I'll ask you, if you will, to
open your Bibles tonight to the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter
1. And I was reminded just a few
minutes ago that you do follow along with me in the scriptures,
so I'll try to be cognizant of that and give you time to turn
to the scriptures. But this evening, Joshua chapter
1, and I'm going to read verses 1 through 9. And the title of
the message this evening is Strength and Courage. Strength and Courage. Now after the death of Moses,
the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke 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 sole 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 a 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
depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day
and night. that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt
make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 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. We're looking at the words which
God spoke to Joshua to encourage him in the work that the Lord
had called him to do. Three times in these verses,
as I read them, I'm sure you noticed that three times in verse
number six, verse number seven, and also in verse number nine,
we had the same words, be strong and of a good courage. This leads
me to make this statement. Strength and courage must be
very important in the work of the Lord. Strength and courage
must be very important in the work of the Lord for the Lord
to repeat this three times as he spoke unto his servant Joshua. And I was just thinking as we
are going through these days of fear to some degree and uncertainty
with this coronavirus, that this is what all of God's children
need. We need this all of the time,
but maybe especially during this time, we need strength and we
need courage. And these are the words which
the Lord spoke unto Joshua, And so we will look at them together
tonight. First, where would Joshua's strength
and courage come from? Be strong and of a good courage. Where would this strength and
this courage that the Lord commanded Joshua to have, where would it
come from? Was God telling Joshua to look
within, that inside of himself some inner strength to believe
in himself, some power of persuasion, something like that? Is that
what God was saying when He said, be strong and of a good courage
to look within yourself? No, we know that's not true.
The strength and the courage would come to Joshua from the
one who commanded him to be strong and to be of a good courage. The strength would not come from
some inner self, some power of positive thinking or something
like that. No, this strength, this courage
that God commanded Joshua would come from God who commanded him
to be strong and of a good courage. It is the Lord, I want you to
notice, it is the Lord who spoke to Joshua. It is he who said,
I will, in verse five. I love the I wills of God that
are recorded in the word of God. I love the I wills and thou shouts
of God. I read this many years ago. I
can't remember the pastor, the preacher from yesteryear who
made this statement. It may have been Charles Spurgeon,
but he made a statement something like this. When God says, I will
and thou shalt, God speaks like the God that he is. I will and
thou shalt. He doesn't speak like the God
of modern day religion. not the God of the Bible. When
God says, I will, and thou shalt, he doesn't speak like the God
of modern day religion, who must first get man's permission before
he can declare his will, before he can do his will. You know,
most people in our country, it's sad to say, but it's the truth,
most people have believed in a God that is more to be pitied
than He is to be worshipped. Men are told that God wants to
help, He wants to do good things for man, if only man will cooperate. I was reading through 1 Samuel
just this past week, and because of the nation of Israel's sin,
God delivered them and their armies and the Ark of the Covenant.
into the hands of the Philistines. And the Philistines, you know,
they took the Ark of the Covenant and they placed it in the house
of their God, named Dagon. And the next morning when they
got up, Dagon had fallen over. And they, this is what I really
I've heard, as I read that, or was apprised of so much as I
read that, it says they put Him in His place. Can you imagine
that? Can you imagine having a God? And I know that's talking about
an idol, but an idol doesn't have to be something physical.
An idol is just an image that men make in their minds of how
they believe God is. And the Philistines, they put
their God in His place. Put their God in His place. And
isn't that what so many religious people do in our day today? The
God that they believe in, they put in His place. They seem to
believe, though they would never say this, I understand, they
would never say this, but they seem to believe that this world
is something like a seven day clock or an eight day clock.
That God created it and just wound it up and set it in a going
and then withdrew himself and he has no interaction in his
world. But nothing could be farther
from the truth, my friends. The God of the Bible, the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is a God who is working
all things after the counsel of his own will. This is what
the scriptures say. Does this God of modern religion,
does this God sound anything like the God that we read of
in Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 26 concerning what God told the
nation of Judah that he would do with the Assyrians? Does this sound anything like
the God of today? When God told the King of Judah,
for the Lord of hosts hath purposed, this is God's purpose, this is
what God has purposed to do. He's not going to ask the Assyrians
if he can do this, if he has their permission. Oh no, this
is what he has purposed, and who shall disannul it? When God
purposes something, when God determines something, who's going
to disannul it? It's impossible, my friends.
And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? When
God stretches out his hand, who's going to turn his hand back?
Man, puny man certainly isn't going to do that. Does the God
that men tell us will not violate man's free will sound anything
like the God of the Bible who said this about Pharaoh? This
is what God said about Pharaoh. And I suppose that he was the
mightiest man militarily on the face of God's earth at this time. And this is what God said about
him. And in very deed for this cause,
For this cause I, this is God speaking, for this cause I have
raised thee up. That is Pharaoh. I've raised
thee up. I've put thee on the throne.
I've put thee at the head of the nation of Egypt. For this
cause I have raised thee up for to show my power, my power, and
that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. Now
that's in Exodus chapter 9 and verse 16. As I said, I love the
I wills of God, and especially in the New Covenant. In the New
Covenant, if you read in Hebrews chapter 8, these statements,
I will be to them a God, and they shall be my people. Now that one promise, my friends,
is all that anyone ever needs. That's all you need, that's all
I need, that's all any person could ever need for God to say,
I will be your God and you shall be my people. But that's not
all he said, is it? He went on to say, for I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will, God speaking, I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. David, David, he knew that his
strength and his courage came from the Lord. We read this about
David in 1 Samuel chapter 30 and verse 6. You know, when he
had already been anointed by Samuel to be the king, but he
was being pursued and chased by King Saul, Saul was doing
everything he could to destroy David. David took his men and
they moved into the territory of the Philistines. And David
feigned like he was somewhat mad, had lost his mind when he
came before that ruler there of the Philistines. But then
when the Philistines came together, he stayed there for some time,
but when the Philistines came together, they were going to
attack Israel. And so he takes his men and marches
with the armies of the Philistines. But when the Lords of the Philistines
asked that particular ruler, who is this? Well, he's David. Well, he's not going with us.
He's not going with us, with our armies. Why? Because in the
battle, he may take sides with Saul. What better way could he
get into the favor of Saul than to switch sides in the middle
of the battle? No, send him home. And so David
and his men, they go home, and when they get to the city, the
town where they had lived, they find all of their wives and children,
everything gone. All of their wealth, their houses
destroyed, burned. And this is what the scripture
says, that David's men began to speak of stoning him. Let
me read this scripture, 1 Samuel chapter 30 and verse 6. And David
was greatly distressed, greatly distressed. Now why? For the people spoke of stoning
him. These were his people. These
are men who had followed him. And yet now they're speaking
of stoning him. They held him responsible for
the fact that they had lost their wives and children and all of
their goods. Because the soul of the people
was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters."
Now listen, but, and this is so important, but David encouraged
himself in the Lord. Have you ever thought about that?
Here he was greatly distressed, the scriptures tell us. Where
would he find courage? Where would he find strength?
In the Lord. In the Lord, the scripture says,
he encouraged himself in the Lord. And I have thought about
how he might have encouraged himself in the Lord, just remembering
and meditating on the truths about God. But I think especially
he encouraged himself in the Lord by remembering and thinking
about that everlasting covenant. You know, these be the last words
of David we read in 2 Samuel chapter 23. And it goes something
like this, though my house be not so with God. And he may have
been speaking about his family, he may have been speaking about
the nation, but most likely he was speaking about himself. Though
my house be not so with God. You know, every child of God,
when we look into the mirror of God's word, we see all the
spots and all the wrinkles and all the failures and everything
else that we're guilty of. But David encouraged himself
in the Lord. Though my house be not so with
God, yet he, God, hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Now when did God make with David
that everlasting covenant? He made that covenant with David
in his head in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, now notice, ordered
in all things and sure. The reason that covenant is sure
is because Jesus Christ, He's the surety of that everlasting
covenant. And He came into this world and
He fulfilled all the obligations that were necessary for the saving
of His covenant people. How many times do we read in
the Psalms, the Psalms of David, something like this? I will lift
up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help, my
strength, my courage. Where does it come from? It doesn't
come from within. No, no, it comes from the hills. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from
the Lord, which made heaven and earth. And then another word
in Psalm 20 in verse 7, he said, some trust in chariots. Some
trust in chariots, these iron chariots. Some trust in horses,
horses mighty in battle. Some trust in chariots, some
trust in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord,
our God. That's where our courage, that's
where our strength comes. It comes from the Lord, our God. And then another verse in Psalm
71, verse 16, the God of Israel is he that give us strength and
power unto his people. Blessed be God. The Lord Jesus
Christ, he told his disciples, he told you, he told me, all
of us who follow him, who know him, he said, without me, you
can do nothing. You can do nothing. Be strong,
Joshua. Be full of courage, but where's
that strength and where's that courage going to come from? It's
going to come from the Lord. It's going to come from looking
unto Him. Another place in the Psalms,
the psalmist said, I will go in the strength of the Lord God.
Now listen, I will make mention of His righteousness only. This is true of every child of
God. Once the Lord has revealed unto you the Lord Jesus Christ
and his righteousness, his perfect righteousness that is imputed
unto everyone that believes, we're not going to be talking
about our righteousness, about our good works, about our faithfulness,
about our church membership or anything like that. Oh no, we're
going to make mention of his righteousness only. So that's
the first thing. Where is this strength and courage
going to come from? That God commanded Joshua. It's
going to come from the Lord. It's going to come by looking
unto Him, leaning upon Him. Now the second thing, what promise
did the Lord give Joshua for strength and courage? Well, if
you notice in verse five, Joshua 1 in verse five, He gave him
a threefold promise. There's a verse in the book of
Ecclesiastes which tells us that a threefold card is not easily
broken. And you know you can take one
string of thread and you can break that easy, and then you
take another string and twist them together. It's a little
bit harder to break. third string, and it is even
more difficult. And that's what we read there
in Ecclesiastes. A threefold card is not quickly
or easily broken, but my friends, God gave Joshua a threefold promise
that cannot be broken. It's not easily broken, it cannot
be broken. Now let's look at this promise,
this threefold promise. First of all, I will be with
thee. Joshua was assured by God that
as he had been with Moses, he would be with him. I will be
with thee. Think with me of how the Lord
had been with Moses. When Moses went in before Pharaoh
and he said unto him, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my
people go. And Pharaoh answered something
like this, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? Was
God with Moses when he spoke to Pharaoh? He certainly was. And you know, eventually, after
God performed those signs and miracles there in Egypt, Pharaoh
and his leaders, they asked the Israelites to leave. Yes, God
was with him. When they came out to the Red
Sea, And the host of Pharaoh was pursuing them and they seemed
to be shut in. And there was a Red Sea before
them. Was God with Moses then when he stretched forth that
rod and God opened up the Red Sea so that the Israelites went
through on dry ground? As I was with Moses, God tells
Joshua, I will be with thee. Was God with Moses when the people
spoke of stoning him? Because they needed water. Water
is not a luxury. Water is a necessity, isn't it?
And they came to a place there in the wilderness and there was
no water. And the people spoke of stoning
Moses. Was God with Moses? You know
he was because he showed him how that he would bring water
to them out of that rock. And listen, when Moses himself
was guilty of unbelief, when the people demanded flesh to
eat, and Moses as well has said, that's an impossibility. God
said, I'll give them flesh to eat, and Moses said, how's that
possible? But God was with Moses, and yes,
God did bring the quail, and God did supply the Israelites
with the flesh to eat. God is faithful, my friends,
and as God told Joshua here, God promised him, I will be with
thee. And number two, I will not fail
thee. Is it possible for God to fail?
Is it? Is it possible for God to fail?
They were to go into this land of Canaan and dispossess seven
nations which were mightier than them. There were giants in the
land. What are they before Joshua's
God? God said, I will not fail thee. And in Joshua chapter 21, verse
45, we read these words, there failed not ought of any good
thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel, all
came to pass. Just as God said, I will not
fail thee, it all came to pass. And I looked at that, that word,
I will not fail thee. And I thought about when God
told his prophet Elijah to go to that, that widow and he'd
commanded that widow to sustain him. And you know, when Elijah
met the widow of Zarephath, she was out there looking for a few
sticks to, to burn, to cook a cake or last cake that her and her
son would eat. And that would be it. They would
die. And Elijah said, well, you make that cake for me first.
And during that whole drought, that barrel of meal and that
cruise of oil never ran dry. God did not fail his prophet. And God will not fail his people.
He's faithful. And then the third part of this
promise, I will not forsake thee. God promises that he will see
Joshua through. Was Joshua given a great work
to do? He certainly was. Think about
it. To lead this nation of Israel
into the land of Canaan and defeat these other nations and divide
the land. Yes, it was a great work, but
he is given God's promise that God would not forsake him. God,
God doesn't begin a work. and then leave it because of
some unforeseen circumstances. You and I do that all the time.
We begin at work and then we find out maybe we don't have
enough power, enough money, or enough of something to finish
the work. That's never the case with God.
I will not forsake thee. And then third, I want to consider
just a minute, is this promise for us today. You say, well,
Preacher, that's a beautiful promise. That's a wonderful promise.
That's a great promise, that threefold promise that God gave
to Joshua. I will be with thee. I will not
fail thee. I will not forsake thee. But
here is the question. Is that promise for us today? Well, you know it is. You know
it is. The strength, the courage that
we need today, where is it going to come from? It's going to come
from the Lord. just as it was to come to Joshua
from the Lord. And this promise is for us today
because the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 13 in verse
five, he quotes this. He says, let your conversation
be without covetousness and be content with such things as you
have, for he has said, and where did he say this? He said this
in Joshua chapter one, for he has said, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. Therefore, we may boldly say,
I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Did you know the
Lord Jesus Christ, when I asked that question, is this promise
for us today? The Lord Jesus Christ actually
enforced this promise. Think of it like this. The first
part of that promise is, I will be with thee. The Lord Jesus
Christ said to his church after his resurrection, to his disciples,
lo, I am with thee unto the end of the ages. The next part of
that promise is, I will not fail thee. The Apostle Paul, writing
in Philippians, said, being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. And then the third part of that
promise, I will not forsake thee. The Lord told his disciples,
I will pray the Father and he shall give thee another comforter
who shall abide with you forever. And the fourth and last part
of my message, why was Christ forsaken of God? We see here
God's promise to Joshua and to all of his children, I will not
leave thee, I will not forsake thee, I will not fail thee. But
yet we know that the Lord Jesus Christ, when he was upon the
cross, he cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Why was it that Christ was forsaken
of God while he was there upon that tree, upon the cross? When
the Lord Jesus Christ was there and forsaken of God, we know
that it was then that he was bearing in his own body, the
scripture says, the Lord hath made to meet on him the iniquity
of us all. He was bearing in his own body
the sin of all of God's chosen people. The forsaking, the separation
from God that all of his sheep all of his chosen people, all
of his church, that which we deserve because of our sins. We deserve to experience that
separation from God, that eternity in hell. The Lord Jesus Christ,
he experienced that when he was bearing the sins of his people. You know, some people say that
he died for all the sins of every person who has ever been. Although
the Bible doesn't say that, the Bible doesn't teach anything
like that. God will not punish sin twice. And if He punished my sin, your
sin, if you are one of His children, if He punished your sin in His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, He will never punish you for that
sin. He was forsaken for His sheep
that we might never be forsaken of God. You know, when we think
about Christ being forsaken, bearing the sins of His people,
I remember what the Puritan John Owen wrote. He said one of these
three statements must be true. The first statement is Christ
died for all the sins of all people. If that's true, there
is no hell. If he died for all the sins of
all people, then all people will be saved. But then he gave a
second statement. He died for some of the sins
of all the people. And if that statement's true,
there's no heaven. Because all of our sins must
be put away for a person to go into the presence of the Holy
Lord God. But his third statement, and
this is the truth, he died for all the sins of some of the people. That is, all of the sins he bore
in his own body upon the tree. And because he bore those sins,
because he carried those sins away, just like that scapegoat
under the law that pictured this, because he bore the sins of his
children in his body, then we are forgiven, and we have an
eternity to look forward to, an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and one that fades not away, reserved in heaven
for you. Oh, what a blessing. Let me take
this promise given to Joshua and combine it with a promise
in Isaiah 43. I trust this will be a blessing.
I will be with thee when thou passest through the waters. I
will not fail thee. The rivers shall not overflow
thee. I will not forsake thee when
thou walkest through the fire. Thou shall not be burned. What
a wonderful promise that God gave to His servant Joshua and
that same promise He gives to each and every one of us here
tonight who know Him as our Lord and as our Savior. I trust the
Lord will bless this word, encourage you. Don't look within for the
strength and courage. You won't find it there. But
you look to Christ and you'll find that strength and that courage
that you need day by day, and especially as we go through this
crisis in our country. Where will we find the strength?
Where will we find the courage? Not from the government, not
from the medical care facilities, no, no. No, our strength and
our courage, my friends. will come from the Lord, and
so will yours if you look to Him by grace this evening. I trust the Lord will bless this
word until we meet again in these same circumstances, the Lord
willing, on Wednesday. We'll be back and we'll stream
the message. Until then, the Lord bless.