Seven D's of Neglect
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Good Morning church! Early this week I was at the Pulaski Baptist Association Evangelism Conference, and there was a lot of great preachers and music while I was there. But there was something missing. Part of what was missing was a presence of churches, as there were only about 10 of the 30 plus associational churches present. And as far as generationally, let’s just say that there was a generation of younger people missing too. And I really think that the majority of the reason for both of these missing groups of people is a simple matter of neglect. Neglect to support, neglect to teach, neglect to the Great Commission really because that’s what the purpose of the conference was, to go and make disciples. So before we neglect to seek God today,
let’s pray.
Neglect. It’s progressive by nature. It seems that whatever we put off till tomorrow is easier to put off tomorrow. How many of y’all are procrastinators like me?
I can remember being in high school and having to do papers and I would put it off until tomorrow. And then the next day. And the next. All the way up until the day before it was due, and then I’d scramble to type a 12 page paper in a few hours. Except it wasn’t typed then, it was handwritten. I’d get it done and I’d get a decent grade on it, but the entire time leading up to it I’d be frustrated by it because I kept putting it off and then on the day I actually wrote the paper I was frustrated because I was having to take time to write a paper. While I was able to have a passing grade on the paper, I failed to believe the amount of time it was going to take to write that paper. I was neglecting my time. And because I was neglecting my time my neglect for the assignment became worse and worse until I had to accomplish the work.
And that’s the context of today’s passage. The exodus from Egypt and the Israelite’s experience of unbelief in the wilderness.
See we can neglect to follow God and put it off over and over again, but that leaves us in the wilderness.
God did not desire that the Israelites remain in Egypt, because He had better things in mind for them. God did not desire that they stay in the wilderness, because that was meant to be a passageway for them to get to His blessing.
God desires that the people enter their glorious inheritance in the promised land, the land of Canaan.
But if we were to look at the book of Numbers in chapters 13 and 14, we see that because of their neglect to hear God’s message they were delayed in entering the promised land.
God forms a committee to spy out the land of their inheritance:
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”
And wow, the land is filled with grapes and figs, it flows with milk and honey, its beautiful, it’s just what God said it would be, and then they make their mistake. Look with me at verse 28:
However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
The people there are strong, and it goes on to say the Nephilim or giants are there, and its a scary place - now think about that for a moment, you’re an Israelite, you’ve seen the plagues and how they’ve decimated Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, water from a rock, miraculous food that just shows up, God’s glory cloud above the tabernacle - and now you’re scared about a few people who are taller than you are. Literally everything you’ve seen has been screaming at you to believe and trust and what happens?
Well naturally you decide that it’s a bad idea to enter this land.
10 of the 12 spies report only the negative. The other 2, Joshua and Caleb, remember all that God has done and says God gave this to us, let’s do it!
And one of the most important things we can learn from this is the majority is not always right.
You see the people of Israel neglected all of their memories of the things God has already done and chose to not believe that God would do all that He said He would do. As a result, those that were already adults and made that decision missed their inheritance and died wandering in the wilderness.
So this begs the question: What does the people of Israel wandering in the wilderness represent to us as believers today?
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
These Old Testament writings are still relevant, and they are still for our instruction. We read them and the Old Testament points to Jesus in the New Testament.
And these wanderings represent to the current church as the experience of believers who will not claim their spiritual inheritance in Christ, those who doubt God’s Word and live in restless unbelief.
Now just because a believer isn’t claiming their inheritance doesn’t mean that God isn’t with them - if a relationship with Jesus has been established then God is with them, just as He was with Israel - but the blessings of God are being missed.
And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.
We read that verse last week, remember God has to bring us out to bring us in - and for the Israelites in these verses God has already brought them out - just like when we call upon the name of Jesus for our salvation He is faithful to bring us out of the sin that is enslaving us.
The problem is that all along the way until they enter the promised land, they keep looking back - and we do the same thing, if we look back and see our sin it can become a snare to us. It can prevent us from looking forward to that promise we have in Him.
In Hebrews 3 and 4 the Bible frequently talks about the word “rest”.
For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”
Here we seen God’s sabbath rest, His creation rest.
As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ”
Here we see Israel’s rest in Canaan.
The sabbath rest is a picture of our present rest in Christ through salvation. We are a new creation, so it’s a new creation rest.
The Canaan rest is a picture of our present rest as we claim our inheritance in Christ. We can be as the Israelites in 3:11, or we look forward to 4:11:
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
See Sabbath rest is a rest of salvation. The moment we enter into a relationship with Christ, we have sabbath rest. But we can have sabbath rest without having rest from our own sinful behaviour.
Sabbath rest:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Canaan Rest:
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.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Sabbath Rest is peace with God:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Canaan Rest is peace of God:
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
It is through believing in Christ that we enter into rest:
For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
It is by obeying God in faith and surrendering to His will that the peace of God enters into us.
The rest was the promised land, Canaan, where the toil of wandering would end. It’s when we surrender to the promises of God that rest enters us - because when we surrender to the will of God, we surrender to the promises God has for us.
So let’s look now at what prevents us from the promises of God - let’s look at the
SEVEN “D’S” OF NEGLECT
And the first one we are going to look at is
1. DRIFTING. v.2:1
And to look at this one we have to look back at chapter 2 for a moment.
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
To “drift”, to slip or drift past.
Think back to when you were a kid and you’d go running through the house just to slide down the hall or in the kitchen - I say think back to when you were a kid, but if any of you are like me you have a childlike faith and did this last week.
We have a lot of fun watching the dogs do it at home - we throw a toy and the dog will chase it and the toy stops and the dog just keeps sliding past it.
Anyway, If we aren’t following God, if we are neglecting to listen and follow Him, we take a risk of sliding or drifting right off course.
William Barclay once said “For most of us the thrust of life is not so much that we should plunge into disaster, but that we should drift into sin. There are few people who deliberately and in a moment turn their backs on God; there are many who day-by-day drift farther and farther away from Him. There are not many who in one moment of time commit some disastrous sin; there are many who bit by bit and almost imperceptibly involve themselves in some situation and suddenly awake to find thatt they have ruined life for themselves and broken someone else’s heart. We would do well to be continually on the alert against the peril of the drifting life.”
The second D of neglect is:
2. DANGER. v.3:7
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,
As the Holy Spirit says - What you ignore you lose the ability to hear. God gives divine inspiration and illumination.
Truth is the reality that lies behind appearance.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Do we walk by what we see or by what God says?
God’s word was given to us to show us the past so that we have perspective, He works in our lives to give us perspective, and if we fail to listen to God and neglect that perspective we already have, we’re in danger of going off of what we see in a moment. Listen to God’s truth, our faith is built upon it.
The third “D” of neglect:
3. DOUBTING. v3:8-11
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ”
Exodus 17 details the account of the Israelites when Moses brought water out of the rock, and in verse 3 look at the attitude of the people:
But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
They were thinking “God doesn’t care about us”. They were doubting the promise of God, the same God that brought them out of Egypt.
Now how many here go and buy pets from rescue shelters just to watch them die? I mean no one in their right mind is going to purposefully spend money on a pet just to watch it die, that’s nuts.
Now think about all of the energy God just spent to get these people out of Egypt.
And think of what He did just to rescue you. That’s a sacrifice that shows He’s not going to let you go.
Numberr 4:
4. DISBELIEVING. v.3:12
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
Israel had every right and reason to believe God. After all, God had been faithful to Israel, He
Spared their firstborn through the passover
opened the Red Sea
Closed the Red Sea
provided water from a rock
mannah from heaven
and gave them a cloud for guidance
Now most of us will say that if we had all of that we’d be the most dedicated follower ever, right? All those people who say show me a sign and I’ll believe there is a God - no you won’t, the people of Israel are proof of that!
The problem is not God’s faithfulness it’s Israel’s failure to trust Him totally. It’s our failure to trust Him. It’s an evil heart of unbelief.
It’s when we:
Stand off from God because we don’t like what is said
Renounce God
Rebel against God
when we do not trust God and His promises
It’s when we do not follow God as He demands.
Israel’s greatest failure was to not believe that God would do what He said He would. It’s failing to trust Him to take care of them, provide for them, and get them to where they were going.
Number 5:
5. DEPARTING. v3:12b
Look at the last part of verse 12 with me:
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
Neglecting God and His promises and His word will cause us to fall away from God. It leads to number 6:
6. DECEITFULNESS. v.3:13-15
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
A person can be hardened by deceitfulness of sin. Sin is absolutely deceitful, it looks good, tastes good, and feels good, and sometimes we mistake that for being good. But it enslaves us and leaves us empty, lonely, insecure, hurting, and often broken. It devastates families, friends, businesses, and self.
Don’t believe me? Look at the people who are living in that sin, the drugs, the lust, the pursuit of riches for their happiness - and the destruction path they leave.
Sin hardens a person. The more a person sins and consumes, the harder and more sinful they become. Sin makes way for more sin, it feeds it. The more a person sins, the easier and easier it becomes to sin more and more. Sin is deceitful, it promises satisfaction but never delivers on that promise.
Number 7:
7. DESTROYING. v.3:16-18
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?
And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.
Only the 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb, and the children of Israel entered the Promised Land. The entire generation that was unable to trust God died without ever finding the Peace of God.
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes fail to trust God too. I fail to surrender sometimes, or I fail to submit to His will. And I only know one way to resolve that failure -
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
We must seek Him, We must surrender to His promises that come by way of following His will, and he is faithful to forgive us.
Let’s pray.
Father God thank you for this message today. Thank you for dwelling in our lives and Lord we ask that you forgive us in our neglect for your promise and for our church to seek you in all that we do. Lord thank you for giving us your Word and for working in our hearts to give us a perspective that focuses on your promise for our lives.
As you keep praying today, I want you to really take a moment and just think of God’s promise in your life. Have you been allowing God to work through you and are you seeking His will, or have you drifted off course and allowed the things of this world to cloud your perspecive? Have you given it all to Him, have you surrendered to His will for your life? Are you experiencing freedom, or are you still bound by the promises of sin? Today, give it all to Him. You can come forward, there are people who will pray with you if you like, or you can simply pray by yourself right where you are, but today, give it all to the only one who can lead you to the promised land.
Father, guide and direct us to your rest so that we may have your peace in our lives. Show us your will, and Lord help us to stay on that path that leads to your promises. When we start to go astray send someone to keep us on track, give us the perspective we need to remain in you. Help us to have pure hearts. Help us to reflect you in our lives, and Lord speak boldly through us to proclaim your message that you are THE way and THE truth and THE life, and that we can live our lives fully devoted to your current and coming Kingdom.
And as you remain in prayer there are some here that may have realized that they don’t have a relationship with Christ. The bible tells us that if you don’t have Christ as your Lord, you have satan as your lord. And that king of lies is telling you that you’re ok, you’ve been a churchgoer for years, you’re a good person, you’re not like those people that do evil things in the world - but the problem is that you can never be good enough or do enough to save you. Or maybe something has occured and you’re here because something or someone brought you to this point, and you don’t know God personally. Maybe you’ve been trying to “find God” on your own, maybe your family were believers or took you to church. Maybe you’ve always looked at God as a God in the past or as not active today, but let me tell you today that He is an ever present and and ruling King, and if you feel like there’s something missing It’s Jesus. You’re tired, you’re looking for a savior, and the way to that Savior is a relationship with Jesus Christ.
And there are those of you who Christ desires to reveal Himself to today. So today, call on His name, Jesus, the Son of God who to save you was born in a manger without an earthly father so He didn’t inherit the sin nature, so that He could be your Savior, becoming sin on the cross, shedding His blood, dying, and being raised to life so that anyone who calls on His name will be saved. That’s why you’re here.
If that’s you, if God is calling to you to draw into a relationship with Jesus, answer Him today. If you don’t know how it’s as simple as ABC. A- admit to God that you are a sinner, B-believe that Jesus came to redeem you through that sinless life, death, and resurrection, and C- confessing Christ as Lord and Savior with your mouth, choosing to follow Him. if you don’t know how to start, you can simply pray something like this:
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. Lord I believe that you came to free me from the bonds of sin and hell, and Lord I thank you for what only you could do. Lord I choose you, to follow in all that you are and to walk in the Spirit in a relationship with you, and to spend eternity with you. In Jesus name, amen.
Father, thank you again for this body, and Father as you are speaking to those here today, I pray that they will follow you where you lead, that they will see you revealed, and that we will follow in your presence today.
If you need someone to pray with you come forward and myself or one of the leaders will come to pray with you. Don’t delay, don’t let this moment pass you by, answer His call today, come as He leads, as the music plays softly for a moment, this is your moment.
Questions for the Week
1. When we look at the accounts of the Israelites and their time between Egypt and the promised land, how easy is it to just think, wow, they had all of the answers right in front of them and they still couldn’t see the error of their ways?
2. Have you fully examined your life and your relationship with Christ and seen some similarities between your life and the Israelites?
3. In what ways are you actively pursuing to grow closer to God? Are you actively seeking discipleship? Are you in a small group? Are you called to do more?