Dare To Stand Like Joshua
Joshua 24:15
Joshua, Son of Nun
• The story of Joshua does not begin in Joshua 1:1, but
much earlier in his “youth”
• The Lord had confidence in Joshua to be the next
leader after Moses because Joshua had developed
himself for leadership (Num. 27:15ff)
• What can we learn from this great man?
A Man of Courage
• Joshua begins his story with his “youthful” courage in
the battle of Amalek (Ex. 17:8-16; Deut. 3:21-22)
• Joshua also learned on this occasion that God does
not tolerate opposition and rebellion (Amalek)
• Joshua’s courage prepared him for later battles
(Josh. 1:6,9; 6:1 – 12:24; 8:1,26; 10:8,24-26; 11:6)
• Joshua teaches us courage (2 Tim. 1:7)
A Man of Service
• Joshua was Moses’ “minister” (servant) as they both
went up Mt. Sinai to receive the Law (Ex. 24:13-14;
33:11)
• Joshua learned the way to great leadership is through
service (Deut. 34:5)
• Joshua’s service prepared him for later acts of service
(Num. 32:28; 34:17; Josh. 14:1)
• Joshua teaches us service (Mt. 20:26-28)
•
A Man of Righteous
Indignation
Joshua witnessed righteous indignation against sin in
the camp (Ex. 32:15-20; 33:11)
• Joshua’s righteous indignation prepared him to
address sin in the camp later (Josh. 7:12)
• Joshua teaches us righteous indignation (Acts 8:2223; 1 Cor. 5:1-13; 2 Cor. 7:11; Rom. 12:9)
A Man of Humility
• Joshua was a man of prominence and authority who
had to learn not to be jealous and work with others
who have talents (Num. 11:26-30)
• Joshua’s humility prepared him for working with
others later when it counted (Josh. 6-12)
• Joshua teaches us humility and cooperation
(Mk. 9:38-40; Lk. 18:14; Phil. 2:3-4; Jas. 4:10;
1 Pet. 5:5-6; 1 Cor. 12:12ff)
•
A Man of Faithful
Obedience
Joshua was one of two spies who faithfully obeyed
the Lord and stood in the minority (Num. 13:8,16;
14:6-10,30,38; 26:65; 32:12; Deut. 1:38)
• Joshua’s faithful obedience prepared him for teaching
faithful obedience to others by word and by example
(Josh. 1:6-9; 3:1; 5:2-9; 6:12,17,22,25; 7:11ff;
8:10,18,27,31-35; 10:40; 11:9,12,18,23; 14:1; 15:13;
18:3; 19:49-51; 20:1,9; 24:14-28) – Josh. 11:15 is a
good summary!
• Joshua teaches us faithful obedience (1 Cor. 15:58;
Gal. 6:9; Heb. 5:9)
A Man of Spirituality
• Joshua was a man “in whom is the Spirit” (Num.
27:15-23) and a man “full of the spirit of wisdom”
(Deut. 34:9)
• Joshua allowed himself to be led by the Spirit of God
and this spirit of wisdom prepared him for leading the
people later (Josh. 1:6-9; 2:1ff; 8:3ff; compare Josh.
9:14)
• Joshua teaches us (Spirit)uality (Gal. 5:23ff; 8:4ff;
Col. 1:9; Jas. 1:5; 3:17-18)
A Man of God
• Joshua learned to let the Lord go first in his life and
trust the Lord’s presence (Deut. 31:3,7,14,23; 32:44)
• Joshua let the Lord go first in his life which prepared
him to put the Lord first later (Joshua 3:7; 4:1ff; 6:27;
22:5; 23:6,11; 24:14-15)
• Joshua teaches us the important of letting God go first
in our life and he will be with us (Mt. 6:33;
Rom. 8:31; Heb. 13:5-6)
Dare to Stand Like Joshua
Courage
Service
Righteous Indignation
Humility
Faithful Obedience
Spirituality
God First
Dare to Stand Like Joshua
• A Joshua is going to have an influence long
after his death (Josh. 24:31)
• A Joshua is going to need encouragement
(Deut. 3:21,28)
Dare to Stand Like Joshua
• A Joshua is needed today to fight the battles of
the Christian (Eph. 6:10ff; 1 Tim. 6:12;
2 Tim. 2:3-4)
• A Joshua is needed today to lead God’s people
into the rest-land of heaven (Heb. 4:8-11)?
• Will you dare to stand like Joshua? May God
give us more Joshuas for the battles we are
fighting today!