Prerequisites for Success

Background to passage: After God had given Joshua encouragement and promises of his presence, Joshua gave the people instructions as to the preparations for the next few days when they would enter the land. He gave all the people a few instructions, but dealt with a the two and a half tribes specifically. After his instructions, the people respond in the affirmative, and there is much to learn from their response.

Joshua 1:16–18 ESV

And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses! Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

Opening illustration: Someone who tries to get around the circumvent the requirements

Main thought: In order to go and possess the land of promise there are some prerequisites for success. In order for a church, or family, or organization to succeed, some things must happen first.

1) The Willingness of the People (v. 16)

Joshua 1:16 ESV

And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

1) The Willingness of the People (v. 16)

Explanation: the people issued this promise: whatever you say, and wherever you go, we will do it. What is missing is the qualifications, the conditions. The people wrote Joshua (thus God) a blank check for their lives. The root word in the Hb for these words is “all.” They will do all things and go anywhere. Nowhere is off limits.

Argumentation: Paul’s response when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus

Illustration: “You cannot fully know if you know the will of God unless you remove all boundaries” In his book, Vision and Betrayal in America, former Congressman John B. Anderson of Illinois reminds us of the “black year” of the American Revolution—1777–1778—when there were fewer than five-hundred men in the colonies who were willing to pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor for the cause of the nascent republic. Although small in number, the colonists’ commitment inspired others, and the foundations of liberty were successfully laid.

Application: We want to tell God: I will follow you and do what you say as long as I don’t have to… We want to put boundaries on God’s will for our lives. As a church, we say: we will do the will of God as long as it is something that we have done before. Sometimes it is geographical boundaries. Sometimes it is financial boundaries. Sometimes it is comfort boundaries. What is it for you? What is it in your life that you have said to God this is where I draw the line?

2) The Unity of the People (v. 16-17)

Joshua 1:16–17 ESV

And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses!

2) The Unity of the People (v. 16-17)

Explanation: This would have been the perfect time for division. Explain the situation with the 2.5 tribes settling to the east of the Jordan. But instead of division we see unity. They were focused on a couple of goals: 1) doing the will of God, 2) keeping the commitments that they had made. They had their eyes on the same things. They were not being self-centered, self-focused, or motivated by their own greed. Four times they said “we.”

Philippians 1:27 ESV

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

Philippians 2:1–4 ESV

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

Illustration: Talk about James and Mom, or couples who always have to be right. Story about 3 months ago or 4 months ago. “Know for absolute certainty that you are right, then let her win”

Application: Division is a sin. One of Satan’s favorite strategies is to divide. He likes to divide churches, families, bible studies, mission teams, marriages, and any other godly relationships. It usually doesn’t take much, because we are so self-centered anyway. We must be on constant guard for things that seek to divide us, and take our focus off the most important things like doing the will of God. We need to differentiate between things worth dying for, and things that only inflate our own egos, pockets, or status. The keys to unity are two things: 1) purpose, and 2) death to selfishness. In the church, in your family, in your marriage, keep your focus, deny yourself, watch diligently for division, and live in unity.

3) The Obedience of the People (v. 17)

Joshua 1:17 ESV

Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses!

3) The Obedience of the People (v. 17)

Explanation: The people made a vow here to be obedient to Joshua’s commands. They were in a sense affirming that Joshua has been ordained as leader, and he speaks the commands of the Lord. Their qualifying comment is “as they had obeyed Moses.” Now, how many of you have read the books of Exodus and Numbers? The Israelites were not always the best at following through with their commitments to obedience. But they were really onto something here

Luke 6:46 ESV

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

John 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Matthew 28:20 ESV

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Illustration: In the football game tonight, there probably won’t be any plays that a player just hears the call and decides, I don’t like that play, I am going to run a different one. Raising children - we are required to expect obedience.

Application: If we can learn to be obedient in our Christian walk, we will be able to get where God is taking us. Such a simple concept, but such profound truth. If we could just do what God says to do? In our giving, in our social lives, in our devotional time, in our emotions, in our time, God simply asks us to be obedient. Exp that sinful nature must first be dealt with, and then we can be free. What is it in your life that you just refuse to repent and turn from?

4) The Seriousness of the People (v. 18)

Joshua 1:18 ESV

Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

4) The Seriousness of the People (v. 18)

Explanation: The people were so unified, determined to be obedient, focused on the will of God, and ready to possess the land that they imposed a sentence or at least a threat of death on any that would seek to question God or Joshua in the process. This shows us the seriousness of the people, but more importantly the seriousness of the sin of rebellion. Rebellion is a sin that God holds in the utmost contempt. It poses serious threats to unity, to success, to purpose, and others. It was considered a capital crime.

1 Samuel 15:23 ESV

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

Illustration: Joseph Stalin, the Premier of USSR, was a Russian Orthodox seminary student for 5 years before he declared himself an atheist and left. His rule was one of terror, murder, famine, exile, genocide, and the further development of a Leninist-Marxist police state. As he lay dying at the age of 74 from a stroke an other various ailments, his daughter stated that he sat up in bed one last time, and with an angry face of steel, shook his fist at God, then died.

Application: God makes a distinction in His word between ignorant transgression and willful rebellion. The punishments are much quicker and more severe when one knows the truth of God. When we know to do better, but we rationalize, excuse, belittle, or downplay sin. God will not use us in the area of our lives in which we are in open rebellion, but we will be judged. There are some of you out there, and some of us up here that have areas in our lives that are in rebellion to God. You know better, but you still do it. We all struggle with sin, but that is no excuse to choose it. When we allow rebellion to persist, it will infiltrate other areas of our life, and cause downfall and destruction. What is it in your life that you are in persistent rebellion (not an issue, or a slip, or an indiscretion)?

Closing illustration: Charles Templeton was a great preacher on the way to a great lifetime of ministry. One major prerequisite was a belief in the inerrancy and authority of God’s word. This he lacked, and it festered, and brought him down. Similarly, we cannot expect to go our own way, and get where God is taking us, we must complete the prerequisites.

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