AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY: BE STRONG — The Courage to Advance (Article 2 of 6)
GOD DID NOT CALL JOSHUA MERELY TO CROSS — HE CALLED HIM TO POSSESS
Text: Joshua 1:1–9
“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.”— Joshua 1:3
There is a tremendous difference between crossing into the land and possessing the land.
Israel could have crossed Jordan, established a comfortable camp on the other side, looked back across the river and congratulated themselves on how far they had come.
After all, they had left Egypt.
They had crossed the Red Sea.
They had survived the wilderness.
They had crossed Jordan.
Surely that was enough.
But God had not brought them across Jordan merely so they could say:
“We made it.”
God brought them across Jordan because there was land to possess.
Jericho was still standing.
Enemies still occupied the land.
Giants were still there.
There were battles still to fight.
There was territory still to take.
God said:
“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you...”
Notice those words carefully.
God said:
“I HAVE GIVEN...”
But He also said:
“YOUR FOOT SHALL TREAD...”
There is a wonderful biblical balance here.
God provided the promise.Israel had to walk upon the ground.
The promise of God did not produce passivity.
The promise of God demanded obedience.
And that is where we find another great principle of Aggressive Christianity:
FAITH DOESN'T JUST BELIEVE THE PROMISE — FAITH PUTS ITS FOOT ON THE GROUND.
I. THERE WAS A PROMISE — BUT THERE WAS ALSO A POSSESSION
Long before Joshua stood beside Jordan, God had promised this land.
This wasn't Joshua's idea.
Joshua wasn't attempting to build his own kingdom.
God had spoken.
The land was theirs by promise.
But there was a problem.
Somebody else was living on it.
There were Canaanites.
Amorites.
Hittites.
Perizzites.
Hivites.
Jebusites.
There were fortified cities.
There were trained armies.
And there were giants.
God could have removed all of them before Israel arrived.
He could have flattened Jericho before Joshua ever crossed Jordan.
He could have emptied Canaan overnight.
But He didn't.
Instead God told Israel:
Go possess what I have given you.
There would be dependence upon God.
But there would also be action.
There would be promises.
But there would also be battles.
There would be faith.
But there would also be footsteps.
That's Aggressive Christianity.
It refuses to use the sovereignty of God as an excuse for the inactivity of man.
Sometimes Christians say:
“Well, if God wants it done, God will do it.”
But God told Noah to build an ark.
God told Abraham to get out of his country.
God told Moses to go unto Pharaoh.
God told Joshua to cross Jordan.
God told Gideon to go in this thy might.
Christ told Peter to launch out into the deep.
And Jesus Christ told His church:
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”— Mark 16:15
There is a little two-letter word that destroys passive Christianity:
GO.
II. JERICHO — THE PROMISE DID NOT REMOVE THE WALL
Joshua didn't have to travel very far before discovering this.
The first great obstacle after entering the land was Jericho.
Joshua 6:1 says:
“Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.”
It was shut.
Fortified.
Humanly speaking, it stood between Israel and the land God had promised them.
Then God said something remarkable:
“And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho...”— Joshua 6:2
Wait a minute.
Jericho was still standing.
The gates were still shut.
The walls were still there.
The soldiers were still inside.
Yet God said:
“I HAVE GIVEN...”
God spoke of the victory before Joshua could see the victory.
But Joshua did not respond:
“Wonderful! God has given us Jericho. Let's sit here and wait for the walls to fall.”
No.
God gave instructions.
And Israel obeyed.
They marched.
Day after day they marched around that city.
To human eyes it probably looked ridiculous.
Marching around walls doesn't look like warfare.
But they were doing exactly what God had commanded.
And on the seventh day—
They marched again.
The priests blew the trumpets.
The people shouted.
And:
“...the wall fell down flat...”— Joshua 6:20
Here is the lesson:
God's promise did not remove Joshua's obedience.
And Joshua's obedience did not replace God's power.
Joshua marched.
God brought down the wall.
That is biblical Christianity.
We obey.
God supplies the power.
III. CALEB — “GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN”
Years later we meet one of the greatest examples of this spirit anywhere in Scripture.
Caleb.
He is eighty-five years old.
Most men at eighty-five would be looking for somewhere comfortable to settle down.
Caleb is looking at a mountain.
And unfortunately there is something living on that mountain.
Giants.
The sons of Anak were there.
The cities were great and fenced.
Caleb knew it.
And Caleb said:
“Now therefore give me this mountain...”— Joshua 14:12
I love that.
He didn't say:
“Give me that valley over there where nobody is fighting.”
He didn't say:
“Joshua, I've served God for forty-five years. Surely I've earned something easier.”
No.
GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN.
And listen to the rest:
“...if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.”
There's the balance again.
Caleb didn't say:
“I can do this.”
He said:
“IF THE LORD WILL BE WITH ME.”
But neither did Caleb say:
“If God wants those giants removed, He can remove them without me.”
Caleb strapped on his sword and went after his inheritance.
At eighty-five.
That is Aggressive Christianity.
Faith sees a mountain occupied by giants and still says:
“GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN.”
IV. THE BEACHHEAD IS NOT THE OBJECTIVE
There is a useful military picture here.
In an invasion, establishing a beachhead is enormously important.
You get troops ashore.
You secure a position.
You establish supply lines.
You survive the enemy's attempt to throw you back into the sea.
But no general launches a massive invasion simply so his army can occupy a few miles of beach.
The beachhead is not the objective.
It is the place from which the advance begins.
Think of the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944 — D-Day.
Thousands of men came ashore under terrible conditions.
The beaches had to be secured.
A foothold had to be established.
But imagine if, after securing those beaches, the Allied command had said:
“We've done it! Everybody stop right here.”
No.
France was still occupied.
Paris was still occupied.
Western Europe remained under Nazi control.
Germany itself lay far beyond them.
The beach was only the beginning.
They had to break out.
They had to advance.
They had to liberate territory.
They had to continue until the objective was accomplished.
And there is a spiritual lesson there.
Some Christians have established a beachhead—
And then stopped advancing.
They got saved.
Praise God!
But salvation wasn't the end of their Christian life.
It was the beginning.
They crossed Jordan, so to speak, and then built a chair beside the river.
But God has more.
There is spiritual ground to possess.
There is Scripture to learn.
There is holiness to pursue.
There is prayer to develop.
There is service to perform.
There are souls to reach.
There are people to disciple.
There is a gospel to preach.
There is a race to run.
There is a fight to fight.
There is a course to finish.
The beachhead is not the objective.
V. THE GREAT COMMISSION IS A COMMAND TO ADVANCE
Jesus did not tell the church:
“Stay where you are and hope the world finds you.”
He said:
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations...”— Matthew 28:19
And:
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”— Mark 16:15
Notice the direction.
OUTWARD.
Jerusalem.
Judaea.
Samaria.
The uttermost part of the earth.
Christianity was designed to move.
The gospel crossed borders.
It crossed cultures.
It crossed languages.
It crossed oceans.
The book of Acts begins in Jerusalem.
By the end, Paul is preaching in Rome.
That is not accidental.
The gospel advances.
And somebody has to carry it.
Romans 10:14 asks:
“...and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
Then verse 15:
“And how shall they preach, except they be sent?”
There are people who will never hear unless somebody GOES.
There are streets where somebody needs to preach.
There are doors where somebody needs to knock.
There are hands into which somebody needs to place a gospel tract.
There are villages that need the gospel.
There are cities that need churches.
There are countries that need missionaries.
There are young believers who need somebody to teach them the Book.
There are pastors who need encouragement.
There are people who need Bibles.
And we cannot sit inside our churches singing:
“Rescue the perishing”
while refusing to go where the perishing are.
Aggressive Christianity says:
GO.
VI. HOW MUCH GROUND ARE YOU ACTUALLY POSSESSING?
Joshua 1:3 contains an uncomfortable thought:
“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon...”
Israel could possess ground.
But they had to walk upon it.
So here is the question:
How much ground are we actually walking upon?
Not:
What do we believe God could do?
Not:
What did Christians fifty years ago do?
Not:
What did our church once do?
What are WE doing?
Paul said:
“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”— Philippians 3:14
Notice that word:
PRESS.
Forward pressure.
Paul wasn't satisfied merely because he had started.
He wanted to finish.
He wasn't satisfied with yesterday's spiritual ground.
He wanted more of what God had for him.
That doesn't mean chasing some mystical experience.
It means becoming more obedient.
More faithful.
More useful.
More fruitful.
More effective.
More surrendered to the will of God.
CONCLUSION — GET YOUR FOOT ON THE GROUND
God told Joshua:
“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you...”
There was a promise.
There was land.
There were walls.
There were enemies.
There were giants.
And there was a choice.
Israel could stand beside Jordan talking about everything God had promised—
Or they could put their feet on the ground.
Maybe we have talked long enough.
Maybe we have planned long enough.
Maybe we have discussed what ought to be done long enough.
Maybe we have prayed:
“Lord, send somebody.”
And God is saying:
YOU GO.
Jericho will not disappear because you ignore it.
The mountain will not possess itself.
The lost will not hear the gospel by accident.
The Great Commission will not fulfil itself.
God told Joshua:
ARISE.
GO OVER.
PUT YOUR FOOT ON THE GROUND.
POSSESS THE LAND.
Caleb looked at the mountain and said:
“Give me this mountain.”
Paul looked at the course ahead and said:
“I press toward the mark.”
Jesus looked at a lost world and said:
“Go ye...”
That is the spirit of Aggressive Christianity.
Not reckless.
Not arrogant.
Not trusting in the flesh.
But believing God enough to obey Him aggressively.
Don't just cross the river.
Don't settle on the beachhead.
Don't admire the mountain.
Don't stare at Jericho.
PUT YOUR FOOT ON THE GROUND.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP.
ADVANCE.
POSSESS WHAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO POSSESS.
Because Christianity is not a spectator's religion.
RUN. FIGHT. WRESTLE. STRIVE. PRESS. ENDURE. LABOUR. WATCH. STAND. GO. FINISH.
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