Joshua 3- "It's Time"

INTRODUCTION

SLAVES/EMANCIPATION STORY. THE LONG AWAITED DAY HAD FINALLY COME. MANY ENDED UP SAYING NO, BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT WITH EMANCIPATION AND FREEDOM THERE CAME A COST, AND MANY DIDN’T FEEL EQUIPPED AND TAPPED OUT.

POINT: FOR YEARS THIS HAD BEEN PROMISED, ALL THE WAY BACK TO ABRAHAM. NOW IT’S TIME, BUT BEFORE THEY COULD ENJOY THE PROMISES OF THE PROMISED LAND THERE WAS A JORDAN RIVER TO CROSS. EVERY DREAM HAS A PRICE TAG; EVERY PROMISE HAS A JORDAN RIVER. BIBLICAL EXAMPLES? SARAI AND ABRAM AND THE PROMISE OF ISAAC; DAVID’S PROMISE TO BE KING, BUT DEALING WITH SAUL; JOSEPH’S PROMISE/DREAM OF ONE DAY BEING IN A POSITION OF AUTHORITY CAME WITH A COST OF BETRAYAL.

CREATING THE NEED:

APPLICATIONS: DREAM OF A STARTUP/WHERE AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET THE MONEY. CAREER CHANGE: FINANCIAL COST, SCHOOL, ETC; DREAM OF BEING A PASTOR: THE COST OF SCHOOL. DREAM OF ADOPTING, COST OF PROCESS/MONEY.

POINT: SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN DREAMING FOREVER, AND TALKING ABOUT IT FOREVER. GOD IS SAYING TO SOMEONE RIGHT NOW,

THE CHALLENGE: JORDAN RIVER:

OUR PASSAGE OPENS UP BY SAYING THEY WERE ENCAMPED FOR THREE DAYS. FOR THREE DAYS THEY GOT A GOOD LOOK AT THEIR CHALLENGE. VERSE 15 TELLS US THAT IT’S OVERFLOWING. OVERFLOW CAUSED BY THE SPRING RAINS, SNOW MELTING FROM MOUNT HERMON DURING THE TIME OF YEAR THEY’RE IN WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN THE GRAIN HARVEST WHICH IS IN MARCH/APRIL. SO HERE THEY ARE STARING AT THIS DAUNTING, IMPOSSIBLE TO GET THROUGH ON THEIR OWN, SO CLOSE TO THEIR PROMISE. STARING AT IT WON’T MAKE IT GO AWAY.

APPLICATION. SOME OF YOU ARE LIKE THAT. YOU’RE SO CLOSE TO EXPERIENCING ALL THAT GOD HAS FOR YOU, BUT ARE OVERWHELMED BY THE CHALLENGE...

FINALLY, GOD SAYS IT’S TIME. IT’S TIME TO STOP TALKING ABOUT IT, AND IT’S TIME TO GET AFTER IT...

BUT WHY MAKE IT SO HARD GOING INTO THE JORDAN RIVER. I MEAN THEY ALREADY GOT TO FIGHT AND STUFF ONCE THEY GET OVER THERE, WHY HAVE THIS CHALLENGE ON THE FRONT END? TO INSTILL CONFIDENCE, AND BEGIN A TRACK RECORD OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL EASY FIRST GAME ILLUSTRATION/FOLLOWED BY PARENTS IN THE EARLY YEARS OF MARRIAGE ON THEIR LAST DIME AND HOW I NEVER SAW THEM WAVER IN THE FACE OF THEIR JORDAN RIVERS, BECAUSE THEY KNEW IF GOD COULD GET THEM THROUGH THAT...

APPLICATION- SHOUT!

FOLLOW GOD’S PRESENCE- VERSES 1-3

GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE THE ABUNDANT LIFE, A LIFE RICH WITH MEANING, VALUE AND SIGNIFICANCE. BUT THERE ARE NO GAINS WITHOUT PAINS, BEN FRANKLIN SAID. WE WILL ALL HAVE OUR OWN JORDAN RIVER’S TO CONFRONT. SO WHEN THEY COME, HOW DO WE GET THROUGH THEM?

FOLLOW GOD’S LEAD:

THE LEAD CHARACTER IN OUR TEXT IS THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. IT WAS A PORTABLE CHEST MADE OF ACACIA WOOD THAT HAD TWO CHERUBIM WITH RAISED WINGS ON TOP FACING EACH OTHER. INSIDE WAS THE TABLETS CONTAINING THE LAW, AARON’S ROD AND A POT OF MANNA. BUT IN ESSENCE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT WAS UNDERSTOOD BY ALL OF GOD’S PEOPLE TO BE THE EXPRESSION OF HIS PRESENCE.

The ark was such an intimate symbol of the Lord’s indwelling (cf. ) that to speak of the ark is tantamount to speaking of the Lord whose ark it is.

Woudstra, Marten H. The Book of Joshua. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1981. Print. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament.

What MJ was to the Bulls, Tom Brady to the NE Patriots and Lebron James is to the Cleveland Cavaliers, God’s presence is to his people!

THAT’S WHY MOSES SAYS IN …GOD’S PRESENCE IS EVERYTHING

FORGETTING TO BRING THE FOOTBALL ILLUSTRATION…WITHOUT THE FOOTBALL YOU DON’T HAVE THE GAME. AND WITHOUT GOD’S PRESENCE YOU CANNOT HAVE THE VICTORY!

APPLICATION: THE GREAT MISTAKE WHEN IT COMES TO GOD’S PRESENCE IS GOING WITHOUT HIM (NT CAN’T NOT HAVE GOD’S PRESENCE, BUT CAN NOT HAVE GOD’S BLESSING AND LEADING). GOD’S PEOPLE WITH AI…GOT SMOKED BECAUSE THEY RAN ON THE BATTLEFIELD WITHOUT GOD. WHEN YOU GOT SAVED YOU AND I BECAME GOD’S ARK OF THE COVENANT…HIS PRESENCE WAS PLACED INSIDE OF US. WHAT MAKES US SPECIAL IS NOT US, BUT WHO LIVES INSIDE OF US!

ELVIS PRESSLEY’S HOUSE…IN THE HOOD…SHAG CARPETING…FOLK CRYING OUT THERE- HAVE YOU NO SHAME LADDIE…BUT THEY LINE UP LIKE CRAZY. WHY? IT’S NOT THE NEIGHBORHOOD OR THE HOUSE, BUT WHO LIVED THERE, THAT’S WHAT MADE IT SPECIAL! SO IT COMES TO YOU AND I!

CONSECRATE YOURSELVES- VERSE 5

HOW DO WE GET THROUGH OUR JORDAN RIVER’S? FOLLOW GOD’S PRESENCE, BUT THERE MUST ALSO BE A COMMITMENT TO HOLINESS!

CONSECRATE YOURSELVES..A COMMAND. THE WORD MEANS TO WASH, PURIFY, TO MAKE CLEAN. MANY TIMES USED IN REFERENCE TO TWO THINGS- OUR GARMENTS AND SPECIFICALLY WHEN IT COMES TO SEX. . THE CENTRAL IDEA HERE IS HOLINESS…LISTEN, WE ARE A GRACE CULTURE, AND WILL FOREVER BE THAT. BUT YOU CAN BE COMMITTED TO GRACE AND CALL OUT SIN AT THE SAME TIME. IN FACT, IT’S NOT TRULY GRACE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE RECEIVING GRACE FOR, AND YOU CAN’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE RECEIVING GRACE FOR UNLESS YOU FIRST KNOW YOUR SIN. WE WILL NEVER WALK IN THE VICTORY GOD HAS SECURED FOR US UNLESS WE WALK IN HOLINESS.

ILLUSTRATION. IMAGINE I COME TO MY SON AND SAY YOUR MOTHER AND I HAVE SAVED UP SIX FIGURES TO GIVE TO YOU TO PUT DOWN AS A DOWNPAYMENT ON YOUR HOME. IT’S YOURS TO BE USED FOR THAT. BUT HE GETS DENIED THE LOAN BECAUSE OF BAD CREDIT AND POOR FINANCIAL CHOICES. WHAT’S HAPPENED. HE HAS THIS BLESSING WAITING FOR HIM, BUT HE CAN’T ACCESS IT BECAUSE OF THE POOR CHOICES HE’S MADE.

APPLICATION. CERTAIN BLESSINGS WE MISS OUT ON BECAUSE OF OUR SIN- ; .

HOLINESS GETS US ACCESS INTO ALL THAT GOD HAS FOR US.

COURAGE- VERSE 14

FINALLY THERE’S COURAGE. ALL THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE GIVEN AND I LOVE HOW VERSE 14 OPENS UP, “SO WHEN”. NO DISCUSSION, JUST ACTION…SO WHEN…IT’S TIME.

COURGE IS NEEDED TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN GOD’S PROMISES AND YOUR REALITY. COURAGE IS NEEDED WHEN GOD’S WILL COSTS MORE THAN YOUR RESOURCES. ISRAEL NEEDED COURAGE BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T CROSS OVER THIS JORDAN ON THEIR OWN, THEY NEEDED GOD, AND TO TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD AND STEP INTO THE JORDAN.

COURAGE IS WHAT THE FINNS NEEDED. IN 1939 FINLAND WAS FACE WITH THEIR OWN JORDAN RIVER CALLED THE RUSSIANS. THE RUSSIANS HAD THREE TIMES AS MANY SOLDIERS, 30 TIMES AS MANY AIRCRAFT, AND A HUNDRED TIMES AS MANY TANKS. BUT TO THE SHOCK OF EVERYONE THE FINS HELD THEIR GROUND FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? “The Finns have something called sisu. It is a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity, of the ability to keep fighting after most people would have quit, and to fight with the will to win,” Angela Duckworth, Grit. Do you have sisu? If God is leading you, you should.

They didn’t just get through, but they got through on dry ground. God not only got them through the challenge of the Jordan River, but he transformed the challenge while they were in it- from muddy to dry ground. My, my, my, that’s how bad God is. They had to have known with no mud on their feet, can you imagine, that it was nothing but the Lord! God transformed the challenge

Application: Ever have some people act like Jordan River’s in your life, and God not only got you through them, but he used you to transform them in the process ?