Bunbury
Wed pm
12/01/11
“Man Vs Wild”
Intro: *** The survival expert & ex British SAS soldier Bear Grylls has b/co famous for his series of reality survival documentaries where he is dropped from the air into remote locations of hostile territory w/ the mission of surviving & finding his way out.
Although the locations & circumstances are always different the theme is always the same – a message of survival, a message subtly communicated to his awed audiences that you can survival anything!
Obviously some people take that message seriously!
Just last week, Jan 4th 2011 14 year old Jake Denham got lost on a snow covered peak, but thanks to his avid viewing of Bear’s survival shows, he knew exactly what to do to keep warm and safe.
Jake was separated from his parents during a skiing trip, and spent around nine hours outside in temperatures that dipped to minus 17°c.
However, thanks to having seen Bear do something similar, he built himself a snow cave and later, when it got light, he used another one of Bear’s tips and looked for ski tracks on Mount Oregon which would lead him to safety.
Thank God this young man learned some tricks about surviving in the wild.
But being in the wild of the great outdoors is not the only wild you’re ever going to have to face.
The rich allegory of the O/T gives us the history of the people of God coming out of Egypt & journeying into the promised land.
That’s a pict of us as modern day believers ..... coming out of Egypt (sin) & journeying on our way to the promised land (heaven).
But along the way there is going to be some wilderness to be encountered – we might call it the wild!
Wild b/c it’s going to test your ability to survive & even thrive while you are in the wilderness.
In the text we’re about to read we see two groups of people ..... those who are struggling / not doing well / complaining etc.
The other group of people we can clearly identify are those who in spite of the harsh conditions are winning, not just as an army but in their own lives / hearts / minds.
The story teaches us that you don’t have to have pristine conditions to be able to thrive as a Christian.
I want to preach a sermon called ‘Man Vs Wild’.
Text: Numbers 21:1-7 (NKJV) 1The king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. 2So Israel made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” 3And the LORD listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah. 4Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
Numbers 21:21-26 (NKJV) 21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.” 23But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24Then Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the people of Ammon; for the border of the people of Ammon was fortified. 25So Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages. 26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon.
# 1. Life in the wilderness.
A. One thing you can count on is that the wilderness is going to be a part of your journey.
a. The O/T story from Exodus to Joshua gives us a panorama of the journey of the believer.
i. The thought conveyed is coming out of Egypt by a God of miracles & trusting Him as we pass through the wilderness.
ii. For God’s people the wilderness was a harsh environment filled w/ all kinds of threats / dangers.
iii. After the miracle of salvation there is a wilderness to pass through w/ enemies & dangers to confront.
b. Think about some of the spiritual wilderness experiences of your journey.
i. The wilderness or relationships – facing your friends / family / workmates / neighbours w/ the change that God has bought about ¬– they are often bewildered!
ii. There is going to be the call of the wild i/s that you are going to have to face .......
iii. Just b/c you get saved it doesn’t mean that every lust / passion / evil desire is going to suddenly disappear.
iv. There are habits you’re going to do hand to hand combat w/ .... old sinner friends w/ the memory of good times / sinful delights.
v. Not least of all the challenge of living a godly life in an environment that seems to do everything to discourage you to live right.
B. But not everything in the wilderness is bad.
a. One of the mistakes we can make is to think that it’s all bad.
i. But we need to u/s that wilderness is a place filled w/ the diversity of opportunity & threats.
ii. In other words ..... God can teach us to capitalise on the opportunities & survive the threats.
b. It’s the wild & untamed wildernesses of life that that proves what we really are.
Deuteronomy 8:2 (NKJV) 2And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
i. Most of us don’t have a good time in the wild b/c we are looking for the wrong things.
ii. What we’re looking for is 5 star living at Kuta Beach ..... we don’t just want this on holidays – we want to live there permanently!
c. Life isn’t going to be a beach!
i. A lot of life is going to be the wild ..... toughing it out / learning to survive, digging deep in harsh conditions / denying your flesh.
ii. Think about the harsh conditions we find God’s people in as we look at our text ......
Numbers 21:14 (NKJV) 14Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD:
iii. Think about that .... life was such a struggle for these people that – God kept a book that recorded all the wars they were involved in!
iv. Life for these people was one battle after the other ..... fighting for their survival / existence.
v. And every battle they were fighting their minds were filled w/ challenges / struggles / doubts / can I win, should I stay!
vi. Listen to how they were thinking .....
Vs 4-5. ....and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
vii. Sound familiar?
# 2. Wilderness survival.
A. If you are going to survive in the wilderness you’ll have to focus.
a. When people are lost & survive in the desert / jungle it’s b/c they had a focus.
*** Aron Ralston was catapulted into fame when the story of his experience b/ca known after his 120 hour ordeal. The book he wrote about his experience in the Utah desert “Between a Rock & A Hard Place” b/ca a best seller. Aron Ralston fell while on a wilderness hike & found himself w/ his arm wedged between a boulder & a rock wall. Unable to free his arm he knew that he could well die in the desert b/4 someone found him. So he did something that few people would consider doing in the same circ – he cut off his right arm w/ a blunt, dirty knife to free himself & go to get help.
His arm was never re-attached, today he has a prosthetic arm in its place. But the tough decision came down to one all impt issue – focus!
He realised that it was either his arm or his life, he couldn’t keep both, focus drove him to cut through his own flesh & amputate his arm!
i. Now think about this ..... as we’ve seen there are two different types of people in the camp of Israel.
ii. There are those whose entire thinking is consumed w/ how bad things are – the heat / flies / lack of comfort / food / bareness of the environment etc.
iii. Then – those who in the same environment have learned to be satisfied where God has them.
iv. The spiritual parallel isn’t too difficult to draw ...... Contentment is something you’re going to have to work at & it comes through being focused.
Philippians 4:11 (NKJV) 11...... I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
v. When people are miserable its b/c they have focused on all the things that make them miserable!
b. Focus brings about a sifting in our thinking – people die in the wild!
i. What focus does is that it allows us to see what is crucial to our survival & what is not.
ii. One of the basic principles people are taught when they have a breakdown in a remote area is ..... don’t wander off from your vehicle w/o water – a simple life & death focus.
iii. The same danger exists spiritually ..... when you find y/s in the wild you have to focus on the opportunities that will keep you alive & threats that can kill you.
B. You don’t survive w/o a fight.
a. Any survival story you hear there is going to involve a fight somewhere.
i. When you find y/s in the wild the question that needs to be asked is ......What are you going to do about surviving?
*** The latest mass killing in the U.S. gave rise to a story of determined survival. 74-year-old Colonel Bill Badgers, was grazed in the head by a bullet fired during the rampage. Badgers said he heard 18 to 20 shots and when the gunfire stopped he stood up, not knowing the shooter was right beside him. That's when another man, Joe Zamudio & Bill Badgers tackled the gunman to the ground & held him down for five to 10 minutes until authorities arrived.
ii. Here’s a 74 year old war veteran who said “If I’m going to survive I’ve got to fight!”
iii. Some of you are veterans .... been around for a while, been in some battles but you won keep winning w/o fighting!
b. The devil wants to overcome you during a wilderness journey .... what are you going to do?
Vs 1. 1The king of Arad, the Canaanite, ...... fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners.
i. Have you been taken prisoner in the wilderness? No longer fighting / praying / witnessing / believing / giving / outreaching / fellowshipping etc.
ii. You’ve got to u/s that in the wild there are demonic thoughts that want to control your thinking & actions.
Vs 5. 5And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”
iii. There was a demonic element to their thinking where all they could see was how difficult it was in the wild rather than how God provided for them.
iv. God gave them a cloud to protect them from the sun / fire for warmth & light at night, free bread, meat & water ...... what happened to their thinking?
C. In the wilderness it’s a simple matter – fight or fail.
a. Many Christians fail simply b/c they won’t fight any longer.
i. The contrast to the moaning / whinging complainers are the men / women of God who remained faithful.
ii. Moses / Joshua / Caleb were men who kept believing God in the wilderness .......
Vs 6-7. 6So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
iii. Rebellion always surfaces in the wild but what’s interesting is that they knew where to turn to when things got really bad ...... to the one who was still praying & seeking God!
iv. Moses was still praying / obeying / seeking the will of God even during his journey through the wild.
v. Are you still praying & seeking God in the wild? Or are you doing a token 10? You’re kidding y/s about your future survival unless you are spending serious time in prayer.
*** We had a guy in our church in Suva who would come in just b/4 service began, bow his head in prayer for 1 minute & then get up & play guitar! Then he would rail on those who weren’t praying.
b. The only other option to survival is death.
*** A 66-year-old Austrian woman lived for almost a year with the corpse of her 85-year-old partner. Police found the remains of the man in the couple's small vacation cottage in the eastern village of St Andrae in Zicksee, swaddled in blankets with the dwelling reeking of his decomposition.
i. How could anyone live in a house w/ a decomposing body?
ii. Don’t know but ..... God’s people in the midst of a wilderness experience a content to just continue w/ the decomposing corpse of their Christianity.
# 3. Winning in the wilderness.
A. The good news is that you can win in the wilderness.
a. When people live in the wilderness for a prolonged period of time they learn to make it work for them.
i. Some have discovered that it’s not such a bad place to be & they have learned to make it work for them.
*** The Mormons in the early days when they were growing in number came across a lot of opposition. They were driven out of Missouri & trekked across to what is now modern day Salt Lake City. They settled in the area that is today known as Salt Lake City. They realised that the plains would of the wilderness of the future Salt Lake City would beyond grow all the food they wanted but the problem was water. An ideal location was chosen some twenty miles away for a dam & the plan to build canals began. Each 1o foot section of canal would be dug by hand w/ 3inches fall over the 10 feet to create the right flow for the water.
By 1865 two hundred & seventy seven canals w/ a total length of 1043 miles had been constructed, irrigating 154,000 acres of formerly arid terrain.
Love them or hate them the one thing you have to admit is that the Mormons mastered the art of turning the wilderness into paradise.
ii. The good news is that you can make the wilderness work for you!
*** Flying into Phoenix for the first time is an interesting experience. For some time b/4 you land all you can see is hundreds of miles of desert wilderness in every direction. But someone believed that the wilderness could be turned into a promised land. Today 3½-4 million people live in Phoenix.
iii. Our text shows us two groups of people .... those who obeyed God & looked for what He was doing in their lives in the wilderness & those who fought against being in the wild.
iv. While some were blessed others were tormented & it all came down to a matter of their r/s w/ God.
B. God’s plan is for us to conquer the wild.
a. God doesn’t want you barely survive in the wild – He wants you to thrive!
i. By seeking God Man can win against the Wild .......
*** The subtle message in every one of Bear Grylls ‘Man Vs Wild’ episodes is that if you keep your head, open eyes, be focused & see both the opportunities & the threats you can win in the wild.
ii. The message that comes out of our text is that God wants you to win in the wild.
Vs 25. 25So Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages.
iii. What was foreign possessed by the enemy & wilderness b/c part of the promised land.
iv. This is what God wants to do for you – the miracle of changing wilderness into promised land.
b. The wilderness rather than being a place of death is part of God’s plan for power & life.
i. One final thought about wilderness ..... it was the very place that the Spirit led Jesus.
Luke 4:1 (NKJV) 1Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
ii. And after the wilderness ......
Luke 4:14-15 (NKJV) 14Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
iii. God’s plan is to empower you in the wilderness so that man can win against the wild.
