Evening Sermon

September 9, 2007

Get Your Feet Wet

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Today is D-Day for the people of God. In our study of Joshua, the final victory isn't yet at hand, but the people of Israel are beginning their invasion of Canaan and that victory is very much in sight. Joshua has been commissioned as their commander in chief, the spies have gone on ahead to check out the land, and all systems are go for the final battle to take place. They are ready to cross over the Jordan River and begin their conquest.

So just as that massive invasion of allied and American armed forces landed on the shores of Normandy on June 6, 1944 in order to drive out the German army, so, too, we find Joshua and his troops ready for invasion. And clearly, as was so obvious with our own military effort throughout WWII, the people of Israel needed much courage. They were in a place where they had never been before, according to verse 4. And they have a big problem. The Jordan River is at flood stage, according to verse 15.

Their experiences here give us several lessons about how to build courage. It's one thing for God to say, "be strong and courageous." It's quite another thing for him to teach his people and show us how to be courageous. And so, today, that is our focus. How to build courage. First,

I. YOU BUILD YOUR COURAGE BY FOCUSING ON THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD. That ought to be the most obvious lesson of this story. The emphasis in these verses is the presence of the ark of the covenant. The ark is mentioned 9 times in just 17 verses. The ark represented the presence of God himself. The ark was the outward and visible symbol of God's presence. Wherever the ark was, God was.

It was a very useful symbol, because God is not a person like us. He doesn't have a body. You can't see him or touch him or even talk to him like you would another human being. Yet somehow, God's people have always had to know that God was with them.

And that is the purpose of the ark. Now the ark was nothing but a wooden box, 4 feet long by 2 feet high by 2 feet wide. It was overlaid with gold and carried on poles. It had a pure gold cover, called the mercy seat or atonement cover. It was guarded by two angels, called cherubim. And inside where the two tablets of the law. And we read,

Exod. 25:22 "And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel."

For the Israelites to have courage, they must focus on that ark, not on the external circumstances in which they found themselves. They must allow that ark to lead them. And the lessons of courage are the same for us.

A. You must be led by an awareness of God's presence. v.3-4a The ark was how they would know their way.

v.6 The ark would enter the land ahead of the Israelites. God would go into the promised land before the people did. He would lead the way. v.11

All that is well and good, but what does it have to do with us today? We don't have an ark that represents God's presence. But the truth of that ark is still true! God is with his people to lead them. We, too, must be led by an awareness of God's presence.

If you want to be strong and courageous, then you must be led by an awareness of God's presence. Courage comes when you know that God is with you.

But without that wooden box, how do you know if God is with you? Well, "Is Jesus Christ with you?" Is the word of God with you? Is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ a normal and natural part of your life, and is the word of God hidden in your heart?

If you want courage, then you must first be sure that you have a strong and meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. Not just an external religion, not just going to church, not just a system of morality, do's and don'ts. A personal relationship.

That relationship comes only by faith. Courage comes when you know and believe Jesus' words, "And surely I am with you always, the very end of the age."

That is true for us as a church, also. To be sure that we are being led by God's presence, without the box, we must nurture a strong and vital relationship with Jesus Christ. We aren't a social club that meets weekly. We are a church, a body. And as a body, we must spend time with one another, and together, we must spend time with Jesus. Lots of time.

You must be led by an awareness of God's presence, and, like the Israelites,

B. You must recognize and honor the holiness of God's presence. v.4b They couldn't get too close to the ark! Why not? It was sacred.

There were regulations on who could touch the ark, and on how it was to be carried. Here, they were to keep a distance, out of honor and reverence. They were to treat the ark with the deepest of respect. Stay back 2000 cubits, 3000 yards, over 1/2 mile.

So it is for us, that we must recognize and honor the holiness of God's presence. We must not bring God down to our own level. We must not approach God casually and thoughtlessly, but rather with reverence. And when we are in God's presence, we are on holy ground.

In our day, that applies most to our worship. When we, as a church, worship the Lord our God, we are on holy ground. We must worship with reverence. In our worship, we are to do only what he has instructed us to do. Our focus is on him. That is why I pick certain hymns, and why we pray certain things. We shouldn't pick hymns because we like them. We should pick them because God likes them. Goal of worship is to please God, not to make ourselves more comfortable! Worship, by its very definition, is centered on God. Not centered on our own desires and our own preferences. The whole order of worship is structured with the consciousness that we are meeting with God.

And if you want to be confident of God's leading, then you must learn to be reverent. That does not mean you should hesitate coming to him, or be intimidated by him. It just means you must be respectful.

Part of recognizing and honoring the holiness of God's presence is recognizing and honoring the holiness of his day, the Sabbath day. This day is to be sacred. It is to be set apart for God, the whole day. With only a very few exceptions, there should be nothing more important on this day than meeting with the congregation in the presence of God. This is the Lord's day. The whole day is the Lord's day, a day to find rest for your souls in his presence. And that priority ought to last all day long, not simply for an hour or two in the morning.

As a society, we are losing a sense of what is sacred, and that is never more evident than with regard to how the sabbath day is spent. Thus as Christians, you must learn to protect the sacredness, the holiness, of God's presence. You build your courage by focusing on the presence of the Lord. Also,

II. YOU BUILD OUR COURAGE BY REFLECTING ON GOD'S PAST WONDERS AND FUTURE PROMISES. The way to become courageous is to meditate on God's powers. What has God done in your life? What wonders and powers has God shown to you? What are his marvelous promises? That is stuff on which courage is built.

God doesn't intend for his people to be pessimists. He doesn't intend for us to wallow in our self-pity, bemoaning all the grief that has come to us. And he doesn't want us to sit around passively complaining about how bad and how dangerous the world has become. He wants us to be strong and courageous!

Thus we see the benefit of building that courage by reflecting on God's past wonders and future promises. Specifically,

A. You must believe God's word of promise. v.9-10

What would your response have been, if you had been there?

What had been the response of Israel time and time again? They complained, they doubted, they hesitated, they didn't believe. And sometimes even they rebelled. The warning in 1 Cor. 10 is for us not to follow that example.

Courage comes when you know what God has promised, and you believe it. You really believe it. And when that is applied to the church it means that we believe promises such as,

Matt. 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

Those are the sorts of verses that build courage! Those are the promises upon which courage is founded. When God makes a promise, we, just like the Israelites, must believe it. And,

B. You must remember God's displays of supernatural power. If you want to know what God is capable of doing, look at what he has already done. Look at what God did for the people of Israel: v.14-16

It shouldn't have surprised them, since God did a very similar miracle when they came out of Egypt. Stopping a river certainly isn't too difficult for God. He had already proved that. Yet, I wonder how many of those people were really expecting the waters to dry up.

How many of you are really expecting to see God's power displayed in the life of our church in that way? How many of you are really expecting that God will show forth his power in all the ways that he determines to be good?

Courage is saying, "Look at what God has done. Look at what God has promised to do." Thus, in the words of the great missionary William Carey, we should "attempt great things for God and expect great things from God." That is courage.

Beloved, you can wait around all your lives for God to give you everything you need, always fearing for the worst. Or you can believe that he will provide for your needs by his supernatural power, and act with courage.

You build your courage by focusing on the presence of God, and by reflecting on God's past wonders and future promises. And, then,

III. YOU BUILD YOUR COURAGE BY SETTING YOURSELVES APART FOR GOD'S SERVICE. v.5 Consecrate yourselves. Sanctify yourselves. Set yourselves apart for God!

What does that mean? This is the key to the whole thing. This is the most basic element of Christianity, and the part that is so often missing in contemporary America. As God's people, we are to be set apart. We are to be holy. We are to live differently than the world lives.

Yes, we are sinners, but we are sinners saved by grace in order that we might put to death our sin! Yes, we have a sinful nature, but God has changed our heart and put that old man to death. If you are a Christian, God has changed you. You are a new creation.

Therefore, we are to consecrate ourselves, we are to dedicate and devote ourselves to God. Not mere outward acts. Not just the clothes we wear to church or being sure that our hair is washed. It doesn't mean that we put on a mask and hide behind it on Sunday morning, pretending everything is fine.

No, it means that you set apart your heart. 1Pet. 1:14 "...as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

That should be the motto for your whole life. Your whole life is to be a sacrifice to God! Rom. 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

If you want to build courage, then you must start with the commitment of your heart. There is nothing more discouraging than to see God's people fail in their responsibilities to God and to this church, in order to succeed in their worldly responsibilities. There is nothing more discouraging to see, by the actions of peoples lives, that the things of this world are more important than the things of God. But we do it all the time, and we make excuses for ourselves.

Beloved, God calls you in no uncertain terms, consecrate yourselves. Set yourself apart for God and for his kingdom. You will not know courage unless you first make the absolute, total commitment to be sold out for the Lord. I urge you to make that commitment today!

And if you will do that, it will be very obvious! I believe that unreserved commitment and unqualified devotion is what any church needs most of all. So consecrate yourselves to God. Don't make excuses for a lack of commitment, but rather let it be very obvious that your commitment to the Lord and to his church is your highest priority!

Without that commitment, you cannot expect to have courage. Finally,

IV. WE BUILD OUR COURAGE BY ENDURING GOD'S TESTING OF OUR FAITH. This is the most difficult of all, because this is often very painful. But it is nonetheless true, courage is a direct result of enduring God's testing of our faith.

Hear me correctly. God does not tempt us, in the sense of tempting us to sin. Satan does that. God intends for us to be strengthened, not cast down. But he does test us.

James 1:2 "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

In other words, testing produces perseverance. Perseverance produces courage. And the people of Israel were tested in ways that God continues to test us today. First, they experienced,

A. The test of standing still. This test came in several forms. v.1-2

What exactly do you think was running through the minds of those people as they waited three days on the banks of a flooded river? If their patience and their faith wasn't tested during those three days of standing still, then I don't know when it ever was.

They must have been at their wits end. They had no provision to cross the river. They had done everything God has said, and there they were, stuck. And the only answer seemed to be, wait.

The test of standing still took other forms: v.7-8 The priests were told to stand in the river. To wait there, trusting, of course, that God's miraculous power wouldn't run out! Great suspense. What would happen to them?

v.17 They stayed in the river while the entire group of people crossed. They stood still in the middle of the Jordan River.

What would have happened if they hadn't stood still? Disaster!

Think about it personally. Sometimes God has us in a position where the only thing you can do is stand still. And wait. And trust.

I'm not talking about laziness. I'm not talking about fear or indecision. I'm talking about the situations where there is absolutely nothing you can do. I'm talking about the situations that you have no ability to change or correct. You are helpless.

I know exactly what is involved in that test, because God has often tested my faith in that way. And I believe that enduring those tests builds courage. And like all tests, there are no shortcuts! No simple answers. Just endurance.

God not only bring the test of standing still, he also brings,

B. The test of stepping out in faith. Look carefully at. v.13

When did God perform the miracle? At what point did God intervene with his supernatural power? What happened BEFORE God did anything?

Answer is simple. Before God did anything, the priests got their feet wet.

God did not perform the miracle until the priest got their feet wet. This was, for them, the test of stepping out in faith.

Perhaps the priests could have said to God: "God, if you will part this water, I will walk through with this ark." Isn't that a great faith?

We say things like that to God all the time. "God, show me a sign." "God, if you arrange it this way, then I will do this." "God, if you will provide all the resources that we need, then I will be willing to follow."

But that is not courage, and is it certainly not faith! Faith is the willingness to get your feet wet before God does anything. That is when you really let it all hang out.

It's easy to have courage when you know exactly how things will turn out. But that's not real courage. Real courage is getting your feet wet before you know what will happen down the road.

I believe that God often tests us with the test of stepping out in faith. In other words, I believe that there are many times when God expects us to get our feet wet before he shows us his power or performs a miracle.

And with all the energy and compassion that I have, and with all the love that I have for you, love that has grown and matured during these past years, this is the message I most want you to hear tonight. As God's people, have the courage to walk by faith and not by sight, trusting God in every way. Have the courage to get your feet wet.

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