People get ready
Text Joshua 1:10-18 Time 17 05 20 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)
In 1965 a group called The Impressions had a hit with a song called People get ready. I have always taken it to be a gospel song although it is actually more about politics than Christ I guess. It begins
People get ready, There's a train a-coming
You don't need no ticket, You just get on board
All you need is faith To hear the diesels humming
Don't need no ticket You just thank the Lord.
People get ready For the train to Jordan
Picking up passengers From coast to coast
Faith is the key Open the doors and board them
There's room for all Among those loved the most.
There ain't no room For the hopeless sinner
Who would hurt all mankind Just to save his own
Have pity on those Whose chances are thinner
'Cause there's no hiding place From the kingdom's throne.
So people get ready For the train a-comin'
You don't need no ticket You just get on board
All you need is faith To hear the diesels humming
Don't need no ticket You just thank the Lord
I'm getting ready I'm getting ready
This time I'm ready This time I'm ready
I'm getting ready Getting ready, oh yeah I'm getting ready, yes I am
I mention the song because the imagery it uses is partly taken from the passage I want us to look at tonight. We are in Joshua Chapter 1 and the people are about to cross the Jordan River to go into the Promised Land. Now they are not going in on a train, as the song pictures it, but they are going in and so they need to get ready. "People get ready For the train to Jordan" and then the response "I'm getting ready I'm getting ready This time I'm ready This time I'm ready I'm getting ready Getting ready, oh yeah I'm getting ready, yes I am".
When you do a race with children you don't just say "Go!" you say "Ready, steady, go!". With adults it is "On your marks, get set, go!". It's the same thing really - get set, get ready - the point is that you need to be ready before you can go. You need to be prepared.
That is the theme of the verses I want us to look at tonight Joshua 1:10-18, preparing, getting ready to cross Jordan. But what does that mean for us? As I said last week, I think the main thing that the entry into the Promised Land under Joshua speaks to us about is not so much entry into heaven but more entering on the Christian life, which it is true does lead in the end to heaven but the point is that in the Promised Land there is still fighting to be done and the Christian life is in some aspects, a battle all the way to heaven.
So three things for us this evening
1. Get ready to take what is yours
In verses 10 and 11 we read So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.'"
They are about to cross the Jordan under their new leader Joshua - in a miraculous way, we later learn - but before that happens they need to get ready. Get your provisions ready ... to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own. We don't know exactly where the three days fits in to the time scheme of Joshua but the Bible uses the phrase to refer to any period that is a day and part of two other days and is a momentous time, as, most obviously, when Christ rose from the dead.
It is like the time just before you are converted, the time when you are about to begin the Christian life under your leader Jesus Christ. Of course, it is never quite like that because we do not know when we are going to be converted. It is hard enough for some to know they have been converted, even after the event.
It's use for us today is simply to make the point that if you are going to live the Christian life then you need to be ready. Wake up! Be alert! This is parallel to those places where Jesus says things like Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 24:41) Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. (Luke 21:34). It is true that such warnings are often coupled with a reminder of the Second Coming but the point is that the Christian life must be lived out today. We need to be watchful, ready to serve.
You know perhaps that the motto of the scouting movement is "Be prepared!". Their founder, Lord Baden-Powell came up with it when he founded the scout movement in 1907. I think he liked the fact that it was a B-P like his own name. He said in Scouting for Boys in 1908, it means “you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty.” The scout movement endeavours to prepare young people for life ahead.
Now as Christians we also must be prepared - prepared, yes, for Christ's return but also for whatever may come in any intervening period.
In particular here the phrase is Get your provisions ready. We need to make sure our provisions are ready and that we can access them. At the start of each week and each day we need to be ready; at any given moment, we need be to be ready. The most obvious provisions are prayer and the Word. They are there for us to use and we ought to make good use of these resources. Take time each day to pray, be prayerful as you go about your life. Be careful to take in the Word as we were saying last time.
What you need to be ready to do is to take what is yours. God had given his people the Promised Land but the land still had to be taken. Similarly, if you are a Christian, God has given you great blessings but they need to be taken, they need to be possessed. You need to live out the Christian life actively. Pray, be holy, walk with God - that is your calling. Live it out.
2. Get ready to battle for what is yours
In verses 12-15 it goes on But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you after he said, 'The LORD your God will give you rest by giving you this land.' Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."
This refers back to the way that after Israel had ended up fighting Kings Sihon and Og on the east side of the Jordan, two and a half tribes - Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh - had decided they liked the area and wanted to settle there. This they were allowed to do on condition that they were willing to be part of the effort to overcome the Canaanites on the west of the Jordan with all the other Israelites. Here they are reminded of that obligation - Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the LORD your God is giving them.
I don't think there is any obvious parallel with our New Testament situation apart from the reminder that we are responsible for one another. We must do what we can to help each other. I saw in a commentary someone had written that there is no room in Christianity for isolationism. I had to read it twice - isolation yes but not isolationism.
Perhaps the main thing here though is that just as for Israel entering the Promised Land involved fighting so living the Christian life is a fight. You remember how Paul speaks in Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
There are other references to this, such as 2 Corinthians 10:4 where Paul says The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
It is important that we understand that the Christian life is a battle, a war against the world, the flesh and the devil. That is why we must be watchful and on guard and so on. To think that the Christian life will be a picnic is a great mistake. No, to live the Christian life as we should will be a struggle, a fight. It will involve great effort on our part. Are you ready?
3. Get ready to be obedient and to serve
A pastor from Haiti once illustrated commitment with a parable. He told how a certain man wanted to sell his house. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.
After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.
The conclusion of the pastor from Haiti was this: "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation."
In verses 16-18 we have the response of the two and a half tribes. Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"
They echo what was said to Joshua in verses 1-9 and urge him to be strong and courageous praying that the Lord will be with him. They commit themselves to doing what Joshua commands them and to going wherever he sends. They say Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. hey promised total commitment.
We ought to show the same attitude - absolute commitment to our leader, Jesus Christ. There is a hymn that sums up how we should approach the Christian life very simply
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear, Can abide while we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet. r we'll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
"What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey." That is the way to live.
They say that when Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to march to the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their surprise, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat. This was a common enough Roman tactic to prevent retreat. Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing left for them to do but to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did. Hence the term burning your boats or bridges. That is how we should commit to service and obedience - no going back.
So three very simple things this evening then.
1. Get ready to take what is yours - to live the Christian life as it should be lived
2. Get ready to battle for what is yours. It is struggle but be ready to fight
3. Get ready to be obedient and to serve - don't hold back but do what he says, go where he sends.
