Strong and Courageous

Joshua 1:1-9

Strength and courage come from the conviction that God’s promises and presence are unwavering.

I. Stand on God’s Promises (vv.1-4)

II. Rest in God’s Presence (vv.5-6)

III. Submit to God’s Word (vv.7-9)

00:00 Series Kickoff: Resolve Requires Strength & Courage

02:36 Why Study Biblical Men? A Defense from 1 Corinthians 10

04:16 Sermon Thesis: Courage Comes from God’s Unwavering Promises & Presence

05:30 Joshua’s Backstory: Moses Dies, Leadership Passes, Promised Land Ahead

07:52 God Reaffirms the Promise: ‘Every Place Your Foot Treads’

10:24 Point 1 — Claim God’s Promises (Not Prosperity Gospel)

12:36 Know What God Actually Promised: Reading the Bible in Context

16:59 Fight for the Promise: Act Before You See Fruit

22:39 God’s Presence for the Mission: ‘I Will Never Leave You’ (Joshua → Hebrews)

25:43 Hebrews Applies Joshua’s Promise to Us: “I’ll Never Leave You”

27:23 Point #2: Believe God’s Presence (Greater Than Joshua’s)

28:21 Practicing the Presence: Brother Lawrence & Praying Without Ceasing

29:18 God’s Presence as Real Security: From Daily Irritations to Gospel Boldness

32:32 God Knows the Dirty Details: Hairs, Psalm 139, and Intimate Care

35:16 Point #3: Be Strong & Courageous by Carefully Obeying God’s Word (Josh 1:7–9)

37:32 What “Careful” Means: Tenderness, Danger, and Not Twisting Scripture

39:43 Three Ways to Obey: Comprehensive, Resolute, Meditative

44:35 Courage for the Real Battle: Killing Sin for Family, Church, and Neighbors

46:27 Final Prayer: Trust His Promises, Presence, and Walk in Faithfulness

So this series is, is all about looking at different men

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throughout the old and New Testament

to showcase to us what it looks like

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to put it all on the line and to

be okay with whatever that costs.

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So as we look today, this morning,

uh, one of the things that we're

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gonna look at is the life of a man

who shows us what it looks like

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to live with strength and courage.

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Now, strength and courage are

what's necessary to be resolved.

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You can't be resolved without

having the strength to fortify that

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commitment and courage to pursue that.

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As I mentioned already, and as Pastor

Peter has been talking about on the

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weekends, we are constantly bombarded

with temptations to abandon our

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faith, or at least to lessen it, to

quiet it so that others are pacified.

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Uh, by our unwillingness to stand for

Christ in, in bold and honest ways.

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So what I want you to think about

is that every aspect of your life,

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though every, everything in your

life worth having, requires you

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to resolve to have that thing.

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If you're married, you know that you've

resolved before God and before man to

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love and honor your spouse for the rest of

your life, as far as it depends upon you.

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That kind of resolve requires you

to be strong in your commitments and

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courageous to love this person you're

with your spouse, no matter what happens.

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And we all know bodies change, life

change, all sorts of situations can

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change that dynamic, and yet you're

committed to that and it's worth having.

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You can also think about some of you

guys pursuing technical degrees or

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advanced degrees, terminal degrees.

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Uh, it it's required of you

to be resolved to pursue that.

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And unless and until you're willing to

put down the money and the time to do

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that, uh, you're not gonna get the degree,

you'll get conferred the degree only after

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you put in the resolve to have that thing.

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Well, we can understand how marriage and

degrees all, all, all require this kind of

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resolve, but when we look at our Christian

faith, it's really not that different.

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Uh, a resolve to your Christian

faith means you being willing to say

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whatever it costs to get the thing.

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I want to put down the effort, the

time, the money, the resources, the

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physical stamina to get the thing.

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And then Christian.

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The Christian life, the thing

is not salvation per se.

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We receive salvation that's conferred

upon us by grace through faith, but

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what we get is the relationship with

God that we were designed for you are

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resolved, not necessarily to make a

tremendous difference in your world,

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although I hope for that you're resolved,

not necessarily to have a blossoming

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ministry, whatever that might mean to you.

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Your commitments and resolve

is to the Lord, to know him,

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to love him, to live for him.

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That's what this series is about, for

you to enjoy and to, uh, participate in

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all that God has for you in this life.

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For you to do that, you have to have

strength and courage, and that's

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why we're gonna look at Joshua.

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In fact, as you open your Bibles to

Joshua chapter one, I wanna remind you,

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uh, why we're doing what we're doing.

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Some people will take issue with us

looking at the Bible in this way.

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In fact, uh, people that are conservative

and love their Lord and love their

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bibles will see that what we're doing

by looking at the lives of these

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men is, is a misuse of scripture.

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And let me just explain to you why,

uh, they would say, when you do this,

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you're taking scriptures that are, uh,

about an ancient people and you're,

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you're using it to moralize the church.

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Um, it's behavioral modification and

you're taking what God has written

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to these people and you're trying

to draw applications out of it.

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You shouldn't be doing that.

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Now, I just wanna give you a quick defense

of that because I know some people can be

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a bit, I don't know, uh, upset by this.

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Um, let me just give you one text.

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First Corinthians chapter 10.

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Uh, really you're gonna look at verses six

through 11, but I'm gonna quote to you,

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just verse 11 to give you justification

biblically for why we look at the Old

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Testament and draw application out of it.

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Here's what one Corinthians chapter

10, verse 11 says, Paul's talking

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about the Old Testament when he

says, now these things happen to

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them as an example, but they were

written down for our instruction.

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He's talking to the Corinthian church.

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This is New Testament.

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Paul talking to the New Testament Church

and saying what we read about in the Old

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Testament is written down as an example,

and it's written down for our instruction.

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And so the Bible gives us permission

to read our Old Testaments.

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With the eye of saying, how do

I make this apply to my life?

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Now that requires a bit of carefulness.

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We don't wanna take all the scripture

and say, copy and paste to my life,

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but we do wanna look at the Old

Testament and draw application from

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it, which is why we do what we do.

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So as we look at Joshua chapter

one, what we're gonna see is

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that strength and courage.

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Come from a deep and settled

conviction that God's promises

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and presence are unwavering.

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There's the point of my sermon, if

you want to know what this is about.

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Strength and courage come from a deep and

settled commitments that God's promises

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and God's presence are unwavering.

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If I could wave a magic wand over your

life right now, and I said to the Lord,

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Lord, I want you to give these men a

firm belief that everything you promised

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them, including your your, your presence.

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That they believe that 100%

without ever doubting it.

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Your life would change right now because

you would take all of God's word and then

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you would put it to work and you would

say, well, God promises these things.

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I'm gonna tackle that.

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I'm gonna do that.

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It would require strength and courage,

but you would have the necessary tools

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to muster the strength and courage

to trust God and take the active

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steps of faith that he calls you to.

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Strength and courage are required to

believe these things, but they come from.

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Having a deep and settled

conviction that God's promises

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in his presence are unwavering.

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They are always with you, always for you.

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And I think Josh was gonna give us

a taste of what this looks like.

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Okay, Joshua, chapter one.

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If you don't have it open yet, please do.

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We're gonna take a look at Joshua

and, and starting out with verse one.

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We're gonna notice a few things.

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In fact, lemme just give

you a running start here.

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Moses has just died.

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Now Moses, the man of God, the man

for whom God gave Israel the law, the

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pentitude, that is he, he's encouraged

them through Moses' life, but he's

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now off the scene in Deuteronomy 34.

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He gives his farewell speech

and he leaves Joshua in charge.

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Joshua has been training under Moses

for decades at this point, and in

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fact, we see evidences of Joshua's

leadership from the very earliest stages

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when he was fighting, uh, the battle.

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You remember Moses was

holding up his staff.

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The man leading the battle

down in the valley was Joshua.

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So Joshua's been around for a minute,

and he's been able to observe Moses'

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leadership, and now God is giving

Joshua the mantle to take up leadership

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for Israel and now help them move

into conquering the Promised land.

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You remember that Moses was disqualified.

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He, along with all of Israel, were

dq because they did not believe God.

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They didn't trust God.

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They grumbled against him.

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They, uh, actually did this because they

sent 12 spies into the Promised Land.

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And you might recall what happened

is that 10 spies came back and

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brought a scary message to Israel.

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Don't do it.

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There's too, they're too big.

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There're too many.

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But only two men were willing to stand

against the 10 and say, well, actually.

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The land is awesome.

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We can do this.

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Two of those men, one was Caleb, the

other was Joshua, the son of none, the

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one that we're gonna study this morning.

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And so he, he encourages the

people to say, we can do this.

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God has given us this land.

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We just need to go and take it.

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Um, the other 10 spies who are

chiefs of the people of Israel

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said, no, we shouldn't do this.

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Well, God, God judged

him severely for that.

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Uh, punishing them by saying, well,

for the next 40 years, all of you guys

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are gonna wander in the wilderness.

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Many of you are gonna die.

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Most of you in fact, says

everybody, minus those people that

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I approve of, which would include

Joshua, everyone's gonna die.

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Uh, Joshua then steps into leadership from

having 40 years of wandering in the desert

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with Moses, also having the experience

of seeing how Israel has dealt with

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God's promises in the past, and now God's

commissioning him to lead the people.

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So this book depicts all, all of Joshua's

book, depicts them conquering the

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promised Land with Joshua at the lead.

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And what we'll see is that all,

all the things that you and I face

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today are actually, there's a lot

of parallels to how Joshua lives.

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In fact, Joshua has every reason

to be fearful and worrisome and

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anxious because we see in the

text, Joshua's gonna be told by.

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Hey, Joshua.

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Don't sweat it.

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Be strong and courageous, which

all by itself is instructive.

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Take a look at Joshua chapter one with me.

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I'm gonna read verses one.

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Let's read verses one through

four together, and then I'll

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make a few commentary along the

way to help get us started here.

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After the death of Moses, the servant

of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua,

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the son of none, Moses assistant.

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Now that's interesting that God

would introduce him that way.

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This is beginning of Joshua's

book, and yet he still called

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the assistant of Moses.

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God says to Joshua Moses,

my servant is dead.

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Now therefore arise, go over this

Jordan, you and all this people

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into the land that I am giving

to them, to the people of Israel.

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So God's already reminding them.

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The promises are still alive, Moses is

dead, but the promises remain, uh, remain

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alive and ready for them to take it.

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So they're going to cross

the Jordan to do this.

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Verse three, every place.

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Every place to, uh, every place that

the sole of your foot will tread upon.

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I have given to you just as I have

promised to Moses from the wilderness

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and this Lebanon as far as the great

river, the river Euphrates, all

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the land of the hit heights to the

Great Sea toward the going down to

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the sun shall be your territory.

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And just a quick commentary on this,

the land that God is promising,

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Joshua right here is actually massive.

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In fact, the land that God had promised

to Israel was far bigger than anything

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they ever conquered in real life.

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What they did was significant

and we'll, we'll talk briefly

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about that, but God is promising.

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Joshua, I told Moses you guys would have

massive territory, and he reiterates it

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to Joshua saying, every place you set your

foot everywhere, we're talking massive

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land territory here promises to Joshua.

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Uh, and that's verse four.

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All, all the, and, and, and he says,

uh, no man shall be able to stand

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before you all the days of your life.

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So this whole area, God is reminding

Joshua what's about to happen.

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He made promises to Abraham,

which are now carried forward

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through Moses and now to Joshua.

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And what we're seeing here is

Joshua being encouraged by the Lord.

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Joshua is being encouraged by the Lord

to remember I've made promises to Moses.

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And those promises also

apply to you, Joshua.

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Which already tells me

Joshua needs the reminder.

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And I think often we

need the reminder too.

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Joshua's told by God,

remember what I told Moses?

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And basically God's gonna quote him,

uh, quote what he said to Moses, and

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he's saying, look, I'm gonna give you

this land, but I need you to pursue it.

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That's often how the promises work.

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By the way, God makes promises to us,

but those promises are not static.

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They just don't come to us

and wash over us like a wave.

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It's our job like Joshua to receive the

promises of God and then to act upon them.

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Okay, all that.

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Let's start with point number one here.

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Let's claim God's promises.

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We're not health, wealth, and prosperity,

but there is an appropriate place for us

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to say, I'm gonna claim God's promises.

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I'm gonna do that.

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Uh, this is not Christian, uh,

Christian nationalism kind of thing.

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This is not name it in claimants.

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Uh, this is actually saying,

take God's word, believe God's

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word, and act upon God's word.

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That's essentially what

we're trying to get at here.

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Uh, recently, I, I was looking

at an unclaimed property website.

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In fact, I have some unclaimed

property in California.

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It's like 45 bucks or something.

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Uh, but every state has one as

far as I, I've, I've learned.

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And Texas has one as well.

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You can go to Unclaimed Property.

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I forget the website, but you can go

and see how much money you might have

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out there that you haven't touched.

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I, I went through looking at different

people and looking at different names,

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and I, I found my name there and I

don't have anything in Texas unclaimed,

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but there were some people there.

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I found one guy who had $13,870.

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I'm just sitting there and I'm

thinking, what is this guy doing?

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What does he do for a

living that he doesn't need?

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$13,870?

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And there are several people, uh,

whose names it doesn't matter.

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None of us here, um, several people,

several people who have thousands

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upon thousands of dollars just sitting

out there waiting to be claimed.

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And you gotta wonder, okay, what

are these people doing that they

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can afford not to claim all these

tens of thousands of dollars?

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Uh, but what really,

Christians do this too.

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Because we have unclaimed riches in

Christ that we have yet to tap into.

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It's easy to live in spiritual

poverty when you don't know

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the riches you have in Christ.

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And those riches are in part the

promises that God makes to us, the

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promises that he gives to us and those

promises, I mean, put it simply, I mean,

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we could talk really in a challenging

way about what promises mean, but

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let me just give you my definition.

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A promise is God's assurance

that he will do what he says.

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Because of our union with Christ promises,

God's assurance that he will do what he

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says because of our union with Christ.

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It is our union with Christ that

secures the promises that God makes to

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us and not our individual worthiness.

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Um, and therefore what I need you to

understand then is that the God makes

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promises that your job is to act upon

you, cash in the check, so to speak.

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When you act upon the promise

and failure to do that leaves you

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vulnerable and unwilling to take up

the mantle that God has called you to.

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So claiming God's promises,

then, first of all, knows means

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that you know what they are.

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You have to know what God's promises are.

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Now this is actually a more challenging

conversation than what you might realize.

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In fact, I was just reading a book that

talked about, uh, how one of his favorite

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things about graduating college was

that everyone gave him a card on it, or

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I gave him a card or a placard or some

kind of gift that said, for I know the

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plans I have for you, declares the Lord.

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Thoughts to bless you, to prosper you.

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Um, and of course if you know Jeremiah

29 11, you, you've, you've heard this

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one before, and so he, he recognizes

though that one of the challenges

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is that that promise wasn't for him.

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And that promise wasn't made to him.

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Uh, when I was in the Pentecostal Church

for a long period of time, I was in there

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for the first, I don't know, 10 years of

my Christian life, uh, Pentecostal church.

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We, we had verses like that all the time

too, and I never thought twice about them.

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I always claim it was,

yeah, that promise is to me.

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Um, second Chronicles I think is,

I think this is also Chronicles

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chapter nine, if my people.

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Who are called by my name will humble

themselves and pray, then I will hear

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their prayer and I will heal their land.

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Now I remember thinking about that

and using that, that verse to pray

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for America and to pray that God would

heal our land and bring about revival.

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That, that, that's the typical context.

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But knowing what the promises

are are challenging because you

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have to be able to distinguish

who's the church and who's Israel.

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Uh, just a short summary here.

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You are the church.

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We're not Israel.

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We are all the church.

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If you're in Christ, you are the church.

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Israel is a separate

entity in God's sight.

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Now I think Israel's gonna be

saved in the same way you are, but

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Israel here in the Old Testament

is national and ethnic Israel.

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So the promises that you see in the Old

Testament are often toward those people.

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Now, could you say, when I look at

Jeremiah 29 11, can I say, generally

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speaking, that God, uh, shows me

kindness and promises to bless me?

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I guess you could get there.

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But that's not the best

text for us to do that.

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Uh, the same can be said when we take

verses like, uh, Philippians four 13.

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I could do all things through

him who strengthens me.

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Uh, that is a promise.

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I would take that as a promise.

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But reading that promise actually

takes a little more effort than

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just saying, well, it says that, so

I'm gonna slap it on my, my thigh.

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I'm gonna put it on my jersey, and

I'm gonna, you know, and the, and

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the MMA octagon, I'm gonna punch

that guy in the name of Christ.

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It's not that, uh, but I could

say I could do all things through

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Christ who strengthens me.

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If that Octagon Fighter means if I

lose this, I, okay, I could, I can

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lose in the name of Christ, fine.

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I can win in the name of Christ.

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Uh, if, if you can, if you can do

that now I can do all things through

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Christ who strengthens me isn't a,

a free pass in a blank check to say,

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I can get that six figure job, or I

can, you know, climb that mountain.

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It really is.

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I can be content in any circumstance.

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So if he means I can be content

in loss, I can be content in

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bankruptcy, then, then great.

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Uh, but, but promises require

you to know what they are.

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Knowing what they are means

knowing how to read your Bible

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Well, um, and we'll get to that.

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We will get to that again soon.

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In fact, my second point, I think

we're gonna deal with that third point.

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Um, but you gotta know what the promises

are and a simple application for you.

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Joshua had to be reminded by the Lord.

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Think about that.

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Joshua needed God to remind

him, Hey, Joshua, remember

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those promises I gave to Moses?

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Let me tell you, and then I'm

gonna tell you, Joshua had.

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The Lord tell him, here's

what the promise is.

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You need reminders too.

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This is why our church so

often prioritizes being in

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your Bible every single day.

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You have to, you need reminders.

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I, I mean, I've, I've read

the Bible now several times.

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No boast.

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I'm just saying this is, this is the

reality and I find stuff new all the time.

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Has anyone else had this experience?

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You read your Bible like, I've

never seen that, or I've seen it

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and it never clicked what that

meant or why that was significant.

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You know, the ancients had a, a saying,

you never step into the same river twice.

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And the reason is because

their river floats, right?

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The the, the thing changes.

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You never read the same book twice,

and that's because you're changing.

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God's not changing.

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But what you see change is

because you are different.

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And if God is working on

you, that's a guarantee.

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You'll continue to be different.

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So knowing what God's promises

are require you to repeatedly

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expose yourself to things that

you think you might already know.

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I constantly think about a

student I had in high school.

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Oh, I was having a very

similar conversation.

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I was preaching a message saying,

you gotta read your Bible.

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And he says, why?

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I read it already.

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I did it one time.

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I got the whole thing done and I said,

well, I don't even know what I said.

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I probably just like sighed

and said, just trust me.

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Trust me.

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You claim God's promises by

knowing what they are, but also,

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as I mentioned already, you

claim 'em by fighting for them.

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I, I want you to notice what God

says to Joshua, and in verse three,

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he says, every place that the

sole of your foot will tread upon.

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I have given you.

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I've given it to you just

as I promised to Moses.

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Now, pop quiz.

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At that point, did Joshua have the land?

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No, of course not.

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And yet he says to Joshua,

I've given you the land.

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Verse three every, everywhere you

set your foot, I've given it to you.

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And yet Joshua actually did not have it.

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And what that tells us then

is that it was their promise.

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Yes.

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And God had given it to them.

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But it was theirs to claim.

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Joshua still had to put in the

E, the effort to fight for what

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God had promised to give him.

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We shouldn't expect anything different.

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Our job is to also fight to receive

the things that God has given us.

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That's how we claim God's promises.

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We have to know them and

we have to fight for them.

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Lemme give you another

example, one John one, nine.

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Here's a simple New Testament

promise that you have to fight for

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and it's not a tough fight, but

let me just show you what it says.

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You might know this

one, one John one, nine.

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If we confess our sins, he is faithful

and just to forgive us our sins and to

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cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Did you catch it?

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Where's the, where's your fight?

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In that, in that passage there, if we

confess our sins, you may not be too

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impressed by that, but that's actually

something that takes effort on your part.

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It takes you going to the Lord with some

regularity and saying, Lord, forgive me.

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I'm sinning in these areas.

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I agree with you that this sin is wrong.

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So that fight is a relatively small

fight, but it's a fight nonetheless

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because it requires you examining yourself

and being humble enough to say, yes, I

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have sinned in these particular areas.

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Lord, please forgive me.

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But the promise that we see here is if

we confess our sins, he's faithful and

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he's just to forgive us of our sins and

to cleanse us, forgiveness and cleansing.

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Those are the promises that you receive.

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When you put the fight into claiming

that promise and that fight is confessing

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our sins, these things produce trust,

and uh, these things produce in us.

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Strengthen courage because

we trust his promise.

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You can live with a clean conscience

if you trust one John one, nine.

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You might have had several failures behind

your name when it comes to loving your

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wife and leading your kids and doing a

great work at the office, or, and you can,

404

you can get rid of that by submitting it

to the Lord and saying, I'm gonna trust

405

that you know what you're doing here.

406

Lord, please forgive me for these sins.

407

I confess, I agree with you.

408

Let me deal with these now because I

believe God's promises are unwavering.

409

I will do the uncomfortable

work of acting upon them.

410

Fighting for God's promises means

knowing what they are, rather.

411

Claiming God's promises means knowing

what they are and fighting for them.

412

What this also means, if you're

gonna claim God's promises, notice

413

he makes this promise to Joshua.

414

He says, uh, I've given

these things to you.

415

Joshua is going to find

resistance in the land.

416

You guys already know this.

417

Part of the resistance is, uh, the

lack of belief that Israel has, but

418

some of it's also the shenanigans

of Aiken taking things that

419

weren't, that didn't belong to him.

420

They're gonna have a lot of

stumbling blocks along the

421

way as they conquer the land.

422

And Joshua's leadership.

423

His job though was to keep them

marching in the same direction,

424

even though all throughout their

march they had all sorts of issues.

425

So claiming God's promises

will mean that you act on the

426

promise before you see the fruit.

427

And gentlemen, we have to be okay

with the fact that claiming God's

428

promises means you're not gonna

see the fruit of it right away.

429

So I act on the promise

before I see fruit.

430

I don't quit on the

promise until I see fruit.

431

That was Joshua's job.

432

He was to keep them making

progress in the promised land until

433

they saw fruit and they weren't

finished until they were finished.

434

And even Joshua's job, although

he was finished when he died,

435

the job was still yet to be done.

436

That's what the whole

book of judges was about.

437

They struggled to keep the

promises that God had given them.

438

So when I act on the promise before

I see fruit, I don't quit on the

439

promise until I see fruit and I

give thanks to God when I see fruit.

440

So much, so much of your Christian

life can be, can be seen here.

441

Uh, because your tenacity to pursue

what God has given you is really

442

dependent upon whether or not

you believe it's worth pursuing.

443

If you don't think that what God has for

you is worth it, you're just gonna say,

444

well, I'll get to it if I get to it.

445

There's other things that are

more important, more pressing.

446

I've got stuff at the office

that's waiting for me.

447

I gotta mow the lawn.

448

I got some stuff at the

house that has to get done.

449

I got a honey do list

that my wife has given me.

450

I gotta follow up with that today.

451

Your trust in God's promises will give

you the tenacity to say, I believe it.

452

I'm gonna pursue it.

453

I'm gonna prioritize it

until God tells me I'm done.

454

And for most of our lives, claiming

your claiming God's promises will

455

last the duration of your life.

456

To be made, like Christ is a

lifelong promise that God gives

457

us, that you can't quit on.

458

You can't short circuit the process

and say, I'm just gonna trust

459

that God's gonna make me more like

Christ and I'm just gonna sit here.

460

I'll let go and let God mentality.

461

Claiming God's promises means I

act on it before we see fruit.

462

Um, I'm acting on reading my Bible.

463

I'm acting on prayer.

464

I'm acting on leading my

family and family devotionals.

465

I'm acting on evangelizing that neighbor.

466

Yeah, they're scary.

467

They, they, they're smarter than

I am, but I'm gonna act on it.

468

I act on the promise that God has people

that he set apart for his glory and honor.

469

And I'm not gonna quit until I see fruit.

470

This is what it looks like

to be strong and courageous.

471

It means we're willing to set aside

our immediate gratification in

472

order to say God knows what he's

doing, claiming God's promises.

473

We live in a microwave generation

and increasingly so we're we.

474

We enjoy immediate gratification.

475

Um.

476

Yeah, that's training you by the way.

477

We we're, we're, we're crazy not

to think that that's training us.

478

We have to swim against the string

to train ourselves to say, I'm gonna

479

accept my sights on a much longer goal.

480

Strength and courage come from the

conviction that God's promises are

481

unwavering, but it gets even better.

482

In fact, lemme take a, take a look

here verses five and six with you,

483

Joshua chapter one verses five and six.

484

Here.

485

Here's what he says.

486

No man shall be able to stand before

you all the days of your life.

487

And just as I was with

Moses, so I will be with you.

488

That's amazing.

489

By the way, in the same way that I

was with Moses, I'll be with you.

490

He's giving Joshua an incredibly,

uh, great privilege here.

491

I mean, think about what

Moses' relationship to God

492

was, but God said about Moses.

493

I know him face to face.

494

I speak to him with such an

intimacy and such a closeness

495

that no one can claim that.

496

Then God's telling Joshua, I'll be

with you just like I was with Moses.

497

That's pretty phenomenal.

498

He says, after this, I will

not leave you or forsake you.

499

I'm not gonna drop out.

500

And when the going gets tough,

I'm not gonna bounce and

501

say, this is too much for me.

502

God says, I, I will be with

you through thick and thin.

503

Joshua verse six, notice

what God says to Joshua.

504

Be strong and courageous.

505

Joshua, for you shall cause this

people to inherit the land that I

506

swore to their fathers to give them.

507

I find it fascinating.

508

This is much like Paul telling

Timothy, don't, don't be fearful.

509

Um, you know, be strong and courageous.

510

Essentially, God's telling

Joshua, be strong and courageous.

511

Now that either means a Joshua needed

to be reminded what his task was,

512

or B, maybe Joshua suffered with

a little bit of trepidation and

513

one wouldn't fault him for that.

514

Joshua stepping into

some really big shoes.

515

No one's gonna be Moses, but Joshua

recognizes he's got a job to do, so.

516

God says he needs some encouragement.

517

I'm gonna be with you just

as with as I was with Moses.

518

Now what's happening here is

God is actually almost quoting

519

himself verbatim from Deuteronomy

chapter 11, verses 24 and 25.

520

He's telling Joshua what he

said to Moses, almost verbatim.

521

And here's what's fascinating

about this particular passage.

522

I want you to keep your finger here

in Joshua chapter one, and if you

523

have your physical Bible or your

electronic, I want you to turn to

524

Hebrews chapter 13, verse five.

525

Hebrews 13, verse five.

526

I just told you the promises are,

it's sometimes tricky to know

527

how to put the promises to work.

528

Um, it's, it's challenging.

529

We can't take, we can't take

a one-to-one all the time.

530

But notice here in, in Hebrews

chapter 13, what happens, the, the,

531

the writer of Hebrews, we don't

know, could be any number of people.

532

We call 'em the preacher because what

we think Hebrews is, is a long, it's

533

a letter that was actually a sermon.

534

And so this letter sermon is

written to this, this people,

535

and here's what he says in verse.

536

Five.

537

He says, keep your life free

from the love of money and be

538

content with what you have for.

539

He has said, I will never

leave you nor forsake you.

540

Do you know?

541

Does that sound familiar?

542

And if it does sound familiar,

it's because you literally just

543

read it in Joshua chapter one.

544

Now, let's ask ourselves as

good Bible students here.

545

The author of Hebrews is talking to

a diverse group of people here, but

546

he's applying it directly to them.

547

He's not making any exegetical jumps here.

548

I mean, it's, he's, he's just saying,

this is what it says and it's for you.

549

He points it to his current

audience in, uh, whatever it is,

550

you know, 60 a d or what have you.

551

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

552

He's quoting and asserting Joshua,

chapter one, verse five, which again?

553

Who's Joshua?

554

Chapter one, verse five, two.

555

Who is the original audience?

556

Well, Israel, but more directly, Joshua.

557

God is saying, Joshua one five to Joshua.

558

He's saying it directly to Joshua.

559

Here the Hebrew preacher

is saying, this is for you.

560

New Testament Church.

561

Couple words about that.

562

This gives us permission to look

at scripture and to say, okay,

563

I, I can make direct application.

564

Um, we can't be as, uh, we can't do it

the same way that the Hebrew author does

565

because we're not writing scripture,

but we can look at this and say, we

566

have permission to use this passage in

the same way he makes the jump for us.

567

And so we could say, okay,

Joshua one five is for me.

568

I can take this and say,

God has spoken to me.

569

I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

570

In fact, Jesus says something almost very

similar in Matthew 28 verse verse 20.

571

I'm with you always until

the end of the age, he says.

572

And so here in Hebrews 13 verse five,

what we have is God saying, take

573

this promise, put it on your life.

574

I'll be with you.

575

If you're in Christ, this is for you.

576

I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

577

So when we go back to Joshua chapter

one, which you now, which you now can

578

do, you can now look at Joshua one

and say, okay, God spoke to Joshua.

579

I'll never leave you or forsake

you, but this is also from my life.

580

And so if you believe

that God is with you.

581

He was with you every day,

every moment, every night.

582

He's with you in the nighttime,

he's with you in the hospital,

583

he's with you wherever you are.

584

If you believe that, that would

have some pretty massive impact.

585

He tells Joshua, I'm with you.

586

I'm never gonna forsake you.

587

Those promises are meant to bolster

his strength and his courage.

588

Be strong and courageous.

589

Joshua, why?

590

'cause I've given you promises and I've

given you the promise of my presence.

591

Well, you ought to believe that.

592

Point number two, let's

believe God's presence.

593

This is perhaps his

greatest promise, period.

594

He's with us.

595

He won't forsake us.

596

He won't deny us.

597

He is with us for time and eternity.

598

In fact, what Joshua experienced

is only a, a partial, a fraction

599

of what you and I experienced.

600

He had God to lead him to the wilderness.

601

Yes, he had God on the outside.

602

We have God on the inside.

603

The promises God makes to us are

phenomenal, but the promise of his

604

indwelling presence may be best of all.

605

In fact, the promise of God's presence

is not only for Joshua here and now.

606

It's not only for you and I here

and now it's also for eternity.

607

Revelation 21, the whole purpose of God

sending Jesus to live and die in his

608

places so that we could be his people

and we could dwell again with God.

609

This is the whole mo of God.

610

He's trying to bring his people

back together to let us dwell

611

in his presence, to be with Him,

to love Him, to worship him.

612

This is, uh, this is it, gentlemen.

613

There was a book I read years ago

called Practicing the Presence of God.

614

It was by Brother Lawrence.

615

He was a monk and the whole book was

him demonstrating the practice of

616

being with God throughout the day.

617

He was writing letters to a friend

and that that friend collected

618

the letters, put it in a book.

619

Um, I'm not even sure

if that's his real name.

620

Uh, it doesn't matter.

621

It's an old book.

622

The point of the book, though was

to show how brother Lawrence a

623

monk, would practice washing the

dishes and talking to the Lord.

624

It was just his thing.

625

He would go about his whole

day interacting with the Lord,

626

conversing with them because he

wanted to practice God's presence.

627

It was the whole purpose of the book.

628

As he did this, he noticed that

things in his heart began to change.

629

He would see sin more easily.

630

He had practiced faith more

readily, and, and that, that's

631

gonna be the same for all of us.

632

The more we can become mentally engaged

with what God is doing in our lives,

633

interacting with him throughout the day.

634

And I think this is what Paul means

when he says praying without ceasing.

635

The more we will notice sin, the more

readily we'll be able to identify sin,

636

tackle sin, deal with sin, and the

more readily our faith will be stoked.

637

Think about the kind of comfort you

get from knowing that somebody's

638

watching in a good way, I suppose.

639

Um, there's a, there's a bad way

when someone's watching someone.

640

You're looking over your shoulder,

like, who's looking at me?

641

When you get an alarm system.

642

Uh, they're not selling

you the equipment per se.

643

Uh, the equipment is part of the

package, but they're selling you the

644

security of their ongoing presence.

645

If something goes wrong,

you hit the button.

646

Fire department's there, something

goes wrong, you hit the button.

647

Police department's there, they're

giving you, uh, they're, they're selling

648

you the security of their presence.

649

They're with you.

650

They're, they're gonna watch over you.

651

If you're gone from the house, doesn't

matter they're watching your house.

652

If they, if a smoke detector

goes off, don't worry.

653

They're gonna send the fire department.

654

They're watching over your house.

655

They're watching over your interests.

656

This is why having God's security is,

is even better because he says, I'm

657

not just gonna watch over your house.

658

I'm with you.

659

It's one thing to say, I have a

police officer showing up to my house.

660

I have a firefighter

showing up to my house.

661

It's a whole other say, yeah, they

live at my house, they're with me.

662

If anything happens, I got

police officer Bob right here,

663

he's gonna take things down.

664

Or, or if, if my house catches on fire,

I've got firefighter Dave on this side,

665

he's gonna go and put the fire up that

that's a whole different ball game.

666

God says, I'm not just gonna

watch over your interest.

667

I am with you.

668

And if you thought about this, found a

way to put this in your day and think

669

about God's nearness, this would change

the way that you go about your time.

670

When someone offends you and someone

cuts you off, you're not gonna

671

be as quick to jump the handle.

672

You'll go to the Lord and say,

Lord, help control my patience here.

673

Give me patience.

674

I'm upset.

675

I'm not happy about that.

676

But thank you for keeping me safe, Lord.

677

Give me awareness of what

you're doing in my life.

678

When my kid mouths off to me or

when I, I find something at work

679

that makes me angry, Lord, help

me to respond appropriately.

680

God, give me grace for this guy.

681

Help me to love my daughter.

682

Well, help me to be patient with my wife

when she's saying things that I know.

683

Ah, I just don't make you

the way she talks about that.

684

Give me patience with my wife, Lord,

or Lord, help me to be bold in this

685

situation and know you're with me.

686

Father, give me grace to love this man.

687

Help me open my mouth to the gospel, Lord.

688

Pastor Peacha just last night was

talking to a, a group of our leaders

689

saying, look, talking about the gospel

is hard, but it doesn't have to be.

690

In fact, one of the things that he said

is that you could be praying as you're

691

talking to the person, and that's what

believing God's presence is all about.

692

I know that you're with me, Lord, help

me to talk to this man and share Christ

693

openly and without fear, without regret.

694

Let me just be bold about your business.

695

This is what it is to practice or

to believe rather God's presence

696

if we believe that he's with us.

697

If we believe that he's with us.

698

This gives us such a leg up

against fear and that the, the,

699

the way that he's with us, I want

you to think about this with me.

700

A security system sees the

generalities of your life.

701

In fact, they can gather a lot

of data about you, you know, your

702

comings or goings, all those things.

703

Um, and, and that's a bit

upsetting for some of us.

704

Some of us are, are well aware that

our devices can record us audio.

705

You know, you got video streaming all over

the world now you can, our ring devices

706

are being used by different groups of

the, uh, of, of government organizations

707

that have three letters in them.

708

And they could do that without asking us.

709

They just take it and

rings like, go for it.

710

Have, have all the information.

711

You can find your dog mail

because of your ring cam.

712

That's unsettling for us.

713

When people have that kind of

access, we, we, we don't like that.

714

But God has that kind

of access and far more.

715

When God, when I say God's with you,

and you ought believe God's presence.

716

It's not abstractly with you.

717

He is with you down to the dirty details.

718

In fact, Jesus says to his disciples,

he says, look, I don't want you to fear.

719

I don't want you to fear

because your father knows how

720

many hairs are on your head.

721

When a hair falls off of your noggin and

male pattern, balding starts God's aware.

722

He knows how many numbers

of hairs you have.

723

Which is fascinating.

724

He mentions the hair on the head.

725

But as we've mentioned before,

pastor p and I have talked about

726

this before, sometimes the, the

Bible will use a literary device

727

where the part refers to the whole.

728

So he knows the number of hair on, uh,

numbers of hair on your head, but he knows

729

about all the hairs, is the implication.

730

All of your, all of your

body hair, God's aware of.

731

Which, if you wanna get down to the

details and if there's, you know, hundreds

732

of thousands of hairs on your head,

we could just talk about eyelashes and

733

arm hair and armpit hair and leg hair.

734

You got toe hair, you got belly hair.

735

All the hair, God knows about that hair.

736

Let that wash on you for a second.

737

Let me just ob obscenely detailed

information and it gets even better

738

because in Psalm 1 39, God talks

to David and says, look, I from

739

your womb, I knit you together.

740

We now have technology that can observe

the, the happenings inside a mother's womb

741

as that baby's being assembled by God.

742

And those, those details

are down to the minutia.

743

God knows things about you that

you'll never know about yourself.

744

And God chooses to know these things.

745

He chooses to know intimately.

746

This is not a knowing of abstraction.

747

This is a knowing of relation.

748

God knows things about you

because he cares about you.

749

This is why we ought to

believe his presence and trust

750

that his presence is good.

751

It's detailed and it's for us in Christ.

752

And if I believe in his presence,

that will change the way that I pursue

753

fearful things, uh, sharing the gospel.

754

It will change how much I pray if

I believe God is listening into me.

755

Even now, I could be praying in

my head as I'm talking to you,

756

and on occasion I do do that.

757

His presence guarantees that we

pursue the right things, that

758

we have strength and courage.

759

God is with us.

760

He's holding our hand.

761

He's empowering us.

762

He's not just with us side by side.

763

He's with us On the inside,

God is for you and with you.

764

And what we see in Joshua's life is

that this for him meant everything.

765

He might remember Moses

begging, God, please go with us.

766

If you won't go with us.

767

I don't want to go.

768

And I'm sure Joshua felt much the same

way as he stepped into Moses' role.

769

Joshua's comfort was that

God was with him as well.

770

How long have I been preaching?

771

A long time.

772

Okay.

773

The third point really is

my most important point.

774

Let's go to verses seven through nine.

775

Notice again, this is still

God talking to Joshua.

776

This is God directly giving

revelation to Joshua.

777

Here's what God says to Joshua.

778

Notes for the second time.

779

Only be strong and very courageous.

780

He needed to hear it demise, being

careful to do according to all that

781

the law of Moses, my servant, commanded

you, do not turn from it to the right

782

hand or to the left, that you may

have good success wherever you go.

783

This book of the law shall not

depart from your mouth, but you

784

shall meditate on it day and night.

785

So that you may be careful to do

according to all that is written in it

786

for then you'll make your way prosperous

and then you will have good success.

787

Have I not commanded you?

788

Be strong and courageous.

789

That's three times.

790

If you were counting, do not be

frightened, which is another way

791

to say, be strong and courageous.

792

Do not be dismayed.

793

Another way to say, be strong

and courageous for the Lord, your

794

God is with you wherever you go.

795

There's the underlying,

again, I'm with you.

796

There's two, there's another word there

that I wanted to highlight to you just

797

because it's, it's, it's also repeated and

it's in the, the middle of verse seven.

798

Be strong and courageous, being careful.

799

Verse eight, you'll meditate on this day

and night so that you may be careful.

800

I think that's a really good

place for us to be careful.

801

He mentions it twice.

802

Let's, let's start with that word here.

803

Let's front load that to our third

point, and let's say it this way,

804

let's carefully obey God's word.

805

Carefully obey God's word.

806

God expected Joshua to obey the

word carefully, um, to to do so by

807

meditation, by speaking it out loud.

808

He gave him the, the goal of saying, look,

dude, you're gonna, you're gonna do well.

809

When my word is just

pouring out of your veins.

810

When you're thinking about my word, day

and night, and you're speaking my word,

811

day and night, when you're doing that,

you're gonna be prosperous and successful.

812

We have to define those words to be in

the context of how God spoke to Joshua.

813

Prosperous and successful doesn't

mean massive bank account.

814

It meant that he was gonna be

successful in what God gave him to

815

do, the mission that he gave him.

816

So carefully obeying God's word.

817

Think about the word careful.

818

Uh, you could take careful

in two different ways.

819

Uh, think about holding a newborn baby.

820

Maybe your newborn baby.

821

You see your, your, your firstborn.

822

You, you, you hold them gently.

823

You, it's almost like you're holding

something so tender and so vulnerable

824

that you, you, you hold him or her,

uh, with a kind of tenderness that I

825

think I, I've rarely ever seen in a man.

826

Besides those times, a, a man's

tenderness heightened when he is holding

827

his newborn or someone else's newborn.

828

I hope

829

there's a, a carefulness

because of vulnerability.

830

That little, that little

baby is so vulnerable.

831

Um, you gotta be sure that

you're holding him just right.

832

His neck is held just right so that

it doesn't wobble all over the place.

833

You wanna make sure that when

you're nestling him into your arm

834

that you're not cutting off his

air supply, so you make sure you're

835

holding him tenderly and gently.

836

That's one kind of carefulness.

837

Another kind of carefulness

is when you're cleaning a gun.

838

Maybe it's not even your gun.

839

There's a carefulness there as well.

840

You're checking the chamber, you're,

you're making sure that you're not, you're

841

not pointing it at somebody or something.

842

You're, you're holding it with a kind

of carefulness that designates respect.

843

Why?

844

Well, 'cause there's the carefulness

that is required because of danger.

845

There's carefulness from danger.

846

There's carefulness from vulnerability.

847

Which one are we talking about

when it comes to the word of God?

848

I'm gonna say I think both are in view.

849

There's a carefulness of vulnerability

because the word of God is vulnerable

850

to misinterpretation and misapplication.

851

That's what most churches do

to, to grow their churches.

852

They're gonna take the word of God

and subtly manipulate it to make

853

it say what they want it to say.

854

Oh, you wanna be rich.

855

Well, God wants you to be rich.

856

Oh, you want, you want

to live your own life.

857

Well, God wants you to live your own life.

858

Oh, you wanna change, uh, or gender?

859

Oh, God wants you to change your gender,

wants you to be true to yourself.

860

Those kinds of things.

861

The Bible is vulnerable to twisting.

862

Uh, but the Bible is also like a

sword or like a gun, dangerous.

863

If it's pointed the wrong direction,

it can mortally wound somebody.

864

And so we wanna be the kind of people

who treat the word of God carefully, and

865

that means taking time to spend with it.

866

I've got 1, 2, 3, 3, 3 subpoints, and I'm

carefully obey God's with three subpoint.

867

And I'm gonna be quick because I

have more than what I have time for.

868

Okay.

869

Carefully obey God's word.

870

Uh, first of all, we're gonna

do that comprehensively.

871

Uh, notice what he says here to, to, uh,

he says to Joshua, he says, I want you to

872

be careful to do according to all that the

law of Moses, my servant commanded you.

873

All of it.

874

Careful means comprehensive.

875

Then we have to be the kind of

men who say, I'm not gonna skip

876

Leviticus 'cause it's a hard book.

877

I'm not gonna skip numbers

because of the census data.

878

I'm not gonna skip these books

that I think are at least

879

not immediately relevant.

880

I gotta be comprehensive in my approach.

881

This is what God commanded Joshua to do.

882

His faithfulness would depend upon

him being comprehensive with the

883

people that he was charged to lead.

884

So it's not gonna be different for us.

885

Two Timothy three 16, all scripture is

breathed out by God and it's profitable.

886

It's good for us.

887

We gotta be the kind of men who take

all of the word of God, the whole Bible.

888

If you're not reading the Bible with us

every year, please let me just encourage

889

you to do that with us, for your sake.

890

We're not trying to po uh, trying

to pat our podcast numbers.

891

We're trying to do that to help

encourage you to get in the word.

892

If we can get you in the habit of

being in your Bible so much that

893

it's in your head and your heart and

you're speaking it regularly, success.

894

Comprehensive, carefully obeying

God's word will also mean not only

895

comprehensively, but resolutely.

896

He tells Joshua, don't turn to the left.

897

Don't turn to the right.

898

Stay in the center of my will.

899

Stay in the center of my word.

900

No, lefty righty, kind of thing.

901

And we're not talking about

political organizations obviously.

902

Although you might be able

to see some parallels there.

903

What he's telling Joshua is that he

has to stay in a straight line of

904

obedience rather than zigzagging between

competing voices or cultural pressures.

905

And because he's going into Canaan

territory, Canaanite territory,

906

there's unbelievers, they're all over.

907

And in fact, one of the dangers

for Israel is that they would

908

intermarry in what would happen?

909

Well, they would dilute their

resoluteness to the Lord.

910

They would swerve.

911

Joshua, as he closes out his book,

he's gonna say to the people of

912

Israel, look, you do what you wanna do.

913

You can serve the gods of the Amorites.

914

He doesn't want 'em to do that, but he

says, but as for me and my house, as for

915

me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

916

We will be faithful to Yahweh.

917

You do what you do, but

we're gonna serve the Lord.

918

Man.

919

That ought to be your

battle cry, gentlemen.

920

You may not have a family house yet, but

you do have a your own house to deal with.

921

As for me and my house,

we're gonna serve the Lord.

922

And what that means.

923

We can, we can, we as Christians, we

wave that flag proudly, we should, but

924

it means that we're gonna look at all of

scripture and let all of scripture speak

925

to us submitting to biblical authority.

926

Which by the way, tangentially

biblical authority doesn't always

927

mean adhering to my interpretation.

928

It means submitting to what God tells me.

929

And that sometimes is gonna challenge

me as, as a growing up charismatic.

930

Um.

931

That was the church I knew.

932

Uh, female pastor, no problem with that.

933

Like that does that.

934

I I was married by a female pastor.

935

Um, I had no problem with these

speaking in tongues prophesying.

936

I mean, that was just my world.

937

I was totally okay with that.

938

It wasn't until I started reading

God's word comprehensively that

939

things began to subtly shift for me.

940

When God opened my eyes to some

of the things that were happening

941

that I, I think now I'm convinced

of, were not a biblical expression.

942

I began to say, I need to change this.

943

I can't, I can't be part of this anymore.

944

I still love all of those people.

945

I keep in touch with many of them.

946

Uh, but they know, and I know

we're on different pages now.

947

Part of it is then being resolute to

say whatever the word says, I want to,

948

I wanna go with that, whatever that

says, even if it's uncomfortable for me.

949

And there's lots of things.

950

If you're reading the Bible with us,

we're, we're, we're encountering a lot

951

of uncomfortable things in the Bible.

952

I take a little bit of comfort in that

because that tells me I'm reading God's

953

word and I'm not importing me into it.

954

If my God never agrees with

me, it's because I'm the God.

955

I, I'm reading myself into scripture.

956

Uh, but if God disagrees with me

and tells me how things are supposed

957

to be, and I think it's supposed

to be another way, I know, great.

958

I'm feeling the pressure to

change my perspective because

959

God is different than I think

comprehensively, resolutely finally,

960

meditatively, uh, carefully obeying

God's word means I'm comprehensive.

961

I'm resolute and I'm meditating upon it.

962

This is what God tells Joshua.

963

I want you to meditate on it.

964

That's how you're gonna

be successful, gentlemen.

965

That's how you're gonna be successful

and, and the Christian life.

966

Meditating on God's word, that means

carefully considering thinking,

967

rolling it over in your head.

968

You're taking a shower, you're thinking

about what you just read that morning.

969

You're driving on the way to work.

970

You're taking time to think about

what God's word says and what

971

it means and how to apply it.

972

Comprehensive, resolute, meditative,

973

being strong and courageous will

come from our ability to our

974

settled conviction that God is.

975

God has made promises and he's given

us his presence, and those things are

976

never gonna change when we believe that

that gives us the, the temerity to be

977

resolved and that allows us to grow in our

love for him, to serve our families, to

978

make bold moves for the sake of Christ.

979

Not reckless moves I should mention,

but bold moves, uh, faithfully serving

980

God, doing what he calls us to do.

981

My heart for our, our men in the

church is that we would be a church

982

of, of strong men who, who do this.

983

This is this, don't, don't

overcomplicate the sermon.

984

You're not conquering territory.

985

I get that.

986

But you are conquering your own flesh.

987

And in many respects there's a,

that's, that can be a lot more

988

challenging 'cause you never escape you.

989

You're with you all the day.

990

Your strength and courage that

needs to be pointed at crucifying

991

your own sin and living rightly

before the Lord, that could mean you

992

dealing with your anger this year.

993

Maybe you're a short-tempered man, and,

and you, you just kinda let it fly.

994

You, you justify it because you

say, well, you know, people,

995

do people do the right thing?

996

I'm just, it's a, it's

constructive righteousness.

997

Maybe, maybe you should ask

your family about that and see

998

how they feel about your anger.

999

Maybe you've been dealing with lust

and this is the year the Lord wants

00:45:18,990 --> 00:45:22,500

you to finally, these, kill this

thing, confess it to your brothers.

00:45:22,890 --> 00:45:23,710

Kill the sin.

00:45:24,435 --> 00:45:27,404

It's pernicious and you've been

dragging your heels and putting

00:45:27,404 --> 00:45:28,575

the accountability software.

00:45:28,575 --> 00:45:29,414

'cause it's embarrassing.

00:45:29,414 --> 00:45:31,935

I don't want people to know,

and I No, you, you gotta kill

00:45:31,935 --> 00:45:33,555

this in, expose it to light.

00:45:33,975 --> 00:45:37,035

That's gonna take strength and courage

that you previously have not exercised.

00:45:37,394 --> 00:45:41,055

But if I believe God's promise that he's

with me, he's for me, and that this is for

00:45:41,055 --> 00:45:46,245

my good, I, I can, I can then take steps

of faith that are albeit humiliating, but

00:45:46,245 --> 00:45:47,475

humbling in the best sense of the word.

00:45:48,044 --> 00:45:50,354

Our strength and our courage comes

from our willingness to submit to

00:45:50,354 --> 00:45:51,180

God's word, whatever that says.

00:45:51,509 --> 00:45:54,540

If we confess our sins, he's faithful

and just to forgive us of our sins,

00:45:54,569 --> 00:45:55,770

cleanses, small unrighteousness.

00:45:56,549 --> 00:45:58,200

That's the kind of strength and

courage we're talking about here.

00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:00,959

We're not talking about conquering

Texas or taking on a new con.

00:46:00,959 --> 00:46:02,580

We're not gonna go invade Greenland.

00:46:03,149 --> 00:46:06,270

We're, we're gonna, we're gonna

invade our own sinful flesh.

00:46:06,810 --> 00:46:08,580

We're gonna submit it to the word of God.

00:46:09,390 --> 00:46:11,040

Now we're gonna be strong and courageous.

00:46:11,189 --> 00:46:14,580

Not only for our own sake, we will benefit

from it, but for the sake of the people

00:46:14,580 --> 00:46:18,270

that depend upon us, our church family,

our obviously our biological families, our

00:46:18,270 --> 00:46:20,549

neighbors, our Muslim and Hindu neighbors.

00:46:21,194 --> 00:46:24,705

Our cultural Christian neighbors,

they need us to step up to the plate.

00:46:25,515 --> 00:46:27,165

So I hope that you do,

gentlemen, let's pray.

00:46:27,674 --> 00:46:30,794

God, we do thank you that you've given us

Joshua's life to look at as an example for

00:46:30,794 --> 00:46:38,355

us, or there's a, there's a lot of reasons

why we, we won't act upon these things.

00:46:38,595 --> 00:46:39,884

Some of those are, are fear.

00:46:39,944 --> 00:46:41,565

Uh, we're afraid of the consequences.

00:46:41,565 --> 00:46:43,484

We're afraid of the cost.

00:46:44,055 --> 00:46:45,194

Some of it's laziness.

00:46:45,225 --> 00:46:47,835

We, we just don't wanna put

the effort in your promises.

00:46:47,835 --> 00:46:48,975

Don't motivate us.

00:46:49,274 --> 00:46:49,515

Um.

00:46:50,234 --> 00:46:51,645

We don't think your

promises are that great.

00:46:51,649 --> 00:46:53,325

And, and it's, and that's

a position of ignorance.

00:46:53,325 --> 00:46:54,645

Lord, we, we just don't know.

00:46:56,085 --> 00:46:59,955

Help us as men to confront these

tendencies and the many more that I'm

00:46:59,955 --> 00:47:06,674

not mentioning, and to pursue a new,

with a resolution, living for your

00:47:06,674 --> 00:47:10,845

glory, which will mean Lord, trusting

your promises, trusting your presence,

00:47:10,845 --> 00:47:15,404

even when everyone else is asleep.

00:47:15,404 --> 00:47:16,095

You're with us.

00:47:16,500 --> 00:47:18,330

And that you're with us at

three 30 in the morning when

00:47:18,330 --> 00:47:19,290

we're just finishing our shift.

00:47:19,290 --> 00:47:22,799

You're with us when we believe that Lord.

00:47:22,799 --> 00:47:25,290

And when we believe your promises,

you're, you're gonna change us.

00:47:25,319 --> 00:47:26,640

Your Lord gives us this guarantee.

00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:28,980

So help us Lord, to walk in

that truth, to live that out.

00:47:28,980 --> 00:47:33,240

And as a church of men who love you,

help grow us in these things so that we

00:47:33,240 --> 00:47:37,980

might walk in faithfulness, so that we

might walk in fruitfulness for the sake

00:47:37,980 --> 00:47:40,410

of our families, for the sake of our

church, for the sake of our neighbors,

00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:42,629

for the sake of the glory of Christ.

00:47:43,470 --> 00:47:44,970

We ask all these things in his name.

00:47:45,450 --> 00:47:45,720

Amen.