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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/william-skates/spiritual-progress/
Deuteronomy chapter 1, we'll read verse 1. These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness in the plain over against the Red Sea between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazarath and Dizahab.
There are 11 days journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir on to Kadesh Barnea. 11 days. And it came to pass in the 40th year in the 11th month on the first day of the month that Moses spake unto the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them.
After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites which dwelt in Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan which dwelt at Astaroth in Adria. On this side Jordan in the land of Moab began Moses to declare this law saying the Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb saying ye have dwelt long enough in this mount.
Now we'll come over to chapter 8. Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 1. All the commandments which I command thee this day shalt ye observe to do that ye may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness to humble thee and approve thee to know what was in thine heart whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no.
And he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know what that man doth not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee neither did thy foot swell these 40 years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his son so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to fear him.
For 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 hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of oil, olive and honey, a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness.
Thou shalt not lack anything in it, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten that art full then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, lest when thou hast eaten that art full and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage.
The Lord will bless to us the reading from his word. It was the mind of God that Israel should move on and possess the land which he had given to them and promised to them and that in that land they would be a worshipping people remembering the good things that God had brought them into and they would be a testimony unto the Lord to the nations that were round about.
That's the overall thrust of what we have read here this morning. But when we open this book and start to read in chapter 1, we find that Israel has not made the progress that they ought to have made in their relationship with the Lord.
There were about 11 days journey from Mount Horeb from Mount Sinai into the land of Canaan to the borders of the land of Canaan, just 11 days. But what should have taken 11 days took them 40 years and they had not moved forward as they could have done, as they should have done, in fellowship with God and in confidence in God.
But rather their progress has been hindered and they have not developed the way that they ought to have done. Now these things that are written in the Old Testament are written for our learning. Deuteronomy is the reiteration of the law.
The word literally means the second law, but it is simply the words which Moses has already spoken to them is being spoken again, they're being reminded of the things that have gone before. And we need that too in our experience, don't we?
We've been hearing some things this morning that we need to be reminded of. Now Mount Horeb, where we begin to read in chapter 1, Mount Horeb was the place where the covenant was given, where that covenant was formed with Israel, that covenant of law.
We relate to that, not that we are in a covenant of law, but we are in a covenant of love. We love him because he first loved us. A covenant is a two-way street, there are two parties involved. Our brother's been mentioning Hebrews and in Hebrews we read about the new covenant.
We need to remember that we are not party to the new covenant, it was made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. But that new covenant was ratified by the death of Christ and the blood of Christ, and that's where we come in and benefit from it.
Because we certainly have a benefit from the eternal redemption that he has made, and he has secured an eternal inheritance, and we have an eternal inheritance in Christ. So we benefit from that covenant that was made, we enjoy these things too.
And as a result, as we think upon those things, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that dwelleth within us. And so God has brought us into living union with himself, and we are able by the power of the Spirit to serve God, not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit.
Now we notice a lot of things here that Moses is drawing the attention of the children of Israel to, in order to encourage them to move on in and enjoy what God has for them, their inheritance in the land.
First of all, there's a call for them to review their position, to review their position. Then we want to notice that there is also a call upon them to recall previous victories that they have had, and that will have the effect of building their confidence as they are called as well to reach for the land that is before them, the prospect of the land that lies before them.
He would encourage them to move on in fellowship with God. So these things are instructive to us, and we'll take a quick look at these thoughts before we sit down. Now in chapter one here, Deuteronomy chapter one, notice in verse number five, their position.
On this side, Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law. Verse six, the Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, ye have dwelt long enough in this mount. Both of these references are emphasizing the fact that Israel needed to get located as to where they were at, and that is a call to us as well this morning, and that's the benefit of a conference like this, that you and I in our hearts might get located as to where we are at in our relationship and in our walk with the Lord.
Israel has been redeemed out of Egypt. We identify with that. We have been redeemed. They've been baptized unto Moses in the Red Sea, and we identify with that. We have enjoyed the truth of baptism. They've been brought into relationship with God, and they have known something of communion and fellowship with God as the presence of God was known in the midst of the camp.
We can identify with that. They have enjoyed the manna that God has given them, and God has fed them on the journey on the way through, and we have our daily devotions, and we enjoy the Word of God from time to time.
We identify with that. There has been the experience of them feeling the bite of the serpent, the poisonous snakes that was sent into the camp, and you and I can recall times when God dealt with us in discipline too, and we were made to feel the bitterness of the sting of sin in our experience.
We can identify with that. They have been refreshed with water from the rock. First Corinthians 10, they did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink. You and I have been feeding on Christ, and we have enjoyed refreshment from the Word, and we have enjoyed that fellowship with God in our souls.
We can identify with that. There have been times when collectively, as the people of God, they have known refreshment. In Numbers chapter 21, God said, assemble the people, and I will give them water.
So here is refreshment for the corporate gathering, the collective gathering as the people were assembled, and God gave them water on that occasion, and you and I as well. We have known the refreshment and the spiritual renewal of gathering together with the Lord's people and hearing the voice of God.
But ideally, it shouldn't take us 40 years to find the assembly. Ideally, well, we go to Acts chapter 2 for the ideal situation. The same day they were added onto the church, about 3 ,000. So Israel should have been already in the land of Israel, but they are yet in the plains of Moab 40 years later.
How much progress have we made in the things of God in our lives? Do you feel, dear brother, dear sister, and I speak to my own heart, have we made progress? Have we developed in the year that's passed?
Do we appreciate the person of Christ as we ought to from day to day? Are we a worshipping people, shining bright in testimony because of our devotion to the Lord, to the people around about? We need to review our position.
But then there's the recall as well of previous victories. In verse 4 of chapter 1, Moses is recalling how that Sihon and Og, those kings were destroyed, those giant kings that would represent the flesh and its display for, well, self-indulgence, self-display, representing to us the flesh.
And Israel has had victory over these kings. And we thank God for any measure on which we have known victory over the flesh and its power, dominating our lives and controlling how we live, what we do, what we think, and what we say, and what we feed upon.
We thank God for any measure in which we have known previous victories and in the measure in which we have known what it is, according to Galatians 5, to walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
We thank God for that. But here in Deuteronomy, we find that Moses is instructing Israel on the plains of Moab because they are not yet in the land. They are not yet in the place where God would have them to be, enjoying the inheritance to the fool that he has for them.
They're not yet there. In spite of the fact that they have enjoyed all these things, and we relate to that, we can go back and remember that we have enjoyed these things too in a spiritual sense in our experience.
But I wonder, are we yet in the place where God would have us to be? Are we fully enjoying the inheritance that God has for us in Christ? Are we content with the progress that we have made, or does our conscience prick us as to the lack of it?
Oftentimes we need to review the past and just recall how God has dealt with us and review where we are at. In the financial world, there is a thing called a reverse mortgage, and instead of making monthly payments in order to acquire a property, usually more senior people who already own their property can get the benefit of a cash flow month by month by mortgaging the property in a reverse way so that the money's coming to them and is being taken off the equity that's in the property.
And so there's the benefit of cash flow which enables them to move forward in life. You and I sometimes need to recall something of the wealth that we have enjoyed in the past. It has a benefit for us.
It encourages us to move on with confidence in God. God hasn't changed, but we change. We slow down. We become negligent. We become absorbed by other things, and our attention is drawn away by other things.
We review our past spiritually, and we thank God for the blessings that we have enjoyed, but then we review the past as well negatively, and perhaps there has become in our lives a preoccupation maybe with material things, with running the farm.
It's so demanding and so demanding upon our time and our energy that we have hardly time to read our Bible and barely make it to the meeting. Maybe we need to review these things. Maybe we've become preoccupied with other stuff, the media, the sports world, social activity, and so on.
I'm leaving it in generic terms. You can apply it to your own experience. We're so prone to become preoccupied with stuff of this world that really doesn't matter. The book of Hebrews, the writer to the Hebrews would encourage the people to whom he's writing, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, moving forward, looking on to him, lifting our sights above this world and above the things that are in it and the sin that doth so easily beset us.
Israel was to reach for the land that was before them, the land of Canaan. Now oftentimes Canaan has spoken of as heaven and come to songs and that's often the way that it's looked at. But Canaan doesn't represent heaven, really, because there was conflict in the land and they had to conquer it by putting down their enemies and so on.
But rather, would it not represent to us our inheritance, the enjoyment of our inheritance in Christ, the enjoyment of our inheritance in Christ. And that may involve warfare, war with the flesh, in order for us to enter into the enjoyment more fully of what we have in Christ.
Now Hebrews again, and our brother Scott mentioned this in chapter 4 in his prayer, the rest that God had for them in the land. You know, the reason why Israel did not move in, in confidence in God, right on into the land after coming out of Egypt, they could have made it in 11 days.
The reason why they didn't was unbelief, just plain unbelief. Is it possible for the people of God today to have unbelief in their hearts? You see, the promises of God and what he had told them, that land was like a land that's flowing with milk and honey, it just did not seem real to them.
And so they hung back. They fiddled away their time in the wilderness until they died off. It just didn't seem real to them. God had given them his word. But you remember when they came to the borders of the land, they sent in the spies.
And even though there were the good reports that came back with Joshua and Caleb, the other ten, they were scared. And instead of relying upon the word of God, they relied upon the flesh. And in spite of the evidence that God had given them of the goodness of the land, the grapes of Eskol, and so on, they were still in unbelief.
And as a result, they wandered around in the wilderness, wasted time, wasted lives. I think sometimes that's the same with us. You know, if you and I have not fully entered into the enjoyment of all that we have in Christ, the reason is simply unbelief, that we have not taken God at his word, God who cannot lie.
And because the things of God have not become as real to us as they ought to be, our love for him, our devotion to him, and our devotion to Christ is not what it ought to be. I'm sorry if this sounds negative, but I'm speaking to my own heart.
And if our love is not warm and hot toward Christ, then we will default to what nature is, and to what nature wants, and to what the flesh wants. That's our default position. So at Kadesh Barnea, they sent in those men.
But even then, they would not believe the report that was given. Chapter 8, verse 7,. For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, and fountains and depths, that spring out of the valleys and the hills.
It was a good land. It was a land that was well watered. And the land that God has given to us, our inheritance in Christ, is a well-watered land. There's the Spirit of God, and there is the Word of God, and all the wealth of that Word, and the Spirit of God to lead us into it, and to enjoy it in our souls.
Let's make sure that we give adequate time in our day to the reading of the Word of God. There is a supply for every thirsty soul in that land. And when we think of the fact that Christ is glorified, he's at the right hand of God, and there is truth relating to him, and to his person, that satisfies the soul.
Now, none but Christ can satisfy. We sing it in the gospel, do we believe it as believers? Is that all we need, Christ? Or do we need a whole bunch of what this world has to offer, too? A good land flowing with milk and honey.
When we're enjoying Christ in our souls, he fills the hungry soul with good things. They were given the old corn of the land to eat, corn that they didn't have to labor for. And God has given us an abundant supply in Christ, and we didn't have to labor for it at all, but simply rest in him.
Houses to dwell in. You think of the shelter and the security that we have in Christ, that we can enjoy in Christ. Give on to my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. No man is able to pluck them out of my hand.
My father which giveth him me is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one, and we have that eternal bond, that link, that cannot be broken in Christ.
Houses to dwell in. Fence cities. Security. Fence cities would remind us of boundaries. You know, the boundaries of the Word of God were not given for our misery. The boundaries in the Word of God and the prohibitions in it are for our blessing and for our security.
Fence cities. And then there was the largeness of the land, that expansive territory to enjoy, and it was theirs to have and to hold. Every place where they would place their foot, that said, I have given you, and God has given to us all the breadth of the truth of his Word to explore, to go in for, to enjoy, to feed upon, and to benefit from.
In chapter 9 and verse 6 we would read, Understand therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess for thy righteousness, for thou art a stiff-necked people. And we would remind our hearts that it is not our performance that has earned us a place to enjoy Christ.
Not our performance. But God has given it to us gratuitously, out of his grace, out of the rich abundance of his grace. The fullness of all that we have in Christ, our very need of holiness and of righteousness and of virtue, ought to highlight in our hearts our need of Christ.
And the fact that God is perfectly supplied, all of that in Christ, perfectly supplied. So as we enjoy him in our souls, we will find that need met. So let us this morning, as we just think on these things, let's go in for the things of Christ.
Let us leave Moab behind, and that place where we have lingered for too long, but move on in progress appreciating more and more our position of being in Christ. The wealth of the resources that God has given to us in his Word.
We have to acknowledge that there is much land yet to be possessed. But as we move into it, we'll find that our character will become increasingly that of worshipper. And our testimony will shine bright to the nations that are around, to folks that are looking on.
Our brother has touched upon some of those things this morning in testimony, how we dress and how we address God and so on. That's a testimony to the world. It's a statement in our culture of the reverence and respect and devotion of our hearts to God.
So we trust that the Lord will bless his Word to our hearts.