Author: Ryan Hale

The Israelites had taken Jericho, and now they thought that, after that first incredible victory, God would continue to lead them forward. The way in which the walls fell was astounding. It was amazing to see such strength and power come to nothing before God’s power, and so the Israelites felt that nothing could go wrong.

As a result, as they looked forward to the city of Ai, they thought that they could just send a small fraction of their army to defeat that city. They may have been correct, except they had sinned as they had defeated Jericho. Amongst them was one who had kept some of the “devoted things”, those things from the plunder of Jericho that should have remained devoted to God. Achan had seen his opportunity to enrich himself instead of remain faithful to God’s plan and his instruction. He had taken a Babylonian robe, a bar of gold, and several pieces of silver and buried them under his tent.

So as the small detachment from the army of Israel went to fight Ai, God was not with them. Yahweh did not faithfully lead this army because the Israelites had not been faithful to him. The Israelites had violated the covenant that God had made with them, so God would not go with them. He wouldn’t honor the covenant when the Israelites had not honored it either.

But as Achan was identified and the cancer of sin which prevented the Israelites from completely following God was removed, God rejoined the Israelites and they routed the city of Ai.

Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

Joshua 7:20-21

We frequently have actions and attitudes that stand in our way of our relationship with God. We make our plans. We make our ideas. We look to enrich and glorify ourselves instead of placing the glory where it belongs, upon God, and we create the same types of problems and issues come upon ourselves.

Yesterday, I met with a man and we discussed together the parable of Jesus that says that the kingdom of God is like a treasure in a field. When the man found it, he went joyfully to sell everything that he owned so that he could buy the treasure in the field.

There is value in the other things in life, but look at the value that they have when compared to the value of the treasure of the kingdom of God. It is worth more than anything else. The man sold everything so that he could have the field that contained the treasure. And he did it joyfully! He was happy to sell everything.

In Achan’s, he thought that having the devoted things, those things that should have been devoted to God, would enrich him, and he preferred, instead of honoring God and giving all to him, to honor himself and give himself everything. He found greater joy in keeping everything for himself instead of giving it to God, and as a result, he was destroyed and the people of Israel was defeated. In the same way, if we desire to see success, we must offer and give all that we have to God so that he will be honored and glorified and we will find our joy in him.

Now that God has brought the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan, it is time that they will go to war. They will fight for the land.

But that doesn’t meant that the fight will be easy. The first thing that the Israelites see? The walls of Jericho. Jericho had built a fortress and the walls around the city were tall and strong, making it nearly impenetrable. How would the Israelites possibly begin to live in the Promised Land if they weren’t able to even take the first city that they came upon?

And yet despite those challenges, God has a plan in mind. The fear of the Canaanites was justified. They had heard that God had brought them through the Red Sea, and then they saw that God had brought them across the Jordan River. Beating the Canaanties won’t be a significant challenge for a God that can stand water up and make the land underneath it dry up.

In fact, this is what God says to Joshua:

Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

Joshua 6:2

God explains that he has delivered Jericho into Joshua’s hands. It won’t happen by the hands of Joshua, nor by the strength of the Israelite army, but the Promised Land will only become the possession of the Jews by the might of Yahweh who will deliver the land that he had promised into the hands of the Jews, conquering the Canaanites who live there.

So frequently we have challenges in our lives that create fear and anxiety, but when God goes with us, our fear is undeserved. We must follow God’s lead, staying connected to him, doing what he has called us to do, and by doing this, we will see God work, see him move in his time and in his way, and we, like the Jews and the Canaanites, will learn that he is God, the one who is sovereign and able to lead us where he desires that we will go.

They were headed to war. Moses was dead and Joshua had been chosen to lead the people into the Promised Land. Joshua had stood with Caleb 40 years prior to tell the people that they should cross the Jordan River and go into Canaan, the Promised Land, just as God had told them, but the people rebelled and Moses folded, so the people were doomed to wander through the desert for 40 years until the entire generation had passed away.

What a waste…and for what? They didn’t believe that God would take care of them. They didn’t believe that they could do what God had called them to do. They looked and saw the challenges that stood in their way instead of looking at the God that was with them, so they turned around and walked away from what God was leading them into.

But now, the time had come. Now, Joshua had been chosen to take them into the next step. He believed that God would go with them. He would lead the people and go into Canaan, into the Promised Land.

However, there were people there already. It wasn’t as if the people would be happy to simply give up their land. No, they would have to take it, even if the Canaanites were strong. Even if the challenge is daunting. Even if there would be difficulty after difficulty. But God…

But God was with them, and that made all of the difference.

No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

“Be strong and very 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. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:5-9

Is God calling Joshua to a strength and a courage that is simply something that Joshua will need to muster up, pull himself up by his bootstraps, and call the people into some type of fake courage, even if he doesn’t believe it?

Or maybe we can ask the question in another way… who is the source of this strength and courage that God is telling Joshua that he should have? Is it Joshua? No, it is God! Joshua should have courage, despite the fact that he will be going into battle…despite the fact that he is going with people who have failed to have courage previously…despite the fact the enemies that they will encounter on the other side of the river are very formidable… He is to have courage because God is with him. The source of his strength and courage isn’t from him. It is from God.

And now, what about us? Is there a parallel for us? Are we in a similar situation?

Yes, we are. Jesus has called us into a “battle”, of sorts. He told his disciples that he would send them out like sheep among wolves. They were headed into the a spiritual battle that would have very real physical consequences, and the odds didn’t look very well in their favor.

In the same way, Jesus has sent us into the world. He said that he has all of the authority, so we should go and make disciples of him.

And will the world be OK with this? Will the kingdom of darkness willingly let the people go and enter into the kingdom of God? Heck no… In the same way that it happened with Joshua…in the same way that it happened with Jesus’s disciples…it now also happens with us. We are sent, and God’s words to Joshua still echo to us: Be strong and courageous.

And why? Because we are the source of that strength and courage? No, it is because Jesus promises to go with us. We should be strong and courageous because Jesus is with us as we go. My strength and courage do not come from me, but instead they should come directly from Jesus himself. In the same way that God was with Joshua, Jesus is with us.

And so now, we have to ask ourselves: Do we believe it? Will we go, as Joshua did? Will we be strong and courageous as God asked him to be because God was with him?

Or will we shrink back? Will we fold at that point of entry at the Jordan River as the unbelieving Israelites did and that Moses allowed them to do? Is Jesus with you? And will you go as a result of the strength and courage that he gives you?

Several times, I’ve heard people say here where we are that this person or that person is a good brother in Christ, and the evidence that this is the case is that they have given the person that is telling me this a good price on a particular good or service. Hmm… Not sure that is necessarily a good bit of evidence for their brotherhood.

In fact, I would tend to say that this says something negative about the person that is telling me this. I understand that it is important to be generous, and so I appreciate that the other person is trying to help someone out. However, ff we are basing our decision about whether or not someone is a good brother in Christ, we should of course be looking at other factors, not just the fact that they are willing to reduce their price for someone. What is more, I would suggest that, in the same way that the other person is willing to be generous to their brother or sister in Christ, we should be willing, and maybe even insist, on paying the full price to show complete respect in return to the person who is selling the product or service. In other words, the generosity should go both ways.

Paul was speaking to slaves who served their owners, explaining that they shouldn’t look try to get out of their duties to their masters just because both parties are believers in Christ. No, instead, they should work all the more, showing full respect toward other believers.

All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves.

1 Timothy 6:1-2

Of course, this is an even greater level of respect and generosity. Within the context of slavery at that time, I can imagine that the relationship between slave and master was not always easy. I can also imagine that the slave would want to find ways in which they could lighten their load of the work. Wouldn’t it make sense that, if they are both believers in Christ, that the master would lighten the load of the slave who is also a believer?

Maybe in a worldly way of thinking that would be the case. Maybe similar, at least conceptually, to the situation that we see above. But that is not the way of Christ. Jesus taught us that if someone slaps you, give them the other cheek as well. If someone takes your shirt, give them your coat as well. If someone wants you to go with them one mile, instead go two miles.

The point here is that we are to give so that our giving is glorifying to Christ. In this case, the slave is to give respect to the master, not expecting any preferential treatment. He is instead to hand over his work in generosity to the other person. Whether as an unbeliever, or most especially as a believer, to give full respect for the glory of Christ.

There are many reasons that we talk ourselves out of doing something that we know that we should do. I know that, for years, I thought that we should be moving onto the mission field, and said so to several friends. Gina and I had talked about it, but we never really took a step forward because we had no idea what to do. We had no one to lead us down the path. We didn’t feel worthy to do it either. We didn’t know that we could do it, so we talked ourselves out of it. We weren’t encouraged to do it, so we didn’t do it.

But could we have done it? Yes, of course. We could have done exactly what we thought we were supposed to have done regardless of what other people did or didn’t do. There were reasonable reasons that we didn’t go, but that didn’t necessarily mean that we did the right thing.

Many people do many things, few of them for the good others. In fact, it is an unfortunate truth that people frequently try to tear others down more than they try to build them up. Therefore, we have to make decisions for ourselves regardless of what is happening around us, what we want to do about it, and the direction that we believe God has for our lives. It is important to listen and take wisdom from others, but at the same time, we have to make decisions about what is right.

That is similar to the situation that Timothy found himself in while working in Ephesus. The elders had laid their hands on him to commission him in his work. He had learned under Paul, and now Paul had sent him to continue the work that he had started.

But Timothy is still young. He has had several experiences in working for the Lord, but he started very young when Paul found him and brought him with him from Lystra amongst the Galatian churches. At this point, it seems that, because of his young age, people do not always want to listen to him. They do not want to follow the leading and the teaching that he is giving.

So Paul spurs him and on and encourages him to continue in the faith and the work that he had been sent to do:

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

1 Timothy 4:12-14

We need to move ahead in the work and in the giftings that we have been given. We can’t talk ourselves out of the work that God has given us to do. There is work to do in the kingdom of God. We must diligently continue in it. Regardless of how you feel, regardless of what others might think, regardless of their judgments, it is important to wisely move forward in what God has called you to do. With counsel, with wisdom, but also setting an example by doing what you have been called to do.

Paul is writing to Timothy who is currently in Ephesus carrying on the work that Paul had started in the years prior. Timothy is working to help set the church in order, and so Paul is giving him instruction on the things that he must do to accomplish that end.

And so to that end, Paul says that the first thing that they must do is pray. He calls for petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving to be made for all people:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

1 Timothy 2:1-6

Paul interrupts his thought when he says that those prayers should be made for all people, clarifying what he means when he says all people. They had in their time, just as we have today in our time, kings and those in authority. In other words, the government. So Paul gives the commandment to Timothy that the first thing that they should be doing is praying for those in authority.

As opposed to what? What is the opposite of praying for those that are in authority? What is it that Paul is attempting to correct? I would, yes, speculate, but suggest that the answer is playing politics. Paul wants Timothy to, instead of spending time talking about the politics of the day, spend time praying for those in authority.

In Paul and Timothy’s time, the kings – the Romans in particular since they are the ones in charge at this time, but not just them – considered themselves, and were considered to be divine. In other words, they were “gods”, not just kings. So of course this would be a problem when you have a group of Christians who, instead, say that Jesus is king. They are proclaiming a new kingdom, the kingdom of God, where Jesus is king.

So for this reason, and for the fact that we frequently also align ourselves with one political ruler or another in our day, Paul tells Timothy that the first thing that they must do is to pray for (obviously, not pray to) the kings and the authorities. They are to pray and ask God for blessing to come upon these authorities so that – first – they may live peaceful and quiet lives. They should ask that they would have lives that would allow them to do the work of the kingdom of God, making the true and eternal king known to all.

But not only this…instead, they should pray also that these “all people”, meaning also the kings and the authorities, would also come to know Christ. They should pray that these authorities would also submit to the authority of Christ, the greatest and true king over all.

All of this to say that our engagement from a political perspective is to pray. Not to spend time a ton of time in the context of the church body worrying and debating about the policies and politics of the world, but instead praying for the kings and all in authority to know Christ so that they will govern appropriately and that we can live the lives that Christ has called us to live and focus on the work of his kingdom, not focusing on the kingdoms of the world that are passing away.

Yesterday I noted that Paul explained that there are many teachings that seem wise, but in reality do not have any power to restrain someone from “sensual indulgence”, or in other words, from sin. Frequently, we might ask ourselves how we can leave sin behind, how we can, as Paul said in another place, not do what I want to do. My flesh, my sinful nature, wants to sin. It wants what I do not want, and so I must put that off, I must put it away.

But how? Paul has told us that wise-sounding religious rules of “do this” or “don’t do that” really don’t have any power to restrain us. And I think that I would certainly tend to agree.

But if not that, then what?

Paul goes on in chapter 3 of Colossians to explain that we have to look beyond the things of the world to the things above. That which comes from heaven, that which comes God, that is what we need to look toward. We need to consider those things, and if we do, if we will focus on that, then we will no longer desire those things that are of the world.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Colossians 3:1-2

The earthly things are the “sensual indulgences” of the world. They are the things that are designed to lead us away from Christ. They are the desires of our flesh that want to distract us from that which is right, that which is holy. But the things above are those things that are good and right and just. They are the things that are holy. They are the things that are of God. These are the things that we must learn to desire because they are much greater than the things of the world. These are the things that will last forever, eternally.

I should say that this isn’t to say that there is a difference in pleasure. There is great pleasure in the things above. There is great enjoyment. But these are pleasures and joys that, in addition to the pleasures and enjoyment that are temporary, are also pleasures and enjoyment that lead to eternity. They aren’t temporary.

Paul subsequently makes a list of the things that we should put off and instead look to things above. He says:

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Colossians 3:5

So, for example, let’s say that the first three in the list all pertain to sex. Does that mean that we shouldn’t enjoy the pleasures of sex? No, of course not. Paul isn’t telling us to put off sex. He is telling us to put off sex that belongs to the earthly nature. Instead, he is referring us toward sexual pleasure and enjoyment that leads to eternal life. That which God has called us to with our spouses. He calls us toward that which he has built for us, not a perversion of that which was designed.

By looking beyond that which is of the flesh, that which is of this world, we choose Christ instead. We prefer what he offers us instead of what the world offers us. We desire those things that are good because we get more pleasure, more enjoyment, more happiness, more joy out of those things. We are, instead, blessed eternally by this way of living.

This reminds me of the parables that Jesus told of the treasure in the field, or the pearl of great price. Remember what happened with the man that found these treasures? He sold everything so that he could purchase that one thing. He left everything behind so that he could purchase that which was worth so much more. He saw no value in everything else that he owned when he compared it to the value, the worth, of that treasure, so therefore he sold it all just so that he could buy that field that contained the treasure, or that pearl that was worth it all.

This is the same idea. Jesus said that the treasure is the kingdom of God. The way that we can put off sin is to prefer the kingdom. We prefer what our King says. To enjoy it more than what the world has to offer to us. This is how we can look toward the things above and leave behind the things of this world.

Paul tells the Colossians that there are rules that people will follow that seem to be wise. Do this, or don’t do that. These are commands that the world gives that seem wise, but don’t actually do you any good.

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Colossians 2:20-23

It is this last part that I think is intriguing and is important to understand:

…but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

The rules that seem wise are rules of restriction, intended to keep us away from the things that we would actually like to do, but are actually harmful to us. But in those cases, because we are weak creatures, Paul points out that the rules actually are lacking in value to restrain us from indulging ourselves in the sin that they are intended to keep us from. That is why Paul says that those rules seem wise, but actually lack value in truly keeping us from sin.

What is required instead is valuing something even greater. In the next chapter, Paul will go on to talk about the fact that Christ has given us life. Christ is the one that we must desire above all else. More than our sensual desires. More than what the world has to offer, we must desire him. We must want to be with him. That relationship with him will have great value in not only restraining us from sensual indulgence, but in living in holiness. Because we find our joy in Christ, we no longer find joy in sin. We no longer find pleasure in the things of the world, but in the things of God. This is no longer an appearance of wisdom, but is what it means to be truly wise!

Wait a minute, Paul. In what way, exactly, are Christ’s afflictions lacking? Did Jesus not live a perfect life? Is his sacrifice on the cross not perfect – one sacrifice for all, whether for past, present, or future sins?

Here is the passage that I’m referring to:

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:24-27

You can see how this could pretty quickly become confusing. If Paul is saying that Christ’s afflictions are lacking in some way, then we have an imperfect sacrifice.

But scripture has already told us that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice – one sacrifice for all time, for all people, for all sin. Here is what the writer of the book of Hebrews tells us:

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

“This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”

And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Hebrews 10:10-18

We can see here that no other sacrifices are necessary. Jesus’s sacrifice was sufficient for all people, for all time. One sacrifice that was given by God himself, by Jesus our high priest, and no sacrifices are needed any longer.

If that is true, then, what in the world is Paul talking about? How can he say that there is something lacking in the sacrifice of Christ? Even further, how can he, although a great man, but just a man, make up for anything that is related to Christ’s sacrifice? He can’t, can he?

Let’s read what Paul is saying in context. He is referring to the presentation of the message. He is talking about the message that has been hidden but that has now been made known to the Gentiles. He is talking about the fact that the message now must be spread to the rest of the world.

The sacrifice of Christ isn’t automatically transmitted to everyone’s heart and mind. Instead, God has decided and seen fit that man would be the way that the message would be transported and taken to everyone everywhere. In this way, Paul is saying that he is taking on what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

Let’s take it one step further, however. Paul actually doesn’t just say that he is the bearer of the message. Instead, he says that he fills up in his flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Paul takes this message within him, within his flesh, and carries it to the whole world. Paul had taken beatings. Paul had been jailed. Like Christ, his flesh bore wounds, the wounds of the gospel, as he took the message. When you heard the message from Paul, you saw the wounds on his flesh. You saw the marks of Christ upon him. He was full, within his flesh, of the message of Christ. Not just words, but true marks of Christ.

So in this way, Paul fills up within him what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. He isn’t sacrificing himself for the people. He is giving himself to Christ, to Christ’s glory, so that the mystery of Christ would be revealed and the whole world may hear of the salvation that comes from God.