RE-DEDICATION TO THE RENEWED COMMISSION, Pastor W. F. Kumuyi

Text: Joshua 1:1-9.

The commission that Joshua received is by extension a commission to us as well, and as we examine the example of those who did it well, we can follow their steps too. ‘Joshua’, meaning ‘Jehovah is salvation’, is the Hebrew form of the Greek form ‘Jesus’.

1.  RENEWED CALL AND COMMISSION FOR AN APPROVED, APPOINTED MINISTER: Joshua 1:1-2.

“Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.” (Joshua 1:1-2). After the death of Moses, Joshua was not following a self-propelling plan or project, nor was he into any form of self-management in trying to replace Moses. There was no agitation or self-promotion; He received his call from the Lord. God had given the land to the children of Israel, but somebody needed to rise up as a leader that is approved and appointed by God to lead the people into the land.

• The Previous Call and Commission of the Appointed Minister – Exodus 17:8-14; 24:13-14; Deuteronomy 3:28; 31:3, 7-8, 14, 23. “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:8-10, 14). God has spoken to you when He speaks to you through your leader. The principle in the life of Joshua even after Moses was gone was to do all that God commanded him through Moses. Because Joshua was fruitful, faithful, and successful in the work he was given, God commanded Moses to document his acts.
• The Present Call and Commission of the Approved Minister – Joshua 1:1-2; Deuteronomy 34:9; Numbers 27:16-21; Joshua 1:16-18. “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.” (Deuteronomy 34:9). When Moses chose Joshua, there was no argument, debate, or political manifestation by the children of Israel, but they accepted him as God’s choice. “And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.” (Joshua 1:16-18). The children of Israel assured Joshua of their commitment to obey his directives and follow wherever he led them. This was not an isolated decision but a composite one for every one of them.
• The Precious Call and Commission of Apprehended Ministers – Matthew 4:19-20; John 21:15-22; Acts 26:16-19; Philippians 3:7-14. As Paul the apostle was apprehended by Christ on the way to Damascus and was sent to the Gentiles, the Lord has apprehended us as well and has sent us to various mission fields. “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-20). God cannot make anything of us until we follow Him. We must have conversion, continuation, and consecration to the Lord before the Lord can make use of us. “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15). We might profess that we love the Lord, but does the Lord know that we love Him? We might profess that we are consecrated and that all our properties, time, skill, and everything we have are given to the Lord, but does the Lord know?

2.  REVEALED COAST AND COMPANIONSHIP FOR AN ASSIGNED, ANOINTED MESSENGER . Joshua 1:3-5.

If you have only personal and private knowledge, and you have not been assigned by God, no matter the revelation you have, it will all be futile and useless; you have to be assigned and have the anointing for the assignment. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Joshua 1:3-5). If Joshua did not go about the land and tread upon it, it would not be given unto him because the promise was that he would get wherever the soul of his feet threads upon.

• The Extensive Coast of the Promised Land – Joshua 1:3-4; 14:9; Deuteronomy 7:1-3; 11:21-24; Acts 13:19. As long as the children of Israel remained within the circle that the Lord gave them, He promised to be with them and that no man would be able to stand before them. The same promise given to Joshua has been given to every child of God staying on the path of duty and in the circle of commission and commitment that the Lord has given. God’s companionship goes where His commandments are obeyed. “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 54:17). If you stay in Christ, if you remain and abide on the path of obedience, if you remain in the coast of the assignment, if you remain in the perimeter within the territory of the commission of the Lord, if you remain consecrated and committed to the God of heaven and do what He has appointed for you to do with all your heart, soul and mind, you can have the confidence that no weapon that is formed against you will prosper.
• The Exemplary Conquerors in This Present Life – Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 18:9-11; 26:16-19; 2 Timothy 4:17-18; Hebrews 13:5-6. “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20). Christ has all power, and He has given us that power through His name as He commissions us to all the world. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Leader and Master, and we go, we must not bring in our ideas, pet doctrines, or idiosyncrasies but go with His word that never passes away. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” (Hebrews 13:5-6). Be satisfied with the commission you have and don’t trespass into another person’s field. God gives to everyone today in the New Covenant the precepts, and expectation of obedience they manifested in the Old Covenant, the grace, the promise, the strength that we need today as He gave to those who have gone before us. When the Lord has given us a promise, we take the promise, read it, digest it, analyse it, believe it, meditate on it, and pray on the basis of that promise with the boldness of faith.

3.   REVIVED COURAGE AND COMMITMENT OF AN ACKNOWLEDGED, ACCREDITED MAN. Joshua 1:6-9.

 Like Joshua, the assignment you are given cannot be done by a man who is weak at heart, in the spirit, in the mind, in thinking, and weak by looking at what surrounds him. The assignment you are appointed to do is for a man who is strong and of good courage. You cannot overcome, achieve, or have everything God intends for you to have if you are not of a strong mind. If the circumstances weaken you, if the sights of the giants weaken you, and if what you hear from the enemies’ side weakens you, you will fail before you get to the field. You can be strong and very courageous by, one, looking at the victories you’ve had in the past and remembering that the One who gave you that victory will give you the victory in the assignment for today; two, reading the promise again and know the strength and the power of the Almighty who has given you that promise; and three, think of the fact that it is as if you already have possession of the land, and you are not fighting to possess but you are fighting because you have possessed already.

• Be Steadily Strong and of a Good Courage – Joshua 1:6-7, 9; Deuteronomy 31:6-8; 1 Chronicles 22:13; 2 Chronicles 32:7-8; Psalm 27:1-4, 14. “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9). The Almighty, the Judge of all the earth, and the One that no one can deliver you from His hand, the Master and Maker of everyone in heaven and on earth has commanded you to be strong, you must be strong. If you are timid and afraid, you are not strong. God is ever omnipotent and omnipresent, and He will always be with you. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” (Psalms 27:1, 14). Meditate on this promise of God before you meet the challenge and assignment that God has appointed for you. Our fault is that we work for the Lord but don’t wait on the Lord, we run for the Lord but don’t rely on the Lord, we are active, but we don’t wait on the Lord to receive the appropriate anointing for the assignment. If you wait on the Lord, He will give you the needed courage because He knows the enemy camp, the challenge on the field, and the charge He has given us. We get tired, weary, timid, fearful, and dismayed when we run ahead of God. If we take time apart to wait on the Lord, we will be of good courage, and He will strengthen our hearts.
• Be Scripturally Saturated and of Godly Character – Joshua 1:8. If we are saturated with current affairs, it will only depress us. We become strong by making the precept, promise, power, and provision of the Lord our preoccupation and becoming saturated with them. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (Joshua 1:8). We need to take time by ourselves to meditate on the word of God that we have read or heard because that is what gives us power, maintains our passion, and keeps us on the path of progress in the work God has given us to do. If we lack obedience, the root is we lack meditation on the word; when we meditate on the word, the old weaknesses, old habits, and activities will be shed off, and we will know the new path to walk in. For the pastor or evangelist, prosperity is not measured by money but by fulfilling the great commission. For a minister, good success is succeeding in the great commission, in evangelism, in edification, and building and raising up churches for His glory. The work of the Lord will prosper in our hands in Jesus Name.
• Be Spiritually Steadfast for the Great Commission – 2 Timothy 2:1-5, 21-22; Titus 2:13-15; 2 Peter 3:9, 17-18. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). God is not willing that anyone should perish in the wide world that He has sent us to preach the gospel. “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). It is possible to fall from your steadfastness if you focus on the error of the false prophets and the exaggerated activities of the people of the world. You must reevaluate your steadfastness with respect to the call, commission, appointment, and assignment that God has given you. Our prayers should concentrate on telling God that we have heard the renewed commission, and we want Him to do in us what He needs to do so that the fire, power, passion, steadfastness, commitment, and consecration will come back again, and then we will launch out with new zeal, new power, and new priority to do what He has commissioned us to do.