Joshua – Lesson 9

Steps to Spiritual Maturity

In the first chapter of the Book of Joshua we have several steps to maturity in spiritual things.

· Joshua 1:2, "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them-to the Israelites.

Please follow closely. Moses is dead. The “old method” followed under Moses was no longer in effect. It was to be abandoned, in one sense. This was the method of the Law. Actually they were still under the Law, but their experience in leaving the desert and going into Canaan provides a remarkable illustration of the transition from law to grace. This is the underlying sense of the 2nd verse above.

Now couple that with Paul’s words.

· 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

So Joshua represents the “new”.

In the second place we need to recognize that what we do for the Lord must be done on the basis of faith. We must take God at His word.

· Joshua 1:3, I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.

God had provided all of Canaan for Israel. It was up to Israel to believe God and act upon their belief (their faith). In like manner, God has provided a complete life for the Christian. It is not only salvation from being condemned, but also a life of victory over the sins in their daily lives.

But as you will see, Canaan had to be taken a step at a time. Likewise, we must progress with God a step at a time through faith. The principle is, “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses”. We cannot sit still and expect God to do miracles. We must walk on with God one step at a time.

The third fact that is basic and essential to this whole Christian life is that nothing can stop or withstand faith when it is in action!!! 

· Joshua 1:5, No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

According to these promises nothing can stop God’s working when faith is operating in His people.

The New Testament counterpart of this is:

· Philippians 4:12-13, I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

· James 4:7, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Jesus has already won the victories for us and He now lives to produce this victorious living in us.

The child of God should be bold, because Jesus lives within him.

· Joshua 1:6-9,"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

We cannot give in to what seems to be failure. And even if we fail we cannot give up. We should not return to the methods of the flesh in order to try to make a success of the Christian life. It can’t be done.

In the fifth place we need to know the secret of continuous victory. This is made clear in:

· Joshua 1:8, Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

This Old Testament verse is powerful and we must grasp its importance in terms of our personal spiritual growth. Do you hear what God is saying? To have continuous victory we must have daily devotional time with God.

While Israel was in the desert they had manna provided to them daily. Then when they came into Canaan they had to live on the “corn” of the land. Both the manna and the corn are types of spiritual food, the one, the milk of the Word and the other, the meat of the Word.

· Joshua 5:10-12, On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

Following right along with this idea is what we read in:

· Psalm 1:2-3, But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. The Psalmist is speaking of God’s Word. It is the Word that makes us strong.

In the sixth place we must know that we need the will and determination to know the things of God and to follow them. Satan will try to make us careless or indifferent in these matters. But we must respond as the people of Israel did when they were told what God’s program was going to be. Did you notice that word again: respond?

Later Joshua told the people to sanctify themselves because very soon God was going to do amazing things among them. When he said to sanctify themselves he is saying commit yourselves to hear and heed God’s plans and set yourselves apart to do the will of God. Still later he called the people together to hear the word of the Lord.

These were progressive steps designed to prepare the people for what God was going to do and for their role in those events This too is a picture of the Christian life. We are to be set apart in our commitment to God; to hear his word and to be prepared to follow His will for our lives.

God does not give us knowledge so that we will merely have knowledge. His purpose is that we might act on what we know and thus do what He wants done. He encourages Joshua to have courage, and the courage is to be accompanied by action.

It probably was not easy for the Israelites to accept the fact that Moses was dead. He had led the nation for some 40 years from the time of their deliverance form Egypt to being on the brink of the Promised Land. Two nations on the east side of the Jordan River had already been conquered, and now they were poised to cross the Jordan River and enter Canaan itself. The only leader they had known was Moses. And suddenly he was gone and his leadership was no longer there. But God had not died.