The Believers Journey
Notes
Transcript
Reading:
6 And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Introduction:
(Express what it’s like watching and coaching basketball for Zac and Micah):
On the team there are:
The personality differences...
The home life scenarios...
The mental routines...
The fantasized expectations...
Each and every one of these aspects play a part in their lives.
As a coach you get to peek behind the curtain to where they can be and get to see what holds them back.
You recognize the hurdles they will need to jump to get there.
Bill McCartney, a football coach who in the 1980s took the University of Colorado from perennial losers to national champions said:
“All coaching is, is taking a player where he can’t take himself.” - Bill McCartney
That isn’t so different from what the Lord does working out His will in our lives is it?
Providing opportunities to grow each day.
With every scenarios God allows in our lives, He has given us a road map to help navigating it.
As we follow Israels journey through the desert we understand the parallels between us and them.
Chapter 17 of Exodus should speak into each one of our lives today.
We will see another test facing Israel, something that should be simple.
We will also see a battle they have to face.
Transition:
Israel at the end of chapter 15 faced a test concerning water.
23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
That test brought out the worst in them.
It didn’t sound like they were successful in that testing so God allowed them to try again.
We must understand and believe the truth:
God directs our steps (1-7)
God directs our steps (1-7)
He directed Israel into a test:
1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.
Here they are no water, Again!
A little reminder how God had provided them food with a miracle
Manna from dew.
Quail in the evening for meat.
There shouldn’t be any question whether or not God is leading them and will provide for their needs.
The Lord brings them to a familiar test.
A testing with water.
(?) Would they believe and trust that the Lord would provide for them?
He already proved to them before that He would provide for them water and food.
They should’ve believed that He would continue providing until they reached their destination.
They didn’t:
2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
Why?
What didn’t change from Meribah to here at Rephidim?
Their mindset.
Our mindset dictates our attitude more than we realize.
Illustration:
(My first wrestling match)
Only one other time did I let my mindset serve me up a loss.
When I wasn’t focused on my match I didn’t do as good.
We can learn a lot about ourselves in moments like that.
Israel didn’t learn this principal the first time.
Instead they let bitterness grow in their minds against God and took it out on Moses.
Every believer at salvation is given a fresh perspective to see the world from.
Philippians teaches about our new mindset.
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Armed with this mindset we are able to view situations differently:
God is in control and I trust Him, or,
I am in control and God isn’t providing for me, and I’m angry with Him about it.
Our attitudes will determine if we get worse or get better.
Our bad attitudes will rob us from growing spiritually.
This is a purpose for a test: To strengthen our faith and grow into spiritual adulthood.
Our spiritual health isn’t automatic and it doesn’t just increase with our age.
It is a mindset to handle wisely what God allows in our life.
For Israel at this point:
The mindset shifted into bad attitudes which caused:
Doubting God! (4-7)
Doubting God! (4-7)
The people were testing Moses and the Lord sith their complaining.
(?) Why did they complain?
Their complaining worked last time!
Testing the Lord reveals the Israelite’s doubts.
They didn’t believe God would provide.
Even Moses showed doubt:
4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
Testing isn’t a bad thing, it just isn’t comfortable.
God’s purpose in testing is to confirm our faith, the evil one’s purpose in testing is to weaken it.
Craig Keener
Sometimes in our doubting we need what the Israelites got from God:
A revelation of His presence, the reminder that He is there.
5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.
God instructed Moses to take the staff, which had been the item that signified God and His power, and strike the rock with it to bring water!
It was done in front of all the elders and all Israel.
(?) Why?
The leaders or elders were to Lead!
How were they to lead?
By being examples!
When the leader believes what he is saying it transfers down to those he is leading.
They believe it too!
The elders would witness God’s provision and would still the contention of the people
- The staff, symbolized God’s presence.
- The miracle would properly be attributed to Him instead of Moses or anyone or anything else.
This is synonymous with the duty we have as believers.
We are to testify of the Lord's power:
By way of life choices and attitudes that should support the faith we have in Christ
It would reveal His power and affirm His word to them.
It will offer the peace of Jesus to those in turmoil, or to those who are in a position of spiritual need.
When we do this we are pointing people to the source of comfort and peace:
28 Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
The burden to save them isn’t ours to bear, it is the Lords.
It has never been our job to fix it, it is only to bring them to the one who can.
Israel’s elders, including Moses and Aaron, all failed at this duty.
They doubted that God would provide and that He knew of their need!
7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
The names Moses used for naming were:
Massah which means: Testing
And Meribah which means: quarreling
The place where they allowed their attitudes to fail a test is named for all to know.
This was a place of testing and instead of being victorious they all failed, including their leaders.
Worse than that: they fought against God.
It seems their bitterness had fanned the flames of fighting,
It seems God allowed them to kind of get it out of their system.
Instead of fighting God they can:
Fight Amalek (8-16)
Fight Amalek (8-16)
8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.
Who are the Amalekites?
Exodus Exodus 17:8
Amalek was a grandson of Esau (
The Amalekites had a system that was working for plundering.
What made Israel appealing as a target?
The gold and wealth including their vulnerability.
One commentator narrowed down a military tactic that made their plundering effective:
Camels!
The Amalekites had domesticated the camel and used its swiftness to effectively launch surprise attacks.
How could Israel stand against such military might?
I think that’s the point here.
They couldn’t, they had to rely on the God, whom they doubted was even there.
They did make some strategic decisions which became an outline for their military.
9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”
10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
Joshua took chosen men to fight while Moses and Aaron went on top of a hill with the staff.
It says that Moses held up his hands to the Lord and when he did Israel was winning; but when his arms came down the Amalekites were winning.
It was important that the Israelites understood unmistakably that the only reason they could win against the Amalekites was that God was fighting for them, providing the victory.
The staff functioned at this battle just as it had in the during the plagues.
As long as the staff of God was raised high, just as in the miraculous plagues and the miracle of the water from the rock immediately preceding, God’s role was properly acknowledged symbolically and the army prevailed. When the staff was lowered (because Moses grew tired, as verse 12 makes explicit.)
11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
This is also a principal found in the New Testament found in John 12:32-33
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.”
33 He said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die.
We are to lit up Christ for all men to see and be drawn to!
When we lift up the Lord it can sometimes be an internal struggle.
We must do all we can, even asking help from others to accomplish a victory for the Lord.
It's something we can see that’s needed when it comes to ministry:
The church body is called to reach the lost with salvation.
The church creates opportunities for biblical growth and understanding to each person.
The church promotes fellowship and connections amongst the body of believers.
The church is to uphold biblical doctrine, not compromising God’s word in any area.
We must collectively and individually know and trust that the only way to fulfill those ministries is to believe the Lord is present and He is arranging it all.
What is one way He arranges it together?
He works in the hearts, and minds of people through the Holy Spirit.
He will lite a fire in us with a desire to fill an area of need in the local church so that we reach the goal of church ministries:
Outreach
Cultivating biblical teaching
promotion of fellowship amongst our brothers and sisters to solidify dependence upon one another.
Every time we put Christ first He is victorious, no different than what He provided for Israel back at Rephidim.
13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
With every victory it should be celebrated together the victory God brought.
Look how we celebrated the amount of people we were able to meet and reach at our Harvest Carnival and through our other outreaches.
With every outreach we are given opportunities to lift up Christ so He will convict their hearts and reveal Himself to them.
We become a location that isn’t scary any more and are a place to seek for help.
As we seek Him He promises us the same thing He promised Israel here:
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
Jesus tells us that when we come to Him and believe His sacrifice is sufficient to forgive our sins they will be gone forever.
Jesus did it once for all!
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
We get a better picture for the finality of His sacrifice in Hebrews 7:26-28
26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a High priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for His own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself.
28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
Christ’s sacrifice removed our sins forever!
Each one of us remember the moment that we believed Christ’s sacrifice was for us and our sins and we asked Him forgiveness.
It is memorable and forever a point where we began to worship Him.
Moses created something that would be a forever reminder of what God did:
He built an altar for Yahweh’s victory, which wasn’t odd for Moses; but he named this one.
“The Lord Is My Banner”
15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,
16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
This is something that honors the Lord being the one who provided the victory by being lifted up.
The wording is: "flag pole".
The Lord is the banner whom is flown.
This is similar to where warriors group together, like at the flag pole, and salute with Honor.
expressing allegiance and faith in the flag that’s flying.
Conclusion:
We know the Lord is going to bring tests into our lives.
It is up to us how we allow it to affect us.
We can either grow spiritually or stay stagnant and repeat it as many times as it takes.
Our attitudes will dictate whether or not we get better or get bitter!
At every test we can believe the Lord is present.
He is always there for us!
At the tests and trials where we feel we are being defeated, whether it is because of our own attitude or it’s just plain overwhelming:
There are others who will help hold the burden so Christ can be glorified through it!
The believers journey is testing, trusting, and triumphing because of Christ!
-Pray!
