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PROMISED LAND 2005 - PART 8    (Feb. 27, 2005)

By:  Pastor Bien Llobrera

"Don't Fall Short"

Text: Joshua 18

INTRODUCTION

1. "Winners never quit; quitters never win." We have all heard this

saying.

2. We like to hear the stories of winners who refused to quit until

they achieved success. For example, this story about Edison's persistence in inventing the first electric light bulb. Edison tried so many different materials; he sent men to China, Japan, South America, Asia, Jamaica, Ceylon and Burma in search of fibers and grasses to be tested in his laboratory. As each material failed he threw it out of his window until the pile reached to the second story of his house. But he never quit until he found the right material for his filament.

THE FAILURE OF THE ISRAELITES

3. "Winners never quit; quitters never win." The truth of this saying is never more true than in regard to receiving and enjoying the full blessing of our Promised Land 2005. Our text, Joshua 18, shows us the importance of never quitting, of never giving up, of never falling short.

4. Here in Joshua 18 we are given the picture of Joshua and the

Israelites having achieved practical control of the land of Canaan.

from Joshua chapter 8 through chapter 17 we read about victory after

victory and conquest after conquest.

5. But in spite of these victories and conquests, we find a curious,

almost unbelievable situation. Seven tribes had not yet received their inheritance. And the reason? Joshua 18:3 tells us: So Joshua said to the Israelites: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?"

6. God had already given them their Promised Land. All opposition had been defeated. The whole land lay open before them. Still, more than half of the nation had not come into their inheritance for the simple reason that they seemed to have quit at this point, they have fallen short, by not actually going in to possess and occupy what rightfully belonged to them.

OUR FAILURE TODAY

7. We face the same potential failure today. We stand to lose our

Promised Land 2005 simply because we fall short of actually taking

possession of what God has already given to us. I invite you to

consider with me FOUR BLESSINGS that we can easily fall short of and therefore fail to obtain.

8. First, we can fall short of the blessing of SALVATION.

(1) This is a danger for everyone who comes to church. You can be so

faithful in church activities and yet end up short of heaven.

(2) The Lord Jesus warns us of this danger in Matthew 7:21-23 (let's

read the passage). You can claim that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

You can be doing a lot of Christian activities (like preaching and

teaching God's Word), and even having miraculous experiences (casting out demons and healing).

(3) But are you truly saved? Are you sure you are going to heaven? Is your faith the kind that will get you to heaven?

(4) How can we know that our faith is genuine? Jesus said in Matthew

7:21, it is not SAYING "Lord, Lord" but DOING the will of God.

(5) Let's be careful that we do not misunderstand here: We are not

saved by DOING or by WORKS. Rather, we are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-10). But GENUINE, SAVING FAITH brings about a new life and a new direction. We are saved from the old life that is going away from God and saved unto the new life that is walking towards God and walking on God's highway, and this highway is called "God's will".

(6) When the persecutor Saul was saved, his first words to the Lord

were: "Lord, what will you have me to do?"

(7) So let me ask you: Have you been saved in that way? Have you been saved from doing your will and now you are committed to knowing and doing God's will?

9. Second, after we have been assured of our salvation, we can as

Christians still fall short of receiving all the BLESSINGS (material

and spiritual) that God wants to give to us. And the reason is given

in James 4:2: "You do not have, because you do not ask."

(1) There are many blessings that God still gives to us even when we do not ask.  Suppose God only gave sunshine to those who ask for it every morning?  You'd see people walking around in darkness, while they have light shining upon them.  God gives us so many blessings without asking for them; these belong to what is called "common grace" -- blessings that everybody, righteous or unrighteous, receive (Matt. 5:45).

(2) But we will not receive and enjoy many of God's blessings until we learn to ask for them. Matthew 7:7: "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you."

(3) In the Psalm 81:10 God told His people: "Open your mouth wide and I will fill it." This is the same as saying, "Ask and you shall receive."

(4) The story is told of a man who went to heaven and there an angel

gave him a tour of God's treasure house, in which were stacked all kinds of gifts. And the man noticed that on many of those gifts -- in fact, a whole roomful of gifts -- he found his name written on each box. He asked the angel, "These gifts have my name on them. What are they doing here?" "Well," the angel answered, "those were God's gifts to you that you never asked for while you were on earth, so they were never delivered."

(5) God's Word says to us, "You do not have, because you do not ask." Don't fall short of God's blessings because you are too lazy to ask.

10. A third blessing that we are in danger of falling short of is the blessing of CHRIST-LIKENESS. Paul testified in Philippians 3:8: "I consider everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

(1) Let's ask for all the blessings (material and spiritual) that God wants to give to us.

(2) But let's not fall short of the greater blessing of enjoying the

GIVER himself.

(3) I had such a wonderful fellowship with a Christian brother this

past week. He said to me, "Pastor, I feel like I want Jesus more and more."

(4) That's the spirit and attitude of the true Christian. We enjoy

God's gifts. But we would be poor Christians indeed if we do not go on to experience the greater joy of knowing the Giver more and more.

(5) How do we know we have broken beyond the levlel of enjoying the

gifts to the level of enjoying the Giver?  We know when we enjoy our

daily devotional time as a time of being with the Lord, and when we are filled with joy just knowing the Lord and gazing into the face of God by faith, beholding His glory, savoring His altogether lovely character. We know we have reached this level when prayer is not just a time for asking for things (and mind you this is all proper and good) but more of adoring and worshipping the Lord.  The psalmist knew something of this when he testified in Psalm 27:4: "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." Also in Psalm 73:25: "Whom have I in heaven but You?  And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You."

(6)  It is great and wonderful and proper that we enjoy God's gifts. 

But we must not fall short of reaching that level of intimacy with God where He becomes more precious to us than any of His gifts, and where becoming Christ-like and doing His will is more important than our joy or comfort.

11. Finally, we can fall short of our Promised Land 2005 if we fall

Short of the blessing of FRUITFUL SERVICE. In Hebrews 5:12 we read one of the saddest comments that can ever be spoken about a Christian. The writer of the book of Hebrews said to some people he was writing to: "By this time you ought to be teachers...."

(1) BY THIS TIME you ought to be teachers. This is like saying, "By

this time, you should be a grown up person instead of a baby."

(2) By this time you OUGHT to be teachers. Growth is not optional.

Babies are wonderful. But a 20 year old baby is a tragedy! If you are alive spiritually, you should be growing spiritual toward maturity and fruitfulness.

(3) By this time you ought to be TEACHERS. What's the difference

between a baby and an adult? A baby has to be cared for by others; an adult takes care of others.

(4) God wants to bless you in order to make you a blessing. The picture God uses again and again, both in the Old Testament and the New, is that of fruit-bearing. God designed His people to bear fruit like fruit-bearing trees.

(5) In John 15 the Lord Jesus reveals to us the secret of fruitbearing, and this secret is found in the partnership of three persons or parties:

(a) the Gardener -- God the Father; (2) the root and trunk of the Vine -- Christ; and (3) the Branches -- Christians.

(6) As you can see, the Branch is not the one responsible for the

fruit. The Vine and the Gardener are. All that the Branch does is to abide -- stay connected -- to the Vine and allow the life-giving sap of the Vine to flow into the Branch and through the Branch, and fruit will naturally come forth.

(7) God is working in our church. I saw one strong evidence last Sunday during the joint meeting of the Men's and Women's organizations. When Prudence (our Women's president) opened the meeting with these challenging words, I realized God was working. She said (in summary): "We have been talking and talking about ministry and about reaching out. Let's stop talking about it; let's start doing something." And so we came up with two simple suggestions: (a) We will form visitation teams that will go out this coming Easter Sunday to visit and minister to the residents of retirement and convalescent homes; and from then on, let's do that on a regular basis (maybe once a month). (b) With the same teams, let's get involved in an on-going ministry to the homeless and addicts in downtown L. A. In the beginning, let's just go there to observe, to help in serving food, and in just talking to people. As we do this on a regular basis, we will learn how to do it here in our own city.

(8) Two simple and too simple projects you say? That's where we begin. All spiritual leaders that God used mightily began by serving God in small and simple ways. If I remember correctly, Billy Graham began by practicing to preach in a forest with trees as his listeners.

(9) In addition to these two simple projects we have decided on, may I strongly encourage you to do one very simple ministry: every Sunday, take 5 copies of our invitation tracts and with God's help determine to give out these invitation tracts to at least five people within your FRANSS circle -- Family, Relatives, Acquaintances, Neighbors, Social/Service contacts? Just say something like this: "May I give you an invitation?" You see, this tract is a combination invitation to church as well as a short Gospel presentation. Once this tract is in the hands of a person, the Holy Spirit has something to use to begin speaking to that person. Most everybody will accept the tract; don't be discouraged by the few who refuse. The person whose heart God opens will accept the tract; that's the person we're looking for.

CHALLENGE

12. Joshua told the people: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land the Lord has given you?"

13. God is asking us the same question today.

(1) How long before you make sure of your salvation?

(2) How long before you learn to pray and ask God continually and

consistently for his material and spiritual blessings?

(3) How long before you aspire to know Christ more and more and to

become more and more like Him?

(4) How long before you start serving the Lord in a practical and

regular way.

14. We began with a story about Edison, how he searched the world all over for fibers that had the potential as a material for his light bulb. Even when the pile of rejected fibers and materials reached the height of the second story of his house, he did not quit. Finally, one weary day on October 21, 1879 -- after 13 months of repeated failures -- the idea occurred to him: Why not try a carbonized cotton fiber? For five hours he worked, but the fiber broke before he could remove the mold. Two spools of thread were used up. At last a perfect strand emerged – only to be ruined when trying to place it in a glass tube. Edison refused to quit. For two days and nights he continued without sleeping. Finally, he managed to slip one of the carbonized threads into a vacuum sealed bulb. He switched on the current. Presto! The first electric light bulb turned on before his eyes! (From Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations).

15. Edison did not quit. And through that light bulb that he invented, He continues to be a blessing to the world.

15. We too must never quit. We must determine not to fall short. We

must determine to go on, we must persevere until we have fully receive and enjoy our Promised Land 2005 -- until we are blessed and we become a blessing.