Joshua's calling from God

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

Joshua chapter one.

What a book.

What a book.

And I know the Sunday school class started today with the introduction, and I'm going to be looking and I'm following along with you guys.

Y'all are using Warren Wearsby's The B series Sunday School material.

It's fabulous.

He's probably my favorite commentator.

He really is.

Writing commentaries, he's he's phenomenal, practical.

If it's not practical, I don't read him.

I I mean it's one thing I understand.

I have a doctorate in theological education, so I've been through all the theology courses and advanced theology courses, but I've learned something very early in my studies in theology.

If you can't apply it when you walk out this door, what good is it?

Amen.

Amen.

And so one of the things that Warren Wearsby does is make it very, very practical.

Joshua chapter 1.

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

And we're at CCW.

It was telling us where we were.

We know where we are.

We're on 280.

All right.

Joshua chapter 1.

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

Now, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant is dead.

Now therefore rise, go over this Jordan.

Thou and all this people, about two, probably at least two million people or more, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

When we begin to read this book of Joshua, which chronicles Joshua's great work of deliverance from the Canaanites, so that they could possess the promised land that God had promised what?

Abraham back in the book of Genesis.

So it simply states, though, now notice that Joshua is the son of nun and the servant of Moses.

That's all it says.

And then bam, you take off.

Well, and I started to do that, but I said, no, the key to this old book is Joshua.

So what I want to do is I want us to look at Joshua.

But we can find more on Joshua elsewhere in Scripture.

In fact, Exodus and Deuteronomy are two of the key books that explain the exodus of the captivity of the Israelites from Egypt as they begin their journey to the promised land.

And so we're going to be looking at Exodus and Deuteronomy as we look at who this young Joshua really is.

In fact, he's really not so young when we see that he takes over.

He possibly could have been even close to the same age Moses was, when Moses, hey, remember, took over for, hey, the leadership.

Well, actually, he was commissioned by God to go deliver the nation Israel from Egypt.

So it's a beautiful parallelism here of Joshua and Moses, even as Moses was the leader, and then Joshua getting ready to succeed him.

So let's examine some of the scriptures and let's look at Joshua.

The two things we're going to look at today.

We're going to look at the person for the call.

In other words, the person God called.

The call from God is the title of the message.

The person God called, Joshua.

And then we're going to also look at the particulars of the call today.

Number one, the person for the call.

Who was it?

Joshua.

Now, before someone is hired or appointed to an important job, he is often given a what?

A background check.

Amen?

And background checks are very important.

And most of the time we don't spend a lot of time there.

But a background check, what?

It consists of who you are.

It consists of your family, your friends, your work, your education.

In other words, everything that you have done prior to accepting or being offered that job, they go check you out.

And then, because of the way that background check turns out, has a lot to do whether or not you get that job.

Amen?

I'm serious.

So it was obvious that Joshua must have been some kind of unbelievable young man.

Well, at this time when he takes over, he's no longer young.

But as he comes onto the scene, that Joshua has a tremendous resume.

He really does.

Or he would have never been chosen by God.

Can I tell you something?

Hey, God does not choose flops.

Hello.

God chooses champions.

And it's determined by your background and your history and your and your faith, your faith walk, your faithfulness.

Can I tell you something?

God just doesn't call, hey, call a young man or a young lady, hey, or older man or an older lady that's been, hey, that hasn't been faithful to do his work.

You can write it down.

If you're going to be used greatly by God, you got to be faithful to God.

Amen?

So, with that said, let's look at Joshua's background.

Let's look at Joshua's resume.

And really, as we examine each of the roles that Joshua had before he became Moses' successor, we'll discover some important characteristics that must be real in our lives as well.

For example, the first part of Joshua's resume was number one, we see he was a son.

Verse one, he was a son of none.

So his first role was a son.

He was, hey, hey, he was a child.

He was a son.

The mentions of his sonship 30 times.

Listen, 30 times in the Bible, Joshua is mentioned as a son, SON, specifically the son of Nun, especially in 1 Chronicles 7.27.

And because of Joshua's character over the years as a son, 30 times he's mentioned as the son of his dad.

Joshua was the kind of person who brought honor and not disgrace to his father.

Amen.

Joshua brought honor to his father, not disgrace.

And that is so important.

And I love what the word of God says.

In Exodus 20, verse 12, one of the Ten Commandments, God says, honor your father and your mother, hey, that your days may be long.

Exodus 20:12

Amen.

You want a long life?

Honor your father and mother.

And I also love what Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1 through 3 says.

Ephesians 6:1–3

I think we have that up, Jason.

Listen to what he says.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Can I get an Amen, parents?

Can I get an Amen?

In other words, obey those that have authority over you.

Why?

It's right.

Then notice what he says in verse 2: Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, which I quoted, Exodus 20, 12.

Okay, and then that it may be, whoo, what?

Well, with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

So you think that your mom and dad want to keep you in jail.

That's a lie.

That's a lie from Satan.

Your parents don't want to keep you out of jail.

Well, they do want to keep you out of jail.

What do I say?

They think you're in jail.

I'm sorry.

But you're not in jail.

Your parents do want to keep you out of jail, bro.

And by the way, one of the ways they keep you out of jail is you obeying them and doing what they ask you to do.

So that you don't travel with the wrong crowd and do the wrong things.

Amen.

So he says, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

So they know what's best.

And I know what you're thinking.

You're looking, you say, how in the world can my parents know better than I know?

They don't know my life, they don't know who I hang around with.

They don't know the situations I face, the troubles I face, and I need to go on and on.

I've got you for your 2020.

No protocols don't.

After why you know you keep it.

I mean, look at something.

If the sign says detour, there's a big hole in the road.

What are you gonna do?

Drive right on through.

Well, if you do, you're gonna be in the ditch.

And then you're gonna say, Well, what happened?

Duh! You didn't read the sign.

Hello.

Be not deceived.

God's not mocked.

What's everyone's lord?

That's what he's gonna reap.

But now watch.

Listen to what Jesus said.

I don't think I put that one on here, but Matthew 15, 4, God commanded.

Now listen to what God said.

God commanded.

Honor thy father and thy mother.

Now watch.

Matthew 15, 4.

He that cursed father or mother, let him die the death.

So you got a choice.

Honor and live a long life, or disobey and curse and die a bad death.

Whoa.

And by the way, the nation is a great example.

They dishonored their leaders.

They didn't listen to God's leaders, and they wandered 11 miles away from the promised land 40 years.

God help us.

God help us.

If you disgrace your earthly father, you disgrace your heavenly father.

Now notice that's the mentions of his sonship.

And by the way, here's where it becomes applicable for us.

We're sons.

For as many as received Jesus gave him power to become the sons of God, even to those who believed on his name.

We are a son of the Father.

So we have a testimony.

And we ought to honor the Father.

Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, you do all, well, I'm about to have a spell.

You do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10, 31.

That's my daddy.

That's my father.

And when he looks down and calls my name 30 times, I hope he'll be like, hey, Joshua's dad none.

He was so honored to have his son Joshua.

What a tremendous undertaking.

So the mention of our name.

In fact, I started thinking, is the present of Danny's name on our church role a blessing to God or an embarrassment to God?

Are you a blessing to your parents or an embarrassment to your parents?

Are you a blessing to your father?

Are you a curse to your father?

That hurts.

That really does.

Is your claim of being a Christian an honor to the father?

Or a disgrace to the father?

Can I tell you something?

Everybody in America says they're Christians almost.

I don't have a clue what a Christian really is.

I don't have a clue.

Eighty-nine percent say uh of uh the population say they're they're Christian.

Now, if there was 89% real Christians, we wouldn't be in the shape we're in, folks.

I'm telling you, we wouldn't be there.

Something's not adding up.

We, a lot of these that profess to be Christians don't possess the Holy Spirit of God.

They profess to be a son, but they're not a son.

They're not a son.

It's just that, just that simple.

And here's why.

Look at the meaning of his name.

When Joshua was born, he was named Hoshia.

That was H-O-S-E-H, excuse me, E-A, in one reference in Deuteronomy 32, 44.

But Hoshia means salvation.

It's the name which means salvation.

Moses was the one who changed Joshua's name from Hoshia to Joshua in Numbers 13, 16.

And it is very significant that the name Joshua is the same as that of our blessed Lord Jesus bore here on earth.

Jesus equals in the original language, Joshua.

Jesus.

That's what he means.

And we may see that in Joshua, as we look in the Old Testament, is a type of Jesus in the New Testament.

And what do I mean by that?

Jesus became our deliverer from our sins in the New Testament, just as Joshua became the deliverer of the nation Israel in the Old Testament.

What a parallel.

Beautiful.

They both were deliverers.

They delivered us from, hey, Jesus delivered us from, hey, the enemy Satan, Joshua delivered them from the enemy of what?

Egypt?

They both were deliverers.

And they both led.

Jesus Christ one day will lead us into the promised, the real promised land, heaven, whereas Joshua would lead them into the promised land, which was the land of Canaan.

Amen.

So it's fitting of who they both were.

Beautiful.

So Joshua being the name of the great Redeemer reminds us of most necessary credentials for serving God and for conquering the evils of life.

Namely, that Jesus is preeminent in our life.

Isn't that good?

That we present our body a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable service.

Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good?

Accept on the perfect will of God.

Romans 12, 1 and 2.

So the second part of the resume we look at is he was a slave.

He was a son, now he's a slave.

Joshua was born in Egypt when Israel was suffering under the cruel Egyptian slavery.

Hence Joshua saw the unbearable suffering Egypt inflicted upon the Jews, and doubtless he himself probably experienced a lot of that.

So he was a slave.

While no one would, you know, any love would ever wish such unjust slavery.

Let me tell you what I've learned and what I see in this book and in Joshua's life.

And here's what we need to know.

Tough times.

These were tough times.

Very tough times for the nation of Israel.

But look what I see, these tough times brought for Joshua.

In Joshua, it built character, it built strength, it built confidence.

It built fortitude.

It built faith in an awesome God.

In fact, I wrote this to myself.

Powerful statement.

You may want to write it down.

Affliction is a better, hey, brother to character than affluence is.

Let me repeat that.

Man, that's as good.

Affliction is a better friend of character than affluence.

Why do I know that?

Look, Joshua rose from slavery to be the commander and chief, the deliverer of the nation Israel to take them into the promised land.

He started at the bottom.

He knew it all.

His resume took him through every, hey, every facet of life and and fortune that he was going to eventually need to be the greatest leader par Moses.

How would you like to have Phil Moses' shoes?

My resume's not good enough.

Wow.

Wow.

Oh, oh, it was every everything he went through.

Joshua rose from slavery to be the great conqueror of Canaan.

And if we, I wrote this to Danny Lovett, if Danny expects to mount to anything for God and conquer the Canaan evils, and by the way, in the Canaan land there's evils.

In the Canaan land, there's giants.

You just don't say, well, I'm going into the promised land.

No, there's giants waiting.

Nothing's easy.

Nothing's easy.

There are no such things as free lunches.

Hello.

Amen.

If you don't work, you don't eat.

Amen.

So there's no such thing.

Every great leader, we will have to have faith that can endure hardships.

Paul said that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering.

Being made conformable unto his image.

Philippians 3 10.

Wow.

For God, hey, those who have so little faith they cannot endure when church pews are not padded.

We got pretty nice padded chairs.

I wonder if it was a metal chair, how long would you last?

You say, well, preacher, you have to preach a lot less.

See, listen, I wipe away all your excuses.

I give you a padded chair and feed you one of the best lunches in town.

Now just sit there and listen.

Amen.

Amen.

But hey, our air conditioner, man, we are so spoiled.

Amen.

I want to say for you 230 people that endured and it wasn't that bad at night, but you know, the cool breeze each night under the, but I got to thinking of myself, my soul, what was we wouldn't have made it in the 40s.

Yeah, 60s, yeah, that's right.

We didn't, you know, I grew up, now I don't go say, yeah, and I walked five miles with no shoes and snow.

All right, I'm not doing that thing.

No, but I grew up in my little house.

My house didn't have air conditioner.

We had two window fans.

Anyone else there?

I grew up with window fans.

I didn't even know what air.

And in the car, they asked my dad, well, he said we got two air conditioners.

Roll down that right, roll down the left.

That's air conditioned.

Amen.

So, I mean, we just spoiled.

We have so much.

But let me remind us, 2 Timothy 2, 3 says, Thou therefore endure hardness as a what?

Good soldier.

All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

The first appearance of Joshua in the Bible is about Joshua as a soldier.

That takes me to the third part of his resume.

He was a son, he was a slave, now he's a soldier.

It had to do with Israel's war with the Amalekites near Mount Sinai.

When Israel arrived at Mount Sinai a few months after their exodus from Egypt, the Amalekites attacked the Israelites.

Now notice Moses then appointed Joshua as Israel's military leader to conduct the war against the Amalekites.

Look at what he says in Exodus 17, verse 9.

Exodus 17:9

Actually, through 14 is a little bit of the story.

And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out and fight with Amalek.

Now we learn some good things about Joshua here in the reference to him as a soldier.

Now, two things.

This is so important.

This is a little different.

I'm going to add a little bit more to you than we're supposed to be did here.

We're going to look at the soldier and the servant.

Let me tell you what makes a great soldier.

Would you like to know?

You're going to know anyway, because I'm going to tell you.

But look at what it makes a good soldier.

First of all, A, Joshua was a proven soldier.

Moses would certainly not appoint Joshua to head up the military unless he knew Joshua was a pretty good soldier.

Now, how did he know that Joshua was a pretty good soldier?

Because remember, he was second, he was a prince of Egypt.

So he was, and he happened to be a pretty good soldier himself, if you go to Acts in his deeds.

He was a pretty Moses himself was a pretty good soldier.

He really was.

He was a leader or probably a colonel or something, maybe even a general in the Egyptian army, probably.

Because he and his brother grew up, they had to be.

They had to be fighters.

They were trained in war.

So he had seen, and by the way, they would take some of the physical men, the good men of their captives, and they would take them and put them in the army too.

So there were some Jews in the army.

Chances are Joshua may have served with Moses when he was a slave.

Because there was a relationship there.

Okay?

Now we don't, that's the part you don't see, but we know he's not going to choose a young man to go lead his army against a formable army if he's never had any experience.

Joshua, hey, had been proven and probably trained even by Moses.

He was a proven soldier.

Now, Moses appointed Joshua a man of rank in the army.

Now watch.

As we will see repeatedly in Joshua's life, don't you miss this?

Because he proved himself.

Now don't miss this.

Because Joshua proved himself in a lesser position, God exalted him to a greater position.

God will not exalt you to a greater position until you have proven yourself in a lesser position.

You gotta start out washing dishes.

Hello.

So when you get to complaining and gripping about washing the dishes, just remember you don't know who's watching.

Just the thought, man, that's good, preacher.

But you got help coming.

Oh, absolutely.

I'm going there.

Matthew 25, 21, and 23.

Those that are faithful in the few things.

I will make thee ruler over many things.

Woo! Enter into the joy of the Lord.

Where much is given, much is required.

Amen.

So you want to be the big dog?

Pay the price.

Our problem is we want to be the big dog without paying the price.

And when you become the big ball without being prepared and paying the price, you don't last as a big dog very long.

Hello.

You don't have the fortitude, you don't have the strength, you don't have the knowledge, you don't have the security, you don't have the courage.

Woo! You don't have the boldness, you don't have squat.

Except your pride, and that won't last long.

Hello.

That's good preaching, preacher.

Soldier, proven soldier.

Notice what else he was.

He was a perceptive soldier.

Now notice what Moses ordered Joshua to do.

He said, choose.

Choose men for the army to fight Amalek.

Here, Joshua was in charge of the draft.

He was responsible for putting the right men in the military.

Wow.

Now, in order to put the right men in the right place to fight a major battle, you've got to be perceptive.

Because if you put the wrong people in the wrong place to fight a battle, you're going to lose the battle.

So he was very perceptive.

Like a perception would have filled Israel's army with incompetent men.

Now listen to me.

The ability to discern people is a most valuable ability.

Discernment.

We don't have a whole lot of discernment in the church today.

We don't have a whole lot of discernment in our younger generations today because their discernment is driven by the media and technology and Hollywood, and that is a mess.

Teach.

Discernment should be, hey, what?

Taught and received from the Word of God.

The more of the words you know, the more character you understand.

Real character.

Can I get an amen?

Is that not true?

When you apply the rules of the Word of God to people's lives, it is no trick to perceive who does and who does not have character.

Now you may not understand what their gifts are, but you know what their character is.

And I got news for you.

I'd have rather have a person with little, hey, lesser gifts with a great character than a person with great gifts and no character.

Any day, hands down.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

That's good.

And we see that.

We see.

He was perceptive.

No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier of Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 2.4.

Number C, he was a prompt soldier.

The most important trait of Joshua, which we learned about him in his first mention here in Scripture, is that he knew how to obey orders.

Joshua did as Moses had said to him.

Exodus 17, 10.

His obedience was prompt.

His obedience was prompt, which is true obedience.

Let me repeat that.

His obedience was prompt.

True obedience is always prompt.

You don't wait till you feel like it.

You don't wait and get around to it.

You don't pray about it.

Not when God tells you.

Let me say something.

You don't have to pray about something God's told you to do.

Hello?

Amen.

Well, let me check with God.

No, no, you don't check with God.

You obey God.

Who do you think you are?

Well, I'm gonna check with God.

Check this out.

No.

If you're willing and obedient, you eat the good of the land.

If you refuse and rebel, you're devoured by the sword.

How much plainer is that?

Isaiah 1, 19 and 20.

Amen.

Blessed are those who hear and keep the law of God, Jesus said.

Luke 11, 28.

That's it, baby.

That's it.

Pomptness.

The book of the law.

I preached it last Sunday.

Joshua 8, the book of the law, shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that's written therein.

All that's written therein, all that's written therein.

Uh oh.

All that's written there.

Oh, he's stuck.

All that's written therein.

Then shall ye have good success, and then shall ye prosper.

Wow.

Prompt soldier.

Look at the D.

He was a promoted soldier.

Joshua was very successful in his military work against the Amalekites.

Exodus 17, 13.

His success, not, hey, surprisingly, was followed by a promotion.

Look what happens.

The promotion was from God.

Look at what he said in Exodus 17, 13.

And the Lord said unto Moses, write this for a memorable.

Excuse me.

Write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua.

For I will utterly put out what?

The remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

In other words, I'm going to use Joshua to completely wipe out the Amalekites.

Woo! So he does.

He's promoted to general.

He wipes them out.

He wipes them out.

He's the big boy.

He's a general.

He's MacArthur.

He's all the generals.

General Lee.

General Sherman.

Well, I don't care about Sherman.

But General Grant.

He's labored.

I mean, he's all the generals.

It is no trick.

He's the man.

He's promoted.

In fact, that God ordered Moses to review the Amalekite, the Amalekites' war with Joshua is a plain hint of what God had in plan for Joshua.

Woo-hoo!

Ha ha! He knew what was coming.

Moses didn't know what was coming.

Joshua didn't know what was coming.

But God did.

And all Moses did and all Joshua did was be obedient promptly.

Joshua didn't have any clue he was fixing to be the successor of Moses.

Moses didn't have any clue that Joshua was going to be his successor.

They just obeyed.

Woo! Man, that's good.

It just took all the pressure off of you.

Oh, well, what am I gonna be?

Doesn't matter what you're gonna be.

God already knows what you're gonna be.

You just obey him.

Well, who am I gonna marry?

Doesn't matter who you're gonna marry.

God already knows who you're gonna marry.

Just obey him.

Woo! Man, you want the storybook ending?

Do it in the storybook way.

The B-I-B-L-E.

That's the book for me.

Amen.

Prompt obedience.

Trust in the Lord.

I'm going there.

That's coming.

Just hang on there.

But now watch.

That's all right.

That's good preaching.

Hey, what's this?

Now watch.

If God cannot trust me and you in small things, he certainly will not put you in charge of more things.

That's pretty good.

Simple math.

Number four on his resume.

He was a servant.

In the first verse of the book of Joshua, Joshua describes as the minister of Moses.

He's the servant of Moses.

Three other times the same Hebrew word is used to describe the fact that Joshua was Moses' servant.

In reference to Joshua, now watch.

Twice translates the Hebrew word as minister.

And twice is translated as servant.

Now, listen to this.

Here's the Hebrew word.

Shah Roth.

Shah Roth is a Hebrew word.

Here's what it means.

It means to wait upon, it means to serve, it means to minister unto.

It means to attend.

Like a nurse this week was attending to sis.

In other words, you're right there by the bed, ready to do whatever needs doing.

And let me tell you, when I saw that, I said, oh, thank you, Lord.

And another scripture, another place in scripture describes Joshua's servant position, listen this, as which standeth before thee, Moses, in Deuteronomy 138.

And the same description is used by Elijah to express his servant relationship with God.

And Elijah said, Bar, for whom I stand.

1 Kings 17, 1.

It speaks of one, don't miss this, write it down.

Oh, this is so good, church.

It speaks of one's readiness to serve one another.

It says you are standing close by, ready for orders.

You're standing there waiting for God to tell you what to do, and you do it promptly.

Now that is a minister.

That is a servant.

Oh, it's not.

Oh, I'll minister if I can.

If I have time, if I'm not at the football game, if I'm not on the golf course, if I'm not working, if I'm not, and we could go right down the line.

You know what scared me in my own life when I saw this truth?

How many times should I have been standing ready for an order when I was preoccupied?

And what maybe I miss for God.

Wow.

Priorities.

Are your priorities in order?

Joshua's priorities, they were in order.

Now he was a servant.

Ready?

You gotta see.

I told you, I described to you what a soldier was.

Was that good, church?

Was that good?

Whoa, was that good?

Now let's see what a servant is.

If we're talking about Joshua, here's another part I added to you.

What is a servant?

I mean a Joshua servant, not just a servant, but one standing in attention, ready for orders.

Eh?

We see his humility.

The first mention of Joshua as Moses' servant is found in Exodus 24, 13.

This comes shortly after Joshua, as Israel's military chief, led Israel to victory over the Amalek.

The Amalekites.

Now, watch this.

Let me ask something.

If you're the general and you just win a big victory, you're the general.

Hey, you're the man.

Wouldn't you now be expecting now who's going to be serving the general?

Well, isn't it amazing that after winning the great victory over the Amalekites, a very formidable foe, now notice what instead of sitting up saying, okay, I'm getting ready for my next battle, I'm the general, you do what I say.

He goes back to serving Moses.

Now, folks, that takes humility.

You want me to do what?

You want me to go get his water?

You want me to go get his plate and his food?

You want me to get his coat?

You want me to fix his bed?

You want me to.

Well, hey, don't you know who I am?

Don't you remember?

I just wondered about it.

I'm the general.

You know what God says?

I don't care who you are, do you know who I am?

Hello.

You know who I am.

Now I don't, I'm gonna be honest with you.

That'd be hard for me to do that after being the general to go back to carrying water.

Am I the only honest one in here today?

Huh?

Hey, you get out of the dishwashing back there, man, and now you're the general, and then they say, oh, oh, Darren, guess what?

We got some more dishes back here to wash.

Huh?

I'm the general.

So you're too good.

Too good to wash the dishes.

No, I'm not too good.

I've already done it.

That's not what I said.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But no, there are no butts.

There are no Billy Goat Christians.

Tough.

Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others.

Pride goes before destruction.

Proverbs 16, 18.

Hey, Proverbs 29, 23.

A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time.

James 4.10.

Hey, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

James 4.6.

B, he was honest.

Joshua reveals his trustworthiness when he goes with Moses up into Mount Sinai for the first 40 days' stay.

He took Joshua with him, Exodus 24, 13.

Somewhere on the way of the mount, about halfway up, Moses tells Joshua, you can't go any further.

Only me and God can meet together.

You see God, you'll be dead.

I think I'll wait here, Moses.

But for 40 days he was there.

He could be trusted.

Not like his family down at the bottom of the mountain, who, while they were gone, started having a party.

I mean a party, a bad party, building a golden calf and and and all kind of junk and and and licentiousness going on.

I mean, it was horrible.

Joshua could be trusted.

Joshua, and by the way, write this down.

What we are when we are alone, hey, right by ourselves reveals our true character.

What we are alone, here's what Falwell used to say, Dr.

Falwell, my mentor.

What you are, what you truly are before God on your knees by yourself is what you really are.

Woo! Man, I'd eat you lunch.

That's it.

He was honest.

He could be trusted.

Listen to what he says, Proverbs 19:9.

Proverbs 19:9

A false witness shall not go unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall perish.

Lyps are abomination unto God, they will not go unpunished.

He was humble, he was honest.

Number C, he had hearing ears.

When Moses and Joshua descended from the mound after Moses' first 40-day session with God on Sinai, they heard the noise of the adulterous party that was going on in Israel's camp.

Exodus 32, 17, listen.

When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

But Moses said, No, it's not the voice of them that shout for battle, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

In other words, Moses says, There's a wrong kind of party going on down in the valley.

Joshua had hearing ears.

What he heard he knew wasn't right, but he didn't know what it was.

Moses knew what Moses knew what it was.

It was a party going on.

An adulterated party going on.

Adultery was going on.

All kinds.

It was a mess.

So we've got hearing ears.

Do you have hearing ears?

Or do you have dull ears?

Jesus said, He that hath ears, let him hear.

Matthew 13, 9.

Then he said in verse 16, you got eyes to see and ears to hear.

You know what that meant?

He says, you see the right thing, you hear the right thing, you know the right thing, and you shun the wrong thing.

You don't look at the wrong thing and you don't listen.

See, our problem is we've we don't have hearing ears.

We have dull ears.

We listen to the gossip.

We listen to the garbage.

We listen to the wrong junk.

We listen to wrong music.

We listen to the wrong people.

Hello?

Remember what Paul said?

Evil communications corrupt good morals.

1 Corinthians 15 33.

So we gotta have the right hearing ears.

Hey, if you cannot hear well spiritually, you will not be chosen by God for much service.

Woo! And then D, holiness.

He was holy.

Exodus 33, 11.

But his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Sylvester made mention of this, the ten of meetings, not the great tabernacle described later in Exodus.

What he's saying here is after that adulterous situation, and Moses got so upset, and oh, he's ready to kill them all.

And he really was.

He took the ten of meetings outside the camp.

He said, I'm not even going to let God be among these people that have so uh, you know, committed such an adulterous act.

He took the ten of meetings outside, and that he went into the meetings and he'd meet with God out there, and Joshua would go in with him, and then when Moses come out and go back to the camp, Joshua would still stay there.

In other words, Joshua couldn't get enough of God.

Joshua wasn't the one that's looking on Sunday morning to see what an excuse he could make not to go to church.

He was the first one at church.

And he was glad when they said, Let us go into the house of the Lord.

He couldn't get enough of God.

He couldn't wait for the community awakening.

He couldn't wait for Wednesday night.

He couldn't wait for small group Sunday school.

He couldn't wait.

He couldn't get enough of God.

A lot of times we wonder why God is moving in our hearts and moving in our lives and in our family.

It's because we're moving away from God instead of toward God.

Can I get a know me?

And that's that's it.

He could tarry in the presence of God for a lengthy period of time without being bored.

E.

He had heroes.

Moses was his hero.

You know what's wrong with America's young people?

We don't have heroes anymore.

We don't have heroes anymore.

We look at the Hollywood crowd, we look at the rock crowd, and we look at the politicians, and we look at all these people that have fame and fortune, and we think that's what we want to be.

And that is as far from what we need to be that as you can get.

Who's your heroes?

My hero's Dr.

Jerry Falwell.

My heroes Billy Graham.

My hero was Adrian Rogers.

That's one of my heroes.

They're going to be with the Lord now.

Dr.

John Rollins.

Going to be with the Lord now.

Heroes.

Heroes.

Who's your hero?

Who are you trying to live your life after?

Who do you look up to?

Who do you honor?

When Joshua heard other people that after Moses, this is cute, after Moses chose the 70 to help him lead because he's about to die trying to run everything, and they started taking lead, Joshua got jealous and said, Who do you think you are?

Moses, who do they think they are?

Hey, they taking your place.

Moses, Moses.

He honored Moses.

Moses says, Calm down, Joshua, it's okay.

They're all right.

I need them.

But he was ready.

He's going to take up for Moses right quick.

And he rose.

The fifth thing about Joshua.

His spy.

He was a spy.

Joshua was chosen to be one of the 12 men to spy out Canaan, Numbers 13, 8.

The duty revealed some more of Joshua's excellent character here.

Let me show you a couple of things that I see here.

First of all, his steadfastness.

His excellent attributes of Joshua, but this main one was his steadfastness.

Hey, there was 10 against two.

But he didn't give in.

He stood steadfast.

I meant listen to what we see here.

Hey, two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, spoke the truth.

The other ones lied.

Joshua, along with Caleb, demonstrated he would remain, they would remain faithful to the truth.

Later on in the book of Numbers, this steadfastness is summed up as follows.

Look at this.

Numbers 32, 12.

Caleb and Joshua have, hey, wholly followed the Lord.

Now that's steadfastness.

They wholly followed the Lord.

That's a great commendation.

You cannot do any better than that.

Therefore, my blood brethren, be it steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15, 58.

Now watch this.

The excellence of their steadfastness was proven by two tests.

Here's the two tests popularity test.

Hey, they weren't popular.

The whole group voted for the 10 instead of the two.

They weren't popular.

You cannot live a sold-out Christian life in the world today and be popular.

It's not gonna happen.

You may be respected and you may be like some.

Jesus said, Woe unto you if all people speak well of you.

I don't have that problem.

Never have.

Amen.

Hey, they weren't popular.

Notice the second thing: the test of popularity, then the test of persecution.

These are two tests that will quickly reveal the quality of anyone's steadfastness.

Now remember the popularity, but remember the persecution?

You know what they said?

They said, hey, let's stone them.

We're gonna kill them.

They were fixing to kill Joshua and Caleb, but awesome Almighty God intervened and intervened and saved their lives.

And then what happened?

The ones that were gonna stone them and kill them ended up wandering in the wilderness and dying, hey, miserably in the wilderness.

So who really got the tables turned?

The ones that were not popular and the ones that were persecuted.

They're the ones that got the promised land.

That's pretty good.

I think I'll stay with not being real popular, and I'll take the persecution.

But bless God, I'm standing.

I'm standing.

And then the second thing about him is seniority.

There was only two that entered into the promised land out of the whole bunch of 20 years and uh younger.

Joshua was either the oldest man alive or the second oldest, depending on whether or not Caleb was still alive.

And I think he was.

So, there they are, both of them.

One of them.

They're the two oldest men alive.

They have seniority.

Don't you think those young whippersnappers, after all the said and done, they saw everybody else die in the wilderness, and they saw Caleb and Joshua saying the same thing they said 40 years ago.

Bless God, there's a land.

We've been 11 miles away.

Today we're rising up, blow the trumpets, we're going in.

And Caleb said, and bless God, I've been waiting 40 years.

I'm eighty years ago, and I'm just as strong as I've ever been.

I'll take that mountain, I'll take those giants, and I'll whip their tail.

Amen.

And he did.

Amen.

Woo! All right, let me wind it up.

Is that good?

Has this been a good introduction?

Huh?

I want to be a Joshua.

You think Antioch Baptist can handle this tonight?

I'm just gonna keep preaching.

Last thing, second thing.

This will be a little quicker, I promise.

The particulars of the call.

The person who was called, Joshua.

What a resume! Wouldn't you like to have a resume like Joshua?

What an influence! What an influence.

The particulars of the call.

God has given us in his word some significant details about Joshua's call to be Moses' successor.

Now let's look at the particulars.

Number one, the preparation.

Before Joshua became Moses' successor, he was given some 40 years of specific preparation.

Did you hear me say that with me?

40 years of preparation.

Say it, church.

40 years of preparation.

Being Moses' servant gave Joshua some good on-the-job training.

It gave him a close view of the day-to-day work that faced Moses in his leadership position.

No doubt about it.

He was right there.

He was right there.

I don't want that job.

The lengthly preparation given Joshua to be Moses' successor emphasizes how much preparation is often required for service for God.

Now listen.

This doesn't go over very well with the flesh.

We want the position, the power, the influence right now.

We don't want the preparation.

We don't want the sacrifice.

Let me help you.

Not gonna work.

You're not willing to pay the price, you won't pay.

You won't have the position.

Not with God.

Listen, David Wilson owns how long y'all been in the business now, Christy?

32 years?

At least.

I remember when he got in the business.

David Wilson didn't start out as the top five surpros or, hey, in the country for the last 10, 15 years.

He didn't start out there.

He started out running a truck on Christmas Day and the preacher going with him to clean up water damage.

He paid the price.

He paid the price.

Christie paid the price.

There's a price to be paid.

Listen, I didn't get where I am today.

There was a price to be paid.

I went to school for all my life.

I can't remember when I wasn't in school.

And I don't want to tell you the price I had to pay for the doctorates.

Hello.

I paid the price.

I'd get mad and say, I'm quitting.

I'm quitting.

Then I'd go back and remember when I was changing oil at the Volkswagen of all been in Georgia.

I said, I'm not quitting.

I'm not quitting.

Darren yesterday was called.

We called and I said, What are you doing, Darren?

Clay and I were coming back.

We'd been to the hospital, but we went to a car show, a big car show in Pigeon Forge.

And Darren was going to do some work for Clay.

And I said, Man, what are you doing?

He's Darren's close friend.

He said, I'm working.

Some people have to work.

I don't have just, I don't just work an hour a week.

No, no, that's okay.

I hear that all the time.

You know my answer?

That's why, Darren, I went to school and paid all that money so I wouldn't have to work but one day a week.

I paid the price.

Amen.

He went to engineer school.

He paid the price.

So don't go give me that whining.

He wasn't whining.

No, you weren't.

You did.

But but no, but I knew.

Hey, hey, I had a guy, you know what?

I had a guy at Open Door Baptist Church.

I bought my gas, all my members.

I'd pull in his gas station and said, there's a preacher that's got it made.

He said, I figured up what you make.

You preach Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and here's what you make an hour.

He said, Boy, you got it made.

I said, Yes, somebody's got to do it.

Amen.

You better be called.

I just asked him myself, tell you what, Buck, I'll pump your gas for a solid week.

You do my job for a solid week.

No, I don't want your job.

I said, thank you very much.

But no, but what I'm saying, folks, those are just really good illustrations.

There's a price to be paid.

Many of you, I see a lot of you are very successful.

Paul's very successful in insurance.

He paid a price.

He didn't start out as the big boss.

He started out as a pee-wee.

Amen.

You got to pay the price, folks.

You gotta pay to play.

Well, I don't have to.

Well, you're just gonna be a failure.

No, yeah.

I'll inherit.

Yeah, but you won't keep it long.

Look at all these stars and football players and all get these big contracts, but they don't live right, don't do right.

The average within three to five years, they've lost everything they've ever had.

You gotta pay the price.

Preparation number two, supplication.

Moses prayed to God.

Numbers 27, 15 through 17, in Moses speaking, the Lord saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation.

Now remember, Moses still doesn't know which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, which may bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep, which have no shepherd.

He prayed, and God told him to choose Joshua.

What a moment.

We gotta pray.

Call unto me and I'll answer thee.

Show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

And the last thing was revelation.

After Moses prayed for a successor, look what happened.

Numbers 27, 18.

The Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua.

Woo! The son of nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thy hand upon him.

Mm-mm-mm.

God gives us another important help regarding knowing the will of God right here.

Namely, we must know the word of God if we would know the will of God.

The word.

The word it was the word of God, oral in this case, that revealed the will of God to Moses.

John 17, 17.

You shall know my will when you know my doctrine.

There is an alarming de-emphasis today upon the word of God in our churches.

And this fosters ignorance about the will of God.

Let me tell you, thank God for your church that one of our key core values is what?

You know it?

What is it?

Clear biblical truth.

Verse by verse, chapter by chapter.

To God be the glory.

His word is with power.

Luke 4.32.

Study.

I wanna verse.

Thank God for Iwanas that started this past Wednesday night with the kids.

Study.

Oh, parents, you wanna, hey, hey, you want your parents, hey, you want your kids to have the right heroes.

You put them in a wana.

You put them in Sunday school.

You put them in Bible study.

And I understand the sports thing.

I was all American and all that, but I'm telling you, the heroes, the heroes are the Bible stories.

It's Joshua, it's Moses, it's Paul, it's hey, hey, it's David.

It's hey, listen, it's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, it's Daniel.

Those are the heroes.

And they'll learn that in a wana.

Study to show thyself to prove unto God a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Moses then spoke to Joshua and he gave him this charge.

And I'm through.

Ready?

1130, right on.

One.

He said, Joshua, you got to have the right attitude.

Deuteronomy 31, 7 and 8.

Moses calls unto Joshua and said unto him, in the sight of all Israel, now this is in Deuteronomy.

We're going to see this in Joshua 1.

Be strong and of good courage.

Fear not, neither be discouraged.

The exhortation was much like what he told the Israelites their life should be.

Joshua was not to be weak, not to be fearful, but to be strong, brave, and steadfast.

Then the second thing.

Said you've got to have that attitude.

Not fearful.

God's not given the spirit of fear.

2 Timothy 1.7.

We've been made more than conquerors.

Then he spoke, hey, then Moses spoke to Joshua's assignment.

Deuteronomy 31.7.

Thou must go with this people as their leader unto the land which the Lord has sworn unto their fathers, Abraham.

And thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

When God calls you to a place, calls you to a mission, if you are faithful, he will invigorate you to fulfill it through the power of the Holy Spirit.

God's building a church here.

You know why?

God's called us to do it.

As long as we don't mess it up, and I tell the council all the time here and our staff, let us not mess it up, and God's going to do a fantastic thing.

You say, well, how do you keep from messing it up?

Stay with the book.

Not what I want, but what God's Word says.

Stay with the book.

Have the right attitude.

Hey, you know your assignment.

Build a great New Testament church.

And then thirdly, he says, you're going to have an assistance.

Joshua would have, hey, in doing his work, look at what Deuteronomy 31.8, the Lord.

He it is that doeth and goes before thee.

He will be with thee.

He will not fail thee.

Neither will he forsake thee.

Moses' message to Joshua did not minimize the difficulties ahead, but neither did it minimize the dynamics ahead.

Woo! Did you you missed it?

You missed that.

You missed it.

That was a home run closer.

He did not minimize the difficulties ahead, but he also did not, hey, minimize the dynamics ahead.

Amen.

You want to be a Joshua?

Hallelujah.

We're building a church of Joshua's.

That's why I love our youth pastor and Heather, his wife.

Heather's the better half.

Susan's my better half.

I know.

I know.

I know.

Rick's okay.

He outpunted his coverage.

I did too.

If I will ask Susan, was she drunk when she married me?

He did.

Didn't he?

Didn't he?

Then he turned and said, I love you, Danny boy.

And he did.

He did.

Let me ask you.

Let me ask something.

Here it is.

Man, that I'm telling what, that message has fired me up.

It's fired me up.

I needed it.

The wake up, everything's this.

This is it.

Couldn't be better timing.

Joshua, I'm ready to hey, I'm ready to go into Canaan.

There's our canyon right here.

That's our canyon, that 91 acres.

We gotta go build it, folks.

We gotta go build it.

We really do.

Bob, we gotta go build it.

Hey, he's given it.

Now we possess it.

It's ours.

It's ours for the taking.

I don't know the details, don't even have a clue.

But I know this anytime I need something, I've gotten up here and said we need this much money, you do it.

We do it.

God does it.

God does it through you and me.

We're just instruments.

Don't ever think we're doing it.

We're just the instruments.

Hey, hey.

He can take you out and put somebody in just like that.

Just like that.

He doesn't say, hey, Moses is the greatest leader.

Hey, ever.

You know what he told Joshua?

Joshua had been mourning for 30 days.

They were mourning for Moses.

Everybody just down, discouraged.

Okay, that's time's enough.

You mourned enough.

Now give it a and go over into the promised land.

You haven't been winning in four hundred forty years and thirty-one days.

Go get the land.

Jesus.

Humility.

Amen.

Amen.

But boldness.

You ready?

I look at so many young people.

We got such a diversity here.

All you young ladies and young men, God's got something fantastically planned for you.

But you gotta do it his way.

If you do it his way, hey, the enemies will shatter in your presence because of the power of God all over your life.

They'll know the commander's coming.

Joshua, the Joshuas are coming.

They're coming.

Don't wreck your life.

Don't wreck your life.

Don't let Satan win.

I say it every day.

It breaks my heart.

Every day.

Couples, don't let Satan wreck your marriage.

Don't do it.

Don't do it.

Don't do it.

Be a Joshua.

He didn't minimize if you don't hear anything else.

God didn't minimize the difficulties.

But he didn't minimize the dynamics.

Is that not good?

And I'm enjoying the dynamics.

Because they so outweighed the difficulties.

They really do.

They really do.

So this morning, let me ask you.

You want to be a Joshua?

Do you really want to be a Joshua?

There's a price to pay.

It's not easy.

Hey, you don't become a commander by being a wimp.

Hello.

Uh-uh.

Uh-uh.

Anybody can be a wimp.

What's a wimp?

They do nothing.

Anybody can do nothing.

But it takes a somebody, hey, to be used by God.

Moses, are you ready for this?

40 years.

He spent, hey, hey, the first 40 years of Moses' life, he thought he was somebody.

Then he, hey, he had to run to the backside of the desert.

Next 40 years, he, hey, he realized he was a nobody.

And then the last 40 years, God called him out and led the nation of Israel out.

He realized that God uses nobodies.

Not somebody's, not nobodies, but somebodies.

Because God's the body.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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Send us an email at office at the church at CW.com.

We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.