Be Strong and Courageous

Joshua 1:5-9 (NASB)

(5)
"No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.
Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or
forsake you.
(6)
"Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession
of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
(7)
"Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to
all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it
to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you
go.
(8)
"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 success.
(9)
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not
tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever
you go."

Encouragement is awesome. It (can) actually change the course of

another person's day, week, or life.
- Chuck Swindoll
Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of
others are often stiffened.
- Billy Graham

Have I Not Commanded You?

God is reminding Joshua of what he’s said so far in the past few
verses.

Joshua 1:5, “I will be with you”

Joshua 1:6, “Be strong and courageous”
Joshua 1:7, “You may have success”
Joshua 1:8, “You will have success”
Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous”
Joshua 1:9, “God is with you”

Courage - mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and

withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

Christian courage believes that God can.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s answer to King Nebuchadnezzar’s

threat shows us that these three Hebrew teenage boys had no doubt
who the biggest daddy in this little drama is: “… our God whom we serve
is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace …” (Daniel 3:17
ESV).

This is where courage begins: God is bigger. He’s bigger than cancer or
a lost job or a broken marriage. He’s bigger than your sin and shame,
bigger than the grave. And if you are his child, nothing happens to you
without his permission. Not even a hair from your head falls apart from
his knowledge. So, the hymn-writer asks,

Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come?

Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is he.
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.

Christian courage believes that God can.

 Jeremiah 32:17: "Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens
and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm!
Nothing is too hard for you."
 Ephesians 3:20: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than
all that we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within
us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all
generations, for ever and ever!"

 Moses: Moses had the courage to lead the Israelites out of

slavery in Egypt, even though he knew that they would face many
challenges along the way.
 David: David had the courage to fight Goliath, even though he was
just a young shepherd boy.
 Esther: Esther had the courage to risk her own life to save the
Jewish people from being destroyed.
 Daniel: Daniel had the courage to disobey the king's order and
pray to God, even though he knew that he could be punished.
 Jesus: Jesus had the courage to face death on the cross, even
though he knew that it was the only way to save humanity from
sin.

Christian courage expects that God will.

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, “… and he will deliver us

out of your hand, O king” (Daniel 3:17), how did they know that? They
didn’t. We see that in the next phrase: “But if not …” They didn’t know
how it was going to turn out, but they had this suspicion in their hearts
that God would deliver them because they understood his goodness and
his willingness to showcase the glory of his name.

Many of the great feats of faith in the Bible were not done in response
to a direct command of God or with a promised guarantee of how it
would turn out.

In 1 Samuel 14, the Israelites were under oppression by the Philistines.

Only two swords remained among them, and Jonathan, King Saul’s son,
had one when he came upon a garrison of 20 Philistines. Jonathan said
to his only companion, a young armor-bearer, “Come on, let’s cross over
to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will help
us …” (v. 6 CSB). If I were that armor-bearer without a sword, I would
have needed a bit more than just “perhaps.” But
Jonathan expected that God would glorify himself.

Jonathan’s words sound like what David says in Psalm 27:13: “I am

certain that I will see the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living.”
That means we don’t just expect rewards in heaven; we expect to see
God breaking into our lives now with the evidence of his goodness.

Think about how many of Jesus’ miracles came about because someone,
without a promise or a plan, took a dare on Jesus’ goodness, like the
woman with the blood disease who came up behind Jesus, thinking that
if she could just touch the hem of his garment, she’d be healed.

In her story, as we see multiple times throughout the Bible, God

rewards those who don’t just believe that he can but also expect that
he will.
 Matthew 21:22: "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in
prayer."
 Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me."

 Daniel: When Daniel and his friends were threatened with death
for refusing to worship the golden image, they prayed to God and
asked for his help. They knew that God had the power to deliver
them, and they trusted that he would do so. God did indeed
answer their prayers and protect them from the fire.
 David: When David faced Goliath, he knew that he was
outmatched. But he also knew that God was with him. He prayed
to God and asked for his help, and God gave him the strength to
defeat Goliath.
 Paul: Paul faced many challenges in his ministry. He was beaten,
imprisoned, and even threatened with death. But he never gave
up, because he knew that God was with him and that he was
carrying out God's will. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:7: "For the
Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power,
love and self-discipline."

3. Finally, Christian courage trusts God if he doesn’t.

“But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods
or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:18 ESV).

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed that, even if God let them
die in the furnace, they would rather die in the flames with just God
than live in a palace with just the king.
Courage believes not only that God is bigger than the opposition but
also better than all the alternatives.

Sometimes you take a stand and God delivers, like he did for Jonathan.
And sometimes you take a stand and he lets you suffer, like Jesus did.
The question you have to ask is, if God lets you go into the fire, is he
enough for you? The only way you’ll have the courage to suffer for
what is right is if you believe knowing Jesus is enough.

This is why Jesus is enough: There was a fourth man in the fire with
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and because of that, they came out
of the flame totally unharmed. This whole scene prefigures Jesus going
through the cross: He was thrown into the fires of judgment with us,
and so we came through judgment totally unharmed.

There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The hair on our head is not singed with judgment; our clothes are not
burned. He took the flame so we could emerge in safety, not a trace of
judgment anywhere on our bodies or even our clothes, with only the
ropes of our bondage to sin burned away.

If he went into the ultimate fires of judgment for us and kept us

totally safe and free from harm there, don’t you think he’ll keep you in
whatever lesser fires you go into now?

This is the beginning of courage and the power by which it endures:

The God who died for you in the fire is the God who can keep you in the
fire.
 Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
 Lamentations 3:22-23: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not
consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."
 Psalm 37:23-24: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
and he delights in his way. When he stumbles, he will not fall, for the
Lord upholds him with his hand."

 Abraham: God promised Abraham a son, but Sarah was barren.

Abraham waited for many years for God to fulfill his promise, but
he never gave up trusting in him. Eventually, God did give
Abraham a son, Isaac.
 Job: Job lost everything, including his family, his possessions, and
his health. But he never gave up trusting in God. He knew that
God was good and that he had a good plan for his life, even
though he couldn't see it at the time.
 Hannah: Hannah prayed for many years for a child, but she was
unable to conceive. But she never gave up trusting in God.
Eventually, God did give Hannah a son, Samuel.

(4-5) The promise: victory is assured because Joshua is called by

God.
From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river,
the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great
Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No
man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as
I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor
forsake you.
a. From the wilderness…as far as the great river: The precise
territory of the land is described. This was no “pie in the sky” promise.
It described real land with real boundaries.
b. I will be with you: Victory is assured not because Joshua is a great
leader, or because Israel is a great nation, but because God is a great
God, and He says to Joshua, I will be with you. This is enough for any
man seeking to do God’s will.

4. (6-9) The conditions of the promise of victory.

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide
as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give
them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe
to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded
you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you
may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not
depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night,
that you may observe 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 of good
courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your
God is with you wherever you go.
a. Be strong and of good courage: Joshua is called to boldness in God.
This exposes Joshua’s weakness; there was a need for such a command
because even a great leader like Joshua needed such encouragement.

i. This bold courage would not be in Joshua himself, but in God. We can
be full of self-confidence that will take us to ruin, but we should
instead be full of a genuine God-confidence.
b. That you may observe to do according to all the law: Joshua must
take great care to observe the law. God’s word and Joshua’s
commitment to it would be the pillars supporting his success.
c. To all the law: Joshua did not only need to read God’s word. It had
to be on his lips (shall not depart from your mouth), in
his mind (meditate in it day and night), and he had to do it (observe
to do according to all that is written).
d. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will
have good success: God’s word so lived is a guarantee of Christian
success. Not that it promises a life without problems, but it does
ensure a life able to deal with anything because it takes full advantage
of God’s presence and promises.
i. And Christian success is not measured by the same standards as the
world’s success. Even if the world accounts us as sheep for the
slaughter, we are actually more than conquerors through Him who loved
us (Romans 8:36-37).
e. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go: The final
encouragement, repeated from Joshua 1:5, reminds us that Joshua’s
success did not depend solely on his ability to keep God’s word. It
depended even more on God’s presence with him.

A full and victorious life is one of the great promises of God. The
genuine believer who marches forth laying claim to the promised land
will be victorious. There is only one condition: the believer must trust
God, really focus upon God, marching forth and seeking the great
promised land of God. This believer will conquer all the enemies, trials,
and temptations that confront him. He will live a full and victorious life
through the presence and power of the LORD.

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have

peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our LORD" (Romans 8:35, 37-39

Sonnet on Courage

O courage, virtue of the brave and strong, Thou art the compass that
guides us through the storm, The beacon light that shines when skies
are wrong, The anchor that holds fast when all is torn.

Thou art the strength that helps us face our fears, The fire that
burns within our hearts so bright, The hope that whispers softly to our
ears, "Be strong, my friend, and all will be alright."

O courage, grant us grace to stand our ground, To speak our truth,

though others may deride, To fight for what is right, though we be
found Alone against the world's tempestuous tide.

Help us to be the heroes of our day, To live with courage, come what
may.