River Rivial
Notes
Transcript
Red Sea vs Jordan River
Red Sea vs Jordan River
This story should sound familiar, because this is not the first time that God has done this very thing.
Remember Exodus 14? Joshua’s mentor, Moses, leads the people of Israel across the parted Red Sea into the desert. In a showing of God’s power and provision, the beginning of Israel’s story of becoming a nation chosen by God starts with the parting of water and the people walking through on dry land.
Now, as Joshua and the nation of Israel are about to enter into the Promised Land God is going to do the same thing. God makes this statement to Joshua in 3:7 “The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.”
God is about to show the nation how he was with Joshua just like he had been with Moses. Up to this point the people had heard Moses’ declaration of Joshua as their leader, they had heard and seen Joshua step into the role, but this was the moment when they saw God’s proclamation of Joshua’s call.
But no mistake, friends, there is something very different about this water parting moment. You see, parting the Red Sea was about deliverance; parting the Jordan River was about inheriting the promise.
Deliverance
Deliverance
The dictionary defines deliverance was “rescue from danger or oppression.” It’s this idea that when you are about to break, you are taken out of the threatening situation.
Remember the parting of the Red Sea? Moses and the people found themselves in quite a pickle, the Red Sea to their front, and Pharoah and his army to their rear, and if God did not do something they would surely die. And God did… God delivered.
Has God delivered you? Have you found his peace and his rescue in the midst of your sin? I hope so. If you are like me, there was a moment in my own life when God parted my Red Sea, he rescued me from what sought to destroy me- my sin.
When God delivers us he provides freedom for us to escape sin and it’s penalty.
The story is told of a young girl who accepted Christ as her Savior and applied for membership in a local church. "Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your life?" inquired an old deacon.
"Yes, sir," she replied.
"Well, are you still a sinner?"
"To tell you the truth, I feel I’m a greater sinner than ever."
"Then what real change have you experienced?"
"I don’t quite know how to explain it," she said, "except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved, I’m a sinner running from sin!"
Inheritance
Inheritance
But Joshua’s water crossing is different. There is no enemy chasing him, there is no pursuit. There is no Pharoah and no chariots. There is no death looming over his shoulder.
Joshua is not running from anything. He is, instead, journeying toward something. He is journeying toward the Promised Land. For 40 years the people had wandered in the desert. Along the way they had waxed and waned in their journey with God; they had been discouraged and had moments of faith; they had traveled and traversed. And now, the people were about to receive the land.
All of the promises God had made to them were about to come fully true. I wonder what their emotions were.
We have an inheritance too, church. In fact, we had all kinds of inheritance in Christ. Paul declared for us in 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
But here’s the problem- sometimes there is a lot of desert between deliverance and inheritance.
In fact, many Christians will live their entire lives there. Sure, they have been delivered, they have been to the altar and asked for God’s forgiveness; they have asked Jesus to be their Savior; they are headed to Heaven. However, they have not walked into their Promised Land yet.
Some of us in this place are right there. God has delivered you from alcoholism, but you have not found complete freedom yet. God has delivered you from pornography, but you have not fully embraced sexual purity; God has delivered you from greed, but you have not fully trusted him with your finances.
You are in the desert between deliverance and inheritance.
But we are not a desert people. God’s will for us is more than just for us to wander, thirsty, tired, hot, and alone. God did not free you so that you could just stay in the desert. Notice there are 2 important things that had to happen in this passage before Joshua could make the charge into the promised land.
First, he had to keep traveling. And we should keep traveling too
First, he had to keep traveling. And we should keep traveling too
In verse 14 we read that the people headed towards the Jordan. I bet that journey, in and of itself took some faith for Joshua. I wonder if he thought to himself- what if this dosent work? What if I heard wrong? What if I end up looking like a fool in front of all these people?
But they had to travel on.
Maybe you have been there, maybe you are there right now. You know that God has promsied you healing, or God has promised you a hope and a future. You know that God has something more in store for you; but it is risky to move forward.
You know what I realzied a few years ago- it can be pretty easy to never move. To never grow, to never get past the thing that has plauged you for years.
In fact, some people convince thereselves it is much easier to die in the desert than to walk in the miracle of Jesus.
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The Presence of God went before them…
The Presence of God went before them…
Notice something important in Joshua’s story--- the Ark. The Ark of the Covenant was the place where the presence of God rested. Inside the Ark were the tablets of the law; a bowl of manna; and Aaron’s staff.
Before anyone else could cross, the presence of God went first.
God’s presence is what cause that river roll up on its heels.
When we follow the presence of God we will be lead to freedom, we will be delivered and lead into our inheritance.
You'll never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. Are you in the wilderness? Find refuge in God's Presence. - Max Lucado
Too many times in our lives we get ahead of God. We rush out into the water on our own and get swept away.
When we chase the Spirit of God we will eventually have to cross a river.
When we chase the Spirit of God we will eventually have to cross a river.
In the book The God Chasers, Tommy Tenney writes, "I don’t know about you, but I am tired of just being ‘another somebody’ to the lost around me. I have made a decision. I made up my mind and set my heart to declare, ‘I am going to pursue the presence of God in my life. I am going to get so close to God that when I walk into secular and public places, people will meet Him.’ They may not know that I’m there, but they will definitely know that He is there. I want to be so saturated with God’s presence that when I take a seat on a plane, then everyone near me will suddenly feel uncomfortable if they’re not right with God – even though I haven’t said a word."