1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,939
Speaker 2: So this series is, is
all about looking at different men

2
00:00:02,939 --> 00:00:07,050
throughout the old and New Testament
to showcase to us what it looks like

3
00:00:07,050 --> 00:00:10,439
to put it all on the line and to
be okay with whatever that costs.

4
00:00:11,144 --> 00:00:14,324
So as we look today, this morning,
uh, one of the things that we're

5
00:00:14,324 --> 00:00:17,804
gonna look at is the life of a man
who shows us what it looks like

6
00:00:17,804 --> 00:00:19,304
to live with strength and courage.

7
00:00:19,875 --> 00:00:22,935
Now, strength and courage are
what's necessary to be resolved.

8
00:00:23,174 --> 00:00:26,504
You can't be resolved without
having the strength to fortify that

9
00:00:26,534 --> 00:00:29,474
commitment and courage to pursue that.

10
00:00:29,804 --> 00:00:32,144
As I mentioned already, and as Pastor
Peter has been talking about on the

11
00:00:32,144 --> 00:00:36,734
weekends, we are constantly bombarded
with temptations to abandon our

12
00:00:36,734 --> 00:00:40,395
faith, or at least to lessen it, to
quiet it so that others are pacified.

13
00:00:41,070 --> 00:00:45,299
Uh, by our unwillingness to stand for
Christ in, in bold and honest ways.

14
00:00:45,900 --> 00:00:48,960
So what I want you to think about
is that every aspect of your life,

15
00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,289
though every, everything in your
life worth having, requires you

16
00:00:52,289 --> 00:00:53,849
to resolve to have that thing.

17
00:00:54,150 --> 00:00:57,869
If you're married, you know that you've
resolved before God and before man to

18
00:00:58,049 --> 00:01:02,190
love and honor your spouse for the rest of
your life, as far as it depends upon you.

19
00:01:02,700 --> 00:01:06,390
That kind of resolve requires you
to be strong in your commitments and

20
00:01:06,390 --> 00:01:10,380
courageous to love this person you're
with your spouse, no matter what happens.

21
00:01:10,710 --> 00:01:14,939
And we all know bodies change, life
change, all sorts of situations can

22
00:01:14,939 --> 00:01:19,140
change that dynamic, and yet you're
committed to that and it's worth having.

23
00:01:20,445 --> 00:01:23,265
You can also think about some of you
guys pursuing technical degrees or

24
00:01:23,265 --> 00:01:24,794
advanced degrees, terminal degrees.

25
00:01:25,035 --> 00:01:27,975
Uh, it it's required of you
to be resolved to pursue that.

26
00:01:27,975 --> 00:01:30,914
And unless and until you're willing to
put down the money and the time to do

27
00:01:30,914 --> 00:01:34,725
that, uh, you're not gonna get the degree,
you'll get conferred the degree only after

28
00:01:34,725 --> 00:01:37,195
you put in the resolve to have that thing.

29
00:01:38,085 --> 00:01:42,674
Well, we can understand how marriage and
degrees all, all, all require this kind of

30
00:01:42,674 --> 00:01:45,645
resolve, but when we look at our Christian
faith, it's really not that different.

31
00:01:46,244 --> 00:01:48,734
Uh, a resolve to your Christian
faith means you being willing to say

32
00:01:48,734 --> 00:01:51,104
whatever it costs to get the thing.

33
00:01:51,134 --> 00:01:55,184
I want to put down the effort, the
time, the money, the resources, the

34
00:01:55,184 --> 00:01:57,225
physical stamina to get the thing.

35
00:01:57,825 --> 00:01:58,424
And then Christian.

36
00:01:58,424 --> 00:02:01,815
The Christian life, the thing
is not salvation per se.

37
00:02:02,114 --> 00:02:05,744
We receive salvation that's conferred
upon us by grace through faith, but

38
00:02:05,744 --> 00:02:09,705
what we get is the relationship with
God that we were designed for you are

39
00:02:09,705 --> 00:02:13,125
resolved, not necessarily to make a
tremendous difference in your world,

40
00:02:13,125 --> 00:02:17,685
although I hope for that you're resolved,
not necessarily to have a blossoming

41
00:02:17,685 --> 00:02:19,484
ministry, whatever that might mean to you.

42
00:02:19,785 --> 00:02:22,994
Your commitments and resolve
is to the Lord, to know him,

43
00:02:22,994 --> 00:02:24,494
to love him, to live for him.

44
00:02:25,020 --> 00:02:29,400
That's what this series is about, for
you to enjoy and to, uh, participate in

45
00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,499
all that God has for you in this life.

46
00:02:31,799 --> 00:02:35,160
For you to do that, you have to have
strength and courage, and that's

47
00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:36,030
why we're gonna look at Joshua.

48
00:02:36,795 --> 00:02:40,095
In fact, as you open your Bibles to
Joshua chapter one, I wanna remind you,

49
00:02:40,395 --> 00:02:41,715
uh, why we're doing what we're doing.

50
00:02:41,715 --> 00:02:44,475
Some people will take issue with us
looking at the Bible in this way.

51
00:02:44,775 --> 00:02:48,494
In fact, uh, people that are conservative
and love their Lord and love their

52
00:02:48,494 --> 00:02:52,124
bibles will see that what we're doing
by looking at the lives of these

53
00:02:52,124 --> 00:02:55,155
men is, is a misuse of scripture.

54
00:02:55,484 --> 00:02:58,395
And let me just explain to you why,
uh, they would say, when you do this,

55
00:02:58,395 --> 00:03:01,575
you're taking scriptures that are, uh,
about an ancient people and you're,

56
00:03:01,575 --> 00:03:03,585
you're using it to moralize the church.

57
00:03:04,455 --> 00:03:08,475
Um, it's behavioral modification and
you're taking what God has written

58
00:03:08,475 --> 00:03:10,875
to these people and you're trying
to draw applications out of it.

59
00:03:10,875 --> 00:03:11,775
You shouldn't be doing that.

60
00:03:12,225 --> 00:03:15,525
Now, I just wanna give you a quick defense
of that because I know some people can be

61
00:03:15,525 --> 00:03:18,435
a bit, I don't know, uh, upset by this.

62
00:03:18,795 --> 00:03:21,075
Um, let me just give you one text.

63
00:03:21,704 --> 00:03:23,385
First Corinthians chapter 10.

64
00:03:23,865 --> 00:03:26,805
Uh, really you're gonna look at verses six
through 11, but I'm gonna quote to you,

65
00:03:26,805 --> 00:03:31,155
just verse 11 to give you justification
biblically for why we look at the Old

66
00:03:31,155 --> 00:03:33,075
Testament and draw application out of it.

67
00:03:33,495 --> 00:03:37,095
Here's what one Corinthians chapter
10, verse 11 says, Paul's talking

68
00:03:37,095 --> 00:03:39,795
about the Old Testament when he
says, now these things happen to

69
00:03:39,795 --> 00:03:45,435
them as an example, but they were
written down for our instruction.

70
00:03:45,435 --> 00:03:47,145
He's talking to the Corinthian church.

71
00:03:47,145 --> 00:03:48,105
This is New Testament.

72
00:03:48,105 --> 00:03:51,855
Paul talking to the New Testament Church
and saying what we read about in the Old

73
00:03:51,855 --> 00:03:57,405
Testament is written down as an example,
and it's written down for our instruction.

74
00:03:57,945 --> 00:04:01,575
And so the Bible gives us permission
to read our Old Testaments.

75
00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,590
With the eye of saying, how do
I make this apply to my life?

76
00:04:04,590 --> 00:04:06,359
Now that requires a bit of carefulness.

77
00:04:06,359 --> 00:04:10,170
We don't wanna take all the scripture
and say, copy and paste to my life,

78
00:04:10,499 --> 00:04:14,160
but we do wanna look at the Old
Testament and draw application from

79
00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:15,929
it, which is why we do what we do.

80
00:04:16,470 --> 00:04:19,319
So as we look at Joshua chapter
one, what we're gonna see is

81
00:04:19,319 --> 00:04:20,370
that strength and courage.

82
00:04:20,774 --> 00:04:24,585
Come from a deep and settled
conviction that God's promises

83
00:04:24,645 --> 00:04:26,054
and presence are unwavering.

84
00:04:26,235 --> 00:04:28,664
There's the point of my sermon, if
you want to know what this is about.

85
00:04:28,664 --> 00:04:32,505
Strength and courage come from a deep and
settled commitments that God's promises

86
00:04:32,595 --> 00:04:35,054
and God's presence are unwavering.

87
00:04:35,325 --> 00:04:39,765
If I could wave a magic wand over your
life right now, and I said to the Lord,

88
00:04:39,825 --> 00:04:45,105
Lord, I want you to give these men a
firm belief that everything you promised

89
00:04:45,105 --> 00:04:48,075
them, including your your, your presence.

90
00:04:48,765 --> 00:04:51,645
That they believe that 100%
without ever doubting it.

91
00:04:51,795 --> 00:04:55,905
Your life would change right now because
you would take all of God's word and then

92
00:04:55,905 --> 00:04:58,455
you would put it to work and you would
say, well, God promises these things.

93
00:04:58,455 --> 00:04:59,325
I'm gonna tackle that.

94
00:04:59,325 --> 00:05:00,045
I'm gonna do that.

95
00:05:00,405 --> 00:05:03,795
It would require strength and courage,
but you would have the necessary tools

96
00:05:03,914 --> 00:05:07,185
to muster the strength and courage
to trust God and take the active

97
00:05:07,185 --> 00:05:08,534
steps of faith that he calls you to.

98
00:05:09,315 --> 00:05:11,895
Strength and courage are required to
believe these things, but they come from.

99
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,090
Having a deep and settled
conviction that God's promises

100
00:05:15,090 --> 00:05:16,860
in his presence are unwavering.

101
00:05:16,860 --> 00:05:19,710
They are always with you, always for you.

102
00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,284
And I think Josh was gonna give us
a taste of what this looks like.

103
00:05:23,444 --> 00:05:24,585
Okay, Joshua, chapter one.

104
00:05:24,585 --> 00:05:25,995
If you don't have it open yet, please do.

105
00:05:26,265 --> 00:05:28,905
We're gonna take a look at Joshua
and, and starting out with verse one.

106
00:05:28,905 --> 00:05:30,044
We're gonna notice a few things.

107
00:05:30,044 --> 00:05:31,725
In fact, lemme just give
you a running start here.

108
00:05:31,934 --> 00:05:33,255
Moses has just died.

109
00:05:33,674 --> 00:05:38,174
Now Moses, the man of God, the man
for whom God gave Israel the law, the

110
00:05:38,174 --> 00:05:42,314
pentitude, that is he, he's encouraged
them through Moses' life, but he's

111
00:05:42,314 --> 00:05:44,564
now off the scene in Deuteronomy 34.

112
00:05:44,564 --> 00:05:47,955
He gives his farewell speech
and he leaves Joshua in charge.

113
00:05:48,585 --> 00:05:52,125
Joshua has been training under Moses
for decades at this point, and in

114
00:05:52,125 --> 00:05:56,085
fact, we see evidences of Joshua's
leadership from the very earliest stages

115
00:05:56,085 --> 00:05:57,855
when he was fighting, uh, the battle.

116
00:05:57,855 --> 00:06:00,465
You remember Moses was
holding up his staff.

117
00:06:00,525 --> 00:06:03,735
The man leading the battle
down in the valley was Joshua.

118
00:06:04,034 --> 00:06:07,184
So Joshua's been around for a minute,
and he's been able to observe Moses'

119
00:06:07,184 --> 00:06:10,245
leadership, and now God is giving
Joshua the mantle to take up leadership

120
00:06:10,245 --> 00:06:13,995
for Israel and now help them move
into conquering the Promised land.

121
00:06:14,390 --> 00:06:16,610
You remember that Moses was disqualified.

122
00:06:16,610 --> 00:06:21,079
He, along with all of Israel, were
dq because they did not believe God.

123
00:06:21,079 --> 00:06:21,770
They didn't trust God.

124
00:06:21,770 --> 00:06:22,850
They grumbled against him.

125
00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:28,760
They, uh, actually did this because they
sent 12 spies into the Promised Land.

126
00:06:28,850 --> 00:06:32,299
And you might recall what happened
is that 10 spies came back and

127
00:06:32,299 --> 00:06:34,549
brought a scary message to Israel.

128
00:06:34,549 --> 00:06:35,240
Don't do it.

129
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:36,350
There's too, they're too big.

130
00:06:36,470 --> 00:06:37,189
There're too many.

131
00:06:37,549 --> 00:06:41,780
But only two men were willing to stand
against the 10 and say, well, actually.

132
00:06:42,135 --> 00:06:43,335
The land is awesome.

133
00:06:43,395 --> 00:06:44,595
We can do this.

134
00:06:44,655 --> 00:06:48,705
Two of those men, one was Caleb, the
other was Joshua, the son of none, the

135
00:06:48,705 --> 00:06:50,055
one that we're gonna study this morning.

136
00:06:50,205 --> 00:06:53,955
And so he, he encourages the
people to say, we can do this.

137
00:06:54,105 --> 00:06:55,425
God has given us this land.

138
00:06:55,425 --> 00:06:56,685
We just need to go and take it.

139
00:06:57,195 --> 00:07:00,375
Um, the other 10 spies who are
chiefs of the people of Israel

140
00:07:00,855 --> 00:07:02,145
said, no, we shouldn't do this.

141
00:07:02,445 --> 00:07:04,515
Well, God, God judged
him severely for that.

142
00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,310
Uh, punishing them by saying, well,
for the next 40 years, all of you guys

143
00:07:08,310 --> 00:07:09,990
are gonna wander in the wilderness.

144
00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:11,430
Many of you are gonna die.

145
00:07:11,430 --> 00:07:13,980
Most of you in fact, says
everybody, minus those people that

146
00:07:13,980 --> 00:07:16,650
I approve of, which would include
Joshua, everyone's gonna die.

147
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,820
Uh, Joshua then steps into leadership from
having 40 years of wandering in the desert

148
00:07:20,820 --> 00:07:24,600
with Moses, also having the experience
of seeing how Israel has dealt with

149
00:07:24,780 --> 00:07:28,590
God's promises in the past, and now God's
commissioning him to lead the people.

150
00:07:29,070 --> 00:07:32,940
So this book depicts all, all of Joshua's
book, depicts them conquering the

151
00:07:32,940 --> 00:07:35,280
promised Land with Joshua at the lead.

152
00:07:35,550 --> 00:07:38,909
And what we'll see is that all,
all the things that you and I face

153
00:07:38,909 --> 00:07:41,340
today are actually, there's a lot
of parallels to how Joshua lives.

154
00:07:41,490 --> 00:07:44,250
In fact, Joshua has every reason
to be fearful and worrisome and

155
00:07:44,250 --> 00:07:47,340
anxious because we see in the
text, Joshua's gonna be told by.

156
00:07:48,055 --> 00:07:48,534
Hey, Joshua.

157
00:07:48,534 --> 00:07:49,105
Don't sweat it.

158
00:07:49,135 --> 00:07:51,805
Be strong and courageous, which
all by itself is instructive.

159
00:07:52,135 --> 00:07:53,605
Take a look at Joshua chapter one with me.

160
00:07:53,605 --> 00:07:54,655
I'm gonna read verses one.

161
00:07:54,805 --> 00:07:56,965
Let's read verses one through
four together, and then I'll

162
00:07:56,965 --> 00:07:59,185
make a few commentary along the
way to help get us started here.

163
00:08:00,145 --> 00:08:04,735
After the death of Moses, the servant
of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua,

164
00:08:04,735 --> 00:08:06,595
the son of none, Moses assistant.

165
00:08:06,595 --> 00:08:08,635
Now that's interesting that God
would introduce him that way.

166
00:08:08,635 --> 00:08:11,395
This is beginning of Joshua's
book, and yet he still called

167
00:08:11,395 --> 00:08:12,685
the assistant of Moses.

168
00:08:13,555 --> 00:08:16,230
God says to Joshua Moses,
my servant is dead.

169
00:08:17,070 --> 00:08:22,230
Now therefore arise, go over this
Jordan, you and all this people

170
00:08:22,260 --> 00:08:26,370
into the land that I am giving
to them, to the people of Israel.

171
00:08:26,940 --> 00:08:28,680
So God's already reminding them.

172
00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:34,860
The promises are still alive, Moses is
dead, but the promises remain, uh, remain

173
00:08:34,860 --> 00:08:36,390
alive and ready for them to take it.

174
00:08:36,390 --> 00:08:38,490
So they're going to cross
the Jordan to do this.

175
00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:40,860
Verse three, every place.

176
00:08:41,865 --> 00:08:46,964
Every place to, uh, every place that
the sole of your foot will tread upon.

177
00:08:46,964 --> 00:08:52,694
I have given to you just as I have
promised to Moses from the wilderness

178
00:08:52,785 --> 00:08:57,255
and this Lebanon as far as the great
river, the river Euphrates, all

179
00:08:57,255 --> 00:09:00,795
the land of the hit heights to the
Great Sea toward the going down to

180
00:09:00,795 --> 00:09:02,564
the sun shall be your territory.

181
00:09:03,135 --> 00:09:06,225
And just a quick commentary on this,
the land that God is promising,

182
00:09:06,225 --> 00:09:08,625
Joshua right here is actually massive.

183
00:09:09,330 --> 00:09:13,410
In fact, the land that God had promised
to Israel was far bigger than anything

184
00:09:13,410 --> 00:09:15,300
they ever conquered in real life.

185
00:09:15,780 --> 00:09:18,750
What they did was significant
and we'll, we'll talk briefly

186
00:09:18,750 --> 00:09:20,190
about that, but God is promising.

187
00:09:20,190 --> 00:09:25,350
Joshua, I told Moses you guys would have
massive territory, and he reiterates it

188
00:09:25,350 --> 00:09:28,985
to Joshua saying, every place you set your
foot everywhere, we're talking massive

189
00:09:29,190 --> 00:09:32,190
land territory here promises to Joshua.

190
00:09:32,910 --> 00:09:33,990
Uh, and that's verse four.

191
00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,140
All, all the, and, and, and he says,
uh, no man shall be able to stand

192
00:09:37,140 --> 00:09:38,520
before you all the days of your life.

193
00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:41,940
So this whole area, God is reminding
Joshua what's about to happen.

194
00:09:41,940 --> 00:09:44,370
He made promises to Abraham,
which are now carried forward

195
00:09:44,370 --> 00:09:45,930
through Moses and now to Joshua.

196
00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,680
And what we're seeing here is
Joshua being encouraged by the Lord.

197
00:09:50,370 --> 00:09:54,390
Joshua is being encouraged by the Lord
to remember I've made promises to Moses.

198
00:09:54,390 --> 00:09:56,280
And those promises also
apply to you, Joshua.

199
00:09:57,135 --> 00:09:59,385
Which already tells me
Joshua needs the reminder.

200
00:09:59,385 --> 00:10:01,245
And I think often we
need the reminder too.

201
00:10:01,635 --> 00:10:03,885
Joshua's told by God,
remember what I told Moses?

202
00:10:03,885 --> 00:10:07,215
And basically God's gonna quote him,
uh, quote what he said to Moses, and

203
00:10:07,215 --> 00:10:10,125
he's saying, look, I'm gonna give you
this land, but I need you to pursue it.

204
00:10:10,545 --> 00:10:11,865
That's often how the promises work.

205
00:10:11,865 --> 00:10:15,945
By the way, God makes promises to us,
but those promises are not static.

206
00:10:16,245 --> 00:10:18,615
They just don't come to us
and wash over us like a wave.

207
00:10:18,765 --> 00:10:22,815
It's our job like Joshua to receive the
promises of God and then to act upon them.

208
00:10:23,175 --> 00:10:24,525
Okay, all that.

209
00:10:24,645 --> 00:10:26,295
Let's start with point number one here.

210
00:10:26,295 --> 00:10:27,584
Let's claim God's promises.

211
00:10:28,214 --> 00:10:31,964
We're not health, wealth, and prosperity,
but there is an appropriate place for us

212
00:10:31,964 --> 00:10:33,765
to say, I'm gonna claim God's promises.

213
00:10:34,185 --> 00:10:35,055
I'm gonna do that.

214
00:10:35,295 --> 00:10:38,685
Uh, this is not Christian, uh,
Christian nationalism kind of thing.

215
00:10:38,685 --> 00:10:39,944
This is not name it in claimants.

216
00:10:40,185 --> 00:10:43,665
Uh, this is actually saying,
take God's word, believe God's

217
00:10:43,665 --> 00:10:45,015
word, and act upon God's word.

218
00:10:45,015 --> 00:10:46,635
That's essentially what
we're trying to get at here.

219
00:10:47,745 --> 00:10:51,314
Uh, recently, I, I was looking
at an unclaimed property website.

220
00:10:51,660 --> 00:10:53,730
In fact, I have some unclaimed
property in California.

221
00:10:53,730 --> 00:10:55,140
It's like 45 bucks or something.

222
00:10:55,470 --> 00:10:57,870
Uh, but every state has one as
far as I, I've, I've learned.

223
00:10:58,080 --> 00:10:59,370
And Texas has one as well.

224
00:10:59,430 --> 00:11:00,600
You can go to Unclaimed Property.

225
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,960
I forget the website, but you can go
and see how much money you might have

226
00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:05,760
out there that you haven't touched.

227
00:11:05,925 --> 00:11:08,700
I, I went through looking at different
people and looking at different names,

228
00:11:08,700 --> 00:11:11,460
and I, I found my name there and I
don't have anything in Texas unclaimed,

229
00:11:12,030 --> 00:11:13,140
but there were some people there.

230
00:11:13,290 --> 00:11:16,860
I found one guy who had $13,870.

231
00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,830
I'm just sitting there and I'm
thinking, what is this guy doing?

232
00:11:19,830 --> 00:11:21,300
What does he do for a
living that he doesn't need?

233
00:11:21,300 --> 00:11:22,950
$13,870?

234
00:11:23,850 --> 00:11:26,550
And there are several people, uh,
whose names it doesn't matter.

235
00:11:26,610 --> 00:11:32,370
None of us here, um, several people,
several people who have thousands

236
00:11:32,370 --> 00:11:35,580
upon thousands of dollars just sitting
out there waiting to be claimed.

237
00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:37,980
And you gotta wonder, okay, what
are these people doing that they

238
00:11:37,980 --> 00:11:40,680
can afford not to claim all these
tens of thousands of dollars?

239
00:11:40,980 --> 00:11:42,990
Uh, but what really,
Christians do this too.

240
00:11:43,365 --> 00:11:47,475
Because we have unclaimed riches in
Christ that we have yet to tap into.

241
00:11:47,745 --> 00:11:50,385
It's easy to live in spiritual
poverty when you don't know

242
00:11:50,385 --> 00:11:51,705
the riches you have in Christ.

243
00:11:52,065 --> 00:11:55,905
And those riches are in part the
promises that God makes to us, the

244
00:11:55,905 --> 00:11:58,995
promises that he gives to us and those
promises, I mean, put it simply, I mean,

245
00:11:58,995 --> 00:12:03,675
we could talk really in a challenging
way about what promises mean, but

246
00:12:03,675 --> 00:12:04,845
let me just give you my definition.

247
00:12:05,085 --> 00:12:07,225
A promise is God's assurance
that he will do what he says.

248
00:12:08,070 --> 00:12:11,730
Because of our union with Christ promises,
God's assurance that he will do what he

249
00:12:11,730 --> 00:12:13,590
says because of our union with Christ.

250
00:12:14,130 --> 00:12:18,270
It is our union with Christ that
secures the promises that God makes to

251
00:12:18,270 --> 00:12:20,190
us and not our individual worthiness.

252
00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:24,630
Um, and therefore what I need you to
understand then is that the God makes

253
00:12:24,630 --> 00:12:29,280
promises that your job is to act upon
you, cash in the check, so to speak.

254
00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,730
When you act upon the promise
and failure to do that leaves you

255
00:12:32,790 --> 00:12:36,120
vulnerable and unwilling to take up
the mantle that God has called you to.

256
00:12:36,735 --> 00:12:39,405
So claiming God's promises,
then, first of all, knows means

257
00:12:39,405 --> 00:12:40,335
that you know what they are.

258
00:12:40,725 --> 00:12:42,375
You have to know what God's promises are.

259
00:12:42,375 --> 00:12:45,315
Now this is actually a more challenging
conversation than what you might realize.

260
00:12:45,645 --> 00:12:49,275
In fact, I was just reading a book that
talked about, uh, how one of his favorite

261
00:12:49,275 --> 00:12:52,545
things about graduating college was
that everyone gave him a card on it, or

262
00:12:52,545 --> 00:12:56,235
I gave him a card or a placard or some
kind of gift that said, for I know the

263
00:12:56,235 --> 00:12:58,155
plans I have for you, declares the Lord.

264
00:12:59,595 --> 00:13:01,605
Thoughts to bless you, to prosper you.

265
00:13:01,875 --> 00:13:04,395
Um, and of course if you know Jeremiah
29 11, you, you've, you've heard this

266
00:13:04,395 --> 00:13:07,935
one before, and so he, he recognizes
though that one of the challenges

267
00:13:07,935 --> 00:13:09,105
is that that promise wasn't for him.

268
00:13:09,585 --> 00:13:11,625
And that promise wasn't made to him.

269
00:13:12,135 --> 00:13:15,615
Uh, when I was in the Pentecostal Church
for a long period of time, I was in there

270
00:13:15,615 --> 00:13:19,485
for the first, I don't know, 10 years of
my Christian life, uh, Pentecostal church.

271
00:13:19,515 --> 00:13:22,635
We, we had verses like that all the time
too, and I never thought twice about them.

272
00:13:22,635 --> 00:13:24,615
I always claim it was,
yeah, that promise is to me.

273
00:13:24,944 --> 00:13:27,555
Um, second Chronicles I think is,
I think this is also Chronicles

274
00:13:27,555 --> 00:13:28,785
chapter nine, if my people.

275
00:13:29,325 --> 00:13:32,355
Who are called by my name will humble
themselves and pray, then I will hear

276
00:13:32,355 --> 00:13:34,485
their prayer and I will heal their land.

277
00:13:34,785 --> 00:13:37,785
Now I remember thinking about that
and using that, that verse to pray

278
00:13:37,785 --> 00:13:41,775
for America and to pray that God would
heal our land and bring about revival.

279
00:13:42,105 --> 00:13:43,845
That, that, that's the typical context.

280
00:13:44,325 --> 00:13:47,565
But knowing what the promises
are are challenging because you

281
00:13:47,565 --> 00:13:51,105
have to be able to distinguish
who's the church and who's Israel.

282
00:13:51,735 --> 00:13:53,475
Uh, just a short summary here.

283
00:13:53,505 --> 00:13:54,525
You are the church.

284
00:13:54,615 --> 00:13:55,365
We're not Israel.

285
00:13:55,545 --> 00:13:56,595
We are all the church.

286
00:13:56,595 --> 00:13:58,215
If you're in Christ, you are the church.

287
00:13:58,605 --> 00:14:01,365
Israel is a separate
entity in God's sight.

288
00:14:01,365 --> 00:14:04,365
Now I think Israel's gonna be
saved in the same way you are, but

289
00:14:04,365 --> 00:14:07,965
Israel here in the Old Testament
is national and ethnic Israel.

290
00:14:08,265 --> 00:14:12,495
So the promises that you see in the Old
Testament are often toward those people.

291
00:14:13,065 --> 00:14:16,905
Now, could you say, when I look at
Jeremiah 29 11, can I say, generally

292
00:14:16,905 --> 00:14:21,555
speaking, that God, uh, shows me
kindness and promises to bless me?

293
00:14:21,855 --> 00:14:23,325
I guess you could get there.

294
00:14:23,744 --> 00:14:25,575
But that's not the best
text for us to do that.

295
00:14:25,845 --> 00:14:29,865
Uh, the same can be said when we take
verses like, uh, Philippians four 13.

296
00:14:30,525 --> 00:14:32,744
I could do all things through
him who strengthens me.

297
00:14:33,105 --> 00:14:34,275
Uh, that is a promise.

298
00:14:34,275 --> 00:14:35,655
I would take that as a promise.

299
00:14:35,835 --> 00:14:38,355
But reading that promise actually
takes a little more effort than

300
00:14:38,355 --> 00:14:41,175
just saying, well, it says that, so
I'm gonna slap it on my, my thigh.

301
00:14:41,355 --> 00:14:44,355
I'm gonna put it on my jersey, and
I'm gonna, you know, and the, and

302
00:14:44,355 --> 00:14:46,875
the MMA octagon, I'm gonna punch
that guy in the name of Christ.

303
00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,970
It's not that, uh, but I could
say I could do all things through

304
00:14:50,970 --> 00:14:51,780
Christ who strengthens me.

305
00:14:51,780 --> 00:14:56,190
If that Octagon Fighter means if I
lose this, I, okay, I could, I can

306
00:14:56,190 --> 00:14:57,420
lose in the name of Christ, fine.

307
00:14:57,780 --> 00:14:58,980
I can win in the name of Christ.

308
00:14:59,220 --> 00:15:02,070
Uh, if, if you can, if you can do
that now I can do all things through

309
00:15:02,070 --> 00:15:05,310
Christ who strengthens me isn't a,
a free pass in a blank check to say,

310
00:15:05,310 --> 00:15:08,160
I can get that six figure job, or I
can, you know, climb that mountain.

311
00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:08,880
It really is.

312
00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:10,620
I can be content in any circumstance.

313
00:15:10,890 --> 00:15:14,550
So if he means I can be content
in loss, I can be content in

314
00:15:14,550 --> 00:15:15,960
bankruptcy, then, then great.

315
00:15:16,515 --> 00:15:19,455
Uh, but, but promises require
you to know what they are.

316
00:15:20,085 --> 00:15:22,275
Knowing what they are means
knowing how to read your Bible

317
00:15:22,275 --> 00:15:24,045
Well, um, and we'll get to that.

318
00:15:24,135 --> 00:15:25,305
We will get to that again soon.

319
00:15:25,305 --> 00:15:28,395
In fact, my second point, I think
we're gonna deal with that third point.

320
00:15:28,935 --> 00:15:32,685
Um, but you gotta know what the promises
are and a simple application for you.

321
00:15:32,865 --> 00:15:34,725
Joshua had to be reminded by the Lord.

322
00:15:35,295 --> 00:15:36,105
Think about that.

323
00:15:36,165 --> 00:15:39,615
Joshua needed God to remind
him, Hey, Joshua, remember

324
00:15:39,615 --> 00:15:40,755
those promises I gave to Moses?

325
00:15:40,755 --> 00:15:45,495
Let me tell you, and then I'm
gonna tell you, Joshua had.

326
00:15:46,215 --> 00:15:48,315
The Lord tell him, here's
what the promise is.

327
00:15:49,335 --> 00:15:50,715
You need reminders too.

328
00:15:51,075 --> 00:15:55,185
This is why our church so
often prioritizes being in

329
00:15:55,185 --> 00:15:56,985
your Bible every single day.

330
00:15:57,615 --> 00:16:00,135
You have to, you need reminders.

331
00:16:00,465 --> 00:16:02,595
I, I mean, I've, I've read
the Bible now several times.

332
00:16:02,625 --> 00:16:03,135
No boast.

333
00:16:03,135 --> 00:16:06,915
I'm just saying this is, this is the
reality and I find stuff new all the time.

334
00:16:07,245 --> 00:16:08,715
Has anyone else had this experience?

335
00:16:08,865 --> 00:16:11,715
You read your Bible like, I've
never seen that, or I've seen it

336
00:16:11,715 --> 00:16:14,265
and it never clicked what that
meant or why that was significant.

337
00:16:14,444 --> 00:16:18,464
You know, the ancients had a, a saying,
you never step into the same river twice.

338
00:16:18,764 --> 00:16:20,175
And the reason is because
their river floats, right?

339
00:16:20,175 --> 00:16:21,345
The the, the thing changes.

340
00:16:21,734 --> 00:16:24,645
You never read the same book twice,
and that's because you're changing.

341
00:16:24,734 --> 00:16:25,605
God's not changing.

342
00:16:25,605 --> 00:16:27,825
But what you see change is
because you are different.

343
00:16:27,825 --> 00:16:30,254
And if God is working on
you, that's a guarantee.

344
00:16:30,254 --> 00:16:31,484
You'll continue to be different.

345
00:16:31,694 --> 00:16:34,395
So knowing what God's promises
are require you to repeatedly

346
00:16:34,395 --> 00:16:37,214
expose yourself to things that
you think you might already know.

347
00:16:37,784 --> 00:16:39,645
I constantly think about a
student I had in high school.

348
00:16:39,915 --> 00:16:42,405
Oh, I was having a very
similar conversation.

349
00:16:42,405 --> 00:16:44,685
I was preaching a message saying,
you gotta read your Bible.

350
00:16:45,284 --> 00:16:46,335
And he says, why?

351
00:16:46,335 --> 00:16:47,055
I read it already.

352
00:16:48,135 --> 00:16:49,034
I did it one time.

353
00:16:49,034 --> 00:16:52,964
I got the whole thing done and I said,
well, I don't even know what I said.

354
00:16:52,964 --> 00:16:56,714
I probably just like sighed
and said, just trust me.

355
00:16:57,645 --> 00:16:58,065
Trust me.

356
00:16:59,805 --> 00:17:02,264
You claim God's promises by
knowing what they are, but also,

357
00:17:02,264 --> 00:17:04,425
as I mentioned already, you
claim 'em by fighting for them.

358
00:17:04,890 --> 00:17:07,845
I, I want you to notice what God
says to Joshua, and in verse three,

359
00:17:07,845 --> 00:17:10,515
he says, every place that the
sole of your foot will tread upon.

360
00:17:10,545 --> 00:17:11,385
I have given you.

361
00:17:11,895 --> 00:17:14,565
I've given it to you just
as I promised to Moses.

362
00:17:14,714 --> 00:17:15,944
Now, pop quiz.

363
00:17:16,185 --> 00:17:18,885
At that point, did Joshua have the land?

364
00:17:19,575 --> 00:17:20,444
No, of course not.

365
00:17:21,135 --> 00:17:23,325
And yet he says to Joshua,
I've given you the land.

366
00:17:23,325 --> 00:17:26,115
Verse three every, everywhere you
set your foot, I've given it to you.

367
00:17:26,325 --> 00:17:28,425
And yet Joshua actually did not have it.

368
00:17:28,905 --> 00:17:31,485
And what that tells us then
is that it was their promise.

369
00:17:31,485 --> 00:17:31,935
Yes.

370
00:17:31,935 --> 00:17:33,285
And God had given it to them.

371
00:17:34,305 --> 00:17:35,385
But it was theirs to claim.

372
00:17:36,045 --> 00:17:40,275
Joshua still had to put in the
E, the effort to fight for what

373
00:17:40,275 --> 00:17:41,685
God had promised to give him.

374
00:17:42,285 --> 00:17:43,785
We shouldn't expect anything different.

375
00:17:44,325 --> 00:17:48,075
Our job is to also fight to receive
the things that God has given us.

376
00:17:48,075 --> 00:17:49,515
That's how we claim God's promises.

377
00:17:49,515 --> 00:17:51,375
We have to know them and
we have to fight for them.

378
00:17:51,975 --> 00:17:54,855
Lemme give you another
example, one John one, nine.

379
00:17:55,185 --> 00:17:58,635
Here's a simple New Testament
promise that you have to fight for

380
00:17:58,995 --> 00:18:00,870
and it's not a tough fight, but
let me just show you what it says.

381
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:02,760
You might know this
one, one John one, nine.

382
00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:07,800
If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to

383
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:09,780
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

384
00:18:10,590 --> 00:18:11,430
Did you catch it?

385
00:18:11,550 --> 00:18:12,660
Where's the, where's your fight?

386
00:18:12,660 --> 00:18:19,950
In that, in that passage there, if we
confess our sins, you may not be too

387
00:18:19,950 --> 00:18:22,830
impressed by that, but that's actually
something that takes effort on your part.

388
00:18:23,235 --> 00:18:26,325
It takes you going to the Lord with some
regularity and saying, Lord, forgive me.

389
00:18:26,325 --> 00:18:27,375
I'm sinning in these areas.

390
00:18:27,375 --> 00:18:29,175
I agree with you that this sin is wrong.

391
00:18:29,385 --> 00:18:32,595
So that fight is a relatively small
fight, but it's a fight nonetheless

392
00:18:32,625 --> 00:18:36,945
because it requires you examining yourself
and being humble enough to say, yes, I

393
00:18:36,945 --> 00:18:38,415
have sinned in these particular areas.

394
00:18:38,415 --> 00:18:39,255
Lord, please forgive me.

395
00:18:39,555 --> 00:18:43,605
But the promise that we see here is if
we confess our sins, he's faithful and

396
00:18:43,605 --> 00:18:47,265
he's just to forgive us of our sins and
to cleanse us, forgiveness and cleansing.

397
00:18:47,265 --> 00:18:48,975
Those are the promises that you receive.

398
00:18:49,425 --> 00:18:53,955
When you put the fight into claiming
that promise and that fight is confessing

399
00:18:53,955 --> 00:18:59,565
our sins, these things produce trust,
and uh, these things produce in us.

400
00:18:59,655 --> 00:19:02,175
Strengthen courage because
we trust his promise.

401
00:19:02,265 --> 00:19:06,255
You can live with a clean conscience
if you trust one John one, nine.

402
00:19:07,035 --> 00:19:10,275
You might have had several failures behind
your name when it comes to loving your

403
00:19:10,275 --> 00:19:14,985
wife and leading your kids and doing a
great work at the office, or, and you can,

404
00:19:15,045 --> 00:19:18,555
you can get rid of that by submitting it
to the Lord and saying, I'm gonna trust

405
00:19:18,555 --> 00:19:19,785
that you know what you're doing here.

406
00:19:19,815 --> 00:19:21,315
Lord, please forgive me for these sins.

407
00:19:21,315 --> 00:19:22,785
I confess, I agree with you.

408
00:19:22,905 --> 00:19:27,945
Let me deal with these now because I
believe God's promises are unwavering.

409
00:19:27,945 --> 00:19:30,225
I will do the uncomfortable
work of acting upon them.

410
00:19:30,615 --> 00:19:35,295
Fighting for God's promises means
knowing what they are, rather.

411
00:19:35,805 --> 00:19:38,355
Claiming God's promises means knowing
what they are and fighting for them.

412
00:19:41,145 --> 00:19:44,355
What this also means, if you're
gonna claim God's promises, notice

413
00:19:44,355 --> 00:19:45,435
he makes this promise to Joshua.

414
00:19:45,435 --> 00:19:47,265
He says, uh, I've given
these things to you.

415
00:19:48,735 --> 00:19:51,345
Joshua is going to find
resistance in the land.

416
00:19:51,345 --> 00:19:52,155
You guys already know this.

417
00:19:52,155 --> 00:19:55,665
Part of the resistance is, uh, the
lack of belief that Israel has, but

418
00:19:55,665 --> 00:19:58,425
some of it's also the shenanigans
of Aiken taking things that

419
00:19:58,425 --> 00:19:59,835
weren't, that didn't belong to him.

420
00:20:00,135 --> 00:20:01,875
They're gonna have a lot of
stumbling blocks along the

421
00:20:01,875 --> 00:20:02,660
way as they conquer the land.

422
00:20:03,660 --> 00:20:04,620
And Joshua's leadership.

423
00:20:04,830 --> 00:20:07,530
His job though was to keep them
marching in the same direction,

424
00:20:07,530 --> 00:20:11,010
even though all throughout their
march they had all sorts of issues.

425
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,460
So claiming God's promises
will mean that you act on the

426
00:20:14,460 --> 00:20:16,105
promise before you see the fruit.

427
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,530
And gentlemen, we have to be okay
with the fact that claiming God's

428
00:20:19,530 --> 00:20:22,860
promises means you're not gonna
see the fruit of it right away.

429
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:24,930
So I act on the promise
before I see fruit.

430
00:20:24,990 --> 00:20:27,660
I don't quit on the
promise until I see fruit.

431
00:20:27,660 --> 00:20:28,800
That was Joshua's job.

432
00:20:28,890 --> 00:20:32,190
He was to keep them making
progress in the promised land until

433
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,945
they saw fruit and they weren't
finished until they were finished.

434
00:20:35,700 --> 00:20:38,550
And even Joshua's job, although
he was finished when he died,

435
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:40,290
the job was still yet to be done.

436
00:20:40,290 --> 00:20:41,760
That's what the whole
book of judges was about.

437
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,040
They struggled to keep the
promises that God had given them.

438
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,340
So when I act on the promise before
I see fruit, I don't quit on the

439
00:20:47,340 --> 00:20:51,030
promise until I see fruit and I
give thanks to God when I see fruit.

440
00:20:51,690 --> 00:20:56,220
So much, so much of your Christian
life can be, can be seen here.

441
00:20:56,460 --> 00:21:00,900
Uh, because your tenacity to pursue
what God has given you is really

442
00:21:00,900 --> 00:21:03,480
dependent upon whether or not
you believe it's worth pursuing.

443
00:21:04,335 --> 00:21:07,605
If you don't think that what God has for
you is worth it, you're just gonna say,

444
00:21:07,605 --> 00:21:08,895
well, I'll get to it if I get to it.

445
00:21:09,045 --> 00:21:11,085
There's other things that are
more important, more pressing.

446
00:21:11,415 --> 00:21:13,155
I've got stuff at the office
that's waiting for me.

447
00:21:13,155 --> 00:21:14,115
I gotta mow the lawn.

448
00:21:14,115 --> 00:21:15,855
I got some stuff at the
house that has to get done.

449
00:21:15,855 --> 00:21:17,535
I got a honey do list
that my wife has given me.

450
00:21:17,535 --> 00:21:18,675
I gotta follow up with that today.

451
00:21:19,005 --> 00:21:22,575
Your trust in God's promises will give
you the tenacity to say, I believe it.

452
00:21:22,635 --> 00:21:23,595
I'm gonna pursue it.

453
00:21:23,595 --> 00:21:26,865
I'm gonna prioritize it
until God tells me I'm done.

454
00:21:27,615 --> 00:21:31,095
And for most of our lives, claiming
your claiming God's promises will

455
00:21:31,095 --> 00:21:32,745
last the duration of your life.

456
00:21:34,050 --> 00:21:37,020
To be made, like Christ is a
lifelong promise that God gives

457
00:21:37,020 --> 00:21:39,120
us, that you can't quit on.

458
00:21:39,450 --> 00:21:41,700
You can't short circuit the process
and say, I'm just gonna trust

459
00:21:41,700 --> 00:21:43,770
that God's gonna make me more like
Christ and I'm just gonna sit here.

460
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:45,450
I'll let go and let God mentality.

461
00:21:46,140 --> 00:21:48,480
Claiming God's promises means I
act on it before we see fruit.

462
00:21:49,050 --> 00:21:52,080
Um, I'm acting on reading my Bible.

463
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:53,160
I'm acting on prayer.

464
00:21:53,700 --> 00:21:56,430
I'm acting on leading my
family and family devotionals.

465
00:21:56,700 --> 00:21:58,890
I'm acting on evangelizing that neighbor.

466
00:21:58,920 --> 00:21:59,730
Yeah, they're scary.

467
00:21:59,730 --> 00:22:01,710
They, they, they're smarter than
I am, but I'm gonna act on it.

468
00:22:02,220 --> 00:22:05,370
I act on the promise that God has people
that he set apart for his glory and honor.

469
00:22:05,430 --> 00:22:07,320
And I'm not gonna quit until I see fruit.

470
00:22:08,010 --> 00:22:10,470
This is what it looks like
to be strong and courageous.

471
00:22:10,950 --> 00:22:14,370
It means we're willing to set aside
our immediate gratification in

472
00:22:14,370 --> 00:22:17,460
order to say God knows what he's
doing, claiming God's promises.

473
00:22:17,700 --> 00:22:20,130
We live in a microwave generation
and increasingly so we're we.

474
00:22:20,130 --> 00:22:22,230
We enjoy immediate gratification.

475
00:22:22,830 --> 00:22:23,010
Um.

476
00:22:23,085 --> 00:22:25,095
Yeah, that's training you by the way.

477
00:22:25,125 --> 00:22:27,735
We we're, we're, we're crazy not
to think that that's training us.

478
00:22:27,795 --> 00:22:31,245
We have to swim against the string
to train ourselves to say, I'm gonna

479
00:22:31,245 --> 00:22:33,015
accept my sights on a much longer goal.

480
00:22:34,155 --> 00:22:36,525
Strength and courage come from the
conviction that God's promises are

481
00:22:36,525 --> 00:22:38,805
unwavering, but it gets even better.

482
00:22:39,045 --> 00:22:41,505
In fact, lemme take a, take a look
here verses five and six with you,

483
00:22:41,535 --> 00:22:43,365
Joshua chapter one verses five and six.

484
00:22:43,485 --> 00:22:43,755
Here.

485
00:22:43,755 --> 00:22:44,535
Here's what he says.

486
00:22:45,105 --> 00:22:47,370
No man shall be able to stand before
you all the days of your life.

487
00:22:47,700 --> 00:22:50,760
And just as I was with
Moses, so I will be with you.

488
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:51,270
That's amazing.

489
00:22:51,270 --> 00:22:54,120
By the way, in the same way that I
was with Moses, I'll be with you.

490
00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:57,120
He's giving Joshua an incredibly,
uh, great privilege here.

491
00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,310
I mean, think about what
Moses' relationship to God

492
00:22:59,310 --> 00:23:00,840
was, but God said about Moses.

493
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:01,950
I know him face to face.

494
00:23:01,950 --> 00:23:04,530
I speak to him with such an
intimacy and such a closeness

495
00:23:04,530 --> 00:23:05,490
that no one can claim that.

496
00:23:05,730 --> 00:23:09,480
Then God's telling Joshua, I'll be
with you just like I was with Moses.

497
00:23:09,510 --> 00:23:10,650
That's pretty phenomenal.

498
00:23:11,100 --> 00:23:14,970
He says, after this, I will
not leave you or forsake you.

499
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:16,950
I'm not gonna drop out.

500
00:23:16,950 --> 00:23:19,200
And when the going gets tough,
I'm not gonna bounce and

501
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:20,220
say, this is too much for me.

502
00:23:20,220 --> 00:23:22,379
God says, I, I will be with
you through thick and thin.

503
00:23:22,379 --> 00:23:26,520
Joshua verse six, notice
what God says to Joshua.

504
00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:29,159
Be strong and courageous.

505
00:23:29,159 --> 00:23:33,120
Joshua, for you shall cause this
people to inherit the land that I

506
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:35,520
swore to their fathers to give them.

507
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:37,200
I find it fascinating.

508
00:23:37,230 --> 00:23:40,105
This is much like Paul telling
Timothy, don't, don't be fearful.

509
00:23:40,875 --> 00:23:42,345
Um, you know, be strong and courageous.

510
00:23:42,345 --> 00:23:45,105
Essentially, God's telling
Joshua, be strong and courageous.

511
00:23:45,105 --> 00:23:48,465
Now that either means a Joshua needed
to be reminded what his task was,

512
00:23:48,465 --> 00:23:52,035
or B, maybe Joshua suffered with
a little bit of trepidation and

513
00:23:52,035 --> 00:23:53,205
one wouldn't fault him for that.

514
00:23:53,205 --> 00:23:55,095
Joshua stepping into
some really big shoes.

515
00:23:55,095 --> 00:23:58,875
No one's gonna be Moses, but Joshua
recognizes he's got a job to do, so.

516
00:23:58,875 --> 00:24:00,135
God says he needs some encouragement.

517
00:24:00,410 --> 00:24:03,225
I'm gonna be with you just
as with as I was with Moses.

518
00:24:03,945 --> 00:24:06,375
Now what's happening here is
God is actually almost quoting

519
00:24:06,375 --> 00:24:09,795
himself verbatim from Deuteronomy
chapter 11, verses 24 and 25.

520
00:24:10,065 --> 00:24:13,875
He's telling Joshua what he
said to Moses, almost verbatim.

521
00:24:14,415 --> 00:24:17,055
And here's what's fascinating
about this particular passage.

522
00:24:17,295 --> 00:24:20,385
I want you to keep your finger here
in Joshua chapter one, and if you

523
00:24:20,385 --> 00:24:22,665
have your physical Bible or your
electronic, I want you to turn to

524
00:24:22,665 --> 00:24:24,615
Hebrews chapter 13, verse five.

525
00:24:25,275 --> 00:24:26,805
Hebrews 13, verse five.

526
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,580
I just told you the promises are,
it's sometimes tricky to know

527
00:24:32,580 --> 00:24:34,110
how to put the promises to work.

528
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:35,850
Um, it's, it's challenging.

529
00:24:35,850 --> 00:24:38,340
We can't take, we can't take
a one-to-one all the time.

530
00:24:38,610 --> 00:24:44,010
But notice here in, in Hebrews
chapter 13, what happens, the, the,

531
00:24:44,010 --> 00:24:47,220
the writer of Hebrews, we don't
know, could be any number of people.

532
00:24:47,220 --> 00:24:51,090
We call 'em the preacher because what
we think Hebrews is, is a long, it's

533
00:24:51,090 --> 00:24:53,040
a letter that was actually a sermon.

534
00:24:53,399 --> 00:24:56,820
And so this letter sermon is
written to this, this people,

535
00:24:56,879 --> 00:24:58,260
and here's what he says in verse.

536
00:24:58,860 --> 00:24:59,340
Five.

537
00:25:00,330 --> 00:25:04,980
He says, keep your life free
from the love of money and be

538
00:25:04,980 --> 00:25:07,620
content with what you have for.

539
00:25:07,620 --> 00:25:12,540
He has said, I will never
leave you nor forsake you.

540
00:25:14,100 --> 00:25:14,460
Do you know?

541
00:25:14,460 --> 00:25:15,570
Does that sound familiar?

542
00:25:16,169 --> 00:25:19,110
And if it does sound familiar,
it's because you literally just

543
00:25:19,110 --> 00:25:21,179
read it in Joshua chapter one.

544
00:25:21,540 --> 00:25:23,580
Now, let's ask ourselves as
good Bible students here.

545
00:25:24,255 --> 00:25:27,315
The author of Hebrews is talking to
a diverse group of people here, but

546
00:25:27,315 --> 00:25:29,175
he's applying it directly to them.

547
00:25:29,595 --> 00:25:32,445
He's not making any exegetical jumps here.

548
00:25:32,535 --> 00:25:35,475
I mean, it's, he's, he's just saying,
this is what it says and it's for you.

549
00:25:35,535 --> 00:25:39,345
He points it to his current
audience in, uh, whatever it is,

550
00:25:39,345 --> 00:25:40,635
you know, 60 a d or what have you.

551
00:25:41,685 --> 00:25:42,945
I will never leave you nor forsake you.

552
00:25:43,005 --> 00:25:47,565
He's quoting and asserting Joshua,
chapter one, verse five, which again?

553
00:25:47,565 --> 00:25:48,135
Who's Joshua?

554
00:25:48,135 --> 00:25:49,125
Chapter one, verse five, two.

555
00:25:49,125 --> 00:25:50,475
Who is the original audience?

556
00:25:51,585 --> 00:25:53,475
Well, Israel, but more directly, Joshua.

557
00:25:54,015 --> 00:25:57,105
God is saying, Joshua one five to Joshua.

558
00:25:57,105 --> 00:25:58,305
He's saying it directly to Joshua.

559
00:25:58,365 --> 00:26:02,055
Here the Hebrew preacher
is saying, this is for you.

560
00:26:02,265 --> 00:26:03,555
New Testament Church.

561
00:26:05,805 --> 00:26:06,765
Couple words about that.

562
00:26:07,815 --> 00:26:10,875
This gives us permission to look
at scripture and to say, okay,

563
00:26:10,875 --> 00:26:12,555
I, I can make direct application.

564
00:26:13,380 --> 00:26:19,170
Um, we can't be as, uh, we can't do it
the same way that the Hebrew author does

565
00:26:19,170 --> 00:26:22,110
because we're not writing scripture,
but we can look at this and say, we

566
00:26:22,110 --> 00:26:26,160
have permission to use this passage in
the same way he makes the jump for us.

567
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,740
And so we could say, okay,
Joshua one five is for me.

568
00:26:28,890 --> 00:26:31,350
I can take this and say,
God has spoken to me.

569
00:26:31,380 --> 00:26:32,700
I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

570
00:26:32,700 --> 00:26:36,725
In fact, Jesus says something almost very
similar in Matthew 28 verse verse 20.

571
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:39,930
I'm with you always until
the end of the age, he says.

572
00:26:40,020 --> 00:26:43,290
And so here in Hebrews 13 verse five,
what we have is God saying, take

573
00:26:43,290 --> 00:26:44,730
this promise, put it on your life.

574
00:26:44,730 --> 00:26:45,390
I'll be with you.

575
00:26:45,540 --> 00:26:47,220
If you're in Christ, this is for you.

576
00:26:47,370 --> 00:26:48,690
I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

577
00:26:49,290 --> 00:26:52,140
So when we go back to Joshua chapter
one, which you now, which you now can

578
00:26:52,140 --> 00:26:55,260
do, you can now look at Joshua one
and say, okay, God spoke to Joshua.

579
00:26:55,260 --> 00:26:58,170
I'll never leave you or forsake
you, but this is also from my life.

580
00:26:58,740 --> 00:27:01,110
And so if you believe
that God is with you.

581
00:27:01,500 --> 00:27:04,140
He was with you every day,
every moment, every night.

582
00:27:04,140 --> 00:27:05,940
He's with you in the nighttime,
he's with you in the hospital,

583
00:27:05,940 --> 00:27:07,350
he's with you wherever you are.

584
00:27:07,350 --> 00:27:09,750
If you believe that, that would
have some pretty massive impact.

585
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:12,900
He tells Joshua, I'm with you.

586
00:27:12,900 --> 00:27:13,920
I'm never gonna forsake you.

587
00:27:14,130 --> 00:27:17,370
Those promises are meant to bolster
his strength and his courage.

588
00:27:17,610 --> 00:27:18,480
Be strong and courageous.

589
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:19,110
Joshua, why?

590
00:27:19,110 --> 00:27:22,020
'cause I've given you promises and I've
given you the promise of my presence.

591
00:27:22,140 --> 00:27:23,040
Well, you ought to believe that.

592
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,140
Point number two, let's
believe God's presence.

593
00:27:25,815 --> 00:27:28,004
This is perhaps his
greatest promise, period.

594
00:27:28,065 --> 00:27:28,995
He's with us.

595
00:27:29,085 --> 00:27:30,014
He won't forsake us.

596
00:27:30,044 --> 00:27:31,125
He won't deny us.

597
00:27:31,155 --> 00:27:33,105
He is with us for time and eternity.

598
00:27:33,105 --> 00:27:38,504
In fact, what Joshua experienced
is only a, a partial, a fraction

599
00:27:38,534 --> 00:27:39,855
of what you and I experienced.

600
00:27:40,215 --> 00:27:41,895
He had God to lead him to the wilderness.

601
00:27:41,895 --> 00:27:44,445
Yes, he had God on the outside.

602
00:27:44,445 --> 00:27:45,585
We have God on the inside.

603
00:27:46,245 --> 00:27:49,845
The promises God makes to us are
phenomenal, but the promise of his

604
00:27:49,905 --> 00:27:52,070
indwelling presence may be best of all.

605
00:27:53,534 --> 00:27:57,225
In fact, the promise of God's presence
is not only for Joshua here and now.

606
00:27:57,225 --> 00:28:00,675
It's not only for you and I here
and now it's also for eternity.

607
00:28:00,675 --> 00:28:04,725
Revelation 21, the whole purpose of God
sending Jesus to live and die in his

608
00:28:04,725 --> 00:28:07,845
places so that we could be his people
and we could dwell again with God.

609
00:28:08,205 --> 00:28:09,794
This is the whole mo of God.

610
00:28:09,825 --> 00:28:12,675
He's trying to bring his people
back together to let us dwell

611
00:28:12,675 --> 00:28:15,195
in his presence, to be with Him,
to love Him, to worship him.

612
00:28:17,385 --> 00:28:20,235
This is, uh, this is it, gentlemen.

613
00:28:21,254 --> 00:28:24,254
There was a book I read years ago
called Practicing the Presence of God.

614
00:28:24,345 --> 00:28:25,274
It was by Brother Lawrence.

615
00:28:25,274 --> 00:28:29,415
He was a monk and the whole book was
him demonstrating the practice of

616
00:28:29,625 --> 00:28:31,125
being with God throughout the day.

617
00:28:31,695 --> 00:28:34,304
He was writing letters to a friend
and that that friend collected

618
00:28:34,304 --> 00:28:35,445
the letters, put it in a book.

619
00:28:35,774 --> 00:28:37,034
Um, I'm not even sure
if that's his real name.

620
00:28:37,725 --> 00:28:38,475
Uh, it doesn't matter.

621
00:28:38,475 --> 00:28:39,195
It's an old book.

622
00:28:39,254 --> 00:28:42,195
The point of the book, though was
to show how brother Lawrence a

623
00:28:42,195 --> 00:28:45,675
monk, would practice washing the
dishes and talking to the Lord.

624
00:28:45,675 --> 00:28:46,425
It was just his thing.

625
00:28:46,425 --> 00:28:49,425
He would go about his whole
day interacting with the Lord,

626
00:28:49,425 --> 00:28:51,945
conversing with them because he
wanted to practice God's presence.

627
00:28:51,945 --> 00:28:53,385
It was the whole purpose of the book.

628
00:28:53,985 --> 00:28:56,565
As he did this, he noticed that
things in his heart began to change.

629
00:28:56,565 --> 00:28:57,885
He would see sin more easily.

630
00:28:57,885 --> 00:29:00,375
He had practiced faith more
readily, and, and that, that's

631
00:29:00,375 --> 00:29:01,725
gonna be the same for all of us.

632
00:29:02,235 --> 00:29:05,805
The more we can become mentally engaged
with what God is doing in our lives,

633
00:29:06,045 --> 00:29:07,425
interacting with him throughout the day.

634
00:29:07,425 --> 00:29:09,705
And I think this is what Paul means
when he says praying without ceasing.

635
00:29:10,215 --> 00:29:14,145
The more we will notice sin, the more
readily we'll be able to identify sin,

636
00:29:14,145 --> 00:29:17,415
tackle sin, deal with sin, and the
more readily our faith will be stoked.

637
00:29:18,855 --> 00:29:22,185
Think about the kind of comfort you
get from knowing that somebody's

638
00:29:22,185 --> 00:29:24,015
watching in a good way, I suppose.

639
00:29:24,315 --> 00:29:26,685
Um, there's a, there's a bad way
when someone's watching someone.

640
00:29:26,715 --> 00:29:28,365
You're looking over your shoulder,
like, who's looking at me?

641
00:29:30,135 --> 00:29:31,245
When you get an alarm system.

642
00:29:32,510 --> 00:29:34,905
Uh, they're not selling
you the equipment per se.

643
00:29:34,995 --> 00:29:37,755
Uh, the equipment is part of the
package, but they're selling you the

644
00:29:37,755 --> 00:29:40,185
security of their ongoing presence.

645
00:29:40,605 --> 00:29:42,285
If something goes wrong,
you hit the button.

646
00:29:42,315 --> 00:29:44,415
Fire department's there, something
goes wrong, you hit the button.

647
00:29:44,415 --> 00:29:47,955
Police department's there, they're
giving you, uh, they're, they're selling

648
00:29:47,955 --> 00:29:50,265
you the security of their presence.

649
00:29:50,265 --> 00:29:50,865
They're with you.

650
00:29:50,865 --> 00:29:52,305
They're, they're gonna watch over you.

651
00:29:52,305 --> 00:29:54,975
If you're gone from the house, doesn't
matter they're watching your house.

652
00:29:55,245 --> 00:29:57,285
If they, if a smoke detector
goes off, don't worry.

653
00:29:57,285 --> 00:29:58,725
They're gonna send the fire department.

654
00:29:58,725 --> 00:29:59,805
They're watching over your house.

655
00:29:59,805 --> 00:30:00,650
They're watching over your interests.

656
00:30:01,905 --> 00:30:05,325
This is why having God's security is,
is even better because he says, I'm

657
00:30:05,325 --> 00:30:07,035
not just gonna watch over your house.

658
00:30:07,035 --> 00:30:08,145
I'm with you.

659
00:30:08,835 --> 00:30:11,625
It's one thing to say, I have a
police officer showing up to my house.

660
00:30:11,625 --> 00:30:12,945
I have a firefighter
showing up to my house.

661
00:30:12,945 --> 00:30:16,575
It's a whole other say, yeah, they
live at my house, they're with me.

662
00:30:16,785 --> 00:30:19,365
If anything happens, I got
police officer Bob right here,

663
00:30:19,365 --> 00:30:20,505
he's gonna take things down.

664
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,075
Or, or if, if my house catches on fire,
I've got firefighter Dave on this side,

665
00:30:24,075 --> 00:30:26,565
he's gonna go and put the fire up that
that's a whole different ball game.

666
00:30:27,255 --> 00:30:29,265
God says, I'm not just gonna
watch over your interest.

667
00:30:29,265 --> 00:30:30,285
I am with you.

668
00:30:31,470 --> 00:30:35,010
And if you thought about this, found a
way to put this in your day and think

669
00:30:35,010 --> 00:30:38,280
about God's nearness, this would change
the way that you go about your time.

670
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:41,790
When someone offends you and someone
cuts you off, you're not gonna

671
00:30:41,790 --> 00:30:43,290
be as quick to jump the handle.

672
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,380
You'll go to the Lord and say,
Lord, help control my patience here.

673
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:47,490
Give me patience.

674
00:30:47,490 --> 00:30:48,060
I'm upset.

675
00:30:48,060 --> 00:30:48,990
I'm not happy about that.

676
00:30:48,990 --> 00:30:50,790
But thank you for keeping me safe, Lord.

677
00:30:50,790 --> 00:30:52,455
Give me awareness of what
you're doing in my life.

678
00:30:53,205 --> 00:30:55,875
When my kid mouths off to me or
when I, I find something at work

679
00:30:55,875 --> 00:30:58,965
that makes me angry, Lord, help
me to respond appropriately.

680
00:30:59,145 --> 00:31:00,975
God, give me grace for this guy.

681
00:31:01,365 --> 00:31:02,745
Help me to love my daughter.

682
00:31:02,745 --> 00:31:06,405
Well, help me to be patient with my wife
when she's saying things that I know.

683
00:31:06,405 --> 00:31:08,475
Ah, I just don't make you
the way she talks about that.

684
00:31:08,745 --> 00:31:11,774
Give me patience with my wife, Lord,
or Lord, help me to be bold in this

685
00:31:11,774 --> 00:31:13,245
situation and know you're with me.

686
00:31:13,245 --> 00:31:15,045
Father, give me grace to love this man.

687
00:31:15,195 --> 00:31:16,995
Help me open my mouth to the gospel, Lord.

688
00:31:17,669 --> 00:31:20,490
Pastor Peacha just last night was
talking to a, a group of our leaders

689
00:31:20,490 --> 00:31:23,789
saying, look, talking about the gospel
is hard, but it doesn't have to be.

690
00:31:24,510 --> 00:31:27,570
In fact, one of the things that he said
is that you could be praying as you're

691
00:31:27,570 --> 00:31:30,990
talking to the person, and that's what
believing God's presence is all about.

692
00:31:30,990 --> 00:31:35,280
I know that you're with me, Lord, help
me to talk to this man and share Christ

693
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,830
openly and without fear, without regret.

694
00:31:37,834 --> 00:31:39,870
Let me just be bold about your business.

695
00:31:40,379 --> 00:31:43,470
This is what it is to practice or
to believe rather God's presence

696
00:31:44,490 --> 00:31:45,899
if we believe that he's with us.

697
00:31:47,294 --> 00:31:48,345
If we believe that he's with us.

698
00:31:48,345 --> 00:31:52,994
This gives us such a leg up
against fear and that the, the,

699
00:31:52,994 --> 00:31:55,215
the way that he's with us, I want
you to think about this with me.

700
00:31:56,954 --> 00:31:59,595
A security system sees the
generalities of your life.

701
00:31:59,595 --> 00:32:02,115
In fact, they can gather a lot
of data about you, you know, your

702
00:32:02,115 --> 00:32:03,675
comings or goings, all those things.

703
00:32:04,305 --> 00:32:06,524
Um, and, and that's a bit
upsetting for some of us.

704
00:32:06,555 --> 00:32:09,794
Some of us are, are well aware that
our devices can record us audio.

705
00:32:09,794 --> 00:32:13,664
You know, you got video streaming all over
the world now you can, our ring devices

706
00:32:13,664 --> 00:32:18,195
are being used by different groups of
the, uh, of, of government organizations

707
00:32:18,195 --> 00:32:19,215
that have three letters in them.

708
00:32:19,365 --> 00:32:21,015
And they could do that without asking us.

709
00:32:21,075 --> 00:32:23,445
They just take it and
rings like, go for it.

710
00:32:23,450 --> 00:32:24,735
Have, have all the information.

711
00:32:25,095 --> 00:32:26,955
You can find your dog mail
because of your ring cam.

712
00:32:27,914 --> 00:32:28,934
That's unsettling for us.

713
00:32:28,934 --> 00:32:32,175
When people have that kind of
access, we, we, we don't like that.

714
00:32:32,985 --> 00:32:36,135
But God has that kind
of access and far more.

715
00:32:36,555 --> 00:32:39,465
When God, when I say God's with you,
and you ought believe God's presence.

716
00:32:39,584 --> 00:32:41,204
It's not abstractly with you.

717
00:32:41,204 --> 00:32:43,454
He is with you down to the dirty details.

718
00:32:43,575 --> 00:32:46,754
In fact, Jesus says to his disciples,
he says, look, I don't want you to fear.

719
00:32:47,235 --> 00:32:50,715
I don't want you to fear
because your father knows how

720
00:32:50,715 --> 00:32:52,124
many hairs are on your head.

721
00:32:53,414 --> 00:32:58,695
When a hair falls off of your noggin and
male pattern, balding starts God's aware.

722
00:32:58,695 --> 00:33:00,655
He knows how many numbers
of hairs you have.

723
00:33:01,530 --> 00:33:02,369
Which is fascinating.

724
00:33:02,550 --> 00:33:04,139
He mentions the hair on the head.

725
00:33:04,379 --> 00:33:07,289
But as we've mentioned before,
pastor p and I have talked about

726
00:33:07,289 --> 00:33:10,439
this before, sometimes the, the
Bible will use a literary device

727
00:33:10,439 --> 00:33:11,939
where the part refers to the whole.

728
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:16,110
So he knows the number of hair on, uh,
numbers of hair on your head, but he knows

729
00:33:16,110 --> 00:33:17,999
about all the hairs, is the implication.

730
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:20,550
All of your, all of your
body hair, God's aware of.

731
00:33:21,345 --> 00:33:23,475
Which, if you wanna get down to the
details and if there's, you know, hundreds

732
00:33:23,475 --> 00:33:26,564
of thousands of hairs on your head,
we could just talk about eyelashes and

733
00:33:26,564 --> 00:33:29,745
arm hair and armpit hair and leg hair.

734
00:33:29,834 --> 00:33:31,845
You got toe hair, you got belly hair.

735
00:33:31,965 --> 00:33:34,965
All the hair, God knows about that hair.

736
00:33:36,825 --> 00:33:38,265
Let that wash on you for a second.

737
00:33:38,265 --> 00:33:43,725
Let me just ob obscenely detailed
information and it gets even better

738
00:33:43,785 --> 00:33:46,875
because in Psalm 1 39, God talks
to David and says, look, I from

739
00:33:46,875 --> 00:33:48,375
your womb, I knit you together.

740
00:33:49,095 --> 00:33:54,045
We now have technology that can observe
the, the happenings inside a mother's womb

741
00:33:54,045 --> 00:33:56,025
as that baby's being assembled by God.

742
00:33:56,685 --> 00:33:59,715
And those, those details
are down to the minutia.

743
00:33:59,925 --> 00:34:02,955
God knows things about you that
you'll never know about yourself.

744
00:34:03,525 --> 00:34:05,775
And God chooses to know these things.

745
00:34:06,075 --> 00:34:07,725
He chooses to know intimately.

746
00:34:07,725 --> 00:34:09,495
This is not a knowing of abstraction.

747
00:34:09,495 --> 00:34:10,844
This is a knowing of relation.

748
00:34:11,279 --> 00:34:13,529
God knows things about you
because he cares about you.

749
00:34:13,679 --> 00:34:16,438
This is why we ought to
believe his presence and trust

750
00:34:16,438 --> 00:34:17,849
that his presence is good.

751
00:34:17,879 --> 00:34:20,699
It's detailed and it's for us in Christ.

752
00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,839
And if I believe in his presence,
that will change the way that I pursue

753
00:34:25,018 --> 00:34:27,359
fearful things, uh, sharing the gospel.

754
00:34:27,418 --> 00:34:31,109
It will change how much I pray if
I believe God is listening into me.

755
00:34:31,109 --> 00:34:33,989
Even now, I could be praying in
my head as I'm talking to you,

756
00:34:34,978 --> 00:34:36,119
and on occasion I do do that.

757
00:34:38,775 --> 00:34:42,225
His presence guarantees that we
pursue the right things, that

758
00:34:42,375 --> 00:34:43,844
we have strength and courage.

759
00:34:43,844 --> 00:34:44,685
God is with us.

760
00:34:44,714 --> 00:34:45,554
He's holding our hand.

761
00:34:45,554 --> 00:34:46,514
He's empowering us.

762
00:34:46,545 --> 00:34:48,735
He's not just with us side by side.

763
00:34:48,735 --> 00:34:52,364
He's with us On the inside,
God is for you and with you.

764
00:34:52,455 --> 00:34:55,245
And what we see in Joshua's life is
that this for him meant everything.

765
00:34:55,995 --> 00:34:59,025
He might remember Moses
begging, God, please go with us.

766
00:34:59,025 --> 00:34:59,775
If you won't go with us.

767
00:34:59,775 --> 00:35:00,435
I don't want to go.

768
00:35:01,245 --> 00:35:04,485
And I'm sure Joshua felt much the same
way as he stepped into Moses' role.

769
00:35:04,875 --> 00:35:07,130
Joshua's comfort was that
God was with him as well.

770
00:35:11,159 --> 00:35:12,149
How long have I been preaching?

771
00:35:13,529 --> 00:35:14,220
A long time.

772
00:35:14,819 --> 00:35:15,179
Okay.

773
00:35:16,139 --> 00:35:17,970
The third point really is
my most important point.

774
00:35:18,029 --> 00:35:19,169
Let's go to verses seven through nine.

775
00:35:25,829 --> 00:35:28,559
Notice again, this is still
God talking to Joshua.

776
00:35:28,559 --> 00:35:31,019
This is God directly giving
revelation to Joshua.

777
00:35:31,019 --> 00:35:33,119
Here's what God says to Joshua.

778
00:35:33,119 --> 00:35:34,470
Notes for the second time.

779
00:35:35,970 --> 00:35:38,759
Only be strong and very courageous.

780
00:35:38,820 --> 00:35:44,040
He needed to hear it demise, being
careful to do according to all that

781
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:50,040
the law of Moses, my servant, commanded
you, do not turn from it to the right

782
00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:54,540
hand or to the left, that you may
have good success wherever you go.

783
00:35:55,500 --> 00:35:59,430
This book of the law shall not
depart from your mouth, but you

784
00:35:59,430 --> 00:36:02,340
shall meditate on it day and night.

785
00:36:02,924 --> 00:36:06,674
So that you may be careful to do
according to all that is written in it

786
00:36:07,365 --> 00:36:11,984
for then you'll make your way prosperous
and then you will have good success.

787
00:36:11,984 --> 00:36:13,274
Have I not commanded you?

788
00:36:13,754 --> 00:36:14,834
Be strong and courageous.

789
00:36:14,834 --> 00:36:15,464
That's three times.

790
00:36:15,464 --> 00:36:18,914
If you were counting, do not be
frightened, which is another way

791
00:36:18,914 --> 00:36:20,354
to say, be strong and courageous.

792
00:36:20,684 --> 00:36:21,674
Do not be dismayed.

793
00:36:21,674 --> 00:36:24,524
Another way to say, be strong
and courageous for the Lord, your

794
00:36:24,524 --> 00:36:26,414
God is with you wherever you go.

795
00:36:26,414 --> 00:36:28,034
There's the underlying,
again, I'm with you.

796
00:36:29,580 --> 00:36:32,069
There's two, there's another word there
that I wanted to highlight to you just

797
00:36:32,069 --> 00:36:36,270
because it's, it's, it's also repeated and
it's in the, the middle of verse seven.

798
00:36:36,270 --> 00:36:38,879
Be strong and courageous, being careful.

799
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:44,069
Verse eight, you'll meditate on this day
and night so that you may be careful.

800
00:36:44,730 --> 00:36:46,740
I think that's a really good
place for us to be careful.

801
00:36:46,740 --> 00:36:47,430
He mentions it twice.

802
00:36:47,430 --> 00:36:48,629
Let's, let's start with that word here.

803
00:36:48,629 --> 00:36:51,420
Let's front load that to our third
point, and let's say it this way,

804
00:36:51,420 --> 00:36:52,859
let's carefully obey God's word.

805
00:36:53,639 --> 00:36:54,779
Carefully obey God's word.

806
00:36:55,049 --> 00:37:00,029
God expected Joshua to obey the
word carefully, um, to to do so by

807
00:37:00,029 --> 00:37:02,609
meditation, by speaking it out loud.

808
00:37:02,879 --> 00:37:06,539
He gave him the, the goal of saying, look,
dude, you're gonna, you're gonna do well.

809
00:37:06,599 --> 00:37:09,659
When my word is just
pouring out of your veins.

810
00:37:09,899 --> 00:37:13,919
When you're thinking about my word, day
and night, and you're speaking my word,

811
00:37:13,919 --> 00:37:17,729
day and night, when you're doing that,
you're gonna be prosperous and successful.

812
00:37:18,300 --> 00:37:22,230
We have to define those words to be in
the context of how God spoke to Joshua.

813
00:37:22,230 --> 00:37:24,660
Prosperous and successful doesn't
mean massive bank account.

814
00:37:25,050 --> 00:37:27,720
It meant that he was gonna be
successful in what God gave him to

815
00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:29,430
do, the mission that he gave him.

816
00:37:29,820 --> 00:37:31,920
So carefully obeying God's word.

817
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:34,950
Think about the word careful.

818
00:37:35,310 --> 00:37:37,020
Uh, you could take careful
in two different ways.

819
00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:38,730
Uh, think about holding a newborn baby.

820
00:37:39,060 --> 00:37:40,110
Maybe your newborn baby.

821
00:37:40,110 --> 00:37:41,730
You see your, your, your firstborn.

822
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,800
You, you, you hold them gently.

823
00:37:44,430 --> 00:37:48,330
You, it's almost like you're holding
something so tender and so vulnerable

824
00:37:48,330 --> 00:37:52,740
that you, you, you hold him or her,
uh, with a kind of tenderness that I

825
00:37:52,740 --> 00:37:55,049
think I, I've rarely ever seen in a man.

826
00:37:55,109 --> 00:37:59,160
Besides those times, a, a man's
tenderness heightened when he is holding

827
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:01,169
his newborn or someone else's newborn.

828
00:38:01,470 --> 00:38:01,859
I hope

829
00:38:04,450 --> 00:38:07,529
there's a, a carefulness
because of vulnerability.

830
00:38:07,769 --> 00:38:09,720
That little, that little
baby is so vulnerable.

831
00:38:10,125 --> 00:38:12,825
Um, you gotta be sure that
you're holding him just right.

832
00:38:12,825 --> 00:38:15,975
His neck is held just right so that
it doesn't wobble all over the place.

833
00:38:16,245 --> 00:38:18,435
You wanna make sure that when
you're nestling him into your arm

834
00:38:18,435 --> 00:38:20,745
that you're not cutting off his
air supply, so you make sure you're

835
00:38:20,955 --> 00:38:22,365
holding him tenderly and gently.

836
00:38:22,995 --> 00:38:24,464
That's one kind of carefulness.

837
00:38:24,555 --> 00:38:26,984
Another kind of carefulness
is when you're cleaning a gun.

838
00:38:27,930 --> 00:38:28,830
Maybe it's not even your gun.

839
00:38:28,860 --> 00:38:30,390
There's a carefulness there as well.

840
00:38:30,690 --> 00:38:34,020
You're checking the chamber, you're,
you're making sure that you're not, you're

841
00:38:34,020 --> 00:38:36,270
not pointing it at somebody or something.

842
00:38:36,270 --> 00:38:39,630
You're, you're holding it with a kind
of carefulness that designates respect.

843
00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:40,050
Why?

844
00:38:40,050 --> 00:38:43,110
Well, 'cause there's the carefulness
that is required because of danger.

845
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:44,940
There's carefulness from danger.

846
00:38:44,940 --> 00:38:46,590
There's carefulness from vulnerability.

847
00:38:46,710 --> 00:38:49,230
Which one are we talking about
when it comes to the word of God?

848
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:50,820
I'm gonna say I think both are in view.

849
00:38:51,359 --> 00:38:54,750
There's a carefulness of vulnerability
because the word of God is vulnerable

850
00:38:54,899 --> 00:38:56,910
to misinterpretation and misapplication.

851
00:38:57,149 --> 00:39:00,600
That's what most churches do
to, to grow their churches.

852
00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,720
They're gonna take the word of God
and subtly manipulate it to make

853
00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:04,920
it say what they want it to say.

854
00:39:05,129 --> 00:39:05,940
Oh, you wanna be rich.

855
00:39:05,940 --> 00:39:07,049
Well, God wants you to be rich.

856
00:39:07,259 --> 00:39:08,910
Oh, you want, you want
to live your own life.

857
00:39:08,910 --> 00:39:10,080
Well, God wants you to live your own life.

858
00:39:10,415 --> 00:39:12,270
Oh, you wanna change, uh, or gender?

859
00:39:12,270 --> 00:39:14,250
Oh, God wants you to change your gender,
wants you to be true to yourself.

860
00:39:14,250 --> 00:39:14,790
Those kinds of things.

861
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:17,400
The Bible is vulnerable to twisting.

862
00:39:17,940 --> 00:39:22,140
Uh, but the Bible is also like a
sword or like a gun, dangerous.

863
00:39:22,470 --> 00:39:25,800
If it's pointed the wrong direction,
it can mortally wound somebody.

864
00:39:26,279 --> 00:39:30,330
And so we wanna be the kind of people
who treat the word of God carefully, and

865
00:39:30,330 --> 00:39:32,670
that means taking time to spend with it.

866
00:39:33,419 --> 00:39:37,470
I've got 1, 2, 3, 3, 3 subpoints, and I'm
carefully obey God's with three subpoint.

867
00:39:37,470 --> 00:39:41,189
And I'm gonna be quick because I
have more than what I have time for.

868
00:39:41,999 --> 00:39:42,240
Okay.

869
00:39:42,270 --> 00:39:43,350
Carefully obey God's word.

870
00:39:43,620 --> 00:39:45,450
Uh, first of all, we're gonna
do that comprehensively.

871
00:39:45,689 --> 00:39:50,640
Uh, notice what he says here to, to, uh,
he says to Joshua, he says, I want you to

872
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:55,259
be careful to do according to all that the
law of Moses, my servant commanded you.

873
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:56,400
All of it.

874
00:39:57,060 --> 00:39:58,500
Careful means comprehensive.

875
00:39:58,500 --> 00:40:01,770
Then we have to be the kind of
men who say, I'm not gonna skip

876
00:40:01,830 --> 00:40:03,299
Leviticus 'cause it's a hard book.

877
00:40:03,750 --> 00:40:05,970
I'm not gonna skip numbers
because of the census data.

878
00:40:06,180 --> 00:40:07,980
I'm not gonna skip these books
that I think are at least

879
00:40:07,980 --> 00:40:08,970
not immediately relevant.

880
00:40:08,970 --> 00:40:10,410
I gotta be comprehensive in my approach.

881
00:40:10,410 --> 00:40:12,450
This is what God commanded Joshua to do.

882
00:40:12,540 --> 00:40:15,480
His faithfulness would depend upon
him being comprehensive with the

883
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:16,710
people that he was charged to lead.

884
00:40:16,860 --> 00:40:18,299
So it's not gonna be different for us.

885
00:40:18,330 --> 00:40:22,950
Two Timothy three 16, all scripture is
breathed out by God and it's profitable.

886
00:40:23,069 --> 00:40:23,970
It's good for us.

887
00:40:24,210 --> 00:40:27,750
We gotta be the kind of men who take
all of the word of God, the whole Bible.

888
00:40:28,290 --> 00:40:31,140
If you're not reading the Bible with us
every year, please let me just encourage

889
00:40:31,140 --> 00:40:33,630
you to do that with us, for your sake.

890
00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,779
We're not trying to po uh, trying
to pat our podcast numbers.

891
00:40:37,350 --> 00:40:39,299
We're trying to do that to help
encourage you to get in the word.

892
00:40:39,779 --> 00:40:43,620
If we can get you in the habit of
being in your Bible so much that

893
00:40:43,620 --> 00:40:46,620
it's in your head and your heart and
you're speaking it regularly, success.

894
00:40:47,700 --> 00:40:51,390
Comprehensive, carefully obeying
God's word will also mean not only

895
00:40:51,390 --> 00:40:53,190
comprehensively, but resolutely.

896
00:40:53,339 --> 00:40:55,710
He tells Joshua, don't turn to the left.

897
00:40:55,710 --> 00:40:56,819
Don't turn to the right.

898
00:40:56,940 --> 00:40:59,250
Stay in the center of my will.

899
00:40:59,339 --> 00:41:01,049
Stay in the center of my word.

900
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:02,730
No, lefty righty, kind of thing.

901
00:41:02,759 --> 00:41:05,370
And we're not talking about
political organizations obviously.

902
00:41:05,419 --> 00:41:07,549
Although you might be able
to see some parallels there.

903
00:41:07,759 --> 00:41:11,180
What he's telling Joshua is that he
has to stay in a straight line of

904
00:41:11,180 --> 00:41:15,379
obedience rather than zigzagging between
competing voices or cultural pressures.

905
00:41:15,859 --> 00:41:19,430
And because he's going into Canaan
territory, Canaanite territory,

906
00:41:19,609 --> 00:41:21,019
there's unbelievers, they're all over.

907
00:41:21,499 --> 00:41:23,569
And in fact, one of the dangers
for Israel is that they would

908
00:41:23,569 --> 00:41:25,129
intermarry in what would happen?

909
00:41:25,369 --> 00:41:28,129
Well, they would dilute their
resoluteness to the Lord.

910
00:41:28,129 --> 00:41:28,970
They would swerve.

911
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:32,370
Joshua, as he closes out his book,
he's gonna say to the people of

912
00:41:32,370 --> 00:41:34,410
Israel, look, you do what you wanna do.

913
00:41:34,529 --> 00:41:35,970
You can serve the gods of the Amorites.

914
00:41:35,970 --> 00:41:39,810
He doesn't want 'em to do that, but he
says, but as for me and my house, as for

915
00:41:39,810 --> 00:41:42,150
me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

916
00:41:42,570 --> 00:41:44,009
We will be faithful to Yahweh.

917
00:41:44,700 --> 00:41:47,279
You do what you do, but
we're gonna serve the Lord.

918
00:41:47,759 --> 00:41:47,940
Man.

919
00:41:47,940 --> 00:41:49,590
That ought to be your
battle cry, gentlemen.

920
00:41:50,759 --> 00:41:54,029
You may not have a family house yet, but
you do have a your own house to deal with.

921
00:41:54,390 --> 00:41:55,680
As for me and my house,
we're gonna serve the Lord.

922
00:41:56,504 --> 00:41:57,134
And what that means.

923
00:41:57,314 --> 00:42:00,524
We can, we can, we as Christians, we
wave that flag proudly, we should, but

924
00:42:00,524 --> 00:42:04,484
it means that we're gonna look at all of
scripture and let all of scripture speak

925
00:42:04,484 --> 00:42:07,515
to us submitting to biblical authority.

926
00:42:08,205 --> 00:42:11,055
Which by the way, tangentially
biblical authority doesn't always

927
00:42:11,055 --> 00:42:14,654
mean adhering to my interpretation.

928
00:42:15,105 --> 00:42:16,814
It means submitting to what God tells me.

929
00:42:17,294 --> 00:42:19,964
And that sometimes is gonna challenge
me as, as a growing up charismatic.

930
00:42:20,685 --> 00:42:21,015
Um.

931
00:42:21,585 --> 00:42:22,425
That was the church I knew.

932
00:42:22,935 --> 00:42:24,765
Uh, female pastor, no problem with that.

933
00:42:24,825 --> 00:42:25,635
Like that does that.

934
00:42:25,670 --> 00:42:27,465
I I was married by a female pastor.

935
00:42:28,005 --> 00:42:30,495
Um, I had no problem with these
speaking in tongues prophesying.

936
00:42:30,495 --> 00:42:31,425
I mean, that was just my world.

937
00:42:31,425 --> 00:42:32,655
I was totally okay with that.

938
00:42:33,045 --> 00:42:36,135
It wasn't until I started reading
God's word comprehensively that

939
00:42:36,135 --> 00:42:38,145
things began to subtly shift for me.

940
00:42:38,805 --> 00:42:41,355
When God opened my eyes to some
of the things that were happening

941
00:42:41,355 --> 00:42:44,445
that I, I think now I'm convinced
of, were not a biblical expression.

942
00:42:44,865 --> 00:42:46,605
I began to say, I need to change this.

943
00:42:46,995 --> 00:42:48,315
I can't, I can't be part of this anymore.

944
00:42:48,315 --> 00:42:49,935
I still love all of those people.

945
00:42:49,935 --> 00:42:50,985
I keep in touch with many of them.

946
00:42:51,645 --> 00:42:54,105
Uh, but they know, and I know
we're on different pages now.

947
00:42:55,845 --> 00:42:58,904
Part of it is then being resolute to
say whatever the word says, I want to,

948
00:42:58,904 --> 00:43:02,535
I wanna go with that, whatever that
says, even if it's uncomfortable for me.

949
00:43:03,015 --> 00:43:03,734
And there's lots of things.

950
00:43:03,734 --> 00:43:06,165
If you're reading the Bible with us,
we're, we're, we're encountering a lot

951
00:43:06,165 --> 00:43:07,875
of uncomfortable things in the Bible.

952
00:43:08,325 --> 00:43:11,475
I take a little bit of comfort in that
because that tells me I'm reading God's

953
00:43:11,475 --> 00:43:13,305
word and I'm not importing me into it.

954
00:43:14,024 --> 00:43:16,455
If my God never agrees with
me, it's because I'm the God.

955
00:43:17,205 --> 00:43:18,915
I, I'm reading myself into scripture.

956
00:43:19,605 --> 00:43:22,485
Uh, but if God disagrees with me
and tells me how things are supposed

957
00:43:22,485 --> 00:43:24,645
to be, and I think it's supposed
to be another way, I know, great.

958
00:43:24,645 --> 00:43:27,915
I'm feeling the pressure to
change my perspective because

959
00:43:27,915 --> 00:43:33,345
God is different than I think
comprehensively, resolutely finally,

960
00:43:33,435 --> 00:43:37,065
meditatively, uh, carefully obeying
God's word means I'm comprehensive.

961
00:43:37,095 --> 00:43:38,745
I'm resolute and I'm meditating upon it.

962
00:43:38,745 --> 00:43:39,884
This is what God tells Joshua.

963
00:43:40,154 --> 00:43:41,475
I want you to meditate on it.

964
00:43:41,805 --> 00:43:43,154
That's how you're gonna
be successful, gentlemen.

965
00:43:43,154 --> 00:43:44,895
That's how you're gonna be successful
and, and the Christian life.

966
00:43:45,330 --> 00:43:48,450
Meditating on God's word, that means
carefully considering thinking,

967
00:43:48,630 --> 00:43:50,100
rolling it over in your head.

968
00:43:50,130 --> 00:43:52,620
You're taking a shower, you're thinking
about what you just read that morning.

969
00:43:52,860 --> 00:43:53,940
You're driving on the way to work.

970
00:43:53,940 --> 00:43:56,280
You're taking time to think about
what God's word says and what

971
00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:57,360
it means and how to apply it.

972
00:43:59,850 --> 00:44:02,160
Comprehensive, resolute, meditative,

973
00:44:04,615 --> 00:44:10,140
being strong and courageous will
come from our ability to our

974
00:44:10,140 --> 00:44:12,085
settled conviction that God is.

975
00:44:14,115 --> 00:44:19,275
God has made promises and he's given
us his presence, and those things are

976
00:44:19,275 --> 00:44:23,625
never gonna change when we believe that
that gives us the, the temerity to be

977
00:44:23,625 --> 00:44:27,465
resolved and that allows us to grow in our
love for him, to serve our families, to

978
00:44:27,465 --> 00:44:29,145
make bold moves for the sake of Christ.

979
00:44:29,384 --> 00:44:32,410
Not reckless moves I should mention,
but bold moves, uh, faithfully serving

980
00:44:32,685 --> 00:44:34,065
God, doing what he calls us to do.

981
00:44:35,775 --> 00:44:38,445
My heart for our, our men in the
church is that we would be a church

982
00:44:38,450 --> 00:44:39,825
of, of strong men who, who do this.

983
00:44:40,379 --> 00:44:42,359
This is this, don't, don't
overcomplicate the sermon.

984
00:44:42,359 --> 00:44:43,350
You're not conquering territory.

985
00:44:43,350 --> 00:44:43,799
I get that.

986
00:44:44,309 --> 00:44:46,680
But you are conquering your own flesh.

987
00:44:47,039 --> 00:44:49,769
And in many respects there's a,
that's, that can be a lot more

988
00:44:49,769 --> 00:44:51,569
challenging 'cause you never escape you.

989
00:44:51,779 --> 00:44:52,919
You're with you all the day.

990
00:44:53,729 --> 00:44:56,850
Your strength and courage that
needs to be pointed at crucifying

991
00:44:56,850 --> 00:45:01,019
your own sin and living rightly
before the Lord, that could mean you

992
00:45:01,019 --> 00:45:02,220
dealing with your anger this year.

993
00:45:02,610 --> 00:45:06,060
Maybe you're a short-tempered man, and,
and you, you just kinda let it fly.

994
00:45:06,065 --> 00:45:08,340
You, you justify it because you
say, well, you know, people,

995
00:45:08,340 --> 00:45:09,330
do people do the right thing?

996
00:45:09,330 --> 00:45:11,670
I'm just, it's a, it's
constructive righteousness.

997
00:45:11,700 --> 00:45:14,190
Maybe, maybe you should ask
your family about that and see

998
00:45:14,190 --> 00:45:15,240
how they feel about your anger.

999
00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:18,990
Maybe you've been dealing with lust
and this is the year the Lord wants

1000
00:45:18,990 --> 00:45:22,500
you to finally, these, kill this
thing, confess it to your brothers.

1001
00:45:22,890 --> 00:45:23,710
Kill the sin.

1002
00:45:24,435 --> 00:45:27,404
It's pernicious and you've been
dragging your heels and putting

1003
00:45:27,404 --> 00:45:28,575
the accountability software.

1004
00:45:28,575 --> 00:45:29,414
'cause it's embarrassing.

1005
00:45:29,414 --> 00:45:31,935
I don't want people to know,
and I No, you, you gotta kill

1006
00:45:31,935 --> 00:45:33,555
this in, expose it to light.

1007
00:45:33,975 --> 00:45:37,035
That's gonna take strength and courage
that you previously have not exercised.

1008
00:45:37,394 --> 00:45:41,055
But if I believe God's promise that he's
with me, he's for me, and that this is for

1009
00:45:41,055 --> 00:45:46,245
my good, I, I can, I can then take steps
of faith that are albeit humiliating, but

1010
00:45:46,245 --> 00:45:47,475
humbling in the best sense of the word.

1011
00:45:48,044 --> 00:45:50,354
Our strength and our courage comes
from our willingness to submit to

1012
00:45:50,354 --> 00:45:51,180
God's word, whatever that says.

1013
00:45:51,509 --> 00:45:54,540
If we confess our sins, he's faithful
and just to forgive us of our sins,

1014
00:45:54,569 --> 00:45:55,770
cleanses, small unrighteousness.

1015
00:45:56,549 --> 00:45:58,200
That's the kind of strength and
courage we're talking about here.

1016
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:00,959
We're not talking about conquering
Texas or taking on a new con.

1017
00:46:00,959 --> 00:46:02,580
We're not gonna go invade Greenland.

1018
00:46:03,149 --> 00:46:06,270
We're, we're gonna, we're gonna
invade our own sinful flesh.

1019
00:46:06,810 --> 00:46:08,580
We're gonna submit it to the word of God.

1020
00:46:09,390 --> 00:46:11,040
Now we're gonna be strong and courageous.

1021
00:46:11,189 --> 00:46:14,580
Not only for our own sake, we will benefit
from it, but for the sake of the people

1022
00:46:14,580 --> 00:46:18,270
that depend upon us, our church family,
our obviously our biological families, our

1023
00:46:18,270 --> 00:46:20,549
neighbors, our Muslim and Hindu neighbors.

1024
00:46:21,194 --> 00:46:24,705
Our cultural Christian neighbors,
they need us to step up to the plate.

1025
00:46:25,515 --> 00:46:27,165
So I hope that you do,
gentlemen, let's pray.

1026
00:46:27,674 --> 00:46:30,794
God, we do thank you that you've given us
Joshua's life to look at as an example for

1027
00:46:30,794 --> 00:46:38,355
us, or there's a, there's a lot of reasons
why we, we won't act upon these things.

1028
00:46:38,595 --> 00:46:39,884
Some of those are, are fear.

1029
00:46:39,944 --> 00:46:41,565
Uh, we're afraid of the consequences.

1030
00:46:41,565 --> 00:46:43,484
We're afraid of the cost.

1031
00:46:44,055 --> 00:46:45,194
Some of it's laziness.

1032
00:46:45,225 --> 00:46:47,835
We, we just don't wanna put
the effort in your promises.

1033
00:46:47,835 --> 00:46:48,975
Don't motivate us.

1034
00:46:49,274 --> 00:46:49,515
Um.

1035
00:46:50,234 --> 00:46:51,645
We don't think your
promises are that great.

1036
00:46:51,649 --> 00:46:53,325
And, and it's, and that's
a position of ignorance.

1037
00:46:53,325 --> 00:46:54,645
Lord, we, we just don't know.

1038
00:46:56,085 --> 00:46:59,955
Help us as men to confront these
tendencies and the many more that I'm

1039
00:46:59,955 --> 00:47:06,674
not mentioning, and to pursue a new,
with a resolution, living for your

1040
00:47:06,674 --> 00:47:10,845
glory, which will mean Lord, trusting
your promises, trusting your presence,

1041
00:47:10,845 --> 00:47:15,404
that you're with us at 1145 at night,
even when everyone else is asleep.

1042
00:47:15,404 --> 00:47:16,095
You're with us.

1043
00:47:16,500 --> 00:47:18,330
And that you're with us at
three 30 in the morning when

1044
00:47:18,330 --> 00:47:19,290
we're just finishing our shift.

1045
00:47:19,290 --> 00:47:22,799
You're with us when we believe that Lord.

1046
00:47:22,799 --> 00:47:25,290
And when we believe your promises,
you're, you're gonna change us.

1047
00:47:25,319 --> 00:47:26,640
Your Lord gives us this guarantee.

1048
00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:28,980
So help us Lord, to walk in
that truth, to live that out.

1049
00:47:28,980 --> 00:47:33,240
And as a church of men who love you,
help grow us in these things so that we

1050
00:47:33,240 --> 00:47:37,980
might walk in faithfulness, so that we
might walk in fruitfulness for the sake

1051
00:47:37,980 --> 00:47:40,410
of our families, for the sake of our
church, for the sake of our neighbors,

1052
00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:42,629
for the sake of the glory of Christ.

1053
00:47:43,470 --> 00:47:44,970
We ask all these things in his name.

1054
00:47:45,450 --> 00:47:45,720
Amen.