1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello, and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:28,170 Well, let's go ahead and get into our study here this evening. 10 00:00:28,250 --> 00:00:30,170 As I mentioned, we're in Joshua 13. 11 00:00:30,170 --> 00:00:33,530 If you've been tracking our study, we ended in Joshua 11. 12 00:00:33,610 --> 00:00:36,170 And you might say, why aren't we talking about Joshua 12? 13 00:00:36,490 --> 00:00:40,810 Well, we certainly could, but Joshua 12 is just a long list of 14 00:00:40,810 --> 00:00:42,810 the lands conquered by Joshua, so. 15 00:00:42,810 --> 00:00:45,970 Or, excuse me, by Moses, and then eventually the lands conquered 16 00:00:45,970 --> 00:00:46,970 by Joshua. 17 00:00:47,210 --> 00:00:49,770 And if you're interested in knowing about all those lands, I 18 00:00:49,770 --> 00:00:52,250 would encourage you to read through chapter 12 on your own time. 19 00:00:53,060 --> 00:00:55,780 But what we are going to do is we're going to jump to chapter 13, 20 00:00:55,860 --> 00:00:59,700 which speaks of the fact that there has been a lot of land conquered, 21 00:00:59,700 --> 00:01:03,060 there's been a lot of people conquered for the cause of God, and 22 00:01:03,140 --> 00:01:07,460 ultimately, there's been a lot of victory in the nation of Israel 23 00:01:07,700 --> 00:01:08,980 through the power of God. 24 00:01:08,980 --> 00:01:13,860 And so we see chapter 12 basically recounting all of the good 25 00:01:13,860 --> 00:01:14,940 things that God has done. 26 00:01:14,940 --> 00:01:19,710 You could look at chapter 12 essentially as a testimony of God's 27 00:01:19,710 --> 00:01:23,910 power and strength through the history of God's people there in 28 00:01:23,910 --> 00:01:24,870 the land of Canaan. 29 00:01:24,870 --> 00:01:27,790 And you see that Moses had a lot of victory. 30 00:01:28,430 --> 00:01:30,070 Ultimately, it was God's victory. 31 00:01:30,070 --> 00:01:33,230 We see that Joshua then picking up the torch, picking up 32 00:01:33,230 --> 00:01:33,870 the mantle. 33 00:01:33,870 --> 00:01:37,270 You see a lot of victories in the life of Joshua through the power 34 00:01:37,270 --> 00:01:37,870 of God. 35 00:01:38,190 --> 00:01:43,110 And you can even go back to Joshua chapter one to see the marching 36 00:01:43,110 --> 00:01:46,830 orders for Joshua basically pick up where Moses left off. 37 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:52,320 Follow me, Obey my word, live out my word, and you will find success. 38 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,600 That's what it says in Joshua chapter one. 39 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,520 He says, don't have fear, but be courageous. 40 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:00,520 Trust in me in every aspect of your life. 41 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,840 And throughout Joshua's life and throughout the time that he led 42 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,360 the people of Israel, for the most part, there was a lot of trust. 43 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:09,120 And in that trust came victory. 44 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:11,360 And we get to chapter 13. 45 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:14,360 And it would be easy to say that, hey, you know what? 46 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:15,360 There's been a lot of victory. 47 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:16,240 It's time to quit. 48 00:02:16,970 --> 00:02:20,650 I think that as Christians, we go through those seasons of life 49 00:02:20,650 --> 00:02:23,090 in which we're pushing forward for the truth. 50 00:02:23,090 --> 00:02:27,890 We're striving to obey God, but we get to a point in our life 51 00:02:27,890 --> 00:02:31,570 where we could be honest with ourselves that there's more behind 52 00:02:31,570 --> 00:02:33,850 us than there is before us when it comes to time. 53 00:02:34,170 --> 00:02:35,890 And that's where we really find Joshua. 54 00:02:35,890 --> 00:02:40,210 In chapter 13, basically, we see that Joshua is at the tail end 55 00:02:40,210 --> 00:02:43,690 of his life and most of his victories are behind him. 56 00:02:44,470 --> 00:02:48,630 But we're going to see here in this chapter that God basically tells 57 00:02:48,630 --> 00:02:52,950 Joshua, look, you're old, by the way, that's a direct quote, and 58 00:02:52,950 --> 00:02:54,190 we're going to get to that here in a second. 59 00:02:54,190 --> 00:02:55,790 And that's some strong words. 60 00:02:55,790 --> 00:02:57,510 But he basically says, joshua, you're. 61 00:02:57,510 --> 00:03:00,870 You're getting up there in age, but we're not done yet. 62 00:03:01,350 --> 00:03:03,790 There's still more land to be won. 63 00:03:03,790 --> 00:03:06,910 There's still more victory to be seen. 64 00:03:06,910 --> 00:03:11,390 And sometimes in our Christian life, we all have certain points 65 00:03:11,390 --> 00:03:12,990 in which we feel like, man, you know what? 66 00:03:12,990 --> 00:03:16,110 God's done a lot in my life, but I don't know if he can do any 67 00:03:16,110 --> 00:03:16,350 more. 68 00:03:16,350 --> 00:03:20,150 Maybe I'm past those years of my effectiveness for him. 69 00:03:20,150 --> 00:03:25,510 Maybe I'm past those years of service and, and being old, and we're 70 00:03:25,510 --> 00:03:26,510 going to use that word a lot tonight. 71 00:03:26,510 --> 00:03:28,430 Being old is all relative, by the way. 72 00:03:28,430 --> 00:03:29,910 Let me tell you that to. 73 00:03:29,910 --> 00:03:33,030 To my children, I'm an old, old man. 74 00:03:33,590 --> 00:03:35,830 And, and they look at me and they say, dad, you're old. 75 00:03:35,830 --> 00:03:36,710 They don't really say that. 76 00:03:36,710 --> 00:03:37,030 They. 77 00:03:37,270 --> 00:03:38,110 They don't want to. 78 00:03:38,110 --> 00:03:40,150 They don't want to, you know, make me feel bad. 79 00:03:40,150 --> 00:03:43,730 But relatively speaking, there's this idea that all of us 80 00:03:43,730 --> 00:03:48,370 to some degree have the experience of God doing things in 81 00:03:48,370 --> 00:03:51,410 our life, and there is sometimes the temptation to quit. 82 00:03:52,130 --> 00:03:56,770 And so in chapter 12, we see that man, Moses, through the power 83 00:03:56,770 --> 00:03:59,090 of God, was able to conquer all these different lands. 84 00:03:59,090 --> 00:04:02,050 And then Joshua, through the power of God, was able to conquer 85 00:04:02,050 --> 00:04:03,210 all of these lands. 86 00:04:03,210 --> 00:04:08,010 And we get to chapter 13, and it says, now Joshua was old and stricken 87 00:04:08,010 --> 00:04:08,410 in years. 88 00:04:08,410 --> 00:04:10,210 I love the way that the King James says that. 89 00:04:10,780 --> 00:04:14,540 It's a very proper way to say that they're really worn out, right? 90 00:04:14,540 --> 00:04:16,540 Joshua was old and stricken in years. 91 00:04:16,540 --> 00:04:19,580 And you have to remember Joshua has gone through a lot. 92 00:04:19,580 --> 00:04:22,820 There's been a lot of physical battle that he has fought in his 93 00:04:22,820 --> 00:04:22,980 life. 94 00:04:22,980 --> 00:04:25,820 There's been a lot of spiritual battles that he has fought 95 00:04:25,820 --> 00:04:26,540 in his life. 96 00:04:26,940 --> 00:04:27,980 And no doubt he. 97 00:04:27,980 --> 00:04:30,180 He is worn out, physically speaking. 98 00:04:30,180 --> 00:04:33,860 And I think all of us could attest to a time in our life where 99 00:04:33,860 --> 00:04:34,660 we say, you know what? 100 00:04:34,660 --> 00:04:37,360 I just have a lot of experience. 101 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,160 But with that experience has come a lot of pain. 102 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,600 Come, come a Lot of brokenness. 103 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,760 And it goes further here and it says, and the Lord said unto him, 104 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:48,360 thou art old and stricken in years. 105 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,920 And so he's reminded about his current physical state. 106 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,880 And so if we were to leave it there, we would say, okay, this is 107 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:57,720 the end of the story of Joshua. 108 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:00,680 This is the end of the book, so to speak. 109 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,240 And so God acknowledges Joshua's advanced years. 110 00:05:04,940 --> 00:05:09,220 But we're going to see here is that God still tells him that there's 111 00:05:09,220 --> 00:05:13,180 a job that needs to get done, that there's work still to be done. 112 00:05:13,340 --> 00:05:18,460 He says, joshua, you are old and there remaineth yet very much 113 00:05:18,540 --> 00:05:19,980 land to be possessed. 114 00:05:21,500 --> 00:05:26,100 I know that we have a church that's very diverse in our culture. 115 00:05:26,100 --> 00:05:27,940 That's one of the blessings of our church. 116 00:05:27,940 --> 00:05:30,820 I really enjoy coming to a church with different people from 117 00:05:30,820 --> 00:05:34,480 different backgrounds and, and different cultures and different 118 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,560 foods and different, different traditions that, that we can come 119 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,640 together with unified purpose in the Gospel. 120 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,760 But also admittedly and actually for, for my excitement, 121 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:47,600 we are a multi generational church. 122 00:05:48,079 --> 00:05:51,600 We, we see people from all over the different ages, and that's 123 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:52,480 an exciting thing. 124 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,920 But oftentimes what can happen within churches is that the church 125 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:01,730 can be full of people who have served for, I would say, 50, 60 years. 126 00:06:01,730 --> 00:06:05,170 And we see people that have been faithful for so long and the 127 00:06:05,170 --> 00:06:08,330 temptation might be to say, you know what, our best years are 128 00:06:08,330 --> 00:06:10,090 behind us, those are the glory days. 129 00:06:10,090 --> 00:06:14,330 And there might be an overlooking of the need to push forward 130 00:06:14,490 --> 00:06:15,930 with the message of the gospel. 131 00:06:16,090 --> 00:06:18,530 And one of the things that I love about our church is that we 132 00:06:18,530 --> 00:06:22,090 have folks that have been faithful for, for decades and have 133 00:06:22,090 --> 00:06:23,170 seen God's hand work. 134 00:06:23,170 --> 00:06:26,240 And we also have younger folks that are coming up and just getting 135 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,520 into the time in their life where they're serving in ministry. 136 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:33,720 But what we can see in verse one is this, that for Joshua, the 137 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:34,680 job was not done. 138 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,440 For God, the job was not done. 139 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,840 There were still things that needed to be accomplished. 140 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:41,720 And so I think about it this way. 141 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:46,160 No matter how much we have done in our Christian life, no matter 142 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,920 how many ministries that we've served in, no matter how many Bible 143 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:54,740 studies we've been a part of, no matter how many classes that we've 144 00:06:54,740 --> 00:06:59,020 been attending, it means though, that even though we've accomplished 145 00:06:59,020 --> 00:07:03,580 so much in our life, there still remains so much to do. 146 00:07:03,580 --> 00:07:07,619 If God allows for us to take in breath, there's still an opportunity 147 00:07:07,619 --> 00:07:08,140 to serve. 148 00:07:08,140 --> 00:07:12,060 Now, it might be at different capacities, it might be in a different 149 00:07:12,300 --> 00:07:17,140 manner, but ultimately what we see is that if we are believers and 150 00:07:17,140 --> 00:07:18,940 we're still here on this earth. 151 00:07:19,430 --> 00:07:21,190 God still has a plan for us. 152 00:07:21,190 --> 00:07:23,030 We have not reached our pinnacle. 153 00:07:23,270 --> 00:07:26,510 We will never reach the spiritual pinnacle until we are reunited 154 00:07:26,510 --> 00:07:27,030 with Him. 155 00:07:27,110 --> 00:07:29,390 I want to take you to a passage in the New Testament that 156 00:07:29,390 --> 00:07:30,870 talks about this very same thing. 157 00:07:31,510 --> 00:07:34,710 We're going to come back to Joshua chapter 13. 158 00:07:34,710 --> 00:07:39,070 But if you go with me to the Book of Philippians, we have the 159 00:07:39,070 --> 00:07:42,430 book of Philippians as an awesome book about the joy of the 160 00:07:42,430 --> 00:07:44,070 Lord, the peace of the Lord. 161 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:49,240 And in Philippians chapter three, we see Paul discussing his 162 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:50,400 ministry, essentially. 163 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,840 And there's a lot of things that he notes in Philippians chapter 164 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:54,080 three. 165 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,840 But I like one of the verses here, actually more than one verse. 166 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,320 It's really a thought that he gives. 167 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:01,600 In Philippians chapter 3. 168 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:07,040 Philippians chapter 3, verse 13, Paul says, Brethren, I count 169 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,120 not myself to have apprehended, meaning Paul says, I 170 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:11,040 haven't reached it yet. 171 00:08:11,850 --> 00:08:15,610 And if Paul says that he hasn't reached it yet, none of us 172 00:08:15,610 --> 00:08:16,970 can say that we've reached it yet. 173 00:08:17,290 --> 00:08:20,450 I know that there are people that say, well, Pastor, I'm going 174 00:08:20,450 --> 00:08:24,170 to tell you right now, I think I'm as spiritually mature as I ever 175 00:08:24,170 --> 00:08:24,730 will be. 176 00:08:25,210 --> 00:08:28,490 Well, Paul says here, I haven't apprehended it yet. 177 00:08:28,490 --> 00:08:30,490 I haven't reached the pinnacle yet. 178 00:08:30,490 --> 00:08:34,730 I'm still searching, I'm still growing, I'm still learning, I'm 179 00:08:34,730 --> 00:08:35,450 still serving. 180 00:08:35,450 --> 00:08:38,770 He says, I've count not myself to have apprehended, but this one 181 00:08:38,770 --> 00:08:44,329 thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching 182 00:08:44,329 --> 00:08:46,329 forth unto those things which are before. 183 00:08:47,449 --> 00:08:51,609 And oftentimes we think about verse number 13, and we think about 184 00:08:52,009 --> 00:08:53,929 looking back to the bad things of our life. 185 00:08:53,929 --> 00:08:56,809 And certainly that would apply to this context. 186 00:08:56,809 --> 00:08:58,809 We don't want to look back to our past sins. 187 00:08:59,129 --> 00:09:02,529 We don't want to look back to our past failures and allow that 188 00:09:02,529 --> 00:09:07,289 to dictate our future and to live in the past and to live in our 189 00:09:07,289 --> 00:09:07,689 sin. 190 00:09:07,829 --> 00:09:10,900 We but also I do believe that this means looking back to those 191 00:09:10,900 --> 00:09:13,620 victories of our past, even though the victories of our past 192 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:16,740 can remind us of the victories of the future, oftentimes people 193 00:09:16,740 --> 00:09:19,020 look back to the past and say, you know what? 194 00:09:19,020 --> 00:09:21,580 I was able to accomplish that for the Lord, but I'm done now. 195 00:09:21,660 --> 00:09:24,340 What Paul is saying is, is I'm not looking back to those things 196 00:09:24,340 --> 00:09:25,020 which are behind. 197 00:09:25,500 --> 00:09:28,620 No, I'm reaching forth unto those things which are before. 198 00:09:29,260 --> 00:09:30,900 I, I, I still have a purpose. 199 00:09:30,900 --> 00:09:34,340 I still have victories to have found in Jesus Christ. 200 00:09:34,340 --> 00:09:36,560 I still have battles that I have to fight. 201 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:41,120 And he says in verse 14, I press toward the mark for the prize 202 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,680 of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 203 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,640 And so the idea here that Paul is saying, and it's the same idea 204 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,040 that the Lord is speaking to Joshua about, is that if he has you 205 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,960 here in this life, there is still a purpose for you there. 206 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,680 There are still things that we need to accomplish for the Lord, 207 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:01,640 and there's still things that God is accomplishing through us. 208 00:10:02,460 --> 00:10:05,060 And so I think about Philippians chapter three quite frequently 209 00:10:05,060 --> 00:10:09,820 because every year that I'm in ministry, I think about what's next. 210 00:10:11,260 --> 00:10:15,100 Can, can I do what God has called me to do tomorrow? 211 00:10:15,420 --> 00:10:17,620 And the truth is is that of course I can. 212 00:10:17,620 --> 00:10:20,820 Because the Bible says in one more chapter in Philippians chapter 213 00:10:20,820 --> 00:10:24,420 4, verse 13, that I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth 214 00:10:24,420 --> 00:10:24,700 me. 215 00:10:24,780 --> 00:10:27,700 That doesn't mean I can do whatever I want to do and God will 216 00:10:27,700 --> 00:10:28,380 just bless it. 217 00:10:28,830 --> 00:10:32,070 What it means is that if God calls me to something, whether it 218 00:10:32,070 --> 00:10:36,670 be a battle, whether it be a ministry, whether it be a study or 219 00:10:37,150 --> 00:10:40,230 anything that God calls me to or allows me to go through, that 220 00:10:40,230 --> 00:10:44,590 he will give me the strength to see the victory in that process. 221 00:10:44,669 --> 00:10:50,670 And so we go back to Joshua chapter 13, and we see that Joshua 222 00:10:50,670 --> 00:10:53,230 is reminded that it's not over with yet. 223 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,040 Though there has been a lot of victory, there is still much to do. 224 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:02,600 I think about this church, think about the decade of faithfulness 225 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:08,200 in this church, by the way, I think, is it 2027 that we reach our 226 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,600 60 years of being a church? 227 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,040 And I think about all the great victories this church has seen 228 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,600 and all the many folks that have been saved through this ministry 229 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,920 and all the ministries that have been started through this ministry 230 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,260 and folks that have left this ministry to go serve in other places 231 00:11:24,260 --> 00:11:26,060 and think about all those victories. 232 00:11:26,620 --> 00:11:29,540 But I also think about the idea that even if we're at 60 years, 233 00:11:29,540 --> 00:11:30,700 there's still much to do. 234 00:11:31,500 --> 00:11:35,100 If God allows, there might be another 60 years that we have here. 235 00:11:35,100 --> 00:11:38,100 And some of you might say, well, Pastor, if there's another 236 00:11:38,100 --> 00:11:39,820 60 years, I might not be here for that. 237 00:11:39,820 --> 00:11:40,380 I understand. 238 00:11:41,260 --> 00:11:44,580 But some of those little ones that you see running around on Sunday 239 00:11:44,580 --> 00:11:45,980 mornings might be here for that. 240 00:11:46,300 --> 00:11:49,820 And the idea would be that we want to leave a legacy, we want to 241 00:11:50,140 --> 00:11:52,140 push forward in the time that we have. 242 00:11:52,540 --> 00:11:57,020 And so church and the gospel and the ministry is not just about 243 00:11:57,020 --> 00:11:59,540 the here and now, but it's about what God is doing and what 244 00:11:59,540 --> 00:12:01,260 he is going to continue to do. 245 00:12:01,260 --> 00:12:06,700 And so here in this passage God wants Joshua, God wants Israel 246 00:12:06,700 --> 00:12:07,980 to keep pressing on. 247 00:12:08,940 --> 00:12:12,660 And the best spiritual advice that I can give you in the context 248 00:12:12,660 --> 00:12:17,340 of trials and tribulations is obviously trusting in the Lord, but 249 00:12:17,340 --> 00:12:20,580 keep pressing on and trust in the one who has been faithful, as 250 00:12:20,580 --> 00:12:23,820 he's been faithful to the nation of Israel all the way through 251 00:12:24,300 --> 00:12:28,020 the book of Joshua, all the way through of the account of Moses. 252 00:12:28,020 --> 00:12:29,180 God has been faithful. 253 00:12:29,260 --> 00:12:32,380 And they are reminded that just as he has been faithful before, 254 00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:36,060 he will be faithful in the next battles that are being fought. 255 00:12:36,060 --> 00:12:40,460 And so what we see at the end of verse number two is this. 256 00:12:40,620 --> 00:12:42,980 He says, this is the land that yet remaineth. 257 00:12:42,980 --> 00:12:46,020 He says, okay, this is the new task. 258 00:12:46,020 --> 00:12:46,300 This. 259 00:12:46,370 --> 00:12:47,890 There is more land to be won. 260 00:12:47,890 --> 00:12:51,570 He says, all the borders of the Philistines and all of Geshura, 261 00:12:51,570 --> 00:12:53,170 Geshurai and all the rest. 262 00:12:53,170 --> 00:12:53,370 He. 263 00:12:53,370 --> 00:12:55,210 He goes on to list all these different lands. 264 00:12:55,210 --> 00:12:57,050 And you might say, what's the point of that? 265 00:12:57,050 --> 00:12:57,890 The point is this. 266 00:12:58,690 --> 00:13:00,250 Yes, there were victories. 267 00:13:00,250 --> 00:13:04,130 Yes, there was land given over to the people of Israel, but there 268 00:13:04,130 --> 00:13:06,730 was still more land to be possessed. 269 00:13:06,730 --> 00:13:10,850 And so what the land was to Israel, I believe, is what Jesus 270 00:13:10,850 --> 00:13:11,530 is to us. 271 00:13:11,530 --> 00:13:11,890 There. 272 00:13:12,140 --> 00:13:15,940 There was this goal, there was this prize of the promised land for 273 00:13:15,940 --> 00:13:17,980 the people of Israel back in the Old Testament. 274 00:13:17,980 --> 00:13:23,020 And essentially the land was the culmination of God's promise 275 00:13:23,180 --> 00:13:23,900 to the people. 276 00:13:23,980 --> 00:13:25,420 He says, I'm there with you. 277 00:13:26,060 --> 00:13:26,420 I'm. 278 00:13:26,420 --> 00:13:27,979 I'm going to promise you this land. 279 00:13:27,979 --> 00:13:31,100 I'm going to take you out of bondage in Egypt, and I'm going to 280 00:13:31,100 --> 00:13:33,060 move you through the wilderness, and I'm going to land 281 00:13:33,060 --> 00:13:36,060 you in a place of promise and of blessing, right? 282 00:13:36,060 --> 00:13:37,340 The land of milk and honey. 283 00:13:38,150 --> 00:13:41,430 And for us, that's a picture of our salvation that we find in 284 00:13:41,430 --> 00:13:42,230 Jesus Christ. 285 00:13:42,390 --> 00:13:43,990 We were all in Egypt. 286 00:13:44,150 --> 00:13:46,230 We were all in a place of bondage. 287 00:13:46,230 --> 00:13:50,070 We were all in a place in which we were not masters of our 288 00:13:50,070 --> 00:13:53,590 own life, even though we might think that we are masters in control 289 00:13:53,590 --> 00:13:54,390 of what we're doing. 290 00:13:54,550 --> 00:13:58,950 The Bible says that before we came to Christ, before we found forgiveness, 291 00:13:59,030 --> 00:14:00,430 we had another master. 292 00:14:00,430 --> 00:14:02,710 The Bible says in Ephesians, chapter two, that we were children 293 00:14:02,710 --> 00:14:06,540 of darkness, but at the moment of salvation, in that transformation, 294 00:14:06,540 --> 00:14:09,580 the Bible says that we now find newness of life. 295 00:14:10,460 --> 00:14:13,220 We now find that hope in Jesus Christ. 296 00:14:13,220 --> 00:14:18,340 Therefore, for us, sin and being in that bondage was a picture 297 00:14:18,340 --> 00:14:22,100 of us being in Egypt, just like the people of Israel were in 298 00:14:22,100 --> 00:14:22,460 Egypt. 299 00:14:22,460 --> 00:14:26,500 And God comes and he saves them, and he pulls them out of that 300 00:14:26,500 --> 00:14:29,740 land of darkness, that land of Bondage, that land of sin. 301 00:14:30,130 --> 00:14:34,530 And there's a beautiful picture as they leave Egypt of what 302 00:14:34,530 --> 00:14:35,570 we call the Passover. 303 00:14:35,570 --> 00:14:36,770 You guys are familiar with that. 304 00:14:37,250 --> 00:14:38,290 And there was the. 305 00:14:38,370 --> 00:14:42,570 They were called to have the spotless lamb that they were to take 306 00:14:42,570 --> 00:14:44,410 the blood of and put around the doorpost. 307 00:14:44,410 --> 00:14:47,970 And it's a beautiful picture of who Jesus is to us as the perfect 308 00:14:48,130 --> 00:14:49,170 Passover lamb. 309 00:14:49,170 --> 00:14:53,450 And his perfect blood is what causes us to find forgiveness and 310 00:14:53,450 --> 00:14:54,050 salvation. 311 00:14:54,370 --> 00:14:56,530 And so they're taken out of the promised land. 312 00:14:56,530 --> 00:14:59,360 And, excuse me, they were taken out of the land of Egypt and 313 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:00,880 brought to the Promised land. 314 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:03,560 And that's a picture of God's culmination of the promise. 315 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:05,080 And so what does that look like for us? 316 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,760 That looks like for us a personal relationship with Jesus 317 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,280 Christ and ultimately everlasting life with him. 318 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:12,680 And so there's more to be done. 319 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:12,959 And. 320 00:15:12,959 --> 00:15:16,840 And so the question that I would pose here this evening is this. 321 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:21,160 How much of the Promised Land have you explored? 322 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,720 I mean, for them, there was still more to see, there was still 323 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:25,480 more to do. 324 00:15:25,930 --> 00:15:29,170 And for many of us, like we were mentioning this morning, there 325 00:15:29,170 --> 00:15:31,930 is a stunted understanding of what we have in Jesus Christ. 326 00:15:32,650 --> 00:15:36,130 There is a limited understanding of the promises and 327 00:15:36,130 --> 00:15:39,770 the blessings and the culmination of God's love for us. 328 00:15:39,930 --> 00:15:42,810 And so as a Christian, there's still more battles to fight. 329 00:15:42,810 --> 00:15:44,410 There's still more things to learn. 330 00:15:45,130 --> 00:15:48,170 One of the things that I struggle with, and I'm just going 331 00:15:48,170 --> 00:15:51,410 to be transparent with you, is that I announce, hey, we're going 332 00:15:51,410 --> 00:15:53,450 to preach through the book of Romans. 333 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:55,360 And I'm excited for that. 334 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,080 And someone goes, I've heard, I've already read the book of Romans, 335 00:15:58,160 --> 00:15:59,200 so I'm not interested. 336 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:00,920 And I said, well, like. 337 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,160 Like there might be something new for you in this book. 338 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:03,680 Okay? 339 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,320 I don't know about you guys, but when I read the Bible, I've read 340 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,800 it multiple times, and every time I read it, there's something 341 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:09,760 new that jumps out. 342 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:11,440 There's a different perspective. 343 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,360 There's a new lesson that I can apply, and I see it from a different 344 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:16,000 perspective. 345 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,760 When I used to read the Bible as a young man, I saw it from a certain 346 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:20,400 perspective. 347 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:23,080 And then I got married and I saw it from a different perspective. 348 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,880 Then I had children, and then I saw it from a different perspective. 349 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:26,240 Right? 350 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:29,720 Different stages of our life cause us to see different things 351 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:30,520 in Scripture. 352 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,040 And so what I would say is this. 353 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,080 Don't ever get satisfied with the land or the blessings that God 354 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:36,680 has given you. 355 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,480 Don't ever get to a place where you say, that's all I want. 356 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:40,480 I don't want any more. 357 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,760 No, the Bible says that we should continuously desire to know 358 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:48,570 God more and more, each and every day, and so don't get to a 359 00:16:48,570 --> 00:16:49,570 place in your life. 360 00:16:49,570 --> 00:16:52,850 I don't want to get in place into my life where Bible learning 361 00:16:52,850 --> 00:16:55,490 is just something that's like, well, I've already done that class. 362 00:16:55,730 --> 00:16:57,090 I've already been here before. 363 00:16:57,170 --> 00:16:58,290 I don't need it anymore. 364 00:16:58,290 --> 00:17:02,050 Folks, folks, the people that are in that class might need you 365 00:17:02,290 --> 00:17:06,370 to be the voice and maybe the experience that they can learn from. 366 00:17:07,090 --> 00:17:10,570 I know for me, when I'm teaching and when I'm part of a classroom 367 00:17:10,570 --> 00:17:13,930 setting, I love when people have different perspectives and maybe 368 00:17:13,930 --> 00:17:16,960 they see it from a different angle and maybe someone can speak 369 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:18,800 from a more mature perspective. 370 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,600 And so, folks, let's not look at the blessings of God as something 371 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,480 that's only for us, even though the blessings are abundant. 372 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,800 But also, as we're going to see here, that it wasn't just for 373 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:29,520 this generation. 374 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:33,160 It wasn't just for Joshua, it wasn't just for Joshua's children, 375 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:34,760 but it was for the future. 376 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,720 And the idea would be that we want to leave a legacy so that people 377 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,970 can see the victories of God and so that the Word of God can be 378 00:17:41,970 --> 00:17:44,330 passed on to many more generations. 379 00:17:44,330 --> 00:17:49,210 And so he goes on through verses two, through verses six, to 380 00:17:49,210 --> 00:17:53,530 basically explain that the land that is is there still to be 381 00:17:53,530 --> 00:17:56,530 conquered is there to be conquered, and God was going to use 382 00:17:56,530 --> 00:17:56,730 them. 383 00:17:56,730 --> 00:18:01,530 He says in verse three, from Sehor, which is before Egypt, even 384 00:18:01,530 --> 00:18:04,730 unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the 385 00:18:04,730 --> 00:18:08,450 Canaanite five lords of the Philistines and the Gasites and the 386 00:18:08,450 --> 00:18:12,480 and Ashadites and the Esites and the Gites and the Ekonites and 387 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:13,680 also the Aites. 388 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:14,960 And there's a lot of ites in there. 389 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:15,760 Verse 4. 390 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,280 For the south all the land of the Canaanites and. 391 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:22,320 And Mera that is beside the Sidonians and unto Apac to the borders 392 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,880 of the Amorites in the land of the Giblites and all of Lebanon toward 393 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,120 the sun rising from BAAL Gad under Mount Hermon unto the entering 394 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:34,160 into hath all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon 395 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:39,720 to Mishrafath Maim and all the Sidonians them will I drive out from 396 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,120 before the children of Israel. 397 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:42,920 Now I want to stop there because I want you to see this. 398 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:44,680 He says, verses two through six. 399 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,880 Here's all the people that you still need to go conquer. 400 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:50,200 There's still victories that need to happen. 401 00:18:50,519 --> 00:18:54,320 But he ends verse six with a reminder that you're not going to 402 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:55,240 do it alone. 403 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:00,160 And so for us in the spiritual context, we think about this and 404 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,040 we say, okay, so Pastor, you're telling me that I have more 405 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:03,800 battles to fight. 406 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,520 You're telling me that there's more things I've got to do. 407 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,760 I'm tired, I'm weak, I can't fight any more battles. 408 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,800 Well, the beauty is, is that God's already ahead of us, fighting 409 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:14,560 the battles for us. 410 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:15,720 That's what he says in verse six. 411 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:20,280 He says, those people that I just mentioned them will I drive 412 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,160 out from before the children of Israel. 413 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:28,520 And so what we can see there at the end of verse six is that God 414 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:30,480 is going to give them the victory. 415 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:35,000 God promises the that he will drive these people before the children 416 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:35,760 of Israel. 417 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,680 And so he intends to do the work before. 418 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:44,600 And then he ask for them, he requests of them, he offers to them 419 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,280 the opportunity to be a part of this victory. 420 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:51,360 And so he intends that each tribe will trust God and then eventually 421 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:53,920 get the portion of land that he has for them. 422 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,120 And by the way, the portions of the land were different. 423 00:19:58,250 --> 00:20:02,210 Some tribes which we're going to see got to go to this area and 424 00:20:02,210 --> 00:20:03,930 other tribes got to go to this area. 425 00:20:04,170 --> 00:20:07,890 Not everyone receives the exact same inheritance on this side 426 00:20:07,890 --> 00:20:08,330 of heaven. 427 00:20:08,330 --> 00:20:11,050 All of us get the blessing of being with our Savior one day. 428 00:20:11,130 --> 00:20:13,690 But different people get different opportunities to fight 429 00:20:13,690 --> 00:20:15,610 different battles and to have different blessings. 430 00:20:16,090 --> 00:20:19,490 And so the challenge is going to be for the different tribes is 431 00:20:19,490 --> 00:20:22,330 that one tribe doesn't get jealous of the other tribes land 432 00:20:22,330 --> 00:20:23,210 that God gives them. 433 00:20:23,210 --> 00:20:25,430 Ultimately it's the blessing of, of the victory. 434 00:20:25,830 --> 00:20:28,270 And sometimes it's difficult for us to deal with that within the 435 00:20:28,270 --> 00:20:31,270 church setting because we see, you know, all of us are facing trials 436 00:20:31,270 --> 00:20:34,350 and tribulations and sometimes it seems like other people go through 437 00:20:34,350 --> 00:20:36,950 a trial and get something that I didn't get to have. 438 00:20:36,950 --> 00:20:40,190 And therefore I can be jealous and I can have covetousness and I 439 00:20:40,190 --> 00:20:43,190 can look at someone and say, why don't I have that gift? 440 00:20:43,190 --> 00:20:44,270 I wish I was like that. 441 00:20:44,270 --> 00:20:46,230 I wish I had that opportunity. 442 00:20:46,550 --> 00:20:49,990 And the truth is, is that the Bible calls us to be content with 443 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,240 the blessings of the gift of grace that he gives to all of us. 444 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,520 I know for me, I would look at a preacher growing up and I would 445 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,600 see him preach and I would see him have all the verses memorized 446 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,520 and I would see someone get up and sing in front of the church and 447 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:05,320 I would see wow. 448 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:07,440 That, that is an amazing blessing. 449 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:08,960 I'm nowhere near that gifted. 450 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,920 And what the lie was in my mind is that they're way more gifted 451 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:13,240 than me. 452 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,960 I can't be used of God, that those people are the ones that are 453 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:16,600 used by God. 454 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:17,760 I'm not gifted in that way. 455 00:21:18,390 --> 00:21:21,230 But folks, the Bible clearly teaches that we are all gifted in 456 00:21:21,230 --> 00:21:24,750 particular ways, different ways, but equally important ways 457 00:21:24,750 --> 00:21:26,470 that we can serve within the church. 458 00:21:26,470 --> 00:21:30,470 And so the challenge would be this, that all of us, as God divides 459 00:21:30,470 --> 00:21:34,149 out the blessings to us in the spiritual gifts, that one of us doesn't 460 00:21:34,149 --> 00:21:37,190 look at someone else and go, well, I want to be like them, therefore 461 00:21:37,270 --> 00:21:39,590 I'm going to be bitter about my, my gift. 462 00:21:39,590 --> 00:21:42,470 I'm going to be covetous, and I'm going to want what they have. 463 00:21:42,550 --> 00:21:44,870 No, what we're going to see later on is that there's actually 464 00:21:44,870 --> 00:21:47,560 one tribe that doesn't even get land, but they get something 465 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:49,880 even better, which we're going to talk about towards the end of 466 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:50,320 the chapter. 467 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,360 So he says in verse number six, there is more to accomplish, 468 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,200 but I'm at work. 469 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,760 I will drive them out before the children of Israel. 470 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:03,080 And then he says, only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites 471 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,480 for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee, meaning this. 472 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:06,640 I've already done this. 473 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,360 I've already commanded this to happen. 474 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,960 Many of you know that God has already delineated the certain places 475 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,960 of the allotment for the land for each tribe. 476 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,960 And that's what the next part of this chapter is all about. 477 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,960 So starting in verse number seven, it says, now therefore divide 478 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:25,280 this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes and the half 479 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,200 tribe of Manasseh, with whom the Reubenites and the Gadites have 480 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,960 received their inheritance, which Moses gave them beyond Jordan 481 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,720 eastward, even as Moses the servant of the Lord gave them. 482 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,960 And so he begins to describe the different lands and the different 483 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:38,560 allotments. 484 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:43,430 And he goes down to verse number 13, and he concludes that 485 00:22:43,430 --> 00:22:45,190 thought with basically this verse 13. 486 00:22:45,190 --> 00:22:48,270 He says, the Gesherites and the and the Makayites dwell among 487 00:22:48,270 --> 00:22:50,710 the Israelites unto this day, meaning there's still some people 488 00:22:50,710 --> 00:22:51,950 that need to be driven out. 489 00:22:52,270 --> 00:22:52,630 And. 490 00:22:52,630 --> 00:22:55,350 And ultimately, though there he even said in verse 12, there's 491 00:22:55,350 --> 00:22:56,510 the remnant of the giants. 492 00:22:56,670 --> 00:23:00,830 And so through all of this different explanation of the land, 493 00:23:00,830 --> 00:23:03,190 he still is pointing out to them that there's still battles that 494 00:23:03,190 --> 00:23:04,030 need to be fought. 495 00:23:04,030 --> 00:23:06,670 But then he talks in verse number 14 about something very interesting. 496 00:23:06,670 --> 00:23:11,610 He says, only unto the tribe of Levi, he gave none inheritance. 497 00:23:12,410 --> 00:23:17,010 So it sounds like initially that Levi gets left out, that the 498 00:23:17,010 --> 00:23:19,690 tribe of Levi misses out because they don't get any land. 499 00:23:19,930 --> 00:23:23,370 He says only unto the tribe of Levi, he gave none inheritance. 500 00:23:23,850 --> 00:23:25,370 But then he says something interesting. 501 00:23:25,370 --> 00:23:28,890 He says the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are 502 00:23:28,890 --> 00:23:31,490 their inheritance, as he said unto them. 503 00:23:31,490 --> 00:23:36,620 Which means this Levi, which was the priestly tribe, was to receive 504 00:23:36,620 --> 00:23:40,580 no land, so to speak, like the other tribes did. 505 00:23:41,460 --> 00:23:44,300 They would be given certain cities, but ultimately they were 506 00:23:44,300 --> 00:23:45,380 not given any land. 507 00:23:45,460 --> 00:23:48,180 And what they were given was something else. 508 00:23:48,180 --> 00:23:52,020 They were giving something to the security of having a complete 509 00:23:52,020 --> 00:23:54,860 relationship with the Lord and being able to be the ones who were 510 00:23:54,860 --> 00:23:55,980 offering the sacrifices. 511 00:23:55,980 --> 00:24:00,700 And so essentially their inheritance was their presence and 512 00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:01,980 their role with the Lord. 513 00:24:02,460 --> 00:24:06,780 And I think of all of the tribes of Israel, the most connection 514 00:24:06,780 --> 00:24:11,660 that we as Christians today have as what we would call maybe 515 00:24:11,660 --> 00:24:14,940 like a relative in, in the tribes would be Levi, because we 516 00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:17,980 don't necessarily get material blessings in our salvation. 517 00:24:17,980 --> 00:24:21,620 We get the spiritual blessing of having a relationship with God. 518 00:24:21,620 --> 00:24:23,300 And that's what he is saying there. 519 00:24:23,300 --> 00:24:24,860 He says Levi doesn't need the land. 520 00:24:24,860 --> 00:24:25,100 They. 521 00:24:25,100 --> 00:24:26,600 They have a relationship with God. 522 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,400 Then we see verses 15 through 23. 523 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:34,000 Reuben's land in his inheritance is given to that tribe. 524 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:34,920 And that's. 525 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:36,800 That's another thing that you can read in your own time. 526 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,280 We're not going to read all of the boundaries there, but what we 527 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,600 see is that there's a portion of land given to the tribe of Reuben. 528 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,600 And then starting in verse number 24, there's the inheritance 529 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:46,200 of Gad. 530 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:48,640 And so there's the portions of land for that. 531 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:53,130 And then we see in verse 29, the inheritance of the half tribe 532 00:24:53,130 --> 00:24:56,690 of Manasseh and the things that they are given there all the 533 00:24:56,690 --> 00:24:59,250 way to verse 32. 534 00:24:59,490 --> 00:25:04,130 But then starting there in verse 33, we see another reiteration 535 00:25:04,210 --> 00:25:07,090 of what the tribe of Levi receives. 536 00:25:07,090 --> 00:25:10,770 And it says in verse 33, but unto the tribe of Levi, Moses gave 537 00:25:10,770 --> 00:25:12,770 not an inheritance, meaning no land. 538 00:25:13,170 --> 00:25:17,380 The Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto 539 00:25:17,380 --> 00:25:17,660 them. 540 00:25:18,060 --> 00:25:20,780 And I wanted just to take a few minutes here to think about that 541 00:25:20,780 --> 00:25:22,060 phrase in verse 33. 542 00:25:22,940 --> 00:25:26,620 Unto the tribe of Levi, Moses gave not any inheritance. 543 00:25:26,620 --> 00:25:29,580 The Lord God of Israel was their inheritance. 544 00:25:30,060 --> 00:25:35,100 And so in a sense, what we're seeing here is that if there is, 545 00:25:35,260 --> 00:25:38,060 like I said before, if there's any tribe that's connected to Christians 546 00:25:38,060 --> 00:25:40,020 today, it would be the tribe of Levi. 547 00:25:40,020 --> 00:25:40,300 Why? 548 00:25:40,300 --> 00:25:44,210 Because we are given an inheritance of being part of the 549 00:25:44,210 --> 00:25:47,090 family of God and actually believe it or not, I did a study 550 00:25:47,090 --> 00:25:48,330 one time that said this. 551 00:25:48,410 --> 00:25:51,290 If you are a believer, you are a priest. 552 00:25:51,850 --> 00:25:53,810 So did you know that you're a Baptist priest? 553 00:25:53,810 --> 00:25:55,690 Some of you are like, no, I'm not a Baptist priest. 554 00:25:56,330 --> 00:25:58,450 Well, maybe you're not a Baptist, but if you're a Christian, 555 00:25:58,450 --> 00:25:59,210 you're a priest. 556 00:25:59,450 --> 00:26:00,650 The reality is this. 557 00:26:00,810 --> 00:26:01,130 The. 558 00:26:01,130 --> 00:26:06,170 The Bible says in First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 5, Peter is explaining 559 00:26:06,730 --> 00:26:11,530 this spiritual building that is being built through the family 560 00:26:11,530 --> 00:26:12,010 of God. 561 00:26:12,010 --> 00:26:15,490 And of course, he mentions that the chief cornerstone of that 562 00:26:15,490 --> 00:26:16,930 building is Jesus Christ. 563 00:26:17,570 --> 00:26:18,770 So he's the foundation. 564 00:26:18,850 --> 00:26:22,930 The church always should have the foundation set in Jesus Christ. 565 00:26:22,930 --> 00:26:23,970 In him alone. 566 00:26:23,970 --> 00:26:25,770 There's no foundation in our money. 567 00:26:25,770 --> 00:26:27,850 There's no foundation in our skills. 568 00:26:27,850 --> 00:26:30,290 There's no foundation in our heritage. 569 00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:33,450 The foundation is set in Jesus and Jesus alone. 570 00:26:33,450 --> 00:26:37,630 But then he says that that building that's built upon the foundation 571 00:26:38,030 --> 00:26:40,950 is made up of lively or living stones. 572 00:26:40,950 --> 00:26:42,190 That's 1 Peter 2, 5. 573 00:26:42,590 --> 00:26:46,910 He says, as you come into the family of God through faith, you 574 00:26:46,910 --> 00:26:51,070 are one of the stones that is building this big spiritual house. 575 00:26:51,870 --> 00:26:56,350 And he says, you are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. 576 00:26:57,230 --> 00:26:58,990 You say, well, how could I be a priest? 577 00:26:58,990 --> 00:26:59,550 I'm, I'm. 578 00:26:59,550 --> 00:27:01,540 I don't do what a priest does. 579 00:27:01,540 --> 00:27:02,540 Well, actually you do. 580 00:27:02,540 --> 00:27:04,900 Because if you think about the Old Testament, what was the role 581 00:27:04,900 --> 00:27:05,700 of a priest? 582 00:27:05,940 --> 00:27:09,820 The role of the priest was to be a mediary, an intermediary between 583 00:27:09,820 --> 00:27:10,660 God and man. 584 00:27:10,740 --> 00:27:13,700 So what would happen is, is it was only the Levite priest who could 585 00:27:13,700 --> 00:27:17,780 come in, and more particularly the high priest could come in and 586 00:27:17,780 --> 00:27:19,820 have that time with the Holy of Holies. 587 00:27:19,820 --> 00:27:21,660 And there was that, that communion. 588 00:27:21,660 --> 00:27:23,700 And he would petition on behalf people. 589 00:27:24,420 --> 00:27:27,680 So really a priest is someone who has access to God. 590 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,000 And the Bible says in First Timothy that there's no mediator 591 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,240 between God and man except for Jesus Christ. 592 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,840 And so what that means is that if we have a relationship with Jesus, 593 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:39,680 we are now priesthood. 594 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,760 We have the priesthood of all believers, meaning all of us have 595 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:44,400 access to God in a personal way. 596 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,240 And I think about that, and that's so important because sometimes 597 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,440 people will teach, different groups will teach that you have to 598 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,480 go through somebody else to find God. 599 00:27:53,130 --> 00:27:55,730 And the only thing that we have to go through is the Bible says 600 00:27:55,730 --> 00:27:59,290 in John 14:6 that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. 601 00:27:59,290 --> 00:28:02,210 No man comes unto the Father, but through Jesus, not through any 602 00:28:02,210 --> 00:28:02,810 other man. 603 00:28:02,970 --> 00:28:07,130 And so the Bible says that there's one mediator, that's Jesus. 604 00:28:07,130 --> 00:28:09,930 And so what that means is, is that when we're part of the priesthood. 605 00:28:10,170 --> 00:28:12,570 We are able to access God in a personal way. 606 00:28:12,570 --> 00:28:14,970 You don't, you don't have to come and knock on Pastor Josh's door 607 00:28:14,970 --> 00:28:19,050 and say, hey, Pastor Josh, I need you to talk to God. 608 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:20,520 You can talk to God on your own. 609 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,440 Now that doesn't mean that I don't pray for you. 610 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,000 It doesn't mean that I can't help you. 611 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,600 But what that means is, is that you don't need me to find God. 612 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,920 You don't need me to understand his word. 613 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,440 You don't need me to see him working through your life. 614 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,040 It's an individual thing that we're able to find in Jesus Christ. 615 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:38,950 And so it says in first Peter 2. 616 00:28:39,010 --> 00:28:44,080 5, we're a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable 617 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:44,640 to God. 618 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,550 What, by Jesus Christ? 619 00:28:46,550 --> 00:28:47,550 Through Jesus Christ. 620 00:28:47,550 --> 00:28:51,830 And so our relationship with Jesus allows us to offer sacrifices 621 00:28:51,910 --> 00:28:53,670 like the Levite priests were able to. 622 00:28:54,070 --> 00:28:55,310 The, the, the. 623 00:28:55,310 --> 00:28:57,830 Our, our relationship with Jesus Christ allows us to have that 624 00:28:57,830 --> 00:29:02,029 connection, that communication with God through the holy priesthood. 625 00:29:02,029 --> 00:29:05,590 And it allows us to be part of the living stones that are built 626 00:29:05,590 --> 00:29:07,350 upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. 627 00:29:07,350 --> 00:29:10,870 So at the end of Joshua, chapter 13, I, I read that verse 628 00:29:11,030 --> 00:29:15,520 and, and I saw the description there that the Levites had the Lord 629 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:16,640 as their inheritance. 630 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,360 And I think about that within the Christian life. 631 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,840 We want all the blessings that come along with being a Christian. 632 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,559 But oftentimes we forget about the greatest inheritance, and that 633 00:29:27,559 --> 00:29:30,320 is our relationship with Jesus Christ and the eternal life that 634 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,800 we can find in him to be his child, to call him master. 635 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,360 That's really the greatest inheritance we can have. 636 00:29:38,190 --> 00:29:41,030 And maybe I sound like a broken record, but I have to be so 637 00:29:41,030 --> 00:29:44,430 careful because the reality is, is that the prosperity Gospel 638 00:29:44,430 --> 00:29:47,230 is, it's, it's moving within our midst. 639 00:29:47,230 --> 00:29:49,790 It's all over the Internet, it's all over the world. 640 00:29:49,870 --> 00:29:53,749 And what I want you to understand is that God's main purpose 641 00:29:53,749 --> 00:29:56,270 for you is not to have all the things that you've ever wanted. 642 00:29:56,270 --> 00:29:59,390 God's main purpose for you is to know that you can know Him. 643 00:29:59,550 --> 00:30:01,230 And then that's the greatest treasure. 644 00:30:01,390 --> 00:30:06,000 If God took away everything else, he doesn't, thankfully, by 645 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,960 his grace, but if God took away everything else other than our 646 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,600 relationship with him, that would still be enough of an inheritance. 647 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,280 And what Joshua is reminded here is that, hey, you know what? 648 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,920 These people here, they have an inheritance in the Lord, lest 649 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,800 they be tempted to think that someone else has a better inheritance. 650 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,000 And he ends that chapter with this. 651 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,920 He says, as he said unto them, I don't know about you, but there's 652 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,440 been times in my life where I've been tempted to be dissatisfied 653 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:33,720 with my place before God. 654 00:30:34,830 --> 00:30:36,870 I, I, I compare myself to other people. 655 00:30:36,870 --> 00:30:41,310 I look at another pastor and I say, wow, look at, look at his ministry. 656 00:30:41,790 --> 00:30:43,470 Look how many books he's written. 657 00:30:43,630 --> 00:30:46,790 And I start to think, well, maybe I'm not who I should be in 658 00:30:46,790 --> 00:30:47,110 the Lord. 659 00:30:47,110 --> 00:30:52,550 And I become dissatisfied and, and, and I wish to be something maybe 660 00:30:52,550 --> 00:30:52,830 different. 661 00:30:53,470 --> 00:30:55,390 I don't know if any of you have ever struggled with that. 662 00:30:55,390 --> 00:30:57,470 Maybe none of you have ever had that struggle. 663 00:30:57,630 --> 00:31:00,150 But for me, I often think, like, wow, I wish I could do this, 664 00:31:00,150 --> 00:31:01,310 or I wish I could do that. 665 00:31:02,860 --> 00:31:06,380 And there's nothing wrong with having the desire to grow in our 666 00:31:06,380 --> 00:31:06,780 faith. 667 00:31:07,260 --> 00:31:10,820 But oftentimes we can get bitter towards God about where he's 668 00:31:10,820 --> 00:31:12,620 placed us and what he has given us. 669 00:31:13,020 --> 00:31:15,860 And so what we can understand, though, and what can bring us back 670 00:31:15,860 --> 00:31:19,580 to a place of complete gratitude where we are so thankful 671 00:31:19,580 --> 00:31:23,500 and where we're blessed by what God has blessed us with is this. 672 00:31:23,660 --> 00:31:26,540 When we go back to think that the greatest inheritance is having 673 00:31:27,190 --> 00:31:30,310 a relationship with our Heavenly Father, to know him and 674 00:31:30,310 --> 00:31:32,230 to know him on a personal level. 675 00:31:32,630 --> 00:31:34,630 And so that's Joshua, chapter 13. 676 00:31:35,190 --> 00:31:36,870 The battle is not over with yet. 677 00:31:37,670 --> 00:31:40,150 You, you might say I'm very close. 678 00:31:41,430 --> 00:31:46,510 I, I, I feel like I, I, my, I'm limited in my ministry. 679 00:31:46,510 --> 00:31:50,550 I understand that you might not be able to do the things that 680 00:31:50,550 --> 00:31:54,630 God allowed you to do years ago, but that doesn't mean that you're 681 00:31:54,630 --> 00:31:54,790 done. 682 00:31:54,790 --> 00:31:57,590 It might just mean that you have to adjust, that you might need 683 00:31:57,590 --> 00:31:59,390 to be a little bit different in your ministry. 684 00:31:59,710 --> 00:32:01,910 But ultimately there's still battles to fight. 685 00:32:01,910 --> 00:32:05,830 Now, there is going to be a time one way or the other, either 686 00:32:05,830 --> 00:32:09,070 God allows us to take our last breath here, or God takes us home. 687 00:32:10,030 --> 00:32:14,270 That that battle will be over and there will no longer be any more 688 00:32:14,270 --> 00:32:17,710 pain, there will no longer be tears, there will no longer be suffering. 689 00:32:18,110 --> 00:32:21,630 But until that time, God has us fighting a spiritual battle. 690 00:32:22,230 --> 00:32:24,830 And it's tempting to get back and say, you know what? 691 00:32:24,830 --> 00:32:26,430 I'm just gonna be apathetic. 692 00:32:26,430 --> 00:32:29,350 I'm gonna, as we learned at the men's conference, be passive 693 00:32:29,750 --> 00:32:31,990 and just kind of let things go with the flow. 694 00:32:31,990 --> 00:32:35,270 Anytime we go into that mode, we begin to drift. 695 00:32:35,670 --> 00:32:38,710 And the natural drift is always away from the Lord. 696 00:32:38,950 --> 00:32:40,990 And so what I would encourage you to do, no matter what age you 697 00:32:40,990 --> 00:32:44,110 are, no matter how long you've been serving in ministry, no longer. 698 00:32:44,110 --> 00:32:44,790 No, no. 699 00:32:44,870 --> 00:32:47,990 No matter what Capacity that you're serving in ministry. 700 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:50,240 Just think that there's more to be done. 701 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,120 It's not my victory, it's God's victory through me that I'm 702 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,520 able to do what God has called me to do. 703 00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:01,320 And when I am at the end of my rope and then I realize that actually 704 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:02,480 I was never in control. 705 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,960 There's, there's, there's been times in my life, certain periods 706 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:10,000 of my life, where God has had to remind me that though I thought 707 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:11,920 I was in control, I never was in control. 708 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,000 And that whether or not I'm going to relinquish that control 709 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,440 over to him or I'm going to try to take the reins. 710 00:33:18,340 --> 00:33:22,540 Folks, if you, if you have a control issue, give that up to the 711 00:33:22,540 --> 00:33:22,900 Lord. 712 00:33:23,300 --> 00:33:26,460 Some of us, some of us really struggle with just allowing God to 713 00:33:26,460 --> 00:33:27,780 do what he does in our life. 714 00:33:27,860 --> 00:33:31,420 We think that we can manipulate things and move situations 715 00:33:31,420 --> 00:33:34,180 to a certain place where we feel like we've got it under control. 716 00:33:34,500 --> 00:33:35,020 You know what? 717 00:33:35,020 --> 00:33:37,540 There was a time on my life where I thought I had it under control 718 00:33:38,260 --> 00:33:43,380 and something had to happen to me to make me realize that I have, 719 00:33:43,580 --> 00:33:44,860 I am helpless. 720 00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:46,860 I, I am done. 721 00:33:47,260 --> 00:33:49,020 I, I can't do anything. 722 00:33:49,020 --> 00:33:50,380 I, it's beyond my control. 723 00:33:50,620 --> 00:33:53,700 And that's a very scary moment for a person trusting in their own 724 00:33:53,700 --> 00:33:53,980 control. 725 00:33:54,140 --> 00:33:55,980 And by nature, I'm a controlling person. 726 00:33:56,300 --> 00:34:00,500 By, by nature, I want to have all the variables handled and planned 727 00:34:00,500 --> 00:34:02,140 out and steps before. 728 00:34:02,140 --> 00:34:04,620 But the reality is, as we learned at the men's conference, 729 00:34:04,620 --> 00:34:09,300 again, those are all just fake things, facades that the world is 730 00:34:09,300 --> 00:34:12,269 telling us to do that at the end of the day, we forget that God 731 00:34:12,269 --> 00:34:13,269 is ultimately in control. 732 00:34:13,909 --> 00:34:16,149 He's the one that's in charge of my life. 733 00:34:16,149 --> 00:34:20,429 He's the one that's in charge of my situation, and I have to give 734 00:34:20,429 --> 00:34:21,269 it over to Him. 735 00:34:21,669 --> 00:34:24,429 And so what I would challenge us with is in that battle in our 736 00:34:24,429 --> 00:34:29,989 life, we have to realize that when we are weak, that is not a negative 737 00:34:29,989 --> 00:34:30,389 thing. 738 00:34:31,509 --> 00:34:36,389 When we recognize our weakness is the moment that we're understanding 739 00:34:36,389 --> 00:34:38,549 that we need God to step in. 740 00:34:38,939 --> 00:34:40,779 That's Second Corinthians, chapter five. 741 00:34:41,899 --> 00:34:44,459 When we're weak, that's when God is made strong. 742 00:34:44,939 --> 00:34:46,539 That's Second Corinthians, chapter 12. 743 00:34:46,699 --> 00:34:51,379 He says that my grace is sufficient, that when you remember 744 00:34:51,379 --> 00:34:53,899 Paul in Second Corinthians, chapter 12, he says, There's a thorn 745 00:34:53,899 --> 00:34:54,539 in my side. 746 00:34:54,699 --> 00:34:57,179 I, I often think a lot about what Paul's thorn was. 747 00:34:57,179 --> 00:35:01,339 I, I, I, I just want to know, but I won't know for sure. 748 00:35:02,619 --> 00:35:05,219 There's a lot of interesting theories, and I like doing those 749 00:35:05,219 --> 00:35:07,090 kind of theories series and going down those rabbit trails. 750 00:35:07,090 --> 00:35:12,810 But whatever Paul's thorn was, he asked God to remove it from him. 751 00:35:14,090 --> 00:35:15,130 Yeah, Three times. 752 00:35:15,770 --> 00:35:16,250 God. 753 00:35:16,250 --> 00:35:19,410 God didn't say, okay, Paul, you're so faithful, so let me take 754 00:35:19,410 --> 00:35:19,970 that away from you. 755 00:35:19,970 --> 00:35:22,090 And then Paul goes, wow, God, you're so good. 756 00:35:22,250 --> 00:35:24,290 That would be how we would write it there, right? 757 00:35:24,290 --> 00:35:25,130 We would write it. 758 00:35:25,130 --> 00:35:26,970 And sometimes God does remove the thorn. 759 00:35:26,970 --> 00:35:30,690 Okay, sometimes he does, but sometimes for God's purpose and because 760 00:35:30,690 --> 00:35:32,720 of his glory and because we. 761 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:35,360 And Paul even mentions why he didn't have the thorn taken away. 762 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,920 It was there to humble him, to bring him to a place of needing the 763 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:41,920 Lord and recognizing his need for the Lord. 764 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:43,840 So sometimes God doesn't remove the thorn. 765 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:47,080 Sometimes God allows us to be reminded of our weakness. 766 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:48,720 It doesn't mean that God's torturing us. 767 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:50,960 It doesn't mean that God is trying to hurt us. 768 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:54,840 It means that God just allows for us to go through certain things, 769 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:58,560 to recognize that we are limited in our strength. 770 00:35:58,890 --> 00:36:01,810 And then when we realize that we are weak, that's where people 771 00:36:01,810 --> 00:36:04,170 can see the power of God working in our life. 772 00:36:05,130 --> 00:36:11,530 I told people recently the last thing that I expected to be 773 00:36:11,530 --> 00:36:14,090 doing at this time of my life was to be a pastor. 774 00:36:14,650 --> 00:36:15,090 If you. 775 00:36:15,090 --> 00:36:19,210 If you knew me when I was in high school, it's not that I disdained 776 00:36:19,210 --> 00:36:19,690 pastors. 777 00:36:19,690 --> 00:36:20,890 I didn't hate pastors. 778 00:36:20,890 --> 00:36:22,250 I didn't think that it was a bad thing. 779 00:36:22,250 --> 00:36:24,330 I just didn't think I would ever do that. 780 00:36:25,450 --> 00:36:28,090 And it was in the moment where I said, lord, I'll do whatever you 781 00:36:28,090 --> 00:36:30,410 want me to do, that he came in and. 782 00:36:30,650 --> 00:36:33,330 And did something that I was not expecting him to do. 783 00:36:33,330 --> 00:36:35,730 Now, that's not a message to say that everyone in here should 784 00:36:35,730 --> 00:36:38,010 just submit and all of you will become pastors and go past. 785 00:36:38,010 --> 00:36:38,730 Not what I'm saying. 786 00:36:39,050 --> 00:36:40,410 Not everyone's plan. 787 00:36:41,130 --> 00:36:42,930 God's plan for them is to be a pastor. 788 00:36:42,930 --> 00:36:44,170 But what I will say is this. 789 00:36:45,210 --> 00:36:48,370 God has a plan for you, and he's asking you to submit to him 790 00:36:48,370 --> 00:36:51,730 so that he can use you for whatever capacity he wants to use 791 00:36:51,730 --> 00:36:53,780 you in whatever capacity that is. 792 00:36:53,780 --> 00:36:54,740 That's the blessing. 793 00:36:54,820 --> 00:36:58,660 The greatest, safest, most rewarding place to be is in the will 794 00:36:58,660 --> 00:36:59,180 of God. 795 00:36:59,180 --> 00:37:01,700 And sometimes to be in the will of God, we have to recognize 796 00:37:01,700 --> 00:37:05,140 our weakness and turn it over to him and see his strength. 797 00:37:05,140 --> 00:37:07,380 And so, as Joshua 13 says. 798 00:37:09,220 --> 00:37:10,420 Again, I'm not saying this. 799 00:37:10,420 --> 00:37:12,260 Joshua 13 says this about Joshua. 800 00:37:12,660 --> 00:37:14,260 You're old and stricken in years. 801 00:37:14,980 --> 00:37:18,020 You have a lot behind you, but it's not over with yet. 802 00:37:18,700 --> 00:37:19,260 Push forward. 803 00:37:19,980 --> 00:37:21,460 Do what God has for you to do. 804 00:37:21,460 --> 00:37:26,380 Stay in obedience to see the blessing of that power that he gives 805 00:37:26,380 --> 00:37:26,540 us. 806 00:37:26,540 --> 00:37:30,540 As Joshua, chapter one says that we may see and that we may know 807 00:37:30,780 --> 00:37:34,740 through his word the prosperity, not the material prosperity, 808 00:37:34,740 --> 00:37:37,540 but the spiritual prosperity that he blesses us with. 809 00:37:37,540 --> 00:37:40,500 And so we'll come back and we'll continue to study Joshua. 810 00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:44,890 We'll go through chapter 14, 15, a lot of inheritance, all the 811 00:37:44,890 --> 00:37:46,010 way up through the end. 812 00:37:46,010 --> 00:37:49,210 And at the very end, we see a challenge given in Joshua chapter 813 00:37:49,210 --> 00:37:49,770 24. 814 00:37:50,970 --> 00:37:56,650 Joshua, chapter 24 speaks of a decision that is made whether or 815 00:37:56,650 --> 00:37:58,810 not we're gonna, as a family, serve the Lord. 816 00:37:59,690 --> 00:38:02,810 And Joshua says, you guys do what you want to do. 817 00:38:03,210 --> 00:38:03,730 Okay? 818 00:38:03,730 --> 00:38:04,810 You should serve God. 819 00:38:04,970 --> 00:38:08,050 But eventually he comes to a place and says, but for me and my 820 00:38:08,050 --> 00:38:09,370 house, we're going to serve the Lord. 821 00:38:10,020 --> 00:38:11,180 You can't serve two masters. 822 00:38:11,180 --> 00:38:13,500 And there's that whole conclusion of that in the book of 823 00:38:13,500 --> 00:38:14,060 Joshua. 824 00:38:14,060 --> 00:38:16,980 And I encourage you to come back for that if you can. 825 00:38:17,220 --> 00:38:18,660 Well, thank you so much for your attention. 826 00:38:18,660 --> 00:38:22,180 I will end there, but I again, I don't want to beat you up tonight. 827 00:38:22,180 --> 00:38:25,180 I don't want you to say, hey, you guys are all quitting, so keep 828 00:38:25,180 --> 00:38:25,380 going. 829 00:38:25,380 --> 00:38:27,980 I'm not saying that, but what I'm saying is, is that if I have 830 00:38:27,980 --> 00:38:30,900 been tempted to quit, I know that many of us have been tempted 831 00:38:30,900 --> 00:38:31,380 to quit. 832 00:38:31,700 --> 00:38:32,980 The Bible says, don't quit. 833 00:38:33,220 --> 00:38:35,060 Keep moving forward, press toward the mark. 834 00:38:35,630 --> 00:38:36,950 Because one day, what do we hear? 835 00:38:36,950 --> 00:38:39,830 One day when we get to heaven, we want to hear, well done, thou 836 00:38:39,830 --> 00:38:42,990 good and faithful servant, not that good, and successful servant, 837 00:38:43,310 --> 00:38:44,070 not that good. 838 00:38:44,070 --> 00:38:48,430 And whatever servant that we think that God wants us to be. 839 00:38:48,510 --> 00:38:49,790 What does God want us to be? 840 00:38:49,790 --> 00:38:52,110 God wants us to be faithful in the time that he's given us. 841 00:38:53,710 --> 00:38:57,230 You know, I often think about what will be said about me when I 842 00:38:57,230 --> 00:39:00,710 go, what my children will say about me and what others will say 843 00:39:00,710 --> 00:39:01,070 about me. 844 00:39:01,070 --> 00:39:04,090 And, you know, sometimes I'm convicted. 845 00:39:04,090 --> 00:39:05,170 I'll ask my kids, like, what. 846 00:39:05,170 --> 00:39:06,490 What is Dad's favorite thing to do? 847 00:39:06,490 --> 00:39:09,810 And they'll say something, and I'm like, that's what? 848 00:39:09,810 --> 00:39:10,890 I don't want to be known by that. 849 00:39:12,170 --> 00:39:17,290 And so the truth is, is that what should we want to be known for? 850 00:39:17,449 --> 00:39:20,490 The Bible says, faithfulness, faithfulness in the Lord. 851 00:39:20,810 --> 00:39:23,210 And that's a mark of God working in our life. 852 00:39:23,210 --> 00:39:26,010 And so may we strive to be faithful in everything that we do. 853 00:39:27,050 --> 00:39:29,690 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 854 00:39:29,690 --> 00:39:30,330 podcast. 855 00:39:30,570 --> 00:39:32,980 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 856 00:39:33,540 --> 00:39:35,820 If you would like to find out more information about our church 857 00:39:35,820 --> 00:39:39,300 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 858 00:39:39,620 --> 00:39:42,180 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 859 00:39:42,900 --> 00:39:47,780 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro Middletown BaptistChurch.com 860 00:39:48,340 --> 00:39:50,020 if you've enjoyed this podcast. 861 00:39:50,180 --> 00:39:54,660 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates. 862 00:39:55,300 --> 00:39:56,180 Thank you so much. 863 00:39:56,420 --> 00:39:57,220 God Bless. 864 00:39:57,460 --> 00:39:58,740 Have a wonderful day.