Be Strong and Very Courageous

“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9 ESV)

Now this was under the Old Covenant in the Old Testament, and these instructions were specifically for Joshua who was now to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land after the death of Moses. So not all of this is going to apply to Christians today, but much of it will, if interpreted in light of the New Covenant and our relationships with Jesus Christ.

So, we who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are to lead others to become followers of Jesus Christ, are to be strong and courageous, for we will come up against much opposition, and most of that opposition is going to come from others who also profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are following after a false gospel of a false Christ created in the minds of human beings and not consistent with the teachings of the Scriptures.

And where is our Promised Land? It is heaven. It is our eternal destiny if we are those of genuine God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ who are walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commandments under the New Covenant. And we lead others to this Promised Land by sharing with them the truth of the Scriptures and not the lies which are permeating the church (or what is falsely called “church”) here in America today. 

Now we who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are to be leading others to also be followers of Christ, are to be very careful to obey the Word of the Lord, which is all that is consistent with the teachings under the New Covenant, for we are not under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions, including the requirement for circumcision. We are under the New Covenant laws.

And we are not to turn from that law to the right or to the left, i.e. we are not to depart from the truth of the gospel in either direction, either towards legalism or towards liberalism (or libertinism). And we are not to turn to man-made gospels and institutional religion nor to any false teachers or false gods or false gospels which deter from what the Scriptures teach when they are taught accurately in their appropriate context.

And the Book of the Law for us today is not under the Old Covenant but under the New Covenant, which can be read in Matthew through Revelation. But the Old Testament is not irrelevant to us today. It just needs to be read and interpreted for us today in light of the New Covenant relationship we now have with Jesus Christ so that we are not living under Old Covenant laws which do not apply to us today. But we are not to be lawless.

We still have to obey the Lord under the New Covenant commands, which are many. We still have to walk in holiness and in righteousness and no longer in sin if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God in heaven. And this is not saying that we have to be absolutely perfect in everything that we do, but that sin should no longer be what we practice, but righteousness and obedience to our Lord are now to be our practice.

Yet we not only need to be guarded against false gospels, but we also need to be guarded against the false “church.” For just because you give it the name “church” it does not mean that it is the church, the body of Christ of those of genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, who have died with Christ to sin and who are living to God and to his righteousness in the power and working of God’s Holy Spirit now living within them.

For so much of what is called “church” here in America are just businesses of human-origin being marketed to the people of the world. And in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings, they have made compromises with the world and with the teachings of the Scriptures in order to make the church and the Scriptures and Jesus Christ more agreeable to human flesh and to the ungodly of the world.

So, please be discerning about this, for when the Scriptures teach that we are not to neglect to meet together with other followers of Jesus Christ, it does not specify where we are to meet. For it can be anywhere – in a coffee shop, at a local restaurant, at the mall, on a street corner, at someone’s house, or on the internet. And it can be any day of the week and every day of the week, and any time of day or night or in the middle of the night.

But the Scriptures do give us instructions as to what our gatherings are to be about and who is to participate in them. For the purpose is for believers in Jesus Christ to gather with one another for our mutual encouragement and edification in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord, as each one of us has a part in helping one another to grow to maturity in Jesus Christ and in helping one another to not depart from the faith. We are all needed!

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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