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“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous.” (Joshua 1:6-7)
Why is God encouraging Joshua to be strong and courageous? Joshua doesn’t have a history of being timid or fearful, Joshua was one of two spies to trust that God could defeat the Canaanites when they first went into the promised land, moreover at this point he has already been the military leader for decades, literally leading the charge when Israel went into battle!
Sure his mission was huge, seemingly impossible and his army consisted of slaves who had been wandering in the dessert, but I don’t think Joshua was sitting in his tent shaking in his sandals! Rather I think God exhorts Joshua to be strong and courageous to remind him of how sinful fear is.
Wait up, being afraid is sinful? Where do you get that from? How can being afraid be sinful – it’s not like you choose to be afraid, in the same way you may choose to steal! How can you say that fear is sinful!
Well, to understand this you need to remember that this is not the first time they have tried to move into the promised land, in Numbers 13 and 14 Moses sends spies into the land. When they return they tell the Israelites that it is an impossible task, the Canaanites are too many and too well defended. Then the people become afraid and they rebel against God. Of course Joshua and his colleague Caleb are not afraid and they want to go into the land, Joshua then ays this: “he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” (Numbers 14:8-9)
Joshua is saying that fear is rebellion, it is sin! Moreover after they say this the Israelites contemplate stoning Joshua and Caleb, why? Because people often respond in anger when their sin is exposed. While the people are considering stoning Joshua and Caleb the LORD descends to the tent of meeting and says to Moses: “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them” (vv11-12).
It is clear that fear is contempt and rebellion, it is sin! Fear is not trusting God. Standing on the edge of the promised land the Israelites (including Moses) sin against God by being afraid. God then punishes their rebellion by not letting them into the promised land until everyone of fighting age in that generation dies.
Thus standing on the edge of the promised land, the second time over, God is careful to remind Joshua of their previous sin that they may not repeat it! Thus: “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous.” (Joshua 1:6-7).
Now God will tell Joshua how to be strong and courageous, he will tell him how to avoid sinning through fear, God doesn’t just expect people to strong and courageous – and we will look at this in the next post. When you see why you can be strong and courageous you see how anyone can overcome their rebellious fear.
So, on that note, what does this mean for us? Well God is clear that Christians are called to complete, uncompromising obedience. A submission to Gods will for their lives. This submission will again and again lead them into persecution. Jesus says we are sheep amongst the wolves! No one wants to be persecuted, it is not fun and yet all through the bible you see people willingly, bravely going to persecution, indeed even rejoicing in their persecution! They are strong and courageous! When they face the difficulties of obedience to God they do not treat God with contempt by fearing. So too you and I will experience persecution, it is expected. May we not sin in those times by fearing.
But how?
Well we’ll look at this question in the next post
So I accidently spilled bolognaise sauce all over my John Owen book! Nooooo. What a shame.
I can still read it, but it smells like spag bol.
My saucy book on sin... what did you think I meant?
Anyway, I thought I would share with you some more John Owen goodness from his classic work: “On the mortification of sin” that I have been reading recently:
It is our duty to be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1); to be “growing in grace” every day (1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18); to be “renewing our inward man day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). Now, this cannot be done without the daily mortifying of sin. Sin sets its strengths against every act of holiness and against every degree we grow to. Let not that man think he makes any progress in holiness who walks not over the bellies of his lusts. He who does not kill sin in his way takes no steps towards his journey’s end. He who finds no opposition from it, and who sets not himself in every particular to its mortification, is at peace with it, not dying to it.
It is our duty as Christians to be perfecting holiness in the fear of God, therefore let us be bold as we work, by the power of the Holy Spirit to kill the sin in our lives. Or… as Owen says, let us walk all over the bellies of our lusts! Amen.
What happens when we get lazy with fighting sin in our lives? When we start to change our thinking about a particular sin, making it increasingly acceptable? What happens if we just keep indulging in a sin instead of daily fighting against it?
I don’t know about you but these are questions that regularly bounce around in my mind and in my heart.
Owen talks about this in the mortification of sin, and unsurprisingly has some commanding words to say:
John Owen
Where sin, through the neglect of mortification, gets a considerable victory, it breaks the bones of the soul (Ps. 31:10, 51:8) and makes a man sick, weak and ready to die (Ps. 38:3-5), so that he cannot look up (Ps. 40:12, Isa. 33:24); and when poor creatures will take blow after blow, wound after wound, foil after foil, and never rouse up themselves to a vigorous opposition, can they expect anything but to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin? And that their souls should bleed to death (2 John 8)?
Owen states that not mortifying our sin leads to a hardening of heart. He talks about people he knows who were: “humble, melting, broken hearted Christians, tender and fearful to offend, zealous for God and all his ways” who become hardened by not mortifying their sins. Maybe you know someone like this? I know I do. I also know that I become more harsh towards other Christians and the Church, impatient and rude in times when I am being lazy with personal holiness.
This warning from Owen is one for me as well as anyone else who wants to grow in holiness and the fruit of the Spirit.
I am continuing to read John Owen’s work on the mortification of sin based on Romans 8. Owen describes sin as an old man that is always present in your life and always tempting you to sin! He states that it is only the fool who believes you can attain a perfect state this side of glory, no, “indwelling sin always abides while we are in this world; therefore, it is always to be mortified”. When sin lets us alone, then we can let sin alone. But anyone who has thought humbly about the Christian life knows that there is no rest for the believer in this regard, there is never a time out, there is never a truce, instead each day is a battle, “there is not a day that sin does not foil or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed on”.
It reminds me of an illustration that Andrew Katay gives in wedding sermons. Its about 4 guys who retreat from the world by heading into their individual sheds, however these sheds are all connected to make the ultimate bloke-topia! His point is that there is no such retreat in the real world, sin is always present and thus we must always be vigilant!
Listen to how Owen puts it:
“When sin lets us alone we may leave sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems most quiet, and its water are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to e vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even where there is the least suspicion”
Furthermore Owen states that sin is never satisfied with small sins, rather it is always aiming at gross, souls destroying sins. Every small sin it entices you to do is just a stepping stone, a step closer to a heinous act. Owen writes:
“Sin aims at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin in that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression, every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its outcome… yet every hight of lust, might it have its course, would come to the height of villainy: it is like the grave that is never satisfied”
We must, through the spirit be daily putting to death these sinful desires that rise in our life, harmless though they may seem, they lead down a dangerous road. We need to cut them off like the root of a bad weed needs to be severed to destroy the whole plant. We need to, by the grace of God and in the strength of the Spirit foil the plans of sin as they come up in our lives… How could we ever have fought this battle if it were not for Christ who has first defeated sin on the cross and then armed us with his armour to take our stand against the devils schemes. Praise be unto God who gives us the victory.
Overcoming Sin and Temptation: Three Classic Works by John Owen
I have just started reading a collection of the writings of John Owen that talk about the mortification of sin and the pursuit of holiness. For those of you who are playing at home it is officially called: “Overcoming Sin and Temptation – Three Classic Works by John Owen” you can buy it here.
It is very hard reading; hard, but profound (on my 40 minute journey to uni this morning I read 5 pages). And seeing as the copyright laws from Owens’ time are out of date (or non-existent) I thought I would share with you some of the quotes that I found helpful and accessible.
Owen centres his discussion on the mortification of sin around Romans chapter 8, specifically: “if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
Owen describes putting to death in these words:
“To put to death is a metaphorical expression, taking from the putting of any living thing to death. To kill a man, or any other living thing, is to take away the principle of all his strength, vigour, and power, so that he cannot act or exert or put forth any proper actings of his own; so it is in this case. Indwelling sin is compared to a person, a living person, called “the old man”, with his faculties and properties, his wisdom, craft, subtlety, strength; this, the apostle says, must be killed, put to death, mortified – that is, have its power, life, vigour and strength to produce its effects taken away by the Spirit. It is, indeed, meritoriously and by way of example, utterly slain and mortified by the cross of Christ; and the “old man” is thence said to be “crucified with Christ” (Romans 6:6), and ourselves said to be “dead” with him (Romans 6:8), and really initially in regeneration (Romans 6:3-5), when a principle contrary to it and destructive of it (Galatians 5:17) is planted in our hearts; but the whole work is by degrees to be carried on toward perfection all our days”
“The mortification of indwelling sin remains in our mortal bodies, that it may not have life or power to bring forth from the works or deeds of the flesh, is the constant duty of believers.”
Amen.
More to come as I continue to read
