Introduction
The 16th Century nun, Teresa of Avilla, once went through a very difficult and painful time in her life. She was a feisty and courageous reformer, a bit of an eccentric, but she was a woman of faith.
During this troublesome phase of her life, certain members of her religious order began to resist the changes she was trying to introduce; they criticised her and bullied her. Her friends and associates were also harassed and made to jump over endless bureaucratic hurdles. They obstructed her drive for spiritual renewal. They forced her into ‘voluntary’ retirement (which didn’t actually stop her, but it was discouraging).
From about this time, there’s an old story about her going on a journey to set up a couple of houses of prayer. Her journey was frustrating and exhausting – and at one point perilous. And it’s said that at this point, it all got a bit much, and she turned to God in a prayer of utter exasperation. “My Lord,” she said, “when will you cease from scattering obstacles in our path?”
And she sensed God saying to her, “Do not complain, daughter; this is how I treat all my friends!” And, according to sources, she said back, “In that case, Lord, it’s no wonder you haven’t got very many!” I told you she was feisty!
In the Psalms, we often find this kind of outburst in times of trouble. “How long, Lord?” “God, hear my complaint.” “Have you forgotten us, Lord?” “Lord, why are you so far away?” If your spiritual journey, like Teresa of Avilla’s, or the psalmist’s, is challenging or demanding at the moment, don’t forget; at no point did Jesus ever promise us a smooth ride. But remember, he does assure us of a safe arrival.
Two weeks ago, we were looking at the parting of the Red Sea with Moses. It is followed by four decades of frustration and obstacles in the wilderness. Today, we’ll be reading about crossing the Jordan on dry land with Joshua. You can’t help but notice the striking parallels between the two miracles either side of those desert years.
Both involve the travels of the people of Israel. The first miracle is at the beginning of their flight out of slavery towards the Promised Land. The second one marks that journey’s end. Both feature a daunting body of water to cross. In both, the water defies the laws of physics and piles up in a heap. And in both, the people cross safely without getting their feet wet.
Matthew Henry, in his commentary, says this repetition is “to show that God has the same power to finish the salvation of his people that he had to begin it.”
God was with them not just at the start, but all the way and, after many ups but mostly downs, he finished off what he began. As with them, so with us. You might say to yourself, God doesn’t seem as close as when I was first saved. The sense of his presence with me is not as intense as it once was.
But God does not deliver us from the slavery of sin only to then leave us to finish off our salvation on our own.
It’s why Philippians 1.6 says you can be confident, “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” when he returns in glory. It’s why 1 Thessalonians 5.24 says, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”
And, with all that in mind, let’s read Joshua, chapter 3.
Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out… and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: ‘When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits [that’s 900 metres roughly] between you and the ark; do not go near it.’
Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’ Joshua said to the priests, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.’ So they took it up and went ahead of them. And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so that they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: “When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.”’
Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord – the Lord of all the earth – set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.’
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is in flood all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off.
So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Prayer…
Let’s try and set the scene. We can tell from Joshua 4.17 that this event is set in the early spring. At this time of year, the Jordan is in flood and very fast flowing, because all the mountain snow has melted upstream to the north.
Phil Moore in his book on Joshua gives us a helpful sense of what it would have been like. “Normally 30 metres across,” he says, “the Jordan could be up to a mile across when it was flooded. God chose the hardest time of year for this miracle to showcase his power.”
Do you know what it’s like when you’ve got something really difficult to do, and you don’t want to do it, so you keep putting it off? If Oscar Schindler had been a procrastinator, we’d have a film called Schindler’s To Do List instead of Schindler’s List. Thankfully, he was a good man with a good work ethic who got things done.
But it seems that Joshua is a bit of a procrastinator. He keeps putting things off. Perhaps understandably, given the Mission: Impossible he has been given, he seems reluctant and nervous.
In chapter 1, God says, “you will cross the river in three days.” But in chapter 2, Joshua stalls by first sending out spies who take four days to return. Then he waits three more days after that in chapter 3 verse 1, before announcing in v5, not “Right, let’s go, we’re already five days late, but, “We’re going to go tomorrow.”
Look, do it now, do it today. God has spoken, what are you waiting for? Why are you sitting on your hands when you know God has called you to get to your feet?
But, if you’re feeling a bit condemned because you’ve been putting something off, be encouraged that God is so patient. Just as Jesus “understands and empathises with our weakness because he was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin,” the Lord seems to graciously overlook Joshua’s faffing around.
He lets it go. Because in v7, after all that dilly-dallying, he says to Joshua, “Today, I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel.”
Well, I’ve got two points this morning as we take a deeper look at this chapter. And they are both imperatives that require from us a response of faith. Firstly, be holy. And secondly, take that first step.
Consecrate yourselves
Firstly then, be holy. In v5, Joshua says to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
“Amazing things!” Who isn’t up for a bit of that? We are all ears for testimonies of spectacular conversions. We want to see God do miraculous signs and wonders among us. We want to experience extraordinary healings and incredible deliverance. Joshua says, “tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you” and we can’t wait. Bring it on! But God says, “all right, but first of all, consecrate yourselves.”
Notice God doesn’t tell his people to get the Canaanites and Hivites and Perizzites to become holy. It’s not our job to lecture and berate the ungodly society around us about its ungodly music and its ungodly legislation and its ungodly celebrities and its ungodly values. Paul asks, in 1 Corinthians 5, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?” “Consecrate yourselves,” God says.
I can think of about a dozen great Christian leaders over my lifetime who I really looked up to and learned from and have been inspired by; evangelists, conference speakers, artists, pastors, authors - outstanding people, who fell into sin or serious error and unbelief and ended their ministries discredited and in disgrace.
What humiliation for the cause of Christ! For years in some cases, they sustained a secret double life, keeping things hidden in darkness, instead of living a repentant life and bringing things into the light.
I thank God for the likes of John Stott, Billy Graham, David Pawson, Voddie Baucham and John MacArthur; Christian leaders who ran their race well, right to the end. There is no asterisk on their obituaries. All went to be with the Lord with no hint of scandal tarnishing their legacy or bringing dishonour to Christ.
When we let the values of this world get inside us and start to soak into our hearts, we’re in trouble. Boats don’t sink because of the water all around them, they sink because of the water that gets in them.
1 John 1.8-9 says, “If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
We’ve got to deal with stuff now. We’ve got to sort things out with God. “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
In 1730, a young student studying at Pembroke College, Oxford began to yearn for God. He just longed for more of God. And the more he sought God, the more he wanted God. The more he experienced of God, the more he wanted.
Every evening after supper, he’d walk around behind the cathedral, in Christchurch Meadows. And he would kneel under a tree and ask God for more. And then he began to rise early and seek God, fasting and praying.
The more he prayed, the more he saw the holiness of God, and the more he wanted a greater experience of him. Like in Psalm 42, “like a deer panting for water, so my soul longs for you.” And then one day, in his journal, he wrote, “Oh, what a day!” He met with the Lord incredibly powerfully that day.
His name was George Whitefield and God anointed him as an effective evangelist. A holy fire was lit in him that day that never burned out. It joined the blaze of revival that God was lighting up and down this land. Tens of thousands were saved. And signs followed; God turned whole communities around and nations were touched. Thousands of new, vibrant churches were planted.
Every major revival, every fresh outpouring of the Spirit, seems to start with someone somewhere seeking God, yearning for more and saying, “enough is enough, there has to be more than this.”
“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
So, first of all, Joshua says, let’s get ourselves right with God. Let’s turn away from all compromise and seek his face.
This is not, by the way, an appeal to be sanctimonious or holier than thou, looking down with condescension on others for not measuring up to our standards. That’s what was so unappealing about the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
The reason why Jesus’ holiness was so different, so attractive, was not because he avoided contamination from sinners, but because his holiness was so contagious they were transformed by grace.
Are you right with God this morning? Be holy, as the Lord is holy. Consecrate yourself.
You might say, “I’ve tried and tried. A thousand times I’ve failed. I can’t live up to Jesus’ standards.” That’s right, you can’t. If you could, you wouldn’t need him to save you. But you do need him. We all do. That’s why we share bread and wine together once a month here and at home in our Life Groups; we’re admitting that we need grace to start again.
John Newton was a slave ship captain, whose life was dramatically and abruptly turned upside down by the gospel. He wrote the famous hymn Amazing Grace about his conversion. I was a wretch; now I’m saved. I was lost; now I’m found. I was blind; now I can see.
Late in life, looking back on his journey of faith, he said, “I am not yet what I ought to be. I am yet not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be in another world. But still I am not what I once used to be!”
Just take that first step
Second point, and more briefly; take that first step.
In v13 Joshua says to the people, “as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord – the Lord of all the earth – set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
What if those priests are afraid to take that first step? I’m sure they are all thinking, “Can’t God just stop the floodwaters first? What if we take a step into that river, and nothing happens? We’re going to look like idiots in front of two million unimpressed onlookers.”
Do you have obstacles up ahead in your life? Are you trusting him for his leading? My experience is this; so often, God doesn’t tell you what steps 2, 3 and 4 will be until you launch out in faith and obedience and take step 1.
Take the step. Just do it.
Are you hesitating to take the big step of finally entrusting your life to Christ? Jesus promises you this; “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Why don’t you take that step today, just do it. You’ll never be the same again.
Are you wavering about joining the church and becoming part of the family of believers? Instead of being an uncommitted observer. The Bible says, “you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Is the church “them” for you, or is it “us”? Take the step, just do it.
Are you undecided about baptism? You might be saying, “I don’t know, I’m not sure What would I say in front of all these people? Maybe I should wait.” No! If you’re a child of God by faith, the Lord commands it. Repent and be baptised. Take the step, just do it and watch what God does.
Are you uncertain about starting to give the first portion of your income to the Lord’s work? That’s a key step of discipleship. You might say, “I don’t know if it’s responsible on my income. What if my bank account goes into the red?”
I’ll never forget a member of this church say to me, “John, when I give the Lord the first tenth, it’s amazing how far the remaining 90% stretches. And when I don’t, I never seem to have quite enough.” That’s right. God is our provider. Take the step, just do it and watch what God does.
Are you reluctant about breaking up an inappropriate relationship? You know what God’s word says; don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” Take the step, just do it and watch what God does.
Are you nervous about beginning to serve the Lord in a new way, or forgiving someone who has hurt you, or sharing your faith with a neighbour or a colleague? Take that step, step number one, just do it, and watch what God does.
Ending
There’s an old hymn that’s based on this passage of scripture. I think Prince William and Kate had it at their wedding. Set to the tune of that well-known football song, “You’re not singing anymore,” the third verse goes like this:
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death, and hell’s destruction
Land me safe on Canaan’s side:
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven
Feed me now and ever more.
As the priests advance into the river, by faith, they little do they know that this is just about the lowest point on the earth’s surface; the point where the Jordan meets the Dead Sea is about 400 metres below sea level, it’s part of the Great Rift Valley.
And little do they know that as they take that big step into the water, they are pointing prophetically to Jesus who came to be baptised at pretty well this very spot, from the highest heavens to so lowest point on earth, to be anointed with the Holy Spirit and to save us by dying on a cross and rising again on the third day.
In obedience, those priests consecrated themselves - and God, as he had promised, did amazing things that day. We can scarcely dream of the awesome signs and wonders God might do in a consecrated and holy church.
And, in faith, as they lifted their sandals and took that first step, God made a way. Because God keeps his promises.
As he was with them at the start of their journey out of slavery, so he was with them at the end of it. And as he was with you when you first believed, know this; he will be faithful to your very last breath.
Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 27 September 2026
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