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On Jul 22, 2018: Joshua 1 Be Strong And Take Courage · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2018. Well, this morning we're here in Joshua chapter 1 as we continue to work our way through the Bible in three years. We saw the book of Deuteronomy where Moses is there on the border of the promised land, right at the Jordan River. He's led the people through the wilderness for 40 years. They're now on the edge. They're about to head into the land that God has promised them to bless them with. And so now as we head into the book of Joshua, we get to see this new leader, Joshua, lead the people of Israel into the land that God had promised that would be theirs. And so Joshua is here. He's a younger man than Moses, obviously, and he has been a leader for a long time. big shoes to fill and a big task ahead of him in the land that is to be conquered. And so God begins this book with a really strong exhortation to him to step up to the task that is at hand. I've titled the message this morning, Be Strong and Take Courage. And I want to take a moment to just thank Michael Ochoa for posing for this picture for me so that After many, many months of training at the police academy, he's looking pretty fit there. So be strong and take courage. Three times in this passage, this instruction is given to Joshua. In verse 6, God says, be strong and of good courage. Then in verse 7, God tells him, only be strong and very courageous. And then in verse 9 again, he says, haven't I commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. And so it's very clear here as we begin this book, as we begin Joshua's new chapter in this ministry that he was called to, God wanted him to do something, right? He wanted him to be strong and to take courage. He repeats it three times so that Joshua gets the point, so that it's clear. This is something you need to hear. This is something you need to grasp hold of. As I was considering these exhortations over and over and over again to Joshua, I began to think about these words to be strong and to have courage or to be of good courage or to be very courageous and And as I looked into the words a bit, I found that these are actually very similar words and can be used interchangeably. In fact, in different contexts throughout the scriptures, these words are each translated, sometimes courage, sometimes strength, sometimes they're used in place of each other or flip-flopped. And they're very similar words in that regard. And yet God uses these two similar words right next to each other to kind of indicate there's different kinds of strength that Joshua needs to have. One commentator put it this way. This is Thomas Constable. He says, And so this is grabbing hold of something, maybe grasping hold of a sword or a shield or holding on to the edge of a cliff, you know, however you might want to picture that, but that grasping hold of something. And then he goes on to say the second implies strength in the knees for standing solidly. And so if you're picturing the battle, because that's what Joshua is leading the people into, you know, you can kind of picture that grasping hold of the weapons, but also standing firm and that that placing the feet and strengthening the knees so that when there is opposition, there is that resistance and they can stand against the enemy. It's perhaps a good way to consider these idea of strength and courage that God is calling Joshua to have. Another way I would maybe think about this, another perhaps illustration for you to play with in your mind is the idea of defense as well as offense. You know, to be a successful team, you have to have a good defense system. Because, well, you're going to get scored on if you don't have a good defense. But you also have to have a good offense. If you have perfect defense... the best you could ever do is a tie, right? Because you're not going to score. You're not going to be victorious if you cannot have a good offense. And so you need the balance of both the defense as well as the offense. And as Joshua is heading into the promised land, they're going to need both offensive and defensive strength in the task that is under hand. Now, The precise definition of these two words and trying to narrow them down to exact definitions, I don't think that's the point. I think the thing that we need to consider this morning is that both of these are commands. Both of these things that God tells Joshua... Whether you want to look at it as defense or offense or strength in the hands or strength in the knees or, you know, boldness or strength internally or strength externally. There's lots of ways that we could consider and illustrate and the Lord could use that to minister to our hearts. But the thing that I would call your attention to as we start is that these words are in the imperative sense, which means that they are commands. And as I look at this, I kind of, first off, think it's a little bit of a strange command to be strong, to have courage. It's kind of like if I was to point you out and say, be taller. Like, how do you do that? Well, you can maybe pretend a little bit, you know, wear some lifts or platforms or something, you know, try to kind of give that appearance, but it's not something you can change. And I think I would typically lump in this idea of be strong or have courage. Like, well, this is part of, you know, who you are and your personality, your character, your nature. It's kind of, you know, part of those things. Not something that you would do in response to a command, but the reality is... Your strength and your courage, it's really a matter of obedience because God has commanded it. He commanded it to Joshua and he commands it to us as well. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Paul the apostle extends this same instruction, the same type of command to You are commanded to be strong in the Lord. I would ask you to consider this morning as we look at Joshua and the instruction given to him. Are you strong in the Lord? Do you have great courage in the Lord? Are you bold in the Lord? Whether or not you are strong in the Lord, if you're a strong Christian, a strong believer, a bold Christian believer, It's not a matter of what kind of personality you have or what kind of upbringing you had or whether you were in a Pentecostal church before this or not. It's not a matter of those kinds of things. It's a matter of obedience. And it comes down to you responding to God's instruction. The point is you have the strength that you need. but you just need to access it. You just need to make the choice to obey God and to have the strength that he has provided for you. You have the courage that you need for the situations you face, for the calling that God has set before you. You have the strength, the courage, the boldness. You have everything you need. God's provided it already. Now the question is, will you walk in that strength that God has provided for you? The commentator Alexander McLaren puts it this way. He says, then strength is a duty. Since it's a command to be strong, then strength is a duty. And then weakness is a sin. Then the amount of strength that we possess and wield is regulated by ourselves. Again, you may not think about it that way typically, but your strength is It's up to you. You get to choose how strong you are. And it is your duty to be a strong believer in Jesus Christ. It is your duty to be a courageous follower of God. It's your responsibility. God charges you. He charges Joshua. He charges me to be strong and to take courage. You don't have to come up with the strength or generate the strength or the courage to It's God who's provided it, but you do have to make the choice to live in that and to walk in that strength and courage that God has provided. And so we're going to look at Joshua as an example of this and a great exhortation for us so that we would receive the strength and the courage that we need from the Lord. We'll look at four different aspects to this as we work our way through the passage here in Joshua chapter one this morning, but we're going to start in verses one through six. Here's point number one, be strong and take courage in God's promises. Where does this strength and courage come from? Well, one of the sources that we need to rely upon and hold fast to is the promises that God has given to us. Let's look again at verses one and two. It says, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people to the land which I'm giving to them, the children of Israel. Here is, we begin the book of Joshua. We have the introduction and this is really a continuation of what we've been reading since Exodus. It's just been one, you know, long flowing account of what God has done in leading his people out and through Moses, leading them through the wilderness. And now we've come to the end of Moses's life there at the end of Deuteronomy in chapter 34. And now Joshua is handed the baton and God speaks to Joshua and he says, okay, Moses is dead. Joshua, you're next. You need to lead this people now into the land that I've given to them. Joshua was Moses's assistant for some time. We see him, first of all, in Exodus chapter 17, when there was the battle between the Amalekites and the Israelites. And Joshua was the guy that Moses said, hey, Joshua, you lead the people into battle. And so he led the people and kind of became the commander of the army at that time. But throughout the rest of the time in the wilderness, we see Joshua referred to as Moses's assistant. He was the servant of Moses. And so he's been alongside Moses for a long time. Helping Moses, serving Moses, you know, serving alongside of him in the different capacities. But now it's a different thing because Moses is gone. And here's Joshua with this massive group of people. At the last census, it was over 600,000 men. When you add in women and children, it's probably several million people. Now, suddenly, he doesn't get to defer to Moses and say, you know, Moses, what do we do? Now, he's gone. It's his responsibility. He has this group of people, this massive group relying upon him, looking to him for leadership. Not only that, but now they're headed into new territory. For the last 40 years, they've been circling in the wilderness. They've been going around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around. So much so that the Lord has to tell them when they're about to cross into the Jordan, the Lord has to tell them, okay, look, you haven't gone this way before. So make sure you follow the priests because for 40 years, they've gone the same way they've always gone. And they kind of got familiar with it. It's like, we know this. We've been this way before. We know this route. We know how this road goes. But now it's uncharted territory. It's new direction. And here's Joshua with this huge task ahead of him. God says, Joshua, you're the one who's going to lead them in to the land that I'm giving to them. Now, notice right there, here we begin to look at those promises of God. God says, first of all, there in verse two, I am giving this land to Israel. This land is theirs. It belongs to the children of Israel. I'm giving it to them. Now, God is not giving it to them in a way that, well, I've already, you know, shooed out all the other inhabitants and moved them along. And so it's all just empty and waiting for you. No, the children of Israel are going to participate in the battle to take this land. But God says, I'm giving it to you. So I'm giving it to you, but you have a part to play, he says to the nation of Israel. I'm going to fight with you. I'm going to fight before you. I'm going to go before you. I'm going to drive out inhabitants before you, but also you're going to be part of those battles and those things that need to take place. And so he gives another promise in verse three, every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you, as I said to Moses. And so here we have this incredible promise from God. This whole land, and he gives the boundaries in verse four from this wilderness to that river. He gives all the boundaries. Okay, this is the land that I've promised to the children of Israel, and I'm giving it to you. It's yours. Here's all you need to do to begin to receive this gift that I've given to you, and that is place the sole of your foot on the soil where you want to take, on the soil of this land that I've given to you. As soon as you put your foot there, it's yours. And everywhere you put the sole of your foot, I am giving you that territory, that land. In verse 5, he says, Here, God continues to give some incredible promises to Joshua. Nothing can stand in the way. This is the land that I've given to you. You put your foot there. I'm giving you that land. No one can stand in the way. No one can stop this work that I am doing. I will be with you and I will not leave you. God says, I'm giving you this land. Now, again, it doesn't mean that they didn't have to fight for it. It doesn't mean that they didn't have a part to play in the taking of this land, but they had the promise. They had the guarantee. If you put your foot there, God says, I'm giving that to you. Within these boundaries, here's this land that I'm giving you. anywhere you put your foot, that's yours. I'm giving it to you. You may have to fight for it. There will be some opposition. There will be some hurdles. There will be some things to address, but it's yours. I'm giving it to you. Every place that you put your foot, but it doesn't mean that they had to put their foot there. That means they had to go into scary territory, go into enemy territory and put their foot on the ground and In the boundaries of, hey, you know, the people say, this is our neighborhood. You stay out of here. This is ours. You're not coming close to us. There's enemy inhabitants and cities and fortified places and boundaries that were claimed. But the children of Israel were now to go in and to put their foot on the land and say, you know, God's given us this land. It was going to require some faith. to trust in these promises that God has given. J. Vernon McGee puts it this way, God has given them the land. The land is theirs, but their enjoyment of it depends on their taking possession of it. That part of the land which they walked would belong to them. It's kind of like if you go to a nice buffet, you have access to the whole buffet, but you only really get to enjoy what you put on your plate. I mean, you could try taking your fork to the buffet line. You'll get kicked out pretty quickly, right? But you have to actually like take it and say, this is, I'm going to eat this. This is mine. In the same way, God leaves out the whole land before them. He says, it's yours. Here's how you put it on your plate. Just go put your foot on the land and I'm giving it to you. Their enjoyment of it depends on their taking possession of it. God has provisioned it. He's given it. It's all there for them. It's promised to them. but they just have to put the sole of their foot on the land that they want. That's the promise. That is God's guarantee. And so he says in verse six, be strong and of good courage. For to this people, you shall divide as an inheritance, the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. And so God says, in light of this promise, in light of this guarantee that I have, here's the land, it's all yours, wherever you put your foot, I'm giving that to you. So be strong and of good courage and start walking around. Go put your feet places. Go take the land that I am giving to you. And God gives the guarantee of completion. He tells Joshua, you will divide this land as an inheritance from which I promised to their fathers. Joshua, you're going to have victory. You're going to have success. You're going to go through this land. You're going to conquer it. And in the end, you're going to divide it. You're going to portion it out and say, this belongs to this tribe, and this belongs to that tribe. And you're going to be the one. You're going to be able to accomplish the taking of this promised land. God promises all of these things to Joshua and then commands him to to be strong and take courage because of it. We can be strong and we can take courage in looking at, in trusting in, in grasping hold of the promises of God. And in looking at the promises of God and understanding what it is that God has declared and what God has said and what God has guaranteed us, We can have strength that we naturally wouldn't have. We can have courage and boldness that we wouldn't have normally or of our own selves. But in looking at the promises of God, we can have great strength to face difficulties, to face hardships, to attack enemies, to defend ourselves against attacks. We can have great strength as we look to what God has declared us. as guaranteed, as promised for us. Now, I do think it is important for us to make a distinction in our minds about things that God has promised and things that are not clearly promised by God. I was considering the book of Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, where the Apostle Paul is interacting with the church of Corinth there a little bit because Well, there's some false teachers that are there. They're throwing accusations against Paul. And one of the accusations relates to that Paul had made plans to go visit Corinth, but never showed up. And so there's these accusations, oh, Paul's flaky, you know, and all of this stuff. You can't trust anything Paul says. Like he said he was coming and he didn't come. And so, you know, there was these accusations. And in chapter one of 2 Corinthians, Paul's addressing that a little bit. And he says, look, when I was planning, I didn't do it lightly. I didn't do it lightly. I'm not just saying yes and no and, you know, switching back and forth and wishy-washy. Things happen, things intervene. He explains the circumstances, but he goes on to explain, because my plans changed, that doesn't change the promises of God. He says, as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in him was yes. And so Paul's making a distinction. Yes, I made plans, and those plans didn't work out the way that I thought. The plans changed, but... Don't equate that with now everything that I've declared about God has changed. He goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20, all the promises of God in him are yes and in him, amen, to the glory of God through us. In Jesus Christ, all the promises of God are yes. In Jesus Christ, as a believer in Jesus Christ, everything that God has promised you, everything that God has for you, it's yes. It's yes. as you believe in Jesus. Not because of your goodness or your works, but because of Jesus. And so in Christ, we have all the promises of God. And so all God's promises are promises in Christ. But we also need to make a distinction. Some things are not promises. Back when I was a teenager, I had this thought in my head. I was going to have an opportunity to purchase a truck and for $300. I was convinced that God was going to do that for me. I knew it for sure. I would tell everybody about it. Now, I don't even think I had the $300, even if the opportunity presented itself. But looking back on that many years later, that wasn't something that God had promised me, but it was a dream that I had. It was something I strongly wished for, something I seriously desired, I wanted, but God didn't actually promise that to me. Unless you have a truck and you want to sell me for $300 and you can fulfill that promise 20 years later, that'd be great, cool. I'd be open to that. But I don't think so. On the other hand, you guys perhaps remember I've shared in the past, God spoke to me about Kim, told me you're going to see the woman you're going to marry tonight. And I saw her and I was like, are you sure, Lord? He said, yep. Okay. But she wasn't interested in me for a long time. That's very discouraging. Okay. She even told me one time, you know, if you like me, we probably shouldn't hang out anymore. But God promised me. We were at a college retreat and came to a breaking point for me and I was just discouraged and man, went off in the woods by myself to just write and wrestle with God a little bit. And I asked the Lord specifically point blank, should I just give up hope? Maybe I didn't hear from you. Should I just give up on this whole idea and The Lord spoke to me from the book of Hebrews as I was spending some time with him to hold fast the hope. I was like, oh, okay, okay. Then I went to the evening session Pastor Pancho Juarez was teaching and he shared from Hebrews the same passage and said, hold fast the hope. And I was like, yes, Lord, yes. That's a promise of God. And so I was given great boldness. I took Richard out to dinner afterwards. I told him, hey, guess what God told me about Kim? Some things God promises and we can hold fast to those. We can have great strength and courage in those. Some of the things that we want dearly and desperately, like a $300 check, maybe God hasn't promised that. But the things that God has promised, take courage, be strong, hold fast. It's not always going to look like that promise will be fulfilled. If it looked like that promise was going to be fulfilled, you understand it wouldn't be faith, right? Faith is the substance of things not seen. The land was given to Israel, but it was filled with enemies. God says, that's your land, but there's castles in there, and there's warriors who want to kill me. What do you mean that's mine? Yeah, go put your foot there and fight that battle. I'll fight with you. It's yours. It doesn't always look like that promise will be fulfilled, but take courage and be strong. You can trust in the promises of God. And that goes for those personal things, like the examples that I gave it. It also goes for the promises that we have in the scriptures. There are promises, abundant promises that God has given to us as believers in Jesus. Promises about eternity, promises about being conformed into the image of Christ, promises about being that perfect reflection of Jesus Christ. And sometimes you might look in the mirror and you're like, that promise ain't being fulfilled, man. I mean, I'm a mess full of sin and mistakes and issues and I'm nothing like Jesus. Be strong. Take courage. He will fulfill his promises. God's promises are promises. The promises of peace, the promises of joy, the promises that God has for you are things that you can take great strength in. And again, I would remind you, you get to choose how strong you are. You get to choose. You stand there and see the enemy and you freak out and then run away. And you say, well, it's just because I'm not strong enough. That's your choice. You get to choose how much you believe God at his word. You get to choose how strong and bold and courageous you are. Again, maybe think about it in the idea of defense and offense. There was an offensive side to what God had called the nation of Israel too, that they had to go and take land, take territory, take And perhaps there are some promises that God is giving to you. And he's saying, you need to take this. You need to claim this. You need to walk in this. You need to do this to receive what I've promised you. But then there's also the defensive because the children of Israel would take territory. They would take a city and And later on, that city would be attacked. Inhabitants would come against and they had to stand and defend that territory that God had already given to them with the promise, with the guarantee, that's theirs. You can't take this from me. God has given this to me. In the same way, there's promises that perhaps you've kind of given up on and you've let lapse. Be strong and take courage because God has great promises for you. Continuing on to verse seven and eight, we get point number two, and that is be strong and take courage to obey God's word. Check out verse seven. It says, only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go. Here God says in verse 6, be strong because of these promises. It's guaranteed you're going to have victory. You're going to be able to divide the land. But now in verse 7 and 8, he begins to talk about the commands that Moses has recorded for them. And he says here in verse 7, only be strong and very courageous. Notice what it says next, that you may observe to do according to all the law. First of all, you can be strong and courageous because God has given you great promises, great guarantees that God has for you. But in walking in those promises, there's going to be some obedience to the Lord that is required. There's going to be some instruction from the Lord that you will need to walk in. And that instruction from the Lord is not for the faint of heart. It's not for the weak, right? It's not for those who have no courage. It's going to require strength and courage to do what God has commanded to do. Now there's great promise of blessing in the obedience of what God has commanded. But the walking in that obedience, he says, be strong and very courageous. That you may observe to do according to all the law. You're going to have to receive strength and courage from the Lord to be able to do what God has called you to do. But notice a couple of things about this. The instruction is already provided. You don't have to come up with what you need to do. You don't have to, you know, invent new commands. It has already been recorded for Joshua. Moses wrote down. We have the first five books of the Bible. They're the books of Moses, right? The records of Moses as he recorded from the beginning, but in through their history as it was being lived out in the deliverance from Egypt and the time in the wilderness and right up to the edge. And in that he was recording not only the events, but the commands of God, the instruction of God. And now looking at Joshua, God says, look, you have this completed book of instructions and commands, right? You need to do all that I've commanded, all that Moses recorded for you, but it's already there. It's already packaged together. You have all of the instruction that you need. And then notice as he goes on in verse eight, he says, "'This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, "'but you shall meditate in it day and night "'that you may observe 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.'" So God tells Joshua, look, all the instruction is already provided. You have everything you need. And then he says, look, and if you do this, you're going to have good success. You're going to be prosperous. You're going to be victorious. You're going to experience victory as you walk in these things. So God's provided everything. He's promised great blessing for the obedient, but he points out, here's what it's going to take for you to be obedient. You're going to need to be strong and you're going to have to take courage. If you're waiting for your mind and your heart to just suddenly get on board with the program of God and just start walking in the things of the Lord and start doing what God said without any wrestling or debate or internal battle, you're going to be waiting for a long time. No, there's actually some effort that God puts in your court and he says, look, I'm You have all the instruction. You don't have to come up with it. You have great promise of blessing if you will walk in it, but it's not just going to happen automatically and it's not necessarily going to be easy, but you have what you need. Be strong, take courage and obey. Do what God has commanded you to do. Alexander McLaren puts it this way. If you are not a bold Christian and you will very soon get frightened out of obedience to your master's commandments. Courage, springing from the realization of God's helping strength, is indispensable to any man in any age to live out thoroughly and consistently the principles of the law of Jesus Christ. Courage, it's indispensable. It's going to require great boldness, strength, and courage from you to obey God. But he says, look, you can set yourself up to obey God. You can prepare yourself for success in this by filling your life with the word of God. And so he tells Joshua again in verse eight, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night. Don't let it depart from your mouth, but you're to be continually talking. with God about his word. That's what this idea of meditate means. It's literally a muttering. It's you're talking with God. It's a dialogue. It's a conversation with God about his commands. And maybe sometimes the conversation is, God, this is really hard. I can't believe you're asking me to do this. But it's a conversation with God about his word. And that's the idea that you are to continually have a conversation and a dialogue with God about his word and Because notice he says, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. So obedience requires two things. In verse seven, it requires strength and courage. In verse eight, it requires familiarity. You need to become very familiar with the word of God, to talk about it with God consistently, regularly, continually, constantly. In order to obey God's word, you need to know it. And if you will fill your mind and fill your heart and fill your mouth with the word of God and have the strength and the courage that God has for you to then do what God says, then God says there is great promise of success, great promises of victory, great promises of blessing for those who will obey. We have everything that we need for this. But it is up to us to begin to enjoy the benefits and the blessings that God has promised. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Just like Joshua had a package together, here's God's instruction. We have packaged together a little bit more than Joshua had, not just the first five books, but well, the complete Old and New Testament. We have packaged together all scripture that is inspired by God, that is profitable, created by God, designed to do a work, and it will accomplish that work for doctrine, for correction, for reproof, for instruction, and So that we have everything that we need. We have everything that we need to experience this promise of blessing from God that comes from obeying God. Be strong and take courage to obey God's word. And again, this was not going to come without opposition. There is going to be battles. There's going to be battles internally because, well, there are parts of me that does not want to obey God. There is that sinful nature. There is various aspects to that. There's things in my heart. There's things in my mind that, well, wants to fight against obedience to God. There's situations in our families that Well, would resist against us being obedient to what God has declared. There's situations in our society, there's ideas and mindsets and philosophies around us that would resist and try to prevent us from doing what God has said and obeying God's word. But God says, take courage, be strong. You have everything that you need. Walk in obedience to what I have said. You get to choose. how strong you are. And you choose, you choose whether or not you're going to be strong or weak in obedience to God and walking with God. Again, maybe think about this in the idea of offensive and defensive. On the offensive side, there are commands that God has given that you've never even attempted to obey. You've never tried to walk in them. You've never tried to. Maybe it wasn't time. Maybe it is now, but there's new territory for you to take. There's new cities. There's new land. There's offensive things. You need to go and do what God has commanded you and called you to do. Be strong. Take courage and do those things that God calls you to. On the defensive side, there's some things that you have been doing in obedience to God and that arena of your life is under attack. And there is resistance to that. And there is the threat, there is the danger, the potential for you to surrender that area of your life when God's calling you to hold that ground. No, don't give up on that practice, on that habit, on that walk, on the things that I've called you to. And perhaps it's well past that stage for you in some aspects of your life that the surrender happened a long time ago. And the enemies come back in, set up camp and he's camped out there in in that place that God has given to you. Be strong. Take courage. Don't let that stand, but begin again to obey God and those things that he has instructed you. Are there ways that you used to be obedient that have long been surrendered to the enemy? Don't let that stand. Are there things in your life that are under attack trying to keep you from obeying God in that same path that you've been on? Don't let that stand. Stay faithful. And are there new ways, new territory that God wants you to take in obedience to him? Be strong and take courage to obey God's word. Moving on to verse nine, we get the third point. And here it is, be strong and take courage because God is with you. Be strong, be strong. Take courage, well, because God has great promises for you. It comes with some responsibility on your part, and you're going to need strength and courage to walk in that. But here's another reason why you can have that strength and courage, because God's with you. He tells Joshua in verse 9, have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. God's still speaking to Joshua, says, haven't I commanded you? Again, be strong, take courage. These are commands. Do this. I've told you to do this. So be strong, take courage, and do it. Don't be afraid. Now, why would Joshua be afraid? Well, there's a lot of fearful things. He has a lot of responsibility. He's going to have to face enemies. There's going to be battles. There's going to be victories. There's going to be defeats. There's a lot of reason to be afraid. A lot of temptation to be dismayed, just completely freaked out, flipped out, giving up. There's lots of temptation, lots of reason to feel those things. But God says, I've commanded you. I've commanded you. Be strong and of good courage. And he tells him why at the end of verse nine. For the Lord your God is with you. Joshua, I am with you wherever you go. Wherever you put the sole of your foot, I'm giving you that land and I'm with you. Wherever you go, I am with you. It's the promise of God's presence. Jesus gave a similar promise as he gave the great commission in Matthew 28. Go therefore and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded. And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. The presence of God is promised in God is with you and so you can take courage. But I would also consider this in another aspect and that is not just in the sense of being around. God's not just saying, hey, I'm within earshot, so if you need help, you can call out to me and I'll be around. But when God says he's with you, It also is indicating that he is for you. He's on your side. He's with you, not just in the general area, but he's with you in the work, in the battle, in the situation that is at hand. Paul the apostle puts it this way in Romans 8 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? If God is for us and God is for us, so who can be against us? Now, again, this requires faith. Because, well, on the battlefield, I look and I see a whole line of people that it can be against me, right? But the faith, the trust in God, God, you're with me, it puts things in a different perspective in knowing that even though there is this opposition, even though there is this great difficulty and affliction and attack, even though all of this is going on, God is with me. He's in this battle for me. He is working in the midst of this situation. In the victories, and I would suggest within the defeats as well. If you think about Israel, we're going to read as we continue on in Joshua later this week that they're going to go into the promised land and take Jericho miraculously. Big city, big victory, but then comes Ai, right? That little city. And they think, hey, this one shouldn't be much trouble. Just send a few of us. We'll go take them out. But they were defeated. They were defeated because there was sin in the camp that sin had to be dealt with. But even though they were defeated, you know what's interesting? God was with them. Joshua goes to the Lord and says, Lord, what gives? We were defeated. Like what happened? We're in trouble now. All the enemies are going to hear about it. They're going to come and wipe us out. How could you let us be defeated? But God was with them. He showed them the issue. He showed them what needed to take place. He showed them how to address the sin. He hadn't given up on them. He hadn't abandoned them. This was part of his work in them, part of his work in giving them the victory that they needed to have. And so in the victories, in the defeats, be strong and take courage because God is with you. Sometimes that's difficult in the midst of our own failures or those kinds of issues. But God hasn't given up on you. He hasn't finished you. and just walked away like, you're just too difficult. I'm just, I'm done. You know, throw in the towel. I'm not going to do it anymore. No, God's with you. He's on your side. He is for you. Thick and thin, good and bad, victory and defeat. Be strong and take courage because God is able to work even in the midst of whatever you might be going through at the moment. You get to choose how strong you are. Comes back to you. How much do you trust God and believe God in what he has declared? Well, I want to finish it up with one last point, and that is found in verses 16 through 18 here of Joshua chapter 1. As Joshua goes forth from this instruction from the Lord, he goes on and gives instruction to the people and starts to prepare them. Hey, we're going to be crossing over the Jordan. And as he addresses the people, the people respond to him in verses 16 through 18. And that gives us point number four. And that is be strong and take courage for the people around you. Here's what it says in verse 16. So they answered Joshua saying, Joshua tells them, okay, get ready, guys. We're going to cross over, and here's what the Lord has said. And the people say, great. And they commit to follow Joshua. Everything you command us, they say, we're going to do. And wherever you send us, we're going to go. They commit to listen to Joshua. Hey, we heeded Moses, and we're going to heed you just as well, just like Moses. And they say, And we're going to obey you. And if anybody doesn't obey you, there's going to be consequences. There's going to be judgment as a result. And so the people are with Joshua. They're committed. They're solid. They're going to go with Joshua into the promised land with one request. Only be strong and of good courage. The people ask Joshua the same thing that God commands Joshua. They ask Joshua to be strong and to take courage. Now, these two words, again, used over and over for Joshua, probably indicates to us that Joshua needed this instruction, this exhortation. He was freaked out about the task at hand of what needed to be done. And it is the case. For us to walk with God, we will often have those kinds of feelings and face those kinds of situations. God always calls people who are inadequate, who are inadequate, If he could ever find an adequate person, he would call them too. But he can't find adequate people. He can only find us, inadequate people, frail, faulty, messed up. We always feel unprepared. We always feel unworthy. And when we don't feel unprepared and unworthy, it's because we're on the other side of pride and we've got other kinds of issues. And it's always an issue of inadequacy when God calls us to something. And so God instructs Joshua, be strong and of good courage. Yeah, you don't measure up, but I've given you everything that you need. I've given you all the instruction. I've given you the promises. I've given you all the resources, the assurity, the guarantee of victory. Now the people, they look to Joshua and they say the same thing. Joshua, here's what we need from you. We'll be with you. We're gonna walk with you. Here's what we need from you. You need to do what God has called you to do. You need to be strong and take courage. Serving God requires this of all of us. And here's the thing to think about. The people around you may not be able to express this in the same way that the children of Israel did here to Joshua. But if they knew what was best for them, if they were able to articulate what was best for them, what they needed the most, this is what they would say to you. Your friends, your family, your coworkers, the people around you, here's what they would say to you. Be strong and take courage. This is what the people around you need most from you. It's required to serve God and fulfill what he has called you to and the calling that he's placed in you. But also understand, for the sake of the people around you, you need to be strong and take courage. The best thing that you can do for the people around you is to have a strong relationship with God, to obey God boldly and courageously. to fill your mind and your heart with the word of God, to walk in it obediently, to hold fast to the promises of God and look for that victory. The best thing that you can do for the people around you is to be strong and take courage. And you get to choose how strong you are. You get to choose how well you live up to that. It's up to you. God's provided everything that you need, but he gives you the opportunity to participate by choosing to obey, to be strong, and to take courage. A while back, Pastor George and Patty discipled me and Kim in the Survivor TV show. We watched it for a few seasons. It was fun. It got old after a couple seasons, but... For those couple seasons, you know, one of the things that I really appreciated about the show was the challenges that they would come up with. And some challenges were physical challenges. Some of them were puzzle challenges, you know, to kind of, you know, level the playing field with different types of people and body types and all of that. But the ones that I always really liked and appreciated was what I would call the strength of will challenges, where it really didn't matter how smart you were. Your IQ didn't matter. Your physical strength necessarily didn't matter. But it was like, hold this pole and stand on this small ledge over water. Last one standing wins the prize. And it didn't so much have to do with how strong you were, how athletic you were, how smart you were. It was all about how much willpower do you have? How determined are you to hold on no matter how you feel, no matter how tired you are, no matter how old this gets, you know, how... How much willpower do you have? Strength of will. In a similar way, God has given us great promises, instruction, great blessings that are promised, all the resources that we need, but he calls us to exercise some strength of will. Again, we don't have to generate the strength, but we do have to choose and to face adversity and hold fast and be strong and take courage and walk in the way that God has called us to. And whatever you're facing in this life, again, whether it be an offensive season or a defensive season, or maybe a mix of both, there's things that God wants to do. There's things that need to happen. There's things that you need to walk in and that people around you need to be walking in. Be strong. Now's not the time to be weak, but you get to choose whether or not you're strong or weak by obeying God, holding to his promises, receiving from his word. You get to choose. Will you be strong and take courage or not? Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us. Lord, that you would help us in the situations that we face. Lord, in the calling that you have for us and each of us where we are in our walk with you. Lord, that you would meet us here in this place and in the place where we are in our lives and in our hearts. Lord, that you would help us to be strong. Help us not to buy into the lie of the enemy that we are weak. Help us not to give in to the weakness of our flesh, but Lord, help us to look to you and receive the strength and the courage that we need. Lord, as we look in the New Testament, we see that you provided strength one way by pouring out your Holy Spirit upon your people. And so Lord, I pray for that now. Lord, as you poured out your Holy Spirit upon the church in the book of Acts, then they were bold and they spoke your word with great boldness. They had strength. Lord, would you pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, fill us, refresh us and renew us in you, Lord, that we might have strength and boldness to walk with you, to obey you, to believe your promises, to be the men and women that you've called us to be. Help us, God, to be strong men. courageous women who know you, who love you, and walk with you no matter what. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.