Promised Land
PROMISED LAND: HERE WE COME
4/27/2002 AND 4/28/2002
Intro and Background:
Several weeks ago there were several prophetic words about entering the Promised Land. They were right and accurate. In the midst of those words I heard the phrase “CLARIFY THE PROMISED LAND.” In other words, what promises are we supposed to possess? I was also listening to a cassette by Willie George about the Spirit of Faith. So I have decided to preach to myself this weekend and let you all listen in. The Bible story is a classic that we have read and heard preached for years, but this is where we are.
In this story Moses has led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and God has given them a physical land in modern day Israel and beyond. He told them to go possess it. The people of Israel had slave mentalities. They were used to being taken care of. They had to work hard but they had security. There were no surprises. They never really prospered but they knew the future.
Moses on the other hand had been raised in the household of the Pharoah and the New Testament said he was educated in the ways of the Egyptians and was powerful in word and deed. He had been exposed to big dreams and big plans. He got his theology from God but he learned leadership at the school of Pharoah and his father-in-law Jethro. They people receive the law on Mount Sinai. They become a people with God as their leader. He takes them to the edge of the land He had promised them and said go take it. I have given it to you. Moses sent twelve spies and 10 came back saying it is a good land, but we can’t do it. 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb said of course we can take it, God will help us. God was angry with that generation so He waited until they died out and then told Joshua to take the land. They did it. Those who said they could do it, did it. Those who said they couldn’t didn’t do it.
Numbers 13
1 ¶ The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders."
3 So at the LORD's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.
18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.
19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified?
20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
21 ¶ So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, towards Lebo Hamath.
22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23 When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.
24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there.
25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
26 ¶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.
28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."
32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. (THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE LAND)
33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
14
1 ¶ That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!
3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
5 ¶ Then Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.
6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes
7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.
8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.
11 ¶ The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?
-You know the story after that. They spent 40 years in the land of regrets.
Joshua 1
1 ¶ After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant:
2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them--to the Israelites.
3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates--all the Hittite country-- to the Great Sea on the west.
5 No-one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.
7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.
8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
10 ¶ So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:
11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, `Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.'"
2
1 ¶ Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them.
24 They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
-The Captain of the Lord’s Host came to Joshua and Joshua asked if he was for them or against them. The angel said that is the wrong question, are you for God or against Him?
Joshua 5
13 ¶ Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"
15 The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
-They were getting ready to take the first city and they couldn’t do it without God’s intervention.
1. CLARIFY THE PROMISED LAND
-We know from this story that it is something we can only reach and attain by God’s help.
-If you can do it by yourself it is just a goal.
-Beyond this message today I want you to spend some time with the Lord and possibly even write some things down.
-What is your promised land?
-It was physical with the Israelites. How does that relate to your life and walk with God?
-I’m going to give you a cheat sheet for your time with God.
-Your promised land is primarily spiritual territory.
-The physical things are just to support the eternal things.
-For instance, the relationships are the key. Who is affected by your life?
-You have a dream for your family and it involves a home which needs a house. The house is just to support the real thing.
-You have to examine all you are dreaming about and shooting for in light of God’s glory, not just yours.
When people see your life do they say “What a Great and Gracious God He serves” or look how wonderful they are.
The Church
-The dream of this church is to grow. That means to grow up, grow together and grow out. We set goals for 300 years ago because the church was under 100. The average church in America is around 100. We did that on purpose to break that barrier of average. It has been in my heart to be part of something that the community can’t ignore. It gives us a platform for our testimony. We are aiming at 1000 on weekends. The reason is to provide a platform and base from which we can continue to grow and plant churches. We want to franchise, especially in other countries.
The Promised Land for this church is to grow and multiply until all of East Central Missouri has a simple hearing of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are then to multiply with that message until Jesus returns or we go to be with Him.
A very specific element of that is a church for the future. Our children’s and grandchildren’s future is dependant upon whether or not we build a great church. The world isn’t going to be concerned about your child’s spiritual health. That’s why we are here. Our dream is to have 50% of this church 18 and under.
Most people will decide whether or not to be a follower of Jesus by age 14.
The average year of spiritual responsiveness is age 7.
In 50 years I will probably be in heaven. I want this church to be healthy and reaching the community. I want to have been a part of planting churches in other countries and in America. I want to have given millions of dollars away to outreach and missions.
I want to go to heaven not saying “I did it” or “we did it” but Jesus saying “I DID IT AND YOU OBEYED ME.”
What we believe for and plan for is huge.
YOUR FAMILY
The Promised Land for your family is tied to God’s purpose. It is to provide an incubator in which you and your family can grow and do what God wants. It is a place of acceptance and love, even when you fail. He sets the lonely in families. It is a place where you have the resources you need to carry this out.
That involves houses and cars and education and retirement, but those all support the vision, they aren’t the vision.
The strength of God’s Kingdom in the world is dependant upon strong families.
Your family like this church should be a place where dreams are born and supported. It shouldn’t be a place where dreams are killed with an evil report. An evil report is “YOU CAN’T DO THAT.” A good report is, I have God so all things are possible.
We serve a God who uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
-You can fill in the rest of those blanks.
PERSONALLY
-Your promised land personally is to follow and obey Jesus.
-It is to believe that God is big enough to conquer the giants and obstacles that are facing you.
-It is to believe that you aren’t limited by your past.
-You are out of Egypt. Will you get Egypt out of you?
-There are so many stories of unlikely heroes and people who just wouldn’t quit.
-That’s your story.
2. IDENTIFY THE GIANTS AND THEN DEFEAT THEM
-There will always be giants.
-The Israelites faced literal giants and real physical enemies.
-We all have giants, what are yours?
-One of the giants we face as a church is a new building at 2-2.5 million dollars.
-That is a hindrance. That is a Jericho wall and a giant all rolled into one. We have prayed. We have presented it to you to follow God and we are going on.
-Your personal giants may be a fear. It may be limited resources, maybe you grew up poor.
-You may not be super intelligent.
-You may have a relationship problem that is a drag. John Wesley married a woman who passed out tracts saying he was wrong. She interrupted his meetings and physically abused him. He went on.
-When she left him he said, I didn’t send her away and I’m not going to get her.
-You get the point, there are lots of giants. Those are just reasons to have excuses.
-Those are just things to lower the level of expectation on you.
“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.” --Robert Fritz
“One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it….But to sacrifice what you are and live without beliefs, that’s more terrible than dying.”—Joan of Arc
“Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes.” –Henry Miller
“I believe it’s true that the difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where live takes them next.” –Michael Gerber
-Some of the greatest people faced the greatest giants.
-We want to spare our children from hardship but God causes His children to face and beat hardship.
EXAMPLE: A chic needs to peck its way out of the shell to have the strength to face life.
GOD WILL ALWAYS PULL YOU THROUGH IF YOU CAN STAND THE PULL.
-Abraham Lincoln came into office as the U.S. was splitting in two. Buchanan left office proclaiming that he was “the last president of the United States.”
-He faced huge giants. He was great because he faced great challenges.
-The bigger the giants, the bigger the victory.
Quote about Abraham Lincoln, “He had the courage to carry with him to the White House his main strategy of simply ignoring slander and vilification.”
“In his four years as president, Lincoln endured all of the cruel antagonism and severe criticism directed at him. And the fact is, that he not only endured the slander but overcame it to secure victory in the Civil War and preserve the nation-a most amazing achievement. In the process, he also reorganized the American military system, expanded the limits of presidential authority, abolished slavery, and renewed the spirit of patriotism in America.” -- Donald Phillips.
-Winston Churchill was another man whose greatness only came out as he was facing the adversity of war.
-Talk about giants, how about the Nazi army and Hitler!
He said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
-Identify your giants and face them.
-With God the giants can be defeated.
Example: When Winston Churchill was fretting about WW2 he looked to the KJ Bible for guidance. He landed upon this passage from Deuteronomy 9:
1 ¶ Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,
2 A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!
3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.
3. TAKE THE FIRST STEP
Joshua 3
8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: `When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.'"
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.
10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.
11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.
12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD-- the Lord of all the earth--set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap."
14 ¶ So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.
15 Now the Jordan is in flood all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge,
16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
-They had to step first before the water moved.
-Everything worthwhile is a RISK!
-I can remember so many times that it was a huge risk:
Can I do college work?
What if Becky says no?
What if I take the job and don’t know how to pastor a church?
Etc.
You’ve all got your own.
-You have to act before you got the whole picture.
Hebrews 11
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
-You may go ask God to define your promised land and He may tell you very little.
-He might just say, HERE IS THE FIRST STEP.
-Your obedience is better than understanding.
-What is the point?
Joshua 4
1 ¶ When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,
2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,
3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,
5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, `What do these stones mean?'
7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel for ever."
-We must enter and possess the Promised Land. The future depends upon your obedience.
Prayer specifically for revelation and then a willingness to be bold and courageous so we will obey.
