INTRODUCTION:
A couple of Sundays ago was Easter Sunday for those of us who follow Christ and celebrate our risen Lord and those celebrating Spring with the annual hunting of the Easter Eggs left by the Easter bunny. But, to my surprise (or perhaps my horror), I found out that a different group had claimed that day for themselves too as a holiday. Apparently for some April 20th is known as “Most High Day.” No not the Most High God as we might think, but most high as in high on drugs. I guess that is the “most high god” for some. And those people who were so kind to relate this message/announcement to me almost seemed more excited about it than we get over our Lord and Savior risen from the dead or Jesus dying for our sins. One girl at work was just elated over the fact that the next day was “Most High Day!” I can only guess how people celebrate Most High Day. Just shows that there many who live on a completely different path in life.
Does anyone know what today is for some people? Yes, for a certain group of people this is even a special day, believe-it-or-not! It’s amazing what we make into a holiday anymore.
But for all the Star Wars fans out there, today is what? May the Fourth… as in may the fourth be with you… copying the phrase in the movie that started it all “Star Wars: A New Hope”: “May the force be with you… always!”
Some people view the Holy Spirit as kind of like the Force in Star Wars. If you are not familiar with the sci-fi franchise created by George Lucas, the Force in Star Wars is “what gives a Jedi his power. It is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” But the Holy Spirit is so much more than some mystical, mysterious power or force. The Holy Spirit is God, God with us and in us, guiding us, teaching us, convicting us, renewing our minds and transforming our lives, equipping us for service in the kingdom of God and the mission of the Church.
And God promises to be with us.
After Jesus rose from the dead He met with His disciples before ascending into Heaven.
And He said these words to them- [Mat 28:19-20 NASB20] 19 "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
God promises to be with us as we trust and obey Him.
Today we are going to begin a study/Sermon Series on Followers of the Way Walking with the LORD. Please turn in your Bibles to Joshua chapter one.
BODY:
Moses, the Great Man of God who knew the Lord face-to-face, had faithfully led the people of Israel through the wilderness for forty years not able to enter in to the Promises Land because of the people’s lack of faith. Now Moses, their leader, was dead and Joshua, his servant, would take up the mantle for the new generation.
[Joshua 1:1-9 NASB20]
1 Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, 2 "Moses My servant is dead; so now arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 "Every place on which the sole of your foot steps, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. 4 "From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. 5 "No one will [be able to] oppose you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not desert you nor abandon you. 6 "Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 "Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may achieve success wherever you go. 8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success. 9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua was given a mission, a mission that was not completed in Moses’ time. A Promise of God that was given to his people long ago. That promise was for the taking if… and only if they would trust God and follow His commands. God says, “Joshua, you are going to be my man to lead these people into the Promised Land. So be strong and courageous. I will be with you; I will not desert you nor abandon you.” Notice those words and that theme replayed over and over again… repeated. “Be strong and courageous.” “I will be with you.”
Church, I would like to tell you today that the LORD has given us a mission… a mission that was not fully completed by generations before. Even with all the revivals or awakenings of the past. Even with all the powerful men and women of God who have stood and proclaimed the Gospel to a world lost in darkness. Even with all those who have come to know the Lord. There is still a mission for us to accomplish. There is still a promise for those who will heed the Word of the LORD and take seriously the calling of going and making disciples.
Singer and Missions advocate Keith Green said these thought provoking words: More people are alive today, and more souls are at stake, than the total number of people who have ever lived on the face of the earth in all of human history! This simply means that we can populate either Heaven or Hell by our obedience or our laziness. The world isn't being won today because we're not doing it. It's our fault because this generation of believers is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth. The world is going to Hell on every continent! Is it God's fault that so few are hearing the gospel - or is it the Church's? Aren't we who love Jesus accountable to reach our generation with the gospel?
You say, “How, preacher? How are we to accomplish that mission?” By being strong and courageous, and by believing that God will be with us wherever we go. Strong means that we stand firm against the culture around us, standing firm in our faith and our belief in the Word, not compromising our message or softening it to cater to society. The opposite of strong is weak. And we can be a strong church or a weak one. We can be strong Christians or weak church goers.
[Ephesians 6:10-11 NLT] 10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
One of the main strategies of the devil is to weaken the church. He does this by convincing us that church is just a place we go to once a week for a little feel good feeling, for a little fellowship with our friends, catching up on the latest gossip… the latest news, and for a little spiritual food to feed our spiritual hunger. But like Paul said, we are baby Christians still nursing and being fed milk but haven’t moved onto solid food. A baby is cute, but a baby is weak and helpless. God desires the Church to be warriors on a mission, not babies still in diapers.
We are weak when we do not understand our calling, what’s at stake, and what God wants us to do. We are weak when we do not fully seek God with all of our hearts and feast on His Word. Think of the Church as a place to train for the battle or task at hand, like an athlete goes into training before the game. That athlete must get stronger through training in order accomplish the goal. And so should we. So as we come together, we have a purpose to grow in our faith and in the knowledge of the Word so that we can accomplish the goal set before us.
What else? How else can we accomplish the mission? By being courageous!
What does it mean to be courageous?
Courage is the quality that makes a person able to meet dangers without fear.
To be brave. To be valiant. To be daring. To be risk-takers.
In a very real sense the devil convinces the Church to stop being courageous, to stop venturing out, to just take care of our own and play it safe. The Church stops trying to find ways to share the Gospel outside its four walls and concentrates on its small and shrinking gathering of people. The Church stops taking ground, territory, and hunkers down in its little corner of the world.
The scheme of the devil is to get us to focus only on ourselves. The strategy of the devil is to get us to ignore the mission and miss out on the promises of God.
It is time for the Church to be Strong and Courageous knowing, trusting that God will be with us wherever we… what? Go!
And that’s my last point today. Joshua didn’t just stay put leading the people. He said, “It’s time to go!”
[Joshua 1:10-11 NASB20] 10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 "Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are going to cross this Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, to possess it.'"
As soon as God told him this, he got the people together and said, “It’s time to get ready. Prepare yourselves. We’re going in to take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, to possess it.”
Let me ask you something: What would change if we starting looking at our communities as land which the LORD has given us to possess for Him?
How would we view what we do as the Body of Christ? Would we view it differently? And what we do differently?
[Joshua 1:9 NASB20] says…
"Have I not commanded you? {God has commanded us. It’s not a suggestion!} Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
CONCLUSION:
We may not be Jedi with lightsabers, but we have something more powerful than a lightsaber… the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We may not be in tune with the Force of the Star Wars world, but we can be in tune with God the Holy Spirit, listening to His still-small-voice calling us to bigger and greater things to do in His name. We may not be in danger of falling to the dark side of the force, but this world does live in darkness and we are called by Jesus to be the light of the world.
INVITATION:
May the LORD be with You. Please Stand
