning Hebrews and in Hebrews we read about the new covenant.

We need to remember that we are not party to the new covenant it was made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah but that new covenant was ratified by the death of Christ and the blood of Christ and that's where we come in and benefit from it because we certainly have a benefit from the eternal redemption that he has made and he has secured an eternal inheritance and we have an eternal inheritance in Christ so we benefit from that covenant that was made. We enjoy these things too and as a result as we think upon those things the love of God is shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that dwelleth within us and so God has brought us into living union with himself and we are able by the power of the Spirit to to serve God not in the oldness of the letter but in the newness of the Spirit. Now we notice a number of things here that Moses is drawing the attention of the children of Israel to in order to encourage them to move on in and enjoy what God has for them their inheritance in the land.

First of all there's a call for them to review their position, to review their position. Then we want to notice that there is also a call upon them to recall previous victories that they have had and that will have the effect of building their confidence as they are called as well to reach for the land that is before them the prospect of the land that lies before them. He would encourage them to move on in fellowship with God.

So these things are instructive to us and we'll take a quick look at these thoughts before we sit down. Now in chapter 1 here, Deuteronomy chapter 1, notice in verse number 5 their position. On this side Jordan in the land of Moab began Moses to declare this law.

Verse 6, the Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb saying ye have dwelt long enough in this mount. Both of these references are emphasizing the fact that Israel needed to get located as to where they were at and that is a call to us as well this morning and that's the benefit of a conference like this that you and I in our hearts might get located as to where we are at in our relationship and in our walk with the Lord. Israel has been redeemed out of Egypt, we identify with that we have been redeemed.

They've been baptized onto Moses in the Red Sea and we identify with that we have enjoyed the truth of baptism. They've been brought into relationship with God and they have known something of of communion and fellowship with God as the presence of God was known in the midst of the camp. We can identify with that.

They have enjoyed the manner that God has given them and God has fed them on the journey on the way through and we have our daily devotions and we enjoy the Word of God from time to time. We identify with that. There has been the experience of them feeling the the bite of the serpent the poisonous snakes that was sent into the camp and you and I can recall times when God dealt with us in discipline too and we were made to feel the bitterness of the sting of sin in our experience.

We can identify with that. They have been refreshed with water from from the rock 1st Corinthians 10 they did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink. You and I have been feeding on Christ and we have enjoyed refreshment from the Word and we have enjoyed that fellowship with God in our souls.

We have identified we can identify with that. There have been times when collectively as the people of God they have known refreshment in Numbers chapter 21 God said assemble the people and I will give them water. So here is refreshment for the corporate gathering the collective gathering as the people were assembled and God gave them water on that occasion and you and I as well we have known the refreshment and the spiritual renewal of gathering together with the Lord's people and hearing the voice of God.

But ideally it shouldn't take us 40 years to find the assembly. Ideally well we go to Acts chapter 2 for the ideal situation the same day they were added onto the church about 3,000 so Israel should have been already in the land of Israel but they are yet in the plains of Moab 40 years later. How much progress have we made in the things of God in our lives? Do you feel dear brother dear sister and I speak to my own heart have we made have we made progress have we developed in the year that's passed? Do we appreciate the person of Christ as we ought to from day to day? Are we a worshipping people shining bright in testimony because of our devotion to the Lord to the people around about? We need to review our position but then there's the the recall as well of previous victories.

In verse 4 of chapter 1 Moses is recalling how that Sihon and Og those kings were those giant kings that would represent the flesh and its display for well self-indulgence self display representing to us the flesh and Israel has had victory over these kings and we thank God for any measure on which we have known victory over the flesh and its power dominating our lives and controlling how we live what we do what we think and what we say and what we feed upon we thank God for any measure in which we have known previous victories and in the measure in which we have known what it is according to Galatians 5 to walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh we thank God for that but here in Deuteronomy we find that Moses is instructing Israel on the plains of Moab because they are not yet in the land they are not yet in the place where God would have them to be enjoying the inheritance to the fool that he has for them they're not yet there in spite of the fact that they have enjoyed all these things and we relate to that we can we can go back and remember that we have enjoyed these things too in a spiritual sense in our experience but I wonder are we yet in the place where God would have us to be are we fully enjoying the inheritance that God has for us in Christ are we content with the progress that we have made or does our conscience prick us as to the lack of it oftentimes we need to review the past and just recall how God has dealt with us and review where we are at in the financial world there's there is a thing called a reverse mortgage and instead of making monthly payments in order to acquire a property usually more senior people who already own their property can get the benefit of a cash flow month by month by mortgaging the property in a reverse way so that the money's coming to them and is being taken off the equity that's in the property and so there's the benefit of cash flow which enables them to move forward in life you and I sometimes need to recall something of the wealth that we have enjoyed in the past it has a benefit for us it encourages us to move on with confidence in God God hasn't changed but we change we slow down we become negligent we become absorbed by other things and our attention is drawn away from other by other things we review our past spiritually and we we thank God for the blessings that we have enjoyed but then we review the past as well negatively and perhaps there has become in our lives a preoccupation maybe with material things with running the farm so demanding and so demanding upon our time and our energy that we have hardly time to read our Bible and barely make it to the meeting maybe we need to review these things maybe you've become preoccupied with with other stuff the media the sports world social activity and so on I'm leaving it in generic terms you can apply to your own we're so prone to become preoccupied with stuff of this world that really doesn't matter the book of Hebrews the writer to the Hebrews would encourage the people to whom he's writing let us lay aside every weight and the sin that dot so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking on to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith moving forward looking on to him lifting our sights above this world and above the things that are in it and the sin that dot so easily beset us Israel was to reach for the land that was before them the land of Canaan now oftentimes Canaan has spoken off as heaven and come to songs and that's often the way that it's looked at but Canaan doesn't represent heaven really because there was conflict in the land and they had to conquer it by putting down their enemies and so on but rather would it not represent to us our inheritance the enjoyment of our inheritance in Christ the enjoyment of our inheritance in Christ and that may involve warfare or with the flesh in order for us to enter into the enjoyment more fully of what we have in Christ now Hebrews again and our brother Scott mentioned this in chapter 4 in his prayer the rest that God had for them in the land you know the reason why Israel did not move in in confidence in God right on into the land after coming out of Egypt they could have made it in 11 days the reason why they didn't was unbelief just plain unbelief is it possible for the people of God today to have unbelief in their hearts you see the promises of God and what he had told them that land was like a land that's flowing with milk and honey it just did not seem real to them so they hung back they fiddled away their time in the wilderness until they died off it just didn't seem real to them God had given them his word but you remember when they came to the borders of the land they sent in the spies and even though there were the good reports that came back with Joshua and Caleb the other ten they they they were scared and instead of relying upon the Word of God they relied upon the flesh and in spite of the evidence that God had given them of the goodness of the land the grapes of Eskol and so on they were still in unbelief and as a result they wandered around in the wilderness wasted time wasted lives I think sometimes that's the same with us you know if you and I have not fully entered into the enjoyment of all that we have in Christ the reason is simply unbelief that we have not taken God at his Word God who cannot lie and because the things of God have not become as real to us as they ought to be our love for him our devotion to him and our devotion to Christ is not what it ought to be I'm sorry if this sounds negative but I'm speaking to my own heart and if our love is not warm and hot toward Christ then we will default to what nature is and to what nature wants and what the flesh wants that's our default position so at Kadesh Barnea they sent in those men but even then they would not they would not believe the report that was given chapter 8 verse 7 for the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land a land of brooks of water and fountains and depths that spring out of the valleys and the hills it was a good land it was a land that was well watered and the land that God has given to us our inheritance in Christ is a well watered land there's the Spirit of God and there is the Word of God and all the wealth of that of that Word and the Spirit of God to lead us into it and to enjoy it in our souls let's make sure that we give adequate time in our day to the reading of the Word of God there is a supply for every thirsty soul in that land and when we think of the fact that Christ is glorified he's at the right hand of God and there is truth relating to him and to his person that satisfies the soul now none but Christ can satisfy we sing it in the gospel do we believe it as believers is that all we need Christ or do we need a whole bunch of what this world has to offer to a good land flowing with milk and honey when we're enjoying Christ in our souls he fills a hungry soul with good things they were given the old corn of the land to eat corn that they didn't have to labor for and God has given us an abundant supply in Christ and we didn't have to labor for it at all but simply rest in him houses to dwell in you think of the shelter and the security that we have in Christ that we can enjoy in Christ give on to my sheep eternal life and they shall never perish no man is able to pluck them out of my hand my father which gives him me is greater than all no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand my he I and my father are one and we have that eternal bond that link that cannot be broken in Christ houses to dwell in fence cities security fence cities would remind us of boundaries you know the boundaries of the Word of God were not given for our misery the boundaries in the Word of God and the prohibitions in it are for our blessing and for our security fence cities and then there was the the largeness of the land that expansive territory to enjoy and it was theirs to have and to hold every place where they would place their foot that said God I have given you and God has given to us all the breadth of the truth of his word to explore to go in for to enjoy to feed upon and to benefit from in chapter 9 in verse 6 we would read understand therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess for thy righteousness for thou art a stiff-necked people and we would remind our hearts that it is not our performance that has earned us a place to enjoy Christ not our performance but God has given to us given it to us gratuitously out of his grace out of the rich abundance of his grace the fullness of all that we have in Christ our very need of holiness and of righteousness and of virtue ought to highlight in our hearts our need of Christ and the fact that God is perfectly supplied all of that in Christ perfectly supplied so as we enjoy him in our souls we will find that need met so let us this morning as we just think on these things let's go in for the things of Christ let us leave Moab behind and that place where we have lingered for too long but move on in progress appreciating more and more our position of being in Christ the wealth of the resources that God has given to us in his Word we have to acknowledge that there is much land yet to be possessed but as we move into it we'll find that our character will become increasingly that of the worshiper and our testimony will shine bright to the nations that are around to folks that are looking on our brother who's touched upon some of those things this morning in testimony how we dress and how we address God and so on that's a testimony to the world it's a statement in our culture of the reverence and respect and devotion of our hearts to God so it's us that the Lord will bless his word