HIGHLIGHTS IN JOSHUA
Number 21
THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD
Joshua 23:12-16
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THE problems of living in this world for the Church and the Christian are the same whatever age we live in. Human nature is the same and the world in its adverse influence on the Church is the same whatever differences there may be in culture and science. Because of this the Bible is always relevant, and the experiences of God's people in the Bible, which are recorded for us, are powerful illustrations of the spiritual life. Thus the lessons which God taught here in Joshua are for us, just as much as they were for the people of Israel.

Joshua is preparing the people for his final departure from them through death. He see the dangers from the world around clearly and vividly. He seeks to warn and instruct so that Israel may remain faithful to the Lord and remain in the blessing of the Lord. We need to listen to Joshua and heed what he says so that the Church may stay in the blessing of God.

THE PROBLEM

The problem is the enemy within and without. The enemy within is the sinful nature, which remains in the flesh even after new birth. The enemy without is the influence of the world all around us. The world all around us is a potent enemy because of the enemy within, the flesh, which is attracted to the world and its values. If the sinful nature was removed, then the world would have no attraction, but while we live in the body it will always be there, so we need to be watchful.

In the case of Israel it was the survivors of the nations, which Israel had defeated, who were the trouble. While they lived amongst Israel they carried on their culture and religious practises. The danger Joshua perceives is alliances made between Israel and these people, where Israel would inevitably be influenced and led to embrace the life of these alien people. The alliance of marriage is particularly mentioned, but there would have been other possibilities, in business and in social life. Alliance presupposes a measure of compromise and conformity with the alien culture and religion. A small compromise soon escalates into something greater until the principles of Jehovah and allegiance to him are eroded. There are always fatal consequences of such decline.

Jesus mentions the same problem in the parable of the sower. It is the seed which fell on thorny ground which illustrates this. In interpreting this Jesus speaks of the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choking the word of God, so that it becomes unfruitful. In every alliance there must be compromise on both sides, and experiences proves that the compromise is usually most on the side the church and the believers. Having compromised we soon begin to believe the compromise is justified and right, and before long the truth of God has been compromised, and replaced by half truth or even denial of the truth.

SUCCUMBING TO THE WORLD

Joshua outlines the result of such compromise and succumbing to the world. He mentions three directions where the church will suffer loss and be greatly harmed.

The first is that alliance with the world weakens. It weakens because trust in the world always means that we are failing in our trust in the Lord. This causes God to withdraw from his people. For Israel it would mean that the Lord would not continue to drive out the nations before Israel. Israel would become weak and lacking the power of God for them (v.13). It is always offensive to God when we trust in the flesh and human strength, rather than in him.

We are only strong in the Lord and the power of his might. It is always folly to trust in human strength and the wisdom of the world. In our personal lives to trust in our strength means we are open to all the traps which the world and the flesh place in our way. If we do not succumb to godlessness or unrighteousness in a direct way, and succeed in maintaining a moral life, still we become self-righteous, pharisaical and judgemental, lacking the image of Christ. The Pharisees in Christ's day illustrate this so well. They were highly moral and religious people, being involved actively in the religious life of their day. They kept the rules meticulously. Yet they had little love. They judged others and condemned. They lacked the finer qualities of divine goodness, such as humility and mercy. Because of this trust in their own strength and wisdom, their religion became tainted and corrupted by the wisdom of the world, and this in the end brought the awful sin of crucifying the Lord of glory. It is a sad thing that there are too many like this in the church today, and they do not realise that the Lord has withdrawn from them. The true child of God has no confidence in the flesh and waits upon God daily for his grace and wisdom and guidance.

Then in the realm of the church's life and work, it is fatally easy to trust in the arm of the flesh and adopt the wisdom of the world. Israel in its history so often went to Egypt, or some other worldly power, for help and defence, when they should have trusted in the Lord. This brought disaster. They stopped hearing what the Lord had to say, and the Lord withdrew his power from them. In our eagerness to have success in God's work and for the church to grow, we listen to the wisdom of the world and adopt worldly practice. This always means disaster. Even if we succeed in adding to the number sitting in the pews, we lose the unction and blessing of the Lord, and the supposed life is really death.

Our joy and strength is in the Lord and him alone. However hard it is we must, personally and as a church, trust in the Lord, and renouncing worldly wisdom, wait upon God for his wisdom and guidance.

The next result of alliance with the world in some form or other is that this alliance will bring traps and snares for us. We shall suddenly find that we are faced with some decision where we have to make a choice between our allegiance to the Lord and our allegiance to the worldly alliance we have made. We have begun to serve two masters, and what usually happens is that we are more fearful of offending our worldly associates than offending God. Further if we are loyal to the worldly alliance, we soon find ourselves in the area where our faith and Christian standards are compromised.

By way of illustration, one of the ways which this may happen is in the realms of raising money. I have found throughout my ministerial life that whenever a church trusts in the Lord for their needs, the Lord provides more than abundantly, even though faith is tested. When the church resorts to the ways of the world, however innocuous these methods are, the results are poor. From this there is the danger, which often happens, that the church resorts to more questionable worldly means of raising money. Soon the church has ceased to trust in the Lord and depends on its own strength totally. The Lord withdraws from the church, and there is the experience of ever decreasing returns for the labour that is having to be put in.

The third result of alliance with the world which Joshua mentions is that we lose the blessing of the Lord. Personal and spiritual blessing declines. Spiritual life suffers, and death creeps in. In the church all the outward structure is in place. All seems to be going well, but there is no life, no sense of God's presence, and no real joy in the Lord. Because outwardly things seem to be going well, it is often a fatally long time before we realise the decline we have fallen into. This is also true in our personal lives.

ANTIDOTE TO THE WORLD

It is so difficult to have faith and rest in the Lord. It is so difficult to be patient and wait for the Lord's time. The problem or difficulty, so often, seems too pressing to allow for waiting. The answer to this is to remember God's faithfulness. Joshua brought this remembrance to the people of Israel. He reminded them that God had never failed in any of the promises he had made. He reminded them that God never let them down and his grace and power were always sufficient for the need in hand.

If God has been so faithful in the past, we never need fear that he will let us down in the future. In our remembrance there is the assurance that nothing is beyond the power and the wisdom of God to accomplish. Further in remembrance we understand that God's time is always the best and proper time. This will armour us against the temptation to lose faith or grow impatient.

When God has been so faithful and good to us, how hurtful it must be to him that we should refuse to trust him in the future. How insulting to doubt his goodness and promises for the future. When we realise this, is not alliance with the world a form of idolatry? Are we not turning from God to an idol, and trusting in that worldly alliance rather than God. We offend against the first law of the spiritual life which is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts.

THE DANGER OF ALLIANCE WITH THE WORLD

Joshua lastly warns Israel that God has made other promises. He has promised that he will not stand by and not act if Israel, in alliance with the world, goes after other gods. There is an emphasis here which is very important. We would never stand by and let someone take over our house and property, nor must we entertain the idea that God should stand back and allow the devil to take away what is rightfully his. Alliance with the world is ultimately alliance with the evil one, because since Adam's fall into sin the whole world, Scripture tells us, lies in the evil one. The world is the Lord's and all that is in it. It is his by creation. We tend to look on God acting in judgement as a harsh act, and many will say that it is not compatible with the idea that God is love that He should judge and punish. The surprising thing, however, is that God did not step in right at the beginning, when Adam sinned, and remove the cancer of rebellion right away. The fact the Bible reveals is that God's infinite love, mercy and grace not only causes him to be patient and give time for repentance, but also that God acted, in love so great as to be beyond imagination or computation, in order to redeem mankind from their rebellion and save them from the punishment rightly theirs.

Joshua speaks here of the promise of God to judge and punish Israel if they departed from their allegiance to himself and go after other gods. Israel was given particular blessing and privilege. This brought special obligation upon Israel. Going after other gods was sinning against great love and mercy. Joshua mentions this promise to judge and punish Israel if they forsake God as another motive to be faithful to God. We must see in this promise of judgement the awfulness of the sin of turning against the hand of love poured out on upon them.

It is necessary, however, to be careful in our application of this truth expressed by Joshua. We must remember that God dealt with Israel as a nation, and it is the nation that Joshua is speaking of, and in verse 15 the judgement is upon the nation, and not directed specially against individuals, though individuals are caught up in the fate of the nation. What I am leading up to is the truth that our individual salvation under the Gospel holds the promise that 'none shall pluck the true believer from the Lord'. We are saved and have eternal life solely on the ground of the work of the Saviour for us. This can't be diminished by our sin, and so salvation once received can't be lost. Salvation is ours not by our work but by the perfect work of the Saviour. The Gospel tells us that included in salvation is God's work in us so that we persevere to the end by God's grace and power. Thus the Gospel speaks of the believer being chastised but not judged and cast out.

The application of these words of Joshua about judgement apply not to the individual as such, but to the church. When a church, that is a particular congregation, or denomination, make alliance with the world, turning from allegiance to the Lord to other god's, however that may be, that church is in danger of God judging and punishing it. The judgement commences with God withdrawing his presence and blessing, and continues eventually, unless that church changes, with that church being judged and ceasing to be. There is evidence of this in history. There have been churches which have flourished in the past, which now do not exist anymore. In North Africa for example.

This is why Christians should always be concerned when congregations or denominations depart from the truth of God. Departing from revealed truth is always in essence the making of idols. A church always places itself in great jeopardy when this happens. God withdraws his grace from that church, and spiritual deadness sets in.

CONCLUSION

Our passage calls us to serious thought. There is need, in the light of such Scripture, for each Christian to examine their lives so that they may not succumb to alliance with the world in any way. Alliance with the world always brings traps and snares and loss and the diminishing of God's blessing. Even though the true believer can't be lost, such alliance brings chastisement from the Lord, and there is loss of blessing and joy until we repent of such alliance, and return to the Lord.

A passage like this is meant to call us to great devotion and love for the Lord. It calls us to consider our blessings and the great love of God for us. It calls us to humbly seek God for his keeping grace that we may remain in his love, faithful and true.

This passage also calls every congregation and every denomination to look seriously at their life and work, and if there is any alliance with the world resulting in turning from God to idols and trust in anything but the Lord, then to repent and renounce such evil.