Let’s Break Camp And Move On! Series

Subject: "Let’s Break Camp and Move On!"

Text: Deuteronomy 1:3-8 (NLT)

“But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the LORD had commanded him to say. This took place after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth. While the Israelites were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River, Moses carefully explained the LORD’s instructions as follows. “When we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.”

Introduction: Israel continued in the wilderness of Sinai for the space of almost a year, in which time they received their law, erected their tabernacle, numbered their people, set up their standards, and encamped by them in the order prescribed. They were now sufficiently prepared to march onward in great order. It was God's purpose that the Israelites should enter into the land of Canaan from their encampment at Kadesh-barnea, But they were hindered by their unbelief. Now, it was time to possess the land!

A.W. Tozer, one of the great preachers in Church history, preached a sermon from this text entitled “Rut, Rot or Revival”. Tozer maintains that if most church were asked, “What is the worst enemy the church faces today?” most would come up with the wrong answer. Tozer says, “The treacherous enemy facing the church of Jesus Christ today is the dictatorship of the routine. When the routine becomes ‘lord’ in the life of the church, programs are organized, and the prevailing conditions are accepted as normal. Anyone can predict next Sunday’s service and what will happen. The enemy called “Routine” still seems to be the deadliest threat in the church today. When we come to the place where everything can be predicted and nobody expects anything unusual from God, we are in a rut. The routine dictates, and we can tell not only what will happen next Sunday, but what will occur next month and, if things do not improve, what will take place next year. Then we have reached the place where what has been, determines what is, and what is, determines what will be.”

Falling prey to this treacherous enemy does not happen all at once. It happens in progressive Stages. The first stage Tozer calls the routine. But too many are caught up in the routine, repeating without feeling, without meaning, without wonder and without any happy surprises or expectations.” Tozer then says, “We go one step further and come to what he calls a rut, which is bondage to the routine.” It has been said that “a rut is a grave with both ends kicked out.” The third stage is the most horrible of all, which Tozer calls “rot”. This is best explained as the psychology of non-expectation. Rot takes over and spiritual stiffness sets in, which is an inability to visualize anything better, a lack of desire for improvement.”

This attitude can happen in a church, a family and in an individual. This message is important as we move into a new year, a new season, and as we face the future. Ecclesiastes 3:1 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:"

We are people of destiny and purpose. Everything we have been through has been preparing us for the special purpose of God. God has been ordering our steps through each stage of ministry. We should learn to enjoy every stage because ministry and life have distinct stages. There is an infancy stage of faith: where we spend time learning whose we are, who our Father is, how to please Him, and we even learn to talk the language of faith. There is a youth stage: where everything is provided for us; we are spoon fed the word of God; we take God’s blessing for granted; we must learn to deal with our selfishness and must start to make attitude adjustments. There is an adult stage: we learn the responsibilities of adulthood. We are responsible for keeping the laws of God; engaging in spiritual warfare; enlisting in the army of God and learning to make intelligent decisions.