THE NECESSITY OF PREPARATION

Intro:

its a blessing to be with you here today to dig into God’s Word.

last week was such a blessing. There was so many good conversations in the groups , there was so much great insight into what God was doing in the midst of the Children of Israel.

and if you can remember Pastor Lance began by unfolding Joshua 1, and Chapters 1-2 in the book Victories Christian living. and within the study Pastor Lance laid the foundation for what we would be looking as we will go through the book of Joshua and follow along with the book victorious Christian Living.

Transition

We began to look at the history of the children of Israel. How God had brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. How God had a purpose in mind when He brought them out of the land of Egypt, God’s desire was to bring the people into the land of promise, the land of Canaan. A land flowing with milk and honey. You remember the story, that a trip that would have taken a few weeks, would instead, leave the children of Israel wandering the wilderness for 40 years.

there was GREAT disappointment, disobedience, discouragement and disbelief in the wilderness which all lead to an entire generation to perish in the wilderness, failing to enter into the promise land, failing to obtain everything that God had for them.

and so as we began to make personal application we could see the parrallel. The reality that God has delivered everyone of us from the land of Egypt, or from the bondage of the world, and He has a great purpose for each and every one of us.

There is a desire to bring us into a new way of life. To live a life on a higher plain as Alan Redpath would call it, or as Pastor Lance described it, a life that is lived in the center of God’s will.

This is what God’s desire is for every one of us. It is far more than just delivering us out of our bondage. There is great joy, peace, there is life that is produced, there is great blessing all found within a personal walk with God, a walk that is aligned with the center of God’s perfect will.

we call this a “Victorious Christian Life”.

This is what the crossing of the Jordan River symbolizes, it is the leaving of the self -lead life and entering a Christ lead life.

Transition

So we started chapter 1 saw that God raised up Joshua, Moses’ assistant, to become the next leader who would be able to lead the people into the promise land.

Transition

and we ended chapter 1 with Joshua commanding his officers ...

Joshua 1:10–11 NKJV

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’ ”

so what the people are told to do , is to prepare themselves for in 3 days God was going to move .

Transition

Now there was a specific purpose in God waiting 3 days before He moved. It was not that He needed to be ready before the move, but it was that the peopled needed to be ready.

there was both something that God needed to do with the people and something that He needed to do in the people.

What was God doing ?

God was working in the lives of unbelievers

God was working in the lives of His people

God was working at the same time in the lives of different groups for the same purpose, to draw people close to Him. And this would look different for each group.

So what we are going to do is look at the two things that God was doing during these 3 days of preparation within the lives of both groups of people.

I. THERE WAS A NECESSITY OF THE CHANGING LIVES

II. THERE WAS A NECESSITY OF COUNTING THE COST

Read 2:1-3

I. THERE WAS A NECESSITY OF THE CHANGING LIVES (V.1-24)

A. SPIES ENTER THE LAND (V.1-3)

So we see here that Joshua sends out two spies into the land of Canaan to do recon on the area. It is possible he wanted to know the condition of the people, know his obsitacles , any problems that may come up....

a reminder for sure of the time he and the other spies were sent to spy out the land years earlier, 12 of them in total. You remember that Joshua and Caleb were the only two who had a good report of the land while the other 10 men had a bad report and brought fear to the people. Here we see that Joshua only sends two men.

and we are told these men enter the City of Jericho and specifically the house of Rahab, a Harlot we are told. We really don’t know why this was the place the men went, but a few thoughts are possible.

The place of business of a Harlot brought many people both from the City and from elsewhere. It would be a place where drinking and partying was talking place, a place where people who have had much to drink might begin to openly speak out their feelings. It would be a good place to hear about the heart of the City

it was also a place where they would not be noticed as strangers for many came and went from there.

these are possibilities , on any case we are told that the King got word of the two men , for he sends men to Rahab’s house to look for these men.

now as we keep moving we get to see how God has been working on the hear of Rahab.

B. Salvation Comes to Rahab (v.4-14)

now what we begin to see is this Harlot woman , who would be considered a deplorable woman , a sinner, comes to saving faith in God.

and we are able to see this because of the expressions of her faith.

Rahab’s Expression of Faith

IN THE SAVING OF THE SPIES (V.4-7)

Read (v.4-7)

We see that Rahab takes these two men and hides them on her roof under stalks of flax. Remember that in these days, the roofs on the houses would be flat.

as the Kings men come asking for the spies, Rahab tells them that these men were at her house but when it got dark, they left. And she told them to go and hurry because they may be able to catch them.

We see Rahab showing faith in her actions. Many will question the lies she told but we have to understand that this was a woman who did not know or follow the laws of God and had different morals. it is not that God approves of the lying but the bible simply records the events.

Transition

now we have see that Rahab’s faith was expressed by her actions in saving the spies. Think this through with me, if Rahab was found out that she lied, she could have lost her life. But she is placing her faith in something else other than herself for her salvation.

Hebrews 11:31 NKJV

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

- faith and action go hand in hand . There should be an expression of faith in my life by my daily actions.

James 2:18 NKJV

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

so we see how these are linked together

2. IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHO GOD IS (V.8-13)

READ V.8-11

So we see that the people in the land of Canaan

Know the Lord has given Israel the land(v.8)

Have heard of God’s miracles in the parting of the read sea and the victory over the Ammorites (v.10)

INSIGHT

Rahab’s knowledge of God, her understanding of God, her coming to faith in God was because of what God did through the lives of His people.

Repath

“This poor sinful woman came to have faith in the reality of a living God because of the supernatural evidences that she saw in the life of God’s people.”

Transition

see God was working in the live of Rahab, drawing her near to salvation, and His methods was to shine His glory through the lives of miraclolus and transformed lives.

God used broken vessels who reflected His light to change a life.

this is still the case today, God is desiring to reach a lost world and the vessels He chooses to use is you and me. He desires to use the transformation of our lives to shine His Glory to a world that doesn’t know Him. This is why the new testament calls us to watch how we live…

Watch how we walk

Colossians 4:5 NKJV

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.

Ephesians 5:15–16 NKJV

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Watch how we talk

Colossians 4:6 NKJV

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Watch how we carry ourselves

Matthew 10:16 NKJV

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

-God’s Glory shines the brightest in a surrendered and transformed live.

C. Saved by a Scarlett rope (v. 14-24)

we end up seeing Rahab make a deal with the two spies. Its a trade of a life for a life. since Rahab saved the spies, she requests that she and her family be spared when Israel comes to conquer the City.

The Spies agree and they tell her to put the scarlet cord in the window and have her family in the house. This scarlet cord would bring salvation to an entire family, just as today the blood of Jesus Christ has brought salvation to you and I.

Transition

now we also see that God needed to work in the people . and in Joshua 3:5, we see that God called the people to count the Cost .

II. THERE WAS A NECESSITY TO COUNT THE COST (V. 3:5)

READ 3:5

Part of the preparation that was needed was within the people, sanctification was needed.

i looked up the word “santify” in Merriam Websters Dictionary and i found (2) words that describe what this means perfectly.

CONSECRATE

Which means to set apart to a sacred purpose, to specifically use something for a Holy or sacred purpose. what we would think of a vessel or utensils used in the temple for the work of worshipping the Lord.

the bible tells us that we are God’s vessels , made by the potter for His specific purposes

2 Corinthians 4:6–7 NKJV

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

- God is molding and shaping us for a purpose.

To be the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ

this is who the children of Israel were, and it is who you and I are. We are to live for that specific purpose. To live outside of that purpose is to live outside of God’s will, outside of God’s best. Much like Ruben, Gad and half the tribe of Manassah who choose to stay on the other side of the Jordan river because it was easier.

2. PURIFY

“to free from sin” - this calls for the removal of the things within their lives that would cause defilement .

Repath

“The wonder working power of God depends always on the sanctification of his people”

Transition

If i am to seek to walk within the center of God’s will for my life, if I am longing to walk in the power of God, Sanctification is required.

Question

Am i living my life with God’s purpose in mind?

What things in my life would that God would call me to remove?

Redpath

“I know that we can be sanctified only by the God of peace. Yet though holiness, in the positive sense, is nothing more and nothing less than the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Ghost, expressing the life of the Lord Jesus in me, on the negative side it is the putting away of all know sin”.