Courage to Trust God

This morning, we're starting in the book of Joshua. You can find this on page 178 if you're going to use the Pew Bible in front of you. If you don't have a Bible, please, that is our gift to you. We would love for you to take that, read it. It is God's word, and it, if believed and trusted, will give you life. We're in Joshua. It's an Old Testament book. It's been my practice since I've been here to preach a New Testament book, and then an Old Testament book, and a New Testament book, and an Old Testament book. New Testament selection is not so obvious as to why I choose different New Testament books, but Old Testament is simple. We're just walking through them in order. We skipped a couple, all right, but Genesis, and Exodus, and Deuteronomy, and Joshua. And those first five books What I've preached through, the first five books, that's called the Pentateuch. That's what Moses has written for the most part. That's the foundation for all of the Old Testament. That is God's word, his law, and now we're moving into what we call the history. All right, Joshua, Judges, the Samuels, the Corinthians, the Kings, Ruth, these are histories. And they tell us really how God's people responded to his law. Did they keep it? Did they ignore it? Did they worship him? Did they worship other gods? So we're right in the middle of a major transition. Deuteronomy was God giving his law a second time. That's what it means. Because now that first generation that was redeemed from Egypt, redeemed, delivered from slavery, they've died. They could have entered the promised land. Remember, they were in slavery. God said, I'm gonna take you to my promised land. They could have gone in, but they refused to trust God that he could beat the giants. Not the football team, little giants. So God said, all right, you're gonna wander in the wilderness and die in the second generation. You get the law a second time, same law, second time. And you can see that first rejection of Israel, Numbers 13 through 14, Deuteronomy 1. Deuteronomy is the second giving, and now God's going to send that second generation into the promised land. Joshua's a very simple book. It's a very simple book. The command to Israel is to go into the land I promised to Abraham that I'm giving to you. Go into the land that I'm giving to you. Now think about that declaration. It's yours. God says, it's yours, I'm giving it to you. Just go in and take it. There's inhabitants, you're gonna have to fight them. But it's yours, I've given it to you. Take it. Trust me and obey me and all will be successful. If you're to look at Joshua in just a big picture, Chapters one through five, this is the preparation. It's preparation, so the first few weeks we're just gonna be looking at their preparation before they go in. Chapter six through nine, that's the central campaign. Six through nine, the central campaign. 10 to 12, the northern and southern campaign. These are the conquering chapters. And then 13 through 22, a large chunk of the book, that's just them dividing up the land. Putting each tribe in their particular land. Then 23 through 24, a concluding charge. Again, it's a simple book. God has given you the land. Go and take the land. And then you'll be divided and dispersed among this promised land. This morning we're looking at chapter 1. The key declaration we see in chapter 1 is be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous. Because here we see the emphasis being on go and take it. Because I've given it to you. Go and take it because I'm with you. Go and take it. I've given you your instructions, your direction. You be strong and courageous and do it. You will be successful. So chapter one, here's the structure. If you're looking at chapter one, this isn't the outline. God instructs Joshua, that's verses one to nine. One to nine, he's giving Joshua instruction. 10 to 11, Joshua goes and he prepares the leaders first. Before he goes and talks to the entire nation, he prepares the leaders, that's 10 to 11. He speaks to the eastern tribes. These are the folks who already have their land and he's telling them, your men of valor, your men of the military service, they're gonna have to come with us to help us fight. That's 12 to 15. And then the Eastern tribes, their response, 16 to 18. We're going to focus on a few themes in Joshua 1, because there's a lot of themes that are continually repeated. The key one is be strong and courageous. We see it in verse six, verse seven, verse nine, and verse 18. If you underline your Bible, I would go ahead and underline all those different passages. Verse six, verse seven, verse nine, Verse 18. And then we're gonna see that really there's three basic reasons why God tells them to go and be strong and courageous. I've given you the land, it's yours, take it. I've spoken. I've declared to you what to do and how to do it and you'll be successful if you obey. So I've given you land, I've spoken, and then finally, I'm with you. Be strong and courageous. because I'm with you. These were truths that were central for Joshua then to fulfill the task they had to go into the promised land and take it. These are the same truths that are helpful for us as we think about God's task and mission for us as his church and seek to fulfill it. Listen for those themes. I've given you the land. I've spoken. I'm with you. Hear the Word of the Lord, Joshua chapter 1, page 178 from the Pew Bible. After the death of Moses, a 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, in the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I've given it 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 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 this 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 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. Do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-traveled Manasseh, Joshua said, remember the word that Moses, a servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you. And they also shall take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession, and shall possess it, the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. And they answered, Joshua, all that you have commanded us, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous. Will you pray with me? Father, as we look to your word, I pray that you would give us your grace to trust you, to obey you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Four basic points. Be strong and courageous. That's the command. The next three points are simply the foundation. Be strong and courageous because God gives. Be strong and courageous because God has spoken. Be strong and courageous because God is with you. First, we need to really look at what it means to be strong and courageous. Again, this command is given four times. It has end emphasis in the instruction to Joshua in verse nine. It has end emphasis in the way the Eastern tribes responded. This call to be strong and courageous reminds me of my favorite genre of movie, the hero movie. We'll just go with like a Fourth of July theme here. Miracle. The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. They're amateurs. They just got out of college. They're from all different backgrounds. They don't like each other. They're actually rivals. And they're facing the greatest hockey team on earth, the adult United team of the USSR. They're facing Russia. This is key, given the times they're in. And the US hockey team, they've gotta figure out how they're gonna learn to fight harder and they gotta learn how to get united so that they can beat a rival that is truly better than them in every way. And of course, they find that gut, they find the toughness and they come together and they win. Sorry if you haven't seen the movie. Or Patriot. Benjamin Martin, who represents all kinds of military leaders, a father, he just wants to live a peaceful farming life. He's a veteran and they call him into war. And he gets his militia. They're not trained well, they're not armed well, they usually run, but he gets them to run up that hill, he leads the charge, he finds the strength and the cause to lead a battle and win. He had the fire and the motivation to overcome every disadvantage. Or really, the best hero movie. Rocky Balboa. The Italian Stallion. The Southpaw from Philly who was really just to be an exhibition match for Apollo Creed, but led it to a tie, and then the embarrassment led to another fight. The whole point of Rocky is that this guy doesn't have a lot of skill, but he can just keep taking punches and take punches and take punches. Then he turns the gear. Mickey, his trainer, sums it up well. It's not how hard you hit, it's how hard you can get hit, and how you keep moving forward. He beats Mr. T, Hulk Hogan, and Drago. Rocky IV really captures the best. He's training in the barn, running through snow while Drago's on these electrical machines. He's taking different drugs and medications, and Rocky's gonna show the heart of the American is gonna beat these odds. He's got the eye of the tiger. He's gonna rise up to the challenge of his rival. These are great, courageous stories. I could go on and on and on. I emphasize these because the courage we're talking about is nothing like what these stories are talking about. These stories are inspirational, they're challenging to say, look down deep inside and find the strength within, to be courageous against all odds. The Bible says, And the kind of fight we're in, looking down deep inside only makes things worse. You have to look for help from outside. You have to look up and find the courage to say, God, I need you. You are the only help I have. I need you to help me. That's courage. That's Christian courage. You see, Israel, They sent out those spies the first time. Two of them came back and said, we can take them, but everybody else said, no, they're huge, we'll be demolished. And Israel said, we don't trust God enough to beat them. So they wandered in the desert. That was the perfect opportunity Israel had to say, yes, the odds are against us, but we trust God, and they did not have courage. The second generation, they're called to be strong and courageous, to trust God to win the battle. You see, it's faith in God because He gives help. It's faith in the God who is with us. It's faith in God because He gives us clear instruction. We face various challenges. I cannot stop cussing. I cannot stop gossiping. My heart is always corrupting me. I'm deceptive. I'm angry. I do not do the things I know that are good. This is when you cry out to God, help me. That's courageous. It's courageous to actually say, I need help. It's not cowardly to say, I need help. It's reality. The courageous, they look for help, they receive it, and they act upon it. The cowardly, they hide their weakness and their corruption. The courage, they confess their sin and their weakness, and they're given strength, and they're delivered. The cowardly, they hide their sin and weakness, and they remain in it. Let me try to define Christian courage in a couple ways and contrast it with a few things. Christian courage is a character trait that makes me able to act how I must in spite of my inadequacy because of my confidence in God's working. I look to God and I trust and act upon that trust that he will keep me and make me successful in whatever I'm seeking to do for his glory. Now this is contrary to the American courage that we're used to hearing about. That tells me that I can handle any situation that comes across. It tells me that if I just find that extra gear, that gut feeling, the strength within, I can do it. And this usually is acting in ignorance or rashness. The other thing we want to contrast Christian courage with is being a coward. It's being too afraid to act. being too afraid to expose yourself and to put yourself out there as weak and in need of help. This is what God requires. Really, Christian courage has three parts. Christian courage has three parts. I must recognize that I need help. I must have confidence in God to provide help. I must act in faith expecting help. I must recognize I need help. I must have confidence in God to provide help. I must act in faith expecting help. Notice, Christian courage is demonstrated by action. You can't sit in your chair and say, I'm courageous. Christian courage leads to action. One of those actions is when it comes to sin. When talking to folks about reconciliation, I hear folks say a lot of times, no, I've already forgiven them in my heart. That's not courageous. I think that's spiritualizing your lack of forgiveness. See, forgiveness is a real transaction. Courageous Christian forgiveness says I'm sorry and says I forgive you. Real Christian forgiveness is a transaction that takes place that says, I'm sorry, I forgive you. To want to avoid that actual transaction, to actually avoid that Christian sacred declaration is cowardly. It requires action. If you weren't here Wednesday night, you missed an opportunity to hear Christian courage and action. A 21-year-old female, confessed to her church, her pride, her need for help, and asked us to pray for her and care for her. That was courageous. She leaned upon God and leaned upon the instrument of God, that is the church, to say, how can you, how can I be more faithful? Christian courage is action. It is a relationship with God that calls us to act. For Israel to be who they're called to be, they must trust God. The Bible makes such clear and bold claims, and we'll look at some of these maybe in application, but I wanna give us two examples of what this looks like, because we're called to a fight, but it's not the same fight Joshua has. We're not called to fight against flesh and blood. It's a spiritual fight. It's a fight against Satan, the great deceptive, the great deceptor. It's a fight against our own sin that corrupts us and confuses us and deceives us. When we're being tempted, we're being called to show great strength and say, God, I can't fight this sin. Because here's what happens, if you're being faced with a temptation of lust or anger or gossip, if you do the typical curse thing and you say, I wanna look down deep inside to see how I can find strength to fight it, when you look inside, the Bible tells us what you find is more corruption. Sin comes from the heart. You see, if we're going to look inside for the solution to my sin, you're gonna find more sin. That's why God says, look to me. Look to my Son. Look to the Holy Spirit. The Father says, I can give you grace. I have sent my Son to die on the cross for you. His death on the cross can wash away your sin. It can relieve you of the enslaving power of that sin. The Holy Spirit can comfort you and lead you and give you victory over that sin. See, looking inside only makes things worse. An example of this, if somebody's rude to you, somebody really says something that offends you, if you look down deep inside, you're gonna find the strength to battle right back with another rude comment. I have full confidence that if there's a battle of words, I can find in the depth of my soul and my energy the ability to win a battle of rudeness. But if I look up, If I actually follow God's instructions, I find the grace and the instruction to say, no, that's not what you're supposed to do. I can find the strength to keep my mouth shut. I can find the strength to pray for that brother or sister. I can find the strength to actually seek peace rather than cause more conflict. So in the midst of sin, in the midst of that fight, looking in is only gonna make things worse. Look up. That's where you'll find the courage to fight. I also want to talk about courage in the midst of despair. An event last week has shaken me personally. My three-year-old jumped into a pool without a flotation device. Somehow, by God's grace, she climbed her way back. That's what she says she did. I don't know. She started crying when she got up. That's when we realized what happened. And so we've been kind of freaked out, scared of what could have been. And as I've meditated upon it, as I've tried to pray through this fear, it's made me quite scared of something else. Would I have had the courage to trust God if she had not climbed up? As I think about what is my breaking point where I'll stop trusting God? What kind of thing has to happen to me, or what kind of thing would God take away from me to make me look at God and say, I can't trust you now? I realized how frail my faith is in that moment. I realized that I'm afraid of how weak my faith is at times. But I can say now on this side of it with great confidence, I look at God's word, I look at his truth, I look at what he's done for me in Jesus Christ, he is able to care for us no matter what happens. I hope I believe that no matter what happens. I need his grace to always trust him. Those in despair. Those who are wrestling through various trials and difficulties. Trust Him. Our second point, be strong and courageous because God gives. Because God gives. I hope you heard it as we read through the passage. I'm giving to them this land. I've given it to you because I've promised you. The land that I swore to your fathers, I'm giving to you. So we need to go back because God's saying, I swore something, I'm giving it. If you go back to Genesis 15, God tells Abraham way back there, 430 years prior to this, I'm going to put your people in a promised land. But first they've gotta go to a foreign country. And we've seen how God has worked this out. And God actually says, I'm going to wait four and 30 years because I want the people who are inhabiting that land to have time to repent. A lot of people have trouble with the fact that God committed Israel to go into this land and kill all the inhabitants, because it sounds harsh. But when we actually study and know who these people were, we see they were wicked. They practiced human sacrifice. They practiced infant sacrifice. That's just a couple of the ways that they were just very wicked people. And what we see from God is he gave them 430 years to repent. After they didn't repent of their wickedness for 430 years, he then sends his people in to execute justice. So back in Genesis 15, he promises the land. In Egypt, the people, Israel, they become enslaved. God says, I'm going to deliver you so that you can worship me in the promised land. Then on the way out, they get to the promised land, and when they get there, they grumble. There's giants. Okay, we gotta capture this for a moment. Egypt was the greatest, most powerful nation at the time. God completely obliterated them. He crushed them. Israel saw it. And then they get to the promised land, and they see a few giants. Oh, it'd be better for us if we were back in Egypt, they said. God, you can't take care of us. God, you're not a good king. Why did you take us away from Pharaoh? He fed us, he protected us. It was so much better back there. So God put an end to that generation. And now we have the second generation coming in to get the land that he's promised. God says, I'm God. I'm giving the land, I've promised it, I keep my promises. Another reason that he wants to, he's calling Israel to defeat the Canaanites, to remove them from the land, is that he knows that his Israelites, they're so prone to idolatry, they're gonna enter Mary, they're gonna worship other gods, and because they didn't obey God, this is exactly what they did. He's trying to protect them. What we see from God is he's a promise keeper. We just studied Romans. God is righteous. Everything he has said he will do he is done. He promised land. He's given the land. He's righteous now Here after Christ in the New Testament, we've got to think. All right. What do we do with all this land talk? What do we do with this? Well, we could go to Acts 1 8 Jesus tells his disciples be witnesses in Jerusalem Samaria and to the ends of the earth As we read from Matthew 28, He tells His disciples to make disciples of all nations. We see that God is no longer so preoccupied with a people, a specific people being in a specific land. After Christ, and after He's ascended, after the Holy Spirit comes, God wants a people everywhere. It's not a specific people in a specific land, it's wanting all kinds of people all over the place. He wants the gospel to penetrate through every boundary, every national line, into every kind of people group, so that all different kinds of people come to know Christ as the Lord and Savior. Christ isn't just going to be king over a little plot of land. He's not just Lord over a small piece of land. He's heir of the earth, of all that's created. So we look and we see we've got a mission. Joshua isn't that far from us, even though it's quite different. We have instructions. We have a mission. We're called to trust God who's with us. Now the mission is different. Israel was commanded to go in with sword, bow, shield, and fight. Their weapons were those that would put to death. What do you think our weapon is, church? It's words. We are sent on a mission, and our weapon are words. You see, the words that we share that Jesus Christ died on the cross for sinners, and if you believe in him, you'll be forgiven of your sin, and he's risen again, if you believe in him, You'll receive new life. That's the most powerful weapon this world has ever known. Because it doesn't just put to death, it brings back to life. You see, when you share the words of the gospel, those powerful words, it puts to death a sinner and brings them back to life in Christ. It actually takes away the sin and removes it, so that old person, he's dead, and now that person who believes, he's a new creation. It's amazing about the weapons of the words of the gospel. It's the power of God to save sinners. It's the power of God to give new life. If you are not a Christian right here, this is what you have to hear. It's what you need to know. We're all sinners, everybody in this room. We've all rejected God, we've all refused him. None of us have obeyed him the way he deserves to be obeyed and worshiped. And because God loves us and desires to be with him, we couldn't fix ourselves, so he sent his son to die in our place. You see, our sin deserves judgment, and God is righteous and just. He will judge sin. He'll either judge us for our sin, or we look to Christ, and he is judged in our place. It's a beautiful declaration. It's a substitute. God puts our sin on him, he dies in our place, that's why we can be forgiven, and then he rises again and we have new life in Christ. These are the words you must believe to be alive. Our mission is different, but our mission is also similar, church. The only hope we have, as Andrew and Pat prayed, is God's with us. That's the hope we have in fulfilling the mission. Our words will be fruitful as God is with them. Our mission will be successful only in as much as God is with us and as much as we are following him. We must depend upon him. So he gives. Now, I want to take a moment here because that's a grand declaration of, this is the big mission of the church. We all get to hear from the general. He's told us what we're supposed to be doing. Everybody's supposed to be going everywhere to declare the gospel. But that can be a little daunting. It can be a little overwhelming. So let's just focus in a little bit, a little more precisely. Think about one person you should be sharing the gospel with. Don't think about the call to share the gospel with everybody everywhere. Think about one person. Pray for that person. Commit to sharing the gospel with that person. That makes that task more focused for you personally. And I also wanna bring it back down from just sharing the gospel. Our mission is actually just to make much of Christ in every way and every possible situation. This means in the midst of discouragement, we persevere. In the midst of trial, we persevere. He's given you Christ. He's going to give you everything you need. Our mission is to always think much of Christ and make much of Christ. Our mission is to declare Him worthy by our actions, by our words. He is strong and courageous. He's given us His Son. Think about that. Remember from Romans. What is He going to withhold from you that's good if He's given you His Son? God has given us great things. A third point, be strong and courageous because God has spoken. Be strong and courageous because God has spoken. If you look at verses one to nine, there's two halves, there's two parts. One to six, it really focuses on the giving. I've given you the land that I promised. I'm giving you the land that I promised. I'm giving you the land that I promised. One through six is focused on that. Seven through nine really focuses on the spoken declaration, the commandments, the law. Hear this. 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 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. Notice how the transition between six and seven from giving to the word, that command, be strong and courageous, it's repeated, it's even emphasized. This is like every good military campaign. A good military campaign has to have directives and instructions. The troops need to know where they're going, what they're doing, and how they're supposed to do it. There has to be proper expectation. So God has spoken so that they will be successful if they follow his word. Now, what's also interesting here is God makes it very clear you don't need a new word right now. You need to trust what I've always said, the law of Moses. They don't have unique special instructions for this particular task. It's go back and listen. Go back and meditate upon what I've already said. What I've said to Moses is sufficient. We oftentimes have a hard time trusting that God's word is truly sufficient. Some are prone to superstition. Some are prone to reason. Some are prone to religion. I believe these are three basic pitfalls as I've wrestled with different folks who don't believe God's word is sufficient. The first is superstition. They always want something a little extra, whatever it may be. A specific kind of way of praying that isn't in Scripture, a particular way of acting that's not in Scripture. There's some kind of experience or emotion that sounds very spiritual but isn't clearly in Scripture. Some people are prone to superstition. Some people are prone to reason. They have to make all these logical connections. They have to make sure they make all the logical implications. And sometimes they take the logic so far that it goes beyond what God's word is actually said. So some want more emotion and experience. Some want more reason. Some just want more rules. God's rules aren't clear enough. We need more rules to make sure all these other people stay in line. These are all ways in which we challenge the sufficiency of God's Word. We are all susceptible to at least one of these. Everybody in this room has a tendency towards one of these, maybe more. And so as we look at, don't turn to the right hand or the left, these are ways we tend to say God's Word isn't sufficient. We need to be bringing it back. God's Word is sufficient. It doesn't need attitude. It doesn't need subtracted from. It doesn't need our help. It's so good. All that God has said is profitable. If we would just have the courage to say what God has said is wise and what I think is foolish. We just have the courage to say, I need this Word. I need to meditate upon it because when I try to do it my way, I mess things up. I need this Word. We as a church need this Word to all sit under it together in a way that it forms our common orders in how we conduct ourselves. Joshua was given clear instructions. Be very strong and courageous. Do according to the word. Friends, we have a clear word from God. Be strong and courageous to trust it. Fourth and final. Be strong and courageous because God is with you. This is also throughout the whole passage. You see it in verse five, verse nine, verse 17. Joshua's charged, I will be with you. And something he keeps saying is I'll be with you as I was with Moses. It's important to go back and look at that so we can go back to Exodus chapter three. This is when God called Moses to be the deliverer of Egypt. And God tells Moses what to do and how he's gonna lead Israel out. And Moses looks up to God in verse 11. And Moses says to God, Who am I? He's given all these grand instructions to beat the greatest nation in all the earth, and Moses rightly responds, who am I? It's not clear that Moses is looking for a compliment for God to say, well, Moses, I chose you because you have A, B, and C characteristics. Or maybe Moses is trying to get out of it. I can't do this, who am I? What's beautiful is God doesn't answer that question directly. When Moses responds, who am I? God simply responds, I am with you. Whatever you do in obedience to me, I am with you and I will make you successful. You can't do it on your own strength. God didn't expect Moses to do it on his own strength. God expected him to trust him, to have the courage to say, I need you, and God would be with him. So if we look to Joshua and we think about this charge he has, he has every reason to doubt himself because Moses failed. Joshua, his assistant, has to be fairly scared that he himself will fail. Not only that, but think about Joshua here. He's been with Moses. He's been trying to help him lead Israel, and he's seen Israel grumble at the Red Sea. He's seen Israel grumble in the wilderness. He's seen Israel grumble on the outside of the Promised Land. He knows what kind of people these are. You know, it's one thing to say, I'm going to go individually and charge into the night, and I'm gonna be courageous. It's something very different when you're gonna have to do it with other people and depend upon them. So here's Joshua. He's gonna have to go up against odds that are against him. God says, be of good courage, I'm with you. Here's Joshua, he looks at a people who are constantly grumbling and complaining and completely out of order, and God says, don't worry, I'm with you. Be strong and courageous. Just do everything I've told you to do. I am with you. Friends, as we think about that great commission and how daunting it is, that the end is so encouraging, I'm with you always. I'm with you, God says. Christ says to us, I'm with you. You have a mission. Is it daunting? Yes. Are you inadequate? Yes. But God is with you. Trust his word. Trust his power. Have the courage to say, I can't do it, but if I obey, God is with me. We have new elders. Elders, God did not need you, God is not impressed with you. It goes for all the elders. But if we obey his word, he's with us. Something that was important for Israel is that Joshua the leader must trust God's word and lead the people according to it. In Israel, the people must trust God's word and want to be led according to it. That's not any different for us. So elders, we have to make sure that however we're leading, we're seeking to bring the people to trust God's word. We must trust it. We must exhibit a trust in it. We must lead according to it. Church, I pray that we will always point you to God's word, and nothing more, nothing less. When we think about God with us, Jesus was with us in the most real way. This is God who took on flesh. He walked with us. He died on the cross for our sins. He rose again. He is God with us in the most real way. But, interestingly, and I want to draw attention to a very specific declaration Jesus makes in the Gospel of John. Jesus says, it's better for you if I go away. Because then the Holy Spirit will come. And that's God with us in the most personal way. The Holy Spirit indwells us. and changes us. He takes everything the Son has accomplished for us on the cross, and He makes it real. He changes our hearts. He gives us new life. He convicts us. He encourages us. He challenges us. The God of love is with us. Who can stand against us? Before we close, I want to walk through a handful of ways in which we should think about how to be strong and courageous as Christians. We need to be strong and courageous when we are with our friends. This is especially important for the young folks. You need to know how to be strong and courageous when you are with your friends. You need to already have in your mind what are your clear commitments and principles because one of the things that's going to happen to you is you're going to be tempted to do something you shouldn't do when you're with your friends. People do things they would not normally do when they're with other people. You're probably going to have to say no as an individual to all your friends at some point. That's a moment of being strong and courageous. You're choosing to be principled rather than popular. Be prepared. Know what your principles are, know what the truth is, be strong and courageous and look to God for the grace to stand strong in Christ. As we think about that, you need to be courageous in how you choose friends. Who are you investing your life in and who are you letting invest in you? That's forming you and shaping you. Be strong and courageous and choose to be around the right friends who build you up. who desire to see you grow in Christ, who desire to see you successful, who don't try to tempt you to do stupid things. If you're constantly feeling like you have to make awkward decisions with friends, you need new friends. Adults, let me tell you something as well, you need friends. It's a weird thing that happens when you get older. You stop having friends. You need friends. You need friends who are gonna come alongside you and love you and tell you the hard truth and tell you the encouraging truth. When someone is rude to you, don't fall into that temptation to respond with rudeness. Have the courage to keep your mouth shut. Have the courage to pray. When you're by yourself, when you're looking at your computer, have the courage to say no. Have the courage to resist the corruption. Have the courage to say, God, I need help. I'm in the midst of temptation. I need help. Whenever you're wrestling with the despair and the struggles of life, look to God and say, I need help. That's courageous. God is with you. God will strengthen you. If you trust God's Word, meditate upon it. He is giving you instruction. He's going to be with you and make you successful as you seek to obey it. Resist sin. Do not look for the strength inside. Look for the strength that comes from above, the giver of every good and perfect gift. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you have spoken, that you've given your word, that we can see how you've kept your word. We can see how clear it is and that it's sufficient and that we can trust you. You've not just given us a call to trust you and obey on our own strength, but you give us the grace to be courageous. I pray that we would do this to honor you, to glorify you, to make much of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.