TRANSCRIPT

Study This Book Of The Instruction Continually/ Obey Everything Written in it (Joshua 1:1-9)
A Sermon By Elise Beatrice - Friday 1 August 2025

“Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us today our daily bread; forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. 
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are Yours. 
Now and Forever. Amen.”  

Lord Jesus, thank You so much, God, for Your grace and Your love and Your peace. Your will be done, my Lord. Your will be done with this reading, with Joshua 1. May Your Holy Spirit guide me to receive exactly what You want me to receive, Lord. Thank You for taking over, thank You for delivering us from evil. Your will be done, Lord, in Your Holy Name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen. 

Okay, we're reading Joshua 1.  This is the Lord at work, talking to His servant. 

"1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— 4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my Command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Amen.

What a powerful word of God, words coming from the mouth of the Lord Himself. Isn't it great? That's a great blessing to have the Lord speaking to Joshua so clearly with these words. Receiving words like those from God at the beginning of your calling, I mean, what more, what can you fear?  
Johua was not the first servant of the Lord, and He was not the last. From the very beginning, God has had many servants, and after Joshua, He had countless servants. 
Joshua had a different task; he was continuing what Moses began. It was a huge, challenging task. But whether it was a huge task or a small task, what is important and applies to all of us is that God is always expecting the same things from us. God may call you and give you a small task. He called Joshua and gave him a big task, but not bigger than the task He gave to Moses. He called many and gave them something to do. He had Prophets and gave them what to do and the number of things they should do. He has had His servants, devoted to Him, serving Him faithfully 'til the end. He had His disciples and His Apostles; He has given them challenging tasks, and they did all of them. 

The Lord gives us tasks, based on who will do what and on whom He sees will handle what. 

God is Just, and He is Fair. He won't give someone something that they won't handle. Though the Lord is speaking those words to Joshua, they don't apply to Joshua alone. He is speaking to Joshua for the benefit of us all who serve Him, and though we may not have the same task that Joshua had, the same calling that many Apostles of Christ had, the same job that all the other prophets of the Lord had, what God is requiring of us is the same thing, which is:
Obedience. 
What all servants of the Lord have in common, no matter the size of their tasks, is obedience to the Lord, to His instructions, to His commandments, to His will, because it is the only right way to remain in the Lord and keep safe and do what is pleasing to the Lord until the end. 
It is obedience that pleases God to be with us until the end. If we forget for a moment that He is saying those words to Joshua, we're going to see that these words also apply to me, to you all, who are called by the Lord, with the only difference being that instead to leading believers into the physical land of Canaan, we are leading them to the Spiritual Land, Spiritual Rest, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. We lead believers to the Lord Jesus Christ by listening to Him and doing His will, and He, our Lord Jesus Christ, leads them and also us, His servants, to Heaven, to His Father, God Almighty. And without obedience to the Lord and to His Instructions in the Scriptures, none of this can happen.

I comfort myself with words like these because I know that God speaking to one of His servants is also speaking to us. But then, He calls someone else to do another job, which is still for the purpose of preaching the Gospel, preaching His words, to save lives, to tend His flock, and to rescue lost sheep and souls. It's about letting Him guide us to do what He wants to do. It is about us letting Him lead us where He wants us to go and to do what He wants us to do, because God has a big, huge Plan, which we don't see, and each one of us who is listening to Him contributes to that Plan; that huge Plan. And since He is the Author of that Plan, the Owner of everything, we must listen to Him in order for Him to give us the little part He wants us to do to contribute to that Huge Plan of His. 
So, we cannot be with God and claim to be serving God, but we don't listen to Him. If we don't listen to Him, how then is He going to guide us where He wants us to go? (By dragging us by the neck with a rope?) No. We don't say, "Oh, we are the servants of the Lord," yet we want the Lord to be the One to serve us and to follow us where we go. The Lord is already gracious and humble to have served us and even washed His disciples' feet and died for our sins on the Cross, as He did. But He does not follow us. We must follow Him. We must listen to Him. We need Him to succeed in our calling. But the Lord does not really need us to succeed in His Plan. God's Plan will go ahead, no matter what. God's huge Plan no one can scratch. We, humans, cannot even see that huge Plan; only Him sees. So how can we then think that we can obstruct God's huge Plan? The damage we can do to ourselves is disobeying the Lord and His righteous ways, because it hides the Lord's face from us. And, when the Lord is far from us, His protection against evil and blessings are not with us. So, let's consider ourselves blessed that He has counted us in to contribute to this beautiful Plan. That's why we need to listen to God, so that He can give us what He sees we can handle to do in this Plan of His, and we cannot do that without obedience to God. 

So, the Lord is promising Joshua in verse 5,  
"No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live."

This is because God was already pleased with Joshua. He has been faithful to the Lord by also respecting His servant Moses. He had been very faithful in his generation. While the others were rebelling against the Lord and His servant, Moses, Joshua remained one of the faithful ones. He was the one God even chose among the others to continue this task. He had already proven himself to be an obedient child of God, an  
obedient servant of the Lord. So the Lord was pleased to use him to continue this most challenging task. 

"No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live."

God won't say these words to every believer. In fact, He did not say these words to all His people. He only says them to those who He sees will remain faithful to Him, because the Lord does not decide who will remain faithful, but it is up to each person to remain faithful to Him. Once we know what to do, we have a choice, but it is up to us to choose to remain faithful to the Lord. And God sees who will remain faithful of their own free will to the Lord, and then He promises them this: 'As long as you remain faithful, as long as you continue to go ahead, and obey my instructions, no one one will be able to stand against you as long as you live, for I will be with you as I was with Moses.' 
Yes. It's not that God had decided to anoint His servant, and chose one and said, "I'm going to be with you wherever you go." No. It's because He saw that one had proven himself worthy, they had gained the Lord's trust, like Moses. Moses was obedient to Him, and when you're obedient to the Lord, that pleases the Lord. It's obedience that does it. God hates disobedience; He hates rebellion. He cannot continue on a journey with us unless He sees that we are prepared to listen to Him. He also takes into consideration that we might make a few mistakes. But any mistake made when willing and eager to listen to the Lord is quickly rectified by the Lord.
If we don't listen to our Master, how then are we going to progress on the journey He is leading us on? So that is why obedience to the Lord is very important; obedience to Him and to His words. 

And when the Lord is saying, "I will not fail you or abandon you," God can bring Himself to say that, because He counts on Himself to do what He says He will do. He is faithful; He always does His part, always keeps His promise. The Lord God won't say something He will not do. 

God never really fails anyone. If we look at reality, we'll see that God does not really fail anyone. It is us who fail Him and each other all the time. It is us walking away. It is always us who decide not to listen to His words. It is always us finding our own ways more than His. It is always us conforming to the pattern of the world and not the pattern of the Kingdom of Heaven. So God does not really fail anyone. 

If people fail in their lives, it is not because God failed them; it is because they did not let God take them where God planned to take them.  

So, God is, in this situation, using the language that Joshua understands to say to Him, "I will not fail you or abandon you."
This is our gracious Lord here. It's not because He fails anyone, no. It's because He is reassuring Joshua and us all who serve Him to be courageous, to be brave, knowing that God will not fail Him, that God Himself in His own lips had spoken because of the big task he had ahead of him to fight all those Amorites, Jebusites, all these Canaanites, all these Amalekites and the people of Jericho. So he had this war ahead of him; he needed to remain strong and courageous. And in order to be that,  he had to be convinced of the Lord's presence; he had to know that God was with Him. So, the Lord was here, speaking these words, and coming from the mouth of the Lord, God is faithful, and He always keeps His promises. If the Lord opens His own mouth to speak these words, that means He will do it, as long as we do our part and do not stop listening to Him. 
God is presenting to Him, "This is what I will do for you." 
The same way, He said to Abraham, "Abraham, walk before Me and be blameless, and I will establish My everlasting Covenant with you through Isaac." 
Let's remember, 
Joshua had the Amorites and the Canaanites to fight, and we have demons and antichrists of today to fight with the words of the Lord Jesus.

Either way, only obedience to the Lord can help us prevail over our oppressors. 
So, God is coming here and saying to Joshua, 'This is what you must do. I'm commanding you to be strong and courageous. It is my Command to be strong and courageous, because you are the one who will lead My people to possess the Land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. So, I command you to be strong and courageous, because you are a leader now, and will need to set the perfect example. You have a great responsibility to be that leader who shows a great example, following My ways, and following My teachings.'  
This is, in a way, what God is expressing to him.  

'Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you.' This is because the Lord Himself is pleased with the instructions Moses gave them. Moses was faithful; he was not immoral; he was righteous. He obeyed the Lord and passed on the Lord's instructions to His people.
None of those instructions was leading them to sin. And now, He was reminding Joshua to be careful to obey all the Instructions: God's instructions, God's decrees, all of His moral Commandments that are the prescriptions for sin. What kind of life are we living if we're not following the Instructions of the Lord? Where are we going? There is a path ahead of us; there is a destination we must get to, and we need the instructions. The Bible is the Book of Instructions that guides us through life, pointing to the One who is the Author of physical and spiritual life, the Lord Jesus Christ, our safe destination. And without those instructions, we get lost in this huge life, and never find the One true God, our only Saviour, our only Hope and Eternal Salvation, who gives us only good things.

So, it is a Command that Joshua obeys all the Commands Moses gave him. "Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left, then you will be successful in everything you do."
So, as long as Joshua continues to serve God right as Moses did, God will always be there for him, and no one will overthrow him, because God will be there with Him, fighting for him. 

When we obey God, He is there to fight for us. 

Nothing on this earth belongs to satan, except evil and the deeds of darkness. Satan did not create his own earth. This is the earth created by God. So, satan is living on this earth as a tenant, an evil, unjust tenant, who lives in a land that doesn't belong to him. And at just the right time, the Owner God will kick him out of it. 
He had taken over the Land of Canaan and polluted it with his evil.
Many people today say, "But why couldn't God go and find other places on the earth and let His people live there? Why go into the land that was already occupied by those people?" 
Because the land was never theirs. They never created any land; God created it. It was God's Land from the very beginning, and satan occupied it without being authorised by God. God was kicking him out of what belongs to God. From the very beginning, satan has always wanted to take everything or defile everything that belongs to God. But at just the right time, God comes to take back what is His. 

So the condition to be successful in everything we do is that we obey God and every instruction of the Lord, every decree of the Lord. It is only then that we are successful in everything we do. Because, then, the Lord blesses what we do, according to His will. 
Please note that I'm not referring here to the worldly success satan grants people only to steal their souls. 
The kind of success the Lord speaks about here is not the success taught by the prosperity Gospel. That is the success achieved through rebellion against the Lord and His ways, by distorting the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and deceiving many souls. Therefore, the Lord is not with them, nor in their churches or in their homes. And where the Lord isn't, His blessings aren't either. So the type of success the Lord speaks about here is divine success, divine riches, spiritual life, producing good fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the Lord's presence, the Lord's answered prayers, spiritual gifts, spiritual deliverance for satan and demons in our trials, the Lord's protection, restoration, His blessings, divine joy and peace, and of course, our daily provision, daily bread, because the Lord knows what we need while living on this earth for Him.

Who is helping us be successful in everything we do? It is the Lord. 
When God is pleased because we're listening to Him, He's the One making things happen. 

"Study this Book of the Instructions continually" - This is the Bible here, although at that time they still had the scrolls - "meditate on it day and night, so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do."
So, the condition to prosper and succeed in all we do is that we meditate on this Book day and night, and care to do everything it says. Because the instructions come from the Lord. And the Lord, even later, when He sent His Son, Jesus, is to repeat these instructions to us, and to simplify for us to understand even the meaning of the Ten Commandments, to make us aware that those Ten Commandments are indeed just Two Commandments, which are all about love: for the neighbour and love for God. 

Many people have got God wrong. His Son, Jesus, came to die for us on the Cross, also to remind us of the truth. He came also to speak those words because He is the Word of God. Christ is the Word of God.

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). 

Christ shall not pass away, the Words spoken by Christ shall not pass away, the Words spoken by God shall not pass away. So meditate on this Holy Bible day and night, so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. 'Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.' 

Many believers are not really obeying God's words; if not, they would be teaching their own doctrine, conforming to the pattern of the world. They are not obeying the words of the Lord, yet they are advertising prosperity and showing how much they prosper in their ways. But that is not the prosperity the Lord is referring to here. He is not saying, "Meditate on my words day and night and obey everything so that I can buy you limousines, and mansions, a palace and skyscrapers..." That's not what God is saying here. 

Those who are obeying God are loving people with hearts; they care about people, and they tend the Lord’s flock with love. So, some use prosperity to make people feel like, in order to be a good Christian, you must judge according to what you own. But God is promising us something here that is greater, that is far more worthy and rewarding than the material things that false teachers go for. 

Prospering and succeeding in a way pleasing to the Lord is to produce good fruit. I mean, you can have five hundred people in your congregation, and they are deceived; you're not prospering at all. But you can have fifty people in your congregation, and they are all saved; they are in the Lord, living for Christ, then the reward that you have in Heaven is wow! Because that is prospering divinely. 

The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 6:20, 
"Store your treasures in Heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal."

Galatians 6:8 says, 
"Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit."

So please note that this Spirit here is the Holy Spirit.

God is still assisting His people here, and feeding them daily, and providing for them. And because you are not in the darkness, you are prospering. And because you are not controlled by your sinful nature anymore, you are prospering. Because you don't have a guilty conscience because you no longer practice sin, you are prospering. Because you have a heart that loves people truly and cares for the Lord's flock, you are prospering. Because you live for the Lord and do His will, you are prospering, even in times of oppression and suffering. And whatever you do, whether you go out there to pray for others, to do something for a righteous purpose, the Lord will make that happen because He is with you, and His blessings are with you. 

The Lord Jesus said, 
"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" (Mark 8:36).

Please note this: 
God is only with us wherever we go when we are listening to Him, and He is the One sending us where we're going and telling us what to do. So, that is the truth. 

I pray this sermon helps you. 
May the Lord's peace be with you while you choose wisely. 

Oh Lord, thank You so much, God, for these words; these powerful words that You speak. Thank You for delivering us from evil. You love it when we obey You. Holy Father, thank You so much for Your Holy Bible; thank You for Your Instructions. Lord, we thank You, and we bless You. There are many people on this earth who truly love You and really live for You and strive to obey You. Thank You that You won't let them fall. Thank You, Lord Jesus and Father God. I know You never fail anyone. Thank You, Lord, Father, for Your promise, Your faithfulness, Your goodness, Your righteousness, Your greatness, Your unfailing Love, and Your joy and Peace, Your mercy on us, and Your willingness to forgive us. Oh, Lord, we thank You that You are with us and will never leave us, nor forsake us. 
Oh, please, hear my prayer; thank You for rescuing those who are crying out to You, willing to let go of their ways. Please, always be there for us, in Your Holy Name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Father, thank You for hearing my prayer, in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.