Although Pastor Baker had gone through the book of Joshua with Calvary Baptist, as part of the GoBIG theme, which I’ve had the opportunity to attend a few times, this week’s sermon is a reminder and review of all the main theological points from the book.
- first 6 books of Bible shows us cycle of human nature…which actually repeats throughout the Bible
- 1. slavery [Egypt]
- 2. salvation [rescue]
- 3. suffering [wilderness]
- 4. sanctification
- 5. subdue [Canaan]
- 6. glorification
- 1. God is amped about His WORD so…
- Joshua 1:7-8
- success of life is related to out obedience to the Word
- communicate His will through the word; how can we continuously ask “What is God’s Will” yet not read the Word?
- Are you standing on God’s Word? (ie. are you rooted in the Word?)
- what He says do, we should do; where he says to go, we should go
- 2. God is zealous for His HONOUR so…
- Joshua 2:8-17,24
- trust in Him for impossible things; the impossible made possible attracts the attention of others
- people of Jericho didn’t pay attention until mighty acts of God occurred, then “their hearts melted”
- we dishonour God when we hold ourselves hostage to the possible, and when we play down God to our size
- when we melt with fear, we tell others God is insufficient
- 3. God is SOVEREIGN and totally in control but…
- Israelites were lost in desert for 40 years, but could have only spent 11 days; they were literally always at the doorstep of Promised Land!
- truly belonging to God&His purposes require movement from where we are to where God wants us to be
- we need to move from rescue to promised land
- Israelites were so fixated on past miracles of God, but not moving forward (ie. Acts 7:1-54 and stoning of Stephen; people were fine with Stephen reciting the past, but stoned him when he told them to LIVE FORWARD)
- Joshua 3:10; God will move us fwd and clear obstacles in the way of the intended destination
- 4. God has no COMPETITION and therefore…
- God has resources beyond imagination to make purposes reality
- Joshua 10:25
- 5. God wants to be WORSHIPED for who He is and NOT for what we get from Him because…
- Joshua 6
- is church merely your hobby? “I have nothing better to do, and this seems like the right thing to do…so I’ll go to church.”
- God doesn’t care whether worship suits you; its how it suits Him; specialized services and worship styles…have no real point in the grand picture
- God wants to wean us from the whiff of idolatry
- Joshua 5:14,15; “What messages does my Lord have for His servant?”
- presence of holiness should be all we’re concerned about, not whether the style of service suits you
- 6. God hates SIN so…
- Joshua 7
- sin is a community issue; sin amongst a part of the body affects whole
- individuals are held accountable BUT entire body is affected and infected
- 7. God is LORD of the whole EARTH and…
- Joshua 2:11; Joshua 23:5
- wants people to impact everywhere w/ implication of ruling and reigning heavenly Monarch – as aliens and strangers- to take possession of everywhere/land
- Joshua isn’t a book of geography, but of the theme the whole world belongs to God
- “land” is where God&man in harmony subduing&bringing into submission what is God’s
- we are called to “advertise” the gospel&Good News (Matthew 5:13-16?) to world for reclamation
And an aside note I had during the sermon, I was kind of applying my marketing knowledge for advertising. One type of advertising is “reminder”, which of course is used to remind consumers that the product/brand still exists. So I was thinking, “Does God need an advertising campaign to remind the world He exists and is relevant?”, but reminders of His existence are already daily. I’m sure God doesn’t, and won’t, need to explicitly come down and show/prove His existence (much to the disappointment of non-believers)…but the only thing that can come into my mind for that is 2 Corinthians 4:18.
What are the small things in life that God uses to remind you he is present in your life?