Strength and Honor... Strong and Courageous 1.

So we may have all seen movies like Gladiator where they are about to go off to war or maybe Rocky where he is about to fight someone who is really big and strong and powerful, and has most likely beaten him or a friend before really badly. How many of us have ever participated in a sporting event? What was it like right before your event started? Were any of you scared? a. Well when I was in high school I ran track and field. In my first track meet I was a little nervous, not quite scared, but really nervous. I had trained and ran and was pretty fast for a short legged guy in the south who was really light skinned. I knew I could run the race, but I didn't do so well. You see I was a hurdler, and I went over the first hurdle I hit it with my trail leg. On the second I hit a little further forward on my trail leg. The third I hit with the thigh of my lead leg. The fourth I kicked with my lead foot and fell and rolled all the way to the fifth hurdle. It hurt. The track I was running on was not like the track I had been training on, it was the little red cinder rock track, and I had rocks in my knees and elbows. So later on when I ran my second event, the 300 m hurdles, you can bet I was scared. My coach kept telling me don't worry about it, rely on your training, you have run this race a bunch of times in practice, just run your race and don't think about the other race. It didn't help; I was terrified about falling again and not doing well. Mainly I was scared because I was being told to trust in something that had already failed, that being my own training and myself, I knew I was strong, but I was not courageous. 2. Let's see what the Bible says about where strength and courage. One of the first things we see in the passage is that they, the Israelites, are about to go over the Jordan and possess the land. Why would God tell Joshua to be strong and courageous, what is to fear? What do we know about the land of Canaan and the people living there first of all? a. Well Numbers 13:28 tells us that 10 of the 12 spies said that the people were strong and they had large fortified cities and also the sons of Anak were there. Then later in vs 33 we see the spies also said that they seemed like grasshoppers to the people of the land. So they are big and they are strong, and they had large fortified cities. b. Why else might God tell Joshua to be strong and courageous? He is in a strange land. He has been in the wilderness for 40 years and this is what he is used to, there may be a fear of the unknown as well as a fear of the people. How many of us were scared when we moved here to the CZ? It can be scary going into a new strange land; God knows these things and was telling him before hand to be strong and courageous before the fear set in. c. What other reason could God have for telling Joshua to be strong and courageous? What about Israel's history? He has been the assistant of Moses for over 40 years, and through the forty years he has seen the sin and the whining and the grumbling against God that these people have done. He has seen how quick they are to forsake God and make an idol, in Exodus 32, the golden calf they made. The grumbling about there were not enough graves in Egypt. This is a people who are hard to lead, and Joshua is now leading them.

3. We can see 2 keys to the strength and courage God wanted Joshua to have, they are given as commands and promises. They are both given as two parts, almost like mirrors in the passage: a. 1st Command: Verses 2 and 6. You and all these people get ready to cross the Jordan... be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers. Verse 9, Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, i. Pretty straightforward.

b. 1st Promise: Verse 5 and 9, verse 5, No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses I will be with you, so I will never leave you nor forsake you. Verse 9, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. i. Joshua the man who had been Moses assistant for over 40 years, the guy who had seen how God was with Moses. He had been with Moses when he got water out of the stone. He had helped Moses hold up his arms during the battle so the Israelites would win. He had seen Moses go up on the mountain and the cloud and the thunder and lightning of the Lord covering the mountain. He had been there when Moses was up for 40 days and 40 nights and he came down and his face shone like the sun. The same God was now going to be with him, and he would never leave or forsake Joshua. He should have drawn lots of courage from this. c. 2nd Command: Verse 7 and 8, Be careful to do all according to the law... Do not turn away from it to the left or the right. Verse 8, 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. i. How often when you are with your friends do you talk about God's word? Do we share how he is teaching us, where we are having trouble understanding something, or even where God has been challenging us through his word? When we are alone do we think about God's word and try to get the full meaning of what he is trying to say? Meditate means to engage in thought or contemplation, reflection. Are we doing this with God's word? ii. Psalm 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Are we hiding God's word in our hearts? I hope we are, I know it get tough, with life and school work and other things, but we need his word. d. 2nd Promise: Verse 7 and 8, That you may have good success where ever you go. Some translations have act wisely instead of have success. Verse 8, then you will have success.

i. We need to realize that Joshua's and Israel's success depended on adherence and obedience to the Law of God. It is important to note here that God is looking for total dependence on him, not partial dependence. He is making it clear that when people are dependent on him the results will be good. 4. Ok, so how does this work for us today? Just because God was with Joshua, does it mean he is with us today? a. Well we have been told the same thing, almost word for word, but just not in the book of Joshua. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus was talking to his disciples, if you are a disciple of Jesus then this is for you, Go and make disciples of all nations. Then in verse 20, Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded. Finishes with surely I am with you to the end of the age. get up you and all Israel and cross this Jordan. Go and make disciples. Obey all the law my servant Moses gave to you. Teach them to obey all I have commanded. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. b. How can I be strong and courageous today? This same Jesus, who took on our sin to himself, this same Jesus, who was God in flesh, whom the Bible calls the image of the invisible God, this Jesus who died our death in our place to cleanse us of our sin and pay the price we should have paid. If we belong to him, he has told us I am with you to the end of the age. If you are not his then today before you leave here I hope you are hearing him call and that you are feeling him draw you to himself. I pray that by the power of his Spirit you will respond. Because if you are his, he doesn't say I will be with you most of the time, or I will be with you sometimes. I am with you. He is faithful, just as he was to Joshua, he is to us. He is where our strength and courage should come from.