In the introduction to the sermon on Sunday (Josh 18-19) I noted that there is application of the truths found in Joshua both for our lives now and in eternity. Biblical typology, the patterns of promise and fulfillment, especially as the Old Testament looks forward to Christ and the New Testament, is well suited to multiple applications. When it comes to the idea of “zealously pursue your inheritance,” we can (and did) apply this to our pursuit of the eternal prize. But we may apply this to our lives here and now too, and not only individually, but as a church. This article will suggest a few ways we do this corporately.

Firstly, we must see that there is continuity between God’s command to Joshua, Joshua’s command to the tribes, and Christ’s command to His disciples (and us). Concerning the former, God encouraged Joshua at the very beginning of the book that, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you… No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life… I will not leave you or forsake you” (Josh 1:2-6).

Joshua, of course, accomplished all this as the captain of Israel and in the passage we considered on Sunday, we read that he now likewise emboldens the seven tribes who had yet to take their portions.

“So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?” (Jos 18:3)

As the foundation of these commands is the fact that, firstly, the land belongs to God. He can give it to whomever He desires. Secondly, He gives is to Israel but they have to actually go to war to possess it. It involves work. But then lastly, He promises to be with them so that they can accomplish the fulness of their task.

These elements are all present in the Great Commission.

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Mt 28:18–20)

Christ possesses everything–”all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”; the apostles’ therefore are to work to attain what is given–”go therefore and make disciples of all nations”; and Jesus promises that He will go with them–”I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

When we see this, we can confidently declare, for instance, that Sapperton belongs to Christ, He has given it to us to possess, and He is with us to accomplish this task. Of course, our church is more a people than it is a place. However, it is a “place” both in the sense that our people are physically situated in certain spaces themselves (whether in New West or Vancouver or Surrey) but also in the sense that God has given us a meeting place and building which tethers us in a responsibility before God to a certain community. So the New Testament application for our people at NWCC is, once more, variated. We fulfill “taking the land,” when we share the gospel with our neighbour in Surrey or when we engage in promoting righteousness at a council meeting in New Westminster or in a thousand other ways.

But I want to suggest a couple of ways in which our church fulfills this mandate more closely. That is to say, that there are two things I think our church currently does that fit Sunday morning’s challenge particularly well. The first is the efforts of our evangelism team which goes out on Wednesday afternoons, roughly every two weeks. We usually hand out tracts at Skytrain stations and have many opportunities to put the message of Christ in the hands of those who have never really heard and to sometimes have extended conversations too. But one of the more “unseen” benefits of this ministry is that we have a gospel presence that declares to Satan and the principalities and powers of this world that this ground does not ultimately belong to them–it belongs to Christ. We are claiming gospel ground.

The second ministry that I think fits the challenge particularly well is our new prayer walks which take place on the first and second Saturdays of each month. We have two more coming up in June before a summer break–June 6 and 13. I encourage you to attend. We spend roughly an hour walking around Sapperton and key landmarks, praying for Christ’s work among the people he has brought here and the defeat of Satan’s deceits and works. When we do this, it seems to me a very close parallel to those spy-surveyors who Joshua sent out to mark the land. We are surveying this space God has given us, preparing through prayer, the “capture” thereof through the preaching of the gospel.

I want to encourage you to attend at least one of these events–evangelism team or prayer walk–the next two months. Let us move out trusting that Christ is with us–even to the end of the age.