Bella Vista Church of Christ

05/17/2020 A.M.

Roll Jordan Roll

Joshua 3.1-6 & 11-17

We’ve all been there... Perhaps we feel we’re there this morning... On the Banks of a Jordan.

The River Jordan has become a symbol... Symbolizing A seemingly impossible task before us... A situation that we’ve never been in before.

We even sing about it...

• When I on the verge of Jordan...

Bid my anxious fears subside...

Land me safe on Canaan’s side.

• On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand...

And cast a wishful eye

To Canaan’s fair and happy land...

Where my possessions lie.

• I looked over Jordan... And what did I see...

Come for to carry me home.

•In 1962... Johnny Cash released... “I won’t have to cross Jordan alone.”

Come with me to a place on the banks of the Jordan... We’re some twenty miles south of the City of Adam... In the foothills of Mount Hermon... Just East of Gilgal and Jericho.

History tells us that normally... The Jordan was...

• A calm flowing stream...

• A hundred feet wide...

• And some three to ten feet deep.

But now... Scripture tells us with Spring Rains and melting snow from Mount Hermon...

• The River has become a Raging Torrent... Jordan rolled on...

• Over a mile wide...

• Flowing an estimated forty plus miles an hour.

Based on this information the crossing of the Jordan River may have been a greater miraculous event than the crossing of the Red Sea.

At the Red Sea... Quiet... still... Waters were parted.

At the Jordan... A Raging river... Now... Over five thousand feet across... Flowing forty miles-an-hour... Is suddenly stopped by the Lord...

• Scripture says... The water was backed up to the city of Adam... 20 miles from the crossing.

•And downriver... It was dry all the way to the Dead Sea.

I’m sure that somewhat reluctantly... The Priest carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped into the water and Just that quick the people experience the miracle... As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the Ark... The waters of the Jordan were cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they stood up as a heap.

Can you imagine it??.... Over a million people stood on the banks of the raging water...

• Their hearts racing with fear...

• Yet their nerves tingling with anticipation of a new land and a new life.

What an exciting time to be God’s people.

• A time when God’s promises lay in front of them… If they would only trust Him...

• Step out in faith...

• Claim the victory...

Sound familiar?... Sounds much like God’s promises to His people today.

But this wasn’t the first time God had said He would deliver them... IF…if... They would trust and obey.

• He had parted the Red Sea for their ancestors.

• He had fed them... sustained them with unexplainable manna from heaven...

• Water from rocks...

• Quail on an east wind.

• Healing their snake bites...

• Their sandals never wore out... Their clothes never rotted.

This crossing transformed Israel from a wondering horde into an established nation.

Listen church... There’s no doubt that all of us have stood here... We’ve all had our Jordan’s to cross… Some of us are standing with one foot in the waters of Jordan this morning.

And if we’re not... We know that it won’t be long until we will be there... That’s just the way life is.

• Maybe our Jordan is an unfavorable diagnoses...

•The loss of a loved one...

• Loss of a job...

• Bankruptcy...

• A marriage on the rocks...

• Divorce...

• A betrayal by a friend...

• Something looming before us over which we have absolutely no control... Called Covid-19.

So...

• What can we learn about crossing our personal Jordan?

• What can we learn about living the adventure God has set before us?

It was Paul who said... Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Paul is saying... This narrative has something to say to us...Written for our benefit.

So… Come... Let’s see what we can learn about

living the life God has placeD before us...

First... We must Give God His rightful place... trusting Him EXPLICITLY!

When you see the Ark of the Covenant move out from your positions... Follow it... Because you have never been this way before... Then Joshua said to the priests... Take up the Ark of the Covenant and pass on ahead of the people.

At Mount Sinai... It was no other God’s before Me...

Jesus said... Love God with all your...Heart... Mind... Body... and Soul...

In the Sermon on the Mount... It was... Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Listen church... Jordan is a scary place without God’s presence in our life... Of all people... We should know that... Amen?

If we individually and corporately as a body of believers are going to cross our Jordan... Live differently... Faithfully... Then we must give God His Rightful place... First... before all others!!... Before all things!

Secondly... We must be willing to LIVE THE ADVENTURE.

Joshua’s instructions were to follow God... Follow behind the Ark...WHY?... Because we are going to go where we’ve never gone before.

You see... Genuine... Discipleship... FAITH... Trusting God... Is the first step of giving up the life we once knew... And following Jesus in a new way of Think ing & living.

Christianity... Genuine Discipleship... Following Jesus... Means we are to break out of our comfort zones... take up our cross and follow Him.

Can I say this and you not become upset with me... Comfort Zone Religion is NO religion at all. God is constantly and consistently asking us to step out in faith... Live Differently… Live Boldly… Add to your Faith... Knowledge... Self-control... Perseverance.... Godliness Brotherly affection... Love.... Do not be surprised at fiery trials when they come upon you to test you as though something strange is happening to you...

Do these verses sound like Comfort Zone Living?

Living for Jesus... Crossing our own Jordan... Frequently calls for us to go into uncharted territory... We must not be afraid of the future... God says... My child I control the future.

Believe what we sing... Because He Lives I Can Face Tomorrow.

We are not walking blind...

• We’re following Jesus...

• We’re walking in the light...

• Allowing His Word to become a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Listen church... If CHRIST... The word of God... Was sufficient to lead Israel across their Jordan... And to sustain life in a New Land... Don’t you think JESUS THE WORD will successfully and safely... Lead us from our waters of Baptism to our Promised Land?

Crossing Jordan requires... action...Work… There are things we must do.

Israel had to do two things...

1) The opening verses tell us... They had to wait three days...

Sometimes waiting is the hardest thing we do.

Our King James has God saying in Isaiah 40.31... They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Listen church... Waiting time is never wasted if we are waiting on the Lord... AMEN?

2) Joshua 3.5... Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

Consecrate means to set oneself apart as holy unto the Lord... Israel had to clean up their lives... And so must we... And so must we.

Genuine faith is a verb... Faith is a word of action... Faith is a BEHAVIOR...

Read Hebrews eleven again...

• Able OFFERED...

• Enoch... WALKED....

• Noah BUILT...

• Abraham... OBEYED... WENT...

The Bible teaches that God-pleasing faith demands something of us.

No!... That behavior... That work... OBEDIENCE does nothing to MERIT GOD’S LOVE & SAVING GRACE.

Faith’s work is our response to His grace.

When Jesus said... Take up your cross and come follow me... He indicated some action... Some work... with the verbs... Come... Take... Follow.

A cross is something we die on... Christian faith is the work of dying to self and living for God... Are we willing?

Church… Do we really know what it means to die to self… SIMPLE!!… Placing God’s interest… And the interest of others… Before our own.

We must conquer our fears.

I think we’ll all agree... The Israelites must have been afraid that day.

They were entering a land that they would have to fight for... Yet...

• They didn’t have any war weapons…

• No trained soldiers...

• No fortified cities...

• No real military expertise...

Even more immanent than this... The river in front of them was at flood stage.

I think the Israelites had some fears... Well-deserved fears.

We can all think of times when fear paralyzed our good intentions... RIGHT?

Times when we could have done something great... But didn’t... Because of FEAR.

Some of us might be struggling with such fears even now...

• Some are afraid to begin their walk with God...

• Some are afraid to confess their faults and ask for the prayers of the church...

• Some are afraid to rededicate their life... Renew their adventure with Jesus...

• Some of us are afraid to speak to a neighbor about Him.

• Some are afraid to say... Forgive me... Or I forgive you.

• Some are afraid to love... And become loving.

• Some of us are afraid to give our... Time... Talent... Treasure... Energy… to the One who saved us.

• Others are afraid to step out in faith to accomplish something that they know God wants them to do… Teach a class… Serve as a Ministry Leader… Elder… Deacon…Am I right?

But here it is church... Jesus knows our fears and encourages us…!

Listen to God’s encouragement for Joshua & Israel from chapter one... I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and 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... Do not be terrified... Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

When we stand on the banks of our personal or corporate Jordan... Do not fear... WHY... Because this same God is at work in us… Because He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us… I will never leave you nor forsake you... The Lord is my helper... I will not fear. That’s our Jordan promise from Ephesians 3.20-21 & Hebrews 13.5-6.

We are constantly entering the future... Moment-By-Moment... A future filled with such words as... COVID–19... Cancer... Creditors... Cries... and Crisis.

But Isaiah 43.2 reads... When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

We must have an attitude of victory.

Remember Israel’s attitude at Kadesh-Barnea... We can’t... There are giants in the land.

But their attitude here is... WE CAN... They believed God would take them across Jordan... and give them their new land… So they obeyed!!

Church...Let me ask you... What had changed in forty years?... Nothing but their attitude... RIGHT?

Living daily for Jesus has a lot to do with our attitude...

• Want to be great in the Kingdom of God?... Have an attitude of a servant.

• Want to be forgiven by God?... Have an attitude of forgiveness toward others... Forgive and you will be forgiven.

• Want to go nowhere in your Christian walk?... Have an attitude of complacency and apathy... Such an attitude of lukewarmness got Laodicea expelled from the kingdom.

• Want to fail to cross our personal Jordan?... Let fear rule and reign instead of faith.

We end with...When God delivers us... Remember His delivery.

Israel was told to pick up twelve stones and stack them on the other side of the Jordan…So that in generations to come… When their children asked… Why these stones?… Tell them what you experienced this day.

We in the church today have downplayed and muddied the concept of testifying to the point that we seldom share with... our children… friends… neighbors…extended family… What great things God has done in our life.

• The early Christians testified… Peter… Paul… John…Stephen… Phillip… Testified…. Witnessed.

• Timothy and Titus were encouraged to tell others what God had done in their life.

As we cross our current Jordan… May we tell our children and grandchildren what God did for us.

So...This morning... Picture over a million people at the edge of an overflowing Jordan.

• God’spromises lay on the other side...

• His presence was with them...

• His words rang in their ears... Be strong and courageous.

We’re all standing at our Personal Jordan this morning... What will we do?

• Will we... Wait... Trust... Obey?

• Will we be willing to take action... To walk the walk of faith?

• Will we conquer the fears that limit us?

• Will we have an attitude of victory?

• Will we praise God when He delivers us?

The choice is ours... The time is now...

Come live the adventure God Has Planned For Us.

Let’s pray together...

Father God... Thank you for giving us this narrative… Thank you for delivering Israel...

We pray this morning that you will see to delivering us as we stand by our Jordan.

Father...

• Help us put You first in our lives.

• Give us courage to face the future--Courage to live the adventure you’ve chosen for us.

• Lessen our fears... Strengthen our faith...

• Father... Give us courage to live in such a way that others can see Jesus in us.

Bless those who are risking their well-being for our health and safety...

Thank you for this time together... We praise Your name through Jesus... Amen