Sermon for Sunday January 9th, 2022: “Forget the former things (Part 2)… Marching Orders…””
(Please read Isaiah 43: 18-19; Joshua 1: 1-9 & Philippians 3: 1-15…)
Sion’s first service of the New Year last week, focused on our motto text for 2022, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43: 18-19).
So, we gather together again just over a week into the “year of our LORD 2022”. We stand once more in that curious place of reflection, review and resolution – or possibly resignation. People are such creatures of habit! They (we) say, “This year will be different; I will gather my resolve and this year I’ll be stronger, fitter, richer, more beautiful; who knows, maybe I’ll even be happier!” Others will have simply resigned themselves to another year of failure. Some feel discouraged, fearful and deeply uncertain. I think we all live in a world, today, that we would not have recognised 22 months ago.
Read Joshua 1: verses 1 to 5:
I imagine that Joshua felt uncertain, perhaps even daunted as he stood on the edge of the Promised Land with the LORD’s charge ringing in his ears - to take the people into the land, conquer all the enemies in that land, divide the land up; and, perhaps hardest of all, build a spiritual community when you get there. Now his great friend and mentor (Moses) is dead. Joshua had played “second fiddle” to Moses for forty years. The mantle now rests on his shoulders…
But God called him to the task and anyone He calls he will equip: Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom… (Deuteronomy 34: 9); the young servant would not depart from the tent – he stayed in God’s Presence (Exodus 33: 11); Joshua (with Caleb) spied out the land because he believed God’s promises (Numbers 14: 9-10).
Still, how were they to succeed in the hills and valleys of the new territory before them? Were this rag-tag people ready to face the challenge of a new beginning? Would they go in and take what was theirs, or would they do what they’d done for years and walk round in ever-decreasing-circles? These were Joshua’s questions. But they are the same questions we face today. We may not be engaged in brutal warfare like Joshua, but we do live in a world that is set against God and His church. We do face considerable challenges. But the promises that God made then are the same for us too: to gain the territory and achieve the blessings that God has for us we have to hear the orders God gave to Joshua and obey them!
1. BE READY TO CROSS THE RIVER (Verse 2):
This command would have been enough to strike fear in the hearts of the people. The river was in flood stage at that time of year (Joshua 3:15). The river was impassable and the task was impossible. Even now, with technology, crossing rivers is difficult and risky. But God speaks in a voice behind us saying, “…this is the way. Walk in it.” (Isaiah 30: 21).
God makes a way. Joshua knows first-hand what is on the other side; there are big strong people (giants) in fortified cities. To get to the land that flowed with milk and honey the people need to cross over the river; they need to take steps.
Crossing the Jordan will be a physical task that requires working together. But it is also a psychological and spiritual necessity. There is truth in the adage that the first step is often the hardest. But, once taken, the next step will be easier to take. I wonder, what is the next step for us? For you? Maybe there is a new thing you need to do, or an old thing to which you know you should return; some service to God that needs to be rendered; something in your life that requires you to step out in faith…
Now then, Get started, the LORD says to Joshua. On more than one occasion, the LORD will tell the man to GET UP (arise, go); and Joshua always got up when he found himself on his face; when he despaired at the people or when he was brought low by setbacks, when sometimes stricken by a fear of failure, he heard the promises of God. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Bold though Joshua was, the LORD would always encourage him with a timely word. The Lord wants Joshua to know (whatever year it is), “I will not fail you. I will not forsake you.” When considering the dangerous expanse before him, The LORD is really saying, “I will not drop you; I will not lessen my grip on you; I refuse to let you go as you cross over…” That is often our secret fear. He has not brought us this far to simply drop us. He is the strong one. In His strength we can step out. But the promise of blessing is always proportionate to our willingness to step out. Then all your giants – all the things we fear – will be conquered one-by-one, battle-by-battle, and one-day-at-time.
But we must look forward to see where we are going. The rear-view mirror is for glancing at! The people of God are a forward-looking lot. Forget and press on - forget and press on, says Paul, twice. You messed up yesterday! Don’t dwell on the past – press on! Grow in the knowledge and grace of God by looking straight ahead. Press on! Plod on, if you must!! Keep focused on the goal, look upon him, “look to the future; we’ve only just begun!”
2: BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS:
Thank the LORD that being strong has little to do with muscles! 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go…” This command is repeated several times in this chapter and often in the book that bears his name. Strong is defined as fastening onto, to seize closely. There is no strength apart from God. No success either, as Jesus told his disciples. Strength is being linked to God, unbreakably. And what of courage? It is to be mentally and physically alert. God commands this of us; he doesn’t want us falling apart. Even if you have an enemy, a trial or a Jordan to cross and all these future phantoms haunting you, remember who God is – that He is LORD!
Jesus was an immensely courageous man. He set His face towards the city and all it had to throw at Him. He took steps all the way to Calvary; he knew human fear and he faced it. Courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Jesus is the Mighty Warrior Isaiah as well as the Suffering Servant. He is our Joshua. He trusted his future to Our Father and secured the Promised Land for us. He went before us. He crossed over. Jesus Christ chose to go through the door of death ahead of his people. And on his journey (and on our behalf) this pioneer courageously “put to the sword” all our worst enemies – our sins, the worrying spectre of death and the one who would call God a liar. Jesus ventured off into the far country of death, like the older brother checking out the “dark house” – for us - only to return and tell us, “It’s safe to follow”.
What an encouragement to know (it is en-couraging) for us to know that 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” All the saints of God, from Stephen the deacon to Bonheoffer the German war-time priest… were people of courage.
3. BE CAREFUL NOT TO DEPART FROM GOD’S WORD:
This, of course, refers to God’s written law as they had it at the time…the first 5 books of our bible. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.
The Hebrew word for success is “sakal” It means “an intelligent knowledge of the reason and the word.” Success is not material prosperity as most think of it. Success is and is guaranteed by the warning and the promise of verse 8: Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Stay in God’s Word. Meditate on it: we are to ponder on it because it is a treasure; we are to mutter it day and night. If you make one resolution in 22 then resolve to join or start a bible study. If you want to know God better (and who doesn’t?); if you want to take hold of his promises, then read the book of promises! “All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, in the hope that I myself will be raised from death to life…” (Verse 11, GNB)
We want this church to be prosperous. We want it to accomplish what it is intended to – to be healthy, happy, honest and harmonious. We cannot be these things if we depart from God, His Word or one another. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” No command is greater; no truth more inspiring than that God is with us wherever we go…and forever! The future is bright!
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. (Heb 6:20)
Thank God there is a Highway that God has made – he cut the path for us, hacked down all the barriers to (salvation) God for us. The redeemed are headed (as Isaiah says in lovely poetry to a garden), not a desert. Thank God that God has come to us (in Jesus Christ), and that day-by-day he makes it possible for us to walk with him, until that last day when we will arrive in that place where sin is no more, where sorrow departs, and where, finally, gladness will displace suffering…
Meantime, obey His Marching Orders - Be Ready to Cross your Jordan; Be Strong and Courageous; and stick close to God and His Word. That will ensure a happy new year come what may!
MFR (06/01/22)
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