Introduction Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-4) God has prepared for us a special inheritance since the creation of the world (see also Matthew 25:34). Not only is this an inheritance that we can expect sometime in the future, but it is one which we can take possession of and enjoy even right now! It is God’s intention that we claim, receive and enjoy our "promised land" to its fullest. However, many of us are being denied the joy of that inheritance. We make promises, but...; We have plans, but...; We are excited about a new mission, but...; We are blessed, but... When we look at the "buts" in our lives, we can see that the devil is actively trying to corrupt our mind, heart and spirit in his attempts to deny us our rightful inheritance. Let us look at some of the "buts" that appear in scripture to see how the devil used the same strategies on Abram and his descendants to deny them their promised land and perhaps learn some lessons on how to overcome them as we move into this new year. A. BUT when they got to Haran… (Distractions) In Genesis 15:7, just before the Lord made his covenant with Abram, He said that He had brought Abram out of Ur to give him the promised land in Canaan. However, many of us will remember that Abram was in Haran, when he was called by God to leave for Canaan (Gen 12:1). Why is there this disparity? To understand the difference, we need to go back two verses to Gen 11:31. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. (Genesis 11:31) The word "but" suggests that it was an unintended outcome. It seemed that Terah broke short his planned journey. Why? We don't know. But it was clear that it was only part of the journey that God had intended to bring Abram on. Was Abram's calling in Gen 12:1 really to get him to go back to his unfinished business? Throughout history, many great people have set out on important missions for God, only to be side-tracked by distractions around them. What about us? Have we been side-tracked in our original mission? Do we have unfinished business? DISTRACTIONS BREAK OUR FOCUS AND DISRUPT OUR JOURNEY. We need to regain our first love, restore our focus and resume our unfinished business!
B. BUT the People who live there are powerful… (Fear) We now move a half century forward from the time God made His covenant with Abraham. By now Abraham's descendants are indeed many. And they are at the edge of the land promised to their forefather. This was the moment they waited hundreds of years for. But... instead of going ahead to seize their treasure, they sent some spies into Canaan. [The spies] 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. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large… We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."( Numbers 13:27-28, 33) After 400 years of slavery and 40 years of roaming in the desert…. the Israelites were cheated of their prize! Not by God or by the enemy, but by themselves. How very sad. Apart from just two of those present on that fateful day, none of the others, including Moses, ever made it to the promised land. All of them perished in the desert, their dream shattered. What about us? Have we also been cheated of OUR inheritance? FEAR PREVENTS US FROM TAKING POSSESSION AND ROBS US OF OUR INHERITANCE! We need to take courage and draw strength from our Lord and in faith and obedience, seize possession of our promised land.
C. BUT what I hate I do… (Sin) So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. Deut 5:32- 33 The next generation of Israelites finally did get their promised land. Did the story just end there with "they lived happily ever after"? No. Even as they gained their inheritance, the people were warned to be careful and to keep from straying. Why? Is it because God wanted to limit their joy? Certainly Not. God knows that because the devil lurks that they needed to be wary and stay on the path of safety so that they can prosper and prolong their days! God always thinks about us and cares for us. He not only gives us our inheritance, but shows us how to enjoy it to the fullest! We have been called to righteousness - to be a holy people, set apart for a special purpose and to receive a special reward. But we all know it is not easy to be "righteous". Paul knows that very well. He wrote in Romans 7:15: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Romans 7:15) The devil not only tries to distract our MIND or put fear in our HEARTS, he also tries to destroy us SPIRITUALLY by deceiving us into sin. All of us here know the spiritual consequences of our physical sin. We know how it divides us from God and leads us slowly but surely on the path to death. Yet all of us struggle with sin. Beware of two common lies that the devil often throws at us: 1. Since there is no way you can avoid sin completely, just avoid the really bad ones. (ie - go ahead and sin a little...) 2. Because of your sins, you are defiled and can no longer be reconciled with God. (ie - you cannot be forgiven and are doomed) How terrible! If we allow such thoughts to enter our minds, then we are in a no-win situation. Like the “Heads I win, Tails you lose” ploy. Not only that, the devil uses sin to make us HATE ourselves. SIN PITS US AGAINST OURSELVES AND KILLS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. Don’t fall into this trap. Look at Romans 7:21-25 again – this is the truth. All of us struggle with sin. Paul did. And God knows that. However, even as Paul calls out to be rescued, he acknowledges that Christ is his saviour! Because Jesus has overcome sin and its penalty and has made this means available to us, we too can and must overcome ALL sins. And it is not true that God has abandoned us. In fact He desires that all of us, each one of us, be reconciled with Him.
Conclusion We are 25 days into a new year. Let us be courageous, Let us be strong as we face 2004 and all it brings us. Let us claim this New Year for the Lord. Let us as a church, claim our inheritance and deny the devil his attempts to distract our mind, put fear in our heart or to tempt and deceive us from being true to our Lord.
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Church of the Ascension, 13
Francis Thomas Drive, Singapore 359339 |