Obeying His Word
Introduction
Our faith overcomes the world
To be strong in the Lord you need to obey the word of the Lord
Reading v7-8
Joshua has now taken over from Moses
600’000 people
Untrained soldiers
If he is to have good success – the word of God must not depart from his mouth
v6
Example of Jeremiah and Moses
‘Be strong and of good courage’ – x3 (v6, 7, 9)
Moses said the same – Deuteronomy 31:7-8
The people said the same – Joshua 1:18
There is a history of men being called to positions of leadership – examples
Deuteronomy 34:9
God equips them
Overview:
Not distorting but obeying God’s word
Meditating, doing and prospering
Not distorting but obeying God’s word (v7)
Reading v7
Deuteronomy 31:24-26
The Pentateuch kept next to the Arc of the Covenant
The ceremonial law had been passed on by Moses
Joshua had learnt that the word of God had to be followed in a correct way:
Nadab and Abihu
Sabbath keeping
Dishonouring of leaders
The consequences of people keeping God’s word
Tithing
Division of the land
Cities of refuge
The judicial law
The building of the Temple
The Ten Commandments
The victory against the Amalekites
The blessings and curses of the law
The destruction of Jericho
Compare King Saul
Saul wanted to do things his way
Example of offering sacrifices, the battle against the Amalekites
Application:
God is calling us to exact obedience to His word
God enable us to obey
Joshua sought to live a life pleasing to the Lord
Do not be like Saul who could not see higher principles
Jesus taught His disciples the higher principles
To obey principally the spirit of the law – not to miss big issues to only obey small issues
Meditating, doing and prospering (v8)
Reading v8
Meditating:
Is different than reading or listening to the word of God
Example of the cow ‘chewing the cud’
Are we ‘chewing over’ on the word of God?
Do we think about it ‘day and night’?
Example of video on Facebook
How often do you listen to the world?
News
Friends
TV
How are they shaping your world view?
Is your mind being shaped by the word of God?
Colossians 3:16
Jeremiah 15:16
Doing:
We must meditate and do – v7, 8
We must first understand and then put it into practice
Prospering:
If we obey God, we will prosper
Not riches
Spiritual prosperity
The fruit of the Spirit
Example of David, Joseph, King Uzziah and King Hezekiah
Quote from Psalms
Joshua 21:44-45