Rightly Prepared

Well, good morning. Good to be with you today. If I haven't had a chance to say hello and meet you, my name is Jason. Serving here as pastor at Redeemer for many moons. And I had, like Tom just prayed, great privilege yesterday to officiate at the wedding of a couple of people. Alana,

the wife I've not known as long, but Dennis, man, I've known him half of his life, something like that. And others of you are growing up here in our ministry. And when you don't get rid of your pastor very often, which I thank you that you haven't, I get to do the weddings of the kids

that, you know, maybe I dedicate and things like that. So what a great joy. If you're new with us today, great news. We are starting something brand new today, a new series. We're in the book of Joshua, as you can see. And we have these little scripture journals that we would like you to have,

especially if you're visiting with us. We just want to give you that journal. And that gives you a blank page on one side and the ESV text to scripture on the other. And it's a great place to take some notes or write down some things that maybe will stick with you. And maybe you put that on a shelf

and maybe someday you're doing a Bible study with someone or who knows, and you've got some notes that can help. But I'm excited about this series. I always like it when we go back to the Old Testament and I've never preached through Joshua like we're going to do. It is a book in the Bible. It's number

six if you're looking for it. So we have the Pentateuch, Pent as in five. It's the sixth book of the Bible. And if you're curious who wrote it, traditionally it's believed to be Joshua. We think Joshua wrote it.

That's the more conservative viewpoint that I follow. And I think there are some places where, like in the Pentateuch, there's some later things that are added in. We think maybe by a couple of a duo of high priests named Eleazar and Phinehas, his son, who are actually contemporaries with

Joshua himself. But what is this book all about? If we could sum it up in maybe a couple of words, I would say conquest, but not just conquest, conquest and possession. Possession. It is the

fulfillment of that long-anticipated promise given to the patriarch Abraham about 500 years before this point. Now we have his descendants. They are the nation that God promised they would be.

And they are ready to go in and possess the land. Now it's been about 40 years, 40 since the Exodus. 40 years since the famous Red Sea crossing. And why is that? Well, because the nation, they were

supposed to go right in. God didn't intend for there to be a delay. But what happened is we, if you know scripture and you know the story, there was unbelief on the part of the people. And as a consequence of that unbelief, they failed to go into the promised land. And so God made that adult generation wander

around the wilderness until they all died off. And yet, as Deuteronomy, I should say they all died off except for two, Joshua and Caleb. And yet, as Deuteronomy closes, somebody else dies too. His name is

Moses. Sadly, as a consequence of his own momentary failure, breaking faith before the people, breaking faith in God. The Lord tells him that he himself is not able to enter the promised land. This is a big

deal. I don't know if I can emphasize this enough. And so Deuteronomy closes on Moses' death notice. And you know what? That death notice is going to pop up again right away here at the beginning of the book of Joshua. So let me read for us. We're in chapter 1. We're going to take the whole chapter

and I'll begin reading for us in verse 1. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore

arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you, just as I promised to Moses. And from the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as

the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your

life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their

fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left,

that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is

written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed,

for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, prepare your provisions, for within three

days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

Joshua said, remember the word that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying the Lord is, your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of

valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has given to you. And they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it,

the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. And they answered Joshua, all that you have commanded us, we will do. And wherever you send us,

we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your word,

whatever you command him shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous. Let's pray. Lord, as Tom prayed a moment ago, open our hearts. Give us, Lord, soft hearts to hear what you want us

to hear. Teach us through your word. We believe all of it is for our good, for our benefit, and everything is written for us. And we pray this in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

Now, I don't know if you've ever had to succeed someone who was really successful. Ever had to do that? Take over something in maybe a job or a role or some other capacity where the person

that was in it before you was amazing. They were omni-capable. Everybody sings their praises. And you know, they always sing their praises louder when they're gone, right?

Think about how Joshua will feel. Think about how hard this is. I want to read a few verses from Deuteronomy. Here's how the book closes. Backing up one book to Deuteronomy chapter 34.

Deuteronomy 34 · chapter mention

And Joshua, the son of Nun, I mean, that's already like a knock. I mean, you're the son of nothing. The son of Nun. Not really. Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom. For Moses had laid his hands on him, so the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord commanded Moses. But then

there's this little like, but, however, and there was not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. None like him for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all the land, and for all the

mighty power, and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. None like him. So yeah, it's going to be a pretty tall bill for Joshua to try to live up to.

And who's called for the task? This guy Joshua? What do we really know about him? Well, let's back up just a little bit. Let me kind of fill us in on who this guy is. A little profile, if you will, for Joshua in the Pentateuch. What's he done? How did he come on the scene?

It's interesting. He really just kind of pops up on the scene in the middle of a battle. It's the time when the Amalekites, this is when Israel had just left Egypt, the Amalekites struck them from the rear, struck their vulnerable people in the nation, and they had to go to

war. They had to fight a battle against the Amalekites. And all of a sudden, this guy pops up in the role of like a general, and it's Joshua. And he leads Israel to victory by God's hand.

Now, he's officially referred to a little bit later, Exodus 24. He's called the assistant to Moses, and he even accompanies Moses high up on Mount Sinai. In fact, he doesn't go to the summit

like Moses does, but he goes higher than anybody else, including Moses' own brother Aaron. Joshua goes higher up. By chapter 33, we see this young man. That's what he's called, a young man. We imagine

he's maybe in his early 20s. We see him taking up a regular station at the tent of meeting. The tent of meeting where the Lord meets with Moses, where Moses intercedes with the Lord for the people. Outside

guarding the tent is Joshua. Now, what's interesting is that Moses had not one but two sons, and yet neither of them are going to be his successor. God chooses Joshua. And maybe that's why Moses actually,

I just learned this this week. I mean, how well do I know the Bible? I just learned this week that Moses changed Joshua's name. Anybody else know that? Come on, somebody knew it. There's one. There's a humble man. There's one. Okay, so I don't feel so bad. His original name was Hoshea, meaning he saves.

Generic, he saves. Moses changes his name to Joshua, meaning God. Yahweh saves. And you may have heard of

the Greek version of Joshua. It's Jesus. So the year is 1406 BC. And as the chapter opens, we've got the whole nation here, all of Israel encamped at this place called Abel Shittim, just on the border of

the Promised Land. They're about 12 miles from the Jordan River, so they can get there in a day. And it's here where God speaks directly to Joshua. And he begins with something that I'm sure had not escaped Joshua's notice. What's he say? The first words out of his mouth. The Lord says, verse 2,

Moses, my servant, is dead. You know, it's probably not the most encouraging way to start off, Lord, but okay. God doesn't miss a beat. He goes right on. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan,

you and all the people into the land that I am giving them. Now, before we go any further, let's understand something about this land that they are entering. And the most important thing to understand is that it's not vacant. It's not empty. There are people living in it. It has

inhabitants. And they're actually made up of various groups, but they're commonly just called the Canaanites. So there's, yeah, there's like the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, Canaanites, Jebusites, a few others, but they're kind of collectively called the Canaanites,

after what the name of this land is, Canaan. And they have settled here. And they are quite happy here. And they're not exactly going to take too keenly to this big new nation coming in to dispossess

them. And God knew this. But he had determined that his people would do that, would dispossess these wicked inhabitants. Because as far back as in Abraham's day, this is what God promised. Let me take you

back to Genesis 15, verse 16. And they, Abraham's descendants, they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. Again, Amorites in this passage is a

Genesis 15:16

reference to all the inhabitants, really, the Canaanites. They are not yet as wicked as they are going to be. God knows this. But when they get there, it will be time. You see, this land here,

this land called Canaan, the promised land, please understand, it was a very unique, very fertile place. They call it the Fertile Crescent. It was one of the most fertile areas of the world at that time.

Great for farming, for gardening, for vineyards, for reproducing large flocks and herds. It was a lush land. And as much as God is the God of all the earth, he gets to decide who lives where.

And these inhabitants currently in the land, they are really, really wicked. They have filled up their iniquities big time. And we know that many times in the Bible when that happens, when a group of people

fill up their iniquities, when sin gets exceedingly bad and goes beyond limits. I mean, when God says it's beyond limits, it's bad. And when they're especially egregious, we know that God steps in

in Judges. What did he do in Genesis 6? He did it with water. In Genesis 6, we read that he saw the wickedness of man, how great it was, and how every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only

evil continually. Your little three or four-year-old has a bad day. You know, there's some evil inclinations once in a while. Hopefully not all day long, right? Continually. It's all that they can think about is doing wrong. But that's how it was. And God judged the world. He judged the whole world.

All but for one family, Noah. And then a similar thing happened again a little bit later in the book of Genesis. You've got these cities on the plain back in Abraham's day. Sodom and Gomorrah. Places that we read about, we learn, are so overwhelmingly evil. God actually comes down and tells this to Abraham.

So overwhelmingly evil that their time is up. Limits had been reached. And in that case, it was fire that fell from heaven. Please understand that God had come to this point with the Canaanites.

Their sin had reached its limits. Rampant idolatry. All manner of the occult. Grotesque sexual immorality. Even child sacrifice. But he wasn't going to use floodwaters this time. He promised he would never

do that again. Remember? He wasn't going to use fire from heaven this time. This time he would use people. He would use his people. So in verse 3, it's going to be the conquest. It's going to be his

people in conquest under Joshua's leadership. And so God goes on to just describe very briefly in this verse. The borders of the territory. You've got wilderness to the south. You've got the river Euphrates way up north. You've got the great sea, the Mediterranean to the west. And again, listen to

what God says to Joshua as we get to verse 5. He says,

Notice what he doesn't say. God doesn't say like, Joshua, it's because you guys are just such amazing

fighters. Joshua, you Israelites are just so physically superior and you have much greater military prowess. Actually, it's quite the opposite. Humanly speaking, these Israelites are the underdogs.

They are not the betting favorites. In fact, they are going to be compared to all the Canaanites, vastly outnumbered. Yes, they are a large horde. But anybody remember what happened when they, 40 years back, when they spied out the land the first time? Remember how there were 12 spies and

only the two, Joshua and Caleb, came back and said, we can go. We should do it. The other 10, what did they say? They were like freaked out completely. They said, we saw giants living there.

They could all play in the NBA kind of thing. We saw the sons of Anak is what they said. The Anakites were rumored to be the descendants of the Nephilim. We don't know how big they were. We know a little later on there's going to be a guy named Goliath that comes from this land who's supposed to be over

nine feet tall. They were big, big people. And don't forget Israel lately. I mean, it's not like they've been doing military drills and, you know, forging new weapons. They've been living the nomad life. They've been surviving on manna in the wilderness, wandering around. They don't have chariots.

They don't have any great arsenal or great weaponry. They're just a big horde of people who've basically been wandering around a place. They don't know where they are except where God leads them. And they're just waiting for the older generation to die off. Makes the Lord's words to

Joshua hit home a little bit more, doesn't it? Don't they? Be strong and courageous. He says it not once, not twice, but three times. Verse 6, be strong and courageous. Verse 7, only be strong and courageous.

Verse 9, have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. That's God's first command to Joshua is to say it's time to go now and you need to be strong and you need to be courageous.

But strangely, it's not the only command he gives him, is it? Because as we go on to read in verse 7, it's almost like a military campaign isn't the only thing or really fundamentally the real thing that he's supposed to be strong and courageous with his leadership in. Verse 7, only be strong and

courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left hand that you may have good success wherever you go.

I don't know about you, but that almost sounds like moral behavior. Like how they are living. Like Joshua's and the people's faithfulness to God's word and how they live, that is going to be the key

to their success. Is that what God's saying? Yes. That's exactly what he's saying. And the Lord knows that it all starts with their leader, with Joshua. Verse 8, this book of the law

shall not depart from your mouth, Joshua, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous

and then you will have good success. It's not just about sharpening your swords or stringing your bows. It's not just about getting people ready militarily. They're not going to have like a big boot camp and do a lot

of training. I mean, what does he give the people? Notice, he's like, three days. Basically enough time like, pack up your food. Pack up your provisions, guys. It's going to be about careful obedience. This is

about doing, living according to the ways of God as God has set forth in his word. It's about constant meditation on and constant action in living out the prescribed ways of God. God says this because he

knows the tendency of people, right? He knows the tendency certainly of this people to forget. I think tendencies in people are the same because people are people. I think about ourselves. I think

about myself. Our tendency to forget, to sometimes get caught up. How about this? A big task that you've got before you. I mean, I would say that qualifies for Israel here. They got a pretty big task to take this land. Sometimes we get in that. We have a big task that we've got to do, perform in, and we want

to have success. And sometimes we end up going about it in ways that contravene God's word. We want to get the promotion. We want to make the sale, land the deal, pass the test, find that mate,

get your kid into that school, whatever it is, whatever the conquest might be.

Verse 9. So you've heard my command. Be strong and courageous. Joshua, stick with my word and walk in my ways always. Do not be frightened. Do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you

wherever you go. And with that, the Lord's done speaking to Joshua for now. And now in verse 10, it's time for Joshua to spring into action and do some talking himself, which is what he does. He goes,

he calls together the officers of the people and immediately gives them this command. And right away we notice like this guy is not just commissioned as a leader. He's not just a leader in name only.

He's already acting like one. Three days, men. Pass through the midst of the camp. Command all the people. Prepare your provisions. Three days until we cross over. Cross over this Jordan and go in and take

possession of the land that our God is giving us. Notice the tense. The Hebrew here, it's a present participle. Notice that they're not taking the land. God is giving it to them. And it is an ongoing

action. A reminder that the Lord's blessing will be contingent on his continual giving, which is contingent upon their obedience. In other words, you get in there and you don't do what I say you're

supposed to do. And you begin acting just like the people who are there, which is sadly going to happen. And the land will vomit you out too. I will stop giving it to you. Now by the time we come to verse 12, there's an interesting turn in our chapter. I don't know if you thought this was a bit odd. I

did. Here's Joshua. And he's engaging in like another conversation, a pretty frank and direct conversation with the members of a couple of tribes. Actually two and a half tribes. It's the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. And if you get the sense like, is there some backstory here?

There is. Who are these tribes and why does Joshua speak to them like he does? Well, the answer to that question comes from the book of Numbers. Back in Numbers 21. Back then, Israel, on their way up to what would be the right of that big body of water, not the Mediterranean Sea,

but the Dead Sea, on their way up, they passed through two kingdoms, the kingdom of Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan. Both kingdoms decided not to let Israel pass through.

They decided to attack Israel. And the way it worked with the Lord was, that was not necessarily the promised land proper. But if you're a foreign people and you choose to attack his people, guess what? Your land's going to become their land too. And that's basically what happened. God gave these

two kings into the hands of the Israelites. And what happened next was, by the time we come to Numbers 32, these two, two and a half tribes, the leaders, get an idea. They start looking around and they notice, you know what? This is a pretty nice spot here. And we are the bigger tribes and we've got the biggest

herds. And you know what, Moses? We think this land right here would be great for us. We'll take this as our allotment. And if it's okay with you, we'll take it right now. How does Moses react to this?

Not well. He gets pretty ticked off. He starts in on them. He's like, I see what you're doing. I see how it is with you guys. You want to stop now, stake out your territory, and leave all the rest of your

brother tribes to go fend for themselves where the conquest gets even harder. And Moses kind of berates them. He kind of gives it to them. But right away, the leaders of these two and a half tribes clarify to Moses, this is not our intention at all. Just let us build our sheepfolds and our

homes and some fortified cities to protect our families, and you will have our men of valor when the time for the conquest comes. Here it is, Numbers 32, verse 25. And the people of Gad,

Numbers 32:25

get that up there, Numbers 32, verses 25 to 27. Whoops. Okay, I'll read it to you. Your servants will do as my Lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle, they say, are going to remain here in these cities of Gilead. But your servants will pass over

Numbers 32:25–27

every man who is armed for war before the Lord in battle. So what they do is they basically make an oath. And Moses hears the oath, and he holds them to it. But that was a while back. And a few things have

happened since then. Namely, I mean, one big thing is that Moses has died. He's gone. It makes us wonder, well, how's it going to be under Joshua? These, again, are a couple of the bigger tribes.

Joshua wants to know the same thing. How's it going to be under Joshua? He goes right at him in verse 13, doesn't he? He says, hey, remember the word that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you? Remember how once we got here, you guys all agreed that you'd build your homes and

keep your family safe. But then when the time came, you'd give us your men of valor, and they would cross over the Jordan with us and not come back home to be with the family until the conquest was done.

Remember how you swore before the Lord and Moses, how you wouldn't stop to have your rest? Verse 15, not until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he's given it to you. Well, I'm calling in the cards,

boys. What's it going to be? Verse 16, no hesitation. Here's their answer. All that you have commanded us, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses and all these things,

so we will obey you. They even go on to close with some encouragement to Joshua personally as the new leader. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. And after swearing

another oath among themselves, nobody asked them to do this, but they do. It's a death to anyone who doesn't go kind of oath. They reaffirm their commitment to Joshua's leadership and to the rest of the nation. And they have this resounding echo that they give to Joshua. It's an echo, of course,

of the Lord's own words. Last few verses, last few words of the chapter are a charge again to Joshua. Words that he now hears for a fourth time. Only be strong and courageous.

Today, I want to step back from the opening chapter here. What I want to do, I want to step back and give us a chance to reflect on what we're seeing and hearing. Because we've got a nation poised. I mean,

the action hasn't started, but it'll get going real fast. Poised on the verge of something very big, and we've got a lot of words of instruction. First from the Lord, and then some from Joshua.

You know, when we come to Old Testament texts, like this one, like any, sometimes we're tempted to think, well, you know, what's any of this have to do with me in my life? How's any of this relate to the church

today? But let me remind us of a linchpin verse from the New Testament. This one's from the Apostle Paul. Speaking about the Old Testament, here's what Paul tells us as believers. Romans 15 verse 4.

Romans 15:4

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. I call that a linchpin verse,

because it's telling us that every time we read an Old Testament account, we should be asking ourselves, how is this written for our instruction? How is Joshua chapter 1,

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

instructing me? I think what we are essentially seeing, if I could wrap this into one big idea, is a sense of rightly preparing. I think what we're seeing is God's people being rightly prepared,

rightly prepared to go on their mission. Now, of course, the mission they had, and the mission that we, the church, have today are very different. What I'm saying, I want to be clear

on this, it's not the same. We are not on a military conquest for land, right? We are not after physical territory at all. But we are very much on a mission, and it's a mission in spiritual territory.

It's a mission for lost human hearts. What we want to see, what the Lord wants to see, what He calls us to do, is to go on mission to see new hearts and souls captured and enraptured by Christ's love.

He wants to see new people join God's kingdom here on earth. And inasmuch as Joshua 1 is showing us how God's people will be rightly prepared to do that, I believe our chapter is also showing us how we can be rightly prepared for our mission,

the mission Jesus Himself gave us. So in the time that remains, I want to look at four ways that I think our chapter lays out for us, four ways for God's people to be rightly prepared for mission.

And it all begins with this. First way is this, to remember something. Remember that the mission is God's idea. It's God's idea, but He commissions us to go forth with it.

Think about this moment back here in Joshua chapter 1. Remember, this is all God's land. And this mission, it was not anybody else's idea, not the people's idea. It was all God's idea for them to be here and for

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

them to go on the conquest that they're going to go on. It wasn't like the nation of Israel was sitting back in Egypt, you know, eating the Egyptian food and, you know, trying to stretch out after a hard day's manual labor, saying, you know, this is kind of miserable. You know what would be really cool if we

just all left this place and we went up maybe north where we heard our ancestors used to be and we conquered that land? No. You know what they were doing in Egypt? They were just moaning, just groaning.

The promised land and the mission to go get it was all God's idea. It wasn't even Abraham back in Genesis 12, looking up into the stars and the night sky and hearing God

talk about descendants and saying, hey Lord, you know what would be cool is if, you know, I had a place for all, we had a place for all of our descendants. Why don't you give me this territory along with the innumerable descendants you're going to give me? That's not what happens there. God talks

about the land. It was God's idea. But God doesn't just hand it to them, does he? He doesn't hand it to them all empty and vacant. He doesn't send a flood, Genesis 6 style, and say, well, just wait for it to dry

up a little, then he can go in. They'll all be dead. He doesn't send down fire from heaven like he did before. Well, there you go, just go in as soon as the smoke clears. He doesn't do it that way.

Instead, he commissions, listen to this, he commissions and empowers his people to do it, to go on the mission. And I think it's a great reminder for us today because it's the exact same

thing with our mission, though it's different. It's spiritual and not physical. But as believers in the Lord, we are also on mission. What I'm saying is God doesn't just flood every human heart

with his love, right? He doesn't just overwhelm everybody with his love. He doesn't just zap, you know, the Holy Spirit into somebody's heart. It's a mission. And it's a mission that moves

forward at the pace of his people's obedience. In fact, the work of the mission moves forward continually. And just as God would not let his people back here in Joshua's day sit back on their

laurels and rest and wait. Ours is not a time for resting and waiting either. It's a time for going. Hebrews 4 talks about rest in the New Testament, a future rest for the people of God. And maybe you

think it's here. Only in the sense that we rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Meaning, we're not trying to earn anything with God. We can rest in what's been completed for us at the cross.

But if you go on and read Hebrews 4, you learn that the future rest for the people of God is something that we get after we're dead. We rest when we're dead in heaven with the Lord.

Now, while we're alive, we're on continual mission. This is why Jesus says what he does in Matthew 28. Let me just read these words for us again. Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20. It's called,

Matthew 28:19

The Great Commission. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. And behold, notice the similarities to Joshua.

Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. The first way for us to be rightly prepared is to remember this, that while the mission is God's idea, we are the ones commissioned to go forward with it. That's the first way. Here's the second way.

Number two. Number two, be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous, not in ourselves, but in our God. This is the second command God gives Joshua.

Be strong and courageous, not because you're amazing, Joshua, but because the Lord your God is with you. And I will not leave you or forsake you.

I won't get you across the Jordan waters and take off on you. I will not get you halfway through your conquest and go AWOL from my people. You can fight.

You can do this. You can take this land and every last one of its mighty inhabitants, but not because you're so amazing and invincible and so cool yourselves, because I'm amazing and invincible.

And I'm going to be with you. Now, of course, again, as we've said, it's not a physical conquest for physical land anymore. But there is still a battle.

And it's a battle to be fought. And there are souls at stake. And there's an enemy who controls the territory. And that's why we are in a spiritual conquest.

Yes, as Paul puts it in Ephesians chapter 6, Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers. Our battle is for the territory of human hearts

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

to see God's kingdom expanded spiritually. Just consider the parallels. I'm going to show you two verses here. Joshua 1.9 Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you.

And how about Ephesians 6, verse 10? Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. If you're a child of God here this morning, if you're here bought by the blood of Jesus, let me ask you,

Ephesians 6:10

can you be strong and courageous in the spiritual battle? Will you have that strength and courage? Not in yourself, but in the Lord your God who promises He is with you, and He will never leave you or forsake you.

And you might wonder, how am I going to do that? I want to be strong in the Lord. What's it going to take for me to experience the strength of His might in my life?

Well, funny enough, that's the next thing I want to share with you, the third way to be rightly prepared. We need to look no further than to what the Lord tells Joshua.

Third way is this. By being careful, be careful to do everything we do in accordance with His Word. Be careful to do everything we do in accordance with His Word.

Immediately on the heels of the command to be strong and courageous to Joshua, immediately comes the Lord telling Joshua this. Verse 7, being careful to do according to all my law.

God's law, we understand, was God's Word back then to them, back in that time to the people of Israel. We now have His completed Word, all of it, not just five books.

And what God was saying back then was, Joshua, with what I've given you, what you have in the Word, be careful to do all that you do on this mission of conquest, going forward, do it according to all the ways I tell you.

All the ways that I tell you. Whether it's the way you travel and when you travel, maybe it's crossing a raging river, which is going to happen in a couple of chapters, or maybe it's going to be walking around some mighty walls of a city.

Do everything according to how I say, according to my Word to you. But you know what? This extends to more than just military tactics and travel plans.

It also extends to the way they would live their lives in general. Follow my Word in your daily lives, God says. And don't turn from that to the right or to the left.

And sadly, as we move ahead in this book, we're going to see that there are times where there are some Israelites who get some very bad ideas.

There'll be a time when one Israelite keeps some plunder that he's not supposed to keep. There'll be a time when Israelites as a group will take their own advice and go into battle with their own ideas about how to do it.

And when they do these things, we find the blessing and protection of God is withdrawn.

Remember what he says. End of verse 7. Don't turn from my ways so that you may have success wherever you go. Meditate on my Word. Verse 8. Wait for a second.

We're like, are we in the Psalms now? Meditate on my Word so that you be careful to do it and then you'll see success. This will make your way prosperous.

Fellow believers, is it any less true today? Is not studying and meditating on God's Word still crucial for us as His children? Aren't we still called to dedicate our lives and look carefully to how we walk to do everything that we do

in conformity with how God says? You know, God set the boundaries of the promised land, right? I mean, He decided, these are your boundaries.

God's always been about boundaries. Boundaries for, this is your territory. Boundaries for, this is how you're to navigate relationships. This is how you're to live.

God determines limits. And in a very similar way, morally and spiritually speaking, we still find His Word doing that today. Setting boundaries and limits for how we are to live.

They are, of course, not to make life miserable for us, but to protect us. To keep us within what is good. We have moral boundaries. We have boundaries for how we're supposed to relate to one another.

We have boundaries for how we're to engage the mission. One thing we can't do is something like change the message so people will like it better.

boundaries for how we relate to each other in a gathered setting like a church. And honestly, this brings us to the fourth and final way that I think we should be rightly prepared as the people of God.

And this one comes to us in the last couple of paragraphs at the end of the chapter. Fourth way is this. Know that leadership and unity are critical.

Critical to mission success. Leadership and unity are critical to mission success.

God had rightly ordered this nation. He had given them a leader in Moses. Remember, he called them in that burning bush back in Midian. Sent him to appear before Pharaoh and eventually secured the people's release.

And Israel had followed this leader out of Egypt into the wilderness for all those years. And every time they submitted willingly to their leader and God's leadership in him, they were blessed.

And every time they didn't and instead showed their stubborn hearts and grumbled, they were not blessed. Now there's a transition. It's like a Charles Dickens book, right?

You open it up. Moses, my servant, is dead. Here's Joshua. And here comes really, in these verses at the end of the chapter, what I think is really the first big test to Joshua's leadership.

Not the river crossing that's coming. Not even the walled city that's also coming. But an earlier oath, an oath from those two and a half tribes.

Big, powerful tribes whom the other nine and a half really needed. What would they do? Would the unity of God's people hold with all 12 tribes going on conquest?

Would they demonstrate their unity by honoring their word given under the Lord and Moses? Would they accept Joshua's leadership? Yes, yes, and yes.

Verse 16. Here's what they say. They say, All that you have commanded us, Joshua, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go. As we obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.

Our brothers don't have rest yet? Well, we're one and the same. We're one people. We're unified. We're not going to have rest until all our brothers have rest.

That's unity. That's also a recognition of leadership. Both are going to be critical to mission success. Both continue to be critical to our mission success.

Still true today, whether it's in the church or in your home. Unity in a marriage. Leadership in a home. Without these two things, homes and families suffer.

Unity is such an important component of peace in a home. And it begins with the married couple. With the husband and the wife, the mom and the dad, if there are children.

Agreement? Well, you may not always get there right away. Agreement is not always easy. But working toward it in a spirit of respect and commitment and unity is powerful.

Or how about leadership in the church? Doesn't the New Testament have quite a bit to say about the proper ways that leadership should be functioning?

Doesn't it have a lot to say? We just came off a whole book, 2 Corinthians, talked about unity.

For our churches to experience unity, to be of one mind, to be of one purpose, to fight the sinful tendencies that we sometimes feel, to resist the temptation, to complain against each other, to quarrel, to grumble, to fight, to gossip, to slander.

Unity.

This morning, I think Joshua 1 has a lot to say to us for our instruction. I think it shows us how to be rightly prepared for the particular mission that God has called us to, that God has called you to.

Whether it's in a place of work, a school room, a classroom, whether it's where you live in an apartment building or in a neighborhood, whether it's in your home with the family, or even right here with your church family.

I want you to always remember these things. Always remember that the mission is God's idea, even as we are commissioned to go forth with it.

Always remember to be strong and courageous, not in yourself, but in your God. We're going to need to be careful to do everything we do in accordance with His Word, not in the world's ways, in accordance with His Word.

And we need to know that unity and leadership are critical to mission success. We have a lot more coming in Joshua in the coming weeks. I'm excited as we continue.

For this morning, I want to just ask you if you would bow your heads with me. And we're going to close with a word of prayer. The worship team's going to come and lead us in another song.

Let me ask you if you would join me with your heart in prayer.

Heavenly Father, this mission You've called us to, Lord, is something we can't do without Your help. Lord, it's something that we would be afraid.

We would not have courage. We would be weak were it not for Your living, enduring presence with us by Your Holy Spirit. And we know that we only have Your Holy Spirit because of that name, God saves.

Joshua, or as we know Him better, Jesus, Your Son. The God, the Son that came in the flesh. That Lord, because of what He did in purchasing a people, in redeeming us, that we can now be empowered by Your Holy Spirit.

So help us wherever we go, wherever we are. Help us as a church. Help us as individuals. Help us as families to strive to live according to Your Word.

To stay on the mission that You've given us, that was Your idea. to maintain unity, Lord, and to submit to proper leadership as You station it, Lord, as You determine.

We will give You all the praise and all the glory for the good work that is done because of this. And we pray this in the name of our Savior now.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.