THE STANDARD OF THE LORD.
Joshua 5:1-12.
Verse 1. Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.
1. The Lord will stop everything to re-establish his will for his children.
Gen. 6:5. The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, & that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
Matthew 24:37, As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.¨
Truth # 1. As a child of the Lord I am accountable to Jesus to maintain the standard of the Lord.
Romans 14:12, So each of us will give an account of himself to God.¨
TRUTH #2. It my responsibility to base my choices on the standard of the Lord.
I shouldn’t be making choices bases on how I feel.
TRUTH #3 It is not my good deeds that count. It is the mercy and grace of the Lord that counts.
TRUTH #4. It is possible for a person to know all the right words and still lack a true response as a child of the Lord.
TRUTH #5. WHEN WE ACCEPT THE GIFT THAT JESUS WON FOR US ON THE CROSS AND WE WALK THE PATH OF THE WORLD INSTEAD OF THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUS WE ARE SAYING THAT WE DON’T DESIRE TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.
Truth #6. THE WILL OF THE LORD MUST ALWAYS HAVE FIRST PLACE IN OUR LIVES.
THE STANDARD OF THE LORD.
Joshua 5:1-12.
On Tuesday of this week Barbara and I had to go to the Brookside Mall. While she was doing her thing I decided to visit the book store. I found out that there isn’t a book store in the mall anymore. So I decided to have a cup of coffee instead. While I was getting my coffee a couple of young ladies came in and one of them began to tell about her experience at work. She said that her supervisor didn’t like the way she was dressed so she was asked to go home and change. From the conservation that I heard, simply because she was standing next to me and she didn’t care who heard her, she had quite a chat with her supervisor. Since I was included in this chat I asked her what she was going to do. She said if they didn’t like her, the way she was, that she was going to quit, which she did. After a while I got to chat with the two employee and I ask them if they were friends with this young lady who quit. They told me they had never met her before. I asked them what they though about she said, that she would sooner quit that meet the standard of the company. Both of these two employee said that they have heard of a lot of people who quit their job rather than meet the standard of the company. Now I want you to know that in today world the idea of an employee not meeting the requirement of the employer is not new. I remember listening to a young man who told me that if a company wanted to hire him they had better be prepared to meet his requirements. We have become a society that is trying to meet the wishes of society instead on following the Standard of the Lord.
One of the themes that I find through out the Book of Joshua is making choices. You and I make choices every hour of every day. Some of our choices may not seem like they are very big. The crossing of the Jordan River was a major event in the Lives of the people of Israel. This moment reflects back almost a 1000 years to when the Lord made Abraham a promise and now the people where stepping on the ground that the Lord had promised to them. I can imagine that once they have made camp that the leader can expect Joshua to get them together so that they could begin to make plans to take the city of Jericho. I can almost feel the excitement. They had witnessed a miracle that was equal to the parting of the red sea over 40 years before. It is very likely that this whole group of people had not even been born when they crossed the Red Sea. They knew that Joshua and Caleb saw it and probably told stories about it. So as I said the natural process would be to begin to make war plans.
I want you to notice Verse 1. If the natural process is to make war plan what is verse one doing here. It just doesn’t fit with the natural flow.
Verse 1.Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.
Verse one is sticking out like a sore thumb because verses 2 to verse 12 deals with a totally different subject? The Lord wouldn’t put this verse here unless it is for a reason. I see verse one is here simply to make us to realize that what we think might be the natural progression just may not be what is on the Lord’s mind. Now we need to notice that the Lord has put something here in this verse for a reason.
The people of the land had heard the news and the result was that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer.
This verse is important because the natural procession is conquest but the Lord wants transformation.
We want to keep thing going, getting everything done so that we can relax but the Lord wants our obedience to his will and his way. The spiritual covenant is more important than the natural flow of life.
1. The Lord will stop everything to re-establish his will for his children.
In Numbers 14:1-35 we find the story of the rebellion of the people of Israel that took place over 40 years ago. Since they refused to enter into the land that the Lord was giving then; the sign of the covenant, circumcision, had not been preformed on the people. Now the Lord had a new generation of people who have demonstrated that they believed in the Lord by their complete obedience to his directions. This new generation, who were born in the wilderness as a free people, had being cared for by the Lord their whole lives. The Lord wants to do his part but He expects that you and I to live according to the standard of the Lord. That is doing our part.
A. Genesis 6:1-22.
In Genesis we have the story of Noah and the Ark. So often we forget about why this story is in the Bible. Though the animals are important they are not the story, yet that is what everyone, even song writers focus on. Sometime we focus only on the Ark; but the boat, though it is important is not the story. This story is in the Bible because we get to look at how the people handled their situation and we get to see if they made the right choices. It was the same back them as it is now. People are given the opportunity to either follow the Lord will or they could follow their own selfish way.
Gen. 6:5. The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, & that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
I want you to notice that the Word say that every inclination of the thoughts of the people were evil. In other words this generation of Noah day couldn’t think a good though nor could they do something that was good. One translation said that the people were rotten to the core. Now you may be wondering just how that affects us today. Well listen to the words of Jesus.
Matthew 24:37, As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In the latter day as we get nearer to the time of the Rapture society will becoming more and more like it was in thedays of Noah.
Our society is producing a generation who ignore responsibilities & then blame others for their problems. If I get into financial trouble, it’s not because I choose to spend money that I didn’t have it is because the banks were sending me their credit card. If I develop lung cancer because I choose to smoke, it’s the fault of the cigarette companies for making cigarette and the store employee for selling them to me. If I chose to get drunk and drive my car and I kill someone; it’s not my fault, it’s the fault of the bartender for serving me booze. There have been times when I have heard people respond to their wrong choices with well I guess that it’s just the way I’m made. I have heard some say that their lifestyle is a result of their genetics. I have heard Christians say that what they did was God fault because God made them that way. What is sad is that this way of thinking has even filtered into the belief of the church. We see this by how churches have been responding by saying that what Jesus said he didn’t really mean or that we can’t live by the Biblical standard today because as Christians we just wouldn’t fit in. If a person walks away from the Lord because they have chosen to walk a different path than what Jesus wants of then; the response is that it’s not their fault it is Gods fault for allowing them to be tempted. There are some who say it’s the churchs fault because the church has a standard that is old fashion or the churches standard is out of touch with the real world. A lot of time people will blame the preacher because he didn’t stop them.
I wonder if the concept of obedience to the Lord becomes a barrier that gives Christians an excuse to follow the world standard instead of following the Lord’s.
I want you to know that most Christians don’t have a problem with being obedient to the Lord’s will. The problem is that the world only sees those people who make claims to being a Child of the Lord and then they don’t follow through.
Have you watched you children make a wrong choice. It didn’t matter how much you talked or what you did you child could not be persuaded to make the right choice. If you can remember just how much pained you had over that, think how much it must tear at the heart of the Lord Jesus when the people who say that they have accepted his offer of forgiveness make wrong choices and blame him for their wrong choices.
Truth # 1. As a child of the Lord I am accountable to Jesus to maintain the standard of the Lord.
I want you to know that the Bible very clearly teaches that we’re responsible for our choices.
Romans 14:12 says, So each of us will give an account of himself to God.
God is going to hold us responsible for the choices we make. You see, we can choose to be better than what our society or environment would suggest we ought to be. One excuse that I heard recently was that well we are just a bunch of monkeys anyway so what is wrong with acting like my ancestor. The Bible says that we are made in the image of the Lord. Now that tells me that monkeys have nothing to do with my ancestral family. Here is the other thing.
God saw to it that we had a copy of his standard. We are created in the image of the Lord. We are not plants & animals. We have a conscious. Animals don’t have a conscious. You and I we do; which means we can choose to be good or to be bad. Animals can be taught to be good or bad. They don’t get to choose. We can choose to obey God or to disobey the Lord. We can be God’s man or God’s woman. That’s our choice. But always remember, we’re responsible for the choices we make. Now maybe you are thinking, what about public opinion or what about what society says. Well if it doesn’t completely agree with the Word of the Lord, than what society says or public opinion thinks is wrong. I would imagine that all the people of Noah day believe that he was wrong and I would imagine that at every opportunity they probably told Noah. I have often wondered what the people would do when it started to rain.
TRUTH #2. It my responsibility to base my choices on the standard of the Lord.
I shouldn’t be making choices bases on how I feel.
This whole idea is the direct opposite of what our world or our culture says. I would venture to say that the one truth that is in the world today is that it’s your life, so you can do whatever you want to so you cna feel good. It doesn’t matter if what you are doing goes against the standard of the Lord, the only thing that matters is are you have a good time.
In Judges 13 we have the story of the birth of Samson which was fore told by an angel of the lord.
Judges 14:1-3. Then Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, "I saw a woman in Timnath, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife." Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me."
I want you to take notice of Samson words because what he is saying is opposite of what Moses taught the people.
In Deuteronomy 7:3 the Lord gave very plain instruction to the Israel. The lord told then that they were not allowed to intermarry with any other people. Yet here we see Samson wanting to break the law that the Lord gave to Moses and Moses gave to all the people. Samson is supposed to be the Lords judge yet we see Samson is making a choice that isn’t according to the standard of the Lord. Samson choice has nothing to do with the Lord requirements for his people. Samson is making his choice according to his feelings. We cannot avoid making choices nor can we put off from choosing. What people don’t realize is that not making a choice is actually making a choice. The other side is that we can’t live our live in the neutral zone where we are tolerant of all things and all ideas.
I remember watching a movie about a high school teacher who dreamed about being a world famous writer of music; Yet he ended up as a high school music teacher who also taught driver Education. There came a time in his life when he met a young lady who really liked him. She wanted to go to New York & she invites him to come along. She told him that if he came he could chase his dream. When he got up on the morning that the bus was leaving he knew that he had to make a choice. He arrives at the bus stop empty-handed. She says, You pack lightly. I’m not going, and he says, Goodbye. Then when he gets back home, he kisses his wife & says, I love you.
God says, This day I set before you life & death, blessings & curses. Now choose life so that you & your children may live.. Let me read that again because you and I get to choose which one we want.
The school teacher made the right choice but Samson made the wrong choice. If we were to read the story of Samson we would find that his parents, instead of going with the standard of the Lord also made the wrong choice. Two wrong choices still make it wrong. If society thinks it is right and the Lord says it is wrong it is wrong. If we follow Samson life a bit we find that he wasn’t doing so good. In Chapter 16 we find that Samson is chasing a harlot. Now we all know the story how she is used by the philistines to find out how they can defeat Samson. Finally Samson tells her and he is defeated because he follows his feeling instead of following the Standard of the Lord. I see that Samson made the same mistake that is still being made today. People think that if their good deeds out way their bad deeds, they have it made. It’s interesting that in the Book of Judges the people don’t cry out to the Lord to deliver them from the Philistines. The reason why they didn’t was because the Philistine had a great game plan.
It is the same game plan that Satan is using today to get to the church. The Philistines conquered their enemies by assimilating them through intermarriage. When the Israelites inter married with the Philistines the belief system of the Israelites began to disappear as it got blended into the culture that they live in. The church today has lost its impact because we’ve become so assimilated into the society around us that we are just like our culture that we live in. Samson like so many Christians got involved in a wrong relationship and he though he could play with temptation and not be affected. One of the things that Samson did, that we see a lot of today is that he Compromised His Commitment to the Standard of the Lord. Samson didn’t stop there. As I study Samson life I see where he doesnt think that the standard of the Lord is very important. Watch this. While Samson is travelling with his parents to make the wedding arrangements, he goes into a vineyard which he was forbidden by his vows and he kills a lion. Latter on Samson is travelling alone and stops by the vineyard to revisit the scene and he finds that bees have built a honeycomb inside the dried-out carcass of the lion. He scoops out some honey and eats it as he walks along. He comes in contact with a dead body of an animal which was against their laws. Samson is like a lot of people today who don’t take serious their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
TRUTH #3 IT IS NOT MY GOOD DEED THAT COUNTS. IT IS THE MERCY AND THE GRACE OF THE LORD.
I believe that Samson like a lot of people who believe that the Lord has got to accept then simply because they are not as bad as so and so. Here is the truth. It is not how good I am or how bad I am. The truth is, have I turn to Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness. If I have started down the wrong path and the Holy Spirit awaken me to this truth. Do I turn to Jesus and seek his forgiveness so that my relationship with Jesus Christ is kept up to date, or do I just keep on doing what feel good to me. Well if we are following the Lord standard we will turn to Jesus.
1 JOHN 1:9. If we are willing to admit our sins, make a clean breast of them, Jesus won¡¦t let us down; He will be true to Himself. He¡¦ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.
The other side of this is that if we don’t think there will be any real spiritually harm, we will just keep doing what ever we want even though it isn’t what the Lord wants. We think that we can play with temptation and that it won’t affect us.
TRUTH #4. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR A PERSON TO KNOW ALL THE RIGHT WORDS AND STILL LACK THE TRUE RESPONSE AS A CHILD OF THE LORD.
The true response to the Lord comes from a heart that is committed to the will of Jesus Christ.
You can experience every aspect of what the church has to offer, you can take communion, read the Bible and still remain in unbelief. The reason why a person can do all this is because they are going through the motions. Nome of their actions are coming because of their heart commitment. The previous generation the one that had left Egypt had it all.
What they didn’t have was a heart for the Lord and a desire to show their heart by their obedience. The Bible informs us that they all died in the wilderness.
TRUTH #5. WHEN WE ACCEPT THE GIFT THAT JESUS WON FOR US ON THE CROSS AND WE WALK THE PATH OF THE WORLD INSTEAD OF THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUS WE ARE SAYING THAT WE DON’T DESIRE TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.
We are also saying by our disobedience that we don’t see this relationship with Jesus Christ as important.
Truth #6. THE WILL OF THE LORD MUST ALWAYS HAVE FIRST PLACE IN OUR LIVES.
Joshua was aware of what the Lord was asking. He knew how vulnerable the nation was going to be. Joshua knew that the reproach of Egypt had to be removed before these people could truly be considered the Lord people. This is true today. We need the forgiveness fo Christ before we can be a ture Child of the Lord.
This whole concept is very important because we see that the people totally relied on the Lord during this situation. We also see that when this is completed Israel is no longer a rejected nation but she is a restored nation. The people understood that the Lord now view then as cleansed.
