The Book Of Joshua 1_1 2023-06-18

The main idea of this transcription is that Joshua is being commanded by God to go forth and lead the children of Israel into the land of Canaan. God promises to be with Joshua and assures him of victory if he obeys and follows the law. The transcription also emphasizes the importance of fighting against the world, the flesh, and the devil as a Christian. It encourages believers to stand firm in their faith and separate themselves from those who do not believe in the same doctrine. The transcription relates Joshua's battle with the Amalekites to the spiritual battle that Christians face and emphasizes the need to walk in the spirit and fight against the lusts of the flesh. Overall, the transcription highlights the importance of training and being prepared for the Christian battle. All right, Joshua chapter number one. Let's begin reading Joshua chapter number one. And, well, before we read, let's go ahead and ask the Lord's blessing again over the Scripture. Lord, we just pray your blessing over the Scripture as we read it tonight. Lord, help us to communicate the truths that are found in the Word of God. Help us, Lord, to understand, to receive what you have for us, to learn, Lord, to be better equipped to be able to serve you. And we pray this in Jesus' name for his sake, amen and amen. All right, Joshua chapter number one, verse number one. The Bible says, 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 arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Now it's going to say things like this a couple of times, and I want you to understand it. He says, go over this Jordan, verse number two, thou and all this people, unto the land which I do give them. So the land has already been given to them. Watch it now, verse three. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. So it's already happened. It's past tense. In other words, it only takes obedience to possess what God wants to give. Verse number four. From the wilderness in this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. Again, it's a promise given. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. So God's promises are given. Verse number six. And then he says, be strong and of a good courage. For unto this people shall thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This 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 is written therein. For then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee, be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. This is a great passage of scripture because it's God commanding Joshua, God encouraging Joshua, God giving to Joshua the charge to go forth and do what he's been called to do. Now of course if we apply that practically to us, that's our Christian walk and our Christian life. Now we talked a little bit about Joshua previously and we did mention in verse number one that after the death of Moses, so Moses dies, God did not, and so the Lord chose Joshua, the son of Nun in verse number one. So Joshua was chosen by God. He was chosen by God because of what he had done previously. In other words, God just didn't arbitrarily choose him. He was trained for this specific purpose. He was trained for this specific purpose. And to see that, let's take our Bibles and go to Exodus chapter number 17. And we'll see Joshua, we talked about him being a minister last time. We talked about him being Moses' servant. He went up to the Mount 40 days and he ministered unto Moses. He was there. But let's consider this now, Exodus chapter 17 verse number one. And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after their journeys according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. It goes on and tells that story about the water and all the bitterness and those kind of things. Now pick it up back in verse number eight. Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, chooses out men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said unto him and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. We'll talk more about that in a minute. But notice that Joshua was commanded to go rustle up an army to get this group of soldiers together and then go. And as I told you about comparing this with the book of Ephesians, in the book of Ephesians it has a real simple outline. It's walk, sit, walk, stand. And so you sit, you learn about what the Lord, you learn about his great and mighty power. And then you're walking in the spirit and you're standing for what's right. And so there's a progression. And that progression is experienced by Joshua here. And he's been called to go out and to be a soldier of the Lord. And so he was called out and he was obedient to do that. And that was his training. And so as Christians, we're called to go for training or to be in training also. And that is the place of the local church. And Joshua was ministering unto Moses. And he sat there and he learned and he took care of Moses and he did what he could. Today, unfortunately, the Bible tells us, Paul said in Ephesians chapter 6, he told us, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. You know, he told us in Galatians to walk in the spirit. He told us in Corinthians, he said that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. He said in Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier. He told us to fight a good fight. So over and over again, the Christian is told to fight. He's told to put up a battle, put up a fight. Not to give in and not to surrender, but to fight. Now, who's he fighting with? Of course, he's fighting with the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world, the flesh, and the devil. The world wants to draw you away from Christ by giving you the temptations of the world. Look at Mark chapter number 4. Turn to Mark chapter number 4. Here he's talking about, this is the Lord Jesus, talking about the parable of the sower. And then he goes on, we'll just pick it up in verse number 18. And he says, And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things, entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. What does that mean? That means that we get distracted by the world, the things of the world, the riches that this world has to offer. And too many today, the church today is filled with Christians who are not fighting the fight, who are not fighting the battle, but rather who have surrendered. Many Christians don't even realize that they've surrendered to the Lord because they're not fighting against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now back in Exodus chapter number 17, back in Exodus chapter number 17, so this battle here with Amalek, this battle with Amalek is a picture. It's a picture of war against the flesh. Now when you think about, and here, go back to Genesis or Exodus chapter 17, Exodus chapter 17, that Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And so Amalek is a picture of the world. In the book of Genesis, Amalek is a descendant. He's a grandson of Esau. You remember Esau, Jacob's son, who was only concerned with his flesh, give me pottage lest I die, and so give me the lentils and lest I die. And so he was after the flesh. In fact, in Galatians chapter 4, look at Galatians chapter number 4, and let's pick it up here in verse number 22. For it is written, Galatians 4.22, that Abraham had two sons, the one by the bondmaid and the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise. Skip down if you would now and look at verse number 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now. And that's the battle. That's the battle of the flesh and spirit. And so the Amalekites are the descendants of those. They're an enemy of the flesh. Now it's just a type because that type here in Exodus chapter 17, this type is that they battled in the flesh. They battled in the flesh. In other words, Moses sent Joshua under the law to go out and battle with the Amalekites. However, in the spirit now, we're not supposed to battle in the flesh. I told you 2 Corinthians chapter 5 tells us to walk in the spirit. And Galatians chapter 5, to walk in the spirit that we not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're spiritual. So it's a different thing. Romans chapter 8 says this. Let me get Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 says, For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. Watch it. Who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. So we're battling in the spirit. We battle in the spirit. And we're fighting in the spirit. And that's why we walk in the spirit. And that's why we're supposed to be walking in the spirit. Look at, go to Numbers chapter 14. Go to Numbers chapter 14. And so this, in Numbers chapter 14, let's pick it up in verse number 40. And this is another encounter with the Amalekites. And he says in verse number 40, And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised. For we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord, but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you, that ye be not smitten before your enemies. Now, this was a physical thing for the nation of Israel, because they had sinned. And for us, if we're not in the spirit, then we have the same potential to lose our battles, or the same, I guess you say potential, the same, it's going to happen, because if we're not walking in the spirit. And then he said, verse 43 now, For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword, because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop. Nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of the Lord and Moses departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites, which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah. And so the Israelites lose a battle because they were walking in the flesh, they weren't walking with the Lord. And so the type is, they had broken the law, they were not keeping the law, I'm sorry, not the flesh, because we are spiritual, and we walking in the flesh, we lose our opportunity to win the battle against the flesh. Again, of which Amalek is a picture of. And so we need to overcome what we are fighting against, and that is the flesh. As we looked at in Mark chapter number 4, the deceitfulness of riches, the lust of other things, and the cares of this world. They destroy us, and they're able to keep us down. You know, we didn't get saved by the flesh, and we're not going to stay saved by the flesh, and that's one of the important parts, or the important part of the book of, the subject of the book of Galatians. But he said in John chapter number 1, we were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So we're born of the Spirit. So Joshua here has battled. So we want to understand that Joshua is in a position now to lead the children of Israel. Joshua is in a position now to go into the land of Canaan and have his battle. Now listen, when we first get saved, that's what the days of wandering in the wilderness is. It's a picture of our first being saved and being nurtured by the Lord. He provided for them. That's 40, you know, the 40 years. The shoes didn't wax old upon their feet. They had manna to eat. And again, it's a type, and I know types are not perfect because they were wandering because of their unwillingness to follow the Lord. But that picture, that type is still there, and it shows how God provides for us after we come out of Egypt. In other words, once we get saved, God does put a hedge of protection about us. Now we don't know everything, and that's what they went through in the 40 years in the wilderness. They were taught by Moses. They were given the law. They had all these experiences, and they were written down. Like it says in the New Testament, these things were written for our learning so we could learn. So it took 40 years, and we could make all kinds of applications from these first books of Moses that came out of the wilderness, and we could make that application to our spiritual growth as babes in Christ. But now it's time to get into the battle. Listen, when I'm talking about getting into the Christian battle, there are things today that we as Christians should be battling against. Unfortunately today, not a lot of Christians stand up for the doctrine of separation. Separation from, listen, where we should be separated from ecclesiastical connections. In other words, ties with other Christians and other churches that don't believe like we do. We have to maintain a sort of purity. There's no question about it. I was talking about discipleship the other day, and in that message, I said something to the fact, when it comes to discipleship, that we need to be trained right. We need to be trained right. And part of that training is to be protected. And part of that is, for example, as a believer, when we talk about separation now, you're going into the battle. Understand, we're still looking at a picture. We're looking at a type, the Christian growing and going into battle. He has to be trained, and in order to be trained, you have to sit and learn and listen. And that's what the local church is for, Ephesians chapter number four. Ephesians chapter four, let me read that verse to you, in Ephesians chapter four, and look at verse number 12, and this is pastors and teachers, verse number 11, verse 12, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of man and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Now Romans chapter number 16, if you look at Romans chapter number 16 with me, look at verse number 17. Now we're talking about separation, ecclesiastical right now. Romans chapter 16, verse 17 says, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. So notice he says, I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned. You know, we're supposed to be learning doctrine in our churches. And as I'm teaching doctrine, as your pastor teaches doctrine, as you study Bible doctrine, you have to realize there's things like, for example, one of the big doctrines that should be a big deal to us is the King James Bible being the inerrant preserved Word of God. The inerrant preserved Word of God. Of course, when I say inerrant, that means there's no errors in the Word of God. And preserved means that it is preserved by God supernaturally. And what is it preserved in? It's preserved in the King James 1611, the A.V. 1611. That's the preserved Word of God. And thank God for other churches and Christians who are trying to do something for God and, you know, they're using the wrong Bible. Thank God for them. But we have to be careful not to, we need to teach them the doctrine. We need to separate because what happens is a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Your family and friends, our family and friends and co-workers who claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ and don't believe the King James Bible is the Word of God, listen, our goal should be able to teach them what the King James Bible says and the differences between the versions. I mean, we've covered some of these in our church. Matthew 18, Acts 8, Colossians chapter number 1, Ephesians chapter, or Colossians 2, Ephesians chapter number 1. You have all these different places. You have the book of Daniel chapter number 3. You have all these things and these modern versions change these verses and they corrupt the Word of God and it does not make it pure anymore. Proverbs chapter 30 says every word of God is pure. Every word of God is pure. It says all Scripture in 1 Timothy chapter 3, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And so all Scripture, listen, all Scripture is inspired, all Scripture is preserved, all Scripture is what we study. So when it comes to, again, we're talking about being in the battle for the Lord, being a Christian. The topic tonight is real simple. It's one of separation. It's one of being ready for the battle, to go into the battle, and being trained for that position, being trained for that in the Word of God. Now God said in our book of Joshua chapter number 1, as I already told you, all the promises were given. The promises were given. Here's the promises. You do the promises, you're going to get the rewards. That's what we were given. And so we're supposed to be in a battle. Don't give up. Listen, there's a song that says the Christian life is a battlefield. It's not a recreation room. It's a battlefield. And that's true, because we're battling against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now I'm asking, are you in the fight? If you're in the fight, if you're in the fight, if you're in the fight, you're going to know that you have enemies. Listen now, we'll go to Joshua chapter 24. Joshua chapter 24. I think we looked at this last time, but here's what it's like. Now listen, when we go in there, we're going to conquer the land, and it's going to be dispersed. I told you how we divide the book up. It's real simple there. But in Joshua chapter number 24, notice what he said there. Remember, it's 2415. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. But he goes on. Before that, he says this. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your father served. That's society. That's the gods of money. That's the gods of entertainment. That's the god of amusement. That's the god of finances. That's the god of sexual immorality. That's the god of politics. These are the gods that are against our God. Listen, our spiritual battle is not to battle with these things. Our battle is to make a life, make our life count for Christ for all eternity. In other words, we're to serve the Lord Jesus Christ looking for not a physical reward as the children of Israel. The children of Israel in the book of Joshua, they get the land. They conquer the land. They get it. They get to eat. And then over and over and over again, that's what they're promised, the land. What are we promised? Ephesians chapter number 1. We're promised to be blessed with spiritual blessings in heavenly places where in Christ Jesus. And that's what it comes down to. So are you battling? Are you battling? Are you in the battle? Have you been trained? Maybe you're in training now. Maybe you've never taken the training thing seriously. My son graduated from boot camp or whatever that was called for the Army, the Army National Guard, and now he's in the police training. And he's going to graduate from that, Lord willing. And the ideal is you're trained to come out to be able to do a job. I want to ask you, are you trained to do a job? Are you able to do the job that God wants you to do? Are you able to do it? Now listen, you won't be trained if you don't sit and surrender and then serve. You've got to be battling. You've got to be a soldier. You know, being in the Army of the Lord, it's not an easy thing. You know, we talk about it, and we talk about how blessed we are and all those kinds of things, and we are. But beloved, we truly are blessed, right? God wins the battles for us, but it's because of the spiritual battle. So where are you battling today? Are you battling against the world, the flesh, and the devil? Are you battling against yourself? Or are you giving in to this world's gods, these gods here? And I hope not. I hope you decide tonight. I hope you can make a decision. I hope you can make a decision just like Joshua had to do many years ago. He had to submit himself unto Moses, submit himself, and go against what he thought would have been comfortable, and he had to go into battle. Not an easy thing to do. Are you willing to go into battle? There are so many Christians who are living the easy Christian life. If you're not struggling, if you don't have an enemy, if you don't have an enemy, if there's not, if the devil, like Sennacherib, over there in Samuel, there was Sennacherib, and he came and knocked at the door of the king, and he told him he wanted to conquer and all that kind of stuff. If the devil's not at your door, if the devil's not knocking at your door and trying to keep you from serving God, listen, the devil is busy, actively busy, wanting to stop the servants of the Lord. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. And so he wants to devour you and I, if you're serving God. You know, 1 Timothy talked about being taken captive by him at his will. And there are those who are battling and are in danger of being attacked by the lion. And then there are those who don't even realize it, but they are being captive by the devil himself. They're being captive by the devil himself. And so, where are you at tonight? Where are you at tonight? Are you captive by the devil? Or are you in danger? Are you in danger? Well, if you're in danger, go to run to the Lord. The Lord can help us. All right, listen. I've rambled on long enough, but the point is simple tonight. Just like the battle in Joshua, the children of Israel, Moses, Joshua was called to serve. He has a place. You have a place in Christ to serve. You have to receive the training that God wants for you. And you have to be willing to do it. You have to be willing to fight. Father, I thank you for the Word of God tonight. I pray, Lord, if there's anybody who has not submitted themselves, not surrendered themselves to serve you, I pray, Lord, that you bless them and help them. And, Lord, I pray these things in Jesus' name for His sake. Amen and amen.