Transcription
[Music] we've been in the series on the heart of a conqueror and it's been very very exciting. we're looking at the book of Joshua. if you're new tonight, it's important for us to understand that what we read in the Old Testament gives us an understanding of how God wants to work in the lives of people.
in fact, Romans chapter 15, and I've paraphrased this last week, but I thought I'd bring it up: for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through the endurance and the encouragement of scriptures we might have hope. everything that we read about in the Old Testament, God worked in the lives of people in the Old Testament to give us an idea in the New Covenant how God works in people's lives.
God wants to work in our lives. he wants to work in the church. he wants to work in your life individually, specifically. he wants to work powerfully. just as he helped Joshua and the nation of Israel conquer the promised land, he wants to help us conquer so that we can enter new times, take new territory, Noah's blessing in new ways. but in order to do that, you and I have to have the heart of a conqueror.
and so we're looking at the book of Joshua, and this is our third message in this series. we saw, we've got to have the heart of a conqueror as strengths. we saw that last week. a heart of a conqueror has courage. the Lord said to Joshua, be strong and courageous. and now tonight, the next lesson to have a heart of a conqueror is we need to be consecrated.
as we come to Joshua chapter three, now just a couple of observations on this chapter, and we're not going to look at every verse. I'm just going to draw a couple of applications, then we're going to pray. but the key word in Joshua chapter three and four is the word "cross over" or in the ESV, it would be "passed over." for example, in Joshua chapter 3, verse one: "and they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over." so you'll see the word "pass," "pass," "passing," same word in the Hebrew. the idea is it's about going from where we are now into a new land, going from where we are now, God taking us into a promised land, into a new season of blessing.
so God wants to do in your life. in the scripture that Brandon read during the communion, we go from glory to glory to glory. it's never going to be a time you and I are going to say, "well, I've got it all, I've seen it all, I've experienced it all." God has new things. he has new blessing. he has new seasons. he has new territory. and they're going to cross over into a new time, a new land, a new life. they're going to be new challenges. they're going to be new opportunities. along with that, there will be new enemies, but there will also be new victories. they've seen a lot of miracles with Moses, but they're going to see new miracles with Joshua. they're going to get a new diet. they're going to have new food. they're going to have new responsibilities. they're going to have new blessings. so they're crossing over into a new season of walking with God.
the key verse is Joshua chapter 3, verse 5: "then Joshua said to the people, consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." that word could be "amazing things," could be "miracles." all of those would be synonyms for that word in the Hebrew. in other words, if you consecrate yourself, God's going to do something supernatural. and we want to see God do that. if you want to see God do supernatural things in your life, it starts not with his willingness alone, but with our cooperation to say, "God, I am going to set my heart on seeking you in my life, on living for you in a whole new way."
now, as we look at this, I'm going to give you two principles. it's very simple, devotional, and then we're going to go in the presence of the Lord. the first one is this: we wait on God and follow where his presence leads. you know, a part of the reason why we're here tonight is to wait on the Lord. this is a value of the permitting. we're in the presence of the Lord. we're waiting on the Lord, and the Lord is going to lead us. he's going to prompt us. yesterday, we did something unusual in our staff chapel. we just had a prayer meeting. and so we're waiting on the Lord. and during that time, I mean, as Tom gets up, shares this testimony, I know it'll encourage people. that's part of the way God leads. you're in the presence of the Lord. God speaks to your heart, and then you know where to go from there. so being in the presence of the Lord yesterday made a difference today in what we're seeing here. do you follow? I mean, that's a very simple example, but you could multiply that in a hundred different ways as to how God wants to work. we're in the presence of the Lord. we're waiting on him. we're trying to gain, as we're in the presence of the Lord, a sense of the things we're praying about. and sometimes it's not even things we're praying about. how many know you can be in the presence of the Lord, and you can have certain things that are in your heart, and all of the sudden, out of nowhere, God is putting something new in your heart that he's wanting to do in your life, that he's calling you to do, he's leading you. and on the way to leading you where he wants, he's going to take care of what you think you need, right? so waiting comes before our own working, and waiting comes before watching God do signs and wonders.
now, look at it in chapter three and verse one: "and they came to the Jordan, and he and all the people of Israel, and they there before they passed over. and at the end of three days the officers went through the camp." so they camp by the Jordan River for three days. and do you know what they're saying during that time? verse 15 tells us this: "it was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing there being its banks." so for three days, what they're watching is they are watching a flood. they're seeing things go down the river in front of them. they're seeing big trees go down the river. they're seeing debris go down the river. they're watching as has the Jordan, some scholars say at this point, is flowing a width of a mile wide. if you go to the Jordan today, it's not that big, but that's only because the Israelis have managed the flow of water and have captured and are managing it. but back then, there's none of that. and so the snows are melting off Mount Hermon, the water's coming down into the Sea of Galilee. it's the rainy season. we were there when you're on a tour, which incidentally, if you want to go with us to the Holy Land, we've got a couple of slots still open. people have not been able to have had to back out. so if you want to go, we're going in May. but we've been there before during this particular time that we're reading about. and in Jerusalem, we had two days where it rained eight inches each day. so you can imagine, you get the water coming down off the hills around Jerusalem down into the Jordan Valley, and I mean, the river is swollen. and they're supposed to cross the river. and as they're looking at it, they are made more than aware that it's humanly impossible for them to go across the river.
you know what God wants us? I think sometimes God wants us to see circumstances, to see situations that are humanly impossible, because then when he works, he gets the glory. I mean, we saw that with Tom's testimony, right? 5% chance of survival, and that's if you have the chemo, that's if you have the radiation, that's if you do everything. we give you 5% chance. no chemo, no radiation, no need. he's healed. that's what God wants in our life. he wants to work in a way where it's obvious who did it. he did it.
so here they are at the Jordan River, and God wants them to recognize the human impossibility of crossing. so when he works a miracle, there's no question who did it. faith doesn't ignore the problem. what faith does is it looks at the problem, it sizes up the problem, it realizes the human impossibility of it solving the problem, and then it chooses to believe God to do the impossible.
so Joshua chapter 3, it says this: "in giving orders to the people, when you see the Ark of the Covenant..." so there's by the river, they're watching it flood for three days, and now the sudden he's giving orders. he's having the leaders of the army give the orders. "when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priests who are Levites carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. but keep a distance of about 2,000 yards between you and the Ark. do not go near it." you're saying, "why is that?" because the Ark is holy. it represents the presence of the Lord, and there needs to be a respect for the Ark. but notice this: "would you when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, you are to move out from your positions and follow it." the Ark represents the presence of the Lord, and what God is saying is, "when you see my presence, I want you to begin to follow my presence."
now watch this. "you don't know which way to go since you've never been this way before." so where's the Ark going? the Ark is going toward a flooded river. that doesn't make any sense. I mean, why is the Ark going toward a flooded river? you can't cross a flooded river. you can't, unless God is going to part the water. you can't, unless God is going to do a miracle. you can't, unless God's gonna do something they never imagined, they never expected. you see, here's the lesson for all of us: when you sense, you wait on the Lord, and then when you sense the presence of the Lord, you begin to follow him, even if it doesn't seem to make any sense to you at all. you just follow him. the priests are headed to the river. doesn't make sense, but they're following the presence of the Lord.
to give you a second principle: our consecration comes before God's blessings. we consecrate ourselves as it were today, and then tomorrow we see God move. now listen to this: in Joshua chapter 3 and verse 5, "then Joshua said to the people, consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." they're going to consecrate themselves today, and the next day they're going to see God move. I want you to think about something. if they don't consecrate themselves, they're not going to see anything. see, a lot of times we have the idea, "well, if God wants it to happen, it's going to happen." not necessarily. there's a lot of times people miss out on what God would have done because they're too married to the world. they're unwilling to give up sinful things in their life.
me, the idea of consecration is that in the Hebrew, it's the word "kadesh." it's the same word that when you read in Isaiah, "I saw the Lord, he's high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple, and the angels were crying out, holy, holy, holy." "kadesh." the idea is beyond consecration, holiness. then we're set apart. that's what it means. consecration could be defined this way: separation from anything that would contaminate your relationship with God. sin. arresting. I just thought it was so interesting because Sunday we talked about presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, and then we also talked about not being conformed to the world. and here we are again, talking about that tonight. I think that's so interesting because this is not something I lined out and planned out so everything would work out that way. what I do think is happening is God is speaking to us as a church. God is calling us to a greater, a deeper, maybe for some, a renewed holiness, because God wants to do wonders in our midst. we're praying, "Oh Lord, move in power." we're seeing more people at the prayer meeting than ever before. and when God's people assemble to pray, God is going to show himself in power. but before God does that, he's going to say to the people, "consecrate yourselves." he's going to say, "listen, I want to make sure that you take care of the things that you know need to be taken care of in your life, that you separate yourself from those things that are hindering you from wholehearted devotion to God, or maybe things that God has asked you to give up, but somewhere along the line, you stopped giving them up, maybe you never gave them up, or maybe you went back to them." and God is calling his people to holiness. he wants a people. and without that, people won't see God work.
I mean, you see this principle throughout scripture. in Exodus chapter 19, you have the story of God giving the Ten Commandments, and the Lord said to Moses, "go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that third day, the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai." so one time, two million people heard God speak audibly, and it was so frightening and so terrifying. when God got done, the people said to Moses, "don't ever let that happen again. you go, you listen, you tell us what he said, but we don't want that to happen again. we'll probably again die, because once you're in the presence of the Lord like that, you're aware of your own shortcomings." the greater the presence, the more you're aware of anything that would not be right in your life. I mean, Isaiah, when he sees the Lord, he says, "woe is me," he says, "I'm cursed, I'm ruined, I'm damned, I'm undone, because I'm a man of unclean lips." in other words, some scholars think Isaiah had a problem with profanity. and one second in the presence of the Lord, that is brought to light.
you see, if you're going to see, if we're going to see God work, then we've got to make sure that we're walking in purity. I mean, the psalmist says this in Psalm 66, we don't have it on screen, just comes to mind: "if I cherish sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." and honestly, and again, I know everybody's in this place tonight because you're hungry for God, you're seeking God. so hear me out on this. there are some, though, on the one hand, you're hungry for God and you're seeking God. on the other hand, you're tolerating things in your life you know are displeasing to God. and God is simply saying, "you've got to choose." if you want to see the power of God, if you want to see the presence of the Lord, if you want to see God do wonders, which he wants to do, and which you very likely know you need him to do in your situation, then your purity and your holiness is going to be necessary. and you need to consecrate yourself. you need to, for some, that means a change in some of your habits, some of your patterns, some of your possessions. for some, it's a change in how you're doing aspects of your life. you would know exactly what those are, because right now, I promise you, the Holy Spirit is speaking to every single heart, and he's saying, "listen, let's have a, let's think about this for a moment."
in 2nd Corinthians, in the New Testament, Paul writes this in chapter 6: "therefore, come out from among unbelievers and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord." on the one hand, we're to reach the lost, but we have to be careful that we don't hang out with the lost so much that we become like the lost, and they can't tell the difference. some are too close to the world for your own good, for their salvation, and for the power of God to work in your life. I mean, this is what Paul's saying: "don't touch the filthy things, and I will welcome you." some of you are hanging on too tightly to the world's things, the world's values. some of you are so immersed in things. and we talked about not getting pressed into the conforming to the world. some of you, honestly, your binge-watching Netflix, and you're filling your mind full of the world's garbage. you say, "but I like that." listen, I'm just saying, you've got a choice. do you like the presence of God and the power of God, or do you like the world's sensuality and corruptness filling your heart, mind? I'm not saying you, listen, there's you're gonna have to weigh that out before the Lord.
some of you, your gaming has consumed you, and honestly, you spend more time gaming than you do working, sleeping, or praying, for sure. and some of that gaming is corrupt, it's sensual, and it's horribly violent, and that's corrupting your spirit. and I mean, we could go down the list. so I'm just trying to give you some things to contemplate here. "and don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you, and I'll be your father, and you'll be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." God says, "I might get rolling, I'm gonna get real close to you if you decide you want me and you set aside that other stuff." you're gonna find me in a way relationally, like a father with a son or a daughter. and then he says, "because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit, and let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God." you could say, "because we worship God." I mean, this is quite a command: "work toward complete holiness."
2 Timothy says this: "now, Paul writes, in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable." so some of it was used to carry out the garbage. some of it was used as a chamber pot. in other words, it was human waste that would be collected through the night so people didn't have to go outside. that would be the idea of the dishonorable. "therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he'll be a vessel for honorable use, set apart for holy, useful, holy as wholly useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work." you say, "so what are you talking about? what do I have to cleanse myself from?" right here it is: "flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness."
one last scripture: Hebrews 12. "work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord." man, this is, and this is, there's many more verses we could look at that talk about holiness. listen, if we want to see God work in our life, we have to consecrate ourselves. if we want to be that, if we want to conquer new lands, the heart of a conqueror is a consecrated heart. you want to see God conquer areas in your life, in your circumstance, in your situation. we want to see God conquer areas in the church. we got to have a consecrated heart. we got to have a consecrated life. and an absence of consecration and holiness will keep you from conquering the land.
you say, "did they see God do wonders?" well, Joshua 3 says this: "when the people camped across the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. now the Jordan is at flood stage all during the harvest. yet as soon as the priests who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing, and it piled up in a heap a great distance away. and the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground." so they're walking, and it's not even muddy, it's dry, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. it's just instantly the ground was dry.
listen, if we wait on God and we sense his presence, we can follow his presence where he leads. there's some tonight, and as we come to the close here, with what what this is an opportunity to do is to say, "God, I don't sense your presence like I'd like to, like I know I need to." some of you have spent a long time since you really sensed this presence. here's something that always concerns me: if I don't sense the presence of the Lord, I get real uneasy. if I can't sense it, then I'm like, "this is not where I want to be." I don't want to be in that place where I can't sense his presence. some of you are in that place. you need to come into his presence. come to the altar, whether you're at Joplin or in the North Campus, the West Campus, here at the South Campus, maybe you're at home watching this. you just need to go get alone in the presence of the Lord.
and second, our consecration comes before blessings. are there things you need to remove? the psalmist says this: "search me, O God, and know my heart today. try me and see if there be some what could weigh in me." and for some, it'd be a matter of saying, "God, what are the things in my life?" if you're unsure, or if you know there are some, you know what those things are. God has already been dealing with you about it. and you just say, "Lord, I want to, I want to right now, in your presence, make a commitment to seeking the Lord." that's somebody sent me an email this week, and they said, "you know, after the message on Sunday, said my wife and I sat talked about it for about an hour and a half. said, you know what? I just realized there are just things I need to think about in the presence of the Lord. I need to get alone and have time to think about them and in the presence of the Lord, sort them out." it's a good thing to do at the altar. that's what it's about. it's getting in the presence of the Lord. hey man.