Charting the Course in 2010
Text: Selected Scriptures (Joshua 3:1-7, Matt. 13:18-22,
By: Ken McKinley
Before we begin I want to show you all a video that kind of goes along with our sermon this morning (Show the Lifehouse “Everything” skit)
Now we’ll be looking at several texts this morning, next Sunday we will be returning to the Baptist Faith and Message, but with today being the first Sunday of 2010, I wanted to start the New Year off with a Word from the Lord that I think is applicable to us today. In that video we just saw, we watched the drama of a young girls life unfolding. And I think it is a good display of what our youth culture faces these days, but also of what a lot of our young adult culture faces these days as well. And I think the over-all message of that skit is that God allows us to endure certain things, in order to show us that we can’t do it without Him. He wants us to get to the end of ourselves, the end of our efforts, and fully trust in Him. But the problem is that a lot of times, we don’t. And I think that at times when we don’t fully trust God its because we don’t understand that He is in complete control. We trust Him for some things, but there are other things that we have doubts about. We subconsciously wonder if God is able to take care of this problem or that problem, and so we have what I call falterings of our faith. And basically this comes because we believe the lie of Satan, “Did God really say…”
One of the most important beliefs held by the Christian faith is that God is sovereign, we just sang that hymn, “This Is My Father’s World,” But do we believe what we sing? Do we believe “that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet?”
You see the world around us has changed, and world views have changed. People don’t value what they used to value. I’ll give you an example. If I could get everyone age 50 and younger to stand up. Everyone take a look around. Where are they? Not here. Attending worship services is not something valued by most people age 50 and younger today. How many of you have ever heard the story of the Titanic? Probably all of you; the whole thing about the Titanic was that they thought that they had built an unsinkable ship, they ignored the warning signs, and they didn’t see the iceberg soon enough to avoid it. What’s an iceberg? You just saw it when I asked everyone age 50 and younger to stand. But that’s not just here, it’s a trend happening nation wide. Some say that our government’s favorable views of communism, the buy out of GM, and the writing of the health care bill behind closed doors are all icebergs as well. Some say that an Islamic terrorist nearly blowing up a plane in Detroit, or an Islamic terrorist shooting U.S. soldiers in Ft. Hood are icebergs. (They may very well be right)
Our world is changing, and there are icebergs ahead.
Turn to Joshua 3:1-7 (Read)
In vs. 4 Joshua says, “you have not passed this way before.”
Now I’m sure most of you, if not all of you know the background leading up to our text. The Israelites have been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years because of unbelief. They had a serious faith faltering, and they had to pay a price for it. During that time, we can kind of see that they actually sort of got used to living in the wilderness as nomads. Even though it wasn’t really God’s ultimate purpose for them, they became comfortable in the wilderness. They became comfortable with the status quo. But now there they were, at the Jordan River, about to break new ground, and enter the Promised Land.
And here we are… on the edge of a new year. 40 years had passed since they had stood on the banks of the Jordan River and ran away from God’s promise. They believed the lie, “Did God really say He would give you the land?”
Now I don’t know what trials you might be going through today, but I do know that we all face an unknown future. And like I said, our world is changing, and I admit that a lot of what I see in the world really bothers me, and I think it should bother us, but I don’t think we should walk in fear, or let fear dictate how we live our lives. There is an old saying that goes, “If Satan can’t stop us from getting converted, then he will do everything he can to get us diverted.” Which is actually what Jesus is describing in Matthew 13 when He teaches on the parable of the sower. Let’s turn there quickly, Matt. 13:18-22 (Read). Proverbs 2:2 says, “Incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding.”
Job 28:28 says, “Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and do depart from evil is understanding.”
Psalms 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments.”
In other words, if you are a hearer only and not a doer of God’s Word, you lack understanding. Matthew goes on and says if you have no root in yourself, when persecution arises BECAUSE OF THE WORD, you will stumble. Lastly; Matthew says that if you hear the Word but your focus is on the cares of the world and becoming rich, then you will become ineffective for the Kingdom. The Word will be choked out.
Remember that video? The young girl gets caught up in all the things the world has to offer, she’s drawn away by the false premise that a relationship with a boy will make her happy, then the allure of money draws her attention, then it’s alcohol and the desire to conform and fit in, until finally despair sets in.
If not for God and His grace towards us, there go we. But before I get too far down that rabbit trail, let’s go back to Joshua chapter 3 because I think that there are three things here, that if we take them to heart, God will help us, and give us the courage to face whatever the new year might bring our way.
The first thing is this: We must seek the Word of God; look at verse 1 (Read), it says “Joshua rose early in the morning.” Now if you’ve read this book then you know Joshua was an early riser. We see it here in chapter 3, we see it in chapters 6, chapter 7, chapter 8… so why did Joshua like to get up early in the morning? Well it wasn’t just because he liked to, it wasn’t to feed the cows or sheep. I think the answer to Joshua’s habit of getting up early has to do with the command he was given in chapter 1:8 where the Lord said to him, “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.” The best time for Joshua to get into the Word. King David seemed to meditate on the Word in the evenings, while he was lying in or near his bed, maybe he was more of a night person whereas Joshua was a morning person. Jesus would spend time in prayer at various times, sometimes in the morning before the sun would rise, sometimes during the afternoon, once He prayed the entire night in the Garden of Gethsemane. I don’t know that there is a set time given to us in Scripture to get into God’s Word, but if you don’t spend time in the Word, you should make a set time.
Seek the wisdom of God’s Word and incline your heart to understanding. If you understand you will obey and the Word cannot be snatched from you. If you are rooted and grounded in God’s Word, when persecution comes because of the Word you will stand strong. Having a good understanding of God’s Word will help you when lifes trials and tribulations come. That’s why we have Sunday School in the morning, that’s why your pastor preaches from the Word of God, that’s why we have discipleship class and a short sermon in the evenings. We don’t know what the future holds. To look at the world situation, the financial situation, the political situation, it could be very easy to get into despair and doubt. The world is changing and we have not passed this way before. But God is the Alpha and the Omega, He declares the end from the beginning. Nothing that is going to happen in 2010 is going to take Him by surprise. If ever there was a time to saturate yourself in the Word of God it’s 2010.
Secondly; we need to look to the Ark of God. Now I’m not talking about the literal Ark of the Covenant. If you’ve ever watched Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark then you know its locked away in some government facility. (Just Kidding). Verse 3 (Read), now if you’ve read the books before Joshua, you know that when the Ark was moved it was placed in the center of all the tribes of Israel, but here it’s in the front of the Israelites. 2000 cubits before them; that’s almost a mile ahead of them. And I think the reason for that was so that it would be visible to all the tribes of Israel. So the Ark of the Covenant went before them, but the Ark of God goes before us, and I don’t have time today to go into all the OT typology, the Ark signifies Jesus Christ. The wood represents His humanity, the overlaid gold represents His deity, our sins were laid upon Him, and He is the Holy One of God. Remember Peter? He got out of the boat, he actually walked on water, but when he took his eyes off of Jesus, he began to sink. Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself (why?) lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”
Are you still in the boat? Are you still on the banks of the Jordan? Would you rather wander another 40 years in the wilderness?
So, hopefully this new year, we get more into the Word of God, we look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and thirdly… we should be doers of the Word. Remember, the “Fear of the Lord is wisdom, but to depart from evil is understanding.” “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and a good understanding is to do His commandments.” What this means is to do what you know you should do. We are all in different places in our walk with the Lord, some of us might have a great deal of knowledge about how we should be living out our faith, and others may not. Do what you can with what you’ve got. I think that probably the biggest sins we as Christians face are sins of OMISSION rather than sins of commission. In-other-words, we don’t struggle so much with doing things that we know we shouldn’t, things like stealing, or lying, or gossip. No; where most Christians struggle is doing the things we know we should be, like sharing the Gospel. Regardless the answer is still the same, REPEENT and follow Jesus. Whatever this New Year holds in store for us, whether it’s icebergs, or giants in the land, whether its blessings or struggles, I can tell you with some assurance, that if you stay in God’s Word, look unto Jesus, and do what you know you should, you can rest assured that God will be with you.
CLOSING AND PRAYER
