Good afternoon, brothers and sisters.
I’d like for you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy 2, the verses that we’ve been focusing on for these days. We begin reading in verse 1.
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.
The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the fruits.
Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Now, this is part of Paul’s last message to Timothy personally. He wanted, of course, Timothy to share these things with the saints in Ephesus, where Timothy was. But in fact, what we have right here is the passing of the torch from Paul and his apostolic ministry to Timothy, to carry on.
Now, the Lord wants the testimony of Jesus to be held by the church, not just individuals. But, you know, there are those angels in the Lord’s hands, and it’s very important that there be in our groups those who can preach the prophetic word of testimony in order to keep the light lit and the focus properly—not on outward things, but on inward things, as our brother Stephen shared this morning.
I just want you to look at these verses and at the four different examples that Paul uses of what it means to strengthen yourself in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We looked at them the other day, but I have them up here in song, which we’re going to sing. I just want you to see these four analogies.
The first one is like a runner in a relay race: pass along the things you’ve learned by grace. So you’ve learned a lot of things. Some of you have kept notebooks for several years. But, you know, having a notebook on your shelf somewhere is not really what it’s about.
Have you passed along the things that you’ve received? Some of you have Christian friends who do not assemble with you, and well, that’s no problem there. But have you ever passed along some of the riches of Christ that you have heard about to some of your friends who maybe are just receiving milk for babes?
So pass along the things you’ve learned by grace. You’re a link between the saints behind you and in front of you. So don’t give up until you’ve run your course.
Paul says here in 2 Timothy, “I have run my course.” That is to say, my race is over. Timothy, be faithful.
And the second verse we have is, as you can see there in verses 3 and 4, talking about what it means to be a soldier. And, you know, to be a soldier, you have to strengthen yourself in obedience and in self-sacrifice.
Like a soldier fighting for his King, your allegiance comes before all things. Before anything else, your allegiance to Jesus the King is number one. Will you suffer for Him now, remembering His cross? Pleasing Him is worthy of the cost.
Back in those days, it wasn’t that you were drafted into the army. You signed up for the army, and you wanted to please your commander because it meant success and promotion for you and all that. But you’ve got to be willing to endure hardship as a soldier.
Then the third verse we’ll sing: like a wrestler training for the prize. Now, that word here that says in verse 5, “if anyone competes as an athlete,” most people believe in the Greek it is actually the word wrestler, because, you know, Greek wrestling is actually in the Olympics today. It is a very popular sport.
Like a wrestler training for the prize, discipline and holy rules apply. Character exemplifies the Spirit’s life within. Fight the fight to keep your heart for Him.
Our real warfare as a Christian is to keep our heart pure, and that takes self-discipline in your own life. It takes prayer, devotion, and fellowshipping with saints. There is a self-discipline there.
Actually, an athlete is not going to make it in the end unless he has that kind of self-discipline—where you study the Word, not because somebody tells you you have to, but because you see the value of it.
Those marathon guys do not just wake up on the Thursday before the Olympics and say, “Hmm, I think I better go for a run.” This is not going to work. A life of discipline is what is necessary.
And then the last example that Paul uses there in verse 6 is the hard-working farmer. So I just wrote this little chorus here: like a farmer tending to his field, diligence and perseverance yield fruit that honors Jesus Christ and also blesses you. Trust the Lord to increase what you do.
The farmer is in a tough position, because basically he takes all the money that he got from last year, buys seed, and plants it in the ground. Then he buys fertilizer and machines to cultivate. The whole thing is a gamble that he is going to have a harvest at the end.
You’ve got to have a real sense of stubborn faithfulness that the Lord is going to bless what I do, because sometimes when you are working, it does not seem like a lot of blessing. Sometimes when you witness to your friends, it does not seem like it is really doing much good.
If you persevere like a farmer, like a stubborn farmer, in the end you will reap a harvest.
Fight the good fight of faith,
Fight the good fight of faith,
Strengthened by His grace within you,
Fight the good fight of faith.
Like a runner in a relay race,
Pass along the things you’ve learned by grace.
You’re a link between the saints behind you and before;
Don’t give up until you’ve run your course.
Fight the good fight of faith,
Fight the good fight of faith,
Strengthened by His grace within you,
Fight the good fight of faith.
Like a soldier fighting for his King,
Your allegiance comes before all things.
Will you suffer for Him now, remembering His cross?
Pleasing Him is worthy of the cost.
Hold on. Now you see, you know how it goes. What I need is some sisters who are especially good singers. There is another little part that goes along with it.
All right, everybody is going like this: “Fight the good fight.” That is the simple part. But the girls are going, “Fight the good fight, fight the good fight.”
Somehow I hear myself, nobody else. This is sounding angelic now. Do you hear it? Even the ugly guys look handsome now. The effect you’ve had on the whole audience is immeasurable. It is unbelievable.
Okay, sisters, let’s do it. Let’s do your thing twice, and then everybody will come in. The beautiful sister angels, and then the rest of us sinners.
Fight the good fight of faith,
Fight the good fight of faith,
Strengthened by His grace within you,
Fight the good fight of faith.
Like a wrestler training for the prize,
Discipline and holy rules apply.
Character exemplifies the Spirit’s life within;
Fight the fight to keep your heart for Him.
Fight the good fight of faith,
Fight the good fight of faith,
Strengthened by His grace within you,
Fight the good fight of faith.
Like a farmer tending to his field,
Diligence and perseverance yield
Fruit that honors Jesus Christ and also blesses you.
Trust the Lord to increase what you do.
Fight the good fight of faith,
Fight the good fight of faith,
Strengthened by His grace within you,
Fight the good fight of faith.
Angels, angels, that was really good, I’ll tell you. Everybody needs to hug them when the meeting is over—except the guys on the end. You just stay away.
This is another song that I wrote because, you know, there is a correlation between what happened on Sinai when Moses received the law and what happened on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down. This is a song about that.
Because in order to be strengthened by His grace, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You really need to know the Holy Spirit in your life. As we will see even today in the receiving of the torch, this is so necessary.
Let the fire fall from heaven,
Let the fire fall on me;
Like it was on the holy mountain,
Let the fire fall on me.
Cleanse me from my sin and wandering,
Free me by Thy Spirit’s power;
Like it was on the holy mountain,
Let the fire fall on me.
All right, this is a prayer.
Let the fire fall from heaven,
Let the fire fall on me;
Like it was on the holy mountain,
Let the fire fall on me.
Cleanse me from my sin and wandering,
Free me by Thy Spirit’s power;
Like it was on the holy mountain,
Let the fire fall on me.
Let the Spirit fall from heaven,
Let the Spirit fall on me;
Like the Day of Pentecost,
Let the Spirit pour on me.
Fill me with Thy Holy Spirit,
Make a witness out of me;
Let the Spirit fall from heaven,
Let the Spirit pour on me.
Now, the reason I write crazy songs like this is I hope that when you go back to your bed in those wonderful towers over there, with that plywood bed, and you are lying there sleepless and aching, that a tune will haunt you: “Let the Spirit fall from heaven.” And you will turn it into a prayer.
That is the reason we are doing these crazy songs. But let’s try it one more time so it can be ingrained. Then, in your body, in the midst of misery at three o’clock in the morning, you can sing the song.
Let the fire fall from heaven,
Let the fire fall on me;
Like it was on the holy mountain,
Let the fire fall on me.
Cleanse me from my sin and wandering,
Free me by Thy Spirit’s power;
Like it was on the holy mountain,
Let the fire fall on me.
Let the Spirit fall from heaven,
Let the Spirit fall on me;
Like the Day of Pentecost,
Let the Spirit fall on me.
Fill me with the Holy Spirit,
Make a witness out of me;
Let the Spirit fall from heaven,
Let the Spirit pour on me.
Lord, we pray that Your Spirit indeed would fall upon us, because You even promise that when Your Spirit comes, it quickens us. Lord, we know we have tired bodies here and people ready to go to sleep.
We want Your help, that we might hear Your heart and receive the torch, and go forward faithfully. It is all by Your doing. It is all by Your strength. We thank You for Your precious Holy Spirit, our best Friend. We commit this time into Your hands, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
With this background, the song, and with the recognition that Timothy indeed was faithful and carried the torch in testimony, we know it is an awesome responsibility. Nobody feels capable or worthy of such a thing.
But the times—God’s sovereign times—make it essential that we be ready and willing. All we can ask of you, dear saints here today, is that you prepare your life to be ready to take that torch in the testimony while you are at school and when you meet together in the church, and to carry that testimony of the Lord Jesus in your life and reality: Jesus among us when we gather.
Yesterday we spoke about John and saw him as that old man passing the torch on to the next generation. Indeed, God gave him a way of doing it that was unique. Only John could do such a thing.
The torch he passed has remained through the generations because he actually passed on the Book of Revelation to you and me. The Book of Revelation is such a book that, if you read it under the leading of the Holy Spirit, you may indeed see a revelation of Jesus like John saw.
When that happens, you see the testimony of Jesus. You see Who He really is. I know that most of us know Jesus as Savior, maybe Jesus’ friend, but you know something? It is a wonderful day when one day you see Jesus of glory.
That is why John fell down like a dead man, because when you see Jesus of glory, He is very bright. He is very holy. He is filled with great power. It is overwhelming. But when you see Jesus of glory, then you realize Who Jesus is.
I mean, I know we love Jesus now, you know what I mean? We love Jesus because He saved us and He cares for us. Wait until you see Jesus the way He is now. Wow.
It is like a magnet gets turned on in your life, and you want to follow Him and learn more about Him. You just see a little nanosecond, maybe a flash of the vision, but it is enough to get you going.
Listen, you have a friend—maybe you have a boyfriend, girlfriend, or somebody else—and you think they are just really great. Wait until you see Jesus as He really is. There is no comparison. Really not. He is the greatest Person to ever walk the earth.
Wait until you see His love. Our brother Stephen talked this morning about His penetrating eyes. One of the things about penetrating eyes is they look right into your heart, right past all the outside stuff. He looks right into your heart.
When I was a Christian one year—just one year Christian—I had just been saved, twenty-one years old, and I went to a conference. There was a speaker there that I went to hear, and Billy Graham came to hear the speaker. He was a well-known guy.
Afterwards, the speaker came over and said, “Hey, come on over here.” It is a long story how he knew me, and he took me over to meet Billy Graham. That is really something.
So anyway, here I am, twenty-one years old: “Hi, uh, hi. Hi. Yeah, hi there, Billy.” I shook his hand, and that guy looked with his eyes—he had beautiful eyes in there, straight and clear and powerful—and he looked right into my heart.
He said, “Hello, Brother David. I hear that you’ve been saved recently,” and he encouraged me. I tell you, I will never forget that. Just a moment, but he had eyes of love.
Well, the more you see Jesus, the more you are going to see all these kinds of things. So be in preparation. Ask the Lord to show Himself to you. That way you will understand what this testimony is about.
We are bearing, as Christians, the most wonderful, beautiful thing on this earth. There is nothing that compares with holding the torch and telling everybody, “Let me tell you about this most beautiful Jesus.” It is a wonderful thing to do with your life.
Now, I wanted to look, just by way of illustration, at somebody else who received the torch. But this particular torch is back in the Old Testament, and the guy is Joshua.
Anyway, let us turn to Joshua 1. You all know this story. I just want to sort of point out some things about Joshua. He was ready to receive the torch from Moses, you see. That is why it makes an interesting little examination for us today.
Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,
“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.
From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.
No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.
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 success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess it.’”
Now, two things brought Joshua to this very point at the Jordan River. He stood right there by the Jordan River, and he was about to cross into his destiny. He was now to take the torch—the testimony of God in the ark of the covenant—and cross the Jordan River and go into the Promised Land.
This land had been promised for years. Joshua had been around Moses for a long time. But, you know, being around somebody does not make you feel like you are ready.
Can you imagine? I am not sure that the Lord had directly spoken to Joshua before this time, but here it says that God spoke directly to Joshua just like He had to Moses and said, “Joshua, Moses My servant is dead. Now it is your turn.”
Now, you can tell that Joshua was a little bit intimidated by this calling. I mean, how do you replace Moses? How does Timothy replace Paul? I mean, you know, come on. What, are you crazy? Joshua, how could you feel worthy of this?
But you notice the Lord kept telling him, “Now be strong. Be courageous. Now do not tremble. Do not be afraid. Look, wasn’t I with Moses?” Joshua said, “Yeah.” Then He said, “I am going to be with you the same way.”
Now, Joshua, it is time for you to be faithful. Young people, you are going to be surprised how quickly the Lord is going to ask you to be faithful and carry something that is very precious to Him.
It is not just like the rest of your life you let your mom and your dad and the older folks in the church do all of that stuff, and you just kind of take a free ride. That is why it is important to strengthen yourself in the grace of God and get ready, because circumstances are going to bring you to the point where the Lord is going to say, “Now it is your turn.”
Just like Joshua, you are going to have to be prepared for this moment.
The moment caught Joshua off guard in a sense. I mean, Moses dying—you kind of think if a guy has lived to be one hundred and twenty years old, he is pretty much going to live forever. But he died, and now who is going to lead?
Well, the Lord said, “Joshua, it is your turn.” Now, when that happens, let me ask you a question: who do you think Joshua thought should have led the children of Israel into the Promised Land once Moses died? Do you think Joshua knew he was called to do it?
That is a trick question, because actually, before Moses died, God said, “Moses, take Joshua and anoint him with oil, because he is going to be the next leader.” So actually, now you know the answer to that question.
But I know, even though that happened, I am sure Joshua said to himself, “How about Caleb?” Joshua and Caleb were buddies together. They were two of the twelve spies that were sent from the twelve tribes into Israel forty years before.
They went in, and it was Joshua and Caleb who came back and said, “We should take the land.” So Joshua, I am sure, thought, “You know what? Caleb is the guy who should go in.”
No, no, no, I am telling you. You know why? Because Caleb was a real man of faith. Caleb was such a strong guy of faith. When the people said, “Oh, these giants, these giants,” Caleb said, “In the name of God, we will eat them for lunch.”
Now, that is a man of faith. Caleb was the guy who really had the faith. And you know something? Caleb was also from the tribe of Judah.
I mean, Joshua—well, first of all, he was the son of Nun. You have got to have a complex there, the son of nothing, you know what I mean? And there was Caleb. Caleb was special.
I will not go and show you the passages in the Old Testament, but Caleb was somebody that the Bible says had a different spirit than the rest, because he was a real man filled with the Spirit and faith. Even though all the other spies were fearful, Caleb stood by faith.
You remember the story. They got into the Promised Land, and they fought and won territory and everything. But there was still the place of the giants, and that place was Hebron. Nobody had attacked the giants yet.
One day Caleb comes in and says, “Joshua, could I please go and attack the giants? And if I beat the giants—because Hebron is a beautiful hilly country with waterfalls and little mountains and all this kind of stuff, like a national forest in California—if I defeat the giants, can I live there?”
Joshua said, “You got it. Just go kill the giants, and you can have it.” And you know what? That guy did it. I think he was eighty-seven years old. Eighty-seven years old! He went up there with no teeth and said, “I am going to eat you giants!”
I am telling you what, he had such faith that he went up there and defeated the giants. All of them were killed except some who ran away. Those giants lumbered down somewhere into Philistine territory, and later on they had to be dealt with.
But Caleb was a special guy because he had such faith. So why did God pick Joshua?
How come God picks you? Because, you know what? If God actually came to you and said, “Okay, Josh—the guy who is sleeping back there—I am picking you to carry the testimony of Jesus,” he would immediately say, “No, no, no, not me. My friend next to me on the right—that guy over there. He is wearing all black. He kind of looks like a minister. He has more faith. God, You should pick him, not me.”
But God knows what He is doing. Even though you feel like just a regular person—do you feel like you are a regular person? Yeah, I think probably most of you feel like you are regular. Maybe some of you feel like you are king-size. I do not know. But it is just normal people, right?
How is it that God can use normal people? Here is the secret: Joshua had been prepared just for this moment over the previous years.
When you come to the time where God says to you, “Be faithful, My son. Be faithful, My daughter,” I guarantee He has prepared you before that time, if you will be faithful.
I just want to look at seven little pictures in the Old Testament, in Joshua’s life—seven little snapshot moments that let us see that Joshua indeed had been prepared. When he went in, he led the people, and they gained victory after victory. Everybody knew it was the Lord, not Joshua, but Joshua was the man to carry the torch and lead the way.
Number one, we notice in Exodus 17. Let us turn to these verses now. This will help keep you awake if you are a little bit dozy. Just turn to the Scriptures, and then fall asleep in your Bible.
Now, the Amalekites were bad. The Amalekites hated the children of Israel, and they were always fighting. When we come to Exodus 17:8, here are the Amalekites, and they came and fought against Israel at Rephidim.
Then Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”
Joshua did as Moses told him and fought against Amalek. Then, in Exodus 17:13:
So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
So, first of all, we find out that Joshua knew how to fight. He knew how to fight spiritual warfare. He knew how to wear the armor. He knew how to flash the sword. He knew how to lead people.
He was not as backward as he might think. He had experience in leading, and he did it because Moses told him to. Moses said, “Joshua, go and do it.” Joshua immediately got together men, and they got equipped and everything, and they went and fought the Amalekites, and they won.
So the first part of preparation is this: in your own spiritual life, in your own situation, you need to learn how to fight the good fight of faith. You need to learn how to fight to keep a pure conscience, how to fight to stay in faith and not just become confused with doubt.
It is up to you to be a fighter. You need to realize how important it is that you fight for the Lord.
You remember in 1 John 2, when John was talking to the young men, he says, “The word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” Young men in preparation have to learn how to fight against the enemy, because the enemy tries to attack you in so many different ways.
If you are doing your homework, he says, “You should be at the prayer meeting.” If you go to a prayer meeting, he says, “You should be doing your homework.” You cannot win.
In the end, you have got to say, “I am doing what I think God told me to do, and I am not going to take any more of your making me feel guilty all the time.”
You say, “Lord, forgive me. I have sinned, and cleanse me by Your precious blood.” Then the next day the devil comes and says, “You did not get cleansed. You are still a sinner. You have not been forgiven. God does not love you anymore.”
Now what are you going to say? “Yeah, I guess not. Oh well, what am I going to do now?” No. You say, “Lord, I asked You to forgive me. I believe Your precious blood cleanses me from all sin. Get out of here, devil.” And he will leave you alone.
But, you know, just in little ways like this, you have got to be a fighter. If Joshua had been one of the California flower children, he never would have been tapped to lead the nation.
When I was a young man, back in the late 1960s, there was a whole bunch of Californians that took up being hippies, driving around in Volkswagen vans, going around saying “Peace” all the time, wearing tie-dye shirts, letting their hair grow long, and never taking a bath.
They believed in peace. They were against the war in Vietnam, they were against all war, they were against the government, and they were against making money. They were against everything except free love: the flower children.
Now, you have got to be a fighter, not a peacemaker. This is a spiritual warfare we are in, right?
Number two, we see Exodus 24. Moses gets to Mount Sinai, and there is a lot going on in this story, but we are going to avoid the story pretty much just to see Joshua.
Notice Exodus 24:12:
Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.”
What did Moses do? The next verse says, “So Moses arose with Joshua.” He said, “Come on, Joshua. We are going up to the mountain to meet God.”
Joshua was kind of a young man, and Moses had been around for a while. But it is a scary thought to go up to the mountain, because up there it was like a volcano going on. There were sparks coming out of the top of the mountain, thunder and flashing, and a big cloud.
Moses said, “Come on, Joshua, we are going up the mountain.” Joshua said, “Hey, I do not have the right kind of sneakers.” Moses said, “Come on, we are going up.” So they went up.
God started speaking to Moses. But guess who was there and saw the glory of God? Joshua. He was in the background. I think he was hiding in the crack of the rock. I do not know what he was doing. Maybe he was wearing blinders. I do not know what he was doing, but he was there.
He saw a little bit of the glory of God. You know what happens to somebody when they see the glory of God? Strange to say, it makes you hungry to know more of God.
Joshua saw something. He was just in the background. It does not say, “And Joshua saw that God was wearing a blue smock.” No, it just says that Joshua was there. He got to be part of this whole thing.
When you get into the zone of the glory of God, things happen. It changes you. It makes you realize, “Wow, this is serious business. This God is huge.”
Joshua discovered that. That is part of the preparation: that you would see the glory of God. He is magnificent.
I love some of the worship songs that are coming out today, and the worship times and these passion times and all this, because many of them really talk about how awesome, how powerful, how magnificent God really is.
God is awesome. You can sing that all day long, but you discover that because you have just seen a little nanosecond of the glory of God, like Joshua. Whoa. Things happen.
That is number three: Exodus 33. Just a little side note. Now, you notice in all of these passages something: Joshua is not the star. In these passages, God is the star. Moses is the receiver, and Joshua is in the background.
But there he is, being prepared in the background. This is very important.
In Exodus 33:11:
Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
Here is what happened. When Moses would walk into the tent, down would come the fire. All the people in Israel would come out of their tents and look: “There is fire! There is fire!” “No, no, that is not fire. That is Moses. He is talking to God.”
You know who stayed in the tent after Moses went out? Joshua. He began to learn about the things of God. He began to see how beautiful the things of God were.
Later on, it was the tabernacle, and Joshua stayed around. He saw the holy furniture, and he saw God every day coming down to speak with Moses.
This is really a great experience as people are being trained in the Lord: to see the beauty of the Lord, the way the Lord does things, to see the order of the Lord, and to seek the presence of God.
One thing Joshua took away from this experience was this: for Moses, the presence of God was the most important thing in his life. Joshua learned that just there as an observer, if you want to say.
Let us turn to Numbers 11, verse 28. Here is another thing that was a great preparation for Joshua.
Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “Moses, my lord, restrain them.”
Now, forgetting the story for a moment, here is the situation. Here is one way that Joshua was prepared for carrying the torch of the testimony: he was a servant of a servant of God.
Moses was the servant of God. You remember at the very beginning of Joshua, it says, “Moses My servant is dead.” Joshua, the servant of Moses—God spoke to him.
Joshua was just a simple servant. He attended Moses. Moses was an old guy, and maybe sometimes he forgot where he put the rod, and Joshua had to find it. Sometimes he left his watch in the tent. Various things went on.
Sometimes he said, “Joshua, go out and get Zippy”—that is, his wife, Zipporah—and Joshua had to run out and get Zippy some bananas, whatever. I mean, he was just a lowly attendant. He just took care of Moses.
But you know something? This was vital training. Here is how we apply it: are you willing to serve in church, in the house of God, just in some little way?
Some people do not want to do little things. They just want to do big things. But God usually has us start just doing something small.
Your mom is teaching a Sunday school class. You come in there and give the kids the snack, and then you stay afterwards and pick up the snack that they have thrown on the floor. Yeah, something like that. It is very simple.
But through service and being a servant, the Lord starts preparing your heart for the moment where you are going to lead. Joshua maybe became a leader one day of the children of Israel, but remember, he was always a servant of God.
He learned how to be a servant as he was a servant under Moses.
Let us look at Numbers 13. If you have a New American Standard Bible like mine, this is a great Bible. I just brought a new Bible on this trip. This is brand new—see the gold edge? Smells nice. I love new Bibles.
At the beginning of Numbers 13, does your Bible say, “Spies View the Land”? Ah, you see. I have that note right there at the beginning.
As it lists the spies, notice what it says in Numbers 13:8. This is where Joshua is mentioned:
From the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.
Wait a minute—Hoshea? Then notice down in verse 16 something very strange:
These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.
You say, “Well, big deal. They changed his name.” But there is significance to the change. Actually, he just added two letters onto the old name.
Hoshea means salvation. Yehoshua means “the Lord is salvation.” Now, the significance of the name change is this: Joshua had a personal experience of God.
His name was no longer just “salvation.” His name was “the Lord is salvation.” It implies that there was some change in Joshua’s life, and God was real to him. God had saved him, if you want to put it that way.
The Lord is salvation became his new name. God wants to change our name from just Christians who are saved and know about Him to Christians who know Him.
That is why Paul was always praying, “That I may know Him.” Not just know about Him, but that I may know Him. This is the goal of the Christian life and the goal of your life.
I hope you are not just content with knowing about the fact that He saved you and that He loves you, but that you come to know Him. I think that makes a mark in Joshua’s life that is very important.
That was five so far. We only have two more, and then that is it. The sixth one is found back in Numbers 11, verse 25.
Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did not do it again.
Two of the men had remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad, and the Spirit rested upon them. A young man ran and told Moses, saying, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
Then Joshua, the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “Moses, my lord, restrain them.”
Now, the point is this. It is a long story just to get around and say this, but here is the deal: Joshua was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Look at Numbers 27:18:
The Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.”
Have him stand before the people and commission him to be the next leader. That is what it is all about. But notice about Joshua: he had the Spirit in him.
This is very important, brothers and sisters. You need to have as much of the Holy Spirit as possible. You need to have His wisdom and His strength and His help, His leading, His convicting, His power.
Filled with the Holy Spirit: this is what Joshua was, and it was preparation.
The seventh and last little snapshot—I cannot turn to a verse to speak about this—is maybe the most important thing that qualified Joshua to be the one to receive the torch of the testimony.
Joshua and Caleb were together with a whole generation of their peers. You remember they came to the border of the Promised Land, and they were afraid to enter in. So God said, “Okay, because you disobeyed, you are all going to die in the wilderness.”
Now Joshua and Caleb were ready to go into the Promised Land that day, and yet Joshua had to wait forty years.
Basically, he sacrificed the best years of his life for the will of God and for the people of God. Now, this is known as the cross.
Here is a very practical application of what the cross means. I suppose—it is foolish to say this kind of thing—but I suppose that Joshua and Caleb, just the two of them and their families, could have gone into the Promised Land and established a little town by themselves. I believe they had that kind of faith.
If they had gone across, they did not have to wait forty years. Why should they wait forty years? They were faithful. Yet, for the sake of the children of God, they wasted forty years.
You have a whole life ahead of you with many things you want to do. You want to make a whole bunch of money. You want to—I do not know what you want to do. But what if the Lord came to you and said, “You know what? I want you to waste your life in order to help the people of God.” Are you willing to do that?
I am reading a marvelous biography right now about a man named Groves, who was a missionary who went out to Baghdad, then to India. In the process, he left everything. He was a dentist. He left his practice. He gave away all his money. He went out there.
He faced problems. He lost his wife in the plague, and he lost his baby child in a plague. It is a tragedy in a way, but he kept on being faithful. He wasted his life in order to serve the Lord in a foreign land.
Now, that is not what happens to most of us. But here is the deal: the Lord is looking for somebody who is willing to sacrifice themselves in order to serve a higher purpose.
There is nothing higher than carrying the testimony of Jesus and letting it burn brightly in these last days. But it takes some sacrifice, you know what I mean?
You can be the president of your high school senior class if you just make friends with everybody. But along with making friends with everybody—which I do not mind if you do—if you also share Christ with everybody, there is a chance, unless you are going to a Christian school, that you may not become president of the senior class.
Now you have sacrificed something. But maybe you sacrifice something for the Lord, and He knows that.
Some of you have had opportunity to be like the other kids, and it would have involved some kind of moral compromise, but you decided not to do it. You sacrificed yourself.
These kinds of ways that we deny ourselves are the things that God looks for. Because if we are going to serve God, we cannot be totally absorbed in self-possessiveness.
That was a big word that Stephen, our brother Stephen, used this morning when he was speaking: self-possessiveness. The church in Laodicea was just completely filled with self-possessiveness.
“I want this. I want that. I plan to do this. I want to take that job. I want to go to this school. I want to marry that chick.” Just completely me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
But those whom God would really have for His servants have got to be willing to say, “Lord, not my will, but Yours be done.”
Joshua wasted forty years of his life, basically hung around in the wilderness and threw stones at the scorpions—I do not know what he did. I do know what he did: he was faithful for forty years.
Then the moment came when Moses died, and God could say, “Joshua, here is the torch. Now do not be afraid. You have proven yourself faithful in all of these little ways. Now it is time to step into the Promised Land, and I have appointed you to do it.”
We live our lives—just normal lives—but nobody feels like they are exceptional, usually. Those who do feel like they are exceptional usually have a problem.
But if you just feel like you are normal and struggling like the rest, do you allow God to prepare you?
We talk about the last days, and it is awfully hard to predict these things because we do not really know what is going to happen to our country. I know many of your families moved here to this country in order to make a lot of money and to be happy and to be free.
Well, we do not know what is going to happen here in the United States, and it might turn around. It might turn out the best thing you could do is move back to China so you could make a lot of money and be free. You do not know.
But all I am saying is, wherever the Lord plants you, are you willing to be faithful and serve Him? It will involve some sacrifice, but it will also be the greatest blessing of your life.
We never would have heard much about Joshua. We probably would have remembered Caleb because of his great faith. But because Joshua was willing to be obedient as a servant of God, he became the man that brought them into the Promised Land.
He was the man after whom Jesus the Savior was named. Do not forget: Jesus’ name was actually Yeshua—Joshua.
Jesus leads us into the Promised Land through salvation.
Thank you very much for listening. Let us have a prayer, and then you are free to go.
Lord, I thank You for young lives before us, always the hope of the future. More importantly, I pray, Lord, You who look not on the outward man but on the heart, may You see a heart of Joshua, a heart of David, a heart of Timothy—a heart of somebody who wants Your way and is willing to go through the disciplines of preparation in order to be faithful.
I pray that You will find those here willing to be part of the church, a church that holds the testimony of Jesus. May You find us faithful in a lot of little ways that prepare us for the important tasks ahead.
Thank You, Lord, that You have given all of us together this most wonderful privilege of bearing the testimony of Jesus in this sorry and dark and troubled world we live in. Help us to be faithful, just to You, Lord, because we love You. In Jesus’ name, amen.