Go Straight, Don't Turn
The Value of the Divine Word • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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5 “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
7 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.
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 success.
9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
11 “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, to possess it.’ ”
Story: Some years ago someone inquired about directions to get to my aunt’s house in La Brea
She lives down Pier Road (long straight road)
When you get to La Brea Junction, you need take an extreme right
Go Straight, don’t make any turns, and you will make it
One that long straight road there are some side roads ( 3 rights, 2 lefts),
But to get to her house you need to Go Straight, Don’t Turn
Introduction
Introduction
The Book of Joshua originally grouped with the “Former Prophets” in the Hebrew Bible - a section that tracks Israel’s history from their entrance into the land, to their exlie from the land
Joshua is charged with taking this new generation from the Wilderness to the Land of Canaan
But before God’s gets working, before the people get walking, before Joshua starts leading - Something needs to be clearly understood
If you are going to be successful, you need to follow the word of the Lord
If you are going to make it to Canaan and in Canann, you need to listen and obey the word of the Lord
When God gives you His word “Go straight, don’t turn”
There are some things that will help you with this
There are some things that will help you with this
#1 - You need STRENGTH to do all
#1 - You need STRENGTH to do all
Joshua 1:6–7 “6 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.”
The word “strong” really speaks to a degree/intensity of the strength that exists
The word “courageous” speaks of a strength that is stubborn/fixed that will not move
God is saying to have an intense strength that will not go away
God is saying to have an intense strength that will not go away
In God we have a strength like no other, because we have a God like no other
Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”
Psalm 73:26 “26 My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Joshua needs this strength to bring the people to the land
Joshua also needs this strength to bring the people to God
We need to learn how to walk in the blessing and how to walk with God
If we walk without God, we won’t get the blessing, If we walk only in the blessing we will eventually forget God
If we walk without God, we won’t get the blessing, If we walk only in the blessing we will eventually forget God
Not only will they need strength to go into the blessing, but Joshua will need strength to “go straight”.
“Be careful to do all the law which Moses My servant commanded you” (vs. 7)
It’s hard to go straight/do all when it makes me uncomfortable
It’s hard to go straight/do all when it makes me an enemy
Some folks become jealous when things start taking off in your life - tell them I’m just trying to go straight
Some folks are confronted by the changes happening in your life, and instead of changing they make fun of you (some even walk out your life)
It’s hard to go straight/do all when something else looks better
It’s hard to go straight/do all when I don’t agree with God
It’s hard to go straight/do all when it does not make any sense
They had to walk around a wall for a week as a battle tactic
Sometimes you might not understand why you’re going through what you’re going through - but God says “keep going straight
It may not always look like the right way, but that’s the way God wants me to be on
Matthew 7:14 “14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
If you’re going God’s way, there’s no other way
You need strength to go straight
#2 - You need SENSE to not turn
#2 - You need SENSE to not turn
Joshua 1:7 “7 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:8 “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 success.” [Isa 31:4]
By sense I mean, you need to have your senses fixed/locked in on God’s way so much that any other way looks unappealing - so that nothing else distracts you.
WHY???
Not every way is a good way
Not every [good] way is God’s way
This message is important because every now and then a “side street” pops up on the map - God says don’t turn to the left or to the right
What causes you to turn is when you start to put greater value in the side street than the main road
Consider that you are not wise enough to guide yourself
Proverbs 14:12 “12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
Jeremiah 10:23 “23 I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”
Consider Achan:
Consider Achan:
After God gave victory over Jericho (Jos 6) God said take some things but leave some things
Sometimes we see what’s on the side street, and I look at it so long I begin to long what’s on the side street - before you know it, what was supposed to remain on the side street has taken up residence in my life.
We turn sometimes in this life
We turn to human reasonings - I try to tell God what to do - This does not trump Scripture
We turn to the old man - I try to let a dead man tell me what to do - He was never subject to Scripture
We turn to the things of the world - I try to let the world tell me what to do - The world rejects Scripture
The bible talks about a time where men will turn “for the time will come”
2 Timothy 4:3 “3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,”
2 Timothy 4:4 “4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
In order to help us “NOT TURN”, we need to train. Saturate yourself in the word of God - MEDITATE
Hebrews 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”
We need to saturate ourselves in the Word to get the SENSE to not turn
#3 - You need to SUSTAIN this to have that SUCCESS
#3 - You need to SUSTAIN this to have that SUCCESS
Joshua 1:7 “7 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.”
The key to success wasn’t in the military strategies
The key to success wasn’t in planning procedures
They key to success was in Joshua’s determination to “GO STRAIGHT, AND DON’T TURN”
You can’t just do it once, you need to keep at it
The key to a successful life is spiritual, and that’s why the word of God plays a big part
John 6:63 “63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
For a church to be successful, it needs to be guided by the word of God
Those that lead, must lead with the word of God (The worldly models might look attractive, the sports franchise models might look appealing)
But it is only the word of God that will bring SUCCESS
SUCCESS for them was peace in Canaan
SUCCESS for them was peace in Canaan
Succes for them was inheriting Canaan
Success for them was to live in the land flowing with milk and honey
Success for them was to have rest on every side
But can I tell you there’s another rest
But can I tell you there’s another rest
Hebrews 4:8–9 “8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”
That rest is found in Jesus
That rest is found in Jesus
Matthew 11:28 “28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
Revelation 14:13 “13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.””
What, does success look like???
What, does success look like???
Matthew 7:21 “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”
Don’t get a false measurement of success
Success is to:
Success is to:
Hear, well done my good and faithful servant
Enter into the joy of the Lord
Come ye, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
See Him face to face
To be clothe with a building from God, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens
Put on incorruptibility and immortality....watch death in the face and ask “O death where is thy sting, O grave, where is thy victory”
Aren’t you just tired of all this
Go Straight, Don’t Turn
Go Straight, Don’t Turn
#2 I Will Go Straight
#2 I Will Go Straight
To “Go Straight” means that I understant that what God says is absolutley true and that I must align with with
Relativism challenges this today
Relativism is an ideology that says knowledge, truth, morality, and ethics, exists in relation to culture, society or a historical context, and are not absolute
It says that these truths are determined (and upheld) by the groups holding them [not anyone else]
At its core, it rejects universals and absolutes
At its core, it rejects universals and absolutes
Before Joshua and the people get to work, they must be clear on what “thus sayeth the Lord”
Joshua begins by God commanding obedience to the Law
Joshua repeats the same command near the end of his life. Joshua 23:6 “6 “Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,”
What was true for Moses remains true for Joshua
What is true for Joshua remains true for the generation to follow
The truth about God, His nature,will, and commands remain true for us today
Relativism says that God may have been good for Joshua, but it is not good enough for me
Relativism says that God may have been good for Joshua, but it is not good enough for me