Sanctify Yourselves.
Joshua 3:1-5AMP.
I wanted to begin with something light-hearted. Tom was so excited about his promotion to Vice President of his company he worked for. Tom kept bragging about it to his wife for weeks on end. Finally she couldn’t take it any longer, and told him, “Listen, it means nothing, they even have a vice president of peas at the grocery store!” “Really?” he said. Not sure if this was true or not, the man decided to call the grocery store. A clerk answered and Tom said, “Can I speak to the Vice president of peas?” The clerk replied, “Canned or frozen?”
The word ‘sanctity’ means a state or quality of being holy, sacred, or saintly. It means to set apart. Set apart for a higher purposes, set apart for God’s perfect will.
In the movie, The Apostle. Robert Duvall plays a preacher needing repentance. As He seeks repentance he decides to baptize himself. He was making himself ready. He set himself apart.
Joshua 3:1-5AMP Joshua got up early in the morning; then he and all the children of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they spent the night there before they crossed [the river]. 2 And it happened at the end of three days that the officers went throughout the camp, 3 and they commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from where you are and follow it. 4 However, there shall be a distance between you and it of about 2,000 cubits (3,000 ft.) by measurement. Do not come near it, so that you may [be able to see the ark and] know the way you are to go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves [for His purpose], for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders (miracles) among you.”
Once more, Joshua 3:5TM Then Joshua addressed the people: “Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you.”
In other words, Move swiftly toward God. Leave nothing un-turned. Ask God to—
Work His Holy into your unholy.
Purify your motive and attitude.
Move me into your will.
As I move I shall worship.
Now lets go back to, Joshua 3:1-2, God told His people, (Israel) to wait three days at the shores of the Jordan River (Joshua 1:11). During these 3 days God’s people would observe a rushing river, swollen with spring rains laying in front of them. They must have asked, “How can we ever cross this river?”
Again, this evening, Hebrews 11:1-2 Now faith is…
Faith is trust in God. Faith, isn’t moody. Faith, speaks to the invisible, seemingly impossible.
Joshua 3:3NLT giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them.
Follow the Ark!
Notice, Not too close. The Ark is where God chose to dwell. The Ark was His glory, His presence, The ark of the covenant was the place of presence.
This Ark (place of the presence of God). As we read in Exodus 25:22 "There I will meet with you . . . on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you.”
Hebrews 9:7NLT But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
Notice, Once a year. The Bible teaches in the NT that you have complete-daily access to the Most Holy place.
Hebrews 9:11-12NLT So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
Hebrews 4:15-16NLT This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Joshua 3:4NLT Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about half a mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.”
The life of faith is like…a blank canvas. You get to fill in the blank by the way you choose to live. P.H
God’s saying, Keep your eyes on the glory, Follow after it.
By Joshua saying this, He’s stating, “Don’t look at the flood waters. Don’t give attention to the water current, Keep your eyes fixed on the ark.”
Again, Follow the glory—Follow His presence.
Colossians 3:1-4TLB Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power. 2 Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. 3 You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God. 4 And when Christ who is our real life comes back again, you will shine with him and share in all his glories.
Joshua 3:5NLT Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”
Think about this, It was one thing for a few spies to make their way across Jordan (as happened in Joshua 2), Here we are talking about a nation of millions, with all their possessions— how will they make it?
The only prerequisite was to sanctity yourself.
In, Leviticus 20:7AMP the law states, You shall consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God.
Exodus 19:14ESV So Moses jwent down from the mountain to the people and econsecrated the people; fand they washed their garments.
OT sanctification is law based; It’s measured by performance; however, sanctification dealt with the core of the heart, and attitude as well.
The “Ark of the Covenant” is a central focus of this chapter and the next. When the Israelites were not in transit, the Ark resided in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle and later in the temple. It represented the presence and the power of God among the people (Exodus 25:22). Jesus is the New Testament believer’s means of access to God.
What’s Inside:
1. Ten Commandments.
2. A pot of Manna from heaven.
3. Aaron’s rod that budding.
Paul wrote, 1 Corinthians 1:30AMP But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin],
Another powerful scriptural reference: 1 Corinthians 6:11NIV That is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God.
Here’s what I want to leave you with—If you will chose a sanctified life before God, through faith, He will do the rest.
Ephesians 3:20AMP Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,
You can trust God.
You can trust God to do His part. (He does amazing things).
You can trust God’s direction—Follow the Ark. (If He’s leading, you won’t go wrong).
If you sanctify yourself—God will do the miracles.
Benediction.
