Success in Obeying God

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Success in Obeying God</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id150.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Lord Fights For His People"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id172.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pursuing Gods Challenges For Us"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Ministry Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Joshua 11.1-23, Berean Bible Church, February 4, 2001pm</B></div> <bR> <div>      Is real success getting what you want and dying old and rich, with memories of fabulous experiences along the way?  God’s idea of success is modeled in Joshua, who faithfully and consistently did the will of God.  God told Joshua in chapter 1 that Joshua would be “prosperous” and “successful” if he read and obeyed the Law of Moses (Josh1.6-9). Success for Joshua meant accomplishing the task that God called him to accomplish, in the power of God. Joshua 11.15 says, “As the LORD commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.” That is the essence of success for the Christian – faithfully carrying out what God calls us to do. It has nothing to do with money or materialism. It has everything to do with accomplishing the will of God in the power of God.</div> <div>      To review Joshua’s progress, Joshua followed the victory at Gibeon by conquering the southern part of the land in one campaign.  They had initially begun by controlling the central part, then the southern part, now all that remained was the northern part of the land. In chapter 11, the people of the north heard about this and joined forces, producing a huge fighting force (vss 1-5). The conclusion of chapter 11 is the end of the first major section of the book (ch. 1-12) on taking control of the land, which involved breaking the leadership and defenses.</div> <bR> <div>      <B>Through God’s power, we can be successful in obeying God’s will (vss. 9, 15, 20, 23)</B>. There are three key <I>factors</I> of successful obedience to God’s will.</div> <div> <B>I.  Be confident, not fearful</B> <B>(vss. 6-15, 21-23)</B>.</div> <div>      Sometimes the need to be obedient to God brings about fear. We may have a fear of spiritual enemies, that we won’t have the strength when we are in the middle of temptation; it may be fear of what others will say or do when we do what is right; or fear that the situation won’t work out, that we have to do it our own way, because we are afraid of giving control over to God. We must be confident that doing the right thing <I>is</I> the right thing, that doing things God’s way is the<I> best</I> way, even if it doesn’t look like the best way from our perspective. God commanded Israel to fight her battles with confidence that God was fighting for them. Even if they were tempted to fear because of their enemies, they were to be confident (Deut 20.1-4). Israel was facing a huge fighting force. Israel had cause to be fearful, but they trusted in God. In this instance, the superior enemy trusted in their horses and chariots (vs. 9) – Israel <I>trusted in God</I> and defeated the enemy in a decisive victory (vs. 12).</div> <div>      Later in the northern campaign, Joshua and the Israelites defeats the Anakites (vss. 21-22). Those were giants in the land. that. About forty-five years earlier, in Numbers 13, it was a fear of the Anakites that motivated Israel to stay in the wilderness rather than taking possession of the land as God had commanded. These giants caused that generation to wander in the wilderness until they all died. It was the next generation, under Joshua’s leadership, that obeyed God in faith, and even the giants didn’t stand in the way. Which generation will you identify with, the fearful and disobedient generation, or the confident, obedient generation? <I>With obedience, that which you fear can be conquered because God is fighting for you</I>.<I> </I>Don’t succumb to fear in the moment of decision when you are called to obey the will of God.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II.  Be influenced by godliness (vss. 11, 14, 20)</B>.</div> <div> Our obedience to God can be hindered by wrong influences: hence, this warning was given to Israel: If they didn’t remove the peoples of the land, they would eventually begin following the sinful practices of the peoples of the land, particularly worshiping their gods (Deut 20.16-18). This would lead to the consequences of sin. Israel would eventually be expelled from the land themselves if they chose to follow other gods (Lev 18.24-28). If you follow the <I>influences</I> of sin, you will eventually face the <I>judgments </I>of sin. As brutal as Joshua’s and Israel’s conquest of the land was, the conquest was God’s judgment upon the people’s of the land for their years and years of sin and rebellion (vs. 20).</div> <div>      God judges sin in any age, including our own.  Hell and eternal punishment are realities, but they can be avoided when you turn from your sin and trust in Jesus for salvation! If you have trusted Christ for salvation, don’t put yourself under the heavy influence of sinful thinking and behavior. We must be <I>in</I> the world (to influence it), but we may not be <I>of</I> it (to be influenced by it).</div> <bR> <div> <B>III.  Be persistent in obedience</B> <B>(vss. 16-20)</B>.</div> <div>      Israel’s taking of the land promised to them by God happened “little by little” (vs. 18; Exod 23.30; Deut 7.22).  It did not take place all at once, but one fierce battle at a time (and some battles were still to come . . . the land was not completely possessed at this time, only controlled; there would still be areas of resistence).  Until now, it took six or seven years to conquer the land. </div> <div>      In the same way, our spiritual growth and obedience to God demands persistence . . . it does not happen automatically or instantaneously . . .</div> <div> <U>2 Peter 1:5-8</U>   . . . make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;  [6] and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  [7] and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  [8] For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”</div> <div>      Growth demands persistence, staying faithful, and doing the things which bring about growth, such as dependence on God, prayer, time in the Scriptures, daily obedience, confession, and encouragement of others.  Growth is an ongoing process, not an event! It demands training, not merely trying harder. I could try hard to run a marathon, but I would not be able to do it until after I have worked hard at training myself physically and mentally. In the same, spiritual growth demands training, disciplined attention to the habits that help to bring about growth.</div> <bR> <div> <B>     </B>Through God’s power, we can be successful in obeying God’s will. We must be confident, not fearful; we must be influenced by godliness; and we must be persistent in obedience.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2001, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>