Now please remember as we commence today Paul’s word in 1 Cor. 10 v 11.

Now we have already noticed that the whole land was given to the people of God for a possession.

The whole land was given to the people of God but they would possess only that portion of land they claimed.

They had to set the feet of faith upon the land and claim it for themselves.

And dear people, today our God has called us to a life of promised blessing. We must not only know we have title to all the blessings of God, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus, but we must learn to lay claim to all that God has promised!

You see there are many dear Christians living on crackers and cheese when they have a standing invitation to the feast of the finest of the wheat.

Beloved, God’s promises are cheques to be cashed, not mere mottoes to hang on the wall!

Remember a whole generation of God’s people died in the wilderness before the land of Canaan was possessed.

Only Joshua and Caleb, of the generation that left Egypt, succeeded in entering the land.

And beloved, these things happened that we might draw an example from them and know not to make the same mistakes. Yet here we are as the church of Jesus Christ many thousands of years later falling into the very same trap. And in spite of Calvary, in spite of an empty tomb and an ascended Lord and in spite of Pentecost, the greater majority of us perish in indulgence, worldliness, and sin. "Saved", as the apostle says, "but as by fire"

Only here and there do we find a Joshua and a Caleb "who wholly follow the Lord"

Yet His Word to us is still very much our text for today.

As the children of Israel would move towards possessing their possessions they are given two very wonderful promises to claim.

1. The Promise of A Conquering Power! v 5a.

In other words, there is power available to you to do everything I ask you to do God says!

You see, seven nations held sway in the land of Canaan with great strongholds and chariots of iron and God’s children would need to be strong and of a good courage to do battle with the enemy!

So it is with the life of blessing and Salvation, this life is most certainly not free from conflict and from the powerful presence of foes.

That dramatic chapter in Ephesians 6 reminds us all too clearly that…

Real blessing in the Christian life is given only to those who eagerly, hungrily press in to receive it.

Yes, it’s true, God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, but remember, the blessing is in heavenly places in Christ, and these are places to which Satan has access, and where he can still cast his fiery darts.

You see dear folks; God does not bless us unless he sees we are eager for that blessing.

God does not pour out of his fullness on a plate, as it were, and invite us to help ourselves as though we were going through some cafeteria, taking only what we like and leaving the rest, No! No!

God desires every one of his children to press in against the assaults of the enemy, that we may lay hold on that which is our inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that every foe we shall ever meet in that battle already has been met and conquered by our Joshua.

You might say to me, well pastor, I don’t seem to have that power to cross my Jordan’s, to drive out my giants, to overcome my Jericho’s. In fact for me it’s just the opposite.

I am continually facing some fast flowing situation or other and in fact I can hardly keep my feet any more. Such is the force my Jordan flows. You see pastor, I have just discovered I have some health problems and inside I am churning like the fast flowing river of Jordan!

Or maybe you are saying in your heart, pastor if only you knew the giants I am facing! Just now the giant of fear has gripped me with respect to my family, they are going the wrong way and there is a fear that is burning me up. I don’t know if I can go on.

Or maybe you are saying, pastor you don’t know the battle I am having with doubt just now. I have been living at a high level recently and then suddenly I have been hit with a mountain of doubt and it’s crushing me. It’s too hard to bear!

Or could it be you are continually in the torments of jealousy, envy and hate, you dislike intently all these coming upon you, yet it seems you can’t control it.

Or it maybe you are struggling with a critical tongue and you are constantly tearing some other dear Christian apart, you’re always finding fault with someone or something, and they are like giants in your life!

Could it be you are constantly running into some brick wall or other? You're always up against it, you can see no way through. Your circumstances are like some Jericho wall. As you stand and look at your problem today you can see no way through, no way around, no way up and no way down, and those walls are about to come tumbling down round your ears and you just don’t know what to do.

Is that where you are today beloved? All around you is dark and bleak and without understanding. Listen I want you today to take on board what I am about to say.

Listen, listen, you have a Joshua, one that is greater by far than this Joshua. He is our heavenly Joshua, deliverer, conqueror, and in the name of Jesus our Jordan's can open, our giants can fall, our Jericho walls can tumble!

You see situations and circumstances are part and parcel of our living, but it’s how we handle them that is important.

For example, Peter was a great worrier.

He worried about drowning when he walked on the water, even though Jesus was right there with him. Matt.14 v 29-31.

He worried about what was going to happen to Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, so he pulled out a sword and tried to take on a battalion of Roman soldiers John 18 v 2-3 + 10.

He was so worried about Jesus being crucified, he ordered Jesus not to go to the cross Matt.16 v 22. That took some gall.

Nevertheless, although Peter had ongoing trouble with the anxieties of life, he learned how to deal with them, and he passed his lesson unto us. 1 Peter 5 v 5-7.

Peter learns through humility to trust God’s ability.

How does he do that? The text says, "clothe yourselves with humility," put on humility towards each other like you would put on a garment of clothing.

Jonathan said to David, "I will be next unto thee" 1 Sam.23 v 17.

The rarest man in the orchestra of God is the saint who knows how to play second fiddle!

Listen beloved, if we want this promise of a conquering power to kick in then we need desperately to clothe ourselves with humility toward each other and toward God.

You see that is responding to God’s ability to work in you!

Let me ask you, how many of you here today entered into the blessing of the feast of God’s word that was spread for you last Sunday? Ah, it was dry, it was long, it was boring, or maybe you are saying, oh, it was lovely, it was lively, and it was different!

(1) If the ministry was dry, long, and boring to you let me remind you, what you are saying, you are saying to the Holy Spirit!

You see the preacher's minister to you from the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit ministers to you through the Scriptures!

And if the ministry was dry, long and boring then you are saying to the Holy Spirit you cannot break through and minister to me, your ministry Holy Spirit is not sufficient to help me, encourage me, strengthen me! Beloved, if that’s where you are just now, you are standing on dangerous ground!

(2) Now what about those who enjoyed the ministry last week?

You say the ministry was delightful, it was lively, and it was a blessing! Good!

Then let me ask you, what you did with what you heard?

Did you just fold it up in your bible and carry it home with you?

Have you said to the Holy Spirit, well it was good but I really have not given any more thought to it since? Or, rather have you put shoe leather to it and made it work in your life? Now, if that’s the case, then you are responding to God’s ability and for you the promise of this conquering power will kick in when needed. Oh, how we need to be open to the ministry of the Holy Spirit!

You see dear brothers and sisters as we saw when in Acts 4 v 29-30.

You see dear Christian we are called into the grace of God!

1. To be an expression of God's word!

"Grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy Word"

2. To be an extension of God’s hand!

"By stretching forth thine hand to heal"

How can he stretch forth His hand to work today? Through you and me, we are his body on earth. What Jesus did when He was here in His physical body He will do now through His Mystical body, The Church!

3. To be an exaltation of God’s Son!

You see dear friends, in the past the glory of the Lord was housed in the tabernacle or The Temple! When Jesus was here the glory of God was housed in him as we saw on the mount of transfiguration!

But today dear folks, the glory of Jesus, the glory of God, is housed in you and me, not in this building, but in you and me who are truly the Lord’s.

"What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost who is in you"?

And we are to be an expression of God’s word, an extension of God’s hand, and exaltation of God’s Son!

That's responding to God’s ability and when we do the promise of his, conquering power kicks in and we have overcoming power in all we do for the master!

You see, what the Lord is saying to Joshua is, "the promise did not die with Moses"

God made a promise to Moses for all God’s people and now he’s confirming that promise to Joshua, but more than that, that self same promise did not die with Joshua!

That’s why I said at the beginning that it is not simply a book that records what God has accomplished in the past but it is in fact a book that reminds us what God can do in the present with his people who respond to him.

Sometimes we are guilty of taking God’s promises and dating them.

Oh, wouldn't it have been wonderful to have lived back then!

Would it not be great to have lived in Abraham’s day, Moses’ day, Joshua’s day, Paul’s day, Peter’s day, Spurgeon’s day, in the days of the 59 revival! But beloved, when we talk like that we are casting aspersions on God’s ability to be God in this day!

We live in this day, and our God has placed us in this day, in this place, amongst this people and friends. Our God is able to work today just as he did in any of those past days mentioned. And as Shemiah said to Amaziah 2 Chron.25 v 9.

God is able in this day in which we live, and as back then he needs us to respond to his ability! His promise to Joshua was "I will be with you" but listen beloved, he is not just with us, he is within us! He lives in me!

I am sure you are familiar with the amplified New Testament!

It’s an expanded translation, taking every Greek word and squeezing every drop out of it to make it even clearer.

I heard of a strong man in the circus.

He would take a lemon, cut it in half and squeeze every drop of juice out of it.

Then he would throw a challenge out to the audience to come and take any half of the lemon and try to squeeze another drop out of that lemon, and he offered £100 for every other drop squeezed out.

One after another of the men would come up to the circus ring and try their best, but all to no avail.

Then eventually a well groomed, well dressed, handsome young man stepped into the ring, taking off one pair of glasses and replacing them with another pair. Takes that half lemon in his hand, and squeezing with all his might,1,2,3,4,5, drops of lemon juice falls onto a little dish. As the ringmaster pays out the five hundred pounds, he says, who are you anyway mister, oh, I’m the treasurer of the local Baptist Church, Ha!

Now the amplified New Testament squeezes every drop out of this lovely text. Listen to this!

A young minister in his first church, visiting one of the older members was informed by her that this was her favorite text, so he thought he would help the dear lady to understand the text more fully.

So he explained the Greek. "I will not" three times!

She looked at that young minister with a twinkle in her eye and said, oh well, God may have to say it three times for you Greek fellows but once is enough for me!

Don’t you have beloved an ever deepening desire to know the reality of his power and his presence, not simply to hear about it!

Dear folks, many dear Christians are spiritually dwarfed because we fail to take hold of the truth of his continuing presence and allow him to work in us and through us.

And what happens as a result? We become disgruntled with our lives, with our church, with our preacher, with our husband, wife, with our children, with just about everything and everyone!

There's a delightful phrase we often use in life when someone shows up unexpectedly, or we encounter someone we have not seen for a long period, we sometimes say, "well, look who’s here!"

I wish we would learn to use that phrase about our Lord Jesus!

Think of the Israelites in the wilderness, often tempted to despair and even to rebel.

But at such times any Hebrew could pull back the flap of their tent and see the cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night and say to his loved ones, "it’s all right, look who’s here!"

Or think of Elisha, that great prophet of God and a one-man intelligence agent. When the Syrian King planned a move against Israel, Elisha learned about it through his hot line to heaven.

The King sent horses, chariots, and a great host of soldiers to capture the troublesome prophet.

When Elisha's servant saw them next morning he was overwhelmed and cried out to his master, "what shall we do?"

Elisha said, "fear not, for they that be for us are greater than they that be for them" and when that old servant looked again he saw angels everywhere. Elisha could have said, "it’s all right, look who’s here!"

Think of those three Hebrew children thrown into the fire. They must have thought this was the end, but my word they find themselves walking around in the flame and the only thing burned was the straps around their wrists, but not only that, the presence of someone else, they could have said, "it's all right, look who’s here!"

Think of Daniel in the lion's den, when King Darius came in the morning all annoyed and upset, "Daniel is your God able to deliver you?" Daniel might well have said, "don’t worry O, king, look who’s here!"

Think of Isaiah when Uzziah the King died, he was distraught, for the King was a great friend to Isaiah, but at last he sees the Lord high and lifted up and he could well have said, "it’s all right, look who’s here!"

John the Baptist on the Jordan! "There standeth one among you whom ye know not!" John could have said, "it’s all right, look who’s here!"

At Jacob’s well, with Jairus' daughter, at Bethany at the death of Lazarus, on that little boat in the midst of the storm and after the resurrection as our Lord stood on the shores of Tiberias and when the disciples had fished all night and caught nothing, they could all have said, "it’s all right, look who’s here!" The Emmaus disciples trudged that lonely road back home totally dejected and forlorn when suddenly an arm was place around their shoulders and someone was walking with them warming their hearts. Eventually as they sat together and broke, bread the light dawned upon them. "It's all right, look who's here."

That sent them back to where they should have been in a hurry!

Dear brothers and sisters, what would happen if we were to meet some morning truly believing, and with faith in our hearts look up, would we be able to say, "it’s all right, look who’s here!" What a gathering of the ransomed that would be!

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