Happy Father's Day
Notes
Transcript
Good morning!
Happy Father’s Day. Today is actually a special day for me, because one year ago - last father’s day - I preached my first sermon at a church in Sasketchewan. Since then God has taken my family and I on an extraordinary journey on learning to rely on God as we wait for His direction. And now, we’re here!
God is so good, and we are grateful to be here with you this morning, and to celebrate Father’s day together.
Before we look into God’s Word this morning, would you pray with me?
Pray
You know, someone once said, “The greatness of our fears shows us the littleness of our faith.”
What is a fear you have that would stop you from doing what God asked? Everyone of us has a fear like that. I know for me, my fear of embarrassing myself has kept me from allowing God to speak through me at different points. What is it for you? Fear is a powerful thing, and often our fears can paralize us and keep us from doing fully trusting God and living out His will for our lives. But, here is my second question for you:
Question 2: How can the power that that fear has be defeated?
I asked those questions today because of the passage in Scripture we will be looking at this morning. That is Joshua 1:1-9. This passage is one my dad both live out and reminded me of many times. When he needed to be, he was fearless, and I can remember him reminding me that God was with me, even when I was afraid. I think this is a passage that is especially applicable for dads, (although it is for everyone!) because as a dad I know I experience anxiety when I think about raising our son, and caring for my family. It’s a big task, and requires more than I can give. But as we’ll see in this passage, that’s where God comes in. So, I’d like to start by reading it together. As we do, I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you have fresh eyes as we explore God’s Word. I’ll be reading from the ESV, and you are welcome to follow along in your Bible, or on the screen.
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 all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 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. 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. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 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.”
Joshua 1:1-9 is a commissioning. It’s Joshua commissioning, where God places on his shoulders the immense burden of leading His people into the promised land. Well, looking at the size of Joshua’s task - this calling - we might be asking… HOW? If I was Joshua, my feelings could probably be described best with two words from verse 9… frightened and dismayed. What a massive task!
Likewise we all have tasks that we are called to, and dads do not carry a small burden on their shoulders. I think the weight and responsibility of “dadhood” hit me in a new way just a week ago, when we said goodbye to my parents. Here we are, in this new place all by ourselves. I realized in a fresh way the responsibility I have to my family. It scared me! I’m one guy who makes a lot of mistakes. I felt dismayed in some senses, and somewhat frightened of the task that lay before me.
But here’s the main point of the message this morning:
God’s presence defeats fear.
God’s presence defeats fear! Joshua is told in verse 9, DO NOT be frightened, or dismayed. We ask the question, HOW? We can rightly at points in our own lives ask that same question - HOW? - when we are frightened or dismayed about what lies ahead. However, the defining factor for us is not fear, but faith. Let me put it this way: “Fear falls before the fortress of faith.” Our hope, our faith, is rooted and brought up in Jesus Christ. So we can say with full confidence that God’s presence - within us - defeats fear.
This morning we are going to look at three actions that we find in Joshua 1:1-9, that help us to live in the reality of God’s presence with us, and not living in fear. The first action is that we...
Live in Courage and Strength
Live in Courage and Strength
We’ve already said, but reflect again on the immense task that lay before Joshua.
Verse 1 notes that Moses had died. This does two things: It
a) links the book of Joshua back to the first five books of the Bible. This is the next part of the story.
b) because of this link, we realize how devastating it was for Israel to lose this leader. Look at Deuteronomy 34:10-12 with me:
And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Moses was THE GUY and now Joshua is called to step into the massive shoes. Not only that, Joshua was called to lead the people into the long awaited promised land. These are huge tasks. And God tells Joshua that not only will no enemies be able to stand before him, but that God would surely bring Israel into this new land. That at once is awesome, and scary.
But here’s where God shows up: God says two things: First He says that just as He was with Moses, so God will be with Joshua. Whoa! The book of Exodus records Moses as speaking to God like someone would talk with their friend. We just read how Moses preformed miracles and signs that no one else had done since. God walked with Moses in a special way. God now promises to be with Joshua as well. This is a big promise.
Out of that, God commands Joshua to be strong and courageous. What is required of Joshua is huge, but God is not asking Joshua to do it alone, on his own strength. Instead, God is telling Joshua that he can step out in courage and strength because God is going with him. Joshua is called to walk boldly in the calling God gives him.
The need for Joshua to walk in this strength and courage is important: Joshua was God’s instrument for bringing the people into the promised land. So Joshua must walk in faith that God’s Presence is with him, it’s integral to this strength and courage God is calling him to.
The imperative for us to walk in the same strength and courage as Joshua in our lives as Christians is equally important. We may not have giants to slay and big wars to fight, but each of us has been tasked by God to further His kingdom. Dads, we have been given the task of leading, protecting, and stewarding our families well. Our kids look to us for their identity, to learn how to follow God, and how to live life. We have a big task in front of us. But this is where we can be encouraged, because we are not doing this thing alone. As believers in Jesus, we have God’s Spirit - His presence - living inside of us. God’s presence goes with us as well. We are battling a world that want to tell our kids things contrary to God’s Word. it also would be happy to see our families ripped apart. We battle everyday our own minds, which the enemy tempts. Yet we must have courage and boldness to step out and lead our families boldly for God!
Romans 8:31-32 says
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
For all of us, and especially dads, we can be encouraged to step out in strength and courage because God is going with us. God’s presence, going with us, defeats our fear that the world tries to bring. So we can step out in our task as Dads, and as servants of Christ, with courage and strength.
This is our first action as we live in God’s presence: stepping out in courage and strength. We find the second action as we move into vv. 7-8:
Live in God’s Word
Live in God’s Word
We move into vv.7-8 and immediately read almost the same words we find in verse 6: be strong and very courageous. Now God adds another word, very. This word highlights the instructions we read as we continue. God says:
Joshua 1:7–8 (ESV)
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. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
These two verses are key to Joshua’s success story, and key to Joshua’s confidence in God. Joshua is commanded to keep the whole law, to meditate on it day and night. These words should not depart from his mouth, implying that Joshua was to both know the Word, and know how to apply it well.
I want to go back for a second to that word: Meditate. It may ring a bell, because we find it elsewhere in Scripture. One place we find it is in Psalm 1. In Psalm 1, we read about the Blessed man, who, as he meditates on God’s law and chooses to keep it finds success. This similar wording here finds a similar theme: we find success when we meditate, and live out God’s law. However, I think it is equally important to define success in the Biblical sense found in Joshua and Psalms.
Often we think of success as getting lots of money, being trouble free, or being popular. There’s a large temptation even within the church to set our standard of success only by the number of people who walk through the door, and not the number of people who are actually growing Christians. But this is not success according to the Bible.
Success for Joshua looked like flourishing in the life God had prepared for him. For him, success looked like military accomplishment, because that was how the people would take possession of the land. But what does it look like for us? Particularly, us dads?
I think success for us is defined in our faithfulness to God and His Word. Our task is to lead our families well, and for us to do that, we must have God’s Word firmly etched onto our hearts. By doing so, we are inviting God into the process of training up our kids in the way they should go, of loving our wives well. If you are not married, or perhaps you are pouring into someone else’s child, because God has asked you to do that, you still need God’s Word firmly in your heart and mind in order to accomplish those tasks well. How else are we supposed to train up those under our care in God’s ways? How else can we protect against the evil that is in the world? How else can we exhibit the qualities of Christ we need to for our families - those of love and care - even when we don’t feel like it? Success for us is defined by our commitment to God’s Word and living every day in step with Christ.
Is your life being transformed by the gospel? Living a transformed life is what it’s all about.
God tells Joshua that he should study the law unceasingly - day and night - so that he will be able to live by it. God isn’t looking for lip service. God is not looking for people to sit in a pew on Sunday, and then live the rest of the week how they want. He is looking for total life commitment. Walking faithfully according to God’s Word is the means by which we can fulfill the task before us of successfully leading our families in relationship with God and each other.
This is our second action, to meditate - even hide - God’s Word deep within our hearts and minds, and to live lives that are transformed by it. Finally the third action is to...
Live Without Fear
Live Without Fear
Would you read verse 9 with me.
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.”
God’s command to Joshua is to be strong and courageous. God further commands Joshua to know God’s law, and know how to apply it. Joshua was required to know God’s law very well. Now, God commands Joshua again to be strong and courageous, and not to be frightened, or dismayed.
Those two words, frightened and dismayed, paint a vivid picture of what it means for us to live in faith, instead of fear.
The word in Hebrew that is translated here as frightened means to fear, or be afraid of something. it is related to concepts like horror and trembling.
Likewise, the word translated dismayed means to be shattered, filled with terror, and disheartened. These together paint a picture of someone who is completely without God’s presence dwelling with them. They have been shattered by the task before them. They are terrified by the world around them. They are utterly paralyzed by their fear.
In stark contrast to this, Joshua is told not to be frightened or dismayed. God knew what lay before Joshua, even as He knows what is in front of us. God reminded Joshua again of His presence going with Joshua. That same reminder that Joshua received is for us as well. God walks with us too.
If we look back at the Old Testament, and track the story of Joshua, and the story of the Israelites, we see time and again how God went before them and with them. When they went to battle against a foe God had told them to fight, they won. Why? Not because they were so amazing, but because God went with them. Looking forward in Israel’s history, God defended his people from Assyrians, Philistines, and other enemies. God went with His people, and so they did not need to fear.
In the world we live in, every day there are moments when we come in contact with the enemy. Everyday we are faced with the reality that we no longer live, work, or raise our families in a culture that is “God friendly.” Should we be afraid? I have had older, Godly people tell me that they are very worried for their grandkids, because of what the world is becoming. But again I ask, do we need to be afraid? As Christians, we approach this world full of evil and seeking to shut down God’s truth, with strength and courage. Strength and courage that come from God’s Presence going with us. We have faith that our God is bigger than anything we have to fear in this world. God’s Presence, going with us, defeats the fear of this world.
In Mark 4, Jesus says
And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
God’s presence defeats fear. We are called to live by faith. Faith that our God, who has defeats nations and commands the entire universe, not only cares about us but walks with us. If that God is walking with us, truly we do not need to be afraid. God tells Joshua, do not be terrified of what I am calling you to, because I am going with you. Likewise, God says to us, do not be paralyzed by your fear, or terrified of this world, the task I have set before you, of being a parent or the work of the enemy. I am going with you, and because of me you have nothing to fear.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Those are our three actions that we find in Joshua 1:1-9. Again, the main point of this message is that God’s presence defeats fear. In light of that, we find three commands in Joshua 1:1-9:
We are commanded to step out in strength and courage because God goes with us.
We are likewise commanded to study God’s Word. Even as we desire God to be close to us, so we need to know God’s Word and know how to live it out. If we want to succeed in living for God, and raising our families in the fear of God, we must meditate on God’s Word day and night.
Finally, we walk in faith, and not in fear. God’s Presence defeats fear, so instead we walk in faith, trusting that God goes with us even as we draw near to Him.
As we draw to a close today, I want to encourage all the dads, grandfathers, or anyone who is functioning in that capacity for someone today. Walk in strength and courage. You have been given the task of training, protecting, guiding, and loving the people in your care. It is a big task - big enough that is scares many people into paralyzed fear. Don’t be afraid, of the world, of your responsibility, or of what God is going to do through you. God’s presence, walking with you, defeats fear.
Be fearless as you protect your family.
Be steeped in God’s Word as you are training those in your care.
Be full of courage and strength as you love and live well.
And remember Christ’s words to us in John 16 33
The New International Version Chapter 16
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
This father’s day, I believe we are being invited on the same journey with God that Joshua was so many years ago. A journey of faith, walking with God in strength and courage, and without fear. As you go into this week, approach everything with God. Make time to spend with God every day. Live for Him, and know that He is there with you.
And if you don’t know Jesus Christ today, come to Him. It’s the best decision you’ll ever make. Do you want to live without fear? Come meet Jesus. Do you want to live in Strength and courage? Come meet Jesus. Allow Him to be Lord, and to transform your life. I promise you it 100% worth it.
God bless you this Father’s Day.
Let’s pray