Joshua 1 (John Lasken, July 2018)

The Call to Serve Under Authority

I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States. It's a line we've heard often. It's in different movies. Typically, you have somebody, perhaps, in a cabinet position, and they say, I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.

But for me, that meant something different. As many of you know, I served in the military. And for those who, as commissioned officers serving in the military, that phrase means something very significant.

It's actually not in the oath of office, if you read the oath that an individual takes upon commissioning. But if you go on this website, it's called military .org, and you go into a section that talks about military officer ranks, that statement is there.

It's a proclamation. It's an identity of who you become when you take the oath of office as a commissioned officer. On May 25, approximately five or six weeks ago, down in Annapolis, the President of the United States actually presided over the commencement ceremonies at the United States Naval Academy.

About 900 men and women took an oath that day. In that oath, they promised to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. They were going to put their lives on the line in protection of what we know and love as our country.

They promised to use their talents and abilities as called upon, their training, who they are, in responding to the call and what they were told to do. And they promised to obey orders. Military is not a democratic society.

There are those who have the authority and those who give the orders. And so these 900 men and women answered the call. They took the oath. Now, at the Naval Academy, when you enter your first summer, you learn lots of things, and one of them is the mission of the United States Naval Academy.

And I read, the mission of the United States Naval Academy is to develop mentorship and morally, mentally, and physically to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor, and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have the potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities.

In the middle of that is, I think, the most important part, to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career. I think, at its core, the purpose of a military academy would be to develop commissioned officers who are going to serve in the US Armed Forces.

Without that as a need, there's really no need. Now, these 900 midshipmen had the experience of actually seeing the President of the United States, their commander-in-chief, when they took this oath.

That's an amazing thing. Well, a similar ceremony takes place across the country and at West Point, at the Air Force Academy, universities with ROTC, Officers Candidate School. These individuals take the same oath.

Although they don't visually see the President, they take that same oath. Now, these individuals, when they start in on their course of study, they go for a myriad of reasons. Some of them have absolutely nothing to do with what they're eventually going to do.

But when they take that oath, this is a solemn moment. They are promising now to serve. We're going to be opening the Book of Joshua. And as I get the chance to be up here, we'll be studying out of the Book of Joshua.

And this morning, we start in the first chapter. Well, moving back a little bit, the story begins 6 ,000 years ago. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden in perfect harmony with their father, God. Enter sin, the lie of Satan.

Fellowship was damaged. And as a result of this, they were banished from the Garden. Genesis 3 records this. So the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever.

Therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove the man out. And at the east of the Garden of Eden, he placed a cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every which way to guard his way.

Fellowship was lost. Man is now separated, separated in such a way that God has set a cherubim with a flaming sword so that man would not reenter. But in the midst of this, there's a glimmer of light.

You see, earlier in that passage where God proclaims the judgment on a man and on a woman, he says, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. You shall bruise his head, and he shall bruise your heel.

And so we have the first message of the promise. The next 66 books of the Bible talk about the unfolding of that promise. God's plan to restore man into fellowship with him. And this culminates in the New Jerusalem.

And we read in Revelations 22 what it's going to be like in the New Jerusalem. There will no longer be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it. And the servants will worship him.

So now, in between, we have the story of how God is going to get from a flaming sword, guarding man out of the garden to the New Jerusalem. A lot of things are going to happen. We're going to have a power battle.

We're going to have man thinking too much of himself. We're going to have the nest of some very, very wicked, angelic beings who come and intermarry with women. We're going to have a flood. We're going to have a lot of difficult stories.

But eventually, God is going to choose a people to be his. He's going to choose a people to be called out, to be called separate, to be uniquely devoted to him. He's going to call out a people, and he's going to give them his word.

And he's going to call out a people so that they would be an influence to a lost world. And so we have the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. We have covenantal promises. We have the promise of a promised land to come.

And so what does God ask in return? Obedience, but more specifically, the heart. Now, as we get closer to the book of Joshua, we're going to see the people in Egypt. They've become a great people. That is where the word, people, starts to show up.

They become under the domain, under the power, under the thumb of Pharaoh. And eventually, God calls Moses. And then Aaron comes into the scene, and he helps Moses. And then Pharaoh very reluctantly says, OK, just go.

And so the people now start on their journey to that promised land. They have lost it in the Garden of Eden. Eventually, in the New Jerusalem, we'll be back with the Lord. But in between, there is this promised land.

And so now the people are going to start out on their journey. Initially, they go immediately to Kadesh Barnea, and things go wrong there. Doubt. Circumstances set in. And so 40 years are going to pass as they go through the wilderness.

But during that time, there's a pillar of fire. There's a cloud. God is still leading his people. He hasn't abandoned them. Moses is their leader. But ultimately, God is at the helm. And so they won. Now, as we approach our story, Moses is dying.

There's millions of people waiting. What is God going to do now? How are we going to go forward from here? Now, I want to sidetrack for just a minute. And I want you to consider this in your own self.

Consider that you just received a call to do something. OK? Now, the people that you are being called to serve are fickle. They're prone to complain. In fact, they have a reputation for rebellion. In fact, these people have already rejected your counsel once.

You've got a call to serve. How would you feel about that call? Now, I would probably take two pieces of paper, pro and con, and I would list things. What would you put on the pro list? What would you put on the con list?

OK. Let's put that aside and leave that just for now. We're moving into the book of Joshua before we do it. Lord, as we open the book of Joshua, as we consider the call that your servant received, as we consider the lessons that we learned from that call, open our hearts and pray, Lord, that I would speak according to your Spirit.

And I pray, Lord, that our lives would be drawn to you through these words in Jesus' name. Amen. Joshua 1, starting in verse 1. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead.

Now, therefore, arise. Go over this, Jordan, you and this people into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the soul of your people tread upon, I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.

In the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea, toward 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, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you.

Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

Then you will make your way prosperous, then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous? That's the third time he said that now. Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Now starting at the beginning, the first verse and a half, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord sent to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant. Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this joy.

The first thing I want to observe from that passage is Yahweh. And that's the word there for the Lord, Yahweh. This is foundational to everything that's going to happen in this passage, and in fact in this book of Joshua.

And in fact, from that 66 books from when the angel was at the gate all the way to when the angel was with Yahweh. He is ultimate. He is the ultimate. He is reliable. You cannot be denied with Yahweh.

And what it does is it eliminates me. Now as we can tell, this is perhaps the first time that it's recorded that Joshua heard the Lord speak to him. That's a life-changing event to have the Lord speak to you.

Think about Noah. Life-changing event. Build me up. Think about Abraham. Life-changing event. Get up and go. Think about Moses in the burning bush. Think about Isaiah transported into the actual throne room of God.

The first thing we have to understand is that this is Yahweh. And Joshua is going to be confronted with that ultimate, ultimate authority of Yahweh. Now the second thing we observe is that Joshua is chosen.

So now this isn't the time to make excuses. This isn't the time to go your own way. This isn't the time to have your own set of priorities. No, this is time for confidence. God chose Joshua. Now the question is why?

What made Joshua so special? Well, there's a couple of things that we can believe from Scripture. One is that Joshua's harvest was proven way back in the day. Do you remember 10 Spies that said there's giants?

Joshua didn't say there aren't giants. He just said, we got God on our side. So his harvest was proven. But God had prepared Moses for a purpose. Now God has prepared each one of us in his own wisdom for his own purpose in his own way.

He has made you, he has made me for his purpose the way that I am, the way that you are. And that was the same for Joshua. To be true, God doesn't need me. And to be true, God doesn't need you. Sorry.

And God didn't need Joshua. But he chooses to give Joshua the privilege of serving. That's an important message. He chooses to give you and me the privilege of serving. So Joshua is prepared. It says here that he was Moses' servant.

Some interesting insights into that. If you go back into Exodus 24, God said to Moses, come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Aihu, and seven of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Now, if we move further in that passage, the Lord said to Moses, come up to me on the mountain and wait there, and I may give you the tablets of stone with the law and the command which I have written for their instruction.

So Moses rose with his assistant, Joshua. It's interesting that Moses was so accustomed to this Joshua character that when he was told, rise, take Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the other elders, he just automatically brings Joshua along with him.

What we can glean from that is for those 40 years, after his counsel was rejected, Joshua is at the right-hand side of Moses preparing, learning, being part of everything that Moses has. He took advantage of the opportunities that were put to work.

And so now this passage tells us that he's going to get very specific tasks. Arise, go over Jordan, and take all the people. Arise, take action. This is not time to contemplate this again. It isn't time for you to get with your mentor and say, do you think this is what he meant?

Or your best friend, or even your spouse, do you think this is what he meant? He was told, arise. Take action, arise, and go over the Jordan. It's a pretty good-sized river. He didn't get to call the seabees to build a bridge across.

He's just told, arise, and go over the Jordan. We'll learn more about that as we get into the book. And then it says, take all the people. Remember those fickle people, those people that were prone to complaining, those people that had already rejected him once?

He says, arise, go over the Jordan, take them all with you. It's interesting now if you compare this command with what took place at Kadesh Barnea, recorded in Numbers 13. At Kadesh Barnea, they approached the southern part of the promised land.

And Moses was directed to send spies out into the land. It says, and see what the land is, whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, whether the land they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, or whether there are trees or not.

Part of the communication all the way back in Kadesh Barnea wasn't look at all this and decide whether you want to go in or not. That wasn't part of the discussion back then. That's what they chose to do based on God's direction.

They decided to do what God sent spies, but then to make a decision based on that. He's going to be very specific with Joshua right now. Arise, go over the Jordan, and take the people. We're going to read that he does send in spies, but not with the intent of deciding do we go or not go.

This was a command that he needed to move forward. Continuing on, it says that go into, with all the people, in the land I'm giving you to them, to the people of Israel. Every place the sole of your feet will trot, I have given to you,.

Just as I have promised to Moses, and he's going to go on with it. Then he's going to say, no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. In that section, verses two through five, there are three observations I want to make.

The first is that he's going to give an objective, and it's under his control. It's going to be very specifically measured out. He is going to tell them exactly what to do, and where there is no randomness, there is nothing outside of God's control.

In fact, there's nothing in that that's on my terms and on my decision. His promises are consistent. You know, he gave this promise to Abraham. He gave promises to Isaac, and he gave it to Jacob. And as they were leaving Egypt, these promises were there.

The question is, did his promise fail at Kadesh Barnea? And I want to say no. Was God surprised by the fact that they didn't go in at Kadesh Barnea? I'm going to say no. So why did he let them fail? It would be so that they would learn.

There are consequences to disobedience, and there are blessings to obedience. And now an entire generation is going to suffer in the wilderness. So now they get a second chance. He has told them where I want you to go, and he gave them all of the parameters.

The second observation is that there will be obstacles, but they aren't too big. I want you to go into the land of the Hittites. What did the spies say when they first went in? They're huge. We're small.

They haven't gone away. And these people are no bigger than they were before. The same obstacles that they saw before are still there, but promises that they're not too big because I'm with you. They're not too much because you've learned how to fight for these 40 years.

These obstacles are there. They're real, but that's okay because I'm going to be with you. Just because God gives you orders doesn't mean there's not going to be obstacles, but it does mean he will be there.

In fact, that's the third observation. He says, I will be there. I will not forsake thee. I will not fail thee. The call that God gives to me, the call that God gives to you, there are a thousand and one reasons not to do it, and part of it is to disregard the obstacles that are out there that I think I can't get beyond.

That's a good place to be, to say, I can't get beyond these obstacles because that means you're going to obediently, submissively, let God take you. Starting in verse 6, God's going to give the tactics for battle.

Be strong and courageous. There it is again. You shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers. There's that again. Only be strong and very courageous in case he didn't get it the first time.

Now it says, be careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Don't turn from the right hand to the left. That you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it.

Then you will make your way prosperous and you will have good success as I commanded you to be strong and courageous. There it is again. It's interesting that the tactics he's giving him do not tell him how to put together a battle plan, how to put together, organize his people for a successive plan.

His input to him, his tactics are, first of all, be strong and be very courageous. Be ready for action. Be courageous. Don't let these demons get in the way. There are great obstacles of doubt. Don't let them get away.

Do the Lord's work. Do the Lord's work. But the big message he has for him is to be obedient to the law. That's the big message he has. Observe to do what is written in the law. Don't turn from the right to the left.

Meditate on the law day and night. What he's telling him, Joshua, what he's telling us is have the law. Have the law means more than just taking a book and reading it. It's having the law. Have the law because then he says know the law.

The only way you can know it is to be immersed in it. Not just casually passing by it. Submit to the law and what it has to say. And that says take my own preferences and my own understandings out of the way.

Submit to his law. Do it before the battle begins. Don't wait until you're in the middle of it. Get yourself saturated. Saturated in the truth. Being aware that there are obstacles. Being aware that there are potholes.

And being observant of the fact that they're there. Looking out for distractions. Being ready to recognize false temptations. The law is that way that Joshua was going to know what to do. You don't turn away from it.

Let that be your confidence. Finally he says rely on the Lord. By the way, that's the second time he's said that. Rely on me. When all else fails, God doesn't.

My best efforts are just that. They're my best efforts. And guess what? Satan's got a whole lot of things to get in my way. But it says when all else fails, rely on the Lord. He's challenged Joshua to serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.

Many young men and women this past season have taken that oath. They've accepted that challenge. Joshua was given a call. We're going to see that he accepted that call. Joshua was not only going to have to serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.

He served at the pleasure.

Of Yahweh. Think about Paul. Saul. Who persecuted zealously. Who had an encounter with Christ on the road to demand. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting? Saul changed his identity. He now served at the pleasure of Talcureon.

For us, the challenge is the same. But like Paul, we need a new identity before we even get started down this journey. If you want to claim that you serve at the pleasure of Yahweh, Talcureon, you have to have an identity that says that you've accepted Him as your Lord and Savior.

Today, if we're listening to this, and we have a feeling that we got a call, your very first call is to surrender to God. It's to accept who He is. To repent from your sins. Turn to Him. Call on Him. Make Him your Lord of your life.

If you haven't done that, I encourage you this morning to take that very seriously. But having done that, the Lord has a reason for you to be here. He's got a call for each and every single one of us.

Joshua was called to lead a group of unruly people. A bunch of rogues. A bunch of people who had already rejected Him once.

He was called, and we're going to see as this book unfolds how He responds. Now, I want to make four observations for each of us in application about the call. The first one is that we need to be available.

Now, our identity has to be true to Him. But once that's the case, we need to be available, and that means the things that we put as priorities in our life, we need to be willing to move them aside if the Lord so chooses.

Be available. And that doesn't mean on your terms. That means be available. The second thing I want to tell you is you need to be aware. Because the Lord is going to talk to you if you're willing to listen.

It might be something very small and significant, or it might be something very large and challenging, but the second one is to be aware, and then the third one is to be willing. This might not be what you want to do, but God wants you to do it because He's gifted you in that way, and He's prepared you in that way, and there is a need for service in that way.

Be willing to do it. The fourth one is to serve.

With pleasure for Yahweh. Be His servant. What's the need today? Here, a cornerstone. Guys, we have a chance sometime in the near future to go help Pastor Paltrow at Kensington, and helping him get his building certificate of occupancy.

Great opportunity to serve. Eric already talked about BBS. That's a great need.

We got a community that may be opening up next door, but there are kids all around us that could be out on this land out here hearing the word of God proclaimed in a BBS, and God may be asking you, be well, be aware, be willing.

IHN is coming up. Sign up to help with that. Be a teacher. Be a youth volunteer. We're going to be talking shortly with Ben. It's exciting what God is doing, but I got news for you. Ben is not our youth program.

Ben may be a youth pastor, but we need people to step up and help. Encourage. Serve. Look for the opportunities and obediently use your gifts. There was an article on the internet about a week and a half ago.

Some of you saw it. I've talked to you about it. The title got my interest, so I had to read it. You and I talked about it. Quote, unquote, I am a pastor, and I want you to quit church now. I read it.

Basically, his message was very few people that attend church work serve. Obediently answer the call. Too often, people are part of a church in name only. He wants us to quit. That's the message of what he had to say.

Don't be afraid to work. Don't be satisfied to just sit. The end of the commencement ceremony at Annapolis and throughout the nation, new ensigns and second lieutenants threw their hats up in the air.

They were letting go of their old identity. They proudly put on the shoulder boards the insignia of their new identity. That's got to be for us. That's got to be for us. In the name of our Lord, Savior.

See, we serve at the pleasure of our Lord and Savior. He doesn't need us. He gives us the opportunity and the full privilege. We have such a greater call. Let's make it our desire to step out, to step on, and to serve Him.

Let's serve at the pleasure of our Lord and Savior. We worship you, my friends.