Progress

I want to continue this morning with the thought of progress moving forward. Book of Deuteronomy is the thought of going on. I think our brother Joel mentioned that many times in his opening message this morning, the thought of going on, going on, and our brother Brandon has followed with similar thoughts in relation to our progress in the things of God.

Did you notice verse two, it struck me as I read it. There are 11 days journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir onto Kadesh Barnea, that's the very border of the land. Just 11 days.

Isn't that something? From Mount Sinai to the land of Israel was 11 days. And in the 40th year, the first day of the 11th month, Moses began to speak onto them in the land of Moab. What could have taken 11 days took them over 40 years.

Quite a thing. I find that very challenging to think of the progress that could have been made and should have been made, but took so long for them to get there. Now, things that were written aforetime were written for our learning.

We'd be reminded that at Mount Horeb, Mount Sinai was the giving of the law. Israel came into a covenantal relationship with God, the covenant of the law. You and I are not under the covenant of the law.

The covenant that we have with God, covenant in inverted commas, is the covenant of love. It's a two-way street. We love him because he first loved us.

So we serve not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit. We're brought into relationship with God by virtue of the work of Christ. Incidentally, the new covenant was not made with us.

It was made with Israel, just by the way. But we benefit from it because it took the blood of Christ to ratify it. He secured it by a work of eternal redemption.

And what has been secured is an inheritance that is eternal, an eternal inheritance. And we benefit from that, don't we? The work of Christ is for us, and the inheritance that we have is eternal. But strictly speaking, the new covenant was not made with us, but we enjoy the benefits of it.

And so the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by his Holy Spirit, which dwells in us. And we are brought into relationship with him. Notice in verse 5, their position at this point, where Moses begins to reiterate what has already been spoken.

He's going over again the law that has been given to them, and he is recounting some of their experiences with God. Verse 5 says, on this side, Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law. The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount.

So he begins to review their position. And there is a look backwards, how that they were redeemed and brought out of Egypt, how they were baptized unto Moses in the Red Sea. They came into that covenant, covenanted relationship with the Lord at Mount Sinai.

And in all of these things, we can identify with them, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. We have expressed that in our baptism. We have been brought into relationship with God and we enjoy, in some measure, communion with God.

Israel, along the way through the wilderness, they have been nourished with the manna, would answer to the believer feeding upon Christ. We identify with that. There have been experiences of trial and testing.

There have even been times of chastisement. There were the poisonous snakes that were sent into the camp, because the people fell a-lusting and complaining. And they were learning in those experiences that the flesh needs to be judged.

And as we've been reminded, you and I too have known the sting and the sorrow of sin in our experience that has brought oftentimes those times when we've been conscious of the chastening hand of God upon us. Not that all chastening under the hand of the Lord is because of sin, but we have known something of the sorrow that it brings. They have been all refreshed with water out of the flinty rock.

And just as the people of Israel were fed and were watered in the wilderness journey, as Paul puts it, they did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink, and from that rock which rocks is Christ. So it's speaking to us today of feeding upon Christ and being refreshed in him. So this is Israel.

They've come through all of this. And you and I, we identify with that too. They have even known what it is to be assembled together as the people of God.

And God has blessed them on those occasions. In fact, it has been on occasion the very condition upon which God would bless them. I'm thinking of Numbers chapter 21 when God said, Assemble the people, and I will give them water.

So the condition upon which they would receive refreshment and life-giving water would be the fact that they would assemble together for it. And that was the occasion when they sang unto the Lord, Spring up, O well, and so on. Spiritual refreshment and energy springing up amongst assembled saints.

They've gone through all of that. You and I have known what it is to receive refreshment in the assembly and to be assembled together with the people of God. We've known times like that, haven't we? And thank God for them.

Practically, every time we meet together, our souls are blessed in some way, and we thank God for that. But they're not yet in the land. They're still in the land of Moab.

They have not yet made all the progress that God would have in mind for them as the people of God. So I would take it that you and I also need not be complacent and think that just because we've been saved by the grace of God and we're on our way to heaven, we'll never be in hell. Thank God for it.

And we've been baptized and gathered to his name that we can sit back somehow and be complacent and think that we are the people. Wisdom will die with us. They were not yet in the land.

Forty years when it could have taken 11 days. Let's just reflect upon our own progress or lack of it. Everybody here this morning satisfied with the progress that we've made as believers? In our Christian experience, are we? I know we're not.

It's not that they haven't had previous victories. Verse 4, chapter 1. Sihon and Og, they destroyed these two giant kings, those giants that represent the flesh in its display and its flesh in self-indulgence. They've destroyed them.

They've known something of victory over the flesh. And you and I have learned, haven't we, in our experience too, that it is only by living in the power of the Spirit of God, enjoying spiritual things in our souls, that the flesh is overcome in some measure in our lives. We have known victories too, haven't we? And we're very thankful for all that we do know practically of walking in the Spirit that we may not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

Galatians chapter 5. Thank God for every victory that we have known. But they're not yet in the land. And so Moses begins by reiterating to them the law and recounting what has been done so far.

He is taking the people on a journey in their minds, in their hearts, and he's looking backwards. If they're going to move on from here, first of all, there will be a look back. There will be taken into account all that God has done for them up to this point.

And there will be encouragement from him now before he's taken from the scene to move on, to pass on, to keep going on into the land and the inheritance that God has for them. So that's the whole character of the book of Deuteronomy. I noticed an article in the U.S. News and World Report, October this month.

It read, the title was, Getting Ahead by Putting It in Reverse. Maybe some of you have read it. It was an article about mostly seniors that are adding to their cash flow by taking out what is called a reverse mortgage.

They have the house already paid for. They have all that equity built into their house. And so in order to get a cash flow, they do this reverse mortgage whereby they actually get a monthly payment from the mortgage company.

So there's a monthly income, and it's coming off the equity that's tied up in the house. So it's a form of loan, and of course that loan would then be repaid when the house would be sold ultimately. Getting Ahead by Putting It in Reverse.

To get ahead spiritually, you and I sometimes we need to review the past, look back and see how God has blessed us in our lives and all that he has done for us. Times when he has proved himself faithful in very difficult circumstances, times when we've been conscious of his guiding hand upon us, leading us on, bringing us through, times that we look back to and we thank him for all that has passed, and it encourages us to trust him for all that is to come. And it's supposed to be an encouragement to us.

That's what our experience here in life is for, to encourage us to know God even more and more. We find that same idea is taken up here in Deuteronomy as they anticipate entering into the land. If you have your Bible open, still at chapter 8, notice across the page, chapter 7, verse 17.

If you don't have it open, that's fine, I'll read it. Goes like this, If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I, how can I dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them, but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt, and so on. So the fact that God has been with us in the past is designed and intended that we might trust him the more for the future, for foes that have to be faced, for difficulties that have to be overcome, for trials that we may even have to enter into.

Getting ahead spiritually by reviewing the past. But sometimes to get ahead spiritually, we might have to put things in reverse. What do I mean by that? Put things in reverse.

Well, what I'm thinking here is in terms of hindrances, such as, for instance, materialism. If you and I are taking up, are taken up constantly in our life with getting ahead materially, if that's the focus of our existence, materialism, to get ahead spiritually, we'll likely have to put that in reverse, back out of that in terms of priority in life. What about things like being preoccupied with sport? I would suggest that we might have to get that into reverse to get ahead spiritually.

Are we preoccupied with entertainment, movies, and all the media that's out there? To get ahead spiritually, we might have to get that into reverse. Are we preoccupied with social activity, with our friends, whatever form that may take, and whatever it may lead us into? Preoccupied with it, it becomes the focus of life, we may have to get that into reverse. The book of Hebrews, where we were this morning, takes up that same thought.

Chapter 12, verse 1, Notice, looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. Now, that's bringing us to the book of Deuteronomy again, in terms of fixing our eye upon the inheritance. What's the inheritance? Well, for Israel, of course, it's the land of Canaan.

So somebody, well, that's heaven, isn't it? Well, they had foes to face yet in the land of Canaan. There was going to be battles. In fact, there was going to be war.

There was going to be wholesale slaughter. I don't think there's anything of that in heaven. It was still a scene of conflict.

So, we would suggest, as many have done, that rather than representing heaven, the concept of the land of Canaan for us would represent a picture of the inheritance that you and I have in Christ. I hope this is tying in with what our brethren have been bringing before us. So, to enter into the inheritance will be representing us enjoying the inheritance that God has for us in Christ.

So, how much progress have we made in that? It is true that, as believers, we could be enjoying that from day one of Christian experience, just 11 days journey from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. But it took them 40 years plus. And I would suggest this morning that, even though you and I have known something of victory in our past life, and we've gone through all of that already, been baptized into the assembly, and known victories in our lives, and so on and so forth, and we've proved God in many occasions, and yet we could have gone through all of that and still be in the land of Moab.

So, I'm going to challenge my heart. I'm going to challenge yours. Have we made the progress that we ought to have had in our lives of enjoying the inheritance that we have in Christ? The problem with Israel was that the word that God had spoken to them did not carry much weight with them.

When they got to Kadesh Barnea, you remember that they insisted on sending those spies into the land, and even when the men came back, they did not believe the good report of Joshua and Caleb. Rather, they listened to the ten men, the fenced cities, the fearsome giants, the formidable enemies, the fenced cities. And so far as the word of God was concerned, it got set aside.

And because they set aside the word of God, they got into a bypass meadow, they got into a detour that was just a detour of 40 years. And actually, they never made it. Carcasses fell in the wilderness.

So, is it possible for us even to go through Christian life and never actually enter into fully the enjoyment of things in Christ, positionally, what God has for us in Christ? I think in some measure that would be possible. Isn't it sad that sometimes the word of man has more weight with us than the word of God? I believe this. Why? Well, I remember Brother so-and-so said that.

I believe it. Well, what about the word of God? What does it say? Or maybe we are hindered in our progress because we don't get a good report, if you will, concerning our brethren. In other words, our focus is taken up with the failures of our brethren.

And so, because of that, I'm all discouraged. I'm all cast down like Brother Brandon was bringing out and, well, I'm just not going to go on anymore. I'm not going to go to meetings as often as I should.

Those brethren, they're not what they should be. So, Israel was hindered because they listened rather to the word of men and to their opinions. And their failure, those 10 men, their failure to grasp something of the richness and the wealth of that land that God had before them because of their failure.

Therefore, they did not progress as they ought. But notice chapter 8, verse 7. 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 out of the hills. There's going to be an abundant supply of living, flowing water in this good land that the Lord is bringing you into.

What would the living water refer to? Well, isn't that a picture to us of the work of the Holy Spirit of God? Isn't it a picture to us of the word of God itself? And the land that God has for us is a land that's flowing spiritually. Living water. How much do we appreciate the word of God? How much do we read it? How much do we meditate in it from day to day? If we're not getting to the word of God, if we're not meditating in it, if we're not spending time in this book, then we are not going to be enjoying the inheritance that God has for us in Christ.

Simple as that. We're not going to be making the progress that we ought to make. But that land that God had for them, it was a land that would supply every need.

It would be a land that would satisfy their every need so far as living here on earth is concerned. Every need would be fully met in that good land and that large land into which God was bringing them. A land of much water, a supply for every thirsty soul.

Let me ask our hearts this morning, do we really believe, do we really believe that there is sufficient in Christ, enough in Christ to satisfy our hearts? Do we believe it? Well sure, so far as salvation is concerned, right, we're satisfied with that. But is there enough from day to day in our life, is there enough in Christ to satisfy our every longing, our deepest longing? There absolutely is. It's a good land flowing with milk and honey, is reiterated time and time again, because he fills the hungry soul with good things.

If we'll go in for them and take them, they're there for the taking. There'll be the old corn of the land to enjoy, nourishment that they never had to work for or labor for, it would be provided for them. And all that God has for us in Christ, we can feed upon it and we never had to labor, we never had to labor in order to secure it.

There'll be houses to dwell in that they didn't have to build. I tell you, there's a shelter and there's a security when it comes to enjoying Christ and the things of Christ and the place that we have in Christ, it is absolutely secure. When we think of the fence cities as well, it would reflect upon that and how good it is when we come to the word of God, to find that God has set boundaries for us in his word.

They're not there to rob us of joy, they're not there to bring us into misery, but they are there for our protection, they're there for our good, the boundaries of the word of God. But that land is expansive. We take them from the river of Egypt all the way to the river Euphrates, if they could inhabit it, if they could take it all in, it was all there for them.

Every place where they would set their feet, it would be theirs. So in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is calling upon the people to go on, take a look at it. This is what God has done in the past.

You haven't yet got there so far as progress is concerned, but look at that land that is before you, fix your eye upon it and go in for it. Go into it, it will be yours. So how are we doing in progress? In chapter 9 and verse 6, we read these words, Understand therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness, for thou art a stiff-necked people.

So let's be absolutely clear in this again, it is not our performance that has earned us a place to enjoy Christ. It is not the exclusive right of a certain group, whether in the assembly or out of it. Our very need of holiness, our very need of righteousness, our very need of virtue ought to highlight in our souls our need of Christ and cause us to revel in the perfection of the provision that God has made for us in Christ and it's available freely to us.

It's ours in him. So let us go in for the things of Christ. Let us leave Moab behind.

Let us move on in progress appreciating more and more our position as being in Christ and all that he has secured for us by his perfect redemption and all that we are found as in him before God accepted in the beloved one. Oh let us appreciate that from day to day more and more in our soul. There's much land to be possessed.

We have seemed to possess so little of it and then as we enter into it, the character of our life in a very practical way will be as purged worshippers, will be as the people of God who are a testimony for God in the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation. A testimony for Christ. A people redeemed by Christ, enjoying Christ, moving on to be with Christ and with him eternally in his presence.

May God bless to us his word with what we've already been listening to this morning.