Open the Bible

Colin Smith: The only faith you have ever experienced, if you're honest about it, is a faith that leaves you wandering around, a faith that experiences God's provision but a faith that is not doing anything to advance the purpose of God in the world. You're a believer, but your life has no defining mission.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith. I'm Steve Hiller, and Colin, I'm going to guess that we have a number of people listening today who would say, "Yeah, I can identify with that. I know I'm a believer, but right now I don't feel like I have a defining mission. I don't feel like I have that passion."

Colin Smith: Yeah, just stuck and kind of going round in circles, not getting anywhere. And you know, you're not the first to experience that because we actually find a story very like this in the Bible. We're in the book of Deuteronomy where God's people have been wandering round in circles in the desert for 40 years.

And in the book of Deuteronomy, God is preparing them as the people of faith to become people with a mission. There's work for them to do. There's a Promised Land for them to enter. So, this story that we're looking at in the Bible is about how you can move forward. Here you are, a person with a faith, but what have you known of God's purpose, God's mission?

How can you move forward from a past that has bound you to a future that is going to be marked by the blessing of God? That's what the book of Deuteronomy is all about, and it's full of jewels of God's grace for our lives today.

Steve Hiller: Well, we're going to begin at the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy. We're in chapter one, so join us there as we continue a message, "Make a New Beginning." Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: I'm so glad so many of you have Bibles here in this service. Will you look with me at Deuteronomy chapter one and verse six because we're going to take a quick overview here and it's good to see it in front of you. Moses is now giving an overview of what happened after they came to Mount Sinai. That's, of course, where they were given the Ten Commandments.

And then chapter one and verse six, "The Lord our God said to us at Horeb (that's Sinai), 'You have stayed here long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance to the hill country of the Amorites.'" God says, verse eight, "I've given you this land. You're to go and you're to take possession of it." So, having received the law of God and having received the sacrifices, it's time for them to move forward.

And Moses tells us what happens here. Chapter one, verse nine, they appoint leaders. You see that section there, if you have the church Bible, the appointment of leaders. In other words, they got organized. Chapter one, verse 19, they sent out spies. They did the research. They found out what it was going to take, what was lying ahead of them, what it meant for them to go into the land of Canaan.

And you know the story, I'm sure many of you, in chapter one and verse 26, that was where fear set in. The people were unwilling to go up. Verse 26, they began to grumble in their tents. Verse 27, verse 28, they said, "What can we do? Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart." The full story of what happened at that moment is in Numbers in chapter 14.

Did you know that God's people were so unhappy they were actually talking about stoning Moses and Aaron? And at that moment, God steps in. The glory of the Lord comes into the camp and God says, Numbers chapter 14 and verse 23, "Not one of these people, the ones who've grumbled, the ones who've complained, the ones who've been talking about stoning Moses, the ones who've acted in unbelief, not one of them will see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it."

So, Deuteronomy chapter two tells us the story of what happened next. You know the story. The people began wandering in the desert, and it went on for an entire generation because God had said nobody who's treated me with contempt, nobody who is unbelieving is going to enter into this Promised Land. So, here are God's people. They can't go back to Egypt and they can't go forward to Canaan. So they're stuck.

That's what the story was about: God's people being stuck, going round and round and round with God providing for them and God's kindness being showered on them, but nothing of God's mission advancing through their lives. Chapter two and verse 14, 38 years passed. Think of that. And by then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them. Verse 15, the Lord's hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.

And when the last of these fighting men of that generation had died, verse 16, God tells Moses to move forward. Moses recounts what happened next. They fought two battles against a king called Sihon in chapter two and verse 24, and then another king called Og. And these two great victories brought them right to the threshold of the Promised Land.

So, God's people now, at last, after all these years and after a wasted generation, they are on the verge of entering into the purpose that God has for them. They're ready to cross the river Jordan. They're right on the edge of the Promised Land, and they set up camp and Moses speaks to them. And what he said is the book of Deuteronomy. You see, that first bit is just all a flashback.

So if you go back to chapter one and verse one, chapter one and verse one, these are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of Jordan, just on the verge of the Promised Land. By now, verse three, it is the 40th year since the Exodus because there's been all these years wasted wandering around. And it is the first day, notice verse three, of the 11th month, 11-1.

So if they were using our calendar, which obviously they were not, but if they were using our calendar, that's November the 1st, right? We know from the book of Joshua chapter four and verse 19 that they entered into the Promised Land on the 10th day of the first month, January 10. So, you have this period of time from November 1 to January 10. I make that 70 days. Is that right?

This is the story of 70 days in preparation for God's people entering into that which he was calling them to do. Deuteronomy records what God has taught his people during the countdown to the entrance to the Promised Land. It had taken them 40 years to get there. But now at this critical moment, God prepares a new generation to grasp in a new way the challenge and the opportunity that now lies ahead of them.

And that's why in chapter one and verse six, as we saw, Moses begins with a flashback. He says, "Look, I've got to tell you the story of the last 40 years so you understand the significance of the moment that we're at. Because your parents were here a generation ago. And let me tell you this, if they had believed, you would have been born in Canaan. But they were full of fear, so you were born in the desert. And you've never known anything else in your life.

"But now God is calling you. Now God is placing you on the very ground where they stood and where they made a wretched decision. He's calling you to be a people of faith. This is your moment of opportunity. This is your moment of destiny." And he says that between chapter one and verse six and chapter three and the end of that chapter. And then he goes on to prepare them for what it means to enter into the fullness of the purpose of God at such a moment in life.

Can you see why I'm drawn to the book of Deuteronomy? It's about believers on the cusp of something new. It's about the church that has been wandering, embracing its mission. That's what this book is about. Audience: who's it for? Kings, all of God's people, and those who've forgotten the Lord. Storyline: what's it about? It's about God's people coming to a critical moment and what it takes for them to embrace the mission to which God has called them.

Third question: application. How does this speak to us today? Let me put it this way because it's helped me to think about it in this frame. This book is really about people with a faith becoming people with a mission. And you could write over it, what's this book about? It's about what it takes for people with a faith to become people with a mission.

You see, the generation that had lived and died in the desert, they believed God. They believed in him. They had experienced him. They had gone through the miracle of the Exodus. But as people who believed in God, they did not act in faith towards God. They acted in unbelief. Warren Wiersbe has a lovely comment on this, three words: unbelief wastes time. Isn't that good? Unbelief wastes time. A journey that should have taken 11 days, according to Moses here, ends up taking 40 years.

How many years of your life have been wasted in unbelief? How long have you been a person who has a faith in God but no real sense of what your mission in life actually is? Unbelief wastes time.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Make a New Beginning," part of our series called "Take Two: The Power of a Fresh Start." And if you ever miss a broadcast, you can listen at our website. Just come to openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen if you have the Open the Bible app, and you'll find that for free at your App Store. Well, let's get back to our message. Again, we're in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter one. Here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Unbelief wastes time. And God did so much for these people. Remember, for 40 years he's provided manna every day. He's provided, like he's providing for you. But while God did so much for them, the tragedy of these lives is that they did so very little for him. And so as they come to the verge of the River Jordan, the great question that Moses must address with this new generation who've never known anything different but this sort of vague belief that doesn't involve a mission.

What he's got to address is how can the people of God who have a faith become the people of God who have a mission? How can you move from being a person with a faith to being a person with a mission? How does a church move from being a church with a faith to being a church with a mission? That's what it's about.

And to answer that, we're going to be answering that question throughout the fall as we go through this book of Deuteronomy because that's what Moses is doing as he speaks to them over these days immediately before entering into the Promised Land. But let me just say two things today as we're setting our course and taking the big picture in.

What's it going to take for a person with a faith to become a person with a mission? What's it going to take for you not to waste more time in unbelief, even though you believe in God and have a faith? Two things. Number one, you have to break free from being defined by your past. You have to. If you're going to move from being a directionless person with a faith to a purposeful person with a mission, you have to break free from being defined by your past.

Think about these folks who are standing on the verge of Jordan. They have all been born in the desert. They don't know anything else. So to try and make it more specific, picture yourself as someone, say, in your late 30s. And you were born in the desert. And now you have your own children, your own young family, and they were born in the desert as well.

And God has been good to you and he's provided manna for you every day for all these years of your life. You've never known anything else. You believe him and you're grateful to him for everything he's done for you, but your whole life has been shaped by the instincts and choices of your parents who were so cautious and so afraid of risk. And while they believed in God, they did not obviously act with faith.

And so the only faith you have ever experienced, if you're honest about it, is a faith that leaves you wandering around, a faith that experiences God's provision but a faith that is not doing anything to advance the purpose of God in the world. You're a believer, but your life has no defining mission. Now there will be some of us here right now and you'll be saying, "That's me. I've been brought up with this directionless, vague kind of faith. I'm a believer, but I've no real sense of purpose or direction or calling from God in my life."

If your life's going to count for God, you have got to break free from being defined by that past, from thinking that simply believing in God and experiencing his provision is all that there is. And then there's a second challenge, and it is that you have to overcome the fear of the future. You have to overcome the fear of the future if you are to move from being a person of faith to a person with a mission.

God was calling these people to do something that none of them had ever done before. See, in this book we're going to read Moses talking about houses. How do you live in a house when all you've ever done all your life is camped under canvas? What is a house? He's going to talk to them about planting crops and raising harvests. How do you, where do you begin in planting crops and raising harvests where all you've ever done for your food is gather the manna that God places on the floor of the desert every morning? What are crops? How do you plant them?

So as these people are standing on the verge of the River Jordan, Moses is beginning to speak to them about things that are beyond their experience. You know this, whether it be going to a new school, whether it be engaging in a new chapter of life, or perhaps you find yourself on your own or perhaps you find yourself in a new marriage and everything is new and different and there are all kinds of fears that come with what you have not experienced before.

And you have to overcome your fear of the future if you're to move from being a person with a directionless faith to a person with a sense of mission and purpose for God. God is leading these folks to a place they have never been and a life they have never known. And when you move into something you have never experienced before, there will always be fears. You know that and I know that too. They have to be faced.

So that's where the people were. I hope you're feeling now, yeah, I want to read the book of Deuteronomy because I want to know what is the answer to these things. Can we break free from the past or will the past always shape us? Can I overcome my fears of the future or will these fears always hold me back? That's the question.

And so Moses gets up to speak on the edge of the Jordan to a community of believers who have been defined by the past, are afraid of the future, people with a faith but not with a mission. And what does he speak to them about? Two things. He speaks to them about the call of God. Because when God calls you, that gives you the power to break free from the defining patterns of the past.

And Moses speaks to them about the love of God. Because it is the love of God when it pours into your own soul that empowers you to face the fears that otherwise would hold me back. Remember, it is perfect love that casts out fear. And that's what Moses talks to them about in this book: the call of God, the love of God. And when these people get a sense of God's calling on their lives and when they get a sense of the uniqueness of God's covenant love for them, 70 days later they move into the land of Canaan.

So folks, this book has everything to do with us and it has so much to say to us. The very last thing I want to say is simply this: if you run the Bible story forward from this time over 1,000, over 1,300 years or so to the time of Jesus with his disciples on the night that he was betrayed. And you picture this group of men and they're sitting round Jesus, what do you have there?

Men with a faith but not yet with a defining mission. Believers who are not yet making a significant difference to the world around them. And on the night that he's betrayed, what does Jesus do? John tells us this, John 13, he shows these men the full extent of his love because the place is full of fear. He says to them, "You ought not to be afraid. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world." There's the love that casts out fear.

And then he goes to the cross. And they're so discouraged, and the talk among them is all about going back to what's safe and familiar. "Let's go back fishing, let's retreat, let's do what we're familiar with, let's go back to where we were before." And the risen Christ comes into the room and he breathes on them and he says, "Now you receive the Holy Spirit." And then he says, "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you."

And people with a faith become people with a mission when the love of Christ enables you to overcome fear and the call of Christ breaks you free from being defined by your past.

Steve Hiller: Lord, deliver us from being defined by our past, empower us to face the future, and move us to be people on a mission. You're listening to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith, and our message is called "Make a New Beginning," the first message in our series "Take Two: The Power of a Fresh Start." It's really a study of the book of Deuteronomy.

So think about this. Maybe you grew up in a Christian family or a household of faith and you know that you've been shaped by the faith and the tenets and maybe the fears of your parents. But now God is calling you and it's your moment of opportunity and you've got to be ready. Well, that's what this book Deuteronomy is all about. It's God's word to people on the threshold of something new.

And maybe you're on the threshold of something new in your life and a series like this would be an encouragement to you, or maybe to pass along to somebody you know who is going into a season of new. Ask about how you can get a copy of "Take Two: The Power of a Fresh Start" when you call us at 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365, or you'll find ordering information online at openthebible.org.

Well, Open the Bible is listener-supported. We're able to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching because of your generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a copy of Pastor Colin's new 30-day devotional book called Grow in Faith. And Colin, who is this book for?

Colin Smith: Well, it's for everyone who wants to grow in their faith, and hopefully that's every Christian believer. You know, the disciples at one point said to Jesus, "Lord, increase our faith." And they'd been following Jesus for some time when they said it. They'd left everything in order to follow him, but they came to a place at one point where they realized, "We're going to need to grow in faith."

And I think every Christian comes to a place like that. You know, I've been trusting Jesus for some time, but now I'm facing circumstances where I'm really going to have to trust him. "Lord, increase my faith." So this 30-day devotional book is designed to help and encourage growing in faith. I have loved working on this and I'm very excited about the opportunity of sharing it with you.

Steve Hiller: Well, we'd love to share a copy with you as our thanks for your financial support this month. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365 or openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time. Open the Bible Weekend is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith: Hi, this is Pastor Colin again, and I want you to know about Watch Your Life. Watch Your Life is a six-session course that is geared for leaders but accessible to every believer. The six sessions will show you how to grow in godliness, how to feed on Christ, how to pray in the Spirit, how to battle temptation, exercise faith, and discern God's will. There are questions at the end of each session and you can use them on your own or you can discuss them with a friend. For more information, visit openthebible.org/courses. That's openthebible.org/courses.