Commissioned for Duty, Part 1

Joshua chapter 1 is where we are this evening. Joshua chapter 1. And as you're turning, I want you to think of a time in your life where you had to face a monumental task. Or think about a time in your life in which you were greatly intimidated. You were overwhelmed by the responsibility that was before you. Maybe you were sharing the gospel for the very first time.

You know, we got people who go out and go door to door each and every Saturday, and maybe that was one of the times you felt overwhelmed. Going to someone's door and knocking on the door and saying, Hey, I want to talk to you about Jesus Christ. Maybe it was overwhelming. Maybe you were intimidated to speak to somebody. Maybe it was just striking up a conversation in a room with people you did not know. Maybe it was trying out for an athletic team or for a musical play in your school where you were intimidated by the other voices or the other players in that program.

Maybe a situation where you're called to give your testimony in front of people at church. An overwhelming task for some people. Some people are absolutely, completely intimidated to stand up and speak in front of a crowd. When you think about those events in your life, when you think back about what has taken place in your life in those overwhelming times where you are greatly intimidated, how did you respond? What did you do? Joshua finds himself about to begin the greatest task He has ever been involved in.

And that's to lead two and a half million Jews into the prom land. This was an overwhelming task. There was great anxiety. In the life of Joshua. We know that from the first nine verses of Joshua chapter 1.

There was great fear in the life of Joshua. It was a daunting task. And he was called to lead. He had to step into the shoes, or literally the sandals of Moses. And lead these people. He had to follow these words by God Himself when the Lord God said in Deuteronomy:, Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew, face. To face for all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants and all his land. And for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel, Moses was the greatest man.

And here, Joshua now had to follow in those footsteps. He now had to lead these people. It was an overwhelming task for Joshua. I remember back in 1988 when I moved to the West Coast. I was on the East Coast for the majority of my life. And a friend of mine had come and had spoken at the King's College where I was a college pastor and said, hey, why don't you come out to my church and be involved in what we're doing out here at Calvary Church, Santa Ana? Why don't you come out here to California?

I thought, wow, man, what a great opportunity. So, my wife was visiting her folks in Illinois at the time. So, I called her and, Hey, honey, we an opportunity to move to California. What do you think? She, Hey, you know what? Let's do it. So, sure enough. You know, we got into our car and drove to California. In 1988, it was December of 1988 when we moved out here. And the pastor's name was David Hawkins. He, you, Lance, I want you to speak. At the church, when you come. Now, I've been a college pastor for 10 years, and I spoke all the time to college students, but I never spoke in front of 10,000 people before.

And David says, You, I want you to come to our church. And when you get here, I want you to speak. I thought, wow, okay. What do you want me to say? I don't care. Just preach out of the Bible. Anything you want to preach on, just preach out of the Bible. I thought, wow, man, how am I going to do this? I'd never preached before so many people before in my entire life. And to preach in the same pulpit where a man who has written many, many books, been on the radio for many, many years, pastored many large churches, was a very intimidating experience for me.

And so what I did was study Joshua chapter 1, verses 1 to 9. And I began to realize how is it Joshua had to overcome intimidation. And if Joshua could overcome his intimidation of following the greatest leader who ever lived to lead two and a half million Jews into the promised land, I could stand up to preach for 55 minutes on a Sunday morning. I can do that. And so I began to study Joshua chapter 1, verses 1 to 9. Let me read them to you, and then we'll talk about them together this evening.

Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, cross the Jordan. You and all this people to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the soul of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. All the land of the Hittites, and as far as the great sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory.

No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left. So that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.

So that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be str and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Aren 't those great words? Moses would use those words to propel him to leadership. It's one thing to know you're going to lead. It's another thing to know that it's now time to lead. It's like getting married. You know, it's one thing to know you're going to get married.

It's one thing to know you're engaged to be married. But when the day finally arrives, and you now are married, that becomes a huge responsibility.

It's one thing to look forward to it, to be prepared for it. It's another thing to actually engage in it. And here was Joshua, who had been prepared by the Lord for this opportunity. But now Moses is dead. Three things I want to cover with you this evening. Number one is the moment of his commissioning.

Number two, the mandates in his commissioning. Number three, the motivation behind His commissioning.

Okay? First of all, the moment of his commissioning. And three things I want you to see about this moment. Number one, it was a sovereign.

Moment. The Bible says very clearly: it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke.

To Joshua. This was a sovereign m. God comes to Joshua and he speaks to him. He says, My servant Moses is dead. Now it's time to move on. Now that's important to grasp. We'll talk about that in a second.

But he says, you know, Joshua, it's time now to move. And the responsibility of the servant is to obey the master and to do what he says. He could have given some excuses. His leader, Moses, gave lots of excuses before he finally was com to lead the nation of Israel.

He gave all kinds of excuses about the fact that he couldn't speak so well, they didn't know the name of the Lord, how is he going to handle the responsibility? And God, the anger of the Lord, burned again Moses in Exodus chapter 4. Because Moses finally said to God, why don't you send somebody else?

And God said, It's not going to do. You're the man. Now the Lord comes to Joshua. He says, Joshua, Moses is dead. It's your time to arise and cross the Jordan. It's your time now to possess the land that I have given. To you and to your fathers. This was a very sovereign moment. Joshua was called to lead Israel. Into the promised land. That's chapters two through five. He was then compelled to conquer the enemy in the land. That's chapter 6 through chapter 12 through chapter 12. And then chapters 13 and following, he was called then to divide up the land among his people.

And when you come to the end, in Joshua chapter 23, verse number 14, listen to the words that Joshua says. His farewell address. It says, Now, behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. And you know, in all your hearts and in all your souls. That not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed, all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them. Has failed. Why, isn't it good? Joshua says, I'm going to die. It's about time for me to go home and be with the Lord.

But I want to let you know that not one word. Of the words that God has given to you has failed. He has been true to His word. And God says in chapter one to Joshua, it's time to move.

It's time for you to conquer the land. It's time for you to do what you have been called to do. What is God's call in your life? What has God called you to do? What has God commissioned you to accomplish? All of us don't have the responsibility of Joshua. We're not leading two and a half million people. He was. We might be little L's when it comes to leadership instead of big L's in leadership. If you have someone that you're leading, if someone's following you, which someone always follows you, you're a leader.

And when God commissions you to lead, you need to follow. And Joshua was the kind of man who understood that when God spoke, it was time to move. He realized his position. He realized his call in life. And very few of us ever come to grips with the fact of our calling. A couple of weeks ago when we were in Israel, I've told you before that Ezekiel, my good Jewish friend, invited me to his house for the Shabbat. As we sat down for dinner, he begins with the blessing of the wine. He looks at me and says, Can I pour you some wine?

I said, I don't drink wine, Ezekiel. He looked at me like, You don't drink wine? How come you don't drink wine? I said, Well, I've just never drank wine. Well, how come you don't drink wine? he says. I said, do you want me to give you the biblical reason as to why? He says, yes, I'd be curious as to what is the biblical reason you don't drink wine. I said, well, understand that in your economy, in Judaism, You have a priesthood. In our economy, Christianity, we are a priesthood. He looks at me like, What are you talking about?

I said, The Bible says that we are a chosen generation, we are a royal priesthood. That's 1 Peter 2, verse number 9. The Bible says in Revel chapter 1 that we are a kingdom of priests.

That 's what God calls us as Christians. Now, in the Old Testament Ezekiel, you would know this because in the book of Leviticus, in the Torah, you know what the law says for the priests. No wine is to touch their lips while performing priestly duties. None. That is in your law. I said, but in our economy, in Christianity, because we are a kingdom of priests, We are always on duty. There's never a time that we are not doing a priestly function. You want to know why, Ezekiel? Because the Bible says in the Old Testament that the priests were to offer up sacrifices.

In the New Testament, the priesthood. Is the sacrifice. Romans 12, that we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept unto God. So, in answer to your question, the reason I don't drink wine is because not only am I a rabbi in Christianity, but I'm a priest in Christianity. See? And therefore, The Bible would prohibit me from having any wine touch my lips whatsoever. He then looks to my father and says, How about you? Are you a priest too? The bottom line is: when God calls you to do something, How willing are you to obey?

Most of us don't understand the priesthood of the believer. We don't grasp that. We don't understand it. We don't realize the magnitude of what God's called us to be. If we did, our lives would be completely different than they are. But when God calls us, we need to respond. The Bible says, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.

And I have chosen you as the Father has sent me, so now send I you. John 20:2. The Lord says, as I was sent, so now you too are sent. We become the ambassadors. The kingdom of God. We become the representatives of God's kingdom. And how do we represent the kingdom of God? We must understand the magnitude of our responsibility as believers in Christ. And so this was a very sovereign m. For Joshua. Number two, it was a very sorrowful moment.

For God says, very simply, Moses. My servant is dead. That's all he says. Moses is dead. It's time to move on. They had mourned for Moses for 30 days. 30 days. They mourned for Aaron for 30 days. But that time of mourning now is over. And now it's time to move on. And so this was a sorrowful moment. What's going to happen next? How do we handle this? I mean, Moses was the only leader they had known. For over 400 years. The only real leader they had known. And now he was dead. How would they handle that?

How would they handle the next man? And they knew that Joshua was the next leader because it had been spelled out to them. By Moses. Yet how are they going to handle that? This was a very sorrowful moment. When you lose a loved one, when you lose an excellent leader, when you lose a great leader, you wonder what's going to happen Now, because you see, it's not about the worker, it's about the work itself. The workers come and go, the work remains the same, it's the work of God. And we must understand that.

And God gives us, in this first verse, the antidote for our sorrow. The antidote for your sorrow, listen, is service. When you lose a loved one, When you lose one dear to you and you are overwhelmed with sorrow, you know what you got to do? You got to serve. You got to fulfill your duty. I mean, God says, you what?

Moses is dead. It's time to move on. In essence, God says, you know what, Joshua, we're not going to sit here.

We're not going to have pity on ourselves. We're going to move on. So many times we just want to sit and feel the pain. And feel the sorrow. There's a time to cry, and there's a time to feel the sorrow. And Israel did for 30 days, but that time was over now.

And now it was time to move on, to get on with the work that God had called them to do. And the antidote to sorrow is always service, because service takes your eyes off of you and puts them on God. It takes your eyes off of you and puts them on God. It gives you a proper perspective, and that's what God wants you to do. And so they could sit and sorrow over Moses all they wanted, but God says, You know what, Joshua?

He's dead. He's not coming back. It's time to move on. So you be strong. You be courageous. Those who don't move on are never strong and are never courageous. Mark it down. Those who do not move on will never be strong and will never be courageous. They'll just sit and become weaker and weaker and weaker and weaker. And God says, My servant Moses is dead.

It's time to mo on. I remember when my first wife died many, many years ago now, back in the early 80s.

And after she died, I went back to work. Because I had a ministry. What was I going to do? Sit home and do what? Worry about what I was going to do next? Worry about if I was going to get married again? Worried about how I was going to handle the needs that I had. What was he going to do? Sit back and do nothing? No. You know what? God had called me to be a college pastor. God had called me to preach and teach the Word of God. So the very next Sunday. I was in the pulpit. Very next Friday at school, I was teaching again because that's what God had called me to do.

And the more I actively pursued the ministry that God gave me. The easier it was for me to move on, to real that life goes on. And therefore, I must be preoccupied with the ministry that God's given to me and to serve Him with my whole heart. And Joshua had to realize that. The moment of his commissioning, it was a sovereign moment. It was a sorrowful moment. And number three, it was a strategic moment.

This was a very strategic moment. Why? Because number one, Israel was now ready. Back 40 years earlier, in num 13 to 14, Israel was not ready. They were rebellious. They did not want to go into the promised land. They did not want to pursue the giants. They did not believe in the word of the Lord. They were rebellious. But when the rebellious are removed, ministry can move. Did you get that? When the rebellious are removed, ministry can now move on. And all the rebellious people were now dead. They were all dead.

All those 20 and over all died in the wilderness in unbelief. And all those under 20, except for Joshua and Caleb, you know what? It was time for them to move on. And rebellious people. Tend to put a damper on things. They tend to hinder the work. They tend to make the work very difficult. Well, all the rebellious people now were gone. This was a strategic time. They were all dead. All those under 20 were now ready to move in. But not only was Israel ready, Canaan was ready. How do we know that Canaan Was ready.

Very simple. It says over in Joshua chapter 2, verse number 9. Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, that is Rah, and said to them in, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us. And that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. Rah knew that the land was theirs. Rah knew that terror had engulfed them. Canaan was ready because Canaan now was fearful. They were intimidated by the nation of Israel. If you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 2, verse number 25, it says this: Listen to words of Moses: This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens who.

When they hear the report of you, shall tremble and be in anguish because of you. Now, over in chapter 11 of Deuteronomy. Verse number 25, there shall no man be able to stand before you. The Lord your God shall lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as he has spoken to you. Canaan was fearful. The inhabitants of Canaan were fearful. It was a strategic time. They were in fear of Israel because of what God had done in and through them. Israel was now ready. And you know what?

The Jordan River was ready. How do we know that? Over in Joshua chapter 3. Joshua chapter 3, verse number 15 says this. And when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days Of harvest. Now they crossed right by Jericho. And on the normal flow of things, it might be maybe 100 to 200 feet wide. But when the Jordan would overflow during the time of Harvest, it could be upwards of over a mile.

See the Jordan was ready. See, well, what does that mean? It means that there would be obstacles, but obstacles that would cause them to trust their God. There would be tests that would come. Can you imagine crossing the Jordan? We don't understand the magnitude of what it means to take two and a half million people to cross the river. It's a daunting task. It's not easy. And Joshua had to get them to cross the Jordan River. And you will note. That the entrance in the prom land began the same way the exodus from Egypt began.

The challenge of crossing the river, God had a plan. It was a very strategic plan. Everybody was ready. Israel, Canaan, and even the Jordan River was ready because it was overflowing its banks. It was a sovereign moment. It was a sorrowful moment. It was a strategic moment.