Be Strong and Courageous

Introduction

What a joy that we can be strong and courageous in the Lord. Amen? You will open your Bibles with me to Joshua chapter 1. As you’re turning to Joshua chapter 1, consider the promises made to Abraham all the way back in Genesis chapter 12. In Genesis chapter 12, we know the three promises made to Abraham, the land, nation, and seed. And of course, it’s the seed promise upon which Christ came, and all of us, even those of us who are here this morning, can be blessed through the salvation that’s offered through Christ alone. But when you think about the people, the nation through whom Jesus would come, that promise to Abraham was really fulfilled around the time of Exodus chapter 1. And in Exodus chapter 1, you find the people of God in Egyptian captivity.

In fact, they were growing in such numbers that the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt’s view of how to handle this growing Israelite problem, was to submit them to harsher slavery conditions. And as they were in those conditions, they continued to multiply and grow, fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that through him would be a great nation. And while the majority of the Old Testament is about that nation, that nation in particular has to fulfill that final promise. And that’s where we find Joshua coming into the picture. Joshua is exhorted to be strong and courageous three times in Joshua chapter 1. But to keep in mind what’s going on, look back in Deuteronomy chapter 31 first. If you have a marker, leave it in Joshua 1. But turn over just a few pages to Deuteronomy chapter 31.

As you trace the Israelite history, you have them in Egyptian bondage. And as you move through the book of Exodus, you see in chapter 3 and chapter 4, Moses appearing before the burning bush. And he’s communicating with God as God’s saying, Take my people, lead them out of Egypt. And of course, Moses eventually does just that. But in so doing, God first shows his mighty works. He shows what God, what he, the Lord can do by putting the ten plagues over Egypt. And of course, it’s at that final plague, the death of the firstborn, that Pharaoh eventually relents and allows the people to go for a time. And as they, as the people are going, the Pharaoh has a change of heart, a change of mind, and he sends his chariots towards the people who were leaving towards Mount Sinai.

And as they’re going, they come to the Red Sea, and God again shows his mighty works. God, through Moses allows the Red Sea to be parted, and Israel to pass on through by faith, as if it was on dry land, according to Hebrews chapter 11. And of course, you know the picture. After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, the walls that were the water of the Red Sea, they collapse on the Egyptians chasing after them. And of course, they come to Mount Sinai, and in Exodus chapter 20, you have the giving of the Ten Commandments. Moses comes down with the tablets that were inscribed by the very finger of the Lord with his law for his special, unique people, the people that he had promised Abraham would have, that a great nation would be made of him.

And of course, it’s at that time that Moses comes down and he sees the people worshiping the golden calf that Aaron had erected. And of course, Aaron’s excuse was that it just kind of happened. It just kind of popped out there. But make no mistake, the Israelites had grown weary and waiting. They had grown tired and perhaps thought Moses was gone. And they had turned to worship a golden calf rather than the great God who had taken them out of Egypt, who had separated the walls of the Red Sea and allowed them to be there. And of course, it’s through Moses that the people press on towards the promised land. That land that was the second promise that would be fulfilled to Abraham that God had made all the way back in Genesis chapter twelve.

But Moses, like the rest of us, had an expiration on his life. In Deuteronomy chapter 31, we’re introduced to the succession plan for this great leader of God. So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, I am a hundred and twenty years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, You shall not go over this Jordan. The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head as the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, whom he destroyed them.

And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. The language that you find in Deuteronomy chapter 31, in those first eight verses, is going to be repeated in different forms in Joshua chapter one.

So make no mistake, the lesson clearly is about the message to Joshua be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed, trust in God for the victory. But how did we get to this point? Why is it that Moses was unable to join the people across the Jordan in the promised land? You have to back up even before that story in Numbers chapter 20, and find yourself in Numbers chapter 13 and 14, when they’re on the precipice of finally entering into this land, and they send out the Israelites do the twelve spies. That included, yes, Joshua and Caleb. And they wanted to see was the land good? Can we take the land? And of course, ten of the spies come back and they dishearten Israel.

And in chapter 14, Israel’s in one of their many panics. And they say, Why have we come out here just to die? We’re going to be slaughtered by those large people that are in the promised land. Yes, the land is good, but we can’t take it. But it’s Joshua and Caleb who step up in the middle, the beginning of chapter 14, and they say, With God, we can do it. We can make it. Those were two great faithful men. But the rest of Israel did not see it that way. And as a punishment, God caused that generation to die off after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. And it’s at this point around, in Deuteronomy chapter 31, when Moses’ life is coming to an end, as he is on the precipice where he can look out and look into that promised land that he had been leading God’s people towards, that God had promised his servant Abraham would be in the possession of his people.

It’s at this point that Moses’ life is going to come to an end. And Joshua is to take over and to take them the rest of the way. You see in Joshua in Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 13, this message that the children who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. They were going for that land. God was going to give them that victory. But note in verse 22, this interesting and yet sadly ironic passage in verse 22 through 29. Note the response of the people of Israel. And then see how they respond in Joshua chapter 1. In verse 22, so Moses wrote the song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

And the Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, Be strong and courageous, for ye shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you. When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death?

Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands. And Moses, correctly and rightly and tragically hits the nail on the head when he realizes that the people had been turning against the Lord, the people would turn against the Lord. But Joshua in chapter 1 is given a choice, this mantle, this responsibility of leadership.

1. Joshua Was Given a Monumental Task

If you look in Joshua chapter 1 at our main text this morning, you’ll see that Joshua was to lead the people, and he was to lead them in a particular way. He was given a monumental task. In Joshua chapter 1, beginning in verse 1, note with me our text this morning. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Mun, Moses’ assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore go arise over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for ye shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Think about this task given to Joshua. Obviously, it was to lead the people into the promised land. But another gigantic part of this task is who he was replacing. He was replacing Moses. And if you think about that important piece of history we touched on briefly in Numbers thirteen and fourteen, when the spies had gone in, and their punishment for not having faith in God, when the ten came back and convinced the camp of Israel, we can’t do it. That wandering in the wilderness would have knocked off a generation.

And Moses, at a hundred and twenty years old, around the time of his death, when he had been leading, people other than Joshua and Caleb would have perhaps only known the leadership of Moses, or at least those of any age would have primarily known Moses as their leader. And it was through Moses that they had lived essentially their entire life. So Joshua not only had to lead the people into a promised land, into a land where there were enemies and wars to be fought, battles to be waged, and a Jordan to cross, a point we’ll get to in a moment. But Joshua had to replace Moses, that special prophet and messenger that God used so frequently. But I noted in Joshua chapter 3, look with me in verse 15.

Beyond just this type of emotional trying to try this type of capturing the emotional appeal of replacing Moses, you see in Joshua chapter 3 and verse 15, very physical blocks in this way. In Joshua chapter 3 and verse 15, it says, And as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priest bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water. Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of the harvest. The waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away at Adam, that is beside Zarathon. And those flowing down towards the sea of the Erabah, the salt sea, were completely cut off, and the people passed over opposite Jericho.

Well, you see in verse 15 is in addition to replacing Moses and the emotional burden that that would have on Joshua, in addition to having to prepare to find these battles, to win over and claim the land that God had so long promised his people to have. Joshua had to deal with the flooding of the Jordan. They had to cross through this elevated water. This would be no easy task. And so when you think about this task that was before Joshua, the exhortation to continually be strong and courageous is clear, and why it would be offered is easily understandable. But you see that three times in these nine verses, Joshua is told to be strong and courageous. And you see, each time it’s attached to a different understanding of where that strength and courage would come from.

2. Just As I Was With Moses

You see the first one in verse 5? Look in verse 5 of Joshua chapter 1 again. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. How is it that Joshua was to be strong and courageous? Well, verse 5 says, as God was faithful to Moses, he could take that and be strong and courageous, knowing God blessed Moses, and God is now promising the same to Joshua and his leadership. How had God blessed Moses? Well, again, we’ve already kind of talked about it in tracing the history of Israel.

What had God done through Moses? The ten plagues that came onto Egypt when Moses would go to Pharaoh and ask for the release of his people. And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. The plagues would come down. It was Moses who was there to accompany the people to allow the Red Sea to part through the miraculous working of God so that the Israelites could cross on dry ground. If you look in Joshua chapter 12, it’s divided up into two sections as you begin reading. First of all, the victories that God had given Moses and following, yes, even the victories that God had given to Joshua. God had clearly blessed Moses and Joshua, the special assistant of Moses. Joshua, this very strong and courageous spy, would know that. He would know the history.

3. Strong and Very Courageous: Do Not Turn From the Law

He would know that God was with him. But look, even within verse 6, there’s that second idea of the promise there. For you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. How was Joshua to make it through? How is he to be strong and courageous? Because God promised that he would deliver him. God promised Joshua and his people, this land is for you. This goes back even to his promise to Abraham. Joshua could know this this would come to pass. But note verse 7 as you see the second example of be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

Note verse 8, and does this not call into mind the words of Psalm 1? This book of law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua was to be strong and courageous, knowing what? That he should not depart from the will of God. That law of Moses, that in Deuteronomy chapter 31, we read that Moses wanted to be with the ark, that he wanted the people to constantly be reminded of, is so pivotal. Because if God promises victory to his people, but that same God promises a condition upon which that victory would be had, it is vital.

Critical. That Joshua and his leadership and Israel and their following after their leader Joshua would commit to the laws of God, not turning to the left or the right. Unfortunately, as we read in Deuteronomy chapter 31, Moses knew that the people would not do that. But Joshua was to be strong and very courageous, leading the people, not just into the land, not just vaguely acknowledging God, but not departing from his ways to the left or to the right. The will of God, the book of the law was to be on his mind and in his mouth at all times. If we’re going to be a good, strong and courageous soldier of the Lord’s, we need to constantly be emboldened by the words of God. And that includes sticking to his message.

4. Do Not Be Dismayed: The Lord Is With You

I think you see the third example, though, in verse 9. Once again he’s told, be strong and courageous, do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed. Why? For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. If Joshua was being a little bit intimidated by the task, he shouldn’t have, because God was behind him. Just like God got behind Moses and encouraged him at the burning bush. When Joshua is about to take over this mantle of leadership, as he’s going to do the will of God dating back to the promise of Abraham, Joshua needed to stand firm knowing God was with him. And with God with him, no one could move him. See, Joshua knew that. He proved that with Caleb in the time of the twelve spies.

5. Trust in God for the Victory

But now in this new mantle of leadership, Joshua could not forfeit that place of faith, that place of understanding that God would not leave him. God would not forsake him. What a great promise from a great God that I will not leave you nor forsake you. We can be strong and courageous because what God has said will come to pass. Because we will stick with God’s will and knowing that his ways are best. And third, we can know God will not leave his people. What a blessing to serve that kind of God. You see, thirdly, in this text, that Joshua was to trust in God for the victory. That’s the essence of what God is telling Joshua. Stick with me, and you will have victory. And you see this in two different ways.

What about the obstacle that was the Jordan? In Joshua chapter 3, how was it that the people would get over? How would they cross? In Joshua chapter 3, beginning in verse 7, note how this went. Then the Lord said to Joshua, Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And as for you, command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, when you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. And Joshua said to the people of Israel, Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizites, the Gergashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe of man. And when the souls of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap. And the people did it. In verse 14, so when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan, with the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people, they came up to the Jordan. And in verse 17, now the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

God showed in this seemingly simple way, and yet this simple way was a miraculous, powerful show of God that I am with you. God told Joshua to tell the people, Watch, know, see that I am with you. And upon that understanding that God is with you, I will deliver you. Even the depths of the Jordan would be stopped. You can cross on dry ground, because I am with you. Because God sees no boundaries. There is no obstacle that God cannot break before his people. And when God has promised that they will accomplish a task, and the people stick and trust and put their faith in him, God will deliver. And he did. In Joshua chapter 6, you see perhaps a more extreme example of God’s working miracles, of God delivering his people.

And of course, we know the story, the story of Jericho. But note with me just the first few verses and see what was it that God expected of his servant Joshua, his people Israel, to have this great military victory. In Joshua chapter 6 and verse 1. Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus you shall do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priest shall blow the trumpets.

And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him. What was said in verse 2? What was the message of the Lord to Joshua? See, I have given Jericho into your hand. You think about the message of God to Joshua, be strong and courageous. We know that he delivered Jericho when the people did as God had commanded. But you think about those three cries of be strong and courageous in Joshua chapter 1, were they not all evident in just these two clips that we have read from the book of Joshua, these two excerpts in chapter 3, we see just as with Moses the people could cross on dry ground in the Red Sea, God, because he was with them, because they trusted in him, he made them pass over the Jordan as on dry ground.

We see, as with Moses, he had military victories. And Joshua, when the people marched around Jericho and did as God told them to do, the walls fell down, and that was a miracle of God. We see the second cry of be strong and courageous, not parting God’s way to the left or to the right. God’s people did what God commanded in Joshua chapter 6. It would not have been right for Joshua to sit back in Joshua chapter 6 and verse 2 and say, The Lord said I have victory, now I’m going to sit and do nothing. That wasn’t the leadership Joshua was to have. He was to be strong and courageous, remembering the law of God and not compromising or turning away from it. And thirdly, what was the be strong and courageous cry?

6. Trust in Jesus to Lead Us to Heaven

Do not be dismayed. Do not be frightened. For I am with you. I will not forsake you. Knowing that God was with Moses, knowing that if he stuck with the law of God, he would bless his people. We see that God was with Joshua, and he did give them repeated victory after victory because they trusted in the great God who promised them the land. And the truth is we’ve been given a heavy task, and I’m sure I assure you that my lesson is not complex or simple to see where the application is going. It is very simple. We need to trust in Jesus to lead us to heaven. When God has said something, it is so. When God told Joshua to lead the people and to do it in a particular way, we knew that God would stand behind his message.

But look in John chapter 14, a passage we read to begin the service this very morning at nine o’clock. In John chapter 14, what is it that Jesus has done? Jesus as our leader, as our Savior, going before us, what is it that he has done? In John 14, beginning in verse 1. Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God. Believe also in me. Do you see this in verse 2? In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am you may be also, and you know the way to where I am going.

Thomas said, Then, Lord, we do not know where you’re going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. What do we learn? What did Jesus promise? Yes, we can trust in him, but we must come to the Father through Jesus. If you note verse 3, the condition, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. Jesus has said he will come again. His expectations are clear in Hebrews chapter 1 and verses 1 and 2. What are we to follow? The words of his son. It’s no longer in times past where we listen to the prophets of God. We have the final word, the words of Christ that will judge us in the last day.

John chapter 12 and verse 48. If we stick with the words of Christ, we see when he says, I go to prepare a place for you. Then we know that when he says, I will come again, that we should look forward to that place he’s preparing and Jesus to come again. And while Jesus coming again signals the day of judgment, and that can be a scary thing for the Christian, like Joshua who trusted in God. If we put our faith in the Lord, we will be rewarded because God is great. But we must stick to his ways. How are we going to do this? Well, we must not grow weary or faint-hearted. If you look in Galatians chapter 6, you see a couple warnings throughout the Bible.

And I think it’s interesting because we focus so frequently as we ought on sin. But it’s more than just doing wrong that can pull at us, that can chip away at the faith of a Christian. It’s in Galatians chapter 6 that this warning is found, beginning in verse 7. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. Look closely at verse 9. And let us not grow weary of doing good. For in due season we will reap if we do not give up. You see, the idea of sowing and reaping is clear.

If you’re going to live a life that’s dependent upon the will of God, that is what you will reap. If you sow a life of countering God’s will, of attacking his name and blaspheming the very name that God has given us to praise, then we know that we will reap corruption. But even in so sowing and reaping, we need to be careful that we don’t fall prey to what verse 9 warns us against, that we do not grow weary. It is a constant fight, a constant battle. And when you think about Joshua leading the people, you see, even discarding the fact of Moses and all the years he led the people, it was a constant fight and battle. It’s found in the middle of Joshua that it’s told there’s even more land yet for Joshua to conquer, more land for the people of Israel to take over.

God does not want us to stop. We do never we do not stop serving God until the day of judgment. And then we praise God forevermore. There is no ceasing in our praising of God. There is only non-stop devotion to Him. Yes, we will reap what we sow, but we need to make sure we don’t grow tired or weary of doing good, that we don’t exhaust ourselves. And in so doing, we need to take the message of Joshua to heart. Be strong and courageous. Because when God is with us, we can make it. And you see in Hebrews chapter 12, just like Joshua was told to look at the example of Moses, we have an example we can look to so that we don’t grow weary, so that we have endurance.

Will you look with me at Hebrews chapter 12? See this in Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse 1. I hope you’re looking at this passage with me. In verse 1, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Do you see that the scriptures know that we have to run a long race? And when you run a long race, and you’re out of shape like I am, you won’t make it. But if we prepare ourselves, if we trust in God, we can do it. We not only can make it through, but we can win the race. We can be victorious because we can look to Jesus and see that he did it. That Jesus, in his agony in Matthew chapter 26, repeatedly prayed, What? Not my will, but thine be done. And Jesus went through with God’s plan for him, even when that plan included him being nailed to the cross. If Jesus can do that, I can make this race because God is with me, because I know God will not leave me or forsake me.

But to do that goes back to our previous point. To trust in Jesus to lead me is not just to say, Oh Jesus, lead me in your ways. Oh Jesus, I believe in you. I know that you paid the price. Like Joshua needed to do to be strong and courageous in verse 7 and 8. We need to stick with the law of God. We need to stick with what Christ says. When Jesus says jump, we say, I will jump. When Jesus says to go, we will go. We will not be ashamed. We will not be dismayed. We won’t grow tired because we’re serving a great God who has promised us if we do it, we can win. What a great God, amen. We have to have this faith, or we will grow weary.

If we don’t believe we can do it, if we don’t remember that we’re pressing on to heaven, we will run out of gas. We won’t have the endurance that takes us to the finish line. We have to know that it’s worth it and that God will get us there. Put your trust in God today. But that’s not just mental acceptance. It’s submission to his will. It’s realizing that God has a plan for me that’s not just my victory. It’s how to get there. And that involves the condition of me doing as God has commanded. Just like in Joshua chapter 6. Remember? When it comes to the defeat of Jericho, God didn’t say, I’ve given you Jericho, sit back and watch me take the walls down. He said, Today I’ve given Jericho into your hand.

And yet there were days of work for the Israelites ahead that God had set as a reminder of faith, as a condition, one might say, of that victory. God’s condition to us is clear to submit to Christ. To trust in Jesus is to trust in his will and that his ways are greater than ours, and if we submit to them, we can be with him. And ultimately, you know the final line that if we rely on God, we can have the victory. If we try to do it ourselves, we will grow weary. We will grow tired. If Joshua needed to be strong and courageous, we need to be strong and courageous because we serve the same God. God has expectations for his people, and yet if we serve him, we can have the victory.

Conclusion

Look with me at one final passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. As you look in your Bibles at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, you think of this great chapter, which begins with Paul talking about those things that were of first importance the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We understand as the text continues that without the resurrection of Christ, our hope, our faith is in vain. We’re stuck in our sins. He’s talking about this imperishable body that we can take on. But verse 57 is the clear beginning in verse 56, even. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Can we read that again and have such joy in our hearts?

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The victory has been won. Jesus has defeated the powers of Satan. He has defeated the powers of death. He has won the war. Will we submit to him? Whose side will we choose? It’s easy to choose the side of the winner. To say, I want to be with him. I know he’s won. But the beauty is, just like Joshua could, we can look back and see all the times that God was faithful. God wasn’t just faithful to Abraham. He was faithful to Moses. He was faithful to Samuel. He was faithful to Abel and Enoch, all these great characters of faith found in Hebrews chapter 11. Who was he more faithful to than David?

And yet we can look forward, knowing that even in the future, this victory is assured. Victory is certain. God was and has been faithful. God is and forever will be faithful. Will I be faithful to my unchanging, unmoving God? If I am, the task is monumental. I will have to follow spiritual giants. But I’m not compared to them. I’m compared to what God expects of me. I need to devote my life to him. That means getting off the couch, getting out of the pews, and going into the world and living a radically changed life because that’s what Jesus commands of us. Are we up to the challenge? The victory has been won. Have you gained the victory? Know that you can have that victory today. You can have your sins forgiven.

Jesus, who defeated the power of death, died. His blood was shed, his body given up so that our sins could be cleansed. They could be washed away. Jesus is our redeemer and we’ve been bought with the price. Take advantage of the blood of Christ this morning. Or perhaps you already have. Perhaps you’re a Christian, but you’ve drifted away. Realize that that sacrifice of Christ was a high price. And he didn’t buy us back to mediocrity or to some type of pure potato Christianity. He desires servants, soldiers of Christ, arise today. If we can help you in any way, come forward now as we stand and sing the invitation song.