Promise Keeping

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 turn over in your Bibles to the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter 1.

Joshua chapter 1, and this morning we'll be specifically looking at verses 10 through 18. Joshua chapter 1, verses 10 through 18. Last week we looked at God telling Joshua to be strong and courageous. And so now Joshua assembles tribes and he has something to say. Joshua chapter 1 verses 10 through 18. Hear now God's word from the older covenant.

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying, pass through the camp and command the people. saying, prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua spoke, saying, remember the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, the Lord your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land. your wives, your little ones, your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan, but you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them until the Lord has given your brethren rest as he gave you. And they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord's servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise.

And they answered Joshua, saying, All that you commanded us, we will do, and wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, and all that you commanded him shall be put to death.

Prayer for Illumination

Only be strong and of good courage. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word, and we pray now that you would open our eyes to see. We pray that we would have minds to understand. We pray, Lord, that this would not just end up being something in our heads, but it would seep down deep into our hearts and reform our lives. God, only you can do this by your Spirit, so we pray that you would do it this morning. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Sermon

Joshua is there, and the army commanders are gathered together. The generals are there. The council is together. We don't know if this is happening in the daytime or at nighttime, but he has commands. He is the commander of God's army and he has commands to give to the generals underneath him. We don't know if it's happening by the campfire or if it's happening in broad daylight.

But you can imagine that this very tense moment as they're standing on the other side of the Jordan, as they can see Jericho across the valley, He needs to give marching orders to the people. God's given him his marching orders in verses one through nine. Now he has marching orders to give to the people. And as we come to this passage this morning, we see that they have a plan and he's going to give a specific charge to a certain group of tribes. We're going to see that they're a promise keeping bunch of people.

So first he gathers the people in verses 10 through 11. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying, pass through the camp and command the people saying, prepare provisions for yourself for within three days you will cross over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Joshua gathers the generals together, he gathers the leaders of the tribes together and he tells them in three days we're going to cross over.

You need to make sure your children are ready. You need to make sure your bags are packed. You need to make sure your weapons are ready for war. Because God has promised us a land. And in three days, we've waited for 40 years, wandering around in this wilderness. But we're going to get it. And in three days, we're going to cross over that Jordan.

You need to be ready. You need to have your houses ready. You need to have your families ready. You need to have your weapons ready. You need to have your souls ready. And so you commanders of the Lord's people, you need to go out and you need to prepare your people. The regiments need ready. The camps need packed up.

But then Joshua's eyes in that moment, as there's the other tribes here, the majority of tribes, he looks over at the two and a half tribes and he zeroes in on them. He looks them dead in the eyes and he reminds them of the promise that they had made.

See, not everyone settled on the west side of the Jordan. But in Numbers chapter 32, we find that there's this time in which they have defeated Og and Sihon. They defeated the people on the eastern side of the Jordan River. And after they defeated them, there were two and a half tribes that said, hey, you know what? This is pretty good land. There's enough space for our cattle to graze. There's enough space for us to establish ourselves here. Can we stay here? And at first in Numbers chapter 32, go ahead and flip over there with me.

Keep your finger in Joshua chapter one, but in Numbers chapter 32, this causes a great deal of distress for Moses. At first, this causes a great deal of distress for Moses because he says in verse six, shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? Moses' concern is real. Hold on. So the whole army just defeated the nations over here. And you're going to sit here fat and happy in your homes and send your brothers off to war without you? Is that what's going to go on? You're going to discourage your people?

Is this going to be just like before when we were in Kadesh Barnea and we sent the spies and you guys would rather not go into the land? Moses is troubled by this. That's what he says in verse 8, Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea into the land, for when they went up to the valley of Eshkol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel so that they did not go into the land which Yahweh had given them. And Moses is worried because the Lord's anger was aroused by this. Are you going to be those 10 spies again? Are you going to make the Lord's anger and wrath come down upon the people again? And they assure him, no. Verse 16, chapter 32, verse 16.

Then they came near to him and said, we will build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones. But we ourselves will be armed. ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them into their place and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance, for we will not inherit them. on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan. Here is the promise they made.

They would go in front of the other tribes. They wouldn't sit at home fat and happy. They wouldn't just enjoy their little ones. They wouldn't enjoy tending to their cattles. They wouldn't stay in peace. But they would make sure that their hearts were knit together, that Israel would stay together as a whole nation, as a whole people. And it's at this point in the book of Joshua chapter one, the question is, will they keep their promise?

It's been a while now. They've chosen their homes. See, there's part of human nature It's part of human nature that we are quick to make promises, and especially in our day and age and generation, it's easy to break promises. As the motivation wanes, as the time lingers on, just look at the divorce rates in our country and see how quickly people will make promises before God, and how quickly they'll walk back those promises.

And here Joshua zeroes in and looks to the commanders in the eyes. He says, are you going to do it? Are you going to keep your promise? And to the tribes, verse 12, and to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, Joshua spoke, saying, remember the word which Moses, the servant of Yahweh, commanded you, saying, the Lord your God is giving you rest on this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan.

Now I need you to hear this, this is a real story. They didn't know if they would come back to see their children. As their little ones were at home, as their children and grandchildren were there, As he looked up with them with their big eyes and said, Daddy, when are you coming back home? The mighty men had to say, Son, pray I will. Will you leave your wives? Will you go and do the will of God? Will you keep your promise, though it might cost you your very life? or will you turn back from your promise?

See, the Lord is the one who kept his promise. The Lord is the one who is saying, you're about to enter into the land. I promised that land to your father, Abraham. I brought you up out of Egypt with all the signs and the miracles. Will you now follow me and keep your promises? Make no doubt about it, keeping promises is hard. Will your wives, when they weep and hang on your neck and plead you not to go, will you do the resolved thing and follow the Lord? Will you pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor and help them until Yahweh has given your brethren rest as he gave you?

See, there's a danger. There's a danger here, not just of them going out and fighting away, but what happens if all the troops go out and they fight on the eastern side of the Jordan? Who's at home to protect their families? Who's at home to make sure their little ones aren't destroyed? That some marauding band of looters doesn't come in and steal all their children to go sell them into Egypt, like they did to Joseph. Would they trust the Lord to protect their households, their families, their goods, their cattle, while they were at war going before their brethren?

What would you have done? Would you have kept your promise? Would you have polished your shield? Would you have sharpened your sword? Would you have looked into the eyes of your crying children as they begged you not to go? and have had resolved to say, I must follow the Lord.

Then, after they've conquered the land before their brethren, then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise. So they answered Joshua. And we thank God for their answer. We thank God for the model that they give us of living up to a promise. We thank God for the courage that we see here. So they answered Joshua saying, all that you commanded us, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go.

Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. on one condition. What is their one condition? Why they'll follow Joshua like they followed Moses. Only Yahweh your God be with you as he was with Moses. If the Lord is with you, we will follow. If God Almighty himself is with you, we will march after you. This is the generals of the army saying, we will muster up the troops, we will lead the people, we will make sure that we follow after you, only may Yahweh Himself be with you. If He's leading you, then we'll follow you.

They're not putting their trust in Joshua, but they're putting their trust in the Lord. But they follow the leader. of the commander of the armies. And then they give a promise beyond that, whoever rebels against you, verse 18, whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your word and all that you command him shall be put to death, only be strong and of good courage.

Now we might read that passage and we might think, oh man, that's a little bit harsh. If somebody won't follow your commandment, Joshua, it's going to be capital punishment. This is martial law. This is not a pleasant thing. I need to make this extremely clear, especially for those children who might think someday that they want to go into the military. Going to war is not a pleasant thing.

On the law books of the UCMJ are plenty of laws that if you break, you can be put to death by a firing squad still, to this day. If you cause a mutiny on a ship, you can be put to death. If you try to cause a coup by military power, generals can be put to death.

This is what they're promising here. We're taking this with absolute severity because the promise depends upon the obedience of the people following after us and we will rule with severity. Only, and it's interesting here, at the very end of this chapter, verse 18, the very last sentence, what is their encouragement to Joshua? Only be strong and of good courage. Joshua had heard it from God himself, and we have no clue whether the people, whether the generals had actually heard God say that to Joshua. and hear out of their lips, Joshua hears the same thing that God himself had just told him, only be strong and of good courage. Are we a people who follow after our commander?

We don't live in a time and age where we're going in and having to literally do battle anymore. And I thank God for that, that we're not going into war, that I'm not having to say goodbye to my children. And yet, we'll get there, we might have to someday. Not in battle, but to say goodbye to our children, to deny mother and father, pick up our cross and follow Jesus.

But the question is, are we willing to follow Jesus? Are we willing to follow the true Joshua? Are we willing to take our commanding orders from Jesus himself who had his father before him? I don't know about you, but sometimes I think Jesus got the short end of the stick.

God does this amazing thing where he chooses people who are stiff-necked and stubborn-hearted. He did it with the Israelites, and as you sit there and you read through the Pentateuch, and you just scratch your head like, God, why did you choose them?

Weren't there better people who would follow your commandments better? No, there weren't. And then you look at the church today, and you see all the flubbubs, and you see all the hypocrisy, and you see all the judgmentalism, and you see all the commandment breaking, and you see all the people not following after Christ. And you think, God, couldn't you have chosen better people? Well, no. No, because not one is righteous. No, not one. Not one seeks after the Lord.

Each one of us follows our vain hearts. But it's only if God takes out our heart of stone and gives us a bleeding heart of flesh. Gives us ears to hear and eyes to see, minds to understand that then the seed falls upon the good soil and bears fruit. It's only if we abide in Jesus Christ, it's only if we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ that we will follow after Him. It's a work He starts and it's something that He propels us to do.

So let me ask you, are you a promise keeping people? For some of you, your days of your wedding wax old in your memory. The day in which you stood before the congregation and made vows before God and before His people. I put these words as a typical type of marriage vow. I printed a whole double-sided sheet. I know it's small print. I had to get it all on one page. But you made vows similar to this to your spouse, did you not?

I, Brian, take you, Olivia, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. And yet how many people, when the times get rough, and I promise you the times are going to be rough in your life, will you keep your promises to God and to your spouse? When financial hardship comes, bankruptcy seems to be knocking at the door, the tax man says he messed up on your bill, congratulations, you owe tens of thousands of dollars that you don't know where they're going to come from. When the 401k is empty and inflation hits through the roof and you find yourself poorer than you thought you would ever be, will you still cling to your promise to your spouse? For every one of you who's a member of this congregation, you took promises before God. And before this congregation, on the backside of that paper, you took a covenant vow.

Do you believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule for faith and life? Do you subject yourself to the Word of God? As our culture continues its downward slide into apostasy, into relative truth, as it gets rid of any standard of God's Word, even as your family abandons God's Word, will you hold to your promise that you believe God's Word is true? Christ in, even in the face of Satan himself? Do you believe in the one true living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

Do you actually believe the Trinity, even when the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses come and knock on your door and they give you interesting arguments? Will you cling to the truth, even as you have family members who might try to barrage you with lies?

Will you keep your promise? There are promises that we made here that are specifically difficult to do. The third vow is extremely important and yet we took these promises upon ourselves. When's the last time you've confessed your guilt? When's the last time that you have professed your faith in Christ to someone else? Do you promise that you will endeavor to forsake all sin and conform your life to the teaching, to his teaching and example?

Let me ask you, that's a hard promise. Have you been on autopilot with your spiritual walk? Have you put on cruise control and been okay with just mediocrity? Has the water become lukewarm? Have you begun to forget your first love? Will you keep your promise? Fifth hour, do you promise that you'll diligently read your Bible?

Engage in private prayer. Keep the Lord's Day. Regularly attend the worship services. Observe the appointed sacraments and give to the Lord's work as He shall prosper you. Now I need to say I'm putting a heavy load upon your shoulders when I'm telling you that this is not what earns you merit before Jesus Christ, but these are the promises we took because we said we love Christ. Are you seeking to abide in Christ? Are you in His Word? Are you soaking up His Word? Are you desiring to grow in sanctification, to grow in the knowledge of God? Are you desiring more holiness? Or have you found it easy to excuse away attending God's worship services?

There's fun things to be done. I'm no fool. There are fun things that happen on Sundays. And the world wants you to get sucked into all the gimmicks and the tricks. All the family stuff, all the events, all the friends. Where's your heart? I'm calling you not for legalism, but I'm begging with you. Do not let your heart grow cold.

Do not forget Jesus Christ. That is why we come here week in and week out to fix our eyes on Jesus, who truly did go and conquer a promised land, not that is on the Western side of the Jordan River, but that is in the heavenly Jerusalem. Do you go to the throne of grace? Do you meet with Jesus in prayer? Do you find him in his word? You've promised to follow him wherever he goes. Are you following him? Do you love him? Is your household serving him?

Brethren and sisters, fix your eyes on Jesus. Maybe this is the morning that you need to renew in your heart a commitment that as for you and your house, you'll follow the Lord. that you'll have strength and courage, that you'll fix your eyes on Christ, that you'll go wherever he goes into the dark shadows and into the brilliant light of his glory.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Oh, Father, we thank you so much for giving us a commander of the armies. our King, our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. God, you have given us the full armor to do battle against our heart, against the rulers and principalities of this world, even against Satan himself. God, I pray for these people that they might love you. that they might diligently do warfare against the sinful desires of their hearts and they might follow you all the days of their life. God, I pray that they would not do this, picking themselves up by their own bootstraps. But God, I pray that each one of us would cry out to you and that your spirit would lift us up, that we would lay aside sin and we would run the race with perseverance. Lord, we thank you. that you've promised never to leave us nor forsake us. Father, please let us abide in Christ and bear much good fruit. It's in his name we pray, 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 and 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.