I think one element that comes through very strongly in what’s being referred to here is the presence of God by his Holy Spirit, which we discussed quite extensively at the morning service on September 30, 2018.
This idea of God with us is very important in the Bible. It’s what distinguishes Saul and David for example, two kings—God was with one and was not with the other. Another example is Samson, a very flawed man, and yet there were times when it became clear that the Spirit of God had been with him, and he achieved great things. Joshua is in this line of believers who have God with them.
And this is a privilege that every believer has. One might make the mistake of thinking, “oh there are different classes of Christian, some who have God with them and some who don’t.” And it’s quite easy to think how one might make that mistake. God is certainly closer to some Christians than others. But the pattern we get in the Bible, and this is made clear especially in the New Testament is that God the Holy Spirit baptises every believer.
1 Corinthians 12:13, ‘For in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body.’
