LIFE AT THE HIGHEST PLANE!
WALKING WHERE WE HAVE NEVER
WALKED BEFORE
SERMON #2
Joshua 3:1-6
Psalm 23:4.
Jos 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. (What’s the command?
4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. (KJV)
Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (KJV)
INTRODUCTION: I want to call your attention to the phrase in the last part of Joshua 3:4, "……..for ye have not passed this way heretofore." Joshua is telling the Israelites that they are about to walk on ground they have never walked on before. Unfamiliar territory.
I am asking this church to enter a road we have never walked before. Each of you are being challenged to seek and attain “Life At A Higher Plane.” Basically all this means is to commit yourself completely and totally to God.
Some of you have never committed yourself to a level of an higher plane. This is truly a new way of traveling for many. For the most part, most had never thought of achieving such a level.
What happens when you travel on a new road, or a road you are not familiar with?
You may make wrong turns. If this happens, stop and get back on the right road. I remember several years back my wife and I went to S. Carolina to see our daughter and family, I made a wrong turn and drove 86 miles out of the way. I thought I was right all along. All I would have had to do to discover that we were on the wrong road was to look at the road map, and I could have seen I was wrong.
On a new road you will watch for directions more than on a familiar road.
You will enjoy the scenery of the new road more than the old road.
You will see things that are unfamiliar to you.
Joshua instructs the people concerning certain things that they must be aware of, and that they must do.
They were on the edge of the Jordan River – on the other side of Jordan stood Canaan – the land of promise given to Abraham from God. They were about to enter that land. This certainly was about to become a place where they had never walked before
To walk at a higher plane will require certain things from each of us.
I. PREPARE OURSELVES.
Notice what Joshua told them in Vs. 5.
Vs. 5. "Sanctify yourselves."
A. Spiritual Preparation. Sanctification.
1. What is sanctification? It is not sinlessness.
2. Sanctification is growth as a Christian. Discipleship.
3. That’s what we try to do here. We try to give each member a spiritual diet that will cause each to grow.
4. We have been intensifying this over the last few weeks.
a. Emphasizing more Bible reading and prayer time in the home. I have challenged you in an earlier message to watch TV at least one hour less each day and then give that hour to reading the Bible. If you have taken or will take that challenge you well be amazed at the difference it will make in your life. I wonder how many have taken that challenge?
b. Being sensitive to the will and Word of God.
c. Expecting great things from God.
d. Dedicating self to God.
5. Sanctification is to: "Set apart; purify." Set yourself apart to live holy and righteous.
a. This must be done spiritually as well as physically.
6. "Sanctify yourselves."
a. The effort of sanctification must be done by the individual.
b. Will require physical as well as spiritual involvement.
B. Self-Sanctification Will Require An Overcoming Of The Flesh, and a devotion to allow yourself to be solely directed by God and His word. Making the flesh do what is right.
Overcoming the flesh is always difficult. The flesh has a strong pull and influence in most decisions.
We must be prepared for the journey over the new road.
II. PRESENT OUR BODIES.
Rom. 12:1; "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
A. A Presentation Of Self. "present your bodies."
1. Actually, to only give our bodies to the Lord during a certain church emphasis, and then when that emphasis is over, to take charge of our bodies again, is to make God into a puppet. We manipulate Him in any fashion we choose.
2. The presentation of our bodies must be a once and for all commitment. Once we give it to Him it is no longer ours. It belongs to God. We have no control over it anymore. I am working on a sermon - “It May Be Your Body, But It Is Still God’s Temple.”
B. To Live For God Daily.
I suppose we could say that living on a higher plane would be to just let God have His total way with each of us. The “Higher Plane of Living” is just a “reasonable expectation.”
1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (KJV) When this verse of Scripture is in full action in your life, then you are on a much higher plane.
III. EXERCISE OUR FAITH.
Vs. 5, "Tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."
This does not say, "Wonders FOR you." It says "Wonders AMONG you."
A. Those Who Commit To The Next Level Can Expect To See The Great And Mighty Hand Of God Working.
I Sam. 3:11, "And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle."
I believe that same promise will hold true for us right here. I believe that God can and will do something here that will make the ears of all this area tingle. Wouldn’t it be great if God did something here that no one could explain. A friend would ask what happened at BHBC Sunday? You would pause, and then say, “You would had to have been there. I can’t explain it.” That’s what I want. I want to see something from God that is not human designed, and that man can’t explain.
B. Jeremiah 33:3 Says, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." He will do things for us that we cannot understand. Things which we know not. Things which weren’t in the program. Things that only accompany the presence of God, and the surrender of His people.
He is speaking about things unordinary – This is the part of God that most people don’t even think about. “Great and Mighty things.” God is certainly capable of doing such things that can’t be explained by man.
C. Psalm 81:10, "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." This verse packs with it all the omnipotent power of God.
What does “Open thy mouth wide” mean? It means to exercise great faith. Attempt things that cannot be accomplished without God doing it for you. Attempt things that are “Great and Mighty.” It means to step out by faith to do something so miraculous that it could only be done by God.
It is a mighty expectation to see the greatness that God can do through our faith. What do you want from God? Then go after it. Exercise your faith. Call upon Him, and open your mouth of faith wide and He will fill it.
IV. BE OBEDIENT IN ALL THINGS.
Jos 3:4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. (KJV)
Their approach or viewpoint of the ark determined their knowledge in where they would go.
The Ark of the Covenant was to be a good distance in front of the people. Why? So they could see it clearly and follow it.
A. If We Don’t Obey The Things God Says, Then We Will Not Be Able To See The Way In Which He Is Leading Us.
The Children of Israel didn’t realize it but they were about to see something great from God. They were going to cross over the Jordan River on dry ground. What an experience that must have been. The River was at a flood stage at that particular time. Some commentaries say that in some places it was up to a mile wide. It wasn’t a gentle flowing river – when at flood stage the water is violent – we have all seen TV footage of raging rivers where houses were floating down the river.
Who knows the difference in how God parted the Red Sea and the Jordan River? They weren’t both parted the same way – who knows the difference?
The Red Sea, He parted it with two walls of water standing upright on both sides right down the middle. The Jordan River – He parted it with one wall of water standing upright and the other side the water ran off. So it was just this one wall of water on one side and nothing on the other side. (See what you learn by coming to church).
Think about the miracle – not just of parting the river – but controlling that damn of water for hours while millions of people crossed.
B. In Between The People And The Ark Were The Priests. The priests represents the leadership of the church.
There was to be 2000 cubits between the people and the Ark. The Ark represents God to the people. Notice there was to be a certain distance between the people and God. This teaches reverence. it teaches us that we are to keep our eyes on God. The movement of today is to bring God down to our level and treat Him like a pet or some good friend. God is holy – He is divine. We can’t just treat Him like He was one of the gang. That’s why there was to be a distance between the people and the Ark.
As you read the Bible through this year you will find things that God says you must do. When you find them – mark them and then begin doing what they say. If it says to care for the poor and needy, begin to do so. Take a meal to someone who is hungry. Give some money to someone who needs money. It will instruct you to give praise to the Lord, and to worship the Lord. When you read those commands stop and follow what they instruct you to do. You will read where you are to repent of a certain sin – do so. Follow the instructions of the Word of God.
V. EXPECT VICTORY.
Jos 3:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. (KJV)
As the feet of the priests touched the water in the Jordan the water parted. They could have stood on the shore line of the Jordan all day waiting for it to open up and they would have still been standing there. It took faith to step into that water. Would you step off into raging water by faith?
Jos 3:17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. (KJV)
Listen as we hear the victory cry of the people as they stand on the Canaan side of Jordan. The Lord had done wonders among them. He will do so for us also. They saw the hand of the Lord working. “He did wonders among them”. That’s why I was so thrilled when God did what He did for Jeff W. last week. We saw God do wonders among us. When God does things like that it reminds me that He is still working among His people and we can see great victories.
A. The Victories We Experience Must Be Individual Victories.
It doesn’t matter what kind of victories our church experiences, if you, the individual, do not have some great victories along the journey, and see some mighty wonders. then you will not appreciate the victory that we, the church, will experience. You must experience going to that next level of God’s glory and blessings.
B. In Order For You To Have Victory, Or Go To A Higher Plane, You Must Have Completed The First Four Parts Of This Sermon.
You must have made spiritual preparation.
You must have presented your body to God. It may be your body – but it is still God’s temple. `
You must expect Him to do wonders through faith.
You must be obedient with what He has told you to do.
When all these are straight, then you will be ready to walk on new ground, and move to the next level.
Some of you need to come down this aisle and do what has been said tonight.
INVITATION
