Be Strong
Series: Joshua
Speaker: Chris Jones
Date: 7th March 2015
Passage: Joshua 1:1-18
00:00:00 --> 00:00:01 Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:06 We thank you that we can go into a different part tonight.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:10 And we pray that as we grapple with the Old Testament and stories from a long time ago,
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 that you would speak to us in a fresh way by your spirit right now
00:00:13 --> 00:00:17 and grow us in our encouragement and our service of you.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 I want to be political tonight.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:23 How's that? Don't do that too often.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:29 Prime ministers of Australia have been coming and going through a revolving door for the last five years.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:31 That's stating the obvious.
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 And I thought before I finished this sermon that we might even have another one,
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 but it hasn't happened at this stage.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:42 But it's led to an insecurity and a lack of confidence in decision makers,
00:00:42 --> 00:00:43 and it's not good for our country.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 It's not good for our democracy.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:51 If it has become a tyranny of vested interests or selfish people
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 who just spin that revolving door and keep it spinning.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:59 When a leader changes, we go from the known to the unknown.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:04 We move into a new era with new hopes and also new uncertainties.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 So tonight, as you know, we're in Joshua.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 We're in the sixth book of the Bible.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 It comes immediately after the first five books of the Bible,
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 which are known as the Torah, the law.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 And it's the first of what we call the former prophets.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 And there's a huge transition taking place,
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 which we've already read about in the Bible readings tonight.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:30 A deeply revered leader, Moses, has died,
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 and a new leader steps onto the stage.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 And so there's these new questions, there's new hopes,
00:01:37 --> 00:01:38 and there's new uncertainties.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 And Joshua begins with these words.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:45 After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord,
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 the Lord said to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' aid,
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 Moses, my servant, is dead.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 There's a baton change going on.
00:01:56 --> 00:02:01 The great God anointed and appointed leader of the people of Israel is dead.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 Moses was raised in the household of the Egyptian king.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:08 He was a prince of Egypt.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:14 He's probably the foremost leader of the Jews in the whole of the Old Testament.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 He was a reluctant leader.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 When God first knocked on his door and asked him to lead,
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 Moses said, please find somebody other than me.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 Don't take me, Lord.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:31 And yet he was the man who had confronted the king, Pharaoh,
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 on numerous occasions with the word and the power of God
00:02:34 --> 00:02:40 until the Egyptian king finally permitted the Israelites to leave Egypt
00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 with the last terrible plague.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 Get out of my sight and never come back again.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:49 And Moses led the nation through the Red Sea.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 The Egyptian army tried to follow.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 God closed the sea over them.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 He drowned the army and they were totally destroyed.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:04 The Israelites continued on what was a reasonably short journey of a few weeks.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 It only took a few weeks to get to the edge of the promised land.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:09 They arrived there.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 They're on the brink of the place that God is bringing them to
00:03:12 --> 00:03:13 and they blew it.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 They sent spies into the land.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 And the spies returned with a mixed report.
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 They said, yes, it's a great land.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:24 It's flowing with good things.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:29 It's got milk and honey and all the things that God promised that there would be,
00:03:29 --> 00:03:30 just like God said.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:33 But it's full of giants.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:40 And these guys are so big that we feel like grasshoppers in comparison to them.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:44 I was on holidays before Christmas.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 Four days on a houseboat on the beautiful Myo Lakes.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:49 Never been there in my life before.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:52 Pristine beauty.
00:03:52 --> 00:03:53 I was very excited about going.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:55 Warm water.
00:03:55 --> 00:03:56 Unlimited swimming.
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 You know, all day in and out of the water.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:03 And just before I went, one of my friends very kindly said to me,
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 he said, oh, watch out for the bull sharks.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:08 No, it wasn't, sorry.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:11 He wouldn't have done such a thing.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 And suddenly, four days on a boat and not being able to go into the water
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 didn't sound very nice at all.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:21 And I said to my friend, I think the bull shark stuff is a lot of bull dust.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 And I found out afterwards it was.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 There were no bull sharks in Myo Lake.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:27 He was wrong.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:34 But what had happened was his warning had put fear into me.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:36 And uncertainty.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:42 And I was wondering, I was actually wondering why we didn't go on the Hawkesbury River
00:04:42 --> 00:04:43 in the first place.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:44 We wouldn't have had to drive so far.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 There are bull sharks and other sharks there.
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 It's the same with the Israelites.
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 Ten spies came back.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:52 They're telling giant stories.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 And the people become very afraid.
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 And in their fear, it's almost like they've got amnesia.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 They've forgotten what God's just done for them.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:03 They've forgotten the big signs in Egypt.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:07 I mean, how big a miracle does God have to do for people to remember how great he is?
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 And he does ten of them in Egypt.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 And then he brings them through the Red Sea and drowns the army on top of that.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:16 But they forget.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 And they stop trusting him.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:19 And they begin to accuse him.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 And they say, what have you done bringing us to this place?
00:05:23 --> 00:05:24 We're all going to die.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:32 Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, have a very different perspective.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:35 Don't worry about the giants.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:37 God can take care of them.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:42 And so you've got two groups.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:43 They've gone and seen the same things.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:48 They face the same situation, but each deals with it in a completely different way.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:53 One group is filled with fear and can't get away quick enough.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:57 And the other group have this really big sense of God.
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 They're confident in God.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:03 They trust his leadership of them, even in the face of giants.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:12 And if we read a whole lot of the Bible, we would see that God punishes the nations for their unbelief,
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 for the nation for their unbelief.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:22 They wander in the desert like refugees without a home until all the adult men of that generation die for their unfaithfulness.
00:06:22 --> 00:06:32 And so now, 40 years later, there are only two survivors, Joshua and Caleb, and they are both about 80 years old.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:35 Moses is dead.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 He's not allowed to enter the land.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:39 That's another big story.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 A generation has died out.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 God takes one great leader off the scene.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:52 The nation really has lost a colossal leader, and the people are very grieved.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 But Joshua begins with a new leader.
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 And I guess the questions are, what's he going to be like?
00:07:00 --> 00:07:01 Will he take us in?
00:07:02 --> 00:07:03 Will we defeat giants?
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 Should we trust in him?
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 Will he prove worthy?
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 It's funny, you know, for all of us, life is short.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 We will all depart the stage of human history.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 And as we go, and you see it with older people particularly,
00:07:20 --> 00:07:24 with older people they may have had a pretty substantial life and done a lot of things,
00:07:24 --> 00:07:28 and a lot of things that you probably remember and honour at a funeral service,
00:07:28 --> 00:07:32 but they will go and a family will be left behind.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:38 And some of the questions which become real questions for the people left behind are,
00:07:39 --> 00:07:40 so what's going to happen to us?
00:07:40 --> 00:07:48 And what will our future be like now that this person is no longer part of our life?
00:07:48 --> 00:07:56 And God gives great reassurance to the new leader,
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 and I think that's what the whole of Joshua chapter 1 is about.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:05 It's God's reassurance to the people at this significant point in their history.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 Verse 2.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:36
00:08:36 --> 00:08:50 And what you see there, if you listen very carefully,
00:08:50 --> 00:08:57 is that the Israelites' real leader has always been God.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:02 He's working his purposes.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:04 He's pulling the strings.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 He provides the real power and the leadership.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:08 Verse 2.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 The land is what I am about to give them.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 And verse 3.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 I will give you what I promised Moses.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:25 And God promises this vast area of land which stretches all the way from the Mediterranean Sea
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 right through to modern Iraq and Iran.
00:09:30 --> 00:09:31 And they're not new promises.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:35 These are promises which God has made time and time again in the past.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:39 He's made the promises to Abraham in Genesis 15.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 He's made the promises to Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 1.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:48 And in verse 5, God says,
00:09:49 --> 00:09:53 Just like I was with Moses, I will be with you.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 I will never leave you or forsake you.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 God is present and leading his people.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:01 He is still on mission.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:11 And so he's giving great reassurance to Joshua and also to the people.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 Be assured, God is with us.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 He continues to lead us.
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 His promises assure.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 His purposes continue.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 And Joshua is God's new man.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:31 His Hebrew name means rescuer or saviour.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:36 It's the same name as Jesus in the Greek.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:42 I've changed my verse tonight and I've gone to Luke chapter 2 verse 12
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 where the angels announce the birth of Jesus and they say,
00:10:45 --> 00:10:56 Christ is a saviour.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:56 Christ is a saviour.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:57 Christ is a rescuer.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:03 Joshua will be a rescuer in terms of God's purposes,
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 bringing God's people into the land.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:17 And then he reassures his people throughout these words
00:11:17 --> 00:11:18 at the beginning of Joshua.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 The reassurance is, I am with you.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 You're not alone.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 It's the same sort of reassurance which is given again and again
00:11:27 --> 00:11:28 throughout the Bible.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 In the New Testament, in John's Gospel,
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 Jesus alarms his disciples when he says, I'm going away.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:36 And they're distressed.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 And he reassures them in John 16, 16.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 He said, I will ask the Father and he will give you another counsellor
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 to be with you forever, the spirit of truth.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:51 But you know him for he lives with you and he will be in you.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 And I will not leave you as orphans.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:54 I will come to you.
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 In Matthew 28, Jesus does exactly the same things.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 The very last words that he speaks to his disciples
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 before he goes up into heaven,
00:12:03 --> 00:12:07 I am with you always to the very end of the age.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 He promises his presence.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:19 We can feel very frightened and lonely in tough times.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:24 Very uncertain of what's going on around us
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 and uncertain of what lies ahead.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 Sometimes devastated by our own sin,
00:12:32 --> 00:12:36 sometimes devastatingly impacted by the sin of others.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 Believers do shed tears
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 and in some places in the world we even shed blood.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:47 Nowhere in the scriptures are we promised an easy road.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 But what we can be sure of
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 and always confident about
00:12:54 --> 00:12:58 is the personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 in every situation that we face.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:06 I thought about this this morning.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 You know, when you're older,
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 one of the things that you know is coming
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 is declining health and death.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 It's going to come sometime.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 And when you're younger,
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 you don't think about it as often,
00:13:17 --> 00:13:18 but when you're older
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 and you see your friends dropping off around you,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 it becomes almost the norm.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 Others of you are still in high school
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 or maybe just out at the end of high school
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 and so life issues are quite different for you.
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 You have uncertainty about the future.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:36 You struggle with issues in your family.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 You see grief with mothers and fathers and families.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 You have big life decisions coming ahead.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 You're wondering about what you'll study.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 You're wondering about what career that you will do.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 You're wondering about whether you'll be married,
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 whether you'll have a family,
00:13:51 --> 00:13:52 what that will look like.
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 And somewhere in between,
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 a few of the rest of us fit
00:13:57 --> 00:14:01 and we've been living long enough
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 to know that some of the things that we planned for
00:14:03 --> 00:14:04 and we hoped for haven't come
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 and some of the things that have happened to us
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 are not things that we've welcomed.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 Life can be really difficult sometimes.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 Illness or illness in a loved one,
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 in a child or in a spouse,
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 experiencing death in close family,
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 maybe it's walking through times of moral failure
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 or difficulties in our workplace.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 God does not promise to get us out of trouble.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 He promises his personal presence
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 in every circumstance of life.
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 You see it when we have marriages,
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 ceremonies here in church.
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 At the beginning of a marriage,
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 you know, two people stand here,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 hopefully head over heels in love.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 That's what it's like most of the time.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 Maybe very stressed by the arrangements of a wedding,
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 but head over heels in love
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 and absolutely anxious to start to build a life together
00:14:59 --> 00:14:59 and be together.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 And at the heart of a service,
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 the two people will make promises to one another.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 They read promises which recognise
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 the ups and downs of the journey
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 which is still out there ahead of them.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:15 And they'll say to each other,
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 I take you for better,
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 for worse,
00:15:20 --> 00:15:21 for richer,
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 for poorer,
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 in sickness and in health.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:34 But you commit yourself as a friend
00:15:34 --> 00:15:35 to one another in that moment
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 and the point is that you have a friend
00:15:37 --> 00:15:41 which undertakes to enter into the journey of life with you.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 A real presence,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 a deep comforter
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 when it works right.
00:15:49 --> 00:15:55 And so Joshua begins with God saying,
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 I am with you.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 You're not alone.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 He has a powerful presence with his people
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 on the journey of life.
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 His promises
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 and his purposes
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 continue.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 But a word from God,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14 a promise from God,
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 always requires a response
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 from the people that it's spoken to.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 Three times God says to Joshua,
00:16:23 --> 00:16:23 be strong,
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 be courageous,
00:16:26 --> 00:16:27 don't be afraid.
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 And in verse 18,
00:16:30 --> 00:16:30 the people respond
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 by asking their leader
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 to be strong and courageous as well.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 And it's not like grin and bear it
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 and battle through British
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 stiff upper lip stoicism.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 It's about having the courage
00:16:43 --> 00:16:44 to trust the word of God completely
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 and to act on it.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 To rest in what God asks him to do,
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 to be faithful to what God says.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 God's word says to him,
00:16:54 --> 00:16:54 verse 7,
00:16:55 --> 00:16:56 be careful to obey all the law
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 my servant Moses gave you.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 Do not turn from it
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01 to the right or to the left
00:17:01 --> 00:17:02 that you may be successful
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 wherever you go.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 Do not let this book of the law
00:17:06 --> 00:17:07 depart from your mouth,
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 meditate on it day and night
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 so that you may be careful
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 to do everything that's written in it
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 and then you will be prosperous
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 and successful.
00:17:15 --> 00:17:16 This is not a book of rules
00:17:16 --> 00:17:17 and regulations.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:18 This is the book
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 by which they relate
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 in a living way
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 with the living God.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 The scriptures were the law.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:25 This was their Bible.
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 This is about knowing God.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 And God gives Joshua
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 all that he needs
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 for the task ahead.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 He says,
00:17:33 --> 00:17:33 I'm with you.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 Trust me.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 Trust my word.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 Do what I tell you to do
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 and don't listen to anything
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 or anybody else.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 They are about to enter
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 a land of giants.
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 Fearsome enemies,
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 tough opponents
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 and God says,
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 don't be terrified,
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 don't be discouraged,
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 trust what I say completely.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:54 Now when a preacher
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 says something like that
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 to a congregation
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 of God's people,
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 most people just sit there
00:17:58 --> 00:17:59 and nod their heads
00:17:59 --> 00:17:59 and say,
00:17:59 --> 00:17:59 yeah, yeah, yeah,
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 we've got to do
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 what God tells us to do.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:02 Of course we do that.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 Pay careful attention
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 to God's word.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 Well, what's that look like?
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 And it's really interesting
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 because you jump into
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 the New Testament,
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 you go to a passage
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 like Hebrews 13
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 and he actually picks up
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 on Joshua 1
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 and applies it to God's people
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 in a Christian setting.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 So in Hebrews 13,
00:18:23 --> 00:18:23 he says,
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 marriage should be honoured
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 by all
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 and the marriage bed
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 kept pure
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 for God will judge
00:18:28 --> 00:18:29 the adulterer
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 and all sexually immoral.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 Keep your lives free
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 from the love of money
00:18:35 --> 00:18:35 and be content
00:18:35 --> 00:18:36 with what you have
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 because God has said,
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 never will I leave you
00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 or forsake you.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 And so we can say
00:18:43 --> 00:18:43 with confidence,
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 the Lord is my helper,
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 I will not be afraid,
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 what can people do to me?
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 See, God's presence with us
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 should be impacting
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 our behaviour.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 To know Christ
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 should be changing
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 the way that we are
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 and the way that we live
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 and the people that we are.
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 Honour marriage,
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 keep the marriage bed pure.
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 Keep your lives free
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 from love of money.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 Be content
00:19:08 --> 00:19:09 with what you have.
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 The reason to honour God
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 in these things
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 in matters of relationship
00:19:15 --> 00:19:16 and money
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 is God's faithfulness
00:19:17 --> 00:19:18 to us
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 and his presence
00:19:19 --> 00:19:19 with us.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 God's given us
00:19:24 --> 00:19:24 his word.
00:19:25 --> 00:19:26 We know what he thinks
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 about the idols
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 of sex and money.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 Preacher a while back
00:19:30 --> 00:19:30 said,
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 we live in a sex
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 sodden society.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:32 He's right,
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 I saw a movie last night
00:19:33 --> 00:19:36 which I'll tell you
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 afterwards if you want to know
00:19:37 --> 00:19:37 but it was a movie
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 that I thought
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 would have been
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 a great movie to see
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 and it was for most of us
00:19:41 --> 00:19:42 if you like seeing people
00:19:42 --> 00:19:42 blown away.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 That sort of
00:19:46 --> 00:19:46 light relief for me
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 sometimes.
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 Mightn't be good for you.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 But something happened
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 at the end of that movie
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 that shocked me
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 and it was like
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 the pornification
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 of our culture.
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 It's like bringing
00:19:57 --> 00:19:58 porn into mainstream.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:03 Some of us
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 have been burnt
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 or hurt
00:20:05 --> 00:20:05 by our own
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 sexual failures
00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 or the failures
00:20:07 --> 00:20:07 of others
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 against us.
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 Our society
00:20:11 --> 00:20:11 ridicules
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 what God teaches
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 about marriage
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 and fidelity.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 The organised church
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 wanders like a drunken man
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 trying to find his way
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 home over issues
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 such as gay marriage
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 and practising
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 gay ministers.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 We've moved
00:20:25 --> 00:20:25 a long way
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 from God's word.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 we are more likely
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 to say each
00:20:28 --> 00:20:28 to his own
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 than to hold
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 to what is clear
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 teaching in the scriptures.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 That's sex
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 and relationships.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 What about possessions?
00:20:39 --> 00:20:39 We're possessed
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 by them.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 If we own homes
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 we want the Sydney
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 property market
00:20:46 --> 00:20:46 to boom.
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 If you don't
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 own a home
00:20:51 --> 00:20:54 you don't mind
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 if it crashes a bit.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 I tried that
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 in one of our
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 church families
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 this morning
00:20:58 --> 00:20:58 I don't think
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 they saw the humour
00:20:59 --> 00:20:59 of what I was
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 trying to say.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 I think that was shocking.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 But we feel
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 security in our wealth.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 Gives us status.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 Reassurance
00:21:10 --> 00:21:10 about who we are.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:11 We feel powerful
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 because we can travel
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 business class.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 Or we can die
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 in a five star
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 nursing home.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 How good is that?
00:21:19 --> 00:21:25 We have lots of stuff
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 but we are restless
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 and discontent
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 and never satisfied.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 And it's a spiritual problem.
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 See when we turn
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 to money
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 or we misuse sex
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 I think we're trying
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 to fill deep
00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 emptiness inside.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 More porn
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 a new sexual partner
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 great wealth
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 and the things
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 that I can do
00:21:48 --> 00:21:48 and buy
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 and we're trying
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 to fill this hole
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 that only Jesus
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 can truly satisfy.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 We had a lovely
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 experience this week
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 at church.
00:21:59 --> 00:21:59 Somebody from
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 one of our church
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 families
00:22:01 --> 00:22:01 morning church
00:22:01 --> 00:22:04 was serving
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 in the school
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 and on the counter.
00:22:08 --> 00:22:08 They were a great
00:22:08 --> 00:22:08 public face
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 for our church.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:12 and she was telling
00:22:12 --> 00:22:12 the story
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 of her conversion.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 She's come from Iran
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 and she was converted
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 in India.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 A friend talked
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 to her about Jesus
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21 and she came
00:22:21 --> 00:22:21 to Christ
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 and she said
00:22:23 --> 00:22:25 I fell in love
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 with Jesus.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 I fell in love
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 with Jesus
00:22:29 --> 00:22:31 and boy
00:22:31 --> 00:22:31 he shines
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 out of her.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 The Lord Jesus
00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 richly invites us
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 into his personal
00:22:38 --> 00:22:38 presence
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 and into relationship
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 with him.
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 He says to us
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 in Matthew 11
00:22:43 --> 00:22:43 come to me
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 all you who are
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 weary and burdened
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 and I will give you rest.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 Take my yoke
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 upon you
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 and learn from me
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 for I am gentle
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 and humble in heart
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 and you will find
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 rest for your souls.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 The people of Israel
00:22:58 --> 00:22:58 have been brought
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 to a brand new day.
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 God has dealt
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 with the offenses
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 of their past.
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 He's given them
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 the opportunity
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 to enjoy
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 new life
00:23:09 --> 00:23:09 with him
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 in this brand
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 new land
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 and yes
00:23:13 --> 00:23:14 there are lots
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 of things
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 that they could
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 be afraid about
00:23:16 --> 00:23:19 but God
00:23:19 --> 00:23:20 speaks to their
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 situation
00:23:21 --> 00:23:21 and he says
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 I am with you
00:23:22 --> 00:23:24 I will never
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 leave you
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 and never forsake you
00:23:26 --> 00:23:29 and then he calls
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 them to make
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 a strong
00:23:31 --> 00:23:31 and trusting
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 response to him
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 be strong
00:23:33 --> 00:23:35 be courageous
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 don't be afraid
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 the Lord
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 your God
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 will be with you
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 wherever you go
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 and brothers
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 and sisters
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 I have no idea
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 what giants
00:23:47 --> 00:23:47 you are facing
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 in your life
00:23:48 --> 00:23:48 right now
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 and I am sure
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 amongst us
00:23:50 --> 00:23:50 even a congregation
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 this size
00:23:51 --> 00:23:53 that some of us
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 have very large
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 giants
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 staring them down
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 but this passage
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 says
00:24:00 --> 00:24:00 don't try to
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 satisfy your own
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 hearts with things
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 that cause
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 greater heartache
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 make righteous
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 choices
00:24:07 --> 00:24:09 pursue the Lord
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 Jesus in love
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12 be strong
00:24:12 --> 00:24:14 be courageous
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16 continue to
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 cling to the
00:24:17 --> 00:24:17 Lord Jesus
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 who says
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 I am with you
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 always to the
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 very end of the
00:24:21 --> 00:24:21 age
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 the Lord
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 Jesus
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 who is with us
00:24:25 --> 00:24:25 is greater
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 than every
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 giant
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 that makes us
00:24:28 --> 00:24:28 fear
00:24:28 --> 00:24:30 Amen