BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS
JOSHUA 1:1-13
JUNE 16, 2019
EVERYONE, AND EVERYTHING AT TIMES WILL FACE THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN. YOU MOUNTAIN COULD BE A PHYSICAL ISSUE. WHEN YOU GRADUATING STUDENTS FINISH YOUR UNIVERSITY TRAINING YOU WILL POSSIBLY FACE A MOUNTAIN OF FINANCIAL DEBT. YOU WILL FACE THE MOUNTAIN OF FINDING A JOB IN THE AREA THAT YOU STUDIED FOR. AS A CHURCH WE FACE THE MOUNTAIN OF OUTSIDE INFLUENCES TRYING TO DESTROY US AND THE WORK THAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO.
THE CHALLENGE OF THE MOUNTAIN IS NOT HOW HIGH IT IS, OR HOW SHEER ITS CLIFFS ARE. THE CHALLENGE OF THE MOUNTAIN IS NOT IN THE MOUNTAIN ITSELF, BUT IN US AS WE ATTEMPT TO OVERCOME IT.
SIR EDMUND HILLARY SAID THIS AFTER AN UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO SCALE MOUNT EVEREST, “ I WILL BEAT THIS MOUNTAIN, FOR THE MOUNTAIN CANNOT CHANGE, BUT I CAN.”
THIS IS THE CHALLENGE THAT IS FACING YOU AS GRADUATES, AND THE CHURCH AS WE PUSH INTO UNKNOWN FUTURE WATERS. THE CHALLENGES WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. HOW WE DEAL WITH THE CHALLENGES WILL DETERMINE WHO IS VICTORIOUS?
THIS IS THE ISSUE THAT JOSHUA FACED AS HE LOOKED FROM THE JORDAN INTO THE PROMISED LAND. HE KNEW THIS WAS THE LAND THAT GOD HAD PROMISED TO HIS PEOPLE. HE WAS AWARE OF THAT FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS. HE ALSO KNEW THERE WOULD BE CHALLENGES IN CLAIMING THIS PROMISE OF GOD. WHAT IT BOILED DOWN TO WAS A QUESTION OF FAITH. DID JOSHUA AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL TRUST IN GOD ENOUGH TO GO AND CLAIM THE LAND THAT HE HAD PROMISED TO THEM? WOULD THEY WALK BY FAITH, OR WOULD THEY BE REALISTIC AND WALK BY SIGHT AS THE GENERATION BEFORE THEM HAD DONE?
WE BEGIN BY LOOKING AT NUMBERS 13. THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD JUST LEFT EGYPT AFTER 400 YEARS OF SLAVERY. BY GOD’S MIRACLE OF PARTING THE WATERS, THEY HAD CROSSED THE RED SEA, AND THE EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS PURSUEING THEM WERE KILLED. THEY WERE PROTECTED BY A HEAVY CLOUD DURING THE DAY AND A PILLAR OF FIRE AT NIGHT. TIME AND TIME AGAIN THEY HAD WITNESSED SIGNS AND WONDERS FROM GOD THAT SHOULD HAVE HELPED THEM BELIEVE THAT GOD WOULD DO WHAT HE SAID HE WOULD DO. THEY COULD TRUST GOD AND HAVE FAITH IN HIM.
THEY CAME TO THE BORDER OF THE PROMISED LAND AND 12 SPIES WERE SENT IN TO DETERMINE WHAT THEY WOULD FACE. WHEN THEY RETURNED THEY SPOKE OF THE ABUNDANCE OF FRUIT THAT WAS IN THE LAND.
NUMBERS 13:27: THEY GAVE MOSES THIS ACCOUNT: “WE WENT INTO THE LAND TO WHICH YOU SENT US, AND IT DOES FLOW WITH MILK AND HONEY! HERE IS ITS FRUIT.
THEY BROUGHT BACK A HUGE CLUSTER OF GRAPES WITH THEM, SO BIG THAT IT TOOK TWO MEN TO CARRY IT. IT TRULY WAS THE PROMISED LAND. THEY WERE LOOKING WITH EYES OF OPPORTUNITY, THIS WAS WHAT THEY WOULD GAIN.
BUT THEY STOPPED LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITY, AND THEIR EYES SETTLED ON THE NEPHILIM, OR GIANTS THAT WERE IN THE LAND. IT’S KIND OF HOW I FELL WHEN I HAVE TO LOOK UP TO JASON O’HEARN OR RYAN MANN. THESE NEPHILIM COULD BE BETWEEN 8-10 FEET TALL, AND THE ISRAELITES WOULD HAVE TO FIGHT THEM FOR THE LAND. IT WAS A PRELUDE TO DAVID AND GOLIATH.
THE RESULT WAS THAT 10 OF THE 12 SPIES THAT WERE SENT SAID THAT THE LAND WAS GOOD, BUT IT COULD NOT BE TAKEN, AND THE PEOPLE CHOSE TO PICK A NEW LEADER AND GO BACK INTO SLAVERY IN EGYPT. ONLY 2, JOSHUA AND CALEB, SAID THAT THEY SHOULD TRUST GOD AND ENTER THE LAND. THEY SHOULD TRUST GOD TO HELP THEM AS THEY DEALT WITH THE GIANTS.
SOMETIMES ITS HARD TO TRUST GOD. I’VE KNOWN OF PASTORS WHO WHEN STUDYING FOR THE MINISTRY WERE LOOKING AT EMPTY CABINETS, TRUSTING THAT GOD WOULD MEET THEIR NEEDS, AND HE DID. SOMETIMES THEY WOULD PRAY ABOUT WHERE THE RENT MONEY WAS GOING TO COME FROM, AND IT WOULD COME. GOD WILL MEET THE NEEDS OF HIS PEOPLE WHEN HIS PEOPLE ARE WALKING WITH THE LORD. I’VE SEEN IT IN MY LIFE, AND I’M SEEING IT NOW IN THE LIFE OF OUR CHURCH. TRUSTING IN GOD THOUGH IS DIFFICULT AS IT FORCES US TO LOOK BEYOND THE OBSTACLES OF REALITY, WHICH IS OUR MOUNTAIN, AND SEE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR GOD TO DISPLAY HIS MOUNTAIN-MOVING POWER.
THE PEOPLE OF ISREAL CHOSE NOT TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND AND AS A RESULT, GOD DID NOT ALLOW A SINGLE PERSON OF THAT GENERATION, TWENTY YEARS OR OLDER, TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. THEIR CHILDREN COULD, BUT THEY COULD NOT. FOR 40 YEARS THIS GENERATION WANDERED IN THE WILDERNESS, UNTIL EACH ONE OF THAT GENERATION HAD DIED. THEY WANDERED 40 YEARS, TO MAKE AN 11 DAY JOURNEY.
NOW JOSHUA WAS STANDING AT THE BOUNDARY OF THE PROMISED LAND, WITH A NEW GENERATION OF ISRAELITES. THE SITUATION HADN’T CHANGED, THE BLESSINGS WERE STILL THERE, BUT SO WERE THE NAPHILIM. THE OPPORTUNITY WAS THERE TO TRUST GOD AND MOVE IN FAITH, OR TO BE OVERCOME BY THE OBSTACLE OF THE NAPHILIM. WHAT WOULD THEY DO?
EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO YOU AS GRADUATES AND YOU AS THE CHURCH FACE THE GIANTS AND MOUNTAINS OF YOUR LIVES TO ASK THE QUESTION, WHAT WILL YOU DO? THERE ARE THREE PRINCIPLES THAT JOSHUA DOES IN THIS PASSAGE THAT CAN HELP US AS WE SEEK TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION.
PRINCIPLE ONE: PREPARATION
JOSHUA 1:1-2:
AFTER THE DEATH OF MOSES THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, THE LORD SAID TO JOSHUA SON OF NUN, MOSES’ AIDE: 2 “MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD. NOW THEN, YOU AND ALL THESE PEOPLE, GET READY TO CROSS THE JORDAN RIVER INTO THE LAND I AM ABOUT TO GIVE TO THEM—TO THE ISRAELITES.
CAN YOU IMAGINE THE POSITION THAT JOSHUA WAS IN? MOSES WAS DEAD, JUST AS ALL THE PREVIOUS GENERATION, AND GOD TELLS JOSHUA THAT HE IS GOING TO TAKE OVER AS LEADER. FOLLOWING MOSES IS NOT A CHALLENGE I WOULD BE LOOKING FOR. THAT WOULD BE MOUNTAIN ENOUGH. THEN GOD TELLS JOSHUA TO GET THE PEOPLE READY TO GO INTO THE PROMISED LAND.
THE PEOPLE NEEDED TO PREPARE TO MEET THE CHALLENGES THAT THEY WOULD FACE IN THE PROMISED LAND, AND STUDENTS YOU NEED TO PREPARE TO MEET THE CHALLENGES YOU WILL FACE AS YOU PRESS ON TO THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT GOD HAS PROMISED FOR YOU. WE ALL NEED TO BE PREPARED TO FACE THE MOUNTAINS OF LIFE.
BEFORE SCALING A GREAT MOUNTAIN, THE CLIMBER WILL MAKE SURE THAT HE IS WELL PREPARED. HE WILL TAKE ALL OF THE EQUIPMENT THAT HE WILL NEED TO MAKE A SUCCESSFUL CLIMB. STUDENTS, WHEN YOU WROTE YOUR EXAMS, YOU TOOK TIME TO STUDY IN PREPARATION, AT LEAST I HOPE YOU DID.
WHEN WE ARE PROPERLY PREPARED WE CAN FACE ANY MOUNTAIN, ANY CHALLENGE, AND BE VICTORIOUS OVER IT. WE WERE NOT MADE TO BE WILDERNESS WANDERERS! WE WERE MADE TO BE GIANT CONQUERORS!
WE PREPARE BY FEASTING ON THE WORD OF GOD.
2 TIMOTHY 2:15: BE DILIGENT TO PRESENT YOURSELF APPROVED TO GOD AS A WORKMAN WHO DOES NOT NEED TO BE ASHAMED, ACCURATELY HANDLING THE WORD OF TRUTH. (N.A.S.V.)
WE PREPARE BY HAVING A DAILY PRAYER TIME WITH THE LORD. WE WILL LEARN TO KNOW HIS VOICE AND HIS DIRECTION IN OUR LIVES.
WE PREPARE BY REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH. IT IS HERE THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE ENCOURAGEMENT, INSTRUCTION, WHEN NEED BE A CHALLENGE AND THE RIGHT CHURCH CAN BECOME PART OF YOUR FAMILY. THE SCRIPTURE SAYS:
HEBREWS 10:23-25:
LET US HOLD UNSWERVINGLY TO THE HOPE WE PROFESS, FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL. 24 AND LET US CONSIDER HOW WE MAY SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON TOWARD LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS, 25 NOT GIVING UP MEETING TOGETHER, AS SOME ARE IN THE HABIT OF DOING, BUT ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER—AND ALL THE MORE AS YOU SEE THE DAY APPROACHING.
WHEN YOU ARE IN GOD’S HOUSE ON A REGULAR BASIS YOU SHOULD BE FED ENOUGH TO HELP YOU TO DEAL WITH THE MOUNTAINS IN YOUR LIVES. IN SHORT, MY JOB IS TO LEAD AND FEED YOU, YOUR JOB IS TO SWALLOW AND FOLLOW.
PRINCIPLE TWO: POWER
JOSHUA 1:5-6:
5 NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO STAND AGAINST YOU ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE. AS I WAS WITH MOSES, SO I WILL BE WITH YOU; I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU. 6 BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS, BECAUSE YOU WILL LEAD THESE PEOPLE TO INHERIT THE LAND I SWORE TO THEIR ANCESTORS TO GIVE THEM.
THE SECOND PRINCIPLE TO FOLLOW AS YOU CLIMB THE MOUNTAINS YOU FACE IS TO REMEMBER THE POWER THAT YOU HAVE AT YOUR DISPOSAL THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
FEATS OF STRENGTH ARE QUITE AMAZING. OVERCOMING SUPERIOR NUMBERS, DAVID OVERCOMING GOLIATH, DAVID’S ARMY OVERCOMING SAUL’S, ARE ALL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE POWER OF GOD WORKING IN INDIVIDUALS LIVES.
GOD HAS THE POWER WHEN WE ASK FOR HIS HELP TO GET US THROUGH ANYTHING. THESE FEATS WE HAVE MENTIONED ARE GREAT, BUT THE GREATEST STRENGTH THAT GOD MAKES AVAILABLE TO US IS HIS RESURRECTION POWER.
RESURRECTION POWER IS THE POWER OF GOD USED TO BRING SOMEONE BACK TO LIFE FROM THE DEAD. NO POWER SOURCE THAT WE CAN CLAIM EVEN COMES CLOSE TO THIS.
MATTHEW 12:40: FOR AS JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF A HUGE FISH, SO THE SON OF MAN WILL BE THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH.
JESUS DIED AND WAS BURIED THREE DAYS IN THE TOMB, AND THEN WAS CALLED FORTH BY GOD. ABRAHAM TOOK HIS SON ISSAC TO THE MOUNTAIN TO SACRIFICE HIM, BUT THEY RETURNED THREE DAYS LATER BOTH ALIVE. ALL OF THESE ARE OCCURANCES OF GOD’S RESURRECTION POWER.
JOSHUA KNEW THEY COULDN’T DEFEAT THE NEPHILIM BY THEIR OWN POWER. THEY TRIED THAT 40 YEARS AGO AND WERE SEVERELY BEATEN BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT ACTING IN THE WILL OF GOD. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT JOSHUA WAS ACTING WITH THE POWER OF GOD?
JONAH WAS IN THE BELLY OF THE FISH FOR THREE DAYS. JESUS WAS IN THE TOMB FOR THREE DAYS, AND ABRAHAM AND ISSAC WERE AWAY FOR THREE DAYS. THERE IS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THE THREE DAYS THAT CAUSED GOD TO ACT, BUT WE ARE TOLD THAT JOSHUA TOLD THE PEOPLE TO PREPARE, FOR IN THREE DAYS THEY WERE GOING TO CLAIM THE PROMISE OF GOD.
JOSHUA 1:10: 10 SO JOSHUA ORDERED THE OFFICERS OF THE PEOPLE: 11 “GO THROUGH THE CAMP AND TELL THE PEOPLE, ‘GET YOUR PROVISIONS READY. THREE DAYS FROM NOW YOU WILL CROSS THE JORDAN HERE TO GO IN AND TAKE POSSESSION OF THE LAND THE LORD YOUR GOD IS GIVING YOU FOR YOUR OWN.’ ”
JOSHUA WAS CLAIMING THE RESURRECTION POWER OF GOD TO HELP THEM CROSS THE JORDAN AND CLAIM THE PROMISED LAND. THE JORDAN WAS USUALLY A VERY QUIET RIVER AND NOT VERY DEEP. BUT IT WAS AT FLOOD STAGE NOW, AND IT WAS A RAGING FORCE.
JOSHUA DID NOT WAIT FOR THE WATERS TO RECEDE, HE DID NOT LOOK FOR A DIFFERENT PLACE TO CROSS. HE TOLD THE PEOPLE TO MAKE READY AND IN THREE DAYS THEY WOULD CROSS IN THE POWER OF GOD RIGHT THERE.
THIS IS THE POWER YOU CAN CLAIM. IT ALLOWS US TO LIVE VICTORIOUSLY IN CHRIST. LIVING VICTORIOUSLY IS NOT OUR RESPONSIBILITY – IT IS OUR RESPONSE TO GOD’S ABILITY AND POWER.
PHILIPPIANS 3:10: I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST—YES, TO KNOW THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION AND PARTICIPATION IN HIS SUFFERINGS, BECOMING LIKE HIM IN HIS DEATH, 11 AND SO, SOMEHOW, ATTAINING TO THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.
LET ME ILLUSTRATE WITH MY COAT. I’M GOING TO TAKE IT OFF AND GIVE IT SOME INSTRUCTIONS. COAT, I WANT YOU TO WAVE TO THE PEOPLE. NO. COAT, I WANT YOU TO PICK UP THAT BIBLE AND HOLD IT HIGH. NO. THIS COAT DOESN’T LISTEN WELL. THEN AGAIN IT’S NOT MONTREAL RED.
LET ME PUT IT ON AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. COAT WAVE TO THE PEOPLE. YES. COAT HOLD THAT BIBLE HIGH. YES.
THE POINT IS THIS. WHEN YOU TRY TO DO IT ON YOUR OWN, IT’S LIKE ASKING THE COAT TO ACT ON IT’S OWN. IT CAN’T. THE COAT NEEDS THE POWER OF THE PERSON INSIDE IT TO ACT, AND WE NEED THE RESURRECTION POWER OF CHRIST INSIDE US TO ACT
THIRD PRINCIPLE: POSSESSION
JOSHUA 1:12-13:
BUT TO THE REUBENITES, THE GADITES AND THE HALF-TRIBE OF MANASSEH, JOSHUA SAID, 13 “REMEMBER THE COMMAND THAT MOSES THE SERVANT OF THE LORD GAVE YOU AFTER HE SAID, ‘THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL GIVE YOU REST BY GIVING YOU THIS LAND.’
THE REUBENITES, GADITES AND HALF OF THE TRIBE OF MANASSEH CHOSE NOT TO GO INTO THE PROMISED LAND. THE LAND THEY WERE ON WAS GOOD AND THEY WERE CONTENT WITH THEIR CHOICE. THEY FIT INTO A CATEGORY THAT I LIKE TO CALL THE “NOT QUITE” CATEGORY.
THIS CATEGORY IS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PROGRESS IN THEIR WALK WITH THE LORD TO A CERTAIN POINT AND THEN NO FURTHER. THESE PEOPLE ARE BETTER OF WHERE THEY ARE NOW, THEN WHEN THEY WERE IN EGYPT, BUT ONLY FEET AWAY FROM THE GREAT BLESSINGS OF GOD, WHICH THEY WOULD NOT KNOW BECAUSE THEY STOPPED SHORT OF THE GOAL.
STUDENTS HEAR ME WELL TODAY. JASON WAS ALWAYS SO GOOD IN HIS ANNOUNCEMENTS TO END BY SAYING STRIVE FOR THOSE A’S. IN SHORT, DON’T SETTLE FOR GOOD ENOUGH STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE.
YOU ARE GOING TO FACE SOME VERY STRONG CHALLENGES TO YOUR FAITH IN THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF HIGH SCHOOL. HERE YOU WERE A BIG FISH IN A SMALL POOL, THERE YOU WILL BE A SMALL FISH IN A BIG POOL. IF YOUR GOAL IS TO ENTER THE JOB MARKET YOU ARE GOING TO FIND THE SAME THING.
THE LESSON OF JOSHUA IS NOT TO SETTLE FOR MEDIOCRITY. STRIVE FOR YOUR BEST IN ALL THAT YOU DO. REMEMBER THE LESSONS OF JOSHUA: 1. PREPARE WELL
2. CLAIM THE RESURRECTION POWER OF GOD
3. POSSESS ALL THAT GOD HAS PROMISED YOU AND DO
NOT SETTLE FOR MEDIOCRITY.
OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD WHO CAN TAKE THE MOUNTAINS THAT WE FACE IN OUR LIVES AND TURN THEM INTO MOLEHILLS. HE CAN TURN GIANTS INTO ANTS, AND ROARING RIVERS INTO BUBBLY BROOKS. THERE IS NOTHING HE CAN’T DO TO HELP YOU OVERCOME THE MOUNTAINS YOU FACE IN YOUR LIVES.
