Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
February 18, 2001 a.m.
Crossing Our Jordans
Reading - Joshua 1.1-5, 7-8, 2.1 & 23-24, 3.1-6 & 17
Over a million people stood on the banks of the raging Jordan River. Their hearts racing with fear; their nerves crackling with the anticipation of the promises of God that were to be fulfilled.
It must have been an exciting time to be a part of God’s people. It was a time when God’s promises lay just in front of them if they would only trust in Him, step out in faith, and claim the victory... Then the land would be theirs in the Lord.
It was not the first time a people had stood on the banks of that river.
Not the first time God’s promises loomed in front of them.
Not the first time God had said that He would deliver them if they would only obey Him.
They knew God could do as He promised...
- He had parted the Red Sea for their ancestors.
- He had fed them and sustained them with unexplainable Manna from heaven...
- Water from rocks...
- With Quail on an East wind.
- He healed them from snake bites...
- Their sandals never wore out, their clothes never rotted.
Now... The time had come for total delivery... Total Victory.
There is no doubt that all of us have stood here... We’ve all had our Jordans to cross... RIGHT?
- An unfavorable diagnosis...
- The loss of a loved one...
- Loss of a job... bankruptcy...
- A marriage on the rocks... On the verge of divorce...
- A betrayal by a friend...
- Something looming before us over which we have absolutely no power.
You see... Some of us are standing with one foot in the waters of Jordan this morning. And if we are not, we all know that it won’t be long until we will be there... That’s just the way life is.
So... What can we learn about crossing Jordans? I believe there are some valuable lessons here... Access a worship bulletin and let’s see what we can learn from Israel about crossing our own Jordans.
First... We must learn to trust God. Faith is the call of discipleship. We will never learn to cross our Jordans until we are willing to forget the past and look to God for our future. These new Israelites under Joshua were giving up all they knew. With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, all who had fled Egypt with Moses had died in the desert. All who came to the Jordan that day were born in the desert. That was their life, all they had ever known. But God had called them to a new life... A life radically different than the one they knew.
You see... FAITH... Trusting in God is the first step of giving up the life we once knew.
The Hebrews’ writer tells us that without such we can never be pleasing to Him... We can never enter heaven’s PROMISED LAND.
TRUST GOD...
- Trust that He will damn the river...
- Trust that He will deliver us from our enemies...
- Trust that He will keep His promises.
Church... This is the theme to the book of Joshua... God will keep His promises...
Joshua 21 reads... So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. You see church... it was true then, and it is true today. We trust in God for when we can’t... He can! If we individually and corporately are going to cross the Jordan, then we must trust God!
Secondly... We must be willing to LIVE THE ADVENTURE.
We must accept the fact that we are going to go where we have never gone before.
Christianity... genuine discipleship... living for and with Jesus means we are to break out of our comfort zones and follow Him. Look at verse four of chapter three... about two-thirds down the page on your handout... Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it.
Crossing our own Jordans frequently calls for us to go into uncharted territory, but we are not walking blind, we are following: Following Christ... Following the Word of God. Again the Hebrews’ writer tells us that Jesus has gone before us... He is a High Priest who understands our Jordan crossings because he has been there before. Matthew 16:24-25 admonishes us... If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
We must follow Christ into whatever river presents itself. Paul tells us in Romans that we must deny self... Die to self and our old way of life so that we might walk in a newness of life on the other side of genuine New Testament baptism. How do we do it?... It sounds complicated, but it’s not... Following Christ is simply:
Following His word...
Doing His will...
Allowing self to be molded into His image.
Church... We must know this morning that we are following the same guide that Israel followed that day... Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Israel followed a Rock... And that Rock was WHAT???... CHRIST!!
Folk... If CHRIST... The word of God was sufficient to lead Israel across their Jordan... And to sustain life in a new land... Don’t you think JESUS THE WORD will lead from the river of baptism to our promised land?
Here it is folk... Our success hinges on us knowing the word, and then following HIM.
Did you notice the focus... It was not to the left or to the right but on the word.
Church... Don’t follow me... Follow Jesus... Be guided by the word... Live the adventure
Crossing Jordans requires action... It requires work on our part. James made this quite clear... He says... Faith... Mental assent is not sufficient. Listen to Divine inspired reasoning from James...
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.
Remember the old saying... A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The same is true of our journey across Jordan. Personally... I fear too many of have been baptized and have accepted the gift of the Holy Spirit, only to spend most of our Christian life receiving...but never giving. We come to church Sunday and Wednesday... We receive God’s word... Amen it strongly... But we don’t live it throughout the week... Isn’t this right? We come to get our spiritual meat... and wonder why we are still so weak. You see the Christian life requires work... Sorry, but it is true.
Listen folk... Genuine Christian faith is a verb... Faith is a word of action.
Read Hebrews eleven again...
Able… OFFERED a more excellent sacrifice...
Enoch... WALKED with God...
Noah… BUILT an ark...
Abraham, when called... OBEYED... WENT...
The Bible teaches that God-pleasing faith demands work... Not that work does nothing to merit God’s love, and saving grace... That work is a demanded response to His grace.
When Christ said... Take up your cross and come follow me, he indicated some action--some work with the verbs he used. There are too many of us today who believe that following Jesus is just believing in Him. But Jesus used verbs to speak of Christian living...
-Take something,
-Follow someone.
Folk... A cross is something we die on... Genuine Christian faith is a work of dying to self and living for God. Are we willing?... I pray that we are.
Next... to cross Jordan, we must conquer our fears. I think that we will all agree... The Israelites must have been afraid that day. They were entering a land that they would have to fight for... Yet... They didn’t have the weapons to challenge with...
They didn’t have fortified cities to fight from...
And they didn’t have any real battle experience...
Not one of them were seasoned soldiers.
Even more immanent than these facts... was that the river in front of them was at flood stage.
I think the Israelites had some fears...some well-deserving fears.
We can all think of times when fear has paralyzed us in our good intentions... RIGHT?
Times when we could have done something great... but didn’t... Because of FEAR.
Some of us might be struggling with such fears now.
Some are afraid to come this morning for New Testament baptism.
Some are afraid to confess their faults and ask for the prayers of the church.
Some of us are afraid to speak to a neighbor about Jesus.
Some are afraid to say... Forgive me... or, I forgive you.
Some are afraid to love and become loving.
Some of us are afraid to give as we should.
Some are afraid to come and rededicate their life to Jesus.
Others are afraid to step out in faith to accomplish something that they know God wants them to do... Am I right?
Jesus knows our fears... He knew Peter’s before Peter denied Him... Not once, but three times.
What a sad moment in Peter’s life. He was conquered by his fear.
Listen to me church... Without a doubt Peter’s fear was more justified than ours... RIGHT?
When was the last time we were afraid of being put to death because we knew Jesus.
What if the people of Israel had let their fears conquer them at the Jordan? They would have had that glimpse of the promise land, but would have never tasted of its fruit. The fate of their fathers would be theirs. Will the fate of their fathers be our fate, because we’ve been paralyzed by fear?
Listen to God’s encouragement for our fears from chapter one, beginning with verse five... No-one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go... Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Romans chapter eight says... That if God is for us, who can stand against us!
God can damn the river...
God can cause us to walk on dry land...
God can bring our enemies down without a shot being fired.
God can and will work all things out to our benefit.
Church... When we stand on the banks of Jordan... Do not fear... (WHY)... Because He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. That’s our Jordan promise from Ephesians 3.20 & 21.
Then... We must have an attitude of victory. In my days of being a broadcast salesman, I was taught that attitude was everything. Zig Ziglar, in his book... See You At The Top says that attitude determines altitude. I don’t know if that is true in sales or not, but it is true in our Christian walk.
Want to be great in the Kingdom of God? ... Have an attitude of a servant.
Want to be forgiven by God?... Have an attitude of forgiveness toward others... Forgive
and you will be forgiven.
Want to go nowhere in your Christian walk?... Have an attitude of complacency and apathy.
An attitude of lukewarmness got Laodica expelled from the church universal.
Want to fail to cross Jordan?... Have an attitude of indifference.
Attitude has a lot to do with Christianity.
Israel’s attitude under Moses at Kadish-Barnea was... We can’t... There are giants in the land.
Their attitude under Joshua was... WE CAN... These people melt in fear before us.
Church... Let me ask you... What had changed in forty years?... Nothing but their attitude... RIGHT?
Folk... We must know this morning that victory is our promise from God... Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Over a million people paused at the edge of an overflowing Jordan. God’s promises lay on the other side...His presence was with them…His words still rang in their ears... Be strong and courageous.
We are all standing at the Jordan this morning... What will we do?
Will we trust God and be guided by His word?
Will we be willing to take action... To walk the walk?
Will we conquer those fears that limit us?
Will we have an attitude of victory?
The choice is ours... The time is now... Come live the adventure.
We are children of God by faith... For as many as have been baptized into Christ have put
on Christ... Have been clothed by Christ.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us
from all unrighteousness. Come cross the Jordan...
As we stand and sing this invitation song together?
Will you come?
