God of yesterday still the God of today

The God of Yesterday Is still the God of Today

Joshua 1:1–7

1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

The God of Yesterday

Josh. 1:1–7

INTRODUCTION:

“Moses is dead!” As Joshua hears these words with a sinking heart.

He must have thought. Anybody but Moses! He was worth a thousand men.

Moses … Israel’s Great leader is dead . Moses IS DEAD!”

One of the world’s greatest leaders. Renowned in Egypt as well as Israel

Considered a son of Egypt and great leader

He was the one who saw the burning bush.

The one who went to Egypt alone, staff in hand.

He fought with the hardhearted Pharoah and won.

He was the one who led Israel out of Egyptian bondage

He prayed and saw the red sea open up and close again on the enemies of Israel

He brought water out of the rock

He recieved the bread from heaven, (manna).

Moses had been everything to them. He was a great man, BUT, now he is dead?

I. LET US NOTICE FIRST, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A GREAT CRUSHING BLOW, IT WAS NO TIME TO GET AN ATTITUDE OF HOPELESSNESS.

A. He was our leader, and was supposed to bring us to Canaan.

If he couldn’t do it no one could! No one else was as great as Moses. Moses is dead.

Let’s quit, give up and go back to Egypt.

B. That is the attitude taken by many today, when the Moses of their lives dies.

It’s a great defeat! Great sorrow in their life!

It can be a crushing disappointment!

IS Life worthwhile any longer? No hope!

We sit down and sob! We wait for the end.

By doing this we relegate God to yesterday.

THIS CANNOT BE DONE , HE IS THE FOREVER “I AM.”

“FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING.”

Heb. 13:8

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Psalm 106:48

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting:

And let all the people say, Amen.

Praise ye the Lord.

II. THEY Could HAVE REBELLED AND BECOME BITTER

A. They could have blamed God … turned against Him … gone back into Egypt. “MOSES DEAD!” We will quit. We will Never get anywhere without Moses.

This is the fallacy of putting complete trust in any (1) man, (2) thing, (3) or any program.

B. No man or program is indispensable!

God always has another person in his Great plan.

God wouldn’t have taken Moses, if it would have stopped His work on earth.

When Elijah’s term expired God had prepared Elisha.

God had already chosen and trained and prepared Joshua.

C. Some think we need old-time preachers of 60 years ago today. NO!

They were necessary in their day and God mightily used them.

But they may not fit in today. God has called you and me.

NO ONE MAN IS INDISPENSABLE!

A bitter discouraged minister left a church and declared it would die.

A new man came … new life came.

Another man quit his job at a factory. He went down the hill, and looked back.

and All lights were still on.

The church will not die because a certain preacher leaves.

The factory will not close because a man quits.

Thousands may die … thousands may leave … thousands may quit,

But God’s work will continue ever. Matt. 16:13-19

13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Do not become disturbed because of some complaining, murmuring, or noise, . God can, and will, carry on His work.

He keeps the stars in place,

He sends rain and sunshine without any of our help.

LESSONS TO LEARN FROM THIS BIBLE ACCOUNT

1. GOD SPEAKS TO JOSHUA AFTER MOSES DIED.

Joshua 1:1

Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

God did not quit speaking.

He spake after-Moses died.This seemed hard to believe but was true!

It was easy to believe He spake to Moses. Because He was a great man.

But Joshua?, Moses’ servant, was another matter.

We must realize God spoke not only yesterday, but today as well.

Heb. 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever

He spoke to the great and mighty Moses,

and he also spoke to common OLE” Joshua.

2. GOOD OLD DAYS? GONE? “MOSES IS DEAD!”

True, God spoke to and directed our great men of the past, but equally true, God is still speaking to His own today.

3. God REAFFIRMS HIS PROMISE TO JOSHUA.

V.3 “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.”

God Did not break (nor withdraw) His promise because Moses died!

Two things could have been done, God could have said, “I will make another

(1) Moses out of Joshua,

(2) God could have kept Moses.”

Joshua was not as Renowned or Respected as Moses

and never would be …

But he did not need to be. (We all have our place in the body of christ no one can do it all. God can make a man all he needs to be.

God is not limited, to one day, one generation or one person.

All HIS PROMISE STILL STANDS … TO YOU … TO ME!

III. GOD ASSURED JOSHUA OF HIS PRESENCE.

V.5 “… as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee! I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

Moses, the servant is dead BUT God, the Master, is not; He lives forever!

“As I was with Moses” (1) to direct him so (2) to strengthen him(3) to prosper him.

Joshua knew he was not as great as Moses,

But he also knew that if God was with him that He would make him sufficient.

What Moses accomplished was because of God’s presence and power.

He knew he was not like Moses. And He didn’t try to be.

But Joshua could do something Moses couldn’t do.

He could do his own work, in his way, as God gave him power; and that was enough.

In so doing, he entered the promised land.

And HE WON.

IV. GOD PROMISED JOSHUA SUCCESS

A. V.5 “There shall not any man … stand before thee all the days of thy life.”

B. God does not quit because one servant dies or quits.

He does not quit in the face of our failure.

He calls another man, and His work continues.

HE MADE JOSHUA INVINCIBLE.

“No man shall stand before thee.”

Promised victory over all foes.

What more could anyone ask for?

C. Joshua would never be a Moses,

but he could and did have God’s all-sufficiency.

D. Finally, Moses is dead, “now therefore, arise, and go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people.”

Get up … arise … time to quit mourning … assume leadership … take these people over Jordan into Canaan. Impossible.Joshua thought;

Moses couldn’t and I’m not near as mighty.

Moses is dead BUT the I AM is ALIVE.

When God finished speaking … JOSHUA TOOK COMMAND.

V.10 He commanded the officers of the people saying V. 11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

What was ISRAEL’S REACTION TO HIS LEADERSHIP

A. OBEDIENCE.

16 “All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.

17 According as we harkened unto Moses in all things, so will we harken unto thee.”

B. V.17 A PRAYER. “… only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.”

When God calls us

He equips us with anointing, power, influence and leadership.

MOSES IS DEAD … TRUE … BUT GOD LIVES!

2,000 years ago the sun grew dark and all of nature shuddered at the agony of our dying Saviour,

God out of heaven cried,

“My Son is dead. Now Arise and go.”

Go! From that skull-shaped hill of loss and death,

and His disciples went out to the conquer the world.

Iniquity abounds.

2 Timothy 4:2–4

2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables

1 Timothy 4:1

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

Matthew 24:12

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

The church faces many discouragements today. Coldness, spiritual death,

What should our attitude be?

Give up? Take it easy? Quit? No!

ARISE AND GO ABOUT OUR FATHER’S BUSINESS.

INDIVIDUAL LOSS:

Some have lost loved one’s. Their Hearts are torn and bleeding.

David said of his child,

“He cannot return to me, but I can go to him.”

CON: God’s message to us today -

FORGET THE PAST-ARISE AND GO.

Phil. 3:13,14

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus

“God has spoken …”

“God has given …”

“God is with us …”

No man shall stand before thee

No failure need be final or fatal.

Moses may die, but God lives on.

So, let us arise and take His hand and march on triumphantly into the promises of God .