08.24.2014 Joshua - Dangers of Idolatry today

8-24-14 - Joshua from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

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Joshua 21:43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. 45 Not [m]one of the good promises which the Lord had [n]made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.
At times I have found a disconnect in my life at God’s promises – His faithfulness to keep them and my experience of them. I know that He will be faithful – but I don’t always feel that I am experiencing His faithfulness in answering His promises.
You have promises that God will meet all your needs – and there are bills coming up and there is not an envelope with money in the mailbox – so you swipe your credit card.
How about this one – you have promises that God will help you defeat sin – and yet after 5,10,20 years, you still fall in sin.
Everyone has had brokenness that God has promised to heal. We think – by now, this should be gone! If God is victorious and I am a new creature, why do I still fear? Why do I still have anxiety?
This does not mean that God is faithful; But our experience is not all it should be.
This verse is given – all of His promises have come true! But they haven’t! Have they conquered the land? Are there still enemies in the land? There is a lot of land to still be taken. The reality is – those Canaanites will be in the land way past the time of David.
It is similar to Jesus – The kingdom of God is in your midst – and that is true – but it is not quite here yet – there is so much in the world that doesn’t feel like God’s kingdom. We find this in the old and new – Already but not yet – we have them – it has already happened, and it sort of hasn’t.
Joshua 11: 21 Then Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod some remained.
No Anakites… ONLY in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive…
There is still conflict in Gaza today! We also know Gath. This area is also known as Philistia – where the Philistines come from.
This sounds like the Christian life – we take land, we make progress – but the most difficult things we struggle with remain and are a constant battle for us in our relationship with God.
There is a difference between the borders of the land promised and the land that was taken.
All of these promises will be fulfilled, but their reality is piece by piece.
The land they took was all promised – but there was still promised left. Every victory we take as a believer is something that has been promised and given by God.
We can say, I am so blessed because God has given me this victory – but we can also look and say – there is so much more land to be taken in my life – and my greatest enemies will remain there.
God has left some of the enemies and some of the land to test the nation of Israel – to see whether or not they will be faithful to God – whether they will live in a way that is faithful to Him – they will worship the one God.
God was and is completely faithful, but Israel did not take all the land that is promised. Our failures and inabilities do not stifle or hinder God’s faithfulness.
2 Timothy 2:11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
Our failures do not hinder all that He has purposed to accomplish – but our unfaithfulness has a significant impact upon our experience of those blessings and victories that God has promised us. Already and not yet – when you understand that – you can be thankful for the victories – but at the same time – to not be depressed about your defeats. We see this throughout the New Testament.
Colossians 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 [a]Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
We find ourselves raised with Christ but have to deal with the evil inside of us – that is what Scripture teaches about life here and now.
Joshua 23:3-3 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has been fighting for you. 4 See, I have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun. 5 The Lord your God, He will thrust them out from before you and [b]drive them from before you; and you will possess their land, just as the Lord your God [c]promised you. 6 Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,
There is a correlation between our obedience and the experience of the promises. Our faithfulness and the experience of the Christian life. And now a warning:
7 so that you will not [d]associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them.
Here is the test.

8 But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.
He is testing to see whether they will worship Him only. He does not want them adapting their morals – not to conform to culture around them – they are to be a separate people – different from all the other nations – they are to worship differently, live differently – act differently.
Association with them leads to idolatry. Our situation is a little different – we will look at that in a moment. Idolatry was an ever-present danger for Israel. When they came out of Egypt – they made this calf out of gold and worshiped it! That is what they do – they constantly turn to the worship of other gods – and it leads to their destruction – to the exiles to Assyria and Babylon.
When they come back from exile, they stopped worshiping idols – it took all these problems first – and that is God’s concern – if you associate, you’ll adopt their morals.
This leads to judgment.

9 For the Lord has [e]driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. 10 One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He [f]promised you. 11 So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God. 12 For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you [g]associate with them and they with you, 13 know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to [h]drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
This is Romans 1 – the history of mankind – we forget God – we worship idols – we lose our morals, integrity, values – and then experience judgment.
How does this relate to us? We are called to be separate – sanctified – set apart from the rest of the world. We are called to be aliens in this world. BUT – we are also to be salt and light – completely different and yet completely engage3d in the world. We need to engage in culture without conforming to it! That is a difficult task! As we engage, it is so easy to conform. In fear of conforming, we stop engaging! We have to remain engaged.
Three areas where we tend to conform:
These are subtle – so at first, they may not seem like big ones –
1) the need for power and control. Our culture demands that we have power and control over everything. Let me say this – there is nothing wrong with power if you have been given power and control over something when used correctly. But there is something seriously wrong with the NEED for power and control. It is the way we are. Just think of all the events that have happened since I have preached here last: Israel and Gaza have gone nuts. ISIS beheading children. Ferguson, Missouri. The world is getting out of control.
Dave and I were talking Thursday – ask yourself – when you watch the news on those three issues – what is your emotional response? What goes on inside of you? What goes on when you hear of beheadings by ISIS? Would that be Jesus’ emotional response? As we talked – some of our responses were not like Jesus would respond – our responses were out of the need to have power and control.
Our tendency is to take the side that fits us best. We have a side – it is called Jesus – what does He say about it?
Cindy was trying to decide whether to respond to something that was strongly worded on Facebook – I told her – we are like sheep to be slaughtered all day long. No need for power, I can exhibit power, Jesus says.
These things going on are a metaphor for life.
Are we responding like Jesus would respond?
Real world – relationships. We all know people who need to be in control – maybe at work – maybe in your family – Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Subject is not a position of power.
2) Vainglory – an old word – the need to be recognized/applauded – the desire for popularity. This is our celebrity culture. People are famous for being famous. Johnny Manziel – a glaring example.
Overwhelming need for others to think about us and to think well of us. And the reality is that people don’t really think about us – they think about themselves.
It is good to desire a good reputation – but not applause.
A good reputation may never be recognized – good reputations are built in the private world and the personal work we do for others. It is not built in public, but behind the scenes – as you live in a way that builds others up – but you do it privately and quietly.
A lot of times we have an expertise – maybe in ministry or work – you are good at something and there is a natural desire to want that to be known. There is good in that – in the sense that you can help others – but the bad is that it often leads to us talking about ourselves – and it leads to bragging and exaggerating – but we need to learn to take our giftedness and expertise – and instead of gaining applause, pass it on – and if God chooses you to be recognized – then He will.
Two little practices – learn to practice silence and solitude.
Richard Foster – we need to develop a need for hiddenness – Like Jesus, slipping away to the wilderness to be alone.
Dallas Willard: I practice the discipline of not having the last word.
You don’t have to win the argument. You don’t have a bigger fish story.
Finally – the last one – Greed.
Greed is so common in our culture –according to glittering vices – in everyday life it is not counted as sin anymore. Greed is no longer sin. It used to be one of the seven deadly sins. It is spoken against more than sexual immorality! How often do you hear it being addressed? Our economy is built on greed – consumerism. Consumer Index – how much do people want to buy.
Greed is an excessive desire or retention of money and things. The goal is to get to a point where you don’t have to depend on God.
Practices to combat it? Simplicity.
Simplicity is trendy and cool. We spent a day in Amish country – and we think – wow! Just to get away from it all.
But I think you can live a simple life as an Amish person – and also not. You can also live in the midst of the biggest city of the world and live simply.
Simplicity is understanding the difference between want and need.
We also need contentment – being satisfied with whatever God provides.
He provides abundance for some – and often they are not satisfied with it.
He provides little for some – and often, they are not satisfied with it.
The Bible has a lot to say about industry and work and diligence!
Become a Liberal! Not in the political sense – but liberty – freedom – free to be generous. That is the real meaning of the word. Free from the love of money and things so we can become generous. Free from the attachment of money and things.
Careless handling of money creates a never-ending cycle of greed. The person who is careless with their money is always in need.
The person who is content is content with what God has given and has learned how to use it to take care of needs and they use it wisely. It is not an issue of where you are on the scale – it is a measure of the heart.
Generosity – never an issue of how much – but a measure of the heart. The widow gave a penny – and she gave more than everyone else. If we only live in a physical world, we can’t understand that. We live in a spiritual world as well. The spiritual world is more real than the physical world – and she gave a boatload in the spiritual world.
Lord, bring these scattered thoughts to a deeper understanding – how to live in this world and engage this world for the kingdom of God -