Be Strong and Courageous

This morning I'm reading from the first chapter of Joshua, verses 1-9. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now, therefore, arise. Go over to this Jordan, you and all this people, and into the land that I'm going to give them. to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 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. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause the people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened. And do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." How many of you thought Matt was going to preach today? I like throwing a curveball in there every so often. As Matt has introduced, Our text today, Joshua chapter one, please take the Bible that you have brought with you or one from the end of your pew and torn towards the front of the Old Testament book known as Joshua. You'll find that on page number 115 in the pew Bible. Joshua is a transliteration of the Hebrew name of the central character of this book. The name actually in Hebrew is Yahashua, which appears as a shortened Yeshua. In Nehemiah 817, the name means the Lord saves in the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament quoted by the New Testament. Joshua is translated as Jesus. Transliterated in English as Jesus. So Joshua and Jesus both mean the Lord saves. This meaning is why an angel explained the reason behind the name of the Christ prior to his human birth. You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. As numbers 1316 indicates, Joshua's given birth name was Hosea Hebrew for he has saved and Moses renamed him Joshua. The Lord saves. While we cannot be certain who wrote all of the book, Joshua 2426 may indicate that most of its content was recorded by Joshua. I think it's fairly safe to assume that someone else wrote the last five verses of the book, particularly the account of Joshua's death in 1380 BC. The events of Joshua 1 most likely took place around the year 1406 BC, so the content of this book was recorded sometime after that. If you've located Joshua in your Bible, stay right there and hang on, because we've got a little intro material to handle. Right there on the title page, the larger numbers refer to the chapter numbers, and the smaller numbers refer to the verse numbers. We'll begin reading in just a little while under the large number one. I'd like us to first look at the historical situation behind Joshua 1, verses 1 through 9, and then turn our attention directly to these verses of Scripture. Most evangelical scholars believe that Israel arrived in Moab sometime during the very time when Canaanite culture was flourishing. The merchants of Canaan were prospering since the major trade routes between Africa and Asia passed right through the land. There were three great empires during that time, all of which figured in the account of Israel entering Canaan and the conquest of the land. First, there were the Egyptians to the south, and they were certainly no friend of Israel. Second, there were the Babylonians to the east, the so-called Mesopotamian Empire, and then there were the dreaded Hittites, the superpower of the age, and they lived to the north. Canaan was in the middle of all three of these empires and was largely populated by loosely affiliated tribes who had a reputation for great ferocity. And this meant that there was a power vacuum of sorts which would allow the Israelites to occupy the land without having to fight any of the three great empires. In Joshua 1 verses 1 through 9, God gave Joshua and all of the Israelites a solemn charge which issued forth in responsibilities that Joshua had to accept and endeavor to fulfill. Verse 1 tied Joshua directly to Moses and the covenant which had been renewed on the plains of Moab. Moses was described as the servant of the Lord, which stressed the depth of his fellowship of the Lord, as well as his unique role as the covenant mediator in which Moses revealed the Lord's will to the people of Israel. Joshua was described as Moses's assistant, identifying him as the same man who claimed who climbed Mount Sinai with Moses. The phrase the Lord said to Joshua indicated that just as the Lord had spoken directly to Moses, he also spoke directly to Joshua. God ensured that his covenant would have a mediator and that there would be someone to lead the people of God into the land of Canaan. The roles of mediator and leader merged in one man, Joshua, pointing us to the greater Joshua, Jesus. The fact that Moses was the servant of the Lord and Joshua was his assistant who served him, lies in the background of those New Testament passages where Paul wrote of the Christians as servants of Christ. Those passages such as Romans 1.1, 1 Corinthians 7.22 and Ephesians 6.6. But in John 1515, Jesus gave the concept of being a servant of the Lord, a whole new meaning. No longer do I call you servants for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends for all that I have heard from my father. I have made known to you. What was exceptional under the old covenant is the norm for all members of the new. While we are bond servants of Christ, we are at the same time friends of God. This is why Jesus could say that every member of the new covenant is greater than any member of the old. That's because in Jesus Christ, the master's will is revealed. As we begin Joshua one, Moses had just died and the people of God were still in the wilderness and had been there for 40 years. The promises of God were yet to be fulfilled. The people of God were encamped on the eastern side of the Dead Sea in the plains of Moab, just at the point where they were about to enter the at last the promised land, Canaan. In terms of the four temperaments, Joshua was choleric. Or if you don't have any idea what that means, ambitious. He was robust, he was restless, forthright, never happier when he was engaged in some great project or other. I don't know about you, but people like that can be a little intimidating. But God raises up such people to do his work. Let's look at Joshua 1, verses 1 and 2. It says, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. First thing I want you to see today from our passage today is God's purposes never fail. God's purposes never fail. God taught Joshua several things which underline some fundamental principles about the establishing the kingdom of God. The first is this. Moses is dead, but the purposes of God are not. The work of God is not dependent on you, any person or any collection of people. It wouldn't be difficult to imagine that amongst the people of God, there were some misgivings about the purposes and plan of God after their great leader, Moses, had died. It's been 40 years in the wilderness. That's a fact that most of us know, but we think about that. Think about how long 40 years is. Forty years ago, 1972 was the last year that men walked on the moon. That was 40 years ago. Some of you remember that many of you weren't even born yet. Forty years is a long time to wait for anything. Many of God's people perhaps thought that his promises would never be fulfilled now that Moses was dead. God's very first words to Joshua were Moses is dead. Get going. The time has come for you to lead these people into the land I'm giving them. God's hand is what he wants you to see here. It's not dependent upon any person or people. That's not to say that people are unimportant or insignificant in the end. Men and women are his servants who do his bidding, but the kingdom of God does not ultimately depend on us. Look at how he put it. The land that I am giving to them. The emphasis is on sovereignty. The emphasis is not on the people on Joshua, but on what God did. That's a tremendously significant statement. It meant that the final judgment of God has now been expended. You remember the story. Of course, Joshua was one of the spies that went into the land of Canaan and brought back the report to Moses and the others. What did he say? He said it's a land full of milk and honey. It's a pleasant place. It's a wonderful place. The majority came back and said it's full of giants, and if we set foot in it, we're done for. Well, because of their refusal, God's judgment came upon them, and no one above the age of 20, apart from Joshua and Caleb, survives in order to enter the land of Canaan. Now you can remember that fact of the children's rhyme. Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, were the only two that got all the way through the land of milk and honey. All the other Israelite adults were struck down with the plague. The first lesson that we see is one of sovereignty. This is God's work. This is the Lord's work and he will accomplishment. Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. It's not dependent on any person or people, no matter how gifted or able. It's not dependent on leaders like Moses. And there are there were few greater than Moses. When the men appeared at Jesus's transfiguration, it was Moses and Elijah. That would represent the entirety of the period of the Old Testament. There are few greater than Moses, but the kingdom of God is not dependent on him or any other mere human. Have you ever wondered what it was like for the early church in Asia Minor when the Apostle Paul died and the news of his death traveled from church to church? Can you imagine what a great loss that was to the people of God? Can you imagine what the churches in North Africa felt in the fifth century when Augustine died? If Keith had been around, then he really that would really hit him hard. Can you imagine what the people of God must have felt in the middle of the 16th century when John Calvin died? And with all due respect to Paul, Augustine and John Calvin, who are all resting in paradise, the kingdom of God is not dependent on any of them. Moses is dead now, go in and possess the land. It's about God's purposes and God's purposes never fail. Let's look at verses three through five. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness in this Lebanon, as far as the Great River, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, the Great Sun toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 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. Second thing I want you to see from today's passage is God's promises are certain. God's promises are certain. The reason why God's purposes never fails because God's promises are certain. Joshua stood at a moment of transition and in need of all the grace of God that is possible, and one of the things that God said to Joshua, just as I promised. Verse four of onward Christian soldiers states and be happy this morning, I'm not going to sing it to you. Crowns and thrones may perish kingdoms rise and wane, but the Church of Jesus constant will remain. Gates of hell can never against the church prevail. We have Christ's own promise and that cannot fail. That's kind of like what God said to Joshua in verse three, every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I've given it to you just as I spoke to Moses. As I promised to Moses, it's like a refrain that goes through Joshua one, and it's as though God said to Joshua, feed your soul on the promises that can never, ever fail. Associate Pastor Derek Thomas has remarked, God has strange ways of fulfilling his promises. Sometimes the clouds may gather, sometimes the storms may break, sometimes lightning and thunder may crash into your life, but God's promise is sure and certain. He's promised to bless us, keep us, never to leave us or forsake us, even when our lives look to be in ruins. God's promises are certain. That's what Joshua is being told. He can be trusted. God can be trusted. One of the verses we sang earlier puts it well, those who trust and fully find him wholly true. You know what it is to trust someone. There is dependability about God, there is a rock like quality about the God of Israel. That is what makes Yahweh, the covenant Lord of Israel, so different from all the surrounding deities of the Canaanites, the gods of the Canaanites were not dependable. Because the Canaanites were given the fits of temper and moodiness, they were hot-headed, they were bad-tempered, but the covenant Lord of Israel is utterly dependable. And by the way, all those other gods are false anyway. They're merely idols. But God is real. The Lord is real. His word is his bond. He came to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses and said, this is what I'm going to do and I will do it. Joshua was told, learn to feed your soul on the promises of Almighty God. The book of Joshua is a record of how the words of God began to be worked out in the lives of God's people. As Joshua led the people of God into the land of promise, one of the things that they had to bear in mind is the role of the word of God in their lives. The land of Canaan belongs to the Lord, not the tribes who happen to live there. Well, it's easy to be the Canaanites as those poor people who rightly occupied the land and the Israelites unjustly removed them, which is the current view of skeptics and critical scholars. The redemptive historical situation is the exact opposite. The land is the Lord's. He promised this land to Israel as their covenant inheritance. God gave Israel the land because he owns it because it is his gift to his covenant people. Israel could never occupy the land in their own strength because the Canaanites were fierce warriors. The hand of the Lord had to deliver the land of them. This is what Joshua, Joshua and Caleb understood when they reported back to Moses forty years before. This is what the other ten spies and then the people of Israel failed to grasp. Yes, the Canaanites will be tough fighters. Yes, this will be difficult. But can God keep his promises? He does. In verses six through eight, the covenant promise issued forth in a call for courage on the part of Joshua, which was grounded in a confidence in the purposes and promises of God. In these verses, the Lord directed Joshua. And I want to spend the lion's share of our time this morning looking at these verses and their application to our own lives. Look at verses six through eight. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause those people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it from turn. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may have good success wherever you go. This book, the law, shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. Third thing I want you to see today, God promises success to those who know and keep his word. God promises success to those who know and keep his word. Evangelicals in general and Calvinists in particular are rightly troubled by the so-called prosperity gospel. Which is no gospel at all. Yet in our efforts to avoid this type of teaching, we can be blind to a proper understanding of what God does say about prosperity. Before we get into that, though, I want you to see the direct application of Joshua 1 8 to the spiritual discipline of Bible intake. As you may recall, as I mentioned before, Bible intake includes hearing God's word, reading God's word and studying God's word. You must hear or read scripture to memorize or meditate upon it. Hearing, reading and studying the Bible should lead you to apply it in your own life. Joshua 1 8 deals specifically with the reading, meditation and application aspects of Bible intake. Joshua was to be talking about God's Word in his normal daily contacts with family, soldiers, friends and others who were a part of the nation. Now, unfortunately, we live in a society in which employees are often required to refrain from talking about their religion. It is considered a private personal matter that is off limits anywhere other than at church. If you violate these rules and etiquette, you risk losing your job and your friends. But, of course, if you don't talk about God's word, you risk losing his blessing. Seminary professor Don Whitney put it this way, there is a specific scriptural connection between success and the practice of meditation on God's word found in Joshua 1 8. We must remember that the prosperity and success the Lord speaks of here is prosperity and success in his eyes and not necessarily in the world's. From the New Testament perspective, we know that the main application of this promise would be to the prosperity of the soul and spiritual success. Though some measure of success in our human endeavors would ordinarily occur as well when we live according to God's wisdom, true success is promised to those who meditate on God's Word. who think deeply on Scripture, not just at one time each day, but at moments throughout the day and night. They meditate so much that Scripture literally saturates their conversation. The fruit of their meditation is action. They do what they find written in God's word, and as a result, God prospers their way and grant success to them. Pastor James Boyce said that meditation implies reasoning about the word and deducing things from it. Meditation has application as a goal. Meaningful meditation requires a concentration not often developed in our fast-paced society where it sounds automatically and incessantly alert you to every incoming text email or status update on your smartphone or tablet device. This is all merely theoretical because I have neither but some of you know what that's like. This is where spiritual disciplines of the spiritual discipline of journaling with an actual pen and paper. I mean, you remember any of you remember that pen and paper? Would you actually spiritual journal with pen and paper? It can keep you from getting distracted from the scripture that you are meditating on. The practice of actually making yourself write down your meditations in your journal can help you to concentrate. Boyce was convinced that our neglect of meditation, quote, is why Christians makes a little difference in our society. The missing element is a deep, genuine and persistent meditation on the word of God. It is only as the word of God gets into our minds and begins to become part of our normal day to day reasoning and thinking that we begin to act differently and thereby make a difference. I think he's right. Did you ever think of what Jesus did when he was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness? He cited three passages of scripture from memory. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test was one of them. That indicates that one of the things that Jesus did was read and meditate on the scriptures. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, you're thinking, well, Jesus was God, he knew all the Bible. Well, I am not going to disagree with you, Jesus was and is God, but that is a misunderstanding of the fully human nature of Christ when he was a person on the earth, according to Philippians two through the incarnation, God, the sun emptied himself and humbled himself being in human form. This is why Luke was able to write of Jesus, that he increased in wisdom and stature in Luke two fifty two. Though Jesus never send as a human, he grew physically, mentally and spiritually by learning, studying and pouring over the scriptures so that in his hour of need, it poured out of him. In fact, I would argue that there's never been a more disciplined person who's ever lived in Jesus. And I don't think anyone will disagree, not here anyway. I can hear this excuse from some of you. I don't have enough time to read and meditate on the Bible. Well, maybe what Joshua 1 is saying to you is that you need to read some scripture in the morning so that you can meditate on it as you go about your work. That you meditate on it as you drive your car to work. Actually doesn't have a very long drive, but some of you have a longer drive during a break between classes or while you're waiting for your kids to finish their homework. You can think of other examples, but start at the beginning. Take a scripture. and meditate upon it. John MacArthur actually encourages us. He says Joshua 1.8 is a great scripture to meditate upon. You know, I don't know how much time Joshua had. He was a captain of thousands of soldiers. Well, they were called soldiers, but they're really untrained and unfit for warfare. Collectively, they've logged a total of zero hours of combat. Yet God said to Joshua, if you're going to make one solid step in advancing my kingdom, you need to meditate. You need to meditate on my word. At the time, the Lord spoke these words to Joshua. This book of the law was likely the only scripture in existence, whether it was a reference to the entire law, the first five books of the Bible or just the book of Deuteronomy. Regardless, apparently it was the only scripture that he had put this another way. This book of the law was the only Bible that Joshua and the Israelites had. So, the application for us today is to meditate not just on the first five books of the Bible, but on every part of the completed canon of Scripture. The covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai, while part of the covenant of grace in terms of its administration, was clearly founded upon the works principle of blessing for obedience and curse for disobedience. Not only was Joshua to obey the demands of the covenant not to depart from the law in the slightest, if he did, as God commanded, God would grant Israel success. In this case, victory over those who blocked their way into the promised land for the covenant promise to be realized. Joshua had to be strong and courageous, knowing that the Lord would be with him and with his people. This notice again that the command was not Joshua defy the odds, do the impossible, go against your instincts. No, Joshua was to be courageous because sovereign God had promised to be with him wherever Israel and its armies went. He had witnessed God's faithfulness firsthand, and this is why Joshua was commanded to obey the covenant stipulations, even as God promised that he would be faithful to the covenant he had made with Israel. Now we have to have a right framework whenever we hear this word law, because we tend to hear the word law and to think of it detailed instructions that are usually are telling us what we are doing. Basically, they're telling us that whatever we're doing is wrong. Well, that probably says something more about our fallen nature than our understanding of God's law, because in the Old Testament, the law, the Torah is thought of as something much broader than simply commands that lead to our condemnation. Rather, the Torah, the law of God, is that which makes us wise. And that's a very different idea, which makes us wise, because if you follow God's law, you will be prosperous and successful. Do you remember how the psalmist puts it in Psalm 119? Because I love your law, I have more wisdom than my elders. If you love God's law, you can be wiser than those who are much older than you because you have the law of God as liberating principle working itself out within your heart. Samuel Bolton, one of the theologians who wrote the Westminster Confession of Faith, put it this way. The law drives us to the gospel to be saved and the gospel drives us to the law in order to help us how to live. Look at verse seven again. Be very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Being careful. That's one of the things we're not very good at being careful about the word of God, some complain that if you make too much of Scripture, it becomes excessive, it becomes legalism. Yet the reality is, if you're going to be a man of God or a woman of God, you're going to have to be intentional and purposeful about being careful to do everything that God asked you to do. That's the way that you grow and become strong, meditate on God's word and keep God's word. Reading, sharing and meditating upon the Bible are all important, but most important command God gave Joshua. was to obey his word. For most of us, including myself, our problem is not that we don't know enough of the Bible. A problem is that we don't even practice what we do know. Instead, we need to live like the man that Matt read about, read to us about in Psalm one, who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night and is like a tree that does not wither. Well, let's close by looking at verse nine. John Bowman told me that this was his kind of his life verse for a particular season of his life. Particular time, Joshua 1 9 says, Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous? Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Final thing I want you to see from today's passage is God's presence is assured. God's presence is assured. This is why Joshua was not to depart one iota from the law. This is why Joshua was to be confident and courageous. The Lord was with him. The Lord would give him the victory over the Canaanites. Israel would inherit the land of promise. God would keep his promises. Ironically, we are in much the same place today as Israel was while they camped on the plains of Moab. In fact, the same covenant promise that God gave to Joshua is reiterated in the New Testament and given to us, the people of God, through the greater Joshua, Jesus Christ. At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus left his disciples with the following words. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And then Jesus spoke these words, which you can read on the stained glass behind me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And then Jesus closed with these words and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. While given in the greater light of the coming of Jesus, this promise is remarkably similar to the one that was given to Joshua. It's something like a signature tune that every time that God comes and addresses one of his servants, he says, look, I'm going to be with you. Can I put it in the modern touchy feely sort of way, I'll be there for you or I don't know, I'm not really good at being hip, I've got your back. I told you I'm not good at it. David wrote in Psalm 23, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you are with me. No matter how dark. No matter how difficult, no matter how trying the circumstance may be, no matter what obstacle, no matter how great the giants are, no matter how fierce the opposition, no matter how you may feel, no matter what state your mood may be in, whether you're a morning person or an evening person, whether you're ambitious or cheerful or whatever, I will be with you. I will be with you wherever you go. When Paul was faced with the difficulty of evangelizing Corinth and he was frightened to go on, that was God's word to him. I will be with you. It's what Jesus said to the church going to all the world and I will be with you. It's what one person called the Emmanuel principle. God with his people. That's what Jesus means. God amongst his people. Now, I wonder if Joshua was given these promises because, well, in some way he needed them. I said before he was an ambitious man, but other people said the reason that God kept telling him this was because his knees were knocking. Well, boy, I can relate to that. There is something about Joshua, even though he was ambitious, even though he was a strong military leader, a type A personality, there was something about Joshua, too. He constantly needed reassurance. Old Testament scholar Alec Mott refers to Joshua as a most unlikely leader. A most unlikely leader, because it's as though God knows what he's like and he's strengthening him. He's reassuring him, he's affirming him. Affirming him not in what he is in himself, but affirming him in what God is going to make of him. I wonder what you're facing. I wonder what obstacles, what difficulties. It's a principle we're lifting out of this passage. There was a specific promise to Joshua as the captain of the people of God that they were about to enter the land of Canaan and conquer it for the Lord and occupy it. You know, it's a principle that's found throughout Scripture, you may be in the service today as a child of God, you're you're trusting in Jesus, but your life is a mess. Jesus says to you, I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. Your son or your daughter may be forsaken the way you raised them. And Jesus is saying to you, child of God, I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. Some calamity may have befallen you, and it looks as though the sky has fallen in and the bottom of the world has fallen out. And Jesus is saying to you, can you hear the echo and the reverberation of his voice? I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. It's hard to imagine greater encouragement for Joshua as they were about to embark on this great quest. Moses is dead, but the purpose of God is not. Moses is dead, but the promise of God is not. Moses is dead, but God's promise promises success to those who know and keep his word. Moses is dead, but God's presence is assured. Now, there is a word to take you through this week and to give you strength, encouragement and fortitude. Pastor Kim Riddle Barger has noted that as God gave Israel the land and fulfillment of the promise that he made to the patriarchs and to Moses and to all Israel in many ways the Christian life is the same for us as entering the land was for Israel camped in Moab with the promised land in sight and yet with seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the way. Do we believe that we will inherit everything that God has promised us. Do we believe that God will keep his word and that we will receive everything he has promised? Or like the ten spies and the majority of those in Israel, do we see the troubles of life? Do we see the obstacles we face and then doubt that God will keep his promise? Or even worse? Will we give in to the remarkably strong temptation to identify with the pagans around us who, in their thinking and doing, live for personal pleasure and become a law unto themselves, doing only what feels right while rejecting what God commands. Just as Israel was about to enter Canaan, confident in the power of God, so says Israel. So excuse me, so says Jesus, we are to go into all the world, making disciples and teaching the nations not to depart from the word of God. All that God has commanded. And just as God was with Joshua, so to the greater Joshua is with us. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, and he will never leave you nor forsake you. Just as Joshua had witnessed the power of God, so too we live in light of Christ's death and resurrection as God conquered the enemies of God's people, the Canaanites. So Jesus conquered our greatest enemy, death and the grave. Jesus died for our sins and he was raised for our justification. Amen. Therefore, be strong and courageous for the Lord, your God is with you. wherever you go. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the richness of your word. We thank you that it is a word that is alive and a word that is able to make us wise and to salvation, a word that can make us strong. Bless it to us. For the sake of Jesus. Who promised to always be with us in his name, we pray. Amen.