Taking Responsibility

Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
0 ratings
· 99 views

God wants us to take Responsibility. Today we will look at the life of Joshua and learn 3 ways to be like him.

Files
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →
Taking Responsibility You must take personal responsibility to have the great things of God happen. Joseph- Promise from God Hatred by brothers murder attempt sold into slavery bought by Potiphar Seduced by his wife Accused of rape Thrown into prison Starts at the bottom Gets promoted Interprets dreams. Forgotten in prison Called by Pharoah Was all this Joseph's fault. No. But he took responsibility. If it's going to be its up to me. Didn't let blaming others steal his ability to respond Did you hear that. Responsibility is the ability to respond. This is a human freedom that can never be taken from you. It's not about blame, that looks to the past It's about responsibility, that looks to the future. We must take responsibility because life is a fight not a lazy float down the river of blessing. 10The thief comes only to steal kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 This is a wonderful verse but too many times we have divorced it from the rest of the teaching of Christ such as taking up your cross and following him. We find life in the very things that seem to cause death. 12the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul likens his contest with the difficulties that oppose him in the discharge of his apostolic duties, as warfare) with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Eph 6:10-13 18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 1 Timothy 1:18 If it's going to be its up to me. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 3 If you don't want to fight you want to die: 1Pe 5:8* Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: In order to take responsibility, you have to have courage. The definition of courage is: The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, change or uncertainty with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery. Courage is not fearlessness. Fear is an emotion while courage is a choice (in the realm of action.) Courage has some education while fearlessness doesn't. You all realize that fear serves us and is OK to experience. Anybody hear afraid to jump off of a cliff. Afraid to drive with a drunk driver. Afraid to kill themselves. Being afraid is a perfectly appropriate emotion when confronted with fearful things. I am not talking about being overcome by the spirit of fear. Have you ever been around a baby that was fearless. It would touch fire, dive into a turbulent ocean In the classic American book Moby Dick, Chief Mate Starbuck said: "I will have no man in my boat, who is not afraid of a whale." By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward. An utterly fearless man is far more dangerous than a coward. The courageous man is not one who is never afraid but one who faces the fear and chooses to go on because there is something of transcendent value involved. Your vision ought to give you courage. One of the most courageous men in the Bible is Joshua. Let's turn to the first chapter of Joshua. 1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.4 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. 5 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. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 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[a] wherever you go. 8 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. 9 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."10 And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, Now in the life of Joshua he exhibited courage in three areas that we must imitate. 1) Courage in New Things 1* ¦ After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant: 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. Moses was dead-new level of responsibility Get ready to cross the Jordan River-new place I will give you every place where you set your foot-new experience Comfort zones, higher levels, traditional religious structures, 2) Courage in Past Failures 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. Remember this land was inhabited by giants and people who would fight to keep what was theirs. Numbers 13: 26 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan." 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are." 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." 1* ¦ And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. The past doesn't equal the future. You have to have the courage to move past the failures of yesterday. I think here is one of the places of greatest courage. The battle of Ai. 1 But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD's anger burned against Israel. 2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, "Go up and spy out the region." So the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, "Not all the people will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there." 4 So about three thousand men went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, 5 who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted and became like water. 6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face down to the ground before the ark of the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? 9 The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?" 10 The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you any more unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. 13 "Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, `Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it. (Joshua 7:1-13). Failing and getting up again demands more courage than never having failed at all. 3) Courage to Stand Alone Rejection Criticism Misunderstanding Joshua found the strength to stand because he had developed it as a young man. 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. No one will be able to stand up against you Not no one will stand up against you, but no one will successfully be able. Exodus 17:1* ¦ The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, travelling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2* So they quarrelled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" 3* But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" 4* Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." Can you move past rejection into redemption? Remember David's men wanted to stone him. Courage is a decision. Courage is Transcendent Vision. I find that one of the greatest types of courage is the ability to not be certain of the outcome and continue on. Courage to face the mundane, the ordinary, even the below average. Another type of courage is the courage to take responsibility. 14 "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents,[b] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.' 21 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.[c] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.' 23 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.' 26 But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'-Matthew 25:14-30 In America and all through human history the reneging of responsibility has always been rampant. By Adam for eating the forbidden fruit 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.Ó Genesis 3:12, KJV. -- Aaron for making the golden calf And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.Ó Exodus 32:24, KJV. -- King Saul for usurping the function of the priest 12Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. 1 Samuel 13:12, KJV. -- also for keeping the forbidden spoil 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 1 Samuel 15:21, KJV. The price of greatness is responsibility. - Winston Churchill You cannot fix what you won't acknowledge and work on.
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more