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.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
* James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Rev. 2:2 [Jesus to the church at Ephesus] I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
ILLUS: TAN-2099. Liking The Way He Did It
Charles Alexander was accosted by a carping critic: “I don’t like the way you do soul-winning and personal work.” Replied Alexander, who was well aware of his imperfections, “Neither do I, but how do YOU do personal work?”
Shamefacedly, the critic confessed, “Well, I guess I don’t do it!” “Well,” said Alexander, “I like the way I DO it better than the way you DON’T do it!”
ILLUS: TAN-9022. Three “Bones” In Church
Church members may be divided into three classes in a mere skeleton outline: wishbones, jawbones, and backbones. The wishbones are always languidly hoping that their church will somehow grow without their effort; the jawbones talk their way out of doing things, and the backbones get under the heavy burdens and carry them. —Mrs. A. E. Janzen
III. The Christian Life Is a Battle
2 Tim. 4:7-8 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: [8] Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
• We have battles we have never had before.
• We have enemies that were unknown in the wilderness.
• Contrary to popular theology, your battle has just begun when you believe!
QUOTE: “He [the new believer] is now made conscious of foes, both within and without, of which previously he knew nothing.” (Pink)
• Every believer finds that He has three enemies!
• And we must war against them.
A. We War Against the World
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mark 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
* James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. . . . [17] And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
QUOTE: I thought when I became a Christian I had nothing to do but just to lay my oars in the bottom of the boat and float along. But I soon found that I would have to go against the current. -- D.L. Moody, Christian History, no. 25.
B. We War Against the Devil
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
* Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: [i.e., get whatever good he can out of you and throw the rest away to the wind].
C. We War Against the Flesh
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
* Col. 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
IV. The Christian Life is a Blessing (TURN To Eph. 1)
• Many in Israel will see God’s power like they have never before seen it!
• Miracles so astounding that modern, liberal interpreters deny them altogether.
• Some give up, and don’t realize what they have given up!
• Paul tries his best to wake up the Ephesian believers to what their blessing were!
• Let us never forget that the hero of the book of Joshua is not Joshua himself!
• It is Joshua’s awesome God!!!!
ILLUS: Fortified Within
There are two ways of handling pressure. One is illustrated by a bathysphere, the miniature submarine used to explore the ocean in places so deep that the water pressure would crush a conventional submarine like an aluminum can. Bathyspheres compensate with plate steel several inches thick, which keeps the water out but also makes them heavy and hard to maneuver. Inside they’re cramped.
When these craft descend to the ocean floor, however, they find they’re not alone. When their lights are turned on and you look through the tiny, thick plate glass windows, what do you see? Fish! These fish cope with extreme pressure in an entirely different way. They don’t build thick skins: they remain supple and free. They compensate for the outside pressure through equal and opposite pressure inside themselves. Christians, likewise, don’t have to be hard and thick skinned--as long as they appropriate God’s power within to equal the pressure without. -- Jay Kesler, Campus Life. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 2.
Ephes. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Ephes. 1:11-23 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: [12] That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. [13] In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, [14] Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
[15] Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, [16] Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; [17] That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: [18] The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, [19] And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, [20] Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, [21] Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: [22] And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, [23] Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
ILLUS: Black security guard that taught the lesson at the Detroit Diesel factory in Houston.
As a Christian, I got my ups and I got my downs. But as a Christian, my ups, and even my downs are better than anything I ever had in the world!
CONCLUSION:
What this book has for us:
• Joshua brings us back to reality.
• There are battles in the Christian life.
• These should be expected.
• Joshua reminds us of how to fight our battles.
• It is in the strength of the Lord!
APPLY!
1. Have you entered into His rest. You have no blessings. You have one battle. To win Christ!
2. Are you opposing the world or comfortably fitting in? Do you want people to like you, or to be delivered from their lost state?
3. Is your Christian life a labor? What are you doing for God and His church?
4. Are you fighting your flesh or have you given in? Are you excusing what God condemns?
5. Are you enjoying God’s richest blessings for you?
