A Future Promised

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Well, you meet me in your Bibles at Joshua chapter 13. Joshua chapter 13, and unlike last week when we read two and a half chapters, today we're just going to read the first seven verses. Joshua chapter 13, the first seven verses, if you're using your pew bibles you'll find that on page 205. Joshua chapter 13, beginning at verse 1.

Brothers and sisters, this is the word of the living God. Let's pay attention. Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him, you are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. This is the land that yet remains.

All the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Gesherites, from Syhor, which is east of Egypt as far as the border of Ekron northward, which is counted as Canaanite. The five lords of the Philistines, the Gazites, the Ashtarites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, also the Avites. from the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Merara that belongs to the Sidonians as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorites, the land of the Gebelites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise from Baal-Gad below Mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath. all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the brook Misrifath, and all the Sidonians. Them I will drive out from before the children of Israel. Only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half tribe of Manasseh.

Prayer for Illumination

Brothers and sisters, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your perfect word. And we pray now that as we meditate on your word, as we think about what you have done and said, Father, we pray that our eyes would be filled with your glory. In Jesus's name, amen. I love verse one. Did you catch verse one? I love it. It starts with a statement of fact.

Sermon

Now, Joshua was old, advanced in years. He's probably about the same age as Caleb. And the next chapter tells us Caleb's 85. And it's like God puts his arm around Joshua's shoulders and he goes, he's stating the obvious, man, you're getting old, says the eternal God to the old man. He's pointing the obvious out to Joshua, but the point is that Israel's really at a point where they know Joshua doesn't have much time left. Humanly speaking, his days are numbered. And so God is doing something gracious here. And in this passage, he's providing a path forward for the Israelites. What's going to happen when Joshua is no longer with them? Where are they going to go? What are they going to do?

First Point

And he points out to them, and this is the first point, is that the promise isn't yet complete. Did you notice that in verse 1? The promise is not yet complete. You are old and advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. It's a whole bunch of land yet to be conquered.

At over 80 years old, God's telling Joshua, You know, you got work still to do, bud. Some of you in this room are over 80 years old. You're closer to Joshua's age than I am. God's not done with you yet. He's still got work for you to do. He tells you, yeah, you might be one of the elderly in the congregation, but there's still work for you to do. There's a whole bunch of land to be conquered, and you're going to still lead the people in this.

The people see Joshua aging, they remember him. Remember, he's one of the two oldest guys in the entire congregation. Just him and Caleb left. Everybody else has maybe a little bit of peppering of gray in their hair, but these are the old guys in the church. And as they see them aging before their eyes, these were the men they looked up to. These were the two spies that came back with a good report. And they've led them well that long.

But there's a reality that as Joshua has led them through this land, he's taken them across the Jordan River, they captured Jericho, they conquered Ai, they went time and time again, town after town, king after king, after king, after king, after king, after king, after king. Go read chapter 12 again if you want to get the list of the king's names. Defeated them all, but the point is there's still a lot of land. Lest the promise is not yet complete. And so God here is pointing out the reality and he surveys the land. In the next few verses, chapter, verses two through verse six, the enemies are identified.

In verses two and three, it speaks about the land that's down in the south. Verse 2 says, this is a land that yet remains all the territory, the Philistines, and all that of the Geshurites, and then it gives all the places of that land down in the south. And then in verse 4, he continues and he talks about the central area of the south, from Syhor, which is east of Egypt, as far as the border of Ekron northward. So this central land, and he's talking about the Philistines in that area. And then in verse 5, he gets into the northern lands, the land of the Gebelites and all Lebanon. And so he's taking a survey from the south to the north and he's saying, there's still a whole lot of land here that's left to conquer, Joshua. still a whole lot of conquest to be done.

In verse 6, he points it out that there's even people that need to be taken care of. Verse 6, all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the brook Misrath. This word really, I practiced this before five times and I still get it wrong. Misrath. There's still people all along the mountain ranges you're going to have to fight.

There's still land that's still going to need to be conquered. There's already been land conquered. Chapter 10 and 11 chronicle that for us. There have already been kings that have been defeated. Chapter 12 listed them out for us, the people that have already been defeated. Yet, there are kings and inhabitants in the land that still need to be taken care of.

The inheritance is theirs. God's made a promise to them. And in some sense, that promise has come true. They've crossed in, but it's not yet fulfilled. This is the reality that we share with the Israelites. Has God promised you an inheritance? Yeah, he has. Is that inheritance yours? Oh, you betcha. It's yours. It's like money in your wallet, you own it. God's promises are yours. And yet, are you totally sanctified?

That's right, no. No, not yet. No, we live in this already, but not yet. We live in this time where we have the promised inheritance of God, but yet we still have spiritual enemies in our life, don't we? See, we read this and we think, well, how do we kind of step into this as New Testament Christians? Well, we don't battle against flesh and blood, but against rulers and principalities, against the ruler of the air. We go toe-to-toe with our flesh and with Satan himself.

Some of you have slain great spiritual enemies in your life. Some of you have gone toe-to-toe with a face of despair and have walked out with a victory of joy. Some of you have been sidetracked by Mr. Legalism and found his way to be false and know what it's like to have freedom in the Spirit. Some of you have fought against gluttony and know what it's like to be filled with the fruit of self-control. Some of you have wrestled in your own heart with anger and with wrath and have come out with a victory of peace and love. Some of you in your life have had to fight against corrupt words and filthy language that used to come out of your mouth. And now you've put away gossip and slander and you know how to build others up. Some of you have struggled with sexual immorality and struggles with your flesh and the Lord has given you measured victory. Or now you love your spouse. Many of you have overcome lying and covetousness.

And yet isn't this a difficulty in the Christian life? It's like we just put our feet on the necks of one giant. Christianity is really tough this way. We think, I'm really going, I'm really fighting this specific sin, really struggling, and we put that sin to death, and we put our foot down on its head, and then what's the next thing we do? Man, I'm really proud that I defeated that. And then we have to face the giant of pride. There's always our heart, our flesh, that's fighting against us. There's always this already, but not yet, that we are children of the King, and yet the battle rages in our souls.

Colossians chapter three points out this battle for us. Colossians chapter three. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things on earth, for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Notice the fighting language that he uses here.

Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. These are the reasons why the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, all of them were being driven out of the land. in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them."

See, that's our old way of life. That's our old person. We were those people, but God has done something now. But now you yourself are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. You see, we must do war with our own flesh. We must do war with our own desires. The enemy yet remains within. You might say, well, hold on, Brian, that doesn't sound like much of an inheritance. They got land, they got farms, they got orchards, they got vineyards, what do we get? Oh, we get something far better. We get something far, far better.

Turn with me to Ephesians chapter one, we get God himself. Ephesians chapter one, verse 11. In him, that's in Christ, we also have obtained an inheritance. being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, whom you also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance. until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory."

Did you catch it there? You have been sealed. The Holy Spirit is pressed down upon your soul. It is guaranteed. You are God's and God is yours. But notice what it said in verse 14. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. See, there's something better. I think every single one of us knows that, don't you? There is something better that's yet to come.

The disciples wrestled with this with Jesus. When Jesus was spending his last few hours on the earth, he said, I gotta go. And where I go, the world doesn't know, but you know. The disciples say, we don't know where you're going. Tell us where you're going. Show us the Father. And Jesus says, how long have I been with you? If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. But I go to the Father to prepare a house for you. In my Father's house, there are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you.

Jesus has gone to prepare a better place for us. See, our inheritance is that we get Revelation 21. We get something far better than dusty roads that go from mountain to mountain. We get the kingdom of heaven, the new heavens and the new earth. We, those who are in the Lamb's book of life, who will never be blotted out, we get to see the light of Christ, where there is no day, where there is no night, for the Lamb is light.

And that promise is yours. That promise is yours, but we live in the already, not yet. It is yours. But we're waiting for it, aren't we? We know the price has been paid. We know that we get to be His people. We know that we get to enjoy His presence forever. We know that we get to live with Him forever. And we just get a taste of it in this life.

So God is telling Joshua, you got more land to conquer. The inheritance is yours, but there's still things to be done. But when they're going on this battle, notice who guarantees the victory. Look with me at verse six. As all the inhabitants of the mountains and all the Sidonians, what does he say?

Them I will drive out from before the children of Israel. I was shocked as I was translating this. In Hebrew, just like if you're in Spanish or some other language where the verbs conjugate, you don't actually have to have the pronoun I. You could just say the verb and the ideas carried with it. But here, it's as if the Lord is saying, I, I am going to drive them out. so that they understand when it says, then I will drive them out, we might, some translations would even translate this, I myself will drive them out. God is guaranteeing them, when you go, when you do this by faith, that I'm the one driving them out, they're gonna flee, because I'm chasing them.

I'm going before you. I'm going before the children of Israel. I'm doing this. I'm promising this to you. God's going to be the victor. God's going to be the champion of his people. God's going to fight for you. That is what he's promising Joshua. No wonder why he could tell him to be strong and courageous. He's never going to leave him. He's never going to forsake him. He's always going to be his God. He's going to walk before his people.

And indeed, God has done this for us. Jesus has paved the way of victory. Jesus is the one who triumphed over sin on that cross. It is Jesus Christ who defeated death at the resurrection. It's Jesus Christ who goes before you into heaven and has assured that you have a place at his father's table. Revelation chapter 19 is the book we read, or the chapter we read last week. It is Jesus, our King of Kings, who will come and bring final judgment. It is our Christ, it is our Savior, it is our Lord who promises us the victory because He's already won it.

So when you're going through things in this life, Some of you are going to go through really hard things in life. There's a form of Christianity that's a lie. I wouldn't be loving to you if I tried to sugarcoat it. There's this form of pseudo-Christianity where they'll say, you know, if you accept Jesus in your life, if you just believe the Scriptures, you're going to have health, you're going to have wealth, you're going to have prosperity. It's a lie. Plug up your ears and walk away. Because if you've been a Christian for more than a week, you know it's not the case. Some of you are going to go through hard things in this life. But as you walk through grief, well, you go through it knowing that Jesus Christ empathizes with you. Because he was a man acquainted with grief and sorrow.

When you go through this life and you feel like you're going toe to toe with Satan, We remember that Jesus Christ himself went toe-to-toe with our adversary, hungry, after not eating for 40 days, and defeated Satan at his own game. It is Jesus Christ we look to who has gone before us in victory. It is Jesus Christ who triumphs in this victorious work. So brothers and sisters, live in light of that promise. Live your life based on that promise. Look with me at the last part of verse six and into chapter seven.

Them I will drive out from before the children of Israel. Only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh." Just like he'd already given them, the two and a half tribes on the other side of the Jordan River, they'd already received their inheritance. They haven't conquered this whole land yet, and God is telling Joshua, look, I've promised this, and when I make promises, it's like money in the bank.

It's yours. And so what you need to do now is all you need to do is cast the lots. You need to go ahead and draw the boundary lines and you need to give the people their land because they're going to go and they're going to take it. They're going to go by faith and take the land. Theologically, brothers and sisters, if Jesus Christ has made a promise, we can start acting on that promise. If Jesus Christ has made a promise We can start planning that that promise is coming true. Why? Because God's faithful.

Maybe you've been burned by someone who makes a whole bunch of empty promises. Do you know that type of person? The person who will make all sorts of promises to you, but you really can't cash them in? You just know their word's not worth much. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. His promises are true. His word is sure. He doesn't say one thing one day and then on the next day turn around and doesn't feel like it, so he takes his promise away. No, our God is faithful.

So the question is, do you base your life on the promises of God? When God says, I will never leave you or forsake you, Do you base your mental and emotional health on God's all enduring ever presence? When God promises that he who began a good work in you will not leave it uncomplete, but he will complete it unto the day of perfection, do you plan your life knowing that you will not be complete in this life, but you know that someday he's going to wipe every tear from your eye and he's going to make you perfectly glorified?

I love this, St. Augustine, he wrote in one of his books about, in the garden, we often think about the garden as paradise. In the garden, Augustine said, we were able to sin. But do you know what heaven is? Do you know what it is after you die? It's better than able to sin. It's not able to sin. I can't wait for that day. when I'm not able to sin. Do you long for that day when you are so purged of all your old man, so united to Jesus Christ that you can't sin? Because He's totally transformed you. This is what I'm saying, we live in the already where we know that He's doing these things to us, but I can't wait for the not yet, that He is going to do it perfectly.

Do you believe and live your life on the promise that He bids you come to Me and I will give you rest? Do you come to Jesus Christ knowing that if you do, He will give you rest for your soul? Do you base your life on the promise that He made to us in Romans chapter 8, that all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to His purposes? When hardship comes, do you give in to the darkness of depression or do you know somehow the Lord is even going to use this for His glory? Do you go to God's promise?

And in that same chapter, Romans chapter 8, when you're struggling with the things in this life and the reality of your sin, do you cling to that promise of God that nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Not even death itself. Nothing. not height, nor depth, nor width. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

Do we base our lives on the promise of God that if we submit ourselves to God and we resist the devil, you know what God promises? He will flee from you. Did you know that if you are in Christ and if you are using the armor of God that He has given you, that in Christ you can face down Satan himself. I'm not telling you to go purposely pick a fight with your adversary. I pray to the Lord, do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

But when that time of trial comes, will you cling to your shield of faith? Will you know that your helmet of salvation protects you? Will your loins be girded up with the belt of truth? Will you trust the breastplate of Jesus Christ's righteousness? Brothers and sisters, we must be those who base our lives off the promises of God.

Now, I'm gonna just tell you that there's folk Christianity. Have you ever met this before? Maybe I'll illustrate this way. Have you ever watched Fiddler on the Roof? I love Fiddler on the Roof. Well, the dad in Fiddler on the Roof has these crazy sayings where he'll say, well, as the book says, and then he says some random crazy thing, and everybody's like, the Bible never says that.

If you're going to cling to a promise of God, make sure it's actually a biblical promise of God. Go to the scriptures and find out, did God actually say that? And if he did, again, take it to the bank, it's yours. If he's promised it, cling to it by faith. Don't twist it out of its context, but trust it.

See, brothers and sisters, God has pointed out the facts to Joshua, and he's pointed out to us as well. Inheritance is within sight. God knows that there are enemies that remain for Joshua and the people to conquer. And brothers and sisters, there are areas in your life that you need to do battle against. Keep fighting.

God has promised the victory to Joshua, and we're about to partake of the meal that assures us that that victory is true. God says to Joshua that he has to live by faith, that he's to trust Him, that the inherited land is going to be theirs, cast lots, go take it, I'm going before you. Brothers and sisters, we likewise must walk by faith. We must cling to that inheritance that He has promised us and we know someday is coming when we'll have it in full.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you for the inheritance that we have in Christ Jesus. Lord, we pray that you would give us strength. Filled with your spirit. That we might cling to your promises. By faith holding on to you. and out of that faith walking in your ways. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.