So, getting into the book of Exodus here, chapter 17, something I kind of wanted to
do and think about doing was maybe doing a little bit of a series here.
In particular on the person of Joshua, I thought maybe there was a few sermons we could look
at and just some aspects of Joshua's life, things that we could apply to our own lives.
Joshua is a great example of the Word of God, he's somebody that we can learn a lot from.
The Bible does have a lot of great godly examples in them, and they're given to us for a reason.
And I think that if we take a little time to look at each individual character in the
Bible, there would be a lot of things that we could learn about from these people, that
we could apply to our own lives, that would be of help to us.
And I think Joshua was one of those people, I mean, Joshua was such a great man of God
that he had an entire book named after him.
So obviously he's a key player in the Old Testament, he's somebody that's very significant
in the Old Testament, and that's why I thought it would be good to just look at him, look
at some of his traits, some things about Joshua.
Because it's important that we look to these examples that we have in the Scripture, it's
important that we go and look at these characters and see what kind of things we can learn from
them.
Because the fact is, we really don't find examples of this caliber in our own lives.
That's not to say that we don't have great godly examples, that we don't have good godly
Christians, fathers and mothers and fellow Christian laborers, pastors and others that
we can look to and certainly look to their example as we're admonished to do and to follow
in their footsteps and follow their lead and learn a lot from them.
But we have to remember a lot of times the things that they're teaching us, you know,
the leaders in churches, pastors and preachers, is that oftentimes they're turning to examples
in Scripture and that's who it is we're really learning from.
So it's always good to look at these examples because, again, we find many great examples
in the Word of God of people of very high caliber character, I would say, that we can
learn a lot from.
And we just, quite frankly, don't have a lot in this modern day, maybe ever, that we can
draw from.
And that's why I think God gives us these examples.
God gives us men in the Bible, ladies in the Bible that we can look to and that we can
learn a lot from.
Not to just emulate what they have done, not just to say I need to be like them, not to
try and do that, that's a good thing to do, but to actually learn from these people and
actually try to take the things that made them who they are and weave them into the
very character of who we are, make them part of our own being.
Not to just, you know, try to put on a show or try to just follow some kind of a habit
out of ritual or whatever it might be, but actually learn from them and take these lessons
and put them into practice in our life to the point where they become really who we
are, what helped make us who we are.
And really, Joshua is one of the greatest examples that I think we can look to as a
leader and several different things about him, several different roles that Joshua fulfilled
in his lifetime that are roles that we as Christians also have to fulfill.
And really, the first role I want us to look at tonight in the life of Joshua is Joshua
the Soldier.
Joshua the Soldier.
Again, Joshua fulfilled a lot of different roles in his life, but the first thing that
we see him doing when Joshua first comes on the scene in scripture, we see Joshua fulfilling
the role of a soldier.
If you would, look there in Exodus chapter 17 verse 8 where the Bible reads,
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel and Rephidim.
And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out and fight with Amalek tomorrow.
I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek.
And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed, and when he let
down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat there
on, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, the other on the
other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
So that's the first time we meet Joshua, and what's he doing?
He's out soldiering.
Not only is he soldiering, but he's actually probably in all likelihood a captain, a leader
within the army.
Yes, a leader, but also one who's actually out there physically fighting the battle.
And he sets a very good example for us.
And something, this is a role as a soldier that we see Joshua fulfilling time and time
again in his life.
Often there were many battles, of course.
We know when they first go into the promised land, when they cross over Jordan, that it
is Joshua that's leading them, and leading them in many different battles.
And he fought his entire life.
I mean this wasn't just something that he put his time in for a little while, and then
retired from.
He just didn't go do his tours, as it were, over in Canaan land, and then come back and
that was it.
No, Joshua was a soldier.
He was somebody that fought and fought and fought and fought and fought.
He was a life-long soldier.
And really this is a significant thing, that Joshua shows up as a soldier here in the scripture.
Because we have to remember that Joshua, this isn't like Joshua just appeared on the north.
Joshua has been present with Moses, with the children of Israel.
He's been traveling along with them out of Egypt, across the Red Sea and into the wilderness
and wandering around.
He's been with them the entire time.
But it's not until here where we see Joshua actually go out and fight a battle.
It's not until this moment that we see Joshua appear in scripture.
And that in itself is a lesson that we need to learn.
That the desire to be recognized is not the motive that we should have.
You know, Joshua was greatly and mightily used of God, but he didn't go out of his way
to try to gain recognition.
He didn't go out of his way to try to gain the spotlight, but what do we see end up happening
with Joshua is that eventually, in time, he is put into a very significant position.
At any time, he is put in a position of leadership and doing mighty great works for God.
But it's not like he just started out from day one there.
It's not just like he was fighting these great battles from day one and he was the man from
day one.
He had to put in his time, put in his dues.
And we'll talk more about that in later sermons about Joshua.
But the lesson is here that we should not desire to be recognized.
That is not the motive that we should have as God's people.
That type of an attitude, that type of desire to be seen of men is something that Jesus
strongly reviewed.
It's something he pointed out as a major flaw in the Pharisees.
He said that all their works they do were to be seen of men.
They may draw their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments.
The desire to be seen of men is not something that we should have in our hearts.
That is not the proper motive for serving God.
Jesus went on and said in Matthew 23,
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall
be exalted.
You know, that's not to say that if you are exalted or if you are put in a position such
as Joshua where leadership will have eyes upon you and people looking to you, that that's
a bad thing.
But that's something that should kind of come about in and of itself.
That's something that should come to you in time.
That's not something that people should go out and just try to take prematurely upon
themselves.
And, you know, we will be acknowledged, of course, perhaps in this life, only after we've
been living as we should.
Only after we've been doing the things that we should and we've been living faithfully.
You know, the Bible says that we should be found faithful, that a steward must be found
faithful.
You know, it might even be that in this life we are never recognized.
It might even be in this life that no one ever says your name from a pulpit.
It might be that you're never, you know, on YouTube.
All the glory of being on YouTube, right?
It might be that you're never invited here or invited there.
You know, I was thinking just recently I was here, somebody asked me, you know, when are
you going to be invited to the conference, one of these conferences to preach?
I don't know.
My response was, maybe when they've exhausted all of the resources.
I can say, honestly, there's a lot of other guys I'd rather hear than me.
You know, there's a lot of other preachers I don't, you know, but that doesn't bother
me.
It's not like I cry myself to sleep at night going, oh, why does he get to go?
I mean, that would be a pretty poor attitude, wouldn't it?
You'd say there is a major problem with Brother Corbin if I was moping around going, why does
he get to go to the conference, right?
But some people do have this attitude, they desire to be seen of men, and they are willing
to go to great lengths to do so.
They're willing to preach heresy, they're willing to self-ordain, they're willing to
just sidestep the qualifications of being a bishop just to get a little bit of recognition.
And a lot of times they don't care if it's good or bad recognition.
They don't care if their name is said in praise, they don't care if their name is said in derision,
they just want to be noticed.
And you know, that is not the right motive.
And you know, it just might be that in this life you are never recognized by man.
But mark it down that one day you will be, that if you are faithful in those things that
you ought to be doing, if you're faithful in serving the Lord, that you will be recognized
in heaven.
And if I were going to be recognized by anybody, would you rather have the praise of man on
this earth?
Would you rather have the hundred likes on YouTube or whatever, or would you rather hear
those words from Jesus Christ himself, well done thou good and faithful servant?
I mean that one statement from the words, from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself, that's
going to be far more valuable than any recognition anybody could ever get on this earth.
We might never be acknowledged here, and that's fine.
We should understand the Bible says that likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand.
There are the good works that some do here on earth and they are manifest, they are recognized,
we see them here on earth beforehand.
And they that are otherwise cannot be hidden.
They that are otherwise, meaning those that are not manifested beforehand, cannot be hidden.
You think, boy I'm not being recognized for all my faithful service, I'm not being recognized
for all the things that I do.
Maybe not here, but you feel like it's being hidden, that nobody recognizes it, that nobody
sees it.
But the Bible says that it cannot be hidden.
What does it mean by that?
It means that one day you're going to get to heaven and it's no longer going to be hidden.
That one day it will be revealed.
The Bible says judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who will both bring to
the light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts
and then shall every man have praise of God.
And God's going to try all those works.
And I think that a lot of people are going to be surprised in heaven.
They're going to see somebody and you're going to think, boy surely this guy, he's just been
on fire, he's done this, he's done that, and he's got a lot of recognition down here.
But if his heart is wrong, for the wrong reasons, all those works are going to be burned up.
If he has the wrong motive, it's gone.
And you want to think there's going to be a lot of people that nobody knows about.
I think there's going to be especially, I think, a lot of mothers, a lot of ladies who
have just been quietly laboring in the background, raising godly children, teaching godly children,
supporting their husbands, being obedient to the word of God, that nobody knows about,
nobody recognizes, that God is going to highly exalt one day.
And it could be you, even you in this room tonight, who feel like no one knows this,
no one recognizes me, no one knows what I'm doing.
Good.
That's good.
That's a good thing.
Because your heart isn't going to get puffed up.
You're not going to be lifted up with pride, hopefully in all likelihood.
When people start to praise you, and the Bible says, whoa, when all men shall speak well of you.
That's not good.
I mean, we've got to be careful.
I'm not saying that we can't enjoy a compliment from somebody, somebody appreciates something
we did, they say a nice comment.
That's great.
That's encouraging.
But we don't need to go about feeling like everyone needs to know everything we do so
that we can receive the praise of men.
The Bible says, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you
in due time.
And really, that's exactly what we see here with Joshua.
He's somebody that's been with them for a long time.
We've never heard from him.
We don't.
And all of a sudden, he shows up in Scripture, and what's he doing?
He's in a battle.
He's leading God's army, meaning this, that he's gone through camp.
He went through the training.
He's proven himself as a soldier.
He's been exalted.
And only then, and only after that, he's been found faithful, is he then lifted and exalted
and given this place in Scripture.
We have to humble ourselves in the mighty hand of God and let him exalt us in due time.
And realize that, like Joshua, who was a soldier, that in the meantime, while we're humbling
quietly, privately, serving God, unrecognized, unacknowledged by man, that in the meantime,
while we're doing that, we still have an enemy to face.
That's why we need to take note of somebody like Joshua and understand the importance
of being a soldier.
The Bible says in 1 Peter, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, who resists steadfast in the faith, knowing
that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
We still have an enemy to face.
And people get so caught up worrying about who's going to recognize them, who's going
to say their name, when they're going to be exalted to some position, and they forget
and they get so caught up sometimes in just trying to get the glory for men that they
don't realize that there's an enemy that they have to fight.
So that's why it's real important that we understand that we need to be like Joshua
in the sense that Joshua was a soldier.
That's a big part of the Christian life.
Being a soldier, spiritually, of course, I'm not suggesting any of you go out and sign
up to the U.S. military and get in the ranks along some sodomite, because they just let
them in, apparently, or go out and have them slap a UN helmet on you and do who knows what.
But I'm saying that we should be a soldier spiritually today, because we have a spiritual
enemy.
We have somebody that's going to resist us, somebody that's going, we have an adversary,
the devil, who's walking about, seeking whom he may devour, and it might be that he has
his eyes on you, or someone near you.
And being a soldier is a major aspect of the Christian life.
Go ahead and turn over to Ephesians chapter 6.
The Bible talks a lot about being a soldier.
In the New Testament we have several different passages that liken us as Christians unto
soldiers.
We have a man named Joshua in the Old Testament that is given that spotlight, that is given
to us as an example, and what was he?
What did we find him as when he first comes on the scene?
We find him as a soldier.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2, Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ, no man that warreth entanglement himself with the affairs of this life, that he may
please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
So that's a big part.
I mean, he's saying, look, Paul's telling Timothy here, you need to endure hardness
as a soldier.
You need to have the mentality of a soldier.
You have to have the grit and the will and the fortitude of somebody that would be in
a battle.
Because if we lack those things, if we're unwilling to endure hardness, if we don't
want to be a good soldier, if we want to allow ourselves to be entangled with the affairs
of this life, we're going to find ourselves defeated.
We're going to find ourselves being attacked.
We're going to find ourselves, you know, dead in the foxhole somewhere some day.
And we're going to be a casualty of war.
And that's not something that any of us would want.
Look there in Ephesians chapter 6, it says, Finally, my brethren, verse 10, be strong
in the Lord and the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of
God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.
I mean, it sounds like we've got a pretty serious adversary.
To me, it sounds like being a soldier is a major part of the Christian life.
To me, it sounds like this is something that we have to get a hold of and understand, because
we have an enemy.
That we have someone that wants to fight us, as on a battlefield, someone that's warring
against us, and it requires us to be soldiers.
You know, and this is something, you know, we find Joshua first, the first time we see
Joshua in scripture, we see him as a soldier, and in the same way, we too, even when we
are first saved, we are immediately thrust into a battle.
You know, we didn't involve ourselves in a Sunday school picnic.
That's not what the Christian life is.
As the song goes, it's a battlefield, brother, not a recreation room.
It's a fight and not a game.
And that's what we're in.
If you got saved, guess what, you got signed up, you're on the front line, for the Lord.
And a lot of people don't realize that, and sometimes it takes people, first they have
to get shot at a few times, they hear a few bullets whiz by, maybe they get clipped in
the arm, they find themselves, you know, being tended to by some medic, you know, they find
them back in the barracks, you know, in God's house, trying to fix themselves, trying to
fix their life.
And someone has to tell them, yeah, duh, you were out in the battle, you were out involved
in a fight.
That's what the Christian life is.
It's a battle, it's a fight.
We need to realize that.
And the sooner the better.
I mean, the first time we see Joshua is a soldier.
And if we get saved, our two are immediately thrust into the battle.
Why is it that it doesn't seem fair?
Why would you take somebody who's just new to the faith and say that they're immediately
thrust into the battle?
Because Satan attacks early.
The thing is, somebody knows that if he strikes, you know, early on, and fast and hard, that
he can win.
A lot of times, that's who you see get taken out a lot of times.
It's the Christians who are new to the faith.
Those that don't understand, perhaps, the fullness of what they're involved in.
The spiritual battle that they're involved in.
We don't understand the attacks that Satan has.
They're weak, they're vulnerable.
I mean, he's a roaring lion.
You watch lions hunt, they don't go after the biggest, baddest animal in the pack.
They go after the weak of the herd, they go after the young, they go after those that
haven't gained strength.
So it's important for us to learn early on that being a soldier is a major part of the
Christian life.
That having that soldier-like mentality, of having a mentality that's saying, I'm willing
to endure hardness, I'm willing to go to war and not be entangled with the affairs of this life.
One of the aspects you would look at in a soldier is a soldier is somebody who takes orders.
A soldier is somebody who is subservient to higher orders.
He's somebody that has a higher power over him, and the orders come down from above,
and what he's told to do, that's what he does.
And when soldiers do that, when they follow orders, if they have a good general, if they
have a good captain, generally speaking, they're going to win.
Or they're going to suffer far less casualties than they otherwise would.
And it's important that we understand that that's what we need to do.
We need to learn to submit ourselves, the Bible says, to God, and resist the devil.
That's a conflict.
But if we're willing to do that, if we're willing to submit and to resist, the Bible
says that the devil will flee from us.
And I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't want the devil around.
I'd rather get some distance between me and Satan.
I'd rather see him flee.
And the devil doesn't want you to realize this.
He doesn't want you to know that if you would just resist him and flee him, I mean, there's
only so many devils in this world.
When Satan, when he took one third of the angels with him, you know, they have limited
numbers.
I believe there's quite a few.
But they can't waste their time on somebody whom they know they can't get to.
They're not going to sit there and waste their time on somebody whom they know is steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding the word.
If they see somebody who's consistently resisting them, if they see a good soldier who's enduring
a hardness, who's warring and fighting and not giving in, they're going to say, they're
going to move on to somebody else and they're going to go pick on that guy.
Not to say he might not come around later and test your mettle again and see what you're
made of and see if you can't try something else to get you.
But I believe that when the devil comes up against us and we resist him, the Bible says
that he flees.
That he goes somewhere else and tries to get somebody else.
And we're involved in a spiritual fight here at Make No Doubt About It and we have, you
know, we say, I'm not sure that I like the idea of the fact that we're involved in a
fight.
Nobody likes confrontation usually.
I know I don't.
I'm not a big fan of confrontation.
I like to be at peace and just kind of, maybe a little too much, maybe a little too easy
going.
But it's really something.
I mean, to think that we have the opportunity to see God fight for us, to see God fight
for us as we battle, you know, we get involved in these fights and we look to God to help
us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, and God will come to our aid and he will help
us just as he did with Joshua.
I mean, what an amazing thing that Joshua got to come back and smite, you know, smote
the Amalekites and comes back and tells them what happened up on the mountain.
Yeah, every time Moses' arms dropped, you guys lost, but when we held them up, they
won.
I mean, that's an act of God.
I mean, what specific, you know, what specific strategy does that make, you know?
What difference does that make on the battlefield whether Moses' arms are like this or like
this?
There's no strategic benefit.
I mean, it's not, you know, it doesn't make any sense.
It's an act of God.
It's something to show you that God is the one that's involved here, right?
And then when the man of God's arms are up, God moves, and when they're down, God
doesn't.
God isn't fighting.
And I think he allowed that to happen just to show them that the battle is the Lord's.
And what an amazing thing that Joshua got to be involved in so many of those battles.
We think, of course, in Joshua, if you would, turn to Joshua chapter 10, Joshua chapter
10.
I mean, here's an amazing battle.
You say, I don't know if I like fighting.
I don't know if I want to get involved in a fight.
Well, you know what?
Some guys kind of get into that.
I mean, being in a fight, being in a battle, I mean, it's exciting at least, isn't it?
I mean, at least there's an element of danger.
I mean, I think about this camping trip that we're going on, bears, cougars.
You know, maybe I shouldn't spill the beans here and scare anybody off, but Brother Geronimo
was telling me he's been up here on Mount Lemmon camping, and he heard scratching one
night on his tent, and he went out and opened it up, and a black bear and her mother and
her baby cubs were getting into the cougars.
That's where we're going.
We're going to go up there, and we're going to camp out right with them bears.
I mean, that's exciting.
So I mean, if you don't like conflict, you're not going to like the Christian life.
And I'll tell you what, there's plenty of other churches where you can go, and they're
not going to say anything controversial.
They're not going to say anything that might get you in hot water with the media.
They're not going to say anything that's going to have to cause you to make a decision in
your life about the way you're going to live.
They're not going to say anything that's going to upset you.
They're not going to rock the boat, and you can have a nice, quiet, plain, boring Christian
life.
You know why a lot of people come to Faithful Word?
It's because it's exciting.
They're excited about it.
To see somebody stand up and preach hard in the Word of God, and take it to them, not
just be on the defense all the time, not just be running and cowering and hiding, but actually
going on the offense and fighting back.
It's exciting.
And if we're going to be like Joshua and be a soldier, we have the opportunity to see
God fight for us, just as Joshua did.
It says there in Joshua 10, verse 1, Now it came to pass, when Adonai and Zidek, king
of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, as he had done
to Jericho and Hurricane.
So had he done to Ai and Hurricane, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with
Israel and were among them.
That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city as one of the royal cities, and
because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
Therefore Adonai and Zidek, king of Jerusalem, sent unto Hoham, king of Hebron, and unto
Pirim, king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia, king of Lachish, and unto Dibur, king of Eglon,
saying, Come up unto me, and help me, that we may spite Gibeon.
For I hath made peace with Joshua, and with the children of Israel.
Notice he didn't say, Help me go fight Joshua, help me go fight Israel.
He wanted to go pick on somebody that he thought he could win.
That's just like the devil.
He's not always going to take you head on, if he knows that you're strong in the faith.
But he might go after somebody in your family.
He might go after a child, he might go after a spouse.
He might try and fight the weak link in your family and go after it.
And that's kind of what these guys are doing here.
The problem isn't the Gibeonites, the Gibeonites aren't beating anybody.
They were this close to getting wiped out.
The problem is Joshua and Israel, but these guys don't want to fight him, they want to
go fight the Gibeonites.
Therefore the five kings of Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the
king of Jarmuuk, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together
and went up, and all their hosts that came before Gibeon, and made war against it.
And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp of Gilgal, saying, Slap not thine
hand from thy servants, come up to us quickly and save us and help us.
For all the kings of Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against
us.
And Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, all the mighty
men of valor.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not, for I have delivered them into thine hand,
and there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
Joshua therefore came suddenly, and went up from Gilgal at night, and the Lord discomfited
them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along
the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makeda.
And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down of Beth-horon,
that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died.
And there were more that died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew
with the sword.
Then spake Joshua the Lord in the day when the Lord had delivered up the Amorites before
the children of Israel, and set in the sight of Israel, Son, stand thou still upon Gibeon,
and thou moon in the valley of Agilon.
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, unto the people that avenged themselves upon
their enemies.
Is this not written in the book of Jashur?
So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted to go down about a whole day.
And there was no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto
the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.
I mean, that's an amazing story.
We just read over those words and tell us some tough names in there.
Do you really understand what took place here?
I mean, God is sending down great hailstones from heaven.
He's killing more people with the hailstones than the children of Israel could kill with
the sword.
I mean, he's fighting on behalf of God's people, to the point where he's even hearkening unto
the voice of a man, to the point where he's saying, I'll even stop the sun and the moon
to help you win this fight.
I mean, that's the same God that we serve.
That's our God.
That's the same God that we have today that's willing to fight on our behalf.
I mean, that's a small thing to God, to do these things.
It's nothing to Him.
And Joshua got to see all of this.
Joshua had the opportunity to see God fight for him.
Why?
Because he's willing to get in the battle as a soldier.
And that's what we need to learn from Joshua tonight, is that we, too, need to be soldiers
and not be so worried about what people are going to think or say or when we're going
to get acknowledged or when somebody's going to lift us up to some place, but just steadily
be faithful to God and do the work and fight day in and day out and fight the battle.
And if we're willing to do that, then we're going to see God fight.
We're going to see God work on our behalf.
And Joshua got to see that, but none of that would have happened if Joshua had not endured
the hardness at the very beginning of the story.
I mean, we like that latter half, we like the part about the sun standing still, the
moon standing still, the hailstones coming down, and God fighting, and there being no
day like that.
I mean, it's a powerful passage, but none of that would have happened if Joshua hadn't
learned to endure hardness at the very beginning.
Look at verse 7 there.
The giving eyes, of course, call out to him and say, come up and help us.
And it says in verse 7, so Joshua ascended from Gilgal.
Ascended.
That means going up, right?
I was thinking about today, we're out soul-biting, we've got those apartments, there was some
ascending going on.
Yeah.
Three stories.
And I had to go dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun, and get to that third floor because that's
where we started.
And you know, I really like the ones where you go all the way to the top, and then the
door, the first door is immediately right there, so you're like, oh, oh, oh, and it's
time to knock.
And you know, they come to the door and you're like, my neighbor, he's coming, he's coming.
Maybe you guys don't have a problem.
I do.
But I mean, ascending isn't easy, is it?
That's the point.
Ascending isn't, if I were to tell you, hey, we're going to go camping up at 7,700 feet
elevation this July, but no cars are allowed, you know, that sign-up sheet would probably
remain blank.
Who's going to want to go in at 7,000 height?
I mean, some of us might.
Yeah, I can think of, there's probably a few that would, right?
But by and large, we'd probably prefer to just drive up there, because ascending isn't
something that's easy to do.
And that's what Joshua had to do.
If he was going to go see God work on his behalf, if he was going to go deliver these
people, and if he was going to see this great day that, you know, there was no day like
it before it or after it that a man parking on the voice of God, it started with some
hardness.
It started with him having to ascend from Gilgal.
He and all the people who were with him and all the money they had to develop.
You know, a lot of times, the Christian life, it seems like an uphill battle.
It seems like everybody's against us.
You know, the heathen are raging, the media is against us, you know, they're sending their
nasty messages, you know, the family doesn't understand why you're going to that church,
you know, and then you've got to actually live the Christian life, which isn't the easiest
thing to do.
You know, you have to, you know, beat your body under, bring it into subjection, you
have to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
That's hard work to do that, to live for Christ and do the things that we ought to.
And sometimes it just seems like it's an uphill battle.
You know why it seems like an uphill battle?
Because it is.
Because it is an uphill battle.
And it's going to be an uphill battle all the way.
And you know, I don't want to sugar coat it and just say, oh the Christian life is easy
and don't worry, you know, there's going to be a plateau.
There probably isn't.
I mean, things will get stronger along the way, and yes, it will probably be easier to
do those hard and difficult things, and it won't become such a shock to us when certain
things happen, but it's still going to be an uphill struggle.
It's still going to be the next battle, and then the next battle, and then the next battle,
and then the next battle of having to die daily.
It's an uphill battle because the Bible says the whole world lies in wickedness.
I mean, I'm looking around, there's over a million people in this city, and they're not
beating down the door to get in here and sit down and hear what some Baptist preacher has
to say.
They lie in wickedness today, and it's our job to call out that wickedness and to separate
ourselves from that wickedness.
And that's a battle, friend.
That is a separation.
That is a saying, we're going to be different from you.
We're not going to go along with you.
We're going to resist that and not have anything to do with it.
The Bible says that in the last days, perilous times shall come.
It says that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, and that evil
men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
It's an uphill battle.
That's why it feels like an uphill battle, because it is.
But here's the thing.
God will help us if we'll just take that first step.
I mean, God didn't work on Joshua's behalf until he got in the thick of it, until he
got into that battle.
And if Joshua had said, no, I know they want us to go and help them, and maybe we would
if it was a descent instead of an ascent, but sometimes if we'll just say that difficult
first step, if we'll just take that difficult first step in the right direction, God will
start to move and work on our behalf.
Look at verse 7.
It says, so Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people who are with him, and all
the mighty men of Valor, and the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not, for I have delivered
them in their hand, there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
He takes that first step, he starts going out, he starts ascending, and immediately
God comes to his aid and says, fear them not.
And immediately comes to him and says, I have delivered them into thine hand.
I have to imagine that that ascent up to Gilgal was probably a little bit easier, knowing
that he had the promise of God, that when he got there, it was showtime, that when he
got there, it was going to go down, and that he was going to be coming out on the other
side, a conqueror, a victor.
And that's the same thing for us.
Yes, it's going to be an uphill battle all the way to the end of this life, and it's
going to be a fight, and a fight, and then another fight, and another fight, and it's
going to be an ascent all the way.
But I'm telling you what, when we get to the other side, when we get to glory, we're
going to come out the victors, and we're the ones who are going to come out more than
conquerors through him that loved us, kings and priests of our God.
I have to imagine when he got that promise there, when he told him, fear not, that that
probably really boosted his morale.
That's the thing.
We can really endure some hardness if our morale is high.
I mean, that's one of the big things in the military.
Morale is incredibly important, and you have to keep the morale of the troops up, because
battle is hard, because they have enough difficulty.
Their lives are on the line many times, and they have to go out, they have to do a very
difficult job, and it makes it a little bit easier if their morale is up, if they feel
like there's a point to it, but that they have help if there's going to be some assurity
of victory on the other side.
And they can endure a little bit more.
And then you say, good night, it was an uphill hike for him, he had to go out and go ascend
to Gilgal.
Well, that's not the worst of it.
It got a little bit harder after that.
Look at verse 9.
Joshua, therefore, came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.
Now I don't think he was, you know, when the call came down from Gilgal, hey, come
up and help us, and the Gibeonites were saying, you need to come get up here, you know, that
came to him during the day that he was probably just laying around taking it easy.
He was probably working, doing what he needed to do, probably maybe even looking forward
to a good night's rest, and this call comes down, and he doesn't say, well, we'll get
there tomorrow.
Well, let us sleep, you know, he immediately goes out and he goes all night.
When our morale is high, we say, man, we can endure a little bit more.
When we know we have the promise of God with us, we know that we can endure even a little
bit more hardness.
I mean, yeah, it's an uphill battle, but also you're going to do it all night when you'd
rather be in your bed sleeping, you'd rather be resting.
And we've got a lot of Baptists today, they're not going to deny the fact that there is a
battle, they're not going to deny the fact that the devil is raging, they're not going
to deny the fact that there's a need for us to stand up and fight, but they'll do it tomorrow.
But they'll do it when it's a little bit easier, when we can see what we're doing, when it's
a little bit easier to see how to get there.
It's just a little too dark right now.
That's a poor attitude, and you're not going to get anything accomplished that way, and
you're going to end up defeated, and you're certainly not going to see God fight on your behalf.
So it's important that we understand the insignificance of Joshua showing up in Scripture the first
time we see him as a soldier, because that is the example that we have to have in this
Christian life.
That is the example we are given in this Christian life, and it's something that we have to make
a part of our Christian life.
The fact that Christian life is a fight, that it is a battle, that it's an uphill battle,
and that it's in the dark, and that it's not going to be easy.
But here's the encouraging thing, old man should be able to stand against me.
God's going to fight for us, and in the end we know who's going to win, and really a soldier's
life, if you think about it, a soldier's life is summed up in two words.
One of two words, victory or defeat.
I mean that's really the only two things a soldier would really know.
How did the battle win and go?
Well you either won or you lost.
Somebody always wins and somebody always loses, and that's how a soldier's life really is
summed up in one of those two words, victory or defeat.
And you can't go into every battle, I mean you think about it on this earth, they go
into battle here, literal soldiers, they don't always know what the outcome's going
to be.
I mean if you're fighting in the United States military, you probably know what the outcome's
going to be.
Right?
Because it's the beast.
Nobody's able to make war with peace.
It's the most powerful military force the world has ever known.
But generally speaking, I mean in Joshua's day, when kings would gather to go out to
fight, they didn't always know who was going to win.
You didn't know if you were going to come home.
What kind of shape you were going to be in if you made it at all.
The outcome is not determined until that war is over.
But the good news for us as soldiers, spiritually, is that we already know how this ends.
We already know how this battle ends, spiritually.
I mean it's dark now, the world lies in wickedness, it's an uphill battle, but we at least have
the comfort and assurance of knowing how this ends.
We know how this ends spiritually, and if you would, in two of one or two ways, we know
how it ends spiritually.
If you would, turn over to 1 Corinthians 15.
We already know how this fight's going to end spiritually, because we're involved in
a spiritual fight, a spiritual battle for the hearts and the souls of men, that they
would see and understand the gospel, that they would hear it and know the truth, that
Jesus Christ loves them and died for them, that their sins can be forgiven, and that
there's a hell to be avoided in the head of the game.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 51, Behold, I show you a mystery, we shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
In a moment, in the twinkling light, the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed, for this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory, O death where is thy sting, O grave where is thy victory.
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which
give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore my brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding the working Lord, for as
much as you know your labor is not in vain, O Lord.
We know one day that death itself is going to be swallowed up, and that the last enemy
that shall be defeated is death, and that death shall have no more dominion.
We know how we're going to win this spiritual battle, that the outcome is ours, that we're
already victors in Christ.
But we also know how this ends on earth physically.
We talk about the spiritual battle, and that's the major component, and obviously we're not
fighting a physical battle right now.
God hasn't called us to go out and try to overturn governments and enact a theocratic
law where God will take care of that in due time.
But we already know how it's going to end physically.
Go turn over to Revelation chapter 19.
I think sometimes we don't understand the fullness of what it is God's going to do physically
on this earth.
I mean, there's a physical battle that's going to be fought against the enemy, enemy one
as well, and the point I'm trying to make is that we already have the comfort of knowing
how it ends.
Therefore it makes it so much easier for us to endure hardness.
Look at Revelation chapter 19, verse 1.
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Alleluia,
salvation and glory and honor and power in the Lord our God, for true and righteous are
his judgments.
For he has judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and
avenged the blood of his servants at her hands.
Look at verse 11.
And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him is called
Faithful and the Truth, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written
that no man knew but he himself, and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and
his name is called the Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen,
white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he should
smite the nations, and he shall rule them with the rod of iron, and he treadeth the
winecress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And he hath on his vesture and on his name a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the
supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains,
and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and
the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gather together to make war
against them, him that sat on the horse and against his army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before
him, with which he deceived them, that received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped
his image.
These were both cast alive in the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword
proceedeth out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
And that's the end of the wicked in this world.
That army that follows him on white horses clothed in white linen, that's me and you.
That's our captain.
We see that battle take place in heaven.
That's amazing.
And we already know how this is going to end here on this earth spiritually.
We already know that we already have the victory over death and the grave, that it has no more
dominion over us.
And we already know how this battle is going to end one day even physically.
That God, I mean, God just makes it sound so easy because it is for him.
He just takes them, casts them right in the lake of fire, as if they're nothing.
And that entire army, do you notice we're there, but we don't do any fighting.
He just with the sword of his mouth, just the word of his mouth, and all the birds come
and just eat their flesh.
Joshua didn't have any doubts about his God, and therefore he fought.
When Joshua left Gilgal, and God gave him that assurance that he was going to be with
him and that he was going to fight him and that no man would be able to stand before
him, and he was able to endure that hardness, and he had no doubts about the God that he
was serving.
And I just wonder sometimes, do we have that same unwavering faith, or do we sometimes
doubt, I wonder if God's really going to come through and just do what he did well for us.
And it's people that have that lack of faith, they're the ones that get out of the battle.
They're the ones that have that unwillingness to fight.
You see, an unwillingness to fight, that's a lack of faith.
To say, you know, I don't want to get in the battle, I don't know how it's going to turn
out, well that's a lack of faith.
The Bible says, whatsoever is born of God over cometh the world, and this is the victory
that over cometh the world, even our faith.
We've already won the fight.
It's already done.
This battle, we already know how it ends, and we should just learn to be like Joshua.
Joshua is somebody who shows up in scripture as a soldier, leading the battle.
That's a big part of the Christian life, learning how to be a good soldier for Jesus Christ.
But that wasn't the only aspect of Joshua's character.
I mean, that was a big part of it.
That's a big part of the Christian life, is learning to endure hardness as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ, learning that this is a battle that we're involved in, and that we have to
endure and fight and look to God to come to our aid.
But it isn't the only aspect, and it's not the only aspect of Joshua's character either.
And really, I think when we look at other aspects of Joshua's character, what we're
going to see is what he did off the battlefield that made him great, that made him a real
mighty man of God, because, you know, soldiering isn't the only part of the Christian life.
There's a lot more to it.
It's a major one, but there are a lot of other things that we need to learn in order to make
us a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
And that's what we'll see as we continue to look at Joshua, that, yes, he was a great
soldier who saw great victories and saw God work mightily, but there were a lot of other
things that Joshua did off the battlefield that made him a great soldier and a mighty
man of God.
Let's go ahead and pray.