THERE CAN BE NO RETREAT

DEUTERONOMY 17:1

A. "YE SHALL HENCEFORTH RETURN NO MORE THAT WAY"
  1. With these words Moses reminded Israel that Egypt once quitted was quitted for good:
  2. God has a special reason for this law:
    1. For Israel thought of the flesh pots in Egypt; they forgot their cruel bondage - Ex. 16:3
    2. They returned in their hearts to Egypt - Acts 7:39, 40
B. BUT THERE IS, IN OUR OPENING TEXT, A MUCH DEEPER TRUTH FOR OUR PRAYERFUL CONSIDERATION
  1. The "no retreat" is true in the sphere of our own being:
    1. No one can retrace the steps we have already trodden; nor recall the words we have carelessly spoken; nor reproduce the circumstances of bygone days.
    2. We cannot recall, or change, or obliterate the past, even if we wanted to.
    3. The actions of the past are eternal; they are history, good or bad.
  2. But there is a brighter side to our text:
    1. Thank God that we may forget our sinful past - Phil. 3:13
    2. God has promised to blot out all our sins - Mi. 7:18, 19; Isa. 44:22
    3. "Therefore if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold all things are become new" - 2 Cor. 5:17
    4. For who wants to return to the old life of sin? Not I.
  3. Let us take a still closer look at our opening text:
    1. Retreat is indicative of weakness of the one in question. That is true when an army flees in battle.
    2. In the case of a professed Christian, retreat into the old life of sin is indicative that he or she has never been free from the bondage of sin.
    3. It means that at heart the guilty one is still in Egypt - Acts 7:39
C. GOD'S MEANS TO KEEP US FROM GOING BACK TO A LIFE OF SIN
  1. The rule He laid down for Lot and his family:
    1. "Look not behind thee" - Gen. 19:17; Matt. 24:16- 18
    2. "Neither stay thou in all the plain" - Gen. 13:10. Any place under the judgment of God is forbidden to God's children.
  2. Set our face like a flint toward the kingdom of God:
    1. First, to become like our blessed Lord Jesus in character - Phil. 3:10, 13; Rom. 8:29
    2. We have set our affections on things above and that will keep us from turning back to spiritual Egypt - Col. 3:2
    3. We have set our hearts upon a new heaven and a new earth; that will keep us from looking back to Egypt - 2 Pet. 3:13; Heb. 11:13-17
  3. Detach ourselves from the things of the past:
    1. Do as Elisha did, burn the bridges behind us - 1 Ki. 19:19-21
    2. Follow Matthew's example, who left his former occupation and followed the Lord Jesus - Matt. 9:9-11
    3. Do what Peter told the Lord they did, "We have left all and followed thee" - Mark 10:28-31
  4. My prayerful appeal:
    1. How many of us are humbly grateful that we can forget our sinful past and rejoice in a new relationship to God and His people?
    2. How many of us have enough of the life of sin and waste, and are determined to turn our back to the past?
    3. If you are in doubt, please recall how God, in mercy, followed you until you were willing to listen to His voice and yield yourself to His will.
    4. I am so glad to see all of you standing up to let all the world know that there can be no retreat for you to the old ways, to the old life of sin.


Design © John Bryant 2011