Fight the Good Fight of the Faith: Be Strong and Courageous

This past Friday, I began posting my sermon and devotional series on Joshua from the summer. I began with the first devotional, which argued for the historical veracity of the book of Joshua. Now, here is my sermon on the book of Joshua from Jos. 1:1-9, 16-18: "Be Strong and Courageous."

Since this sermon is the first in a series, I began with an extended introduction to the book of Joshua. It was longer than most normal introductions (about 10 minutes), but that is because before we dive into this important book, we need to understand why it is important and how it is applicable to our lives. In short, the book of Joshua teaches about the Christian life--how to fight the good fight of the faith--and if we view this book rightly, it will fortify us for the Christian life. There more detail below and in the sermon.

The book of Joshua tells us the story of God’s people after they had been redeemed from Egypt under Moses and wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of their sinful rejection of God’s promises. It tells us the story of how God’s people entered into the land of Canaan that God had promised to them and began to conquer it. But, more than that, the book of Joshua is a story about a great period of transition for God’s people.

Hundreds of years earlier, God had promised Abraham two things: God would make him a great nation, and He would give him the land of Canaan as an inheritance in which that nation would dwell. The following centuries had seen God’s people vastly grow in number, but they had yet to possess the land of Canaan. In fact, while the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, it may have seemed like God’s promises would never come true. But, under Moses, God redeemed them from slavery, and under Moses, God formed them into a nation through the giving of the Law. But, there was still that very important piece left: the land. God promised Abraham in Ge. 17:8, “I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” And, Deuteronomy promises God’s people that this land will be a place where they can find rest. But, they still needed to possess it. And, this book tells us the story of that great transition: God taking the wandering nation and giving them the physical land that He had promised to Abraham.

So, there’s a lot of history in this book, and it’s a very important time in the history of Israel. That’s why modern Bibles categorize Joshua under the “history” books. But, would it surprise you to know that the Jews didn’t categorize Joshua that way? They didn’t. From the time of King David onward, Joshua was placed in the section of books in the OT called the “former prophets”—they viewed Joshua as prophecy. Now, that sounds a little odd to us because we tend to think of prophecy as foretelling the future, and certainly some prophecy has that component to it. But, by and large, the prophecies of the OT were not so much about foretelling the future but forthtelling about the present, i.e. they took God’s Word written and His mighty works performed and applied them to the lives of the people in the present. Prophecy in Scripture is taking the Word and works of God and saying, “This is how this word from God or these events apply to your life. There is a message God has for you in them, and here it is.” In particular, Joshua is a record of how the Word of God written in the first five books of the Bible—the Pentateuch—began to work in the lives of God’s people as they moved through this great transition, and, in fact, God has a message for all His people in this book.

Now, it’s important for us to grasp that difference because mere history is just a record of facts, from which we might learn something but aren’t necessarily compelled to. But, history that’s also prophecy means this book is meant to convict, not simply inform; it’s meant to compel a response, not merely enlighten with information; it’s meant to encourage, not merely report. It’s a message from God to us as much as it is about God’s work in history.

Now, you might read this book and think, “Well, this book is a whole lot of battles, and that does not really have anything for me. I’m a professor, student, teacher, homemaker, business professional, or something else like that.” We may be tempted to think about the book of Joshua, but nothing could be further from the truth. You see, the taking of the land in this book isn’t primarily about property, but it symbolizes for all the Bible and us the spreading of the Kingdom of God itself, which is far bigger than a small piece of land on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. The battles and events of this book are seen by the whole Bible as opportunities to learn what faith really is and how we live a life of faith in God. Even for the OT believers who fought these literal battles, it was all about learning to live and fight by faith in their Savior. And, in fact, ultimately it points us to the work of Christ as our King who fought for us and secured the true Promised Land of the new heavens and new earth that all believers—His Kingdom people—will one day possess.

In fact, we are in a great transition just like the Israelites. We stand on the shores of Jordan, you could say, having been redeemed but also having to fight spiritual battles until we’re given our heavenly Promised Land by our King. And, even as Israel stood on the shores of the Jordan as a nation, their battles were still dependent on faith. In every battle in Joshua (and later on in Judges), it didn’t matter if they had inferior numbers, weapons, or strategies, and in fact, on several occasions God commands them to fight that way. We can’t replicate the strategies for Jericho, Hazor, or most of the other battles because they were battles that had to be fought God’s way in faith that God would provide the victory. They still had to fight, yes, but they had to use His strategies in faith that He would make them successful, even when they looked as ridiculous as simply marching around a city and screaming.

In fact, the NT shows us that even the nation and the land for which they fought was merely a temporary fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham anyway. Canaan could never be the eternal land of rest God promised Abraham. The book of Hebrews shows us that Abraham and the true believers of the OT were never really looking forward to an earthly land but in faith to a heavenly one that Jesus Himself would secure for them through His life, death, and resurrection—the new heavens and new earth that Re. 21-22 describe for us, and that will be eternal rest for us. And, our Savior and His true, eternal Promised Land can also only be possessed by faith.

This is why Joshua has so much to teach us about the Christian life. It‘s a story of God’s redeemed people having to fight by faith in the King who truly fights the battles for them, using God’s ways to possess rest in the Promised Land, which is exactly a mirror of our lives today, although spiritually; not physically. The life of a Christian isn’t something that’s comfortable and easy, and I know you all know that. This life is a relentless, spiritual war that we must fight by faith in our King who truly fights for us, which precedes our eternal rest in the true Promised Land that Jesus secured for us. Church family, from a spiritual perspective, we’re in all-out war—spiritual battles are constant—and Christians have the terrible privilege of being the target of satan—that roaring lion who seeks to devour us, as Peter says in 1 Pt. 5. We do not “wrestle against flesh and blood but against… the spiritual forces of evil,” as Paul says in Eph. 6. Our enemies are no longer literal people that we’re called to drive out like the Israelites, but the Canaanites still exist in here [our hearts] and still need to be driven out. For us, the Canaanites are in our sinful hearts, the temptations of the world, and the attacks of the devil. This is why we need “to fight the good fight of the faith,” as we heard earlier in 1 Ti. 6, looking to our Savior and King who truly fights for us. And, if we see this book rightly as prophecy and history, God can use it to fortify us for the battle of the Christian life. That’s why this book is so relevant for God’s people even today.

If you want to hear more, you can listen to the sermon here or read the transcript here.

 I pray that God will use it to magnify His glory in your heart and fortify you for the battles of this Christian life.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Fear Not: Handling Fear with the Hope of the Gospel

Coming up in a couple of days is a post with a sermon I preached a few Sunday's ago from Jdg. 6:11-16, entitled "Hope for the Inadequate." It takes a look at God's call of Gideon, focusing particularly on how it gives hope to those who know they are completely inadequate to do the work God has called them to do. Now, when God has called us to do something, much of our feelings of inadequacy comes from fear, and Gideon and the Israelites in this story are filled with fear. So, today we are going to talk about fear, and in a couple of days the actual sermon will post, which focuses on hope. Before you keep reading, however, take a few minutes to go read Jdg. 6:1-16, because it is the context of what follows. ............... Have you read it? Okay, then keep reading here.

Fear is a powerful motivator in many ways. Larger fears or greater fears can often times override lesser fears, motivating us to do something we normally wouldn't have done. For example, in the story of Gideon, God's people are so afraid of the Midianites that they have resorted to living in caves. Now, I am not sure if you've ever slept in a cave, but it is not easy to do. It's kind of scary living in a cave. It's dark, damp, cold, and there are critters living there with you, usually the kinds you don't want to encounter. Yet, the fear of the Midianites overrode any fear the Israelites might have had of living in caves and drove them there.

Fear can also be paralyzing. God's people, in this story, are paralyzed. They can't gather together to go out to fight the Midianites. They're too terrified even to begin to fight back. Gideon is terrified too, and he does not want to be the one God calls to lead the Israelites against the Midianites. And, if you were facing hordes of war camels, you'd probably be paralyzed too. A camel was the most fearsome war animal of the time in the ancient near east. It's a one-ton beast whose shoulder meets you at eye level and who can run at speeds up to 40 mph. And, the rider or riders on a camel are sitting at about 7-8 feet above the ground, which means if you're on foot, you stand almost no chance. It would be like one of us going up against a tank with nothing but a 45 pistol--no chance whatsoever.

So, what's God's remedy for fear? In Gideon's case, and in ours as well, it's God's promise: "I will be with you." Courage is not the absence of fear, it's the drive to push past it because of something more compelling than the fear. For Christians, the promise "I will be with you," provides that compelling drive. Those words can override fear because inherent in them are two things about God:

Who God is: The encouragement of "I will be with you" is completely dependent on who the "I" is. When the "I" is God, there is a fear of God (in a biblical sense) that overrides the fear of the enemy, call, or task He has for us. I think we're often uncomfortable with the idea of fearing God because we don't understand it properly, but the fear of the Lord is certainly all over the Scriptures. It's everywhere in the NT and the OT. So, what is the proper understanding of the fear of the Lord that gives us courage to follow Him?

Jesus tells us in Mt. 10 to fear God rather than men because man can only harm the body but God can destroy the body and soul in hell. And, then right after that, He gives us the proper perspective on that fear of God: while God is the God who can destroy body and soul in hell, He is also the God who loves His children so much so that He knows the number of hairs on their heads, and then Jesus says, "Fear not..." That is a good example of the types of fear we see in the Bible. The Scriptures use "fear" in two ways--there's the fear that can make you run in terror or the fear that can make you stand in awe. We see them both in Mt. 10 subtly, and we see them both explicitly in other places like Ex. 20:20. There, Moses says, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin." So, Moses tells us that we are not to be afraid of God in the sense that makes use run the other way in terror (as if we were an enemy of God), but we are to have the fear of God that fills us with awe and reverence for Him, so that we love Him and desire to obey Him.

In the Bible, the fear of God is based on our love and reverence for Him (Ps. 33:18; 130:3-4). If you have a fear of God that comes from the knowledge that He is the forgiver of sins, then you have the right kind of fear--a fear that captivates you because of a God who is just, holy, and could punish you but who also forgives sinners like you and me. God's love and the fear and reverence of Him that comes from that love drives out the wrong kind of fear (1 Jn. 4:18). That is what drives out the fear of this world when God calls us to do His work. And, this love is from both sides: we love Him, so we will want to face our fears for His sake; He loves us, so we will be confident in His protection and promises. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Mr. Tumnis says to Lucy about Aslan, "He isn't safe, but He's good." When a lion loves you enough to die for you, His roar will strike you with awe and reverence, but it will not cause you to run like it does to the enemies of the lion. When we are afraid, we need to hear not the battle cries of our enemies but the roar of the Lion of Judah. God showed Gideon this when fire consumed the sacrifice Gideon offered and not Gideon himself. Gideon was not consumed but loved, because later on Christ would cover his sins, and we are not consumed but loved for the same reason.

Who God is not: The thing about God that are inherent in the words "I will be with you," is who God isn't. Gideon had the intellectual knowledge of the stories of the exodus. Yet, he and the other Israelites were still syncretists--worshipers of Baal and God. That syncretism was exactly what had been getting the Israelites into trouble during their whole history. They were trying to hedge their bets with a false god who supposedly controlled the fertility of their crops (i.e. Baal) and still get the protection and provision of Yahweh--the true God of the Bible. But, God's people cannot have it both ways, and they were thinking they could. "Yahweh would redeem you, but when it comes to fertility, Baal is your man," is what they thought. Pagan gods may accept that--may accept serving multiple gods at once--but Yahweh will not have that, because He is that kind of God. He's not like the pagan gods of Israel's time or our time. He demands exclusive worship. And, of course, this is true love from Him, because the moment you have another god, you're depending on something that will fail you, and God will not let you do that. He's not that kind of God. This is why the very first job for Gideon was not rescuing the people but getting rid of Baal in their midst.

The God of the Bible who is not like the pagan gods requires fidelity only to Him, but that fidelity comes with the knowledge that He will care for His people and redeem them from their enemies. It's like a marriage. What kind of husband wouldn't get jealous and angry if his wife tried to have a second husband? Why kind of wife wouldn't do the same if her husband tried to have a second wife? If they had no problem with their spouse entertaining other intimate relationships, then we'd probably question how much they really love that spouse. We'd also question their desire to care for that spouse above all others (for they don't mind infidelity from the spouse, they'd likely engage in it themselves). So, it is with us. If God didn't require our exclusive worship and love--setting aside all false gods--then we'd have reason to wonder if He really loves us and really will be faithful to His promises to care for us. But, our God is not like the pagan gods (who were as fickle as the most unreliable human). He requires fidelity, and that comes from an intense love and care for His people--intense enough to send His own Son to die for us.

When we have that kind of God and that kind of love and when we live in awe and reverence of that kind of God, our fear (in the biblical sense) of Him will cast out the lesser fears of enemies or fulfilling the call He has given us. It did it for Gideon and God's people (eventually), and it will for us. As God says in Is. 43:5, "Fear not, for I am with you."

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Gospel According to Joseph: The Gospel and God's Presence

We have been working our way through the story of Joseph, Jacob, and Judah in a series of devotions and sermons. In the previous devotion, we learned about temptation and godly living from Joseph in Ge. 39. The sermon that goes along with that devotion, however, focuses on the main thrust of the two episodes of this story in Ge. 39-40: the impact of God's presence on Joseph's life. The sermon is entitled "The Gospel and God's Presence, and you can listen to it here or read it here.

Now, as I mentioned in the previous sermon post of this series, one of the things I am trying to do is teach how to study these Old Testament (OT) stories and how to see what the Holy Spirit was showing the original audience and is showing us about God's redeeming work in Jesus. For Jesus Himself told us in passages like Lk. 24:27, 44 and Jn. 5:46 that the OT is about Him, but seeing exactly how it teaches us about Him is not quite so easy. My senior pastor, Chris Hutchinson, has written a couple of great articles on preaching/teaching Christ from the OT that can be found here and here, and there are several of good books written on this subject like David Murray's Jesus on Every Page. But, in the interest of ease for this series of sermons, I have been teaching some basic questions that we can ask of any OT passage to help us to see how Jesus may be in that passage. Now, all these questions do not always apply to each OT passage, but we can ask these of any passage and one or more of them will help us to see Jesus on that page of Scripture. In this sermon, there one new one come up: How does this passage reflect upon or prepare us for the person or work of Christ—i.e. who He is to us (His person) and what He does for us (His work)? These two episodes of the Joseph story show us that part of Jesus' work for us is His presence with us to give us the strength to endure, and they prepare us for His person as our Lord, showing us that whatever we do, we ultimately work for Him, no our earthly masters.

I pray that this sermon will show you Jesus clearly and Him only and that it will be a blessing to your soul.

By His Grace,
Taylor