If there’s any Bible character who seriously inspires me it would have to be Joshua. I love the guy’s humility. His courage. The way he interacted with God. The way he led. All in all I guess I feel a deep sense of affinity with this man of faith so when I was convicted I needed to preach from the book that contains his stories last week, I couldn’t wait to start writing.
What follows is a copy of this sermon which is all about the keys to spiritual Israel’s success, not in fighting against the nations in order to inherit the Promised Land, but fighting for them! Be of courage, I say, and see below for what makes this possible!
Sue Redman – September 5, 2009
This morning we’re going to start with a story from the book of Joshua in the Old Testament but before we go there, let’s set the scene:
Does anybody know where we are when we open the book of Joshua; where the Israelites are camped?
- On the plains of Moab (Deut 34:8)
- At Shittim, which means “Acacia Trees” (Josh 2:1)
- About 11 kms east of the Jordan
Does anybody know how long the Israelites have been there?
- For some months
What about some of the things that have happened since the Israelites have been at Shittim?
- This is where the Israelites were numbered with a census (Num 26:1-4)
- Saw Joshua invested with Moses’ authority (Num 27:18-23)
- Heard Moses recite the history of the people and the laws of God (most of which are contained in the book of Deuteronomy)
- Watched as Moses climbed to the top of Mt Pisgah to see (but not enter) the Promised Land, then die at the age of 120 (Deut 34:1-4)
- Buried Moses in Moab (Deut 34:5-8) (1)
Okay, you might like to open your Bibles with me to Joshua 1 and we’re going to be reading from verses 1-9. Joshua 1:1-9,
“After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, ‘My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’”
Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about the coupling of these virtues before but in my Bible, which is the New Revised Standard Version, there are thirteen references to being strong and courageous or being strong and very courageous or of good courage or bold or valiant, and eight of these thirteen are within the context of Joshua and the Israelites crossing over to the Promised Land (Deut 31:6, 7-8, 23; Josh: 1:6, 7, 9, 18; 10:25).
Be strong and courageous. Why did Moses have to tell the Israelites to be strong and courageous just before they entered the Promised Land? Why did Moses have to tell Joshua to be strong and courageous just before he put the people in possession of their land? Why did God tell Joshua at least five times, and Joshua tell the people at least once, and the people tell Joshua at least once, all in relation to entering the Promised Land?!
It goes without saying that something huge is happening here. Something so huge that a whole generation of people who had not only seen all the signs that God had performed in Egypt but had crossed the Red Sea on dry land, been guided by a cloud by day and fire by night, eaten manna from heaven and quails when they’d complained, even these people had thought taking possession of the Promised Land impossible so it’s no wonder that God and Moses and Joshua and even the people in this story are all encouraging Joshua and/or the people to be strong and courageous.
Be strong and courageous. I know I am no Joshua and Chatswood Church is not the equivalent of two and a half million Israelites but I believe something huge was not only happening there in Shittim but is happening right here in Chatswood. In fact I believe something huge is not only happening here in Chatswood but for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in general and Christianity at large; and what I believe is that Jesus Christ is coming again soon and that He is right now calling us, spiritual Israel, not to go up and fight against the nations in order to take possession of the Promised Land but to fight for them!
Unlike the Israelites of old, spiritual Israel has been commissioned to fight for the nations in order for them to see Jesus and I know this can be as equally daunting as fighting against them. When the twelve spies came back from Canaan to report about the land, it’s people and their towns, ten of the spies told Moses that the people were too strong, their towns too large and fortified; that Israel would be devoured if they went up against them (Num 13:28, 31-33). In the same way, we, spiritual Israel, can shrink back from the nations we have been called to fight for. Who are we to take on the people of this land, we ask ourselves. We are so few in number. Or who am I, we might ask. Who would listen to me?
These are very relevant questions for Chatswood Church in the face of our Jesus. All about life campaign. As of today we are starting our official three weeks of preparation which will flow into four weeks of campaign which will flow into six weeks of follow-up. Three months in total we have committed to this campaign, along with an estimated $8,000 so I hear you when you ask, what if we put our feet into the Jordan River and the waters don’t part? What if we get across the river only to be captured by the inhabitants of Jericho?
Be strong and courageous, Moses told the people. Moses told Joshua. Joshua told the people. The people told Joshua. Be strong and courageous, God told Joshua; but that wasn’t all God said.
I think it’s very interesting that God leaves no room for presumption in the passage of Scripture we’ve just read. While He was obviously intent on encouraging Joshua to be strong and courageous because He said it three times; He was also intent on Joshua knowing the basis for his confidence/the keys to success and I want us to go back to this passage because I want us to identify or be reminded of the keys to Israel’s success in fighting against the nations which I believe will be the keys to our success in fighting for them.
The first reference we find to God providing Joshua with the basis for his confidence is in verses 5 and let’s read it again,
“No-one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”
Here we find God promising Joshua two things which in effect go hand in hand. The first is His presence: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” And with that comes His power: “No-one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life.” This same promise is repeated in verse 9,
“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Why needn’t Joshua be afraid? Simply because God would be with him. And how would Joshua know God was with him? The answer is in verses 7-8,
“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.”
I don’t know if the same thing just struck you while you were reading these verses as struck me while I was preparing for today’s sermon but I think I now understand why God told Joshua to “very courageous” in this context. Of the three references to God encouraging Joshua to be strong and courageous in verses 1-9, it is here in verses 7-8 that God encourages Joshua to be “very courageous” and there’s no denying that acting in accordance with God’s law takes extra courage. Sure it takes courage to believe God is with us, that He is working His power for us. But it takes extra courage, I believe, to act in accordance with His law or to preach or teach about keeping His law or to go so far as to say this is ultimately the key to success. But popular opinion or not, this is what I believe God is saying here. That keeping His law is ultimately the key to His presence and power; and His presence and power, is ultimately the key to our success.
Now of course I’m not saying we need to keep the laws Israel kept in order to be successful. And neither am I saying we need to keep the greatest and second greatest commandments Jesus spoke about perfectly in order to be successful. What I am saying however is that unless we’re committed to walking in the ways of God and unless we are covered by the blood of Jesus when we fall short, there is no point us going up to fight for the nations. The key to Israel’s success in the conquest, Thomas L Constable says, was Israel’s fidelity to the book of the law. (2) The key to spiritual Israel’s success in the Great Commission, Sue says, is their commitment to walking in His ways. Unless we are walking in the ways of God it would presumptuous for us to be strong and courageous . . .
This is the very reason we have chosen to start our Jesus. All about life campaign here at Chatswood Church with Week of Prayer. So we can not only pray corporately that God will go before us these next three months, that He will pour out His Holy Spirit upon us. But so we can also reflect individually on where we are in our own journeys with God and if necessary we can recommit to walking in His ways.
I’m presuming most of Chatswood Church now know our plans for this week but in case you don’t you will find an outline of who is hosting what Prayer Meeting where in this week’s bulletin and you are most welcome to attend any or all of these meetings. As part of our Jesus. All about life preparations I also want to encourage Chatswood Church and anyone else for that matter to participate in the Bible Reading Plan. This reading plan is based on the Gospel of Luke which is the Gospel the Jesus. All about life campaign is based on and I’ve put copies of this on the info table at the back for those who don’t have one as yet.
I also have updated copies of the Jesus. All about life sign-up sheets for those who weren’t here the Sabbath we did sign-ups but still want to be involved and I will hand these out after the program. And I will also hand out these bookmarks I made this week and on one side you will find the list of all our prep, campaign and follow-up plans and on the other side there is space for you to write the names of three friends you would like to commit to praying for during this time. I really want to encourage each of you to commit to praying for three friends these next three months because as always it will be because of relationships, not events and activities, that most people will want to meet Jesus.
I don’t know about you but I’m excited. I’m excited about our Jesus. All about lifecampaign here at Chatswood Church and I’m excited about fulfilling the Great Commission in general. When Joshua told the Israelites to sanctify themselves the day before they crossed over the Jordan River, he also told them God was going to do wonders among them and there’s every reason to believe it could be the same for us. (Josh 3:5) At this stage I can’t tell you what that will look like. I can’t tell you people are going to want to belong to your church or to Chatswood Church, or they are going to want to know about Jesus or accept Him as their Saviour. But I can remind you that God has promised His presence and power to those who are committed to walking in His ways, and if this is us, then I can’t wait to see God’s picture of success for us.
Do you know something happened this week that made me think God has already put His money on us here at Chatswood Church. You may not have realised but there are only a handful of Adventist churches in Sydney doing the Jesus. All about life campaign and having no awareness of who these churches are, Lee Dunstan, the Managing and Marketing Editor for Signs of the Times, decided this week that of all the suburbs in Sydney, every home in, you guessed it Chatswood, is going to receive the October Signs of the Times this year, which is all about, you guessed it, Jesus. All about life. I’m talking 18,000 magazines with Jesus. All about life on the front cover and right throughout the magazine going into all the homes in Chatswood during the Jesus. All about life campaign. 18,000 magazines which is the equivalent I think, of $36,000! We had thought we’d put $100 towards Signs of the Times – and I still haven’t made that order – but someone else has just added $36,000 to our $8,000 Jesus. All about life budget which brings our total budget to $44,000!
Rest assured Chatswood Church and friends, God is with us. His power is already at work for us. Be strong and very courageous I say, and let’s all see what happens when we commit all of our ways to Him!
Endnotes
(1) Dr Ralph F Wilson, “Be Very Courageous, Studies on Faith in Joshua” in Jesus Walk Bible Study Series, http://www.jesuswalk.com/joshua/lesson1-ex.htm.
(2) “A Theology of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth,” in A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, ed. Roy B Zuck, p 97.
