Well, please turn on me and your Bibles to Joshua chapter 1. We'll be reading and studying today, verses 1 through 9. Joshua chapter 1 verses 1 through 9. A Kevin will be returning to Revelation in a couple of weeks. While he's gone, we have a few of sermons from various passages over the next couple of Sundays. Looking again today at Joshua 1 verses 1 to 9, let's pray before we read. God's words together and ask for his help as we study. Our Father in heaven, we do praise you for your living, your active, your powerful, sufficient, inerrant, infallible word. Praise you, God, that your word is life. We are reminded again this morning that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of our God. And so we pray that you'll bring us face to face with Christ this morning. Again, of our need of your grace, we pray that you will strengthen and encourage us. That is our prayer this morning, that this word will help us as we live from day to day to have confidence in you, our God. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. A back before I had my heart accident, so back in my running days, I participated in a race that was called the bridge run. Now, I have to tell you, I wasn't really racing. Like, you know, I'm not going to win anything, so I was just running. But anyways, part of this race is in downtown Grand Rapids, and called the bridge run because the race course took us over seven different bridges that crossed the Grand River. So started in downtown Grand Rapids, ran out of downtown, ran out a little bit into the suburbs, ran back. But as we were running out and back, we kept criss-crossing the rivers. So back and forth, one side of the river to the other, seven times seven bridges. Thinking about bridges, there's a lot of famous bridges in the world. If you go to San Francisco, you want to lay eyes, of course, on the Golden Great Bridge. If you're in New York, it might be the Brooklyn Bridge. If you're in London, it's the London Bridge. And of course, even as boys and girls, we learn the song that goes along with that bridge. If you're from Michigan, it's the Macon Bridge. Five miles long, 550 feet high, the fifth largest suspension bridge in the world connects the lower peninsula to the upper peninsula. This past week when Sharon and I were coming back from Michigan, driving through Ohio and coming up to West Virginia, we've crossed the Ohio River on a major bridge at Ravenswood, West Virginia. Some of you have no doubt crossed that bridge before. Bridges, of course, create a shortcut. So bridges are wonderfully helpful because if a bridge wasn't in the place where it was, you'd have to go drive down river to a place, find a place where you can cross, but you have a bridge, you can go through the shortcut. Bridges fill a gap with bridges. There is a before and then an after. So you're over here, you cross the bridge and then you're here. This and then that, a crossing here and then there, you leave something behind, you cross the bridge and you go on to something new. Thinking about that, we just crossed the bridge, didn't we? Just a few days ago, we're now into 2024, six days ago, we moved from one year to the next. I know that we're already a few days into the new year. Maybe the new year's day seems like a real distant memory to us, but here we are the very first time together in 2024. And as we crossed into something new, there's a lot that we don't know. Like what does this year hold for us? Well, as we turn to Joshua this morning, Joshua is a bridge book. That's what Francis Schaefer called it. It's something like the Book of Acts, the Book of Acts of Bridge between the Gospels and the Epistles between the life of Christ and the history of the early church. The Book of Joshua is like that. It is a bridge from the Pentateuch, first five books in the Bible into the historical books. And even more, it is a bridge between the wilderness for Israel and the promised land for Israel. Here at the very beginning of Joshua, God's people are about ready to cross a bridge as it were into a new land and that was a dawning experience for them. And what we find here in these first verses of Joshua is this. God says to Joshua, God says to Israel, as you face this new thing, here's how I want you to face it. I want you to face it with strength and I want you to face it with courage. Be strong, be courageous. Trust in me, trust in my promises, trust in my presence with you. Trust in my word. Those things right there, that's what we find in these early verses. So let's read them together. Joshua 1, 1 to 9. Here's God's word. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of non-Moses, assistant. Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore to rise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people into the land that I am giving to them to the people of Israel. Every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you just as I promise to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the Great River, the River Euphrates, all the land of the hitsites to the Great Sea, toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you, all the days of your life, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous for this shell, cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do all of the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do, according to all that is written in it. But then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Well, people of God, the book of Joshua opens with a series of transitions. We see these at the very first part of our text this morning. It was first of all the transition from Moses to Joshua, a leadership transition. One leader was passing away, another leader was taking his place, was on the scene. You see this in the very first verse. Joshua opens after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord sent to Joshua, the son of non-Moses assistant, Moses, my servant is dead. Deuteronomy ended that way. It ends with Moses' death. Joshua begins with Moses' death. And people of God, this is a huge transition for God's people. Think about it, for 40 years, Moses had been leading the people of God. He had led them out of Egypt. He had led them through the Red Sea, through the wilderness. Now to the doorstep of the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 34 reminds us of the kind of leader that Moses had been. Where the Lord says about Moses, it was not another prophet, like Moses, whom the Lord knew face-to-face. Moses, in other words, was a one-of-a-kind leader. And now he was gone. It was time for Joshua to lead. Joshua knew this was coming, had been told about it. The Lord had already spoken to him through Moses. Joshua, you are the one who is going to lead my people. Two Moses, the Lord had said this, take Joshua the son of non-Aman in whom is the spirit and layer hand on him. He shall go out before them, come in before them. He shall lead them out, bring them in that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep without a shepherd. Joshua, as we know, was a wonderful military commander. Joshua was a brave spy as he and Caleb and the others went to spy out the land. But he's also a shepherd. God's people needed a shepherd. One shepherd is gone. They needed another shepherd to take his place. And Joshua had been told, you are going to be the one. I wonder if we can imagine this morning what it must have been like for Joshua. You have to follow Moses. It's often hard, isn't it, to follow a great leader. In fact, when there's been a very prominent leader on the scene, it's often the case that the next leader doesn't do so well. It's often fails because he's got these incredible shoes to fill. So that next leader often fails. It's often the leader that follows him that is able to lead well. I wonder if Joshua thought to himself, how am I going to take Moses' place? How is this going to go? Will I be able to lead God's people like Moses did? Or imagine with me being Israel. And you're wondering what kind of leader is Joshua going to be? Leadership transitions are not only hard on leaders, but they're hard on the people who have to follow the leader. So in your own life, you might get a new boss. You may get a new coach. You may get a new teacher. And you're wondering all the while, how is this going to go? What are they going to be like? And I wonder if Israel was thinking that at all as Moses began to lead them. Let's see if this transition for Moses to Joshua. We also have a transition from the wilderness to the promised land. So not only at the very beginning are we told that Moses died and Joshua is to lead, but the very first command that comes to Joshua, verse two, God says to him, arise therefore, go over this Jordan. You and all the people into the land that I am giving you. Joshua, you can't stay here with God's people. You need to go there. You need to enter the land for 40 years. The wilderness had been their home. And now God's people are about to cross over. You recall what the spies set up up the land? The spies come back after scouting out the land. And only Joshua and Caleb say, you know, we can take this land. The rest of the spies say, there are giants in the land. We're like grasshoppers. And I wonder if God's people stood at the edge of the Jordan, ready to cross it, ready to go into the land that they could see on the other side. I wonder if they're thinking to themselves, what about those giants? They're going to gobble us up. Are we going to be destroyed? Jericho is just across this river, just across the Jordanus city, with imposing walls. Rahab, as the Israelites come into Jericho, Rahab says, we've heard about you people before. And we've heard about the greatness of your God. The reputation of Israel had gone before them. And I wonder if the Israelites had heard anything about Jericho before they got there. These massive walls that stood high, how are we ever going to be able to defeat a city like that? And then there was the Jordan River, a wall, this deep valley. You remember, the Bible tells us in just a few chapters that as the Israelites reached the Jordan, it was at flood stage when they crossed. It's not a little trickling stream. It was a full river. And it wasn't until they stepped into the waters that the waters divided. Not until they went forward in faith and they know they could cross. All of these things were facing the people of God in this transition from Moiv in the wilderness to the promised land. So many things that could have kept them from moving forward. So many things that could have had them living in fear. People out, I'm thinking about this new year and maybe looking into a new year for us might be something like what it was for Israel to think about their next steps. Moving into this land that the Lord had given them. For some of us, it's not really the new year that's frightening. For some of us here this morning, it's tomorrow. It's not looking into April or May or August or November or saying, what's going to happen this new year? It's tomorrow that is a scary thing. It's been a hard week on the Christ covenant family. We had a funeral here on Friday, others in our midst have lost loved ones recently. We've had members who have been hospitalized, who've been at death's doorstep, gratefully the Lord has drawn them back. We've members in our church who've recently been diagnosed with frightening illnesses. When these things start happening, you start wondering, no, too about tomorrow. You start thinking about the future. What is a hold for me? Sherry just got done talking to a dear friend of ours, who last September lost her husband, and they were talking about celebrating New Year's. And she was talking about how difficult that was to think of moving from one year into the next year without your spouse for the very first time. And in a sense saying, I don't really want to go into New Year without my husband. Those are the kinds of things that we endure, don't we, that we face. And for all that Israel was going through, for all that we may go through, this is why there is such a strong call to courage here. Three times, it's repeated. Verse six, Israel, be strong. Be courageous. Verse seven, only be strong and very courageous. Verse nine, have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened. Do not be dismayed. Yes, the repetitions, but they're not exactly repetitions. They're not just saying the same thing. These calls the courage build on one another. They get fuller. They get stronger. They're to bolster us up as they were to bolster Israel. For Lord's simple message, courageously move ahead. Go forward. Don't stop. Do not be afraid. The very same message that Moses gave to Joshua, he had said this to Joshua earlier. Now here it's for Lord speaking. Be strong, very courageous. Let me give you three things. Three sources or inspirations of courage that the Lord gave to his people here. It's our last point. First of all, God reminds him of his promises. So verse three, go over this Jordan. You and all this people into the land that I am giving them. Verse six, be strong and courageous, because you shall cause this people to inherit the land. I swore to their fathers to give them. So God says to Joshua, he says to Israel, he says to us this morning, where do you get the strength to be strong, to be courageous, to move forward? Where do you find that? And God says it is in my promises. It wasn't Israel's military strength. It was not their wisdom. It was the promises of God, and particularly for them, the promise of this land. This land will be yours. Remember in your Bible, this was the promise that had been made to Abraham. Some centuries earlier. It was a promise that was renewed to Isaac, a promise that was again given to Jacob. And now the promise is made one more time to Moses. God has said to him, every place Moses on which the soul of your foot treads, it shall be yours. It's Deuteronomy 1123. And now it comes to Joshua. Every place, Joshua, this is verse 3, every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon. I have given to you just as I promised Moses, what a great land. The Lord says is yours. From the wilderness to the south, for Lebanon in the north, the river you freight is in Babylon to the east, to the great sea. The Mediterranean in the west. Much of this not even fulfilled until the days of David and Solomon, but it is going to be yours. It is going to belong to my people. What a promise, you know, it's the promises of God that really are tea to the book of Joshua. God's promises, one after another. The conquest, simply a fulfillment of the promises of God. Even at the end of his life, Joshua goes back to the promises. Chapter 23, I am about to go the way of all the earth, Joshua says, but you know in your hearts and souls all of you that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord has promised concerning you. Look back on my life, Israel, it's all about God's promises. Look at the God repeat the same promises over and over again. To Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Moses, to Joshua, to Israel, what do you think the Lord does this because he understands that we so often forget his promises? We don't remember them. In our time of need, sometimes you are just gone and the Lord is so gracious to us to say, let me remind you of them again, say them over and over and over again so they get lodged in your mind and locked in your heart that wants us to be strengthened with those. When you need courage for a new calling to follow a challenging command from the Lord, to stand against the crowd to resist urges to give up, to be faithful in your marriage, to trust God's provision, to surrender your tomorrows, where do you go? God says, come back to my promises again. Promises on the front end, before you have to step out, promises, you can look back on and see that God has been faithful to you. Because of course, are trustworthy only as long as the one you is making them, is trustworthy. And Israel is reminded here that it is the Lord who has made his promises. The Lord, Yahweh, his covenant name, the God of steadfast love and mercy, the God who is always faithful to his people. That's promises are reliable friends because God is reliable. You can trust him so you can trust his promises. What promises of God do you need today? What is it that you're going through and what promise do you need to claim, to cling to, to hold on to, to shore you up? Listen this morning just to a few, just a couple of promises. Propians 4 and 19, my God will meet all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Psalm 31, 1415, but I trust in you, O Lord, I say, you are my God in my times, they are in your hands. Psalm 103, verse 3, bless the Lord on my soul who forgives all your iniquities. Who heals all your diseases, Psalm 3410, the lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack, no good thing, promises to live by. Not only of God's promise to be of His presence, the other thing the Lord said to Israel, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or for safe you, verse 5 or verse 9, be strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. What a great personal word from the Lord. I will be with you because as I myself will be with you, I'll stand beside you. His personal presence, not a phantom, not an avatar, the Lord Himself. I am there with you. And a pervasive word from the Lord because I will be with you wherever you go, the ups, the downs, the highs, the lows, the pleasant, the painful in life, in death, in the wilderness, in all the way to the promised land and beyond. I'll be with you wherever you go, whatever you are doing, wherever you find yourself, there is not an exclusion here. Everything it's take out and say, well, that doesn't count, I'll be with you wherever you go. Francis, really one of the great promises of the Bible that you see all throughout the scriptures heard somebody call it this, it's four words that change everything. I am with you. Does he remember that the promises made to Jacob, he's running away from his brother? He's ready to return to the promised land and he has this dream of a ladder and angels are going up and down on that ladder and to Jacob, the Lord says, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to the land. I'm with you. Same promise is made to Joseph. Joseph is sold by his brothers into Egypt, thrown into jail unjustly for two years, lingering in prison. Don't you wonder many, many times over those days you must have thought to himself, God have you forgotten me? Where are you? I'm here in this prison. Where are you, O God? And then he eventually rises to power and helps deliver Israel. And the Bible tells us the Lord was with him. And whenever he did, the Lord made it succeed. He wasn't alone. The Lord is with him, who can forget the promise of Psalm 23 even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death? I will not fear for you what are with me. You see that over and over and over and over and over and over again in the Bible? I am with you. That's what the Lord is saying to you today. Wherever you go. Wherever you do, wherever you are, I want you to remember, I am with you and I will not leave you or forsake you. When you are afraid, when you feel alone, when you are threatened, keep in mind, God says I'm here. Friends, how do we know that's all true? How do we know that that promise that God is with us is really true? Well, we have to remember the greatest witness to all of God's presence. Lord Jesus Himself, just before His birth, Joseph and Mary, here's one of the names that He will have Emmanuel, which means God with us. You see the pledge of His presence is established for us in Christ. He will never leave us or abandon us because He has come in His Son to save us. How could He let us go? How could He abandon us? He will be with us. So the encouragement to Joshua, to Israel, to us, God's promises, God's presence, and then finally His word. This is where the text ends this morning. As the Lord speaks to Joshua, it says, be strong and courageous for seven, being careful to view according to all the law that Moses might serve and command you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it. The word, God's law, Joshua, this is what you are to live by. This is what is to guide you. This is what you are to hold on to. You must keep the word front and center. In front, you see it's the word of God that, too, gives us courage. That's what gives us strength to move forward, even into those things that are unknown. The Lord told Joshua here what he was to do with the word, how it was to be a foundation for him, and how it's to be a foundation for us. We have to first of all know the word. So the Lord says to Joshua, don't let it depart from you. You know, don't let your life be here in the word here, where you are drifting from the word, distant from the word, but stay close to the word, cherish the word, read the word, use God's word, don't let it depart from you. Even more specifically, we'll talk about the word. That's what Joshua was to do. He's not to let the word of God depart from his mouth. What happens when we testify to the word of God, when we share the word of God, when we read the word of God to other people, we're doing it in our families, maybe, doing it with your spouse, you're doing it in a Sunday school classroom, when we speak God's word, when we talk about his word, we internalize his word, we own it more. He gets to know it better, and so it was not to depart from the mouth of Joshua. You need to keep telling Israel the word. So know it, talk about it, word of meditate on it, as your Kevin gave us some wonderful sermon last week about how to do that with the word of God, but contemplate its truth. Ask questions of the word of God, what is this tax saying about my life, my living, what I'm to do? What conclusions do I draw from God's word? I've been helped over the years by just one little piece of advice from John Piper when he says, lead the word of God with a pen in your hand, I just have a pen or a pencil and underline a word here there, mark something, but as he says, pens have eyes, in other words your eyes tend to get opened in a way to God's word when you're ready just to jot a note or make a little mark or something, all of part of meditating upon God's word. Finally, we have to obey it. Joshua was told to be careful to do all that is written in it. Of course, this is the most important thing, isn't it? I just reflect upon it and to read it, but we're called to do it. We have to respond, we need to obey. James reminds us, we're not simply to be hears, but doers of the word. Well, friends, how does God's word help us to be courageous? Because it reminds us of a God who was sovereign, a God who was in control, a God who has all of our days ordained for us before one came to be, you know, we may not know what 2024 holds in the Lord does. You may not know what tomorrow will bring the Lord does. He is our sovereign God and God's word, reminds us of that, and it also reminds us that he blogs us that we are his children and he is our father. The one who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion. He will not let us go. He begins what he finishes. He is the God who will hold us fast. Friends, you probably know that, of course, the Old Testament named Joshua, the equivalent of that in the New Testament, is the name Jesus. It's because of the Lord Jesus Christ that all that God says here is true for us. He calls us to be strong and courageous, but leaning on his word, his promises and his presence. Jesus is the faithful one who has redeemed us. Jesus is the one who has run our race before us. You know what? Right into the promise land, right? The Bible reminds us we have an anchor there for our soul, an anchor. Hell tight in heaven for us, guarantee that we are going to make it. Our days, our years may change, but Jesus is the one who is the same yesterday, today and forever, and so be strong and be courageous as God's people. Let's go forth trusting him, whatever tomorrow holds, whatever this year holds. Let's pray together. So Father in heaven, we do pray that you would guide us. Guide us so thou great, Jehovah, as we are pilgrims through this barren land. We are weak, but you are mighty, so hold us with your powerful hand in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.