Living by the Promises of God
Joshua 1:1-9
Let me ask you a question.
What keeps you going? What is your motivation to keep doing what you are doing?
For Joshua, his motivation was to know that God was going to keep His promises.
You see, Joshua followed in Moses’ footsteps. He followed Moses as God’s servant. Can you imagine how that felt?
Moses was there when God delivered the plagues.
Moses was there when God parted the Red Sea.
Moses spoke to a rock and water came out.
But the people rejected Moses and God’s leadership. So God said “I am going to start over.” Joshua and Caleb were the only two to see the promises of God. The other 10 spies never could. So God sent 2 million people in the desert on the world’s longest funeral march in history. Forty years, they marched and each one of the 2 million adults died. Everyone who were in Moses’ generation died.
So the people die and Moses dies and God taps Joshua as the new leader.
So once a week, Joshua and Caleb would meet for morning coffee. They would ask each other, “How many did you bury last week?” Eventually, everyone from the Moses generation died out.
What kept Joshua going after the death of Moses? God’s promises.
Look with me in Joshua:
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.
(Joshua 1:3 NKJV)
God fulfills His promise to the people in Joshua 21.
So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.
(Joshua 21:43-45 NKJV)
In Joshua’s farewell address, Joshua acknowledged that God kept His promise.
"Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
(Joshua 23:14 NKJV)
You know what kept Joshua going? The promises that God gave him back when Joshua was chosen to lead.
Let me share an important truth:
The world tends to live on explanations. For example: Why does this happen? What should I do about this?
The Christian lives on the promises of God. If you are going to serve God, you need to learn to trust God and His promises for you.
But because we live in this world, we tend to run into some dangers that can prevent us from living by the promises of God.
THE DANGER OF LOOKING BACK (1:2)
"Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them--the children of Israel.
(Joshua 1:2 NKJV)
Moses is mentioned 6x in Joshua 1:1-9. Moses is also mentioned 57x in the book of Joshua. It is very easy to look at what God has done in the past and think: I don’t think I can move forward.
Lot’s wife made that mistake. Why did she look back anyway? I don’t it was because she lived Sodom. Jesus refers to this event in Luke:
Remember Lot’s wife.
(Luke 17:32 NKJV)
Jesus is comparing the time of Lot to the time of the end of the world. Of course everything is familiar. People eat, drink, meet, and marry. They have children and work. Normal stuff. But God is a moving God. He is always moving. He is always doing more. He is moving forward into the future.
The danger that we can run into is that we look back. Instead of looking forward to see what God is doing, we want to look back at what we find familiar. In the beginning of Joshua, Moses was familiar. Moses the only leader the people of Israel ever had – for forty years. Now, there is a new leader. What are the people going to do about that? What is Joshua going to do about that? Does he just do the same things as Moses. Actually, Joshua will lead in a completely different way. The people of God are going to move forward. The constant thing are the promises, not the explanations.
What should I do about this? Should I do it like Moses? God says: I gave you a promise – follow Me.
THE DANGER OF STANDING STILL (1:3)
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.
(Joshua 1:3 NKJV)
Fulfilling the promises of God requires that we walk by faith.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
"Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.
(Habakkuk 2:2-4 NKJV)
God wants us to keep moving with Him. When we stand still, we sink or go backward. God doesn’t go backward, He is always moving forward. The promises of God are for today – not yesterday. When you claim the promises of God, it may have come from your past, but it is always for the future.
Remember Peter and the walking on the water scene. Peter sees Jesus and Jesus asked him to step out. Jesus was making a promise. He said: Come to Me. Peter stepped out, until the disciples started complaining about the waves. Then Peter looked at the waves and stood still. As Peter stood still, the waves put him under. The other disciples weren’t walking. They were standing still in the boat. That was the danger. Because when you are standing still as a Christian, you are going to see the promises of God fulfilled.
Now I am not talking about stillness times with God. I am talking about times of serving God. When you are serving God, you aren’t standing still. You need to keep moving, and keep doing what God asks you to do. Sometimes, we want to stop. When we stop and stand still, we are going to sink.
THE DANGER OF GIVING UP (1:5)
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.
(Joshua 1:5 NKJV)
Joshua had 31 kings waiting for him as he entered the Promised Land. Joshua had many challenges ahead of him. So it is not easy to serve God. Sometimes it can be very difficult serving God. But God promises never to leave you.
God said this to Jacob in Genesis 28:15, 31:3, and 46:2-3.
Jacob and Joshua had the same kind of feelings of loneliness. They had feeling of wanting to giving up on their journey. But God reassured them, as He reassures us – that God will always be with you.
THE DANGER OF FALLING SHORT (1:6)
Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
(Joshua 1:6 NKJV)
This verse talks about an inheritance. The inheritance is the land that God promised. The Bible talks about georgraphy sometimes. In this journey that the Israelites have been going, there are three geographical positions.
THREE SPIRITUAL GEOGRAPHICAL POSITIONS
1.
Egypt – this represents the world system that keeps us in bondage. We can be put into slavery by the world, our fleshly nature, and Satan. Egypt represents this. The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt. They were freed from their slavery by the blood of a lamb.
So each and every one of us spiritually speaking has been in Egypt. We have all be placed into spiritual slavery. Jesus has delivererd us from this slavery by dying for each and every one of us on the cross.
2.
Canaan . This represents the claim of inheritance for the people of Israel. For us today, it represents the inheritance we can claim in Jesus Christ. When we accept Jesus Christ and what He has done for us to bring us to God, we can claim an inheritance.
An inheritance is something that is givenn by our fathers to enjoy. Just as our earthly fathers give us an inheritance, God gives us an inheritance. What is that inheritance? It is a place to serve. You see, eternal life is the result of God wanting to bring us back to a relationship with Him. It is the benefit of Jesus’s sacrifice. But the inheritance is something that God wants you to have now on this earth. God wants you to go to work, to enjoy the land and to serve the Lord.
3.
Wilderness – The wilderness represents the inability to believe God’s promises.
Remember what the ten spies said when they gave their report:
“It is as God has said, BUT....”
There are giants in the land. It is a land of strong walls. We are not able to conquer the land.
They never denied the promises of God. They just didn’t believe that they could claim the promises of God.
Are you going to believe and claim the promises of God, or are you going to just wander in the wilderness?
THE DANGER OF TAKING OVER (1:7-9)
Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
(Joshua 1:7-9 NKJV)
God says in these verses to literally “mutter” over the words. It is like when a Jewish man bows and quietly speaks the words to himself. That is muttering and that is the kind of meditating God has in mind.
God says to us basically: “You are working for Me!” I will give you the words and I will give you the things to do.
Now sometimes along the way, we think that we can do it better than God. God calls that pride. Pride will get us into trouble. What keeps you from getting proud? Spending time with God in His Word.
The Book of the Law is the place of the promises of God. The Book of the Law was the Bible that Joshua knew. The Old Testament was the Bible that Jesus read. The entire Bible that we have is the Book that God has given to Christians.
Claiming the promises of God requires that we start the day with God’s word. We don’t start the day with “Good Morning Israel” or the latest newscast, or the morning soaps.
The work of God is based on the promises of God. You can’t serve God with claiming the promises of God. You can’t claim the promises without knowing the promises of God. You can’t know the promises of God without reading them in the Book.
On a personal note, I will tell you that God has shaped me and comforted me with Joshua 1:9. When I first entered the ministry 13 years ago, this was a verse that was given to me. God wants to give you success. He gives success to His servants. He will never leave you alone. But He wants you to trust Him and His promises. He leads you by His promises and brings you success.
(Sermon was inspired by Warren Wiersbe’s sermon entitled "The Man Who Lived on Promises")
