Aaron Salisbury preaches on moving from wilderness thinking to promised land living
A sermon delivered at Rivers Apostolic Centre by Aaron Salisbury, exploring the biblical contrast between wilderness Christianity and promised land Christianity.
Summary
Aaron Salisbury delivers a sermon at Rivers Apostolic Centre drawing on the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt through the wilderness and into the promised land as a framework for understanding spiritual maturity in the Christian life. He argues that many Christians remain in a "wilderness" state — saved and delivered, but not yet free — because of slavery mindset, victim mentality, fear of conflict, and what he calls "manna mentality." Salisbury contends that the promised land represents the fullness of God's promises and is available to all believers, but requires facing fears, embracing opposition, and shifting from passive consumption of blessing to active sowing of seed. He draws on figures including Moses, Joseph, Daniel, King Saul, Caleb, and Joshua to illustrate the difference between those who are merely around the glory of God and those who carry and release it.
Before the sermon, Salisbury leads the congregation in extended prayer for the Rivers Iris team serving a family in Alice Springs following a child's death, interceding for the family's salvation, for comfort, and for revival in the region, including prayer for the perpetrator. He also presents a Faith Missions Giving update, reporting a running total of $156,993 for the year cycle, noting a prophesied seven-year season of springtime fruitfulness, and announcing an upcoming trip to Bougainville.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Opening Worship and Communion Reading
Aaron Salisbury: Thank you, Jesus, for the power and the freedom of your name — the name that is above every other name. As we're praying and as we are worshiping, we are declaring the breaking of things that only the name of Jesus can fully break: breaking the power of depression and fear, anxiety, all the things that the world would bring. But Jesus, the name above every other name, is the one that can destroy these things. He came to set the captives free. He came to bring us freedom, that we could dance and that we could sing. It is because of the very breath in our lungs that he gives us that we are able to worship his great name.
Put your hand up if you've been set free from something in your life by the name of Jesus. Awesome, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. If you're born again, you should have your hand right up high, because you've been set free from yourself and from your pride. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah.
This morning I felt strongly to read from the book of Thessalonians. Paul heads off to a place called Thessalonica. It is a port town along the sea, not unlike the city that we are in here. And there is much opposition, but he is encouraging the people of the church there. And I thought that this was an encouragement for us this morning as we come to the table to recognize the broken body and the shed blood of our beautiful Lord and Savior Jesus.
It's in verse eight that we'll start.
"But we belong to the day. Therefore, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to incur his wrath, but for a salvation — he did not select us to condemn us, but that we might obtain his salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, Messiah. His desire was not to punish us. His desire was not to put us under wrath. His desire was that we should be saved, that we should be given grace and mercy and love by the great God of all things. Jesus who died for us, that whether we are still alive or are dead, we might live together with him and share his life.
What a great encouragement. Whether we are here or there, we live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and edify one another just as you are doing.
Now also we beseech you, brethren, get to know those who labor among you — your leaders who are over you in the Lord, and those who warn and kindly reprove and exhort you — and hold them in very high esteem and appreciation of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we earnestly beseech you, brethren: admonish those who are out of line, encourage the timid and faint-hearted, help and give your support to the weak souls, be very patient with everybody. See that no one of you repays another with evil for evil, but always aim to show kindness and seek to do good to one another and to everybody.
Be happy and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually, always. Be unceasing in prayer and thank God in everything, no matter what the circumstances may be. Be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Holy Spirit. Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets. But test and prove all things until you can recognize what is good, and hold fast to that. Abstain from evil in whatever form or whatever kind it may be.
And may the God of peace himself sanctify you through and through. And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved, sound and complete, blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Isn't it amazing that we get to be blameless and complete because of what Jesus did on the cross for us? We cannot present ourselves without first presenting him. And this morning as we come, I'm going to ask Dave, and Graham, and Malcolm, who are elders — amazing, faithful men of God — to come and break the bread for us. And if you're visiting with us, please come forward and share with us in communion.
As we do this, let us remember the exhortations of Paul. Let us remember that the desire of God was not to punish us in any form or fashion. And when we went astray, he sent the solution. And his solution was Jesus Christ. So let's stand together. Let's come together. Let's heed the words of what these scriptures have said to us this morning. And let's encourage one another this morning as we come forward — find a few people, have some time with them, pray with them, and encourage them as this word has told us to do. Come on forward. Let's take of the bread and of the cup. And let's honor the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords this morning.
Prayer for the Iris Team in Alice Springs
So let's just take a moment before the Lord, and we're going to pray for the team in Alice Springs, and also for the circumstances there.
Our Iris team in Alice are with the family now, and they're ministering to the family, which is wonderful — that they have that support. And the family have said that they're going to give their lives to Jesus. So God is moving in the midst of darkness.
Lord Jesus, we just lift this precious family up to you, God. We place them in your faithful hands and we say, God, would you pour out your Spirit into their hearts? In Romans chapter 5, you said that the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and that you sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us when we mourn. So Holy Spirit, would you just pour yourself — pour the love of God into their hearts, pour your comfort in, pour in your strength, pour in your love, pour in your peace which passes all understanding, Lord — and just surround them with such a great, mighty love and strength that they, in their grief, would know that their Father is with them, and that they would be comforted in the knowledge that this beautiful little girl is in heaven with Jesus right now.
And Lord, we even pray for the man who did this horrible thing. We pray that you would encounter him in prison, that you would touch his heart with your love, with your grace, and with your forgiveness, that he would know what you did on the cross for him, Jesus. The whole point of you going to the cross, Lord, was for murderers and for sinners. You demonstrated the love of God to him — that while he was yet a sinner, you died for him. Lord, would you meet him where he's at? Would you pull him out of the darkness and bring him into your glorious kingdom, God?
Lord, we lift up this whole situation to you. We pray for peace in Alice Springs, that there would be no riots, that there would be no retaliation, God, but that people would lay down their arms and that they would find forgiveness in your hands, God, that they would turn their eyes to you, Jesus. Lord, even use this situation as a place for revival — that there would be revival in Alice Springs, Lord, that where there has been a death, there will be a resurrection according to the glory of God that is at work in your sons and daughters who live there, Lord. In Jesus' name, we know that you will turn all things to your good for your glory, God. And we declare it. We declare freedom. We declare victory in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and amen and amen.
Faith Missions Giving Update
So we are coming to the end of a cycle — a year cycle of faith missions giving. And it's been an incredible outpouring of generosity from you all, and anonymous donors, and people — stuff coming from everywhere. In fact, Naomi and I received a check in the mail for $900 this week out of nowhere. We're just like, oh great, I'll receive that. Yeah, that'll go in the offering bucket.
With faith missions giving, obviously it is to partner — it's because the missional side of the community is growing in all directions, rapidly. In the last couple of years, it's just been a growing missional grace of the Lord pressing out from this place in all kinds of different directions. Here locally in the streets, there's been a big shoot that's sprung out of the ground. And obviously for 50 years there has been the missions to the islands. There are trips going on all over the place. There's going to be a trip to Bougainville later this year. I'm happy to be going on that one. I'm excited to set foot on Bougainville land finally and pray with their people.
So we're coming to the end of the year cycle. We have an amount that we might put on the board if we have that: $156,993. And we have one more week, I believe, to gather your coins — which we've been handing out — and put in your pledge for the year to come. So you have a week. You can put in your pledges this week in the offering, and then next week we'll take all that and tally up what the pledge is for the year coming up. So that's amazing.
I just want to read out Psalm 128, the first two verses. It says, blessed is everyone who fears the Lord. And we are in a season — a seven-year season, in fact — where the Lord prophesied over us that we're heading into a seven-year season of springtime. And we're going to start seeing that fruit come on the vine. In fact, we're already seeing the fruit of our labors in our hands. And this whole grace of mission that has just come out of the church, even more so, has been amazing.
The Sermon Begins: Introduction and Context
So are we ready for the word? Aaron is bringing the word. So if we could stand and just welcome him, because we want to hear what the Lord has to say.
Thanks, Gary. That'll be tremendous. Wow. God is good. Amen. Hallelujah. What a wonderful morning. Thanks so much to Andrew and the team for leading us in that powerful, powerful time of worship. Hallelujah. Yeah, the Holy Spirit's just pinging on me right now.
I felt something really specific — that there are some here this morning who are just wrestling, I mean wrestling, with guilt, and you feel that guilt is holding you back from the fullness of what God has in store for you, both this morning and also going forward in life. If that's you, just stand to your feet. I'm not going to ask you to come to the front, but we're going to just break some stuff this morning. So if you're struggling with guilt in any way, just stand and we're going to pray for you.
It's like telling people who've got fear to stand — it's like, but I'm afraid, so I'm not going to stand. Anyone this morning, you're struggling with guilt? I felt that really strongly. Thank you. There's a couple of you standing. I don't mind waiting because the Spirit of God is here, ready to deal with some stuff.
Everyone, just direct your hands towards those that are standing. Let's believe the Spirit of God is going to break through this morning. He is the God of breakthrough. His name is El Shaddai, and one of the definitions of El Shaddai is the God who is more than enough. It's one thing to have enough, but our God is a generous God who brings more than enough.
So Lord, in the name of Jesus — come on folks, let's pray. In the name of Jesus Christ, we unite our prayers together. Your word declares when two or three agree, there the Lord is in the midst. You will ask anything you will and it shall be done. So Lord, in the name of Jesus, we break the power of guilt. We break its power right now in Jesus' name. Lord, we declare freedom. We declare the blood of Jesus Christ. We thank you, Father God, that those who are standing are going to walk in a whole new place. They're going to walk in a freedom that has been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. So Lord, we thank you right now. Let freedom reign in this place, Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you for setting people free in the wonderful name of Jesus. Hallelujah.
Man, I don't even want to preach this one. I just want to pray for somebody and see God move in this place. Hallelujah.
I'm going to share some fresh perspective with you this morning. And I kind of think this message has got to come with a warning — a warning in that it is going to shake your tree. The message this morning is going to challenge a lot of things. And I say that respectfully, because my plan this morning, my heart this morning, is not to deliberately offend people. But there are times when the Spirit of God puts something on your heart and you know, even though it might be costly, you have to share it.
And God is doing such an amazing work in this church. I would love to share with you testimony after testimony of what God is doing. The Spirit of God is moving. And the reason I'm sharing what I'm sharing with you this morning is my heart is that we all — everyone say "all." You know what the word "all" means in Greek? It means everyone. Some of you are writing that down. That's profound. I'm so glad I came this morning. I'm going to write that down because that's going to change my life. All means all.
And there's something about the anointing. It's great when we go on YouTube or something like that and we watch an anointed man of God. We all have our favorite preachers, don't we? We all have those people we love to watch on YouTube and they do their thing. Oh, that's a great word of God. Individual anointing is wonderful, but corporate anointing — oh, that's another whole thing. When the Spirit of God comes upon an entire congregation, it's not just one or two people getting the shakes, but everybody is moved. Everybody feels the power of the Holy Spirit. I've had the joy of witnessing that a few times. And I want to witness it a whole lot more. When the Spirit of God moves in that kind of power, lives are changed. Lives are transformed. You're just never the same again.
And this is the challenge — when you see something like that, you're wrecked for the ordinary. You just can't do normal church. This whole idea of just turning up and singing a few songs, paying your tithe, having communion, and then going home — it just doesn't work. There's got to be more. And my cry this morning as I share this word with you is that you'll start to hunger. Anyone hungry this morning? Anyone thirsty for the presence of God? Hallelujah. I'm talking to the right people this morning.
As I said, this is a fresh perspective — a different angle on a story that we know well. But I trust that as it's shared with you, God will activate something fresh in your heart.
Leighton Ford, the great preacher, said these words: "God loves you the way you are, but too much to leave you the way you are." And this is that message this morning. This is a message to say, hey, I love you, but I'm going to love you too much this morning to leave you the way you are. Are we all okay? No one fled from the building? That's good. Hallelujah. Well, let's get into it. Amen.
Lord, I just pray, bless this message. Lord, bless this mess, I pray in the name of Jesus. Father God, Holy Spirit, come. Your Spirit is here. Spirit of God, work in your people so powerfully.
The Old Testament as a Tapestry of Lessons
The Old Testament teaches us through a rich tapestry of pictures and stories, lessons around how to live in the fullness of the Christian life — lessons that are written not to leave us the way we are. Ephesians 3:19 says these words: "To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
Let me tell you, everyone, there's a fullness. There is more. Some of you have had profound God experiences. Those have been given to you to stir something up, to light a fire in you. It says in Leviticus chapter 6, don't let the fire go out. Keep the fire burning. The fire of God is burning this morning. But my prayer is it burns Monday morning.
The Apostle Paul is saying here in Ephesians 3:19, there's a fullness of God. There's a fullness that's available to all of us. What is that fullness? Well, I believe that fullness is found in the promised land. Today's message is all about the promised land.
Romans chapter 15, verse 4 — I want you to get your Bibles out because we're going to run a lot of scriptures this morning. Because I believe faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. To be honest, I'm not very interested in what I've got to say. But I'm very interested in what the Word of God has to say, because that's where the power is. That's where transformation happens.
Romans 15:4 says: "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures, we might have hope."
So the Old Testament was the "before" that was written that we might have hope. The children of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt. And that's one such Old Testament story that was written for our learning that we might have hope. The Old Testament is full of types and likenesses, symbols that are there to teach us what the fullness of God actually is.
But here's my question this morning. Why do so many Christians stay in the wilderness and not move into the promised land?
The Pattern of Wilderness Christianity
I've had the joy of traveling as a missionary kid to many different nations. And again and again, I've seen the same trend. The trend is this: people come to a great church like Rivers, and they watch the power of God. They observe God working. But they never enter in. They see it, but they don't decide that they want to be a part of it.
You see, the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt. They left 400 years of bondage. They passed through the Red Sea. They wandered in the wilderness, and finally they entered into and possessed the promised land. And every phase of the wilderness Israelite journey symbolizes aspects of our new covenant journey.
Egypt, for instance, symbolizes slavery. Slavery characterized our lives before we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. Egypt is a type and likeness of bondage to sin. Then the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea. The Red Sea symbolizes water baptism. 1 Corinthians 10:2 says they were all baptized into Moses, in the cloud, and in the sea. Quick segue — if you've never been water baptized, come and see me after the service, because we all need to be water baptized.
Then the wilderness speaks to us of many things, but one thing it speaks to us is of the place where we are delivered, but not free. Freedom is found in the promised land. What is the promised land? The promised land is that place where we possess everything and are living in the full promises of God.
And as I was saying earlier, you can be around the blessing and around the presence of God, but never go in yourself and possess the promises. Many Christians go to church with their popcorn and their Coke, like they're watching a movie, and they watch the anointed people up front, and they're just eating their popcorn and drinking their Coke. This is great. Oh man, this is fantastic. I hope they do a sequel. This is just wonderful. Eating their popcorn and drinking their Coke and just watching. They're sitting in their seat. They're not going to get involved. Oh no, I'm too dignified for that. I'm just going to eat my popcorn, drink my Coke, and watch all the fun up the front. But never again — what's the point? You can be around the blessing and the presence of God, but never go in and possess the promises for yourself.
Saul of Gibeah: Around the Glory but Not Carrying It
Saul of Gibeah is an Old Testament example. He was chosen by God to be the first king of Israel. In 1 Samuel chapter 10, Saul was in the glory — I'll encourage you in your own time to read 1 Samuel chapter 10 — because he was in the glory with the prophets when Samuel the prophet was at Naioth. But the glory was not in Saul, because after he prophesied and left the sphere of glory the prophets were in, he never prophesied again.
What's the point? You can be in the glory and around the glory and even prophesy in the glory, but the glory doesn't flow through you. Samuel and the prophets were different. Why? Because they had history with God. So they could make history for God. Saul had no history at all with God. When he left the sphere of glory — that is the metron of the prophets that Samuel and the prophets had paid a price for — he never prophesied again. Saul was around the blessing and the presence of God, but he never took on board the blessing and the presence of God.
Do you know you were created to carry God? The glory of God. You say, you made that up. No, I didn't. Go to John chapter 17, verse 22. I want you to turn there because I'm not preaching from first imaginations this morning. I'm preaching from the Word of God. John chapter 17, verse 22 says Jesus prays the high priestly prayer and he says: "And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one."
The glory has been given to you. And it says in John chapter 7, verses 37 to 39: "On that last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and he cried out saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Anyone feeling the water this morning? Hallelujah. "But by this he spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified."
People of God, you were designed to host the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit is within you. But guess what? He wants to get out. So if the Spirit's not flowing, ask yourself, what's slowing the flowing? We've got to get the clog out so the Spirit can get out.
Saul was anointed by the prophet Samuel. And the Spirit of God came on him and he even prophesied. He spent time in the metron, the sphere of influence of the prophets. Saul was right there, but he never valued the glory, because as soon as he left, he never prophesied again. That was it.
You can be in the place of glory. You can be in the greatest church in town, the place of blessing. People are getting saved, baptized, and healed. But the glory and blessing never gets on you. You can be around the glory of God, but the question is, are you thirsting? The question is, is the glory of God flowing out of your heart?
Now, you may think this morning, well, I've come out of Egypt, I'm now in the promised land. Well, actually, that's called the wilderness when you come out of Egypt. And I've come to the realization that many live delivered in the wilderness but not free in the promised land. There's a big difference between being delivered and free.
Many are saved, but they have not matured. Galatians 5:1 says: "Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty or freedom by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again." He's talking to Christians here. That could be translated: it was for freedom that Christ has set us free. So stand in the freedom. The challenge is to stand fast in promised land thinking and not be entangled again in wilderness mindset.
You see, the children of Israel were delivered from the yoke of bondage to slavery, but they were not free from slavery mentality. They came out of Egypt, but Egypt was not out of them.
Slavery Mentality and the 11-Day Journey
Let's look at the Word of God. Deuteronomy chapter 1, verse 2 says these words: it's an 11-day journey, literally through the wilderness from Egypt to the promised land. So the children of Israel had a choice, just like us. They had a choice. Were they going to take that 11-day journey? Were they going to take that 11-day trek? Or were they going to have to deal with 40 years in the wilderness?
You see, the children of Israel had known only slavery. I want you to hear me this morning. They were entrenched in their thinking. Bondage was their multi-generational construct. A spirit of confusion sabotaged their ability to make decisions. How do we know this? Well, cutting and running was how they lived life.
Israel had to learn something. They had to learn to renew their minds, not remove their minds. You go to some churches and it's like you walk in and you've got a bag maybe in one hand and your brain in the other hand. And it's like some churches say, oh, welcome to church this morning. I see you have a brain there. Can I take that off you? We're going to hang it up at the door because you're not going to need that in here. You're not going to need to think. Whereas the promised land is not about hanging your brain up at the door. The promised land is Romans chapter 12, verse 2. It says there: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed" — everyone say "transformed" — "by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God."
The journey from deliverance to freedom has a price. It's going to cost you.
The children of Israel were in slavery in Egypt for around 400 years. Now, if a generation is on average, say, 70 years, that's plus or minus six generations. The children of Israel then cried out to God, and God heard their prayers in Exodus 3:7. And God began looking for a deliverer.
I want you to listen to me this morning. God looked for a deliverer who would lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. But here's the point. God didn't find that deliverer among the enslaved children of Israel. Because slavery mindset entrenches your thinking. God was looking for someone who wasn't formed and developed under slave thinking or slave constructs. God knew something. He knew that if you put someone with slave mentality in charge, you get a slave driver. The characteristics of the kingdom always come from the king.
God was looking for somebody different. He was looking for royalty. And I want you to turn to 1 Peter 2:9. I want this to really soak into your spirit this morning. It says there: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."
Royal Thinking: Moses, Joseph, and Daniel
Moses was not raised as a slave. He wasn't raised under slave culture. Moses, who delivered the Israelites, was raised as royalty. Exodus chapter 2, verse 10 tells us that. You see, royals are raised differently. And they think differently.
And this is so important for us to understand. The prophet Samuel, in 1 Samuel — I want you to write this down — 1 Samuel 10:25, an amazing scripture. In that scripture, the prophet Samuel taught the people of Israel the ways and behavior of royalty. And he wrote it down in a book, because up to that point, Israel had never had a king. They didn't know what royalty looked like. Royal culture was foreign to the Israelites.
Royal culture is fascinating. Royal culture is about limitlessness. Royal culture is about access to immense resourcing. Royal culture is not poverty mentality. Royal culture operates in authority. It makes decrees and declarations. What royalty says goes.
Let me illustrate. Whatever clothing Princess Kate Middleton wears becomes fashion. It becomes an instant global bestseller. Every fashion house, every designer knows one thing: do whatever it takes to get Kate Middleton to wear your creations. Because if you do that, you're set for life because of the influence she carries. Royals carry global influence and impact.
God does use ordinary people — oh yeah — to do extraordinary things. That's the correct doctrine right there. However, when God wants a deliverer who can transform nations, he looks for someone with royal mentality. He seeks those who've been shaped and mentored by royal culture.
Let me prove that to you. Daniel transformed Babylon. We know the story well. If you read the first part of the book of Daniel, chapter 1, he was of royal birth. He was trained by royalty in Nebuchadnezzar's palace.
Then there's Joseph — Joseph who transformed Egypt. He was trained by royalty in Potiphar's house. Potiphar was an officer in Pharaoh's court, the captain of the guard. Joseph, interestingly, received further royal training. Where? In the king's prison. He was put together with all the royal prisoners. So he received that royal training to the level that he was able to go into Pharaoh's court and interpret the dreams that Pharaoh had. And it says there clearly that Joseph got the approval of not just Pharaoh, but Pharaoh's court — because Pharaoh was looking around at his court to see if Joseph was making the impact on them that Joseph was making on him.
Often we find ourselves in a place that feels like prison. And we think to ourselves, God, why me? Joseph spent 13 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Joseph had every opportunity to become bitter. But Joseph got better. He realized, I'm here for a purpose. And he learned the ways of royalty.
So when Pharaoh said, call that prisoner, that Hebrew who interprets dreams, Joseph was smart. He learned the ways of royalty. He wasn't going to show up into the king's court looking like a bedraggled, unkempt guy in rags. He said, no, no, I'm going down the corner. Get me some threads. Get me some R.M. Williams boots, man. I'm looking good. I'm going to present myself to the king looking sharp. He knew. It says it in the Bible — he changed his clothes, he shaved, he smartened up. Because he smartened up and he understood the culture that he'd learned for 13 years, and also before in Potiphar's house. He knew the culture so that when he stood before Pharaoh, he could interpret well. And because he knew the culture, Pharaoh said, this is the guy. And the greatest promotion in history happened. Jailbird to prime minister. Wrap your head around that. How incredible is that?
And Moses — well, he was trained by royalty in Pharaoh's palace.
But here's the cool thing, everyone. If you belong to Jesus Christ this morning — and if you don't, you've got a chance at the end of the service to accept Jesus Christ — we are royalty. We're not going to be royalty one day. We are a royal priesthood. We are royalty. We are chosen and we are holy.
The Red Sea Crossing and Promised Land Thinking
When the children of Israel left Egypt, they were pursued by Pharaoh and his armies. And the Lord knew something. He knew the only way to get the children of Israel through the Red Sea was to have the Egyptians blocking off their retreat. And a person with royal training was needed to get them through there and to lead them.
In Exodus 14, I want you to turn there for a moment. Exodus 14 in my Bible has a heading over the top of it: "The Red Sea Crossing." In verse 9, it says Israel's retreat to Egypt was blocked off by the Egyptian army. Verses 11 and 12 talk to us about the children of Israel's slave mentality. It manifested and they responded to the blockade of the Egyptians with victim mentality. Because they said these words: "It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." Talk about victim mentality.
But victim mentality wasn't going to save the children of Israel. The Lord needed somebody to lead them who was trained to think differently. Look at verse 13. Moses says: "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." Oh, that's royal thinking. Come on. Look at verse 15. God says, why do you cry to me? Stop bleating. What's wrong with you? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
Moses was saying to the slavery-minded, victim-mentality Israelites: stop despairing and start declaring. Oh, that's a word for somebody this morning. Time to stop despairing and start declaring.
You see, royalty doesn't bleat. Royalty makes decrees. It uses its authority to transform environments and atmospheres. Royalty says stop stressing and start blessing. Royalty doesn't curse the darkness. Royalty lights a candle. Royalty lights a fire.
Romans chapter 12, verse 21 says: "Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." Come on, is someone an overcomer this morning? Do we have any overcomers in the building? Don't be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Atmospheres change and shift when royalty turns up.
The Lord raised up royalty-trained Moses with promised land thinking, not wilderness thinking.
Exodus 13: God Leads Around the Shorter Path
Let's jump back to Exodus chapter 13. Let's dig into this a bit deeper. It says in Exodus chapter 13, verse 17: "Then it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt."
This morning, how do you know you're under slavery mindset? Here it is. You've got no stomach for conflict. By the way, royalty doesn't like conflict either. But royalty will engage the enemy to protect their kingdom and their subjects.
Promised land thinking understands three things. I've got to be inconvenienced. I've got to be uncomfortable. And I've got to be interrupted. If I'm going to enter the promised land.
The wilderness is not the fullness of your identity. The promised land is your true identity. And many sense by the Spirit that they are under the spirit of foreboding. Ever heard of that? It's a consuming fear that something's going to go wrong. It manifests in an unwillingness to attempt things, because after all, I fail. My parents fail. My grandparents fail. And my other ancestors — this one failed and this one failed. It's horrible because it paralyzes us from moving forward for God.
As the Spirit of God is moving in this church and continuing to move — and by the way, it's going to get stronger and stronger and stronger. You think it's wild right now? Look out. It's going to get more wild. And guess what? You're probably going to feel uncomfortable. And you might be interrupted. And inconvenienced. Oh, and the fun and joy and excitement? Oh, that'll all be there too. But I want to tell you right now, you are going to be inconvenienced. You're going to be uncomfortable. And you're going to be interrupted.
You see, to enter the promised land is to move from being delivered to being free.
Key One: Face Your Fears
I want to give you three keys to entering the promised land. The first key to entering the promised land — here it is. I might have to duck behind the pulpit because I might get stoned for this one. The quickest way to possess the promises of God — wait for it — is to face all your fears.
How many in this church want the promises of God? I want to see a show of hands. How many want the promises of God? If your hand's not up, I need to pray for you, because trust me, you want the promises of God. Good. Now face your fears.
The children of Israel couldn't stomach war, so they missed out on the shortest possible path to their promises. When Rory asked me and Wendy to come onto leadership in this church, she didn't buy me flowers. Apostle Rory bought me a sword. Because here's the thing — if you want to see the people of God enter into the fullness of all God has for them, it's going to take a fight. There's going to be some conflict. There's going to be some battles. And so I thank Apostle Rory for her insight, giving me a weapon to fight with.
The children of Israel couldn't stomach war, so they missed out on the shortest possible path to their promises. Their wilderness experience — listen to this — could have taken less than two weeks. But the children of Israel had a slavery and orphan mindset which cost them a whole generation, 40 years of wandering.
Wilderness Christians vs. Promised Land Christians
So I want to contrast over the next few minutes the difference between wilderness Christians and promised land Christians. And again, this is just a perspective.
Wilderness Christians are delivered but not free. They've been taken out of Egypt but Egypt is not taken out of them. Wilderness Christians think the wilderness is the same as the promised land. They're not less saved than promised land Christians. They're redeemed but not mature. Wilderness Christians have reduced the cross of Jesus Christ to a get-out-of-jail-free God.
So why do wilderness Christians stay in the wilderness? Well, because the wilderness is better than Egypt. It's way better than Egypt. After all, you're saved. But it's not the fullness of all that God has promised for us.
I want you to think about the wilderness for a moment. The wilderness had the cloud by day to guide you and provide shade from the fierce wilderness heat. Fire by night to warm you from the wilderness night chills and to light your way. Oh, and there was manna from heaven every day — except the Sabbath, of course, as extra was provided on Friday. Then there was water from the rock, which was enough to hydrate three million bodies and all their livestock. Oh, by the way, in the wilderness, your clothes and your sandals — wait for it — last 40 years. Imagine going shopping tomorrow and buying some clothes that last you for 40 years, buying yourself some shoes, and 40 years later they're still good. Amazing.
Of course, then there was Moses. I mean, who would not want Moses to be their leader? A guy who literally talks to God face to face. I mean, come on, Moses, lead us. And then there was this dude called Aaron as well, but we won't talk about him.
So it's such a convenient thing, isn't it, to be in the wilderness? Everything's provided. You've got to do nothing. Talk about convenient faith, comfortable Christianity — no risks, no interruptions. Wow, let's all go to the wilderness.
And then in Numbers chapter 32 — oh, it gets better. Two tribes, Reuben and Gad — I want you to read this in your own time — decided they liked the wilderness and asked God if they could stay. Look at Moses' response. Numbers chapter 32, verse 6: "And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?" Look at verse 7: "Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them?"
Moses went on to say, in effect: you can be a wilderness Christian if you want to be. But you guys — I'm not going to give you flowers, I'm going to give you a sword. Because you can stay here in the wilderness if you want to, but you're going to come over with us. You're going to fight with your brothers and sisters for all the promises God has said. You're going to obtain all of it.
And this is my challenge this morning: will you fight for all that God has promised you? Because there's a price to pay to enter into the fullness of the promised land.
As the Holy Spirit continues to move here at Rivers, I want the fullness of God. I want to experience with you all the fullness of God has promised. But here's the thing — we need to be prepared to be uncomfortable. We need to be prepared to be inconvenienced. And we need to be prepared to be interrupted.
Let me tell you, God's going to bring into this place not squeaky clean, holy, sanctified, righteous people like you. He's going to bring in a whole bunch of people and they're going to look very different than you look all scrubbed up on a Sunday morning. They're going to be wild. They're going to be different. They may even drop an F-bomb here or there. Imagine that in the house of God.
Years back, when Wendy and I were pastoring the Baptist Church in New Zealand, there was a man who had real challenges when it came to personal hygiene. He was very, very challenged. Did I mention challenged? He was very challenged in this particular area. And when he sat in a particular row, the whole row would part like the Red Sea around this guy. He was very isolated. And one lady — God bless her socks — came after the service and complained and said, how in the house of God can we have someone who stinks? How could this person be here? Leadership, do something about it. Well, the next week she came back in tears and said, I so apologize. The Spirit of God has convicted me. We need more people like that here in the house of God.
Promised Land Christians: Royal Thinking in Practice
You see, promised land Christians, by contrast, understand some things. They embrace royal thinking. They understand that discomfort, inconvenience, and interruptions are part of obtaining the fullness of the promises of God. They have a will to fight for family — and say that again, they have a will to fight for family. Some of you, your family's all over the place. And the Lord's not handing you flowers this morning. He's handing you a sword. Because it's time to fight for the promises of God. It's time to fight for your family. It's time to pay a price.
Promised land Christians take down the lion and the bear in private so they can defeat Goliath in public. They have history with God privately so they can make history for God publicly.
Promised land Christians don't just turn up to the glory. They pay the price to host the glory. John chapter 17, verse 22 — I'll read it again: "And the glory which you gave me, Jesus speaking, I have given them that they may be one just as we are one."
Many Christians love to be around the moving of the Spirit. However, like King Saul, they're around the move of the Spirit, but they don't realize they've been given the capacity to be a mover of the Spirit.
What am I talking about? Smith Wigglesworth — that wonderful man of God who raised 21 people from the dead. How's your week been? Smith would be out there raising people from the dead. That's how Smith spent his weeks. He raised 21 from the dead. And he made a statement which burns in my spirit. He said these words: "If God's not moving, I'll move God." What's the point? The point is we don't control God. Of course we don't. However, when we exercise faith in his word and obedience to his voice, he moves. If you want a scripture around that, look at Hebrews 11:6.
And then there's the Apostle Paul. Listen to these words. Philippians 3, verses 12 to 15. He says: "Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do — forgetting those things which are behind" — that's a word for someone this morning, time to forget those things which are behind — "and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore — how many know if there's a 'therefore' in the Scriptures, find out what it's there for — let as many as are mature have this mind, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal this to you."
That's mature, promised land thinking right there.
The Idol of Fealty
Understand something — you change your thinking, you change your life. But what hinders us from promised land thinking in our lives? Idolatry. Idolatry restricts the flowing of the Holy Spirit. See Ephesians 4:30 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 19.
But you may say, I don't have any idols. Well, what is an idol? An idol is anything you have to check with before you say yes to God. Oh, there are lots of idols lurking around. And as I was preparing this morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to me about the idol of fealty. I don't know if you've ever heard of that one. What is fealty? Fealty is fierce loyalty to family. If your loyalty is to your family before your loyalty to God, that's an idol.
Now today you may be in an all-out assault on yourself and your family. And it feels like maybe all hell is camped against you outside your door. Don't lose heart. Because it says in Psalm 34:19: "Many are the afflictions" — everyone say "many" — "many are the afflictions of the righteous." That's why you've had such a tough week. Because many are the afflictions of the righteous. "But the Lord delivers him out of them all." Everyone say "all." You're going to get delivered. Hallelujah.
John chapter 16, verse 33: "These things, Jesus speaking, I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world, in this world, you will" — not maybe or if or perhaps — "you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Today, every one of you, you're on track to the shortest possible path to the promises of God. The promised land is near. But I have a question for you. How many in this room would prefer 11 days of difficulty over 40 years of mediocrity? I want you to think about that for a moment.
The truth is, like many children of Israel, many spend 40 years of their lives orbiting the same mountain, just going round and round. What is that mountain called? That mountain's called fear. Oh no, no, I'm a Christian, I'm saved, but I'm just going to keep orbiting this mountain called fear. I'm just going to keep going round and round. Forty years around the same mountain.
Well, how do we know that we are snared around that mountain? Proverbs 29:25 says: "The fear of man brings a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe."
How do you know you're snared in the wilderness and snared with that slavery mindset? Well, you cut and run when it gets tough. You're out of there. It's too tough. I'm gone.
What is so sobering is God is willing to let a whole generation die off if they won't go in and obtain the promises of God. Ten out of 12 spies went to spy out the promised land, but only two refused to face their fear. And those two — Caleb and Joshua — received the promises of God.
Key Two: Opposition Is Essential
So the second key this morning to entering the promised land is this: opposition is essential. Because without it, you won't know who you are. And you won't know the authority you have in Christ. I'm going to prove that to you.
Psalm 119:71. David says: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes." It's good that tribulation comes, because otherwise you won't learn. How powerful is that?
And can I share with you — growing up as a missionary kid in Central Africa, I had the joy of working with my father and going into villages and rural areas that had never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. These areas were steeped in demonic worship. They were steeped in the occult. Sometimes five, six generations of witch doctors had ruled over these areas. It was absolutely full on. We would take the Jesus film, translate it into the local languages, and show it to the crowds. When we first went in there, we were completely sabotaged. We were taken out again and again and again. And I remember very clearly with my dad crying out to God and saying, God, where's your power? How come the demonic is having such victory over us? And praise God, on our knees, we learnt a whole new way, a whole new understanding. We learnt how to come against the forces of darkness and push back the work of the enemy. It was good that we were afflicted so we could learn. We could learn to push back against the forces of darkness. Hallelujah. It was good.
The children of Israel made it across the Jordan River and into the promised land. And what did they encounter first? The massive wall of Jericho. Now, this was not just any wall. It was the greatest and thickest wall in history. It was 30 feet thick. They used to have chariot races along the wall of Jericho. It was that full on.
Here's the point. Giants and obstacles and walls are in the promised land. They're not in the wilderness. So this morning you may be up against the biggest obstacle you've ever seen in your life. Start smiling. You're in the promised land. That's not in the wilderness.
So what do you do when facing an immovable obstacle? Listen to your godly leaders. Oh, that one went over well. I tell you, people are writing that one down.
God gives leaders great ideas sometimes. So the children of Israel are asking, how do we take down the 30-foot thick wall of Jericho? How are we going to do this? How do we possess the promises of God? And what do the leaders say? Guys, do another lap.
And you're sitting there thinking, I have been wandering for 40 years in the wilderness, wandering around and around. And the leader says, wander around again? You're kidding, again? Oh, and it gets better. Joshua says, shut up. When you wander, because the last time you murmured and complained, everybody over 20 died in the wilderness. Well, there's a word of the Lord right there for you this morning. Because the last time you squawked, a whole lot of people died.
Now this just begs the question: how many times do we as the church, God's people, the ecclesia, miss out on the promises of God because of our murmuring and complaining?
Key Three: From Manna Mentality to Seed Mentality
Number three — let's wind this up. To enter the promised land, we need to move from manna mentality to seed mentality. 2 Corinthians 9:10 says: "Now may he who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness."
You see, in the promised land, hallelujah, you dig your own wells. That's where the water comes from. In the promised land, you plant your own seed. And that's where the blessing and prosperity comes from. God supplies the seed. And if you sow it, he will multiply and increase it. Because here's the point — God never asks you, what don't you have? He always asks you, what is in your hand?
Hosea 10:12 says: "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he comes and rains righteousness on you." Hosea was charging the nation of Israel and he was saying with this declaration: what you sow is what you reap. Hosea says sow righteousness, and then when you sow righteousness, the Lord comes and rains righteousness down upon you. What's the point? The seed you sow is what you harvest. A harvest of apples comes from apple seeds. How many know you don't plant carrot seeds if you want potatoes? You've got to plant the seed of what you want.
How many this morning are seeking the Lord for guidance? Can I see a show of hands? You're wanting God to guide you in some way. After the last one, some of you are very nervous to put your hands up.
So here's the principle. If you need finance, sow finance. If you need healing, sow healing. What does that mean? Well, pray for somebody else who needs healing. You say, well, I'm so sick. Pray for someone else. That's why I pray for people all the time. I need healing myself. So what do I do? Get bitter? No, I get better. I pray for someone else.
How many of you need a job this morning? Why don't you help someone else find employment? How many of you this morning want to get married? Introduce one of your single mates to a potential marriage partner.
You see, promised land thinking is counterintuitive, but God is a God of seed. He created all the planets, the stars, the universe, the animals, the plants, the trees by the power of his Word. But how did he create us? I want you to see this. Genesis chapter 2, verse 7. God formed us from what was in his hand. It says he formed with his hands from the dust. He breathed into the dust the breath of life and the dust became a human being with the capacity to multiply itself.
It says in Acts chapter 2, verse 2, the church was created by the breath of God. It wasn't a physical wind, it was a sound from heaven. I want to suggest that was the physical breath of God. What's the point? God wants you to put something in his hand first. Then he can multiply it.
God asked Moses in Exodus chapter 3, what is in your hand? He didn't ask Moses what he didn't have. Moses had a stick. It wasn't a cool one with flowers on it. It was just an old desert stick. And what did God say to him? What is in your hand? Moses said, well, I've got a stick. There's plenty in the desert. There's sticks everywhere. You see, it was just a stick until God breathed on it. And then it became the rod of God — the rod that God used to deliver three million Jews from Egyptian slavery.
And then there's the loaves and fishes, which is the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. They were just bits of bread and some dried fish until God breathed on them. And they multiplied. Oh, and by the way, the 5,000 didn't eat steak for dinner. What did they eat? What was sown. Fish and bread.
I want to show you one more thing, because some of you may be thinking this morning, well, I want to sow, but I can't survive if I start sowing. Well, I want to give you a promise here from Joshua 5:12. It says: "Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. And the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land that year."
The children of Israel ate what they had sown. And the next day, the manna stopped. The point is this: God sustained his people till seedtime and harvest could take place. Some of you this morning need to start sowing. And your excuse is, oh, but I can't sow anything because I'm not going to survive. Let me tell you, God in his grace will sustain you until seedtime and harvest starts happening.
I'm going to finish with this. Genesis 8:22 says: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease."
God's creative purpose for us is seedtime and harvest. God is not moved by need. Because if God was moved by need, there wouldn't be a hungry person in Brisbane today. What moves God is not need. What moves God is seed. God is moved by what you sow. You don't get the blessing of prosperity and the blessing of the fullness of God in the wilderness.
Here's the thing. Wilderness Christians judge promised land Christians. I'll leave that right there.
Closing Appeal and Summary
So how can we transition this morning from being delivered in the wilderness to free in the promised land?
Number one: face your fears. It's time, body of Christ, to face your fears.
Number two: opposition is essential. Let's get away from this idea that the fullness of the Christian life is all about convenience and comfort and being uninterrupted. Don't interrupt my life, leave me alone. That's not promised land thinking. Opposition is essential.
Number three: the way we are free in the promised land is to do another lap. Oh my gosh. Another one? Oh, and shut up. That's the word of the Lord to you this morning. Stop murmuring and complaining. Do another lap. Leave manna mentality behind and get into seed mentality.
And I want to encourage you this morning: sow exactly what you need. What do you need this morning? Sow. That's how it works in the promised land.
Let's stand this morning. Can I encourage you to rise to your feet? Let's rise up this morning. I want to pray for some people this morning. And I'm aware that some here in this place, that spirit of foreboding has paralyzed you. You're just in a place where you just feel you can't break free. And the message this morning is: move into promised land thinking.
And I know the wilderness has many applications. This is just one. The wilderness has blessings that come with it. I get that too. But what I'm talking about this morning is let's stop being around the blessing of God and get into it. Let's stop being around the moving of God and get into it. Let's stop being spectators with our Coke and popcorn, watching the anointed people up the front doing their thing, not realizing that we are anointed. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy people, that we may proclaim the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
This message this morning isn't a happy, feel-good, eat your popcorn, drink your Coke message. This message is a challenge. Let's move on to maturity. Let's stop murmuring and complaining. Stop blaming everybody else for your issues and your problems and start sowing a seed. Let's sow what we need this morning.
And while every head is bowed and every eye is closed this morning — you may have come into this place and you don't know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I'm not talking about if you come to church or if you read your Bible or if you do other Christian things. I'm asking you, do you know him? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Because if you don't know Jesus Christ this morning, I want to give you an opportunity to accept him, to know him. I'm going to give you an opportunity according to the Word of God to have peace with God.
Oh, and there's a peace that he wants to give you that passes understanding. You may feel that everything is going against you right now. You may think I've got problem after problem. You may be consumed with guilt this morning. You may feel that I've got nothing. But know this: God is here to meet you, to love you, to save you out of darkness and bring you into his glorious light.
So if you don't know Jesus Christ this morning, let's keep our heads bowed and eyes closed. I want you just to raise your hand in this place. If you don't know him, is there anyone this morning who doesn't know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? I'd love to pray with you and for you that you could know him.
I want to make another appeal as well. As I've been preaching this morning, I sense some of you may feel that you're in the wilderness, in wilderness thinking, and you need to move into promised land thinking. I'd like to pray for you this morning. So once you're ready, come up the front. I'd like to pray for you.