I think there are many books and movies that I have read over the years where I am desperate to know what happens next in the story. You know, I can remember as a child in 1977 walking out of the theaters and seeing the first Star Wars movie, desperate to know what happens next. Well, I suspect that for the reader of the scriptures, there's a sense in which that same type of question comes upon their mind as they read in the book of Deuteronomy of the death of Moses. They want to know what happens next. How will God's people take the promised land? How will they be successful? How will they drive the inhabitants of the land out? Moses has died, we know, in Deuteronomy 34, verse seven. And so I think naturally, not only do we wonder, but I especially think that the people in Moses' day would have wondered who is going to lead the nation now. This is a question that I suspect was on the hearts and minds of many of the Israelites. And I think it's perhaps not unlike the events towards the end of World War II, where you had Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had been elected to three terms as president and then elected to really an unprecedented fourth term. But one of the things that many people believed is that, well, that he would be there perhaps for the duration of the war. But he was having health problems, and so one of the things that he did not do is he did not tell the nation, he did not tell many people on his staff, he did not tell his vice president, Harry S. Truman, that he was suffering from poor health. So I suspect that it was a shock to the nation when President Roosevelt died. I suspect it was a huge shock and a huge surprise to the vice president that he was now going to have to lead the country, moreover, lead the country in a difficult time of war. The nation was happy. They were peaceful. They were sure of President Roosevelt's steady hand upon the tiller. And now he was gone, and here is the vice president. For those of you who are from other countries, at least here in the United States, when you're the vice president, it means that your main job is to stand by and to look pretty. You don't have very many serious responsibilities. And so I suspect that many people in the country wondered, can he do it? I can't help but think that then Vice President Truman wondered, can I do it? Because he had been on the sidelines for so long. I can't help but think that the nation wondered, as God chose Joshua, can he do it? I wonder if Joshua himself thought, how can I possibly fill the shoes of Moses? Can I do it? And so, it's within this context that we find God giving Joshua words of assurance, where he says in verse 6, as well as he also says in verse 7, as well as in verse 9, but especially we want to focus on verse 6, where he tells Joshua, be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous. And we know from the rest of the book, because I suspect we've read it, that we know that Joshua took these words to heart, and he led the nation well. But as we look to these words, and we wonder, oh Lord, we know that these words have been spoken not merely to Joshua, but to your people throughout the ages. Be strong and courageous. I can't help but think that as we hear these words spoken to us, as we read these words, that we can't help but think that maybe we feel a bit like David wearing Saul's armor. You know, we think, here is this heavy armor and I'm not sure it quite fits, it's too big, it's ill-fitting, is it something that I can actually do? You know, if you like J.R.R. Tolkien, I can't help but think that it's much like a hobbit donning a goblin's armor. It's too big, it doesn't fit, and if anything, it just reveals that perhaps we're unequal to the task. This armor is so big, these words are so heavy, be strong and courageous. How can we possibly be strong and courageous when there are so many things that work against us? We can see the chaos in the world. I went to dinner last night with a minister who's retired, and I could tell that he was just absolutely, I think, worked up and frustrated and worried over not only the state of the nation, but the state of the church. You know, so I think he might have thought if I had just simply told him, be strong and courageous, he might have felt like, I don't know if those words fit all too well. It feels like Saul's armor. I don't know if I can carry that burden. And so what we have to recognize is that God does not simply tell Joshua all on his own, be strong, be courageous, you can do it. We have to pay attention closely to the other words that God speaks to Joshua, and we will, but what we want to recognize is that what God speaks to Joshua in words of encouragement are words that we can say we have a much greater fulfillment of these words given unto us because we stand after the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. So let's meditate and give thought to these words for a little while longer so that we can see how these words are not just simply a command, be strong, be courageous, you can do it, but they're actually words of comfort that we receive through the gospel of Christ. So as we kind of dig down into this passage here a little bit in these verses as they open the book of Joshua, the book is reminding us that Joshua is Moses' successor. Why did God choose Joshua? Well, at least humanly speaking, we can say he was a man of stout-hearted faith. Recall he was one of the two spies that said, yes, we can take the promised land. We can do this. It's not that he was confident in Israel's power in their military might, but rather he was confident in God's promises. And so here God reiterates these promises to him, to Joshua, and says that now you, Joshua, you're going to lead the people across the Jordan to possess the promised land. Everywhere where you set foot, you will take possession of it. Verse five, no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Here, God promises Joshua, I will be with you. This is your source of confidence. I am your source of confidence. I will be with you. I will not leave you. I will not forsake you. And so it's on the heels of this that we hear those familiar words. Be strong and courageous for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them. Now again, we can't forget the words that immediately precede this. I can remember that when I was a child of eight years old, I was on my way to my first soccer game. Football, for those of you who are not from here. So I was on my way to my first soccer game, and I was supposed to be the goalie. I was mortified. I can remember sitting in the back of the car, kind of buckled over, because my stomach was doing hula hoops around my waist. And my parents, you know, saw me in the back through the mirror, and they said, don't worry. It's going to be fine. You'll do just fine. Have fun. They didn't, those words did not help. Those words did not help because I was not gonna have fun standing in the goalie box praying, oh, please don't let anybody shoot the ball in my direction. I mean, I was a child and I thought, hey, everything is totally dependent upon me. So I was a ball of nerves. I can't help but think that that's the way that we look at these words when we hear them, be strong and courageous. All we think of is I'm unequal to the task. We think the situation is too great for me. I'm too weak. My faith isn't great enough. I don't know if I trust you enough, oh Lord. But this is again where we cannot forget the words that precede. What do we see at the end of verse five? Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous. He is not telling a Joshua, be strong in your own might. You can do it. He's essentially saying you can't do it. But you know what? I can. and I'm with you, your confidence should come not from yourself, but from my presence with you. This is something that God told his people later on as Isaiah prophesied to the nation as they were being prepared to go into exile at the hands of the Babylonians. Isaiah 41 10, fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand. It might as well have been these very words that God spoke to Joshua. This is what he's saying. I'll strengthen you. I will protect you. I will be with you. And so here what we have to recognize is that there are several things that are all converging, I think, upon these seemingly weighty and burdensome words that reveal that they are not as burdensome as we think, but rather they are words filled with hope and encouragement and indeed even salvation. The first observation is this. We should note what's the title of the book. What's the title of the book from which we read these words? Well, we see that the title of the book is Joshua. And of course, we get that from the fact that Joshua is the key historical person in this narrative, at least humanly speaking. But what does the name Joshua mean? It comes from Jehovah and the word for salvation, where we get the other half of the name, Yehoshua. It means Jehovah or Yahweh saves. God saves. Imagine if you were going to war and the general who is leading you into war, his name was Total Victory. Imagine if you're in a football team and you're in a professional league and the coach's name is Super Bowl winner. Or if you're on a football team and your coach's name is World Cup champion. That's going to give you a degree of hope to say, I think this guy can do it. But here, it's not that Joshua himself can do it, but rather, the very name that Joshua bears says, God saves. He's going to deliver us. He's going to redeem us. He's going to be our strength, our shield, our buckler. But now the question we should ask is where do we see these lines falling within the unfolding history of redemption? Well, we see them ultimately falling upon Jesus. In Matthew 121, when the angel announced to Joseph that Mary was pregnant, we read this in the Gospel of Matthew, she will bear a son, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. What is the name of Jesus? In Greek, it's Jesus. Does anybody want to take a guess as to what the name of Jesus is in Hebrew? It's Joshua. His name should be Joshua. His name shall be Jesus. What is then the angel then go and say? For he will save his people from their sins. So here, Yahweh saves, and where does that name, Joshua, come home to us but in the person and work of Jesus Christ? Matthew 1.23, it's equally instructive that the angel also tells Joseph, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. What does he tell Joshua? I will be with you. I will not forsake you, Joshua, Yahweh saves. And here comes Jesus, whose name is Joshua, but his name is also Emmanuel, God is with us, Yahweh saves. Think of the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh, Emmanuel, the one in whom Paul says in Colossians 2.9, the whole fullness of deity dwells. So notice, What does the name Joshua mean? Where do we find the fulfillment of the name of Joshua but in Christ? Third, what does God promise Joshua? Again, verse five, I will not leave you or forsake you. What does the psalmist say when he was facing persecution and calamity? Psalm 118 verse six, the Lord is on my side, I will not fear, what can man do to me? He was confident because of God's presence. What did David tell Solomon when he was preparing to take the throne of Israel? 1 Chronicles 28, verse 20, be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed for the Lord God, Yahweh God, Yahweh Elohim, even my God is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. Be strong, Solomon. The Lord is with you. And what is it that Jesus tells us in the Great Commission as we seek to help the Lord Jesus not build the Solomonic Temple, but to build the final temple, the dwelling place of God, where he dwells with man. But in the church of Jesus Christ, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and behold, I am with you till the end of the age." Jesus is Emmanuel with us through the promises of the gospel, through the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit, Christ is with us. And we can say that these words, and lo, I am with you to the end of the age, are essentially substantively the same that he tells Joshua when he says, I will neither leave you nor forsake you, ever. These are the very kinds of words that the author of Hebrews wrote to the Jews, the Jewish Christians that were suffering persecution. When we read in Hebrews 13, chapter 13, verses five and six, keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. For he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, quoting Joshua. So we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? Quoting Psalm 118 verse six. So beloved in Christ, there are undoubtedly many things in this world that probably rightly so should instill fear in us. You know, the world's situation right now is somewhat chaotic. To say the least, there's war in Ukraine. There's war in Israel. There are protests across the nation. We're at a state in the history of this nation, at least, where few people have any confidence, if any whatsoever, in the government. The government seems to be enacting and promoting all sorts of ungodly and even wicked policies. We look out upon the Church of Jesus Christ and we see division. We see false teaching. But maybe for ourselves, it's not that there are big problems out in the world, but what about maybe the problems that are within our own hearts? We have besetting sins. We have fears and doubts. You know, sometimes people ask me, Dr. Fesco, do you think that fill in the blank is saved? You know, infamous or famous theologian from the history of the church. And I said, you know, sometimes I don't know if I'm saved. I don't feel comfortable answering that question. I will say, I think the doctrine is contrary to scripture. So there are times when we have our own fears and doubts. Or maybe it's the circumstances that we presently face in life. We have financial troubles. We have familial troubles. Or maybe we have physical troubles because we're suffering from long-term illness where there doesn't seem to be much hope in sight. I just received word yesterday through email through my denomination that one of our ministers, his wife, more or less has essentially been given a death sentence of a cancer diagnosis because she's already had treatment, but the cancer continues to spread and grow. And that maybe if they can get into a drug trial, maybe there is a small fraction of hope that she might be healed of her cancer. And yet in the midst of all of these things, remember the words to Joshua, be strong and courageous. But our courage, beloved in Christ, comes not from ourselves, but it comes from the presence of Jesus Christ. He does not leave us. He does not forsake us. And as Paul says in those powerfully beautiful words at the end of the eighth chapter of Romans, that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all the creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. He is with us. So because of his presence, be strong and courageous. Let's bow together in a brief word of prayer. Father God, we pray that when our faith is flagging, when it seems as if Doubts rise in our heart when it seems as if the troubles that we see in the world are too great, when it seems as if, oh Lord, that your church is weak, that we lack courage and that we lack strength. And oh Father, in and of ourselves, we are fearful and we are weak. But because of the ever abiding presence of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, because of the ever abiding word that we receive through the gospel of Jesus Christ and through the scriptures, your son is ever with us. And so for this, we give thanks. We pray, O Lord, that through Christ and by the spirit and by the means of grace, you would grant unto us strength and courage. So that with Joshua, with the saints of old, with the great saints of history, we would be strong and courageous all unto your glory. We pray and ask all of these things in Christ's name. Amen.