The Commission of the Believer (Joshua 1)

Welcome! Go ahead and grab your copy of God’s word and turn with me to Joshua chapter 1.

While ya’ll are turning there, i want to start by saying that i love yall! I really do. I watch you work to become better, study to learn, and i see a genuine desire to become not only valuable members of society, but more importantly to grow in your faith!

So with that in mind, we understand that any form of growth will create a certain level of discomfort, and at points might even hurt. I remember coaches telling me that where there is no pain, there is no gain. Which was so true! I had to be pushed in order to get better. When i learned to play guitar, there was a point where my fingers had to go through a transformation, that hurt! Anytime we really want to go further than where we are, there will always be some sacrifice, otherwise we’d already be there.

Over the next several weeks, we’re going to be studying the book of Joshua. A book that is challenging, and at times demanding of us as christians.

Context

For the 40 years prior to our passage, Moses had been leading God’s people. Moses was loved, trusted, and really viewed as the one with all of the answers.

but like all men have and will, Moses dies.

Joshua has been training for some time to be the next leader, but he’s always had moses for help. Not only was moses the leader, but he was likely like a dad to Joshua

So we see that there are some big things happening in Joshua’s life, some good some bad.

He’s becoming the leader God has called him to be, but he’s lost someone really close to him in the process.

Let’s look to see what God said to him during this time.

Joshua 1:1–6 ESV

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From 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. 5 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. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

I don’t know if your anything like me, but sometimes tough conversations are tough. But it’s these conversations that really show that you love someone!

Here in our passage, we see God having a tough conversation with Joshua. But it’s something that he needs to hear!

God gives Joshua the next steps that he needs to take.

God’s Commission

1. Move forward

Joshua 1:2 ESV

2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.

I’m not sure if yall have ever been in a situation that just shook you to the core. In those situations, it’s easy for us to shut down. God is making sure that Joshua keeps moving!

But in those situations, it’s easy to begin to question. You begin to wonder if you will make the right choices, or if you will mess stuff up even worse.

to that end, God tells Joshua to:

2. Trust ME

Joshua 1:3 ESV

3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.

Joshua 1:5 ESV

5 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.

He says, “You were there when i Blessed moses. You’ve seen what i can do. I will do the same thing for you! Just trust Me!!”

There’s going to be some times, when we need someone to have hard conversations with us. And tonight may be one of those night for you.

Joshua needed to be both encouraged and pushed to be who God had designed him to be.

God speaks to the fear and uncertainty that will come, by telling Joshua then and us tonight, a few important steps for us to take!

First We must:

Be the Cause

Joshua 1:6 ESV

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

In the same way that God called Joshua, He calls us to be leaders, by being the first to step out by faith.

In order for God’s people to make it where God wanted them to go, there had to be someone to take the first step in that direction!

Joshua was that guy. Even though He was hurting, even though i’m sure he had questions, even though there may have been fear that people would disagree or question him.

We have to be willing to take the first step, so that other people will see the path to take! Whether you want to believe it or not, someone somewhere is watching you, and when you move, they will move!

MAKE SURE TO MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!

BE THE CAUSE!

Second we must:

Be the Example

Joshua 1:7 ESV

7 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.

Not only did God call us to lead by being the first, He calls us to be consistent and committed.

A recent article by the Gospel coalition was titled “Fobo: Gen Z’s Fomo” said some things that i think that yall should be offended by.

Fobo - “Fear of better options”

The article says “the average young person’s inner dialogue seems to have shifted from what if i don’t go and they have fun without me? to What if i commit now and regret it later?”

“I’d love to get lunch on tuesday, as long as i don’t have something come up.”

“I’ll plan to be there, unless something changes”

To be fair, i completely understand that there are times that things come up in our lives that seem more attractive, or fun.

But we have to see that the relationships that we value the most, are those that are consistent, those that are committed.

How can we expect to the example that our world needs, if we’re flakey, inconsistent, and only partially committed.

I’m gonna be honest with yall tonight. I’ve seen the Lord open doors for you to Lead here in our church, and you’ve passed them by in favor of other things. And that breaks my heart!

WE MUST BE THE EXAMPLE!!

Finally, we can:

Be the Victory

Joshua 1:8 ESV

8 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. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

When I am considering entering into a new endeavor, i always want to consider a few things. What is the cost? and what is the Value?

The Cost of following Jesus is interesting. Interesting because it can be deceiving.

A builder was working on the roof of a house. They positioned the trusses, laid the decking. Everything was going exactly as planned. Then it was time to put on the shingles. Well to save some money, the homeowner asked the roofer to cut down the cost, by spreading the shingles out further apart, and not overlap them. He tried to urge them to reconsider, but the would not budge. For a while, the roof was fine, but over time the rain, the wind, and the heat destroyed not only the roof, but caused severe damage to the whole house and made it unlivable.

This is how we look at the cost of following Jesus. We are afraid that life change that Jesus will bring will cost us more than we want to pay. But what we don’t realize is that changing those things in our lives, is going to save us from having our entire lives rotted away by the brokenness of this world! The Cost is worth it!

Then we have the Value

The Value comes into play with what we do in our life. Maybe you’ve already made some wrong decisions that have put you in a place where you feel like your life is rotting away. Don’t fret, the awesome thing about Jesus, is that He can fix any mistakes that we’ve made.

But we have to turn over control, and stop digging deeper and deeper into the hole that we’ve made. If we’ll do that, he’ll provide the ladder for us to get out.

No matter what your life has looked like to this point, YOU CAN BE THE VICTORY!

What about when the world starts pulling me in the other direction?

Joshua 1:9 ESV

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Be Strong and Courageous