Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

JB Phillips wrote a classic little book in 1952 titled “Your God Is Too Small”.

The idea behind the book is very simple.

All of us have created an image of God in our minds and that image is simply not adequate.

It’s not big enough.

Some see God as being like our parents.

Some of us were even told as we were growing up, God is like your father.

And that image works well for those who grew up with a loving, solid relationship with their earthly father.

Others choose to put labels on God to say He is this or that; He can do this...but

He can’t do that.

In a sense they put God in a box of sorts and have confined him and limited his ability.

His book gives about 15 common images we have of God and then he tells us why none of them are adequate.

The simple truth is that we have failed to think big enough when we think of God-the God we have created in our minds is simply too small.

So let me begin this morning by asking you a few questions:

How big is your God? How big is your faith?

How big is the biggest prayer you have ever prayed?

These three questions are very tightly connected.

The size of your God will determine the size of your faith which will determine the size of your prayer life.

These are incredibly important questions for each us to reflect upon as we are on this journey, following the Lord.

When we shifted into the book of Numbers we saw God mobilizing his people for a march towards the Promised Land and in the course of reading through Numbers, Deuteronomy, and now the beginning parts of Joshua, God has show himself to be faithful, trustworthy, and true.

God has met every need and in fact has done the impossible so that he would demonstrate his great power.

And along the way, God had been preparing a young man named Joshua to bear the responsibility of leading.

One thing is for sure, Joshua was remarkable person.

As a young man he grew up and he saw firsthand as Israel was delivered from Egypt.

As a young man he would have worked as a slave in Egypt.

But there was something unique about him and God spoke to Moses through the Holy Spirit.

Joshua had already learned the importance of obedience.

He then became the right-hand man to Moses so it is not surprising that before Moses died, he appointed Joshua as his successor.

He was 1 of 12 men who traveled to spy out Canaan and the Promised land.

He and Caleb returned with a good report; the others said, “No the people are too big, the area is too large and we are like grasshoppers.”

I haven’t mentioned that of the 12, Joshua and Caleb were the only two who survived.

A plague fell on the other 10 and they all died because they brought back a negative report.

But Joshua plowed ahead even though all the Israelites were not completely on board.

All of their arguing and the fear they had, kept them wandering in the desert for 40 years.

But Joshua still kept his faith.

How do you respond to change?

To discouragement?

To extended timetables?

To opposition?

As we consider these, I then would ask you to reflect upon when and where you involve God in those matters?

For example, is the infinite God revealed to us throughout the entirety of the Bible capable of being present to your need and offering comfort and guidance in your seasons of discouragement?

You may answer yes to me right now, but!!!

If in practice you never consider depending upon the Lord, then in practice you’re truly saying God isn’t capable.

From our text this morning I want to give us five important principles to remember as we walk on this journey of life, as we are a church on mission, and the communities we live in are in the midst of significant transition.

WE WILL FACE OPPOSITION (vv.

1-5)

You will remember from Joshua 9 that coming on the heels of God’s victory over Jericho and Ai, the Gibeonites had deceived their way into a treaty with Israel, thus saving their lives.

The Gibeonites had heard of the great victories of the nation of Israel who was under the command of the fearless Joshua.

The Gibeonites had heard about the God who they served and they had also heard about God’s intention to remove every group of people who stood in the way of his will to return the Promised Land to his people.

So they deceived their way into making a covenant with Israel.

But when the hill tribes of Canaan heard of the covenant, they looked on the Gibeonites as traitors and quite understandably decided to move against them.

The Gibeonites weren’t the only ones who had caught wind of the warriors of Israel and her mighty God.

No, the king of Jerusalem, Adoni-Zedek rallied with him five other tribes because the fear of Yahweh and his people had reverberated throughout the lands.

This coalition was focused on exacting revenge upon the Gibeonites for their joining with the God of Israel.

By the same token, when we have responded to the Holy Spirit’s calling to follow Jesus Christ, we are a threat to those who oppose His kingdom.

And just like Israel, every one of us who wants to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ will face strong opposition.

I have seen this over and over and over again when I see that Jesus has saved someone.

That saved person ran with a group that loves to party.

The group itself is tight-knit, they’ve lived life together, they’ve made memories together.

No one in the group is necessarily an evil person by today’s standards…but not a one was living for Christ, that is...until one is born again.

And in experiencing the newness of their life in Christ, the Holy Spirit gives that new Christian a hunger for God’s Word that replaces their longing for drink…The Spirit does a work in that new Christian’s calendar, too.

You see, the Spirit reminds them to get in bed at a decent hour on Saturday night because Sunday school and church are happening Sunday morning.

And when that new Christian isn’t to be found around the fire at the wee hours of Sunday morning or when the last call is announced, that tight-knit group tightens up…because they are convinced they have been betrayed.

We Christians must remember that we will face opposition every step of the way when we follow Jesus, even during our first steps.

And we should be reminded that the Lord Jesus taught, Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

COMMITMENTS ARE ONLY GOOD IF THEY ARE BACKED UP (v. 6)

We will face opposition, but in saving us, among the things that God does is gives to us a new family.

That’s our church family.

When we receive individuals and families into membership here, I ask you, the congregation that if the Spirit of God is leading you to receive anyone into membership, that we make that known by saying, “we love you.”

I hope we know that in that moment, far more is occuring than just a superficial platitude.

Again, in Joshua 9, the Gibeonites made a covenant with Joshua and Israel, so that when the hill tribes amassed against them, they knew that they were not alone.

Joshua 10:6 “And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants.

Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.””

The Gibeonites cry out in their need and Joshua does not consider for a moment the means of deception that the Gibeonites used to start their relationship.

Joshua could have looked upon that scene, remembered what the Gibeonites had done, and said what would have been the equivalent to ‘new phone, who dis?’

But Joshua was a man of principle and he honored his commitment, taking all the mighty men of valor with him to go make war.

And in this, we see in the shadows a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Can you see it?

God so loves the world that he has set out a mission to redeem all creation and going into battle was God himself in the Second Person of the Trinity.

The fullness of the godhead rested upon the God-man Jesus Christ, who in the course of his earthly ministry came to be

Isaiah 53:3-4 “despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”

And compelled by godly love, Isaiah 53:5 “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

When we say “we love you” here, it’s love on the order of God’s love.

Though we are far from perfect and we hurt each other at times, this is the family that God has given to us in his saving of us, and that expression of love in joining the church is a commitment that we are going to walk alongside one another.

That we are going to uphold one another.

That we are going to spur one another on in Christlikeness.

That we are going to be a unified people, surrendering our preferences as we bear witness to the one who surrendered all so that lost sinners can be made right.

GOD IS WITH US (v.

8)

When we each stand for Christ and his kingdom, uniting as his church, let me tell you that there is nothing that can come against us, not even the gates of Hell.

No, no matter how big that enemy might be that is amassed against the body of Christ, we need not ever operate from any position but faith.

Faith.

Do you hear me?

Faith.

For we are so inclined to respond to everything out of a spirit of fear.

That big bad army comes and what did the Lord tell Joshua?

Joshua 10:8 “And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands.

Not a man of them shall stand before you.””

The latter part of this reassurance had already been given to Joshua 1:5 before the invasion of Canaan began.

“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.