Success in the christian life
Joshua 1:1-9 - Ted Phillips
October 12, 2008
Listen now
|
no asl Interpretation available |
Success in the christian life
This morning I want to talk about success. Success is not something that we generally talk about or even associate with the Christian life. And I think that this is probably because we associate it with the ways of the world. And especially the fact of the matter is that there are so many people in the world who crave after success. But the word of God does speak of success, and in fact God desires us to be successful. He desires His people to succeed in the life that He has called them to.
I want to ask you this morning then to turn with me to the book of Joshua, chapter. This is one of my favorite passages in scripture and its one that I think we can benefit from looking at on a regular basis.
We’re going to be looking at the first nine verses of chapter one, of Joshua. In this passage we will find that the Lord wants Joshua to be successful that is His desire for him. And he lays that out for us in these first nine verses.
Let me read then verses one through nine of Joshua chapter one. “Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant saying, “Moses My servant is dead, now therefore arise, cross this Jordan and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness of this Lebanon even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. All the land of the Hittites as far as the greats sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land which I spoke to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right or to the left. So that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart form you 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. For then you will make your prosperous and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
I want to begin by looking at what success is according to God’s word. What is biblical success, if we could call it that? So first of all I want to point out that biblical success is living according to the revealed will of God so as to lift up the glory of His name. Its living according to the revealed word of God so as to lift up the glory of His name.
If you look at the success that is according to the world and you compare it to the success that is according to God’s word, you come face to face with mans will versus God’s will. We know from scripture that God is holy that He alone is sovereign that He alone possesses immortality. He is the one who has created us. He is the One who has purchased us with the blood of His only begotten Son. And He has bestowed upon us grace and mercy. To think that any man would be successful in any way apart from, or contrary to God’s will is to be blind and is to be exceedingly arrogant. If you notice here that God came to Joshua after the death of Moses and He revealed to him, His desire and His purpose for the people of Israel with regards to entering the land of Canaan. Then He further revealed to Joshua what his role in God’s purposes was to be. But if you notice in all of this God did not ask Joshua what his desire was. He did not inquire what Joshua’s opinion was. And He did not look even for input from Joshua in order to form some sort of consensus. God’s will and his purposes are eternal and they are infallible and they are certainly beyond the scrutiny of any man. And as a result we can confidently say that there is no great success that is to be had then to be a part of the eternal will of God, and that is to humble ourselves and to submit ourselves to every desire of its fulfillment.
I want you to notice verse one in our passage here, that the Lord spoke to Joshua. That is to say that the Lord revealed His will to Joshua. He did not hide it from him, and He revealed it to him in a way that was not vague.
Sometimes I think that there is a tendency on our part to think that the will of God is a difficult thing to lay hold of sometimes it’s a difficult thing to gasp and to understand. That it is often beyond our reach maybe that even it is something that is mysterious. And the fact of the matter is though that the greatest or the greater part of Gods’ will, that is the ways in which He wants us to be successful, are revealed to us directly and specifically through His word. And I think often we overlook this obvious fact. In the word of God, we are graciously given the eternal truths and precepts, we are given direct commands from God’s word, we are given principles, we are given examples. The very person and life of Jesus Christ, the One who’s image we are to be conformed unto is revealed to us in scripture. God’s word is central when it comes to knowing the will for God for our lives. In addition to the word, God gives us also His Holy Spirit. He Gives us the privilege of prayer, and the power of prayer. Which of course a vital part of knowing God’s will. But God also gives us His people, and He directly intervenes in our lives at times as well.
These additional things though we do have to understand, must always be in accordance to and consistent to what is revealed to us in God’s word when it comes to His will. The Lord never commissions us to any task that requires us to act in a way that would be contrary or inconsistent to anything that is revealed to us in God’s word. The scriptures are and they must always be the central part of understanding the will of God.
One other thing I do want to say about God’s will--there are times, and I think we have all to some extent witnessed this or experienced this, there are times when God’s will does seem out of reach, it seems beyond our grasp, or our understanding. And I think that these are times when God desires for us to seek His will. God does require us to seek His will if we are to know it. And this is an important thing for us to understand. But He not only requires us to seek His will, but He also requires us to desire it. And of course, that goes hand in hand with seeking it. But He does often require us to wait. Patiently and faithfully, to wait upon Him. And although this waiting at times can be frustrating, it can be difficult, it’s also a time which can be most profitable for us as we learn to patiently wait upon the Lord in what it is He has for us.
So, true success is living according to the revealed will of God. But most importantly it is living according to the will of God so as to lift up the glory of His name. The purposes and the will of God are always—or I should say—always culminate in the exultation of His glory.
Speaking of the purposes of God, in fact in bringing the people of Israel through the Red Sea and then eventually into the promised land. Isaiah, writes this in the book of Isaiah chapter sixty-three and verse twelve he says: “Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? Who divided the waters before them, to make for Himself and everlasting Name. Who lead them through the depths, like the horse in the wilderness? They did not stumble, as the cattle which go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So did Thou lead Thy people, to make for Thyself a glorious Name.”
See, the task that the Lord gave Joshua to bring the people across the Jordan into the land of Canaan, was for the purpose first and foremost of lifting up the name of our Lord. For lifting up the glory of His name. And of course, this would be the ultimate success of Joshua, that he magnify the name of Jehovah God. So, true success is living and acting according to the revealed will of God so as to lift u the glory of His name. This is the measure of true success in the economy of God.
There’s a second thing that I want to mention then about this biblical success, and that is that biblical success is only obtained when we are used as instruments in the accomplishments of God. Biblical success is only obtained when we are used as instruments in the accomplishments of God. You know, bringing the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, was not an accomplishment of Joshua. It was an accomplishment of God carried out through His servant, Joshua. If you notice starting in verse one, it says, “Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua.” You see, this first of all was according to God’s timing. It was not according to man’s timing. It was after the death of Moses. And it was by the initiative of God that this was brought about, it was not Joshua coming to God, but it was God initiating this with him.
If we go on in verse two we see that, “Moses My servant is dead, and now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people to the land which I am giving to them to the sons of Israel.” This was the Lord’s plan. This was not a plan that was created by man. This was not the first time in fact that Joshua had heard of this plan. God had made this—laid this plan out to both Moses and Joshua back in Deuteronomy. And it was a plan that was according to His purpose and according to the promises that He had made to Abraham.
We go on in verse three it says, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness of this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. All the land of the Hittites as far as the great sea to the setting of the sun will be your territory.” Notice verse five, he says, “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you.”
The other thing we find about this plan is that is according to Gods power. It was not according to the power of Joshua, it was not according to the power of the people of Israel. Their power would have been more than insufficient to accomplish this. You only have to look at how the walls of Jericho, later on were destroyed by the hand of God to see that this victory, this plan was by His power alone.
Again, back in Exodus, just to emphasize this point that, the Lord speaks to Moses when He says, “I will drive them out before you, little by little until you become fruitful and take possession of this land. And I will fix your boundary to the Red Sea, the Sea of the Philistines.” It says, “I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, you will drive them out before Me.” I want you to notice also here back in verse three of Joshua, there’s a wonderful statement that describes the power of God in executing His sovereign will. Notice verse three again with me, He says, “every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you.” You notice here, in referring to the fact that He is giving them the land, the Lord speaks of this as already having been accomplished. He speaks of it in the past tense as though it is already theirs.
Now first of all this points out to the fact that this land was only His to give. Although the Canaanites and the Hittites dwelt in the land, it was not theirs to possess. It did not belong to them. In the counsel of Gods will He had declared this land to be possessed by His people.
But second of all, it points out that God’s power is such that what He purposes and what He wills to be are accomplished facts. Whether or not history has caught up to what God has declared to be, is irrelevant. God’s will is a certainty. And whether the doings of this world and our present age, whether they appear to be heading in a different direction, it is irrelevant. The will and the purposes of God cannot be thwarted.
This is a marvelous thing for us to understand. In a larger sense, what God wants us to be successful at as His instruments, is already accomplished! Isn’t that a wonderful thing! What He wants us to be successful at in a larger sense, is already accomplished. What stands in the way of our success is not God’s ability to accomplish his will, but it is our own faithfulness often times or lack of faithfulness, I should say, that stands in the way. You know, God does not need anyone of us to accomplish his will. He can choose to act on His own, He can choose to use anyone that He would like, but as Isaiah tells us, “The Lord longs to be gracious to us and to have compassion on us.” The Lord wants us to succeed as the instruments of His hand. And true success is only obtained as we are used as the instruments of his hand, as we are used as his servants in the accomplishments of His will.
There’s a third thing then that I want to say about biblical success, that is found in our passage here. And it is this: biblical success is divided into two categories. At least it is in this passage, its divided into two categories. If you notice in verse seven and eight there are two different words that are used to describe the success that the Lord desired Joshua to have. And the distinction between these two is important. In verse seven again He says, “only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you and do not turn form it to the right or to the left, so that you may have 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, for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success.”
The first word that we find here that is used to describe success is found in both verses seven and eight. And its translated by the very word “success”. It’s a word that means to give attention to something, so as to act wisely. And of course, it involves the idea of gaining insight and it naturally follows then that this kind of success has to do with making wise and right decisions, that are followed of course by wise actions.
The second word which is found in verse eight is translated “prosperous”. And it expresses the idea of a successful venture as contrasted with a failed one. These are two different meanings. But the relationship between these two can be seen in this way: The first type of success that the Lord talks about is of an incremental nature, it’s a success that is of an incremental nature. It’s one wise decision at a time, it is day by day success. The second type that He speaks about is complete success, task is completed. Victory is won. And it seems to me that the implication of the fact that He uses these two definitions or these two kinds of success is this: success is more than the overall completion of any task. I think what the Lord is getting at here with Joshua, is that success is more than the overall completion of any given task.
The overall task or responsibility that the Lord had given to Joshua, was to take the people into the land and to possess it. But the Lord was concerned with more than just their taking possession of the land, He was concerned in how they went about it. He was concerned how they went about it.
If you notice that in speaking to Joshua, the Lord places a greater emphasis on the incremental success than He does on the overall success. In verse seven as I already mentioned, He mentions this type of incremental success first, then he repeats it again in verse eight, after mentioning the complete success. There seems to me to be a clear emphasis that is placed on this. And the bottom line I think is this: first of all you cannot get to overall success without incremental success. The overall success of any task that the Lord commissions us to can only be brought to completion by the culmination of smaller incremental successes. The culmination of right decisions made day by day is what brings about complete success. I think, this really is what the emphasis of verse seven and eight is. The incremental successes that Joshua was t achieve were to be found in accurately keeping God’s word, and in keeping all of God’s word. This is what we find in verse seven.
When put into service by the Lord to bring about His will you cannot turn to the right or to the left of any portion of scripture. And that is to say, you cannot compromise God’s holy word because maybe it seems expedient or not relevant or out of touch with today’s society and as He emphasizes in verse eight, nor can you set aside any portion of God’s word, to skip over the parts that cause offense or parts that bring about perhaps a greater ridicule form the world. But instead there is to be or there needs to be great care given to do according to all that is written it God’s word.
There’s a second reason why I think the Lord emphasizes this incremental success, and that is that the end does not justify the means. That’s a phrase that we are, I’m sure familiar with. As much as the world thinks that the end does justify the means in pursuing the different kinds of success that they pursue, any means does not justify the end in the kingdom of God. The use of any means does not justify the end in the kingdom of God.
As I already mentioned the Lord had commissioned Joshua to this overall task, of bringing people into the land. This was the will of God that He had promised long ago to Abraham and it was a promise that was based upon the sovereign and righteous purposes of God. But what is so important to understand is that you cannot achieve the righteousness of God by the means of unrighteousness. You cannot achieve the righteousness of God by the use of unrighteousness or to put it another way you cannot bring about the will of God by worldly methods. The two are incompatible. The two are completely incompatible. And again, I think this is why the Lord placed such an emphasis on the day to day successes that are to be brought about by the unconditional obedience to all of His word. I think, what is even more important is that the glory of the Lord’s name is at stake. His name is not lifted up when unrighteous means are used to bring about a righteous end.
You know, if you think about it, even the natural man himself, I think over time sees the inconsistency of using worldly means to bring about a righteous end. I think that is why so many people have fled from religion, I think it’s because it ends up being no different than any other man-made institution that we find in the world. The Lord is so gracious to using allowing us to be a part in his eternal purposes, that He wants us to be successful servants of the Most High. And this success is dependent upon doing according to all that is written in the scriptures, for then he says, “Will you make your way prosperous, and then will you have success.”
I want to at this point turn our attention to the requirements that the Lord placed on Joshua in order for this success to be realized. That is really in order for Joshua himself to realize success in what the Lord had for him. There is a responsibility that the Lord places upon each one of us.
The first requirement that I want to point out here, is that God required Joshua to walk before he ran. In other words, biblical success is really a learning process, it’s a learning process. And for Joshua that meant that he was placed under the leadership and the example of Moses.
Again, if you go back to the book of Exodus and chapter twenty-four, verses twelve and thirteen. This is a passage where God is giving the law to Moses on the mountain. And in verse twelve it says, “Now the Lord said to Moses, come up to Me on the mountain, and remain there and I will give you the stone tablets which the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” Notice verse thirteen, “So Moses arose with Joshua his servant. And Moses went up to the mountain of God”. You see Joshua served under Moses. And examples of this are found throughout scripture even in our passage in verse one it refers to the fact that Joshua was a servant. The thing of it is, is that Joshua was a servant before he was a leader. He was as servant before God made him a leader. There’s no doubt that Joshua spent many hours by the side of Moses, serving him and learning from him.
If you look in the book of Hebrews, and chapter eleven, verses twenty-four through thirty, you see how Moses is described here in the book of Hebrews. It says, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God then to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Choosing the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is unseen, by faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood so that he who destroyed the first born might not touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians when they attempted it were drowned.”
You see Moses was set apart, for his faithfulness. And Joshua was there beside him observing and learning and taking it all in. But remaining in Hebrews there tale a look at verse thirty of Hebrews eleven and notice how it continues, it says, “By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled seven days.” Now of course by this time when the walls of Jericho were destroyed, Moses had already died. But in the passage here in Hebrews we find no mention of Joshua’s name, just that by faith the walls fell down. And its as though the faith of Joshua is assumed to be just as the faith of Moses, that the writer of Hebrews has gone through time and time again. You see the faith that was initiated by God’s work in Joshua was then developed and matured by the example of Moses, as Joshua was his servant.
In the book of Numbers, we are also told of the faith of Joshua. Chapter thirty-two and verse eleven and twelve, it says, “none of the men who came up from Egypt from twenty years old and upward shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. For they did not follow me fully, except Caleb the son of Jephuna the Kennisite, and Joshua the Son on Nun for they have followed the Lord fully.” See because of the faithfulness of Joshua, he was one of the few survivors from the forty years of wandering in the wilderness and because of his faithfulness the Lord appointed him ruler after the forty years of wandering had almost passed.
Joshua’s success was a process, God required him to walk before he ran. He required him to be a servant before he became a leader. Because he was faithful in a few things, the Lord put him in charge of many.
There’s a second requirement then, that I want to point out, in order for Joshua to be successful and certainly in order for you and I to be successful, and that is that-- God required of Joshua, total obedience to His word. He required total obedience to His word. We have already noted that the incremental successes that Joshua was to achieve were to be found in accurately keeping God’s word, and in keeping all of God’s word. This requirement that the Lord put before Joshua I think is a great picture of what obedience is to look like. It is to be a complete obedience and to be an exact obedience. Our obedience to the word of God is to be complete and it is to be exact. And I think that this is what really makes up the very essence of obedience as it is to be understood from God’s word. If we do not earnestly seek to obey God’s word in this way, we are failing and not succeeding. And this is because we are lacking the very spirit of genuine obedience. We might think we are obedient, but if we do not have a complete and an exact obedience we do not have the spirit of genuine obedience. It should be our desire that all the details of our lives be regulated by the divine standard that we find in the word, and not by our own inclinations which often times is the case.
You know just as a side note, I think we have a great opportunity to teach our children this very concept of obedience that we find in scripture. We as parents of course we need to require obedience from our children and this obedience that we require it needs to be a complete obedience, and it needs to be an exact obedience. Anything else is short of obedience, it’s not obedience. And this is something I think that we need to and we can be teaching our children as they grown up and as we nurture them.
But one of the things that I want to emphasize here in this requirement, is the requirement and the instruction that the Lord gives to Joshua that will assure this total obedience. This is found in verse eight of our passage, it says, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night, you shall meditate upon it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous.” We have talked about meditation before, but let me just give this definition of it: Meditation as we find it in scripture is an exercise of contemplation of the word of God that involves both the mind and the heart. It goes beyond a mere reading of God’s word, and even it goes beyond memorizing God’s word, and it goes beyond familiarizing ourselves with the word. These all are good and necessary things but in addition to these, meditation is to be a contemplation that seeks to know how that truths of God’s word can best regulate all the details of our lives. That’s really what meditation is all about. Meditation is to be a contemplation that seeks to know how the truths of God’s word can best regulate all the details of our lives. And this is why the Lord instructed Joshua to meditate day and night so that he may be careful to do according to ALL that is written in the word.
You see meditation goes hand and hand with obedience, meditation upon the word of God goes hand and hand with obedience. And because this is true we can only conclude that it is one of the most important of all the means of growing in grace in our walk with the Lord.
If you think about it, in the responsibilities that the Lord gave to Joshua, he no doubt, was going to be a very busy man. But in spite of all the demands that would be placed upon his time, the Lord instructed him to set aside time, both day and night to meditate upon the word. Joshua was not to treat this as just an occasional luxury, but instead he was to treat it as an important necessity if he was to be successful. And we also have to understand, is that what was a necessity for Joshua is also a necessity for you and I. That’s one of the wonderful things about scripture, it does not get outdated, it does not change. What was successful for the saints in scripture is what’s successful for you and I.
To use the excuse that we do not have time to meditate upon God’s word is just simply not acceptable, it’s simply not acceptable. It is not a question of time, it is a question of having a heart for the things of the Lord. And this is really where success begins, our success that is spoken of in scripture, begins.
There’s a third requirement that I want to point out here also, and that is this: that in order to be successful God requires strength and courage. God requires strength and courage. You notice in our passage here in verse six through nine three different times the Lord instructs Joshua to be strong and to be courageous. In verse six he says, “Be strong and courageous! For you shall give this people possession of the land.” In verse seven, “Only be strong and very courageous.” You jump down to verse nine he says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble and do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Verse nine I think makes it very clear what it means to be strong and courageous, it means that in the face of adversity one does not tremble and one does not shake with fear nor does one allow themselves to be dismayed. That is to have a shattered and a broken spirit. That’s what it means to be strong and to be courageous.
The Lord left little doubt that Joshua would be facing some enormous adversity. To begin with there were the Canaanites themselves who possessed the land. And we know that they were a fierce kind of people, they were a people of war, very strongly armed and fortified. And we know that among them lived a race of giants that were formidable on the battle field. But most of all they were men of the world, they were a godless people who did not acknowledge Jehovah God. These were a people who most certainly could make their opponents tremble. I think even from a human standpoint opposing them was an overwhelming obstacle. And removing them from the land they possessed would indeed take great strength and courage.
But not only do you have the Canaanites, in terms of adversary, Joshua also had the Israelites, he had his own people. The ones who Joshua was now commanding were the descendants of those who had died in the wilderness. They were the ones who had rebelled against God time and time again in unbelief. They were a stiff-necked people, and often times they are referred to in scripture. They were constantly grumbling, wanting to be sent back to the slavery in Egypt, thinking that to be far better. The book of Hebrews that we just read, talks about the ill treatment that Moses endured with the people of God, the people of Israel. So, it’s hard, or perhaps there is very little reason for Joshua to think that their offspring would be any different. And it’s not hard to see how leading this unpromising people could lead Joshua to great dismay. But given the circumstances, that is facing the Canaanites, facing the leading of the Israelites. It seems to me that the greatest resistance that Joshua faced was to walk in total obedience to the commandments and the precepts of God’s revealed word.
Opposing the Canaanites and leading the people of Israel against them would certainly provide enough resistance in and of itself, but to do that, to do so in total uncompromising obedience to the word of God, brings all the resistance that the world can muster. Total obedience to God’s word requires courage. It requires the greatest of strength and courage.
I think if there’s one thing that you and I can be assured of, and that is this, that if all the details of our lives are to be regulated by the word of God we will be opposed. We will face resistance from the world. The forces of this world and the forces of the evil one will do everything, and is in the process of doing everything they can to case God’s people to tremble, to be dismayed, to cower and to shrink back form the truth. And I think that this is reality in our lives, which is going to become more and more true as this world goes on.
In closing I want to ask this question: On what basis did the Lord command Joshua to be srong and courageous? If you think of all that he was going to face, all that he didi face, on what basis dod the Lord command Joshua to be strong and courageous. In other words, how does the Lord expect His servants to succeed against such overwhelming odds that we see in this world, that we face?
The Lord commands us to be strong and courageous on the basis of His unfailing promises. He commands us to be strong and courageous on the basis of His unfailing promises. Notice verse five, and the promises that the Lord gives to Joshua, and these are promised that in a very real sense, you and I can claim just as well. In verse five He says, “no man, no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.” And the question is, why? It’s because, “I will be with you.” And the point is that no man can stand against Me. If I am with you, if the Lord God is with you, no man can stand against you, because no man can stand against the Lord.
He goes on further to say that, “I will not forsake you, I will not fail you, or forsake you.” I think we need to understand and acknowledge that to be successful in the eyes of God it does requires strength and courage. But thanks be to the unfathomable riches of God’s promises. He says, “I will not fail you, I will not forsake you.” This is the basis for the success, of our success if we are to have it in being faithful servants of God.
This morning as we do take the time to remember the Lords death, I think one thing, also that we can remember and be reminded of, it is this, that it is because of the Lord’s death, it is because of His shed blood that we can also have success as children of God.
I want us to spend a little bit of time right now, just in bowing our heads and contemplating the Lords death and in contemplating the fact that God desires us to be successful. And the only way that this can come about, first and foremost was by the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for us.
I want to ask you this morning then to turn with me to the book of Joshua, chapter. This is one of my favorite passages in scripture and its one that I think we can benefit from looking at on a regular basis.
We’re going to be looking at the first nine verses of chapter one, of Joshua. In this passage we will find that the Lord wants Joshua to be successful that is His desire for him. And he lays that out for us in these first nine verses.
Let me read then verses one through nine of Joshua chapter one. “Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant saying, “Moses My servant is dead, now therefore arise, cross this Jordan and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness of this Lebanon even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. All the land of the Hittites as far as the greats sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land which I spoke to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right or to the left. So that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart form you 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. For then you will make your prosperous and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
I want to begin by looking at what success is according to God’s word. What is biblical success, if we could call it that? So first of all I want to point out that biblical success is living according to the revealed will of God so as to lift up the glory of His name. Its living according to the revealed word of God so as to lift up the glory of His name.
If you look at the success that is according to the world and you compare it to the success that is according to God’s word, you come face to face with mans will versus God’s will. We know from scripture that God is holy that He alone is sovereign that He alone possesses immortality. He is the one who has created us. He is the One who has purchased us with the blood of His only begotten Son. And He has bestowed upon us grace and mercy. To think that any man would be successful in any way apart from, or contrary to God’s will is to be blind and is to be exceedingly arrogant. If you notice here that God came to Joshua after the death of Moses and He revealed to him, His desire and His purpose for the people of Israel with regards to entering the land of Canaan. Then He further revealed to Joshua what his role in God’s purposes was to be. But if you notice in all of this God did not ask Joshua what his desire was. He did not inquire what Joshua’s opinion was. And He did not look even for input from Joshua in order to form some sort of consensus. God’s will and his purposes are eternal and they are infallible and they are certainly beyond the scrutiny of any man. And as a result we can confidently say that there is no great success that is to be had then to be a part of the eternal will of God, and that is to humble ourselves and to submit ourselves to every desire of its fulfillment.
I want you to notice verse one in our passage here, that the Lord spoke to Joshua. That is to say that the Lord revealed His will to Joshua. He did not hide it from him, and He revealed it to him in a way that was not vague.
Sometimes I think that there is a tendency on our part to think that the will of God is a difficult thing to lay hold of sometimes it’s a difficult thing to gasp and to understand. That it is often beyond our reach maybe that even it is something that is mysterious. And the fact of the matter is though that the greatest or the greater part of Gods’ will, that is the ways in which He wants us to be successful, are revealed to us directly and specifically through His word. And I think often we overlook this obvious fact. In the word of God, we are graciously given the eternal truths and precepts, we are given direct commands from God’s word, we are given principles, we are given examples. The very person and life of Jesus Christ, the One who’s image we are to be conformed unto is revealed to us in scripture. God’s word is central when it comes to knowing the will for God for our lives. In addition to the word, God gives us also His Holy Spirit. He Gives us the privilege of prayer, and the power of prayer. Which of course a vital part of knowing God’s will. But God also gives us His people, and He directly intervenes in our lives at times as well.
These additional things though we do have to understand, must always be in accordance to and consistent to what is revealed to us in God’s word when it comes to His will. The Lord never commissions us to any task that requires us to act in a way that would be contrary or inconsistent to anything that is revealed to us in God’s word. The scriptures are and they must always be the central part of understanding the will of God.
One other thing I do want to say about God’s will--there are times, and I think we have all to some extent witnessed this or experienced this, there are times when God’s will does seem out of reach, it seems beyond our grasp, or our understanding. And I think that these are times when God desires for us to seek His will. God does require us to seek His will if we are to know it. And this is an important thing for us to understand. But He not only requires us to seek His will, but He also requires us to desire it. And of course, that goes hand in hand with seeking it. But He does often require us to wait. Patiently and faithfully, to wait upon Him. And although this waiting at times can be frustrating, it can be difficult, it’s also a time which can be most profitable for us as we learn to patiently wait upon the Lord in what it is He has for us.
So, true success is living according to the revealed will of God. But most importantly it is living according to the will of God so as to lift up the glory of His name. The purposes and the will of God are always—or I should say—always culminate in the exultation of His glory.
Speaking of the purposes of God, in fact in bringing the people of Israel through the Red Sea and then eventually into the promised land. Isaiah, writes this in the book of Isaiah chapter sixty-three and verse twelve he says: “Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? Who divided the waters before them, to make for Himself and everlasting Name. Who lead them through the depths, like the horse in the wilderness? They did not stumble, as the cattle which go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So did Thou lead Thy people, to make for Thyself a glorious Name.”
See, the task that the Lord gave Joshua to bring the people across the Jordan into the land of Canaan, was for the purpose first and foremost of lifting up the name of our Lord. For lifting up the glory of His name. And of course, this would be the ultimate success of Joshua, that he magnify the name of Jehovah God. So, true success is living and acting according to the revealed will of God so as to lift u the glory of His name. This is the measure of true success in the economy of God.
There’s a second thing that I want to mention then about this biblical success, and that is that biblical success is only obtained when we are used as instruments in the accomplishments of God. Biblical success is only obtained when we are used as instruments in the accomplishments of God. You know, bringing the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, was not an accomplishment of Joshua. It was an accomplishment of God carried out through His servant, Joshua. If you notice starting in verse one, it says, “Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua.” You see, this first of all was according to God’s timing. It was not according to man’s timing. It was after the death of Moses. And it was by the initiative of God that this was brought about, it was not Joshua coming to God, but it was God initiating this with him.
If we go on in verse two we see that, “Moses My servant is dead, and now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people to the land which I am giving to them to the sons of Israel.” This was the Lord’s plan. This was not a plan that was created by man. This was not the first time in fact that Joshua had heard of this plan. God had made this—laid this plan out to both Moses and Joshua back in Deuteronomy. And it was a plan that was according to His purpose and according to the promises that He had made to Abraham.
We go on in verse three it says, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness of this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. All the land of the Hittites as far as the great sea to the setting of the sun will be your territory.” Notice verse five, he says, “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you.”
The other thing we find about this plan is that is according to Gods power. It was not according to the power of Joshua, it was not according to the power of the people of Israel. Their power would have been more than insufficient to accomplish this. You only have to look at how the walls of Jericho, later on were destroyed by the hand of God to see that this victory, this plan was by His power alone.
Again, back in Exodus, just to emphasize this point that, the Lord speaks to Moses when He says, “I will drive them out before you, little by little until you become fruitful and take possession of this land. And I will fix your boundary to the Red Sea, the Sea of the Philistines.” It says, “I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, you will drive them out before Me.” I want you to notice also here back in verse three of Joshua, there’s a wonderful statement that describes the power of God in executing His sovereign will. Notice verse three again with me, He says, “every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you.” You notice here, in referring to the fact that He is giving them the land, the Lord speaks of this as already having been accomplished. He speaks of it in the past tense as though it is already theirs.
Now first of all this points out to the fact that this land was only His to give. Although the Canaanites and the Hittites dwelt in the land, it was not theirs to possess. It did not belong to them. In the counsel of Gods will He had declared this land to be possessed by His people.
But second of all, it points out that God’s power is such that what He purposes and what He wills to be are accomplished facts. Whether or not history has caught up to what God has declared to be, is irrelevant. God’s will is a certainty. And whether the doings of this world and our present age, whether they appear to be heading in a different direction, it is irrelevant. The will and the purposes of God cannot be thwarted.
This is a marvelous thing for us to understand. In a larger sense, what God wants us to be successful at as His instruments, is already accomplished! Isn’t that a wonderful thing! What He wants us to be successful at in a larger sense, is already accomplished. What stands in the way of our success is not God’s ability to accomplish his will, but it is our own faithfulness often times or lack of faithfulness, I should say, that stands in the way. You know, God does not need anyone of us to accomplish his will. He can choose to act on His own, He can choose to use anyone that He would like, but as Isaiah tells us, “The Lord longs to be gracious to us and to have compassion on us.” The Lord wants us to succeed as the instruments of His hand. And true success is only obtained as we are used as the instruments of his hand, as we are used as his servants in the accomplishments of His will.
There’s a third thing then that I want to say about biblical success, that is found in our passage here. And it is this: biblical success is divided into two categories. At least it is in this passage, its divided into two categories. If you notice in verse seven and eight there are two different words that are used to describe the success that the Lord desired Joshua to have. And the distinction between these two is important. In verse seven again He says, “only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you and do not turn form it to the right or to the left, so that you may have 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, for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success.”
The first word that we find here that is used to describe success is found in both verses seven and eight. And its translated by the very word “success”. It’s a word that means to give attention to something, so as to act wisely. And of course, it involves the idea of gaining insight and it naturally follows then that this kind of success has to do with making wise and right decisions, that are followed of course by wise actions.
The second word which is found in verse eight is translated “prosperous”. And it expresses the idea of a successful venture as contrasted with a failed one. These are two different meanings. But the relationship between these two can be seen in this way: The first type of success that the Lord talks about is of an incremental nature, it’s a success that is of an incremental nature. It’s one wise decision at a time, it is day by day success. The second type that He speaks about is complete success, task is completed. Victory is won. And it seems to me that the implication of the fact that He uses these two definitions or these two kinds of success is this: success is more than the overall completion of any task. I think what the Lord is getting at here with Joshua, is that success is more than the overall completion of any given task.
The overall task or responsibility that the Lord had given to Joshua, was to take the people into the land and to possess it. But the Lord was concerned with more than just their taking possession of the land, He was concerned in how they went about it. He was concerned how they went about it.
If you notice that in speaking to Joshua, the Lord places a greater emphasis on the incremental success than He does on the overall success. In verse seven as I already mentioned, He mentions this type of incremental success first, then he repeats it again in verse eight, after mentioning the complete success. There seems to me to be a clear emphasis that is placed on this. And the bottom line I think is this: first of all you cannot get to overall success without incremental success. The overall success of any task that the Lord commissions us to can only be brought to completion by the culmination of smaller incremental successes. The culmination of right decisions made day by day is what brings about complete success. I think, this really is what the emphasis of verse seven and eight is. The incremental successes that Joshua was t achieve were to be found in accurately keeping God’s word, and in keeping all of God’s word. This is what we find in verse seven.
When put into service by the Lord to bring about His will you cannot turn to the right or to the left of any portion of scripture. And that is to say, you cannot compromise God’s holy word because maybe it seems expedient or not relevant or out of touch with today’s society and as He emphasizes in verse eight, nor can you set aside any portion of God’s word, to skip over the parts that cause offense or parts that bring about perhaps a greater ridicule form the world. But instead there is to be or there needs to be great care given to do according to all that is written it God’s word.
There’s a second reason why I think the Lord emphasizes this incremental success, and that is that the end does not justify the means. That’s a phrase that we are, I’m sure familiar with. As much as the world thinks that the end does justify the means in pursuing the different kinds of success that they pursue, any means does not justify the end in the kingdom of God. The use of any means does not justify the end in the kingdom of God.
As I already mentioned the Lord had commissioned Joshua to this overall task, of bringing people into the land. This was the will of God that He had promised long ago to Abraham and it was a promise that was based upon the sovereign and righteous purposes of God. But what is so important to understand is that you cannot achieve the righteousness of God by the means of unrighteousness. You cannot achieve the righteousness of God by the use of unrighteousness or to put it another way you cannot bring about the will of God by worldly methods. The two are incompatible. The two are completely incompatible. And again, I think this is why the Lord placed such an emphasis on the day to day successes that are to be brought about by the unconditional obedience to all of His word. I think, what is even more important is that the glory of the Lord’s name is at stake. His name is not lifted up when unrighteous means are used to bring about a righteous end.
You know, if you think about it, even the natural man himself, I think over time sees the inconsistency of using worldly means to bring about a righteous end. I think that is why so many people have fled from religion, I think it’s because it ends up being no different than any other man-made institution that we find in the world. The Lord is so gracious to using allowing us to be a part in his eternal purposes, that He wants us to be successful servants of the Most High. And this success is dependent upon doing according to all that is written in the scriptures, for then he says, “Will you make your way prosperous, and then will you have success.”
I want to at this point turn our attention to the requirements that the Lord placed on Joshua in order for this success to be realized. That is really in order for Joshua himself to realize success in what the Lord had for him. There is a responsibility that the Lord places upon each one of us.
The first requirement that I want to point out here, is that God required Joshua to walk before he ran. In other words, biblical success is really a learning process, it’s a learning process. And for Joshua that meant that he was placed under the leadership and the example of Moses.
Again, if you go back to the book of Exodus and chapter twenty-four, verses twelve and thirteen. This is a passage where God is giving the law to Moses on the mountain. And in verse twelve it says, “Now the Lord said to Moses, come up to Me on the mountain, and remain there and I will give you the stone tablets which the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” Notice verse thirteen, “So Moses arose with Joshua his servant. And Moses went up to the mountain of God”. You see Joshua served under Moses. And examples of this are found throughout scripture even in our passage in verse one it refers to the fact that Joshua was a servant. The thing of it is, is that Joshua was a servant before he was a leader. He was as servant before God made him a leader. There’s no doubt that Joshua spent many hours by the side of Moses, serving him and learning from him.
If you look in the book of Hebrews, and chapter eleven, verses twenty-four through thirty, you see how Moses is described here in the book of Hebrews. It says, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God then to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Choosing the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is unseen, by faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood so that he who destroyed the first born might not touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians when they attempted it were drowned.”
You see Moses was set apart, for his faithfulness. And Joshua was there beside him observing and learning and taking it all in. But remaining in Hebrews there tale a look at verse thirty of Hebrews eleven and notice how it continues, it says, “By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled seven days.” Now of course by this time when the walls of Jericho were destroyed, Moses had already died. But in the passage here in Hebrews we find no mention of Joshua’s name, just that by faith the walls fell down. And its as though the faith of Joshua is assumed to be just as the faith of Moses, that the writer of Hebrews has gone through time and time again. You see the faith that was initiated by God’s work in Joshua was then developed and matured by the example of Moses, as Joshua was his servant.
In the book of Numbers, we are also told of the faith of Joshua. Chapter thirty-two and verse eleven and twelve, it says, “none of the men who came up from Egypt from twenty years old and upward shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. For they did not follow me fully, except Caleb the son of Jephuna the Kennisite, and Joshua the Son on Nun for they have followed the Lord fully.” See because of the faithfulness of Joshua, he was one of the few survivors from the forty years of wandering in the wilderness and because of his faithfulness the Lord appointed him ruler after the forty years of wandering had almost passed.
Joshua’s success was a process, God required him to walk before he ran. He required him to be a servant before he became a leader. Because he was faithful in a few things, the Lord put him in charge of many.
There’s a second requirement then, that I want to point out, in order for Joshua to be successful and certainly in order for you and I to be successful, and that is that-- God required of Joshua, total obedience to His word. He required total obedience to His word. We have already noted that the incremental successes that Joshua was to achieve were to be found in accurately keeping God’s word, and in keeping all of God’s word. This requirement that the Lord put before Joshua I think is a great picture of what obedience is to look like. It is to be a complete obedience and to be an exact obedience. Our obedience to the word of God is to be complete and it is to be exact. And I think that this is what really makes up the very essence of obedience as it is to be understood from God’s word. If we do not earnestly seek to obey God’s word in this way, we are failing and not succeeding. And this is because we are lacking the very spirit of genuine obedience. We might think we are obedient, but if we do not have a complete and an exact obedience we do not have the spirit of genuine obedience. It should be our desire that all the details of our lives be regulated by the divine standard that we find in the word, and not by our own inclinations which often times is the case.
You know just as a side note, I think we have a great opportunity to teach our children this very concept of obedience that we find in scripture. We as parents of course we need to require obedience from our children and this obedience that we require it needs to be a complete obedience, and it needs to be an exact obedience. Anything else is short of obedience, it’s not obedience. And this is something I think that we need to and we can be teaching our children as they grown up and as we nurture them.
But one of the things that I want to emphasize here in this requirement, is the requirement and the instruction that the Lord gives to Joshua that will assure this total obedience. This is found in verse eight of our passage, it says, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night, you shall meditate upon it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous.” We have talked about meditation before, but let me just give this definition of it: Meditation as we find it in scripture is an exercise of contemplation of the word of God that involves both the mind and the heart. It goes beyond a mere reading of God’s word, and even it goes beyond memorizing God’s word, and it goes beyond familiarizing ourselves with the word. These all are good and necessary things but in addition to these, meditation is to be a contemplation that seeks to know how that truths of God’s word can best regulate all the details of our lives. That’s really what meditation is all about. Meditation is to be a contemplation that seeks to know how the truths of God’s word can best regulate all the details of our lives. And this is why the Lord instructed Joshua to meditate day and night so that he may be careful to do according to ALL that is written in the word.
You see meditation goes hand and hand with obedience, meditation upon the word of God goes hand and hand with obedience. And because this is true we can only conclude that it is one of the most important of all the means of growing in grace in our walk with the Lord.
If you think about it, in the responsibilities that the Lord gave to Joshua, he no doubt, was going to be a very busy man. But in spite of all the demands that would be placed upon his time, the Lord instructed him to set aside time, both day and night to meditate upon the word. Joshua was not to treat this as just an occasional luxury, but instead he was to treat it as an important necessity if he was to be successful. And we also have to understand, is that what was a necessity for Joshua is also a necessity for you and I. That’s one of the wonderful things about scripture, it does not get outdated, it does not change. What was successful for the saints in scripture is what’s successful for you and I.
To use the excuse that we do not have time to meditate upon God’s word is just simply not acceptable, it’s simply not acceptable. It is not a question of time, it is a question of having a heart for the things of the Lord. And this is really where success begins, our success that is spoken of in scripture, begins.
There’s a third requirement that I want to point out here also, and that is this: that in order to be successful God requires strength and courage. God requires strength and courage. You notice in our passage here in verse six through nine three different times the Lord instructs Joshua to be strong and to be courageous. In verse six he says, “Be strong and courageous! For you shall give this people possession of the land.” In verse seven, “Only be strong and very courageous.” You jump down to verse nine he says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble and do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Verse nine I think makes it very clear what it means to be strong and courageous, it means that in the face of adversity one does not tremble and one does not shake with fear nor does one allow themselves to be dismayed. That is to have a shattered and a broken spirit. That’s what it means to be strong and to be courageous.
The Lord left little doubt that Joshua would be facing some enormous adversity. To begin with there were the Canaanites themselves who possessed the land. And we know that they were a fierce kind of people, they were a people of war, very strongly armed and fortified. And we know that among them lived a race of giants that were formidable on the battle field. But most of all they were men of the world, they were a godless people who did not acknowledge Jehovah God. These were a people who most certainly could make their opponents tremble. I think even from a human standpoint opposing them was an overwhelming obstacle. And removing them from the land they possessed would indeed take great strength and courage.
But not only do you have the Canaanites, in terms of adversary, Joshua also had the Israelites, he had his own people. The ones who Joshua was now commanding were the descendants of those who had died in the wilderness. They were the ones who had rebelled against God time and time again in unbelief. They were a stiff-necked people, and often times they are referred to in scripture. They were constantly grumbling, wanting to be sent back to the slavery in Egypt, thinking that to be far better. The book of Hebrews that we just read, talks about the ill treatment that Moses endured with the people of God, the people of Israel. So, it’s hard, or perhaps there is very little reason for Joshua to think that their offspring would be any different. And it’s not hard to see how leading this unpromising people could lead Joshua to great dismay. But given the circumstances, that is facing the Canaanites, facing the leading of the Israelites. It seems to me that the greatest resistance that Joshua faced was to walk in total obedience to the commandments and the precepts of God’s revealed word.
Opposing the Canaanites and leading the people of Israel against them would certainly provide enough resistance in and of itself, but to do that, to do so in total uncompromising obedience to the word of God, brings all the resistance that the world can muster. Total obedience to God’s word requires courage. It requires the greatest of strength and courage.
I think if there’s one thing that you and I can be assured of, and that is this, that if all the details of our lives are to be regulated by the word of God we will be opposed. We will face resistance from the world. The forces of this world and the forces of the evil one will do everything, and is in the process of doing everything they can to case God’s people to tremble, to be dismayed, to cower and to shrink back form the truth. And I think that this is reality in our lives, which is going to become more and more true as this world goes on.
In closing I want to ask this question: On what basis did the Lord command Joshua to be srong and courageous? If you think of all that he was going to face, all that he didi face, on what basis dod the Lord command Joshua to be strong and courageous. In other words, how does the Lord expect His servants to succeed against such overwhelming odds that we see in this world, that we face?
The Lord commands us to be strong and courageous on the basis of His unfailing promises. He commands us to be strong and courageous on the basis of His unfailing promises. Notice verse five, and the promises that the Lord gives to Joshua, and these are promised that in a very real sense, you and I can claim just as well. In verse five He says, “no man, no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.” And the question is, why? It’s because, “I will be with you.” And the point is that no man can stand against Me. If I am with you, if the Lord God is with you, no man can stand against you, because no man can stand against the Lord.
He goes on further to say that, “I will not forsake you, I will not fail you, or forsake you.” I think we need to understand and acknowledge that to be successful in the eyes of God it does requires strength and courage. But thanks be to the unfathomable riches of God’s promises. He says, “I will not fail you, I will not forsake you.” This is the basis for the success, of our success if we are to have it in being faithful servants of God.
This morning as we do take the time to remember the Lords death, I think one thing, also that we can remember and be reminded of, it is this, that it is because of the Lord’s death, it is because of His shed blood that we can also have success as children of God.
I want us to spend a little bit of time right now, just in bowing our heads and contemplating the Lords death and in contemplating the fact that God desires us to be successful. And the only way that this can come about, first and foremost was by the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for us.
