The Purpose of the Holy Spirit s Power Joshua 2:1-11 Proposition: The primary reason that the Holy Spirit is given is so that we can all be witnesses. The apostle John was the apostle that survived the longest. All the apostles were brutally killed rather than deny Jesus, and thousands of people who saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead were also brutally killed in coliseums and the like rather than deny the reality of Jesus. John outlived the other apostles. They fried him alive and yet the tough old guy wouldn t die. They put him on a barren island, Patmos to starve to death, yet he wouldn t die. In his very last years he would go from church to church on Sundays to preach. People would come huge distances to hear him speak. Folk would help him get to the front of the meeting. He would stand up to preach, people leaning forward on the front of their seats and he would say little children, love one another. Then he would sit down. That was his whole sermon, many, many times over because didn t feel they had fully got the message and I doubt that he could have physically preached for much longer. As I approach our text this morning Joshua 2:1-11 where what appears to be two Israeli spies, go into the city of Jericho and are aided by a prostitute, a red apple, a woman of faith. They appear to be spies, but I don t believe that was God s primary purpose for them as we shall see. As we look at this passage I really sense the Lord saying Russell, repeat, bring home what you began to say two weeks ago about the real purpose of the Person of the Holy Spirit, when He, the third person of the Trinity comes upon a person. I mentioned last time that the Old Testament is full of real stories that happened in history, stories that archaeologists have been able to confirm many times over. And yet these real historical stories have another dimension to them, they are also pictures, or illustrations of New Testament teaching. The Bible has within it layers within layers. The message is really simple and clear to understand but wow, you will always discover more insights from it as it is divinely inspired. How many of you have heard of Chuck Missler. Chuck Missler was had one of the leading scientific minds in America, he became famous for work with rockets, aerospace, developing microchip technology etc,etc. In the 70 s he transitioned from being a scientist to being a Bible teacher. He spent his final 7 years of life in Reporoa NZ and died in may this year. If you ever had time to study his work on Bible codes it would leave you convinced that the Bible is God breathed, and you would probably have a head-ache. Messages within messages. Parallels and illustrations that support each other all through Scripture, written by different people over thousands of years. In that light, the book of Joshua is an illustration of what it looks like, not just to be taken out of Egypt, out of the world of sin and addiction and selfishness by passing through the Red Sea of baptism. But it is an illustration of the Spirit filled life, or the abundant life that the Bible speaks of. The abundant life that the NT speaks of does not mean that you are going to be rich and famous as some television preachers in America seem to suggest. But it does mean that God wants you filled with the Holy Spirit, a second Baptism, living a life of significance and meaning and having more than enough to just survive financially. The Jordan river then is that illustration of that second baptism. A passing through the waters just as they had in the Red sea when the Israelites became a people, a chosen people a saved people. The Bible describes full immersion baptism in the same way. Its part of conversion and repentance, it s when you die to self and are raised up with Jesus as Lord and saviour. It s when your un-confessed sins are dealt with and you put on Christ its when you join the team. It was only the people who 1
passed through the waters of the Red Sea who were seen as God s chosen people, as it is with full immersion baptism in the NT. You will not find anyone in the NT who is a Christian who has not been baptized in water and the Holy Spirit. Yet our experience is so different from the Biblical one. There are many in the church today who love the Lord, know the facts, believe in God, have Jesus in their hearts but have not experienced that second baptism, life is dry, they are still wandering in the dessert, kicking sand like the Israelites but they haven t experienced the second baptism. A baptism illustrated in our story by the crossing of the Jordan River. After the service a couple of weeks ago, Phil Bud pointed out something really different. Many people when they look at Joshua can see the NT messages in this historical account but they say the Promised Land, which is flowing with milk and honey represents heaven prophetically. Mr Budd is right in recognising that the Promised Land is not heaven, it s the Spirit filled life, the abundant life. Why because they still have to take the land, they still have giants to fight and battles to win. They still need to step out in faith to appropriate God s promises. There are no battles to fight in heaven. Heaven will be a busy, fun, unbelievably fulfilling place but, the war is won already, the battle is over when we get there. But in the Spirit filled life, their life is fruitfulness, there is effectiveness, there is prosperity but there are also challenges and battles to be won. They had been through the water baptism, there already saved but John the Baptist said that there is one coming after me that will baptise you in the Holy Spirit and fire. The One who is to come who will lead believers into the second baptism would be called Joshua, or Jesus as Joshua is known in the NT. Now they are paused in the dessert, looking over the Jordan to the Promised Land, would they go through the second baptism, would they step out in faith and take the Promised Land, would they appropriate God s promises? Joshua 2 (NIV) Rahab and the Spies 2 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. Go, look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. 2 The king of Jericho was told, Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land. 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land. 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them. 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. 8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [a] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [b] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Jesus in the NT would latter send out his disciples in pairs to preach and to witness and to prepare the way for Him. Here also this Jesus sends out two spies before him as well. 2
When you read here that Joshua sent out two spies there is kind of a sense of de-ja-vue. It reminds us of another time decades earlier when Moses sent out 12 spies to do the same thing but only two came back with a good report. What were there names? Joshua and Caleb. Only Joshua and Caleb would believe God s promises and step into them, the rest of that unbelieving generation would die in the dessert and never enter the Promised Land. Now these two guys are sent as spies but that is not really their purpose as we shall see. They cross over the Jordan River, a symbol of the Holy Spirits baptism and into the promised land, symbolic of the fruitful, purposeful, abundant life and they stay in the house of a prostitute. Why? Doesn t that sound just a little bit dodgy? When visitors came to ancient cities they would stay with relatives or friends. But if you wanted to keep your anonymity, fly under the radar there was only one place you could visit where people would allow you to come and go without broadcasting whose house you were staying at. That place. A brothel or a prostitute s house. It wasn t kosha to talk about who visited that house. It was the place to stay if you didn t want people to talk about you. But the king of Jericho did find out. People did talk, and so he sent his top FBI agents to find out who are these foreign guys and what are they up to. When they get to Rahab s house she says hey they were here but they have already gone, they went that way. Maybe if you saddle up real quick you can catch up with them. In reality she had taken them up to the roof and hidden these two men under some flax. And so she tells the agents to go west then the latter tells the two spies to get back to their whanau in the east. Why would she do that? What was going through her mind? Lying to the king s agents was like asking to be brutally and painfully killed. What was going on in her heart? We can answer those questions because the text tells us. 8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [a] for you when you came out of Egypt, When did she hear that God has parted the Red Sea for the Israelites and promised them the land? 40 years ago. 40 years ago this happened and she heard of it then or hears the stories of it that were passed down to her. She had heard the story and been convinced that their God was THE God and was going to give them her land for a long, long time. I wonder if she thought, I wonder if she said. Listen guys, I have been waiting for you for 40 years? Where have you been? These two men weren t primarily spies they had gone over the Jordan that speaks of Baptism of the Holy Spirit and into the Spirit filled life to witness to a lady who was ripe for salvation. She was a red apple. They arrive in her home, she already believes in their God and they explain how to be saved and so consequently she and her family are saved. Rahab was to be King David s Great, Great grandmother and eventually Jesus great, great xxxx grandmother. Here s the thing that stands out to me from our text family. What is the purpose of the Spirit filled life? Why cross the Jordan and experience the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? To be His witnesses. To tell people that no one is good enough to go to heaven or to live the abundant life presently but that Jesus died for them so that on the basis of His goodness and His perfect record they could connect with God and be filled with the Holy Spirit, to life an effective, fulfilling life now. 3
Jesus said in the NT that He would empower and bless us with the Holy Spirit, not to make us happy, not to give us an wonderful experience but so that we could be His witnesses, in Jerusalem, in Judea and to the ends of the earth. Rahab had been a red apple, ripe for picking for many, many years, she just needed some one to come and explain to her how to connect with God and be saved for a life of purpose now. Every now and then, I speak to someone who has been a Christian for a year or two. And they tell me how different life is, their marriage is, how their perspective on the world around them has changed, how much they are enjoying the Lord s presence and whispers. And I think awesome, that s normal. Then they say something really awkward for me to hear. It goes something like this. Russell I have always suspected there was a real God that I could know personally. In a way I always believed in God. I have seen Christians go through hard times and react differently to everyone else. I have heard of a miracle or two. But I didn t understand who Jesus is or how I could connect with God. The thing is my boss is a Christian, or my neighbour is a Christian, or my cousin is a Christian. What I don t understand is, why didn t they tell me? Why didn t they take the time to explain things to me? I don t honestly know what to say when I hear people say things like that. I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [a] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [b] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. We have heard, we have heard, our hearts melted.. because of you, for your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. People are ready. Their hearts are melted, soft. We are in fear of maybe them thinking we are weird or something, but they are waiting saying, we have heard, we suspected, we wanted to know, but where have you been for the last 40 years? We have been waiting for someone to explain to us. God wants each one of us to live over the Jordan. The continually be filled with the Holy Spirit. And yes his Spirit on us will positively impact our relationships, our character, our business, our parenting, our level of fulfilment and effectiveness, but I suggest to you, that the main reason that God wants you to live over the Jordan, to live the abundant life is that there will be a daily overflow from your life to bless those around you with power and with words of witness. God wants to daily fill you with His Holy Spirit to overflowing for them, to bless them. Oh, we may think in our own subconscious that they are not ready, not interested, too busy, sceptical. But I wonder if those thoughts come from self or Satan, rather than the Lord. Many of them, all around us every week are ripe for picking, red apples and if we love them enough to put our faith to words, many, many of them will say to you and to me, where have you been, I ve wanted to, I have needed to have this explained to me for years and years. What does the Spirit filled, abundant life look like? It looks like a woman or a man who wakes up in the morning and seeks a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit so that they can be His witnesses in the world around them. The Holy Spirit is like electricity. Electricity will not go into something that it will not flow out of. You will find that the people who want to demonstrate God s kingdom, the people that want to be His witnesses, who realise that they need The Holy Spirit, those are the people that He daily fills to overflowing. 4
Satan lies to us. Tries to intimidate us. It s too scary, you are not ready, you need more training, only evangelists can witness to those around them. Lies. All lies. Its God s will that we all be His witnesses. I believe all around us every day in every neighbourhood are people who are ready, open, hearts tender towards God. There is only qualification that you need to be an effective witness for God, to live the fulfilled, Spirit filled, effective life, and that is the Holy Spirit upon you. A lot of people go from church to church, from meeting to meeting, chasing this speaker or that evangelist wanting a supernatural experience from the Lord to power up their lives. And great things do happen at those meetings and people are blessed and greatly encouraged for a week or two. But the abundant life is not about chasing ministries or being at the right meeting. Its about being the right people, who daily call out to God, God I need you to fill me to overflowing, because today I need to talk to others about Jesus. Lord equip me today, to be your witness. As we work our way through this historical and yet prophetic book I pray that you and I will become those types of people. A people of the kingdom who can demonstrate heaven on earth. A people of power. A people who are not ashamed of the gospel but talk to those who have been waiting, often a long time, about how they too can connect with God and live a life of abundance. 5