Faithful men

Joshua 1:12–18 NKJV

12 And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying, 13 “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, 15 until the Lord has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise.” 16 So they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.”

I. Men of Purpose.

Numbers 32:6–24 NKJV

6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 So the Lord’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13 So the Lord’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. 14 And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. 15 For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.” 16 Then they came near to him and said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.” 20 Then Moses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, 21 and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, 22 and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. 23 But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what has proceeded out of your mouth.”

A. They were industrious and moved with intent.

B. They were men who would not sit idle.

They were not just keepers of the gate, they were willing to move forward.

II. Men of Promise

A. They Remembered their promise.

B. They fulfilled their promise.

III. Men of Preparedness.

A. They had prepared their bodies.

B. They had prepared their hearts.

IV. Men of Piety.

A. They were commited to Moses and Joshua.

B. They were commited to death.

Lawrence stood at the center of naval action in the War of 1812. As commander of the USS Hornet, he became the first American naval officer to capture a British vessel, the privateer Dolphin, when the war started. In March of 1813, the Navy promoted Lawrence to full captain in acknowledgment of his service and gave him command of the frigate USS Chesapeake, which he sailed out to sea that June to confront the British frigate HMS Shannon blockading the port in Boston. Lawrence’s ship was not fully prepared for battle and many of his crew were still new. The Chesapeake was the larger ship and more heavily armed, but it had suffered heavy damage in recent years and was quickly repaired to make it seaworthy. The two ships fired on each other at close range, but it soon became clear that the British vessel had far better command of the sea, and did heavy damage to the Chesapeake’s officers and gun crews. Lawrence tried to rally his men and prepare a boarding party in the confusion. In the midst of battle, Lawrence fell mortally wounded by a British sharpshooter and quickly carried below deck. Before he died, James Lawrence gave one final command to his crew: “Don’t give up the ship,” and true to form, no one on the Chesapeake officially surrendered to the British, even as they were overwhelmed by the enemy sailors and marines.