487. Joshua, the Leader<\/p>\n
Jos_18:1-10; Jos_24:1-31<\/p>\n
Bible characters illustrate some one grace in their lives. In Abraham we see faith, in Joseph purity, in Moses meekness, in David courage, in Jonathan love, in Samuel faithfulness, and in Joshua carefulness as a leader. Joshua was a\u2014<\/p>\n
1. Victorious Leader\u2014Jos_18:1. Under him the children of Israel were able to subdue the land of Canaan and its inhabitants. It may be well for the teacher to recall some of Joshua\u2019s victories, and then remind the scholars that Joshua was a type of Christ\u2014Heb_4:8-15, R.V. When we are led by our Lord we shall never be defeated. The Conqueror always conquers.<\/p>\n
2. Discriminating Leader\u2014Jos_18:2-10. Several of the tribes had not received their portion of the land, so Joshua sought the Lord\u2019s mind as to what they should receive, but omitting Levi, as their inheritance was in the priesthood. In Christ believers are blessed with all spiritual blessing\u2014Eph_1:3. Every blessing is in Him, and He is every Blessing, so that all we need for advancement in the spiritual life is found in Him (see the seven \u201cin whom\u2019s\u201d in Ephesians); but we need to come to our Divine Leader to know what He would have us to do, for the truth of 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 13 is, that while all believers are one in Christ, the Holy Spirit gives us the gift for His service as He wills.<\/p>\n
3. Reminding Leader\u2014Jos_24:1-13. Joshua reminded the tribes and their leading men what God had done for their fathers in the past, and for them. This is strikingly illustrated in the personal pronoun \u201cI\u201d in relation to the Lord God of Israel. We can only indicate and leave the teacher to connect with New Testament truth:<\/p>\n
Salvation, \u201cI took… led… multiplied… and gave\u201d (Jos_24:3).<\/p>\n
Possession, \u201cI gave\u201d (Jos_24:4).<\/p>\n
Commission, \u201cI sent\u201d (Jos_24:5).<\/p>\n
Emancipation, \u201cI brought\u201d (Jos_24:6-7).<\/p>\n
Extermination, \u201cI brought,\u201d \u201cI gave,\u201d \u201cI destroyed,\u201d \u201cI delivered\u201d (Jos_24:8-12).<\/p>\n
Benediction, \u201cI have given you a land\u201d (Jos_24:13).<\/p>\n
In all that was done Joshua saw the hand of God. It was not his prowess, but God\u2019s power. Joshua reminded the people of their obligation to Him who had done so much for them\u2014see Psalms 78.<\/p>\n
4. Commanding Leader\u2014Jos_24:14-25. Joshua\u2019s clarion call was to \u201cserve the Lord.\u201d From Jos_24:14-31 we find the words \u201cserve\u201d and \u201cserved\u201d occurring no fewer than fifteen times, and they cluster round three predominating thoughts, namely, whom we are not to serve, the gods with whom our former life were associated or who may come before us\u2014Jos_24:14, Jos_24:16, Jos_24:20; whom we are to serve, the Lord\u2014Jos_24:14-15, Jos_24:18-19, Jos_24:21-22, Jos_24:24, Jos_24:31; and how we are to serve Him: in sincerity and in truth\u201414. Service to the Lord takes in all our life, as the London shoeblack recognised, when he said to the gentleman who commended him for the care he took in shining his boots, \u201cI\u2019m serving the Lord, sir, in serving you.\u201d Any drudgery is divinity when it is service for Him.<\/p>\n
5. Faithful Leader\u2014Jos_24:26-28. Since Israel pledged themselves to serve the Lord\u201424, Joshua made a covenant with the people, and set up a stone in Shechem to be a witness of their affirmed allegiance to the Lord. Joshua did not take any chances with a fickle people, but set up a monument to remind them of their responsibilities. No service is of any moment unless it is done in heart-faithfulness to the Lord. \u201cI want to please the man who has appointed me to my work,\u201d was the reply of an employee, when a man complained of his action when he was carrying out his employer\u2019s directions.<\/p>\n
6. Powerful Leader\u2014Jos_24:31. The influence of Joshua was felt after his death, for we are told, \u201cIsrael served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua.\u201d Those who truly live for the Lord always find that their works follow them\u2014Rev_14:13. The old American song of \u201cJohn Brown\u2019s soul is still marching on\u201d speaks of the continuance of influence, and so does the hymn which tells us that \u201ckind words can never die.\u201d The best memorial that we can leave behind us is the fragrance of a holy life, and the most abiding epitaph is the memory of a helpful influence.<\/p>\n
By: DR. F. E. MARSH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
487. Joshua, the Leader Jos_18:1-10; Jos_24:1-31 Bible characters illustrate some one grace in their lives. In Abraham we see faith, in Joseph purity, in Moses meekness, in David courage, in Jonathan love, in Samuel faithfulness, and in Joshua carefulness as a leader. Joshua was a\u2014 1. Victorious Leader\u2014Jos_18:1. Under him the children of Israel were … Continue reading “0496. 487. Joshua, the Leader”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}