The Book of Joshua - The Pattern of Sound Teaching
Updated: Aug 8
Book of Joshua |
Please watch the Video Before Reading the Lesson Plan
Church: Laodicea 6 of 39 lessons Theme: Faith Building the Church of Laodicea to Compare Faith in Jesus with Lukewarm Faith
Lesson Six: The Book of Joshua |
The book of Joshua is used to build the church of Laodicea: A key revelation of justification and sanctification is in the book of Joshua, chapter 24. Joshua said, “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him sincerely and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve you the Lord.” Joshua then has the children of Israel affirm that if they think serving the Lord seems evil, then to choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua recognized the people not being able to serve the Lord because He is a holy God who is jealous and who will not overlook them serving other gods. This was relevant for the times because the Israelites did not abstain from partial worship of other nations' gods, which the Israelites were afraid of. Joshua then says, “By forsaking the Lord and serving strange gods, the Lord will turn on you and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.”
Then Joshua took a stone and put it under an oak tree that was by the sanctuary of the Lord, and Joshua said unto all the children of Israel, “This stone shall be a witness unto us, for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.” When the children of Isreal departed, each man unto his inheritance, they were to live among the people serving false gods. The children of Israel feared the people serving false gods, but they were more afraid of forsaking God. The stone served as a reminder to the children of Israel that the Lord had given them an inheritance, the promised land, where they were to occupy the inherited land and not mirror the behaviors of the people who were living in the inherited land. The pattern of internal justification and sanctification includes a rock as a remembrance to express a concern that something undesirable will happen if the children of Israel deny the God of Israel by trying to sanctify themselves by justifying serving the God of Israel and false gods. This is how internal justification and sanctification was not something the Israelites could work for, but was a gift from God for living among people serving false gods whom they feared, but the Israelites feared God more. |
Question: Are all the children of God building Jesus' church? Question: How can a child of God know if they are living in the world without being a part of the world and building Jesus' church? After a child of God makes a statement of faith to be born again by the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus, they need to identify behavior patterns. The 39 lessons will identify the pattern of justification and sanctification that identifies how a child of God can build Jesus' church by not justifying what the world justifies, because the Spirit of God does not justify what the world justifies. Question: Why did Joshua tell the Israelites not to be afraid of false gods? As it is written in Joshua 24:15, "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." The people said, "Yes, we agree!" Just as Joshua asked the children of God to decide whom they would serve, you can choose today whom you will serve; you can decide today if you will serve our Lord Jesus by living in the world without being of the world, or you can choose to serve the world by justifying what the world justifies as righteous. The Spirit of God does not justify what the world justifies as righteous. After the Israelites made a choice to serve God, they were told not to fear false gods. This is still true today. A child of God who chooses to be a servant of our Lord Jesus should not fear the world. The story of Joshua is about people who are overcoming fear and being obedient to God. We are to have faith over fear. The children of God are not called to ignore fear but to practice obedience in a fear-filled world. There is an overarching theme that will take us through the next 38 lesson plans, and it is that a child of God is not to conform to the world but to live in the world without being of the world because this is how the Spirit of God can work within a child of God to overcome the fear of the worldview. As it is written in Joshua 1:9, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." The world is defined as people who are living in the world who are not building Jesus' church. The church is defined as Jesus' church, being built by a child of God who lives in the world without being of the world. The world is an enemy of a child of God, and the next 38 lesson plans reveal a pattern of how the world works to pull a child of God out of the church with fear. ACTIVITY: This sheet identifies a pattern of justification and sanctification where the world works for salvation by having a child of God who is building Jesus' church, to justify what the Spirit of God does not justify. Materials needed: 7 markers for each student (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) Sheet - Churches in the Book of Revelation for each student The teacher will read the lesson: one Bible class document (Sheet provided below), and the students will illustrate how the Spirit of God will justify the tears of a child of God as righteous seeds who are living in the world without being of the world through growing the fruit of the spirit to build Jesus' church. The students will illustrate the sheet: Churches in the book of Revelation (sheet provided below). The illustration will grow the seeds of righteousness into fruit of the spirit to show how Jesus' church is built. A gap is identified between each church to compare the pattern of life the world teaches to the pattern of sound teaching that the word of God teaches. This identifies how the world is hollow, and a child of God who is living in the world but not of the world is filled internally with the fruit of the spirit. Please print the sheets below to complete this activity. , |
A Plan for Remembering: A child of God builds the church of Laodicea by making a statement of faith to live in the world without being of the world. The child of God breaks the chains of the world by no longer fearing the lies the world works to make true. This forces the world to see the hollow internal self. This move escalates into complete spiritual warfare between a child of God and the world. The world works to pull a child of God out of the church and back into the world because the world does not believe that the Spirit of God can justify the quiet tears of a child of God as seeds of righteousness to grow fruit of the spirit. This is how the Spirit of God conditions a child of God to grow intentional fruit of the spirit to sanctify their heart. |
Consider how you respond to the world and answer the following questions:
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Activity: Please complete the BLOG below. |
Conclusion: Satan is still deceiving humanity to interrupt the relationship with God with self-righteous behaviors. A worldview is how the world is defined by people who are living in the world who are not building Jesus' church. The world works to have a child of God who is building Jesus' church to live in fear so a child of God will not expose the lies that the world is teaching. When a child of God stops justifying what the world justifies as righteous, this is when they begin to move from being in the world to being of the world and to build Jesus' church that exposes the lies that the world justifies. The Spirit of God does not justify the lies that the world justifies. The Spirit of God will justify the silent tears that a child of God cries as seeds of righteousness to build Jesus's church. This is how the Spirit of God builds the Kingdom of heaven through the world, working for salvation. God uses what the world intended for evil for His good. There is a story between each of Jesus' churches of how the world uses fear to pull a child of God out of the church. The Old Testament aligns with the seven churches in the book of Revelation to tell this story. |
Optional Extra Learning - Overachievers can make a deeper connection with this video. |
BLOG: Write a statement of faith testimony for the church of Laodicea in the comments section below. The statement of faith should include not having lukewarm faith that mixes The Pattern of Sound Teaching that the word of God that became flesh, Jesus, teaches with the pattern of life that the world teaches.
Melody's Statement of Faith (I modeled my statement of faith as an example):
Choose today if you will be a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ by making a statement of faith to be born again by the Spirit of God through having faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ. After making this statement of faith, if you mix your faith in Jesus with having faith in the world, the stones will cry out against you. This is how to have lukewarm faith.
I am making a statement of faith that it will not seem evil to be a servant of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and I will not choose to think it is evil that God will not justify what the world will justify as righteous. Choose today to have faith in the world with lukewarm faith or to have faith in the word of God that became flesh, Jesus. As for my family and me, we will serve our Lord, Jesus Christ.
This will be an exciting 39 weeks.
May our Heavenly Father continue to bless you with a double portion for all that you have put into this program. By His Grace may each student be blessed with ears to hear!