Introduction To Joshua (Part C) Series

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

(Introduction: Part C)

Calvary Baptist Church

August 3, 2003

The New Life

REVIEW:

Warren Wiersbe reminds us that in the book of Joshua, the children of Israel will receive:

1) A New Leader - This was the Title of our first message of the series.

2) A New Land - This is the title of our last message in the series.

We saw four lands in Israel’s History:

1. Egypt - the land of the sinner, the lost person. A place of bondage and slavery.

2. Wilderness - the land of the believer that has not yielded to the Lordship of Christ.

3. Canaan - the land of rest and fellowship. The picture of the believer in communion with his God.

4. Babylon - the believer who persists in his disobedience and sin must be dealt with.

3) A New Life - Today’s message!

NOTE: The message we preach today is not directly from Joshua, but it is vital to the understanding of Joshua.

* = Turn to this passage.

INTRODUCTION:

Note What is Behind:

1. Slavery

• Joseph dies in 1804 B.C.

• The Hyksos Kings arise in Egypt (That knew not Joseph) in 1730 B.C.

• Slavery is imposed.

• The Exodus begins in 1446 B.C.

• So Israel has been in bondage for nearly 300 years in Egypt!

2. Wilderness

• Due to disobedience, a trip that could have been completed in weeks, takes 40 years.

• Can you imagine 40 years on the road.

No more will Israel face the task master. No more will they wander in the wilderness.

Note What Has Begun (Struggles)

• Some have held the View That Canaan Represents Heaven.

• Many song writers have equated the Israelites crossing into Canaan with the Believer entering Heaven.

1) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

“I looked over Jordan and what do I see, coming for to carry me home.”

2) I Am Bound for the Promised Land

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye,

To Canaan’s fair and happy land, where my possessions lie.

• I fear that many music writers have spent more time in music lessons than in Bible study.

ILLUS: “In 1492, the Pilgrims Sailed the Ocean Blue.” Song at WTBI

• But there are four things in Jordan that cannot be in Heaven. Write these in your Bible.

1) Battles

2) Defeats

3) Sins

4) Failures

• No, Canaan is not Heaven.

• Canaan Represents The Christian Life!

• NOTE: Four things about the Christian Life.

• NOTE: Much of the following preaching will come from the book of Hebrews.

I. The Christian Life is a Rest

Hebrews 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

• There are four rests in the Bible, and we must not confuse them.

A. There is God’s rest after Creation. (Gen. 2:2)

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

B. There is the Salvation Rest that We Have In Christ (Heb. 4:1)

Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

C. There is the Believer’s Eternal Rest In Heaven.

Rev. 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

D. There is the Rest God Gave Israel After the Conquest (Heb. 3:7-19)

• This is the rest that pictures the believer’s rest in Christ.

• It is a rest from the fear of Hell.

• It is a rest from the fear of God’s anger.

• But it is not a sit down rest.

• There are still battles.

• The Christian life is a service.

II. The Christian Life is a Labor

1 Cor. 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.