Joshua 1:1-9
“Principles For Breakthrough” • 12.30.07 • Kingsfield Church, Morning Service
Intro.
- As we approach 2008, I pray that we understand that the calendar turn doesn’t just signify a new year, but the opening of a new chapter of life spiritually.
- As Christians, a new year signifies an opportunity to see what the Lord would write over our lives, individually and corporately here at Kingsfield Church.
- Now, you might want to turn me off here, writing off this message as just another plea to get involved with the plan of God for your life.
- Let me let some air out of your tires: God doesn’t need you! His work on Earth is not dependant upon you or me.
- However, it cannot be ignored, that God calls us to enter into the life of promise, not for His benefit, but for ours!
- The richness of God’s character will only be revealed to those who choose to enter in willingly. Let me assure you that He calls you so that in following His call, you get the priviledge of knowing Him, and seeing Him in a light that you won’t experience apart from working co-operatively with Him. We wish for the cheaper, instant brand
- We want to be decorated soldiers without having to fight a war. We want to be spiritually fit without any spiritual exercise! God does not work that way. He calls into the uncomfortable, even the overwhelming, so that He can conform us to Himself.
- That is why I have chosen our text this morning. The Hebrews in the time of Joshua were facing a new season of life as well. Forty years have passed since the Exodus out of Egypt.
- Now they are about to move from wanderers to settlers and the type cannot be ignored. They have long meandered through the desert, but now it is time to seize upon the fullness of God’s promises, which would never be fulfilled in the desert.
- The picture of the promised land is not heaven, but the full co-operative life of the believer here on Earth. As a body, this is what we are called to enter into.
- What I see in these 9 verses are 4 principles to spiritual breakthrough in our Christian lives, toward the end of living fully in the promises and purposes of God. He gives them…
- The book of Joshua is written on the heels of the death of the only leader that Israel had ever known. One month had passed since Moses’ death and it’s time to move.
- Joshua is here publicly annointed by the Lord to take the children into the promised land.
- Joshua is pointed in one direction. “Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people!”
- It begs the question as to why God would even have to say this! Of course they would want to move forward into the promised land. A land, flowing with milk and honey, versus a desert! No brainer! Before you consider this the obvious conclusion, let me back us up just a hair.
- This is not the first time the people of Israel had been at the border of the promised land! The first time, they refused to believe that they could vanquish the inhabitants of the land.
- Some years earlier, the people sent 12 spies, one of which was Joshua, into the land to gather information. The consensus at that time was overwhelmingly negative.
• Numbers 13:31-33 : “But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.’ And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
- As a result of their unbelief, that entire generation, all over 20 years old, died in the wilderness, except for Joshua and Caleb.
- Now, as they have once again come to the border, they are told to arise and go, not because of unbelief, but because of contentment with just a little less than God’s best.
- The tribes of Gad and Reuben decided to stay out of the land because of the rich pasture.
• Numbers 32:16 : “Then they came near to him and said: ‘We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones,”
- The attitude that was beginning to take shape among the people was that they had come far enough! Just short of God’s best was enough for them.
- It’s with this as our context that God calls Joshua to call the people forward into His promised land. It would all be theirs, God outlining a historic land transfer.
- These were real people, in a real time and place.
- We are a people, called to move, not physically, but spiritually. Just like the Israelites of Joshua’s time, we too can be paralyzed by unbelief. “God would never want to use me!?”
- But He is drawing us more into Himself, that we might be His partners in this Earth.
- Like the Israelis, our comfort is also a problem. “I’ll give Him what I am comfortable giving” and mostly that will be less than He wants.
- The Canaanite distinction does not refer to a race of people. Canaan was filled with all kinds of different, large, nomadic tribes, most of which had been openly hostile toward Israel.
- What was God going to do to make this promise an actuality? Was He going to give Joshua a military upgrade? Was He going to bring reinforcements to augment the army?
- His provision was simple: He would be with Joshua. The provision for power was His own presence!
- “I will be with you” is more than a promise to travel alongside of. It’s a promise that all the power and wisdom that accompanied Moses, would now transfer to Joshua as He followed the Lord.
- God, when He wants to assure anyone of their safety or their effectiveness, assures them by promising His presence with them and then acting on their behalf to accomplish His eternal purpose.
- After Abraham’s raid on the 5 Sodomite Kings, God told him that He would be His shield.
- When famine threatened to destroy Isaac in Genesis 26, again, God assured Isaac with His presence.
- The final words of Jesus recorded in Matthew to His disciples, came in the form of a commission. They were to go out into all the Earth and raise up disciples.
- What is Christ’s provision for them?
• Matthew 28:19,20 : “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
- Jesus is with us, as we go out and follow His command, extending ourselves as ministry conduits, through whom Christ’s blessings flow to the nations.
- That is all anybody needs, as He offers to partner with us in the plans that He has for us!
- When God calls us to walk with Him, minister for His name, He calls us into partnership with Himself and His presence is both provident and preservation!
- And instead of giving you more power or might, He offers Himself, in whom is all the power, all the might and strength of the Universe!
- When God calls you to move forward, He calls you with Him, not without Him! His presence is enough for you to trust in and lean upon. It will ever be more power than you will ever need.
- The third principle that we see is that God tells Joshua that there is one action.
- I love that God gives us just one mental step to make! I don’t have to figure everything out. I just have to be strong and of good courage.
- How is this possible? Only in light of God’s presence with us!
• Ephesians 6:10 : “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
- If we are to view verses 1-4 as the physical activity of the Israelites, let us consider then that verse 6 is the mental attitude and outlook of the people of Israel.
- This is the first time in this section that God calls Joshua to be strong and of good courage.
- He will tell him two other times, the last coming almost as a coach sending his player out to the field. “And hey, I told you. Remember: Be strong and courageous!”
- Joshua is this type of man already, but even a man of Joshua’s constitution needs to be reminded to be strong and courageous.
- This is a mental position of determination, tenacity, indomitability.
- God is calling Joshua to mental vigilance! The road ahead would not be for the weak at heart and I would be lying to you if I told you otherwise.
- When I make my determination that I am going to follow God into whatever calling He might call me in, it will take a strong, stout hearted effort on my part.
- A man who embodies this mental determinism, was the Apostle Paul.
- Paul was a man compelled to go where Christ called and His mind was strongly set.
• Acts 20:22-24 : “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
- Strength is the starting point. It’s the beginning of what will get Joshua moving in the right direction, forward with the people. Courage is what will keep him moving.
- The word “courage” means to have the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.
- Be strong, determined, focused and be courageous, moving ever onward toward the goal, no matter what the circumstances.
- His Word is to be observed toward the action of doing. God’s Word always demands a response.
- When you hear a message, questions like these should pop into your mind: “Is there a challenge that I am to take personallly? Is there a behavior that I need to repent of? Is there a character trait that I need to pray that I might possess?
- We are to observe, with the mindset that we will do.
• James 1:21-25 : “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
- Furthermore, His Word is to come out from our mouth, out into our lives. Reading God’s Word is not enough. Joshua was to memorize it, speak it, instruct from it, point to it, consult it. It was to be his source.
- God’s Word is my authority in counseling or correcting. It teaches me how to navigate through every sticky circumstance and problem.
- It defines how I behave toward others, toward my employer, toward relatives.
- For a successful Christian, living fully in His promise, it is not just a book; It is the guiding principle by which every matter and decision is weighed.
- Finally, Joshua is told, that His Word is to be meditated upon. Meditating, meaning that he was to consider it, muse over it, think through the ramifications.
- The idea is complete commitment, not to reading the Word, but to living the Word of God. If there was to be success in Joshua’s day, it would come as they lived in light of and in obedience to God’s law for them. The same is true for you and I.
Conclusion
- Today, one thing that I hope you can avoid is human pressure to exceed your spiritual output.
- That is the last thing that this message is intended to provoke.
- What I do propose however is this: God is offering to be your partner!
- When the curtain falls on this next year, 2008, will you have a story that is rich with God’s movement and momentum in your life?
- If you are to have that, then you must begin this moment with a decision that you will “arise” and cross over the Jordan! God’s movement is ever forward.
- His provision is simply Himself, which is all He can give and more than you can ever exceed.
- How? Simply by asking the Lord to reveal to you where you might be useful to Him.
- Begin with understanding what breaks your heart, then investigate how you might reach out in that area, extending the love, mercy and compassion of Christ to those who might currently not know it.
“Principles For Breakthrough” • 12.30.07 • Kingsfield Church, Morning Service
Intro.
- As we approach 2008, I pray that we understand that the calendar turn doesn’t just signify a new year, but the opening of a new chapter of life spiritually.
- As Christians, a new year signifies an opportunity to see what the Lord would write over our lives, individually and corporately here at Kingsfield Church.
- Now, you might want to turn me off here, writing off this message as just another plea to get involved with the plan of God for your life.
- Let me let some air out of your tires: God doesn’t need you! His work on Earth is not dependant upon you or me.
- However, it cannot be ignored, that God calls us to enter into the life of promise, not for His benefit, but for ours!
- The richness of God’s character will only be revealed to those who choose to enter in willingly. Let me assure you that He calls you so that in following His call, you get the priviledge of knowing Him, and seeing Him in a light that you won’t experience apart from working co-operatively with Him. We wish for the cheaper, instant brand
- We want to be decorated soldiers without having to fight a war. We want to be spiritually fit without any spiritual exercise! God does not work that way. He calls into the uncomfortable, even the overwhelming, so that He can conform us to Himself.
- That is why I have chosen our text this morning. The Hebrews in the time of Joshua were facing a new season of life as well. Forty years have passed since the Exodus out of Egypt.
- Now they are about to move from wanderers to settlers and the type cannot be ignored. They have long meandered through the desert, but now it is time to seize upon the fullness of God’s promises, which would never be fulfilled in the desert.
- The picture of the promised land is not heaven, but the full co-operative life of the believer here on Earth. As a body, this is what we are called to enter into.
- What I see in these 9 verses are 4 principles to spiritual breakthrough in our Christian lives, toward the end of living fully in the promises and purposes of God. He gives them…
I. One Direction (v.1-4)
II. One Provision (v.5)
III. One Action (v.6)
IV. One Law (v.7-9)
TextII. One Provision (v.5)
III. One Action (v.6)
IV. One Law (v.7-9)
I. One Direction (v.1-4)
• Joshua 1:1-4 : “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them--the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.” : The first principle is that there is one direction for each person who would call themselves a Christian: Forward! “But there is an obstacle in our way!?” Forward!- The book of Joshua is written on the heels of the death of the only leader that Israel had ever known. One month had passed since Moses’ death and it’s time to move.
- Joshua is here publicly annointed by the Lord to take the children into the promised land.
- Joshua is pointed in one direction. “Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people!”
- It begs the question as to why God would even have to say this! Of course they would want to move forward into the promised land. A land, flowing with milk and honey, versus a desert! No brainer! Before you consider this the obvious conclusion, let me back us up just a hair.
- This is not the first time the people of Israel had been at the border of the promised land! The first time, they refused to believe that they could vanquish the inhabitants of the land.
- Some years earlier, the people sent 12 spies, one of which was Joshua, into the land to gather information. The consensus at that time was overwhelmingly negative.
• Numbers 13:31-33 : “But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.’ And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
- As a result of their unbelief, that entire generation, all over 20 years old, died in the wilderness, except for Joshua and Caleb.
- Now, as they have once again come to the border, they are told to arise and go, not because of unbelief, but because of contentment with just a little less than God’s best.
- The tribes of Gad and Reuben decided to stay out of the land because of the rich pasture.
• Numbers 32:16 : “Then they came near to him and said: ‘We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones,”
- The attitude that was beginning to take shape among the people was that they had come far enough! Just short of God’s best was enough for them.
- It’s with this as our context that God calls Joshua to call the people forward into His promised land. It would all be theirs, God outlining a historic land transfer.
- These were real people, in a real time and place.
- We are a people, called to move, not physically, but spiritually. Just like the Israelites of Joshua’s time, we too can be paralyzed by unbelief. “God would never want to use me!?”
- But He is drawing us more into Himself, that we might be His partners in this Earth.
- Like the Israelis, our comfort is also a problem. “I’ll give Him what I am comfortable giving” and mostly that will be less than He wants.
II. One Provision (v.5)
• Joshua 1:5 : “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” : The second principle here is the principle of God’s provision. The land is filled with enemies, but God promises that nobody would be able to stand before Joshua. - The Canaanite distinction does not refer to a race of people. Canaan was filled with all kinds of different, large, nomadic tribes, most of which had been openly hostile toward Israel.
- What was God going to do to make this promise an actuality? Was He going to give Joshua a military upgrade? Was He going to bring reinforcements to augment the army?
- His provision was simple: He would be with Joshua. The provision for power was His own presence!
- “I will be with you” is more than a promise to travel alongside of. It’s a promise that all the power and wisdom that accompanied Moses, would now transfer to Joshua as He followed the Lord.
- God, when He wants to assure anyone of their safety or their effectiveness, assures them by promising His presence with them and then acting on their behalf to accomplish His eternal purpose.
- After Abraham’s raid on the 5 Sodomite Kings, God told him that He would be His shield.
- When famine threatened to destroy Isaac in Genesis 26, again, God assured Isaac with His presence.
- The final words of Jesus recorded in Matthew to His disciples, came in the form of a commission. They were to go out into all the Earth and raise up disciples.
- What is Christ’s provision for them?
• Matthew 28:19,20 : “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
- Jesus is with us, as we go out and follow His command, extending ourselves as ministry conduits, through whom Christ’s blessings flow to the nations.
- That is all anybody needs, as He offers to partner with us in the plans that He has for us!
- When God calls us to walk with Him, minister for His name, He calls us into partnership with Himself and His presence is both provident and preservation!
- And instead of giving you more power or might, He offers Himself, in whom is all the power, all the might and strength of the Universe!
- When God calls you to move forward, He calls you with Him, not without Him! His presence is enough for you to trust in and lean upon. It will ever be more power than you will ever need.
III. One Action (v.6)
• Joshua 1:6 : “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”- The third principle that we see is that God tells Joshua that there is one action.
- I love that God gives us just one mental step to make! I don’t have to figure everything out. I just have to be strong and of good courage.
- How is this possible? Only in light of God’s presence with us!
• Ephesians 6:10 : “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
- If we are to view verses 1-4 as the physical activity of the Israelites, let us consider then that verse 6 is the mental attitude and outlook of the people of Israel.
- This is the first time in this section that God calls Joshua to be strong and of good courage.
- He will tell him two other times, the last coming almost as a coach sending his player out to the field. “And hey, I told you. Remember: Be strong and courageous!”
- Joshua is this type of man already, but even a man of Joshua’s constitution needs to be reminded to be strong and courageous.
- This is a mental position of determination, tenacity, indomitability.
- God is calling Joshua to mental vigilance! The road ahead would not be for the weak at heart and I would be lying to you if I told you otherwise.
- When I make my determination that I am going to follow God into whatever calling He might call me in, it will take a strong, stout hearted effort on my part.
- A man who embodies this mental determinism, was the Apostle Paul.
- Paul was a man compelled to go where Christ called and His mind was strongly set.
• Acts 20:22-24 : “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
- Strength is the starting point. It’s the beginning of what will get Joshua moving in the right direction, forward with the people. Courage is what will keep him moving.
- The word “courage” means to have the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.
- Be strong, determined, focused and be courageous, moving ever onward toward the goal, no matter what the circumstances.
IV. One Law (v.7-9)
• Joshua 1:7-9 : ”Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” - Finally, the Lord gives Joshua and every believer, one law.- His Word is to be observed toward the action of doing. God’s Word always demands a response.
- When you hear a message, questions like these should pop into your mind: “Is there a challenge that I am to take personallly? Is there a behavior that I need to repent of? Is there a character trait that I need to pray that I might possess?
- We are to observe, with the mindset that we will do.
• James 1:21-25 : “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
- Furthermore, His Word is to come out from our mouth, out into our lives. Reading God’s Word is not enough. Joshua was to memorize it, speak it, instruct from it, point to it, consult it. It was to be his source.
- God’s Word is my authority in counseling or correcting. It teaches me how to navigate through every sticky circumstance and problem.
- It defines how I behave toward others, toward my employer, toward relatives.
- For a successful Christian, living fully in His promise, it is not just a book; It is the guiding principle by which every matter and decision is weighed.
- Finally, Joshua is told, that His Word is to be meditated upon. Meditating, meaning that he was to consider it, muse over it, think through the ramifications.
- The idea is complete commitment, not to reading the Word, but to living the Word of God. If there was to be success in Joshua’s day, it would come as they lived in light of and in obedience to God’s law for them. The same is true for you and I.
Conclusion
- Today, one thing that I hope you can avoid is human pressure to exceed your spiritual output.
- That is the last thing that this message is intended to provoke.
- What I do propose however is this: God is offering to be your partner!
- When the curtain falls on this next year, 2008, will you have a story that is rich with God’s movement and momentum in your life?
- If you are to have that, then you must begin this moment with a decision that you will “arise” and cross over the Jordan! God’s movement is ever forward.
- His provision is simply Himself, which is all He can give and more than you can ever exceed.
- How? Simply by asking the Lord to reveal to you where you might be useful to Him.
- Begin with understanding what breaks your heart, then investigate how you might reach out in that area, extending the love, mercy and compassion of Christ to those who might currently not know it.
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