From Moses to Joshua, 1...

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"Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites." (Joshua 1:2)

The death of Moses and the appointing of Joshua as the leader of Israel was as great a change as could be imagined. There do come changes in God's eternal plan. We are in such change today.

(9/26/2010). What is the nature of the change that is occurring now? The change has to do with the phase of redemption we are entering. Up to the present hour the Christians have experienced the blood atonement, repentance and water baptism, the born-again experience, and the various ministrations of the Spirit of God.

Now we are to build on what has gone before. It is the same God, the same Christ, the same Holy Spirit, the same Bible. But it is not the same wandering in a wilderness while looking backward. Now we are to look forward. Our task now as Christians is to follow the Spirit of God into the promised rest, the inheritance, the goal toward which our redemption is bringing us.

Our inheritance is not eternal residence in Heaven. Our inheritance consists of rest in the center of God's Person and will; change into the inner and outer image of the Lord Jesus Christ; plus whatever individual goal that is part of our destiny. Of special importance is the inheritance of the people whom we are to serve as a member of the royal priesthood; also the farthest reaches of the earth.

This promised rest, this inheritance, is occupied by demons. So we are going to have to fight in order to lay hold on that which God has promised us.

Christ is coming to us now as the Lord, mighty in battle. This is the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feast of the Blowing of Trumpets.

The Spirit of God is prepared to cleanse us from all trust in the world, all the aspects of our sinful nature, and self-will. Every part of our personality that is not perfectly reconciled to God, that is not in perfect harmony with the Father, must be dealt with until all obstacles to our rest in Him, and His rest in us, have been removed. This is the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish Day of Atonement.

The final result of God's present dealing with us will be the dwelling of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in us. This is what God desires. Hopefully this is what we desire. If we do not want to be filled with all the fullness of God, we are wise if we immediately make the possession of such a desire our continual prayer. This is the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Tabernacles.

We are entering spiritual warfare. The spiritual warfare is reflected in the physical warfare in which the nations of the earth currently are engaging.

I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. (Joshua 1:3.4)

In the passage above we see the two aspects of moving forward with God. First, God will give us every place we set our foot. Second, God very specifically tells us where to place our feet.

It is taught currently that Christ has done everything concerning our salvation. All we have to do is believe that He has done everything. This is not at all true. As Paul said, we are to grasp that for which we have been grasped. The true Christian experience of redemption is that of ceaselessly pressing forward toward the mark.

We are in an unrelenting warfare as we seek to move forward in Christ. There is no vacation from this pressing forward until the day we die; and for all I know, the need to press forward in Christ continues after we die.

The Word speaks of the Body of Christ being brought to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, and of a Church without spot or wrinkle. We know that the Word always is fulfilled perfectly and totally. Would anyone want to claim that such maturity is gained in the present world?.

There is much in our personality that vigorously resists our finding perfect rest in the Person and will of God; and resists also a change from our adamic image to the image of Christ.

What passage of the Bible supports the idea that when we die physically we automatically are at rest in God's Person and are changed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ?

After all, sin began in Heaven when Satan, one of the two cherubim that guarded the Throne of God, decided he wanted to take God's place. What is to prevent a person or an angel from doing this in the future? I can see men on the earth today who are trying to usurp the place of God!

We have to place our feet. Christ has not done it all for us. Also, we need to know where to place our feet. Knowing where to march must come to us at all times from the Spirit of God. We are not to guess at our inheritance. We are to follow the Spirit as He leads us in putting to death the lusts and actions of our sinful nature.

Each member of the Royal Priesthood has had, from the creation of the world, a specific commission. He or she has been called according to God's purpose. As long as the individual is pressing forward as led by the Spirit of God, all things of world history are working for the good of him or her.

I cannot emphasize too strongly that we absolutely must keep ourselves in the place where we are denying ourselves and following Christ. He is our Joshua, our Commander in Chief. We cannot possibly enter the rest of God in our own wisdom and strength. We must remain in Christ, in His Presence, at all times.

The wickedness in the world is increasing every day. The enemy is too wise and strong for us. All of our notions of how we are going to remove the abominations are useless. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is wiser and stronger than the enemy who is operating today in our own country as well as other countries. We will be only as successful in conquering our enemy to the extent we are dwelling in Christ.

When we review the events that occurred as Joshua led the Israelites against the Canaanites, we can see that victory was gained only as the Israelite army obeyed the Lord, as He led them from city to city.

Joshua's only failure occurred in the case of the Gibeonites. Joshua did not ask the Lord, he assumed the Gibeonites were telling the truth. If we are going to be successful in spiritual battle we must learn never to take anything for granted. We are to look to the Lord about everything.

"No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Joshua 1:5)

There is no power of Satan that can prevent our gaining the fullness of our inheritance. But this is true only as we are obeying Christ diligently. We are not to do, as some are suggesting, "put on our administrative hat" and go about challenging the powers of Hell. We are to move only as directed by the Spirit of God.

We now are at the end of the Church Age. God is facing Satan. The conflict is between titans, whereas we are only dust. We always must keep in mind that Christ never will leave us or forsake us. No matter how grim and dark our situation may become at times. no matter how we feel, Christ will never leave us in the hands of the enemy. If we are faithful to Him, He will be faithful to us.

I do not say Christ will remain with us if we act carelessly or foolishly. Today is no time to be careless or foolish as we prepare to enter the inheritance promised to us.

"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. (Joshua 1:6)"

Notice the emphasis on strength and courage. The fearful will not be able to gain their inheritance. Why is this? It is because fear is an indication that we do not trust God's ability, or His love, or His good intentions toward us. Remember how the Israelites were turned back into the wilderness.

The preaching of the "rapture" includes the idea that the believers in Christ will escape Antichrist and the Great Tribulation. It is a doctrine that encourages the Christians to be afraid of Satan. There is no thought of standing in the evil day, only of escape from the forces of Hell.

The doctrine of the "rapture," as taught commonly, is not of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is leaving the Christian people unprepared for the spiritual darkness on the horizon–that even now is entering our country. God would have us confident in Him that He will make us more than conquerors in Christ.

We have been commanded to be strong and courageous. Christ is the epitome of strength and courage and He desires that we be like Him. At what time we feel fear attempting to master us we are to call on Christ. He will share His perfect courage and strength with us.

Remember, we cannot cower in fear believing that God will feel sorry for us. He won't. He is a king. We are His sons. He expects us to act like sons of the Greatest of all kings. We just have to pray until we gain the strength and courage we need to face the problems of the day. They will be given to us! But if we yield to fearfulness and unbelief we will suffer for it, and perhaps lose part or all of our inheritance.

"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it." (Joshua 1:7,8)

The passage above was given to me by some fellow Marines when I first became a Christian. These Marines were followers of Dawson Trotman. They placed great emphasis on learning the Word; memorizing the Word. I have never forgotten this emphasis.

Since I got out of the Marine Corps I have retained that reverence for the written Word. But I have found that many churches are preaching their traditions rather than the written Word. I have spent a good part of my adult life seeking to point out where the current evangelical preaching, such as the doctrine of the "pre-tribulation rapture," is not scriptural.

Without a doubt, the worst of all errors is that all we are to do is believe that Christ has done everything for us. Consequently numerous Christian people are waiting for an unscriptural "rapture" that will carry them up to Heaven before the Day of Resurrection. There is nothing for them to do but wait for this event. Can you imagine such blindness!

Such an attitude toward the Christian redemption is so totally unscriptural that one can only marvel that any believer has accepted this point of view.

Following is the scriptural attitude, the attitude we should be taking toward our salvation:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

Does the above sound like the current preaching of "Christ did it all" and all we are to do is believe that Christ did it all? Do you see any inkling that God sees us through Christ and His grace excuses our indifference and disobedience.

No, the passage does not fit the current emphasis in so many instances.

I believe many preachers of today see that we have departed grievously from the written Word of God, from the teaching of the Apostles. Hopefully they will convince numerous believers to turn away from the "grace-rapture-Heaven" teaching and begin to "run in such a way as to attain to the prize."

So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.'" (Joshua 1:10,11)

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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