Facing Fear With Courage - Part 1

We'll be right back to It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural! It's Supernatural!

It's Supernatural! And the last thing, the last thing, the last thing, the last thing, the last thing, the last thing, the last thing, the last thing, the last thing, the last thing, having come through the Red Sea, Exodus out of Egypt, to Mount Sinai, to receive the law of God across the wilderness, and now to the edge of the Promised Land. And you remember what happened, and that is when Moses sent to the land, and the people of Egypt, the people of Egypt, had a little place to go and they had a little place there. Two of them, Joshua and Caleb said, yes, we can, God has given us this land, let's go.

The people listened to the ten rather than to the two and as a result, a negative attitude caused them to make a decision not to go. For the next forty years, they wandered around in the And that's what's happening. Forty years later, 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'm given to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place in which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. For you shall give this people possession of the land, which I have swore to their fathers to give them. Only be you will be.

For all the land of the Hittites and as far as the 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've 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 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, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for this will be He says, "'For then you will make your way prosperous, then you will have success.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of a good courage. Do not tremble and be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.'" That is a powerful passage of Scripture. Because of the principle, because of what God said to Joshua, what He said to him applies to your life and to your life and my life when we face challenges and difficulties and hardships and things that would naturally cause us to fear. And the reason I know that Joshua was having a little twinge was this, that he said to him three times, be strong and of a good courage. Be very strong and of a good courage. And he says, have I not commanded you now?

Be strong and of a good courage. It's interesting that when Joshua took God's command to him and he gathered the people and told them what God had said to him, then in the eighteenth verse of this first chapter, having heard how God spoke to Joshua, then the Scripture says in verse seventeen, just as we have obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses.

Now listen to this, anyone, this is what the people are saying, anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you command Him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous. Even the people were saying to him, be strong and courageous. So, when I look at this passage of Scripture and I realize that what God said to him was an awesome challenge. Listen to what God was saying to him. Joshua, Moses is dead.

You're the man. I'm going to be with you, but you're to lead these people across the Jordan into the Promised Land. You're to take the land.

He gave him very clear instructions about how they were to do it. So, I think about the fact that here's Joshua remembering how many times they tried to stone him, that is, stone Moses, because they didn't like what he said. And now you've got over two million of them and they've been rebellious all those years and oftentimes failing in their faith and now he's saying to him, you are to take them across into the Promised Land. Well, I think that probably would have caused a little fear in most anybody. And that's why God said to him three times, He says, be strong and of a good courage, be strong and of a good courage, be strong and of a good courage.

Have you ever felt like God was telling you that? Be strong, be courageous, don't be afraid. Because you see, all of us will face things in life that cause us to be afraid, that give us challenges, that cause us to look around us and say, how can it happen? How can I manage that?

How could this ever work out for me? And so, it's because of our doubts and our fears. And sometimes a little fear can grow into a big fear. And there's a key to all of that in this passage of Scripture.

It's one of the most important passages in the Old Testament, as far as I'm concerned, because when it comes to living your life every day and knowing how to deal with the fears and the anxieties and the things that would divide our mind and cause us to have an energy drain and inhibit the things that we'd like to accomplish and like to do, here is the key in this passage of Scripture. Now, let's just define what courage is. And what I want you to notice is this, courage isn't just being determined and being hard-nosed and being tough. Our quality of mind or spirit that enables us to meet danger, shame or fear. But unlike as we've just said, equivalence, fearlessness, calmness, and firmness. Everyone, this passage of Euros is written in the Word of God, which says, It doesn't mean that we're not going to have any fear, but what courage is? Courage is an expression of how you face it.

How? Fearless, calmness, firmness. That is, when these things hit us, So, what is it that builds confidence when we face things that oftentimes are very, very fearful in our life? And how many times as a pastor I've heard people say, let me tell you what's happening to me, and I'm so afraid. I'm so afraid. So, with that in mind, and I think about how God said what He said, it doesn't mean that you and I will never have any fears. But the issue is, how long am I afraid?

That is, fears will come suddenly, for example. And you know, if you just by a hair's breadth miss an accident, you feel that. Let me ask you this, how many times you've been driving in the highway and all of a sudden, here's a policeman in blue light and the whistle just going, and what do you feel?

What do you do? You look at your speedometer to see if you're guilty or not. Now, you're not doing it fifty miles an hour.

Everybody around you is doing eighty-five. But somehow, somehow there's something about that. So, those are those kind of things.

Then there are issues that are far more serious. And you remember that Jesus told us not to fear. He said, for example, on occasion, He said, fear not. He said to the disciples walking on the water, He said to them, do not be afraid, it is I, do not be afraid. And I think all of us have been in situations, if we haven't been, we will be. When we needed to hear that, it is I, be not afraid.

Well, here in there, I believe is the key to all of that. He said to him beginning in verse six, verse six, be strong and courageous. Verse seven, only be strong and very courageous. Verse nine, have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Three times in those short verses, in that short conversation, He said to him, be strong and courageous, be very strong and courageous.

Have I not warned you, you've got to be strong and courageous. Why would He say that? Because He knew that He was going to get a lot of opinions and a lot of suggestions about what He ought to do and how He ought to do it. And watch this, God knew that Jericho was coming. He knew He would face some things that absolutely were unreasonable. That's why He said to them, you've got to be very courageous. You've got to be strong and very courageous. And He said, you've got to be very courageous. And He said, you've got to be very courageous. And He said, you've got to be very courageous.

And you can't be drawn off course. Watch this, He said, not only did He charge you with being courageous, but look what He said. Only be strong and courageous. Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses, My servant, commanded you. Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses commanded you. Then He said, 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, then you'll make your way prosperous, then you'll have success. Now, it's interesting what He said to him three times, be strong and courageous. But it's what He said between those times I want you to notice here.

Because, you see, there are times when people are fearful and can't figure out why they're fearful. Well, notice what He said. He said in verse six, 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 and be careful to do according to all the law which Moses, My servant, commanded you. So, you may ask the question, well, does that mean that I'm to do everything in the Old Testament? No, it doesn't mean that I'm to do everything in the Old Testament, it just means that I'm to do everything in the Old Testament. Well, it doesn't mean that I'm to do everything in the Old Testament, it just means that I'm to do everything in the Old Testament. No, because all the Mosaic law that had to do with sacrifices and big meetings and all the things that related to them as a nation of Israel, we don't practice that.

Somebody says, well, why not? When Jesus came, you remember He said He came not to violate the law, but to do everything in the Old Testament. He came to do everything in the Old Testament. He came to do everything in the Old Testament. And so, all of that was creating a nation and creating faith in Almighty God, Jehovah God. And then when Jesus came, all of that was satisfied. No more sacrificing of lambs and sheeps and goats and bulls and doves and all that, because the final sacrifice took place at Calvary. Jesus said, I've come to fulfill the law. I've come to fulfill the law, and I've come to fulfill the law, and I've come to fulfill the law, and I've come to fulfill the law. And the Holy of Holies was wide open because now we have a whole different relationship to God than they had.

So, all those laws is, that's what He was talking about then. In fact, when He said this Book of the Law was referring primarily to the Book of Deuteronomy, because the Book of Deuteronomy is in the Old Testament, this was God's recommendation, and He was going to give us the judgment. He's going to give us the judgment. He's going to give us the judgment. He's going to give us the judgment. And so, it was the solemn warnings in the Word of God.

And if you'll read Deuteronomy, here's what you'll find. You'll find this nation of ours, this nation of ours has violated everything He warned them against violating. So, when we come to this passage, what is it about it that applies to us when He says, be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you.

Don't turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you have success. Well, here's what He means. You can't go about what seems right, because He knew that Jericho would not seem right. So, when we come to this passage, what is it about it that applies to us?

Well, He knew that many battles they would face would not seem to be right. You're to do exactly, He says, as the law of Moses, the book of Deuteronomy, has commanded you. And He says, 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. Look at that word again, to do according to all that is written in it, then you'll make your way prosperous, then you'll have success.

You'll have success, you'll have success, you'll have success. And so, He says, He said, according to all that God has told us to do, it's when you and I know what to do, know what the Word of God says, and then we decide to think about it. And we decide we're going to listen to Him and listen to her.

And then we think about our feelings. Well, but I'm afraid, He said, do according to all that God has told us to do. God will speak to your heart, my heart, just as clearly as He did to you, and He will speak to you, and He will speak to you.

And so, we're going to listen to Him and we're going to listen to Him. And one of the primary reasons you don't believe, that is because there's something going on in your life that you know is not right. Guilt, fear, doubt, all of these things confuse the Word of God in our minds. And so, oftentimes a person who is a believer, you pray and ask God to show you what to do, well it doesn't seem exactly as easy as you would think. And so, when God says, well, I'm going to do something, I'm going to do something, I'm going to do something, I'm going to do something, I'm going to do something. You're going to do something. And so, you're going to have to trust. If God tells you to do something, remember who's telling you. This is omniscience. Almighty God who knows your future, knows every detail of a situation that you're facing, and knows the danger and what does He want you to do? He wants you to follow His instructions, not your friend's instructions, not someone else's instructions, but to do exactly what He wants you to do. This is where you succeed.