“Faith to Lead”

INTRODUCTION.

How can the physical and/or spiritual presence of God help believers learn to obey?

Joshua 3:1–5 NASB95

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.”

Joshua 3:14–17 NASB95

14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16 the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Joshua 4:17–19 NASB95

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18 It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before. 19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.

MESSAGE.

I. Consecrate Yourself.

Prepare yourselves for the LORD will work in you.

Sanctify yourselves for the LORD is with you.

Three things that were in the Ark of the Covenant.

Ten Commandments = God’s proclamation.

Pot of Manna = God’s provision.

Aaron’s rod = God’s power.

Purify yourselves for the Lord will lead you.

II. Following in Faith

The priests carried the ark of the covenant and faithful stepped into the Jordan river.

“We may preach, sing, and serve in the ministry of the church in many ways, but without the presence of God among us and in our lives, we will not see the proclamation of the Word of God the provision of God, or the power of God.” - Dr. Robert Smith.

The seven nations that inhabited Canaan that would have to overtaken. Joshua 3:10.

Canaanites

Hittietes

Hivites

perizzites

Girgashites

Amorites

Jabusites

Joshua instructed twelve men, one from each tribe, to go back into the Jordan river and pick up a stone from where the priest stood in the middle and bring back to build a memorial.

III. Set up reminders in your life.

Set up reminders for you to remember what God has done in your life when the difficult times come.

Set up reminder for you to be able to teach your children about what God has done in your life.

Reminders remind us of the sovereignty of God.

CONCLUSION.