Sermon Notes

Covenant Life: Yesterday, Today, and Forever (Joshua 24)

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Covenant Life: Yesterday, Today, and Forever (Joshua 24)

On Sunday we looked at Joshua 24, the last chapter in Joshua, and concluded our series on this Jesus-centered book.

In Joshua 24, the soon-to-be-departed leader of Israel called Israel to renew their covenant with God. By reminding Israel of God’s grace in their past and calling them to seek Yahweh’s grace for their present, Joshua renewed a covenant that anticipated a greater covenant in the future.

Indeed, as we have seen in all of Joshua, this book points to Jesus with remarkable, and at times shocking, clarity. It is not a book where we have to read Jesus back into the Old Testament. Instead, as the first book written after Moses, a book that helps us learn to read the rest of the Prophets and Writings, Joshua (Yeshua = Jesus) is unmistakably Christotelic (written to bring us to Christ at-the-end). And Joshua 24 may be the most fulsome in  leading us to Christ. At least, that’s what I argue in this sermon!

You can listen to the sermon online. Response questions and additional resources can be found below. Continue reading →

Beloved, Keep the Faith: What Jesus’s Final Words Say That Joshua’s Can’t (Joshua 23)

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Beloved, Keep the Faith: What Jesus’s Final Words Say That Joshua’s Can’t (Joshua 23) (Sermon Audio)

In Joshua’s penultimate chapter in Joshua, we hear a word from Joshua calling for an ultimate commitment to God. Speaking to the people he has led out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land, Joshua says “Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God” (v. 11).

In short, Joshua’s last words to Israel urge Israel to keep the faith. Only, as Joshua 24:31 indicates, Israel’s faithfulness is very short-lived. Only one generation after Joshua continues to keep the covenant (renewed in Joshua 24). Thus, for all that Joshua has done and said, it is ultimately ineffective. And as we read his words today, we can feel the same kind of discouragement, if we don’t place the weakness of his sermon with the eternal life that Christ gives with his final words.

Indeed, in this week’s sermon we will see how Joshua’s final words, like his entire life, are meant to lead us to Christ. From this connection everything that Joshua can be applied to us today, with (re)assurance that our faith will endure because Christ himself is keeping us (Jude 2), even as we keep ourselves in the love of God (Jude 21).

You can listen to the sermon online. For more on Joshua 23, you can read this week’s Ten Things blogpost: Love God, Flee Idols, and Remember That Jesus is with You: 10 Things about Joshua 23.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds

 

A City on a Hill: What the Levitical Cities Teach the Church About Glorifying God Together (Joshua 20–21)

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A City on a Hill: What the Levitical Cities Teach the Church About Glorifying God

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus called his followers a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14–16). This title has often been used to speak of America, as well as other institutions of moral influence. Yet, it is most appropriately applied to the church. This is seen throughout the New Testament (cf. 1 Peter 2), but we also find this idea in the Old Testament.

In this week’s sermon on Joshua 20–21, Israel’s role spreading God’s light to the nations is seen in the cities God established for refuge and instruction. In fact, by learning about the purposes the cities of refuge (Josh. 20) and Levitical cities (Josh. 21), we learn much about God’s purposes for his people. This has historical relevance for understanding the nation of Israel. But it also has theological application for Christ and his new covenant people.

You can listen to this sermon online. Discussion questions are additional resources are available below.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds Continue reading →

God’s Treasure Map: An Invitation to Imagine Your Inheritance (Joshua 13–19)

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God’s Treasure Map: An Invitation to Imagine Your Inheritance (Joshua 13–19)

As the famed Puritan, Matthew Henry, begins his commentary on Joshua 13:1, he writes, “We are not to skip over these chapters of hard names as useless and not to be regarded.” Why? Because “ where God has a mouth to speak and a hand to write we should find an ear to hear and an eye to read.”

This is a good reminder as we venture into seven chapters composed of lists, boundary markers, and land distributions. In comparison to the exciting action of Israel’s military conquests in Joshua 1–12, Joshua 13–19 seems, well, . . . dull. But its dullness depends entirely on our inability to appreciate what these chapters meant to Israel.

For centuries, Israel had waited to receive its long-promised inheritance. And now, that the gift of the land had come, Joshua 13–19 tells the contents of this treasure and the placement of God’s people in the land. What was once promised to Abraham, is now coming to fulfillment in the days of Joshua.

For us today, this passage is equally exciting when we consider the inheritance promised to us in Christ—an inheritance we still look for in the new heavens and the new earth. Thus, these chapters should not bore us with their detail; they should stir excitement in our own hope of heaven—i.e., a heaven on earth when Christ returns.

Indeed, this is how I pursued these chapters in Sunday’s sermon. Rather than taking a microscope to each verse, we looked at them as a whole. Instead of devoting a sermon to each chapter we looked at  Joshua 13–19 as a ’treasure map’ to better understand our inheritance in Christ.

You can listen to this sermon online. Discussion questions can be found below.

Discussion Questions

Continue reading →

The Last Battle: Five Portraits of Warfare for Life in an Embattled World (Joshua 11–12)

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joshua07The Last Battle: Five Portraits of Warfare for Life in an Embattled World

Sometimes reading the Old Testament is difficult because it is so far away and so different from today. But other times, we see in the struggles of Israel and actions of God experiences that mirror (or even foreshadow) our own. On Sunday, that was certainly the case, as finished the first half of Joshua.

In Joshua 11–12 we found the conclusion of Joshua’s conquest of Canaan. And in these two chapters we saw five portraits of war that provide us with five principles for life.

Importantly, these principles are not just for life in general, but for life in a fallen and embattled world. Truly, our lives are enmeshed in a spiritual battle and Joshua 11–12 helps us see how to fight the fight of faith. You can find the sermon here and response questions and additional resources below.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds

Response Questions

  1. How is the gathering of armies in verses 1-5 different from what Israel has faced previously? How does God counsel Joshua? (v. 6)
  2. What is significant about Moses’ command? (11:12–15)
  3. How should we understand this battle in light of God’s sovereignty? (11:20)
  4. What does this battle (chapter 11) and these victories (chapter 12) teach us about the Lord?
  5. What truths and attributes of God do you observe in this narrative?
  6. How ought we to respond to these truths?

Additional Resources

On Joshua

On Spiritual Warfare

 

 

The Lord is a Warrior (Joshua 10)

/ davidsschrock / 3 Comments

joshua07The Lord is a Warrior (Joshua 10)

Standing on the shores of the Red Sea, with Pharaoh’s army buried under the water, Moses leads Israel to praise God for his powerful victory. And in Exodus 15:1–3, he sings,

1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.

This song of Moses rejoices in the God who defeated Pharaoh and his army. And inspired by the Holy Spirit, God teaches us who he is and how we are to worship him. As verse 3 says, “The Lord is a warrior” and he deserves our praise as such.

Today, this image of God as a warrior is not often appreciated. Instead, God, and especially God the Son, is presented in softer colors. As Dale Ralph Davis has put it, “The popular image of Jesus is that he is not only kind and tender but also soft and prissy, as though Jesus comes to us reeking of hand cream” (Joshua, 88).

Think what you will of hand cream, but the truth remains—Jesus as victorious warrior has been replaced by Jesus as a mild-mannered, emotive counselor. Certainly, Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor and one who knows our pains and plight, but he is also a strong and mighty ruler whose enemies are being put under his feet every day.

In Sunday’s sermon, we considered God as a Warrior. From Joshua 10, we saw how the LORD rained down hailstones on the wicked and went to war, defending his people. Moreover, we saw how Joshua, God’s Savior, prayed and judged—two themes that must be kept with salvation. All in all, Joshua 10 presents a corrective to any view of Jesus that only thinks of him in sentimental terms.

You can listen to the sermon here. Response questions and additional resources can be found below. Continue reading →

His Mercy is More: God’s Surprising Kindness to Liars and Self Reliars (Joshua 9)

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joshua07His Mercy is More: God’s Surprising Kindness to Liars and Self Reliars

Lies and liars. Our world is filled with them, and we often struggle to know what to do with them. This is true when are deceived, but it is also true when we are the deceiver.

On Sunday we saw another deception story in Joshua. And to play on words—Joshua 9 teaches us again that (first) looks can be deceiving. For instead of seeing how the lies of Gibeon are met with swift punishment, we find that God’s mercy overshadows their wrongdoing. At the same time, we also learn how Israel’s self-reliance is covered by the wise mercy of Joshua. Thus, in this chapter we find great hope for liars and self-reliars, which is to say we find hope for all of us!

To see how Joshua 9 leads us to appreciate more of God’s mercy and to become more merciful, you can listen to the sermon online. You can also find response questions and further resources below.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds Continue reading →

Remembering Baptism: Israel’s, Jesus’s, and Yours (Joshua 3–4)

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joshua07Remembering Baptism: Israel’s, Jesus’s, and Yours (Joshua 3–4)

So far in Joshua, we have seen connections between Joshua and Jesus, as well as Rahab and the Church. These connections remind us how this book of history is written for us on whom the end of the ages have come (1 Corinthians 10:11; cf. Romans 15:4). Incredibly, the inspired words of the Old Testament are not just Israel’s historical chronicles; they are prophetic messages leading us to Christ (1 Peter 1:10–12).

This week we will see this pattern again.

Widening our gaze to see Israel cross the Jordan River,  Joshua 3–4 shows us how God exalted Joshua by parting the waters and bringing all of Israel into the land. As we saw in this week’s sermon, the memorial of twelve stones is meant for future generations. And for us, we will see how this water passage not only reveals the character of God but also foreshadows the baptism of Jesus and our own baptisms.

You can listen to the sermon online. Response questions and further resources are available below.  Continue reading →

A Harlot’s Hope: The Gospel in One Chapter (Joshua 2)

/ davidsschrock

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A Harlot’s Hope: The Gospel in One Chapter (Joshua 2)

Tamar and Judah. Rahab and Salmon. Ruth and Boaz. Bathsheba and David. The Church and Jesus.

What do these couples have in common? They are all in the Bible? Yes. They are all in Jesus genealogy? Yes.

And most astoundingly, each had a history with harlotry. Respectively, the dress, the (former) identity, or the actions of these couples contain some element related idolatry, adultery, or prostitution.

Finding a place in this redemptive story, Sunday’s sermon considered the incredible story of Rahab and how God saved her from a life of prostitution and a city on the verge of destruction. With many themes that touched on the fabric of salvation, we saw God had mercy on this woman and can have mercy on anyone who believes.

You can listen to the sermon online. Response questions and additional resources can be found below.

Response Questions

  1. How do the spies of Joshua 2 contrast with the spies of Numbers 13?
  2. What observations can you make about Rahab?
  3. Do any aspects of this story surprise you?
  4. What does Rahab believe about God?
  5. How do you see the mercy of God in this story?
  6. Do you see any significance in the scarlet cord?
  7. What does the New Testament testify about Rahab in Matthew 1:5, Hebrews 11:31, and James 2:25?
  8. What truths are visible in this story? What might application of this narrative look like?

Additional Resources

How Long O Lord?!? Teaching the Laodicean Church to Lament (Psalm 13)

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bythebook04How Long O Lord?!? Teaching the Laodicean Church to Lament

The Psalms are filled with all sorts of praise and worship, yet one of the most prominent are psalms of individual and corporate laments. Unfortunately, these psalms of sorrow  rarely become our standard words of comfort and encouragement—rarely, until tragedy strikes. And then they become a lifeline for the sinking believer.

Corporately, these Psalms also find limited use. When the typical American church gathers for worship, we are accustomed to positive, upbeat sermons and songs. For reasons deliberate and otherwise, these sad songs get little time. Yet, as I tried to show on Sunday, this absence of lamentation marks a distinct loss for the Christian and the church.

By contrast, the regular practice or lamentation and confession provides a needed antidote to the superficiality of our age and it teaches people to worship God with every emotion. For that reason our church considered Psalm 13 and the need to express sorrow in corporate worship.

You can listen to the sermon online. Response questions and additional resources (including two songs on Psalm 13) can be found below.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds Continue reading →