God's Commission to Joshua

It's about four weeks of Keith's notes sitting up here. So if you have to the book of Joshua, Joshua, the very first chapter, let us just open with a word of prayer. Our Father in God, again, we come to you in that name, the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the one who so loved us that he gave himself for us.

We pray, Lord, this morning as we look into your word, that you would bless it as only you can. That you would take your word and make it real to us in our lives, that our lives might be conformed more and more into that one, even our Lord Jesus Christ.

So Lord, as we open your word, Holy Spirit, may you lead us. May you guide us. May you challenge us. May you direct us. May you do work which only you can do. Again, be with us this morning. Help us, Lord, to see you for who you really are, the Lord of glory in Christ's name.

Amen.

Joshua’s Commission and the Call to Go Forward

So I've asked us to turn to the book of Joshua, and I would like us to consider the first nine verses of the very first chapter of Joshua. Let us read it, and then I will make a few comments and then look directly at that text.

So I'm reading, and I read from the New King James. So if it's a little bit different in your Bible, basically, we are still looking at the very word of God. So Joshua chapter 1 and verse 1. 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 the 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 of this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea towards the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 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. 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.

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 it according to all that is written in it. But 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. And again, may God bless his word. So as we begin this, I don't want to assume that everybody knows everything there is to know about Joshua, or even somewhat of the book of Joshua and where we are in the context of a biblical history.

So let me just mention this to you so if you will, it'll help. Joshua is first mentioned in the book of Exodus, and I hope you will remember at least that God had raised up Moses and had caused Moses to be the one who was going to deliver them out of the land of Egypt.

He was the one who was charged by God to go to Pharaoh and tell him, let my people go. And Joshua comes into the book of Exodus a little further on, actually in Exodus 17, I believe is where he's first mentioned.

And what we begin to see is that God had chosen Joshua to be the assistant to Moses, if you will. And that as Moses directed the people out of Egypt through the Red Sea and began to enter that journey, that Joshua is becoming more and more incorporated, not only as one of the children of Israel, but as one who ultimately would be given the charge to lead Israel into the land of promise.

And then again, I would hope you would at least remember that Moses did not honor God when he spoke to the rock, and that God told him because of that, he would not be able to lead the children of Israel into the land of promise, but that he could see it afar off.

But ultimately, that Joshua would be the one who would move them into that promised land. And so if you will, that's where we come into this opening words in the book of Joshua. Let me just ask you to think about this, that Joshua has been prepared by God for a good while.

This is not someone who just rose up. He's not a novice, friends. He's not someone who has just come to know God and just been thrust into a position of authority and leadership, but rather Joshua has been prepared over many, many years for this charge.

And that's what I want to look at this morning, this charge, this commission, if you will, of God giving him the leadership of bringing the children of Israel into the land of promise. Now I want you to just think about this as we look at these verses.

This charge given to Joshua, and as we go through, we'll see there's some different aspects, but this charge that God gives to Joshua is no small task. This charge that God, this commission that God lays upon Joshua is one in which he is to lead a whole nation, and that whole nation is under his direction, under the direction of God, but that, again, this is a great task and that it's going to take a great amount of grace, courage, fortitude, thoughtfulness, faith for Joshua to accomplish the very task that God has given him.

I would ask us all to think about, also to think about as we go through this, that you and I have a great charge, and I want to try to incorporate that in the historical setting of what God lays before Joshua, that if you and I begin to think about it as I believe we ought to think about it, that each one of us have been given a great charge by God.

We have been commissioned by God, and that as we see Joshua's, the outworking of it in Joshua's life, that we should be able to consider how it is to be applied in our own life, in our own situation, because, again, each and every one of us who are Christians.

I will address those that aren't Christians at the end, Lord willing, but right now I want to address those that know God, those that have a living, vital relationship with God, that you and I, if we really are truly God's children, the Lord of glory has given every one of us a commission, a charge, that you and I are responsible to fulfill that charge.

What God really has in view for Joshua is that he is to not only lead them into the promised land, not only to be the one who takes the role of the captain, if you will, but he is also the one who is to vanquish all the enemies that are in that land that God has promised, that you and I, again, should be able to make that application in our lives, that you and I are responsible because God has called us, God has charged us through the saving work of Christ that we too should enter into the promised land.

Now, that's not, as I hope to show you, not something that is merely physical, but it is something that you and I are called to do. In my understanding, to be called, to be commissioned by God as a child of God is we are to enter into God's presence.

We are to know him. We are to grow in our understanding of his greatness and of his glory and of his majesty and of his desire for us. And again, that is no small task. You and I are to be the ones who, in a sense, by the power of the Spirit, lead ourselves as well as others.

Listen, if you're a father or a mother, tell me it's not a great task to try to lead even your own family in the things of Christ. No easy task. Never mind as God lays this charge on Joshua to lead a whole nation.

And this is not just a small group, not hundreds or thousands. This is hundreds of thousands of people. And as God lays this charge before Joshua, consider this, that Joshua is a picture.

Of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joshua is a type of Christ. He's one in the Old Testament, among many others, who we can begin to see through the outworking of their life in bits and pieces the outworking of the great captain of our faith, the Lord Jesus himself.

And that because of that, as we consider it, that you and I should be able to not only see Joshua, not only see the children of Israel, not only see ourselves, not only see our charge and our commission, but to see Christ and what he did on our behalf, how he led us through the wilderness, how he himself is the author and finisher of our faith, how he himself, again, is the captain of our salvation.

Also, as we go through this, I want to make this point. The Christian life, the true Christian life, not a religious life, not a Baptist life or a Presbyterian life, a true Christian life is not for the fainthearted.

It's just not. Could you imagine if they look to Joshua? And remember, Josh has been with them. I say Josh because one of my sons is Josh. But if you remember how Joshua and Caleb at the very beginning when they were sent by Moses along with the others to spy out the land, that they, as those who had the courage by faith to see the promised land for the promise that God had intended, that they were not afraid of the giants and the enemies that were in that land, and that you and I would understand that the Christian life that Joshua is charged is not one given to someone who will be afraid.

And again, you know, we live in a day, and I got to say this, we live in a day when there's a teaching that's out there that's almost like, well, just believe. Easy believism. Just let go, let God. Well, that might to some sound good.

Just not biblical. You and I must realize that if we are going to truly glorify God, that you and I have to be full of courage. You and I have to be bold. You and I have to be thick-skinned, if you will.

And that Christianity is not for those who are faint of heart. Is that not what we are instructed in the New Testament? By the Lord Jesus Christ himself, that we are to enter the kingdom.

How?

Through much tribulation.

Why?

Because he conquered death through much tribulation. Then again, as the leader, as we see in Joshua, so we should have great encouragement to see the leadership of Christ for us. And not only that, but we should be encouraged to follow in his footsteps.

Joshua's going to have to take many steps. There's going to be a series of situations that we will see if you were to continue to read through in the book of Joshua, of them entering the promised land.

There's going to be battles. There's going to be success. There's going to be failure. There's going to be trials. There's going to be tribulations. And guess what? There's going to be failures. And so Joshua is in great need of encouragement.

Joshua is in great need of strength. Joshua is in great need of instruction, as you and I are also. And again, keep in mind this morning that as we see Joshua, we should be able in some part to see Christ.

Because remember what Jesus said, that the scriptures speak of him. And ultimately, we're not just looking to a man, but we're looking to the God man. We're looking to the one who gave it all. We could spend a month this Sunday, friends, on the type of Christ that we see in Joshua.

And we will not even come close to exhausting it, but that's not really my intent this morning. My intent really is to consider these opening words given to Joshua, and that they're given to Joshua as a child of God.

I think that's important for us to understand. That as we look at these words this morning, it pertains to Joshua as a child of God and as a soldier in the very army of God. And that you and I should be able to immediately relate to that because it's important that you and I understand that that's really, all Joshua is, is a child of God.

You know, we have a tendency at times, I think, to look at the characters in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, and they seem like these giants of faith, and many of them are. We could name and go through a lot of them, but let me remind you of something, friends, not only for that understanding, but for our own understanding.

We are all here this morning, if we are really His, and we are but mere children. Now, that doesn't mean that some are maybe further up on the spiritual ladder. Doesn't mean that some might not be more mature in the faith, having been with the Lord, perhaps for a longer amount of time, or even that, just time alone, doesn't create that.

But ultimately, friends, not only is God charging Joshua as the leader of the nation of Israel, but He's charging him as a child of God. And so you and I should certainly be able to make an analogy in our own lives because I think too often we spend more time comparing one another with one another than to looking to the Savior Himself.

So just some thoughts as we go through this text this morning. I also want to ask you to think about this. We'll get to the text. Well, I want to ask you to think about this. You know, we have a saying, if you will, that seems to be something that is well spoken of, especially in our body, and that saying, and rightfully so, is theology matters.

Amen? Amen. And theology does matter. Truth matters. Is that not your email address? Truth matters? Sure is. Brother Lee, truth matters. And you know what? Theology matters. Truth matters. God's truth matters.

And so we ought to be those who promote that. But I want us to think about this as we go through this this morning in these words that God gives to Joshua, that just as much as theology matters, practice matters.

In other words, we have T-shirts that say theology matters. I wonder if we should have on the back practice matters. The life that we live in light of the theology that we believe.

Matters.

Friends, this morning, think about this. What you and I do, what you and I won't do,.

Matters.

How you and I act, or how you and I react,.

Matters.

How you and I speak, where we will go, where we won't go. It mattered for Joshua. It matters for Israel. And it matters for you and me. You can have all the theology and have no reality.

Right?

You can have a lot of head knowledge, friend. What about heart reality? Listen. If God's word doesn't change you, then you are not his. You can argue with me all you want about that. You can tell me that I don't know your heart.

Well, I'll tell you what. I don't know your heart. But I will see your life. And so as I said before, God has been preparing Joshua for quite some time, at least, when you think about it, at least the 40 years in the wilderness.

And so as Joshua now is given this charge, may it be that God would cause us to see that you and I have this charge. He must follow the Lord's instruction to enter the promised land. And you and I must follow the Lord to win the prize.

And I submit to you winning the prize is to know Him. Winning the prize is to honor Him. Winning the prize is to bring Him glory. And winning the prize is to enjoy Him forever. So let me ask us to consider it.

And we'll make four points this morning. And I hope they will at least give us something to consider. In the first place, in verse 1 and 2, I want to show us the commission or the charge that God gives to Joshua.

And then in verse 3 and verse 4, I hope we can at least bring to light a little bit of the scope of this charge that God gives in His commission to Joshua. And then in verse 5, I hope to show that there is a promise attached to the charge that God gives Him.

And then finally in verses 6 through 9, that within all of that, there is a command given to Him. And that command is that He would be one of faith and obedience. So four points. Let us consider, if you will, the first point.

And that is in verse 1 and 2. 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.

So in my mind, the charge is one word. Go. Go, Joshua. And it's twofold. He not only is to go as the leader of the nation of Israel, but he is to go as a child of God. That's the charge. Go over the Jordan.

The commission is summarized in just that one word. Go over this Jordan. Go to the land of promise, Joshua. And that insinuates a number of things to me. It insinuates that in God's charge to Joshua, He is calling him to leave something to enter something else.

He is calling him to leave behind something that is in his past and press on towards something that's in his future. Sounds kind of like Paul, right? A little bit? Forgetting those things that are what?

Behind?

Let us press on towards the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Is that not what we've been called to do, friends?

To go?

To go from where we were? To go from who we were? To go from how we lived? And to become new creatures? Go, Joshua. Now, again, you and I might not receive a calling in a sense. I'll say praise the Lord, because I can't even lead myself many times, never mind just the thought of leading a whole nation.

And so we will not receive a charge like that, but my friends, we are still charged to go. We are charged to leave something to gain something. Listen, if you're here this morning, I just want to add this, if you're here this morning and you do not understand that the charge that God has given us in Christ to go is of any worth, then you will never really go.

If you are not willing to leave behind something, and I know I'm very repetitive, and I always quote that saying, if only a fool gives up... I can't even remember it now, just... No, I got it. He is no...

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. I've already said it to myself 7 ,000 times. But it's true, isn't it? We ought to go, because it's worth going. And just because it's worth going doesn't mean it's not going to be hard, because it is hard.

Again, the Christian life is not for the weak. Nevertheless, that's the charge. Leave behind a whole life generation of unbelief and enter into the promised land. Think about that, friends. We are called to what?

Leave the darkness to enter the light. We are called to let go of what we were to become what God wants us to be. Hasn't there been a charge that God has given down through time to all his people? You remember God's word to Abraham?

Get you up out of the country, that idolatrous country, and from the idolatry of your family, and remember what God told him?

Go.

And God didn't even tell him where he was going to end. He said, Go. I'll show you, but go. Remember Moses? There he was out there, having fled from the tyranny of Pharaoh and the fear of Pharaoh, and there he is out there, and he's a shepherd in the field, and winding the flocks of Jethro, and remember what God says to him when he comes to him?

Go.

Go where?

Go back to Egypt. Go tell Pharaoh, let my people go. You can almost hear Moses say, Huh? That's what we have been charged to do, friends.

Go.

Remember the commission that God, and we'll see it next week, as Brother Mike's been reading through Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 6? What's God's commission to Isaiah?

Go.

Go tell these people. Was that an easy charge? Absolutely not. Because they were hard-hearted people. Nevertheless, it still remains. He was called, Joshua was commissioned and charged to go, and you and I have that same charge.

Again, you might want to disagree with me, but just as a disclaimer, all my disagreements are handled by Brother Mike. But, you might want to argue with me, but let me say this again. If you are not going forward in Christ, you're resisting your charge.

How's that? If you are not moving forward in your faith, you're resisting the very commission of God. You remember that account in the Gospels when the Lord Jesus Christ hadn't been raised from the dead, and had that conversation with Peter and John?

Do you remember when Jesus said to Peter, when you're old, do you remember that, what he says? When you're old, you're going to go.

Where you don't want to go.

And what does Peter do? Hey, what about John? And what did Jesus say? What does it matter to you? You follow me.

You go.

And so, this thought of this commission, of this charge, is not just given to Joshua, but that you and I have that same commission, and that same charge, that you and I are to be those who are to go forward in our faith.

Now, when God told this to Joshua too, if you think about it, it wasn't a suggestion. Listen, friends, the God of glory doesn't make suggestions. He commands. And praise his name that he commands. God didn't give Joshua this charge and say, hey, what do you think?

You want to give it a shot, Joshua? No, sir. Go. You and I need to understand that the charge for us in our Christian life is not a suggestion. And it also is not when you feel it's right. It's not on our time schedule, friends.

You'll see, you'll have a conversation, we experience in our own lives where God, we can sense the presence of God telling us to go somewhere, and we almost want to resist it, and we almost want to say, not yet, Lord.

Sister, being honest is always good.

But don't we do that?

Well, Lord, I'm willing to go, but just not now. The charge for us is to go, whether we feel it's the right time.

Here's another one.

Well, I'm willing to go, but I just need a little motivation. Want me to tell you what the motivation is?

It's the cross of Christ.

There's enough motivation. Well, Lord, if you just clear up a couple things in my life for me, I'll go. It's not what God charged Joshua. It's not what God charges us. Just as Jesus said to Peter, you go where you don't even want to go.

You and I need to consider that. I thought about Jonah. Remember old Jonah? God said to Jonah, go.

Go to Nineveh.

Jonah didn't want to go, did he? How did that work out for Jonah? You see, friends, you and I are to follow Christ, even as Christ did always the things that pleased the Father. He went to the cross, conquered death, conquered the grave, and that you and I in our charge have been charged by God as God charges Joshua to go.

The Scope of Holiness and Overcoming the World

In the second place this morning, I want to ask you to think about the scope of this calling, and it's taken up in verse 3 and verse 4. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you, as I said to Moses.

From the wilderness of this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites into the great sea towards the going down of the sun shall be your territory. You see, in this charge that God gives to Joshua, he doesn't leave Joshua to figure out the boundaries.

He doesn't leave Joshua in a place of not knowing the very boundaries that he is to overcome. But he's given very specific geographical places as was promised before, but nevertheless, still, the scope of his calling is directed by God.

It was every place that God had promised. It was everything that God had before purposed to give to the children of Israel. And not only is his geographical boundaries, if you will, established, but God also gives him the boundary of this, that when he meets his enemies, he's to kill them.

Well, just think about that for a minute. God's charge to the children of Israel as they enter the promised land, a land that they didn't do the labor in, a land that was already occupied by other nations, Joshua is given the command to go take that land from those nations and kill them.

That's a very distinct boundary that he had to follow. And I'm trying to make applications for us along the way, but I want us to just think about for a minute, what is the boundary for us, friends, this morning?

What's the scope of this great charge that God has given to you and to me, if we truly is? Well, I want to suggest to you that in a large way it is this, and I will quote from 1 John. It says, Everyone born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world.

Our faith.

That you and I have a boundary for our charge, it's to overcome this world. The scope that we are to war against is everything that is merely of this world, that we are to put to death everything that deters and detracts and hinders us from glorifying God and knowing Him.

That our faith is to put to death the old man and this world. We are to leave nothing untouched. You know, there's a tendency, I think, at times for us to say, Well, you know what? I realize God has given me a charge to go to church, and I realize God has given me a charge to read my Bible, and I realize that God has given me this charge to go and to lead my family and on and on and on.

But what about the charge to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? How many of us have that as number one on our list? To follow after peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

You know what I'm beginning to realize? I'm beginning to realize that the charge that God has really given me is holiness, is to be like Him, to be less like me and more like Christ. That's my boundaries, to bring every thought into captivity and to leave nothing untouched.

Because, friends, you know what? God owns everything. There's no such thing as this is God and this is mine. We could do that with Caesar. We'll render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.

But ultimately, it's all God's!

Every thought, every action, every desire, how we handle every situation. It's all of God. And so as God gives Joshua this boundary, and he tells him he's to go into this, enter into this charge with a specific understanding of what it is that you and I would realize that we have a scope and that that scope is not negotiable and that we are to be those who enter into seeking to bring every thought into captivity.

The boundary really is a narrow path, isn't it, friends? Narrow is the path and straight is the gate.

The gate that what?

Leads unto life and there be few that find it. The boundary is the narrow path and guess what, friends? The world despises the narrow path! Now, the world doesn't despise religion. Don't misunderstand me.

The world loves religion, but the world despises the truth of the word of God. This world does. And only men of this world who serve merely a religious policy or outlook will one day find out that that was not the scope.

I just had a laugh. I'm sorry, and I know I need to move on, but I had a laugh. It was Ash Wednesday, not too late, long ago. And I don't know, I turned on the news and I knew people with crosses all over the place.

And it's kind of gone. I remember when it was just you gotta spot. Now you gotta cross the size of the football players that they wear on it. I mean, it's just like, huh? No, friends, it's much more than that.

The scope is to bring every step, every thought. Look at what he says in verse 3, right? Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you. Christian life is the most consuming life anyone could live.

And you know why people don't believe that? Because they don't believe God is who he is. To me, that's the two issues that so plague sinful man. One, he doesn't believe God is. And two, he believes if God is, he could still do what he wants and God can't do a single thing about it, of which both are fatal errors.

And so as he's given this charge and he's given the scope that you and I should consider that there is, again, no such thing, really, as this is God's, this is mine. We are to overcome every obstacle.

Friends, do you have obstacles in your life, or is it just me? You got them. I got them. You have trials.

I have trials.

You have confusion. I have confusion. You have misunderstanding. I have misunderstanding. You have internal issues. So do I. We are to overcome them. That's the scope. Every thought. Not most, not many, but every thought.

Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. And for you who know the history of the book of Joshua, did it not become a snare to the nation of Israel for not overcoming and maintaining the scope that God had given them?

It became, you're right, it became a snare. It became nothing but a thorn in their side. It became a continual source of failure. It became a stumbling block. You want to know why we stumble so often, friends?

It's because we're unwilling to go where God tells us to go and to do what God tells us to do. Thank God he's a patient God. Because, friends, I don't know about you, but I deserve to be consumed by fire just about every other second.

The Christian life is one in which the scope is extremely wide. Okay, the third point I want to make is in verse 5, and that is, along with this great charge that God gives Joshua, and along with God laying down the boundaries and telling him what the scope of it is, there comes a promise, a glorious promise.

Look at it in verse 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. Just think who says this. It's not Moses that says it to him.

Moses, he's gone.

This is God.

This is the creator.

This is the sustainer.

This is the one who opens his hand and satisfies every living thing. This is the one who holds the stars in his hand. This is the one who has always been and always shall be. There's not a dead God, friends.

There's not the God of the Hittites that's saying this or the Jebusites or any of the other hites. This is the living God, and he's telling Joshua. And Joshua is to communicate that to the children of Israel, that he says, I will be with you.

What a word of assurance, friends. And remember now, Joshua is no sissy. I don't know if you could use that word, sissy, anymore today.

I don't really care.

But he's not. This is a hardened soldier. This is someone who stood up in the midst along with Caleb and resisted giving in to what his eyes saw. And yet God says to him, and he needs it, and he needs it now, for God to say, I won't leave you.

I won't forsake you. It's a promise of what, friends? It's a promise of ultimate victory. You know, there's many phrases in the Bible, and some of them are repeated over and over and over and over again.

And for good reason, because I think we need to hear them over and over and over and over again, because we're so forgetful. But one of the phrases that, and you could do this, if you want, just take a concordance from time to time.

And the phrase I want you to focus in on is not only laid out in verse 5 in this promise, but also in verse 9 where it says, do not be afraid. Do you know how many times God says that in his Word? 365 times.

Now, you want to do a devotional? That would be a pretty cool devotional. There, you get 365 days. Get a concordance and look up do not be afraid. Look up the context for it, one day for all year, and maybe you won't be afraid.

Isn't that a glorious promise this morning, friends? Do not be afraid. I will not leave you. Which one of us want to say we never thought God has left us? Anybody want to stand up and lie? We all have.

There have been times in our lives where we have felt as if the victory was for someone else, but not us. But you see, God says this to all his children. I don't care where you are on the spiritual ladder.

God doesn't say, well, I'm not going to leave him because he's really important, but I'll leave them because they're not really important. Listen, in Christ, we're all important because we're all his children.

And so when he says, I will not leave you, he means all of us. You see, Joshua is going to have some hard times ahead, and I will guarantee you this. Like Brother Mike always says, he's no prophet, not a son of a prophet.