Claiming Your Canaan - Series #3
How To Get Past Your Jordan
Joshua 3:1-6; 14-17
Intro: Because of their unbelief, Israel was sentenced to
wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Those years
have now expired and the children of Israel are poised
to enter into Canaan Land. They are ready to claim
their inheritance in the land of promise. However,
before they can enter Canaan, they must first get past
one final, major obstacle: the Jordan River. Normally,
this would not have presented much of a problem, since
the Jordan was only 100 feet wide at Gilgal where they
crossed. However, it seems that God always does
things in such a way that no man can boast of having
done them on their own. This crossing would be no
exception. You see, God brought them to the Jordan
River at the time of harvest, 4:15. Those who have
been there during the harvest time tell us that the
Jordan swells to an impassable width of over 1 mile! It
was over 50 times wider than it normally would have
been when Israel arrived. There was no way they could
cross this river on their own! They needed supernatural
help.
My friends, we each have Jordans that we face from
time to time! When we look at the obstacles that stand
between us and spiritual victory in our own Canaan, we
may feel that we will never be able to enter our Canaan
of victory and enjoy the abundant life that Jesus
promised His followers. Well, it is true that I do not
know what kind of obstacles that you face in your life, I
do a God Who specializes in overcoming the
overwhelming and in leading His children to victory.
This morning, I would like for us to look into this
account of Israel as they got past their Jordan. As we
do, I would like to offer you some hope as well. You
see, the things that worked for them over 3000 years
ago will still work for you and me today. Allow me to
show you from chapters 3 and 4 of Joshua How To Get
Past Your Jordan. There are 3 steps that we must take
to guarantee that we will be able to get past that
obstacle that blocks our way and enter our Canaan. Let
me share these steps with you this morning.
I. 3:1-13 WE NEED TO EXAMINE A MESSAGE
A. V. 3-4 It Involved A Challenge - When it came
time for the people to move forward to cross
Jordan, God has a message that they needed to
hear. In the words they heard, they were
challenged to do three very important things.
These things were designed to help them follow
the Lord better. These are the same things that
we need to hear this morning that will help up to
follow the Lord better as well.
1. Watch God - Notice that the Ark of the
Covenant is mentioned some 7 times in
chapter 3. The Ark, you may remember, was
that special piece of Tabernacle furniture that
symbolized the presence and power of God.
When the Ark was in the Holy of Holies, the
glory of God rested upon it and it was the
dwelling place of God. To Israel, it
represented God's presence in the midst of
His people. In other words, when God
moved, they were to move. When God
stopped they were to do the same.
(Ill. There is a valuable spiritual lesson in this
passage for you and me. We would do well,
when we face times of crisis, or when we
need direction in life to learn to be sensitive
to the movement of the Lord in and around
us. It is a fact that God loves you and that
He will show you what He is doing, John
5:19-20. If you will watch Him, He will teach
you how to live day by day.)
2. Follow God - When they saw the Ark of the
Covenant move, they were to "leave your
place, and go after it" Not only were they to
watch God, they were to move when He did.
They were to pursue God!
(Ill. Again, the lesson for the believer is that it
isn't enough to know what God is doing,
there comes a time when you must "leave
you place and go after Him." This may
require us to leave our comfort zone! Israel
was about to follow the Ark through a river
that was over 1 mile wide! That couldn't
have been easy, but it was still necessary
and right! Folk, following God may not be the
easiest thing you will ever do, but it will be the
best thing you ever do. If you ever expect to
get past your obstacles and enter your
Canaan, you must learn to follow God.)
3. Honor God - Notice that the Israelites are
told to stay at least 3000 feet behind the Ark.
This was so that they could easily see what
was happening ahead of them. Another
reason is that the Lord wanted no one but the
Levites near the Ark. To get too close would
have meant death.
(Ill. Again, there is a lesson here for us as
well. We must never be guilty of treating
God like is one of our buddies. There must
always be a holy reverence and a fear of the
Lord in our hearts. God help us that we
never allow a spirit of familiarity cheapen or
walk with the Lord. Regardless of what we
go through with holy, righteous God and we
are still nothing but sinners saved by His
marvelous grace.)
(Ill. Simply put, these three things are most
easily accomplished by learning to walk in the
Spirit. That is, learning to give control of your life
to the Spirit of God and to follow God as He
leads through His Word and through prayer. It
may not always be easy, but I can promise you
that if you will follow, He will certainly lead!)
B. V. 5 It Involved A Command - Next, the people
were told to "sanctify yourselves." This referred
to being sure they were as clean and holy s
possible. They were to put away anything that
was displeasing to the Lord. They were to
examine themselves and get ready for the Lord
to do something great for them.
(If you and I ever expect to get past the Jordan's that arise in our lives, we are going to have to
learn that one of the first things we must do is
examine our lives to make sure they are as clean
as possible. May the Lord help us to realize that
many of the things that happen in our lives that
prevent us from walking in Christian victory are
the results of our sin and the Lord's
chastisement, Gal. 6:9; Heb. 12:6-11. Christian,
is everything in your life just as the Lord would
have it to be? Remember, there is forgiveness
in confessing our sins to the Lord - I John 1:9)
C. V. 9-13 It Involved A Commitment - This
message to the Israelites reminded them that
getting across the Jordan did not rest on their
shoulders, but on the Lord's. It was His plan to
get them over and it was His problem. In these
verses, He makes them a promise and tells them
that He will bring them through in a powerful
fashion. God, here, commits Himself to bringing
his people across their Jordan! All that was
required of Israel was that they trust God!
(Ill. May I remind you that things have not
changed one bit? If God could be trusted in
those days to keep His promises, then He can
still be trusted today! Often, we are unable to
get past the obstacles in our lives because we
live a life that exhibits a deep lack of faith in the
promises of God! How do I know? Because of
the worry and doubt that marks the lives of the
people of God.
1. We worry over tomorrow, yet the Lord has
said - Matt. 6:34.
2. We worry over material things, yet the Lord
has promised - Matt. 6:25-33; Phil. 4:19.
3. We worry about facing various things in life,
yet the Lord has promised - Heb. 13:5
4. We worry over so many things, yet the Lord
tells us that all of our worry is sin and that our
duty is to trust Him - Phil. 4:6-7.
5. The bottom line is this: Jesus is all-powerful,
He is all-knowing and He is all-present. He
knows what you are going through. He
knows everything there is to know about it.
He even knows more about it than you do!
Here is what He says to you: "The just shall
life by faith", Rom. 1:17; "Whatsoever is
not of faith is sin", Rom 14:23; "Why are ye
fearful, O ye of little faith", Matt. 8:26.
(Ill. What He says to us is that He is the Lord and
that He is greater than any problem we have
ever or will ever face in life. His desire is that we
simply learn to take Him at His Word and trust
Him. We need to remember that what the Lord
has promised to do, He will do, Rom, 4:21)
That is the message, let us take it to heart!
I. We Need To Examine A Message
II. 3:14-17 WE NEED TO EXPECT A MIRACLE
A. V. 15b There Was A Problem - As I mentioned
in the introduction, the children of Israel were
facing a big problem. The river was over 1 mile
wide and there were 2 million people who had to
cross, and yet the Lord wanted them to go over.
They couldn't build a bridge, there wasn't
enough time or materials. They couldn't
transport everyone over in boats, there were no
boats and they would have ben sitting ducks for
their enemies. There was only one way around
their problem and that was through it!
(Ill. Have you ever sized up your problem and
thought about how big it was? Maybe you
looked at it and concluded, "There is no way
around, through, over or past this problem."
I suppose we have all been like the 10 spies that
returned from spying out the land of Canaan with
Caleb and Joshua. We have sized up our
problem and think that it is more than we can
ever face, Num, 13:31-33. Our problem was the
same one we always have when we face a
difficult situation: we forget about God! Where
we see only problems, God sees only solutions.
Where we look at things and say, "There's no
way!" God looks at the problem and says,
"Follow me, I have a plan!"
B. V. 15 There Was A Plan - The plan was this,
God said, "When the feet of the priests enter
Jordan, I am going to part the waters and
lead you through on the dry ground!" There
was a catch in this plan and it was that the
waters would not part until the priests who were
carrying the Ark stepped into the water. In other
words, it took a step of faith, whereby the people
obediently followed the Lord for them to see the
miracle come to pass.
(Ill. What a lesson for you and me. Too often,
we want the Lord just to fix everything in our lives
for us. We don't want to have to make any
decisions nor do we want to have to exercise our
faith in Him. We just want Him to do it and that
will be the end of it. However, most of the time,
God will require us to take steps of faith in order
that we might see our Jordan parted. God had
a plan, but for this plan to work, it required faith
on the part of His people! The same is true for
you and me! As long as we are trying to solve
our own problems we are not walking in faith. It
is when we turn loose of the reigns of the
problem, step away from it and let the Lord have
it that we will see it taken care of for His glory. It
never is about what we can do, it is always about
what the Lord is able to do, Eph. 3:20!)
C. V. 16-17 There Was A Performance - When the
priests stepped into that raging river, it parted
and God opened a path of dry ground through
the waters for His people. By the way, verse 16
says that the waters backed up to the City of
Adam. This is some 20 miles north of where the
children of Israel were crossing. God made
them a path through the water that was more
than adequate for His people to get through.
(Ill. We need to remember that faith honors God
and God honors faith! When He does it, it won't
just be patched up and ready to fall apart again,
it will be done right and it will be done forever.
Folks, I want to encourage you this morning by
reminding you that this God Who did this great
thing for Israel is still the same God we are
serving this morning! What He did them, He can
do now. He was ABLE all the way through the
Bible, and He is still ABLE today! Regardless of
the circumstances, He is still God and He still
can! Ill. The question that plagued the Jews,
Psa. 78:19. God can! Just ask, Noah, Moses,
Daniel, the 3 Hebrews, a widow down in
Zarephath, the Disciples on a little ship, and Saul
of Tarsus. Just look back over your own life.
How many times has the Lord opened your
Jordan already? He is all we need! He is still
the same miracle working God that He always
had been. Learn to expect miracles when you
are dealing with God!)
I. We Need To Examine A Message
II. We Need To Expect A Miracle
III. 4:1-24 WE NEED TO ERECT A MEMORIAL
(Ill. When all the people had passed over Jordan,
Joshua commanded one man from each of the 12
tribes to get a rock from the midst of Jordan and build
a memorial on the Canaan side. That memorial is
worth taking a look at this morning!)
A. V, 6-7; 21-24 The Purpose Of The Memorial -
These verses tell us that the purpose of the
memorial was to remind successive generations
of the power and faithfulness of God on behalf of
His people. That memorial would be an
important landmark to those who would come
after.
(Ill. By the same token, we need some
memorials in our lives as well. However, we
must use caution, we do no want to embalm the
past and by doing so cripple the future. Many
churches have done that and are suffering as a
result. What we do want to do, however, is
remember the things the Lord has done for us so
that we can tell others about them and so that
when we come that way again, we will remember
that the Lord was faithful in that day and that He
will be faithful in this day as well. Never forget
what the Lord has done for you in your
yesterdays. It is those yesterday experiences
that will tide you over when the trials of today
and tomorrow arise in your life!)
B. V. 9, 20 The Picture In The Memorial - Ill. It is
interesting to notice that Joshua constructed 2
monuments. One on the bank and one in the
river. These 2 memorials served 2 different
purposes. Notice what they were.
1. V. 20 A Picture Of The Faithfulness Of God
- The one on the bak of Jordan stood as a
testimony to the faithfulness of God as I have
just mentioned. It was there to remind others
of what the Lord had done and of what He
could do. Again, we need to remember the
faithfulness of God in the past. It will help us
cross the Jordan we face today.
2. V. 9 A Picture Of The Faith Of The People -
Now, what about the rock pile in the river?
No one could see it but God! It stood as a
monument to the faith of the people! You
see, when you face a time of trial, others are
often guilty of misjudging your motives and
actions, however, only God knows the truth
about your heart. Even though Israel couldn't
see it, they knew the monument was there!
They remembered that they had believed
God then and it had worked. This was a
monument in their hearts.
(Ill. We need that same kind of monument as
well. As I said, too often we are misjudged
by others in our times of trial, but God alone
knows you heart. When you have trusted
Him and He has brought you through, never
forget it! Build that monument in your heart,
where only God can see it, and where you wil
never forget it and when the tough time
comes again, and it will, look at that
monument of His faithfulness and of your
faith and know that what worked before will
work again. God will bring you through your
Jordan!)
Conc: Some of you are facing troubled waters this
morning. I want you to know you can cross over. I
invite you to come before the Lord this morning. Tell
Him about the Jordan you are facing and allow Him to
get you past it today. There is a place of victory where
you can shout in spite of your troubles. The first step in
getting there is dealing with what is keeping you out:
your Jordan. It may sin, it may be some person, it may
be some trial, but whatever it is, God is greater than it
is. Come and let Him take care of it for you.
