Past blessings point to future ones for all who look to God

Text Joshua 23 Time 04 07 21 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)

We have now reached the last but one chapter of Joshua. Both of the final chapters preserve speeches given by Joshua towards the end of his life. In Chapter 23 Joshua reminds Israel of the blessings that they have already received from God since entering the Promised Land. These blessings are to be an incentive to them to go on and complete the work of conquering that has so largely been completed.

If we are Christians today we can identify with what Joshua has to say. We too have known many, many blessings from God. Like the people under Joshua who were brought into Canaan under Joshua and who had by this time won many victories over the Canaanites, in becoming Christians we have been brought into a wonderful promised land under Jesus. In his speech Joshua wants the people now to look to the future and to be strong and obedient and to love God and not simply to fall into Canaanite ways and so be lost. If they do not do so, what terrible times they will face. We who have been Christians for any length of time are in a similar situation. We have entered the Promised Land of the Christian life under Jesus but there is still a lot of ground to cover. We need to be strong and obedient and to love God and to fight against remaining sin in our lives.

Four things then this evening

1. God who gave his people past victories can be expected to give them future ones too

We read first in verses 1 and 2 that After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, summoned all Israel - their elders, leaders, judges and officials - and said to them ... So a good deal of time has passed since the beginning of the book, how long is not clear but in that time the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them. The job was more or less done but there was still work to do, Joshua was aware. And so near the end of his life he makes this important speech to Israel, to their elders, leaders, judges and officials.

From the opening of his speech we can pick out three important things to notice

1. Here is a reminder that we have seen the LORD fight for us in the past

Joshua begins I am very old. You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. It is important that as Christians we remember all that God has done for us. These people had seen the Canaanites defeated and Joshua is reminding them of the fact and especially of the fact that it was the LORD your God who fought for you. They did not bring about the victories solely by themselves. It was Gd who had done it. This is often acknowledged in Scripture. So for example in Psalm 44:2, 3 we read of God

With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; you crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish. It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.

We have not saved ourselves if we are Christians. No, God has done it. He has saved us from our sins and we ought to acknowledge it.

2. Here is a reminder that there is still ground to be won

Joshua goes on (4) Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain - the nations I conquered - between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Yes, there have been many victories and much land has been taken but do not forget, says Joshua, that all the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea has been allotted to the tribes as their inheritance and it all must be taken. In a similar way - Yes, God has saved you and that is reason for rejoicing but you are not yet the man or woman God intends you to be. There is plenty of room for improvement - sins to be put to death and good deeds to be done.

3. Here is an assurance that, as promised, the LORD will drive out our remaining enemies

Then comes the repeated promise in verse 5 The LORD your God himself will push them out their remaining enemies for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you. As God has promised they can look forward to further blessings. More land will be taken, more victories will be known. And so for the believer, we can be confident that God will continue to work in our lives. As Paul said to the Philippians in Philippians 1:6 he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. God has not finished with you yet. He will continue to work in you until you are the person he wants you ultimately to be. Past victories are bound to give way to future ones in Christ.

When I was a young boy my father was not very good at taking me to see the football games I wanted to see. He was much more a lover of grass roots football and so he took me to games like the local factory team or under 21 internationals. My dad liked to spot the players who were going to become big names in the future. He himself had played football alongside a man who went on to be a professional player with Ipswich Town in the period when Ipswich were working their way up the leagues to eventually be Division One champions in 1961-62. My dad knew then that the most ordinary players could improve and rise to the heights. We ought to think something like that with regard to the Christian life - we begin as young believers but we can make progress. Indeed, who knows how far we may go, by the grace of God, if we keep looking to him.

2. God will give victory to those who are strong, obedient, set apart to him and who love him

In verses 6-11 Joshua then begins to exhort the people. He doesn't take the view, of course they will know further victories under God. He sees that this is not absolutely guaranteed. Certain things need to happen if the people are to go on in the right direction and know further victories. He calls for five things

1. Be very strong

He begins Be very strong. If this is going to happen they need courage, they need to be strong, very strong. Be brave, he says.

There are many examples of bravery in the history of God's people. Those stories should encourage us to be strong in our own day. In the sixteenth century one of the greatest preachers of his day was Hugh Latimer. On one occasion he was to preach before the king, Henry VIII. As he thought about what to preach he realised that what he had to say would not go down very well with the king.

As he began his sermon he said, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you remember that you are speaking before the high and mighty King Henry VIII; who has power to command you to be sent to prison, and who can have your head cut off, if it please him? Will you not take care to say nothing that will offend royal ears?”

He then paused and continued, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you not remember that you are speaking before the King of kings and Lord of lords; before him, at whose throne Henry VIII will stand; before him, to whom one day you will have to give account yourself? Latimer! Latimer! Be faithful to your Master, and declare all of God’s Word.”

Latimer eventually died in the reign of Henry’s daughter, Queen Mary but he had already begun on the right road long before. Be very strong.

2. Be careful to obey

Then it goes on be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. At the same time we must walk the narrow road of obedience that leads to God. Yes, we are not saved by our obedience but if we truly belong to the Lord then we will be careful to obey him.

3. Practice separation

7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. It is hard to imagine now what a pressure was on the Israelites to conform to the idolatry all around them but it was as real as that on us today to conform to the society in which we live. We must not conform. We must rather be separate - in the world but not part of it. Separated to God. As we sometimes put it - the boat in the water but keeping the water out of the boat.

4. Hold fast to the LORD, remembering his blessings

8-10 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now. The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised.

Up until now they had held fast to the LORD. They must now go on in the same way. They had known great success as the LORD had promised and that should encourage them to go on.

It is the same for us. Hold fast to the LORD right to the end.

5. Be careful to love the LORD

The final thing is in verse 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God. Never give up loving the LORD.

3. God will not accept compromise with the enemy so be warned of its fatal consequences

That is all very positive but in verses 12 and 13 it is put in a more negative way. Three things

1. Recognise the danger of turning away and being joined to the enemy

12 But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them ... that was a real danger and they needed to face up to it. It is important that you know that there are people who profess to be Christians but then they begin to live as unbelievers again. It is foolish to simply think that will never happen to me. It is a real danger.

Following the severe flood events of 1998 and 2000, the UK Environment Agency prioritised the need to increase public flood risk awareness. And so they produced a report drawing on data collected during research undertaken for the Environment Agency. A paper was produced contributing to understanding one aspect of flood awareness: people’s recognition that their property is in an area that is potentially at risk of flooding. They called the paper "It'll never happen to me". The title reflected the way so many people assumed that they would never be flooded even though they were living on a flood plain. Let's not make that mistake. It could happen to you.

2. The result of such an action would be dire

Verse 13 spells out what would happen if they did turn away then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes. To fail to separate would be totally counter-productive. The remaining people would become snares and traps for them, whips on their backs and thorns in their eyes. It is the same for us today. We know we should put remaining sin to death but sometimes we fail to do that. Does it bring us any pleasure or blessing? Not in the end. How miserable it is for us. Be warned.

3. Such an action may even result in destruction

Verse 13 carries on ... until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you. It may come to that, which it did with the exile many years later. Don't forget how far a person may fall once God lets go.

4. God's promises never fail nor do his threats so to violate the covenant will mean destruction

Finally, in verses 14-16, we have reminders that God's promises never fail but then nor do his threats. To violate the covenant must mean destruction.

1 God's promises never fail

14 Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. Joshua is about to die and so he speaks with great solemnity. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. This has been said before but here it is again. Not one promise has been allowed to fall. They have all been fulfilled. Never forget that.

2. His threats don't fail either

But if his promises do not fail nor do his threats. 15 But just as all the good things the LORD your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the LORD your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. We are happy to believe what the Bible says about heaven but we must be equally willing to believe what it says about hell. Yes, those who continue with the Lord can be sure that he will bring them safely to heaven but those who fail to continue, they can only expect judgement.

3. To violate the covenant is to invite God's wrath

16 If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you. Nothing could be plainer. To turn from the Lord is to invite his wrath. it is to court great danger. Do not make that mistake.

On 10 March 1997 there was a multiple-vehicle collision on the M42 motorway near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. Three people were killed and more than 60 others were injured in the crash. It happened in dense fog during the early morning rush hour.

At around 6:20 am a lorry came on to the M42 from a slip-road at a speed of 56 mph and, after slowing to 32 mph rammed into the rear of a tanker, which then struck a car in front and exploded. The ensuing pile-up involved 160 vehicles on a 400-yard stretch of the motorway, including 30 on the opposite carriageway 20 minutes later.

Five air ambulances and 25 ambulances ferried injured drivers and passengers from the scene to three hospitals. Several cars and lorries were burnt to a shell and more than 30 occupants had to be cut free from their vehicles by firefighters.

You see what happened then. People continued to drive blindly forward not realising the danger that was just ahead until it was too late. Wisdom demands that we rather be ready for danger. Recognise the danger that faces us all and avoid it by looking to God.