Stepping Out In Faith – Part #2
JOSHUA 3:1 – 17 – SERMON TEXT
JOSHUA 3:1 – 8 – LAST SUNDAY’S TEXT – “YOU HAVE NOT PASSED THIS WAY BEFORE”
JOSHUA 3:9 – 17 – TODAY’S TEXT – “HEREBY (BY THIS) YE SHALL KNOW THAT THE LIVING GOD IS AMONG YOU.”
* FAITH MAY REQUIRE THAT WE WAIT – JOSHUA 3:1, 2A
* FAITH RECOGNIZES THAT SOMETIMES GOD CHOSES TO WORK IN NEW WAYS – JOSHUA 3:2B – 4
* FAITH MEANS WE ARE WILLING TO STEP OUT – JOSHUA 3:5-8
* 2 CHRONICLES 16:9 – “FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD RUN TO AND FRO THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH, TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG IN THE BEHALF OF THEM WHOSE HEART IS PERFECT TOWARDS HIM. HEREIN THOU HAST DONE FOOLISHLY: THEREFORE FROM HENCEFORTH THOU SHALT HAVE WARS”.
* HEBREWS 11:5 – “BY FAITH ENOCH WAS TRANSLATED (RAPTURED) THAT HE SHOULD NOT SEE DEATH; and was not found, because GOD HAD TRANSLATED (RAPTURED) HIM: for before his TRANSLATION (RAPTURE) HE HAD THIS TESTIMONY, THAT HE PLEASED GOD”.
* HEBREWS 11:6 – BUT WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM (GOD): for HE THAT COMETH TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS (GOD – THE GOD OF HIS WORD), AND THAT HE IS THE REWARDER OF THEM, THAT DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM”.
JOSHUA 3:8 – “And thou shalt command the priests to bear the ark of the covenant, saying, when ye are come to THE BRINK (BEGINNING EDGE) OF THE (FLOOD WATERS) OF (THE RIVER) JORDAN, (AND) YOU SHALL STAND STILL IN (THE FLOOD WATERS OF THE RIVER) JORDAN”.
* FAITH IS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT CAN BE REJECTED – JOSHUA 3:9-13
JOSHUA 3:9 – “And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and HEAR THE WORDS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD”.
JOSHUA 3:10 – “And Joshua said, HEREBY SHALL YE KNOW THAT THE LIVING GOD IS AMONG YOU, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gergashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites”.
“HEREBY (BY THIS) SHALL YE KNOW THAT THE LIVING GOD IS AMONG YOU” – BY WHAT? – By the miracle of the Jordan River Crossing. Notice that although God had told Joshua that he would be exalted, when this miracle of the Jordan River crossing transpired, he does not allude to that in speaking to the people. It was a private communication meant only for Joshua’s encouragement.
Joshua’s HUMILITY is clearly seen by his not passing on the truth that God would exalt him as Israel’s leader. To the contrary, like all of God’s great leaders, Joshua sought to focus the people’s attention on THE TRUE LEADER, THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD!
The miracle would be unmistakable evidence that GOD WAS AMONG THEM. In effect, it would be the fulfillment of Joshua’s promise, in JOSHUA 3:5, “THE LORD WILL DO WONDERS AMONG YOU”.
JOSHUA 3:11 – “Behold, THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD OF ALL THE EARTH passes over before you into Jordan”.
The Ark had “Staves” (Poles), for the shoulders of the faithful men of God, to carry, “The Ark of the Covenant” (The presence of God). Even the Ark did not move by itself. When God is the architect, FAITHFUL MEN AND WOMEN BECOME GOD’S LABORERS! Faith assists God. Faith, in God and His Word, can stop the mouth of lions (DANIEL 6:22) and quench to violence of fire (DANIEL 3:26).
*FAITH HONORS GOD AND GOD HONORS FAITH
* ROMANS 10:17 – “SO THEN FAITH COMETH BY HEARING (TRUSTING), AND HEARING (TRUSTING) BY THE WORD OF GOD”.
*ONE OF THE SPECIAL MARKS OF THE HOLY GHOST, IN “THE EARLY CHURCH,” – WAS “THE SPIRIT OF BOLDNESS” (JOHN 1:50; JOHN 5:20) . ONE OF THE SPECIAL MARKS OF “THE LATTER DAY” CHURCH WILL BE – “THE SPIRIT OF BOLDNESS” (REVELATION 12:10, 11)!
* ONE OF THE MOST ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF “FAITH” – IS TO PRAY, HEAR GOD’S WORD, BELIEVE IT, TRUST IN THE STRENGHTH AND POWER OF GOD OF GOD (THAT HE WILL MAKE A WAY, WHERE THERE IS NO WAY) AND STEP OUT IN FAITH, AND ATTEMPT TO DO GREAT THINGS FOR GOD AND EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD – THAT IS “HOLY BOLDNESS” – THAT IS “HOLY AUDACITY”!
JOSHUA 3:12 – “Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribe of Israel, out of every tribe a man”.
JOSHUA 3:13 – “And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bare the ark of the Lord, THE LORD OF ALL THE EARTH, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be CUT OFF from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon and heap”.
God had apparently revealed to Joshua how the Jordan would become a dry bed and passable by the Hebrew people. The waters would not be divided, as they were at the Red Sea (EXODUS 14:21-22). Instead, the waters of the Jordan would be cut off upstream, leaving a dry river bed before Israel.
God’s work at the river Jordan, by stopping the river waters, so Israel could pass, was similar to what God did at the Red Sea (EXODUS 14:21, 22), but not the same. From generation to generation, God’s work is in some ways the same, and in other ways brand new.
* FAITH AFFORDS GOD AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE HIS POWER – JOSHUA 3:14-17
JOSHUA 3:14 – “And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priest bearing the ark of the covenant before the people”;
* “SPIRITUAL BATTLES” ARE FUNDAMENTALLY FOUGHT WITH “SPIRITUAL WEAPONS.”
God commanded that the visible emblem and presence of God – The Ark of the Covenant – Would lead the way. By the leading with priests carrying the “Ark”, instead of soldiers leading the way, God declared the key to Israel’s victory in “The Promised Land”, WOULD BE FUNDAMENTALLY fought WITH SPIRITUAL “WEAPONS” AND NOT PRIMARILY WITH PHYSICAL “WEAPONS”!
* THE FIRST “BATTLE”, FOUGHT BY THE HEBREW PEOPLE, AFTER THEY CROSSED THE RIVER JORDAN, WAS AT THE CITY OF “JERICHO” – WHICH ONLY ILLUMINATES THIS TRUTH ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FIGHTING “SPIRITUAL BATTLES” – WITH “SPIRITUAL WEAPONS” (2 CORINTHIANS 10:4)!
JOSHUA 3:15 – “And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priest that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overflows all his banks all the TIME OF HARVEST)”,
* THE “HARVEST PERIODS” OF ISRAEL ARE DIVIDED UP INTO THREE SEASONS (SPRING, SUMMER, AND AUTUMN) IN ISRAEL AND CORRESPOND TO THE THREE DIVISONS OF THE “SEVEN FEAST DAYS” OF ISRAEL:
* “THE SPRING ‘GRAIN HARVEST’ – THE MOST IMPORTANT IN VALUE, TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD – OCCURS DURING THE FIRST THREE “FEAST DAYS” OF ISRAEL AND REPRESENTS “THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST JESUS”!
* “THE SUMMER ‘GRAPE HARVEST’– OCCURS DURING THE ONE “FEAST DAY” OF SUMMER – “THE FEAST OF PENTACOST” AND REPRESENTS THE BEGINNING OF “THE CHURCH AGE” (ACTS 2).
* THE AUTUMN “OLIVE HARVEST” – OCCURS DURING THE LAST THREE “FEAST DAYS” AND REPRESENTS THE END OF THE “CHURCH AGE”, THE FINAL HARVEST, AND “THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST JESUS”. THE AUTUMN HARVEST WAS A TIME OF “GREAT REJOICING” (DEUTERONOMY 16:13-15)!
* WHEN THE MIRACLE CROSSING OCCURRED, OF THE JORDAN RIVER – IT WAS “HARVEST TIME”! THIS WAS “THE FIRST HARVEST”, OCCURRING IN MARCH AND APRIL.
* THE FIRST HARVEST (THE EARLY HARVEST) WAS THE MOST “IMPORTANT HARVEST” AND WAS AROUND THE VERY SAME TIME AS WE CELEBRATE THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST JESUS AND HOW WE HAVE RECEIVED OUR AUTHORITY (DOMINION) – AS “BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS”, FROM GOD!
* “THE FINAL HARVEST” IS YET COMING, FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD, AND I BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE ENTERED INTO THE “SEASONAL TIME” OF GREAT REJOICING”!
JOSHUA 3:16 – “That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city ADAM, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho”.
The water of the Jordan River backed up a great distance from the city of Adam. This is the only place where the city of Adam is mentioned in the Bible. The city of Adam is about 16 miles north, from where the “Ark of the Covenant” crossed over and allowed some 2 million strong to cross over, on a dry river bed. The city of “Adam”, is named here because I believe the city was named after the first person that God created, “Adam”, who had “DOMINION, from God to rule over all things on the earth (GENESIS 1:26) and now the people were given that same authority to reign and rule, as they entered into “The Promised Land”, given to them by God.
JOSHUA 3:17 – “And the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on DRY GROUND, until all the people were past clean over the Jordan”.
The present-day “Body of Christ” understands that Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of the “Ark of the Covenant”. He is “IMANUEL”, which is translated “GOD WITH US” (MATTHEW 1:23).
* CHRIST JESUS WAS HIMSELF – WAS GREATER EVIDENCE, OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND “THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST” (THE HOLY SPIRIT) LIVING INSIDE OF US, IS GREATER EVIDENCE, OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD – THAN “THE ARK OF THE COVENANT”!
* EVEN AS “THE ARK OF THE COVENANT” LED THE JEWISH PEOPLE ACROSS THE RIVER JORDAN, SO CHRIST JESUS HAS LED THE WAY, FOR THE VICTORY OF HIS PEOPLE TODAY:
COLOSSIANS 2:15 – “And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly TRIUMPHING OVER THEM (SATAN AND HIS DEMONIC FORCES) IN IT”.
EPHESIANS 2:2 – “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”:
* THE SAME “AIR” THAT CHRIST JESUS ROSE THROUGH – TO HIS THRONE OF POWER AND AUTHORITY – WHICH HE DELEGATES TO HIS “CHURCH” (MATTHEW 28:18-20) – FROM HIS THRONE IN HEAVEN!
