The older I get the less I seem to know and at the same time the things I do know seem somehow more and more precious each day.
Here are three things I do know:
1. God has a plan
2. He will succeed
3. We have a chance to participate
Our text for today comes from the book of Joshua chapters 2 & 3. The event we are going to read this morning took place about 3500 years ago on the Eastern bank of the Jordan River not too far from the city of
This particular place is revisited several times in both Old and New Testament stories. The book of 2 Kings contains a story about Elijah and Elisha crossing the
Centuries later Jesus is baptized at this same place by John the Baptist and then subsequently led out into the Judean desert to spend 40 days fasting and praying before being tempted of the devil.
However on this day, as recorded in Joshua 2 & 3, two men had just returned from spying out the city of
This was not the first time God attempted to fulfill His plan. Would He succeed this time? As always, success depends on the people whom God chooses to participate. If they are courageous God will be with them. By the way, you know:
Courage is not the absence of fear but rather what we do in the face of fear.
The former generation had failed to advance and engage the inhabitants of
Joshua 2 NLT
23 Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the
24 "The LORD will certainly give us the whole land," they said, "for all the people in the land are terrified of us."
Joshua 3 NLT
1 ¶ Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia and arrived at the banks of the
2 Three days later, the Israelite leaders went through the camp
3 giving these instructions to the people: "When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, follow them.
4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer."
5 Then Joshua told the people, "Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you."
It was a new day for the Israelites, a brand new chapter in their life and journey … what an opportunity! Although they had enjoyed great days in the past: the plagues against their enemies in Egypt; their great deliverance from Pharaoh and the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground; manna from heaven and water from a rock … yet their greatest days were just ahead.
The biggest hurdle was not the enemies they faced in
This was a new day, a new way and it required change.
A little more than 500 years earlier Abraham heard God and prepared himself to obey God and offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt Moriah. Three days later, ready to obey God, Abraham heard another word dynamically opposed to the first word … “don’t sacrifice Isaac.” We too must always be ready for a new word from God!
Sometimes we go down the road to get to the end of the road and sometimes we go down a road to get to the fork in the road. The truth is, life is a mystery and a script that only God can write.
We are often challenged to gain victory in our situation before we experience victory over our situation.
Success is more than a one step process, and the first step is to believe. If it works for salvation, it will work for everything.
You see:
We think what we think
We feel what we feel and
We want what we want
Because we believe what we believe
This morning I am going to ask you to believe your Senior Pastor, the Shepherd of this house for the past 32 years. Believe what he tells you is the will of God instead of believing your fears or the fears of others who attempt to influence you to the contrary.
There is a healthy amount of skepticism in any group … it helps us count the costs. However there are also times when skepticism moves into an unhealthy realm. Unhealthy skepticism produces paranoia and gives heed to conspiracy theories. An unhealthy amount of skepticism is what caused the children of
Your pastor and I have been friends and fellow ministers in
Both he and those whom he has put in place have your best interest at heart and have wisely and securely positioned this church to accept all the help it now needs without losing any of the control it must keep.
With that being said, let me encourage you to make time to attend a Q&A meeting at six o’clock this evening, here in the sanctuary. This meeting will offer information and provide an opportunity for questions and answers as we begin the journey to our greatest day.
You see, we are either coming from our greatest day, at our greatest day or heading to our greatest day … it’s our choice!
The story we read in Joshua 3 has so many applications to the situations of life we all face today. In verse 4 the people were reminded that they had not been this way before.
The story in Joshua confirms the three things I mentioned of earlier:
1. God has a plan
* Rahab
* Leah
* Ruth
2. He will succeed
* time and costs are immaterial
* destiny neither waits nor depends on any man
* God’s will is never determined by a show of hands
3. We have a chance to participate
* Esther
* The Young Rich Ruler of Matthew 19
* The widow of Zarephath – 1 Kings 17
God demands that we participate in our miracles
Believe me, God has it all under control … the only question is ‘will you believe it?’
