And God Gave-II—Joshua 24:1-13
A busload of politicians were driving down a country road when, all of a sudden, the bus ran off the road & crashed into a tree in an old farmer’s field.
The old farmer, after seeing what happened, went over to investigate. He then proceeded to dig a hole & bury the politicians. A few days later, the local sheriff came out, saw the crashed bus & asked the old farmer where all the politicians had gone.
The old farmer said he had buried them.
The sheriff asked the old farmer, "The coroner wasn’t here. Are you sure they were all dead?"
The old farmer replied, "Well, some of them said they weren’t, but you know how them politicians lie."
The farmer invested his time & effort into doing what was right.
Likewise God has made an investment in each of His people.
Joshua reminded Israel of the extent of God’s giving to produce a viable witness in the world.
God’s giving is intended to produce a viable witness in the world.
What investment had God made in producing a witness(to salvation)?
8 investments God makes in producing a witness.
God’s Investment in a witness is an Investment in...
1. Vision
2. Patience
3. Freedom
4. Preservation
5—Investment in a witness is
An Investment in INSIGHT(:7b)Glimpse
:7—“‘But when they cried out to the LORD, He put darkness between you & the Egyptians, & brought the sea upon them & covered them; & your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness for a long time.”
“Your own eyes saw”—You have seen & therefore are offered the cutting edge of relationship with God.
—Plainly indisputable
—No excuses—Responsibility
—We do not live by sight but by faith—which gives us insight to reality.
2Cor. 5:7—“...for we walk by faith, not by sight--”
2Cor. 4:18—“...we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Vision can pervert & limit the reality.
2Chron. 20:24—Of God’s destruction of Ammon, Moab &Seir—“When Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; & behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, & no one had escaped.”—What would science say? —Hysteria, microorganisms, etc.
Deut. 29:2-4—“And Moses summoned all Israel & said to them, “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh & all his servants & all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs & wonders. “Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”
—Not made faithful use of their spiritual advantage & thus abused God’s grace.
—Not in man’s power to understand the mysteries of God if it is not given to him from above.
—Seen but not discerned.
—You have not seen them to any purpose.
Mat. 13:14-15—“And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear & shall not understand, And seeing you will see & not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes & hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts & turn, So that I should heal them.’”
Argumentation:
Acts 2:22—“Jesus the Nazarene, [was] a man attested to you by God with miracles & wonders & signs which God performed through Him in your midst...”
Rev. 1:1-3—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; & He sent & communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who bore witness to the word of God & to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads & those who hear the words of the prophecy, & heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
Rev. 2-3—To all 7 churches—“ ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”—Insight
Eph. 1:18-19—“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, & what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might”
Illustration:
Abortion/Sickening/Undertake it not sensing 1)the seriousness of actions 2)Necessity ofGod’s part in creating life/INSIGHT lost
Application:
?Your lifestyle reflect INSIGHT into God’s ?
?Why has God attempted to give Insight to you/us/those in our past?
?Has God’s Investment in YOU produced His witness?
6—Investment in a witness is
An Investment in WEAKNESS(:12)
Explanation:(:12)
“‘Then I sent the hornet before you & it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow.”
God desires to have us trust in Him alone.
Argumentation:
Zech. 4:6—“...‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”
1Cor 1:27—“but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, & God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,”
2Cor. 12:7-10—READ—“And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me--to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
1Cor. 4:18-20—“Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, & I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.”
Illustration:
US/Weak countries/Vested Interest/Influence other countries with our ideals/Investment in WEAKNESS
Application:
?Your lifestyle reflect God’s dealing with ourWEAKNESS?
?Why does God put up with your/our/others Weaknesses?
?Has God’s Investment in YOU produced His witness?
7—Investment in a witness is
An Investment in ABUNDANCE(:13)
Explanation:(:13)/Plenty
“ ‘And I gave you a land on which you had not labored, & cities which you had not built, & you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards & olive groves which you did not plant.’”
“Land on which you had not labored”—
“Cities which you had not built”—
“Eating of vineyards & olive groves which you did not plant”—
Argumentation:
Mat. 25:29—““For to everyone who has shall more be given, & he shall have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.”
Jn. 10:10—“The thief comes only to steal, & kill, & destroy; I came that they might have life, & might have it abundantly.”
Illustration:
Kids growing up with ’silver spoon’/Can invite abuse/But can invite Thankfulness
Social Security system/Fails where there is no moral backing/ABUNDANCE established
Application:
?Your lifestyle reflect God’s ABUNDANCE?
?Why has God supplied Abundance for you/us/others?
?Has God’s Investment in YOU produced His witness?
8—Investment in a witness is
An Investment in PEOPLE(:1-13)
Individuals/Groups
Personalities
Temperaments
Physical, mental & emotional capacities
Faith capacities—strong/weak/sustained/erratic
Gen. 1:26-28—“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; & let them rule over the fish of the sea & over the birds of the sky & over the cattle & over all the earth, & over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male & female He created them. And God blessed them; & God said to them, “Be fruitful & multiply, & fill the earth, & subdue it; & rule over the fish of the sea & over the birds of the sky, & over every living thing that moves on the earth.””
Has God’s Investment in YOU produced a witness?
Conclusion
Visualization:
?Is God’s investment in you a wise investment?
?Why so?—Fails because of OUR choice, not because God made a bad choice. He knows your potential. But...He submits that potential to YOUR will & thus freedom.
Action:
Investment in a witness is An Investment in...
Insight
Weakness
Abundance
People
Vision
Patience
Freedom
Preservation
Took(:3), led(:3), multiplied(:3), gave(:4,11, 13), sent(:5, 12), plagued(:5), brought(:5, 8), protect(:7), bore/judged(:7), destroyed(:8), refused(:10), blessed(:10), delivered(:10), drove out(:12), land, cities, vineyard, olive groves(:13)
Presented 08/05/01pm to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 31797
