Wilderness Preparation, by Pastor Kenneth Stewart
The following bullet points are HIGHLIGHTS of Pastor Stewart’s sermon [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine]:
- INTRO: Psalm 90 linked to Joshua and entering into the Promised Land
- Israel was to go into the land of Canaan and establish it as a God fearing land, thereafter launching the mandate of the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring the gospel to the world
- We too, have a calling to conquer the land that is around us for Christ, bringing the knowledge of the gospel to others
- Therefore, we have things to learn from Israel
- They failed initially, to enter into the Promised Land because of UNBELIEF (see Numbers 13 and 14); 10 of the 12 spies sent to search out the land of Canaan, did not believe God that He had given them the land and would be with them when they entered to take it; only Joshua and Caleb believed
- The Israelite camp sided with the 10 unbelieving spies; God punished their unbelief by commanding them to remain in the wilderness until all the unbelievers older than 20 died there
- Their 40 year journey in the wilderness was to teach them to trust God with faith that would surmount obstacles, keep His commands, conquer the land via His power
- After 40 years, Israel was ready to enter into the Promised Land; they had learned from God’s chastening of their unbelief
- What is your position today? Are you a Christian who has been chastened for unbelief? Have you learned from your chastening?
- Are you in a fit state to conquer the land around you for Christ or do you need more chastening?
- To answer those questions, you must spiritually assess yourself [for help with that, see Categories, Jonathan Edwards, 3 posts on Glimpses into His Spiritual Life]
- DISCUSSION OF PSALM 90: Moses response to God’s chastening and the wilderness wandering
- The Psalm consists of two parts: Moses’ meditations on God’s chastening of Israel and Israel’s response; prayer
- The following prayer petitions derive from his meditations on him God and the people: Come back to us; teach us; let your beauty be upon us; establish our works…
- Prayer works best when it is done after meditation on a problem, topic, relationship…
- Another example of such prayer from Psalm 19
- Let our prayers be so: fewer requests and more meditation
- Psalm 90:1 A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
- The above written by a man who thought he’d be in the Promised Land quickly, but wandered in the wilderness of unbelief for 40 years and lived in a tent
- Yet, God was their shelter in those wanderings; the wilderness cannot be a Christian’s home, except under the wings of God as in Psalm 91
- Verse 1 also contrasts the greatness of our eternal God to finite man
- The importance of realizing one’s mortality, frailty, as Moses herein does; one cannot live rightly unless he knows that he is dying, why he is dying, and how imminent his death is
- The nature of death considered via several meaningful metaphors
- Psalm 90:5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:
- How is humanity like a sleep? A sleep is something one falls into and when he wakes up he wonders where it went – as one ages, he sees that as an apt description of life’s brevity
- 90:3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
- God is the one who calls everyone back to the dust; not chance; change; or a process of evolution…
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
- God did not tell Moses to lead Israel into the wilderness that they might learn; He said Israel would be in the wilderness until everyone over the age of 20 died
- Some say that a funeral, in itself, is a sermon; surely, when anyone dies, we should receive that as a sermon. [As in Ecclesiastes 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.]
- Pastor spent several minutes on what causes unbelief and the behaviors of unbelievers who try to “dress themselves up” so they will be acceptable to God; only trusting God will provide one with the courage, strength…to conquer the land around him for Christ ,via Christ’s strength
- Not trusting God, unbelief, is the cause of most of our sins; that is the sin that must be dealt with first
- Moses was banished to the wilderness after he tried to lead Israel out of Egypt in his own strength; he was called again after God spent 40 years educating him in humility; thereafter, he saw many of God’s wondrous judgments, the parting of the Red Sea…
- Moses prayed that the new generation rising up would possess the trust in God, courage…to conquer the land for Christ
- Christians today need to deal with their unbelief before they are mourning it on their deathbeds
- On that basis, Moses began to pour out his petitions: 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom
- Moses realized that his days were numbered and that it was a serious mistake to waste them on self-indulgence…instead of working for God
- Joshua’s life is a fine example to consider; that trusting and obeying God leads to success because God gives grace to obey: Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
The following link is to a post in this blog that contains a 7 minute video by Dr. John Piper about the battle against unbelief / the fight of faith. It is extremely beneficial and worthy of hearing. (It is the first video of 2.)
https://sheeplywolves.com/sexual-sin-battling-unbelief-the-fight-of-faith-from-ask-pastor-john/
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS:
***The category of Jonathan Edwards contains 3 posts about Glimpses into His Spiritual Journey. Those posts offer much help in how to deal with daily sin via self-observation and assessment via journaling. He was a giant of the Christian faith and his ideas are extremely valuable to anyone who wants to walk with God.
***The category of John Owen contains a four part series by Dr. Mayfield wherein he explains Owen’s book on mortification of sin via 8 videos, each of which is about 5 minutes in length.