Sermon Central
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Walking Where We Have Never Walked Before Series
Contributed by Ivan Casteel on Feb 3, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: Strengthening Christian in their daily walk of life
LIFE AT THE HIGHEST PLANE!
WALKING WHERE WE HAVE NEVER
WALKED BEFORE
SERMON #2
Jos 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. (What’s the command?
4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. (KJV)
Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (KJV)
INTRODUCTION: I want to call your attention to the phrase in the last part of Joshua 3:4, "……..for ye have not passed this way heretofore." Joshua is telling the Israelites that they are about to walk on ground they have never walked on before. Unfamiliar territory.
I am asking this church to enter a road we have never walked before. Each of you are being challenged to seek and attain “Life At A Higher Plane.” Basically all this means is to commit yourself completely and totally to God.
Some of you have never committed yourself to a level of an higher plane. This is truly a new way of traveling for many. For the most part, most had never thought of achieving such a level.
What happens when you travel on a new road, or a road you are not familiar with?
You may make wrong turns. If this happens, stop and get back on the right road. I remember several years back my wife and I went to S. Carolina to see our daughter and family, I made a wrong turn and drove 86 miles out of the way. I thought I was right all along. All I would have had to do to discover that we were on the wrong road was to look at the road map, and I could have seen I was wrong.
On a new road you will watch for directions more than on a familiar road.
You will enjoy the scenery of the new road more than the old road.
You will see things that are unfamiliar to you.
Joshua instructs the people concerning certain things that they must be aware of, and that they must do.
They were on the edge of the Jordan River – on the other side of Jordan stood Canaan – the land of promise given to Abraham from God. They were about to enter that land. This certainly was about to become a place where they had never walked before
To walk at a higher plane will require certain things from each of us.
I. PREPARE OURSELVES.
Notice what Joshua told them in Vs. 5.
Vs. 5. "Sanctify yourselves."
A. Spiritual Preparation. Sanctification.
1. What is sanctification? It is not sinlessness.
2. Sanctification is growth as a Christian. Discipleship.
3. That’s what we try to do here. We try to give each member a spiritual diet that will cause each to grow.
4. We have been intensifying this over the last few weeks.
a. Emphasizing more Bible reading and prayer time in the home. I have challenged you in an earlier message to watch TV at least one hour less each day and then give that hour to reading the Bible. If you have taken or will take that challenge you well be amazed at the difference it will make in your life. I wonder how many have taken that challenge?
b. Being sensitive to the will and Word of God.
c. Expecting great things from God.
d. Dedicating self to God.
5. Sanctification is to: "Set apart; purify." Set yourself apart to live holy and righteous.
a. This must be done spiritually as well as physically.
6. "Sanctify yourselves."
a. The effort of sanctification must be done by the individual.
b. Will require physical as well as spiritual involvement.
B. Self-Sanctification Will Require An Overcoming Of The Flesh, and a devotion to allow yourself to be solely directed by God and His word. Making the flesh do what is right.
