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Possessing the Land
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Welcome, brothers and sisters. We continue exploring our monthly theme of possessing the land, drawing from the book of Joshua. This month, we examine that significant moment when Joshua and the Israelites stood at a threshold—about to cross the Jordan into the promised land.
Let us read from Joshua 1:1-6:
Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant, and said to him, "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, unto the land which I give unto them, even the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given to you, as I said unto Moses, from the Wilderness and this Lebanon unto the Great River, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites and unto the great sea towards the going down of the sun shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life. And as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you, nor forsake you."
The Lord's promise is clear: be strong and of good courage. For unto this people, Joshua will divide for an inheritance the land which the Lord swore unto their fathers to give them.
Recall that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt through Moses' leadership. For forty years they wandered in the wilderness. They crossed the Red Sea—the Lord parted the waters. They ate manna from heaven. Yet by the time they reached this moment, nearly all the people who were twenty years and older when they left Egypt had passed away. Moses himself had died.
Joshua now finds himself at a critical juncture. The old generation has gone. A new generation stands ready to possess what God promised. The emphasis of today's message is found in verse 5:
"The Lord said to Joshua: There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life. And as I was with Moses, so I will be with you."
Here is the essential truth: Your success and victory in possessing the land of promise is not dependent on Moses or any person—it is dependent on God, who has made the promise.
When the Lord says "no man will be able to stand before you," He is speaking of everything that would hinder Joshua and the children of Israel from entering the promised land and receiving God's promises. We live in a fallen world. Nothing good comes easily—for many reasons.
First, consider scarcity. Basic economics teaches us that human needs are unlimited, but the resources to fulfill them are limited. This is true for individuals, organizations, and nations. That is why countries budget, why people must plan their resources. Those who do not plan their resources are already planning to fail.
Second, there will be opposition from those who resist God's people. Remember, even in Moses' time, spies were sent to scout the land. They returned with reports of giants and strong walls. The Lord acknowledged this opposition—but declared it would not stop Joshua.
No one will be able to resist you in the name of Jesus Christ.
The Lord makes a promise to His church: the church will march on, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. Though we face opposition—powers, ideologies, satanic forces that want to occupy territories and keep people from living God's way—the church will overcome. As you pursue your individual Christian journey, remember God's promises. The One who made the promise is faithful and true.
For Joshua and Israel, possessing the land was literal—a physical territory. For us, it includes physical territory for those interested in land and properties, but more broadly, it encompasses the spheres of life and influence where we want to achieve, succeed, and shine for Almighty God.
Consider your marriage. Many enter marriage thinking that love alone sustains it. Yet love, while important, is not enough. Marriage requires deliberate work against many hurdles. It is not God who scatters your obstacles—sometimes you are the problem. God gives wisdom. There is a role for you to play. God instituted marriage as honorable. Keep it honorable by playing the game according to His rules.
Consider your academic endeavors. Many of you are students making great sacrifices and incurring high costs. I say to every student in this church: you are not allowed to fail. Not merely because we have said it, but because the Almighty God is settled to give you wisdom and grace. But He also calls you to be diligent—to burn the midnight oil. When you do your part with the grace of God, the excellent spirit of God will rest upon you, and you will excel.
Consider your career. You recognize that the journey is not always easy. You must train, acquire skills, be hardworking and diligent. But you also face competition. And some compete in negative, difficult ways. You must not joke with your spiritual warfare. You must not joke with your reliance on God.
Why do I make this emphasis? Because our vision is to be a governing church—a church of influence. We want God to place His children in every area of human endeavor: education, politics, finance, the creative arts, media. Anywhere you do not have the light of Jesus shining, darkness will take over.
For all of you mindful of this, as you make your career calculations, may the Almighty God order your steps and give you wisdom and direction in the name of Jesus Christ.
Many of you face institutional processes that are difficult to understand. Some of you have left other careers at great cost to move into new fields, and frustration is setting in. I urge you: God is interested for you to settle in and to grow in your career. You will face men, women, and institutional processes—but God will make you an overcomer.
You will need to not play the game the way of the world. You will need to be steadfast. You need to trust the Almighty God. Make up your mind: as long as you are in God's hands, He will help you. We do not deny or trivialize the processes you must go through—they are important. If you do not go through them, you will not be functional. Our God is not mediocre. He is a God of Excellence. He is a God of process.
Now, let us consider the second part of verse 5:
"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you."
Notice what the Lord did not say. He did not say, "As I did with Moses, so I will do with you." He said, "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you."
Moses and Joshua lived in different eras. Moses led the people out of Egypt. For forty years, they wandered as nomads. Moses witnessed the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. He led them through the Red Sea. The people needed a nomadic style of leadership.
Joshua's era was different. The people, after forty years, were no longer nomads. They had arrived at the point where they must go forth and possess the land. Their needs were different. The circumstances were different.
But it is one God.
No matter the era, no matter the time, no matter the circumstance, God is the all-sufficient One. If you have Him, you are sorted.
This is why the Bible calls Him Jehovah El Shaddai—the all-sufficient God. Let us turn to Genesis 17:1-2:
When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect, and I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly."
Here was a man at ninety-nine years old, desiring a child. His wife Sarah was ninety. By human standards, this was impossible. Yet the Almighty God promised them a child. And He fulfilled that promise. Abraham and Sarah had a child in their old age, and through them, nations were blessed.
The Almighty God, in introducing Himself as the all-sufficient One, poses a question to all of us: Is anything too hard for Me to do?
As you think about the issues, the mountains, the lands you want to possess, many seem impossible by human standards. But this Almighty God—Jehovah El Shaddai—with Him, nothing shall be impossible.
Consider Mary at the Annunciation. The angel appeared and said she would bear a holy Child, the Savior of the world. Mary asked, "How can this be, knowing that I do not know a man?" By human standards, this was absolutely impossible. The angel responded, "The Holy Spirit will overshadow you. Nothing becomes impossible when the Holy Spirit overshadows a man or a woman."
We share these examples because along your journey of life, there will be many lands to possess, many mountains to climb. By human standards, things can be very difficult. But as the Lord said to Joshua—and He says to us—"I will be with you."
If you are mindful and create an environment through obedience and holiness, if you are mindful of the presence of the Almighty God, I assure you nothing will be impossible for you to do. Every mountain the Lord wants you to possess, you will possess in the name of Jesus. Every land where you need to go and shine forth for the Almighty God, He will place you there.
The Psalmist captures this truth in Psalm 23:4:
Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.
The valley of the shadow of death symbolizes the most difficult, challenging phases of life. If you tried to face such a valley on your own, it would cause hypertension. It would break anyone's heart. But the Psalmist says, "I will not be afraid"—not because the valley is not real, but because God is with me.
Many who approach difficulties without inclining to the Almighty God run to occult powers and do bizarre things. But the Psalmist declares: I will trust the Almighty God. As long as He is with me, even through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid.
The presence of God—His abiding presence—is so significant along our journey of life. That is why we must ensure we do not grieve the Holy Spirit. We must not walk empty on our own. Rather, with the presence of the Spirit of God in us, with us, for us, we can be confident that by the grace of God, we are more than overcomers.
Joshua found himself at a critical point in life—a different phase, a different time, different needs from Moses. Yet the Lord said to him: "What is important is My presence with you."
We, too, are different people with different needs, different aspirations, different hopes. Yet the God who was with Moses, who was with Joshua, who was with Abraham and Sarah, who was with Mary—this same God is with us.
God is the all-sufficient One. Abraham and Sarah, at ninety-nine and ninety years old, received what was impossible by human standards. The Psalmist, even through the valley of the shadow of death, feared no evil because God was with him.
As you journey through life, be very conscious of God's abiding presence. He has made you a promise: "I will never leave you. I will never forsake you." Because He is the very present help in every situation of your life, you can trust Him.
Some may feel God is far away. But God has not stopped being omnipresent. The question is: do you have the spiritual antenna to receive Him and recognize His presence? God's eyes run to and from the earth, searching for both the wicked and the righteous. For the righteous—those who trust Him—He saves, guards, reassures, and helps us.
God does not live only in outer space. He lives in you. He lives in me. His abiding presence is with us when we are conscious of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we are conscious of this, we know that the greater One is in us than he that is in the world.
As you go into this week—and as we round up November with December soon to follow—I want to give you a charge.
Dream. Be ambitious. Think big.
Recognize this: we have just one life to live. Jesus reminds us in a verse dear to our hearts: "I must work the works of Him who has called me. No man shall work when the night comes."
While you have the opportunity, you must:
The night will come when no one can work. We will stand before God and give an account of how well we served Him.
The Bible does not deny that there will be opposition and obstacles along the way. But many have overcome despite opposition, and you will also overcome in the name of Jesus.
Many have done great things in the name of the Lord. Nothing says that you cannot.
I urge you: reappraise your life goals, your dreams, your hopes, your aspirations. Are you living a purposeful life? If you do not live purposefully, very soon time will slip away and you will ask, "Where has all the time gone?" Time does not wait for anybody.
I pray that drawing from what we have shared, you will take time to reevaluate, to plan, and to commit to doing great things in the name of the Almighty God.
We never deny the challenges and opposition—in fact, they are part of objective analysis. There will always be threats and opportunities. But those are not supposed to stop you from doing what you have to do. Use every tool, skill, and strategy available to you. But additionally—and this is distinctive for you—the presence of the Almighty God means you can go further than your contemporaries. You will possess the land for the Master.
Daniel 11:32 says:
The people that know their God shall be strong, and they shall do exploits.
When you feel insufficient, when you feel inadequate, when you sense opposition and weakness, remember: Joshua came to a point where he felt inadequate. The Almighty said to him, "No one will stand against you. As long as I am with you, you will overcome."
That will be our portion in the name of Jesus.
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. In the city of our God, in the mountains of His holiness, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion—the city of the great King.
