HOW TO FINISH STRONG

Pastor Jerry Rockwell

HOW TO FINISH STRONG

 

Joshua 23:1-16

Introduction: Have you ever started a job and not finished it? I have done that at times. Paul said “I have finished my course” (2Tim. 4:7) at the end of his life and suggested that he had completed the task assigned to him by God. 

Have you ever lain in bed and could not fall asleep? It happens to all of us. We sometimes wrestle with an anxious spirit. Some people stay keyed up all the time. Have you ever wished you could have a spirit of peace? There is no guarantee we won't drink too much coffee or Coke and lie awake half the night. I am not talking about that. I am talking about being anxious about something that keeps you awake. Have you ever wished that “all was well with your soul?” Psalms 4:8 (KJV) I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Human nature has not changed much over the past 6,000 years. Even David had some sleepless nights. He said I know what it is to have confidence and lie down to sleep because he trusted in God. 

We are going to hear a man's statement, Joshua, to his leaders about the battles he has fought. The war is over. Recently, he has been trying to win the peace between the tribes (see Josh. 22). In Josh 23, we find three principles: 1. Know what God has done for you, 2. Live life as God intends for you to live, 3. Never ever turn back from serving God. If you do that, you, too, will know what it is to have the inner peace that God intends for you. Let’s look at this passage and see how this develops. 

  1. KNOW WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU, Joshua 23:1-5. We need to remember what God has done. God gives us victory over our enemies. There were seven nations that lived in the land and God helped Israel defeat these nations who were the enemy of God’s principles. God has given us victory over our enemies. Ephesians 2:1-3 gives us the N.T. picture of what God has done for us. We have the enemies of the world, the flesh and the Devil. We have looked at these extensively. Eph. 2:4-7, God has made us victors. Joshua 23:4, Joshua tells them what they have is an inheritance, not something they earned. We know this from the experience of moving into a new house, whether we buy, rent or lease the house. When you move into a new house you find all kinds of stuff that we did not expect. There is always a lot more to do. Just as Israel there were things not completed, they still had work to do. There was a conditional aspect of the occupation of the land that God want the people of Israel to so. We face this issue. We have received an inheritance. There is an unconditional aspect of our inheritance and there is a conditional aspect of our inheritance. 
  1. The provisions God has made for Israel, Joshua 23:4. Joshua is telling them what God has done on their behalf. God has given them an “inheritance.” The land in which they stand is what God has provided for them. It was a fruitful land filled with “milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3, et al). God was very gracious and wanted to provide for them what they needed. 
  1. There is a New Testament corollary to Joshua 23:4, 1 Peter 1:3-5 (KJV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We receive an inheritance that had nothing to do with what we have done but what Jesus Christ has done. It is reserved in heaven for us. 
  2. The conditional aspect. 1Cor. 3: 8-15. God has given you an inheritance which no one can steal or corrupt. But you and I need to decide what we are going to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ. It will not affect your eternal life/reward, but it will cause us to suffer loss if we do not build on it properly. See: 1 Corinthians 3:8-15.
  1. The promise of consistent daily living and victory in every circumstance of life, Joshua 23:5 (KJV) And the Lord your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the Lord your God hath promised unto you. The verb in the middle of this verse, “drive them from out…” is a present active which means that God will continually drive the enemy out from the sight of the Israelite. They could lose this by their lifestyle. This could be lost by the hardness of their heart. It could be lost by the inconsistent living and failing to believe God. God will do the same for us. When Jesus died on the cross He said, “It is finished.” There is nothing we can add to that. You cannot lose the forgiveness we have when we trust Him for salvation. Yet that does not mean we cannot lose our reward. There is a difference in our inheritance and our reward. Your inheritance is what God did for you. Your reward is what you do for God. Remember the phrase in 1Cor. 3:15 where Paul said, “Saved so as by fire?” Look at 2Pet. 1:1-4 the foundation. Now 2Pet 1:5-8. Do you understand what God has done for you? If you don’t, then I have a question for you. How badly do you want what God has done for you? Do you want that peace we talked about at the beginning? You need to build on what God has done for you. You need to add to your faith. What are you doing to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ? What are you doing consistently, consciously to build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ? Or are you in danger of suffering loss? That is as far as I can take you. I cannot do it for you. You have got to want to grow and serve the Lord. Using your life to influence the lives of others. Serving the Lord. Working with others to get the news of Jesus Christ and what he can do for them. At some point, if you want the inner peace God has for you, you are going to have to make some decisions that will give it to you. God gives us a choice because He loves us. He wants us to love Him.
  1. THERE NEEDS TO BE A COMMITMENT TO LIVE LIFE AS GOD INTENDED US TO LIVE IT, Joshua 23:6 (KJV) Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left. [Emphasis added.] What is he saying? Joshua is telling them they need to live their life according to what God has written in His word. The Israelites did not have much of a Bible at this time, basically only five books, Genesis to Deuteronomy. If you want to live life as God intended it, you need to live according to what God has said. We are no longer under the Law of Moses. We have the New Testament and we need to learn the principles of the word of God and develop our lives according to the Bible. We need to live by what God has recorded in this book called the Bible. That is what discipleship is about. We need to help others develop a relationship with the Lord Jesus and know the Bible in a way that will help them live according to God’s word. If we want to live for the Lord Jesus, we need to learn the Bible and live according to it. This is how we live life as God intended it.
  1. That we stand out among the people who do not know the Lord. Joshua 23:7 (KJV) That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them. What is being said here is not that you don’t say the names of these gods; what he means is that we should not pray to them. Remember 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
  2. Stick close to God, Joshua 23:8 (KJV) But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. The word “cleave” is an interesting word. Remember Genesis 2:24 (KJV) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. [Emphasis added.] That is very strong. Jeremiah 13:11 (KJV) For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. Even in the New Testament, Acts 11:22-23 (KJV) 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. [Emphasis added.] I cannot give you five neat steps to follow to “cleave” to the Lord. You need to choose to do so. The question is do you “cleave unto the Lord?” John 15:2-5 (KJV) 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Abide is the same idea as cleave. Do you abide in the Lord? The result of abiding is that you will bear fruit. What kind of fruit are you bearing? 
  3. Surrender full control of our life to God. Joshua 23:9-10 (KJV) 9 For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. This is the second time in this passage that Joshua reminds the people that God fights for them. This does not excuse the people from the field of battle. It does not mean that the people were not to pick up their sword and spear and go against the enemy. It reminded them that God was the source of all their victories. Some of us need to be reminded of that (Ephesians 6:10-18). Some of you have come to a point where you are committed to God, doing many things for God, and doing them in your own strength. Do you know what happens sometimes? You get tired, weary, and discouraged. Romans 11:36 (KJV) For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Some have been here for many years and do not know your Bible because you have been doing and doing FOR God. That makes it all about you. IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM.
  4. Love the Lord with all your heart, Joshua 23:11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God. [Emphasis added.] We thought that was only in the New Testament. Jesus told one of the scribes in response to his question, “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus replied in Mark 12:30-31 (KJV) 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. What is the first priority in your life? 
  1. NEVER TURN BACK FROM FOLLOWING GOD, Joshua 23:12-16 (KJV) 12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: 13 Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you. 14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. 15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you. 16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you. The Tanzanian runner in the marathon in the 1968 Olympics who had a tragic fall and broke one of his legs. He got up and continued to run and one hour and a half after the winner had crossed the finish line John Stephen Ahkwari entered the stadium bandaged and bloody. Someone asked him why he kept going? He replied, “My country did not send me to the Olympics to start a race but to finish it.” How are you going to finish the race? Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (KJV) 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.  Are you going to finish the race? What will it take to make you quit?