Onward Gospel Church

My heart was in my throat, and it was choking me because it was pounding so hard. I had just climbed a seven story spiral ramp and there I stood at the top of the highest water slide in the world.

All the way up the ramp, there were ominous signs warning people suffering from heart conditions, nervous disorders, fear of heights, back problems, stomach ulcers, dizziness, and the heartbreak of psoriasis to back out now, before it was too late!

Parents who were foolish enough to bring along children under 48” tall were left with the distinct impression that they would possibly be arrested and charged with child abuse.

So there I stood, shaking and uncertain, at the top. I glanced around. The view was spectacular from way up there. You could see the whole city of Orlando, Florida, and three counties besides. But this was no time for sightseeing.

At my feet lay a narrow wet strip of fiberglass that went over the edge and seven stories straight down in a screaming vertical drop, with no twists or turns to slow you down. It was like bungee jumping without a cord.

The lifeguard beckoned me forward - it was my turn. My moment of truth had arrived. There was no going back, so I did the only reasonable thing possible. I sent my seven year old son down first to see if it was safe!

Have you ever experienced that unforgettable feeling in the pit of your stomach that comes when you’re going to do something new and unfamiliar?

You feel it the night before you start a new job, or when you wake up the morning your surgery is scheduled. You feel it as you walk into the examination room to take your finals. You feel it on your wedding day.

The recipe calls for 2 cups of apprehension, 1lb. of butterflies, 1 tablespoon of anxiety and a pinch of fear.

You feel it whenever life rips you out of your comfortable cocoon and thrusts you into the unknown where, for better or worse, you will never be the same again.

It’s hard to believe that almost twenty years have passed since we laughed and cried and worshiped and served God together as a youth group. When we look at the pictures, we can hardly recognize ourselves. Who are those boys in bellbottoms with the muttonchop sideburns? Who are those girls on platform shoes combing their long straight hair?

They are us! Us when we were young; us when we were innocent; us at that magic moment when we were about to ride on the waterslide of life.

Little did we know at the time what the future would hold. As we went over the edge, many of us would meet the unknown of marriage, of parenting, of a career, of a ministry. For some, that twenty year ride on the slide has been smooth and exciting; for others, it has been rough and full of pain. For all of us, it has had sudden twists and unknown turns, so that now we find ourselves headed in directions we never could have anticipated.

And the ride continues. It’s not over yet. There are new twists and turns awaiting us. So what does God want to say to us today as we face the next twenty years? He wants to say to us what he said to his people back in the book of Deuteronomy.

We find the children of Israel in Deut.31 standing on the edge of the unknown. As they sat in their tents on the hills of Moab on the east bank of the Jordan River, they were eyeball to eyeball with some gigantic changes in their life as a nation. They were at a crossroads.

The first change they faced was that they were about to lose the only leader they had ever had. Moses had been their leader for 40 years.

Moses was the man God had used to give birth to the nation. He was the mouthpiece that God had used to reveal His word to the people. He was the leader who had brought them out of Egypt. He was the one who had parted the Red Sea for them. He had brought them food and water in the desert.

Moses was the one who had written their national constitution and their laws. He was the one who had listened to their complaints and settled their disputes. Moses interceded with God on their behalf when they sinned, and he prayed them through to victory on the battlefield.

Today, 3000 years later, the Jewish people still regard Moses as the greatest leader they ever had.

But now he was leaving. At the ripe old age of 120, Moses had reached the end of the line. It was time for him to hang up his staff.

But the second change was even more daunting. Israel was now about to enter, conquer, and settle a new land. What did they know about such things?

The wilderness was the only life they knew. They had lived in the desert for a generation. Say what you will about the desert, when you’ve lived anywhere for 40 years, it starts to feel like home.

Now they were facing a total change in their lifestyle. They were going to trade in their tents for houses, their herds for crops, and their campsites for cities.

But before they could do any of that, they were going to have to strap on their swords and pick up their shields because there were battles to fight. There were fierce enemies to overcome.

So as Israel stood on the East side of Jordan, looking over into the Promised Land, they saw danger staring them back in the face. What did God do for them as they stood on the edge of the unknown?

He did four things:

1. He encouraged them with his presence

2. He enabled them with his power

3. He equipped them with his people

4. He energized them with his promises

Read Deut. 31:1-8

At dawn on June 6, 1944, the Allied forces, made up of the Canadian, American, and British armies, landed on the coast of France to liberate Europe. It was the greatest sea-borne invasion in history. But it actually began the night before, and it began in the air.

Special airborne divisions riding in gliders towed by transport planes, landed in fields and meadows behind enemy lines. Their mission was to disrupt German communications and supply lines and to prevent the German units who were defending the coast from being reinforced by Panzer divisions inland.

These Allied airborne troops were guided to their designated landing areas by special airplanes called Pathfinders. The Pathfinders flew into enemy territory first and dropped flares marking the target.

By the time the Germans realized that there was full-scale invasion underway the next morning, it was too late, because the Pathfinders had done their job.

In verse 3, Moses says to the people: “The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land.”

In verse 6, he says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

In verse 8, he says “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

The big idea behind this passage is that God is with his people as they face the unknown. And God is not only with them, but he goes before them. He is a Pathfinder.

That’s why Moses says “Be encouraged! God is with you!” That’s why the Psalmist could say “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

The presence of God is one of the most encouraging doctrines of the Bible. When Moses hesitated to become the leader of Israel, God said to him “Go, and I will be with you. I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.”

When Jeremiah hesitated to become God’s spokesman to his wicked countrymen in the 6th century BC, God said to him “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”

When the disciples stood fearfully wondering what life would be like once Jesus had gone back to heaven, he said to them “Lo, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

St. Augustine lived in ancient Rome. He was once approached by a pagan who was an idol worshiper. The man showed Augustine his idol and said “Here is my god; where is thine?” Augustine replied “I cannot show you my God; not because there is no God to show but because you have no eyes to see Him.”

None of us knows what the next twenty years will bring. But there is one thing we do know: that the Lord himself will be with us. Let’s pray that we would have eyes to see Him, and let’s be encouraged about the future.

The second thing that God did for his people as they stood on the edge of the unknown was that he enabled them with his power.

When I studied geometry at Verdun High School, I learned several axioms. An axiom is a statement that is universally accepted as true. It needs no proof because it’s truth is regarded to be self-evident.

There are axioms in the Bible as well. One of the most important biblical axioms is this: God’s presence brings with it God’s power. The presence of God with his people always implies the power of God to work on their behalf.

Look at verse 3 again. “The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land.”

Who will destroy these nations? You will? No. He will. Look at verse 5: “The Lord will deliver them to you…”

The ultimate success of the Israelites’ military campaign wasn’t going to boil down to the quality of their equipment, the thoroughness of their training, or the depth of their fighting spirit. It wasn’t going to hinge on their superior strategy, or the brilliance of their field commanders.

The whole thing was going to rest solely and squarely on God’s shoulders. He made himself responsible for the outcome. If the children of Israel knew they had God’s presence, they knew they also had God’s power.

And the same thing is true of us today.

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

A few weeks ago, a young woman sat in my office. Several Christians had been witnessing to her, but the woman just didn’t seem to be ready to commit her life to Christ. She said “It’s not that I don’t understand it; I do understand it. It’s just that I’m having a hard time accepting that God wants to forgive my sin without me having to do something. It’s not that it’s too hard; it seems to be too easy.”

I said “Look, Linda. You’ve heard everything we’ve had to say about becoming a Christian. You don’t need more people talking to you; you don’t need more information; you just need God to speak to your heart. What I want you to do over the next few days is to simply read the Gospel of John, and see if God answers your questions and your doubts.”

She agreed to do that. A couple of weeks later, she came back with joy on her face and I already knew what she was going to tell me. She had become a Christian.

The battle is the Lord’s. We need to just get out of the way and let God do his work.

The third thing God did for the children of Israel was He equipped them with his people.

Look at verse 3: “Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said.”

One of the most wonderful ways that God provides for our needs is that he brings into our lives special people who will minister to us.

The children of Israel had had Moses as their leader. Now it was time for Moses to leave. Would God leave them leaderless? No. He would provide Joshua to be their new leader.

And God had been in the process of preparing Joshua for many years to take on this responsibility. God had foreseen that the people would need new leadership at this very moment and he had quietly been working behind the scenes to raise up Joshua for this very hour.

Joshua was going to lead the people into the promised land. He was going to equip them, both spiritually and physically, to fight the battles that needed to be fought. He was going to divide the land for them. He was God’s man for them as they faced the unknown.

I’m sure that you can look back over the past two decades and see the way that God has brought special people into your life to minister to your needs.

As I have worked much of that time in the pastorate, I have become more and more aware of the fact that the ministry of a pastor is simply beyond my ability. I lead a church made up of the most diverse collection of people you could imagine. We have toddlers and teenagers and thirtysomethings and tottering old saints whose testimony goes back to when the Dead Sea was merely sick.

God has called me to minister to a church that includes executives who work on Wall Street and plumbers; people who serve on the staff of the United Nations and homemakers. We have people in our congregation who are airline pilots but we also have widows who are living on Social Security. We have doctors and nurses and teachers and housewives and college students.

When I look into the faces of all these people on Sunday mornings, I feel like Solomon, who said “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.”

But a few years ago, God brought into my life a man who took a special interest in me. He is a busy missions executive; a man who travels extensively, preaching in many churches all over the country. He

certainly has enough to do with his time without bothering with me.

But from time to time, I’ll get a phone call, or a note in the mail from him that says something like this (and I’m quoting from his most recent letter to me.

“Peter, I prayed for you today. It’s not easy to be on the front lines of ministry in these tumultuous days. I know your job is difficult. So I just wanted you to know that I remembered you today. I know that the Lord will give you grace for whatever comes your way in the next few hours.”

What an encouragement this man has been to me! As I look at a letter like that, I see God’s fingerprints on it. God used that man to bring blessing to me. Getting a letter like that makes me want to serve God all the more. It’s equipping, it’s enabling, it’s encouraging.

And I’m sure that God has done the same for you. He has brought a Joshua into your life at just the right time, to give you a pat on the back, a shoulder to cry on, or maybe a kick in the pants! And you can be sure that God will continue to do that.

One of the things you might want to consider over the next twenty years is: “How can I be a Joshua for somebody else?”

The children of Israel stood on the edge of the unknown.

1. God encouraged them with his presence

2. God enabled them with his power

3. God equipped them with his people

And finally, God energized them with his promises. Look at verse 7: “Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.”

As the children of Israel stood on the hills of Moab looking over into the land of Canaan, they weren’t looking at just any ordinary piece of real estate! No. They were looking at the Promised Land.

This land was the subject of a solemn promise and oath that God had made to Abraham, their forefather. That land was spoken for. The Canaanites who were living in that land were interlopers; they were squatters - it wasn’t their land, because possession of that land was predicated on the promises of God.

So before they went in to face the unknown, God reminded the children of Israel of this. He said “This land is your inheritance; I swore it to your forefathers, so go in and claim it.”

And if that weren’t enough to energize them, God reminded them of some things he had already done on their behalf. Look at verse 4: “And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land.”

Sometimes it helps to look back before you move forward. David did that when he went out to fight Goliath. He said “God has already helped me to kill lions and bears that attacked my flocks; this Philistine will be like one of them.”

A few weeks ago, I took my smallest sons out in a rowboat on Lake Canandaigua. As I sat at the oars, little Tommy, who is four years old, piped up and said “Hey Dad, turn around. How are you going to see where we are going?”

So I explained to him that in a rowboat, you get to where you are going by looking back at where you’ve been. And that is a pretty good spiritual principle to remember as well. You get to where you are going by looking back at where you’ve been.

As we face the future, with all its mystery, let’s remember that God has given us many promises. Promises to watch over us. Promises to provide for our needs. Promises to complete the good work that he has begun in us. Promises to never let anything separate us from his love. Promises to cause all things to work together for our good.

And we can see, if we just stop to reflect on the past, how God has been true to those promises. That’s how those promises can energize us to face the future.

Twenty years from now will be the year 2012. If Onward is still here, and if we’re still here, maybe we can get together again. But in the meantime, let’s look forward to being:

- encouraged with God’s presence

- enabled by his power

- equipped by his people

- energized by his promises

God bless you as you go to serve Him.