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 --> 00:00:20,160 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,440 So on Sunday morning, we're in Romans. 10 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:26,680 On Sunday night, we're in Joshua. 11 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,100 If you come out Wednesdays, we're studying Second John coming 12 00:00:30,100 --> 00:00:30,420 up here. 13 00:00:30,420 --> 00:00:34,620 And so just wanted to give that as in a little bit of a plug 14 00:00:34,620 --> 00:00:36,460 there before we get started here this evening. 15 00:00:36,460 --> 00:00:38,060 So we're in Joshua, chapter three. 16 00:00:39,020 --> 00:00:43,740 And obviously you understand that in the context of Scripture, 17 00:00:44,060 --> 00:00:48,780 Joshua is taking over, leading the nation of Israel, and he's taking 18 00:00:48,780 --> 00:00:50,300 over for a guy named Moses. 19 00:00:50,300 --> 00:00:53,020 Most of you know Moses and his story. 20 00:00:53,830 --> 00:00:55,750 Probably most of you know the story of Joshua. 21 00:00:55,750 --> 00:01:01,270 But this is a large endeavor for Joshua to undertake because of 22 00:01:01,270 --> 00:01:03,510 the fact that all the people had their eyes on Moses. 23 00:01:03,510 --> 00:01:03,830 They. 24 00:01:03,830 --> 00:01:07,590 They had their eyes on God in some cases. 25 00:01:07,670 --> 00:01:09,870 In many cases, they had their eyes on Moses. 26 00:01:09,870 --> 00:01:14,670 And so it would be a struggle for Moses to, you know, obviously 27 00:01:14,670 --> 00:01:16,270 to pass it along to somebody. 28 00:01:16,270 --> 00:01:18,470 And it takes Moses dying, right? 29 00:01:18,470 --> 00:01:21,910 We know that Moses dies, and now Joshua is coming on the scene. 30 00:01:22,300 --> 00:01:23,020 He's been there. 31 00:01:23,260 --> 00:01:26,540 And God's promise to Joshua was that the same way I was with 32 00:01:26,540 --> 00:01:28,220 Moses, I'm going to be with you. 33 00:01:28,940 --> 00:01:32,540 And so we saw in Joshua chapter one a promise from God. 34 00:01:32,540 --> 00:01:37,420 And it was the promise of God's power, God's provision, and 35 00:01:37,580 --> 00:01:38,700 ultimately the. 36 00:01:38,700 --> 00:01:41,660 The presence of God in the life of Joshua and the life of the 37 00:01:41,660 --> 00:01:42,180 Israelites. 38 00:01:42,180 --> 00:01:44,460 And he explains spiritual prosperity. 39 00:01:44,460 --> 00:01:47,500 He says, you want to be prosperous in the Lord, follow His 40 00:01:47,500 --> 00:01:47,900 Word. 41 00:01:48,470 --> 00:01:51,190 He talks about that in verse number seven, verse number eight 42 00:01:51,190 --> 00:01:51,990 in chapter one. 43 00:01:51,990 --> 00:01:55,430 And ultimately he concludes it all with the thought there in verse 44 00:01:55,430 --> 00:01:59,310 nine about having courage and having confidence in God through 45 00:01:59,310 --> 00:02:01,110 the promises of His Word. 46 00:02:01,350 --> 00:02:05,110 And so I want you to think about this in your life as a believer. 47 00:02:05,590 --> 00:02:09,390 God has given you promises according to His Word, and those 48 00:02:09,390 --> 00:02:13,720 are promises that we need to not only read, but heed word. 49 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:18,080 He means to take in and apply to ourselves and ultimately apply 50 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:19,760 to our spiritual walk. 51 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:21,360 So God's made many promises. 52 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:23,920 We're not going to go through all those promises here this evening. 53 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:26,760 But we have to understand that God has made his promises. 54 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:28,960 But in his promise comes a plan. 55 00:02:29,519 --> 00:02:30,920 So what's the plan for Joshua? 56 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:32,280 He says, here's the promise. 57 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:34,960 I'm going to Be with you as I give you this plan. 58 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:35,680 What's the plan? 59 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:37,200 To go into the promised land. 60 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:42,160 To, to cross the Jordan river, to face off against the Canaanites 61 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,000 who were living in these places that they were to take. 62 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,480 And we know that with the story of Jericho, we looked at this 63 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,440 last week with Rahab, that God had promised Jericho to the Israelites. 64 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,360 He had promised the victory to Joshua. 65 00:02:55,519 --> 00:02:57,560 And so the promise comes with a plan. 66 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,720 And as God has made promises to us as believers in his word, he 67 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,600 has given us a plan, and that is the plan to live out those promises 68 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:10,280 in our life, to live out service to him, to live out obedience, 69 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:11,880 to live out the gospel. 70 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:17,000 And, and we as Christians must understand that as God promises us 71 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,920 his presence and his power and, and ultimately those provisions, 72 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:21,360 we. 73 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:23,920 We know that we're not just to take those as selfish things and 74 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:25,520 say, yep, I've got the presence of God. 75 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:26,680 I've got the power of God. 76 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:28,080 I've got the provisions of God. 77 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:29,560 Now I can just live a comfortable life. 78 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,640 No, he says, here's the plan. 79 00:03:32,110 --> 00:03:32,430 Here's. 80 00:03:32,430 --> 00:03:34,110 Here's the, here's the provision. 81 00:03:34,350 --> 00:03:35,310 Here's the power. 82 00:03:35,550 --> 00:03:36,550 Here's my presence. 83 00:03:36,550 --> 00:03:37,310 Now go do it. 84 00:03:37,310 --> 00:03:37,510 Now. 85 00:03:37,510 --> 00:03:39,790 What does it mean for a Christian to follow the plan of God? 86 00:03:40,030 --> 00:03:44,550 Well, all of us have different routes to get there, but ultimately 87 00:03:44,550 --> 00:03:45,710 it's to make disciples. 88 00:03:46,030 --> 00:03:47,190 It's to be salt and light. 89 00:03:47,190 --> 00:03:48,750 It's the honor and glorify Him. 90 00:03:49,390 --> 00:03:53,310 And so we as believers have to understand that God has made promises 91 00:03:53,310 --> 00:03:56,710 to us with his plan and with a purpose. 92 00:03:56,710 --> 00:03:58,190 What's the purpose for the Christians? 93 00:03:58,190 --> 00:04:01,460 The purpose for Christians today would be to glorify God and 94 00:04:01,460 --> 00:04:04,660 ultimately be reunited with the Lord one day and to honor him 95 00:04:04,660 --> 00:04:05,780 in the time that he gives us. 96 00:04:06,180 --> 00:04:09,420 The purpose for the Israelites was to reclaim the land, to have 97 00:04:09,420 --> 00:04:11,060 the land that God had provided for them. 98 00:04:11,860 --> 00:04:16,380 And so when God makes promises to us and God gives us his plan and 99 00:04:16,380 --> 00:04:18,620 God gives us his purpose, we. 100 00:04:18,620 --> 00:04:21,620 We are called to live with patience. 101 00:04:22,340 --> 00:04:24,380 For, for them, it was a time of waiting. 102 00:04:24,380 --> 00:04:24,660 They. 103 00:04:24,660 --> 00:04:26,900 They had to wait until God told them to move. 104 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:30,820 And for us, sometimes there is the struggle of patience. 105 00:04:30,820 --> 00:04:34,700 None of us want to deal with patience in our flesh, patience is 106 00:04:34,700 --> 00:04:35,620 a very difficult thing. 107 00:04:35,620 --> 00:04:39,140 But biblical patience is not just waiting, but it's enduring. 108 00:04:39,700 --> 00:04:42,740 It's being active in that process of waiting. 109 00:04:43,380 --> 00:04:45,740 And so when God tells us to do something and he. 110 00:04:45,740 --> 00:04:49,460 And he allows us to know that that's his heart, and he allows us 111 00:04:49,460 --> 00:04:52,940 to be a part of it, and we pray for it sometimes that Takes 112 00:04:52,940 --> 00:04:54,340 some time for it to come to pass. 113 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:56,800 And so I want you to think about that. 114 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:57,160 Patience. 115 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,880 But I also want you to think about how sometimes there's going 116 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,520 to be roadblocks, sometimes there's going to be things that get 117 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,360 in our path that we think, lord, you've called me to do this. 118 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:07,560 Why have you put this here? 119 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,960 Why have you allowed this obstacle to come up in my path? 120 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,680 And that's what we see happening here in Joshua chapter 121 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:13,960 3. 122 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:16,840 So God's made a promise to Israel. 123 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,080 You're going to cross the river. 124 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,160 You're going to go into the promised land. 125 00:05:21,410 --> 00:05:22,090 You're going to have it. 126 00:05:22,090 --> 00:05:23,090 You're going to have the victory. 127 00:05:23,170 --> 00:05:26,290 And he gives them his power, his presence, his. 128 00:05:26,290 --> 00:05:27,170 His provision. 129 00:05:27,250 --> 00:05:28,650 And he says, look, you got to go. 130 00:05:28,650 --> 00:05:30,050 Be patient, but follow me. 131 00:05:30,130 --> 00:05:33,610 But now we get to chapter three, and we see that there's this 132 00:05:33,610 --> 00:05:37,130 huge river and they've got a cross with this big nation of Israel, 133 00:05:37,130 --> 00:05:40,650 millions of people, they got to cross the river and go into the 134 00:05:40,650 --> 00:05:41,170 promised land. 135 00:05:41,170 --> 00:05:44,250 And even then, when they cross the river, it's not like the people 136 00:05:44,250 --> 00:05:45,650 are going to just give them the land. 137 00:05:45,730 --> 00:05:47,650 There's going to be battles, there's going to be struggles. 138 00:05:48,510 --> 00:05:51,070 And so in chapter three, I want us to think about what. 139 00:05:52,030 --> 00:05:57,230 What should happen when we face obstacles in our way, when we're 140 00:05:57,230 --> 00:05:58,190 trying to serve God. 141 00:05:58,590 --> 00:06:00,630 Because you will face obstacles, and those obstacles will 142 00:06:00,630 --> 00:06:02,510 look different to different people. 143 00:06:03,390 --> 00:06:06,590 I know there's times in my life where I very clearly understand 144 00:06:06,750 --> 00:06:08,430 what God wants me to do. 145 00:06:09,390 --> 00:06:12,510 I can tell you that there's times in my life where I know exactly, 146 00:06:12,830 --> 00:06:15,150 exactly how God wants me to do it. 147 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:18,800 But then something happens and I go, what, Lord? 148 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:19,800 That doesn't make a lot of sense. 149 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:21,200 You told me to preach the word. 150 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:21,480 You. 151 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,520 You told me to lead this church, and now you've allowed this 152 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:24,960 to happen. 153 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:26,000 This doesn't make sense. 154 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:26,840 What do I do? 155 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,440 Well, Joshua chapter three tells us exactly what we are to do 156 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,080 when obstacles come in our path. 157 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,200 In this case, the obstacle is the Jordan River. 158 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,280 But we're going to see what they do, and we're going to see how 159 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,280 we can follow this as way of example. 160 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:40,360 So look at with. 161 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:43,740 Look at with me there in verse one of Joshua chapter three says, 162 00:06:43,740 --> 00:06:47,460 and Joshua rose early in the morning, and they removed from Shittim 163 00:06:47,620 --> 00:06:51,420 and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged 164 00:06:51,420 --> 00:06:52,580 there before they passed over. 165 00:06:52,580 --> 00:06:53,860 Okay, so this is that waiting period. 166 00:06:53,860 --> 00:06:55,540 This is the time of patience. 167 00:06:55,540 --> 00:06:58,900 And so God told the people of Israel to wait three days. 168 00:06:59,860 --> 00:07:03,020 They were going to go to the, the shore of the Jordan river, and 169 00:07:03,020 --> 00:07:06,340 during that time they were to prepare to get their provisions ready. 170 00:07:06,900 --> 00:07:09,860 And I can't help but think about how the individuals, they're 171 00:07:09,860 --> 00:07:11,860 getting the provisions ready, they get up to the river and they're 172 00:07:11,860 --> 00:07:13,140 looking at this rushing river. 173 00:07:14,170 --> 00:07:16,530 How can we cross with everything that we have across this 174 00:07:16,530 --> 00:07:16,890 river? 175 00:07:16,890 --> 00:07:17,930 How can we do this? 176 00:07:18,170 --> 00:07:20,570 There were probably some individuals that were questioning, 177 00:07:20,570 --> 00:07:25,490 doubting, and, and so after three days, they're going to go across 178 00:07:25,490 --> 00:07:25,970 this river. 179 00:07:25,970 --> 00:07:26,690 It says in verse two. 180 00:07:26,690 --> 00:07:29,290 And it came to pass after three days that the officers went 181 00:07:29,770 --> 00:07:33,130 through the host and they commanded the people, saying, when 182 00:07:33,130 --> 00:07:33,770 ye shall. 183 00:07:33,770 --> 00:07:34,450 When ye. 184 00:07:34,450 --> 00:07:37,370 When you see the Ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and 185 00:07:37,370 --> 00:07:39,970 the priests, the Levites burying it, then ye shall remove 186 00:07:39,970 --> 00:07:41,530 from your place and go after it. 187 00:07:42,650 --> 00:07:45,090 And so essentially what they're telling them is, hey, be 188 00:07:45,090 --> 00:07:46,330 ready for the move of God. 189 00:07:46,330 --> 00:07:48,810 Be prepared for the move of God. 190 00:07:49,610 --> 00:07:55,050 There, there is a, a seemingly impossible obstacle in front of us, 191 00:07:55,050 --> 00:07:55,930 blocking our way. 192 00:07:55,930 --> 00:07:57,130 But basically it's this. 193 00:07:57,130 --> 00:07:59,370 Get ready for God to do the things that God does. 194 00:07:59,370 --> 00:08:00,690 Get ready for a miracle. 195 00:08:00,690 --> 00:08:03,170 Get ready for God to display his power. 196 00:08:03,170 --> 00:08:06,210 And that's what they were commanded to do to remind the people. 197 00:08:06,210 --> 00:08:09,270 He says, when you see the Ark of the covenant of the Lord your 198 00:08:09,270 --> 00:08:09,510 God. 199 00:08:09,510 --> 00:08:13,310 And in this story, I believe the Ark of the covenant is a symbol 200 00:08:13,310 --> 00:08:17,030 or a picture of keeping our eyes on the power of God, keeping 201 00:08:17,030 --> 00:08:20,110 our eyes on the work of God, ultimately keeping our eyes on God 202 00:08:20,110 --> 00:08:22,750 himself in the midst of that obstacle. 203 00:08:23,230 --> 00:08:26,710 So he says here, when you see the ark of, of the Lord your God, 204 00:08:26,710 --> 00:08:29,310 and it's moving, and the priests and the Levites bearing it, 205 00:08:29,310 --> 00:08:31,990 then you shall remove from your place and go after it. 206 00:08:31,990 --> 00:08:32,670 Basically this. 207 00:08:32,750 --> 00:08:37,480 Wait on the Lord, wait on him, wait for his move and follow when 208 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:38,200 he moves. 209 00:08:38,680 --> 00:08:40,120 There's a time to be patient. 210 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,440 There's a time to rest, there's a time to wait on the Lord, 211 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,200 but there's also a time to move when the Lord moves. 212 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,280 And so there's going to be times in our lives as Christians 213 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:52,040 that we want to move. 214 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:56,080 And God is saying, stay, rest, wait, be patient, go through this 215 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:56,520 trial. 216 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:59,960 But there's also times when God is moving and calling us to move. 217 00:09:00,030 --> 00:09:03,100 And, and there's fear and trepidation to the fact that, you 218 00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:03,340 know what? 219 00:09:03,340 --> 00:09:03,940 I can't do it. 220 00:09:03,940 --> 00:09:04,900 I'm not going to do it. 221 00:09:05,140 --> 00:09:08,260 And God says, move when I Move, verse 4. 222 00:09:09,300 --> 00:09:13,620 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits 223 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:14,340 by measure. 224 00:09:14,900 --> 00:09:19,460 Come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must 225 00:09:19,460 --> 00:09:22,340 go, for ye have not passed this way hither for. 226 00:09:22,660 --> 00:09:23,260 Hitherto. 227 00:09:23,260 --> 00:09:25,380 For some, basically, you haven't gone this path before. 228 00:09:26,110 --> 00:09:29,110 And for some of us, when we're facing struggles in our life, the 229 00:09:29,110 --> 00:09:31,310 reality is, is that we haven't faced something like this before. 230 00:09:31,870 --> 00:09:34,310 Maybe some of you have even said this out loud. 231 00:09:34,310 --> 00:09:36,750 I've never had to deal with something like this before. 232 00:09:37,790 --> 00:09:39,310 But let me tell you, God has. 233 00:09:40,430 --> 00:09:43,430 God has seen all the struggles of this world, and he understands 234 00:09:43,430 --> 00:09:45,470 our struggles, and he has a way through the struggles. 235 00:09:45,630 --> 00:09:48,510 And so when you get to those times in your life when you feel, 236 00:09:48,830 --> 00:09:51,070 I don't know what to do because I've never faced something 237 00:09:51,070 --> 00:09:53,640 like this before, the idea would be, well, keep your eyes on 238 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,080 God, because he's going to navigate you through this. 239 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,920 And so the idea that Joshua and the people of Israel have is 240 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:01,520 essentially this. 241 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,200 Rely on God because you are in many ways helpless. 242 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,000 You're helpless to cross the River Jordan on your own. 243 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:09,360 You can't do this. 244 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:10,920 This is beyond your comprehension. 245 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:12,240 This is beyond your knowledge. 246 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:13,680 This is beyond your power. 247 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,880 And so Joshua could have sent a lot of people first across the 248 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:18,160 river. 249 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:19,000 But what does he do? 250 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,250 He sends the representation of God's presence, right? 251 00:10:22,250 --> 00:10:24,890 The Ark of the Covenant at that time was the representation 252 00:10:24,890 --> 00:10:26,530 of God's presence with his people. 253 00:10:27,410 --> 00:10:28,530 So what does he send first? 254 00:10:28,530 --> 00:10:29,330 The presence of God. 255 00:10:29,330 --> 00:10:31,170 And keep your eyes on the presence of God. 256 00:10:32,210 --> 00:10:37,050 Joshua understood that this was a spiritual problem and not just 257 00:10:37,050 --> 00:10:38,130 a physical problem. 258 00:10:38,450 --> 00:10:40,970 Even though we could have very easily looked at the situation and 259 00:10:40,970 --> 00:10:42,530 said, well, of course it's a physical problem. 260 00:10:42,530 --> 00:10:43,890 We need to start building a bridge. 261 00:10:43,970 --> 00:10:46,690 We need to start coming up with all of our ideas of how to leverage 262 00:10:47,090 --> 00:10:49,010 what we have as our resources. 263 00:10:49,370 --> 00:10:52,170 But Joshua understood, and I think we as Christians must understand 264 00:10:52,490 --> 00:10:55,410 that those struggles that are ahead of us, though they might seem 265 00:10:55,410 --> 00:10:58,090 like physical problems, ultimately, at the end of the day, 266 00:10:58,250 --> 00:11:01,250 many of the struggles that we're facing with can't be faced 267 00:11:01,250 --> 00:11:02,810 with material, physical things. 268 00:11:02,810 --> 00:11:05,850 It must be a spiritual battle, even though there are going to be 269 00:11:05,850 --> 00:11:07,450 some physical elements along with it. 270 00:11:07,530 --> 00:11:11,450 When we face obstacles in God's plan for our life, we must 271 00:11:11,450 --> 00:11:13,930 face it with a keeping our eyes on him and understanding that 272 00:11:13,930 --> 00:11:16,820 it's a spiritual problem and not a human problem. 273 00:11:17,940 --> 00:11:20,060 And so God requires them to stay back. 274 00:11:20,060 --> 00:11:23,420 As it says here, all these cubits, it's about a thousand yards 275 00:11:23,420 --> 00:11:24,340 behind the ark. 276 00:11:24,900 --> 00:11:27,500 And I believe, and many commentators believe, that there 277 00:11:27,500 --> 00:11:31,300 was multiple reasons for this, but one Was the respect of the power 278 00:11:31,540 --> 00:11:36,140 of the ark itself, but also to make sure that everyone, everybody 279 00:11:36,140 --> 00:11:40,180 in the nation of Israel had a clear view of the ark being moved, 280 00:11:40,260 --> 00:11:43,020 that everyone can see that this is a work of God and not a work 281 00:11:43,020 --> 00:11:46,430 of Joshua and not a work of the people, but this is a work of 282 00:11:46,430 --> 00:11:46,790 God. 283 00:11:47,670 --> 00:11:48,990 And so essentially it's this. 284 00:11:48,990 --> 00:11:49,230 And. 285 00:11:49,230 --> 00:11:52,790 And I know that this is kind of a basic way to put it, but get 286 00:11:54,310 --> 00:11:57,350 us out of the way and let God do the work. 287 00:11:57,910 --> 00:11:59,870 And there's some times in our life where we have to do that. 288 00:11:59,870 --> 00:12:01,070 We just have to get out of the way. 289 00:12:01,070 --> 00:12:05,310 Lord, we want this work to be so obviously your work, that nobody 290 00:12:05,310 --> 00:12:08,190 could ever be tempted to think that this is one person or a group 291 00:12:08,190 --> 00:12:08,710 of people. 292 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:14,120 My prayer is obviously for Middletown Baptist to grow and to 293 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:15,680 see major things happening. 294 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:19,520 But if we could explain what's happening in a Middletown Baptist 295 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,680 church with, oh, we have a great leader or we have a good program, 296 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,960 or we had a lot of money donated to us or whatever, if we 297 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,760 could try to explain it in human terms, maybe it's not a work 298 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:31,280 of God. 299 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,080 We want to step back and say, this can only be done by the power 300 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,440 of God, by the work of God. 301 00:12:36,380 --> 00:12:37,140 So get out of the way. 302 00:12:37,140 --> 00:12:38,540 We have to get out of the way sometimes. 303 00:12:38,540 --> 00:12:41,780 Sometimes what we do as humans is we try to get in the way of God 304 00:12:41,780 --> 00:12:42,020 working. 305 00:12:42,020 --> 00:12:43,140 We try to get ahead of him. 306 00:12:43,140 --> 00:12:45,660 We try to do our own thing, our own path. 307 00:12:45,660 --> 00:12:49,540 Remember there was a guy named Abraham that God gave him a promise. 308 00:12:49,540 --> 00:12:50,420 And what was his promise? 309 00:12:50,420 --> 00:12:51,340 Well, I'm going to give you a son. 310 00:12:51,340 --> 00:12:53,780 I'm going to give you, you know, you're going to have a son 311 00:12:53,780 --> 00:12:54,540 of promise. 312 00:12:55,500 --> 00:12:58,260 And that son is going to bring you great joy. 313 00:12:58,260 --> 00:13:01,740 And that son is going to bring blessings to not just your people, 314 00:13:01,740 --> 00:13:03,260 but to the people all over the world. 315 00:13:03,980 --> 00:13:06,580 We know that that ultimately was the promise that the messiah 316 00:13:06,580 --> 00:13:07,820 would come from the line of Abraham. 317 00:13:07,820 --> 00:13:09,580 But what did Abraham do? 318 00:13:10,460 --> 00:13:12,540 Well, I know that God has a plan. 319 00:13:12,540 --> 00:13:16,380 I believe that God is good, But I. I think he means this. 320 00:13:16,860 --> 00:13:18,940 And he tried a couple of different paths, right? 321 00:13:19,740 --> 00:13:20,380 And he. 322 00:13:20,460 --> 00:13:25,980 He in the process, tried to get his way to God's way and caused 323 00:13:25,980 --> 00:13:26,700 a lot of issues. 324 00:13:27,660 --> 00:13:30,110 His disobedience caused a lot of issues. 325 00:13:30,110 --> 00:13:34,470 Now God redeemed and restored all of that and continued with his 326 00:13:34,470 --> 00:13:34,870 word. 327 00:13:35,190 --> 00:13:37,510 But sometimes we're like, Abraham, God, you, you. 328 00:13:37,510 --> 00:13:39,710 I know you have me doing this, but let me do it my way. 329 00:13:39,710 --> 00:13:39,950 Let me. 330 00:13:39,950 --> 00:13:40,670 Let me figure it out. 331 00:13:40,670 --> 00:13:41,270 My path. 332 00:13:41,830 --> 00:13:44,430 And so what do we see here in verse four, he says, okay, stand 333 00:13:44,430 --> 00:13:45,830 back, watch God work. 334 00:13:48,070 --> 00:13:48,670 Verse five. 335 00:13:48,670 --> 00:13:53,030 And Joshua said to the people, Joshua shows great wisdom here. 336 00:13:53,510 --> 00:13:56,230 I think it's all wisdom that we can take as God has a plan for 337 00:13:56,230 --> 00:13:58,150 us and as we're waiting and as we're about to. 338 00:13:58,820 --> 00:14:00,580 About to take step into an obstacle. 339 00:14:00,980 --> 00:14:03,780 He says, sanctify yourselves. 340 00:14:05,460 --> 00:14:08,140 Prepare yourselves for tomorrow. 341 00:14:08,140 --> 00:14:10,740 The Lord will do wonders among you. 342 00:14:12,340 --> 00:14:16,860 And so, because this was going to be not just a physical battle, 343 00:14:16,860 --> 00:14:21,300 but a spiritual battle, Joshua tells the people, be spiritually 344 00:14:21,300 --> 00:14:23,140 prepared for what we're about to do. 345 00:14:24,510 --> 00:14:25,390 Prepare yourself. 346 00:14:25,470 --> 00:14:26,670 Sanctify yourself. 347 00:14:26,670 --> 00:14:30,110 And folks, I'm going to tell you here the same promise of God 348 00:14:30,110 --> 00:14:30,790 saying this. 349 00:14:30,790 --> 00:14:32,110 Hey, I'm going to bring you here. 350 00:14:32,110 --> 00:14:33,470 I'm going to do this thing. 351 00:14:33,470 --> 00:14:36,350 I'm going to allow you to have this opportunity here. 352 00:14:36,510 --> 00:14:39,830 We have to be spiritually prepared for the battles that are 353 00:14:39,830 --> 00:14:40,189 coming. 354 00:14:40,990 --> 00:14:43,790 We need to be spiritually prepared for the power of God in 355 00:14:43,790 --> 00:14:47,270 our lives, but we need to be spiritually prepared for the battles 356 00:14:47,270 --> 00:14:48,070 that are to come. 357 00:14:48,070 --> 00:14:49,910 And God gives us all the things that we need. 358 00:14:49,910 --> 00:14:50,820 Remember, read. 359 00:14:50,820 --> 00:14:51,820 Read the book of Ephesians. 360 00:14:51,820 --> 00:14:52,940 He gives us the armor of God. 361 00:14:52,940 --> 00:14:55,860 And he says, prepare yourself for the battle that's at hand. 362 00:14:56,260 --> 00:14:56,540 He. 363 00:14:56,540 --> 00:14:57,660 He doesn't pull any punches. 364 00:14:57,660 --> 00:14:59,940 God doesn't say, hey, life's going to be easy. 365 00:14:59,940 --> 00:15:01,620 On the actual opposite side. 366 00:15:01,620 --> 00:15:03,220 He says, life is going to be very difficult. 367 00:15:03,220 --> 00:15:06,660 When you live for me, truly, there's going to be spiritual battles. 368 00:15:07,620 --> 00:15:09,380 There's going to be people that oppose us. 369 00:15:09,460 --> 00:15:12,300 But he says, don't worry about the people that are opposing, because 370 00:15:12,300 --> 00:15:14,900 really they're opposing you because they're opposing him. 371 00:15:15,300 --> 00:15:16,460 It's a spiritual battle. 372 00:15:16,460 --> 00:15:17,940 It always goes down to the spiritual. 373 00:15:17,940 --> 00:15:18,740 So he says this. 374 00:15:18,950 --> 00:15:20,550 He says, sanctify yourselves. 375 00:15:21,990 --> 00:15:24,150 This means that they were to remember that word. 376 00:15:24,150 --> 00:15:28,070 Sanctify means to separate themselves from the common things 377 00:15:28,070 --> 00:15:32,430 of the world, to separate themselves from their focus, from 378 00:15:32,430 --> 00:15:35,150 their focus of the things of this world and focus on the things 379 00:15:35,150 --> 00:15:35,830 of God. 380 00:15:36,790 --> 00:15:37,870 And he says, do that. 381 00:15:37,870 --> 00:15:38,190 Why? 382 00:15:38,190 --> 00:15:40,230 Because the Lord's about to do wonderful things. 383 00:15:40,230 --> 00:15:41,470 He's about to work a miracle. 384 00:15:41,470 --> 00:15:42,710 And you want to be part of this? 385 00:15:43,670 --> 00:15:47,730 I'm going to tell you, God is at work today in this world. 386 00:15:48,530 --> 00:15:50,610 God is at work in America. 387 00:15:50,610 --> 00:15:52,170 God is at work around the world. 388 00:15:52,170 --> 00:15:53,410 People are getting saved. 389 00:15:53,570 --> 00:15:55,090 People's hearts are changing. 390 00:15:55,570 --> 00:15:57,490 The plan of God is coming to pass. 391 00:15:58,210 --> 00:16:01,010 But do we, number one, believe that? 392 00:16:01,010 --> 00:16:03,090 Number two, are we willing to be a part of it? 393 00:16:03,250 --> 00:16:04,930 God's work is going to get done. 394 00:16:05,810 --> 00:16:08,690 I'm Going to tell you, we cannot limit God. 395 00:16:09,250 --> 00:16:12,710 There is no way that me, you know, one time I. I was talking to 396 00:16:12,710 --> 00:16:15,390 somebody about some of the spiritual struggles that I've had. 397 00:16:15,390 --> 00:16:17,350 And by the way, pastors have spiritual struggles. 398 00:16:18,070 --> 00:16:19,030 I'm going to tell you that. 399 00:16:19,190 --> 00:16:20,790 Wish I could tell you that everything's easy. 400 00:16:21,510 --> 00:16:25,270 That once you become a certain Christian for a certain amount of 401 00:16:25,270 --> 00:16:26,630 time, that all the problems go away. 402 00:16:26,710 --> 00:16:29,150 And if some of you have faced that and reached that, come talk 403 00:16:29,150 --> 00:16:29,950 to me after the service. 404 00:16:29,950 --> 00:16:35,190 I'd love to have you give way of testimony, but I was talking to 405 00:16:35,190 --> 00:16:37,910 a pastor and I've used this statement before, and I said, you 406 00:16:37,910 --> 00:16:39,290 know, I feel I'm. 407 00:16:39,290 --> 00:16:39,970 I'm afraid. 408 00:16:40,050 --> 00:16:41,130 He says, what are you afraid of? 409 00:16:41,130 --> 00:16:43,010 And I said, I'm afraid I'm going to let God down. 410 00:16:44,530 --> 00:16:47,090 He goes, I didn't know that you were holding him up. 411 00:16:47,650 --> 00:16:48,530 So, yeah, you're right. 412 00:16:48,530 --> 00:16:51,410 He said, he's holding me up and he's not going to let me down. 413 00:16:52,290 --> 00:16:57,090 I think so much, so much of our fear and concern with what we're 414 00:16:57,090 --> 00:16:58,610 doing is man, I'm going to fail. 415 00:16:58,770 --> 00:17:00,210 I'm not going to be good enough. 416 00:17:00,850 --> 00:17:04,050 But that's really what we're seeing here is he says, no, get ready. 417 00:17:04,050 --> 00:17:06,010 Prepare yourself to be used by God. 418 00:17:06,010 --> 00:17:06,930 Be a part of this. 419 00:17:07,710 --> 00:17:12,310 He understands that we're flawed, but he still uses the people 420 00:17:12,310 --> 00:17:13,630 that are marred by sin. 421 00:17:13,630 --> 00:17:16,270 It doesn't mean that it's a justification for sin, but. 422 00:17:16,270 --> 00:17:20,590 But God is using flawed human beings for his plan. 423 00:17:20,590 --> 00:17:22,590 And so the way that I would frame it is this. 424 00:17:22,750 --> 00:17:28,150 We don't need to be used by God. 425 00:17:28,150 --> 00:17:31,350 God can do his work without us, but he wants us to be a part 426 00:17:31,350 --> 00:17:31,710 of it. 427 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:34,760 I want to be a part of it. 428 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:37,560 I'm sure you want to be a part of it. 429 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:38,360 So what do we do? 430 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,120 We sanctify ourselves. 431 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:41,080 We. 432 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:47,120 We set aside our desires, our plans, our. 433 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:48,160 Our ways, our. 434 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,280 Our pleasures, and we say, lord, okay, this is what I want, 435 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:54,520 but it might not be what you want. 436 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,480 So I want to set aside myself to you as a spiritual sacrifice and 437 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:00,040 say, lord, you take over. 438 00:18:01,490 --> 00:18:03,850 There's a lot of passages of scripture in the New Testament that 439 00:18:03,850 --> 00:18:05,570 say that sacrifices are not enough. 440 00:18:05,650 --> 00:18:07,970 The blood of bull and goats cannot save us. 441 00:18:08,210 --> 00:18:09,010 We know that. 442 00:18:09,250 --> 00:18:13,650 So God doesn't ask us to do animal sacrifices anymore, but he 443 00:18:13,650 --> 00:18:15,130 does ask us to sacrifice something. 444 00:18:15,130 --> 00:18:18,890 It says that we are to give ourselves a living sacrifice, wholly 445 00:18:18,890 --> 00:18:21,010 acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. 446 00:18:22,530 --> 00:18:24,210 So sanctify ourselves means this. 447 00:18:24,370 --> 00:18:27,890 Prepare my heart, prepare my mind to be used By God. 448 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,320 I'll never ever forget a sermon that my pastor preached in 449 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:32,680 Florida. 450 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:35,200 He got up, he says, are you ready to be used by God? 451 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,160 And my answer at that point was, no, I'm not ready. 452 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,400 I've got too much that I'm holding on to in this world to put 453 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:43,520 anything in my hands for the cause of the gospel. 454 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,840 I was clinging too tightly to the things of this world and to the 455 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:49,920 hopes and dreams that I had for my life. 456 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,400 And, and I had to realize that I have to empty myself to be filled 457 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,720 by God's spirit and his plan. 458 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:00,920 And so the Bible says here that they were to sanctify themselves. 459 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:01,240 Why? 460 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,280 Because God is about to do an amazing, amazing work. 461 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:05,880 And he says, you want to be a part of this? 462 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:11,600 And so what, what is holding you and me back today from being 463 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,280 a part of God's amazing work here in 2025? 464 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,600 Revival could break out in America today. 465 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:21,160 Where does revival start? 466 00:19:22,210 --> 00:19:24,970 Well, it starts with someone else. 467 00:19:24,970 --> 00:19:26,130 No, starts with me. 468 00:19:27,010 --> 00:19:31,530 If I want to see America change for the gospel, guess what? 469 00:19:31,530 --> 00:19:34,130 I've got to be changed for the gospel. 470 00:19:34,930 --> 00:19:38,090 If I want people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, what do I 471 00:19:38,090 --> 00:19:38,690 need to do? 472 00:19:39,250 --> 00:19:41,650 I need to tell people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 473 00:19:42,290 --> 00:19:45,970 If I want to see morality in the country change from a man centric, 474 00:19:46,290 --> 00:19:49,090 selfish morality to a God morality, what do I do? 475 00:19:49,090 --> 00:19:53,490 Well, I live out the truths of God and, and I fight for the cause 476 00:19:53,490 --> 00:19:54,250 of the gospel. 477 00:19:55,530 --> 00:19:56,570 Hey, you know what? 478 00:19:56,890 --> 00:20:01,250 I'm going to tell you this, and I say this a lot because you 479 00:20:01,250 --> 00:20:02,010 know why I. 480 00:20:02,010 --> 00:20:04,450 What I preach on a lot is usually what I struggle with. 481 00:20:04,450 --> 00:20:05,370 Just going to be honest. 482 00:20:06,090 --> 00:20:07,770 I struggle with complaining. 483 00:20:07,930 --> 00:20:10,490 I struggle with just commiserating with people around 484 00:20:10,490 --> 00:20:11,770 me how bad everything is. 485 00:20:12,570 --> 00:20:14,090 Oh, you know what, it's just so bad. 486 00:20:14,250 --> 00:20:15,610 These people have gone too far. 487 00:20:16,250 --> 00:20:17,610 We can't get this back. 488 00:20:17,690 --> 00:20:18,970 And the idea is this. 489 00:20:19,290 --> 00:20:22,370 I am not going to change anything in this world by me just 490 00:20:22,370 --> 00:20:23,370 complaining about things. 491 00:20:24,410 --> 00:20:27,970 I need to stop complaining and be content with what God has blessed 492 00:20:27,970 --> 00:20:31,290 me with and bless this world with and get busy for the cause of 493 00:20:31,290 --> 00:20:31,850 the kingdom. 494 00:20:32,250 --> 00:20:33,370 And that's what we're seeing here. 495 00:20:33,370 --> 00:20:34,210 He says, get ready. 496 00:20:34,210 --> 00:20:34,570 Stop. 497 00:20:34,650 --> 00:20:36,650 Stop being distracted with everything else. 498 00:20:36,650 --> 00:20:37,530 Sanctify yourself. 499 00:20:37,530 --> 00:20:38,010 Verse 6. 500 00:20:38,010 --> 00:20:38,570 Here we go. 501 00:20:38,730 --> 00:20:42,130 Joshua is going to take a step of faith and the nation of Israel 502 00:20:42,130 --> 00:20:43,090 is going to take a step of faith. 503 00:20:43,090 --> 00:20:46,540 And I'm going to tell you, when God gives us a promise and he 504 00:20:46,540 --> 00:20:50,060 gives us a plan and he gives us a purpose, and when there's a 505 00:20:50,060 --> 00:20:53,940 roadblock there's always going to be a step of faith. 506 00:20:54,420 --> 00:20:57,020 There's a book out there, it's called Experiencing God. 507 00:20:57,020 --> 00:20:59,460 And some of you have read it, some of you have studied it. 508 00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:03,380 And it speaks directly to this idea that everybody that lives for 509 00:21:03,380 --> 00:21:06,260 God is going to have a crisis of belief moment. 510 00:21:07,060 --> 00:21:09,140 What do I mean by a crisis of belief moment? 511 00:21:09,140 --> 00:21:09,780 Well, not me. 512 00:21:09,780 --> 00:21:13,100 The author, Blackaby, said that every single person that was 513 00:21:13,100 --> 00:21:15,220 used by God in scripture has a moment. 514 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,320 That we have to make a decision to be completely given over 515 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:18,840 to God. 516 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:21,360 Okay, am I going to choose me or I'm going to choose him? 517 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:23,640 If I choose me, I think that might be safe. 518 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,080 If I choose Him, I'm stepping out in faith. 519 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:30,280 But folks, if we want to be used by God, we have to be willing 520 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,480 to take that step of faith and go into the unknown. 521 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,640 To go to a place where I'm not sure what's going to happen, but 522 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,920 I believe and trust that God is going to preserve me through this. 523 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,960 And so verse six and Joshua spake unto the priest saying, take 524 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,440 up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people. 525 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:50,560 So he says, now we're going, now we're trusting. 526 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,040 We're going to put feet to our belief. 527 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,880 We're going to move in what we've already been confirmed in. 528 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:02,400 And so faith starts in the heart, but it's proved through our 529 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:03,040 actions. 530 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:05,280 Actions aren't our faith. 531 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:06,960 Let me be clear about that. 532 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,200 But, but true faith will be produced by what we do. 533 00:22:12,370 --> 00:22:16,090 And so it says here that Joshua says, let's go, let's pass 534 00:22:16,090 --> 00:22:17,010 over before the people. 535 00:22:17,010 --> 00:22:19,450 And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the 536 00:22:19,450 --> 00:22:19,810 people. 537 00:22:21,250 --> 00:22:23,650 And so Joshua is following God's plan. 538 00:22:24,370 --> 00:22:25,890 Joshua is saying, hey, you know what? 539 00:22:25,890 --> 00:22:28,450 We crossed the Red Sea, we're going to cross the Jordan River. 540 00:22:28,450 --> 00:22:32,090 Just as God was faithful to us years and years ago, so he's going 541 00:22:32,090 --> 00:22:33,330 to be faithful to us today. 542 00:22:34,210 --> 00:22:40,750 And to see a work of God, we need leaders and Christians to be 543 00:22:40,750 --> 00:22:43,350 willing to say, you know what, I'm going to be a part of initiating 544 00:22:43,350 --> 00:22:43,910 this process. 545 00:22:43,990 --> 00:22:46,870 I'm going to demonstrate my faith. 546 00:22:46,870 --> 00:22:49,710 So that's contagious for other people around me to believe in what 547 00:22:49,710 --> 00:22:50,550 God has already done. 548 00:22:51,190 --> 00:22:54,390 Joshua says, God was faithful to us back then, he's going to be 549 00:22:54,390 --> 00:22:55,270 faithful for us today. 550 00:22:55,350 --> 00:22:57,430 That's the same thing we do, folks. 551 00:22:57,430 --> 00:22:58,870 God has been faithful to you. 552 00:23:00,710 --> 00:23:05,250 If you doubt that, go back and re record and think about all those 553 00:23:05,250 --> 00:23:08,770 things that God has been faithful in in your life. 554 00:23:09,970 --> 00:23:13,210 And if God has been faithful to you before he's going to be faithful 555 00:23:13,210 --> 00:23:13,490 again. 556 00:23:14,130 --> 00:23:14,770 You know why? 557 00:23:14,770 --> 00:23:15,970 Because God is faithful. 558 00:23:17,490 --> 00:23:19,250 The Bible says that he is. 559 00:23:20,129 --> 00:23:22,770 We're going to talk about this in the book of Hebrews later on. 560 00:23:22,770 --> 00:23:25,650 But he says, let us hold fast the profession, our faith. 561 00:23:25,650 --> 00:23:25,930 Why? 562 00:23:25,930 --> 00:23:28,050 Because the one who has promised us is faithful. 563 00:23:28,130 --> 00:23:30,220 Not because I'm faithful, but because he's faithful. 564 00:23:30,770 --> 00:23:33,410 So Joshua says, we're going to go, we're going to be. 565 00:23:33,410 --> 00:23:35,490 We're going to believe, we're going to trust. 566 00:23:36,690 --> 00:23:41,650 And so we see in verse number seven, it says, and the Lord said 567 00:23:41,650 --> 00:23:47,050 unto Joshua, this day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight 568 00:23:47,050 --> 00:23:47,890 of all Israel. 569 00:23:48,450 --> 00:23:52,290 That they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with 570 00:23:52,290 --> 00:23:52,690 thee. 571 00:23:53,490 --> 00:23:56,370 So Joshua's faith is rewarded. 572 00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:59,440 Remember Hebrews 11:6. 573 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,600 If you can remember a verse about faith, I'd have you remember 574 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:04,800 Hebrews 11:1 and Hebrews 11:6. 575 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,200 Hebrews 11:6 says, he is a rewarder of them that diligently 576 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:08,840 seek him. 577 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:14,280 So Joshua is rewarded because he's the one that initiates that 578 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:14,560 faith. 579 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,440 And as others are going to follow, it says here, it's very interesting, 580 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:21,400 it says that he is going to magnify Joshua in the sight of Israel. 581 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:25,390 Now, at first glance and out of context, we could say, wait, God's 582 00:24:25,390 --> 00:24:28,030 going to lift up a man so that they can keep their eyes on a man? 583 00:24:28,910 --> 00:24:31,230 Well, not completely, though. 584 00:24:31,390 --> 00:24:32,590 Joshua is the leader. 585 00:24:32,670 --> 00:24:33,790 It says here that. 586 00:24:33,790 --> 00:24:37,750 That God is going to magnify or exalt Joshua in the sight of all 587 00:24:37,750 --> 00:24:41,030 Israel so that they may know, as I was with Moses, so I will be 588 00:24:41,030 --> 00:24:41,550 with thee. 589 00:24:41,550 --> 00:24:46,630 So Joshua is the example or the demonstration of God's faithfulness 590 00:24:46,630 --> 00:24:51,230 to a person so that people can see Joshua and not say, wow, Joshua 591 00:24:51,230 --> 00:24:51,710 is great. 592 00:24:51,710 --> 00:24:54,270 That they can see Joshua and say, wow, God is great. 593 00:24:54,750 --> 00:24:56,830 And that's really what it means for us as Christians. 594 00:24:56,910 --> 00:24:57,350 It's. 595 00:24:57,350 --> 00:25:01,110 We don't brag about how good God is so that people can look at 596 00:25:01,110 --> 00:25:03,230 us and go, wow, that's an amazing Christian. 597 00:25:03,390 --> 00:25:07,190 We testify of the power of God in our life so that people can say, 598 00:25:07,190 --> 00:25:09,710 well, just as God has been faithful to so and so over here, 599 00:25:09,870 --> 00:25:11,790 so I believe he's going to be faithful to me. 600 00:25:12,430 --> 00:25:15,150 So for a person to be exalted is essentially this. 601 00:25:15,230 --> 00:25:18,425 A person is to be magnified or put into the spotlight. 602 00:25:18,425 --> 00:25:18,580 And. 603 00:25:18,730 --> 00:25:21,970 And when the spotlight is put upon someone who has faith, God is 604 00:25:21,970 --> 00:25:22,970 always going to shine. 605 00:25:23,450 --> 00:25:25,850 God is always going to be the one who is elevated. 606 00:25:26,170 --> 00:25:30,730 And ultimately our faith should be for the Lord and for other 607 00:25:30,730 --> 00:25:31,930 people to trust in the Lord. 608 00:25:31,930 --> 00:25:34,250 And we see that in verse eight, he says, and thou shalt command 609 00:25:34,489 --> 00:25:37,370 the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, when ye 610 00:25:37,450 --> 00:25:39,970 are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand 611 00:25:39,970 --> 00:25:40,650 still in Jordan. 612 00:25:40,650 --> 00:25:44,650 Joshua said unto the children of Israel, come hither and hear the 613 00:25:44,650 --> 00:25:46,940 words of the Lord your God. 614 00:25:48,460 --> 00:25:51,300 So Joshua doesn't take this as well, you know what, God's going 615 00:25:51,300 --> 00:25:53,900 to exalt me, so come hear what I have to say. 616 00:25:54,780 --> 00:25:59,260 And, and that's sometimes what happens within churches and organizations. 617 00:25:59,500 --> 00:26:03,020 And, and because as human beings, we are tempted to keep our 618 00:26:03,020 --> 00:26:07,180 eyes on a figure, a man who we can see, who we can experience. 619 00:26:07,980 --> 00:26:12,140 But what the Bible says is God is using Joshua so that people will 620 00:26:12,140 --> 00:26:14,320 see the power of the Lord. 621 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:19,040 And Joshua immediately deflects any praise and says, let's 622 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,160 come together and let's hear what God has to say. 623 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:28,480 And so if you're following a teaching of an individual or a group 624 00:26:28,639 --> 00:26:31,360 or a church, be cautious. 625 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,400 Because if an individual absorbs the praise and doesn't deflect 626 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,640 the praise and give it to God, there's a huge red flag there. 627 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:40,800 Because as God give. 628 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,360 God gives gifts to certain people. 629 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,720 Obviously, God gifts different people with different things. 630 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,800 And sometimes God does gift individuals with the gift of leadership, 631 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,920 with the gift of public speaking, with the gift of, of. 632 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:53,720 Of administration. 633 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:58,280 And those typically are the gifts that people look at and exalt. 634 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:00,920 You don't really see people really praising people that have 635 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,040 the gift of hospitality or the gift of mercy. 636 00:27:04,690 --> 00:27:04,850 Right. 637 00:27:04,850 --> 00:27:06,570 Because that's something that goes on behind the scenes. 638 00:27:06,570 --> 00:27:09,810 And though that should be celebrated, what we do in our culture 639 00:27:09,890 --> 00:27:13,650 is we usually lift up the one person who is the mouthpiece. 640 00:27:14,530 --> 00:27:17,850 But I'm going to tell you here that the person who is gifted by 641 00:27:17,850 --> 00:27:23,090 God in this way hand twists that gift to be used for that specific 642 00:27:23,090 --> 00:27:23,370 person. 643 00:27:23,370 --> 00:27:26,730 But Joshua says, no, come and hear what the Lord of God has to 644 00:27:26,730 --> 00:27:26,930 say. 645 00:27:26,930 --> 00:27:28,770 What does the word of God have to say? 646 00:27:29,410 --> 00:27:30,610 And so what does God do? 647 00:27:30,610 --> 00:27:33,970 God encourages Joshua as he takes that step of faith. 648 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:40,600 So, so really all we see there in verse number seven is God encouraging 649 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,840 Joshua, saying, I'm going to be there with you. 650 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:45,080 I'm going to encourage you through this. 651 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,960 People are going to follow you as you follow me. 652 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:50,480 And so Joshua takes a step of faith. 653 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:51,640 God encourages him. 654 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:55,480 God always wants to encourage and help those who are taking steps 655 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:56,040 in faith. 656 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,760 Sometimes we close our ears to encouragement for whatever reason. 657 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,720 And, and what, or sometimes what we do is we are seeking after 658 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,600 the encouragement of man more than the encouragement of God. 659 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,960 I, I can speak of testimony after testimony about this. 660 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:17,039 I remember as a pastor starting out, I wanted everyone to 661 00:28:17,039 --> 00:28:17,640 like me. 662 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:21,480 I still want, I still want everyone to like me, but it's not 663 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:22,920 my driving force anymore. 664 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:27,080 Because there was a time when if, if someone had a question or 665 00:28:27,410 --> 00:28:31,330 if someone didn't like what I said, or if someone didn't tell me, 666 00:28:31,410 --> 00:28:32,890 hey, I just really appreciate you. 667 00:28:32,890 --> 00:28:33,890 I would be like, well, what's wrong? 668 00:28:33,890 --> 00:28:34,770 What did I do wrong? 669 00:28:35,010 --> 00:28:38,090 And I would go home all day stressing about it, going, how can 670 00:28:38,090 --> 00:28:39,010 I please those people? 671 00:28:39,010 --> 00:28:41,290 You know, first of all, you're not going to please everybody in 672 00:28:41,290 --> 00:28:42,130 your Christian walk. 673 00:28:42,370 --> 00:28:44,770 There are always going to be people that are going to be naysayers. 674 00:28:44,770 --> 00:28:46,370 There's always going to be people that have questions. 675 00:28:46,370 --> 00:28:48,690 There's always going to be people that have a better path, a 676 00:28:48,690 --> 00:28:49,570 better thought. 677 00:28:49,890 --> 00:28:51,330 And the idea is this. 678 00:28:51,970 --> 00:28:55,690 I want to serve other people, but ultimately I'm serving God. 679 00:28:55,690 --> 00:28:56,650 I want his encouragement. 680 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,760 His encouragement is so, so much more fulfilling than the encouragement 681 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:02,040 of man. 682 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:05,440 The encouragement of man fades away and it fades away quickly. 683 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,040 Now, I'm not saying don't encourage one another because that's 684 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:10,880 not an excuse to say don't encourage people. 685 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:12,000 We should encourage people. 686 00:29:12,719 --> 00:29:18,440 But when we serve only for the man centric encouragement and we 687 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,320 forget that God's encouragement is everlasting, we've 688 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:22,000 missed the point. 689 00:29:23,130 --> 00:29:26,890 And so what I'm going to tell you here is that God encourages Joshua 690 00:29:26,890 --> 00:29:28,410 in the midst of his faith. 691 00:29:29,530 --> 00:29:33,290 But then further on we see that, that God makes Joshua the leader 692 00:29:33,290 --> 00:29:37,490 and, and so he's going to lead the people through the difficulty, 693 00:29:37,490 --> 00:29:39,050 but it ultimately is God. 694 00:29:39,130 --> 00:29:44,410 And so after Joshua obeys, he then gives specific instructions, 695 00:29:44,410 --> 00:29:45,610 and that would be the instruction. 696 00:29:45,610 --> 00:29:48,010 First and foremost is listen to the Lord. 697 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:55,400 He says, he says, here, hear the words, hear the truth of God. 698 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,200 And Joshua says, hereby, so. 699 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,400 So he says, this is why you need to listen to what God is saying. 700 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:07,920 Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you and that 701 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:09,080 he will not fail. 702 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:14,040 He will, without failure, drive out from before you the Canaanites 703 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,160 and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the 704 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,680 G, the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites. 705 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,560 He says, this is why you should listen to God, because as 706 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:30,520 it says here in verse 10, you will know that the living God is 707 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:31,120 with you. 708 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:37,080 You read his word, you understand his presence, you understand 709 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:38,000 that he's with you. 710 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:44,320 But further on, he says that when you Hear His Word, you'll know 711 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,760 that he will not fail to do what he has said to do, that he is 712 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,600 faithful, that he will overcome your obstacles. 713 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,040 You think the Jordan river is an obstacle? 714 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,080 Wait till you get to the Canaanites. 715 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:56,680 Wait till you get to the Hittites. 716 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:57,960 Wait till you get to the Jebusites. 717 00:30:57,960 --> 00:30:59,000 Wait till you get the Amorites. 718 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,040 He says God is going to be faithful not just with this little 719 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,280 thing called the Jordan river, but he's going to be faithful through 720 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:08,660 all of your options, all of these people that are coming after 721 00:31:08,660 --> 00:31:10,660 you, all the people that you're going to be facing. 722 00:31:11,460 --> 00:31:12,820 And that's a promise for us. 723 00:31:13,220 --> 00:31:16,300 You want to know the presence of God and the power of God. 724 00:31:16,300 --> 00:31:17,140 It's very easy. 725 00:31:17,140 --> 00:31:19,780 Read His Word, stay in His Word, study His Word, believe His 726 00:31:19,780 --> 00:31:21,940 Word, be sensitive to His Word. 727 00:31:23,060 --> 00:31:27,300 So as an individual, as a. 728 00:31:27,300 --> 00:31:32,620 As a believer in Jesus Christ, the best remedy to find encouragement 729 00:31:32,620 --> 00:31:34,610 in him is, is to go to His Word. 730 00:31:35,490 --> 00:31:36,570 And that's what he's saying here. 731 00:31:36,570 --> 00:31:39,250 He says, you want to find this type of encouragement, go to His 732 00:31:39,250 --> 00:31:39,650 Word. 733 00:31:39,650 --> 00:31:40,130 And so. 734 00:31:40,130 --> 00:31:45,210 So Joshua's encouragement for them would be to listen to what the 735 00:31:45,210 --> 00:31:45,850 Lord has to say. 736 00:31:45,850 --> 00:31:47,170 And that's my encouragement for you. 737 00:31:48,530 --> 00:31:53,690 Obviously, there's going to be a lot of things that we hear, a lot 738 00:31:53,690 --> 00:31:56,290 of distractions, a lot of chatter in this world. 739 00:31:57,010 --> 00:32:01,350 And the best advice that I can give you is try to eliminate the 740 00:32:01,350 --> 00:32:05,510 chatter, eliminate the noise, eliminate the distractions, and say, 741 00:32:05,510 --> 00:32:06,790 okay, what does the Bible say? 742 00:32:06,790 --> 00:32:07,110 Let's. 743 00:32:07,110 --> 00:32:10,270 Let's be very particularly clear, let's be specific. 744 00:32:11,310 --> 00:32:13,590 Let's not go into vagueness. 745 00:32:13,590 --> 00:32:18,670 Let's not drift into a place in our life where it's all just emotions 746 00:32:18,670 --> 00:32:20,030 or it's all just. 747 00:32:20,190 --> 00:32:22,910 It's all just the distraction and the whims of this world. 748 00:32:22,910 --> 00:32:26,860 The Bible likens false teaching to the winds that blow of 749 00:32:26,860 --> 00:32:29,620 the chaff back and forth because. 750 00:32:29,620 --> 00:32:31,300 Because trends will happen. 751 00:32:32,180 --> 00:32:34,940 I don't want to be a trendy Christian, actually. 752 00:32:34,940 --> 00:32:38,940 I want to, like, never be trendy, because trend, by definition, 753 00:32:38,940 --> 00:32:41,700 trends go up and trends go down. 754 00:32:42,740 --> 00:32:46,340 And if we ride that wave of trends, there might be an immediate 755 00:32:46,580 --> 00:32:49,860 blessing, but that trend is going to fall. 756 00:32:50,740 --> 00:32:51,700 And now we've got it. 757 00:32:51,700 --> 00:32:53,540 We got to what's new, what's different. 758 00:32:54,390 --> 00:32:55,910 And I'm not saying we can't modernize. 759 00:32:55,910 --> 00:32:58,790 I'm not saying that we can't adapt to the culture around us. 760 00:32:58,870 --> 00:33:02,750 But what I'm saying is, is that if we are only following the 761 00:33:02,750 --> 00:33:06,510 trends of this world to dictate to us How God is working. 762 00:33:06,510 --> 00:33:07,510 We're missing the point. 763 00:33:08,150 --> 00:33:14,230 God works with the same power as he did back in the time of Joshua. 764 00:33:14,630 --> 00:33:18,270 There's different stages and there's different ways that God speaks 765 00:33:18,270 --> 00:33:18,710 to people. 766 00:33:19,030 --> 00:33:21,110 Back then there wasn't the revealed word of God. 767 00:33:21,110 --> 00:33:22,510 So God spoke through prophets. 768 00:33:22,510 --> 00:33:24,120 He spoke in different ways. 769 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,560 But what we're seeing here is that the same power that allowed 770 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:31,160 them to cross the Red Sea, to cross the Jordan river, to get and 771 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,880 to the promised land is the same God that's working today. 772 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:39,079 And so many times we try to modernize God and say, well that's, 773 00:33:39,079 --> 00:33:41,960 that's, that's not really something that I expect him to do. 774 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:43,960 Well, you know what God does the unexpected. 775 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:47,840 There's times in my life where I don't know how I'm going to deal 776 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:48,280 with this. 777 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:50,120 I don't know what the outcome's going to be. 778 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:51,600 I don't know if you've ever said this. 779 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:52,320 I've said this. 780 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,680 I just don't see how God is going to give me victory in this. 781 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:56,560 Just don't see it. 782 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:01,840 But good thing God's plan is not limited by my, my limitation. 783 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,600 And so what happens here is that Joshua says he's going to be 784 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:06,720 with you through this. 785 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,600 He encourages and Instructs Israel. 786 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:10,240 Verse 11. 787 00:34:10,240 --> 00:34:16,160 Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth 788 00:34:16,420 --> 00:34:18,260 over before you into Jordan. 789 00:34:19,140 --> 00:34:21,820 He says the God is not just God of Israel, he's the God of all 790 00:34:21,820 --> 00:34:22,340 the earth. 791 00:34:22,660 --> 00:34:25,940 Now therefore take you 12 men out of the tribes of Israel, out 792 00:34:25,940 --> 00:34:26,900 of every tribe of man. 793 00:34:26,900 --> 00:34:30,020 And it shall come to pass as soon as the souls of the feet of 794 00:34:30,020 --> 00:34:33,860 the priest that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the 795 00:34:33,860 --> 00:34:34,180 earth. 796 00:34:34,180 --> 00:34:37,300 I love how he keeps repeating that the Lord of all the earth shall 797 00:34:37,300 --> 00:34:40,700 rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be 798 00:34:40,700 --> 00:34:43,890 cut off from the waters that come down from above and they shall 799 00:34:43,890 --> 00:34:44,610 stand upon. 800 00:34:44,610 --> 00:34:45,130 And he. 801 00:34:45,370 --> 00:34:47,690 He's describing to them what God is going to do. 802 00:34:48,250 --> 00:34:49,210 He believes it. 803 00:34:49,210 --> 00:34:52,290 He believes it so much that he's speaking so confidently that 804 00:34:52,290 --> 00:34:53,530 it's already happened, basically. 805 00:34:54,650 --> 00:35:00,010 And so Joshua's outlooked what, what he believes about God. 806 00:35:00,010 --> 00:35:01,530 He communicates to the people. 807 00:35:01,770 --> 00:35:03,250 He believes that God is going to do this. 808 00:35:03,250 --> 00:35:04,810 So he communicates that to the people. 809 00:35:05,690 --> 00:35:07,610 He says God's going to do the impossible. 810 00:35:08,740 --> 00:35:10,900 Even though we can't see it right now, even though this doesn't 811 00:35:10,900 --> 00:35:14,020 make sense to us, this is an opportunity to see God work. 812 00:35:14,260 --> 00:35:17,140 That's how we should see obstacles and trials. 813 00:35:18,820 --> 00:35:22,500 That this is an opportunity for God to do his work. 814 00:35:23,140 --> 00:35:25,900 This is an opportunity for us to get to a place in our life where 815 00:35:25,900 --> 00:35:29,540 we can't describe this outside of a miracle. 816 00:35:30,740 --> 00:35:32,420 So we fear those types of things. 817 00:35:32,740 --> 00:35:35,060 We fear things that are outside of our control. 818 00:35:35,220 --> 00:35:37,580 But actually on the other side of things, I think we should say 819 00:35:37,580 --> 00:35:37,860 this. 820 00:35:38,300 --> 00:35:40,940 I welcome things that are out of my control. 821 00:35:40,940 --> 00:35:41,260 Why? 822 00:35:41,260 --> 00:35:43,100 Because that's going to show that God's in control. 823 00:35:44,300 --> 00:35:45,820 I've used this analogy before. 824 00:35:46,300 --> 00:35:46,620 There. 825 00:35:46,620 --> 00:35:49,820 There have been times in my life where I felt like I was super 826 00:35:50,460 --> 00:35:53,180 in control, like I have complete control of the situation. 827 00:35:53,340 --> 00:35:56,660 And God has quickly reminded me that I have no control over my 828 00:35:56,660 --> 00:35:58,780 situations very quickly. 829 00:35:59,340 --> 00:36:03,300 And I have to rely on God in a miraculous way to say, lord, I look 830 00:36:03,300 --> 00:36:05,730 to you, I don't even know what to pray for right now. 831 00:36:05,970 --> 00:36:06,850 Have you ever been there? 832 00:36:06,850 --> 00:36:08,610 You ever been to a place in your life where you didn't even know 833 00:36:08,690 --> 00:36:09,930 specifically what to pray for? 834 00:36:09,930 --> 00:36:15,330 Other than, I need salvation, I need victory, I need you to intervene 835 00:36:15,330 --> 00:36:15,810 right now. 836 00:36:16,850 --> 00:36:20,250 I remember one time just praying, lord, I don't know how to 837 00:36:20,250 --> 00:36:23,650 pray, but just do your work, do your work. 838 00:36:24,530 --> 00:36:25,570 Do what you do. 839 00:36:26,770 --> 00:36:28,930 Be the God of the universe in my life. 840 00:36:29,170 --> 00:36:30,530 I welcome that right now. 841 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:31,760 That's a. 842 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:32,240 That's. 843 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:36,080 That's a comforting prayer, but it's also a scary prayer because 844 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,120 when you pray that prayer, God's going to do things that maybe 845 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:39,840 you didn't expect. 846 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:42,800 I remember there was a. 847 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,800 There was a preacher preaching one time, and he said, if God is 848 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:49,360 going to use you, he's going to stretch you. 849 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,960 And if God stretch you, stretches you sometimes, that's going 850 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:53,440 to hurt. 851 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:55,040 I said, what? 852 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:56,960 I don't want to be stretched. 853 00:36:57,380 --> 00:36:59,580 I remember leaving that service that night with the wrong 854 00:36:59,580 --> 00:36:59,980 attitude. 855 00:36:59,980 --> 00:37:02,580 I was like, lord, I'm content with where I am. 856 00:37:02,980 --> 00:37:04,340 Do not take me any further. 857 00:37:04,340 --> 00:37:05,700 I don't want to be stretched. 858 00:37:05,860 --> 00:37:08,980 But I'm going to tell you that the greatest blessing that God has 859 00:37:08,980 --> 00:37:12,020 ever given me in my life was not in those times of comfort. 860 00:37:12,020 --> 00:37:16,380 It was in those times of stretching where I was reliant on 861 00:37:16,380 --> 00:37:17,380 him completely. 862 00:37:17,780 --> 00:37:20,100 That's what gives us that confidence and peace in him. 863 00:37:20,820 --> 00:37:22,980 So he says, here, get ready. 864 00:37:22,980 --> 00:37:24,980 I'm about to show you what God is going to do. 865 00:37:24,980 --> 00:37:27,100 And he tells him, the water is going to stand up. 866 00:37:27,100 --> 00:37:28,260 It's going to be dry land. 867 00:37:28,260 --> 00:37:33,740 As we walk through verse 14, we're going to see, do the people 868 00:37:33,740 --> 00:37:34,100 follow? 869 00:37:34,100 --> 00:37:35,020 Do they have faith? 870 00:37:35,580 --> 00:37:40,420 And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents to 871 00:37:40,420 --> 00:37:43,020 pass over Jordan, the priest Bearing the Ark of the Covenant before 872 00:37:43,020 --> 00:37:43,460 the people. 873 00:37:43,460 --> 00:37:46,140 Remember the Ark of the Covenant, the presence of God moving 874 00:37:46,140 --> 00:37:46,780 before them. 875 00:37:46,780 --> 00:37:47,860 And that's how God works. 876 00:37:47,860 --> 00:37:48,940 God moves before us. 877 00:37:49,420 --> 00:37:50,820 There's no surprises for God. 878 00:37:50,820 --> 00:37:52,140 He knows what's happening tomorrow. 879 00:37:53,090 --> 00:37:54,770 He knows what's going on in four years. 880 00:37:55,490 --> 00:37:57,810 He knows what's going on in our struggles. 881 00:37:57,810 --> 00:37:59,810 He knows our struggles before we even get to them. 882 00:38:00,930 --> 00:38:02,050 I remember there was. 883 00:38:02,850 --> 00:38:06,290 It was about three years ago, I was talking to another pastor friend, 884 00:38:06,770 --> 00:38:09,730 and I was in the midst of a trial, and I said, I just don't know. 885 00:38:09,730 --> 00:38:10,450 I'm struggling. 886 00:38:10,450 --> 00:38:11,130 I was crying. 887 00:38:11,130 --> 00:38:12,130 I was all over the place. 888 00:38:12,130 --> 00:38:13,810 And he's like, let me tell you something. 889 00:38:13,810 --> 00:38:14,930 Maybe he'll give you peace. 890 00:38:15,570 --> 00:38:19,460 He says, in a year from now, you're gonna. 891 00:38:19,460 --> 00:38:21,660 We're gonna come back to this very same place and you're not gonna 892 00:38:21,660 --> 00:38:22,660 be crying about that problem. 893 00:38:22,660 --> 00:38:23,980 That problem's gonna be resolved. 894 00:38:24,140 --> 00:38:25,980 He's like, you're gonna be struggling with a new problem. 895 00:38:26,300 --> 00:38:27,740 And I was like, yeah, you know what? 896 00:38:28,060 --> 00:38:29,100 And it was so true. 897 00:38:29,660 --> 00:38:32,700 The problem that is weighing me down so much right now and causing 898 00:38:32,700 --> 00:38:37,340 me fear God is going to take care of that in some way, and there's 899 00:38:37,340 --> 00:38:38,380 gonna be another trial ahead. 900 00:38:38,780 --> 00:38:41,620 And so instead of being consumed by the trial that I'm in 901 00:38:41,620 --> 00:38:43,740 right now, just look to God through it. 902 00:38:44,230 --> 00:38:47,950 And so he says here it came to pass when the people removed their 903 00:38:47,950 --> 00:38:50,270 tents and the Ark of the Covenant before the people. 904 00:38:50,270 --> 00:38:53,990 And as they that bear the Ark were common to Jordan, the feet of 905 00:38:53,990 --> 00:38:56,350 the priests that bear the Ark were dipped into the brim of the 906 00:38:56,350 --> 00:38:56,550 water. 907 00:38:56,550 --> 00:39:00,070 For Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest. 908 00:39:00,070 --> 00:39:03,710 So this is not so, some people would argue this is the time of the 909 00:39:03,710 --> 00:39:03,990 year. 910 00:39:03,990 --> 00:39:06,190 Of course, I've been to the Jordan River. 911 00:39:06,190 --> 00:39:08,590 This is the time of the year that it was probably just like a 912 00:39:08,590 --> 00:39:09,830 few feet wide. 913 00:39:10,390 --> 00:39:12,110 No, this was the rainy season. 914 00:39:12,110 --> 00:39:15,190 This was the season when it's rushing through and over in Israel, 915 00:39:15,190 --> 00:39:16,990 you have the dry season, you have the rainy season. 916 00:39:16,990 --> 00:39:18,230 Different seasons than we have. 917 00:39:18,390 --> 00:39:21,310 And so it says here that this was the time when it was overflowing 918 00:39:21,310 --> 00:39:21,790 on the bank. 919 00:39:21,790 --> 00:39:23,070 So this is how God works. 920 00:39:23,070 --> 00:39:23,910 He always takes it. 921 00:39:23,990 --> 00:39:25,470 And it's the extreme. 922 00:39:25,470 --> 00:39:29,430 Like, it's not an easy task that he's doing, but nothing's too 923 00:39:29,430 --> 00:39:30,070 hard for him. 924 00:39:30,390 --> 00:39:31,030 Verse 16. 925 00:39:31,110 --> 00:39:35,770 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose above 926 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:41,360 up upon a very heap far from the city of Adam that is beside Ziratan, 927 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:44,240 and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even 928 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,320 the Salt sea failed and were cut off. 929 00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:49,680 And the people passed over right against Jericho. 930 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,160 And the priests that bear the Ark of the covenant of the Lord stood 931 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,480 firm on the dry ground in the midst of Jordan. 932 00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:58,920 And all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the 933 00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:01,160 people were passed clean over Jordan. 934 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:02,740 So God kept His word. 935 00:40:03,060 --> 00:40:04,260 The miracle happened. 936 00:40:04,740 --> 00:40:05,620 He did it. 937 00:40:05,620 --> 00:40:06,500 He proved it. 938 00:40:06,660 --> 00:40:07,620 It's kind of like the. 939 00:40:07,780 --> 00:40:12,780 Kind of like when Elijah was on Mount Carmel and all the prophets 940 00:40:12,780 --> 00:40:15,300 of BAAL are trying to do everything to conjure up some fire, 941 00:40:15,380 --> 00:40:16,820 like something, Please, please. 942 00:40:16,820 --> 00:40:18,500 They're cutting themselves and dancing around. 943 00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:23,060 And Elijah has his chance and he says, okay, now we've got the 944 00:40:23,060 --> 00:40:23,540 sacrifice. 945 00:40:23,540 --> 00:40:24,420 Pour water on it. 946 00:40:24,420 --> 00:40:25,380 Pour more water on it. 947 00:40:25,380 --> 00:40:27,220 Just showing that there's nothing too big for God. 948 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:30,440 And I think so many times we just doubt him because we think like, 949 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:31,160 well, that's too big. 950 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:36,400 Well, it's too big for someone powerful on earth, but it's not too 951 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:38,200 big for the one who is all powerful. 952 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:43,920 And so they cross the river and the priests begin with the Ark 953 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:44,600 of the Covenant. 954 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:47,560 Everyone else follows behind about a thousand yards back, and 955 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:52,640 they walk into the river and miraculously, the water splits and 956 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:53,600 they cross the river. 957 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:55,240 And it says there that it was dry ground. 958 00:40:57,010 --> 00:40:58,650 What an amazing miracle that is. 959 00:40:58,650 --> 00:41:01,610 And so the miracle obviously is. 960 00:41:01,610 --> 00:41:05,290 Is connected to the miracle that they had 40 years ago in this 961 00:41:05,290 --> 00:41:07,090 time frame when they crossed the Red Sea. 962 00:41:07,570 --> 00:41:11,210 And so that original parting of the Red Sea was them leaving the 963 00:41:11,210 --> 00:41:14,210 bondage of Egypt and coming to the new land. 964 00:41:14,850 --> 00:41:19,010 And this is God confirming that promise that was there 40 years 965 00:41:19,010 --> 00:41:22,850 before and continuing on in his faithfulness to them as they 966 00:41:22,850 --> 00:41:24,770 get closer and closer to victory. 967 00:41:26,180 --> 00:41:30,260 And so literally, the Ark of the Covenant cleared the way for 968 00:41:30,260 --> 00:41:30,820 Israel. 969 00:41:32,500 --> 00:41:33,780 And so what does that mean for us? 970 00:41:33,780 --> 00:41:38,020 That means that in the spiritual sense, God's power in his 971 00:41:38,020 --> 00:41:43,540 presence is the key to our spiritual victory that we face. 972 00:41:45,460 --> 00:41:47,940 So when we face impossible challenges, what do we do? 973 00:41:48,340 --> 00:41:50,660 Well, for the Israelites, it was to look to the Ark, it was to 974 00:41:50,660 --> 00:41:53,060 look to Joshua, who was a type of Christ there. 975 00:41:53,060 --> 00:41:54,690 For those people, their. 976 00:41:54,690 --> 00:41:55,850 Their Savior, their leader. 977 00:41:55,930 --> 00:41:59,130 For us, as we talked about this morning, eyes on Christ. 978 00:41:59,930 --> 00:42:01,770 We, we know, keep our eyes on Him. 979 00:42:02,570 --> 00:42:06,930 He's going to clear the way, just as they kept their eyes on the 980 00:42:06,930 --> 00:42:07,570 truth of God. 981 00:42:07,570 --> 00:42:09,290 We keep our eyes on the truth of God. 982 00:42:09,930 --> 00:42:12,010 And the river that you're facing, I don't know what your Jordan 983 00:42:12,010 --> 00:42:15,690 river is right now that's in front of you, but God's going to 984 00:42:15,690 --> 00:42:16,330 get us through it. 985 00:42:16,730 --> 00:42:18,530 He's promised us to get through it. 986 00:42:18,530 --> 00:42:20,650 He's going to continue in that promise. 987 00:42:22,230 --> 00:42:24,270 And so when I went to the Jordan river, you know, one of the 988 00:42:24,270 --> 00:42:26,670 things that I thought about when I was at the Jordan river, obviously, 989 00:42:26,670 --> 00:42:27,830 is Jesus's baptism. 990 00:42:27,830 --> 00:42:30,310 Like, that's the forefront of your mind. 991 00:42:31,270 --> 00:42:35,350 But this story came to my mind as well when I was there. 992 00:42:36,390 --> 00:42:39,110 And what do the Israelites do? 993 00:42:39,110 --> 00:42:43,630 Well, the Israelites, after this, you, you would think they'll 994 00:42:43,630 --> 00:42:44,470 never forget this. 995 00:42:45,110 --> 00:42:47,590 This will be passed on for generation to generation. 996 00:42:47,590 --> 00:42:50,490 But the temptation would be that they would forget. 997 00:42:50,490 --> 00:42:54,650 So God tells them to make a memorial, to make a testimony of 998 00:42:54,650 --> 00:42:55,370 what God has done. 999 00:42:55,370 --> 00:42:58,770 We're going to talk more about that next time, and we're going to 1000 00:42:58,770 --> 00:42:59,450 talk about that next week. 1001 00:42:59,450 --> 00:43:02,850 And the idea that as God does things in your life, replay those 1002 00:43:02,850 --> 00:43:06,610 things to the next generation, build those memorial stones. 1003 00:43:08,210 --> 00:43:12,690 Because it only takes one generation to forget the powerful 1004 00:43:12,690 --> 00:43:13,490 work of God. 1005 00:43:15,340 --> 00:43:18,060 I, we, we try to tell our kids over and over again the miracles 1006 00:43:18,060 --> 00:43:23,780 that God has done for, for Alicia and I, I, I, I, I have a lot 1007 00:43:23,780 --> 00:43:24,740 of nostalgia tonight. 1008 00:43:24,740 --> 00:43:25,180 I don't know why. 1009 00:43:25,180 --> 00:43:26,620 I'm just going back to a lot of things. 1010 00:43:27,340 --> 00:43:28,220 Maybe it's older. 1011 00:43:28,220 --> 00:43:29,740 I just think about more stuff in the past. 1012 00:43:30,460 --> 00:43:33,380 But when we were a couple years ago, many of you know, we got 1013 00:43:33,380 --> 00:43:35,660 in a pretty serious car accident after the church service. 1014 00:43:35,660 --> 00:43:40,740 And we got home, and I remember kids might not even remember 1015 00:43:40,740 --> 00:43:42,220 this because it was a couple years ago. 1016 00:43:42,220 --> 00:43:43,100 It's pretty traumatic. 1017 00:43:43,470 --> 00:43:45,710 We, like, sat in a circle on the living room floor. 1018 00:43:45,710 --> 00:43:47,030 I don't know why we sat on the floor. 1019 00:43:47,030 --> 00:43:49,630 We have furniture at our house, but we sat on the floor and 1020 00:43:49,630 --> 00:43:51,550 I just told the kids, I'm like, guys, we just experienced a 1021 00:43:51,550 --> 00:43:52,030 miracle. 1022 00:43:52,110 --> 00:43:56,510 It's like we, we should not be like, okay, we should have some scratches 1023 00:43:56,510 --> 00:43:56,910 on us. 1024 00:43:56,990 --> 00:43:58,830 Now, God doesn't always do that for everybody. 1025 00:43:58,830 --> 00:44:01,310 I'm not saying that every car accident that someone gets hurt in 1026 00:44:01,390 --> 00:44:03,910 that means that God isn't with them, but for that, for whatever 1027 00:44:03,910 --> 00:44:05,670 reason, God preserved us through that evening. 1028 00:44:05,670 --> 00:44:08,310 And I don't know, you know, what his purpose was, but I said, 1029 00:44:08,310 --> 00:44:09,600 guys, this was a miracle. 1030 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:10,760 We experienced this miracle. 1031 00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:12,240 And they were like, yeah, yeah, yeah. 1032 00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:12,920 But they don't. 1033 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:14,760 It's very easy for us to. 1034 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:15,960 It's easy for me to forget. 1035 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:18,560 It's easy for me to forget the miracle of my salvation. 1036 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:23,200 It's easy for me to forget how God led us to a new land and moved 1037 00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:24,120 us to a new position. 1038 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,920 And it's so easy for me to forget because of the busyness of 1039 00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:27,240 this world. 1040 00:44:27,240 --> 00:44:30,000 So next week, we're going to talk about how we can memorialize 1041 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,200 the work of God in our life so that the next generation can pick 1042 00:44:33,200 --> 00:44:36,720 up the torch and move forward and to not doubt, because, unfortunately, 1043 00:44:36,720 --> 00:44:38,840 the Israelites didn't remember, like, they got into the 1044 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:42,360 cycle of the judges very, very, relatively speaking, shortly 1045 00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:43,000 after this. 1046 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,840 And I'm going to tell you that it's so easy, if we are not careful, 1047 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:50,120 to allow the next generation to just drift. 1048 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:52,120 Allow us. 1049 00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:53,400 We could drift. 1050 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:54,840 We could drift. 1051 00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:56,920 And so we just have to be careful about that. 1052 00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:00,120 So I hope that you understand when those obstacles come, God's 1053 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:01,040 already given you the promise. 1054 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:02,360 God already gave them the promise. 1055 00:45:03,030 --> 00:45:04,230 God already gave them the power. 1056 00:45:04,470 --> 00:45:05,790 God already gave them the purpose. 1057 00:45:05,790 --> 00:45:07,350 God already gave them the provisions. 1058 00:45:07,350 --> 00:45:09,110 But when those obstacles come, it's easy. 1059 00:45:09,110 --> 00:45:11,550 They could have turned around and said, well, the Jordan river 1060 00:45:11,550 --> 00:45:12,510 is, like, far enough. 1061 00:45:12,510 --> 00:45:13,190 We're fine. 1062 00:45:13,350 --> 00:45:14,070 We made it. 1063 00:45:14,150 --> 00:45:15,150 We made it far enough. 1064 00:45:15,150 --> 00:45:17,430 No, God had a plan to go the other side. 1065 00:45:17,910 --> 00:45:19,190 God has a plan for you. 1066 00:45:19,670 --> 00:45:21,110 He always should be stretching you. 1067 00:45:21,110 --> 00:45:24,590 One of the prayers that I have for our church is I pray that everyone 1068 00:45:24,590 --> 00:45:27,670 takes the next step, what God has for them. 1069 00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:30,440 The next step for some people is the first step of just getting 1070 00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:30,880 saved. 1071 00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:33,880 People in our church services don't assume everyone in our church 1072 00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:36,120 services on Sunday morning, Sunday nights, or Wednesday nights 1073 00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:38,720 is a believer, but someone needs to take a. 1074 00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:41,280 Some people might need to take a step in faith and trust in Jesus, 1075 00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:44,000 but many people in the church might need to take that next step 1076 00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:45,040 of whatever it is. 1077 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,920 I don't care if you've been saved for 50 years or 50 minutes. 1078 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:49,920 There's a next step. 1079 00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,490 So pray about what God has for you, and he's going to be there with 1080 00:45:54,490 --> 00:45:55,050 you through it. 1081 00:45:55,770 --> 00:45:56,130 I'm. 1082 00:45:56,130 --> 00:45:56,890 I'm ready. 1083 00:45:57,450 --> 00:45:59,290 I'm ready to see people grow. 1084 00:45:59,450 --> 00:46:00,490 I'm ready to grow. 1085 00:46:01,050 --> 00:46:03,770 There's nothing more joyful than seeing people within the body 1086 00:46:03,770 --> 00:46:06,490 of believers taking steps and then failing. 1087 00:46:06,650 --> 00:46:07,370 Guess what? 1088 00:46:08,410 --> 00:46:13,610 If you take a step in faith in the human sense, there might be failures. 1089 00:46:13,850 --> 00:46:14,730 You might get up. 1090 00:46:14,730 --> 00:46:18,410 I can tell you this, Micah, I won't embarrass him. 1091 00:46:19,300 --> 00:46:22,660 But a little while back, he had to say something publicly, and 1092 00:46:22,660 --> 00:46:24,260 he said the wrong thing. 1093 00:46:24,820 --> 00:46:28,020 And he was like, oh, man, everyone's going to judge me. 1094 00:46:28,020 --> 00:46:31,060 I said, micah, I get up and say the wrong thing all the time. 1095 00:46:31,380 --> 00:46:31,820 Okay. 1096 00:46:31,820 --> 00:46:34,260 I remember the first time I got up in front of people and I, 1097 00:46:34,740 --> 00:46:37,540 like, got lost in my notes, and I'm going, where am I? 1098 00:46:37,540 --> 00:46:38,660 Even at what am I going to say? 1099 00:46:38,660 --> 00:46:39,620 That was devastating. 1100 00:46:40,260 --> 00:46:41,300 So embarrassed. 1101 00:46:41,860 --> 00:46:44,420 But like I say, embarrassment's sometimes an underexplored 1102 00:46:44,420 --> 00:46:44,900 emotion. 1103 00:46:45,350 --> 00:46:48,550 And so we have to just, like you have to embrace your limitations 1104 00:46:49,110 --> 00:46:51,750 and say, you know what, I'm gonna mess up, but God's gonna be 1105 00:46:51,750 --> 00:46:52,390 bigger than that. 1106 00:46:53,110 --> 00:46:55,670 And that's the idea for, I think, for all of us is like, we've 1107 00:46:55,670 --> 00:46:57,510 got, like, I could never teach a class. 1108 00:46:57,510 --> 00:46:59,590 Well, maybe God doesn't have you teaching a class, but if God 1109 00:46:59,590 --> 00:47:01,910 calls you to teach it, do it. 1110 00:47:01,990 --> 00:47:02,630 Do it all. 1111 00:47:02,870 --> 00:47:03,670 Do it all out. 1112 00:47:04,150 --> 00:47:05,790 Maybe God has me doing something else. 1113 00:47:05,790 --> 00:47:06,070 Maybe. 1114 00:47:06,070 --> 00:47:07,990 Maybe God has me serving in this capacity. 1115 00:47:07,990 --> 00:47:09,910 I don't think I have the capabilities of doing that. 1116 00:47:10,070 --> 00:47:10,910 Just go for it. 1117 00:47:10,910 --> 00:47:11,710 Go for it all out. 1118 00:47:11,710 --> 00:47:12,030 He'll get. 1119 00:47:12,030 --> 00:47:12,510 He's got you. 1120 00:47:12,510 --> 00:47:13,350 He's gonna catch you. 1121 00:47:13,730 --> 00:47:14,410 He's going to catch you. 1122 00:47:14,410 --> 00:47:17,370 When you stumble, the just man falls, but he's going to get you 1123 00:47:17,370 --> 00:47:17,810 back up. 1124 00:47:18,530 --> 00:47:21,410 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down because the 1125 00:47:21,410 --> 00:47:22,770 Lord upholds him with his hand. 1126 00:47:23,410 --> 00:47:26,330 And so I'm encouraging you to think about what God's the next step 1127 00:47:26,330 --> 00:47:26,930 for us is. 1128 00:47:26,930 --> 00:47:27,370 What's. 1129 00:47:27,370 --> 00:47:27,810 What's your. 1130 00:47:27,810 --> 00:47:30,050 What's the Jordan river that's holding you back from the promised 1131 00:47:30,050 --> 00:47:30,370 land? 1132 00:47:31,010 --> 00:47:32,690 Okay, push forward. 1133 00:47:33,890 --> 00:47:35,810 And I encourage you to think about how that. 1134 00:47:35,810 --> 00:47:37,010 That looks for you. 1135 00:47:37,490 --> 00:47:39,370 Well, I'll go ahead and close this with a word of prayer here. 1136 00:47:39,370 --> 00:47:41,680 And after that, I'll have a few announcements and then we'll 1137 00:47:41,680 --> 00:47:42,160 be dismissed. 1138 00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:43,640 Lord, I thank you for this time that you've given us. 1139 00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:45,640 I thank you for the opportunity to study your word here 1140 00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:50,240 this evening, to look into the book of Joshua and see your hand 1141 00:47:50,240 --> 00:47:53,920 of blessing upon the people and how you can overcome those obstacles 1142 00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:54,640 in our way. 1143 00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:58,600 So, Lord, I pray that you can give us the wisdom and the strength 1144 00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:02,240 and the power to trust in your work in our lives and not our own 1145 00:48:02,240 --> 00:48:02,560 work. 1146 00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:06,440 Lord, I pray that you be with the folks that are here tonight, 1147 00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:06,800 Lord. 1148 00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:11,140 Keep them safe as they go about their work this week, go about 1149 00:48:11,140 --> 00:48:13,980 their service to you, Lord, and just help them to keep their 1150 00:48:13,980 --> 00:48:15,540 eyes and their hearts fixed on you. 1151 00:48:16,020 --> 00:48:18,340 So, Lord, I just pray that you bless us as we go our separate ways 1152 00:48:18,340 --> 00:48:18,700 this evening. 1153 00:48:18,700 --> 00:48:20,020 In Jesus name, Amen. 1154 00:48:21,700 --> 00:48:24,340 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1155 00:48:24,340 --> 00:48:24,980 podcast. 1156 00:48:25,220 --> 00:48:27,540 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1157 00:48:28,180 --> 00:48:30,540 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1158 00:48:30,540 --> 00:48:33,640 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1159 00:48:34,430 --> 00:48:36,830 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1160 00:48:37,550 --> 00:48:42,070 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 1161 00:48:42,070 --> 00:48:46,470 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1162 00:48:46,470 --> 00:48:49,230 along for future podcast and updates. 1163 00:48:49,950 --> 00:48:50,910 Thank you so much. 1164 00:48:51,150 --> 00:48:51,870 God Bless. 1165 00:48:52,110 --> 00:48:53,390 Have a wonderful day.