Joshua Chapter 3:1-8

God didn't save any of us so we could become like some museum piece. Oh, yep, saved him years ago. Look at him.

He's been in that same spot for years. That's not God's design. That was never God's intention. Salvation is the start of something wonderful, but so many of us think it's the completion of something, that it's the end of something. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. The body of Christ should be the most enthusiastic and energetic people group in the world. Be encouraged today as Pastor David continues in the book of Joshua chapter 3. But first, have you ever experienced a time when you felt spiritually drained? Well, the Bible holds the cure that will bring joy and vitality back into your life. That's why we want to send you a copy of Pastor David McGee's video message, A Checkup from the Neck Up. In this inspiring teaching, you'll find biblical truths that can restore your spiritual health. A Checkup from the Neck Up is our way to thank you for your gift this month to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life.

So please visit crossthebridge.com to get your copy of A Checkup from the Neck Up. Now here's David McGee with his teaching, Making the Journey. Joshua is an awesome book, man. And of course, Joshua 3 tonight is an awesome chapter.

We're about to cross over to Jordan, which again, we've talked about before. That does not represent death. That represents perhaps a dying to self going into the promises of God. But it's also like an obstacle to those who are following Jesus. And it's interesting because there's a rest that comes with salvation.

You can finally cease from trying to earn God's favor in your own works. But the moment you're saved, the moment you are born again, what happens? Well, you're flung head cast right into the middle of the battle. And it's interesting because sometimes we don't paint an accurate picture to people who just get saved. And we say things like, you know, you get saved and all your dreams will come true and everything will work out. And then they get shocked because then they're put right in the middle of this battle. And they're like, man, what happened?

You didn't tell me about this. Well, there is a battle. And see, before you get saved, you're just kind of going along with it. You're not really fighting. You know, you're being killed really is what's going on.

And then you get into the battle. And God, we need to make sure that we are pursuing biblical Christianity. Now, I'll say that and some of you probably go, well, duh.

Well, it's not duh. I mean, you know, as I dig in God's word, as I look at what's happening in churches today, I don't see a whole lot of what I would consider biblical followers of Jesus. I see a lot of weirdness. I see a lot of aberration. I see a lot of things that we take for granted.

For instance, we were talking today, this adage, have you ever heard this one? The safest place in the world to be is what? I think I heard it somewhere. In the will of God. In the center of the will of God. Anybody in here ever heard that? Raise your hand. The safest place to be is in the center of the world.

Yeah, I grew up hearing that. You know what the problem is? It's not in here.

It's not in here. As a matter of fact, if you read about the life of Paul and his shipwrecked and snake bit and beaten up and all these other things, do you think Paul thought the safest place was to be in the center? Now, either Paul was really missing God's will for his life, or the safest place is not in the center of God's will. I don't think the safest place is in the center of God's will.

And let me go further. I don't think we want to be in the safest place, not as Christians. I know that's fairly radical. I know that, you know, a lot of Christianity and a lot of churchianity says, well, you know, it's about being safe and you get saved and, oh, you're safe. You know, you've made it. You know, that's got you some fire insurance and now you're not going to hell. Praise God. Man, there's so much more to it.

There's so much more to it. And that's part of what this chapter's about, is putting down those things that would get in the way. The sin that Paul says so easily besets us. And what a godly man Paul was, but he was willing to be honest and say, you know what, the sin that so easily besets us. And as followers of Jesus, you know, I'm using that term more and more, because, you know, when I say Christians, I'm not even sure.

Boy, we've twisted and contorted that word so much that I'm not even sure it has meaning anymore. So I like using followers of Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we should be stepping away from self-life, thinking just about ourselves, to a god-life where we're thinking about God, where God is number one and no longer are we number one. And we need to be careful about taking steps backwards, because they're dangerous. One thing we'll see later on is all the trouble that those who stayed on this side of the Jordan had. Now, they went over and they fought the battles, but then they came back over the Jordan.

All the problems happened. So tonight, as we look into this, this is what God desires to do here and now. This is what God desires to teach us.

So let's jump in here. Joshua chapter 3 verse 1. Then Joshua rose early in the morning, then he set out from Acacia grove, and came to the Jordan, and he and all the children of Israel and lodged there before they crossed over. So it was after three days that the officers went through the camp. You'll see that over and over three days.

Now, and check this out. At this case, they've come to the Jordan. Okay, the Jordan... Now, I'll be honest. When you go over to Israel, you're a little bit disappointed at what you'll find in different parts, because some places, the Jordan's just like a big creek. But in the place that they crossed over, it was a big river. And this was the springtime.

So instead of like, you know, 40 feet, 50 feet, 60 feet wide, it was more like a mile wide. So get the picture. They all come up to the Jordan.

They stop. What do you think they're thinking? Oh yeah, what is the new guy doing? Moses handed this thing off to Joshua, and he... I think he's fairly clueless.

Here we are at this river, it's a mile wide. What's he going to do? What is he going to do? And yet, you know what? As we'll see, they were willing to follow him. They were willing to follow their leader by faith. Verse 3, and they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. Now this is a little interesting switch up, because the Levites weren't the guys who usually carried the ark, but they were in this place.

And what did he say? He says, When you see the Levites bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. Man, I like that. I like that. Go after it.

Go after it. Because you know what? Christianity's not a spectator sport.

Do you realize that? I don't know, again, how we got to the place where we think it's a spectator sport. Yeah, I go, I cheer a little bit, and then I leave and go back to life as normal. You know, go in, sing just as I am three times, and leave just as I was. I don't know how we got that. Here it says, Go after it.

Go after it. Over and over, you see the people of God told to be active in their faith. They do things.

They don't just, oh, oh, oh. But to be active. And this concept of being active is a biblical one. As a matter of fact, the unbiblical one comes in not being active, and not being involved, and not serving the Lord.

And when you sit in that place, you're in an unhealthy place. You're in an unbiblical place. God didn't save any of us so we could become like some museum piece. Oh, yep, saved him years ago. Look at him.

He's been in that same spot for years. That's not God's design. That was never God's intention. Salvation is the start of something wonderful, but so many of us think it's the completion of something, that it's the end of something.

Bad teaching, secular humanism, whatever weaves its way into it. But this is, go after it. You've got to love those three words, go after it. The life lesson here is the body of Christ should be the most enthusiastic and energetic people group in the world.

The most enthusiastic, the most energetic people group in the world. Why do I say that? Because we've got so much to be thankful for. We've got so much to be grateful for.

And we've got so much to do. As Christians, as our jobs as Christians go, man, we've got a lot of job security, don't we? Because there's always going to be people wandering around who don't know the Lord, who need to be told. There's always going to be something for us to do as believers. We're never going to run out of things to do as believers. And incidentally, the concept of us all just kind of kicking back on a cloud up in heaven, getting bored, unbiblical concept. We'll go into that another time, but to go after it. This is supposed to be our approach, our philosophy, not only in life, but also in ministry and also in service.

It's amazing. Over and over, God is pushing me in this discipleship, talking about discipleship, talking about going from being saved to discipleship. And that's exactly what this chapter is about tonight. And I know, I know, you've been talking about this servant thing.

Boy, you're just harping on that. Yep, sure am. Are you getting uncomfortable? I hope so.

My passion is not to be pastoring a church where a bunch of people are just kind of sitting there and, yeah, okay, well, you know, somebody will do that. I'm sure somebody will take care of that. Oh, look, there's a lost person.

Let's call the office and get them to send somebody over there. Uh-uh, no, no. I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking, what are you trying to do, thin the hurt? I'm trying to do what God has told me to do. Well, Pastor David, let me just be honest with you. I can't serve because I have problems. I have problems you just don't know about. I'm sure some of you do.

I'm sure some of you have problems that I don't know about. But let me tell you what I do know. I know my God, and I know my God can do the impossible. And even if you don't think you're ready or you're prepared or that you have problems, I know my God can help you cross over whatever is in your life and whatever the struggle is, whatever the obstacle is.

God can do the impossible. That I do know. Can you live a life of victory? You betcha.

Are you? I don't know. I don't know. See, sometimes we get confused. We think, well, I do. I believe that. Oh, I believe that. But are you acting on it?

Is it active? Is it a passion? Are you surrendered to that truth? Because some of us came up in churches and we were taught that to believe was enough. Well, let me rock your boat tonight. To believe is not enough.

It's got to be active. If a belief is enough to be saved, if belief is enough to be a disciple, then by that definition, demons are Christians. Because the book of James plainly says that even the demons believe and tremble. So by that definition of belief, demons are Christians. Are demons Christians? No.

Please shake your head. But guys, we, like the book of Joshua, we've been given a land we have to fight to possess. There's a struggle. Now, maybe you thought there was something wrong with you, that it was a struggle for you to pray, a struggle for you to serve, a struggle for you to give, a struggle for you to do this, that, and the other. Guys, we all struggle with that. We all struggle with our sinful human nature. Every one of us struggles with it. Well, except maybe the couple of people in here that might just be completely backslidden and they're no longer struggling with it.

They're just kind of giving in to it. But for everybody else, there's a struggle going on. That doesn't give you the opportunity to check out because there still is that victory that overcomes the world that Jesus gives us. And what happens in this life is you either become a victor or you become a victim. You're either an overcomer or this life and this world will overcome you.

And that's what this book is about. You're listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge. He'll be back with more powerful insight from God's Word in just a moment. But first, your enemy, the devil, doesn't want you to experience the life-giving truths of God's Word. He wants to rob you of the full life God wants for you.

But you can overcome his attacks because there is supernatural power in the Word of God. That's why we want to send you Pastor David McGee's video message called A Checkup from the Neck Up. This powerful resource will show you how to revitalize your spiritual health and grow in your faith daily by meditating on God's powerful Word. A Checkup from the Neck Up is our way to thank you for your gift this month to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life.

So please, visit crossthebridge.com now to get your copy of A Checkup from the Neck Up. Now, back to today's message. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 23. It says, then he brought us out from there that he might bring us in to give us the land of which he swore to our fathers.

I love that verse. He brought us out to bring us in. You understand what this is saying? See, again, I may be rocking your boat, and it's this whole passion that I'm just, I'm fired up.

Maybe you can't tell that, so I was gonna tell you. What is this talking about? He brought us out to bring us in.

Well, literally, what is it talking about? He brought us out of Egypt to bring us into where? Into the promised land.

Oh, man, if you can get ahold of this, it will change your life. What did God save you for? I mean, if God just saved you, just to save you, then why not just go ahead and get the battle over and boom, as soon as we get saved, go into heaven? We just skip all the hassle and the heartache and the trials and the tribulations and all that stuff. Is that what happens?

No, not generally. So he leaves us here. Why? So we can become disciples.

See, in the picture, now you're going, well, why are you talking about this again? This is what this chapter's about. Unsaved is when we were in Egypt. When we were in Egypt and we were under the bondage of sin. We were enslaved.

And then what happened? Well, just like the children of Israel were set free out of Egypt, they went into the desert. We've been saved by the blood of the lamb. Our lamb is Jesus. Our lamb was not the Passover lamb that got where the door put on the doorpost.

The blood covered our sins. But let me ask you a question. Do you believe the children of Israel were destined just to hang out in the desert? No. No. No, no, no, no. A thousand times, no. Well, let me ask you a question. Do you think we just get saved to be saved?

No. He brought us out to bring us in. He brought us out to bring us in. To take us into the promised land.

To take us into the promises of God. And some of you, I know because I talk to you, and some of you are like, well, I'm really struggling and I'm really doing this and I'm really doing that. Have you ever really surrendered your life?

Have you ever really just stopped and said, you know what, it's no more about what I want. It's about what you want. What do you want from me, Lord?

What do you require of my life? That's the question we have to ask. Because some of us are far too long. And we've been taught this. We've sat in churches where it was all about salvation and not about discipleship.

And we didn't realize that this was what was supposed to be happening. God didn't save you so you could wander in the desert. He saved you to bring you into the promised land. And like in Joshua, the second part of verse 1, it says, there remains very much land yet to be possessed. This is after a lot of battles. The Lord said this to Joshua.

I think that's probably descriptive of most of our lives in here. There's still a lot of land yet to be possessed. So be in the battle. And I know that unbelief comes and goes, well, let's just back off from the battle a little bit and let's just rest for a little while and just play it safe. One day there'll be time for rest. It's not now.

It's not now. I see here a potential army that can change this community, that can have an impact on the world if we're sold out and we're disciples. And whatever is standing in the way of you being a disciple, it's got to go. It's got to go.

If it's serving, start to serve. Come on. I mean, do you really believe those excuses you give?

Because nobody around you believes them. Do you really think that you own anything in terms of stewardship? Do you really think anything is yours? Everything you see, everything your eyes see belongs to God. Everything. Everything in your house even.

It's not your house. Everything your eyes sees belongs to God. You want to see what belongs to you?

I'll show you. Shut your eyes. That's what belongs to you. Nothing. Nothing belongs to you. It's all God's. So why should stewardship even be an issue?

No more sacred cows, guys. I got to teach it as God lays it on my heart and if there's something in between you and being a disciple, I got to jump in there and try to move it. I want to help you move it. And if it's one of those two issues, jump in there and move it.

Jump in there and move it. Verse 4. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure. It's about 3,000 feet. Cubit, if you remember, was the tip of the middle finger to the elbow.

It's about 18 inches. Do not come near it that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before. So this whole thing is in a new way, new place, new relationship. Verse 5. And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. The Lord will do wonders among you.

And there's so much good stuff in this verse. Do you understand that's God's plan for your life? That's what God wants to do in your life? He wants to do wonders among you. And I think far too often we as Christians are willing to settle for second best.

Just kind of status quo, you know, I'm alright. God died for you. God Himself died for you.

Not so you could just sit there. But you've been set free to serve Him. You've been set free to press into the promises of God. He wants to do wonders in your life. He wants to do wonders in your marriage. He wants to do wonders in your family. He wants to do wonders in your church.

That's the life lesson. God desires to do wonders in your life. God desires to do wonders in your life. And if you'll place Him first, He will blow your mind with what He will do with your life.

I promise you, I guarantee it. Now the Hebrew word for sanctify is kadash. And it's kind of an interesting word. It means to separate or to prepare. The Lord wants you to live a life to be prepared for the wonders that He wants to do in your life. He wants you to be sanctified. That doesn't mean you're self-righteous and you're sanctimonious and you're looking down at everybody. That means you are washed and set apart for special use. Almost the word picture there in the Hebrew is, you know how a lady will take and polish a piece of jewelry before she starts to wear it. That's what God wants to do in your life. He wants to polish you and show you off.

And say, man, that's an awesome thing. There's Steve. I'm doing a work in Steve. I'm polishing him.

I'm doing a work in Jack. I'm polishing him. People are going to notice the difference.

I'm doing a work in David. People are going to notice the difference and give me the glory. That's what he wants to do in everybody's life in here. And see, you can live a life of obedience and submit. Break your will.

Break your selfishness and go, God, it's not about me anymore. And when a brother or sister comes up to you and goes, hey, man, you need to do this or have you thought about that? Everybody has the same reaction. Oh, yeah? Whether you say that or not, that's our reaction, isn't it?

Oh, yeah? Let your will be broken. Say, you know what?

Brother, sister, you're right. Thank you for challenging me. Thank you for challenging me in this area of obedience, in this area of disobedience, and thank them.

Because they cared enough to say something to you. See, because here's the deal. You can live a life of abundance, and I guarantee you God will do wondrous things in your life. Or you can be disobedient and you will spend the rest of your life wondering what God might have done with your life. At some point, this all ends. And we stand before God. And you'll either look back and go, yeah, or you'll look back and go, oh, man, man, so many chances. On that day, guys, there's no more chances. But today, we have yet another chance. We have another opportunity to draw closer to the Lord. We have another opportunity to die to ourselves and follow God. Make the best of it.

Make the best of it. I came across a short biography that's just fired me up. The man's name was William Borden. He lived about 100 years ago. And yes, he was of the Borden Dairy fortune, an heir worth millions.

And I guess today's equivalent, he was a multi-billionaire by today's standards. Interesting young man, though, he got saved. God got a hold of his life. And when he went to Yale, he starts sharing God's love with other people. He starts seeing people come to the Lord. He starts sharing the Bible and he started little Bible studies all over that campus.

And by the time he got to leave that class of like 1,300, 1,000 of them had attended one of those Bible studies. Well, then he went to go to Princeton Theological Seminary to get his master's in ministry and got that. And in the interim, he was traveling, looking at missions and awesome things and giving like 70% of his income away.

Started the Yale mission, which was a thing right down the street from the college for street people. Well, he decided he was going to do missions work. So he went to China.

Well, he was 25 when he finished school and went over to do that and he contracted a disease on the way over there. And he died. But he impacted so many people through his serving, through his giving, through his love of the Lord. And when they went in after he died, went into his tent, they found a little note underneath his pillow, just with six words written on it.

But the words were no retreat, no reserves, no regrets. As that young man lied, dying in a tent at age 25, those are the words he wrote. That's the kind of life I want to live for the Lord. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can call us toll-free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Modern life just keeps getting busier and busier by the day. As a result, a lot of Christians are missing out on the life-giving nourishment of daily time in God's Word. That's why Pastor David McGee wants to help revitalize your spiritual health by sending you his video message titled A Checkup from the Neck Up. This resource shows you how to meditate daily on God's Word so that His truth can transform your life. A Checkup from the Neck Up is our way to thank you for your gift this month to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life. So please visit crossthebridge.com now to get your copy of A Checkup from the Neck Up. And be sure to join us next time on Cross the Bridge as we continue in the book of Joshua. We'll see you then.