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Preacher: Pastor Chuck Holiday
Scripture: Joshua 19:49-51
Joshua is a godly example of a faithful leader and an OT picture of Jesus. Joshua drew his strength and spiritual vitality from being in the presence of God.
Transcript
Great to see y’all again tonight and um I don’t know if it’s good news or bad news but we’re finally at the end of this distribution of the land in Joshua and uh actually this is um I I did my best to convince David to combine the last two chapters because they seemed almost identical you know but actually um I I told my wife the other day I said you know my biggest problem is I I got three sermons and I can only preach one there’s actually a ton of stuff here that is really cool that I never saw before but I want to I want to focus on just these last verses this is um such a beautiful picture of Joshua you know uh we don’t have a lot of biographical information about Joshua but um you know he was a really good dude he he was one of the faithful ones there’s so many of the leaders of Israel that just ended poorly you know they some of them had good starts and and just fell apart at the end you know and Joshua he started out as a as a young man as a servant of Moses he was a he he uh he was a nobody who just was a servant of of Moses and he served him well and and U lo and behold God anointed him to take over for Moses when Moses um was finished and and you know he just uh um he was faithful with Caleb when they went in to spy out the land when he was 40 and uh and then when Moses passed and he took over leadership I mean he just did all the hard things and he did them without complaining and he did them with courage and overwhelming odds against him and he just was a faithful leader he was he started out as a just a servant he became the general of the army and then uh became the Statesman the political leader of the of the nation and now we see how it how it finally the land is subdued I mean there’s lots of enemies lurking in the woods there and so forth and lots of cleanup operations to to be done but the land has been subdued and it’s time for Joshua to take his inheritance and um I just want you to there’s so much we can learn here you know Joshua you know we mentioned this before in our preaching but Joshua is the Old Testament Jesus I mean the the word is essentially identical Joshua Yeshua Joshua and the Old Testament Jesus in the New Testament and uh he’s a beautiful picture in so many ways of of Jesus Christ not he’s not Jesus Christ and um we we’re we have to remember that as great as a man may be he can never there’s only one man that can save us and that is the real Jesus but Jos Joshua is a is a picture of the real Jesus he was a noble leader he was faithful to his mission um he came to the the verse we read in Mark 10 he came to serve and not to be served I mean Joshua was a humble servant he served Moses uh and then as as as he took over the leadership of the nation we we see nothing uh in him that was about getting rich becoming famous uh he didn’t and all this comes together beautifully in The Inheritance you know Caleb and Joshua were both promised a special inheritance because they were the two faithful spies remember several weeks ago we saw how Caleb Caleb was the first to get his inheritance and Joshua was the last Joshua refused to take his until all the other tribes had been settled all the other questions had been settled you know he wasn’t about to get his his own personal um uh agenda in the way of taking care of the tribes it’s just really a beautiful example of servant leadership of putting the nation ahead of himself and um you know he he was the last to receive his inheritance and and and he actually even at the end doesn’t demand anything it says the Israelites came and said okay Joshua now let’s take care of you it’s a it’s a beautiful picture um in in the land he the the city he got Tim neth sah we I mean you can read a lot of commentaries on this and people have different ideas about exactly where it was we seem to kind of have a general idea but there’s really nothing um special about this place he got it’s it’s so not special that we really don’t know for sure exactly why this is the the Landy got or some say it was uh you you know it wasn’t the pick of the litter it was the opposite it was sort of like the leftover that nobody wanted but I I don’t think we can really know that for sure the point is it wasn’t special because we really never hear of it except for Joshua settled there and was buried there um it was rather obscure it was just a just a part of the land and um you know I think what really jumps out out Us in this section is what it doesn’t say about Joshua it doesn’t say now that he had the whole land in his hand and now that he had all the power he decided that he would be king and that he would build himself a palace it doesn’t say that does it and that he would make sure that his offspring were well taken care of for generations to come doesn’t say that he didn’t seem to use any of this position that he had even though he had been faithful even though no one would have probably um resisted him if he had suggested hey how about we anoint my son to be next there was none of that there was nothing of personal ambition in this it it was truly a a beautiful picture of of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who came not for what he could get out of the deal but for what he could give he came to serve he came to lay his life down that we might have life but my friends um Joshua was not Jesus a great man cannot save
us great leaders are not our Salvation we we want them we pray for them Lord knows as a nation we need them in many ways but our our human leaders our human Heroes will never Be Our Saviors they can never be Jesus for us for for a couple reasons one is even though we don’t know much about Joshua’s sin he was a sinner uh you know it’s there are there are a number of Heroes in the Bible that that God doesn’t tell us a lot about uh the the the hard parts and the nasty parts of their lives we think of Daniel and Nehemiah and Esther there are a number of other uh ones like Joshua that we just kind of get the good parts but but God goes to Great length in the in the big heroes you know the people like uh Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and and King David himself God goes to Great Lengths to let us know that these people were really messed up well into their well into their walk with God and in fact they never stop sinning and if you come to the New Testament you know look at the look what we what do we know about the disciples some of them look like pretty good guys because we don’t know much but look at look at the Apostle Peter what a mess up betrayed his Lord we see the Apostle Paul who you know the First Church Plant was really a church split wasn’t it Paul couldn’t get along with with his best friend so they had to have two missionary trips uh at the end of Paul’s life he the last book he wrote he said of all the Sinners I know I’m the worst one and he wasn’t he wasn’t being factious he really believed that about himself God goes to Great Lengths to let us know that no man can save us they can’t even save themselves let alone save somebody else but my friends they point us to Jesus who can save
us Joshua there there’s a better Joshua it’s the New Testament Joshua it’s Jesus Christ who who left heaven to lead his people and then to die for his people and died and rose again to and one day he will lead us eternally and my friends it’s a beautiful it’s a beautiful story it’s a beautiful picture but what I want to spend most of our time about this this evening is I want to ask you the question where did Joshua get his strength to to be faithful to his mission to lead with Integrity to finish
well where did he where did he draw his
strength there’s there’s a there’s a more than a hint there’s a I think there’s a there’s an indication here that I want you to to look a little more in depth with me about and it’s in verse 51 these are the territories that Eleazar the priest Joshua the son of nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel assigned by L at Shiloh now now this is a key phrase in the presence of the Lord uh the English Standard Version says before the
Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting that was the tabernacle before the Lord the the uh the ancient Latin translation of this verse is is uh the word Quorum have you heard the phrase Quorum Deo before the face of the Lord in the presence of the Lord Quorum Deo is a theological term some Churches have even named themselves Quorum Deo it means that everything we do we do in the presence of God we do before God we do openly before God God the Creator God the one who who who sees all and knows all before God who who loves us everything we do in private in public at work at home in church we do it all before God well that’s the phrase literally this the phrase the Latin translation of this would be Corum Corum Deo or but now it’s Lord Yahweh instead of God but it’s what does it mean for us to live Quorum Deo before God because Joshua understood that Joshua knew what that meant I read you a quote from Tim Keller he said the secret to freedom from enslaving patterns of sin is worship did you hear that the secret to freedom from enslaving patterns of sin is worship you need worship worship you need great worship you need weeping worship you need glorious worship you need to sense God’s greatness and to be moved by it moved to tears and moved to laughter moved by who God is and what he has done for you and this needs to be happening all the
time Joshua understood what it meant to be in the presence of God in a way that it it it was enveloping him it was a worship experience a Transcendent experience but an imminent experience before the holy God of the universe the Creator the sustainer the infinite Sovereign god of the universe but then to hear that God call his name and to come to him personally now now he had history with this when Moses was on the mountain back in Exodus chapter chapter 24 Moses took the elders and naab and and bayu and with him but then at a certain point Moses went further up and he only took Joshua and that’s where God met Moses on the mountain Joshua there observing there to take care of Moses if any you know if he didn’t make it out and that’s where God met Moses face to face later on when they set up the tent of meeting this was the precursor to the Tabernacle before they had built the Tabernacle they had what they called the tent of meeting inuh Exodus 33 God told him to build this tent outside the camp and God said now Moses that’s where I’m going to meet you that’s where I’m going to meet with you face to face in that tent and and when Moses would come out of the tent his face would be glowing with so brilliantly that he’d have to cover his face well in in Exodus 33 when God would meet with Moses in the tent of meeting it says Joshua was there with Moses at the tent of meeting when God would meet him see Joshua was wasn’t the primary conduit here but he was right there next to next to Moses was when this is going on he was being cultivated to understand what it meant to to to lead from being in the presence of Yahweh Korum Deo leading before
God it’s more than just as God is my witness it’s it’s God is face to face with me not only does he see all that I do but there’s something about that encounter that empowers Moses to lead empowers Joshua to lead there’s a source of strength in it there’s a Vitality in it there’s spiritual life in it so when when we get to chapter 19 verse 51 it’s not just a little incidental thing that that when J now think about the challenge of dividing up the
land I mean Joshua had a family that he cared about Joshua had kids and grandkids that he wanted to take care of Jos Joshua had his favorite part of the land that he probably would have cherished but he surrendered all that he waited till everybody was settled till everybody had theirs and then he trusts the Israelites to do what’s right by him see now where did he get the strength to do that to serve that way and that kind of humility I mean he was a great man and should have been greatly honored but he was willing to lay all that aside how did he get the strength to lead that way and to stay humble and to stay focused on the needs of others when when everything in him probably at least in his flesh would say okay now it’s my time now it’s my time and it’s time for my family cuz I’ve asked them to sacrifice a lot but he doesn’t go there does he and I think it’s because he knew what it was to be in the presence of God he had tasted something so sweet and so rich and so deep that he was fortified Against The Temptations of the enemy you know we see this in the life of Jesus don’t we remember in John 4 when uh Jesus left the he stayed at the well and and when when he sent his disciples into uh town to get some food and he stayed there and met the woman at the well remember the Samaritan woman and of course she had a wonderful experience that changed her life you know in the conversation they had but the disciples got back and said Jesus aren’t you tired I mean you you stayed here because you were too tired to go into town with us and and we we you want a little time to yourself and we come back and here you are talking to somebody else you know always giving yourself away and you remember what Jesus said he said I have food to eat that you don’t know
about he said I I I have food to eat that you don’t know about I have there’s a source of sustenance for my soul that you don’t understand yet guys my father and doing his will is what sustains me that’s why I live that’s what moves me and actually I was tired but I’m not tired now because this woman just found God and she’s right now back there telling all her friends and Neighbors about about me that that’s what sustains me that’s what moves me my friends Joshua knew something about that now he was he was doing this before God in the presence of God under the Gaze of God and where was it it was at the tent of meeting it was in the Tabernacle now there’s a lot that could be said about the Tabernacle but basically it’s God’s picture of uh heaven on Earth it’s it’s a it’s a it’s very figurative um the symbolism is you know just very explicit Hebrews goes into great detail about a lot of what the symbolism means but it’s this is where God meets man and and there’s significant things about the Tabernacle but you know to sum it up I mean there’s two big things about the Tabernacle it shows us how Transcendent he is that he’s the holy Sovereign God who’s the lord of the universe he’s high and lifted up he’s magnificent he’s he deserves to be worshiped because he’s greater than us and he’s higher than us and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways are above our ways but it’s it’s also the imminence this is where God comes down and is with us this is where we meet God as a person meets a person this is where he forgives us all our sins so at the Tabernacle we’re reminded that he’s holy he’s above us we couldn’t possibly be in his presence without being consumed with his wrath but then there’s the mercy seat where the blood of the goats and the Bulls is is made for the atonement of the sins of the the people prefiguring Jesus going to the cross for us so it’s both it reminds us that we could never get to God but it reminds us that he came to us he met me there so if you were to be in the Tabernacle there are two things that would would absolutely happen to you if you were awake and alert and aware number one is you would feel So Unworthy so unqualified to be here but then when he spoke your name and he said you’re forgiven you your heart would explode with gratitude and joy it would be like really I’m still alive that’s is this is not only where you hear the the thunderous um voice of the law of God condemning you but this is now where you hear the Absolution of sin you are forgiven you are righteous you are mine this is where you see the and feel the smile SM of God and the warmth of his love it’s true
Joy it’s it’s so much bigger than happiness you know you can be happy when you see a a beautiful sunrise or the the full moon coming up over the ocean you know you can feel happy but but the the gospel joy that comes from knowing I was lost that I’ve been found I deserve nothing and I’ve been given everything the great God of the universe who created the planets Knows My Name that that brings a gospel Joy a deep meaning and purpose and a settl to your life that frankly friends can sustain you through
cancer losing very very important relationships through death or betrayal it can sustain you through uh loss of a job it can sustain you through poverty it can keep you level when you’re wealthy it can it can keep you in love with with the creator of the universe in a way that orients the other loves in your life and there’s nothing else that can do it it’s worship it’s worship
and it’s a beautiful thing brother Lawrence who who was a 17th century monk we really don’t know a lot about him except he wrote this book that you know is well remembered it’s called the practice of the presence of God and uh let let me read you one of the things he says in there he said I regard myself as the most wretched of all men stinking and covered with sores and as one who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King overcome by remorse I confess all my wickedness to him ask his pardon and abandon myself entirely to him to do with as he will but this King filled with goodness and mercy far from chastising me lovingly Embraces me makes me eat at his table serves me with his own hands gives me the keys of his treasures and treats me as his favorite
he talks with me and is delighted with me in a thousand and one ways he forgives me and relieves me of my principal bad habits without talking about them I beg him to make me more according to his heart and always the more weak and Despicable I see myself to be the more beloved I am of
God my friends that’s what happens when you’re in the presence of God I don’t mean when you’re in church I mean when you’re in the presence of God now hopefully that’s what happens in church most of the time for us but as Keller said this kind of worship needs to happen all the time not just once a week on Sundays it h we pray that it’ll happen Sundays when we come together like it did for Joshua at the tent of meeting but it also has to happen privately for us it’s really unlikely that you’re going to experience this kind of presence of God in church if you haven’t cultivated this practice on your own through the week it’s really rare that our public confession of sin you know that we that we recite every Sunday will will be deeply gripping to your soul if you haven’t come in already aware of fresh ways that you’ve broken the heart of God or hurt your neighbor or offended your children but if you come in with a fresh sense of oh my goodness I can’t believe I did
that and then you hear David pronounced God’s forgiveness over you it can be deeply moving right my friends it’s it’s a personal thing and it’s a and it’s a relational thing and it’s so real but it’s often taken so lightly
and frankly most of us lack I I’ll say for sure I do and I think probably you can say if you’re honest say yeah I wish I had more too you lack power to live the way you want to live lack power to forgive the way you want to forgive lack the joy you wish you had most of the
time my friends this is The Source this is The Well of Love This Is The Well of power and Mission and forgiveness it’s worship it’s being in the presence of
God Jonathan Edwards you know is another one who you Jonathan Edwards was an interesting guy he’s he’s one of the smartest Americans probably who ever lived he he was a philosopher a theologian and uh you know the first president of Princeton I believe um but he in his sermons he would read a manuscript for two hours one of them you all read in ninth grade probably sinners in the hands of an Angry God remember that one it’s a shame that you know he he preached like I think eight sermons like that in his life out of thousands and and of course that’s the one that everybody wants to know him by it’s actually a pretty good sermon uh and all of it true but most of what he preached about was the love of God most all his sermons were just about the immeasurable love of God and how it was beyond comprehension but you know he this this uh
scholarly preacher would get alone with God sometimes for hours he would just ride his horse out into the woods to be alone with God and listen to his his uh explanation of what happened one of those times he says once I rode out into the woods for my health in 1737 having gotten off my horse in a retired place as my manner commonly has been to walk in Divine contemplation and prayer I had a view that was extraordinary to me I saw the glory of the Son of God as mediator between God and man and his wonderful great full pure and sweet Grace and love and meek and gentle condescension this grace that appeared so calm and sweet appeared also great above the heavens the person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent and an excellent an Excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception which continued as near as I can judge about an hour this kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud I felt an ardy of soul to be what I know not otherwise how to explain then emptied and annihilated I wanted to lie in the dust and to be full of Christ Alone to to love him with a holy and pure love to trust in him to live upon him to serve and follow him and to be perfectly Sanctified and made pure with a Divine and Heavenly Purity my friends Joshua understood something about that that was that was the secret that’s what sustained him that’s what kept Him faithful that’s how he got up when he was discouraged and we didn’t want to lead anymore this was the source of strength my friends this is the source of all true godliness of every saint who has ever lived this is not I’m trying to be good so God will bless me that’s not what this is this is not I’m going to I’m going to be a better Christian so God will forgive me that’s not what this is this is a man who knows he deserves nothing and has been given everything he knows that God loves him not because he’s good but because God is good he knows that he’s righteous in God’s eyes because he has Christ
righteousness and it moves our hearts it changes us it it actually can free a man from his addiction it can Empower a woman to love somebody that she’s held a grudge against for whole life it can restore relationships between parents and
children and my friends it can win a lost
world when unbelievers come into a place of worship where the the the Christians are humbled and Yet full of
joy knowing they’re the the the least deserving of any of his favor and yet knowing they possess all his blessings it’s powerful it’s convicting it’s it’s the source and the secret of any true evangelism not pretending that everything works out great when you become a Christian and God’s going to bless you now with a new job and he’s going to heal all your your diseases that’s not what does it it’s Christians who have found the secret to worship
do you know worship is a personal thing my friends let me ask you has it become a personal thing for you it’s hard sometimes when you’ve grown up in church and you’ve been in church your whole life and you believe all the things we say every Sunday but has it ever become personal for you have you ever heard God speak your
name have you ever when David says the words you are forgiven have you ever heard that is God’s specific personal word to you about your sin and you know it was God speaking to you worship always it’s corporate but it’s personal and if it hasn’t become personal for you my friends then it probably isn’t real it’s probably some fake thing that you don’t know is fake George Whitfield and John Wesley preached to Ang all over England and all over America and they fell on their faces and got saved by the thousands because everything that they believed to be true objectively had never become true for them personally they knew Jesus died for the sins of the world but they never knew he died for me he knew my name when he went to the Cross he died for my sins so my friends don’t take it for
granted because real worship will move you I talked to somebody recently who’s you know when when he first when somebody first told him that if he kept sinning God was going to keep loving him anyway he said it was like somebody opened a door to sin in my life I just went crazy I just went
crazy now can that happen well actually it can if you don’t really know God but if the real God comes to you and it’s personal and he loves you in your sin it will change you and you and first John doesn’t say when when God meets you you shouldn’t sin anymore he says you
can’t now when we forget it we can but when we remember who he is we can’t we can’t sin it’s Unthinkable at that moment because all we want is to please the one who loves us we don’t want to do anything to lose that love there’s nothing there’s no other love in in life that that you are willing to trade for the love of God for you when it becomes personal and real and imminent he’s here and I’m his so my friends what will it look like for us as a church to grow into a this kind of worship experience we experience it sometimes I I I trust most of us do I’m not going to lie to you and say I experience this every day in my quiet time I don’t I’d be lying but I miss it when I don’t I long for it when I don’t you know I’m like you I don’t carve out enough time I’m too distracted I a million reasons sometimes I open my bible and it feels cold you know and just just like words on the page but my friends we need to press through that because there’s no other there’s no other answer there’s no other thing that’s that’s worth pursuing the way the worship of God is it’s this living all of life in his presence before the face of God and it always starts with worship private and corporate and when Joy breaks breaks out you find yourself able to do hard things that you never thought you could do you find that God begins to change things in you that you thought you would never
conquer and God will make us a light to the Nations because what we have will be real and they will know it’s not pretend so may God help us as we long together for for what Joshua found in the at the Tabernacle at the at the entrance to the tent of meeting to live in the presence of the Lord amen amen
