Be Strong and Be Courageous

if you have your bibles please turn to joshua chapter one we're gonna read verses six through nine and in this text god he is speaking a word of instruction and a word of encouragement right before joshua leads the children of israel into the promised land and there at that very pivotal moment for god's people we read these words be strong and of good courage for this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which i swore to their fathers to give them only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go verse say this book of the law it shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it and then we read for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success have i not commanded you be strong and of good courage do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the lord your god is with you wherever you go amen i believe that god has been positioning our church for a special promise we have sown seeds of prayer and fasting it has been preached and prophesied and now as we pursue that promise i feel prompted of the lord to preach a message today be strong and courageous turn to somebody next to you won't you tell them that is your seated be strong and be courageous you may be seated in the opening of the old testament of your bible the most talked about and sought after destination for the people of god was simply the promised land god he first tells abraham to begin this pursuit of the promises in genesis 12 1. it's a land that i will show thee then in genesis 35 and 12 god swore to bring the descendants of abraham and isaac and jacob into the promised land the promised land was told to be a place of rest it was a place of blessing a place of provision it was a holy inheritance for the people of god from the moment that god had uttered those words his people they began to pursue the promise but while in pursuit we read in genesis 46 that god he sent jacob to egypt with his family for temporary provision during a famine but we read that what was once temporary provision a temporary place of residence it became their permanent residence it would be comparable to going on a vacation or a road trip and you try to stop for a quick stop at a bucky's gas station i don't know if anybody as a witness of the lord has been to a buckies yet but after getting gas from one of their 120 different gas pumps that's no exaggeration getting some freshly sliced brisket getting lost in the 80 toilet bathroom snagging some freshly made beef jerky and beaver nuggets and then going ahead and just knocking out your christmas shopping while you're there at the gas station at that point you've decided vacation destination is just canceled we're just going to spend our week here at bucky do i have any witnesses in the house you visited coveted buckies there's one in north atlanta now as well for the children of israel this quick stop for provision it led them to being enslaved by the egyptians where they remain for 430 years and sadly sometimes the people of god will pause their pursuit of the promise because they're simply comfortable and they become satisfied with temporary provision for the very outset today i just want to challenge you today don't settle for less than best when it comes to the things of god amen don't get comfortable with momentary miracles in your life or forgotten promises god he may give you some temporary relief on your journey but don't remain in the remnant of an old blessing instead let that temporary provision be the fuel to push you on to what lies ahead in your future keep the passion keep the fire keep pursuing the promises and the blessings that are ahead like paul said to the church in philippians 3 14 keep pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus after god he delivered the children of israel from slavery in egypt he brought them to the promised land under the guidance of moses and however the people neglected to obey god's law and he made them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years another hard lesson had to be learned that whenever the people of god fail to embrace the law of god there'll always be punishment instead of promise so moses he strongly he encouraged them to change their ways under his successor joshua and he says this in deuteronomy 11 1 therefore you shall love the lord your god and keep his charge his statutes his judgments and his commandments always he continued in deuteronomy 28 13 and the lord will make the you the head and not the tail you shall be above only and not beneath we love that verse but it's it's dependent on this next part if you heed the commandments of the lord your god which i command you today and you are careful to observe them then the final words of moses deuteronomy 32 46 he added take to heart all the words i have given you today pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions these instructions are not empty words they are your life by obeying them you enjoy a long life in the land and you will occupy when you cross the jordan river and in the midst of his farewell address we find these familiar words in deuteronomy 31 7. then moses he called joshua and he said to him in the sight of all israel be strong and of good courage for you must go with this people to the land which the lord has sworn to their fathers to give them and you shall cause them to inherit it after a generation had passed away in the wilderness joshua he was finally ready to lead the people into the promised land if there was ever a time or ever a place where the people of israel had to be obedient and faithful to the word of god and live out its principles was in this final pursuit down the home stretch of the promised land because there they would encounter the many physical and spiritual challenges that we read from the initial spies report in numbers 13. there were powerful enemies that outnumbered the people of god in that land they were fortified large towns and giants occupied that land and modis moses he mentioned the detestable customs of the nations living there practices of wickedness and idolatry ran rampant in the flesh it's very easy to see why the ten spies are full of doubt and why they gave a negative report but when you are pursuing a promise from god you can't operate in the flesh you must operate with faith and obedience to his word amen that's why we find the instructions from god in our opening text to be strong and to be courageous these words of instructions were so crucial that god made sure that he repeated them three times in just four verses be strong and of good courage be strong and very courageous be strong and full of courage first god tells joshua you need to be strong and courageous qualities that would be needed to face the enemies the physical enemies the opposition ahead but then he spoke of joshua being strong and bold but not just in the physical but in the spiritual he told joshua only be strong courageous that you could observe to do according to all the law now oftentimes when you are faced with the physical your natural reaction is simply to respond in the physical when you're looking at vast opposing armies and and fortified cities it'd be easy to think of military strategies it'd be easy to quickly begin to do an inventory to round up the troops so why did being strong and being courageous in the law of god have to do with physical battle against the canaanites simply put it had everything to do with it because they were not like any other nation they were the people of god they had a different system of beliefs they had a different approach to everything that they faced in life amen if israel hoped for success in the land of promise they would need to order their lives according to god's instruction mere military prowess would not be enough for israel to defeat the people of canaan cleverness would not be enough for them to be successful in making their homes and possessing the promise in this new land god had given his word by which they were to demonstrate their faithfulness to him while pursuing the promise and joshua as a leader was set as an example in careful adherence to god's word he couldn't turn to the right or to the left to study it continually but by being strong and courageous about god's instructions about god's word joshua would be able to lead israel to success and they would be prosperous one final assurance of this was given in joshua 1 9. he said have i not commanded you be strong and of good courage do not be afraid for the lord your god is with you wherever you go and this is very important the order of these words is very important maybe not to us as we read our new king james or king james version of the bible whatever you may be reading but when you read this the the words in the hebrew give special emphasis it says with you will be yahweh your god everywhere you go and it's so important that god use this personal name yahweh because as israel as they begin to go into canaan they would be fighting people who proudly worshiped baal who proudly worshiped the canaanite l who proudly worshipped other supposed deities who were expected to give their worshipers victory in battle but by reassuring joshua that yahweh your god would be with him god reminded him that day that he was more powerful than any other god in the land of promises more than any other god of the canaanites because those were not any real gods at all this is how they could have good courage through obedience not only would god come the favor and the blessings of god but would come with the power and the protection of god the children of israel learn that if you will stand for god he will stand for you the one and only true god he would fight their enemies he would make a way when there seemed to be no way amen aren't you thankful that we serve a god who is greater amen greater than anything that we may face in this world than any custom any belief any god that this world may present that may come against us he is greater so we as the people of god can be strong and we can be courageous as we fast forward through the word of god we see this theme over and over again you fast forward to one particular book of the bible in the new testament in corinthians and we see a familiar verse of scripture to that from our opening text written by paul to the church of corinth but there that first century corinth they had a population of around 700 000 people it was infamous for its immorality and his paganism the church was surrounded by a very opposing and difficult culture greek philosophy was prevalent and influenced those who lived there the city was filled with shrines and temples but the most prominent was the temple of aphrodite on the top of the 1800 foot promontory called the accr acro corinthis with a thousand temple prostitutes for the worshipers of the goddess of love this center this cosmopolitan center thrived on commerce entertainment vice corruption and pleasure seekers came to corinth to spend money on a holiday from morality corinth became so notorious for its evils that the term to act like a corinthian became a synonym for debauchery and prostitution but despite these great obstacles despite the influences of the culture paul was able to share and to preach the gospel of jesus christ and to plant a church there on his second missionary journey that church was gifted it was growing it began to though be affected and influenced by the surrounding culture first corinthian reveals the problems and the pressures the struggles of a church called out of a pagan society there were moral and ethical problems doctrinal and practical problems corporate and private problems but led by the holy spirit we see how paul was directed to overcome these obstacles once again it was for the church to be strong and courageous in the word of god paul believed in the power of the word of god he believed the cross of jesus christ is a message that is designed to transform the lives of believers to make them different from the surrounding world to give them power to live an overcoming and an influencing life on that culture not to be influenced by the culture one commentator mentioned that paul he was urging courage and strength for the needed conviction required to withstand the pressures the pressures of the pagan society that was around him paul was urging the church to withstand that sinful culture that was attempting to cannibalize their faith and their practice to the blending of their pagan beliefs with the word of god sounds familiar to a culture that we live in as well amen paul he masterfully writes on the inspiration of the holy ghost a summary of his teaching in his finals exhortations in first corinthians 16 13 and very simply we hear these words ring true again watch stand fast in the faith be brave be strong paul be strong and courageous as we observe joshua and the israelites in the old testament paul and the corinthians in the new testament we fast forward to today and we find ourselves pursuing the promises of god in a fallen world we too find ourselves as referenced in 1st peter 2 11 as strangers as pilgrims as temporary residents and foreigners in this world but we too are the people of god first peter 2 9 reminds us but you are a chosen generation you're a royal priesthood you are a holy nation his own special people for the purpose to proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light amen but maybe some here today you've paused your pursuit of the promise and gotten held up in egypt some are simply comfortable and satisfied with just temporary provision just getting by in the lord you're still living in yesterday's miracles but what was once a blessing what god once provided as provision has actually now become a burden that is keeping you back from pursuing the future promises of god but i want you to be reminded that god has something greater in store for your future amen maybe some of you find yourselves like the children of israel listening to the 10 spies who share the negative report if you allowed yourselves to get caught up and focusing in on the reports of doom and gloom in this world and there are plenty to be found you're doing your best to pursue the promise but you're getting paused by doubt by anxiety and fear you find yourselves viewing a opposition through your physical eyes and not your spiritual maybe some of you are trying to fight in your flesh like paul reverences in first corinthians 9 26 you're you're just beating the air you're trying your best but every time it seems like you're fighting to take a step forward pursuing the promises that god may have given you or given your family or for your ministry for our church you can't seem to gain ground it's one step forward it's two steps back victory keeps evading you but i believe the lord is wanting somebody to be reminded of these timeless words today to simply be strong and to be courageous we must learn the lesson that god was telling joshua the lesson that paul was telling the corinthians that this battle that we face it is not a physical but a spiritual one paul made it abundantly clear in second corinthians 10 3-5 for though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in god for the pulling down strongholds casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of god bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of christ church as we pursue the promise that god has before us i pray today that we would abandon any approach that we may take in ourselves and we let god do what we will never be able to accomplish on our own i want there to be a shift from pursuing to pers possessing in our lives in our church in our family the promises we must embrace the power of god and the spirit of god we know that it's not by might it's not by power but by my spirit says the lord and so i pray that god's word would challenge us to simply embrace the power of prayer the power of fasting like never before i pray that we be challenged to have a renewed dedication to the word of god and to living the principles in the word of god like the children of israel like the corinthians maybe uh any man or woman who has made the decision to live for god you will feel the pressure of this world you're gonna feel the pressure to cave into carnality to conform and to compromise your faith that pressure is there every day that culture is pervasive it surrounds us every day you will feel the pressure to hide your holiness you will feel the pressure to abandon your apostolic identity you will feel the pressure to compromise the truth and the principles of god's words but like roman 1 16 we must say for i am not ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ amen for it is the power of god the gospel the word of god is the power of god unto salvation so be strong and be courageous if you read through the book of joshua you will read the testimonies of the children of israel and joshua being strong and being courageous living this out walking in faith under the leadership of joshua we read how there were vast numbers of the enemy who were conquered that they could even count like the sands of the seashore 31 of those fortified opposing cities that were once so daunting that were once causing fear in the people of god 31 were conquered as they possessed the promised land not only that but this is what really blows my mind if you understand the children of israel but out of the 11 books historical books that carry on the story of israel only joshua does not record a massive failure by israel or its leadership there was the sin of one man aiken in chapter 7 which was quickly remedied but if you know anything about them you know about the many ups and downs you know about the constant seasons of struggle that they went through so you know the book of joshua in itself is a miracle of god but you know the principle of being strong and courageous in the word of god that it works that is you pursuing god if you're strong and courageous you can you will pursue the promise they learn this crucial lesson that physical and spiritual victory it comes through faith in god in obedience to his word in joshua chapter 23 we find joshua old advanced in age the lord had finally given rest to israel from all their enemies round about they had finally possess the promise and i want to read these final words of joshua chapter 23 verse 3 says you have seen all that the lord your god has done to all these nations because of you for the lord your god is he who has fought for you verse 6 he reminds them again therefore be courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of law of moses lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left for the lord verse 9 has driven out from before you great and strong nations but as for you no one has been able to stand against you to this day amen by being strong and courageous helena west come to preach today that i believe it's time for a generation of believers that will rise and simply be strong and to be courageous in the face of the pressures of this present world there must be a young man there must be a young woman that will be strong and courageous when others choose not to embrace the truth of the word of god there must be some parents there must be some families that will be strong and be courageous as we go back to our places of work and the influence and the culture of this world there must be a man and a woman that will be strong and courageous students as you walk the schools of your heart the halls of your schools of your college campuses you need to be strong and courageous as you go about your day rubbing shoulders with this world let us be unashamed let us be strong and courageous if you will stand for god he will stand with you i repeat what i said at the opening of my message today god has been positioning our church for a special promise we have sown seeds of prayer and fasting it's been preached and it's been prophesied our opening text in joshua 1 8 says for then you will make your way propers and then you will have good success like the children of israel if we will do just that if we will move from pursuing the promises we will move to possessing the promises deuteronomy 20 3 through 4 and he shall say to him hear o israel today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies but atlanta west let's hear the word of god do not let your heart faint do not be afraid do not tremble do not be terrified for the lord your god is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you amen deuteronomy 31 8 and the lord he is the one who goes before you he will be with you he will not leave you nor forsake you so do not fear nor be dismayed amen

Channel: Atlanta West Pentecostal Church

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Length: 28min 41sec (1721 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021