The Crossing

TEXT: Joshua 3 and 4

TOPIC: THE CROSSING

BIBLE SURVIVORS SERIES, Message 19

Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Icard,

January 20, 2002

SLIDE 1

George Washington's Christmas Eve crossing of the Delaware River was a catalyst for unity and solidarity - some believe the hand of God was involved.

It was intended as a surprise attack against the Hessian mercenaries on the other side. However it was just as hard to keep secrets then as it is now. From their spies the Hessians knew the approximate time of the attack and their forces waited. Historians speculate that had the Hessian soldiers remained, Washington's fledgling army would have been slaughtered and the revolutionary war would have met a premature end. But a mysterious occurrence took place at just this time. About a dozen farmers rushed out of the woods on the Hessian side of the river and fired their muskets at point blank range, killing six of the German mercenaries. They then turned around and disappeared back into the woods. They were never heard from again, and no one ever stepped forward to take credit for the attack. When the Hessian general heard this news he concluded that Washington's army had landed and done their worst. He recalled his troops to spend Christmas Eve in the warmth and comfort of their tents or the houses in which they were quartered in town. Two hours later Washington's army landed and surprised the Hessians and the rest is history.

This morning we’re going to see another river crossing that had the effect, if not the express purpose, of unifying and solidifying a commander and his fledgling army - the crossing of the Jordan River.

Unity is important to the church. In order for there to be broad-based unity there must be congregational unity. In our disciplemaking philosophy we understand unity is displayed best when we come together in our Sunday morning Celebrations.

We either capture our sense of purpose, vision and unity in Celebration or we lack direction and commitment. It is to our advantage then to learn from Joshua the factors that contribute to unity in a church.

What we are really going to see this morning are five contributions to unity from Joshua's crossing of the Jordan River.

SLIDE 2

I. UNITY OF DIRECTION VS. 1-4

Joshua cautioned the congregation of Israel, "You have never been this way before." Their new land was unfamiliar. Their enemies were ominous and threatening.

The Israelites were to be preceded by the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was an ornate, golden chest. If you ever saw the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, then you saw someone's idea of what the Ark of the Covenant may have looked like.

I think the movie was remarkably faithful to the Bible's description of the Ark in Exodus. Within the Ark of the Covenant were two stone tablets with the ten commandments written on them. The ark of the covenant represented the presence of God.

The significance here is that God gave direction to the congregation of Israel and they were united by His direction.

Churches are united by God's direction. Joshua's caution to Israel applies to each new generation of the church "You have never been this way before."

Our church, if you have not recognized it, is a church in transition. This is a new century, and our transformation is designed to reach the generations of the 21st Century.

Change can be threatening to church unity. Our enemy is ominous and threatening.

I Peter 5:8 "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Our tactics are unconventional. Because of the changes in our world, and the opposition of our enemy, the church must be flexible enough to change some things as well.

QUOTE: Roger Von Oech writes in his book A Whack on the Side of the Head: "Why be creative? Why challenge the rules? Why run the risk of failing? Because of change. When things change and new information comes into existence, it is no longer possible to solve today's problems with yesterday's solutions. Over and over again, people are finding out that what worked two years ago, won't work now. This gives them a choice. They can either bemoan the fact that things aren't as easy as they used to be, or they can use their creative abilities to find new answers, new solutions and new ideas."

That's why God's direction is so critical to church unity. A changing culture, threatening enemy and unconventional tactics could set the stage for division unless we're guided by that which is eternal - God.

There is an old saying: "Methods are many, principles are few. Methods often change, principles never do."

The Ark of the Covenant contained the ten commandments. That was the covenant, testament, or agreement between God and the Israelites. We Christians have a new covenant with God - the New Testament. It is the Bible that goes before the church to give us direction.

God's Word keeps a church headed in the right direction. No matter what else changes, certain Biblical principles remain constant:

SLIDE 3, Masks 1-5

* The Message of the Church: Salvation by grace through faith.

* The Mission of the Church: To make disciples.

* The Mandate of the Church: To worship and glorify God.

* The Morality of the Church: Holiness and purity

* The Ministry of the church: Service to others. These things do not and must not change.

Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

SLIDE 4

II. UNITY OF EXPECTATION 3:5, 9-13

Joshua told the congregation to get ready because "The Lord will do amazing things among you." What was the Lord going to do? He was going to part the waters of the Jordan river. A wave of excitement must have washed over the people as they anticipated this event. They had all heard from their parents the account of the parting of the Red Sea as the Israelites had fled from Egypt forty years before. The parting of the Red Sea was the keynote miracle of their history. Now this new generation was united in expectation of God's demonstration of power.'

The church enjoys a unity of expectation. Every member of FBI should have a spirit of expectation because of the promise to Joshua "The Lord will do amazing things among you."

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

Add to that God's intervention on our behalf in response to prayer.

ILLUSTRATION: I heard about a church that had spent weeks discussing whether their ancient church should be repaired or if they should build a new one. The arguments were strong on both sides until finally at one meeting of the entire congregation the wealthiest member of the church stood up to speak in favor of repairing rather than rebuilding. The generous church member said, "I will give $100 towards the repair of this wonderful old church." Suddenly, a large lumber truck rumbled down the road in front of the church, shaking loose some plaster from the ceiling which fell on the wealthy man's head. Shaking off the effects, the man said, "I had no idea how bad this place was in need of repair. I'll raise my offer to $1000." At that moment a freight train roared through town knocking even more plaster on to the man's head. Again said the wealthy donor, "It's much worse than I thought, I'll give $10,000 to fix up this church." At that point the minister stood up, looked heavenward and shouted "Come on Lord, hit him again!"

God gets involved. He did not set this world spinning like a top and then step back to watch it run down. He is actively involved with His creation. He interacts and intervenes every day.

In response to prayer God heals, protects, provides, sustains, delivers, opens doors and multiplies workers - according to the need. Paul told the Ephesian church:

Ephesians 3:20 "(God) is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church...throughout all generations"

Why did Paul say that? To raise their expectations, and ours. And God will not disappoint.

SLIDE 5

III. UNITY OF LEADERSHIP 3:7, 4:14

Part of God's purpose in this miracle was to unite the Israelites behind the leadership of Joshua. They had been following Moses for forty years. Moses had been one of the great leaders of all time. Now Joshua had assumed that leadership role. In chapter one, the Israelites had paid lip-service to Joshua's authority. Now God uses this miracle to legitimize Joshua's leadership by exalting him in the eyes of the congregation.

Submission to Church leadership promotes unity in the church. Resistance to Church leadership undermines unity in the Church. It’s really that simple.

Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you."

That verse has two very important implications.

First, Church leaders who watch over the congregation are accountable to God for their leadership.

Secondly, it is advantageous to the church membership to submit to and obey their leaders.

It's been said of some churches that they need a congregational vote to change from White Cloud to Charman! That is counterproductive.

ILLUSTRATION: It's like the two men struggling to get a large crate through a door. They struggled and struggled and the crate would not budge. Finally, one man said to the other, "We'll never get this crate in." His partner replied, "I thought we were trying to get it out!"

We are called to work together, not against one another. The Bible teaches that we should select qualified and trustworthy men to oversee the work of the Church and then trust them to lead. Follow them. To give a man responsibility without the authority to fulfill it is a formulae for division and defeat.

SLIDE 6

IV. UNITY OF EXPERIENCE 3:14-17

The crossing of the Jordan described here differs a little from the crossing of the Red Sea forty years earlier.

* Moses had only to hold his staff over the Red Sea for it to part. In crossing the Jordan the priests had to set foot in the Jordan's waters before they parted.

* When God parted the Red Sea the Bible says the waters piled up in a heap on either side, as one would expect in a sea. However, when God parted the Jordan River, the water piled up on one side and simply flowed away on the other side, as one would expect with a river.

The priests stood with the Ark of the covenant in the middle of the Jordan River bed on dry ground while the whole congregation of Israel passed through. When everyone had gone by, the priests finished crossing over.

Part of God's purpose in this miracle was to unite the congregation through this dramatic experience. Shared experiences have the effect of binding people together.

We in the church share a unity of experience. When a congregation has been together for a few years it's not uncommon for an intense bonding to occur. Why? Because they've been through building programs together, they've conducted revivals together, they've cried at funerals together and thrown showers for babies together, sometimes they've fought together. Church congregations share the highs and lows of life and the experience binds us together.

But it's more than just experience in general that binds us together in the Church. There is one experience in particular that even the greenest newcomer holds in common with the oldest patriarch - baptism. Interestingly, Paul presents the parting of the Red Sea as a type of baptism: I Corinthians 10:2 "Our forefathers...were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" Joshua compared the parting of the Jordan River to the parting of the Red Sea:

Joshua 4:23 "The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when He dried it up before us until we had crossed over."

The Bible presents baptism as one of the unifying experiences of the Church.

I Corinthians 12:13 "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink."

Galatians 3:26ff "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

SLIDE 7

V. UNITY OF MEMORY 4:21-24

Joshua had one representative from each of the twelve tribes remove a stone from the middle of the Jordan river and set them up at Gilgal as a memorial to the power of God. They served as a reminder, not only to Joshua's generation but also to all future generations.

Proper memories are essential to unity. In later generations the Israelites strayed into division and sin and the Bible says it was because a whole generation arose who did not know the Lord or what He had done for Israel. Somehow they ignored the memorials and they forgot.

Proper memories are essential to the unity of the church. And because it is in our nature to forget, we need memorials.

ILLUSTRATION: We're like the elderly man at a senior citizen's home who approached an elderly woman saying: "Excuse me, I know I asked you to marry me last night, but I can't remember your answer." She responded: "That's okay, I knew I'd said 'yes', but I couldn't remember who asked me!"

We all have good forgetters so we're in need of memory aids. God has established one memorial in the Church. It's not a building or a statue or a place - it's a meal. We call it the Lord's Supper.

I Corinthians 11:23 "The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper He took the cup saying 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."

Notice that the Lord's supper does not memorialize an experience that we have had. Neither does it memorialize anything that we have done. The Lord's supper recalls to our memory the saving act of God through Jesus' death on the cross.

SLIDE 8

Conclusion:

Just as the hand of God removed the obstacle barring Israel's way into the promised land. So, at Calvary, the hand of God removed the one great obstacle barring our way into heaven, so that we may enter together...united.