Iliff and Saltillo UM
September 19, 2004
Faithfulness --God’s and Yours
Joshua 23:1-16
INTRODUCTION: In chapter 23 the great leader of Israel had reached old age and this chapter records some of his last words to the people. To the very end of his life he remained full of faith and full of the Spirit. He knew what it meant to conquer by faith and to possess God’s inheritance. There are many things in this chapter that point out God’s faithfulness. I want to especially look at the following four verses: 3, 5, 10, 14
vs. 3 "For the Lord your God is he that has fought for you.
vs. 5 you shall possess their land as the Lord your God has promised unto you.
vs. 10 The Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you as he has promised.
vs. 14 "Not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you."
The faithfulness of God is one of the great truths of scripture. Just as Joshua was able to conquer through God’s faithfulness, so we live victorious Christian lives. Within these verses we have some keys for our own life today.
1. Reliance--The Israelites and their leader Joshua had to rely completely on God as they traveled through the land. They couldn’t rely solely on their own abilities to get them through. Whenever they left God out of their lives, they found that they would experience difficulty. When they relied on God’s trustworthiness, they found that He did not let them down. Many people start out in their Christian journey today trusting God and seeking His direction for their lives and then at some point grow careless and forget about Him. God becomes crowded out at one point or another. Joshua was reviewing some of the things the Lord had done over the years for them. He said, "You remember that it was the Lord who fought for you. " There were many battles they faced that they just couldn’t handle on their own and they needed the intervention of God in order to come out of it victoriously.
You may face problems from time to time that there is no way you can handle them on your own. The more you try to work them out the worse they get. You might try to bring about peace in family situations and the more you try to smooth things over, they just get worse. People just get more upset with you. Situations on the job can get so tense and tangled up and you feel you’ve been treated unfairly. There could be people who do all they can to cause you to not get the promotion or the raise you feel you deserve. In a lot of these cases, we are powerless to do something about it. These are times when we need to back off, quit trying to work out things for ourselves and allow God to "fight for us." He intervenes in many situations for us just as he did for the Israelites. Joshua said, "For the Lord your God is He that has FOUGHT for you." Our main business is to live as close to the Lord as we can and not allow ourselves to be caught up in the fighting and conflicts that seek to pull us in. When we see that we have done all we can do, what does scripture say to do??? Ephesians 6:13 "Having done all, to STAND." That’s the time to remember the faithfulness of God to Joshua as well as us today.
Another scripture in II Thess. 3:3 says that God is faithful to give us STABILITY and PROTECTION against all evil. Most of the time we think we have to DO something or SAY something. I asked a group of teenagers, "How important is it for you to have the last word." They thought it was pretty important. That’s what gets us in trouble at times. When we think of God’s faithfulness to intervene for us, we don’t have to always have the last word. We stand in His Stability with reliance upon His power and ability to come through for us in difficult circumstances.
Another scripture to remember when the pressure is on us is I Corinthians 10:13 which indicates that God does not allow us to be tested beyond His willingness to provide a way of escape. We think we cannot take the pressure of some of the circumstances of life another minute. Joshua’s reliance upon God’s faithfulness got him through many such pressures as he led these people in possessing the land. Joshua constantly held before the people’s eyes the PROMISE of God’s inheritance. He spurred them on to POSSESS it. He said in verse 5 "You SHALL possess the land"--why? because of God’s faithfulness.
As we rely on God we’ve got to remember that He has made good on His promises to us when we have put our complete trust in Him. When we don’t keep our part of the commitment God has difficulty working in our lives just as he did for the Israelites. Our unfaithfulness doesn’t stop him from being faithful to us, but He has difficulty getting to us just as He did to the Israelites. They wandered around for years under Moses’ leadership never getting where God wanted them to be. We can’t say that it was God’s fault here--when they began to rely on God & start to move forward in obedience, they saw results take place. Joshua said to them in verse 14 remember, "NOT ONE THING has failed of all the good things which the Lord spoke concerning you."
When we look to our lives can we say this too? When you are in all honesty placing your total reliance in the Lord to work out his plan and purpose in your life, can you ever say He hasn’t been faithful to do it? Whatever He has promised He will fulfill--God is committed to this. Scripture says, " he is not a man that he should lie to us."
2. RESPONSIBILITY--Joshua reminded the people of God’s faithfulness, but there was another side to the coin. In this chapter he also reminded them of their responsibility. vs. 6 says, "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the book of the law of Moses without turning aside to the right or the left." He warned them not to become sidetracked--don’t turn to the right or to the left. What did that mean? Don’t get entangled with things that are going to pull you away from God. It was so easy for these people to be lured away by other gods and to fall into idolatry. He’s telling them, "Don’t be lured away from God by other things around you--people who served other gods--becoming a part of their way of life. He warned them about intermarrying with the people of the land who served other gods and he said if you enter into a relationship with them, they will become snares and traps to you to lead you away from God. They will be like a thorn in your eyes--dragging you down until you will perish from this good land.
Does this happen to us today? I think this part of the scripture speaks very clearly to us today about our responsibility as Christians. Our focus is to be on the Lord also and yet there are so many things that cause us to want to look to the right and to the left--to pull us, to lure us away from God’s best for our life. What are the things in your life that draw you away every bit as much as the Israelites foreign gods? We are faced with other GODS every day--the gods of not only pagan beliefs that are in exact opposition to what is scriptural but to the gods of business, career, other things we put before God--"I can’t come to church because...If I don’t have something better to do, I’ll serve the Lord. My job demands..., my kids demand....my family demands....my bills demand that..... When all of these THINGS pull us to the left and to the right--taking our focus off God, we are in the same boat as the Israelites and we must consider the consequences--these temptations to pull back will become snares and traps that cause us a lot of grief just as they did the Israelites. It doesn’t have to be sinful horrible things--just neglect of our responsibility to "seek first the kingdom of God--and then all of these things will be added to you..." Your priorities, things in their proper place. Knowing what things to say "No" to when they come to you. Christians, we don’t want to find ourselves trapped and ensnared by the same lifestyle as people who don’t know what means to be a Christian are ensnared in.
Paul is telling us in Ephesians 2:1,2 the same thing that Joshua was telling these people.
"And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Where in time past you walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."
Joshua as well as Paul is saying--"Don’t live like this or else you will have problems." It is our responsibility as Christians also to be careful not to become careless Christians. Remember God’s faithfulness but don’t take it for granted and just live in a slipshod way.
3. Keep Going--The third thing that this scripture says to us is--"Don’t turn back-Keep on moving forward."
Verses 12 and 13. Turning back meant they would be willing to give up the promised land for the old life. You might ask, "Why would they ever do that?" One thing is that many times it is a subtle thing, we start letting up a little bit here and there. We stop taking our responsibilities seriously and making God a priority in our life. Many people who become careless in their church attendance find it is easier to stay home. Can’t get out of bed on Sunday morning--too hot, too cold, don’t like to be around people, don’t like the sermon topic--guess I’ll skip today. Won’t matter--won’t miss me anyway.
Hebrews 12:1,2 says "...Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..."
Joshua was telling the people--"God has been faithful--you’ve come a long way."
But don’t forget to keep focused--Don’t let yourself become entangled and tripped up by anything. It’s your responsibility to see to it that God stays in first place in your life.
Keep moving forward--there’s nothing in the old life to turn back to.
Joshua speaks to us today, what is he saying through this scripture?
1. God won’t let you down. He is faithful. We can rely on this.
2. Don’t you let Him down either. We have a responsibility as a Christian.
3. Sharpen your focus and keep moving forward. There’s nothing to go back to.
Let us pray:
