I. A Man Willing To Follow An Authority (v1-2)
A. His God (v.1) (Vs.1 says “the LORD spake unto Joshua…”. The LORD knew that when he told Joshua to do something that Joshua was going to do it!)
You have 66 letters from the Almighty Himself. When you open your sharp two edged sword, You could easily say “and the LORD spake to (insert your name here)..”. God has all these things he is telling you to do, but is he your authority?!
Why is an atheist an atheist? He doesn’t want God for an authority! Why do some saints correct the bible? They don’t want God to be the final authority! Why do some saints act like atheists? Because they don’t have an authority! They profess that they know God but in works they deny him! (Titus 1:16) But God is looking for a Bible believer that will submit to his authority.
B. His Father (v.2) (Joshua was “the son of Nun”. I’d say Nun was the happiest guy around because “a wise son maketh a glad father”. )(Proverbs 15:20)
If you won’t submit to the authority of your father (Ephesians 6:2) while you’re young, do you think you’ll submit to your Heavenly Father later on in life?!
My papaw was like my father. I knew the recliner was HIS! Just like you need to know the throne of your heart belongs to the Heavenly Father!(1 Samuel 8:7) My papaw was the man of the house, I knew I always asked him before I could do anything! That’s just like my Heavenly Father! My papaw could just look at me and I’d straighten up. When my bible is open in a room, you’ll notice just one look at it and people will quit cussing! It’s like daddy giving you the LOOK!
C. His Pastor (v.1-2) (The amazing thing about Joshua is that he followed “Moses the servant of the LORD” all those years. He was “Moses minister”. Joshua helped Moses and did whatever he needed. )
Would you be able to sit under a pastor and let him have the rule over you? (Heb 13:17). Would you give him double honour?(1 Tim 5:17) Or do you have to be the head honcho? Before God can really use you, you need to show that you can sit under pastoral authority.
If you can’t follow a man that is an authority figure in your life, that you can see with your own two eyes, how will you follow God? If you can’t love your pastor and father whom you can see , how can you love God? (1 John 4:20)
II. A Man Willing To Face His Enemies (Joshua 1:2-5)
A. Many Enemies (v.2) (The LORD told Joshua to “go over this Jordan”. Joshua was going to lead the people into the promised land. This doesn’t mean the battle is over. The book of Joshua is battle after battle,that all picture the second coming of Jesus Christ. Joshua is going to face many enemies. Joshua 12:7-24 will give you a rundown of the kings and armies he faces. )
Joshua was a man of war who was willing to face MANY ENEMIES. You see him as a picture of Jesus Christ back there when he fought against the Amalekites. They were a picture of the flesh and you can’t overcome the flesh without Jesus Christ!
Are you willing to take on many enemies? If God is going to use you, you have to be ready! All that live Godly are going to suffer. (2 Timothy 3:12). Paul says in 1 Cor 16:9 that there are “many adversaries”.
Sometimes it is going to seem like the enemies of hell are attacking you on every side. At home, at work, at church, on the web, on the newspaper! You have to walk circumspectly, checking every corner! (Eph 5:15)
The LORD told Joshua “there shall not any man be able to stand before thee”. God has already shown us the defeat of our enemies as well. Death (1 Cor 15:26). The devil. (Heb 2:14). Our flesh! (Rom 8:23)
B. Giant Enemies
Joshua didn’t just have MANY ENEMIES, there were going to be giants as well. Remember back there when they sent the spies into the land of the giants and Israel chickened out? Well, Joshua didn’t! Joshua and Caleb are the only remaining of Israel from that day because they “wholly followed the LORD”. (Num 32:12)
Joshua was ready to face the giant enemy! Sometimes a giant running upon you(Job 16:14) can be more intimidating than a lot of little enemies surrounding you.
There are a lot of persecutions, temptations, and shortcomings, that are hitting you on every side. For the most part you press on through. But then here comes that GIANT that almost knocks you off the horse!
You know why Joshua isn’t afraid of giant enemies? Because he has a really big father! And I’m not talking about NUN! His Heavenly Father told him, “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee”.
You have the same Father as Joshua, Joshua is your brother. You’re in a royal line of soldiers. The man of war (Exo 15:3) lives in you (Col 1:27). Every giant down here is under his feet. (Eph 1:22)
III. A Man Willing To Focus On Scripture (Joshua 1:8, 17-18)
A. All The Scripture (v.8) (He told Joshua to “observe to do according to all that is written therein”. Can you imagine Joshua’s IQ in regard to Genesis-Deuteronomy. He knew the holy man of God who penned it, and he was the servant of the God that inspired it. And he even lived through the major portion of it! He even saw the plagues back in Exodus. He lived and breathed the scriptures!)
If your going to be a man God uses, than your going to be a man of the scriptures. Read it (1 Tim 4:13), study it,(2 Tim 2:15) memorize it (Psalm 119:11). This way you can do all that is written therein, rightly divided! You have more work cut out for you than Joshua. You’ve got more books of the bible and you have more to rightly divide! (2 Tim 2:15)
You may not have lived the events of scripture but you need to make best friends with the Bible characters and envision yourself in their shoes because it is all for your learning and admonition! (Rom 15:4)(1 Cor 10:11)
It takes a willing man to dive into all the counsel of God. (Acts 20:27). You’re going to have to be willing to put hobbies and the cares of this life aside.
B. All The Time (The LORD told him “thou shalt meditate therein day and night.” (1:8) Joshua would have been in those scriptures off and on from the evening to the morning and morning to the evening. His delight would have been “in the law of the LORD” (Psalm 1:2).)
You know how Paul says to “pray without ceasing”? (1 Thess 5:17). Well you can also focus on the scriptures without ceasing. There is always a way to incorporate the scriptures in everything you’re doing. Put a New Testament in your pocket, a bible in your lunchbox, scriptures on index cards in your back pocket, tape some scripture to the wall, and you can spend 15-20 hours a day meditating on it.
The righteous are bold as a lion! (Prov 28:1). No wonder Joshua was so bold, he was pumped full of the WORD! 4x in Joshua 1 it says “be strong and of good courage”! (6,7, 9,18). This can be accomplished when you have scripture because “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word”. (Romans 10:17) That’s where the courage is drawn from!
C. All Should Obey (Joshua was to focus on the law and enforce that law to Israel. They said they would hearken to him “according as they hearkened unto Moses in all things”. (V.17) And they put their life on it, saying, if anyone rebel against his commandment they would be “put to death!”(v.18))
That might sound rough to you, but when you rebel against the scriptures, it is harder for God to use you, and you also push yourself to an early grave just like they would have done! (Romans 8:13)
IV. A Man Willing To Fight For Brethren (v.11 The Reubenites. Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh weren’t possessing the land on the other side of the Jordan, but Joshua wants them to go over and fight to help their brethren possess their land.)
A. Weeping With Them That Weep (Imagine the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh being willing to go over and fight to help their brethren! Joshua told them “Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan”. They had to leave their wives, children, and cattle behind to fight the battles.)
They could have hung back and enjoyed their land, their wives, and their kids, but they chose to help bear burdens (Gal 6:2) and weep with those that wept (Romans 12:15), and fight alongside their brethren that would fight! (1 Tim 6:12)
God can easily use a man who sees the brethren like he sees his own body, his own family, and will stick out their necks for the saints! (Rom 16:4)
A man that God uses realizes the things that matter are the eternal things! And one of those eternal things is the SOULS of people. Not just lost people, but his brethren as well.
If you are a pastor, teacher, evangelist, than God is wanting you to “perfect the saints” and “edify the body of Christ”. (Eph 4:12) Maybe you have things settled and you are where you need to be with God, now it’s time to help the brethren get there!
B. Rejoicing When They Rejoice
Joshua tells them that “when the LORD hath given rest to the brethren, then the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh can go in and enjoy their land!” They could then rejoice with them that do rejoice! (Romans 12:15)
How much more could you enjoy the things of God while you know your close brethren are also enjoying it?
CONCLUSION: Do you want to be used of God? You may make excuses about how you look (Isa 53:2), how you speak (Exo 4:10), and how little you know (1 Cor 1:27). I’ve made all those excuses. A quiet, shy, guy who failed 9th grade 3x. But the LORD doesn’t need all these things you think he needs. He just needs someone who is willing to be USED. He wants someone willing to say send me! (Isa 6:8) If your not going to be used of God, than you’ll be used by the devil. If you aren’t going to yield yourselves unto God, you will yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness. (Romans 6:13). What you need to do is take the step of faith and say “I’ll do it” and “use me”, then keep pressing on, and God can begin to work through you.
