4. Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out
from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the
people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
At the end of three days the officers went through the
camp and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the
ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by
the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place
and follow it. Yet there shall be a distance between you
5. and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in
order that you may know the way you shall go, for you
have not passed this way before.”
- Joshua 3:1-4
7. How Do I Find The Courage To Cross The River?
1) Stick To The God Who Always Goes First.
8. How Do I Proactively and Kinetically Seize the Life
God Has Offered Me?
1) Ditch the Extra Weight
9.
10. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every
respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let
us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time
of need.
- Hebrews 4:15–16
11. Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves,
for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” And
Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant
and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of
the covenant and went before the people.
- vv. 5-6
12. How Do I Find The Courage To Cross The River?
1) Stick To The God Who Always Goes First.
2) Purge Weakness
13. But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my
hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they
not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of
great transgression.
May these words of my mouth and this meditation
of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and
my Redeemer.
- Psalm 19:12-15
14. “…the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing,
and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one
heap.”
- v. 13
15. So when the people set out from their tents to pass over
the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant
before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark
had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests
bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now
the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of
harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and
rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is
16. beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea
of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And
the people passed over opposite Jericho.
- vv. 14-16
17. How Do I Find The Courage To Cross The River?
1) Stick To The God Who Always Goes First.
2) Purge Weakness
3) Go, NOW, While The Waters Are Held Back
18. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we
shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
– 1 Corinthians 15:49
19. “For believers today, crossing the Jordan represents
passing from one level of the Christian life to another. It is
a picture of entering into spiritual warfare to claim what
God has promised. This should mean the end of a life lived
by human effort and the beginning of a life of faith and
obedience.”
– Donald Campbell, The Bible
Knowledge Commentary, p. 335.
20. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
– Matthew 11:28-30