"The PRAISE for Victory!"
Joshua 21:43-45, “So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. [44] And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. [45] Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”
PRAYER…
INTRODUCTION:
I know that this series has been a blessing to us, and that we have followed Joshua on this course of VICTORY because many of you are in it right now.
We have seen the course for VICTORY, even as Joshua and the Israelites set out on it.
-And, they have blazed the trail for each and every one of us to follow…
So, as we focus in on Joshua 21 this morning…Joshua, and the Israelites, have come to their PEAK of victory.
-And all their struggles and battling has finally paid off!
We have seen them come from…
• being on the wrong side of the river, and being challenged to go on to something greater…
• then, them taking up the courage to cross it…
• they invaded their first city…Jericho…and won with God’s help…
• which lead to them going after Ai…dealing with their set back…and then going forward in a win again…
• then there is a land-slide of victory, after victory; as the Lord Almighty makes the way for them…
• once, all this land is won, then they can begin to possess the land…
And…I don’t know about you, but that is definitely cause for some THANKSGIVING!!!
For some PRAISE to go to God for all that He has done!
The PRAISE for Victory!!!
-But, we are not too good at this, are we?
-Why? Because if there is something that we Americans fail at often, it is BEING THANKFUL!
-Instead, we tend to be discontent, and always forgetful of what good we do have in our lives…
ILLUSTRATION:
As I have been saying, it is true that…thankfulness seems to be a lost art today.
Warren Wiersbe illustrated this problem in his commentary on Colossians.
He told about a ministerial student in Evanston, Illinois, who was part of a life-saving squad. When in 1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.
What a shame, that none would thank him…
But, how much more do we disregard God after ALL that He has done for us?
-May we be mindful today of the fact that we have got to be grateful once again.
-We have got to PRAISE Him for the Victory!
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God had done MUCH for Israel too.
The VICTORIES are won now, and it is time for the People of God to actually begin to possess and occupy their land that was promised to them long ago through Father Abraham!
This is where we come into the situation today…
Joshua, Caleb, and Israel had TONS to be thankful for!
God had fulfilled His word in them, and they are now LIVING their destiny!
In several chapters previous this passage, Joshua was doing, what must have been, an exciting/thrilling thing.
Joshua 13-21, Joshua is divvying up the land for the children of Israel.
In Gilgal…
-Joshua assigns the land EAST of the Jordan to 2 ½ tribes…
-Then, he assigns the land WEST of the Jordan to another 2 ½ tribes…
Then, in Shiloh…
-Joshua assigns more land to the remaining 7 tribes…
Cities of Refuge are assigned.
Finally, Joshua appoints the Levitical Cities.
They get their land. AWESOME!
But…what was actually going on was the Joshua was divvying up their inheritance.
INHERITANCE!
That is quite a word…inheritance.
The Jews inherited their land!
-They didn’t WIN the land in these battles…so that they could revel in their “spoils”. No.
-Neither did they BUY it with any amount of money, like some regular business transaction. No, no.
-The Lord was the landlord, and He GAVE this land to them.
*Better yet, leased it to them.
It was God’s ultimately, but it was given to them as their inheritance.
We have an inheritance for ourselves too…HEAVEN!
We know Heaven through our salvation.
And, Israel’s inheritance is very similar in workings, just as our SALVATION does.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”
Our salvation is the same as Israel’s inheritance…
-We can’t earn it…neither could Israel.
-We don’t deserve it…neither did Israel.
-But, we do possess it by FAITH!
*Faith is the Victory. Faith is the Victory. Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world!
Yes…Joshua and Israel had to do two things…
#1 - They had to conquer their enemies, and control the land.
#2 - They ad to divide the land so the tribes could actually claim their inheritance and enjoy it.
Salvation works similarly…
Romans 8:13, “…but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
-We have to conquer our flesh…through the spirit of God…and allow the Spirit to rule and rain in us.
-Then, we can actually enjoy our salvation in the Lord.
-Working out our salvation with fear and trembling.
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When it all came right down to it, all that Israel had to do was OBEY the Lord.
That was the “rent” for the lease they had with God on the land.
-The same is for you and me too.
*Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus!
Jeremiah 7:23, “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.”
1 Samuel 15:22, “…behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”
This makes sense to us. To OBEY.
We know, from Israel’s ups and downs, that obedience was the factor…
-It gave them occupancy of the land…
-Likewise, their disobedience left the land vacant.
The Promised Land was a gift of God’s love.
The Promised Land, being theirs, was a reason for OBEDIENCE…PRAISE…and THANKSGIVING!
-Their ownership of the land was a gracious gift of God.
-But their possession and enjoyment of it was dependant on their submission and obedience to the Lord.
So, just as Israel had a lot to be thankful for in Joshua 21:43-45.
You and I also have a lot to praise and thank the Lord for in regard to our salvation.
-Can you praise Him today?
-Can you thank Him this morning?
-Let’s do it!
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TRANSITIONAL SENTENCE:
Israel had a lot to be THANKFUL for…
You see, after this long section in the Book of Joshua,
chapters 13-21, about the dividing up of the land;
there are some powerful statements, three wonderful
affirmations made about the
PLEDGE…POWER…and PROMISES of God.
Three wonderful truths that are still in motion for our lives too.
These will provide for us a wealth of blessings to be THANKFUL for too, as we look at them this morning.
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POINT ONE: The PLEDGE of God!
Joshua 21:43, “So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it.”
Simply, God was faithful and gave Israel the land which He promised to give them!
It all started back with Abraham.
Genesis 12:7, “And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’”
God PLEDGED this land to go to Abraham’s decendants.
-Needless to say…Abraham was from a long time prior.
-Nonetheless, God WAS faithful to His pledge to the people of Israel.
*That was their INHERITANCE.
ILLUSTRATION:
I mentioned last week how Caleb waited 45 years for his possession of the land. However, God was faithful to His pledge!
Abraham had to wait 25 years before he heard the cry of a newborn child.
Even so, God was faithful to him!
Church…God will make good on His pledges and covenant with you too!
God is a God of Covenants…
-A simple search in the Scriptures leaves us with over 350 passages that refer to covenant.
-And, all in all, there are 9 major covenants:
*Eternal
*Edenic
*Adamic
*Noahic
*Abrahamic
*Mosaic
*Palestinian
*Davidian
*New
Church, you can thank God that He is true to His word! He is not a respector of persons! Neither does He lie.
God keeps His pledge to you and me!
THANKS & PRAISE be to God!
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POINT TWO: The POWER of God!
Joshua 21:44, “And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand.”
Israel’s obedience to the Lord unlocked the POWER of the Lord!
-It may have been a difficult task, but nonetheless, it was a necessary task.
ILLUSTRATION:
Dr. B.J. Miller once said, "It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibilities of not doing it."
Obedience to God is always easier. Amen?
But listen, just what those ten doubting spies said could not happen, DID happen!
Why? Because the people of God finally decided to take the Lord at His word, and to what He called them to do.
-It was accomplished according to HIS POWER!
Now, aren’t you thankful to God that He makes His power available to us for the difficult tasks at hand?
THANKS & PRAISE be to God!
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Finally…
POINT THREE: The PROMISES of God!
Joshua 21:45, “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”
I am reminded of the Scripture that says, Romans 3:4, “May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar…”
God is NOT a liar!
His word is true, and will come to pass!
Joshua knew it now.
But, even at the end of His life, he reminded the people that God was true to His promises.
-Thank God!
Joshua 23:14, “…you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.”
Even Solomon reiterated the statement when the Temple was dedicated…
1 Kings 8:56, “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.”
Man, what powerful statements about the promises of God!
Powerful & True!
ILLUSTRATION:
A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. Like the covenants, there are many…here are 12 promises for the Christian to claim.
God’s presence -- "I will never leave thee" (Heb. 13:5)
God’s protection -- "I am thy shield" (Gen. 15:1)
God’s power -- "I will strengthen thee" (Isa. 41:10)
God’s provision -- "I will help thee" (Isa. 41:10)
God’s leading -- "And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them" (John 10:4)
God’s purposes -- "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jer. 20:11)
God’s rest -- "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28)
God’s cleansing -- "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9)
God’s goodness -- "No good thing will He withhold from them that work uprightly" (Psalm 84:11)
God’s faithfulness -- "The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake" (1 Sam. 12:22)
God’s guidance -- "The meek will He guide" (Psalm 25:9)
God’s wise plan -- "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28)
And, God’s promises are meant to trust in and believe in.
Lean on them!
ILLUSTRATION:
It was once said, “You can’t break God’s promises by leaning on them!”
THANKS & PRAISE be to God for His promises that He is true to.
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AS WE CLOSE:
Church…
As the people of God, we can claim these assurances of the Faith!
-These are reason for THANKSGIVING today. For PRAISE!
-Joshua, and the lives of Israel are testimonies to the fact that God is all that I say today.
• Listen, God’s covenant and pledge to us is not going to fail…
• God’s power and wisdom can give us victory over every foe that would want to stand in your way…
• And, God’s promises can be trusted. No matter what the circumstances are that you face, if God says it, you can do it!
These are the Spiritual Resources that we can rest in today as we lay hold of the inheritance that we have in the Lord.
-As you trust the Lord to help you in your SALVATION, I want you to know that God’s PLEDGE – POWER & PROMISES are yours today too.
-What God has accomplished in this book, He can make real-life in yours today!
