INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Have you ever felt like God could not, or would not love you, or that all the promises that God has made in the Bible are not for you because you do not feel like you can ever be good enough to earn them? HINT, we do not EARN God’s promises and His faithfulness.
• If you have ever felt this way or are feeling this way now, this series will be a blessing to you.
• Today we are embarking on a new six-week series entitled, “Doomed to Repeat.”
• This six-week series tells the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and their journey through the desert into the promised land.
• Working backward through the narrative, ‘Doomed to Repeat' provides a unique vantage point on the ups and downs of Israel’s journey.
• This retelling of redemptive history examines God’s faithfulness to us despite our weaknesses, as well as the charge he gives us to live righteously for his name.
• This series is about God's faithfulness to deliver the Israelites out of captivity and into the promised land. They became stuck many times and repeated their mistakes, but God remained faithful throughout the ordeal.
• Because we have a tendency to this day to repeat our mistakes, if it weren't for God's unfailing love and grace, we would inevitably be doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes, remaining stuck in our own sin.
• Life can get us down, especially when we are really trying to live for God, yet we feel like failures.
• We sink deep into the abyss at times thinking that God could not possibly love a failure like me. I KNOW that feeling all too well.
• Today as we begin working backward in Israel’s story of deliverance, we will see that God will keep His promises because He is faithful.
• Today we are going to examine three constants that we can depend on from God no matter what.
• Let’s begin our journey by looking at Joshua 1:1-6
• SLIDE #2
• Joshua 1:1–6 (CSB) — 1 After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. 3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea. 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. God’s faithfulness. 1-6
• The Israelites, just 40 years before this point were on the cusp of entering the Promised Land. Before entering the Promised Land, according to Deuteronomy 1:22-23, the people asked Moses to send spies to check out the land.
• According to Numbers 13:1, God told Moses to do so. It appears the people asked Moses, Moses, asked God, and God told him to send the 12 spies.
• When you think about this, the people as they are on the cusp of entering the Promised Land, had seen many miracles that God had performed to get them out of Egypt including the parting of the Red Sea.
• I have always wondered why they asked for spies to be sent to scope out the land that God had promised to give to them.
• From the moment that God used Moses to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, they whined and cried.
• They were afraid of anything and everything. The Israelites had a front row seat to view the power of God on display, yet, they were always fearful.
• SO, why did the people ask for spies? Why did God allow it?
• The Israelites did not trust God. Let that sink in, what had God done to them to cause doubts?
• Their fear was more significant than their faith.
• What do you do if you are God? He said, send the spies.
• Why? He knew what they were going to do when the spies returned.
• Ten of the spies gave a nice but scary report about the inhabitants of the land.
• Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb basically said, sure the inhabitants looked formidable, but we have God on our side, let’s go take what God is giving us!
• SLIDE #4
• Numbers 13:30 (CSB) — 30 Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”
• Joshua and Caleb lost the vote.
• In Numbers 14, the people whined and cried and were even going to pick a new leader to take them back to Egypt, back to slavery!
• When we struggle, when we are afraid, where we face what looks to be insurmountable odds, have a tendency to think that God will not keep His promises to us.
• We respond in fear, and so long as we do not trust in God's faithfulness, we will repeat the same pattern over and over again.
• When things are going crazy around us, we have to remember that God is faithful.
• We have to depend on God being faithful. Israel did not grasp this concept even in the face of the evidence of God’s great faithfulness and cost them 40 years in the wilderness.
• Even with their lack of trust in God, God delivered as promised!
• But just as God delivered the Israelites into the promised land based on his faithfulness to his promises, so also God will show his faithfulness to us in spite of our weaknesses.
• Look at verse 6 again.
• 6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance.
• In verses 1-4, God told them I will give you the land I promised, all be it forty years after their first opportunity.
• Place your trust in God’s faithfulness, it will keep you from forty years of wandering!
• Let’s look at verses 5-9.
• SLIDE #5
• Joshua 1:5–9 (CSB) — 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. 7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. 9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
• The next constant we can depend on is…
• SLIDE #6
II. God’s presence. 5-9
• When life goes sideways, we tend to feel all alone.
• The Israelites had lost the only leader they had ever known. They had been wandering for 40 years in the wilderness.
• God provided for them, but now they were facing the unknown. Who would lead them and how?
• God gives them Joshua. We have touched on this before, but if I were Joshua, I would be afraid, VERY AFRAID!
• He had a front row seat to all the stuff Moses had to deal with from the beginning.
• Joshua gets a real God shot in verse 5!
• 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.
• And again, in verse 9.
• 9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
• God is calling Joshua and the nation to action, Joshua is called to lead the nation into the Promised Land, but they will not be alone!
• When we know God is by our side, we can do most anything because we know we are not alone.
• Perhaps this is more easily recognized when the imperatives of the section are aligned with their polar opposites.
• The opposite of being strong and courageous (1:6, 9) is being weak and fearful. The opposite of being careful (1:7) is being lax, and the opposite of being meditative (1:8) is being forgetful.
• We are called to be strong and courageous because God is with us.
• When we think we are alone we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes we have always made.
• In chapter 3:9-17 of Joshua, when the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan river, which was at flood stage this time of the year, Joshua told the people you will know that God is with you as the Ark of the Covenant goes ahead of them into the Jordan.
• When the Priests carrying the Ark entered the Jordan, the waters parted, and the people crossed safely on dry land.
• When God is with you, you can do anything! You can count on Him being with you.
• Let’s look for our third constant.
• SLIDE #7
• Joshua 1:7–8 (CSB) — 7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
• SLIDE #8
III. God’s Word. 7-8
• Now we see the final constant we can count on in life.
• Three times in this short section of text, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous.
• This stock phrase is repeated no less than three times in four verses. Such rhythms demand attention.
• Joshua is commanded to “be strong and courageous” in serving as a leader (v. 6), in keeping Word of God (vv. 7–8), and in facing terror and discouragement (v. 9).
• While each of these three injunctions is important, the emphasis is placed upon strength and courage in light of the challenge of "living out" the Word of God.
• This will be the most challenging thing to do because we have some many things pulling on us to do what we want to do or to do the opposite of what God calls us to do.
• Of all the things God charges Joshua, and us to do is to make sure we read the Word, meditate on the Word, study the Word, and live the Word.
• Why is it vital for us to do this?
• Quite simply, God has given us His Word so that we can live our life to the fullest for Him.
• We will reach our maximum potential as we live out the Word.
• Anything that has caused me grief in life has come as a result of turning to the left or the right of His Word.
• Look at verse 8 again.
• This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
• God warns his people to meditate on the Book of the Law, that is, their Holy Scriptures, day and night so they can be careful to do what it says (1:8).
• We have to know God's Word to know his promises so that we can stand on them in our time of need.
• We also need to spend time with God in his Word to know him better and fellowship with him in his presence.
• We need to spend time in the Word so we can know the heart of the God that we serve.
• His Word will guide us on the right path if we will know it and follow it.
• SLIDE #9
• Proverbs 3:5–6 (CSB) — 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.
CONCLUSION
• When we think we are alone, or that God does not care, or that we do not trust He will keep His promises, we need to understand that God will keep his promises because he is faithful.
• We can rely on His presence to walk beside us and His Word to guide us.
• He offers these gifts to us because He is faithful.
