Living the Christian Life – Part 2
Joshua 3:1-4
DATE: 18 July, 2004 AM PLACE: BBC Ballincollig
I. Introduction (Joshua 3:4)
A. Last Week we looked and studied what it meant to walk by faith – to step out and live not by sight, but by something far more powerful – by faith
B. See if you to agree with me – that it is possible to live by faith, on occasion
C. It is a whole lot harder to live it day in and day out
1. It is very easy to trust God when there is no storm to row into
2. It is a whole lot harder to keep trusting in God, when the very ground is caving in around you, or the ground you are covering is always new
D. Faith is all about new territory – getting into situations that we never have been in before
1. Wouldn’t it be nice to only have to handle situations that we already are ready for?
2. I find that is so rarely the case – life is just too big and complex
3. As with our Land Purchase – we have been learning how to do what we are doing for the past several years, but really, we have never been down this road before
4. Yet God says there is a way to be ready for the paths we have never trod before – and it is all part of this package called Faith!
E. How has God made it possible for us to live and walk and battle by faith every moment of every day?
1. By giving us one focus – one thing/Person to worry about
2. By slowing us down
3. By asking us to watch before we walk
4. By commanding us to fight our own sins before we enter into battle with anything else
II. Review - Old Testament Types and Pictures of Things in Our Lives
A. Bondage in Egypt Bondage to sin and the god of this world
B. Passover Salvation from sin's penalty
C. Exodus from Egypt Beginning of the new life in Christ
D. Crossing the Red Sea Commitment to God and His way
E. Mt Sinai Encounter Getting God's Word
F. Wilderness Wanderings Struggling to believe God's word
G. Crossing the Jordan River Leaving the Old Man behind
H. The Ark Pointed out the presence of God with them
III. Background
A. Israel is on the brink of the Promised Land – the land of Canaan – which is where they are right today
B. They have travelled 40 years through a wasted wilderness
1. Not because of distance
2. But because of bad attitudes – murmuring and complaining
C. Loads of people died along the way
1. Not because of enemies
2. But because of unbelief
D. Isn’t it amazing just how much a problem WE are to ourselves?
E. Now they were getting ready to cross over the Jordan River and begin something their parents had only dreamed about – conquering the land that God had promised them as a nation over 400 years earlier
F. But in order to do it, every believer had to behind them their old life, doubts, and fears, and face their enemy head-on, with full confidence in their Lord!
IV. Message
A. Keep Your Eyes on One Focus (Joshua 3:1-3)
1. Not on the River – the impossibilities
2. Not on the Battles Ahead – there was 25 years of battles ahead
3. Not on Joshua even
4. But on the Ark - a little tiny box called the Ark of God’s Covenant
a. It was small
b. It was attended to by a small contingent of priests
c. But it was the reminder that God was with His people
5. EX: Peter in Mt 14:26-31
6. What is our Focus?
a. Not the tasks we have to do – get all wrapped up in the things we have to do that we have no time for worship
b. Not the rivers we have to cross – impossible nature of such endeavours – in reality, so what it is impossible – that shouldn’t matter, if that is where God wants us to Go (Mt 17:20)
c. Not the people we are travelling with
d. Not even the leadership we are trying to follow
e. Our focus is always and only, Jesus – anything else is a false start
B. Don’t Be Reckless (Joshua 3:4) – Slow Down
1. What was about to happen was an amazing miracle
a. The Jordan River would wall up on one side just like the Red Sea did, allowing a million an a half people to cross over it on dry ground again
b. These people had heard their parents tell of the Red Sea miracle with excitement
c. Once these people saw it happening for them, there was the risk of them being reckless and hasty in just running ahead
2. Getting ahead of God is a big danger in the Christian life
a. Moses got ahead of God and it hurt him for 40 years
b. He was so excited about freeing his people that he ran on ahead of God’s timing
c. How many times have we learned a new truth and then “plugged it in” to our lives and ran off thinking we were now unstoppable?
d. How many times have we THOUGHT we knew what God wanted for us to do, and then attempted it, without any prayer, or any counsel, and then been bitterly disappointed?
1) Marriages
2) Girlfriends, boyfriends
3) Purchases – getting into big-time debt
4) God tells us to:
a) Seek counsel – parents, pastor, not just your peers
b) Pray hard, and long
c) Wait, and wait some more, and wait until you KNOW it is time – don’t wait for ever! But learn to slow down
3. Make sure what you are doing is both right, and God’s will – EX: Gideon and his “fleece” tests
4. We get ahead of God when the following is not true in our lives
a. We don’t pray about whet we are doing, BEFORE we do it
b. We don’t pray enough about what we are thinking we ought to be able to do
c. We don’t wait and see if what we want to do is God’s will
d. We aren’t willing to slow down, and see if we HAVE gotten ahead of God – we usually only stop doing what we want to do when it ends in disaster
e. We don’t purposely yield to God’s way of doing things (Ps 95:10)
1) Imagine if the Lord was to lead in one direction and then change direction and the crowds of people were too close to respond?
2) The crowd would continue to go on, while God would be leading in another direction
3) God’s ways and thoughts are so incredible, so we must allow Him to change direction
C. Get a Good View (Joshua 3:4) – God is asking us to watch before we walk
1. The 2,000 cubits was about a kilometre
2. Therefore, with a million and a half people the following was supposed to be in force:
a. They were to stay together in their families, by tribe – twelve tribes
b. They were to go together as one unit – like an army
c. They were to maintain distance behind the little tiny box called the Ark of God’s Covenant
3. That distance was so that people not only would have one thing to keep their eyes on
4. But the distance would allow all the people to SEE the miracle that was about to take place, and more to come (Joshua 3:14-17)
5. Folks, I want to get a front row view of all that God is doing in my life, and in the life of this Church
6. Let’s keep our eyes open to His handiwork, and be ready to praise God for every miracle He does!
D. Sanctify Yourselves (Joshua 3:5) - God commands us to fight our own sins before we enter into battle with anything else
1. None of the above things come naturally:
a. We naturally just charge ahead of God – all the time!
b. We naturally don’t look for God in the situations we go through
c. We naturally miss most of the miracles in our life
d. AND, we naturally don’t keep ourselves spotless from the world
2. Sanctify is simply a washing, cleansing to make us ready for use
a. Like the washing out of a coffee cup – not for show, but for use
b. Like the cleaning up of an old house, not for showing off, but for people to be able to move in and live there!
3. Every Christian became a Christian by
a. Realizing they were hopelessly ruined – lost – sinful
b. Discovering they were headed to hell for all their sins – no matter how hard they tried to do right, it would never be enough
c. Accepting God’s judgement as right and holy – deserving of hell
d. And then finding out that God has personally taken the punishment for all their sins, in Christ, on the cross
e. And just by desperate faith in Jesus Christ, they, like the repentant thief on the cross next to Jesus, simply called on His name and asked to be forgiven, and made new again!
f. That’s how anybody gets born again – saved
4. But that takes away the punishment for your sins
5. What about when we sin again? Do we just ignore it like nothing happened? Do we imagine that we really aren’t sinning anymore, now that we are a Christian? No way!
6. Salvation:
a. Changes your destination – from hell, to heaven, praise God
b. Changes your denomination – from sinner to saint
c. Changes your association – from being with the world, to being with the people of God – now identified as a child of God instead of the devil
7. Sanctification:
a. The discarding of anything that comes between me and God
b. Like walking through and old house and running into loads of spider webs – you would be pulling them off of you as you went along
c. In this world, every day, there is muck washing up on us, and covering us
d. Sanctification is the effort we go through to stay clean spiritually
8. How do we do that? (2Tim 2:15
a. Study this Bible – learn what IT says, not what Ophra says to do
b. Shun foolish talk (2:16) – stay away from it
c. Depart, make a break from sinful activities in your life (2:19)
d. Purge out stuff that is like chains around your ankles (2:21)
e. Flee from the lusts that smother us as young people (2:22)
f. Avoid stupid questions that only cause arguments (2:23)
g. Stay along with other Christians who follow the Lord sincerely (2:22)
V. Conclusion
A. We all know it is possible to live by faith, on occasion
B. But, it is a whole lot harder to live it day in and day out
1. It is very easy to trust God when there is no storm to row into
2. It is a whole lot harder to keep trusting in God, when the very ground is caving in around you, or the ground you are covering is always new
C. Faith is all about new territory – getting into situations that we never have been in before
1. With our Land Purchase – we have never been down this road before
2. Yet God says there is a way to be ready for the paths we have never trod before – and it is all part of this package called Faith!
D. How do we live and walk and battle by faith every moment of every day?
1. By having only one focus – one thing/Person to worry about
2. By slowing down – praying always, and seeking counsel
3. By looking for the miraculous hand of God before we walk
4. By fighting our own sins before we enter into battle with anything else
E. Those four things make it possible to stay living, walking, fighting and winning every battle, by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
F. But it begins with being born again