I Will Never Leave You

This sermon was preached on the first Sunday of 2021 as the church reopened after the COVID-19 shutdown. The pastor takes Joshua 1:1-9 as his foundation, focusing especially on verse 5: "I will not leave you nor forsake you." The sermon is structured in two main parts: the challenges Joshua and God's people faced, and God's promises and instructions for overcoming them.

The first section presents four major difficulties Giô-suê had to confront. First, Moses had just died, leaving Giô-suê without his teacher, spiritual father, and trusted counselor of forty years. Second, Giô-suê had to lead more than two million people with all their needs for food, sanitation, law, and military readiness. Third, the Promised Land was filled with strong nations, fortified cities, and the giant descendants of Anak — challenges that had caused the earlier spies to see themselves as grasshoppers in comparison. Fourth, it remained to be seen whether the younger generation raised in the wilderness had sufficient faith and courage to conquer the land, or whether they would repeat the rebellion of their ancestors.

The pastor gives special emphasis to the relationship between faith and fear. In Numbers 14:7-9, Giô-suê urged the people not to fear because God was with them, but they refused to listen and were condemned to forty years in the wilderness. In Revelation 21:8, "cowardice" heads the list of those cast into the lake of fire alongside murderers and idolaters — because cowardice is itself a manifestation of unbelief in God. The pastor recounts the ten times Israel tested God in the wilderness to show that the wilderness can either refine faith or produce bitterness and spiritual distance, depending on the posture of the heart.

The second part focuses on God's promises and teaching to Giô-suê. God made three promises: he would give Israel all the land he had promised Moses; no one would be able to stand against Giô-suê all the days of his life; and most foundationally, "I will not leave you nor forsake you." The pastor explains that the first two promises rest entirely on the third: only as long as God remains with his people will they be victorious. The image of the shield in Genesis 15:1 illustrates that God's protection is experienced in the midst of battle, not at a safe distance from it.

The sermon closes with the two commands God repeated three times to Giô-suê: "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid," and "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night." The pastor applies this message directly to the congregation's situation in 2021 — with ongoing uncertainties about COVID-19, the economy, education, and church life — calling them to hold fast to God's promise and to live with courageous, Word-grounded faith through whatever challenges the new year may bring. Only by trusting in God's unfailing presence can believers enter the new year with courage rather than fear.