Safeguarding The Good Life-1 Series

SAFEGUARDING The GOOD LIFE—Joshua 3:1-6

Good Life/Well/Abundant

Pepe Rodriguez was famous outlaw from Mexico. He would sneak into Texas border towns, rob them & return to Mexico. The Texas Rangers were humiliated so they illegally enter Mexico to get their state’s money. They find Pepe alone in a bar with the bartender. The Ranger hold Pepe at gunpoint & demand the money. Pepe didn’t speak English & they didn’t speak Spanish.

Bartender recognizes the predicament & says, ‘Senores, I believe you need a translator, could I do the honors?’...They quickly comply!

They tell the bartender to tell Pepe that if he didn’t disclose the location of the loot, they would kill him on the spot.’ Seeing no way out, Pepe tells the bartender that the abandoned hacienda at the northern edge of town had a doorway in the back. If the rangers were to sweep away the dirt on the floor just inside the back door, they would find a metal door which opened up to reveal a stairway leading down into a room full of the Texas treasure.

The bartender having heard all the details in Spanish & no one else understanding, turned to the Rangers & says, ‘Pepe, he is a very brave man.’ & he wants me to tell you that ‘You all are a bunch of stinking gringo pigs & that he is not afraid to die!’

Some things are worth protecting.

The Good Life we have in Christ is also worth safeguarding/ protecting.

Need:

We all want ‘the good life.’

Joshua prepared the children of Israel for entrance into the promised land.

Christians must be prepared to enter the abundant life.

How can God’s people be prepared for entering the abundant life?

4 safeguards/assurances for entering the promised land/ living the Abundant Life/Good Life

4 preparations for safeguarding the Good Life.

Preparing for the Good Life is Safeguarded at/by/thru...

1—The Good Life is Safeguarded at/by/thru...

The BRINK(:1)

Explanation:(:1)Edge/Border/Verge

:1—“Then Joshua rose early in the morning; & he & all the sons of Israel set out from Acacia Grove & came to the Jordan, he & all the children of Israel, & lodged there before they crossed over.”

“Lodged”—Rest/Physical/Mental/Emotional/Spiritual Preparation

The whole scenario we face is of God—

The Promise/Possessions/People/Peace/Freedom...

*Point of Testing/Questioning.

Faced with...Victory or Failure—Fight or Flight—Trust or Suspicion—Confidence or Waffling/Uncertainty.

Indecisive/Frightened/Nervous/Anxious...

?Why am I really here?

?Is this really what I/we want?

*Decisions are made at the Brink!

Some will turn away...These return to their comfort zone.

Others are strengthened to enter!

“Rose early”—Mkv shaw-kam’—Hiphil(causative) Imperfect—1) To rise or start early—1a) (Hiphil)—1a1) To rise early, make an early start, 1a2) Early(as adverb). Strong—a primitive root; properly--To incline(the shoulder to a burden); but used only as denominative from Mkv shek-em’[The neck(between the shoulders) as the place of burdens; figuratively--The spur of a hill]; literally--To load up(on the back of man or beast), i.e. To start early in the morning.

“Morning”—rqb bo'-ker—1) Morning, break of day. Strong—properly--Dawn(as the break of day); generally--Morning.

“Set out/Removed”—eon naw-sah’—Qal Imperfect—1) To pull out, pull up, set out, journey, remove, set forward, depart. Strong—a primitive root; properly--To pull up, especially the tent-pins, i.e. Start on a journey.

“Acacia Grove”—Myjv shit-teeym'—Shittim =“the acacias”—1) Place of Israel's encampment between the conquest of the transjordanic region & crossing the Jordan into Canaan; 2) A place west of Jerusalem. Strong—the same as the plural of hjv shit-taw’[feminine of a derivative [only in the plural Myjv; meaning the sticks of wood] from the same as jjv[To pierce]; the acacia (from its scourging thorns)]; Acacia trees; Shittim, a place East of the Jordan.

“Came to”—awb bow’—Qal Imperfect—1) To go in, enter, come, go, come in.

“Lodged”—Nwl loown—1) To lodge, stop over, pass the night, abide; 2) To grumble, complain, murmur. Strong—a primitive root; To stop(usually over night); by implication--To stay permanently; hence(in a bad sense)--To be obstinate(especially in words, to complain).

“Crossed over/Passed over”(See :6; :2—“Went”; :4—“Passed”)—rbe aw-bar'—1) To pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress. Strong—a primitive root; To cross over; used very widely of any transition(literal or figurative; transitive, intransitive, intensive, causative); specifically--To cover(in copulation).

Argumentation:

Ps. 34:8—“Oh, taste & see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

1Cor. 10:13—“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Heb. 6:4-6—“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, & have tasted the heavenly gift, & have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, & have tasted the good word of God & the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, & put Him to an open shame.”