Be Strong and Courageous (Joshua 1:1-9)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

We are in the Old Testament book of Joshua And

I know we haven't been in Joshua lately and So

perhaps it's been a while since you were here.

I hope that you love Joshua as much as I do Joshua

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 we'll look at verses 1 through 9, but

I Think we might also venture past verse 9 and

maybe back into Deuteronomy a little bit. No

promises But what we're gonna see is as I said,

it's courage Here and you can imagine that as

Joshua takes over leading God's people after

Moses dies Yeah, he would need courage, right?

And so let's look at this Joshua chapter 1 Verses

Joshua 1:1–9

1 through 9 After the death of Moses the servant

of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son

of none, Moses's 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 to you just as I promised to Moses.

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 You've certainly

heard the word courage or courageous, it's in

there at least three times, right? And we're

going to see it in some other spots as well.

But I want to begin this evening with a story

of extreme courage. And this is especially to

be heard by our little ones, our children in

here. For I tell you the story of a young girl

about 12 years old. Her name was Emily. Emily

was born to Christian parents, but they were

missionaries of sorts in Bangladesh. And if you

know anything about Bangladesh, it's primarily

a Muslim country. There are also some Hindus

there as well. And so when Emily was about 12

years old, her parents enrolled her in the local

school. And as I said, most of the people there

are Muslim or Hindu. And she was one of only

two Christian students in the whole school of

about 600 students. And her first few days there

didn't go well because people, the students found

out and some of the teachers that she was a Christian.

And the students began to pick on her and to

mock her. And over time, it became worse than

that and they started to harm her physically

and she hated school. Emily cried herself to

sleep at night. She dreaded going back there.

The students showed no mercy. and the administration

didn't offer any help. Well, one day her parents

went to the principal of the school and said,

can Emily and other Christians in the school

have Christian holidays off from coming to school

because Muslims take Friday as their day of rest.

And to their surprise, the principal said, yes,

she may have Easter off. school and actually

the principal made the day of Easter a holiday

on the school calendar and so everybody had off

for it but in return Emily had to do something.

Emily had to stand in front of an assembly of

the entire student body and tell everybody what

Easter was all about. You can imagine a 12 year

old in front of 600 students And the principal

and all the teachers getting ready to tell them

about the resurrection of Jesus when she has

already been reviled for her faith. She was absolutely

petrified. And yet the more that she thought

about it and prayed about it, she realized this

was the opportunity that she needed to share

Jesus with this entire school. And so the day

for her to speak, it was a Sunday. The assembly

is there, all the students are there, and they

even put up loudspeakers outside onto the busy

street so other people could hear all about Jesus

and the resurrection. Emily's parents stood outside

and prayed for her. They were just as scared

as she was. And she walked up to the podium,

got behind the microphone, and she proceeded

to tell everybody that could possibly hear her

voice. all about the teaching of Jesus, all about

the miracles of Jesus, all about the crucifixion

and yes, the resurrection of Jesus. And then

she gave an invitation to all the students, 12

years old, to believe in Jesus. And then she

walked back to her seat and she waited for the

mocking to return, for the scolding, for the

abuse. And it didn't come. There was no backlash.

The teachers and some of the students actually

asked Emily questions. Two of them requested

Bibles. Her math teacher attended the Christmas

service that year and the bullying stopped. Years

later, she said something to the effect of, courage

doesn't come from drumming it up in ourselves.

She actually pointed to what the apostle Paul

shows us in the book of Acts where it says, do

not be afraid. but go on speaking and do not

be silent." The question for us, though, is how

can we have the courage of little Emily? But

maybe we need to answer another question first.

What is courage? Matthew Everhard says, biblical

courage is the confidence that the believer stands

secure in his or her saving relationship to God.

He experiences the divine power and protection

of God's constant presence, walking faithfully

in love so as to boldly confront all evil and

injustice, thereby honoring the Lord and seeking

God's glory above all things. Simply put, courage

is fearing the Lord, not cowering in front of

our enemies. To have such courage, we have this

wonderful passage in Joshua. And within this

passage we see four things that we are to remember

God's promises, we are to remember God's power,

we are to remember God's presence, and we are

to remember God's precepts. Let's look at promises

first, primarily in verses two through four and

verse six. It should come as no surprise that

courage, forms the root of the word encourage.

And by remembering God's promises, Joshua would

be encouraged. As I said, you see this phrase

or something similar to it, be strong and courageous.

It's there three times within our text. But actually,

if you go back into Deuteronomy, you see this

phrase more than just the three times that are

here. Let me take you to Deuteronomy chapter

Deuteronomy 31 · chapter mention

31. verses four through eight. As this is said

here, Moses is speaking, so Moses is clearly

still alive, and he's talking to Joshua. He's

getting Joshua ready to take over. Moses knows

that he's not going into the promised land. 31

,4, and the Lord will do to them as he did to

Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and

to their land when he destroyed them. And the

Lord will give them over to you and you shall

do to them according to the whole commandment

that I have commanded you. There it is. Be strong

and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of

them. For it is the Lord your God who goes with

you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Then

Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the

sight of all Israel be strong and courageous.

There it is again. for you shall go with this

people into the land that the Lord has sworn

to their fathers and give them, and you shall

put them in possession of it. It is the Lord

who goes before you. He will be with you. He

will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear

or be dismayed." And so now in Joshua 1, that

Moses has died, the Lord is calling on Joshua

to remember his promises, right? Look at verse

3. It says, just as I promised Moses. So the

very promises made to Moses are now made to Joshua.

But still, have you ever thought of what it would

be like to lead Israel after the time of Moses?

Have you ever had to follow somebody in something

who does a wonderful job? Maybe you're singing

a solo and you had to follow a wonderful act

and you think, how in the world can I follow

that? How in the world can I top that? Think

about Moses. Moses is the one who met God at

the burning bush and received his covenant name

of Yahweh. Moses is the one who formed all the

signs and the wonders and the plagues. Moses

is the one the part of the Red Sea. Moses met

Yahweh at Mount Sinai and led the people through

the wilderness for 40 years. This is Moses. How

in the world do you follow or top Moses? Well,

here's the good news that you know Joshua doesn't

have to top Moses. Moses is not his standard,

God is. And as the Lord gives these promises,

the Lord also is the one who can give the land.

And yes, there's gonna be battles, but ultimately

it's the Lord who's in control of this land,

right? And so Joshua is really told here, remember

the promises of God. And that's good application

for us too. We need to remember the promises

of God that he makes to his people. Passages

like Romans chapter 10 verse 13, all who call

Romans 10:13

upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Passages

like Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for it's by grace

you've been saved through faith, it's not from

yourselves, it's the gift of God, right? We need

to remember those kinds of promises. We can even

remember the promise that Jesus makes in John

14 when he says I go to make a place for you.

Talk about territory, right? Our heavenly territory

awaits. Christ has promised it. It is there for

us. But as we recognize this and we recognize

the promises of God, we should also recognize

the very power of God. Look in verses four and

five. God has the power to ensure that wherever

Israel treads, the land will be theirs. And so

no Hittite, no Ammonite, no Moabite can hold

onto this land against God's purposes. And even

when Israel's enemies were victorious, it was

only because the Lord allowed it. And this promise

of this promised land traces not just back to

Moses, this goes way back. This goes all the

way back to the time of Abraham, right? And so

what it really shows us is yes, the power of

God because God fights for his people. Consider

the words of Exodus chapter 17. Exodus 17, eight

Exodus 17 · chapter mention

through 13. And we'll go nine. Now eight, then

Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

So Moses said to Joshua, choose for us men and

go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will

stand on the top of the hill with the staff of

God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses told him

and fought with Amalek while Moses, Aaron and

her went up to the top of the hill. When Moses

held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And whenever

he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses'

hands grew weary. So they took a stone and put

it under him. And he sat on it while Aaron and

Hur held up his hands on one side and the other

on the other side. So his hands were steady until

the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed

Amalek and his people with the sword. Yes, it's

true. God fights for his people. Joshua then

is being reminded God's power here. Remembering

the power of God, this can help us too. It can

help us not to fear. Perhaps you remember Psalm

27, verse one, the Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold

of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? This puts

all of our challenges in perspective, doesn't

it? That every battle is really lopsided against

the power of God. And this should help you too

as you go through various situations in which

you need the courage of God, right? Maybe you're

getting ready to go on your first mission trip

and you need to be reminded of the power of God

maybe Maybe you are in a secular work setting

and you go in on Monday and people drag Christ's

name through the mud and you have to stand up

For who God is and who Christ is Ask the Lord

to grant you his courage Maybe you have a doctor's

appointment coming up and a potentially devastating

diagnosis. Ask for the very courage of God and

he will supply. By way of illustration, this

week you may have seen that there are multiple

reports circulating online of the murder of an

evangelist in Kampala, Uganda. An evangelist

named Alfred who was preaching at some sort of

a gospel outreach event. He and his wife were

leaving from the event after it happened and

four men posing as motorcycle taxi drivers, they

claimed to be Christians and they offered to

give the evangelist and his wife a ride home.

But actually what they did instead is they killed

the evangelist. And so no doubt this will raise

concerns about ministry in that region. Africa

in that country of Uganda and some people may

say hey we need to stay away from that it's a

Christian country but it has a growing Muslim

population and certainly there is to be wisdom

when we consider when we go and where we go and

how we go to serve in hostile places but the

Christian knows this that God is at work And

God has the power to strengthen hearts and bodies

for his work. And God has the power to continue

to bring people to faith in Jesus, perhaps and

maybe especially in hostile situations. Actually,

that kind of persecution rather than silencing

the gospel, all it simply does is fuels the fire

because God's power cannot be silenced. And this

is especially true. when we realize point number

three, remembering God's presence. There is something

uniquely encouraging about the presence of another

person, isn't there? Don't you just feel encouraged

as you go through something difficult? I reference

maybe that diagnosis, having somebody there with

you at the doctor's office. Doesn't that mean

the world to you? It certainly means the world

to me. But someone even greater than our best

friend or even our spouse is with us God promises

his presence God promises to Joshua his Withness

I will be with you in verse 5 as I was with Moses

So I will be with you and friends God's presence

is not occasional verse 9 says the Lord your

God is with you wherever you go and verse 5 says

I will not leave you forsake you." Meaning God's

presence, his witness, he doesn't take time off,

does he? And this kind of a promise of presence

is echoed throughout Scripture. It's echoed to

Jacob. You remember when Jacob is told to go

find a wife from among his own people. God promises

to be with him. It's when David speaks to Solomon

as Solomon is getting ready to assume the throne

God promises his presence as David talks to his

son It's it's it's spoken by Solomon himself

at the benediction at the dedication of the temple

and Ultimately God's presence is seen the most

clearly in Jesus Christ who is our Emmanuel God

with us and it's echoed out of the lips of Jesus

himself at the end of Matthew 28 when he says,

I am with you always until the end of the age.

The Christian, you can have courage because God

is with you. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit

means we are never left alone and we are never

forsaken. God is with us, strengthening us as

we do what he has called us to do. And God's

presence is not dependent upon your feelings.

I know sometimes we might say or we might feel,

I feel like God's not with me. Well guess what?

It's not dependent upon your feelings. He is

with you. And is there anything more encouraging

than knowing that God is with you at all times?

For me, there's nothing more encouraging than

that. He by his spirit resides in you and because

he does, point four is also important. We are

to remember God's precepts. The indwelling of

the Holy Spirit helps us to keep God's commands.

Look in verses seven and eight. Being courageous,

also means being obedient. It doesn't do much

good to say you're courageous if you're not faithful

enough to stand for truth. So remembering God's

promises and His power and His presence will

help you keep His precepts. But you might say,

well, what in the world are precepts? Well, if

you read in the Psalms, you'll see it quite often,

actually, especially in Psalm 119, where it says,

I meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on

your ways. And this is precisely what Joshua

chapter one, verse eight, calls Joshua to do.

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. And verse seven links

strength and courage directly to obedience, being

careful to do what Moses commanded you. And so

success and wisdom depend on adhering to the

revealed word of God. And yet if we were going

to give. Joshua some encouragement if we were

gonna give him some instruction we would probably

give Joshua military strategy right we would

say you need all kinds of weapons and things

but here he's just told to adhere to the very

word of God it's as if it's as if the Lord is

telling Joshua remember your training you've

been prepared for this And so he essentially

says, hey, to have courage and to be successful,

know my word and consider it around the clock.

Read it and speak it and memorize it. And friends,

we are to do the same thing. If you're looking

for courage, look no further than the word and

prayer. Look no further than the means of grace

in which God is really at work in our lives,

strengthening our faith. We need to be committed

to this. You want courage. Make sure you're in

this book. For this book shows us courage time

and time and time again as God strengthens us.

And so as I begin to conclude, I have a challenge

for you. Will you let this sermon have an ongoing

impact in trusting God with strength and courage?

If you accept that challenge, don't wait for

the critical moment. Strengthen yourself now

in the Lord. Yes, the Lord will be with you.

And yes, he is. But we need to strengthen ourselves

now by this word. After all, What did the Israelites

do underneath Joshua? Look in verse 10. 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. So Joshua commands

his officers to tell the people to prepare to

take possession of the land. And what is their

response? Look in verses 16 and 18. And they

answer, 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 words,

whatever you command him shall be put to death.

And here it comes again, only be strong and courageous.

And so friends, the call for you is to be strong

and courageous. Remember, God's promises. Remember

God's power. Remember God's presence. And remember

his precepts. Let us pray.