Matt Hagee - Be Bold and Strong

TOPICS: Courage

Hello and welcome to this week’s Sunday conversation. This is our first book outside of the Pentateuch, which, remember, is the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, often called the books of Moses. But this week, we’ve now completed that section of Scripture and are in the first of the history books of the nation of Israel. This book is about the character who is central in Israel’s experience through the wilderness and the individual God chose to lead them into the promised land: His name is Joshua.

Now, many historians have assessed that this is a book of his memoirs-the things that he experienced, and he himself is the original author. This book helps connect the things that established Israel historically, not only in the promised land but also the pattern of behavior that we see continuing to exist in them all the way until the time of the kings and eventually to the coming of the Son of God.

Joshua is a very interesting character in the Word of God. He’s not only an individual who was a slave in Egypt and survived the wilderness, but many people want to know: Why did God choose him? Who was he in Israel’s camp? What did he do that made him the man for the next generation? How did he get through a wilderness and into the promised land that not even Moses was allowed to walk into?

You know, in many ways, you and I have connections to Joshua because, in some way, in some place in our lives, we come as successors to the previous generation. Joshua led after Moses. The generation before him paved the way for him to accomplish God’s work in his life. In my life, it’s evident that Pastor Hegy was a type of Moses-an individual that God used to pave the way for the calling and purpose of God in my life. If you take a moment and think about your life, in some place-be it in business, in your family, or in some area-God has used others in a previous generation to prepare a pathway for you. The generation of men before has paved the way for God’s grace and mercy so that we would be able to do the things that He has called us to do in the next generation.

The interesting thing about this cycle is that our job is going to be the same: to pave a way for the generation that comes behind us. We have a responsibility to maintain our focus as we travel through the places of life that God takes us so that we can ensure that the next generation continues to have His promises in their lives. I promise you this: If you put your faith in God as Joshua did, He’ll provide all that you need. If you’re in the wilderness, He’ll bring the cloud by day, the fire by night, and the water that comes from rocks. He’ll rain down manna from heaven, and He’ll allow those around you to see His distinguished call upon your life.

The question that people often ask is, «Who’s my Moses?» Well, as I mentioned earlier, here at Cornerstone, that’s Pastor. But you have a Moses. You have someone that has led you, taught you, and brought you to where you are. And sometimes it can be a little unsettling for you to reach beyond them. Why? Because they’re the place where you got all your confidence.

How did Joshua get through the wilderness? The easiest way through the wilderness is to follow Moses. Maintain your position with the individuals that are leading you. Maintain a position and an attitude of servitude. Joshua saw what happened to Korah when he resisted Moses. Korah was swallowed in an earthquake. That made it very easy for Joshua to decide, «You know what? I’m going to stay with Moses.» Joshua saw what happened to the individuals who complained about the manna and ate quail. And the Bible in the book of Psalms says that while the meat was in their mouths, God killed them. It made it very easy for Joshua to see, «Hey, do not complain about the manna.»

Joshua was an individual who knew how to follow, but now God is calling him to lead. It’s an unsettling position. In the first chapter of the book of Joshua, we read about some of the self-doubt that Joshua had, which is one of the reasons why I believe that Joshua is the author of this book. Why else would this chapter be here? Who else would know what Joshua was thinking and where he was going the morning that the angel of the Lord told him, «Be bold and be strong, for I am with you»?

This book and this chapter is not the first time that we see Joshua. The first time we see Joshua goes all the way back to Exodus 17. And what is he doing? He’s serving Moses. Exodus 17 is the story of the valley of Rephidim. This is where the children of Israel are attacked by the Amalekites. They’ve come out of Egypt; they’ve crossed the Red Sea. And no sooner than they get to the other side of that obstacle, they’re under attack by ancient enemies who hate them: the Amalekites. You can read about it in Exodus 17:8-16.

Now, Joshua is leading the army in the valley, and Moses is up on the mountain holding the rod of God. This is the story in the Bible where, as long as Moses’s hands were up, they were winning. And as his hands began to weaken, they would lose. Then Aaron and Hur walked up and held up Moses’s hands so that Moses had the strength to be the mediator between heaven and earth, and Joshua had the victory in the battle.

How was Joshua able to go from a bricklayer to a mighty warrior in just a few miles of a walk? He didn’t do it in his own strength. He was able to do it because he was submitted to spiritual authority. That’s very crucial for you to understand-that it was Joshua’s submission to spiritual authority that enabled him to accomplish great things. Many people don’t like hearing that your submission is how you accomplish the mission, but as many years as I’ve studied this principle, trust me, it’s true.

An army of the enemies of Israel marches out to attack these former slaves, and Moses looks to Joshua and he says, «Go out and fight with Amalek.» This would have been a great time for Joshua to remind Moses, «I’m not a warrior; I’m a bricklayer.» If Joshua was not submitted to spiritual authority, he would have started to attack the leader. «You brought us out here, and now we’re getting into a fight that we don’t have the ability to win. You brought us! You’re good! You conquered Egypt; you go fight them!» Joshua doesn’t offer any of those excuses. Without question, Joshua goes and does what he’s asked by the leader.

What does submission look like? I want to take you very briefly to a place in the New Testament where you get to see that answer for yourself. It’s in the story of the centurion in Capernaum when Jesus is coming back into the city, and the centurion says, «I want you to come and pray for my sick servant.» And Jesus says, «I’ll come.» And then the centurion says, «Look, I’m a man under authority, and if you’ll just say the word, that’ll be enough.» Jesus says, «I haven’t found this much faith in all of Israel.»

What was it that the centurion was telling us? That obedience without question is submission. In that very descriptive detail in the book of Matthew, the centurion says, «I am a man under authority,» meaning that he was in Caesar’s army. And he says to one man, «Go,» and without question, he goes. And he says to another man, «Come,» and without question, he comes. Obedience can be qualified. You do obey, but you don’t want to obey. Submission is a position of the spirit where you willingly do without question what is being asked of you. It’s a very powerful, humbling, and absolutely crucial element in your walk of faith.

Think about it: Joshua has been a part of a culture of slaves. All of his life he’s marched in brick pits for 400 years. This is all his ancestors have done. They’re not warriors; they’re not fighters. Joshua has none of the skills that are required to win this battle. What makes him think that he can go out and be successful? His belief and his trust in the one he was submitted to.

In Exodus 17, Moses tells him, «I’ll go stand at the top of the mountain with the rod of God in my hand.» That’s a direct quote from that chapter. What was the rod of God? It was the symbol of God’s power that God gave to Moses when He sent him to Egypt. God gave Moses power to accomplish his mission. When Joshua heard that that rod was going with Moses, Joshua knew that rod in Moses’s hands could do things. Joshua had seen that rod turn into a snake, and then Moses grabbed it up, and it became a stick again. Joshua had seen that rod turn the Nile River into blood. Joshua had seen that rod unleash plague after plague on his former masters: frogs, boils, locusts, darkness, and then death. Joshua had seen that rod part the Red Sea as Moses extended it out, and the sea parted back left and right. So when Joshua heard that Moses had God’s power in his hands, Joshua believed in faith that everything was going to be all right. God had power; He’d given it to God’s man, and God was going to use that power to give Joshua the victory.

Now put that rod in someone else’s hands. Maybe it’s just a stick, but put that rod in the anointed one’s hands, and it can remove every obstacle in your way. That’s what gave Joshua the belief that he had the ability to go do something that he had never done before.

Now, that’s all in the book of Exodus. What happens in the book of Joshua? Here in the book of Joshua, God begins with these words: «After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the assistant of Moses, saying, 'Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel. Every place that your soul touches, and every place that you tread upon, I have given to you, as I have said to Moses.'»

Think about it: Joshua had great confidence in Moses. Joshua had great confidence in Moses’s connection to God. Joshua had great confidence that as long as Moses was standing over him and covering him and protecting him, he could do almost anything. But God tells him right here, «Moses is gone. Now it’s just me and you, Joshua.» It’s one thing when you borrow confidence from the one you’re following; it’s another thing when the faith that you have in God has to create self-confidence that the same God who was with Moses is the same God who’s with you.

How many times in your life have you believed that God did something for someone else because they were closer to Him, or He favored them more, or He had some special connection with them that He doesn’t have with you? Nothing could be further from the truth. God loves you as much as He loves everyone who has ever drawn a breath. And God’s promises for you are just as alive and powerful as every promise that He has ever made. Because the Bible clearly teaches that God is no respecter of persons.

But much more so than submitting to your spiritual authority and leadership here on earth, God wants you to submit your life to Him so that when He asks you to go, and when He says you do, by that demonstration of your submission, your trust, and your faith in Him, He’ll reveal Himself faithful, because He is the God who is faithful from generation to generation.

I love the book of Joshua because it’s so authentic. Here in the first chapter, for example, we read this back and forth between God and Joshua. «Be strong and of good courage,» verse six, «for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I have sworn to your fathers to give them.» God is repeating to Joshua that the land belongs to them. But He starts to encourage Joshua: «Be strong and courageous.» In verse seven, He says it again: «Only be strong.» And this time, He says, «Very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded. Do not turn to the right or to the left, and you may prosper wherever you go.» He was telling Joshua that the rod of power that I gave to Moses is the word that I gave to you.

For Moses, it was a stick; for Joshua, it was the law. How do you know? Because the promise here is, «You will prosper wherever you go.» Wherever the rod went with Moses, Joshua prospered. Now God is saying, «Wherever my word goes with you, you will prosper.» Isn’t the same true in your life? Wherever you take God’s word and you obey His truth, you prosper. Take His word into your family, your marriage is strong, your family is strong. Take His word into your finances, and you find a God who is abundantly good and willing to bless you. Take His word into every aspect of your life, and wherever His word goes, wherever His power goes, wherever His authority goes, you prosper.

Now, if you’re not prospering, sometimes you can look and find out where you’re not following His word, not obeying His commandments, not submitting to His truth, and bring yourself back into alignment with what it says. That’s the exact instruction that God gave to Joshua. Listen very closely: He said, «Do not turn from it to the right or to the left.» Oftentimes, we get out of alignment with the direction; we get out of alignment with the instruction. We’re moving somewhat in the right way, but we’re doing it in our terms. This again is that issue of submission. When you’re submitted, you don’t question; you just do.

As a pastor, I’m often asked questions by people who want to qualify something in their life that doesn’t align with God’s word. «I don’t understand prayer. I don’t understand giving. I don’t understand soul-winning. I don’t understand…» Fill in the blank. They ask all kinds of questions about things that they don’t understand in God’s word. And believe me, there’s much in God’s word that I am still asking the Holy Spirit to give me guidance, counsel, and direction on, because His ways are past finding out. The Bible is a book that will give you understanding, but sometimes it’s not going to be understood. It must be, however, always obeyed.

You don’t understand how prayer works? Just pray. You don’t understand how giving works? Just give. You don’t understand why God blesses those who are obedient? Just obey. And leave those small details up to God. If your understanding was required for you to benefit from everything in your life, you would be a lot worse off than you are right now. There’s a lot you don’t understand, but you believe it, and you behave as if you believe, and you benefit from it. You probably don’t understand the entire digestive cycle and how nutrients are broken down in the food that you eat and how it keeps you healthy and strong. But I promise you, as much as you may or may not understand about it, you were probably chewing food long before you understood it. It didn’t keep you from eating.

There’s a lot you don’t understand about electrical currents, yet you turn the lights on in your house. If understanding was the qualifying reason for doing what you do, you’d do a lot less than you do right now. So why would understanding be the reason why you decide to or not decide to follow God’s word? Remember this: The word does not return void. This word is from generation to generation. Isaiah the prophet and Peter in the New Testament both repeated the phrase: «The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.»

In the balance of the chapter, God reminds Joshua repeatedly that in order for him to be successful, he has to observe to do what is written in the law. In verse nine, He repeats again, «Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.» Verse six, verse seven, verse nine- Joshua is telling everyone who reads this book, «I was scared to do my job without Moses. I was afraid that I wasn’t called to do the work. I had confidence in Moses and God’s relationship with Moses, but I maybe didn’t have enough confidence in who I was. However, by my submission to the Lord, the same way I was submitted to Moses, I submitted myself to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God prospered Joshua.»

Battle after battle, day after day, decision after decision, until the promised land was conquered, and the children of Israel had been led into their inheritance. God has things for you to conquer; God has things for you to inherit and receive. But you have to develop the confidence and faith to believe the same God who was with those who came before you is the same God who is with you. So I want to encourage you today, just the same way the Lord encouraged Joshua: Be bold. Be strong. Observe to be obedient to God’s word, and you will prosper wherever you go. Thank you for being a part of this week’s Sunday conversation.