In the book of Joshua, chapter 1, verses 10 through 18, and Joshua commanded the officers of the people, passed through the midst of the camp, and command the people, prepare your provisions. While within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. And to the Rubenites and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 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 you will give and will give you this land. 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 until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he is given 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. And they answered, Joshua, all that you have commanded us, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses, whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him shall be put to death, only be strong and courageous. This is the word of the Lord. We may be seated. Father in heaven, we thank you for this word. We thank you for our leader, Jesus. We thank you, Father, that we have a spirit to do a work that only he can do in our hearts when it comes to the word. And we pray, spirit you would do that now, that we might be made more like you, that we might leave so encouraged with the hope of the gospel, that we might truly reflect upon our lives and take inventory of who we are and where we are and who we are in you. Lord, bless this time. Be with me as I preach that I would say nothing that would be of a destruction, but it would only point all of us to our Savior, Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory and whose name we pray. Amen. Well, I have certainly enjoyed the study in Joshua. As we prepare this morning to look at this battlefield, I want you to think of all the battlefields and all of the world, which ones are the first to come to your mind? Now, I know this might sound like a masculine thing to consider, but it's not really. For women are involved in waging war also, supporting and doing many different things. Which battlefield comes to mind first? I want to tell you of all the battlefields, even at this very moment that are entering your mind, some of which you have fought in yourselves, which we as a nation are so grateful for, there is no greater battlefield than Golgotha, the place of the skull. Never has so much blood been shed, never has it been so tragic and yet so victorious. And whatever cry of victory was given on any of the battlefields that entered your mind, there's nothing as great as the one that goes, it is finished, the victory cry of Jesus, your victory cry. The victory cry of Jesus, your victory cry. But hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before, not many miles away from that place of skull, this group of people waited, waited at the river's edge for a promise to be fulfilled, waiting to take possession of that which God had promised, they waited and they've been waiting a long time and wondering a long time. And now their leader has died and new one has been called and he has been promised that he is the man that will lead them to take possession of the land that has been promised. And so we come to this text which in many ways is obscure, what does it mean all these different tribes and these two and a half tribes not wanting to go in? What does it mean we're gonna look at it today because it's incredible. Here Joshua is seeking to be obedient to Joshua one eight. Do not let this book of law depart from your mouth but meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. What is this word? It's his sword, it's his weapon. It's that which God has given him and so he takes it and now moves to prepare the troops. He's preparing the troops, the men who are going to go in and take possession of the land. As he does it, I wonder what he was feeling. Did he have butterflies? Did he wonder how the people will respond? I don't know it doesn't say but I know this much. He knows because of his own commission that the Lord is leading him, that the Lord is with him and that the Lord will not forsake him. And so he goes to the officers of the people in verse 10 and he says to them, 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. And these 10 or so verses that we're looking at this morning there is unbelievable theological themes that are so rich at explaining the history of redemption. The first one is this, that God gives a promise. He is going to give them the land. It's a divine promise, it's a sovereign promise and in his sovereignty he will make it happen but they have to take possession of it. Here is a mystery, the divine sovereignty of God and human responsibility, he gives them a command. There's something that they are to do and they must act. They act in the confidence that he is leading them, that he's with them and that he will not forsake them. Never, but they must act. And so Joshua as a tremendous military leader moves in their midst and says to the officers, go and get the people prepared. Get the people prepared to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Do you see the play on words? He's preparing them. That's the first point this morning. Joshua is preparing them for battle. Do you live your Christian life in the context of war? Do you, do you live it in the context of battle? Do you really believe that you're in the midst of an incredible war? In fact the greatest war of all time. Are you simply living as a civilian if we're at peace? Christians never will be. Not this side of heaven. Though our country might be at war at peace as Christians we are always called to live life in the context of this battle. And so we can take from this text the reality that we too need to be prepared. Are you? Are you regularly prepared for the battle that God has called us to? I'm going to invite you to pick up the Pew Bible in front of you. I'm going to invite you to pick up your own Bible if you brought it. But I want you to turn to Ephesians chapter six. It's on page 979 in the blue Pew Bible if you didn't bring your own. And I want you to think about being prepared for the battle that the Lord has called us to. As Jesus leads us he uses his servant Paul to speak of the battle which we are going to be in until he returns or calls us home. In Ephesians chapter six beginning in verse 10 this is what Paul says. Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Now as I read this picture the armor and as you're picturing the armor picture yourself are you truly engaged in having this armor on? He writes in verse 12, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and his shoes for your feet having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God praying at all times and in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. How prepared are you in this battle? Are you armed? Do you think about the battle often? Do you think about these things being put on you? This breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith and do you think of the only offensive weapon mentioned? What was it? The word of God which is the sword of the spirit. Last week Tim spoke about Joshua 1-8. This Bible, the blue one that you're holding in your hand or the one you brought with you or simply the words printed in this bulletin is the only offensive weapon mentioned in this armor. Did you realize that? All the other things are important but they're all for defense. This is our sword. If I'm commanding an army and I know that I can eliminate the enemy's weapons I think the chances of me winning the battle are far greater, would you agree? Would you agree? Then wouldn't the enemy seek to make a people who claim to know Jesus Christ and love him people who are not eager about bathing in the word of God? People who aren't regularly diving into it as we say now, who aren't really knowing and living. Maybe just knowing but not really living. Do you see how the enemy would seek to make us bored with this book? High school students present today, are you captivated by it? Does it cause you to say I need it for my life now? Not when I got old and have my own children, but now. Do you see the significance of what it means? It's God's word, it's living, it's active, it's sharp. It's what we need and he's given it to us. But for so many of us, the Bible is so boring, it's stale. It doesn't move from head to heart and exit through hands and feet, but it shouldn't be so. Like Joshua 1.8 says, meditate on it day and night so that we might be careful to do everything that is written in it. I know it can be difficult. In fact, even the passage we're looking at this morning is somewhat difficult, but it's how we're prepared for battle. If you need help in learning to read the word of God, if you need help in motivation to read the word of God, seek it out, seek it out. You know as a young man, I was essentially ordered by my Bible study leader to memorize scripture. June 23, 1982, Tom Miller said, here's your topical memory system, two verses a week, do it. And I did, you know what the fruit of the reward would be? A steak dinner, it's all it took. I'll take you to the restaurant of your choice for steak if you memorize all 60 verses. And I did, often writing my bike to his house, I would memorize them as I rode the bike. I wanted to please him. The motivation wasn't always pure, but the word went into my heart. As soon as I finished the topical memory system, you know what he said, we're now gonna memorize Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And I did it in one week, Matthew 5, verse 6, and verse 7. He then said, no, no Mark, you don't understand. It's the sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And I did it in one day. Okay, that's a joke. I spent the next year and a half memorizing Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And we finished, he said, now we're gonna memorize the book of James. Wow, I'm gonna be pretty cool. I'm gonna be like a super Christian by the time I graduate high school. And I memorized James and then Galatians. And then he moved away. And I stopped memorizing scripture until a year ago. 20 years old, 41. How much of the Bible would be deep in my heart memorized if I'd continued to do it? I meet with the group of men every Wednesday morning. And one of the men essentially called us all out this week. And said, you know what guys? It's time to stop talking about the same stuff over and over again. Let's get serious about the word of God. And now this group of 12 men or so are memorizing Matthew 5, 6, and 7. I'm doing it in a different version, so it wouldn't be so easy. Brothers and sisters, we need that. You need to be memorizing the word of God if you believe it's what it is. If you didn't bring your Bible today, you're borrowing a weapon. It's in the pew or it's in this little pamphlet. Do you really think you could wage war with this? Bring your Bible, your Bible, mark it up, read it, and then ask God's grace to live it every bit of it. And when you don't come here and confess and be encouraged, this is our weapon. Don't forget that, be encouraged. Well, the second point I want to make this morning is that he's not just simply preparing them. He's calling for them to engage in the battle, and he's calling all of them. Let me say that again. He's calling the Israelites to engage in the battle, and he's calling all of them. Look with me at verse 12. This is what is meant by the Rubenites and the Gadais and the half tribe of Manasseh. Moses said to them, remember the word that, or Joshua said to them, 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. Now, this is important. This tribe had requested something from Moses to see what it was. I want you to turn in your sword to numbers 32. Page 140 in the blue weapon that some of you are borrowing. I don't want you to be offended by that. Some of you, especially if you're visitors. I want you to know you have to begin somewhere. I'm not speaking to you. I'm speaking to those who attend here week after week after week, and I've just found it comforting that they don't bring their own Bible. Bring it. Numbers 32. What's happening here is this two and a half tribes are seeking to get something from Moses. They want to stay on the east side of the River Jordan. They have a lot of livestock, and this field, this land, is good for the livestock. So, they come to Moses with the request, and I want you to listen to how Moses responds. There's a righteous anger that is seething in him as he responds. So, Numbers 32, verse 4, I'm sure I'm going to start. They are speaking their request. The land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock. And they said, if we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan. So, this is what's happening in Joshua 1. They have made this request. Now, listen to Moses' response. Moses said to the people of God and to the people of Rubin, show your brothers go to the war while you sit here. Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel? Listen to that phrase. Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them? Your fathers did this when I sent them from Kadesh, Barnaya, to see the land. For when they went up to the valley of Eshgod and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people. You hear that again? They discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day, and He swore saying, surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt from 20 years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, none except Caleb and Joshua, a good untoverse 14. And behold, you have risen in your father's place, a brute of sinful men to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people. That's what they heard from Moses. He's angry. He thinks they're being deceived as the people before them were, and He's angry about it. He sees that the anger of the Lord will be kindled and judgment will come, and it will be even worse. But listen to their response. Verse 16, then they came near to Him and said, we will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones. But we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. Now go back to Joshua one. Joshua is reminding these tribes that this is what they promised. This is an interesting lesson on leadership. He is connecting them to Moses, the leader that they loved, and he's reminding them of the vow they made to Moses and in a sense then to the vow they made to the Lord. Do you see it? And so Joshua as a leader wants there to be a unified Israel. He wants these two and a half tribes to go into battle with him. But could you see why they wouldn't want to? We've been wondering and already we've got some taste of this peace and rest that you've promised. Our people will die, some of them certainly. We don't want that. We're happy on the east side of Jordan. Let us be you go. But that's not how they respond. Verse 14, Joshua one, your wives, your little ones in 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. Verse 16, and they answer Joshua, all that you have commanded us we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go. 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. Do you see the alignment? Whoever rebels against your commandments and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death, only be strong and courageous. Do you see what's happening? Moses has died, the one who had given them this land. Now Joshua connects them. And essentially says, in honor of your Lord, in honor of the vow you made to your Lord, in honor of the way in which you followed Moses, we need you. Follow us, go into battle with us, and they did. What a lesson for the church. All of Christ's church is called into battle. All of it, yet it's so deeply divided. It's divided over many good things, actually, that have to do with churches that no longer profess that this really is the sword. It really is God's word. But unfortunately, even among many churches, where this word is seen as truth, it is the sword of the Spirit. There's great divisions. Why? Because many people who profess faith in Christ and who profess faith in this word are not engaged in the battle. They're not making true on the call that God has given them to engage in the war, and they need to. I want you to think about this for a moment, in relationship to our church. We're a big church, we're a very wealthy church, even though our budget is behind. We have the ability to influence so many things, but we could influence so many things that aren't really worth influencing. We must remember that we are always in the heart of the most fierce battle known to man. We must be prepared, armed as we've already discussed, but engaged, every one of us. Why wouldn't we be engaged? I think many Christians retreat from the war because it's overwhelming. It's scary. They're not sure what would happen to their children, and so they retreat, and they don't act as these two and a half tribes did, being obedient to engaging the war. Others simply don't know where to respond or what that even means. I want to share with you that it's not as complicated as you think. What does the church need to be? First of all, it needs to be prepared. It needs to fight. It needs to be engaged. How is it that we get engaged? First, we have to realize there's a real battle. Secondly, in all the different places you exist, schools to students, PTA to moms and dads, to the heads of boards are being a member of a board, to your work, to your neighbor, even in your small groups. Are you helping keep the focus on this battle, being engaged? Last point I want to make, what is the battle all about? It's always about God's glory, always, always. But secondarily, it might surprise you, it's about rest.
Look with me at verse 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. Again, in verse 15, until the Lord gives rest, this battle is primarily about rest. Are you tired? You don't look like it, but that's fake, isn't it? I'm dead tired. I want you to open your bulletin, or turn your bulletin to the front page. Many of you miss this every week because you're used to it, but I would encourage you to start here every Sunday. I'm gonna read it. Actually, I want us to read it together. It's the top paragraph underneath the cross. Together, to all who are spiritually weary and seek rest, to all who mourn and long for comfort, to all who struggle and desire victory, to all who sin and need a savior, to all who are strangers and want fellowship, to all who hunger and thirst after righteousness, to all who will come. This church opens wide her doors and offers welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm tired from trying not to look tired, and that's what you probably really don't want, but would applaud. And I'm tired that you work so hard to not look tired. This side of pain in, this side of the promise, we are in a war, and if you're not really tired, you're not really engaged in the war, or you're engaged in the wrong war, which will really make you tired. It's the confession of sin from this morning. It's okay to be tired. It's okay to be worn out. A marriage that's not going well is tiring. A rebellious child who's making decisions that don't own the Lord is tiring. John Vanderveld, an elder who meets in that prayer room every Sunday, fell off a three-step stool, and broke 10 ribs. His collarbone, he punctured along, and a few other injuries. That's tiring. It wears you out, but that is life between the promise and possession of the promise. Are there days when we don't feel so tired? Yes, praise God, and that's when we encourage one another. But life, this side of pain in, this side of the Jordan is tiring. And there's a battle to be fought. And at the end of the battle is what? Rest. And rest isn't going to be a long, eternal nap. It's security. It's freedom from any enemy's victory over you. It's a time for eternity of no more hunger, no more tears, no more thirst. And this side of heaven, we need to engage in the battle. We need to be prepared and armed so that people see something different in us. And what is it? It's a rest. It's a rest. The most brutal battlefield in all of history was at Golgotha, the place of the school. The victory cry was it is finished. The one who made that cry as the one who said, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. And I will give you rest. He meant it because he's leading you. He meant it because he's with you. He meant it because he will never forsake you. He can't. This side of the Jordan, ready for battle. We trust in him the one who is our mighty fortress. The battle's real. It's real. But he's leading. He's with you. He will not forsake you. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we so need to be encouraged every Sunday with the truth of the gospel. Prepare us, God. Even now, to live well this side of Canaan, the life that you have promised to give us. Let us cling to you and not to our own strength. But let us recognize the responsibility that we have to stand up. And even as the book of Hebrews says to strive for that rest, how God drawn near to us. We love you and thank you for all these things. And Jesus' name, amen.