A Better Rest

The point of no return is a term that refers to aviation. There is a moment in time where the pilot must decide to keep going or to turn around because he does not have the fuel to turn back once he reaches a certain point.

The Israelites had found themselves in the same position. After the epic deliverance of the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians, after they went through the wilderness they find themselves at the bank of the Jordan. Now they are at a point of no return. The 12 Spies are sent out and are called too bring back a report of the land. But only two of the spies bring back a good report, Caleb and Joshua. The rest bring a bad report, they were told to go in an take the land that the Lord was giving to them, but they refused to enter because of unbelief. They were willing a ready to turn back. Infact the people wanted to pick a new leader and go back to Egypt. They even tried to stone Caleb and Joshua but the Lord intervened.

Burden: Take heed, so that your heart does not become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

The Warning: Watch out!

1. The Deceitfulness of Sin.

Sin does not reveal it true hand it conceals, PIRATE FLAGS

A person does not fall away like one accidentally falls into a hole. Unbelief is more than just a lack of faith, it is a deliberate and active disobedience to the promises of God. Unbelief is always connected to disobedience. Though they are active and deliberate they are often small and numerous.

2. The Hardness of Heart.

The progression of sin. It is not an isolated sin that hardens the heart, but a series of one sin after the other, death by a thousand papercuts.

Ice forming slowly. Being up in New York, the ice forms slowly

Numbers 14:22–23 (ESV)

none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.

They didn’t just come to the banks of the Jordan and decide that they weren’t going.

Like striking a rock 100 times, and on the 101th time the rock breaks

The Safeguard:

1. A negative approach. (Remember the Generation in the wilderness)

Deuteronomy 9:6–8 (ESV)

“Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.

1 Corinthians 10:6 (ESV)

Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

16a - Psalm 95:7-8 16b Numbers 14:3;19;22

17a - 95:10 17b 14:10; 29;32

18a 95:11 18b 14:30, 33, 43

2. A positive approach

A. Encourage one another

Every generation has the responsibility to stand before the claims of God expressed in His Word, and how do we do this? THROUGH COMMUNITY

We must learn to exercise concern and care for oneanother. Contrary to the statement made by Cain after he slew his brother, “We are to be our brothers keeper”

How many of us when we see eachother greet one another asking, “how are you doing?” But do we really want to know the answer? Or how many of us assume that someone asking us that question is only concerned with the physical health of the family or that there is no momentary physical crisis, or if the dog is doing alright, no one has a fever, coughg the sniffles or is throwing up, all the while our souls are What if we asked the question How is your heart bother or sister? and instead of expecting a generic and rote answer we dug deeper and tried to peel back the layers.

But this assumes that we in turn want others to ask us the difficult questions. It implies the fact that we want to hear difficult things from our brothers and sisters. It assumes that this is the way that God works corporately in us as individuals.

We are good at small talk and not good at heart matters.

While it is today. - Implies that there is another day, a future day of judgement.

The time to decide is not when you are standing at the banks of the Jordan. The point of no return is here and it demands a response.

The Result (Rest for the People of God)

B. Perseverance to the end.

Romans 1:17 (ESV)

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Hold fast your original confidence firm to the end.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV)

For he says,

“In a favorable time I listened to you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Article 17 – Perseverance of the Saints

17-1 Salvation is the work of God, from its commencement to its consummation.1 Those regenerated by the Word of God through the work of the Holy Spirit become partakers of the divine nature.2 They are preserved by the power of God3 so that they shall never totally or finally fall away,4 but shall persevere unto the end.5

CONFIDENCE = FRAME OF MIND

Numbers 13:30–33 (ESV)

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Where is your confidence? What is your frame of mind? Or have you developed the “grasshopper syndrome” Faith give us the boundaries in which we must operate. We are partakers in Christ. For the Israelites the rest that they were promised was the land promised to thier father Abraham. Rest from the hard labor in Egyptian slavery, rest from wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. If we believe and know that the Lord has promised us rest. That we should set aside our trust in earthly things, that we should not paint glorious pictures of Egypt, and forget where we came from. How can we be tempted to turn back to the things that once enslaved us?

Brother and sisters, do you feel the sense of that unresloved tension? Do feel the weight and hardship of trials, and perils in your christian walk then you are on the right path. There are dificulties that we face living in between the cross and the 2nd coming, between redemption and rest, promise and fulfillment, inaguration and consumation. One day our striving will end, all of God’s enemies will be laid down and we will find the rest we desire but today we resist, to day we toil and labor in faith, though we do not yet fully see. But the eyes of faith will bring us home. The temptation to walk away the difficultes of keeping the faith when we cannot see the road ahead, will be worth it.

The last thing, the worst thing that we can do is to pull away from God and from His people. If you do you are on the path to catastrophy and will make a shipwreck of your faith.

How different it would have been for the Israelites if they had encouraged oneanother and entered into the promised land. How different it will be for us if we encourage one another while it is still today.

John 6