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Legacy-Joshua 1 5/5/2013 Dr. Joseph Chang BOLGPC
1After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2"Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them--to the Israelites. (Josh 1:1-2)
Legacy/傳承, as defined in dictionary.com • Anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor: the legacy of forefathers./祖先所傳下來的東西.
I. You cannot pass down something that you do not have. • A. A building? No!!!
I. You cannot pass down something that you do not have. • B. A major wealth? No!!! • C. Eternal Values? Yes!!! • 5No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Josh 1:5-9)
I. You cannot pass down something that you do not have. • God’s faithfulness and our victories in life.
II. The ever expanding legacy • 3I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates--all the Hittite country--to the Great Sea on the west. (Josh 1:3-4)
II. The ever expanding legacy • A. God’s word to Abraham (Gen 15:18-21) • 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-- 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." (Gen 15:18-21)
II. The ever expanding legacy • B. God’s words to Moses (Exodus 23:31) • 31"I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you. (Exod 23:31) • 23My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. (Exod 23:23; cf. 3:8, 17)
II. The ever expanding legacy • C. God’s Words to Joshua(Joshua 1:3-4) • 3I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates--all the Hittite country--to the Great Sea on the west. (Josh 1:3-4)
III. Legacy demands faithfulness among God’s people. • 12But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13"Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise." 16Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. (Josh 1:12-16)
Conclusion • I. You cannot pass down something that you do not have. • It is not the building, it is not the wealth, but it is the eternal value, the faithfulness of God and our victorious lives. • II. The legacy is ever expanding. • The world is ever changing, but with God’s help, our legacy is dynamic and God’s guidance is accurate to the minute. • III. Legacy demands faithfulness among God’s people. We share the testimony to the world as a group.