Hearing God
Joshua 8:1-13
Offers: vv.1-2
The Pleasure of Encouragement
The Promise of Victory
– John 14:1“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
The Promise of Blessing
– Ephesians 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
The Plan for Battle
– Ephesians 6:11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Emboldens the Believer vv.3-8
To face the enemy head on.
To plan precisely.
– 2 Timothy 2:15Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
To prepare for the battle.
Equips you to Lead vv.9-12
In the midst of weakness.
– 1 Samuel 17:45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46“This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
In the midst of danger.
– 2 Timothy 1:6Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
– “Victory in the Christian life is not the absence of conflict but the presence and protection of God in the midst of conflict.” - William MacDonald
Allows You Peace v.13
Not a time to let your guard down.
– The rear guard indicates the importance which Joshua placed upon the presence of Jehovah.
He withdraws from others.
– Time of planning
– Possibly a time of prayer
Questions for thought:
• How did Joshua and Israel regain access to the God?
• When was the last time you wronged God
• How may we regain access when we have
wronged God?
• What was the purpose of the rear guard?
• How can you serve as a rear guard in your churches life?
