Follow the Leader!
CBC Joshua Series #4
Joshua 1:1-9
Introduction:
Before moving into the text, where Joshua and Caleb and the Israelites will enter the land, let us not forget that Moses and all Israelites who had been over 20 years old at the Exodus will not enter the land. In fact, they are all dead!
1. Why Moses didn’t go in.
• Failure to glorify God.
• He missed the promised land by one letter (in English)
• Must “We” fetch you water.
• Should have been “He.”
• So there is a solemn warning to the minister.
• One that I take seriously!
• But there is also a serious warning to the laity here!
2. Why Majority didn’t go in.
• Failure to honor & obey leadership.
• Failure to follow the vision that God gave to the leaders.
• Listening to the negative crowd!
• Murmuring
"People are gonna talk, preacher."
Yes, and people are gonna die.
QUOTE: “Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate toward some goal which they COME TO FIND desirable.” (Ordway Tead)
I. Jehovah Speaks to The Leader (1-9)
Joshua 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
• The command is to Joshua & is to be obeyed by the people.
• God speaks to the leader.
• He demands obedience from the people even though He does not speak to them directly.
QUOTE: Warren Wiersbe tells us, “Over the years I have seen churches . . . flounder and almost destroy themselves in futile attempts to embalm the past and escape the future. Their theme song was, ‘As it was in the beginning, so shall it ever be, world without end, Amen.’ Often I’ve prayed with and for godly Christian leaders who were criticized, persecuted, and attacked simply because, like Joshua, that had a divine commission to lead a ministry into new fields of conquest; but the people would not follow. More than one pastor has been offered as a sacrificial lamb because he dared to suggest that the church make some changes.”
• When Moses was alive, God spake about Joshua to Moses.
• Now, God speaks to Moses.
• If I move from this church, you listen to the new leader. He will be receiving the vision!
A. The Commands (2)
[2] Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
1. Enter the Land
2. Conquer the Land
3. Divide the Land
NOTE: This is the outline of the book! Like Acts 1:8 and Revelation 1:19.
Entering the Land (1-5)
Conquering the Land (6-12)
Dividing the Land (13-22)
QUOTE: Often the key to a Bible book is found lying just by the door!
B. The Conditions (7-9)
NOTE: All of the following tie directly to God’s Word! Joshua was to:
Perceive the Law - Understand it.
Practice the Law - Do it.
Preach the Law - Keep it in “thy mouth.”
1. Obedience to God’s Word
[7] Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
• Observe to do “all the law.” (7)
• Turn not from it to right hand or to the left.(7)
ILLUS: I like this. Some of our Baptist friends have turned from it to the right. They are teaching as doctrine the commandments of men. I don’t find anything about Bible translations in this book. I find principles for Bible translations. No translation that denies the deity of Christ or His blood is welcome here at Calvary. But to some, they can’t preach 30:00 without pushing their man-made doctrine 5 times. Others turn from it to the left. They excuse everything! And it isn’t just Episcopalians!
• We are to “do according to all that is written therein.” (8)
• Everything!
• That includes tithing.
• That includes having your speed seasoned with grace!
• That includes loving one another.
• That includes being slow to anger.
• That includes forgiving those that offend you.
• That include dressing modestly.
• That’s Bible.
• We think we can be right on the Virgin Birth and throw the rest out.
• No! A thousand times, NO!
• Some of you wonder why you aren’t blessed!
• It is no mystery. Read the book! Obey the book!
2. Meditation on God’s Word
[8] This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Meditate = mutter to yourself.
• Do you talk back to your Bible?
• Do you read your Bible daily?
• Do you take time to pray?
• Do you meditate on what you have read?
3. Trust in God’s Word
[9] Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
NOTE: Why would a man of God have to be told to fear not? All men have fears, including preachers. Paul had to remind Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of fear. He had to insist that Timothy preach the Word, the whole Word, including it’s reproofs, rebukes and exhortations! Why do leaders fear? Because followers don’t always follow. And they often get ugly! (Thought from Gene Getz)
a. FOUR REQUIREMENTS HERE!
1) #1 Persistence - BE STRONG Heb. = “Hold on”
2) #2 Preparedness - OF GOOD COURAGE Heb. = Physically and mentally alert.
3) #3 Perspective - BE NOT AFRAID Heb. = Do not dread, be terrified, tremble.
4) #4 Permanence - NEITHER BE THOU DISMAYED Heb. = to be broken down.
b. ONE REMINDER
The Lord thy God is with thee!
QUOTE: A man full of faith, living a life of obedience, who is prayed up and filled with the Word of God would, at God’s command, charge Hell with a water pistol!
C. The Comfort (3-6)
• 1 promise for each command.
• What God demands from us He helps us with.
• We have the Comforter!
1. I will help you enter (3,4)
[3] Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. [4] From the wilderness and this Lebanon [mountain range] even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
NOTE: The Hittite center of power was in what is now Turkey. Their domain extended to Syria. Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, was a Hittite.
NOTE: God’s first words to Abraham (Gen. 12) and His last words to Moses (Deut. 34:4) concerned the entering into the land.
2. I will help you conquer (5)
[5] There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
3. I will help you divide (6)
[6] Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
2 Thes. 2:16-17 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, [17] Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
CONCLUSION:
A great work here at Calvary. A great potential for things to go wrong. But a great God. If we will work with one another, there is no limit as to what can be done. Remember, “I am with thee.”
SONG: Trust and Obey - See file in the Joshua folder.
NOTE: You can always divide here if things get too long! Things did, and I did.
