Deuteronomy 2:24 24 “Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

Deuteronomy 2:25 25 This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

God’s Instructions “Go pick a fight, engage them in battle, and today I’ll give you victory.”

Deuteronomy 2:27 27 “Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Deuteronomy 2:28 28 Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot—

Deuteronomy 2:29 29 as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land the LORD our God is giving us.”

A Compromise? Israel’s response to God’s command that they engage and conquer was to offer a compromise of peace.

Deuteronomy 2:30 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.

Deuteronomy 2:31 31 The LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

God Does Things We Least Expect This passage teaches us a very peculiar thing about God. His first approach toward us is to invite us to believe in Him and move in His power.

God Does Things We Least Expect This passage teaches us a very peculiar thing about God. His first approach toward us is to invite us to believe in Him and move in His power. God’s first choice is to search for a heart that is completely his and then strongly support it.

The Church’s Response The Lord commands his church to go and make disciples and be witnesses in all the earth (Acts 1:8).

Matthew 11:12 12 …the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

Proverbs 29:18 KJV 18 Where there is no vision, the people perish.

The Church’s Response The most important moral choices are differences of vision, not of choice.

What Does This Mean? God’s tasks are beyond us.

What Does This Mean? 2. God’s purpose for his people reflects who He is.

John 20:21 “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”

The Classical Doctrine of the Mission of God Is: God the Father sending the Son, God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit which is expanded to include yet another “movement.”

What Does This Mean? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world.

What Does This Mean? God wants us to engage the world for Christ. 3. God’s method for his people is an extension of his personality. God wants us to engage the world for Christ.

What Does This Mean? He wants us to believe that He will keep his word, that He is committed to establishing his people as a people of his presence and power.

2 Corinthians 5:20 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

2 Corinthians 5:14 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

2 Corinthians 5:15 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Matthew 9:37 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

Matthew 9:37 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

What Does This Mean? 4. God’s message for his people remains the same.

What Does This Mean? God wants to shape and transform us from slaves to sin, slaves to religion, and slaves to our culture to conquerors in Jesus Christ.