You’ve Never Been Here Before

YOU’VE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE

Text: Joshua 3:1-17

Intro:

Read Text: Joshua 3:1-17

Every now and then we face circumstances in our lives that shake us badly enough that we seek assurance that the Lord is still with us and for us. Some of you may be here today grappling with this question, “Is God with me and for me? Why am I facing these things in my life if He truly is with me and for me?

It was so with the Israelites when they came to the flood swollen banks of the Jordan. How were they going to cross over with children, women, the elderly, not to mention the livestock and all under the severe threat of open warfare with their Canaanite enemies? They needed reassurance that their God was with them and for them. But would even that suffice to help them overcome the challenges? In the midst of this uncertainty, Joshua sends his officers to say to the people, Pay careful attention to the Ark of the Covenant because,

I. YOU’VE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE. Vv. 4b

The Ark of the Covenant plays a central role in this incident. It was the symbol of God’s presence with His People. So, Joshua tells the people, “You’ve never been here before, so if you don’t want to lose your way; if you don’t want to get all confused and discouraged; if you don’t want to be overcome with despondency, you better pay attention to the Ark of the Covenant. It will go before you to show you the way.”

Beloved, I beg for your full attention. The Christian Church in America and around the World finds itself in a place where it has never been before. I can give you so many details about how the World has changed in our lifetimes, but I’ve got time to share only one.

When I was growing up in a Communist Country, the spiritual battle between the Church and the World seemed to center around one question: Does God exist or not? As a young Christian I was certain that if I could persuade people that God exists, then logically they would turn to Him and be saved. But the World has moved on culturally a million miles since then. The central question today is not whether God exists or not, but “God exists, so what?” The prevalent attitude among most people today is, “I don’t find any practical use for God in my life. I don’t need Him to provide daily bread for me; I don’t need Him to heal me; I don’t need Him to provide moral guidance for me because I know what is right and wrong; I don’t need eternity! So, whether God exists or not, it makes no difference to me.” That is the World we are facing today, and we’ve never been here before.

And just as the Israelites were going to collide with the pagan religions of Canaan, so we today are colliding with this new Worldview. What happens when two vehicles collide? One thing that happens is paint transfer. The paint from one car is transferred to the other. The danger is that the worldview we collide with every day may be transferred onto our souls. It may rub a little bit of its attitude on us. Israel did not heed this warning. Many in the Church are not paying attention to this warning either.

Joshua’s words to the Israelites are just as relevant to us today, “You’ve never been here before, so if you don’t want to lose your way; if you don’t want to get all confused and discouraged; if you don’t want to be overcome with anger, anxiety, despondency, unbelief, and the rest of the hosts of unholy passions, you better pay attention to the Ark of the Covenant. It will go before you to show you the way.”

Transitioning Statement:

What was in the Ark of the Covenant that made it such a central piece that represented God’s presence with His people? Three things were in the Ark: (1) The stone tablets with the 10 Commandments; (2) Aaron’s staff that budded; (3) a Bowl of Manna. Joshua summarizes the meaning of these three things with three statements about God.

II. GOD IS THE LIVING GOD. Vv. 10.

God is the only person in the Universe who has life in Himself and so He is the ever-living God and the life-giving God. Every creature in the Universe derives its life from Him. To be separated from God is to invite Death itself. There is no other source of life. Every breath you take is actively willed by God! Think about it! If God doesn’t will for you to take your next breath, you will have no life in you. That is how present God is in your life and mine. That is how relevant God is to you and me.

The 10 Commandments point us to the fact that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.” Deut. 8:3 NIV.

The Bowl of Mann points to Jesus Christ – the Bread that came from Heaven. In John 6:51 He said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

III. GOD IS THE LORD OF ALL THE EARTH. Vv. 11.

God is the Lord, the Boss, the Commander of the Universe and everything in it. He made Manna rain down from Heaven on the Israelites for 40 years in a row. And now He was about to command the waters of the Jordan river to turn from liquid into solid and pile up like sand in a heap.

Listen, when you go into someone else’s house, how do you behave? Do you begin to rearrange the furniture, take down photographs and put your own pictures on the walls? The Israelites were going to inherit the Land of Canaan, because it was the Lord’s to give. But they were to live in a Covenant with Him in order to keep that Land. They forgot that God is the Lord of all the Earth and it is up to Him to give it to whomever He desires.

Is God the Lord of all the Earth today as He was then? Does He control the Sun, the Moon, the Wind, the Rain, the Snow and Ice? Does He still give land to the nations and takes it away as He pleases?

Joshua says, “When you are seeking assurance of God’s presence pay close attention to the Ark of the Covenant and what the things in it represent. “You’ve never been here before, so if you don’t want to lose your way; if you don’t want to get all confused and discouraged; if you don’t want to be overcome with anger, anxiety, despondency, unbelief, and the rest of the hosts of unholy passions, you better pay attention to the Ark of the Covenant. It will go before you to show you the way.”

IV. GOD MAKES A WAY WHERE THERE IS NO WAY.

The last thing in the Ark was Aaron’s rod that had budded. You remember the incident of how that happened. Some among the people of God were fed up with Moses and Aaron and their leadership. They said, “We all are priest of the Lord.” So, God told them to bring their staffs and Aaron was to bring his staff, and whichever staff of a long dead branch would bud overnight, that was the person God had chosen to lead Israel.

Aron’s staff in the Ark of the Covenant was to remind people that God chooses leaders and He chooses how to lead His people. Usually, it was the regular Levites who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant suspended on poles. But this time God commands the priests from Aaron’s line to carry the Ark in front of the people. That is no coincidence.

So, Joshua tells the people, “Watch the Ark of the Covenant. When it moves, you follow it.” And when the feet of the priests touched the waters of the Jordan, the water stopped flowing and piled up in a heap, leaving the riverbed dry. The Ark was moving ahead of the Israelites not so much to show the way as to make the way where there was no way. There were other places along the Jordan river where the Israelites could have crossed more safely because there were fords. But those places were guarded by soldiers of the Canaanites and the children, the women, the elderly would have been massacred if they tried to cross there. But here at this flooded plain, no guard stood because it was humanly impossible to cross. God made a way where there was no way.

I love that song by Don Moen,

God will make a way

Where there seems to be no way

He works in ways we cannot see

He will make a way for me

He will be my guide

Hold me closely to His side

With love and strength for each new day

He will make a way, He will make a way

Joshua says, “When you are seeking assurance of God’s presence pay close attention to the Ark of the Covenant and what the things in it represent. “You’ve never been here before, so if you don’t want to lose your way; if you don’t want to get all confused and discouraged; if you don’t want to be overcome with anger, anxiety, despondency, unbelief, and the rest of the hosts of unholy passions, you better pay attention to the Ark of the Covenant with Aaron’s staff in it. It will go before you and make a way for you where there is no way.”

Transitions Statement:

Some of you have been wondering all through this sermon, “But Pastor Sam. We don’t have the Ark of the Covenant today with us. What is the Ark of the Covenant for us?”

Conclusion:

I am so glad when you ask such perceptive questions.

Let me suggest to you that the Ark of the Covenant for us today is the Church of Jesus Christ. Yes, the Ark of the Covenant is Branch’s Baptist Church. In it we find all the things through which God makes a binding Covenant of be ever present with His People – to be with them and for them. In the Church we find the tablets of the 10 Commandments – or the Word of God proclaimed to people who know that human beings don’t live by bread alone but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God. In the Church we find Bowl of Manna – the Bread that came from Heaven distributed to people in the form of the Lord’s Supper, John 6:51, “Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

In this new Ark of the Lord we find the staff of Aaron that has budded – the leadership God appoints to step in the water through which God will make a way for us where there seems to be no way.” This past year Covid-19 shut the church down. But God made a way for us to continue to gather and worship through livestreaming our worship services. We have had to invest over $20,000 for equipment to help us reach the World in a new way - to walk in a way where we have never been before. This Rally Day is a call to help Branch’s continue to be the Ark of the Covenant by which God guarantees His presence to His people.

I want to make one last observation before I close. The people of God were to follow the Ark of the Covenant, but not too close. They were to stay 1000 yards behind it. Physical distancing in the Bible is a sing of respect, reverence, holy fear. You don’t treat the Ark of the Covenant with casual attitude as if it is just another part of this World. I am terrified by the spirit of consumerism that has taken over the hearts of so many Christians today. Instead of treating the local church as holy as the Ark of the Covenant it is, they treat is just as they would a Walmart, or a Target. What will you do to restore the holy fervor for Branch’s? Joshua says to us all, vv. 5 “Consecrate yourselves...”

So listen to Joshua’s words again. “When you are seeking assurance of God’s presence pay close attention to the Ark of the Covenant – The Church of Jesus Christ - and what the things in it represent. You’ve never been here before, so if you don’t want to lose your way; if you don’t want to get all confused and discouraged; if you don’t want to be overcome with anger, anxiety, despondency, unbelief, and the rest of the hosts of unholy passions, you better pay attention to the Ark of the Covenant with the 10 Commandments, the Bowl of Manna, and Aaron’s staff in it. It will go before you and make a way for you where there seems to be no way.”