A SOLDIER'S PLEDGE

Joshua 1:7-8 (KJV) 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. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

We may take many pledges in our lives. As children, some of use learned the Pledge of Allegiance to our country. Our policemen take a pledge to protect and serve citizens. Our doctors take a pledge called the Hippocratic Oath, to uphold ethical medical practices. Our Judges, Senators, Governors and the President pledge to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Married couples take a pledge to love, honor and obey. And our military soldiers pledge to defend us against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The purpose of a pledge is to clearly define the requirements of the position and charge the inductee to be obedient.

A SOLDIER'S PLEDGE

In our text, God is outlining His concise charge to Joshua and the Israelites, following the death of their leader Moses. They’d been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, searching for the Promised Land, and now, Moses, the prophet and constructive genius of the wilderness excursion was dead. Joshua was no Moses. He was a plain, fiery, energetic soldier, who was able to make sound, swift decisions. But there were three things he needed if he was to lead the people of God into the Promised Land. They are the same three things we need on our own spiritual journey to our Promised Land that flows with milk and honey. Joshua would need to be strong and courageous, obedient and confident.

In whatever way God communicated with Joshua…whether it was in his night hours by the Jordan, or in the lonely realization that Moses was dead, Joshua listened for the voice of God, and he was not disappointed. When we take time to listen, God always communicates.

First, God calls for Joshua to have courageous strength.

God told Joshua, “Only be thou strong and very courageous. In this day and age, when we think of a formula for success, these virtues find themselves way down on the list, accept perhaps for a wrestler or a boxer. If you asked the accountant, the businessman, the doctor, or the lawyer to list their most important virtues, I doubt courageous strength would top their list.

But doesn’t all of life’s conflicts require courageous strength? The mother whose child is born premature needs a courage and strength few wieghtlifters have ever known. A father who loses his job in the middle of an economic downturn needs courage and strength few millionaires have ever faced. All progress is conflict, and we have to fight, not only against the evils within, but those without as well.

Believers especially need courageous strength. We have an obligation to our profession as soldiers of the Cross to take part in the great campaign against every “sin that doth so easily beset us”, to fight against the force that daily grinds mankind into servants of Satan.

There is no substitute for courageous strength. You can be amiable, and generous, and brilliant; but if you have not courage, you will fail. Courageous strength makes you take the next step when others say ‘don’t’. Courageous strength compels you to forgive, when others would carry a grudge. Courageous strength takes you out of your chaos and confusion, into a land that God promises will be flowing with milk and honey.

Allow me a slight sidestep here. We’re all looking for a land flowing with milk and honey. But listen closely. Honey is seldom money. Your honey can be the sweet communion of a wholly saved family. Your honey can be a life in special service to the Master. Your honey may simply be the ability to sleep nights, knowing that you are saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost, and like a good Christian soldier, you can fight any battle because you are on the Lord’s side.

There is no strength mightier than the Lord’s strength.

· That’s why David sang, “The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

· That’s why Isaiah declared, “The Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2)

· That’s why Jeremiah cried, “O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction…” (Jeremiah 16:19)

Joshua needed courageous strength if he was going to lead the headstrong Hebrews into their new homeland. Strength is a soldier’s duty. Tell your neighbor, “It is not an option”. It is not an elective; it is compulsory. And God is the source of all strength.

God calls for Joshua to have courageous strength.

Second, God calls for Joshua to be obedient.

God says, “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. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein...”

Notice that God did not tell Joshua to write a new set of laws for the people to follow. He didn’t tell Joshua to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’, as the saying goes. He DID say, “do according to ALL the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee”. A good soldier has to follow orders. Courage and strength are first. But obedience follows on the heels of those virtues. These two…courageous strength and obedience…make a mature soldier.

The point of obedience is to keep us focused on absolute acceptance of God’s will. Most of the trouble we get into is of our own making. We carry God’s roadmap for success in our back pocket, or even on our cell phone, but all too often we only check it when we get lost. We could spare ourselves a lot of grief if we would just follow the B.I.B.L.E – basic instructions before leaving earth.

For the Christian soldier, God’s laws are marching orders. We don’t take our orders from Satan…we take them from the Captain of our Salvation! And we stand at our post like sentinels…wherever God assigns us…no matter what happens. We are called to be unmovable, and unbending, unless and until God gives us a new command. Even if a thousand tell us to flee, we remain “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

And be sure to take your strength with you, because if you are not a BOLD Beleiver, you will soon be frightened out of obedience.

God calls for Joshua to be obedient.

Third, God calls for Joshua to be confident of success.

God told Joshua, ‘if you are courageous and obedient, “then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

Notice that courage and obedience come BEFORE prosperity and success. Man gets it all wrong when he thinks that money or fame or popularity are the root of his success. Beware of that shaky foundation. Sure victory…the kind that lasts…can only come from God. You can be successful in politics, but what happens when you are finally voted out? Will you be as successful “withersoever thou goest?”

You can be successful with a new invention, but what happens when someone comes out with a new one to replace yours? Will you be successful “withersoever thou goest?”

If you are to conquer the world, God’s way is the only sure way. If you want to be victorous, do it God’s way. If you want to be a winner, do it God’s way. If you want to be a champion, do it God’s way. You may leave your battlefield often times beaten, by the estimate of small men who can only see through their own limited vision. You may come to the end of your journey with disappointments and unrealized dreams. But if you can say, at the end of your service, “I have finished my course; I have kept the faith”, then you have succeeded. “You are more than a conqueror through Him that loved us.”

If we pledge to be good soldiers…full of courage and strength… and commit our way unto the Lord as obedient men and women, victory shall be ours! God calls for Joshua to be confident of success.

God will exchange our earthly gloom for His heavenly glory. God will replace our token treasures with His heavenly riches. God will trade our earthly tribulations for His heavenly jubilation. Take the pledge… I promise, to be strong and courageous…and let the Lord fight my battles. I promise, to follow God’s Word, and not turn to the right nor the left, but to mediate on His Word day and night... I promise, to endure hardship as a good soldier, in anticipation of His glory, I promise to carry the Cross of Christ with boldness and bravery, and to fight the good fight and finish my course. And when this battle shall be over, I shall enjoy the blessed assurance that I’ve got a home up in glory…God’s Kingdom, where “…the wicked cease fromtroubling; and there the weary shall be at rest“ (Job 3:17).

I want to hear Him say, well done though good and faithful servant.

Joshua 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 

To have Courageous strength. To be obedient. To be confident of success.