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 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,720 We're going to be in Joshua chapter 21. 10 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,810 If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Joshua chapter 21. 11 00:00:29,810 --> 00:00:34,010 We've been studying the book of Joshua for some time now, and 12 00:00:34,090 --> 00:00:37,170 we've seen God working through the people of Israel. 13 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:41,450 We saw God's promise at the very beginning in Joshua chapter 14 00:00:41,450 --> 00:00:41,770 one. 15 00:00:42,170 --> 00:00:47,250 He promised Joshua that he would be with him the same as he 16 00:00:47,250 --> 00:00:50,170 was with Moses, that he would be with Joshua. 17 00:00:50,330 --> 00:00:54,970 And that promise was a strong promise all the way back in Joshua 18 00:00:54,970 --> 00:00:55,650 chapter one. 19 00:00:55,650 --> 00:00:59,880 But no doubt there were times in Joshua's life and the people of 20 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,040 Israel's life that they were tempted to doubt whether or not God 21 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,200 really was going to do what he said he would do. 22 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,920 And if you remember, back in Joshua chapter one, God reminded 23 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,160 Joshua of the promise, the promise of his protection, the promise 24 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,440 of his provisions, the promise of his presence. 25 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,000 And all those promises were so important for the people of Israel 26 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,120 because they would not have been able to cross over the Jordan 27 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,440 river and get into the promised land. 28 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,160 They would have not been able to defeat the enemies that they had 29 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:29,800 before them. 30 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,680 They would not be able to get into the land that God had promised 31 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,600 them without the guidance and the provision and the power of God 32 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:37,240 in their life. 33 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,719 And the lesson for us is that no matter what we might be facing 34 00:01:40,719 --> 00:01:43,720 in our life, that we need to be reminded of the promises of God 35 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,040 and know that if God says something, if God declares something 36 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:48,680 to be true, he will keep his word. 37 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,790 If God makes a promise to us, whether it be the promise of provision 38 00:01:52,790 --> 00:01:56,870 or the promise of his presence in our life, that he will stay true 39 00:01:56,870 --> 00:01:58,190 to that promise. 40 00:01:58,750 --> 00:02:01,990 And so throughout Joshua chapter one and all the way up to 41 00:02:01,990 --> 00:02:04,190 this point, we have seen God being faithful. 42 00:02:04,190 --> 00:02:06,270 Now, was Israel completely faithful? 43 00:02:06,270 --> 00:02:06,829 No, they. 44 00:02:06,829 --> 00:02:07,350 They weren't. 45 00:02:07,350 --> 00:02:10,550 And we're not completely faithful in what we do in our lives. 46 00:02:10,550 --> 00:02:14,110 And there were times when God allowed for them to go through trials. 47 00:02:14,510 --> 00:02:18,110 There was even times when God brought them to places of discipline. 48 00:02:18,770 --> 00:02:21,410 But we saw that when they yielded themselves to the Lord and 49 00:02:21,410 --> 00:02:25,410 trusted in faith and believed in his plan, that they were able 50 00:02:25,410 --> 00:02:28,090 to see the blessings of God working through them and see the 51 00:02:28,090 --> 00:02:32,210 promised land come to pass and really ultimately see their salvation. 52 00:02:32,610 --> 00:02:37,450 And so In Joshua, chapter 21, we see that God is continuing to 53 00:02:37,450 --> 00:02:40,690 keep his word to the people of Israel, particularly with the people 54 00:02:40,690 --> 00:02:41,490 of Levi. 55 00:02:41,970 --> 00:02:46,710 And we saw even last chapter Joshua, chapter 20, that even in 56 00:02:46,710 --> 00:02:50,470 the midst of all of this land acquisition for Israel, that they 57 00:02:50,470 --> 00:02:53,710 were able to come up with these refuge cities that would allow 58 00:02:53,710 --> 00:02:57,190 people to be fairly tried and not to be chased down by the avengers 59 00:02:57,190 --> 00:02:57,710 of blood. 60 00:02:57,870 --> 00:03:00,990 And so we see even God showing his grace and mercy in that regard. 61 00:03:01,150 --> 00:03:05,110 But we come to chapter 21, and all of the tribes have received their 62 00:03:05,110 --> 00:03:06,430 land, their provinces. 63 00:03:06,670 --> 00:03:09,670 And now the tribe of Levi is asking some questions, because if 64 00:03:09,670 --> 00:03:13,620 you remember, the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe. 65 00:03:13,700 --> 00:03:15,940 They were the tribe that was not to be given land. 66 00:03:15,940 --> 00:03:18,180 But now their question is basically, what are you giving us, 67 00:03:18,180 --> 00:03:18,580 Lord? 68 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:20,900 And it's already been something that they've been told, 69 00:03:20,900 --> 00:03:24,100 but they're reminded here of really, truly what the blessing is 70 00:03:24,100 --> 00:03:24,660 for them. 71 00:03:24,820 --> 00:03:28,340 And verse 21 it says that, or chapter 21, verse 1. 72 00:03:28,580 --> 00:03:32,540 Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar 73 00:03:32,540 --> 00:03:35,980 the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads 74 00:03:35,980 --> 00:03:38,340 of the fathers of the tribes, of the children of Israel. 75 00:03:38,650 --> 00:03:41,850 And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, 76 00:03:41,850 --> 00:03:45,730 the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell 77 00:03:45,730 --> 00:03:48,210 in with the suburbs thereof for our cattle. 78 00:03:48,210 --> 00:03:50,050 So essentially what they're saying is this. 79 00:03:50,050 --> 00:03:53,810 We know that we're not going to have our own province, but we 80 00:03:53,810 --> 00:03:55,050 have to live somewhere. 81 00:03:55,370 --> 00:03:56,810 We can't just live in the sky. 82 00:03:56,810 --> 00:03:59,090 We can't just live in someone else's land. 83 00:03:59,090 --> 00:04:00,410 So where are we supposed to live? 84 00:04:00,570 --> 00:04:03,130 We know that God is our inheritance, which we're going to 85 00:04:03,130 --> 00:04:04,250 talk about here in a few moments. 86 00:04:04,630 --> 00:04:06,390 But they want to know where are they going to physically live. 87 00:04:06,390 --> 00:04:07,550 And verse number three. 88 00:04:07,550 --> 00:04:10,190 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their 89 00:04:10,190 --> 00:04:13,830 inheritance at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their 90 00:04:13,830 --> 00:04:14,310 suburbs. 91 00:04:14,310 --> 00:04:18,350 And so what we find in this chapter is that God doesn't forget 92 00:04:18,350 --> 00:04:19,270 about the Levites. 93 00:04:19,270 --> 00:04:21,590 He gives them an opportunity to be the priestly class. 94 00:04:21,590 --> 00:04:25,150 He gives them the opportunity to have the worship go through them, 95 00:04:25,150 --> 00:04:27,270 and, and the priests come from them. 96 00:04:27,510 --> 00:04:30,350 But also we know that God gives them what they need by giving 97 00:04:30,350 --> 00:04:30,910 them lands. 98 00:04:30,910 --> 00:04:34,870 And so the Levites receive no land pro the province of the land, 99 00:04:34,870 --> 00:04:35,990 the whole land itself. 100 00:04:36,230 --> 00:04:40,910 But they were granted specific cities and specific suburbs that 101 00:04:40,910 --> 00:04:41,830 they could live in. 102 00:04:41,990 --> 00:04:45,030 And so the tribe of Levi had no province of land. 103 00:04:45,510 --> 00:04:45,910 Why? 104 00:04:45,910 --> 00:04:48,430 Because God had already declared what their inheritance was. 105 00:04:48,430 --> 00:04:53,470 If you go back and you read Joshua, chapter 13, verses 14 and 106 00:04:53,470 --> 00:04:58,230 33, we see that the tribe of Levi was not given a land inheritance, 107 00:04:58,740 --> 00:04:59,580 but what were they given? 108 00:04:59,580 --> 00:05:02,380 They were given the inheritance of verse 33. 109 00:05:02,380 --> 00:05:06,380 It says there that their inheritance was the Lord God of Israel. 110 00:05:06,380 --> 00:05:08,740 The Lord God of Israel was their inheritance. 111 00:05:09,220 --> 00:05:11,900 And of all the tribes, I think that that would be the greatest blessing, 112 00:05:11,900 --> 00:05:12,100 right? 113 00:05:12,100 --> 00:05:12,460 Yes. 114 00:05:12,460 --> 00:05:15,860 I get land if I'm in the tribe of Judah, or I get land if I'm in 115 00:05:16,020 --> 00:05:18,220 the tribe of Dan or Naphtali. 116 00:05:18,220 --> 00:05:21,500 But now we see that the Levites, they get to have the inheritance 117 00:05:21,500 --> 00:05:22,900 of walking with the Lord. 118 00:05:22,900 --> 00:05:23,980 That was their inheritance. 119 00:05:23,980 --> 00:05:27,400 And I think obviously we can identify with various tribes, but 120 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:29,920 the tribe that I think the believer in the New Testament really 121 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:31,840 can identify with the most is the Levites. 122 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:34,760 Because why we get the inheritance of God, we know that 123 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,640 we're not promised particular land or material blessings. 124 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:40,480 We're promised a relationship with God. 125 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,560 And so the Levites had the greatest blessing of having a relationship 126 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:46,880 with God and walking with him as their inheritance. 127 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:48,880 But we do know that they have to live somewhere. 128 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:54,080 And so verses 4 through 42 are all about those cities that the other 129 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,480 tribes were willing to give to the Levites. 130 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,400 And so we see the. 131 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,600 The tribe of Judah, and that goes on on the tribe of Simeon, the 132 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:06,720 tribe of Benjamin, and that goes on and on. 133 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:11,360 And we see them give cities to different families within the tribe 134 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:12,400 of Levi. 135 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,360 So we see cities given to the tribe of Aaron that starts there 136 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:16,520 in verse number nine. 137 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:22,600 We see cities given to the family of Kohath and family of Gershon. 138 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,700 And all the way down, we see cities given to Merari in verse 34. 139 00:06:28,020 --> 00:06:31,060 And so for the sake of redundancy, we're not going to just 140 00:06:31,060 --> 00:06:34,580 go and read all the different cities given to these tribe, given 141 00:06:34,580 --> 00:06:36,500 from these tribes to the Levites. 142 00:06:36,500 --> 00:06:40,100 But if you'd like to do that, you can read verses 4 through 42, 143 00:06:40,659 --> 00:06:43,300 and that would give you all the different cities that were given 144 00:06:43,300 --> 00:06:45,540 particularly to the Levites to live in. 145 00:06:46,100 --> 00:06:48,780 And, and it, it could be an interesting read if you're into that 146 00:06:48,780 --> 00:06:49,380 kind of stuff. 147 00:06:49,620 --> 00:06:52,420 But what I do want to do is I want to come to the end of the chapter, 148 00:06:52,420 --> 00:06:55,910 because the last three verses of the chapter, I do believe, give 149 00:06:55,910 --> 00:06:59,510 us some very clear lessons of trusting in the Lord and trusting 150 00:06:59,510 --> 00:07:01,470 in his faithfulness in our lives. 151 00:07:02,110 --> 00:07:06,670 Says in verse 43, and the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which 152 00:07:06,670 --> 00:07:10,870 he swear to give unto their fathers, and they possessed it and 153 00:07:10,870 --> 00:07:11,710 dwelt therein. 154 00:07:12,110 --> 00:07:15,390 Now, that could be a Passover verse, but I do believe that it's 155 00:07:15,390 --> 00:07:18,950 important for us to note that in verse 43, we're reminded, and 156 00:07:18,950 --> 00:07:22,670 the people of Israel are reminded, that God kept His word. 157 00:07:22,670 --> 00:07:26,590 All of the land that he swear to give unto their fathers, they 158 00:07:26,590 --> 00:07:27,470 possessed it. 159 00:07:27,870 --> 00:07:31,030 So all the way back at the time of Moses, all the way back at 160 00:07:31,030 --> 00:07:34,030 the time when they first were coming into the land of Canaan, God 161 00:07:34,030 --> 00:07:34,990 promised them land. 162 00:07:34,990 --> 00:07:38,110 And probably, like we said before, there were people that were 163 00:07:38,110 --> 00:07:40,790 probably doubting that when it came to the battles, when it came 164 00:07:40,790 --> 00:07:44,310 to the struggles, when it came to the issues that they faced in 165 00:07:44,310 --> 00:07:45,630 front of them, whether it be the. 166 00:07:45,630 --> 00:07:49,190 The different pagan people or whatever it might be. 167 00:07:49,190 --> 00:07:52,100 But ultimately we see that God kept His word to them. 168 00:07:52,730 --> 00:07:55,770 And just as God kept His word to the people of Israel as they came 169 00:07:55,770 --> 00:07:58,250 into the promised land, so God keeps His word to us. 170 00:07:58,810 --> 00:08:01,930 A little bit later on here in our study, we're going to look at 171 00:08:01,930 --> 00:08:06,050 various New Testament passages of scripture that God gives us promises 172 00:08:06,050 --> 00:08:10,210 in that we can help and, and that we can come to in time of need 173 00:08:10,210 --> 00:08:13,490 and find that help that God has promised us in those times of 174 00:08:13,490 --> 00:08:15,010 doubt, in those times of confusion. 175 00:08:15,010 --> 00:08:16,890 So we see really three things there. 176 00:08:17,370 --> 00:08:21,410 God kept his word, the people possessed it and dwelled therein. 177 00:08:21,410 --> 00:08:23,770 So they actually personalized these gifts. 178 00:08:23,770 --> 00:08:26,770 Okay, it was something not just for somebody else, but it was 179 00:08:26,770 --> 00:08:30,250 something that they were able to take for themselves and to be 180 00:08:30,250 --> 00:08:31,850 blessed with, to benefit from. 181 00:08:32,090 --> 00:08:34,570 And so I think that that's important for us to note that all 182 00:08:34,649 --> 00:08:37,290 these tribes at this point in time had their lands. 183 00:08:37,450 --> 00:08:42,050 They still needed to go and reach out and get every corner of 184 00:08:42,050 --> 00:08:43,450 those lands that were given to them. 185 00:08:43,450 --> 00:08:46,770 But God had provided everything that they needed for victory, 186 00:08:46,770 --> 00:08:50,650 everything that they needed to possess the lands that he had promised 187 00:08:50,650 --> 00:08:50,970 them. 188 00:08:50,970 --> 00:08:54,810 And then we get to verse 44, and it says the Lord gave them rest 189 00:08:55,130 --> 00:08:55,850 roundabout. 190 00:08:56,730 --> 00:09:00,130 And there's times in our life where God is having us work and he's 191 00:09:00,130 --> 00:09:02,730 having us hustle for the things that he's promised us. 192 00:09:02,730 --> 00:09:05,770 But there is a point in time when God's promises are fulfilled 193 00:09:05,770 --> 00:09:09,290 and we're able to find that rest that we can only find in Him. 194 00:09:09,690 --> 00:09:11,930 The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the comforter. 195 00:09:11,930 --> 00:09:14,910 And sometimes in our life we don't feel full of comfort. 196 00:09:14,910 --> 00:09:17,990 But when we understand the promises of God, when we rest in 197 00:09:17,990 --> 00:09:21,190 the promises of God, and when we see those promises of God coming 198 00:09:21,190 --> 00:09:25,190 to pass in our lives, we're able to find rest we're able to find 199 00:09:25,190 --> 00:09:25,550 comfort. 200 00:09:25,550 --> 00:09:28,470 And it doesn't always mean that when we find rest, that all 201 00:09:28,470 --> 00:09:30,870 the circumstances around us are going to be nice. 202 00:09:31,190 --> 00:09:33,350 It might be that we have problems around us. 203 00:09:33,350 --> 00:09:36,270 It might be that we still have trials before us, that we still have 204 00:09:36,270 --> 00:09:38,030 giants in the land that we need to conquer. 205 00:09:38,030 --> 00:09:40,930 But what the Bible says is that we can find that peace and that 206 00:09:40,930 --> 00:09:43,850 passeth all understanding when we're resting in the faithfulness 207 00:09:43,850 --> 00:09:44,370 of God. 208 00:09:44,930 --> 00:09:48,130 I know that within our house, there's not a lot of peace and quiet. 209 00:09:48,450 --> 00:09:50,610 There's not a lot of time in which I can find rest. 210 00:09:50,610 --> 00:09:51,210 But you know what? 211 00:09:51,210 --> 00:09:51,650 I've. 212 00:09:51,730 --> 00:09:54,570 I used to be a pretty light sleeper, but I think now with kids 213 00:09:54,570 --> 00:09:56,610 and as loud as they are, I'm able to sleep through a lot more 214 00:09:56,610 --> 00:09:57,410 than I used to. 215 00:09:57,730 --> 00:10:00,450 And the reality is, is that sometimes in our life as Christians, 216 00:10:00,450 --> 00:10:04,610 it's not about taking down the noise that's around us, because as 217 00:10:04,610 --> 00:10:07,890 believers, we know we live in a noisy world and we can't avoid 218 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,360 sometimes all the struggles that are around us. 219 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,800 But what we can do is that we can rest in the promises of God and 220 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,760 we can find that rest that only he can bring us, that no one 221 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:17,520 else can bring us. 222 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,400 I know that there's times in my life that I. I clearly want and 223 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,039 I clearly need some rest, and I need to find that. 224 00:10:24,039 --> 00:10:26,640 But the reality is, is that sometimes that type of rest that 225 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,280 God gives us is the type of rest that is. 226 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:29,600 Is. 227 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:30,560 Is substantial. 228 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:31,680 It might not be a long time. 229 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:33,720 We might have seasons in our life where we're busy. 230 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,260 It might be seasons in our life where we're going through a 231 00:10:36,260 --> 00:10:36,540 trial. 232 00:10:36,540 --> 00:10:39,620 But God can give us that rest, and he will give us that rest if 233 00:10:39,620 --> 00:10:40,460 we stay faithful. 234 00:10:40,460 --> 00:10:40,700 Why? 235 00:10:40,700 --> 00:10:41,940 Because he is faithful. 236 00:10:42,020 --> 00:10:45,060 So the Bible says that he gave rest round about. 237 00:10:46,020 --> 00:10:51,140 And so this is the point where Israel stops traveling and fighting, 238 00:10:51,780 --> 00:10:54,700 even though the fight's not over, but fighting to get what God 239 00:10:54,700 --> 00:10:57,740 had promised them, that we saw all the way back in the book of Exodus, 240 00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:00,420 and we've even seen here in the book of Joshua. 241 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:04,080 Now it's time where they can rest in what God has promised. 242 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,400 And so it says here that they can find rest roundabout according 243 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,840 to all that he swear unto their fathers. 244 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:12,240 So this is a generational thing. 245 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,000 This is something that has been passed down. 246 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:14,960 And. 247 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:18,720 And so oftentimes we think about the blessings that God gave 248 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,440 to our forefathers, and we think, yeah, that was for them, but 249 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,840 not for me now, or that's for somebody else, but not for Me, the 250 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,440 Bible says that those promises that God promised in the times past 251 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,370 are the same promises but for today. 252 00:11:30,370 --> 00:11:34,530 And so those promises that these people's fathers and and grandfathers 253 00:11:34,530 --> 00:11:37,050 heard about, now they can stand in that, and they can rest 254 00:11:37,050 --> 00:11:37,330 in that. 255 00:11:37,330 --> 00:11:41,090 And it says there, there stood not a man of all their enemies before 256 00:11:41,090 --> 00:11:41,450 them. 257 00:11:41,610 --> 00:11:44,890 And the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. 258 00:11:45,290 --> 00:11:48,210 This speaks of God's complete victory that he brought to them in 259 00:11:48,210 --> 00:11:48,810 this time. 260 00:11:49,530 --> 00:11:52,010 Though we know that it doesn't stay this way. 261 00:11:52,010 --> 00:11:54,530 And we know that even in our lives when trials come, it doesn't 262 00:11:54,530 --> 00:11:55,450 always stay that way. 263 00:11:55,870 --> 00:11:58,230 But one thing that we can know for sure is that the victory is already 264 00:11:58,230 --> 00:11:59,390 won through our Savior. 265 00:11:59,630 --> 00:12:02,550 As a Christian, we can sing victory in Jesus and not have to 266 00:12:02,550 --> 00:12:04,910 worry about all the other battles that are coming. 267 00:12:04,910 --> 00:12:07,230 Because yes, we might be fighting battles, but we know that 268 00:12:07,230 --> 00:12:08,750 Jesus has won the war. 269 00:12:09,230 --> 00:12:12,390 And we know that when he's on our side, we can rest in that and 270 00:12:12,390 --> 00:12:14,830 we can know that his promises will be true. 271 00:12:14,830 --> 00:12:17,310 And that's what they're experiencing at this very point. 272 00:12:17,310 --> 00:12:19,030 They're experiencing those blessings now. 273 00:12:19,030 --> 00:12:21,230 I wish I could tell you that they stayed true to that. 274 00:12:21,230 --> 00:12:23,590 I wish I could tell you that there was no confusion. 275 00:12:23,670 --> 00:12:24,230 But we're. 276 00:12:24,230 --> 00:12:27,070 We're going to see in the next chapter is that there is confusion 277 00:12:27,070 --> 00:12:30,510 and that there's accusations, and that's going to come with the 278 00:12:30,510 --> 00:12:31,830 struggles of humanity. 279 00:12:31,830 --> 00:12:35,110 But nonetheless, we see that God is the one who is faithful. 280 00:12:35,110 --> 00:12:35,910 Verse 45. 281 00:12:35,910 --> 00:12:40,230 There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken 282 00:12:40,230 --> 00:12:43,990 unto the house of all Israel, all came to pass. 283 00:12:44,310 --> 00:12:47,230 And so what we see here is that not one word that God had given 284 00:12:47,230 --> 00:12:47,830 had failed. 285 00:12:48,380 --> 00:12:51,380 And I'm going to tell you that just as God was completely faithful 286 00:12:51,380 --> 00:12:54,500 to the people of Israel all these thousands of years ago, God 287 00:12:54,500 --> 00:12:55,900 is completely faithful to us. 288 00:12:55,980 --> 00:12:58,780 Not one word of God will fail. 289 00:12:59,260 --> 00:13:02,180 Sometimes we were even talking tonight in the testimony time, Brother 290 00:13:02,180 --> 00:13:06,660 Dan mentioned about the faithfulness of a pastor who planted 291 00:13:06,660 --> 00:13:07,700 a church 20 years ago. 292 00:13:07,700 --> 00:13:08,860 And to see that come to pass. 293 00:13:08,860 --> 00:13:12,420 And Andrea mentioned that there are times where we doubt whether 294 00:13:12,420 --> 00:13:13,540 or not we're doing anything. 295 00:13:13,540 --> 00:13:15,060 Are we really accomplishing something? 296 00:13:15,060 --> 00:13:18,450 But let me tell you, if it's a word done in the name of the Lord, 297 00:13:18,450 --> 00:13:21,690 it will not fail because God will not fail us. 298 00:13:21,690 --> 00:13:24,170 The word of God, God will not return void. 299 00:13:24,330 --> 00:13:26,050 We might feel like we're not fruitful. 300 00:13:26,050 --> 00:13:28,210 I've had people say, well, you're doing that, the church, well, 301 00:13:28,210 --> 00:13:29,450 what blessings have you seen from that? 302 00:13:29,450 --> 00:13:32,450 What fruit have you seen from that and oftentimes we may not might 303 00:13:32,450 --> 00:13:34,090 not be able to quantify fruit. 304 00:13:34,090 --> 00:13:35,970 But what I can say is that there are things that we're doing 305 00:13:35,970 --> 00:13:39,010 now, things that we're sowing now that we might not see the fruit 306 00:13:39,010 --> 00:13:40,010 of right here and now. 307 00:13:40,490 --> 00:13:43,980 It might be the next generation, it might be two generations 308 00:13:43,980 --> 00:13:44,340 away. 309 00:13:44,740 --> 00:13:47,740 It might not even be till when we get to heaven that we see the 310 00:13:47,740 --> 00:13:49,460 blessings of what we're doing now. 311 00:13:49,540 --> 00:13:51,700 But the Bible says to stay faithful in it. 312 00:13:51,700 --> 00:13:54,260 Now, even if you don't feel like you're seeing something coming 313 00:13:54,260 --> 00:13:58,820 to pass, the Bible will be the truth of everything that we do. 314 00:13:58,820 --> 00:14:02,580 And what the Bible says here is that not a word of God fails. 315 00:14:02,820 --> 00:14:06,420 God was completely faithful in regards to promising them the land, 316 00:14:06,820 --> 00:14:08,900 even though Israel was not completely faithful. 317 00:14:09,370 --> 00:14:13,490 I think that there's a lot of of truth to the fact that yes, we're 318 00:14:13,490 --> 00:14:17,090 called to be faithful to God, and if we're faithful to God, God 319 00:14:17,090 --> 00:14:18,090 will be faithful to us. 320 00:14:18,570 --> 00:14:20,250 But let me tell you something here this evening. 321 00:14:20,250 --> 00:14:23,090 Scripturally speaking, that yes, we are called to be faithful 322 00:14:23,090 --> 00:14:26,650 to God, but even when we're not faithful, God is faithful. 323 00:14:27,050 --> 00:14:30,210 Even when Israel was not faithful, God was faithful. 324 00:14:30,210 --> 00:14:32,610 Let me take you to a passage of Scripture that talks about that 325 00:14:32,610 --> 00:14:35,930 in the New Testament, second Timothy, chapter two, verse 13. 326 00:14:37,460 --> 00:14:41,500 Folks, I'm going to tell you that if it was a requirement for 327 00:14:41,500 --> 00:14:45,660 us to be completely faithful at all points, and then God will 328 00:14:45,660 --> 00:14:46,380 be faithful to us. 329 00:14:46,380 --> 00:14:47,060 Let me tell you something. 330 00:14:47,060 --> 00:14:50,340 God would never be faithful to us because none of us can be completely 331 00:14:50,340 --> 00:14:50,820 faithful. 332 00:14:51,220 --> 00:14:52,500 None of us are perfect. 333 00:14:52,660 --> 00:14:57,140 And so in second Timothy, chapter two, verse 13, we are reminded 334 00:14:57,140 --> 00:14:59,140 of God's eternal faithfulness. 335 00:14:59,460 --> 00:15:04,430 And we're also reminded of our failures as humans, our inadequacies 336 00:15:04,510 --> 00:15:05,510 as humans. 337 00:15:05,510 --> 00:15:09,390 And so 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 13, it says, if we believe 338 00:15:09,550 --> 00:15:14,430 not yet, he abideth faithful, he cannot deny Himself. 339 00:15:14,590 --> 00:15:17,390 Now, that doesn't mean that we're just saved, even if we don't 340 00:15:17,390 --> 00:15:17,630 believe. 341 00:15:18,270 --> 00:15:22,750 What that means is, is that when we go into a situation and we 342 00:15:22,750 --> 00:15:26,030 struggle in faith and maybe even stumble in our faith, when it 343 00:15:26,030 --> 00:15:28,830 comes to our faithfulness, he still is faithful. 344 00:15:29,300 --> 00:15:31,700 So even if the whole world turned their backs against the Lord, 345 00:15:31,700 --> 00:15:33,180 it doesn't mean that God's not faithful. 346 00:15:33,180 --> 00:15:35,620 It means that God is still faithful and we're struggling. 347 00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:40,260 And so the Bible tells us clearly that he cannot deny himself. 348 00:15:40,740 --> 00:15:41,860 God is faithful. 349 00:15:42,580 --> 00:15:44,859 So when we struggle with things, I don't know about you, but 350 00:15:44,859 --> 00:15:48,220 sometimes I will look at certain situations and I will see 351 00:15:48,220 --> 00:15:49,820 an incongruence in that situation. 352 00:15:49,820 --> 00:15:50,820 What do I mean by that? 353 00:15:50,900 --> 00:15:52,300 Well, I'll see a contradiction. 354 00:15:52,300 --> 00:15:54,380 Well, if God is so loving, then fill in the blank. 355 00:15:54,380 --> 00:15:55,460 You've heard people say that before. 356 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,000 How could he allow this or this or this to happen? 357 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:00,760 This confuses me. 358 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:01,800 This doesn't add up. 359 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,000 And I'm going to tell you something that doesn't seem to be 360 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:05,920 something that is very nice. 361 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,600 But let me tell you this because it's a biblical truth. 362 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,240 When we come to a situation that we don't understand, we can't 363 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:12,920 blame God. 364 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,160 It's our inadequacies that cannot understand the grandeur of 365 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:18,120 the power of God. 366 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,800 So sometimes if I come to a situation and I see a seeming contradiction 367 00:16:22,070 --> 00:16:25,070 or I see something that doesn't add up, my first reaction 368 00:16:25,070 --> 00:16:27,750 is not, well, God's wrong or the Bible's wrong. 369 00:16:27,910 --> 00:16:31,350 My first reaction should be because of my human inadequacies, 370 00:16:31,350 --> 00:16:32,550 well, I must be wrong. 371 00:16:32,550 --> 00:16:33,990 God, teach me how to fix this. 372 00:16:34,070 --> 00:16:36,310 God, teach me where I'm seeing this wrong. 373 00:16:36,470 --> 00:16:39,350 And we see that in the Old Testament, we see different prophets 374 00:16:39,350 --> 00:16:41,750 calling out to God, saying, lord, I don't understand why you're 375 00:16:41,750 --> 00:16:42,230 doing this. 376 00:16:42,310 --> 00:16:44,150 I don't understand how you're going to do this. 377 00:16:44,470 --> 00:16:49,030 But Lord, teach me, show me how I can fall into your plan and 378 00:16:49,030 --> 00:16:51,410 understand your way and your will in my life. 379 00:16:51,410 --> 00:16:55,890 And so 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 13 tells us that it's not because 380 00:16:56,130 --> 00:16:58,210 we're faithful that God is faithful to us. 381 00:16:58,210 --> 00:17:02,450 It tells us that the only reason that we have any hope is because 382 00:17:02,450 --> 00:17:04,370 of God's faithfulness to us. 383 00:17:04,930 --> 00:17:07,210 Another passage of scripture that I think is important for us 384 00:17:07,210 --> 00:17:10,170 to know when it comes to this idea of being faithful is Hebrews, 385 00:17:10,170 --> 00:17:11,490 chapter 10, verse 23. 386 00:17:12,770 --> 00:17:17,990 I. I know that if we preach that in a way of saying, well, you 387 00:17:17,990 --> 00:17:18,230 know what? 388 00:17:18,230 --> 00:17:19,590 It doesn't matter if you're faithful or not. 389 00:17:19,590 --> 00:17:20,910 God's always going to be faithful. 390 00:17:21,070 --> 00:17:23,590 The fleshly mind will say, well, then why does it matter if 391 00:17:23,590 --> 00:17:24,190 I'm faithful? 392 00:17:24,670 --> 00:17:26,110 How could I be faithful? 393 00:17:26,110 --> 00:17:28,630 If I'm going to fall short, why don't I just fall short really 394 00:17:28,630 --> 00:17:28,990 bad? 395 00:17:29,470 --> 00:17:31,910 You ever heard someone say, well, if I'm, you know, if I'm guilty 396 00:17:31,910 --> 00:17:34,390 of this sin, I might as well get my money's worth and I'm just 397 00:17:34,390 --> 00:17:35,110 going to keep sinning. 398 00:17:35,110 --> 00:17:36,510 No, that's not what the Bible teaches. 399 00:17:36,510 --> 00:17:38,230 Paul addresses that in Romans 6. 400 00:17:38,230 --> 00:17:41,710 He says, you shouldn't want to sin just because God's grace is abundant. 401 00:17:41,990 --> 00:17:43,030 You should hate sin. 402 00:17:43,350 --> 00:17:46,950 And, and so if I tell you tonight, it's impossible for you 403 00:17:46,950 --> 00:17:48,150 to be completely faithful. 404 00:17:48,310 --> 00:17:50,990 Don't fall into the trap of saying, well, I'll never be completely 405 00:17:50,990 --> 00:17:52,790 faithful, so I shouldn't strive to be faithful. 406 00:17:53,670 --> 00:17:55,470 I should strive to be faithful in every way. 407 00:17:55,470 --> 00:17:58,710 But how can I be faithful when I'm an adequate human? 408 00:17:58,870 --> 00:18:01,030 Where can I look to to find faithfulness? 409 00:18:01,030 --> 00:18:05,270 Where can I go to find a substantial hope in the Lord? 410 00:18:05,270 --> 00:18:09,210 Well, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 23 says, Let us hold fast. 411 00:18:09,450 --> 00:18:14,570 Let us hold on to the profession of our faith without wavering. 412 00:18:14,730 --> 00:18:19,490 So the challenge for all of us is to hold on to our faith without 413 00:18:19,490 --> 00:18:20,090 wavering. 414 00:18:20,090 --> 00:18:21,850 We're not called to be wavering Christians. 415 00:18:22,090 --> 00:18:24,370 We're not called to be doubting Christians, even though 416 00:18:24,370 --> 00:18:26,810 we will waver, even though we will doubt. 417 00:18:27,130 --> 00:18:29,610 God says here, no, you should be faithful. 418 00:18:29,930 --> 00:18:32,970 But then he says, the source of our faithfulness. 419 00:18:33,380 --> 00:18:34,220 This is crazy. 420 00:18:34,220 --> 00:18:35,980 He says, for he is faithful. 421 00:18:35,980 --> 00:18:39,220 That promise, meaning the only way that we can be faithful is when 422 00:18:39,220 --> 00:18:41,220 we trust in the one who is faithful. 423 00:18:41,300 --> 00:18:43,300 It's really the object of our faith. 424 00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:46,980 If the object of my faithfulness is my skill, I will 425 00:18:46,980 --> 00:18:47,620 fall short. 426 00:18:48,180 --> 00:18:50,980 If the object of my faithfulness is. 427 00:18:50,980 --> 00:18:56,100 Is my wisdom or my talent, it will always fall short. 428 00:18:56,100 --> 00:18:59,500 But if the object of my faithfulness is putting my faith 429 00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:02,660 in the one who is completely faithful, though I will personally 430 00:19:02,660 --> 00:19:06,640 stumble, God will hold me fast because of this passage here. 431 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:07,640 For he is faithful. 432 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,360 That promised, meaning this. 433 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,920 The way that I hold on to the faith that I have is not just trying 434 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:16,000 to keep my salvation by doing all these good things, but it's by 435 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,160 clinging to the Lord and trusting in his word and being able 436 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,920 to live a life of faith, trusting that he is who he says he 437 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,360 is, what he will do, what he says he will do. 438 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:30,320 So the point would be that we as Christians are called to have 439 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:30,720 faith. 440 00:19:30,930 --> 00:19:33,690 To call, be being called to have faith means that we have to 441 00:19:33,690 --> 00:19:34,050 trust. 442 00:19:34,370 --> 00:19:37,970 I can't say that I have faith and not trust God's plan for my life. 443 00:19:38,050 --> 00:19:41,090 So let's say, for example, we looked at Israel and they're crossing 444 00:19:41,090 --> 00:19:44,730 the River Jordan, and they're coming in, and all of a sudden there's 445 00:19:44,730 --> 00:19:46,010 this pagan army in front of them. 446 00:19:46,010 --> 00:19:47,410 And they say, lord, we believe. 447 00:19:48,050 --> 00:19:51,010 Lord, we have faith, but we're not going to fight this battle. 448 00:19:52,130 --> 00:19:54,370 Lord, we believe, but we can't do this. 449 00:19:54,450 --> 00:19:57,490 We would look at the Bible and we would say, well, obviously they 450 00:19:57,490 --> 00:19:59,210 say they have faith, but they don't have faith. 451 00:19:59,210 --> 00:19:59,490 Why? 452 00:19:59,740 --> 00:20:00,700 Because they're not trusting. 453 00:20:01,260 --> 00:20:01,620 So. 454 00:20:01,620 --> 00:20:05,780 So to say that we have faith means to believe in our hearts. 455 00:20:05,780 --> 00:20:08,300 That's where faith begins, and that's where faith is. 456 00:20:08,620 --> 00:20:11,740 But faith, true faith in our hearts and believing that God is 457 00:20:11,740 --> 00:20:14,620 who he says he is will manifest itself by trust. 458 00:20:14,620 --> 00:20:16,620 It'll manifest itself by obedience. 459 00:20:17,180 --> 00:20:20,860 It will manifest itself by saying this, Lord, I don't understand. 460 00:20:20,940 --> 00:20:22,060 But Lord, I trust. 461 00:20:23,260 --> 00:20:24,140 And there's the man. 462 00:20:24,140 --> 00:20:24,340 And. 463 00:20:24,340 --> 00:20:24,820 And I believe. 464 00:20:24,820 --> 00:20:27,180 It's in the book of Mark that says, lord, I believe, but help my 465 00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:27,660 unbelief. 466 00:20:27,660 --> 00:20:31,350 I think that's where many of us have been and possibly could be 467 00:20:31,350 --> 00:20:31,910 in the future. 468 00:20:32,150 --> 00:20:34,910 There's times in my life where I. I do believe that the Lord is 469 00:20:34,910 --> 00:20:36,950 good, but I struggle to see it. 470 00:20:37,190 --> 00:20:39,110 I struggle to see the bigger picture. 471 00:20:39,430 --> 00:20:41,270 I struggle to understand the why. 472 00:20:41,830 --> 00:20:44,910 But at the end of the day, the people of Israel had to believe that 473 00:20:44,910 --> 00:20:48,670 God is good, that he's going to say this, and we believe it and 474 00:20:48,670 --> 00:20:49,510 he's going to do it. 475 00:20:50,150 --> 00:20:52,870 And we either were in the book of Hebrews, we could. 476 00:20:52,870 --> 00:20:55,750 We could go ahead a few verses and see Hebrews, chapter 13. 477 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,560 Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 5. 478 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,400 An amazing promise to all of us as believers. 479 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:09,080 I think that as Christians, we struggle with a lot of things. 480 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,760 One of those things would be covetousness. 481 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:18,600 Covetousness, I want what that person has, or I don't think that 482 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,240 that person even deserves what they have. 483 00:21:21,970 --> 00:21:25,650 And we can see Christians living in a very materialistic way 484 00:21:25,730 --> 00:21:28,690 that are never satisfied with what God has given them. 485 00:21:28,850 --> 00:21:32,930 And so the Bible says here, if you are struggling with covetousness, 486 00:21:33,970 --> 00:21:36,370 and folks, I. I wish I could tell you that I've never struggled 487 00:21:36,370 --> 00:21:38,770 with covetousness, but the reality is, is that I have. 488 00:21:39,090 --> 00:21:41,610 And I think if we're all honest to some degree, we've seen 489 00:21:41,610 --> 00:21:44,290 someone get something and maybe we don't want harm against 490 00:21:44,290 --> 00:21:45,890 them, but we think, well, I want that too. 491 00:21:45,890 --> 00:21:47,090 I wish I had that too. 492 00:21:47,980 --> 00:21:50,940 That's a very selfish, materialistic desire. 493 00:21:50,940 --> 00:21:53,060 But what we see here is, he says, what's the remedy to that? 494 00:21:53,060 --> 00:21:57,660 He says, Verse 5, Let your conversation or your lifestyle be 495 00:21:57,660 --> 00:22:02,220 without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. 496 00:22:02,460 --> 00:22:04,300 And how in the world can we do that? 497 00:22:04,460 --> 00:22:06,780 We don't live in a society that says, be content. 498 00:22:06,860 --> 00:22:08,700 We live in a society that says, get more. 499 00:22:09,020 --> 00:22:10,220 Get as much as you can. 500 00:22:10,620 --> 00:22:13,180 You know, the one who has the most toys at the end wins. 501 00:22:13,530 --> 00:22:14,370 Get, get, get. 502 00:22:14,370 --> 00:22:15,370 Grab, grab, grab. 503 00:22:15,370 --> 00:22:17,050 Step on whoever you can to get there. 504 00:22:17,290 --> 00:22:20,370 But then he says, what's the remedy to that type of lifestyle? 505 00:22:20,370 --> 00:22:24,050 But by the way, that never Satisfies, because once we get what 506 00:22:24,050 --> 00:22:27,570 we thought we wanted, we want more, we want to double it, we want 507 00:22:27,570 --> 00:22:28,330 to triple it. 508 00:22:29,050 --> 00:22:33,210 And so he says here, what's the remedy to that covetous, covetous 509 00:22:33,210 --> 00:22:33,770 spirit? 510 00:22:34,570 --> 00:22:38,650 He says, remember, for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor 511 00:22:38,650 --> 00:22:39,450 forsake thee. 512 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:41,320 Really meaning this? 513 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:45,840 All we need is the Lord to remedy ourselves from that lifestyle 514 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,240 of wanting more, never being satisfied. 515 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,040 We go back to saying, lord, I know you're never going to leave 516 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:51,240 me. 517 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:52,720 I don't need that over there. 518 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:54,600 I don't need what that person has. 519 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:58,080 If you gave it to me, thank goodness, that's an amazing thing. 520 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:01,320 Or maybe you didn't give it to me because you knew I couldn't handle 521 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:01,600 that. 522 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:05,160 But nonetheless, at the end of the day, all we need as a Christian 523 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,560 is to know that he will never leave me nor forsake me. 524 00:23:09,610 --> 00:23:10,170 Think about that. 525 00:23:10,170 --> 00:23:11,450 Think about that promise. 526 00:23:12,090 --> 00:23:17,330 There's a lot of people that I know love me and they would never 527 00:23:17,330 --> 00:23:19,450 willingly leave me or forsake me. 528 00:23:19,450 --> 00:23:22,330 But at the same time, we're all humans and we're all inadequate, 529 00:23:22,330 --> 00:23:23,370 and we all are limited. 530 00:23:23,850 --> 00:23:27,970 The only person who can truly say, I will never leave you nor forsake 531 00:23:27,970 --> 00:23:32,250 you and mean it and keep that promise is our Lord and Savior. 532 00:23:32,250 --> 00:23:32,570 Why? 533 00:23:32,730 --> 00:23:34,490 Because there's nothing that can limit him. 534 00:23:35,410 --> 00:23:37,170 He cannot lie, as the Bible says. 535 00:23:37,330 --> 00:23:39,570 He cannot deny himself. 536 00:23:40,290 --> 00:23:43,490 And so if I told you here I want to be a pastor that cares about 537 00:23:43,490 --> 00:23:46,570 you and loves you and be in your life and help you in every way, 538 00:23:46,570 --> 00:23:48,370 that would be something that I would truly mean. 539 00:23:48,690 --> 00:23:49,970 I want to be that. 540 00:23:50,210 --> 00:23:53,170 But the reality is, let's say I'm that for this person over here 541 00:23:53,330 --> 00:23:54,210 24 7. 542 00:23:54,210 --> 00:23:57,930 How could I be that person's guide for everything and be this 543 00:23:57,930 --> 00:23:59,090 person's guide at the same time? 544 00:23:59,090 --> 00:23:59,810 It's impossible. 545 00:23:59,810 --> 00:24:00,130 Why? 546 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:01,360 Because I'm limited. 547 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,120 I can only be in one place at once. 548 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:04,560 Pastor Carl says I'm everywhere. 549 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,800 I feel like I'm not because I feel like I need to be in, like, 550 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,760 five places at once, and I can't do that. 551 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,880 But you know who can be at all places at once is our Lord. 552 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:17,160 You know who can hear every single prayer you ever had? 553 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,520 You ever had someone, like, call you on the phone and you have 554 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:21,520 someone else call you on the phone and someone else texts you 555 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:23,880 and someone else email you, and you're like, I can't keep up 556 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:24,560 with all this. 557 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:26,240 I can only talk to one person at a time. 558 00:24:26,690 --> 00:24:29,170 You know, all of us in this room could call out to God at the 559 00:24:29,170 --> 00:24:29,690 very same time. 560 00:24:29,690 --> 00:24:32,210 And he can hear us and he can deal with it. 561 00:24:32,690 --> 00:24:35,370 And as brother Dan says, we're not the only church meeting on Sunday 562 00:24:35,370 --> 00:24:35,970 mornings. 563 00:24:36,370 --> 00:24:39,730 There's thousands, there's millions of all over the world with 564 00:24:39,730 --> 00:24:43,410 different languages and different needs and different times 565 00:24:43,410 --> 00:24:45,010 and he will always hear us. 566 00:24:45,490 --> 00:24:47,730 That's the type of faithfulness that our Lord has. 567 00:24:48,210 --> 00:24:50,130 So why would we need something else? 568 00:24:50,130 --> 00:24:51,370 We don't need something else. 569 00:24:51,370 --> 00:24:52,850 We've got everything right there. 570 00:24:53,460 --> 00:24:56,300 We've got all that we need in knowing that he will never leave 571 00:24:56,300 --> 00:24:57,700 us nor forsake us. 572 00:24:57,700 --> 00:25:00,660 Just all the way back in Joshua, chapter one, remember what 573 00:25:00,660 --> 00:25:00,980 he said. 574 00:25:00,980 --> 00:25:03,140 He says, I'm going to be there with you through it. 575 00:25:03,300 --> 00:25:04,460 You're going to be prosperous. 576 00:25:04,460 --> 00:25:06,820 If you follow my word, you're going to have these blessings. 577 00:25:06,900 --> 00:25:09,940 And so as a believer, yes, there is a call to be faithful. 578 00:25:09,940 --> 00:25:13,100 But when we stumble, God is faithful and he wants us to come 579 00:25:13,100 --> 00:25:13,780 back first. 580 00:25:13,780 --> 00:25:14,980 John, chapter one, verse nine. 581 00:25:14,980 --> 00:25:18,300 If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our 582 00:25:18,300 --> 00:25:20,640 sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 583 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,080 Think about God's faithfulness in that we don't just sin and go, 584 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:25,840 well, God's faithful. 585 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:27,240 So I just keep doing what I want to do. 586 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:30,760 No, the Bible tells us to come back to him in repentance and he's 587 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:31,840 faithful every time. 588 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,200 And just to receive us back in. 589 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:36,680 It doesn't mean that we get resaved. 590 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,880 It doesn't mean that we have to start all over again. 591 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,440 All it means is that we're restoring that relationship. 592 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,040 We see that over and over again with the nation of Israel. 593 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,320 In the Old Testament, they would fall, study the book of Judges, 594 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:47,680 right? 595 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,680 There would be the judgment, they would be, they would be in a 596 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:51,040 trial. 597 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,080 They would call out to God in humble repentance. 598 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:54,000 God will restore them. 599 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:55,840 And that cycle would go over and over again. 600 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,160 God is faithful and there's verse after verse. 601 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,240 There's a plethora of verses throughout all the scriptures that 602 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:04,560 speak to God's faithfulness. 603 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:06,080 And so what would that mean for us? 604 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:08,720 What does that mean for us? 605 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:09,520 That means this. 606 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:14,230 When we understand that God is completely faithful, we can say, 607 00:26:14,230 --> 00:26:14,630 you know what? 608 00:26:14,630 --> 00:26:16,390 I don't care what's going on around me. 609 00:26:16,390 --> 00:26:18,670 I don't know what tomorrow's going to bring. 610 00:26:18,990 --> 00:26:23,270 Remember, Joshua is on the battlefield and there's the sun stands 611 00:26:23,270 --> 00:26:23,430 still. 612 00:26:23,430 --> 00:26:25,630 I mean, who was thinking that was going to happen that day? 613 00:26:26,110 --> 00:26:27,870 But what an amazing thing that was. 614 00:26:28,110 --> 00:26:30,030 Think about story after story, the. 615 00:26:30,030 --> 00:26:34,230 The marching around Jericho with The trumpets blowing and God 616 00:26:34,230 --> 00:26:35,630 tears down those walls. 617 00:26:35,710 --> 00:26:37,910 We never know what God is going to do tomorrow. 618 00:26:37,910 --> 00:26:39,950 It might not be in the way that we expect. 619 00:26:40,030 --> 00:26:42,030 It might not be in the time that we expect. 620 00:26:42,710 --> 00:26:44,870 But all we need to do is say, lord, I don't understand. 621 00:26:45,270 --> 00:26:46,550 But Lord, I'm trusting. 622 00:26:47,270 --> 00:26:49,030 I don't understand my workplace environment. 623 00:26:49,110 --> 00:26:51,190 I don't understand why these people are this way. 624 00:26:51,270 --> 00:26:53,710 I don't understand why the world is going the way that it's 625 00:26:53,710 --> 00:26:53,990 going. 626 00:26:54,070 --> 00:26:56,550 I don't understand why I got that news from the doctor. 627 00:26:56,550 --> 00:26:59,230 I don't understand why this person is the way they are to me. 628 00:26:59,230 --> 00:27:01,990 But at the end of the day, I'm trusting that you still have me. 629 00:27:01,990 --> 00:27:05,150 I'm trusting that you'll never leave me nor forsake me. 630 00:27:05,150 --> 00:27:08,230 And even in that Hebrews chapter 13 passage, if you just go 631 00:27:08,430 --> 00:27:11,870 a few verses later on, it says, jesus Christ the same yesterday, 632 00:27:11,870 --> 00:27:12,910 today, and forever. 633 00:27:13,390 --> 00:27:14,270 He doesn't change. 634 00:27:14,990 --> 00:27:15,950 I. I change. 635 00:27:16,350 --> 00:27:16,910 If people. 636 00:27:17,150 --> 00:27:17,630 If you. 637 00:27:17,630 --> 00:27:21,750 None of you knew me 20 years ago, except for Alicia, but I think 638 00:27:21,750 --> 00:27:23,070 so, yeah, you knew me 20 years ago. 639 00:27:23,230 --> 00:27:26,350 So the, the idea would be this, and she would attest to this. 640 00:27:26,510 --> 00:27:28,830 I'm not the same person I was 20 years ago. 641 00:27:28,990 --> 00:27:31,790 By looks, by belief, by action, by everything. 642 00:27:32,190 --> 00:27:33,710 I'm different than I was before. 643 00:27:34,770 --> 00:27:35,730 And that's a good thing. 644 00:27:36,450 --> 00:27:36,970 And, and. 645 00:27:36,970 --> 00:27:39,570 But at the end of the day, sometimes we change for the better, 646 00:27:39,570 --> 00:27:41,330 and sometimes we change for the worse. 647 00:27:41,410 --> 00:27:43,090 But the reality is, is that we change. 648 00:27:44,370 --> 00:27:46,690 But the thing about the Lord is that he does not change. 649 00:27:47,330 --> 00:27:48,770 He stays consistent. 650 00:27:48,850 --> 00:27:51,050 He doesn't change with the whims of this world. 651 00:27:51,050 --> 00:27:53,970 He doesn't get pulled to one side or the other. 652 00:27:54,130 --> 00:27:57,450 He is consistently there for us and consistently faithful. 653 00:27:57,450 --> 00:28:00,290 So we go back to Joshua, chapter 21. 654 00:28:00,740 --> 00:28:03,420 I know that was a little detour in the New Testament, but 655 00:28:03,420 --> 00:28:04,900 I thought it was important for us to see that. 656 00:28:04,900 --> 00:28:09,420 But here In Joshua, chapter 21, verse 45, it says, There, there 657 00:28:09,420 --> 00:28:10,820 failed not ought. 658 00:28:10,980 --> 00:28:14,540 And of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house 659 00:28:14,540 --> 00:28:16,899 of Israel, meaning he didn't pull anything back. 660 00:28:17,300 --> 00:28:19,380 He kept his word in every promise. 661 00:28:20,260 --> 00:28:21,780 All of it came to pass. 662 00:28:22,980 --> 00:28:26,380 And so we could look at the nation of Israel and we could say, 663 00:28:26,380 --> 00:28:28,020 yeah, they got their land, but I don't. 664 00:28:28,020 --> 00:28:28,980 I don't have my land. 665 00:28:29,730 --> 00:28:32,650 Well, God doesn't promise us a physical land, at least not here 666 00:28:32,650 --> 00:28:33,170 and now. 667 00:28:33,650 --> 00:28:36,650 One day we will have an eternity with him and we'll be able 668 00:28:36,650 --> 00:28:38,850 to walk with him on streets of gold. 669 00:28:39,090 --> 00:28:41,810 But at the time, right now, God doesn't Promise us a physical 670 00:28:41,810 --> 00:28:42,010 land. 671 00:28:42,010 --> 00:28:44,970 He doesn't even promise us particular material blessings, even 672 00:28:44,970 --> 00:28:46,530 though he does bless us materially. 673 00:28:47,170 --> 00:28:50,050 The only promise that we're given in scripture when it comes 674 00:28:50,050 --> 00:28:52,970 to having a relationship with the Lord is what the book of Ephesians 675 00:28:52,970 --> 00:28:55,010 says of all the spiritual blessings that we have. 676 00:28:55,630 --> 00:28:59,190 And folks, I. I remember growing up and asking, because I 677 00:28:59,190 --> 00:29:02,870 was an only child, still, I'm an only child, I guess you could 678 00:29:02,870 --> 00:29:03,150 say. 679 00:29:03,550 --> 00:29:07,470 And my parents, they, I guess by most definitions, spoiled me, 680 00:29:07,550 --> 00:29:07,830 right? 681 00:29:07,830 --> 00:29:10,550 I got a lot of things that probably I wouldn't have gotten if 682 00:29:10,550 --> 00:29:12,030 I had multiple siblings. 683 00:29:12,030 --> 00:29:14,830 Because I one time asked my parents, I said, dad, are we rich? 684 00:29:15,470 --> 00:29:18,390 And I remember my dad looking at me and going, no, son, we're not 685 00:29:18,390 --> 00:29:18,710 rich. 686 00:29:18,710 --> 00:29:20,190 He says, at least not with money. 687 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,080 He said, we're rich in love, and we're rich in the truth of the 688 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:24,680 word of God. 689 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:26,920 He said, son, there's a lot of things that you get in your life 690 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,600 that you know you're blessed with because of the situation that 691 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:30,840 we're in, but we're not rich. 692 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:32,400 And I thought about that for a second. 693 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:33,320 But then he. 694 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,640 I remember vividly him clearly teaching me that, yeah, we're not 695 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,680 materially rich, but we have a lot of things that people don't have 696 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:41,320 in the world. 697 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:43,240 And that meant so much to me as a child. 698 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,560 I didn't completely understand it until when I got children and 699 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:48,120 my kids asked me, dad, are we rich? 700 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,800 And I was like, yes, I can use the line that my dad used. 701 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:52,960 I'm like, we're not rich, at least not in money. 702 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:54,720 But we're rich in the love of God. 703 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:55,840 We're rich in the blessings. 704 00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:00,480 And so as a Christian, we hear a lot of times a word thrown around 705 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,280 prosperity, right? 706 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,720 We even see the word prosperity in Joshua, chapter one. 707 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,320 Joshua, chapter one tells us a way to be prosperous. 708 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,440 And so a lot of times people will look at that and they will equate 709 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:18,750 that if I follow God, he must give me everything that I want. 710 00:30:19,470 --> 00:30:23,350 He must give me all the material prosperity that everybody 711 00:30:23,350 --> 00:30:24,470 else has or what I want. 712 00:30:24,470 --> 00:30:25,870 It's the word of faith movement. 713 00:30:26,190 --> 00:30:28,350 Now, can God bless us if we pray? 714 00:30:28,350 --> 00:30:28,830 Of course. 715 00:30:29,150 --> 00:30:30,910 He's blessed many people materially. 716 00:30:30,910 --> 00:30:31,150 So. 717 00:30:31,150 --> 00:30:32,350 So get me straight. 718 00:30:32,350 --> 00:30:36,030 I. I'm not saying that God won't bless us with material things 719 00:30:36,430 --> 00:30:37,550 or physical things. 720 00:30:37,630 --> 00:30:39,150 But what I am saying is this. 721 00:30:39,150 --> 00:30:40,030 That's not the end. 722 00:30:40,030 --> 00:30:42,110 All be all to the blessings that God has given us. 723 00:30:42,500 --> 00:30:45,380 God has given us greater blessings, deeper blessings, that 724 00:30:45,380 --> 00:30:48,860 even if everything was taken away from us, the Bible says that 725 00:30:48,860 --> 00:30:51,060 there are things that people can take away from us. 726 00:30:51,540 --> 00:30:52,780 Jesus even teaches this. 727 00:30:52,780 --> 00:30:55,620 He says there's things that moth and rust can corrupt. 728 00:30:56,580 --> 00:30:57,460 You know, every. 729 00:30:58,179 --> 00:30:59,220 And I struggle with this. 730 00:30:59,380 --> 00:31:02,460 Everything physically that I have that I think is precious is 731 00:31:02,460 --> 00:31:04,260 one day eventually going to rot away. 732 00:31:04,420 --> 00:31:05,620 It's going to rust away. 733 00:31:05,780 --> 00:31:08,180 Or someone could break into my house and steal it. 734 00:31:08,970 --> 00:31:11,170 I don't know if any of you have ever had something stolen from 735 00:31:11,170 --> 00:31:11,330 you. 736 00:31:11,330 --> 00:31:12,410 It's just such a. 737 00:31:12,730 --> 00:31:13,450 Like, I don't know. 738 00:31:13,450 --> 00:31:15,850 I just feel violated when someone steals something from me. 739 00:31:15,930 --> 00:31:17,090 I tell the story all the time. 740 00:31:17,090 --> 00:31:21,570 When we were in Florida, someone broke into our vehicle and 741 00:31:21,570 --> 00:31:24,090 they stole a bunch of stuff, but they stole my golf clubs. 742 00:31:24,090 --> 00:31:25,330 And I was very bitter about that. 743 00:31:25,330 --> 00:31:26,410 I was like, just bought those. 744 00:31:26,410 --> 00:31:28,610 I was excited to have them and they were stolen. 745 00:31:28,610 --> 00:31:31,130 I was just so upset and I felt violated. 746 00:31:31,690 --> 00:31:36,430 But if I put everything in my life, all my attention, all my love 747 00:31:36,430 --> 00:31:38,950 towards something that can be stolen away, guess what? 748 00:31:38,950 --> 00:31:41,110 That can be taken away and I can lose that love. 749 00:31:41,110 --> 00:31:43,990 But you know what the Bible says that nobody can steal away. 750 00:31:44,150 --> 00:31:45,710 Moth and rust can't corrupt. 751 00:31:45,710 --> 00:31:47,190 A thief can't come in and steal. 752 00:31:47,190 --> 00:31:48,870 That's our relationship with the Lord. 753 00:31:49,350 --> 00:31:51,630 And so that's what we're seeing in the book of Joshua, that 754 00:31:51,630 --> 00:31:53,110 he says, there's something greater. 755 00:31:53,110 --> 00:31:55,950 Yes, you've got this land, but there's something greater in the 756 00:31:55,950 --> 00:31:57,470 fact that you have me. 757 00:31:57,470 --> 00:32:01,510 You have a Lord who loves you, you have a God who protects you. 758 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,800 And we see what happens is the nation of Israel begins to see the 759 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,920 blessings that they materially have and think that that's the culmination 760 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:10,440 of God's love for them. 761 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,600 But really they miss that God wanted their heart. 762 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:13,400 God. 763 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,560 God wanted to walk with them. 764 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:16,560 That was the. 765 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,040 From the very beginning, God wanted to walk with Adam and Eve 766 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:20,760 in the garden. 767 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:22,360 And Adam and Eve wanted more. 768 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:22,880 They. 769 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:23,640 They wanted. 770 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,320 They wanted those things that were told to them that would bring 771 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:27,240 them something better. 772 00:32:27,660 --> 00:32:29,820 Well, God's just trying to hold you back from having something 773 00:32:29,820 --> 00:32:31,580 that you really need in your life. 774 00:32:31,580 --> 00:32:34,620 And so we see from the very beginning, the lie has always been 775 00:32:34,700 --> 00:32:36,860 to replace God with something else. 776 00:32:37,180 --> 00:32:39,460 And so here God says, I've kept my word to you. 777 00:32:39,460 --> 00:32:41,340 I've been faithful in every way. 778 00:32:41,580 --> 00:32:42,620 God is true. 779 00:32:42,860 --> 00:32:44,860 The Word of God is true. 780 00:32:44,860 --> 00:32:47,340 The Word of God is sustaining. 781 00:32:47,340 --> 00:32:49,740 The Word of God shows us his faithfulness. 782 00:32:50,380 --> 00:32:53,540 I know that there's a lot of passages of scripture that you could 783 00:32:53,540 --> 00:32:55,340 go to when we're talking about faithfulness. 784 00:32:56,990 --> 00:32:59,390 I. I could sit here and read A bunch to you. 785 00:32:59,630 --> 00:33:03,390 One that came to my mind when I was studying this passage is one 786 00:33:03,390 --> 00:33:05,390 that, you know, many times we. 787 00:33:05,390 --> 00:33:09,310 We think of when it comes to being just a Christian cliche. 788 00:33:09,550 --> 00:33:12,350 It's one that gets quoted on a regular basis. 789 00:33:12,350 --> 00:33:15,070 Even people that don't go to church know Psalm 23. 790 00:33:15,070 --> 00:33:19,230 But if you read Psalm 23 and really read it for what it says, 791 00:33:19,470 --> 00:33:22,270 it speaks of God's faithfulness to be there with us. 792 00:33:22,970 --> 00:33:24,050 The Lord is my shepherd. 793 00:33:24,050 --> 00:33:25,210 What does a shepherd do? 794 00:33:26,170 --> 00:33:29,490 Well, you know, I didn't grow up in an agrarian society. 795 00:33:29,490 --> 00:33:31,850 I didn't see a lot of shepherds where I was. 796 00:33:32,410 --> 00:33:36,970 But when I went to Israel, one of the cool things is I got to see 797 00:33:37,370 --> 00:33:39,650 shepherds out there, and they're walking with their sheep 798 00:33:39,650 --> 00:33:41,530 just like they would have years and years ago. 799 00:33:42,010 --> 00:33:44,250 One of the things that a shepherd does, among many things, 800 00:33:44,250 --> 00:33:46,010 is a shepherd protects his sheep. 801 00:33:46,650 --> 00:33:48,970 A shepherd feeds his sheep. 802 00:33:48,970 --> 00:33:49,920 A shepherd is. 803 00:33:50,070 --> 00:33:50,550 Is there. 804 00:33:50,870 --> 00:33:51,590 All the. 805 00:33:51,590 --> 00:33:54,870 All the sheep can do is to look to their shepherd, right? 806 00:33:54,870 --> 00:33:55,990 A sheep trust their shepherd. 807 00:33:55,990 --> 00:33:59,110 A shepherd, a good shepherd, must be trustworthy to his sheep. 808 00:33:59,350 --> 00:34:01,230 And so the Bible says, the Lord is my shepherd. 809 00:34:01,230 --> 00:34:02,190 I shall not want. 810 00:34:02,190 --> 00:34:03,670 Okay, we could just stop there. 811 00:34:03,750 --> 00:34:06,269 That's what we were talking about in Hebrews chapter 13. 812 00:34:06,269 --> 00:34:08,310 I don't need anything else other than my shepherd. 813 00:34:08,950 --> 00:34:11,030 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. 814 00:34:11,030 --> 00:34:13,350 He leadeth me beside the still waters. 815 00:34:13,750 --> 00:34:16,710 That speaks to that rest that we were talking about in Joshua 21. 816 00:34:17,060 --> 00:34:18,420 He brings us that type of rest. 817 00:34:19,220 --> 00:34:21,460 He restoreth my soul. 818 00:34:21,540 --> 00:34:22,580 That's that revival. 819 00:34:22,580 --> 00:34:23,220 That's that. 820 00:34:23,300 --> 00:34:24,820 That's that newness of life. 821 00:34:25,300 --> 00:34:26,940 If you remember, even the psalmist, he. 822 00:34:26,940 --> 00:34:27,180 He. 823 00:34:27,180 --> 00:34:32,180 He said, lord, renew in me the joy of my salvation. 824 00:34:32,180 --> 00:34:33,540 I don't know if any of you. 825 00:34:34,100 --> 00:34:34,540 I've. 826 00:34:34,540 --> 00:34:39,460 I've been here that because of certain instances in my life, I have 827 00:34:39,460 --> 00:34:43,460 at least lost or had my joy of my salvation lowered. 828 00:34:43,980 --> 00:34:46,020 One of the prayers that we should have as a believer is that 829 00:34:46,020 --> 00:34:49,500 the joy of our salvation be restored, our soul be restored. 830 00:34:49,580 --> 00:34:52,700 He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. 831 00:34:52,780 --> 00:34:56,300 Yea, though I walk through the valley, the shadow of death, that's 832 00:34:56,300 --> 00:34:57,340 a scary place to be. 833 00:34:57,820 --> 00:34:59,180 He says, I will fear no evil. 834 00:34:59,180 --> 00:34:59,500 Why? 835 00:34:59,659 --> 00:35:01,500 For thou art with me. 836 00:35:02,140 --> 00:35:03,940 I will never leave you nor forsake you. 837 00:35:03,940 --> 00:35:05,660 It's the presence of God in our life. 838 00:35:06,300 --> 00:35:08,700 Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 839 00:35:09,910 --> 00:35:12,230 Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine 840 00:35:12,230 --> 00:35:12,510 enemies. 841 00:35:12,510 --> 00:35:13,830 Thou anointest my head with oil. 842 00:35:13,830 --> 00:35:17,310 My cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 843 00:35:17,310 --> 00:35:19,950 all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord 844 00:35:19,950 --> 00:35:20,390 forever. 845 00:35:20,550 --> 00:35:24,310 Again, that's the psalmist talking about God's presence and 846 00:35:24,310 --> 00:35:26,630 provision and protection in his life. 847 00:35:26,630 --> 00:35:28,950 And that the fact is, is that God will keep his word. 848 00:35:28,950 --> 00:35:32,350 He will be true to us, no matter what might be going on around 849 00:35:32,350 --> 00:35:32,630 us. 850 00:35:32,630 --> 00:35:35,750 And so we could go to passage after passage. 851 00:35:35,750 --> 00:35:38,550 But my challenge for you here this evening is not necessarily, 852 00:35:39,110 --> 00:35:41,190 you know, how good are you, how faithful are you? 853 00:35:41,270 --> 00:35:44,910 But how much are you trusting in the one who is faithful, who is 854 00:35:44,910 --> 00:35:48,430 the one who kept his word to Joshua, the one who kept his word 855 00:35:48,430 --> 00:35:51,270 to Moses, the one who kept his word to Abraham? 856 00:35:51,670 --> 00:35:53,830 Think about all the things that Abraham tried to do. 857 00:35:53,830 --> 00:35:56,590 When God said, abraham, I'm going to give you a son, Abraham 858 00:35:56,590 --> 00:35:59,190 said, lord, I trust you, but maybe you're not going to do it in 859 00:35:59,190 --> 00:36:00,630 the way that I thought you would do it. 860 00:36:00,870 --> 00:36:02,310 That's too much, right? 861 00:36:02,310 --> 00:36:03,270 My wife is too old. 862 00:36:03,270 --> 00:36:03,990 I'm too old. 863 00:36:03,990 --> 00:36:05,590 So we're going to try to find another way. 864 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,560 That's when Abraham got in trouble, when he didn't trust God 865 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:09,560 for what he said. 866 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,280 What has God said to us that we've said? 867 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,120 Lord, that makes sense to some degree, but I don't know for sure 868 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:16,040 if I can do that. 869 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,200 So let me just come up with my own scheme, my own plan to make this 870 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:20,120 work, folks. 871 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:24,040 Just as God was faithful to Abraham, and even though Abraham 872 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:25,400 wasn't perfectly faithful, guess what? 873 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:26,360 Isaac still came. 874 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:32,770 We understand that just as God was faithful to Israel as a nation, 875 00:36:32,770 --> 00:36:36,610 to say, I'm going to send a Messiah, were they perfectly faithful? 876 00:36:36,610 --> 00:36:36,810 No. 877 00:36:36,810 --> 00:36:38,050 But Jesus still came. 878 00:36:38,850 --> 00:36:41,690 The reality is, is that God, if he says something will come to 879 00:36:41,690 --> 00:36:42,770 pass, it will come to pass. 880 00:36:42,770 --> 00:36:44,530 And by the way, the promise is this. 881 00:36:44,530 --> 00:36:46,850 If we trust in him, we don't have to fear anything. 882 00:36:47,570 --> 00:36:50,210 But when we trust in him, we have hope for eternity. 883 00:36:50,610 --> 00:36:53,130 And if we believe in that, we have to trust in that. 884 00:36:53,130 --> 00:36:55,850 And we have to say, lord, you are the one that's going to keep 885 00:36:55,850 --> 00:36:56,290 your word. 886 00:36:56,290 --> 00:37:00,900 So to you, is God the one who is the promise keeper, or is God 887 00:37:00,900 --> 00:37:03,060 the one who says things that stretch us too far? 888 00:37:03,060 --> 00:37:06,140 And we say, that's too much God, that's, that's asking too much. 889 00:37:06,860 --> 00:37:08,020 I know for me, I'm. 890 00:37:08,020 --> 00:37:12,500 I'm comfortable with being an active Christian, a believing Christian, 891 00:37:12,500 --> 00:37:14,940 until it goes against my plans. 892 00:37:15,260 --> 00:37:17,820 And that's where I'm like, well, Lord, I don't know about that. 893 00:37:18,300 --> 00:37:20,060 You're asking a little Bit too much of me. 894 00:37:21,340 --> 00:37:25,300 I know there's been trials in my life that have opened my eyes 895 00:37:25,300 --> 00:37:27,660 to the fact that God doesn't owe me anything. 896 00:37:28,620 --> 00:37:29,100 God. 897 00:37:30,140 --> 00:37:33,100 And hear me out when I say, let me say the whole statement. 898 00:37:33,500 --> 00:37:37,260 God does not need us for his plan to come to pass. 899 00:37:38,300 --> 00:37:40,820 God's not sitting up in heaven saying, well, you know what? 900 00:37:40,820 --> 00:37:44,180 If I just had a few people in Middletown, then I could finally 901 00:37:44,180 --> 00:37:45,260 do what I wanted to do. 902 00:37:45,740 --> 00:37:51,660 God is ultimately sovereignly in control and will do what he will 903 00:37:51,660 --> 00:37:51,980 do. 904 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:56,600 At the same time, we get to be privileged to be a part of it. 905 00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:57,440 We. 906 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:03,160 We get to join in the whole process of being used by God. 907 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:08,039 And so God is not limited by us, but at the same time, we get 908 00:38:08,039 --> 00:38:12,120 to be blessed and be a part of the work of God in this world today. 909 00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:16,440 And the only way that we can do that is by being people of faith. 910 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:18,040 You would say, what do you mean by that? 911 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:19,800 I can please God and not have faith. 912 00:38:20,460 --> 00:38:21,340 That's impossible. 913 00:38:21,660 --> 00:38:26,100 Hebrews 11, verse 6 says, for it is impossible to please God without 914 00:38:26,100 --> 00:38:34,380 faith if I want to please the Lord if I want to make him proud 915 00:38:34,380 --> 00:38:35,220 of me, so to speak. 916 00:38:35,220 --> 00:38:35,660 We know that. 917 00:38:35,660 --> 00:38:38,300 That is an interesting statement, but you know what I mean. 918 00:38:38,540 --> 00:38:43,540 You know, for me as a kid, I, I wanted, I wanted my dad to, to 919 00:38:43,540 --> 00:38:44,540 be proud of me. 920 00:38:44,940 --> 00:38:46,940 I still to this day struggle with that. 921 00:38:47,990 --> 00:38:50,990 My dad never gave me any reason to doubt that he was proud 922 00:38:50,990 --> 00:38:51,270 of me. 923 00:38:51,270 --> 00:38:53,670 But I remember in baseball games when I'd be up to bat, I'm 924 00:38:53,670 --> 00:38:55,190 like, I'm gonna hit a home run for my dad today. 925 00:38:55,270 --> 00:38:58,670 And I would hit the, I would hit the ball and I would look. 926 00:38:58,670 --> 00:39:00,070 My first person I looked is my dad. 927 00:39:00,070 --> 00:39:01,110 I said, did my dad see it? 928 00:39:01,110 --> 00:39:02,030 And of course he did see it. 929 00:39:02,030 --> 00:39:04,070 And I was like, yes, he's happy. 930 00:39:04,070 --> 00:39:04,950 Dad, were you happy? 931 00:39:04,950 --> 00:39:05,790 He was like, of course I'm happy. 932 00:39:05,790 --> 00:39:06,110 I'm happy. 933 00:39:06,110 --> 00:39:07,230 If you strike out, I'm happy. 934 00:39:07,230 --> 00:39:08,270 And I'm like, but, dad, I want him. 935 00:39:08,270 --> 00:39:09,670 I want it because I loved him. 936 00:39:09,830 --> 00:39:10,870 I still love him. 937 00:39:11,190 --> 00:39:14,190 He came out to watch one of my softball games a couple of years 938 00:39:14,190 --> 00:39:15,150 ago, and I hit one out. 939 00:39:15,150 --> 00:39:17,070 I looked at the first source I looked is my dad. 940 00:39:17,070 --> 00:39:20,120 I'm, you know, in my 30s, and I'm looking to see if my dad noticed 941 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:21,480 it's because of that love. 942 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,440 I, I, I don't have to do that, but I want to do that because of 943 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:26,440 my love for the Father. 944 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:28,280 It's the same thing as a Christian. 945 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:29,160 It doesn't. 946 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:31,800 If we don't do Everything that God calls us do, it doesn't mean 947 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:35,040 he pulls away our salvation and condemns us and throws us out. 948 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,800 But what it does mean is that the reason why I want to serve him, 949 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:40,480 the reason why I want to live in faith, the reason why I want to 950 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,670 please him, according to Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 6, is 951 00:39:43,670 --> 00:39:45,750 because of what he's done for me and because of who he is. 952 00:39:45,990 --> 00:39:50,270 And my love for him should drive that desire to please him, 953 00:39:50,270 --> 00:39:53,830 not in a selfish manner, but in a manner of giving him honor and 954 00:39:53,830 --> 00:39:55,190 glory for what he has done. 955 00:39:56,070 --> 00:40:01,510 So, just as Joshua and the people of Israel could say that God 956 00:40:01,510 --> 00:40:04,950 was faithful in every way and gave them rest and allow them to 957 00:40:04,950 --> 00:40:08,430 possess the land, so we can say that God has been faithful to 958 00:40:08,430 --> 00:40:12,390 us, he's given us rest, and we can possess all the promises that 959 00:40:12,390 --> 00:40:14,270 he has laid out for us in Scripture. 960 00:40:14,990 --> 00:40:17,470 And so I would encourage you to think about that as a believer. 961 00:40:17,470 --> 00:40:20,390 It might even be a great study for you to go through and look at 962 00:40:20,390 --> 00:40:22,590 all the promises of God to the believer. 963 00:40:23,870 --> 00:40:26,510 One of the passages I tell you to start with is Romans 8. 964 00:40:27,230 --> 00:40:30,590 Read through Romans 8 and just soak it in. 965 00:40:31,150 --> 00:40:34,230 If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, read through Romans 8 from 966 00:40:34,230 --> 00:40:36,350 verse 1 all the way to the end of the chapter. 967 00:40:36,830 --> 00:40:41,710 It is so rich in knowing those blessings of being a child of God 968 00:40:41,710 --> 00:40:43,790 that we can cry, abba, Father. 969 00:40:44,270 --> 00:40:47,710 That's right there in that passage, we've been given the spirit 970 00:40:47,710 --> 00:40:48,430 of adoption. 971 00:40:48,590 --> 00:40:50,910 The beginning of the chapter starts with, therefore there is no 972 00:40:50,910 --> 00:40:53,950 condemnation them who are in Christ Jesus. 973 00:40:53,950 --> 00:40:56,710 It ends with the fact that nothing can separate us from the 974 00:40:56,710 --> 00:40:57,470 love of God. 975 00:40:58,030 --> 00:41:01,310 And so I encourage you to think about that and pray about that 976 00:41:01,310 --> 00:41:02,670 and know that God is faithful. 977 00:41:02,670 --> 00:41:03,710 So what does it mean for you? 978 00:41:03,990 --> 00:41:06,310 It's a fact across the board that God is faithful. 979 00:41:06,550 --> 00:41:09,270 But what does it mean to you that God is faithful? 980 00:41:09,750 --> 00:41:10,270 What is. 981 00:41:10,270 --> 00:41:11,750 What has it changed in your life? 982 00:41:12,710 --> 00:41:14,430 What has it changed in your prayer? 983 00:41:14,430 --> 00:41:15,990 What does it change in your action? 984 00:41:15,990 --> 00:41:17,990 What does it change in the way that you love? 985 00:41:18,710 --> 00:41:21,030 It's kind of like saying, well, I don't believe that. 986 00:41:21,990 --> 00:41:24,150 You know, I don't believe that the sky is. 987 00:41:24,150 --> 00:41:24,710 Is blue. 988 00:41:24,710 --> 00:41:25,990 I believe the sky is purple. 989 00:41:25,990 --> 00:41:28,950 Well, that sky is blue no matter what I believe about it, okay? 990 00:41:28,950 --> 00:41:32,310 I can say all day that my truth is that the sky is this color, 991 00:41:32,310 --> 00:41:32,710 okay? 992 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:35,680 My truth doesn't matter in the grand scheme of what the fact is. 993 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,680 And the fact of the matter according to Scripture is that God 994 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:39,440 is faithful. 995 00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:42,560 So whether or not I question him, whether or not, I doubt Him. 996 00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:43,560 God is still faithful. 997 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:46,640 And so what I need to do is I need to say what does God's faithfulness 998 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:47,520 mean to me today? 999 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:50,960 What kind of comfort does God's faithfulness bring to me? 1000 00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:54,560 What kind of questions does God's faithfulness bring to me? 1001 00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:57,280 What kind of service does God's faithfulness bring? 1002 00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,610 What kind of love does does God's faithfulness bring? 1003 00:41:59,930 --> 00:42:03,210 And I hope that as we continue on in the Book of Joshua, we continue 1004 00:42:03,210 --> 00:42:06,330 to see the power of God working in the people of Israel. 1005 00:42:07,130 --> 00:42:09,770 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1006 00:42:09,770 --> 00:42:10,410 podcast. 1007 00:42:10,650 --> 00:42:12,970 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1008 00:42:13,610 --> 00:42:15,890 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1009 00:42:15,890 --> 00:42:19,370 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1010 00:42:19,690 --> 00:42:22,250 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1011 00:42:22,970 --> 00:42:27,290 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 1012 00:42:27,290 --> 00:42:31,890 dot org if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1013 00:42:31,890 --> 00:42:34,770 along for future podcast and updates. 1014 00:42:35,410 --> 00:42:36,290 Thank you so much. 1015 00:42:36,530 --> 00:42:37,250 God Bless. 1016 00:42:37,490 --> 00:42:38,770 Have a wonderful day.