WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.919 Well, thank you very much for your welcome. 00:00:03.100 --> 00:00:05.459 It's lovely to be back with you. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.380 It's been, I think, a couple of years since I've been able to be here. 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:15.720 And so it was great to be welcomed at the door by two ladies who said to me, you're looking younger. 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:22.179 It's amazing how you're greeted when you go out to speak at various churches. 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:24.300 So that ranks right up there. 00:00:24.460 --> 00:00:25.679 So thank you for that. 00:00:26.140 --> 00:00:29.740 I guess I'm still not young enough to get the lunch afterwards. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.259 So I'll have to go home. 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:32.899 There you go. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:39.240 Thank you, too, for giving me the liberty to come and talk to you about anything at all. 00:00:40.420 --> 00:00:43.399 That's a huge risk for congregations, can I just say. 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:52.000 A huge risk that the preacher comes and brings a hobby horse out the cupboard and takes it for a canter for 20 minutes or so. 00:00:52.760 --> 00:00:53.799 So thank you for that. 00:00:53.799 --> 00:01:05.679 It's given me the freedom to share with you some thoughts that God has given to me over a number of months as Joshua and I have hung out together. 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:12.740 I've been thinking a lot about what I should be doing as I go forward. 00:01:12.739 --> 00:01:18.140 Just to update you from Graham's comments, I'm no longer an elder at Bellevue Chapel. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:22.979 It's not that I've done anything wrong and they kicked me off or anything. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:31.359 It was just I thought I'd done it so long that there were far more talented people, a lot younger than me, with a lot more energy, that could do the job a whole lot better. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:41.079 So in the phrase that goes along with these, I stood down, it makes you sound as if you're on some kind of sort of great elevated position that you stand down from. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:42.079 That's not it at all. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:43.599 But so there you go. 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:45.379 You're up to date in my life. 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:48.859 I want to share with you some thoughts from the book of Joshua. 00:01:49.039 --> 00:01:52.219 So keep that passage open. 00:01:52.819 --> 00:01:54.900 A great tutor of the New Testament reading. 00:01:54.900 --> 00:02:02.080 It helps us just to ground some of that in what the New Testament says to us as well. 00:02:02.219 --> 00:02:03.100 So thank you for that. 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:12.099 We'll not be looking at Ephesians, but you, as you're listening to God this morning, can make the links, I'm sure. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:15.020 I've always loved the story of Joshua. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:22.180 I don't know if you, like me, when you were younger, were kind of dragged along to Sunday school, kicking and screaming, 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:28.040 knowing that the likelihood is you were going really to listen to something that was probably going to be boring, 00:02:28.540 --> 00:02:31.360 and you'd far rather get home, get out of your Sunday best. 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:35.760 We don't do Sunday best now, most of us, but we did then, and get out to play. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:40.120 Well, I was always thrilled with the story of Joshua. 00:02:40.819 --> 00:02:45.680 It appealed to me because there was violence, there was battles. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:53.120 Do you know, and I suspect if Hollywood picked it up, you know, most of our kids wouldn't get to see it. 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:55.980 It would be an 18 certificate, I rather suspect. 00:02:56.379 --> 00:03:00.480 A Canaanite call girl, you know, cities being plundered. 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:07.400 People dying, more blood than death for your average thrill junkie. 00:03:07.480 --> 00:03:10.219 Guaranteed, I would imagine, an 18 certificate. 00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:13.159 I'm sure it will rival Outlander. 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:14.800 People tell me that's very good. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:21.380 I've never seen it, and I rather suspect it's probably the type of program Christians shouldn't watch. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.160 But if you've watched it, don't feel guilty about it. 00:03:24.200 --> 00:03:26.480 You can always confess and don't watch it again. 00:03:26.760 --> 00:03:31.120 But I suspect it's probably a bit like that. 00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:37.820 But Joshua, of course, is not a drama from the pen of someone's overactive imagination. 00:03:38.820 --> 00:03:42.780 This drama is the story of God's people. 00:03:42.780 --> 00:03:55.840 And it's a story, a fantastic account of what it means to bravely and confidently take possession of what God has given to you. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.740 Joshua here is Israel's new leader. 00:03:59.920 --> 00:04:01.620 He's the successor to Moses. 00:04:02.020 --> 00:04:05.520 What huge sandals to fill these were. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:11.480 But he's God's man for God's people, for God's moment. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:20.319 And the whole story, you see, is based on a promise that God has given to his people, that they are to have a land. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:24.680 It's a promise that he gave to Moses as well. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:30.219 But it goes further back than that, because it was a promise God gave to Abraham, wasn't it? 00:04:30.740 --> 00:04:33.279 You're going to be the father of a great nation. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:37.060 A nation that I'm going to bless, he tells him in Genesis 12. 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:44.100 And a nation that I am going to give a land, a place that you will inherit. 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:51.439 And so this little story points back in time, and it points forward in time. 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:58.000 And that means that it's not a story, you see, that's locked in history, and we can just forget about it. 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.240 It's a story we are part of. 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:10.579 Because God's great promise to Abraham, God's great promise to Moses, and God's promise to Joshua is a promise to you and me. 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:16.460 Because as we will see towards the end of this morning, it's a promise we are part of. 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:19.019 There is still something to come for us. 00:05:19.579 --> 00:05:27.480 Those of us who are in Christ, those of us who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, are yet to receive an inheritance, the writer tells us. 00:05:28.019 --> 00:05:30.000 A place he describes it of rest. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:37.459 A place where you can kick your shoes off, metaphorically, sit up and spend time with Jesus for eternity. 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:39.839 Wow, what a place to go into. 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:46.399 So this story then is important for us. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:55.019 It's important for us as individuals because we do need to reflect, don't we, on our place in God's plan. 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:58.819 It's not that we are all to be Joshers. 00:05:58.819 --> 00:06:06.040 But we, like him, need to be God's people and we need to be aware of God's plan. 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:16.480 And perhaps like the people then, you're standing on the edge of something that God wants you to do. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:21.560 A promise that you need to take possession of. 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:24.200 And that's a huge theme in this book, you see. 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:29.780 Taking possession of what God has promised to you. 00:06:29.779 --> 00:06:39.799 Now, as I reflected on this story, it occurred to me that here were a group of people who had in the past failed to do that. 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:50.579 And as a result, as you probably know, as they wandered in the desert for 40 years, an entire generation missed out on a promise that God had made to them. 00:06:50.579 --> 00:06:54.139 But now there's an opportunity again for them. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.659 God always brings us back to opportunity. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:58.159 Even out of failure. 00:06:58.300 --> 00:06:58.899 What a message. 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:01.699 Even out of failure, God brings you back to opportunity. 00:07:03.039 --> 00:07:09.079 And he stands before them again with that message for Joshua and through Joshua to the people. 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:18.039 And we find it in verse 2, arise, get up and go and possess what I have promised to you. 00:07:19.099 --> 00:07:32.860 Now, I don't know if you like me, when God presents you with something new, an opportunity, a change in direction, a challenge in life. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:36.180 The first thing you do is bite your fingernails. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:37.899 You begin to worry. 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:41.439 You get a bit afraid of what it might look like. 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:43.579 And, you know, Joshua was like that. 00:07:43.659 --> 00:07:45.099 We find that in verse 9. 00:07:45.379 --> 00:07:51.759 God has to tell him not to be a scaredy cat, not to get worried, not to be afraid, but to be courageous. 00:07:53.419 --> 00:07:59.719 And that little phrase about being strong and about being courageous is repeated at least four times in the first chapter. 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:08.860 And it was repeated to him as part of his commissioning service back in when it's recorded in Deuteronomy 31. 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:14.660 And you see, there is a quality there for you and I who rely on God. 00:08:14.660 --> 00:08:19.960 Even when the future feels strange and difficult and perhaps frightening. 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:25.779 When God is calling you to move into something, to take possession of something. 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:30.519 He also is saying to us to be strong and to be courageous. 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:37.899 But that only kicks in, of course, when you arise and you go and you move on. 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:46.519 You see, taking what God wants to give us is never accomplished from a deck chair or a stroll in the park. 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.600 And for Joshua, there will be barriers to overcome. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:53.319 There's a river in full flood for a start. 00:08:53.620 --> 00:08:55.059 He's going to need to get his feet wet. 00:08:55.159 --> 00:08:56.579 There's going to be battles to fight. 00:08:56.939 --> 00:08:58.000 Enemies to overcome. 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:00.279 Fears and doubts to subdue. 00:09:00.980 --> 00:09:06.639 And also, perhaps, a whole pile of things that he needs to leave behind and that his people needs to leave behind. 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:07.559 Their failure. 00:09:07.860 --> 00:09:08.439 Their sin. 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:12.019 And there's a big lesson for us right away. 00:09:12.019 --> 00:09:15.980 If we're going to move forward for God, he encourages us to leave our sins behind. 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:18.879 So often we carry them with us on a great sack. 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:22.779 And we need to leave them in Christ's grace. 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:32.439 And that's why the promises and the commands and the experiences of Joshua remain for us timeless and noteworthy. 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:35.079 If, like him, we are to succeed for God. 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:44.939 And I want us to focus on what we can learn from these few verses at the beginning of this chapter that will help us take possession. 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:51.639 Help us to understand what it means to really arise and go. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.299 To really move at God's command. 00:09:55.179 --> 00:09:57.759 To conquer our fear and our dismay. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:03.799 And to experience the real strength and courage that comes when you take God at his word. 00:10:03.899 --> 00:10:08.439 So four simple things that come from these first nine verses. 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:09.520 Here's the first one. 00:10:10.100 --> 00:10:13.160 We need to recognize the call of God. 00:10:13.160 --> 00:10:17.680 I want to say to you, God is always calling his people. 00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:18.820 Always. 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:22.660 That's part of the way he operates. 00:10:23.140 --> 00:10:26.740 Speaking into our hearts and lives and calling us. 00:10:28.520 --> 00:10:32.580 You see, every relationship with God starts at his initiative. 00:10:33.020 --> 00:10:35.580 He places that call into our human hearts. 00:10:35.580 --> 00:10:42.100 So often we think, don't we, that we become Christians because, well, it's all started with us. 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:45.120 I've decided to follow Jesus, we sometimes sing. 00:10:45.400 --> 00:10:47.660 I woke up one morning, it seemed like a good idea. 00:10:47.980 --> 00:10:50.360 Life was pretty bad, so I'm going to follow Jesus. 00:10:50.460 --> 00:10:51.580 Isn't that the way it works? 00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:55.360 God places that call into our hearts and lives. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:57.639 And, you know, we hear it. 00:10:57.980 --> 00:10:59.400 And we respond to it. 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:05.299 And God's call had been made to the children of Israel generations before. 00:11:06.079 --> 00:11:07.259 He'd made it to Abraham. 00:11:07.819 --> 00:11:08.860 Get up out of her. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:10.319 Move on. 00:11:10.659 --> 00:11:12.220 Go to somewhere I'm going to show you. 00:11:12.259 --> 00:11:14.539 I'm not telling you where it is, by the way, but I'll show you. 00:11:14.959 --> 00:11:15.919 Just walk with me. 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:17.379 Don't stop. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:17.959 Keep going. 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:21.059 He made it to the people of Israel themselves. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:24.059 And in Egypt, they'd been there for hundreds of years. 00:11:24.139 --> 00:11:25.019 It was their home. 00:11:25.659 --> 00:11:26.960 It wasn't a particularly great home. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:28.180 They had to work really hard. 00:11:28.280 --> 00:11:28.840 It was difficult. 00:11:28.940 --> 00:11:29.400 It was painful. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:31.580 And then God says to them, look, get up and go one night. 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:34.700 Don't stop to pack. 00:11:34.800 --> 00:11:35.600 Don't bake bread. 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:37.280 Just get ready to go. 00:11:39.300 --> 00:11:40.580 And now Moses is dead. 00:11:40.680 --> 00:11:45.360 And it's up to Joshua to ensure the people hear God's call to them. 00:11:45.900 --> 00:11:51.460 And respond, not by sitting where they are, trying to work out what they should do, 00:11:51.860 --> 00:11:55.540 but getting on with what God had said to them. 00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:59.879 How unsettling that must have been for them, arriving at that river. 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:01.759 Moses is gone. 00:12:02.379 --> 00:12:05.799 Joshua, the new leaders there, and they're encamped. 00:12:07.459 --> 00:12:11.759 And the temptation, I would imagine, would have been to stay for a while. 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:15.740 Well, we can admire Canaan from this side, the safe side. 00:12:16.899 --> 00:12:22.799 We'll maybe move across when that river's got a bit shallower, or the weather's better. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:25.699 Maybe next week, next month, next year. 00:12:28.899 --> 00:12:31.399 But God's calling them to get up and to go. 00:12:33.319 --> 00:12:36.099 Because God is a God who calls his people. 00:12:37.599 --> 00:12:40.699 I wonder what God's call in your life might be. 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:47.720 Of course, to hear God's call, well, you need to be listening for it for a start. 00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:53.060 It might be the first time you've ever really known that God calls people to himself. 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:55.180 Maybe you've never thought of that before. 00:12:55.280 --> 00:12:56.600 You've been coming here for weeks. 00:12:57.300 --> 00:13:02.460 You've never really thought that God might have something for you to do. 00:13:03.040 --> 00:13:07.020 Maybe it's just to come to him in salvation and faith and trust. 00:13:07.019 --> 00:13:16.100 The New Testament writers talk frequently of people being called into the purposes of God. 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:17.319 That's the big picture. 00:13:17.699 --> 00:13:20.100 Well, what might God be calling to you as an individual? 00:13:20.379 --> 00:13:24.179 What's he calling you to do as a group of Christians here in this part of town? 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:29.819 Sometimes it's really hard to work these things out, isn't it? 00:13:29.820 --> 00:13:36.040 But one thing for sure, never does God call us into inactivity. 00:13:37.180 --> 00:13:43.879 And to be those who admire the view, he calls us into his purposes. 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:46.060 Listen out for his call, please. 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:48.820 God is a God who calls. 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:49.900 Here's the second thing. 00:13:51.560 --> 00:13:57.160 If we're to recognize that call of God, we need to accept the promises of God. 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:57.360 What? 00:13:59.139 --> 00:14:06.699 Joshua has received from God a confirmation here of an ancient promise that was made to Abraham and then to Moses. 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:10.219 He's now within touching distance of its fulfillment. 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:12.959 Look at verse 5, an incredible verse. 00:14:13.100 --> 00:14:14.179 God says to Joshua, 00:14:14.980 --> 00:14:20.360 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I was with Moses. 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:22.139 So I will be with you. 00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:24.339 I will not leave you or forsake you. 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:25.040 What a promise. 00:14:25.160 --> 00:14:27.120 Or in reality, three promises. 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:28.360 A promise of victory. 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:32.560 A promise of consistency, just as I was with Moses. 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:35.019 That tremendous leader all those years. 00:14:35.100 --> 00:14:36.680 I'm going to be the same with you. 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:41.920 And what's more, I'm not just sending you across there and waving at you from the back. 00:14:42.139 --> 00:14:43.460 I'm coming with you. 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:47.560 Now he's a soldier, so that must make music to his ears. 00:14:47.860 --> 00:14:49.320 He's going to be victorious. 00:14:49.320 --> 00:15:01.260 But all the more so to a leader who's new in his role, feeling the pressure, worrying if the people are going to follow him or they're going to stone him to death for the very idea. 00:15:01.259 --> 00:15:08.379 Because in this call, every inch of the land will need fought for. 00:15:09.179 --> 00:15:15.860 How important to Joshua and the people then to know the faithful promise of God who will never let them down. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:27.439 Now we could spend hundreds of hours reviewing in Scripture the many, many promises that God has made to his people and to you and me. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:33.320 And the fantastic truth is that not one of them has ever been broken. 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.520 Now they're not all intended for us, of course. 00:15:36.660 --> 00:15:40.220 Some of them are intended for the context in which they come. 00:15:40.300 --> 00:15:47.900 But listen, there are some promises in Scripture that we need to know are absolutely for us. 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:51.180 Here's one, Romans 10 and 9. 00:15:51.179 --> 00:16:00.500 If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:02.379 What a promise. 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:04.019 What a promise. 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:06.979 1 John 1 and 9. 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:12.079 If we make it our habit to confess our sins, we were doing that in prayer as Graham led us. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.219 What a habit to get into because you know what? 00:16:14.259 --> 00:16:14.759 We're sinful. 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:18.699 Each and every jolly day it happens to me. 00:16:18.700 --> 00:16:24.300 And I think one of these days I'm going to get to the end of the day and I'm no need to go and do it. 00:16:24.800 --> 00:16:25.400 I won't need to. 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:26.520 I've been sinless for a day. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:28.100 Never works. 00:16:28.680 --> 00:16:29.400 Never works. 00:16:29.580 --> 00:16:30.340 Something happens. 00:16:31.640 --> 00:16:41.140 But here if we make it our habit to confess our sins in his faithful righteousness, says John, he forgives us for those sins and he cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:41.840 We're brand new. 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:43.320 What a promise. 00:16:43.900 --> 00:16:44.600 What a promise. 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:52.600 In Philippians 4, 19, my God will supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah, Jesus. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:54.300 Everything we need. 00:16:55.100 --> 00:16:58.820 Because that's not always everything we want or everything we think we need. 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:00.000 It's in God's view. 00:17:00.259 --> 00:17:02.399 But it's everything we actually need. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:19.960 But if we are to take God at his word to fulfill his call on our lives, then accepting the promises he has made to us as real promises is vital to our success as a disciple of his. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:23.900 So let's accept the promises God makes to us. 00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:24.900 Here's the third thing. 00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:30.279 We need to stand on the word of God. 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:32.559 We need to stand on the word of God. 00:17:32.639 --> 00:17:43.339 Now, it would be really hard to underestimate the central importance of God's written word to the progress and to all that God had promised Joshua. 00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:49.399 And that's a truth that I would suggest remains for you and for me today. 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:52.859 A world in which nothing really kind of matters. 00:17:52.859 --> 00:17:57.779 I was listening to some nonsense in the radio, Radio Scotland on my way in. 00:17:57.899 --> 00:18:00.179 Some wise and learned individual. 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:02.319 I can't remember his name, but he's written some book. 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:03.819 I can't even remember the title. 00:18:03.919 --> 00:18:06.199 But he was talking about God's word evolving. 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:10.339 And our understanding of it evolving with it. 00:18:10.659 --> 00:18:14.699 Therefore, we could change it to kind of work out where we are at a society. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:16.039 What utter nonsense. 00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:20.440 I felt myself shouting at the radio the way I shout at the sat-nav. 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:23.599 You know, it's funny how you end up shouting with technology. 00:18:23.879 --> 00:18:24.420 But there you go. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:28.559 Joshua only had a fraction of the scripture we have. 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:32.599 But what he had was not only sufficient. 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:36.159 It was integral to keeping his people on track. 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:40.240 He wasn't to go about studying the manuals of war. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:46.819 Rather, he was to read frequently the law that Moses had set down from God. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:53.720 And it's interesting that the counsel of God starts with a warning that Joshua was to be careful. 00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:59.019 He was to act with care and diligence to ensure that he did all according to the law. 00:18:59.299 --> 00:19:01.680 To do so without turning from it. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:10.099 I wonder how many times he remembered in his early life of how the people turned from God's word. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.680 He disobeyed the law and suffered as a result. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.480 Not for him, I'm sure, was his commitment. 00:19:18.299 --> 00:19:20.579 And for this people on the verge of God's blessing. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:26.559 God gives him three things in verse 8 that he needs to do in order to guide this people forward. 00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:30.279 The law was not to depart from his mouth. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:33.400 He was to talk about it. 00:19:34.120 --> 00:19:40.039 This would be a means of ensuring that the people stayed occupied with God's thoughts and God's ways. 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:40.899 Isn't it interesting? 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:44.819 Every time he opened his mouth, God's word came out. 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:47.720 I wish that was true for me. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.139 Secondly, he was to meditate on it day and night. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:53.960 He was to think about it constantly. 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:55.579 He was to chew it over. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.659 Because certainly in order to talk about it and apply it, 00:19:58.660 --> 00:20:03.700 he had to know it and had to see how it applied in his life. 00:20:05.980 --> 00:20:09.920 And thirdly, he was to do everything written in it. 00:20:10.600 --> 00:20:15.580 He was to conduct his life in obedience to all of its commands. 00:20:16.860 --> 00:20:19.640 Good old Warren Wearsby, the American theologian, 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:23.460 who's written lots of wee commentaries on the Bible that are great to read. 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:28.600 He observed that the secret of Joshua's victories was not his skill with a sword, 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:34.799 but his submission to the word of God, to the God of the word. 00:20:35.380 --> 00:20:38.000 Now, this point surely doesn't need to be made. 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:44.660 And yet I know from my own life how little time I make really for God's word. 00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:48.560 And even when I know what God's word says to me, 00:20:48.620 --> 00:20:50.340 how often I think, well, I know better. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.240 And I go off in my own kind of direction. 00:20:55.100 --> 00:20:56.360 Not for Joshua. 00:20:57.060 --> 00:21:00.860 Firmly rooted in the word God had given to him. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:03.480 And it's the same for you and I. 00:21:03.620 --> 00:21:04.160 Never depart. 00:21:05.320 --> 00:21:06.160 Please, never depart. 00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:10.220 From the word God has given to us. 00:21:10.820 --> 00:21:13.080 And here's the fourth thing and the final thing. 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:17.500 They are to go with the presence of God. 00:21:17.659 --> 00:21:23.199 This first part of this chapter and all these promises and exhortations, 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:26.899 they're framed by that repeated promise in verse 5 and verse 9. 00:21:27.299 --> 00:21:28.659 I'm with you wherever you go. 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:31.339 Now, these people had known, hadn't they, 00:21:31.399 --> 00:21:33.679 times when God's presence was obvious. 00:21:33.779 --> 00:21:37.000 The cloud by day, the fire by night, the tabernacle, all of that stuff. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:40.279 They also knew times when his presence was withdrawn 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:44.379 because of their sin and their disobedience. 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:52.180 Now they had the promise of the ever watchful and protective presence of God. 00:21:53.299 --> 00:21:58.440 No situation, no problem, no enemy they are going to face on their own. 00:21:59.399 --> 00:22:03.700 He would be there always, constantly supporting and supplying. 00:22:03.700 --> 00:22:08.779 I want to say to you, if you're concerned about your life or an aspect of your life, 00:22:09.539 --> 00:22:13.500 or you're concerned about your family or your ministries or anything else, 00:22:13.620 --> 00:22:19.100 we can be absolutely sure God is infinitely more concerned about it than we are. 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:23.660 And our need is simply to walk in the light of his presence, 00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:26.840 to count on his guidance, his support, his supply, 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:31.600 and his care by keeping our focus on him. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:35.639 Now again, so many promises in Scripture that God is with us, 00:22:35.719 --> 00:22:38.299 but think of the very last one on the words of Jesus, 00:22:38.500 --> 00:22:41.379 as he, as it were, left earth for him. 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:42.699 What did he say? 00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:46.579 I am with you always, even to the end of the age, 00:22:46.639 --> 00:22:49.119 and yet you and me think it's up to us. 00:22:50.459 --> 00:22:53.219 We've got to do this Christian life thing on our own. 00:22:53.919 --> 00:22:56.740 We forget God's promise. 00:22:56.859 --> 00:22:58.779 Now, it's easy to be trite with that promise, 00:22:58.779 --> 00:23:06.039 and sadly I suspect many of us in our Christian lives are too self-obsessed to realize the presence of God. 00:23:06.379 --> 00:23:08.720 Far less than the words of Brother Lawrence, 00:23:08.879 --> 00:23:12.019 that great monk from a few hundred years ago, 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:15.660 and he would have exhorted us to practice the presence of God. 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:19.160 But when we take God at his word, 00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:22.320 when we do arise and go, 00:23:23.259 --> 00:23:27.060 we will move into all that he has promised, 00:23:27.779 --> 00:23:31.360 and we will know his presence with us. 00:23:32.600 --> 00:23:34.640 Of course, God is saying to these people, 00:23:34.900 --> 00:23:36.759 I'm taking you somewhere different. 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:37.960 You're leaving the desert, 00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:40.259 and it's always great to leave the desert. 00:23:40.259 --> 00:23:44.259 God sometimes takes us into the desert. 00:23:44.420 --> 00:23:46.119 Of course, he took Jesus into the desert, 00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:48.000 but he never wants us to stay there. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:54.200 Because God always wants to take us into his blessing. 00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:57.220 Arise, cross, stop trusting yourself. 00:23:57.339 --> 00:23:57.940 He's saying to them, 00:23:58.339 --> 00:24:00.519 trust me and move out. 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:03.180 Take possession of all that I have given you. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:07.819 For you, that might be a new relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:11.379 It may be a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:11.659 --> 00:24:13.619 It may be a challenge into service, 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:18.079 or into some new activity that you've been resisting, perhaps. 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:19.939 God is saying to you, arise and go, 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:23.500 and I will go with you. 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:29.379 But it's important we take the warnings of Scripture. 00:24:30.679 --> 00:24:33.319 So turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews 4. 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:37.399 The anonymous writer of this particular book, 00:24:37.819 --> 00:24:40.679 reflecting on Moses, 00:24:40.859 --> 00:24:43.679 also reflects on Joshua in chapter 4, 00:24:43.899 --> 00:24:46.139 where he talks in verses 8 and 9, 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.960 actually of the danger of missing out again. 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:52.599 Now, if you're a student of the Old Testament, 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:54.339 you'll know the people didn't miss out. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:57.179 They fought like Belial, won the land, 00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:00.019 and a few hundred years later, 00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:03.379 lose it all because of faithlessness and disobedience. 00:25:03.380 --> 00:25:09.360 Let us, therefore, 00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:10.180 verse 11, 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:12.420 strive to enter that rest 00:25:12.420 --> 00:25:14.240 so that no one may fall 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:16.260 by the same sort of disobedience. 00:25:16.340 --> 00:25:17.820 What a warning to us, isn't it? 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.100 Many of your friends and mine, 00:25:22.220 --> 00:25:22.600 of course, 00:25:22.660 --> 00:25:24.280 are in danger of missing out 00:25:24.280 --> 00:25:25.540 on God's blessing, 00:25:26.540 --> 00:25:27.500 God's rest. 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:29.259 But I want to suggest you 00:25:29.259 --> 00:25:30.059 it's also a danger 00:25:30.059 --> 00:25:31.740 we too may miss out on. 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:35.400 That fullest and richest 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:36.559 of God's blessings 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:39.380 because we never quite took him 00:25:39.380 --> 00:25:40.059 at his word. 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:42.859 We let our fears win 00:25:42.859 --> 00:25:44.480 or we never allowed God 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.380 to really deal with our sin. 00:25:47.660 --> 00:25:49.079 And so we fail to enter. 00:25:49.079 --> 00:25:54.139 Let's not rest now. 00:25:55.740 --> 00:25:57.240 Let's arise and go 00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:00.539 into all that God has promised to us 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:02.179 as he would bless us, 00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:03.879 confident that one day 00:26:03.879 --> 00:26:05.819 in his final and full blessings 00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:07.899 there will be a rest 00:26:07.899 --> 00:26:11.699 and there will be life eternal. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:13.240 May God bless his word 00:26:13.240 --> 00:26:14.559 to us this morning. 00:26:14.699 --> 00:26:15.699 Let's pray together. 00:26:15.699 --> 00:26:16.419 Father God, 00:26:16.420 --> 00:26:19.400 how much we have 00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:20.800 to thank you for 00:26:20.800 --> 00:26:23.300 that so often 00:26:23.300 --> 00:26:25.380 escapes our lips. 00:26:25.560 --> 00:26:27.539 We forget that you're with us 00:26:27.539 --> 00:26:28.160 all the time. 00:26:28.600 --> 00:26:29.680 We get bogged down 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:30.700 in our own problems 00:26:30.700 --> 00:26:31.880 and our own anxieties 00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:32.900 and our own worries. 00:26:34.080 --> 00:26:35.440 We miss out on the future 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:36.560 you really have for us. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:37.080 And so, Father, 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:38.420 this morning as we thought 00:26:38.420 --> 00:26:39.700 a little bit about Joshua 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:41.019 and the challenge you gave him 00:26:41.019 --> 00:26:41.680 and his people, 00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:44.360 you're giving to us in a sense. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:46.360 What is it you're calling us 00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:46.819 to do? 00:26:47.939 --> 00:26:49.339 What are you bringing to us? 00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:50.779 Help us, Father, 00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:51.839 to be those who, 00:26:52.659 --> 00:26:53.279 with confidence, 00:26:53.419 --> 00:26:54.439 not in our own abilities, 00:26:54.599 --> 00:26:55.899 not in our own strength, 00:26:56.699 --> 00:26:57.559 but in the strength 00:26:57.559 --> 00:26:58.459 that you supply 00:26:58.459 --> 00:26:59.979 to take possession 00:26:59.979 --> 00:27:01.099 of all that you are 00:27:01.099 --> 00:27:01.979 blessing us with. 00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:02.759 We ask this 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:04.379 on individuals here, 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:06.119 but also on the fellowship 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:07.359 here at Brunsfield too. 00:27:07.939 --> 00:27:08.899 In Jesus' name. 00:27:09.639 --> 00:27:09.979 Amen. 00:27:09.979 --> 00:27:10.099 Amen. 00:27:10.699 --> 00:27:11.259 Amen.