Refocusing wk 3
Notes
Transcript
The Church in Action
The Church in Action
This morning we are continuing our series on Refocusing, and will be looking in the Old Testament book of Joshua.
Joshua is the sixth book of the Bible.
Moses lead the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness, they get to the Jordan River to prepare to enter the promise land for the second time, and Moses passes away.
Joshua one of the twelve spies that went into the Promise Land forty years earlier and one of two that were on board with going in, has now taken over for Moses.
The Israelites were faced with the question of taking action, crossing the Jordan River and battling the people there.
As believers we are faced with the question of are we going to take action.
As followers of Christ, how do we turn church into more than just a one hour a week event?
How can we turn church into a lifestyle?
We must understand church is not something we attend; it is something we are.
As followers of Christ we are the church.
When we leave the church building we do not leave church and pick it up again next week.
Wherever we go we are the church.
The church is defined as the body of Jesus Christ.
Who is the head of the church?
It is Christ, and we are the body.
Therefore as the body of Christ we are representatives of Christ in the world.
Where we live, work and play every day, we are to be the church, the body of Christ, in action.
When we talk about the church in action, we are not preparing for something, but rather we are doing something.
Our relationship with Christ is meant to be lived out in the world where we live every day.
As followers of Christ, our relationship with Him is meant to be lived out, put into action in these daily activities.
We talk about going to church and we must be careful not to reduce the idea of church, to one or two hours a week that we are inside the church building.
We are to be salt and light, drawing people to Christ, not hot chili pepper repelling people from Him.
That is not the kind of Christianity God wants us to live out in the world.
We are not to reduce church to an activity and we are not to act superior.
We must remember we are recipients of God’s Grace.
As recipients of God’s Grace we are to live out the grace life before others so that people can see Jesus in and through us.
It requires faith to be the church in action.
Look with me at our text this morning in Joshua 3:1-8, as we see what God told the Israelites so that they could take action.
1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed.
2 At the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp;
3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.
4 “However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
6 And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.
7 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.
8 “You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ”
Pray
Pray
I. Faith
I. Faith
The underlying theme in this passage is faith.
It requires faith to enter new territory and God gives us faith as we walk with Him.
Sometimes we have a tendency to pray something like, “Oh God, give me more faith.”
And God responds, “Just start walking.”
He told the people to take up the Ark and start walking towards the Jordan River.
That took faith.
As they got closer to the swollen river it required even more faith to step into the water.
As they walked with God in obedience, their faith increased.
What kind of faith is required for us to be the church?
It will require the faith to choose between the past and the future.
In our text Israel was at the edge of the Promise Land that God had promised them many years earlier.
Only two of the original adults were alive, Joshua and Caleb.
Rewind forty years earlier, Israel had been at this very point.
God promised to give them this new territory.
He wanted them to move in and take possession of the land.
But the Israelites refused to enter the land at that time and as a result they were sent back into the wilderness where they lived for forty more years.
They had to choose between the past, what was behind them and the future, what was before them.
The wilderness was the only way of life these people knew.
It was a tough place, but it had also been a place for some good things.
They learned God was a powerful God.
God feed them and provided water for them.
They had learned a lot about God while wandering in the wilderness.
That is where they had loved their lives.
But now God says move forward there is new territory.
It is so easy to become comfortable with the past that we refuse to move forward into new territory.
It can happen in the life of an individual and it can happen in a church’s life.
It is easy to find security in the past.
If we are not careful we will allow the past to keep us from experiencing what God has for us in the future.
God wanted the Israelites to move into this new territory.
They had been at this river forty years earlier.
God told them to go in and take possession of the land.
He warned them that there would be enemies over there.
God promised to drive them out, but He warned the Israelites that those enemies are not going to roll over and play dead.
Every time we move forward there is going to be battles.
Israel was not willing to battle for the new territory God promised them.
Instead they chose the comforts of the past.
They were familiar with the wilderness and that is where they would live for forty more years.
II. Focused on Christ
II. Focused on Christ
When we are entering the new territory we must keep our eyes on Christ.
If we are going to have the faith to move into the future, cross the rivers that God places in front of us, we have got to keep our eyes on Christ.
3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.
The Ark of the Covenant is representative of God’s presence and power.
We do not have a physical Ark of the Covenant today to follow.
Our Ark of the Covenant is the Lord Jesus Christ and we follow Him.
In this passage we are reminded to keep our eyes on Jesus.
Two things we are told in our text: follow at a distance and do not get too close.
Now that is surprising.
We have always been taught to follow as closely to Christ as we can.
Spiritually speaking absolutely.
If we are going to make it in this world, we need to follow closely to Christ.
But there is another aspect to this that we have got to understand.
4 “However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
It is spelled out there for us.
We have never been this way before.
He is saying there are so many people and the Ark is in front of you.
Do not crowd around so those in the back cannot see the Ark.
There is a New Testament story that correlates with this.
It is the story of the four men who cared about their paralyzed friend and they wanted to get him to Jesus.
Jesus is teaching in a crowded house, the four men go to the front door, but it is blocked by the crowd.
Rather then being discouraged and quitting, these men go up on the roof and cut a hole in the roof so they can lower their friend into the house.
There was probably someone sitting in the room that looked up and said, “Hey I cannot believe they are cutting a hole in the roof.
We have never done it that way before.
It must be some young person up there cutting a hole in the roof.
We must see that we cannot stand in the way of what God wants to do.
We are either going to be in the way or we are going to be on the way.
God is calling us to commit to be on the way, to follow His plan and will.
We are also told not to lose sight of Him.
Walking in faith leads us to walk in places we have never walked before.
When we start walking in places we have never been before, we must keep our eyes and focus on the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are entering new territory; we must keep our eyes open and focused on Jesus.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus and we are willing to be on the way, instead of in the way, God will do great things.
III. We Must Expect God to do great things.
III. We Must Expect God to do great things.
5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
We must prepare our selves.
The first thing they were told in this verse is consecrate yourselves.
The word consecrate is the same as sanctify.
The core idea is that of separation from things that are unclean or common, that is, anything that would contaminate one’s relationship with a perfect God.
If we are going to see God do great things, we must prepare our selves.
Then we must get our hearts right with God, to see God do great things through His service, we must begin preparing ourselves on Saturday night.
That is we must begin praying that God would convict us, change us, challenge us and work in our lives.
The Israelites were to prepare themselves, they were to get cleansed, we must also prepare ourselves, repenting of all sins.
As we prepare and repent, we can also reflect on what God has done in our lives.
Not just merely reflecting on what God has done, we must also anticipate what He will do.
In other words, do not lose the awe factor.
We are told, the Lord will do wonders.
IV. We must act in faith
IV. We must act in faith
8 “You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ”
God had parted waters on one other occasion, the one we probably remember the most, which is the parting of the Red Sea.
Joshua and Caleb were the only adults still living that witnessed this incredible event.
These people had never seen God part waters.
God is saying to them go stand in that river.
These people were not swimmers.
They have been in the wilderness, the desert, for forty years.
Here was this river and it was at a time of the year when the river was swollen and overflowing its banks.
The difference between this experience and the Red Sea experience, God told Moses to stand on the shore line of the Red Sea, lift the rod of God to the heavens so He could part the waters and allow them to walk through the sea on dry ground.
This time God tells them to go stand in the river and then He will part the waters.
This stepping into the river stuff requires more faith.
God will always do mighty things, but He does not always do them the same way.
God tells them, “Go stand in the river.”
Do not wait on some sign, step into the river.
When we do, God is going to do a new thing.
What does it take to step into the river?
It takes courage to step into the river.
It takes a willingness on our part to fight the battles that will come.
It is going to take a willingness to take on the challenger, even when others are not willing.
Forty years earlier ten were unwilling to enter the Promise Land but two were willing.
They took a vote.
Ten voted no and two voted yes.
They decided to go with the majority and it cost them a forty-year wilderness experience.
The church needs leaders who are willing, ready and able to step into the river and see what God wants to do next.
Are we ready to get into the river and see what God wants to do next?
God is up to something great.
It is time for us to see what He wants to do.
Step into the river, trust Him, obey Him, and see what He will do next.
