Joshua - Lesson 14

Let’s talk about the power that Jesus has.

· He has power over sin.

· He has power over Satan.

· He has power over the world system.

· And He has power over death.

If Jesus has power over sin then that means that He has the power to restrict sin in our lives. And how does He do that? Well, He has sent into the lives of believers the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that works in us to mature us as believers.

He has power over Satan. We sin because we are in a fallen condition and because we are not strong enough to resist the power of Satan. No Christian can do battle with Satan and win in his own strength. It is only when we have a strong enough belief in the power of the Spirit that we are able to face and defeat the efforts of Satan to be disobedient to God.

He has power over the world system in which we live. One might say, well if that is so, why doesn’t God destroy the world system? Probably for the same reason that He tolerated Pharaoh as long as He did. But God is looking for a response, an obedient response, from those He has graciously saved. If you love someone and they claim to love you, don’t you expect them to respond to you as one who loves you? Surely you don’t expect them to ignore you and disobey you.

Of course the day is approaching when Jesus will demonstrate His power over the world system when He will rule the world and not tolerate the disobedience of His creation.

And He has power over death as He demonstrated with His resurrection. That resurrection power is there for us and we will be resurrected just like He was at some future day.

These are all enemies of the children of God and He has granted power to us over these enemies. All that we will ever need is ours in Jesus. The Bible is specific in this regard: He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Jesus. Notice that we are not promised all material blessings.

But we have one big problem at this point. In Joshua 1:3 we have the very important law or “principle of appropriation”.

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

Here God assured Joshua and the people of Israel that every place they walked on in Canaan had been given to them. The area consisted of the Sinai desert in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea on the west.

This was not a huge area; smaller than Europe or the United States, but was a strategic location between three great continents, Europe, Asia and Africa.

But did you notice the condition of this promise? They had to go and claim the land by setting their feet on it!!! They must, by faith, go after the land that God had promised Abraham. Legally it was already theirs, but they had to appropriate the promise. They must go and take it. They would possess this land to the extent of the degree of their faith.

I think it is interesting that Israel never appropriated all of the land promised to Abraham. It included all of Jordan, part of Syria, a small part of Saudi Arabia, the Sinai Peninsula and about half of Iraq.

This is so much like many Christians today. As a general rule we have all the earthly goods that we need or want because we have gone after them, but spiritual poverty in America is all too obvious. There has been no appropriation of what God has provided. Christian poverty occurs when the things that are ours in Jesus lie unclaimed. A person may have a substantial bank account in his name, but unless he writes checks against the account it does him no good.

God has given us a spiritual checkbook and the checks are already signed by Him. The checkbook covers all the riches that are ours in Jesus. But like the secular checkbook just mentioned, we do not claim those riches. And the obvious question is why? We intend to answer that question in the course of this study.

As we will see as we move further into the study of this book everything that Israel claimed was given to them supernaturally. They were delivered from Egypt because of supernatural power. They passed through the Red Sea and witnessed the destruction of the Egyptian army at a time when they were helpless to accomplish either of these. When they met Amalek and overcame that nation, it was again a case of God giving them the victory. Moses prayed on the mountain and Joshua led the army in the battle, but it was God who gave them the victory.

Then when the people came to the east side of the Jordan, they destroyed two of the enemy nations and laid claim to the conquered territory. But these victories were not the fruit of their own strength and wisdom. It was God who fought on their behalf. And it was the supernatural power of God that rolled back the Jordan River so that the children of Israel could cross it and it was supernatural power that broke down the walls of Jericho.

The point is that all that we have in Jesus is on the basis of the supernatural. Eternal life with power and authority over evil forces are all ours the minute we trust in Jesus. We possess them when by faith we claim them.

God did not present the land as a gift to an unwilling people. There was nothing there for those who were lazy or selfish. It is also true in the spiritual realm. God’s spiritual land is for those who through the energy of faith claim it.

The first generation that came out of Egypt came to Kadesh-barnea and, after hearing the report of the ten spies decided that they could not take the land. They refused to go in and claim it. As a result they did not get it. They went back to the desert and died.

According to:

· Hebrews 4:2, For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

They did not believe God and therefore did not enjoy His gift.

The land had become theirs legally the moment God uttered the promise. It was promised a long time before Israel left Egypt, but it would become theirs experientially only as they entered the land and claimed and possessed it. Only Joshua and Caleb of that first generation had faith to claim the land. They entered with the younger generation and possessed it many years later.

How few Christians claim all the provisions God has for them. We have come out of Egypt, so to speak, and have a ticket to heaven. But there are many spiritual blessings in Jesus which we often fail to claim. In spite of Calvary, in spite of the resurrection, in spite of the giving of the Holy Spirit, so many Christians are missing the great blessings of the faith.

The Inward Basis of Faith

· Joshua 1:1-18, After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 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. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates - all the Hittite country - to the Great Sea on the west. 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. 6 "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." 10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.'" 12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise." 16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"