Attitude of an Overcomer 2

---

SERMON SERIES - OVERCOMER SERMON - THE ATTITUDE OF AN OVERCOMER 6-2-19 Joshua 1:1-9 (NLT) After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2  “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3  I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—4  from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. 6  “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” OPENER: How many of your know somebody that when life is tough the word “overcomer” does not come to mind. They get down, they get defeated, discouraged. They never look at the bright side. They always look at the dark side. The glass is always half empty. They always look at life from the negative perspective. They never look at life with a good attitude. Then you have someone else who no matter what life seems to throw at them they seem to have an attitude of an overcomer even in the moment when things are not well. Story: There was a man that was going through the worst year of his life. And a friend came to him and said, “I know you are going through a terrible time and I know it is just awful. What are you going to do?” The other man said, “I’m going to throw a party!” His friend said, “What? Throw a party?” How can you throw a party when everything is bad?” The man said, “ The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, Rejoice.” And since God said to “rejoice” twice and I didn’t heart him the first time and I had a pity party and he says it a second time, I think I better do what God says, and rejoice my way through this time.”

THIS IS THE ATTITUDE OF AN OVERCOMER. This attitude is not denying the problem, it is realizing that God is bigger than any situation you are going through. I.JOSHUA’S BACKGROUND Joshua is considered the Bible’s greatest military leader. For he lead the sevenyear-conquest of the Promised Land. He would be considered one of the greatest generals in human history. If anyone knew how to battle the enemy and come out victorious it was Joshua. For seven years he lead in the fight to take over the Promised Land. He was an overcomer. So, what do we learn from the life of Joshua? It think his life is worth looking into today. Joshua didn’t have it easy. Joshua was born into slavery. At this point in the text we just read, he has been wandering with rebellious people for 40 years. Now he is being tasked to lead people into a new land. SO, HE HAS BEEN A SLAVE. HE HAS BEEN A FOLLOWER. NOW HE IS A LEADER AND HE HAS TO TAKE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT REALLY EQUIPPED TO GO TO WAR AND TAKE THE LAND THAT GOD HAS PROMISED THEM. Joshua is a man that is following a successor. How do you follow a legacy? How do you follow the guy who has been given the 10 commandments? How do you follow a guy like Moses? It is hard to follow a legend. It is hard to step into those shoes. You either try to ignore the leader of the past, deny the leader of the past or try to do everything you can to show that leader was never there. All of these are tragic mistakes when you follow a legendary leader. Moses was their legendary leader for 40 years. The people were not as familiar with Joshua. Because Joshua had not been “The Leader”. The one who made the final calls. The one who made the final decisions. PART OF BEING A GOOD LEADER IS LEARNING TO BE A GOOD FOLLOWER. Joshua knew how to be one who follows. But now, as Joshua steps in as the new leader he is about to ask the people the very thing that Moses had asked them to do.

They rebelled on Moses. How was he going to do something different and aspire confidence in them so that when he asked them to cross the Jordan and into the Promised Land, they don’t spend another 40 years in the wilderness and someone else has to step up and lead. God had given them the land 40 years before, but because they did not have an overcoming attitude they wandered in the wilderness and they died for 40 years because they believed God really hadn’t given it to them. THEY DID NOT POSSESS WHAT GOD HAD FOR THEM BECAUSE THEY NEEDED AN ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT. YOUR ATTITUDE CAN KEEP YOU IN DEFEAT. YOUR ATTITUDE CAN KEEP YOU FROM POSSESSING WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED. Through all of this Joshua was a survivor, a winner, an overcomer and became one of the greatest conquerors in the Bible. What caused him to succeed and do great conquests for God in the midst of great opposition and hardship? Let’s look at the life of Joshua that brought him to this point of being chosen by God to do great things. II.THE LIFE OF JOSHUA: 1. HE WAS MOSES’ PERSONAL MINISTER Exodus 24:12-13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.” 13 So Moses and his assistant Joshua set out, and Moses climbed up the mountain of God. When Moses went up, some of the elders went up, some of the leaders went up, but Joshua was the one that got the closest. He was always standing around ready to assist Moses at every turn. Joshua was not standing around in the background saying, “When is it going to be my turn to be in charge.” Joshua was content to be Moses’ personal servant. YOU MUST LEARN TO BE CONTENT WITH WHERE YOU ARE TO BE PREPARED FOR WHERE YOU ARE GOING. 2.HE WAS WITH MOSES IN PRAYER Exodus 33:11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

Moses went back to the people, but Joshua hung out a little longer to maintain that attitude of prayer, to stay focused on God and what God was saying and what God was doing. He needed to understand what God was doing so he could know how to help Moses. JOSHUA DIDN’T JUST PRAY IN PUBLIC. HE PRAYED IN PRIVATE. YOU WILL NEVER BE AN OVERCOMER IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PRIVATE PRAYER LIFE. 3. HE STOOD WITH MOSES IN BELIEVING THE PROMISES OF GOD He was a man that didn’t doubt the word of God. He didn’t doubt the promises of God. He believed the promises of God. God had given the 10 commandments and said this is my Word and he believed in those commands and those promises. He also believed in the promise that the land was theirs for the taking, because only Joshua and Caleb came back with a positive report, the other 10 spies came back with a bad report. When you are called on to believe a something that is greater than you, do you believe or do you start trying to make excuses for it? Do you believe the promises of God or do you say, “Well that might have been true then, but I’m not sure it’s true now.” YOU CANNOT BE AN OVERCOMER IF YOU DO NOT TRUST IN GOD’S PROMISES. 4.HE WAS PREPARED BY MOSES TO BE THE EVENTUAL LEADER Moses and God had a succession plan in place before Moses ever died. There was a planned out way this was going to goo before Moses stepped off the scene. Numbers 27:18- 20 (NLT) The Lord replied, “Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. 19 Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people. 20 Transfer some of your authority to him so the whole community of Israel will obey him. Moses is intentionally starting to delegate some of his authority to Joshua so the people will be inclined to obey him with Joshua takes his place. Moses and God are working on the transition. Joshua is a man who is being prepared. All of us in our lives our being prepared, being trained by God to be used for His plan. God is trying to position us and prepare us to take a mantle of authority and a position of influence for the kingdom.

Note: If you are young in your career you need to realize that God wants to put you in a place of preparation, to hear him, to look to mentors. God is putting you in positions to give you wisdom from others so that when the time comes and you are needed you are prepared to step in and do what God has planned for you to do. There is no wasted time in God. Every decision you make, every goal you set is preparing you to step up somewhere in life. GOD DOESN’T ALWAYS USE PEOPLE THAT ARE THE MOST TALENTED, THE MOST GIFTED OR THE MOST EDUCATED. HE USES PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO WALK A PATH OF HUMBLENESS AND OBEDIENCE TO HIM. IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO SUBMIT TO THE PROCESS OF PREPARATION YOU WILL NEVER BE READY FOR PROMOTION FROM GOD. God finds someone that He can raise up and use beyond their normal capabilities so that through the process God gets all the glory for everything. That is what God did with Joshua. There were a lot of sharp men among the Israelites. In fact there were 12 at one point. Any of them could have stepped up and been a successor to Moses, but only two of them, Joshua and Caleb gave themselves a chance to be in that position. Why? Because the other ten men made dumb choices. They looked at the giants and quit looking at God. And God said there is 10 that have disqualified themselves to have any position in my future. IT MATTERS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE 11. IT MATTERS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE 16. IT MATTERS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE LEGAL. IT MATTERS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE 25. IT MATTERS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE KIDS. IT MATTERS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE 60. SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE DUMB DECISIONS COST YOU. DUMB DECISIONS COST YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THINGS FOR GOD. LOOK AT THE PRIORITIES OF AN OVERCOMER: 1. JOSHUA UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER Remember when they were fighting the Amalekites and God asked Joshua to lead the battle and Moses went up to intercede. Joshua knew battle tactics, but Joshua also knew that as long as the arms of Moses were raised up they were victorious. When the arms of Moses fell down the battle did not go their way.

JOSHUA UNDERSTOOD THAT IN BATTLE THERE IS ALSO A BATTLE IN PRAYER THAT HAS TO GO ON. 2.JOSHUA UNDERSTOOD SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITY For 40 years he was second in command. He never had an opportunity except for what Moses gave him . He never complained about being second in command. By the way, the hardest instrument to play in the orchestra is second fiddle. Everybody wants to be first chair, but not everybody can be first chair. But if you don’t have second chair and third chair and fourth chair you don’t have an orchestra, you have a solo. And if you want to have a team, embrace your place on the team. IT’S NOT ABOUT POSITION. IT’S NOT BOUT TITLES. IT’S ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS PLACED YOU AND WHAT HE CAN TRUST YOU WITH AT THE MOMENT. THE PERSON THAT CAN’T FOLLOW CAN’T LEAD. IF YOU CAN’T SERVE PEOPLE THAT ARE OLDER THAN YOU, WISER THAN YOU, BEEN DOWN THE TRACK FARTHER THAN YOU HAVE THAN YOU’LL NEVER BE AN OVERCOMER. TIMOTHY NEEDED A PAUL. DAVID NEEDED A SAUL. ELISHA NEEDED AND ELIJAH. AND JOSHUA NEEDED A MOSES. A TITLE DOESN’T GIVE YOU ENTITLEMENT TO BE AND DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO. A TITLE GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE GOD’S PEOPLE IN A GREATER CAPACITY. IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND GOD’S AUTHORITY, YOU WON’T UNDERSTAND ANYONE ELSE’S. 3. JOSHUA EMBRACED GOD’S PROMISES GOD’S PLAN IS REVEALED IN HIS WORD. Joshua 1:8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

OVERCOMERS READ THE WORD, STUDY THE WORD, MEDITATE ON THE WORD, MEMORIZE THE WORD AND OBEY THE WORD. ILLUSTRATION: The navigators came up with this years ago….. It is the hand illustration. READ THE WORD STUDY THE WORD MEDITATE ON THE WORD MEMORIZE THE WORD OBEY THE WORD If you don’t do all five things you can’t hold the Word. You can’t obey the Word unless you do all four of the other things. To have a strong grip on the Word of God you have to have all 5! That is what Joshua did. He mediated on the Words of God. He listened to the promises and he took them in. He absorbed what God had said. And he had a strong grip on the word. SO WHAT WAS JOSHUA’S BATTLE TACTICS THAT CAUSED HIM TO OVERCOME? BATTLE TACTIC #1: GOD’S WORD IS THE KEY TO VICTORY. God could do what Joshua could not do. Joshua was powerless to defeat the giants in the Promised Land. He did not have the man power, the equipment, the artillery. He didn’t have anything necessary to knock down the walls of Jericho. And if they didn’t get passed Jericho, there was no victory and there was not taking the Promised Land. GOD CAN DO THINGS FOR YOU THAT YOU CAN’T DO. THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO. GOD IS GOING TO HAVE TO DO IT IN YOU, THROUGH YOU, FOR YOU. Hebrews Chapter 11 tells us that “by faith” the walls to Jericho fell. This is what Joshua had to communicate to the people….. “We are going to overcome Jericho by faith. We are going to walk around and be silent and keep our mouth shut for seven days. And I don’t care what they say to you, you don’t talk back. And we’re going to watch God do something!”

BATTLE TACTIC #2: GOD CAN USE US ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF OUR SURRENDER. Joshua 5:13-15 When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?” 14 “Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.” At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?” 15  The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told. Adrian Rogers says this about this passage… God said……”I didn’t come to take sides. I came to take over.” God doesn’t come to take your side against somebody else’s side. When God comes, he comes to take over. He wants you to take off your shoes because you are on holy ground and he wants you to bow before him because he can do what you cannot do. BATTLE TACTIC #3: GOD’S PLAN BRINGS VICTORY EVEN IF IT SEEMS ODD TO US Joshua 6:2 But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. 4 Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. 5 When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.” “have given” = past tense / already done Joshua could have said, “Now God that doesn’t sound like plan that is going to work.” You know why many of us are not walking in victory? Why churches are not subduing the kingdom of this world and seeing people freed from darkness? It’s because we won’t believe the word of God. WHEN GOD SAYS DO SOMETHING, JUST ZIP YOUR MOUTH AND DO IT. IF GOD SAYS BE QUIET AND DON’T SAY ANYTHING, THEN BE QUIET AND DON’T SAY ANYTHING. IF GOD SAYS SHOUT, THEN SHOUT.

BATTLE TACTIC #4: GOD’S PROVISION DEMANDS OUR PATIENCE It’s hard to wait on God. We want everything fast, drive - thru, quick, instant this, instant that. These people had to wait 6 days. Some of us can’t wait 6 minutes. GOD’S PROVISION DEMANDS OUR PATIENCE. BECAUSE IT IS ALWAYS IN GOD’S TIMING, NOT OUR TIMING. CLOSING: Joshua said this later in life: Joshua 24:14-15 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15  But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” We have to: Fear the Lord (revere and respect him) Serve Him in sincerity and truth (pure heart, pure motives) Put away the gods of Egypt (rid yourself of old things, false gods, sin, idol worship)