I. Intro: A. In verses 1-9 Joshua received his marching orders. 1. It is time to possess the promise a) Arise cross the Jordan.

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1 Page 1 of 14 Joshua 1: And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, 11 Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 12 And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said, 13 Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land. 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, 15 until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. 16 And they answered Joshua, All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses! 18 Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous. I. Intro: A. In verses 1-9 Joshua received his marching orders from God 1. It is time to possess the promise a) Arise cross the Jordan. Chad Page 1 3/1/2015

2 Page 2 of 14 b) Go into the land that I am giving you. c) No man will be able to be victorious over you. d) Be strong and courageous. e) You will cause this people to inherit the land f) Be careful to obey the commands given through Moses. g) You will be prosperous and successful h) Do not be frightened or confounded (1) As you go, I go with you. 2. These are the kinds of words that should make a man feel invincible. a) These words and the Giver of these words (1) Should instill great confidence and faith in the one who is receiving them. Chad Page 2 3/1/2015

3 Page 3 of 14 (2) After one very distinct and intentional conversation with the Lord (a) Joshua emerges as a man upon whom a great calling and vision has been lain. B. A vision and a calling if recognized by others - will inspire great devotion amongst those who follow. 1. In today s passage we see a nation of people who are willing to rally to his charge.. a) They prepare themselves to step forward in faith.. (1) And they pledge themselves to obey his commandments with great devotion. 2. The first two verses of this section (verses 10-11) deal with the preparation.. a) But the rest of them. Verses 12 to 18 deal with the pledge. (1) This is the part that I want to focus in on today. C. Let me lay out the situation for you. 1. The nation of Israel is broken up into 12 tribes Chad Page 3 3/1/2015

4 Page 4 of 14 a) The Lord promised to give them all a portion of land on the other side of the Jordan (1) based on the throwing of lots and the size of the tribe.. 2. However 2 and ½ of these tribes requested an exception from this a) The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and ½ of the tribe Manasseh requested to posses land (1) On the opposite side of the Jordan.. (2) Not the promised land side.. D. So as the rest of the nation prepared to cross the Jordan and make war with the people of the land to win and take possession of their new home 1. The 2 ½ tribes were already home. a) They had their land b) Their land did not have any other people in it.. (1) They had already been defeated. Chad Page 4 3/1/2015

5 Page 5 of In the frontier days here in America they used to have these great events where portions of land were divided and established for homesteading a) And all of those who wanted to possess one of these homesteads (1) Lined up side by side b) And at the same moment.. (1) They took off (a) (i) himself. It was a race It was every man for E. But this isn t how the tribes of Israel were operating. 1. For Reuben, Gad and the ½ tribe of Mannaseh a) it wasn t every man for himself (1) It was a unified team effort for the mutual benefit of every tribe. 2. In fact.. this was part of the deal. Chad Page 5 3/1/2015

6 Page 6 of 14 a) Yes, they could posses this land, on this side of the Jordan.. (1) But they had to agree to cross the Jordan (a) And help the other tribes conquer the land, and posses their promised portions. 3. The 2 ½ tribes agreed to that.. a) And in today s passage after Joshua reminded them of their promise.. (1) They replied with a promise.. (a) (i) land.. (a) Basically they were saying.. As you go forward into the We ve got your back. (2) We have our portion of land.. (a) But even as we posses for ourselves what you seek.. (i) We will be by your side. (ii) We will fight for your land, as if we are fighting for our own land. Chad Page 6 3/1/2015

7 Page 7 of 14 (iii) sacrifice (iv) We will sacrifice as you We will follow and obey (a) by no other motivation other than commitment and loyalty to our nation and our God. II. Joshua 1: Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, 15 until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. A. There s a story of a pig and a chicken who walked by a sign that said, How Can We Help the Poor? 1. Now, for granted for the sake of our illustration a) These are animals that can both read, and talk. 2. After reading the sign the chicken proposed an offer.. a) I know how we can help. (1) We can give them a ham and egg breakfast! b) The pig protested.. Chad Page 7 3/1/2015

8 Page 8 of 14 (1) That breakfast would be only a contribution for you, but for me, it would mean total commitment. B. Joshua wasn t asking for a contribution from the 2 ½ tribes 1. He was asking for a commitment. a) Sure, they were leaving their women, children and livestock back at home.. (1) But their men were going to war.. (2) In war there is injury and sometimes death. b) They would be away from their families for an extended period of time.. (1) They would be giving of themselves completely for the sake of other tribes. C. Their words express this level of commitment. 1. All the you have commanded us we will do.. 2. Wherever you send us we will go.. 3. We will obey you, as we obeyed Moses. 4. If someone from our tribes rebels against you we will have them put to death.. Chad Page 8 3/1/2015

9 Page 9 of 14 D. They were committed 1. But their commitment came with two very good conditions. a) And I m not sure if these are conditions words of encouragement or both.. (1) I m going with: both 2. They said to Joshua a) May the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses! (1) And they repeated to Joshua, the very thing that the Lord had just said to him directly.. (a) Joshua be strong and courageous. III. I am encouraged by two characteristics here.. A. First off 1. They were fully committed to follow a leader who was fully committed to God.. 2. Secondly a) They were fully committed, to make the interests, dreams, Chad Page 9 3/1/2015

10 Page 10 of 14 and concerns of their fellows tribes (1) Their interests dreams, and concerns. B. As those who follow Jesus I believe that we are called to the very same thing 1. We need to be fully committed to following Jesus.. a) Not casually committed b) Not conveniently committed.. c) Not partially committed (1) but fully committed. 2. Jesus encountered some casual, convenient, and partial followers one day In Luke 9 he walked through a particular village a) If America is in the Bible it s probably this village in Luke 9:56 b) And this is a difficult passage to digest (1) But I believe the context of his answer lets us know that these were guys who were more willing to show commitment in word than in deed. Chad Page 10 3/1/2015

11 Page 11 of 14 Luke 9:57 62 (ESV) 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. 58 And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. 59 To another he said, Follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. 60 And Jesus said to him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. 61 Yet another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home. 62 Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. 3. He gave a similar answer to the rich young ruler a) Sell everything and give it to the poor (1) Come and follow me. C. Jesus didn t require his disciples to abandon their families or sell off all of their possessions. 1. But obviously, the rich young ruler had an issue with his wealth it was probably an idol to him. a) Those who approached Jesus about following him (1) Were probably unwilling to really make the commitment. 2. Jesus saw that in them. Chad Page 11 3/1/2015

12 Page 12 of 14 a) And he answered them, according to their own lacking faith. D. Jesus wants us to have hearts that are willing to drop everything give up everything turn away from everything. 1. If indeed, He actually calls us to do so. a) And sometimes even now, in this world we live in (1) He still calls us to drop everything and follow him 2. And even if we aren t called to give away everything and leave today to serve the poor in Cambodia a) I believe we are called, to hold loosely to the things that we label as our possessions. (1) Paul states this so clearly in: Philippians 3:7 8 (ESV) 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ E. Two things folks 1. Our Creator wants us to be fully committed to Him.. Chad Page 12 3/1/2015

13 Page 13 of 14 a) The things which hold us back from that commitment (1) Those things which prevent us from gaining everything in Christ that He has for us... (a) those things are rubbish. 2. Second thing. a) Look around you (1) Those people share the same blood as you (a) They are equally redeemed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus.. (b) They are family (2) There is great purpose and intent in the act of being in community with other believers. b) We may not be completely unified in our doctrines in our levels of maturity in our social and political opinions or in our personality types.. (1) But we must be unified in our call to grow our call to be disciples our call to be used our call to worship (a) our call to live for God s glory!!! Chad Page 13 3/1/2015

14 Page 14 of 14 (i) And in that unified call.. (a) May we be those who are willing to help others attain, even when we already have attained. (ii) May we be wiling to help others fight battles (a) even when our battles are already won. (b) May we be those, who, after possessing our promise are willing to cross the river, and help our brothers and sisters possess theirs. F. CLOSE!!! Chad Page 14 3/1/2015