I'm returning to Joshua chapter 1. and to the opening verses of this book. And what I'd like to speak upon today, I have entitled God's Promises for the Way Ahead. God's Promises for the Way Ahead. And what I want to talk about is the victory that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Joshua is a book of history. And when you open this book and begin to read it, we are setting off on quite an adventure. We're going to be with the people of God as they cross over the swollen waters of the River Jordan. We're going to see them march around the walls of Jericho. We're going to hear them shout for victory and watch the walls fall flat. We'll see them battle against giants and against many enemies. And we will watch as we see God give them victory after victory after victory. Now this book is more than just an historical account of those days. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 6 reminds us that all of these things happen to them as examples for us. In other words, there are spiritual lessons for you and I to glean in these Old Testament historical accounts. And the book of Joshua is God's object lesson on how to live the victorious Christian life. for the believer depicts the fullness of salvation. And so the book of Joshua serves as an instruction manual describing and defining how we can live that life of victory in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when we talk about Canaan and Canaan land, I don't want you thinking so much about a piece of land in the Middle East I want you to think about the here and the now, how we as God's people can live in victory over the world and the flesh and the devil. Because Canaan represents certain things for us as New Testament Christians. It represents a place of freedom. Those who came out of Egypt and made their way to Canaan had been delivered by the hand of God out of slavery and into newfound freedom in a land that God had given them. They were previously a nation of slaves, but now they were free men and free women. And that reminds us, of course, of the great victory that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ He has come to set us free. We are no longer to be found in the bondage and slavery of sin. We are reminded that sin is to no more have dominion over us, that the victory is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. Canaan stands for freedom from slavery. It also spoke to the children of Israel about fullness. They were entering into a land that was described as a land of hills and valleys, of rivers and streams, of corn and wine. It was a land of fullness. Up until this time, they'd been wandering through the wilderness and they had a diet of manna. Now, I know sometimes we have the idea that manna must have been pretty good, supplied by God day by day. Well, the manna was only originally meant to sustain them, not necessarily satisfy them. They weren't supposed to be eating manna for 40 years. But that's what happened when they refused to go into the land at the first opportunity. They wandered in the wilderness and manna was their daily provision and they were sick of it. They testified, our souls loathe this light bread, manna in the morning, manna at noontime, manna in the evening, that's all they knew. Little children never had to come to their mothers and say, what's for dinner tonight, man? Manna again. Oh, but Canaan. Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey, with all of the provisions of God there in vast supply, figs and pomegranates, grapes, and all the wonderful things. Canaan meant fullness. It also meant fulfillment. Up until this time, they'd never been in Canaan. They'd heard sermons about it, perhaps, and they'd heard descriptions about it, and maybe even knew some promises concerning it, but now was the time for them to actually enter into it. This was a time when hope would give way to reality and faith to fulfillment. And I'm reminded that we don't need to hear or just hear sermons about victorious faith. We need to experience it. We need to know the reality of it here and now. So when we talk about Canaan, I want you to think about freedom from sin and slavery to it. I want you to think of the fullness of the provisions of God for his people. I want you to think about the fulfilment that is ours when we step into those glorious promises. So when we come now to this first chapter and these opening verses, there are certain principles, certain ideas that are given to us as to how we can claim our Canaan, how we can walk in victory, how we can come out of the wilderness and become a conqueror in the land of Canaan. Notice firstly in verse one. Now we dealt with this a little bit last week, but it sets the scene for us. Verse one. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I do give them, even to the children of Israel. And the first thing we see here is God's continuing promise. Moses, the leader of the children of Israel, was dead. Does that mean that the promises of God have now been cancelled? Of course not. God has not forgotten his purposes. Moses may have died, but God comes to Joshua and says, my purpose is still the same. My plans for you are identical to what they were 40 years previously. Moses may be gone, but my purposes continue. My plan for you is to go into the land that hasn't changed. Whether other people go into the land or not is not the point. Moses will not enter the land of Cain, but Joshua, you will, and you will bring this people with you. I believe it's God's plan for his people, not for us to stay in the wilderness, wandering. I believe it's God's purpose for us to live in victory, to enjoy the great freedom and fullness that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. God's purpose is continuing. Now, not only is God's purpose continuing, but the possession, the certainty Look at verse three. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you. As I said unto Moses. Every place that your foot stands upon in this new and promised land, look what God says, that have I given unto you. Not that will I give unto you. but I've already given it unto you. Notice the tense of those words, that have I given unto you. As I said unto Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even onto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites onto the great sea, to the going down of the sun shall be your coast. And God didn't say, I'm going to give it to you. He says, I've already given it to you. I've already given it to you. The victory is yours. The land is yours to possess. And I know what you're thinking in the spiritual realm. If God has already given me the victory, then why does it not feel that I'm living in victory? Well, God had given to them the land of Canaan, but they weren't yet living in Canaan. There is what one old preacher said, they feel to possess their possessions. You say, what does that mean? That doesn't make sense. How do you possess your possessions? You can have something without actually having it. Have you got books on yourselves in your library at home? Books that belong to you that you haven't yet read? Well, they're yours. Materially speaking, but they're not yours experientially. You haven't experienced them yet. You haven't gleaned anything from them. They're yours as a possession, but they're not yours yet by experience. That's what's happening here. It's their possession, but they haven't taken possession of it yet. I'm reminded of the story of a man who purchased a ticket to go on a great ocean liner to leave the old country and poverty behind for the adventure and the prosperity of the new country. And this man was very poor, and it took all of his money just to purchase a ticket on that ocean liner. When he got on board, he had no money left. And he realized that he wouldn't be able to eat the luxurious food that they served on the ocean liner, so he took the last coins that he had and he brought with him some bread and some cheese. And when everyone would go up into the sumptuous dining halls aboard the ocean liner, he would go to his little cabin and he would eat his bread and his cheese. And with every passing day, the cheese became harder and the bread more stale. And it wasn't until the end of the voyage that he learned that his meals were included in the price of the ticket. Now you can go to heaven second class if you want to, but the victory is yours. And you need to possess your possessions. God said to Joshua, every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given you. We need to step forward with the foot of faith and place it firmly on the promises of God and to claim the great things that he has given to us. In Ephesians chapter one, now, we're going to be in and out of Ephesians quite a lot because the book of Ephesians corresponds very well with the book of Josh. In Ephesians one and verse three, we're told that God hath blessed us, not will bless us, but has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. not will bless us, but has blessed us already. We think of all the great spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus. Does that mean spiritual wisdom? Yes. And love for God and faith and every other spiritual blessing. Yes, God has given them to us in full measure. Then why don't I have them? Because we haven't taken possession of them yet. We haven't stepped foot upon these promises and claimed them as God intends us to. Peter tells us that God has given to us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given you. There's a possession that's certain the victory is ours. You don't have to fight for the victory. It's already been won at Calvary. The Lord Jesus is the great conqueror. The prince of this world was cast out and the victory is ours through the Savior. So we see something of God's continuing purpose. Moses may be dead, but Joshua, keep on going. There's a certain possession. I have already given you the land. You notice in verse five, a conquering power. Conquering power. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. God says, Joshua, no one's going to be able to stand against you. You're going to be victorious in every circumstance. And because I'm going to be with you. And I will not fail you. And I won't forsake you. And there's conquering power available to you. You see, it's not going to be Joshua's ability and Joshua's power that makes the difference. The victory is not our responsibility. It's God's. Victory is what God has given to his people as we walk with him. The Lord tells Joshua that no man will be able to stand against you. Why? Because as I was with Moses, so will I be with you. And we are reminded that greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Do you think for one moment that Satan has the power to thwart the purposes of God? Does Satan have the power for even an instant to stop God's plans? Has he the power to stop you from being all that God intends you to be? Let me assure you, if he could, he would. But he cannot. Because as the Lord was with Moses, so will I be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. There's God's continuing purpose that we live in the fullness and freedom of Canaan. There is a certain possession that he's already given us the victory. There's the promise of conquering power that as I was with Moses, so will I be with you. No one will stand against you. There will be no circumstances for which you come up against that God is not able. The Apostle Paul thinks upon that subject for a little while in Romans chapter 8. He lists all of the great enemies that we can face in this life. And he talks about death, and life, and angels, and principalities, and powers, and things present, and things to come, and height, and depth, and every other creature. And he says, none of them are able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. None of them. He says, in all of these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, through the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not just conquerors, we're more than conquerors. We don't just scrape over the finish line, we will power through it at full stride. This is God's conquering power. I want you to see something else in verse five. A constant promise. Not only is there conquering power, but there's a constant promise. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. That's God's promise and God cannot lie. And so he says to Joshua in verse six, be strong and of a good courage. For unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. Notice it's the Lord that swears to give this land unto them. And because he can swear by none higher, he swears by himself. And if the Lord says he will do something, then he most certainly will. He has made a promise. It is an immutable promise, an unbreakable promise. The promise of victory for the children of God. As I was with Moses, so I'll be with you. Have you ever looked at the promises of God in the scriptures? I know you have. But maybe you've thought to yourself, that's a wonderful promise, but that's not meant for me. That's meant for someone else. You've read those precious promises and you've thought, aren't they wonderful? What God promised to Peter and the promises that he gave to Paul and the ones that he gave to Moses and Joshua. Wonderful promises that God has given to his saints in past days. You know what the Bible says in Psalm 119 and verse 90, thy faithfulness is to all generations. That means that the promise was not just to Moses, the promise was for Joshua as well. And the promise is not just for Joshua, but will be for those who come after him. until at last we can stand with the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost and say to the great multitude gathered before him, the promise is unto you and to your children also. It's an ongoing promise. The promises are ours and our children's also. Have you ever went window shopping? When you're looking through the window at things that you like and want but can't afford, and you just have to watch as perhaps maybe someone else comes in and purchases the thing that you had your eye upon. Well, when it comes to the promises of God, it's time to stop window shopping. looking at them through a glass as if to say that they're unattainable and perhaps someone else will come and claim it. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. There's a constant ongoing promise for all the saints, for all Caesars. The promises of God and Christ Jesus are yea and amen. They're as good today as when they were originally given. Moses may have died, Joshua may have replaced him, and there are giants ahead of him, and all kinds of difficulties in his future, but God says, as I was with Moses, so I'll be with you. Constant promise, ongoing faithfulness, never fail nor forsake. So what is Joshua to do? Well, he must be, verse 7, a courageous person. Notice the word only. It's what we call a qualifier. It's not an automatic promise. There's a qualifier here. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commandeth thee. Turn not from it to the right hand, or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. What God is saying here to Joshua is, Joshua, I need you to be courageous. I need you to be this man of faith. We might say that God is saying to Joshua, Joshua, now it's up to you. Now hold on a minute. We just said a few moments ago that God has taken care of it all, that the victory is secure in him. The promises are definite and belong unto us. And yet now you're saying that to Joshua, it's up to you. You must be courageous and strong. It's a little bit of a paradox, but yet both are true. Yes, the victory is secure in the Lord Jesus Christ, but God still wants us to be courageous, to take our stand upon him, to believe him, to obey him. I forget who it was that said that God, that we cannot do it without him and he will not do it without us. We must cooperate with the Lord and courage and strength and obedience. That's the three things that Joshua was required to have. Be thou strong, be thou courageous, be obedient. He needed courage because there will be times when he will be afraid. He needs strength because he must recognize his own weakness. He needs obedience because, well, we are all unfaithful and go astray like wandering sheep. The victory, the victory's not just for the brave. promises to the fearful. The victory's not just for the strong, but for the weak. And not just for the faithful, but for the unfaithful. Now, I know that Joshua was brave when he went to Canaan as a spy, but there'll be many enemies to face and obstacles to overcome. And if Joshua was simply strong in himself, that wouldn't be sufficient. And I believe that the reason that God instructs Joshua to be strong is because he's going to require God's strength in the days that lie ahead. If he was already courageous, would God have told him to be of good courage? If he was already obedient, would he tell him to keep and to do all the law that Moses had given? Now Moses, sorry, Joshua was a good man, but he's still a fallible man. He wasn't always all that he could be or should be. But the thing is behind every promise of God is the power of God. So when God tells Joshua to be strong, it's because he intends to supply him with the strength. And when He tells them to be of good courage, it's because He intends to give them the courage that He needs. And when He commands them to obey all of the law, it's because God intends to give them the power to do those things. So when the Lord tells us to be strong, it's because He intends to supply the strength. One old saint said that courage is fear that has said its prayers. It's depending upon God. The strength, the courage, the obedience is not in ourselves, but there is a provision made for us in the Lord. Let me bring you to my last point this afternoon, to verse eight. The controlling principle. The book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. that thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. If we're going to have victory in the Lord Jesus Christ, there must be an obedient following of him. And we learn that obedience from what God has revealed to us in his word no obedience, no victory. God's continuing purpose is that he has a land of promise to give to us. It's certain in that he's already determined to give it to his people. There is power available to us as we follow the Lord. His promise is constant. He will be with us at all times. Here's the guidebook for victory. The law of God shall not depart from Joshua. Now God tells Joshua three things concerning his word. He says that the book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. The word of God is to be in our mouths. We must be speaking the word of God. Not just reading it or memorizing it, and those things are good, but we are to speak the word of God. There's something powerful about taking God's words and speaking them outwardly. The Bible refers to it as a confession of our faith. When we stand upon the word of God and we speak forth God's truth, The Lord Jesus, when he was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, on those three occasions, each time he took the word of God, and he says, God has said, he quotes the scripture, Satan was defeated, there's power in the word of God. It's a sharp and two-edged sword. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress, was converted by hearing two women talk about the Savior. He was eavesdropping on their conversation, and they were so filled with God's Spirit and talking about God and their life with the Lord, that Bunyan was converted by listening to their conversation. And I thought to myself, I wonder if someone were to eavesdrop upon my conversations, would it lead them to the Lord? Can we say, as we said to Joshua, that God's word shall not depart out of thy mouth? That is our conversation from day to day. Not only shall the book of the law not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. God's word in our mouth, God's word in our mind, meditating upon God's word. Of course, God's word can't be in our mouth until it's first of all in our mind. But we're to meditate on God's word day and night. We store it up in our mind. The word meditate here carries the idea of humming. If you have a tune in your mind and you're humming it to yourself, The word of God is to be like a tune that you can't get out of your mind and you hum at it all day. That's the idea here behind meditating upon God's word. You store the word of God in your heart and you bring it to mind and you mull it over and it comes out in ways that you weren't expecting. The world thinks of meditation as being an empty mind, vacant of thoughts, but the Bible speaks of meditation as a mind that's centered upon God, upon the Savior, bringing every thought into captivity and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Have God's word in your mouth. Meditate therein day and night. Have it in your mind. to what purpose that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. The word of God in our mouth, in our mind, and in our life, that we may observe to do all that is written therein. Here's where our success is found, in obeying God. That's where the victory is. taking God at his word and obeyed it fully. Bible study gives us knowledge about God, but Bible obedience gives us knowledge of God. The Lord Jesus said, he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father. Put the word of God in your mouth, and in your mind, and into practice. And as we obey God, we will not turn then to the right hand or to the left. We'll not deviate from the straight path. And when we do that, we will prosper. Whithersoever thou goest, you can think of Psalm 1. The blessed man that meditates in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Here's where our prosperity is found, in the word of God. That's where our strength is found, in God and his promises. We simply need to step forward with the foot of faith onto those promises and take possession of the victory that's ours in Jesus Christ. And we begin to say that we're tired of our wilderness wandering and we want to become conquerors of Canaan, promised land. And I remind you again, this is not simply what God has said to Joshua These things were written as examples for you and I, in picture form, if you like, that we might learn from the events of this book and go forward in victory, to live in all of the fullness of God has for us in this life. So may we know these promises for the way ahead. May we lean heavy upon the Lord as we step forward in faith. And may we know a life of overcoming and a life of victory and fullness and freedom from the slavery of sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. And may we take hold upon those promises that the Lord will never leave us, fail us, or forsake us. And may we be wholehearted followers of him. with his word in our life and in our mind and in our lives. And may we know that great victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask these things in his precious name. Amen.