The sermon 'Strength and Courage in the LORD' explores Joshua 1:1-9, where God commands Joshua to be strong and courageous as he leads the Israelites into the Promised Land. The speaker emphasizes that this strength and courage come from the Lord, not from human effort, and are rooted in faith and God's promises. The sermon draws parallels between Moses and Joshua, highlighting their roles as servants of the Lord and the continuity of God's leadership. It underscores the importance of meditating on God's Word, knowing His promises, and trusting in His presence. The sermon also addresses the enduring nature of God's promises and His eternal presence, encouraging believers to rely on God for strength and courage in their own lives, to persevere through challenges, and to carry out God's will with confidence.

Good morning everyone. Now's the time in the service where we're going to read the sermon text, Joshua 1, 1 through 9. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses's assistant, saying, Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over the Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you.

As I said to Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage.

For to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do all according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." The title of the sermon this morning is Strength and courage in the Lord, with in the Lord being in italics, because that really is the key.

It's not human strength and human courage, it's strength in the Lord and courage in the Lord. The call to be strong and courageous, it will happen three times in our text, is not a call to self-effort and human accomplishment. Far be it from us, it is a call to walk by faith and not by sight, to cling to the God of the promises, to keep His promises. It's a call to look to the Lord and to cling to Him tenaciously by faith to keep His promises. So this is strength from the Lord and only strength from the Lord, courage from the Lord, and only courage from the Lord because in the Lord we have an endless supply.

You want to go where there's an endless supply for your strength, you know you do. You want to go where there's an endless supply for your strength, you know you do. You want to go where there's an endless supply for courage, you know you do. I think if you've been alive long enough, you've had your strength fail. You've had your courage fail.

We've had enough of that. Need strength from the Lord and courage from the Lord. Human strength always fails sooner or later. Sometimes it holds out longer so you think it might hold out forever. That's just not true.

It won't. Human courage always fails sooner or later. Sometimes your own courage holds out a little longer, and you suspect that it might hold out indefinitely, but it never does. We need our strength to come from the Lord and our courage to come from the Lord. As we come to the text, let's ask the Lord to help us.

God, thank you for your word. What a treasure. What a treasure the book of Joshua is. We want to mine the gold out of these mines, out of these veins. God, thank you for giving us the book of Joshua to build our faith.

May it be so. May our faith to see you do great things in the world in us, through us, be built up as we study and see you do it in time past through your people. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, as always, we'll subdivide. And I want to start with verse one and just the first phrase or first sentence in verse two.

So I'm actually going to stop part way through verse two. Follow along as I read Joshua 1 in the first part of verse 2. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, so the Lord speaks to Joshua, Moses my servant is dead. So we'll stop there in verse 2. In this verse and a half we have a death announcement.

God comes to announce the death of his servant, Moses. The book of Joshua picks up exactly where the book of Deuteronomy left off. It's really very seamless. I want you to turn back one page to prove it to you and also to give you the context for Joshua chapter 1. The context for Joshua chapter 1 is Deuteronomy chapter 34.

It won't take long to read it. So just turn back one page and follow along as I read Joshua, I mean Deuteronomy chapter 34, the final chapter of Deuteronomy. Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho, across the Jordan from Jericho. Jericho is in the promised land. Mount Pisgah is across the Jordan from the promised land.

And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, The south and the plain to the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees as far as Zohar. This is a supernatural thing that is happening. Your human eyes wouldn't be able to see that, all that territory unless you've been given the supernatural ability to do so. Verse 4, then the Lord said to him, this is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying, I will give it to your descendants. I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

And he, God, and he, God buried him in a valley of the land of Moab, opposite Beth-Pior. But no one knows his grave to this day, because God buried him. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days.

So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended. Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the children of Israel heeded him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face. And all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt before Pharaoh, before all his servants and in all his land, and by all that mighty power, and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel." So Deuteronomy chapter 4 gives us the death of Moses and the beginning of Joshua leading the people in his place.

The last verses say that there had not arisen another prophet like Moses. That's because Jesus is the prophet like Moses. Moses is a placeholder until Jesus comes as the promised prophet like Moses to come and be an even greater than Moses. Now back to Joshua chapter 1, I'd like to draw out four notable points from this first verse and a half. Number one, God speaks first in the book of Joshua.

There's only one voice speaking first in the book of Joshua and it is the voice of God repeating His promises and promising to be with Joshua. This book is about the exploits of the promise-keeping God. It's fair enough to name the book Joshua, but more than being about a man that God raised up, it's about the God who raised up the man. It's about the exploits of the promise keeping God. The reason we have the book of Joshua is that God made His promises known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then Moses, and He fulfilled them, and he wants us to know that he kept all of those promises.

Remember from last week, Moses changed his name. His name was Hosea, which means he saves. Moses said, no, your name is now Joshua, which means Yahweh delivers, or the Lord is salvation. Not just he saves, but God is the deliverer. God is the savior.

So number one is God speaks first in the book of Joshua. Nothing could be more fitting than that because it's really about God, not about the man that God raised up. Number two, Moses is called the servant of the Lord. See that in the text? After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord.

Well, who cares about that? Everybody knows Moses was God's servant. What is the significance of that? Well, here it is. That exact phrase was never used about Moses until what I just read in Deuteronomy chapter 4, the death of Moses chapter.

It is said that Moses serves God earlier, but he's never called the servant of the Lord until Exodus 34. But now that he's finished his course, he's run his race and finished his course, he's been designated as the servant of the Lord having finished well and in the book of Joshua he'll be called the servant of the Lord fifteen times. Now it just flows freely. He was never called the servant of the Lord in the Pentateuch up until his death chapter, but he finished his course and he finished well and now scripture designates him the servant of the Lord and now he'll just be called the servant of the Lord as a matter of course. And the same is true of Joshua.

What do I mean by that? He'll never be called the servant of the Lord through the Pentateuch. Remember, he appeared 27 times in the Pentateuch. He won't be called the servant of the Lord all the way through Joshua until we get to chapter 24, it's the last chapter, and in the verse that announces his death, he'll be called the servant of the Lord. When he has run his race and finished his course and finished serving God, then he will bear this title of honor, really.

It really is a title of honor, the servant of the Lord. It reminds me of the letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3. There are seven churches that get a letter from the Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful. And they all end the same way.

They all end with a promise to Him who overcomes. Friends, brethren, our key objective is not to begin well. May we begin well. May we begin well. But the key objective is not simply to begin well.

The key objective is to run our race and finish our course and hear the words, well done, good, and faithful servant. It is to persevere to the end, to cling to our Savior to the end, and to keep going through all sorts of discouragements and hardships. Did Moses know discouragements and hardships and How? Did Joshua know discouragement and hardships and how? But they finished their course and they have heard the words, well done, good, and faithful servant.

That is the objective for us, is to keep going and to finish well. There's a promise to him who overcomes. That's number two. Moses is called the servant of the Lord. Number three, the servants die.

Even the great ones. Even the Moses's, but the master lives on. That's all you need to know. That's all that matters. The servants come and go.

The servants live and die. The master doesn't live and die. The master lives on forever. From eternity past through eternity future. Men and women of the kingdom are never more than servants.

That extends to the New Testament. Paul, a bond servant of Jesus Christ. Peter, a bond servant of Jesus Christ. The greatest are only servants in the kingdom. They're never more than that.

And they wear it as a badge of honor. Paul wore that, being a bond servant of the Lord Jesus Christ as a badge of honor, so did Peter. You can believe Moses did, you can believe that Joshua did. By the way, the only other two in the Old Testament that wear the title, that exact phrase, the servant of the Lord, is Abraham and David, outside of Moses and Joshua. So it is not frequently used.

That's number three. The servants die, even the great ones, but the master lives on. People like me come and go. People like you come and go. All expendable.

God's plan is marching on because of God. He doesn't need me, and he doesn't need you, but it's our privilege to play a part in his plan. We should count it a privilege to play whatever small part he would be pleased to give us. Number four, God has a tried and true leader ready to lead his people when Moses dies. There's never any question about who will lead the people.

There's never any question about his credentials, his readiness. He is tried and true. It is a matter of course because of how God has raised this man up over a long period of time. Joshua has been proven faithful in the eyes of Moses, in the eyes of the people, with smaller things all along the way and now he is given greater things. That's so often how it works in God's kingdom.

He's called Moses' assistant in our text, but he's been Moses' assistant really forever. Joshua was in his 40s when the people came out of slavery. Think of this, Joshua lived as a slave in Egypt for the first 40 some years of his life and then he was there to see the plagues by which God brought them out of their slavery and gave them freedom and He walked across the Red Sea on dry land and he followed the cloud, the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. He ate the manna in the wilderness. He occurs in the Pentateuch 27 times as the leader of the army of Israel against the Amalekites, going up with Moses onto the mountain and coming down and finding the people with the golden calf, coming down with the tablets of the commandments.

He was one of two spies who spied out the land. Along with Caleb, he came back with a good report. The other ten said, No, they're too mighty for us. We're like grasshoppers in our own eyes compared to them. They said, no, God said he would give it to us.

We can do it. He was with Moses in the tent of meeting, seeing Moses meet with God, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Over a period of 40 years in the wilderness, God was raising him up and giving him a front row seat to see all his wonders. And now he's about 90 years old. He'll die at 110 years old.

That's explicitly stated in the book of Joshua. When we come to that last chapter, it will say that he died. He was 110 years old. We're about 20 years from that time, probably less than 20 years from that time. I'd like to look at his inauguration or his commissioning.

In other words, the time where Moses at God's command made him his successor. And that is in Deuteronomy chapter 31. Turn there if you would. Deuteronomy chapter 31. I'll read Deuteronomy 31 verses 1 through 8, and then I'll skip to verse 23 and I'll tell you when I do it.

Deuteronomy 31, just a couple of pages back. Verses 1 through 8. Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them, I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in.

Also the Lord has said to me, You shall not cross over this Jordan. The Lord your God himself crosses over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said. And the Lord will do to them as He did to Sion and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them.

The Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I commanded you. Be strong and of good courage. Sound familiar? Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid of them.

For the Lord your God, He is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Sound familiar? Most of these are words from our text today. Then Moses called Joshua and said to him, in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the one who goes before you.

He will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Do not fear nor be dismayed." There are so many of the same words and phrases as we have in our text today. Then skipping to verse 23, then he, God, inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun and said, be strong and of good courage, for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you." By the way, for you children, when it says son of none, it's spelled N-U-N. It doesn't mean the son of nobody, he's the son of somebody.

The man's name was none. That's a name, so don't be confused by Joshua the son of none. He did have a father. His father's name was none. Alright, back to our text.

Alright, back to our text. We'll pick up in verse 2, in the second sentence of verse 2, and I'll be reading through verse 5, so follow along as I reread that. Now therefore arise. Go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.

From the wilderness of this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you." So in this section the Lord affirms his promises. I don't say that he makes promises because there are no new promises here.

That's the first point I want to make. You won't find a single new promise here. It is an affirmation of promises already made in times past to other people. In verse 3 he said, As I said to Moses, so Moses inherited all these promises, but even Moses just inherited them from others. In truth, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob received the promises that God affirms here in this section.

Joshua is given a command that will require a Red Sea-like miracle. In other words, You don't get this just from the bare reading of it, but he's commanded to go over the Jordan. Now, how are they going to do that? The Jordan is a deep, fast-flowing river. We're going to get to that in the weeks to come, but just let me put that as a place marker now.

The Jordan is a deep, wide, fast-flowing river across from Jericho. How are they going to do that? He's commanded to do the humanly impossible here. What he's commanded to do is going to require a Red Sea-like miracle, or it's not going to happen. There's no small thing that Joshua is commanded to do.

Then Joshua is given us a summary map of the promised lands. Just a summary, it's a shorthand as it were. There are places where it's longhand, where you get a very detailed description of borders all the way around. We're going to come to that in the book of Joshua, but for now it's just a summary of the map. The wilderness is the southern border, roughly speaking.

Lebanon is the northern border, roughly speaking. The Euphrates River is the eastern border, roughly speaking. The Great Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea, is the western border, roughly speaking. Large portions of this land will be conquered and possessed rapidly over the period of a little more than a decade. We're going to be reading about it and studying it in the book of Joshua.

A large portion of this summary map will be conquered and possessed with what we're studying in Joshua. The entire area will become Israelite territory during the expansions of David and Solomon. So they eventually get out to these borders, but it will take until the expansions of King David and his son King Solomon before that full summary map is possessed by the children of Israel. Now, what God says here to Joshua mirrors what God said in Deuteronomy 11 to Moses. So turn to Deuteronomy 11.

This is the last time we'll be in Deuteronomy, but I want you to see how similar this is in Joshua 1 to what has already been said in Deuteronomy 11. I'll be reading Deuteronomy 11, 22 through 25. Deuteronomy 11, 22 through 25. For if you carefully keep all these commandments, which I command you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him." So let's just stop there. That is what the commandments are.

That's not New Testament teaching. If you love God you keep His commandments is not New Testament teaching. If you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do, What is the summary of those commandments? To love the Lord your God. To walk in all His ways.

To hold fast to Him. Verse 23, Then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours, just like our text. From the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your territory, just like our tax. No man shall be able to stand against you, just like our tax.

The Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you. So what's the difference between Deuteronomy 11 and Joshua chapter 1? Really nothing in content. I just proved to you they have many of the same phrases and words, but now in Joshua 1, God says it directly to Joshua. It's Moses mediating the message to Joshua and the rest of the people in Deuteronomy 11.

Now it is the voice of God Himself to Joshua, who is at the head of the mission, humanly speaking. So, the map is summarized. God affirms this promise, no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Nobody knows how God was with Moses better than Joshua.

When God says, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you, Joshua knows exactly what that means. Joshua knows exactly the extent of that promise. And God affirms this promise, I will never leave you nor forsake you. All that Moses had spoken is now spoken to Joshua directly by God. Imagine how important that would have been to the man who humanly speaking is now at the head of the mission to hear it directly from God, not mediated through Moses, but from the voice of God.

Our last section, verses 6 through 9. Our last section, verses 6-9. Joshua 1, verses 6-9. Be strong and of good courage, For to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you.

Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage.

Do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." No wonder Peter calls these exceedingly great and precious promises. Aren't they exceedingly great and precious? And he's keeping them all. The exhortation or command is given three times. Be strong and of good courage.

First words of verse 6. Only be strong and very courageous, the first words of verse 7. And be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid. About half way through verse 9. Now let's start by defining the terms.

They're companion terms. They're terms that go together. They're terms that fit together. Strength. Be strong.

What is that? It's the ability to act with force. A lot of strength is a lot of ability to act with force. Little or no strength is little ability or an inability to act with strength. We tend to think in terms of the physical, But it need not be the physical.

Often it's not the physical at all. Often physically weak people can be the strongest people. Can actually, even though they're physically weak, be able to act with incredible force. Force. It's the ability to act and not give an inch to by strength of will persevere and see it done.

Courage. Be courageous. Be very courageous. It's the resolve to act. Even in the face of great and fearful obstacles.

So here are the great and fearful obstacles in front of you. But you resolve to act anyway. You can you can make yourself face the fears and obstacles. It's the commitment to act in spite of these great and fearful obstacles. When most people would shrink back, they would see the great and fearful obstacles and say, no way!

The courageous person has the resolution, has the commitment to act anyway, to put in action the force. Whatever force they have, they'll act with that force because they're resolute. They have the resolution to do it, the commitment to do it. These go together. If you have great strength but little courage, good luck with that.

You have the ability to act with force, but these looming great and fearful obstacles make you shrink back. If you have great courage but little strength, good luck with that. You have the resolution, the commitment to act, but you have no ability to act with force. Good luck with that. You need them together.

You need strength. You need courage. You need the ability to act with force and the resolution and commitment to do it. Brethren, Do you know that obedience to God requires this? Our text is teaching us that obeying God and especially persevering in obeying God, not obeying God just for a day or a week, but obeying God for a lifetime, following with Him, walking with Him requires this combination of the ability to act with force and the resolution to do it in the face of great and fearful obstacles.

That is the only way that we get to the finish line. Now Where is this strength and courage supposed to come from? Where are you going to get that? Well, it isn't from the New Year's resolution, I'll tell you that. Great and fearful obstacles can and will break your New Year's resolution.

And normally does by mid-January. For those of you who make New Year's resolutions. Can tell you that. So, this isn't about screwing up the courage, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The power of positive thinking, that is not what is in view here.

Our text gives us the answer to where is this supposed to come from. The promises of God, the presence of God, the Word of God, period. It comes from the promises of God and knowing that He always keeps His promises. The presence of God, knowing He's with me, He won't leave me, He won't forsake me. The Word of God, by which you know God, by which you know His promises.

Look at verse 6 again. Be strong and of good courage for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. I promised it, so be of good courage. I swore I would give this land to their descendants. So be strong, because you know you're acting on my promises.

I am the backstop for all of these actions. He has been a promise-making God. Will he be a promise-keeping God? For Joshua, there can only be one answer. He was in Egypt as a slave when he saw God bring them out by a mighty hand, ten plagues.

He walked across the Red Sea on dry land. He watched God lead them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He ate the manna. He knows God can and will take care of his people, fulfill his promises. The Word of God imparts strength and courage.

So there are these three commands. It's actually called a command. I wanted to call it an exhortation and encouragement. And I think it is an exhortation and encouragement, but our text calls it a command. Be strong.

He's commanded to be strong. He's commanded to be courageous. The Word of God imparts strength and courage. So that's what mixed in with these commands to be strong and courageous is go to the Word of God, meditate on the Word of God, don't let it depart from your mouth. It starts by knowing it, yes, it starts by meditating on it, yes, but it includes observing it.

The Word of God is not simply for contemplation. It's not simply for understanding. It is good for contemplation, and it's good for understanding, but its purpose is that we would observe it and do it and obey it. That's why you read it, that's why you study it, that's why you meditate on it so that you'll observe it. It teaches us what to do with the expectation that we'll do it.

Consider Psalm 1, 1 through 3. You can listen or turn there, whichever you like. Psalm 1, 1-3. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law He meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper." This is exactly what our text is saying. Then you'll prosper. Then you'll have good success. Saturate yourself in the Word of God. Know God in His Word and you'll prosper.

You'll be like a tree planted by rivers of water that is always bearing fruit in its season. Its leaf never withers because its roots are down in the river, Always having what it needs. The Word of God nourishes the soul. The Word of God supplies the strength of the Lord. It gives you, the Word of God studying it, meditating on it, doing it, obeying it gives you the ability to act with force and to act with conviction.

It gives you both strength and courage because you've been taught what to do. You can do it in the confidence that it's God-directed and that He's with you. So you can act with force. You can will it. Because you're acting with confidence in the God who taught you these things, who's told you to do these things.

It banishes fear. Don't you find that to be true? When you're doing something that you know is the will of the Lord because you have chapter and verse for it, there might be great and fearful obstacles, but you know that you must do it, that you can do it, that God will be with you in it and you can do it without fear. It banishes fear. To learn the Word of God, to meditate on the Word of God, gives you confidence to observe the Word of God.

Because you've learned who God is in this book. You've learned that He doesn't leave or forsake His people, but that He's with them. Keep to the path. Back to Joshua chapter 1. Keep to the path.

Don't go to the right hand. Don't go to the left hand. Keep to the path. Here's what Matthew Henry says, there are errors on both hands and virtue is in the main. Virtue is in the middle.

The course marked out by the Word of God, good is there. The right is there. There are errors on both sides, so you have to stay right in the middle of what God has said. Not to the right hand, not to the left. God has marked that away, you stay right on that way, you stay right in the middle because error and harm and destruction are on both sides.

The word of God is not to depart from Joshua's mouth. He is to lead Israel. He is to go before them with the words of God on his lips, on his mouth. He doesn't lead according to Joshua. Joshua means Yahweh delivers.

The Lord is salvation. He leads with the Word of God on his lips. He tells the people the Word of God and then he obeys and they come with him. That's what we're going to see in the book of Joshua. He tells the people what God says and then he obeys and the people go with him.

That's what God meant. Final word and then some applications. Our text is the key preparation for conquering seven nations more mighty than they are. What do you need to conquer seven nations more mighty than you are? You need the ability to act with force in the Lord.

You need the ability to be courageous in the Lord. You need to saturate yourself in the Word of God and obey the Word of God. So did they do military preparations? I'm sure they did. It's just not in the text because it's not as important as what's in the text.

To vanquish your enemies, there may be practical things that you need to do, but more than that, more important than that, is to draw strength from the Lord, draw courage from the Lord, saturate yourself in the Word of God, and obey His Word. Two applications. I'm going to give you two New Testament texts that bring in what we've been talking about. First, consider Hebrews 13 verse 5. Hebrews 13 verse 5.

The author of Hebrews says this, this. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. For he himself, God Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. I want you to think about that, especially if you've been tempted that these promises, I will never leave you or forsake you, are for the likes of Joshua.

Great men that God has raised up over the period of forty years, I will never leave and forsake you. Well, what about me? I'm nobody. The author of Hebrews applies it to me the nobody. He says, don't covet things, be content.

For God has said to me, I will never leave you or forsake you. You don't need to clamor for things, you don't need to grasp things. He'll make sure that you have everything that you need, and he'll make sure that you have everything that you need, and he'll make sure that you have other good things more than you need if they're good for you. He won't leave you or forsake you. He won't leave Joshua, he won't leave the king, he won't leave the emperor.

True. He won't leave me. He won't leave any of his people. The author of Hebrews applies it to people like you and me. God's promise never to leave and forsake is not for the great and mighty, it is for those who are His.

If you belong to him, it's for you. And it should shape our lives. That God will never leave us or forsake us is meant to shape our lives and it should. Number two. Finally, Romans 8, 31 and 32.

You might consider this Paul's commentary on Joshua chapter 1 in a way, Romans 8, 31, and 32. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? If God is for us, what does it matter if there are seven nations mightier than us given to us to dispossess? We'll dispossess them because God is for us.

He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" If you've ever wondered about the intentions of God towards you, just look at the cross. If you've ever wondered whether He'll supply what you need, look at the cross. Why would he give his son for you but then not give you these practical things that you need? That's impossible. That's the argument that Paul is making.

That's impossible. It is impossible. It is impossible that he would give up his son and not give us the practical things that we need. And not give us the victories that bring Him glory. All we need is God.

Friends, please believe that. It will make you so happy in this life. Even when you're facing these great and fearful obstacles, if you can be convinced that all you need is God and He gives Himself freely to you, you'll be able to face all of these things with strength and courage. All we need are His promises, and there are a bunch. They're exceedingly great and precious.

All we need is His presence, and we have His presence. Those who are in Christ have His presence. All we need is His Word. It will tell us what to do. It will teach us about Him so that we will have confidence in Him, so that we will be able to walk by faith and not by sight.

His word will make us strong and courageous in the Lord. God, we know all these things. Your children who have walked with you for a reasonable period of time haven't heard anything new today. God, we need these things to penetrate deep into our hearts. We need these things to transform our minds so that we have such supreme confidence in your promises because you have made them.

Pray that you would give us knowledge of your promises as we saturate ourselves in your word and that we would have supreme confidence in every one of them. We would walk in this world as people who are thoroughly, thoroughly convinced that you'll keep all of them. And this will inform the decisions that we make and the things that we do. That when we're confronted by the fear of man, of taking the good news of Jesus into the world, we'll just reckon you as a promise keeping God and push forward. Thank you for all the potential applications for this in our daily lives.

Joshua 1 will matter to us on Monday morning. Help us to walk according to the light that you give us. I pray In Jesus' name, amen.