Joshua in Charge, Part 2

Point number two, the practical injunctions for the one who's going to lead effectively. And there are three of them that we see immediately in the life of Joshua. And the first one is prompt obedience.

Prompt obedience. Then Joshua commanded the officers. When is the then? The when is when God said, Joshua, it's time to go. Joshua, be strong and courageous. Joshua, it's time to move. And Joshua moved. You know, we tend to. To want to discuss God's commands, we tend to delay when God gives commands. We even tend to doubt when God gives commands. But when God gives a command, our job is to discharge our duty, get it done. There's nothing to discuss. If God says do something, you've got to do it.

And God says, Joshua, you're the man. You got to cross over into the land. And Joshua could sit back and say, You know, yeah, that's a great thing, and I'm glad you're going to be with me. That's good, but you know, maybe we should pray about it a little bit longer. Folks, you don't need to pray about what God has told you to do. Why pray? What's there to pray about? You just do what God says.

That's all you got to do. Just obey. It's very simple. There's a song, I think, called Trust and Obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Folks, it doesn't get any plainer than that. That's just the way it is. And so Joshua then had prompt obedience. Turn over to Psalm 119 with me for a second.

Psalm 119. I love this verse. I think you ought to underline your Bible. I think you o to memorize it. I think you ought to put it on your door. I think it ought to be a part of your life. I think it Ought to be the most important verse in your Bible today. Psalm 119, verse number 60. I hastened and did not delay to keep thy commandments. Isn't that good? I hastened and did not delay to keep thy command. No procrastination, no delay, no discussion. Psalm says, I hastened. God said it, I couldn't wait to do it.

I like what Charles Spurgeon says. He says, We are too often in haste to sin. Oh, that we might be in a greater hurry to obey. It's important, isn't it? Psalm 119, verse number 59, I considered my ways and turned my feet to thy testimonies. The psalmist would tune his ear and turn his energies to the things of God. He tuned his ear to hear the word of God, and then he turned his energies to follow the word of God. Folks, that's the way we need to be. Folks, prompt ob is the way to go. This is the practical injunction for great leaders.

If you're a leader and you don't promptly obey the word of God, the people who follow you will not either. You need to lead by exam. And Joshua was a man who would lead by exam. That 's why the Bible is replete with commands. Psalm 119, 45. I walk about in freedom because I have sought out your precepts. I walk about in freedom because I seek to know what God demands and what God commands. Psalm 119. Verse 112. I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes forever even to the end. Forever, even to the end, folks.

The Bible says clearly. In James chapter 4, verse number 17, to him who knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Very clear, very plain, very simple. Prompt obedience. Folks, this is so important for us to understand. And Joshua got off on the right foot. He had to lead properly. He had to be able to turn around and enact what God had just told him to do. He couldn't afford to delay. He couldn't afford to debate. He couldn't afford to discuss. He couldn't afford to even drop to his knees and pray about wh Whether or not he should do this thing that God said.

Because there was nothing to pray about, right? God tells you to do something, it's time to do it. Now you to ask yourself: what has God told you to do that you're not doing? God said, go into all the world and make disciples. You doing that? Say, well, haven't had the opportunity. That's hogwash. Everybody's got the opportunity. God says, you make disciples.

Who are you discipling? Who are you growing? Who are you sharing Christ with? Acts 17:30 says that God demands that all men everywhere need to repent. 2 Corinthians 6 says, verse 2: Today is a day of salvation. Maybe you're here today and you haven't given your life to Christ. Maybe you haven't repented of your sin. Maybe you haven't become born again. Why are you delaying? Today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow. There's nothing to delay. The Bible says, rejoice in the Lord always.

And again, I say, rejoice. Not an option. You rejoice. Say, well, I don't feel like rejoicing. Paul didn't say that. Paul didn't say, rejoice in the Lord if you feel like it. And again, I say, rejoice if you feel like it. No, that's not what he said. He said, This is what you do. The scripture is replete with commands that tell us what we need to be doing, and we just kind of brush them off as if they just don't apply. Apply to us, or they're just not important to us anymore. And folks, we just can't afford to do that.

The Bible says, This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

You sleeping with somebody? You live with somebody you shouldn't be living with? I mean, there's no debate about that. The Bible tells us that our minds are to be pure and clean before God. But how many times do we log on the internet and put up those pornographic pictures so that we can? Be sexually gratified in the middle of the night. Say, well, you're getting a little bit too personal here, Pastor. Really? I can get a lot more personal than that. You see, the Bible is so clear about us following God's word.

We just kind of dabble in sin. We play around with it, thinking it's not going to affect our lives. Folks, when God says this is what you need to do, you need to do it.

Children, honor your parents. Children honor your parents. As children, do you honor your parents? How many children do you know that dishonor their parents by the words they say, by the way they live? See, all these things begin to add up when you when they're just simple everyday verses that you know and I know The Bible says that we are to submit to those in authority over us.

1 Peter 2, verse number 13. But sometimes we just refuse to submit to people in authority over us. The Bible says, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.

Not an option. You love them just as Christ loved the church. You give yourself up for your wife. And we make up excuses. Say, well, if she did this, I might give myself up for her. We like to give excuses. Like Peter in John 21. Christ says, You're going to follow me.

Do you love me? Yes, I do follow. I do, Lord. You follow me. And then Christ went on to talk about how you're going to stretch out your hands and talked about the kind of death that Peter was going to suffer. He's going to be crucified for the Lord. And what did Peter say Say, what about John? Is he going to die too? What are you going to do about John? And what did Christ say? Who cares if John lives till I come again? You follow me. But we're just like Peter. Well, what about them? What are you going to tell them to do?

Why are you always telling me what to do? What about them? And God says, forget about them. I'm telling you, follow me. You follow me. That's the important thing. And you know, and I know. In our hearts and minds, those things that we don't do because of our selfish desire or because of our sinful attitude or because we just have a rebellious heart and refuse to submit to the Word of God. And folks, we need to promptly obey what God says and stop dabbling in sin and fooling ourselves.

And trying to fool those round about us into thinking that we are more spiritual than we truly are. You need to look at our lives and say, you know what, Lord?

Search my heart. Try me. See if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way of everlasting life. Lead me in the righteous way, God. Prompt ob. Number two, pro orders.

Proper orders. The reason they're proper is because they are the words of God. Joshua commanded. I like what it says. In verse 7, God commanded Joshua. In verse 9, God commanded Joshua again. In verse 10, Joshua commands the officers. Verse 11, the officers command the people. In verse number 13, they already remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded them. In verse number 16, and they answered Joshua saying, All that you have commanded us, we will do. Verse 18, any who rebels against your commandment and does not obey your words, and all that you command him shall be put to death, only be strong and courageous.

It's one command after another command after another command. God commands Joshua. Joshua commands the officers. The officers command the people. And the people follow the commands. We live in a world that people don't like to be told what to do. You ever notice that?

We want to discuss everything. We want to bring it up to a vote. We think that the church is a democracy. And so we can vote about everything. We can sit around the circle and debate everything. But the Bible is about God comm us to do something. It's about the commands of God. You give proper orders when you speak authoritatively the word of God. What Joshua had when it came to authority He had because he spoke the words of God. You see, that's the only way anybody has authority. It's not because they give an opinion.

Your opinion has no authority. But God's word has all authority. That's why in Titus 2:1, Paul told Titus that he was to speak with all authority. Says it this way, Titus chapter 2, verse number 15. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority, and let no one disregard you. Paul told Titus, as long as you use the word of God, then you can speak, you can rebuke with authority because it's God who is doing the speaking. Joshua commands based on what God has already commanded him. The officers then go and take that same word and command the people.

And therefore, you begin to understand the authority of the leader. The authority of the leader is only As str as the word of God that he gives. That 's what makes Makes the leader give the proper orders, give proper direction. What does God say on the issue? That's why in Matthew 7:2, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, they marveled at what Christ said as one who spoke with great authority. Great authority. They say, wow, we've never heard any man speak like this man has spoken. Because when he spoke, he spoke the words of God.

Of course, anything he said was the word of God because he was God. But when he would quote the word of God and take them back to what the Bible says and not quote other rabbis or other teachers or other authors, he just quoted the Bible.

He spoke with great authority. Joshua would speak the words of God. That's why, over in Joshua chapter 8. It says these words, 34. Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel. With the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them. He spoke with authority because he spoke the word of God.

He spoke all the law of Moses. Remember Proverbs 29? Proverbs 29, verse number 18, where there is no vision, or literally where there is no revelation, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law. Where there is no revelation, people are out of control. You got kids in your family out of control? There is no revelation in the home. You got kids in your school out of control? It's because there is no revelation in the school. You got people in your church out of control. You got people in your community out of control.

It's because there is no re Being given and no revelation being demonstrated. The Bible says, where there is no revelation, the people are unrestrained.

They are out of control. They are haywire. They are wack. But when there's revelation, happy is he who keeps the law of God. Happy is the man who studies the law of God, who adheres to the law of God, because it is all about the revelation of Almighty God. And therefore, when you're a leader, you must be able to lead with the authority God has given you, and that comes through the Word of God. That's it. No matter where your leadership is, in the home, in the marketplace, in the school, on the playground, on the ball team, in the choir, wherever you lead, it must be based on what the authoritative word of God has already stated.

And that gives you authority. Not you, but the Spirit of God speaks through you because you speak the word of God. That is so important. And Proverbs 29, 18 is a good verse for all of us to realize that when there is no revelation, when God's word is not being spoken, when God's Word is not being shown, when God's Word is not being studied. When God's word is not being spoken, then the people are un. They are out of control. I know it to families all the time who kids are out of control. The first thing I ask him is, number one, how often are you in church?

Number two, how often are you using God's word in your home? Because the two go together. And then, not only how often do you give the Word of God in your home, how often do you speak the authoritative words of God and then actually live out that Word of God at home? Because you can speak it and then not do it. And your kids are out of control. You see, this is so important because this is what it's all about: the Word of God. Prompt obedience, proper orders. He tells them, listen to what he says in verse number 11: pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan to go into.

Possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess it. Here's the order: number one, prepare some provisions, get some food together.

Why? Because when we get to Joshua 5, verse number 12, guess what? No more manna from heaven. They've had 40 years of man. 40 years. Oh, by the way. By the way. It would have only taken them. 11 days to get from point A to point B in the wilderness. But because of their disobedience, it took them 40 years. Eleven days versus forty years. Hmm. Add it up. Obey or disobey. And the next generation got pretty smart. They learned from mom and dad. They learned what not to do. And they obeyed. They weren't going to go through 40 years again, like they just went through.

And you see, we need to grasp what's going on here. This is what you got to do: prepare some provisions. Why? Because this is where we're going. We're going to go over the Jordan River. Remember the Jordan River, we'll see here in chapter 3, that's over Floated's banks. We're going to cross the river. Somebody could have, Well, how are we going to cross the river, Joshua? Are we going to swim across? Joshua said, don't know yet. Are we going to float across? Are we going to build a boat? What are we going to do?

How are we going to cross the Jordan, Joshua? And Joshua, at this point, didn't know. All he knew is that they were going to cross. See, it's not important how you're going to do it, it's just important that you know you're going to do it. And Joshua believed the word of the Lord. He didn't know how it was going to happen. He just knew that the land was theirs. Can you imagine the emotional rush of the people? We're going to go into the land. Three days. Three days. Three days is nothing. It's been 40 years.

Take away three more days. Prepare your provisions. We're going to cross the Jordan because they're going to go back to the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's the land of our fathers. It's the land that God's given to us. It's our land. Can you imagine the rush that they must have had emotionally? Wow, man, we're going home, man. This is amazing. We're going to go three days. W across the Jordan. We 're going in. But you see, he was able to properly command them because he listened to God. And we listened to God and did what God said and commanded the officers.

They in turn commanded the people. And they obeyed. They followed. The Bible says in verse 12: And to the Reubenites, and to the Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, Remember the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, The Lord your God gives you rest and will give you the This land.

Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors and and shall help them until the Lord gives you your brothers rest, as He gives you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land and possess that which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. These two and a half tribes.

G, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had stood up camp on the east side of Jordan. And earlier on in the book of Numbers, Moses said, you can have it as long as you helped your brothers when they crossed over the Jordan into the promised land. And they made a commitment that they would do that. Now, Joshua reminds them of their commitment. And you know what? They didn't say, you know what, Joshua, we gave that commitment to Moses. We didn't give that commitment to you. Because you see, their commitment was given to God, not to a man.

And they were going to obey God. Prompt obedience, proper orders, positive oversight. Positive over. The third of the practical injunctions of an effective leader, pos oversight.

Listen to verse 16. And they answered Joshua, saying, All that you have commanded us, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words and all that you command him shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous. Here's the resounding. We're going to follow Moses. We're behind you. I mean, Joshua, sorry. We're behind you.

We're going all the way. Because they learned the last time they were on the break of the promised land, they made the wrong choice. At least their parents did. They made the wrong choice. They weren't going to make the wrong choice this time. They're going to make the right choice this time. And they're going to realize that God had called Joshua to lead them, and they're going to obey the word of the Lord. Joshua, whatever you say, we're going to follow you because you're the leader. Our parents didn't do that before.

We're not going to follow in the footsteps of our folks. We're going to follow the leader as he follows God. See, the test of great leadership is followership. Is that not true? Followership. How do they follow? You see, he gave them positive oversight. This is where we're going. We're going to cross the Jordan, man. How are we going to get there? I don't know. How are we going to get over? I don't know. We're just going do it, man, Because God said so. Everybody on board, let's go. See, it was, you know, I'm not sure what we're going to do, man.

This is going be a hard thing. This is going be so tough for us. Boy, I not sure how we're going to do it. Who needs that negativity, right? Joshua said, We're crossing because God said so. So get ready. We're out of here. They said, Whatever you command, we're going. Boy, you know, this is so good. Listen to this: Joshua 2, verse number 1. Then Joshua summoned the Reub and the Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Same two and a half tribes in chapter one. And said to them, You have kept all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.

You have not forsaken your brothers these many days to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God God and now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers as he spoke to them. Therefore, turn now and go to your tents to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan. Only be very careful. to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and hold fast to him, and serve him with all your heart.

and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. They said, All that you say we will do. And now at the end, Joshua says, You know what? You kept your word. You are true to your word. Wow, that's great, man. That's the way we all want it, right? We want people who are true to their word. They had. An exceptional followership because they were true to their word, because the man who led them gave them positive oversight, gave them proper orders. And prompt obedience.