The Awesome Power of God

The Expository Book Study of Joshua
Joshua 8: Verses 1 - 8                 XI) The Awesome Power of God

Week # 12 15 Sept 2010            Week # 38 of this P. M. Teaching Ministry

Good Evening, Let’s open with a word of Prayer…

Dear Father in Heaven, help us calm our minds and spirits tonight Father. Thank You for the opportunity and freedom to come here to this place and lift You up as our GOD! Help us Lord be ever mindful of just what that means, what it cost You, and what behavior, devotion and service You expect from us. Dear Father, please have Your Holy Spirit churn our hearts and spirits to pull Your truth from the scriptures tonight, and we will give You all the Honor, all the Glory and all the Praise, In Christ’s Name we pray – Amen….

Tonight before we open Joshua 8, I have just a few closing thoughts for Chapter 7, which I am not sure I got across in the last two weeks. It is my desire not to preach to you tonight, so I am making an honest effort not to. However, I do want to warn us as a congregation, we the older more settled Saints in Christ. Achan was a Jew. He directly saw the Hand of God in his life and the life of his people. GOD “spoke” to Joshua and Moses! They witness many wondrous signs of both His existence and His presence in their lives. Yet he chose his own way! When the pressure was on, and the real Achan surfaced, he failed to make the right choice and honor GOD. Today, we no longer enjoy the outward and physical manifestations of GOD. While we can trace His hand in our lives, we no longer see or hear Him physically. Faith is now in the Unseen and the unheard. Our faith and trust in His Son, is bolstered by the presence of the Holy Spirit. As Paul has told us so many times in his letters, we must take up the cross of Christ and yield to the Spirit. We experience a Re-Generation of the person inside the physical frame.

Through the sanctifying powers of the One that lives within us – we are changed from the inside – out. As we study this wonderful powerful Truth that we hold in our laps, God uses His Spirit to minister and work in our hearts!

BUT – The lessons of Achan don’t stop there, we must also be in constant prayer, that Almighty God watches over our tongue and our actions. We are a witness of and to Jesus Christ. Our words and actions have a direct reflection on that which we claim! In some cases in many Christians today in this Corporate Church – their actions unfortunately do in fact reflect on that which they believe. That’s right, our actions reflect that which we TRULY believe in our hearts, and the depth to which those beliefs are entrenched in our soul. A hollow faith that shows no TRUE Love of Christ, that shows no TRUE restraint from the world’s offerings has no reward and can be detrimental to the local body of believers. There is NO Room for hearts that are empty and cold, full of pride, deceit and lies. God cannot work in a heart that harbors sin. The spiritual life is stifled or sidelined, until true repentance and submission to His righteousness takes place.

Just a Reminder, The God We serve, is the GOD of Moses and Joshua, He cannot be placed in a box, nor can any of His character attributes. If you believe in this GOD, then you believe in, trust in and revere all His attributes. The same God of Love is also the God of Righteousness. The God of Compassion and Tenderheartedness is also the God of Judicial Truth and carries the full wrath of the Law with Him. We must remember that His Word is our way of Life! We must remember that it is so easy to fall when we take our eyes off Him.

When we fall, we hurt the cause of Christ, we hurt our personal testimonies and we blemish the testimony of the Church we attend. Achan’s story is a powerful reminder of the influence of Sin, the impact that sin has on those around us and the ability of Almighty God to see even the minuet details of our sins. Moreover; we see God’s intolerance of our sin and how He despises it, and how his judgment can impact all the people around the offense.

We are our brothers keeper, in as much as we are to encourage one another, hold each other up in prayer before the Lord, and reach out to one another in times of need, in times of discouragement, in times of challenges with sin. We are to encourage our brother or sister, praying with them and work towards restoration of both fellowship and faith with our Dear Father in Heaven. God will honor and bless the Faithful Hearts that show the Love of Christ in all that they do.

One last point on Joshua 7 and we will move on… AS outlined in Matthew Henry’s commentary on Joshua 7, we see that there was an even bigger and more important consideration. Joshua's concern for the honor of God, more than even for the fate of Israel, was the language of the Spirit of adoption. He pleaded with God. He laments their defeat, as he feared it would reflect on God's wisdom and power, his goodness and faithfulness. We cannot at any time urge a better plea than this, Lord, what wilt thou do for thy great name? Let God be glorified in all, and then welcome his whole will. We as individual believers, as a body of believers and a Church established by Christ Himself, must share Joshua’s fear. We must fear harming or tarnishing God’s name in our communities, neighborhoods and work places. Joshua – definitely got that point RIGHT! He displayed that which he believed to the very core of his heart and being. God, was his life – wow, what devotion, what subordinate devotion to the God of the universe, that my friends is Faith and Trust.

Let’s turn to Joshua 8, and read with me verses one through eight.

1And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land: 2And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it. 3So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. 4And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready: 5And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them, 6(For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them. 7Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. 8And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the LORD shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.

Once again, I want to refer to Matthew Henry’s commentary, I think he eloquently summarizes a main principle here. (MHC) “When we have faithfully put away sin, that accursed thing which separates between us and God, then, and not till then, we may look to hear from God to our comfort; and God's directing us how to go on in our Christian work and warfare, is a good evidence of his being reconciled to us. God encouraged Joshua to proceed.

At Ai the spoil was not to be destroyed as at Jericho, therefore there was no danger of the people's committing such a trespass. Achan, who caught at forbidden spoil, lost that, and life, and all; but the rest of the people, who kept themselves from the accursed thing, were quickly rewarded for their obedience. The way to have the comfort of what God allows us, is, to keep from what he forbids us. No man shall lose by self-denial.”

Think about the verses we just read and Henry’s comments!

1) We can NOT move forward in our Christian lives with open sin, or unrepentant sin! God Simply Does Not Condone or Wink at our sin.

a. No Bitterness Towards Others

b. No Pent Up Anger

c. No Hidden Frustrations

d. No Idol Gossip Towards Others

e. No Prideful Boasting

f. No Covetous Desires

g. No Evil Hidden Secrets or Habits (Pornography – Drugs)

h. And the List Goes On and On and ON…GOD WILL NOT RESTORE HIS HAND IN THE LIFE OF SIN – PERIOD

2) We can NOT Serve with any type of the previous mentioned sin issues in our hearts. Don’t be discouraged!

3) A Note of Encouragement:

a. Do not be disheartened for Philippians 4:12 & 13 tells us: 12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

b. Knowing the Gospel, understanding the Love of Christ and the mission of our service, we too must know how to be humble and stand before the world in that humility of a confessed and repentant heart without blame or accusation of offense. That through the Holy Spirit, we can be abased and serve Christ in the midst of a skeptic world that we seemingly no longer hold any relevance. Still making a difference and impact, because we have surrendered to HIS Lordship, and keep a short account, to maintain a testimony and sow seed as He provides opportunity. Through those God honoring steps – HE GIVES THE CHURCH RELEVANCE. If we as HIS people, learn from our Bibles, get the Christian Life Right – GOD will provide Local, Regional, National and Worldwide men to lead a spiritual revival. BUT – It starts here folks, right here in my heart, in your heart, and your heart and then in the collective heart of our congregation. Then God grows the desire, He empowers us to deliver the message and then the Spirit provides the way. GOD will provide all the resources and people to make it happen… But the Love of God, the yielding to God, the Fear of God, the desire to seek first His Face must start here (pointing to our hearts).

c. We must also understand the implications of standing in the Light of God’s Word, and flourish or abound in His Spiritual Blessing. That when we yield to Him, living a Righteous and Holy Life for Christ – Almighty God will bless that submission and He will grow His Church.

d. Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. The King James Version nails this. When we rely on Christ for all things, HE is Faithful in building us up to carry on – and the experiences build our Faith and make us stronger in Him, for Him and with Him.

e. Psalms 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. My goodness, He is faithful even when we are not, He provides through His Grace the ability to go and grow beyond our own means. If we only contemplated a small percentage of that which lives within us (God’s Holy Spirit) we would fear nothing. As humans, when we walk through those valleys, we have a tendency not to look for God’s hand until we take the opportunity to look over our shoulders. Joshua, looked for, trust that, and believed in his Heart that GOD already accomplished the victory. The first run at Ai, floored Joshua – he believed in his heart this was a cake walk, it’s already won, a done deal. We’ll move some troops out there just as a formality – God’s already done the work. It’s done! We’ve Won! Start planning for the next engagement. Is that what happen – NO. Achan messed up the whole works.

f. Once again, put that into practical application for today 15 September 2010 here at the BBC. Pastor Kilian has all the faith available to him by GOD. He knows in his heart this Church is going to grow for Christ, we are going to win souls for Christ in this neighborhood, this community of Warriors Mark and maybe even into Tyrone in the near future. He positions himself, the deacons and volunteers from the congregation to move out and share the Gospel. But wait… Door after Door closes, our relevance in this community seem to be stagnant. Why? Why would God allow all this energy and enthusiasm to waste… Well you see, this ole’ boy RC over here, he has a real bitterness with Mrs. So&So over there. He has slandered her, shows no love of Christ to her, and in general he just a real crank about anything that comes up about her or her family.

g. Let’s bring in Mr. Ironside to address this little problem with this ole’ boy RC! Joshua 8 shows us the judicial side of God’s character. Quoting… When God’s people fail to act in accordance with His will the 1st time they WILL FACE some barrier to progress, they find it far harder to overcome upon making a second effort! Had it not been for hidden sin in the camp, Israel would have overcome Ai very easily, even as they overcame Jericho. However; at Jericho, they acted in accordance with the Word of the Lord, each doing their part, and following His direction! Then there was Achan! But, when after dealing with Achan and his covetous household, they prepared to make a second onslaught on the little city of Ai by whose inhabitants they had been defeated before, they found it a difficult task indeed which they had to undertake. UnQuote… Why was the 2nd march at Ai a difficult task? (Because sin plants doubt, yielding to doubt weakens the Faith – TRUE Strength comes from Faith)

h. Remember: God sees every little minuet detail of our sin. His judgment is pure, righteous and just. Why would He honor us with growth and maturity when one of our members is living with sin? We are accountable to GOD, and to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Perspective & Perception, if our Perspective on God’s relevance in our own lives is skewed, our Perception of sin from God’s point of view will be that of non-consequential.

i. Just as Joshua stood before God, yielded (physically prostrated before Almighty God), we to must yield. When Joshua and in turn Israel started to connect all the dots, they enjoyed victory in God’s Power and Might. Joshua was genuinely concerned with how God would look in the eyes of the people of Ai. In turn, when God presented the facts in Joshua 7 and dictated the penalty, Joshua followed through.

It was only then that God honored the obedience with Blessing and Victory.

j. Today’s world, today’s church has gotten away from a physical form of Reverence to God. We no longer pray on our knees, we are modernized – we can talk to God anywhere and any way we like. Because Mr. Obama was partially right, we are a prideful – arrogant people. Bending the knee, bowing the head, and kneeling before God might actually indicate or reflect Humility and Bowing to a higher power! My goodness, where have we come as a people, as a nation. Our Churches are falling like flies to the ways of the world, God is actually run out of some of the Churches in this country. He has been systematically being removed from our educational systems, our public forums, our coins and now our churches. We can’t take the time to bow our heads and bend our knees before Him, yet we cry out His name in times of dire circumstances. Only to put Him back in the box when the terrorist were held at bay.

k. Is it any wonder that the Church has no relevance to this academic generation? Is it any wonder that today’s generation of Senior High and College Students want proof of God’s existence… They want proof, because they see no proof / difference in the local churches. AND yes this does apply to this crowd here tonight. We have forgot what it’s like to draw a line in the sand. We have lost our understanding and gut for Church Discipline… AND NO – I don’t mean a Slap Down – or an adverse action to a behavioral problem! I am referring to a way of life! When we go to College, we learn Academic Principals and Disciplines in our field of Study. In the Christian life, we read, study and learn the Bible and the Truths hidden in it to develop a Christian Discipline!!!

Or – that is the way it is suppose to work. Since many churches no longer use or respect the Bible, those Disciplines have been lost, save a few…

8) Do we have Joshua’s Commitment to GOD?

a. Do we believe that what we say we believe is REAL?

b. Do we believe those Principals and Disciplines are relevant in today’s world for the Christian?

c. Do we place that which we believe is Real in His rightful place in our lives? Before our Spouses, before our Children, before our Work Places – to the death?

d. Do we reflect the Love that His Son DEMANDED of us in the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?

e. Do we share His Love and Pain for the Lost?

f. Do we Love, Share, Lift Up, Build Up and Pray for the members of this Congregation on a regular basis?

g. Do we find ways to show Christ’s Love and Sacrifice to those around us?

h. Are we the neighbors that GOD wants us to be?

i. Do we comfort the hurting that He places on our path?

Folks we could go on and on and on… Proving a point that academically – we all know what this book teaches. The question is, do we choose to apply it each and every time we are called upon to do so? Speaking for myself – the answer is a resounding NO. Pastor Burns used to always say, People do – what People want to do! My challenge to you tonight is to figure out just what it is that you want to do? We are the older crowd in this Church… Are we going to find new ways to engage, to serve, to give back a tiny little portion of the sacrifice He made for us? OR – are we satisfied with the status quo, to the point that every now and then, we grab a little stuff along the way as Achan did?

Joshua showed the way… He was Faithful, Trusting, and Reliant on GOD’s Power and Might… He understood humility before GOD by laying himself out in the dirt before Almighty GOD. He Honored God’s commands for obedience and gave Praise and Glory to the Father for his provision.

Are we there? Can we get there?  Do we want to get there?

Dear Heavenly Father, forgive us Father that in our humanness, we sometimes trivialize our infractions of your commands and standards. Father, we know that in the midst of your Mercy and Grace we find forgiveness, and it is in that forgiveness that we see Your Face, Your Desire, Your Passion, Your Tender Heart, that YOU Freely exercise when We that call You Father are obedient to your will. Dear God in Heaven, convict the heart of every man, woman, boy and girl that walks through those doors to fall on their faces and revere You as the Great I AM of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses and Joshua. Hold back Your hand of Blessing until we put You in Your rightful place in our lives individually and collectively as Your Church. Then Father, when we get it right in obedience and service - reveal Your Awesome Power and Might and add to this Church. Bless the Faithful amongst us Father, give them strength and desire to disciple others in Your Son’s Name. Teach us to Love YOU as YOU love us Dear Father, and to love our neighbors, brothers and sisters as you commanded us to. These things we ask of You for Your Son’s sake, and it is in Christ’s name we pray…. Amen.

References:

One

Addresses on the Book of Joshua

By: Harry A. Ironside

1876 – 1951

Two

Matthew Henry’s Commentary