Ending Excellently, Emerging Exceptionally

Good morning, Church…

For today’s sermon, we’re going to look at another very familiar passage, Joshua 1:1-9,

and please join me in reading the word of the Lord together:

Joshua 1:1–9 (ESV)

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant,

2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.

3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.

5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

<Let us pray; pause>

Friends, doesn’t time fly?

It didn’t seem that long ago that we were at the tail end of 2019…

and now we’re on the last Sunday of the year already…

another year is about to pass us by…

Are you prepared for the next year?

You know, as we look forward to another year, I suppose many of us are facing it with much apprehension because of how 2020 panned out…

What a year 2020 had been huh?

If you are able to recall one year ago… this time… on the last Sunday of 2019….

What were you feeling?

Were you able to anticipate what an unusual year this year would be?

On my personal front, I knew that it was going to be an eventful year for me,

as I offered myself to be ordained into the office of the deacon,

As my daughter would face her first national examination…

But I didn’t anticipate how the then-called Wuhan Virus would evolve from a localised outbreak, to an epidemic and then pandemic,

Bringing so many of our societies to a standstill with the lockdowns…

Causing one of the worse recessions in history,

Numerous jobs lost, and not to mention XX people to be infected, and XX thousand to lose their lives…

Our lives almost seem changed forever,

with mask wearing becoming a norm and we had to count how many people can come to church,

go to the supermarket and even celebrate live big moments together…

and for a period of time, we can’t even sing in public…

we couldn’t leave our homes,

we couldn’t visit our loved ones…

and not to mention, have our coffee or tea or even cut our hair…

And of course, on our national front, a new government was elected in

With many new faces in the parliament, with many of the old parliamentary stalwarts leaving…

Certainly, I didn’t anticipate all these things at the tail end of 2019 …

I don’t know about you, but I did feel apprehension going into 2020…

And with all these things hanging over us, I feel even more apprehension going into 2021…

Especially so with me going to another church soon…

And leaving you, such a wonderful community…

It is a period of great uncertainty and discomfort…

I suppose many of you are feeling the same…

What would 2021 bring?

How would the economy be like?

Would I still have a job? My business?

Would I be able to continue to commune with my loved ones?

Would I be able to fulfil all the tasks that are required of me?

Would I be able to clear my exams in 2021?

Would I be able to enter that uni or internship or graduate this year?

What would the job market be like this year?

So many uncertainties and so many things to worry about…

If you are able to identify having that state of apprehension I talked about,

You would be able to identify with Joshua at a very critical point of time in his life,

When he was ordained by God to lead the people of Israel into the promised land…

And this was indeed a very crucial time for this fledging nation,

Because the old guard, Moses has just passed away…

And traditionally, it would be time of great stress because times of political transitions are times where many coups and uprisings happen…

And mind you, Moses, was not just a charismatic leader…

He was described as “the servant of the Lord”…

And friends, this is not a derogatory term,

But was a term to describe the wonderfully close relationship between Moses and God…

J. Goldingay tells us that the word for servant here, עֶ֣בֶד (e-ved), especially when used to describe someone is servant of God,

Describes a very intimate relationship between the servant and the master…

It describes a relationship in which there is commitment by the servant to do whatever the master requires…

Which sounds very common right?

But the things is this… in addition to that, there is a commitment on the master’s part to protect and provide for the servant.

And what is more, the servant “can represent the master and have full power to act on the master’s behalf and with the master’s authority. The servant’s words and acts have the same weight as the master’s”[1]

Think about it for a moment…

Moses was the very representation of God for the Israelites, and whatever he said and did,

He did it on behalf of the master, God Himself!

it carried the weight and authority of the master… God Himself!

That was the kind of intimacy and relationship Moses shared with God…

So, for the people of Israel, having Moses as their leader gave them great comfort for they had a very tangible representation of God in their presence…

Having Moses lead them was having God lead them…

Having Moses talk to them was having God talking to them…

But now, Moses was dead…

Their pillar is no longer around…

And this is particularly worrying because they are still in the middle of the wilderness… they still have land to conquer…

And for Joshua, it’s even worse…

He’s not just one of the Israelites…

The task of leading the Israelites has fallen upon his shoulders…

He certainly has big shoes to fill…

The task at hand certainly feels daunting…

Joshua probably felt frightened and dismayed…

But do you know what friends?

Things weren’t so bad for Joshua…

God was there at that point of time to encourage him…

In which God told him three times to “be strong and courageous”

And gave him a new perspective of reality…

And we know that Joshua eventually overcame all these difficulties…

And was likewise called a servant of God

And because of that, Joshua was able to enter the new phase of his life with confidence…

And I think we can eavesdrop into this conversation God had with Joshua,

And gleam from it some biblical principles we can stand on, and likewise be able to enter 2021 with confidence…

And the first reason why we can enter 2021 with confidence is that we are entering 2021 with the benefit of:

1. Exposure and Experience…

And what I mean is this… you’re not entering 2021 on an empty tank my friends…

We read here in verse 1 of our passage today that Joshua was Moses’ aide…

And if you follow the journey of Joshua, you will realise that God was constantly training Joshua to take up this leadership, long before he eventually took on the leadership…

If you read Exodus 24:13, you will realise that Joshua was with Moses when Moses was at the very momentous milestone during which Moses received the 10 commandments from God…

That prepared him to hear God and for the seemingly illogical military tactics when he had to lead to Israelites in the conquest of Jericho by marching our the city..

And he saw first-hand, what it was like to be in the presence of God, preparing himself and his leaders to hear God…

And hence he saw first-hand, the struggles the great leader went through in dealing with the stubborn and stiff-necked Israelites who were so bent on turning away from God…

And he saw first-hand what it meant to intercede for the people after they had sinned (as we saw in the golden calf incident in Ex 32)

This came in useful especially when he had to intercede for the people and discern from God who sinned, and be able to pin-point A-chan (עָכָ֛ן a-kan) as the reason for the defeat by Ai

Joshua gave given opportunity by God to be exposed to all these situations and experience all these situations as training to take up the leadership,

In dealing with people, in listening to God, in interceding for the people before he finally took on…

He didn’t take on this new role empty handed… but he is taking on with him all the experiences and exposures that he was given, all the training in leadership that he was given, into the new role…

Likewise, as you go into the new year, your past experiences and exposure that God had given you will prepare you for 2021…

you are not entering the new year empty-handed…

you have your experience and exposure behind you…

And another thing that you learnt about Joshua when you look at his exposure and experience,

is that he was given the opportunity to scout the land he was later tasked to lead the conquest for…

this, we read in Numbers 13:8 and 16 in which he was one of the 12 spies that God sent, through Moses to explore the promised land…

at that point of time, it was silent whether during the initial report,

he was on the side of the group of spies who proclaimed that the inhabitants of Canaan were too insurmountable for the people of Israel to overcome,

or on the side of Caleb who looked with eyes of faith and saw that God could do the impossible…

regardless, by the second recorded report in Numbers 14:6,

we know that this time, he saw what Caleb did and how he spoke up,

and likewise,

Joshua spoke with faith about how God would deliver upon his promises…

And this was in spite of how the people of Israel threatened to stone them…

I’m sure Joshua must have experienced fear, and doubt…

But God carried him through…

He didn’t take on this new role empty handed… but he is taking on with him all the experiences and exposures that he was given, all the training in leadership that he was given, into the new role…

Likewise, as you go into the new year, your past experiences and exposure that God had given you will prepare you for 2021…

And another example of how God had given Joshua experience and exposure to prepare him for the role was the battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites, which you can read in Ex 17

Here, you read about how whenever the staff of the Lord was raised, Joshua and the Israelites prevailed,

But whenever the staff was lowered, the Amalekites prevailed…

And from that experience, Joshua was taught the lesson that the Lord is the one who will help Israel win their battles,

And God made sure Joshua learnt that lesson for God specifically told Moses to write that down on a scroll and make sure that Moses read it to Joshua…

He didn’t take on this new role empty handed… but he is taking on with him all the experiences and exposures that he was given, all the training in leadership that he was given, into the new role…

And I suppose, looking back at this year, with regard to the covid-19 situation, how we were able to formulate the respond plans so quickly and have such low fatality rate is partly because of the exposure and experience we cumulated as a nation during the 2013 SARS experience…

For sure, not all experiences and exposures are positive or even orchestrated by God, but God will not let any of our experiences and exposures go to waste…

And each of those experiences and exposures are used by God to shape you and sanctify, maturing you…

So, as you go into the new year, your past experiences and exposure that God had given you will prepare you for 2021…

So, do not be terrified nor dismayed, but be strong and courageous, for you are going into the new year, equipped with experience and exposure the Lord has given unto you…

And if you’re feeling anxious about next year, here’s what I want you to do…

In fact all of us should start this, if you’ve not…

Get an exercise book or journal, or you can even do it viturally…

Have an entry each day…

And in each entry, you just write one positive thing, one difficult thing for the day…

Then for the positive thing, praise and thank God for it…

For the difficult thing, ask God, how can you grow and mature through that situation… and learn to listen to him…

And over time, you will see patterns in your life of how God is continually shaping you, maturing you, growing you, preparing you more and more for days to come…

And if you have a journey already… lagi bagus…

Look back, at the experiences in your life and look with wonder how God is working in your life…

and the last part of the previous point brings us nicely to next point this morning, which is that the second reason why we can enter 2021 with confidence because of the

2. Enduring Nature and Promises of God

Other than the fact that there is continuity of exposure and experiences as Joshua took on the new role as the leader of the Israelites,

Another reason we have confidence is because we are not basing our faith and our trust on something as fragile as the weather or human fleeting emotions or man-made stuff…

It is on a God whose attributes are the same yesterday, today and forever…

He is the great constant…

He is the unchangeable…

He is immutable…

And if there is anything this year taught us, is that it challenges our perception of reality…

We tend to be very short-sighted as people… and very visual…

Whatever we don’t see, whatever that is outside our immediate environment or experience, we reject…

So, we tend to assume the status quo will be so, until the end of time…

Well, actually for many people, they don’t actually believe that time will end…

But if there’s anything that this Covid-19 situation teaches us,

It’s that most things are very fragile and don’t last forever…

How we live was drastically changed since the beginning of the year…

How we work, how we dress, how we live our lives…

And history teaches us that too…

So many empires thought that they would be there forever,

The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks and the Romans…

All of them were the superpowers at that point of time,

But nevertheless, each of them likewise fell…

It is the same for economy…

Just a year ago, many people thought that the aviation industry was like an iron rice bowl, a cash-cow and a sure-bet 包吃industry…

With it as one of your major part of your economy, you’re likely to make…

Just one year ago, for the aviation industry, there were 4.54 billion passengers travelling around the world…[2] and net profits was $25.9 billion in 2019…

They expected passenger numbers to reach 4.72 billion and net profit to be $29.3 billion in 2020…

The aviation industry looks like nothing can stop it on its trajectory and nothing can stand in it’s way…

Now, with the aviation industry almost on a stand-still, they are expecting a net loss of $84.3 billion…

And I’ll like to show you that even nature is not permanent…

This is a picture of a bridge to nowhere…

It’s a bridge in Honduras, Central America, that is next to Choluteca River…

Friends, the engineers didn’t intentionally build a bridge next to the river…

The river used to run under the bridge..

But hurricane Mitch poured down so much rain in 1998 that the river actually changed course,

And friends, this is not a small long kao (or drain) ok…

This river is almost 300ft wide…

Even rivers that had been there for centuries, can be changed in a single event…

[3]

Friends, we heard that the only constant in our lives is change…

Well, that is true for most thing…

Which is why the very fact that our God is the same yesterday, today and forever is such a wonderful thing to hear and to know…

That we hear in Hebrew 13:8 which says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8, ESV)

And this is reflected in today’s passage as well…

For in Joshua 1:5

When Joshua was feeling all anxious and worried,

God encouraged him by saying “as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you”

And this was repeated in v 9 when God said that He “will be with you wherever [he goes].”[4]

How awesome and wonderful is that…

And if you look carefully, the words “I will be with you” אֶהְיֶ֣ה עִמָּ֔ךְ (eh-yeh im-mak)

It’s the exact same words used in Gen 26:3 when God promised Isaac that he will multiply the offspring of the Israelites, give them land…

It’s the exact same words used in Gen 31:3 when God told Jacob to return to the land promised to Isaac so that he will multiply the offspring of the Israelites, give them land…

It’s the exact same words used in Ex 3:12 when God gave Moses the sign to lead the people of Israel from Egypt into the land promised to Isaac and Jacob so that he will multiply the offspring of the Israelites, give them land…

God’s promises stand the test of time and His nature never changes…

And in his nature, he will never leave nor forsake his children…

his love for you never changes…

The words of the Psalmists in Ps 136 proclaims that God’s love endures forever..

and his desire to protect you and look after you never changes

And Gen 28:14 tells us that God watches over his children…

His wonderful plans and promises for you never changes…

Plans according to Jeremiah 29:11 that is “to you and not harm you... plans to give you hope and a future…” for “when you seek God, you will find him…

And in fact, in this passage here,

In v3, which says ““Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.” (Joshua 1:3, ESV)

The word here for “given” has a perfect sense to it which suggests that it is an action that is already completed… it is a-given already…

For God in His foreknowledge already knows that Joshua would, with the help of God, complete the task set for him and will be granted victory…

It is as good as a done deal…

This same God who was with Joshua, is with you…

And what He promises you will come to past…

This God “who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6, ESV)

And if you’re feeling anxious about going into the new year,

Here’s what I can suggest for you to do…

Not too long ago, I was introduced to what is called a hope box…

It can be a physical box or a virtual box, probably a folder in your computer, or OneNote, it doesn’t matter…

But what you put inside, are times in which the Lord brought you through difficult situations…

Throughout the day, whatever you’re doing…

When you recall a time in which you felt hopeless or are stuck,

You look at your situation and think to yourself…

xiao liao… I’m done for…

but somehow you managed to overcome that situation…

write it down…

put it in a box…

and you will be surprised and encouraged by how consistent our God is, in delivering us over and over again…

and this God is the same yesterday and forever…

and as you do this more and more,

you will open up your spiritual eyes, and be more attuned to God’s presence at all times…

for God is always with us, His children… all the time…

and as you do so, you will be Embracing the Eternality of our God…

So friends, I hope you’re convinced that you can enter 2021 with hope, with confidence, not because of your own ability and strength, but because you’re empowered by our God…

You are entering is with:

Exposure and Experience… and you are relying on the

Enduring Nature and Promises of God

But friends, I don’t you to enter into the new year in a passive nature…

As if you’re a passive participant in God’s plans…

No, friends, that cannot be…

My last point this morning is that we need to:

3. Enact Upon His Promises

Recall in v3 that Joshua would need to tread on the land that is promised unto him…

There was need for enactment on his part…

V8 tells us God’s command for Joshua is that [The] Book of the Law cannot depart from his mouth, meaning he must be so familiar with it, it just comes out of him naturally… and he shall meditate on it day and night, and not only do so, for head knowledge… he needs to internalize is so that he may be careful to do according to all that is written in it

This is the preceding conditional clause that needs to be satisfied before the success comes…

“For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8, ESV)

““[The] Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8, ESV)

Don’t get me wrong… the end result is conditional on Joshua’s actions, which is in that aspect conditional… but it is not tentative, because God had empowered Joshua to do so, and it will indeed come to past… which in that sense is a-given…

Let me try that again…

Even though God had already assured the success of Joshua,

Joshua still needed to enact upon that promises to be given the land…

It’s just like you given a coupon that entitles you to a nice fillet mignon at Morton’s steakhouse…

And it’s already been cooked to perfection…

Outside nicely seared to trap in all the juices and inside,

it’s nice and tender… you can cut it with just a butter knife…

and just that light touch of marbling…

and it’s already there, on your table,

you need to just take it, slice it and put into your mouth…

and enjoy that perfectly aged beef…

you just need to enact upon the gift of steak that is already there…

If I may paraphrase Joshua 1:8…

put the Book of the Law in your mouth, chew upon it day and night,

let it enter you and be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8, ESV)

Let me point something out here…

For then you will make your way prosperous…

Not I – as in God – will make your way prosperous…

You will make your way prosperous…

And here, prosperity doesn’t refer to riches, but to have success… as in not having an obstacles in your way…

It’s a parallel to Proverbs 3:6 which says

“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6, ESV)

The steak is already there… you just need to enact upon it…

The success for you to overcome all the obstacles in you have in 2021 had already been given unto you…

you need to enact upon it…

you just need to spend time with God…

constantly commune with Him…

allow His words to change you…

and let Him guide you…

and you will be able to fulfil the promises that the Lord have for your…

So friends, I hope that even as we look towards ending 2020 and going towards 2021,

May we End Excellently, Emerging Exceptionally,

And may we enter 2021 with great confidence because we have been given:

Exposure and Experience…by God to prepare us for the new year…

We can lean on the Enduring Nature and Promises of God

And we will need to Enact Upon His Promises

Amen….

[1] J. Goldingay, “Servant of Yahweh,” ed. Mark J. Boda and Gordon J. McConville, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets (Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity Press, 2012), 701.

[2] https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2019-12-11-01/

[3] https://thinkingmissionpractice.wordpress.com/2017/06/06/bridge-on-the-river-why/ https://mattersofleadership.com/3-leadership-lessons-learned-from-a-firmly-footed-bridge/

[4] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Jos 1:9.