GOD’S UNCHANGING CONDITION FOR REDEMPTIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM

Text: Joshua 23:1-16.

We come to a redemptive relationship by the blood of the Lamb the same way the children of Israel came by putting the blood of the animal on the lintel of their houses. The children of Israel passed through the Red Sea when they came out of Egypt which symbolises our baptism in water today. They journeyed in the wilderness until they came to the land of promise which symbolises our coming into the full life of redemption and eventually into paradise, the perfect abode of the almighty God in heaven. As God gave the children of Israel the condition to retain their redemptive relationship with Him, He has given us the word concerning the unchanging condition of our redemptive relationship with Him from the time of our conversion to the climax of our faith, and He expects us to abide by the word He has given so that nothing will hinder our getting to heaven.

1.      THE UNDENIABLE FULFILMENT EXPRESSED OF GOD’S PROMISES

Joshua 23:1-5.

• The Fulfilment of All the Promises of God – Joshua 23:1-3; 21:44-45; 1 Kings 8:56-58; Isaiah 46:3-4. “And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.” (Joshua 23:1). Joshua waxed old and stricken in years, yet he remained in the work, and God fulfilled all the promises He gave them. “There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:45). We are reminded that when it comes to the God who is the same forever and changes not, every promise He has made for us of His salvation, cleansing, purifying, and sanctifying of the heart, power of the Holy Ghost in ministry, God fulfils them all in His faithfulness. “Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.” (1 Kings 8:56). God fulfilled His promise for Israel and Joshua, His son, servant, saint, supporter, successor, soldier, and senior citizen. God fulfils the promise from a young age to your hoary head. “Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” (Isaiah 46:3-4).

• The Fulness of All the Provision of God – Joshua 23:3, 14; 21:43-45; Luke 12:67; Ephesians 3:19-21. “And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.” (Joshua 23:14). Not one thing will fail in the promises of God to us. “And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:43-45). God is still the same and we can go back to His book to find out all the promises, provisions, and possibilities for the people that rely on the heavenly Father by faith, and all will come to pass. “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7). If God is so concerned about the hair on our head enough to number them, we are more assured that He is watching over other vital organs of our body, and the functions of our body will continue until old age in Jesus Name. “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:19-21). The Lord will always be willing and able in your life in times of any challenge or difficulty.

• The Faithfulness of the Almighty in All Periods of All Generations – Psalm 89:1-2,34; 119:89-91; Isaiah 25:1, 3-5; Lamentation 3:22-25. The faithfulness of God reaches every generation. “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” (Psalms 89:1-2, 34). God will not break His covenant He has made, and the promises attached to that covenant in every generation, because it is ratified by the blood of Jesus. “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.” (Psalms 119:89-91). “O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.” (Isaiah 25:1, 3-5). God becomes our God by our repentance and faith in the Lord, by the redemptive relationship that takes place when we become born again, and by continuing in His word. The bragging, barriers, hurdles, and bondage of the terrible ones will be brought low and brought down in your life in Jesus Name. “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” (Lamentations 3:22-25). The faithfulness of God is greater than any challenge or peculiarity of any day.

2.      THE UNWAVERING FAITHFULNESS EXPECTED OF GOD’S PEOPLE

Joshua 23:6-11.

God has been so kind and good, and He has blessed us in every way; now, we are to reciprocate by loving Him, giving all to Him and for Him, and becoming instruments of salvation to everyone.

• Courageous Steadfastness and Faithfulness to God – Joshua 23:6; 1:7-9; Hebrews 3:6, 12-14; 2 Peter 3:17-18. The faithfulness of God to us demands that we become very courageous and committed to the truth of His word. “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;” (Hebrews 3:6, 1214). We are to hold fast the faith, commitment, and consecration with confidence until the end. Those who continue in sin with a hardness of heart thinking that they are still saved are in deception. The only guarantee we have to enter heaven eternally is to hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:17-18). We are to hold fast our steadfastness in the face of heat, furnace, imprisonment, opposition, criticism of false brethren, falsehood, and the error of the wicked.

• Conspicuous Separation and Fight Against Ungodliness – Joshua 23:7-10; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; Leviticus 20:7-8, 24, 26. It must be clear to everyone around us that the salvation we got separated us from all the pollutions of the world, and that we are fighters against ungodliness and corruption everywhere we go. “That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day. For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.” (Joshua 23:7-10). The world will corrupt; therefore, you must daily make up your mind to be vigilant and watchful, and not allow the ungodliness in the world to ever come into your life. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4). Friendship is built gradually, and if it is allowed to blossom, it decreases your prayer life, decreases your commitment to the word of God, and erodes into your conviction in the Lord until you fully become the friend of the world and an enemy of God. When someone becomes an enemy of God, He is not useable in the kingdom of God anymore because he will bring more of the world that he loves into the church. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1 John 2:15-17). You will abide forever in Jesus Name.

• Clear Sanctification and Fervency for Godliness – Joshua 23:8, 11; Deuteronomy 30:6, 20; Jeremiah 32:38-40; 1 Timothy 6:11-12. Sanctification cannot be a hidden thing. There is a fervency for godliness in us when we are sanctified. “But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.” (Joshua 23:8, 11). The love we have for God must supersede our love for spouses, children, new jobs, new cars, new houses, or any new thing we are pursuing. “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6). Sanctification brings the supreme love of God into our hearts. “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:11-12). There is a wide difference between the man of God and the man of the world; as God is far above the world, so the man of God is far beyond and above the man of the world in thoughts, mind, desires, interactions, language, and passions. If we are going to be the dreamer and achiever God has called us to be, He expects us to flee from ungodliness and fight the good fight of faith.

3.      THE UNBEARABLE FINAL EXPOSURE TO GOD’S PUNISHMENT

Joshua 23:12-16.

• The Punishment for Mixed Marriages with the Ungodly – Joshua 23:12-13; Exodus 34:12,15-16; Numbers 33:55-56; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17. “Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.” (Joshua 23:12-13). Salvation depends on God and our repentance and faith; if anyone because they have free will, refuses God’s salvation after they have received it before, they will perish. Mixed marriages will destroy our relationship with God. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). If you feel emotionally attached and you are in constant communication with anyone who is of the world, you must cut off that connection for you to remain in Christ.

• The Perpetual Pain of Making Marriages with the Unbeliever – Nehemiah 13:26; 1 Kings 11:1-9; Deuteronomy 7:3-4; Hebrews 12:25,29. “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.” (Nehemiah 13:26). Wise men and people in high positions sin when they don’t take heed. “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,” (1 Kings 11:1-9). We must apply and emphasise to ourselves the holiness that we preach to others. Solomon created a great distance between himself and the prophets in the land, therefore, there was no one to correct his act of multiplying wives. Strange men and women will turn your heart away from the work the Lord has given you to do. God is love, He is holy, He is a consuming fire, and God is angry at wickedness.

• The Perdition of Match-Making with the Unconverted – Joshua 23:12-13, 1516; Psalm 73:24-27; 2 Peter 2:12-17; Hebrews 10:26-31, 38-39. “Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.” (Joshua 23:12-13, 15-16). Joshua did not have any human or earthly consideration when he faithfully declared the truth to the people of Israel. We will not deliberately go into mixed marriages with people who do not have real conviction in the word of God. Matchmaking can bring suffering to the couples; unmarried people should be left alone to pray and know the will of God for themselves.