Okay, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, you need to understand the Brazilian problem.
Evelyn and Lorraine, please stand up now. Go on, please, please, please. Okay, now listen: they need ten hugs right now. So everybody in front of them and behind them, come on, give a hug. Right now. Hugs.
There we go. That is about four. In the back row there, please. Let us go behind. She is counting, you see? This is very important.
That is it. All right. No, that doubles, Ranna; that did not count. Okay. It was good. Okay, there we go.
Now, we know the Canadians—are you hugging each other? You see, they are desperate. Ladies and gentlemen, Brazilians need at least ten hugs a day. Now look, you guys are supposed to love one another. Aren’t you used to these things yet?
I see some of you Canadians every morning rubbing noses. I realize this is your tradition.
Brazilians need hugs. Hugs. I need hugs, but it is more because I am a bear than anything else. That is who I am.
I heard the basic idea that the first discussion question this morning, nobody could answer. I am very glad that I can provoke such good open discussion. Huh? “What is the guy talking about? Was he there last night?”
Because that question in Ephesians is: What is the transition necessitating spiritual warfare in the church? I thought I talked about that last night when I said the church is going from being an earthly church to a church coming into fullness and being spiritual. That is the transition.
One person got that. You know who is the Brazilian? Is that what you are pointing to, Trevor? Yeah? Is it that? Hug a Brazilian. Okay.
And, of course, as a matter of transition, my only point is this: actually, in this day, the Lord is trying to raise up a body of people, and not just an individual.
Actually, the book of Joshua is an excellent picture of that, because the transition point that we will look at and read about tonight—the transition point in the transition man—is the Jordan River. It is the impossible crossing.
The whole point is this: it is not just that Joshua had to cross that thing. Two million people had to cross that thing. That is impossible.
And that is the problem with the church today. The church is basically in the wilderness because it cannot make that crossover. The only way you can cross over to the other side is in spiritual unity. You have got to be one by the time you get on the other side of the river.
Most churches today, everybody does what is right in their own eyes. That is wilderness living, ladies and gentlemen. So how they get through that river is the issue of the church in this present age.
Obviously, it is by following that ark, which is a picture of the enthroned presence of the Lord. It is not enough just to say, “Oh, this is a wonderful meeting. We feel the presence of the Lord.”
Well, that is the presence of the Holy Spirit that comes down if we are worshipping Him and if our lives are right. But the enthroned presence of the Lord is when the Lord is actually the functional, practical Head of the body of Christ.
It is the only way that the church can be involved in and enjoy the promised land. But I am not talking about that tonight, okay? Just to let you know.
You see, there really is a warfare going on, ladies and gentlemen. Most of what is called the church today—and please let me say this—there are many, many wonderful Christians all across the United States and Canada today. Thank God.
They are born again. They love the Lord, are filled with the Spirit, read the Word, witness, and do all kinds of good things. The Lord takes note of it all.
But in the last day, the Lord is preparing a bride. He wants a bride, a single-unit bride, made up of all God’s children who have learned how to live under the real headship of the Lord.
That cannot be done as long as we are in all kinds of configurations where man is the leader. That is just one issue involved in the whole thing: how to get the Lord to really be the Head of the church.
We all talk about it, but His actual presence makes all the difference in an assembly’s life. I was just talking to a brother the other day, and he was saying to me, “You know, how can we change the church? Because whether the church is Chinese or American, it makes no difference. Most churches are humanly proactive.”
Men get together, make decisions, buy the thing, and by the moment it is done, the Lord did not make the decision. They make the decision and ask the Lord to bless it.
Now, that kind of church cannot exist in the promised land, because it will not be led by the Lord. I mean, if it gets over the river somehow, it will just be defeated on every hand, because His enemies are in that land. Who knows if we are unified or not?
But now I am getting into tomorrow night’s message. I do not want to do that. Okay.
There is a tremendous concept, ladies and gentlemen. It would be a reward of this week if you went away from here with a very real awareness of two things:
The spiritual conflicts being fought by the enemy are on much higher ground than keeping you looking at Playboy magazine. These are big issues. That is where the ground is being fought right now.
That is why I was encouraging you last night, and again I say: if we can, for just a few moments, forget about yourself and concentrate on Him, then we can begin to see what the Lord is after in these days.
Because the Lord is calling you to be a transition man in this day. Now let us turn to Joshua. Let us read this portion here at the Jordan River, because here we find the transition man at the place of transition.
The Jordan is very symbolic—something that we are going to look at tonight. We will start in Joshua 3:7.
Joshua 3:7. Open your Bible, because we are going to do a whole chapter—chapter 3 to chapter 4, I think. Yeah.
And Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
Joshua has been prepared and commissioned, and now the Lord is going to raise him up.
And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan.
Stand.
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God.
And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into the Jordan.
Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.
And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.
And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, with the priests that bare the ark of the covenant before the people,
and when they that bare the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brink of the water—for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest—
that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.
Now that takes faith—especially since the Jordan overflows all its banks during the days of harvest, which just happened to be the overflowing season.
And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were passed clean over the Jordan.
And it came to pass, when all the nation were clean passed over the Jordan, that Jehovah spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place, where ye shall lodge this night.
Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;
that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
then ye shall say unto them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
Then, verse 9:
And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests that bare the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there unto this day.
Lord, we thank You that even today the stones are standing, even though we cannot see them. We pray tonight that the Word of God would be living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword.
Lord, we do not depend on man. I do not depend on myself. I pray that You give us the Holy Spirit in abundant presence here tonight, to quicken the tired bodies of all who are assembled here, to give us clear thinking, and most of all, to speak to the hearts of those who have an ear to hear what You are trying to speak to us in these days.
Thank You, Lord, for being with us so far. We ask for Your help tonight. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.
Boy, how the church needs a transition man in this day. There is a great transition going on, a great Jordan to be crossed, an impossible dream to be dreamed, and somebody to bridge this gap from the old generation into the new generation.
There is somebody who has got to stand there and see this miracle happen. They have got to bring the children from there to there. There is a necessity for this transition person.
Down through history in the church, God has raised up men and women at crucial moments, and they became transition people.
You have all heard of the great transitional moments in church history, when Catholicism had pretty well veiled the church in darkness. We do not even know how many people were truly born again. It was so superstitious, so filled with relics, so filled with religion, and with so little spiritual life.
But then Martin Luther came along by a shaft of sovereign light and realized that a man is saved by grace. Then God raised up John Calvin, and he saw the sovereignty of God in choosing and in saving us.
Then John Wesley came along and showed us the burning fire of sanctification that could come into our lives. Then George Fox came along and showed us the way of following the leadership of the Holy Spirit within our lives.
Then Darby came along and showed us how to gather simply. Then F. B. Meyer came along—and then, from G. Campbell Morgan, came T. Austin-Sparks; from Austin-Sparks came Watchman Nee; from Watchman Nee came Stephen Kaung; and from Stephen Kaung, you.
Now, the real history is not the names of individuals. The real history is that God raised up a group of people.
It is interesting when you hear the story of the Brethren. Darby gets the credit for the beginning because he was very much a vessel of teaching and light. The fact of the matter is that, in the 1840s, God sovereignly raised up people who said, “You know what? The way we are presently meeting and worshipping is not right.”
“We see the body of Christ. We see that we should break bread together. We see that we should simply gather around the Word, and we should then shuck all these accoutrements, vestments, and big fancy buildings and everything.”
Men were seeing that in Ireland and Scotland and all over the world at the same time, sovereignly by God. So it was not really one man at all. It was God raising a transition into the life of the church.
In this day, the Lord is raising a transition. I mentioned this Chinese transition just to pique the interest of a few of you who may be Chinese here tonight, but there are other transitions going on as well—major transitions.
I will give you one more example. There was a tremendous move in the late 1960s and 1970s: the charismatic movement, which was a real move of God. It was a transition stage in the church.
But because it went to seed so quickly—and by that I mean because it became institutionalized so quickly—there still needs to be a transition of the house of God into an understanding of the dynamics of the Holy Spirit.
That is an amazing transition. Who is going to stand in the gap, understanding because they have experienced for themselves a charismatic reality of the Holy Spirit, and standing with those who know the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in such a way that these can be brought together?
That is a tremendous transition. Do you not know the Holy Spirit is fighting for that to happen? Meanwhile, the church is saying—the deeper-life people say, “Nah, we do not want the charismatic bunch of charismaniacs.”
The charismatics are saying, “What is the matter with these inward people? They are never doing anything for God. They do not witness anymore.” Ha! Both of them have a point, because God is trying to get that thing together.
But oh, how He needs transition people—people who are not afraid of the Holy Spirit, people who know the leading of the indwelling Spirit. As our brother was sharing this morning, we need to know the wind of the Spirit and the still, small voice of the Spirit.
It is a tremendous church transition, and the church cannot come to full stature unless we have that combination right in the church: unapologetically filled with the Holy Spirit, unapologetically understanding the deeper life and the work of the Spirit in the inner man.
Now, there is a transition. And the Lord is trying to do that today.
When there is a transition person, they have got to be large. God has to deal with them in such a way that they can be large. They have to transcend culture, tradition, denomination, and the particular fad of the day.
Oh, ladies and gentlemen, listen: I want to exhort you, even those of you who lead worship in your own assemblies. Do not follow the fad of worship.
Listen to the songs—their substance and content. Those which exalt God and turn our eyes to the Lord, accept and use. There are beautiful songs coming out today, but there are a lot of trash songs: self-centered songs, songs about me, me, me, me.
It is all couched in nice Christian words, and some are just fluffy dreams. You know: “Oh God, let me be in Your arms so I can hear Your heartbeat,” all this kind of thing. When is that going to happen? That is never going to happen. It is nice fluff, right?
Well, I do not want to keep getting on this thing, but you see, even there, when you are a worship leader, let me tell you, you are a transition person. You have got to bring in both old and new.
There is some great new stuff, and there is some junk. Do not take the junk just because it says Vineyard on it, or Hosanna. See what I am saying? Thanks, discerning people.
We have to understand the times that we live in and transcend the fads, the local fads. There are some churches that are chasing the local fad.
I mean, right now, what is the big fad in the church in North America? The purpose-driven church. That is the big fad. You did not know that.
It is the latest guy who wrote the book that everybody says, “That is it. This is what we have got to do.” So they have got a purpose-driven church. It is wonderful—they have got purpose-driven—but, of course, they are not driven by the eternal purpose of God, because God drives that.
But man can drive a church. So that is the latest fad in driving churches. You are going to drive a successful church? Have a purpose-driven church. Of course, to do that, you have got to pay $8.95 for the book.
Well, God bless them. There are many wonderful churches around, as I said, but we have to be able to transcend all that faddism.
You know what will happen? A purpose-driven church will not be the fad ten years from now. It will be blowing on microphones and people falling over, silver fillings turning to gold, or there will be some other fancy, and churches will run after it. They will run after it.
The latest fad: everybody has got to howl like a wolf.
And ten years later, what do you have? A bunch of howling maniacs. They only meet during the new moon. It is crazy.
I have said enough. I do not want to get sued. Okay, now.
We have a picture here, a wonderful picture of Joshua, sovereignly chosen as a transition man. What a great guy. He stood in that gap and brought the children of Israel into the promised land. Even Moses could not do that.
As great as he was, he could not bring them in. It took Joshua. He was the man prepared as a transition man to bring the children into the land.
We spoke last night. I said he is not a Caleb, the one we all wish we could be—the super-Christian. Turns out super-Christians are like Martha Stewart: you know, there is some nasty stuff going on.
Again, I say this because I just want you not to believe me, but to open your eyes and see for yourself. Most churches want a Caleb for a pastor. Most churches will grow to maturity if they have some men like Joshua.
There is nothing wrong with Caleb. I do not want to leave that impression. There is nothing wrong with Caleb. As a matter of fact, he was the strategic advance man of every attack that was taken by Joshua and the armies of Israel.
When they headed out, Judah went first. First among Judah was Caleb. Yes, indeed, he is a great man of God.
But I am just saying, you see, Joshua did not have that anointing of faith, that gift of faith, that outward aura of confidence and faith that Caleb had. “Let us go get them, those giants. I want giant burgers. Those giants are going to be our food.”
Just like that good old mad-cow beef we had tonight. That was good, was it not? I do not know. I keep putting my hoof in my mouth. I do not know what is wrong. It is a meal. Hey, you know?
Caleb had that kind of confidence. Well, Joshua was not that way, but I said last night that he had the spirit of faith, which means his faith was inward. His faith was inward.
He had this faith by which the Lord would speak to him through an impression within, and then he would obey it. And you know something? Faith produces the blessing of God. Whether you take the stance outwardly or inwardly, it is the obedience of faith that bears the fruit.
Joshua was this kind of guy. Let me just show you another little insight into Joshua.
Let me put it in the form of a question: Caleb and Joshua—who needed the most encouragement?
Did Caleb need encouragement? He said, “Hey, Josh, I am ready to go. Can I go up there and take the giants?” Caleb, you had to basically lasso his feet and pull him down. He was ready to go any time.
Joshua had to be encouraged. Now let me show you, because here are some verses. Let us turn to Deuteronomy 1:38.
Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage thou him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
So Moses is talking to the people: “Oh, come on, encourage Josh, will you?” Yeah, it is tough to follow Moses. Oh, big shoes to fill—big sandals, big flip-flops.
Moses said, “You know, you have got to encourage this guy.” Look in Deuteronomy 3:28:
But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.
Then Deuteronomy 31:7:
And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage: for thou shalt go with this people into the land which Jehovah hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
And Jehovah, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Verse 23:
And He gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of good courage; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.
Then, at the beginning of Joshua, God says, “Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous.” You see? He just needed some encouragement. He would obey, but he needed encouragement.
I notice this in the body of Christ. The Lord really encourages some people. Somebody says, “Well, I do not know. I feel like I should serve God,” and they serve, and of course it is a blessing.
Then they say, “Well, you know, God spoke to me nine times: when I was taking a shower, when I lay down in bed, when I got up in the morning, when I flicked off the roaches, when I went to eat breakfast.” You know?
Then there are some other people God does not have to encourage much. He appreciates their faith. Joshua had to be encouraged because he was not a Caleb.
When he came to this river transition, we need to understand: it was not a novel idea of God, something He suddenly came up with. “Oh, we are at the river. We need somebody. Oh, let us tap Josh.”
No. The fact of the matter is, God never works impulsively nor suddenly. He was spending a long time preparing Joshua for this moment of transition.
God has this work going on in your life as a transition person. It is the inner working of the Holy Spirit.
In Ephesians 3:16, we see that wonderful little part of Paul’s prayer, where he simply says:
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to look at the preparation of Joshua, the man of transition, tonight. We are going to look at how God was preparing him. Most of that preparation was an inward preparation.
Most of the preparation in your life is an inward preparation. God does things outwardly, but the Holy Spirit is always strengthening the inner man, making you steadfast. Stand firm. Steadfast. Stand firm.
Ephesians 6 keeps repeating this phrase, but we need that strength in the inner man to stand firm.
One reason we can get a clue that Joshua was going to be tapped and not Caleb is this: Caleb’s name is mentioned a few times here and there as a man of faith. He shows up and does great things.
Joshua’s name, for the Bible student, pops up all over the place, like a sort of Where’s Waldo? thing. You are reading along about something about Moses, and suddenly Joshua is there. In everything, there was Joshua.
That should give a Bible student the indication that God is working on this guy, who up to this time is basically an unknown character. Moses was the main scene in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, but during that period of time, old Josh’s face is seen in the picture. Where’s Waldo? There he is.
That gives us a clue: God is working on this man. Even though we hear his name here and there without explanation, sooner or later, he is going to come to the fore.
Before we look at the preparation, his testimony, of course, was faith. He was faithful. But I want you to see two interesting things about his testimony.
Anybody know what it says about him in the Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews 11? What does it say about Joshua? Ah, do not turn there. My friend Kelvin here, he has already turned there, and somebody else over there has probably got one of those computer things.
What does it say about Joshua in Hebrews 11? “By faith.” Hey, do so-and-so, by faith, by faith. All right, let us look. Hebrews 11:30.
Here is a wonderful thing. This is what makes Joshua a transition man. I hope you see the secret here.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days.
It does not even mention Joshua’s name. That is him. You know why he is such a good transition man? Because he was hidden in the glory of God.
What is that a testimony to? The power of God to knock down the walls. It mentions the people’s feet walking around. Here are the people of God, and here is God knocking down the walls. Joshua’s name is not even mentioned, but he is the man who enabled it to happen.
Is that not a wonderful testimony? God’s glory. Let me put it this way: Joshua’s testimony was hidden in God’s glory.
I tell you what: up in heaven, when you are sitting at the big table—when they let you eat with Moses and Abraham and the big guys—you sit down there, and Josh is going to be right there, even though his name is not in the Hall of Fame.
As a matter of fact, look who is in there: Rahab, from the story. Right? Yeah, that crazy woman, she was in there. A woman who lied by faith—which I do not recommend you try—but she lied by faith, so she got into the record here.
There is the first interesting notice about his testimony. His testimony was so great that he was hidden—hidden in the mighty work of God.
The second thing is Joshua 24:31. At the end of the story, God wins.
And Israel served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Jehovah, that He had wrought for Israel.
Listen to this testimony, ladies and gentlemen. You want to hear of a great transition man? I hope you can be like this. You know what he did? He inspired a whole generation to be faithful.
His faithfulness was so glorifying to God, his inspiration was so wonderful, that a whole generation was faithful. Not only that, but he raised up elders who were also faithful because of his inspiring example.
Now, is that not tremendous? There could be no greater testimony for your life than that you inspired the lives of a generation or a group of people where you live.
Transition is Joshua. All right, anyway, okay. Let us take some small glimpses of the preparation in Joshua’s life. Can I tell you, ninety percent of the preparation we know nothing about?
But those little pop-up scenes where we find him in the Bible give us important clues as to how God prepared him for this time of transition.
The first one we find in Numbers 13:8 and 16.
Numbers 13 is listing the twelve spies that were sent into the promised land to check out the land. Josh was in the list, and so was Caleb. In verse 6, from the tribe of Judah, there is Caleb. In verse 8, from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.
But then we take this interesting footnote down in verse 16:
These are the names of the men that Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
This is one of the early records we have about Joshua. What is the first thing we discover? His name has been changed. Now, that means something. He has become a new creation. He is a new man. There is something different about him.
You do not change a guy’s name because you did not like Hoshea, or Moses could not pronounce it very well. There is a very important reason for it.
Hoshea in Hebrew, as you all know, means salvation. When they put palm fronds down in front of Jesus as He was going down to Jerusalem and said, “Hosanna, Hosanna,” that is Hoshea, Hoshea: “Salvation, salvation.”
“Salvation comes in the name of the Lord.” That is what they were saying. So Hoshea means salvation in Hebrew. It is a testimony of Joshua and his life that he was saved. Praise God, he was saved. It is wonderful to be Hoshea—to be saved.
But along the way, after coming out of Egypt and becoming a child of God by type, now he belongs to the Lord and has been redeemed by the Lord. Somewhere along the line, something happens in his life where Moses says, “I no longer call you salvation. I call you Jehoshua,” meaning, “The Lord is your salvation.”
That is the difference between Hoshea and Jehoshua. Jehoshua, through the complications of Hebrew, gets brought down to Yeshua, as we know Jesus today. Yet what it means is: “The Lord is salvation.”
Now, the significance of it is this: some people know that they are saved, but they do not really know the Saviour yet. You see what I am saying?
Putting that “Je” on the front of Hoshea’s name means he knows the God who saves. It is one thing to know you are saved; it is another thing to know the Saviour who saves.
Is that not a wonderful day? You remember that, maybe soon after you were saved, when you had your first touch of meeting your Saviour? He answered your prayer. He poured His love on you. He did something in some way, and you began to know your Saviour, not just your salvation.
That is very important in being a transition person. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no shortcut to this, but there is a clear way to it. Day by day, you abide in the Lord; He abides in you. You walk with Him, you talk with Him, and you get to know Him.
Ladies and gentlemen, to be a transition person in this day, you have got to know Jesus Christ, because the church has to look like Jesus Christ. You cannot be something that you do not know.
You have got to know the Jesus of your salvation, and not just your salvation. Thank God your sins are forgiven. Thank God you are going to heaven. Thank God you have eternal life.
But here is the thing: once it was the blessing; now it is the Lord. Right? Once it was salvation; now it is the Saviour.
Here is the deal: you do not merely have eternal life. You have eternal life with Jesus. You see?
That simple change of understanding—that fellowship with God Himself—changes your name from just somebody who is saved to somebody who knows the God of your salvation. So important.
Please, brothers and sisters, take that seriously. You were not saved just so God could have somebody to run around for Him down to Seven-Eleven for coffee.
You were saved so He could talk to you. He could fellowship with you. What He lost in the Garden of Eden when Adam sinned—He was not just looking for a gardener when He formed Adam.
No, He wanted somebody to talk with, to name the animals, and to talk about, “Why is the sky blue, Daddy?” and all that kind of stuff.
Now that you are saved, do not think He just wants you to live a holy life and basically get out of His hair. He wants to know you; He wants you to know Him.
It is a very important stage in preparation: getting to know the Lord, the Saviour, in a personal way. That is number one.
Number two: Numbers 11:28. Let us just read that for now, because we will get back to verse 27 later.
Then Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
That is all you need to see: the attendant of Moses from his youth.
Now, if you turn to Joshua 1, the NIV is actually more enlightening in this verse than the New American Standard. I do not understand why, but it is.
Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister.
You see, what Joshua learned to be was a servant’s servant. Moses was the servant of the Lord. Joshua was the servant of the servant of the Lord.
The word “servant” for Moses is the word meaning slave. The word “attendant,” which is what Joshua is called in Numbers 11, means that Joshua was not even a servant. He was an attendant of the servant.
He learned how to serve under a servant. Now, what made Joshua a transition man? He had the heart of a servant. He served the servant.
Can you imagine? Moses wrote the Ten Commandments on these two heavy stones. Josh had to carry them around. Yeah, Josh had big pockets. The conference Josh went to, his bag had to be this big. He had one on each side, just dragging along. Moses would whip out the old commandments, you know.
He was the servant of the servant. He carried his suitcase. He did things for him. He was there for him, whatever he needed. You could count on Joshua. He was there, and he was a faithful servant from his youth. He spent many days serving.
Ladies and gentlemen, this may be brand new to you, but I am going to lay it out because this is the truth: in the kingdom of God, in order to live effectively in the kingdom of God, you have to be the servant of the King, who, by the way, is a servant King.
You need to be the servant of a servant.
I do not know where this misunderstanding came into the church, but some people are saved and they are not servants of God. You cannot read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and not see that your life as a disciple in the kingdom is to be a servant.
We are servants of the King. In the kingdom, you only have two kinds of people: you have the King, and you have the kingdom. That is what makes up the kingdom.
There is one King—that is Jesus. The rest of us are the kingdom. That is the servants. Everybody is a servant. There are no mini-kings. You have got the kingdom. You are the kingdom. I am the kingdom.
We need to be servants of the Lord in order to be transition people.
The day came when Joshua made the transition through the Jordan, and he became a great man of God who was feared as much as Moses ever was. Let us look at that for a second, so you can see it.
In Joshua 3:7, we read:
And Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
Then Joshua 4:14:
On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
Now, this guy was a servant’s servant. Because he had the heart of a servant’s servant, he could be lifted up by God so that the people would respect him without it going to his head.
Look at this. This is the most amazing thing in the book of Joshua, which I pass over because I cannot explain it. I will leave it to Christian Chen.
In Joshua 10, we have the day of the great battle for Gibeon. Joshua and the troops are defeating the enemies who are attacking Gibeon, but he needs more time. So he cries out in verse 12, “Sun, stand thou still.” You remember that?
So the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,
Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies.
But verse 14, listen to this. This is what happens when you are a servant of the Lord and you are serving in the will and the anointing of God:
And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah hearkened unto the voice of a man: for Jehovah fought for Israel.
You hear that? Joshua needed more time to defeat the enemy. The Lord stopped the sun. The Lord said, “Oh, okay, well, let us see. How are we going to do this? Slow the earth down a little bit. Come on, angels, let us go.”
I do not know how He does it. I know Christian Chen has a simple explanation of it—twenty-six physical things that anybody can get. I have no idea. But I can say this: that is a person who has been lifted pretty high. He can speak, and God honors his word.
He stands and says, “Thus, the Lord has to do this,” and the Lord says, “Okay.” But it is because Joshua was absolutely in the will of God, doing exactly what God was telling him to do: defeat His enemies.
He knew he had that confidence—he could call on God. Now, that is a man of faith, huh?
Yet you know what? He was a servant’s servant, so it did not go to his head. That is why his testimony does not even include him in Hebrews 11:30. Forget about him; he is a servant. He was raised that way, trained that way, grew up that way. His character was formed that way.
Even like the greatest transition man, Jesus, He took the form of a servant. When you take the form of a servant and serve the Lord that way, it builds your character as the character of a servant.
Now forgive me if I am too proud as a servant; I do not want to be. I actually just feel like I am a human being, but sometimes people have all kinds of ideas.
I am sorry that servants of God so often are proud. They do not listen. They are not broken. They do not get help from other people. Many servants of God become falsely isolated and become proud.
This is not Joshua. Why? He was trained as a servant.
Ladies and gentlemen, be a servant of God. Serve the Lord. Serve the Lord in the church. Serve the Lord with all your heart.
They put you in Sunday school, and they give you their kids in second grade, and it includes your sister? Do not beat her up. Serve the Lord. Be faithful, whatever the Lord tells you to do.
You play guitar? Do it unto the Lord. Learn four chords instead of three. You know, serve the Lord with all your heart. Learn how to serve, because if you want to be a transition person, you cannot be a stuck-up person.
If you are a stuck-up person, the old generation will not follow you, and the new generation will not follow you. But if you are a servant of both, the transition is there.
A servant’s servant. He lived as a servant for years and years and years, just undercover. People said, “Oh, who is that guy?” “Ah, I do not know. He is Nun.” “His name is Josh.” “I do not know what his name is. Moses is confusing me.”
Other than Moses, probably nobody knew Joshua very well, except his family, of course. But the Lord knew him, because he was serving God in the kingdom.
You be a servant of Jesus in the kingdom. Do not think you are just saved to hang around for the rest of your life. You are meant to be a servant of God.
There is witnessing to do right where you are. That is part of your service. There is praying to do and battle to be won in the church, even where you are at. You are a servant, and a servant of God. May the Lord show you that. Do you know that is true in your life?
Okay, a third evidence where Joshua’s face shows up on the scene is in Exodus 24.
In Exodus 24:12-13, we find that Moses goes up the mountain where the glory of God is. There is the cloud and the glory and the fire and everything like that.
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.
And Moses rose up, and Joshua his minister: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Moses says, “Okay, I have got to go up to the mount.” Everybody says, “See you.” Joshua says, “See you, Moses.” “No, no, you are coming.” Joshua says, “Me? Me? Me? Up in the clouds? Where there is smoke?”
Everybody was afraid. Joshua was afraid, but he broke through the clouds. He walked up there with Moses.
This is what I mean about Joshua: he did not do that on his own. He was not one of these guys initiating anything. He only did it because Moses told him.
He goes up there through the clouds, and what does he see? He is just a servant of Moses, and what does he get to see because he just served? He gets to see a glimpse of the glory and holiness of God.
Oh man, does that make a difference in a person’s life. When you catch a glimpse of the holy glory of God, it changes your life, because you realize what a unique, tremendously powerful, awesome, and fearful God He is.
It was one of the great days in my life when I met the holy God. It was a while after I was saved, and I was just as careless as I could be. I met the holy God, and whoo, man, it puts the skids on a lot of your nonsense.
Because He says, “Be holy, like I am holy.” But it is a wonderful thing to see.
You know, it is the holiness of God that is the electromagnet that draws you to God. There is this thing the theologians call the mysterium tremendum, where, at the same time, you feel so drawn to Him, like a moth to a flame, and at the same time repelled by the fear of His awesome holiness.
That happens both at the same time. You are like, “Oh man, God, I want to come to You. I have got to come to You, but I am scared to death.” Then He turns on the electromagnet, and you are in His spell, so to speak.
Once you get magnetized by God, you are spoiled. You are spoiled. Listen, let me tell you: once you see the one and only holy God, there is nothing that compares to it on earth.
Josh got a glimpse there on the mount. Just being a servant of Moses, he saw something of God.
Listen, ladies and gentlemen: if you are going to be a transition person, I know that God is working so that you can see Him. You can really see something of His dimensions. I mean, I am talking about a mountaintop sight of a holy God. It will change your life. Praise God.
You want to live a holy life? It is not primarily a question of striving and putting away unholy things. It is, first of all, a seeing of the holy God.
Things start dropping off as you move into His presence, because you move toward His light, and the things that you are wearing, you no longer can wear. They have got to be stripped off before a holy God.
Josh saw that—a holy God. That is why Josh lived in a holy fear, and that is why he obeyed God when God spoke to him. It is all part of one piece.
Then we go to Exodus 33 and find old Josh popping up again.
We see the passing reference at verse 11. Here again, this is so typical of the transition man, because in verse 11 it is all about Moses. But then there is just a little, “Oh, and by the way, about Joshua.” That is how we get our insights about this guy.
And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp, but his minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tent.
It says, “Then Moses left,” and everybody says, “Yeah, I know,” and that is the end of that story. Let us go down to the next section. But there is this guy named Josh, and he stays in the tent.
Of course, you know where I am going with that, right? He learned how to live in the house of God.
My favorite part of the show: he learned how to live in the house of God. He lived in the incense of the house of God. Man, once you smell the incense of the house, a dry and arid experience will not do.
The fragrance of God in the house. You know what it is like to live in the house of God? Here he is: he learned how to live before the candlestick, or the lampstand. You know what that means? He learned the thrill of seeing something by revelation.
He had Bible studies over at the table of showbread, where the Lord fed us one with another. He went to the altar of incense. He lived there.
Even when Moses was not there, he came over there and said, “Oh, oh, Lord, Thou art high above all the earth.”
This is what is necessary for a transition man. That is what I was saying to you last night. Some of you have grown up in that place. You know that place.
There are so many Christians who live out in the outer court, preaching about the gospel and the brazen altar, and they have never known what it is like to live in the house—with revelation, fellowship, and worship.
Joshua knew those things.
Number five: he is filled with the Holy Spirit. A servant of God, a transition man, has to be full of the Holy Spirit.
Now, in Numbers 11:25, it talks about Moses. He comes and gathers seventy men and elders together and stations them around the tent.
And Jehovah came down in the cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.
The Spirit came down upon them. They knew what it meant for the Spirit to come upon them. Joshua turned out to be part of the group because, in verse 28, we find that Joshua speaks up when there are two men who were prophesying in the camp who were not there around the tent.
We will get to that in just a minute. Joshua had the Holy Spirit come upon him in power and in prophecy. He was a man who had been touched by the Holy Spirit—not only outwardly, but also inwardly.
Numbers 27:18:
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thy hand upon him.
Here we see that the Spirit is in Joshua in some real way. What a great picture for us of the transition man. He not only has the Holy Spirit upon him, but he has the indwelling Spirit in him, giving him wisdom and leading him.
This is so essential, ladies and gentlemen. I know much is said about the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit, but there is a real experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is necessary in our Christian lives, and especially if we are going to do spiritual battle, as we will come to. We have to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Not only with the wisdom within, but with the power without. We need to be clothed in the Spirit to do spiritual war. This is one of the parts of this transition man.
Number six: he is taught how to discern. He goes through a learning process where he learns how to discern what is going on.
We find a couple of moments where he does not discern properly, just to show that he is learning.
In Exodus 32, Moses and Joshua are up on the mountain before the Lord, and the children of Israel are down dancing around the golden calf at the bottom of the hill.
And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
Joshua was trying to be a faithful servant and trying to discern what he was hearing. “I think I hear war. They are getting ready for a war. They are yelling and shouting and singing.”
But he did not have it right. Moses said, “No, no, no. Listen again. They are in an orgy. They are not being faithful. They are not being fighters.”
Maybe Josh was a little bit idealistic. He did not know God’s people. Moses knew God’s people.
Then Numbers 11:28. We see another moment where he has to learn to discern things in the right way.
This is the story where the seventy received the Holy Spirit. Then there were two men, Eldad and Medad, who received the Holy Spirit, but they were not at the tent; they were out in the camp.
And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
And Moses said unto him, Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all Jehovah’s people were prophets, that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them!
In other words, Moses said, “Joshua, do not be so narrow. The Lord is doing a big work. You have got to see wider than you see.”
There is a discernment that is necessary. But he listened; he learned.
We look at the very end of Deuteronomy 34:9, and we see this Spirit that dwells in Joshua. Now that Spirit is named, and now that Spirit is expressed in a way that can be understood.
And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as Jehovah commanded Moses.
You see, he had the Spirit, and he learned wisdom as he walked with Moses and learned as his attendant.
Those are six of the training matters that made Joshua a transition man, and the seventh was the greatest.
In Numbers 14:30, we see that simple promise of God that, even though the children of Israel would die in the wilderness for their unbelief:
Surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
Here is the biggest lesson that Joshua learned as a servant of God in preparation for being a transition man. What was that lesson? Here it is:
He had to give up his whole life for the people of God.
He gave up forty years. Listen to the other side of His promise: “Joshua, you and Caleb are going into the promised land thirty-eight years from now, after all the old people are dead and the new people are ready.”
“You are going to have to waste a whole lifetime—virtually forty years of your life—just waiting. Waiting and helping and shepherding, and praying and helping and shepherding, and serving and helping and shepherding.”
For thirty-eight years, when Joshua and Caleb were ready then to go into the land, they were ready. They were faithful. They had the gifting. They believed the promise.
Joshua and Caleb could have gone into the land with their own families and cleared out a niche for themselves. No doubt about it. But they sacrificed their lives and they waited.
Oh, the long-suffering the servant has to learn—the patience. When you think there is not another ounce of patience, and the Lord says, “Be patient. Be patient.”
How many times Joshua must have gotten discouraged, seeing some more of his friends dying off in the wilderness and then realizing, “Oh, I have just lost my whole life.”
These were the days of his life. They were the strongest. This was his time from forty to eighty years old. This was the time for fulfilment in his life, and the whole thing was lived in the wilderness with one pair of sandals and eating manna every day, when he was ready for milk and honey forty years ago.
But he did it for the sake of the people of God. What a sacrifice.
Many times a transition person has a great moment in their life, like Joshua did when he crossed the Jordan with all those people. But through their lives, in that secret place, they are basically living under a sentence of death.
They are basically learning the cross and self-denial. And for the sake of others, he died.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, the great temptation of Christians is this: when you go to college, get a job, move somewhere, get a wife, and have a family, the great temptation is to follow self-fulfilment.
To be blessed in your life, to have a nice house, a two-car garage, two-and-a-half kids, the dog, and all this kind of stuff. It is all self-fulfilment.
You know what? The Lord is looking for some people willing to sacrifice that dream for the sake of the people of God—to sacrifice a little money, to sacrifice a little comfort, to sacrifice a little safety.
There is great reward in being a servant of God, but there is also great sacrifice. The great thing about a servant of God is that you see their sacrifice, and it is a pleasing aroma unto God. That is why Paul was such a servant of God.
Ladies and gentlemen, do not buy into the American dream.
There are too many Christians I know who are living the American dream right now—happy and self-fulfilled and rich, with their family and all that—and they are absolutely living in a barren land.
They go to a church which is not the church. They just go there on Sunday, and they are living a secular life virtually, although they still believe and love God. What a waste. What a waste.
God spent thirty-eight years developing Joshua. What a waste if he decided to live in Midian, cash it in, and say, “Forget it. I am taking my wife and my kids. We are going to live on the east side of the Jordan River with the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
“I am sick and tired of these kids. I do not need them.” And he did not. He gave it all up. Gave up the car, the house, and the suburbs.
He lived in the wilderness because that is where the kids were, learning their lesson. He had learned it already. They had not learned it.
He walked around and around and around for thirty-eight years and learned how to die to himself. “I live for God.”
So I present to you that those seven things are at least a partial vision of the preparation that you will find in your life if you are a servant of God.
I know the Lord will have you chomping at the bit sometimes when you want to do stuff, and the Lord just reins you in and says, “No, no, no, no, no. Wait for the children. Wait for the rest.”
“Let me gallop. Let me gallop. I was born to gallop.” He reins you in. “Come on, Tony.” “Back, back, back.”
You are meant to run. It hurts. But oh, what suffering those who are ready have to go through for the sake of those who are not. Are you willing to sacrifice for that?
Oh, may the Lord make you good servants.
Well, now we come to this Jordan River, this great transition crisis. Let me just say a word about crisis.
The truth of Scripture shows us two great progressions in our spiritual life: there is a process, and there is crisis.
Jin this morning gave us such a wonderful and encouraging word on the process. The process is this: if you say, “God, I will give You ten percent,” He takes it. Then He takes your life bit by bit by bit.
There is a daily process of God working in your life that is very real and very necessary. Our life is a process of sanctification and a process of spiritual development and understanding.
But the Christian life is also built upon moments of crisis—moments like this Jordan River, where everything comes together in some great convergence, where something has to be done that is impossible for man and only possible with God.
That is what is typified here at the Jordan. There is no way they are going to cross the Jordan in flood tide. They could not take boats across, they could not swim across, and they could not wade across. It was much too swift, and God says, “Go across.”
God says to you, “Go into the promised land. Possess Christ. Get to know Him, and live in the way God wants us to live as the church. Cross that river.”
Joshua comes to this moment, and it is impossible with man—only possible with God. How are we going to possibly cross this thing? We come to this crisis.
In the Bible, we have these two water crises: the Red Sea, which was the crisis that Paul says was a picture of our salvation. When we left the world and, by walking through the Red Sea, came out on the other side as the children of God, we were no longer slaves.
But here we come to the Jordan River, which is another water crisis and just as impossible to cross. What is that crisis? If the Red Sea is the crisis of salvation, what is the crisis?