St. John's Conference: 1983
Table of Contents
Courage
Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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I'd like to turn tonight to the first chapter of the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter 1, Joshua chapter 1, and verse one. 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.
Every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto 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. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage, for unto this people shalt 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 be part out of thy mouth, that thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for them thou.
Make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and have a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals, for within three days you shall pass over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.
And to the Reubenites, into the Gadites, and to have the tribe of Manasseh spake Joshua, saying, Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this lamb, your wise, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan, but ye shall.
Pass before your brethren armed all the mighty men of valor, and help them.
Until the Lord hath given your brethren rest as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your God giveth them. Then ye shall return unto the land of your possession and enjoy it which Moses, the Lord's servant gave you on this side. Jordan toward the sun rising.
And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go according as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee. Only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words, in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death.
Only be strong and of a good courage. Well, I think as we look at a chapter like this, we can easily see that the theme of the chapter is courage, strong and of a good courage. And I think if there's any day that we need that, it's today. There's so much to oppose the Christian who wants to truly follow the Lord, who wants to go on in the path of obedience. The enemy is busy and the world seems to be set up in such a way as to make it more and more difficult.
To be a wholehearted and obedient child of God. And some of this chapter here is written for the express purpose of bringing before us the importance of courage. And we know that that's one of the things that we read about in the the second Peter, it says add to your faith, virtue or courage. I'm sure that one of the great efforts of the enemy is to get us discouraged instead of having courage to be discouraged.
And I believe that it's in this day that Satan is particularly using that one is often said that really Satan is a roaring lion in connection with discouragement because we read in first Peter chapter 5, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. And the next verse says be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil has a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
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Now, that is, there are so many cares in this day and age in which we live that when we don't leave those cares with the Lord, then Satan comes in and says it's no use and we get discouraged and we give up the path of faith and obedience and loyalty to Christ. Where this chapter is written particularly to encourage Joshua, and we know that it wasn't just written for Joshua, it was written for us.
It tells us that whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning.
That we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. And so God has given us this to encourage us. The children of Israel had come to the end of the wilderness journey. They were just about to cross over that Jordan and enter the promised land. And brethren, I do believe we're near the end of our Pilgrim journey too. I believe the Lord's coming is near. And I believe that's why the enemy wants us to be discouraged because he doesn't want us to realize.
What a joyful and blessed hope we have. He wants us to be cast down instead of what the Lord said. He said, Speaking of these dark days, when ye see these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. In other words, instead of looking around and being discouraged, He says why all these things are only an indication to you.
That the Lord's coming is near. Look up and lift up your heads instead of being discouraged by looking at all these problems. Well, surely we need this. I need it. Perhaps you feel that you need it too.
Well, in this chapter, it's interesting to see that this exhortation about being strong and of a good courage is given three times by the Lord. And then it's mentioned once at the end of the chapter by the 2 1/2 tribes. That is there three times that the Lord particularly exhorts Joshua to be strong and of a good courage. And perhaps we could say like this that in the first instance it's because.
He was to know what part of the land had been given to them when they passed over the Jordan. They were to know what their inheritance was. And the second one is founded upon obedience, and the third one is founded upon the enjoyment of the Lord's presence with them. And now I believe those three things are very important for us. If we're not acquainted with what really belongs to us in Christ, we'll never really have the courage.
To press on. It's knowing this that gives us courage. And so we find a great many doctrines today that keep people in uncertainty. There are those who don't have the assurance of salvation, who think they can be saved and lost and still not having that assurance. There is an uncertainty about their walk. There are others who are not very sure about whether the church is going to go through the tribulation or not until they lose that blessed hope. We need to know what our portion.
Is we need to be sure of it, as Paul could say.
The things that Timothy had heard and has been assured of knowing of whom now has learned them is a great thing to be sure about what we have in Christ, to be sure about our Christian pathway. I don't mean brought in a boastful spirit. A boastful spirit is never acceptable to God, but a humble yet confidence spirit. It's good to be humble because we really.
Or nothing. But it's also good to be confident that our God is the God of all grace. I have never received one blessing as a Christian because I deserved it. Everything that I have received as a Christian is undeserved. It says that we're saved by grace. We stand in grace. It's grace that will be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Its grace all the way. And what is grace? The undeserved?
Favor of God, we wouldn't deserve anything I say, but it's all from God's heart in grace.
We'll notice here that our chapter begins by saying that this was after the death of Moses. Perhaps we can enter in some measure into the feelings of Joshua at this time, because through those 40 years of wilderness life.
Moses had been a great support to Joshua. Joshua was only a young man when we first read about him, and he faced a lot of problems there in the wilderness that people talked about making a captain and going back into Egypt. He saw them fall into the worship of the golden calf. He saw the spies come back with a bad report. There were a lot of things that happened, and Moses.
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Was his support in these times.
When Moses pitched the Tabernacle of the congregation outside the camp, why it says Joshua went out there, he he didn't have very much company. It says a young man named Joshua departed not from the Tabernacle of the congregation. And I want to say to you, dear young people, I hope the Lord will keep you in the path of obedience, walking with his people, in the path that he has marked out in his Word. As you look back in your life, you'll be thankful.
That the Lord did keep you because it's just so easy for us to miss our way. It's so easy for us to miss the pathway. But oh, what a wonderful thing to have such a leader.
Now, well, it tells us here that after the death of Moses these words of encouragement are spoken to Joshua, and it speaks of him as Moses minister. I call attention to this too, because Joshua stayed close to Moses and helped him. And then when this time came that Moses was taken, why, he had learned a great deal by being in the company of Moses.
And, you know, and we need one another in the things of God. Some of us are getting a little bit older. There are people that we relied upon when we were younger, and the Lord has removed them. And sometimes it's kind of an awakening to you to begin to think, well, I guess I'm one of the older brethren. And, you know, this sort of comes on you suddenly, you don't think about it until perhaps some of the older ones are gone. And you say, oh, I'm unprepared for these responsibilities.
But Moses had the opportunity, or rather Joshua had the opportunity for these 40 years, and he didn't miss the opportunity. He stayed close to Moses. He learned many precious lessons of God's Word and of God's faithfulness from Moses. And now he has to be cast upon the Lord for himself. And I say to you who are younger and are growing up.
Responsibilities are going to come upon you if the Lord leaves you here.
Some of you are going to become fathers and mothers, and you're going to realize I have a great responsibility. Here are these little lives committed to me. And then in the assembly, too, responsibility is coming. Well, it's nice to see that Joshua kept close to Moses, and now when this time came, the Lord speaks to him directly. He says, Moses, my servant is dead.
Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all.
People unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
Every one of us are either a health or a hindrance. It says in Romans that we don't live to ourselves and we don't die to ourselves. Our lives have an effect upon others, for good or otherwise. What effect are you and I having upon others? Are we helping them? Are we encouraging them? Are we just giving them that little word of support? Will you say I can't say very much, I don't feel very capable?
But I always like that story about.
Jonathan And when Jonathan started out in a instance where he was going to seek to deliver the people of God, he saw a sharp rock on this side and a sharp rock on this on the other side. And he turned around. I think he must have said I just can't face this situation when he saw those sharp rocks and he saw the Garrison of the Philistines there and his armor bearer. We don't even know his name. God doesn't even.
Tell us who the name of his armor bearer was. And just at that moment he said, turn me, I'm with thee. And so Jonathan turned around and his armor bearer went with him, and God wrought a great victory in Israel. Oh, that wasn't very much to say once. It just turned me. And you don't know what a little word that you might speak to encourage somebody else at a point of discouragement. It might affect their whole life. And you might say, I didn't do anything.
But the Lord used you to just say that little word, and it says that He openeth mine ear morning by morning He openeth mine ears.
That I might know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. And so here the Lord is preparing Joshua now for this responsibility to lead the people into the land.
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So now we come to the first thing he tells him in the third verse, Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon. Then have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto 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.
Now Joshua had to listen very carefully.
To this he needed to know what God had given to his people, and if he didn't, why he wouldn't have any courage. Let's suppose that you have a piece of property, but you're not very sure just where the line is, and you're standing in a certain place and your neighbor says you're standing on my property.
If you know where the line is, and you know that you're within your own property line, you answer him calmly and assuredly and say, no, Sir, I can show you the plot, the plan for this. I'm standing on my own property. You have assurance. But if you're not sure, you're going to feel a little bit uncertain and maybe you'll even step off because you're not sure enough to hold your ground.
Because you don't know where the property line is and you know we need to know.
What belongs to us in Christ? We need to take a firm stand upon what God has said in his word, to know that our sins are forgiven, that we're justified from all things that were members of the body of Christ, that we have the precious privilege of being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I say we need to know what belongs to us. And so Joshua is told in no uncertain terms, just exactly what the limits.
The land were and this would give him courage as he stood upon a piece of land. I know that I'm standing on what God has given to us. And so I'm saying this especially for those who are younger perhaps so you'll read your Bible, you'll become acquainted with God's word so that when somebody speaks to you at the office or somebody speaks to you at school, you'll be able to have a verse from God's word to.
Tell them why you believe as you do. I can remember when I first started out to work and I met the world in a new way and they began to raise questions. Why wasn't you saying to them, well, this is what my dad said, This is what my mother said. I hadn't to know it from God's Word. I had to have a verse of Scripture. And you know, it sent me doing some searching a lot of things that I thought I believed before.
And in a sense, I did believe.
But I had never really got them for myself. Then I began to search the Scriptures. And if I know a little bit about God's Word now to talk to you, I can tell you that through those years, that's when I got the most of it, when I was put to the test as to why I believe the things that I did. And so I, I want to encourage you, dear young people and older ones, to read the Word of God.
You say I don't seem to take in very much.
I just seem to get a little. Well, the Bible says line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. When I was over in England, my brother said to me.
About an old brother who had given an address in a certain place and a sister came up to him and said Mr. so and so. I just got one thing out of what you said tonight.
And the old brother had said, well, that's what God intended for you. And, you know, it might be that you don't get a great deal out of what's said tonight and that maybe there's something special that's intended for you. I can look back over the years and think of people that I've listened to, and I don't remember all they said, but perhaps one night they said something that stuck with me, and it's with me today. It was something that was intended for me. And so that's the importance of reading the word.
Some verse will come home to you, you attend the meeting and somebody brings a verse home to you and you may never forget it the rest of your life. It was something special for you. And so I'm just trying to encourage you to read God's Word and become acquainted with it. Even if you don't understand it. Remember that the Spirit of God is the remembrance. Sir, the Lord said many things to His disciples which they didn't understand.
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But he said that when?
And the Spirit was come. He would lead them into all truth, and that He would bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. And so the Spirit of God often brings to our remembrance things that we didn't perhaps understand at the time. You may read a scripture in Deuteronomy sometime, and then you'll read a verse in the New Testament and all of a sudden the Spirit of God will make a connection.
And you'll say I never understood that verse. Now I understand because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's all perfectly connected together.
So for Moses, for Joshua rather, it was important that he should know the limits of the land that God had given. And they're all carefully outlined here. But then the Lord said something else to him. He said every.
Place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon that have I given you.
Analysis another practical side of it, and that is we only have as much of the truth as we walk in.
We may get to know a lot of things up here, but the scripture says if a man thinketh that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know it.
Because in learning spiritual things, unless the learning of it humbles us and makes us feel that we are really nothing and draws us closer to the Lord, we haven't really learned it in the right way.
And so in learning the things of God, we at the same time learn our own nothingness, but we learn the all sufficiency of our precious Savior. He's All in all. He's everything that we need. And so it says, every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon 1 old lady.
Someone looked through her Bible and noticed a lot of verses and she had beside a TNP he and Pete.
And this person was quite curious what she'd be putting that beside all the verses that she seemed to enjoy.
And they asked her, well, what is it? She said, tried and proven, tried and proven. You know, I have a road map in my car. There's a lot of highways marked in that road map that I've never been over. And if you said to me, what are they, like I said, well, they're on this road map, but I've never been over them. But there's some that I have.
And I can tell you whether they're good or not. I, I can tell you whether it's worthwhile taking them because I've been over them. And that's what the Lord is saying here to Moses. He's saying here to Joshua. Rather he is saying here every part that the soul of your foot treads upon. That's what the Lord said to Abraham long before he said, walk through the land.
The breadth of it and the length of it. And so I'm not just talking to.
You look about getting knowledge. I'm not just talking to myself about getting knowledge, but as we get a little bit of knowledge, do we walk in it? I look at the road map, I find a suitable road and then I drive over it. Once I've driven over it, then I know. And so when you learn some new truth from God's Word, look up and ask the Lord to help you to walk in it. He'll give you the grace, He'll give you the strength. He said without me you can do nothing.
We really can't walk the Christian life in our own strength, but He can help us. He can give us the strength that we need for every step of the pathway.
And so then he goes on to say to Moses.
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Be strong and have a good courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them, as I was saying before, when you know what property belongs to you.
Why You stand on that property with confidence. If anybody contests it, you have the paper there that you can show them that it's yours. And that's what the Lord is really saying to Moses. He said to Joshua. He is saying when you know that that land belongs to you and that I have given it to you, then you can stand there with confidence. You can stand there with courage.
And so he says I will not.
Not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage. This is the first exhortation then, about being strong and of good courage. And that is given to Joshua, because the Lord had told him what part of the land had been given to them. In actual fact, they never really possessed all the land that God gave to them, and we don't either.
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It says in one Corinthians.
13 We know in part, and we prophecy in part now that is, we never fully.
Even if you live to be 100 years old, you'd never really fully get hold of all the treasures that are in this wonderful book. It's always been a joy to me to read in the writings of older brethren and see how they're still enjoying fresh and new things in God's precious Word. It's inexhaustible. You can never, never get to the end of the treasures that are found in God's precious Word.
And now there's a little word more and that is that it wasn't just for himself. He was to divide the land to the children of Israel were not to be like a sponge who takes in and doesn't give up. We're to be ones who when we take things out, then we give them out. The Lord said he that believeth on me is a scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Why?
Of his belly, well, you've taken it in, you've made it your own, and then it flows out in blessing to others. The truth of God is like this, that when you've really taken it in and made it your own, why then you can bring it to others. Not just as something you learn, like a school lesson, but something that you've enjoyed, something that's become precious to your own heart. And it flows out from your heart, not just.
Something that you have intellectually.
So when Joshua had received this encouragement, then the Lord said, and Joshua, I'm going to use you to divide the land to the children of Israel. And isn't it nice to hear someone who has read something and enjoyed it and he's made it his own and then he gives it out and he gets it gets to you too. He becomes the channel.
He becomes, as it were, the instrument.
But in reality, it all comes from the Lord.
There wasn't one square foot of that land that Joshua could say, well, this is mine, not to share with the people of God. He was the one who was the leader, but he was to share it with them. He could have it, but he could also share it with them.
So this is what was given to them.
Now we come to the next one in the seventh verse. 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.
Think you can see here that the next exhortation to be strong and very courageous is founded upon walking in the path of obedience.
And I believe that we only have courage to stand for the truth as we're walking in it ourselves.
If somebody tells me something that they have learned from God's Word, but they're not really walking in it themselves, I have to confess it doesn't have much power with me. I say, well, that's strange, He's telling me about this, but when I see his life, he doesn't seem to be walking in it himself. And so here there's going to really be moral courage in giving out the truth of God and in going on.
We must be in the path of obedience.
Ourselves. When God makes His mind known to us, why it first of all is for ourselves.
It's it's given to us if any man will do his will, not if any man will know his will, but if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.
When you and I want to learn more about this book, we could ask ourselves, is it because we want to do it, or is it just because we'd like to increase our knowledge?
Sometimes people will ask, well, how do you study the Scripture? Well, I believe it's a lap to our feet and a light to our path. That is when God gives you light for one step. Take it and He'll give you more.
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I have, I think, pretty good headlights on my car. I don't know just how far they shine, perhaps 300 or 400 feet. But if I decided that when this meeting was over, I was satisfied with just 300 or 400 feet of light, I wouldn't have light all the way home, would I? But as long as I keep going, I have light 300 or 400 feet ahead of me, and I can travel for miles.
And always have light all the way if I stop.
I will never have light for more than 3 or 400 feet. And sometimes bread and we do stuff we say, well, I'd like to see what's going to happen a month ahead. Well, the Lord said I'm just giving you light for one step. You take that step and I'll give you the light for the next 1. And that's the way God does lamp to our feet. That's just for one step and a light to our path. Why as we go on.
Like it says in Proverbs, the path.
The just is of the shining light that shineth more and more under the perfect day, whereas the new translation reads the path of the justice of the shining light that shine up more, going on and brightening until the day be fully come. Isn't that nice? Going on and brightening the path becomes brighter as we go on. I've noticed that with quite a few people as they get older, the path instead of becoming darker, it gets.
Brighter, and they're more in the enjoyment of their portion, and perhaps that's because they're closer to the time when they're going to fully enjoy it. When we get older, we're getting closer to the time when we're going to enjoy it fully. Because if the Lord doesn't come, some of us may have to leave. But the Lord is. The Lord is coming soon, but if he doesn't come, well, the path gets brighter because we're that much nearer.
Time when we're going to be with him.
Well, he was told to observe all the law, and he said turn not from it to the right hand or to the left.
It's so easy in avoiding one situation to run into another.
There are two ditches on the road, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And it isn't very much comfort to know that you didn't get into the one on the right side, but you got into the one on the left because better to stay out of the ditch on either side. And so sometimes we're sort of pleased that we missed one situation. But God has, shall we say, a middle of the path for us. He will keep us from swerving to one side or the other.
If we follow the light of His word, and if we look up to Him and ask Him to keep us, our daily prayer ought to be preserved. Me, O God, for indeed do I put my trust. Then he goes on to say in the eighth verse, This book of the law shall not be part out of thy mouth.
But thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all. It is written therein for them. Thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Here it tells us that it wasn't to depart out of Joshuah mouth. He was to meditate. That is, he was to think about it and he was to do it.
Well, it's a good thing when we talk about God's Word.
Little hymn that we sing sometimes. Let's talk about Jesus.
And when we think of all that we have in him, isn't he a wonderful theme? If you love somebody, why it's a pleasure to talk about them. It's a pleasure to hear the mention of their name. When somebody else wants to talk about about them, why you feel pleased? Because you think a lot of that person. Well, who is there that we love or who loves us like the Lord Jesus?
The one whose love is unchanging. And So what is the subject of our conversation? Where does the heart naturally turn? Well, it's a pleasure for us to be like those early disciples, it says. And being let go, they went to their own company, and they started to talk about what the Lord had done for them. So this is a good thing to talk about.
And then the next one is meditation. I've heard it said that meditation is almost a lost art. Well, I sometimes think there's some truth in that. And I know it's difficult because we're living in a day when there's such danger around us constantly that you can't drive a car and meditate on the scripture very well. And jobs are becoming more and more complicated because there's so much machinery and computers and everything that is very, very hard.
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To find time to have your mind free just to think about God's Word. But I want to encourage you to take a little bit of time for that.
Take a little bit of time. I'm not talking about what the world calls Transcendental Meditation, because it's a dangerous thing to leave your mind free.
If you leave your mind free, why? Satan's busy and he can put all kinds of bad thoughts into your mind, but God gives you something to think about.
He tells you to meditate upon his word so that when your mind is free, don't just let it run to the ends of the earth, because Peter says Gerda, the loins of your mind. But here he does give us something good to think about God's precious word.
And it's like the clean animal and Israel, the clean animal in Israel, it had to chew the cot and divide the hoof. And if it didn't chew the cud and divide the hoof, it was unclean to the Israelites. Chewing the cod is a picture, I believe, of meditation. Just like the coward is out and takes the grass and then sits down and and they choose the cud and milk is made and we're told to desire the sincere milk of the word, the divine.
The hoof too, because you and I, as we read God's word, we become more and more separated Christians separated to the Lord.
So he was to meditate, and then he was observed to do according to all it is written therein.
Let's be willing to accept any part of God's Word. Sometimes we're satisfied that, well, we think we've done pretty well. We've followed quite a few of the Scriptures, and that's very nice and very commendable. But the Lord desires our whole hearted submission to His will, a wholehearted desire. I've often said that there's one person who has a right to tell me what to do.
Anytime and all the time, and that's the Lord. Oh, you say I don't like people telling me what to do? Well, sometimes it is hard. People don't always seek our good and the things they tell us to do. But I'll tell you this, the Lord will never ask you to do anything that isn't for your good as well As for His glory. Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from above.
The things He asked us to do are always for our good. Tells us that we've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us after their own pleasure. I have to confess, as a father, some of the things I told my children to do were for my pleasure. But I have a Father in heaven, and every correction that He brings into my life is for my good. It says He for our prophet that we should be partakers of His Holiness, the correction.
That He gives is for our profit, because it's His delight to bless us. It's the Father's joy to bless.
And then we have this remarkable word, the only time it's ever used in the whole Bible, and that is success.
There's so much of it in the world today about successful businessmen, successful people in the entertainment world, successful people in the sports world, and so on. This is a great thing today to be successful in your life.
But what does God call success?
I remember our brother, Chapter Brown, who perhaps some have met and remember talked about a girl, her name was Ruby Mackenzie, and she lay for I forget how many years, well over 20. She lay on a bed and finally went blind. She really had a tremendous handicap and the Lord's mercy, her mind was kept clear.
And through her bright and happy testimony, I believe 4.
And for those were brought to know the Lord as their Savior, and Mr. Brown's comment was her life was a success.
Her life was a success.
She accomplished something perhaps more than some of us with all our health and energy are able to accomplish. And why? Because she was wholehearted for the Lord. The Lord was everything to her. Do you want to have a successful life? It's not measured in how high you climb on the ladder of what the world calls success. It's not measured in how much money you make. It's measured in walking.
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In obedience to the Lord.
That is a successful life. That is what abides here doeth the will of God abideth forever. So you can see the first one. Then the first thing that gives courage is to know what belongs to us. The next thing that gives real courage in our Christian life is blocking in obedience. There was a man whom I knew and there were things that he was doing that weren't just altogether what a Christian should do. And you know what he said to me, He.
Said that whenever there's anybody around that knows a little bit about me, he said I'm afraid to talk about the Lord because he knew his life wasn't consistent. He didn't have courage because if people looked at his life, it wasn't consistent. Oh, let's walk in such a way that people will realize that we seek to do the will of God. We're not perfect, brethren, but people ought to see that that's our desire. That's what we're trying to do is plead our Lord and Savior.
Now we come to the third one, the ninth verse.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage, Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
This third one doesn't say anything about the limits of the land. It doesn't say anything about obedience. It just has one particular theme. Now, it was important to know the limits of the land. It was important to walk in obedience. But there's something more that you need, and that is the sense of the Lord's presence with you. And this is the, shall I say, the crowning one. This is the last one as the Lord speaks to Joshua.
Isn't it often true in our own lives that we seem to have a lot more courage to do something? If there's somebody that we love is standing there just giving us a little bit of support?
Well, you know, that's a wonderful thing, that the Lord is giving Joshua a promise, and that is, he said, the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goes.
You may have heard me say this before, but this is something I heard when I was a young man and something that's been a help to me in my Christian life. Dear old brother said to me when I was very young, he said, I don't ask the Lord to be with me because he's promised to be with me, but I do ask him to give me a sense of his presence. And I've always enjoyed that in my life because.
When those two on the road to Emmaus were walking down there.
In discouragement, thinking that the bottom had fallen out of their world because their Messiah had been crucified. Why, they were utterly discouraged. The Lord was right there beside them, and they didn't know it.
He was there to comfort them, he was there to help them. And at last, as he talked to them, they became conscious. And when they invited him into their home, he was made known to them, it says, in the breaking of bread, for he was with them even as they walked along that road. Discouraged. Are you discouraged tonight? Are you discouraged at the way things have turned out in your life?
You know why they were discouraged? I'll tell you why they were discouraged. They expected something.
Happen right now. And it didn't happen, and they couldn't understand why. And you know, that's often the reason why we're discouraged. We expected something to happen. We were counting on the Lord for it to happen and it didn't happen. And so we get discouraged. They thought that the Lord at that time was going to set up the Kingdom. He's going to another day, but that wasn't his time. That wasn't the time that he was going to do it. And so, you know, it's good for us to say.
Christians, our times are in thy hand, Father, we wish them there. Our life, our soul, are all we leave entirely to Thy care.
Let's cut it. This it tells us about.
It tells us about Enoch, that after he had a son whose name was Methuselah, after this son was born, it says he walked with God and he walked with God. It tells us for 300 years.
And you know, sometimes things like this do make us think. I can remember when our first child was born, there was a feeling that I never had before, a feeling of responsibility, a feeling that now God had put into our home a precious life that was going to live for all eternity, was going to live on and on. And he'd put that little life into our home. What a responsibility. And I think Enoch felt that and he knocked that I I can't, I can't handle this age it.
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Was a very wicked age. It says that Enoch prophesied about the ungodliness and the ungodly speeches and everything that was going on in his day and he said how can I ever handle a situation in a day like this. Well it says he walked with God for 300 years and that's the only way little poem says he walked with God could ground the words be written not much of what he did or said he's told not where or.
He wrought is even mentioned. He walked with God brief words of faithless gold. I don't know that he ever accomplished anything very much. God doesn't tell us, but he walked with God wonderful words and so that's so important for us. And if I could just add this little remark too, that we can walk with God individually and we can also enjoy his presence collectively.
So he says in the assembly where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
It's interesting to see in that 24th chapter of Luke, when the Lord was walking down with him, He made himself known to them in their homes. But did you ever notice that then he vanished out of their sight? And where did he vanish out of their sight? Well, I don't want to be dogmatic about this, but I sometimes I think of it this way, that the Lord was really saying to them He wanted them to go back to where His disciples were assembled.
And so sometimes I wonder.
If it's true that when meeting time comes that we can't really enjoy the Lord's presence unless we go because He's in the midst of His own as they're gathered, so they couldn't stay in their home and say we're going to enjoy His presence here. It's too much bother to make that trip up to Jerusalem. And they made it up to Jerusalem. The Lord was there and they enjoyed Him collectively. It's a great thing, brethren, to enjoy His presence collectively as well as individually.
Well, this was going to give courage than the Joshua.
And it does give courage in our Christian life.
And now Joshua begins to realize his responsibility and he's in the 10th verse, he says to the officers of the people, pass through the host and command the people saying, prepare your victims, for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan to go in to possess the Lamb, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.
Notice the note of confidence. Now he turns to the leaders and he says in three days we're going over. He didn't say we're we're hoping to go over. He says we're going over.
Says prepare metals. The Lord's going to lead us into this good land. You can see this courage that he had now. He had listened to the Lord. He had paid attention to what the Lord had said, and now he's going to fulfill a position that God intended him to fulfill, to be a leader. And you know, as I said at the beginning, our life is either a help or a hindrance, one or other.
Are people encouraged by you? Are you encouraging them to read God's Word? That's what.
The vettels are really food, and the Lord charged Peter to feed the flock of God, and Peter encouraged others to do the same. And so I would say, how are we doing this little work trying to encourage others and feed them? And so Joshua here now takes his place in responsibility and we have responsibilities.
Fathers and mothers have responsibilities.
Have all of in the assembly, brothers and sisters all we all have responsibilities. Are we a help to others?
Encouraging them, are we saying we're going to this good land and let's feed upon the provision that God has made? Well, I think this is beautiful to see. After Joshua had listened to these exhortation, now he just seems to take a courageous stand himself and he is now going to be a help to the people because they had to cross the Jordan to enter the land.
And the Jordan overflowed all its banks.
It wasn't going to be a thing that they could do in their own strength. The Lord had to make the waters rollback to take them over. But he said he's going to do it for us, He's promised to, and he's going to do it. And he couldn't say, well, the waters are kind of loyal at this time of year. No, they overflowed all their banks. And sometimes it's the way it is, real difficulties in the assembly and we think, oh, it's too much.
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Well, the Lord is sufficient.
But now we come to just this last part here, and to me there's.
To me, there is a kind of a note of sadness about these last verses.
These Romanites and Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, they had settled on the other side of Jordan.
They had sought a place where they could surely say partially enjoy what God had for them, but not fully they they didn't want to have to go over the Jordan, and so they asked for their inheritance on the other side.
Sometimes I wonder if it's like we're satisfied to know we're saved, we're satisfied to know the security of the believer. We're satisfied to know that we can never be lost. But we want to settle down in a somewhat easy fact. And that's what these 2 1/2 tribes did. They said we're just going to settle in, this is a good land for cattle and so on. Aren't we prone to be like that, brethren?
We're satisfied because the Lord has been good to us. He's given us a measure of health and he's given us a good job and.
There's a lot of security that we have in life, and so we're really thankful that we're saved, but we're not wholehearted. We're not really out to the Lord. And to me, that is really what we find in these 2 1/2 tribes because that was a good place for their cattle and because they didn't want their wives and children to have to face conflict and battle across there in the land. They said we'll settle here, Moses will not be all right. And sometimes the Lord lets us.
Shall I say be satisfied with something less than he is best for us. And that's where they settled and they thought of their lives and their children. And I know how parents feel. It's pretty hard, you know, it's a difficult world. And we tend sometimes to.
Shall I say choose second best for our children, not one of them also to face the conflicts and the problems of following the Lord.
The 9 1/2 tribes had to take their families over and they faced the conflicts altogether. But these men said we'll go over and help, but we'll just leave our possessions back here on the other side. Jordan, we've got peace there and we've got our flocks and our herds. Our wives and our children will stay there. We'll go over and we'll help.
And it's interesting to see that these 2 1/2 tribes were the most boastful of all.
It's strange that they were the most boastful.
Listen to what they say here in the 16th verse. And they answer Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do Whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
According as we hearkened unto Moses and all things, so will we hearken unto thee. Only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. Whosoever he be the death, rebel against thy commandments, and will not hearken unto thy words. And all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and of a good courage.
Now, these men had promised that they would leave their wives and children and go over, and we haven't time here to look into the details, but if you want to look at that, you'll see that they were all numbered just before they crossed over the Jordan. And then we read later on, I'm not sure which chapter it is.
Yes, it's the 4th chapter of Joshua and the 12TH verse it says and the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh passed over arm before the children of Israel as Moses spake unto them about 40,000 prepared for war. If you want to take time to look back when they were numbered at the end of Deuteronomy just before they passed over, you'll see that only about half of them went.
There was, it's actually less than half of them. And they're the ones that are doing the boasting and they're the ones that are saying anyone who doesn't obey is to be put to death. You know, we're never to boast. We don't know our own hearts, brethren.
What our path of safety is to be humble and to recognize that we can't do anything and we won't do anything unless the Lord gives us the strength, Paul said. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. I'm not going to say to anyone here tonight make a pledge and a promise for what you're going to do to the Lord, because we'll breakdown just like these 2 1/2 tribes did, they said.
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Joshua, be strong.
We are behind you, will obey you and everything that you tell us to do, they didn't.
And if what they said had been carried out, half of them would have been put to death.
God was very gracious to them and he's very gracious to us.
He hasn't rewarded us according to our failures. He's a gracious God. But here we see a little picture of a boastful spirit. And so I think we can learn from this too. The Lord wouldn't house to be boasting. He'd have us to realize that although He has given us every reason to be courageous to go forward.
To live happy, fruitful Christian lives, we can't do one thing.
In our own strength.
We need to daily ask the Lord to help us. We need to daily look up to him and say, Lord, I can't take one step in my own strength. I can't.
Go on in the path without thy help, but you know He won't fail you or forsake you if you look to him. But the Lord thought that lesson to the disciples when he said, without me He can do nothing.
And the Lord said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. So I say in closing, I'm not trying to encourage someone here to start boasting and saying I'm going to do this or I'm going to do that. But I do trust that what we have had before us tonight will speak to each of our hearts so that we will seek to go on.
Forever if we really expected the Lord to come.
Will say in one week's time, how would we want to spend the week that's ahead of us?
Wouldn't we want to do just exactly what we have in this chapter? We want to be walking in the enjoyment of what we possess. We'd want to be walking in obedience, and we would want to be walking in the sense of the Lord's presence with us. So that when we heard the shout, as Mr. Darby said at the end of his life, he said, I don't think that heaven is going to make such a change.
Because he was so much in the enjoyment of the Lord's presence.
That all that the change would be that he would be delivered from this body of humiliation and the fallen nature. But his heart had been there long before. Well, may the Lord grant that our hearts will be there. And I say again that we may have courage, brethren, to walk in that which God has set before us here. I'm sure that if we do, we'll say it's a happy path. I wouldn't change it for anything.
World has to offer for to walk through this world in the path God is marked out and in the company of the Lord Jesus is the happy path. And it's a not only a happy path but it's a blessing to others too because we all tend to get discouraged and we all need help and encourage.
And encouragement. Let us encourage one another, then, in the path of following Christ.