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 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:24,960 Let's turn to Joshua, chapter 10. 10 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,720 If you have your Bibles, turn there with me. 11 00:00:27,230 --> 00:00:32,830 We left off last week looking at Joshua and the people of Israel 12 00:00:33,470 --> 00:00:38,830 making an ill advised decision to make a treaty with the Gibeonites. 13 00:00:39,150 --> 00:00:41,710 Remember, God had told them not to make a treaty with any people 14 00:00:41,710 --> 00:00:42,590 in the land of Canaan. 15 00:00:42,590 --> 00:00:46,270 But because of deception and because of a lack of discernment 16 00:00:46,270 --> 00:00:49,750 and because of the lack of their willingness to go to the Lord 17 00:00:49,750 --> 00:00:56,010 for wisdom, they rushed into a league with really a nation that 18 00:00:56,010 --> 00:00:57,050 they weren't supposed to. 19 00:00:57,210 --> 00:01:00,610 And that led to them having difficulties, but yet there was forgiveness, 20 00:01:00,610 --> 00:01:04,050 and yet there was still an opportunity for them to see God's 21 00:01:04,050 --> 00:01:04,850 hand working through them. 22 00:01:04,850 --> 00:01:10,050 And they do see a victory in that, in the fact that the Gibeonites 23 00:01:10,050 --> 00:01:13,610 are now serving the people of Israel and serving the God of Israel. 24 00:01:14,170 --> 00:01:17,970 But now we come to chapter 10 and, and we've learned a few things 25 00:01:17,970 --> 00:01:20,090 already through the first nine chapters. 26 00:01:20,090 --> 00:01:22,970 One of the things that we've learned is that God made a promise 27 00:01:23,130 --> 00:01:25,650 to Joshua and by extension the people of Israel. 28 00:01:25,650 --> 00:01:27,930 And he says that he would be with them. 29 00:01:27,930 --> 00:01:31,170 He says, he says all the way back in Joshua, chapter one, verse 30 00:01:31,170 --> 00:01:31,370 nine. 31 00:01:31,370 --> 00:01:33,610 I think it's important for us to see this really quickly because 32 00:01:33,850 --> 00:01:36,610 I think that we have to see the whole book of Joshua through 33 00:01:36,610 --> 00:01:40,650 the lens of this promise that was given to Joshua early on. 34 00:01:41,450 --> 00:01:43,850 And, and so he says in, in verse eight. 35 00:01:43,850 --> 00:01:45,130 Let's go to verse number eight. 36 00:01:45,450 --> 00:01:48,570 He says, this book of the law, chapter one, this book of the law 37 00:01:48,570 --> 00:01:51,500 shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate there 38 00:01:51,500 --> 00:01:54,060 in day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to 39 00:01:54,060 --> 00:01:55,220 all that is written therein. 40 00:01:55,380 --> 00:01:58,180 For then thou shalt make that way prosperous, and then thou shalt 41 00:01:58,180 --> 00:01:58,860 have good success. 42 00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:02,900 And he says, so follow my word and you will have success. 43 00:02:03,460 --> 00:02:06,180 He says, don't just know it, even though that's important. 44 00:02:06,420 --> 00:02:08,180 Don't just read it and study it. 45 00:02:08,180 --> 00:02:10,340 But he says, meditate on it and apply it. 46 00:02:10,340 --> 00:02:14,620 Then he says in verse nine, have not I commanded thee, be strong 47 00:02:14,620 --> 00:02:15,700 and of a good courage. 48 00:02:16,190 --> 00:02:19,990 Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is 49 00:02:19,990 --> 00:02:20,470 with thee. 50 00:02:20,470 --> 00:02:21,590 Whithersoever thou goest? 51 00:02:21,590 --> 00:02:22,990 So he says, don't be afraid. 52 00:02:23,150 --> 00:02:24,350 Don't be dismayed. 53 00:02:24,430 --> 00:02:26,310 Have courage, have strength. 54 00:02:26,310 --> 00:02:26,670 Why? 55 00:02:26,750 --> 00:02:27,950 Because I'm with you. 56 00:02:27,950 --> 00:02:32,029 Not because you're strong people, not because you have all 57 00:02:32,029 --> 00:02:34,430 these talents, but because of the presence of God. 58 00:02:34,430 --> 00:02:39,030 And so the reason why we can trust in the promises of God is because 59 00:02:39,030 --> 00:02:42,830 of God's presence and his power and his provisions in our life. 60 00:02:42,830 --> 00:02:47,240 And so God assured Joshua there in chapter one, he says, I'm 61 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:48,680 gonna be there with you through it. 62 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:50,960 He says that in verse number seven, he says that in verse number 63 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:53,960 six, he says, I'm there and I'm with you. 64 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,640 And just as I promised Moses, I am promising you. 65 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:01,160 And so think about that as we read through some of these historical 66 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:02,520 accounts here in Joshua. 67 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,280 Because it would be tempting even for us to go through these struggles 68 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,720 and start to question, start to doubt whether or not God is with 69 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:09,920 us. 70 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:15,740 And so Joshua, chapter 10, it tells us that there's more opposition 71 00:03:15,980 --> 00:03:18,180 to the power of God working through Israel. 72 00:03:18,180 --> 00:03:22,860 And anytime the power of God is leading people, there will be 73 00:03:22,860 --> 00:03:26,180 opposition to those around that are against the truth, that 74 00:03:26,180 --> 00:03:29,740 are against the power of God, that are against the work of God. 75 00:03:29,740 --> 00:03:32,900 And that's what we see happening here in Joshua, chapter 76 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:33,140 10. 77 00:03:33,140 --> 00:03:37,260 Now, my original wish was that we would make it all the way through 78 00:03:37,260 --> 00:03:37,780 this chapter. 79 00:03:37,780 --> 00:03:41,230 But as you may or may not know, there's 43 verses. 80 00:03:41,230 --> 00:03:42,910 And so I don't think we'll make it through this whole chapter 81 00:03:42,910 --> 00:03:43,670 here this evening. 82 00:03:43,990 --> 00:03:47,030 We're going to try to take the rest of the hour to break down as 83 00:03:47,030 --> 00:03:47,950 much as we can. 84 00:03:47,950 --> 00:03:49,670 And I'll try to find a good stopping place. 85 00:03:50,070 --> 00:03:51,510 But here in verse one, it says. 86 00:03:51,510 --> 00:03:55,910 Now, it came to pass when Adonized, king of Jerusalem, had 87 00:03:55,910 --> 00:03:59,830 heard how Joshua had taken AI and had utterly destroyed it. 88 00:03:59,990 --> 00:04:04,150 As he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to AI and 89 00:04:04,150 --> 00:04:04,710 her king. 90 00:04:04,940 --> 00:04:08,060 And how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel 91 00:04:08,060 --> 00:04:11,700 and were among them that they feared greatly. 92 00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:15,260 Because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, 93 00:04:15,260 --> 00:04:19,100 and because it was greater than AI and all the men thereof were 94 00:04:19,100 --> 00:04:19,540 mighty. 95 00:04:19,540 --> 00:04:21,740 So what we see in verses 1 and 2 is this. 96 00:04:21,740 --> 00:04:24,940 There's this king, Adonized king of Jerusalem. 97 00:04:25,420 --> 00:04:28,340 Obviously, at this point in time, the Israelites had not made 98 00:04:28,340 --> 00:04:29,220 it to Jerusalem. 99 00:04:29,220 --> 00:04:32,270 So that there's this king, this pagan king who was there, and 100 00:04:32,270 --> 00:04:35,430 he hears of what God is doing through the Israelites, through their 101 00:04:35,430 --> 00:04:38,710 victory at AI, through their victory at Jericho, and even their 102 00:04:38,710 --> 00:04:41,390 victory over the Gibeonites and the fact that the Gibeonites 103 00:04:41,390 --> 00:04:43,590 are now subjected to the people of Israel. 104 00:04:43,590 --> 00:04:44,830 And so what does he do? 105 00:04:44,830 --> 00:04:46,030 Verse 2, he fears that. 106 00:04:46,030 --> 00:04:47,470 He fears God. 107 00:04:47,710 --> 00:04:49,750 Now, he doesn't fear God in the proper way. 108 00:04:49,750 --> 00:04:52,830 He fears what God would do to him in his rebellion. 109 00:04:52,910 --> 00:04:54,390 That's essentially what we see here. 110 00:04:54,390 --> 00:04:58,690 The king of Jerusalem, this guy was rightly alarmed because he 111 00:04:58,690 --> 00:05:02,250 heard of what was going on in all these powerful cities around 112 00:05:02,250 --> 00:05:02,650 him. 113 00:05:02,970 --> 00:05:05,210 And so he hears that they're utterly destroyed. 114 00:05:05,210 --> 00:05:07,650 And he says, I don't want to be destroyed again. 115 00:05:07,650 --> 00:05:10,690 We know that there's two ways that someone can go when they come 116 00:05:10,690 --> 00:05:11,530 to that realization. 117 00:05:11,930 --> 00:05:13,850 One, I want to be on the side of the Lord. 118 00:05:13,850 --> 00:05:17,290 I want to submit to him, I want to obey Him, I want to have 119 00:05:17,290 --> 00:05:19,690 faith in him, or I want to fight against him. 120 00:05:19,690 --> 00:05:23,130 What we're going to see is that he, along with these pagan nations, 121 00:05:23,130 --> 00:05:24,690 want to fight against God. 122 00:05:24,690 --> 00:05:28,340 So verse three, we wherefore Adoni Zedek, king of Jerusalem, sent 123 00:05:28,340 --> 00:05:33,820 unto Hoham, king of Hebron, and unto Pam, king of Jarmuth, and 124 00:05:33,820 --> 00:05:38,220 unto Jaffia, king of Leish, and unto Deer, king of Eglon, saying, 125 00:05:38,220 --> 00:05:44,420 come up unto me and help me, that we may smite Gibeon, for it 126 00:05:44,420 --> 00:05:48,100 hath made peace with Joshua, with the children of Israel. 127 00:05:48,580 --> 00:05:52,830 And so again, instead of submitting to the powers of the Lord, 128 00:05:52,830 --> 00:05:56,270 the God of Israel, he says, hey, we need to gain a league against 129 00:05:56,590 --> 00:05:57,310 those people. 130 00:05:57,310 --> 00:05:59,630 We need to fight against this God. 131 00:05:59,710 --> 00:06:00,310 Verse 5. 132 00:06:00,310 --> 00:06:03,750 Therefore, the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, 133 00:06:03,750 --> 00:06:06,830 the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Latius, the 134 00:06:06,830 --> 00:06:09,790 king of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went up, 135 00:06:09,950 --> 00:06:13,550 they and all their hosts in a camp before Gibeon, and made war 136 00:06:13,550 --> 00:06:14,350 against it. 137 00:06:15,150 --> 00:06:16,910 And so we see that they attack Gibeon. 138 00:06:16,910 --> 00:06:18,230 Now, what's the significance of that? 139 00:06:18,230 --> 00:06:21,080 Remember now, Gibeon is an ally with is Israel. 140 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:21,240 They. 141 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,960 They made a pact, even though it wasn't a pact that was designed 142 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,960 or organized by God, it was a design by the decisions of Israel, 143 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,160 God blesses the Gibeonites because now they have subjected themselves 144 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:35,520 to the people of Israel, and there was hope there and there was 145 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:36,960 salvation there. 146 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:37,640 So the. 147 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,840 The king here, Adonai Zedek, he's the king of Jerusalem at this 148 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:43,440 point, he calls in all these friends and he says, we're going 149 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:43,840 to fight. 150 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:45,360 We're going to attack Gibeon. 151 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,720 And though they were afraid, obviously that's why they do this. 152 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:48,970 They're afraid. 153 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,600 They try to come up with a plan not to attack Israel directly, 154 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:54,880 because in their minds that that wouldn't be smart. 155 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,040 Obviously, everyone that comes against Israel is failing. 156 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:57,800 So what do they do? 157 00:06:57,800 --> 00:06:59,960 They try to attack Israel's friend. 158 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:02,000 They try to attack the ally of Israel. 159 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,720 And so they don't attack Israel directly. 160 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,720 They attack the subjects, the Gibeonites. 161 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:08,240 And that's sometimes how God works in our life. 162 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:14,360 Sometimes God allows for people to attack us directly. 163 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,000 And we know how to deal with that. 164 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,160 The Bible says that we have the armor of God. 165 00:07:18,410 --> 00:07:19,970 The Bible says that Satan attacks us. 166 00:07:19,970 --> 00:07:22,730 We have the helmet of, of salvation, the sword of the spirit, 167 00:07:22,730 --> 00:07:24,010 the breastplate of righteousness. 168 00:07:24,330 --> 00:07:28,170 But oftentimes God reminds us and lets us know that the enemy doesn't 169 00:07:28,170 --> 00:07:31,530 always attack us directly, but he might attack people that are associated 170 00:07:31,530 --> 00:07:35,250 with us to test us and allow us to make a decision on whether 171 00:07:35,250 --> 00:07:36,570 or not we're going to trust in Him. 172 00:07:36,570 --> 00:07:39,810 And so we're going to see verse number six, that the men of 173 00:07:39,810 --> 00:07:42,330 Gibeon that hear about this attack, what are they going to do? 174 00:07:42,330 --> 00:07:44,170 Well, they're going to come to Joshua and ask for help. 175 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,360 They're going to come to Joshua and say, hey, Joshua, we made 176 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:48,400 a pact with you. 177 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:49,560 We made a deal with you. 178 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:50,520 Are you going to help us? 179 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:50,960 Verse 6. 180 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,840 And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp, to Gilgal. 181 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,640 And that's significant because Gilgal has essentially been the centerpiece 182 00:07:58,640 --> 00:07:59,880 for the armies of Israel. 183 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:01,520 And so it shows the power. 184 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,560 It's an important place for Israel's conquest. 185 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,640 That's where they're centered there at this point. 186 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:10,320 And they say to him, slack not thy hand from thy servants, meaning, 187 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:11,160 don't forget about us. 188 00:08:11,470 --> 00:08:14,590 They'll pull back your power and your God's power with us. 189 00:08:14,830 --> 00:08:18,110 Come up to us quickly and save us and help us. 190 00:08:18,110 --> 00:08:21,510 For all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains 191 00:08:21,510 --> 00:08:23,550 are gathered together against us. 192 00:08:24,510 --> 00:08:28,590 And so they go to Joshua, they go to the army of Israel. 193 00:08:28,590 --> 00:08:32,190 And basically the Gibeonites look to the people of Israel as their 194 00:08:32,190 --> 00:08:32,510 help. 195 00:08:32,590 --> 00:08:35,590 They look to the people of Israel as their protectors and ultimately 196 00:08:35,590 --> 00:08:38,440 the God of Israel as, as their help and their protector. 197 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,400 They weren't too prideful to ask for help. 198 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:43,840 And I think that that's sometimes in our life, one of the 199 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,040 major reasons why we don't go to the Lord and ask him help, ask 200 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,800 him for help or ask him for guidance, or maybe even ask others 201 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,480 for help and guidance is because of our pride, our egos. 202 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:52,760 We. 203 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:58,400 We hold in this innate desire to do things on our own, to figure 204 00:08:58,400 --> 00:08:59,240 it out on our own. 205 00:08:59,240 --> 00:08:59,960 We don't need help. 206 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:03,760 But the Gibeonites recognize that they're beyond their resources 207 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:04,360 at this point. 208 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,000 They need the help of God and his people. 209 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:09,400 And so they say, please help us. 210 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:14,120 They come to Joshua and they ask for the protection of the promise 211 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:14,680 of God. 212 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,760 And we're going to see that Joshua complies. 213 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,040 But let's see here how he responds. 214 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:20,520 Verse 7. 215 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,000 So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of 216 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,640 war with him and all the mighty men of valor. 217 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:28,200 So they take the call. 218 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,440 They say that they're going to help, obviously. 219 00:09:31,170 --> 00:09:35,090 And, and we saw that in Joshua chapter nine, the leaders of Israel 220 00:09:35,090 --> 00:09:38,250 and all the people knew that they had made a bad vow with the 221 00:09:38,250 --> 00:09:41,730 Gibeonites, but they didn't turn back on it because remember, 222 00:09:41,730 --> 00:09:43,170 two wrongs don't make a right. 223 00:09:43,410 --> 00:09:45,610 And so ultimately they say, hey, we're going to do the right 224 00:09:45,610 --> 00:09:47,810 thing and stand by these people that we vowed to. 225 00:09:48,050 --> 00:09:48,610 Verse 8. 226 00:09:48,610 --> 00:09:53,050 And the Lord said unto Joshua, so, so this is the validation that 227 00:09:53,050 --> 00:09:54,610 Joshua is making the right decision. 228 00:09:54,930 --> 00:09:57,410 And, and what we can understand through verse eight, and 229 00:09:57,410 --> 00:09:59,730 I think verse eight is so important in this chapter because 230 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:04,160 if Joshua would have went against the Amorites for the Gibeonites 231 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,320 outside of the will of God, God would have condemned them and 232 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,880 God would have basically allowed them to fall into a place 233 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:13,120 of difficulty away from him. 234 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,240 But what we see in verse 8 is that, and I believe it's an implication 235 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:18,080 that Joshua asked for wisdom. 236 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,160 Because remember before Joshua didn't go to God for wisdom. 237 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,040 He didn't go for, for guidance. 238 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,920 But Here in verse 8 it says, and the Lord said unto Joshua, fear 239 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:27,600 them not. 240 00:10:28,290 --> 00:10:31,570 Again, it's another reminder that when we have the promises and 241 00:10:31,570 --> 00:10:35,450 the power of God in our life and the provisions of God in our 242 00:10:35,450 --> 00:10:38,370 life, and when God is on our side, there's no reason to fear, 243 00:10:38,530 --> 00:10:40,370 no matter how big the enemy looks. 244 00:10:41,010 --> 00:10:44,530 I, I often think about, and one of my favorite stories, probably 245 00:10:44,530 --> 00:10:47,530 all of you to some degree, at some point in your life maybe thought 246 00:10:47,530 --> 00:10:49,410 that your favorite story was David and Goliath. 247 00:10:49,410 --> 00:10:50,290 Maybe it wasn't for you. 248 00:10:50,290 --> 00:10:52,170 For me, that's just a story that I love. 249 00:10:52,170 --> 00:10:52,330 Right. 250 00:10:52,330 --> 00:10:55,250 I always see myself as David going out there and there's this 251 00:10:55,250 --> 00:10:56,050 big giant out there. 252 00:10:56,050 --> 00:10:58,970 And I always, just as a kid, wanted to, to be like David. 253 00:10:59,290 --> 00:11:02,290 And you think about that giant standing across the valley of Elah 254 00:11:02,290 --> 00:11:05,250 and, and all the fear that David could have had. 255 00:11:05,250 --> 00:11:07,970 And think about all the other biblical Characters that could have 256 00:11:07,970 --> 00:11:10,090 had great points in which they could have feared. 257 00:11:10,090 --> 00:11:14,250 But we see here that it's not because David was really strong. 258 00:11:14,330 --> 00:11:16,970 It's not because Joshua had a lot of people. 259 00:11:17,130 --> 00:11:20,010 It's not because even go back to the story in the Book of Judges 260 00:11:20,010 --> 00:11:20,970 with Gideon, right? 261 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,440 Gideon only reduced down to 300 men. 262 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,320 Now, why does God do that? 263 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,600 God uses the underdog to show that he is all powerful. 264 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:30,880 There's no one on this earth more powerful than him. 265 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,280 And so in this case, God reminds Joshua, hey, you got a lot 266 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:36,000 of swords. 267 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:37,480 You got a lot of chariots. 268 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:37,640 No. 269 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,440 He says, no, I am with you, for I have delivered them into thine 270 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:42,800 hand. 271 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,970 And so I think that this is so amazing to see that God gives a command 272 00:11:49,050 --> 00:11:50,730 and then he gives a promise. 273 00:11:51,450 --> 00:11:54,850 When God gives us a command to do something, he attaches that to 274 00:11:54,850 --> 00:11:55,370 a promise. 275 00:11:55,370 --> 00:11:56,650 In verse eight, he says, what? 276 00:11:56,650 --> 00:11:57,610 What's the command? 277 00:11:57,850 --> 00:11:58,970 Fear them not. 278 00:11:58,970 --> 00:12:00,290 Fear them not. 279 00:12:00,290 --> 00:12:03,530 Meaning the Amorites, the ones that are coming against the Gibeonites. 280 00:12:03,530 --> 00:12:04,930 He says, you're doing a good thing. 281 00:12:04,930 --> 00:12:05,690 Don't fear. 282 00:12:06,090 --> 00:12:09,530 And then with that command comes a promise. 283 00:12:09,530 --> 00:12:10,410 What's the promise? 284 00:12:10,570 --> 00:12:13,130 For I have delivered them into thine hand. 285 00:12:14,310 --> 00:12:17,270 There shall not a man of them stand before thee. 286 00:12:17,990 --> 00:12:20,270 For I have delivered them into thy hand. 287 00:12:20,270 --> 00:12:22,070 Meaning the victory is already done. 288 00:12:22,550 --> 00:12:22,910 The. 289 00:12:22,910 --> 00:12:24,750 The victory has already been taken care of. 290 00:12:24,750 --> 00:12:26,230 The victory is in me. 291 00:12:26,230 --> 00:12:27,870 And so this was the command. 292 00:12:27,870 --> 00:12:29,990 Don't fear the Amorites. 293 00:12:30,790 --> 00:12:34,710 Obviously, Joshua probably had a reason to fear in the eyes of man. 294 00:12:35,670 --> 00:12:38,670 He's coming against, if you count it up, there's five kings that 295 00:12:38,670 --> 00:12:39,670 are coming against him. 296 00:12:40,100 --> 00:12:41,140 Five different armies. 297 00:12:41,140 --> 00:12:43,700 But God commands Joshua not to fear. 298 00:12:43,700 --> 00:12:46,740 And so the command was joined with a promise. 299 00:12:47,220 --> 00:12:51,540 And so Joshua could obey the command with the hope of the promise. 300 00:12:51,620 --> 00:12:53,500 I want you to think about that here tonight. 301 00:12:53,500 --> 00:12:57,340 When God gives us a command in scripture, we don't just look at 302 00:12:57,340 --> 00:13:00,580 the command and go, well, I better obey that, even though we 303 00:13:00,580 --> 00:13:00,900 should. 304 00:13:01,220 --> 00:13:04,180 But when God gives us a command, he gives us the promise 305 00:13:04,180 --> 00:13:06,740 along with that, so that we can exercise faith. 306 00:13:07,590 --> 00:13:07,750 So. 307 00:13:07,750 --> 00:13:08,830 So God says, don't fear. 308 00:13:08,830 --> 00:13:09,670 And here's why. 309 00:13:10,630 --> 00:13:11,390 Have strength. 310 00:13:11,390 --> 00:13:12,950 And here's how you can have strength. 311 00:13:13,830 --> 00:13:17,310 And we see promise after promise in scripture that God gives 312 00:13:17,310 --> 00:13:17,910 to his people. 313 00:13:17,910 --> 00:13:21,350 And we even heard this this morning, that it's really faith that 314 00:13:21,350 --> 00:13:23,430 activates and assimilates those. 315 00:13:23,510 --> 00:13:25,230 Those promises in our life. 316 00:13:25,230 --> 00:13:28,310 And so Joshua could have said, yes, Lord, I know I'm not supposed 317 00:13:28,310 --> 00:13:31,030 to fear, but what am I supposed to trust in? 318 00:13:31,270 --> 00:13:32,150 Just don't fear. 319 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:34,640 And so it's I've used this example before. 320 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,440 You know, if I had some coaches that coached me and they 321 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:39,680 said, stop making mistakes. 322 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,200 Well, how do I stop making mistakes? 323 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:44,000 Stop dropping the ball. 324 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:45,680 Well, teach me how to catch the ball, right? 325 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,120 I'm coaching, you know, fifth and sixth grade basketball. 326 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,240 And you know, if, I don't know if any of you have ever coached fifth 327 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,280 and sixth graders, but they know everything. 328 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,080 They know how to play the game. 329 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,270 And you don't, you know, coach doesn't know anything. 330 00:13:59,270 --> 00:14:00,790 And I'm sitting there going, come on, guys. 331 00:14:00,790 --> 00:14:01,710 And it's frustrating. 332 00:14:01,950 --> 00:14:05,350 It's frustrating to the point where it's like, what, what, what 333 00:14:05,350 --> 00:14:05,870 are we doing? 334 00:14:06,350 --> 00:14:07,630 What, what's, what's going on? 335 00:14:07,630 --> 00:14:10,510 Why, why, why, why are we just doing our own thing? 336 00:14:10,590 --> 00:14:13,310 And essentially what we see here is that I can't just tell the 337 00:14:13,310 --> 00:14:15,710 team in basketball, hey, guys, make more shots. 338 00:14:16,350 --> 00:14:20,990 I have to tell them, this is the hope, this is the objective, 339 00:14:21,150 --> 00:14:23,070 and here's how we're going to get there. 340 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:25,000 And that's what God does for us. 341 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,880 As the greatest leader ever, he says, this is the hope or the 342 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:30,760 objective not to live in fear. 343 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,520 And then he says, this is how you get there, to trust in the promise 344 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,720 of the victory, the trust in his presence in this victory. 345 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,880 And so I think that this is so important for us to understand because 346 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,720 the command was joined with that promise. 347 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:49,760 And so Joshua could obey God's command to not fear by understanding 348 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,340 and trusting and activating faith when it comes to the victory. 349 00:14:54,860 --> 00:14:59,500 And oftentimes in our life, fear is what holds us back from fighting. 350 00:14:59,900 --> 00:15:03,980 Fear holds us back from doing what God has called us to do in obedience. 351 00:15:04,540 --> 00:15:06,140 So let me give you an example. 352 00:15:06,140 --> 00:15:06,940 Maybe God is. 353 00:15:07,020 --> 00:15:10,700 Is calling you to do something in your Christian walk. 354 00:15:11,660 --> 00:15:15,220 And the reason why he's calling us to do it is because obviously 355 00:15:15,220 --> 00:15:18,140 he's designed for us to be used by him to do a certain work. 356 00:15:19,290 --> 00:15:20,490 But we don't do it. 357 00:15:20,810 --> 00:15:21,810 Why do we not do it? 358 00:15:21,810 --> 00:15:23,610 Well, a lot of times it's not out of laziness. 359 00:15:24,010 --> 00:15:26,650 I mean, maybe in some cases we say, well, I just don't want to do 360 00:15:26,650 --> 00:15:28,930 what you want me to do, God, because I just got a lot going on 361 00:15:28,930 --> 00:15:31,130 in my life that possibly could be the case. 362 00:15:31,450 --> 00:15:34,090 But a vast majority of the time, I believe, is that many people 363 00:15:34,090 --> 00:15:37,850 don't do what God calls them to do because of a fear of failure, 364 00:15:38,010 --> 00:15:41,530 a fear of rejection, a fear of something. 365 00:15:42,090 --> 00:15:45,490 And so what happens is that fear holds us back from doing what 366 00:15:45,490 --> 00:15:46,690 God has called us to. 367 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:47,080 To do. 368 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:48,080 And that's what he says here. 369 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:49,000 He says, really? 370 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:50,440 Look, Joshua, move forward. 371 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,360 So, so Joshua was commanded not to fear. 372 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:57,040 So in this instance, fear was unbelief. 373 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:58,280 It was a lack of faith. 374 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:03,120 And, and so there was a pastor one time that was preaching, and 375 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,000 he was preaching this message about facing your fear. 376 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,000 And then he started in the middle of the sermon to, to transition, 377 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:12,680 to say, faith in your fear. 378 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,480 And I'm going, is he just like, immediately has a lisp now? 379 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:18,320 Because I was trying to, like, I'm like, am I hearing him wrong? 380 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:18,640 Am I. 381 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:19,480 Am I having a problem? 382 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:23,160 But he, he switched because he says, instead of saying, face your 383 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,280 fear, because that's what we tell people, just face your fear 384 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:25,960 and get out there. 385 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,480 He says, bring faith to that fear, right? 386 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,600 Bring belief in that God is going to do what he says he's going 387 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:33,000 to do. 388 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,400 And in so doing, we can faith in that fear, right? 389 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,040 We can, we can face that fear with faith. 390 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,290 And that's exactly what we see happening in this case. 391 00:16:41,290 --> 00:16:43,330 Joshua says, okay, I'm going to go into battle. 392 00:16:44,050 --> 00:16:49,010 And so for many of us, fear is, including myself, by the way. 393 00:16:49,250 --> 00:16:53,810 Fear is a manifestation of a lack of belief in what God is calling 394 00:16:53,810 --> 00:16:54,450 us to do. 395 00:16:55,250 --> 00:16:56,690 Because God says, do this. 396 00:16:57,090 --> 00:16:58,210 Here's the promise. 397 00:16:58,370 --> 00:16:59,890 I'm going to be with you through this. 398 00:16:59,970 --> 00:17:01,650 And we say, yeah, but I'm scared. 399 00:17:01,970 --> 00:17:05,670 Well, it's natural for us to be scared, but how do we deal with 400 00:17:05,670 --> 00:17:05,910 that? 401 00:17:05,910 --> 00:17:07,190 We deal with that with faith. 402 00:17:07,190 --> 00:17:08,470 And faith is the victory. 403 00:17:08,470 --> 00:17:09,910 Faith is where we see strength. 404 00:17:09,910 --> 00:17:11,350 Faith is where we see courage. 405 00:17:12,070 --> 00:17:16,550 And so being unwilling to believe what God has promised is 406 00:17:17,030 --> 00:17:23,950 essentially, and I would say typically in Scripture, it's a show 407 00:17:23,950 --> 00:17:25,550 or a sign of a lack of faith. 408 00:17:25,550 --> 00:17:29,110 And Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6 tells us that it's impossible to 409 00:17:29,110 --> 00:17:30,230 please him without faith. 410 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,360 And so verse eight, I think, is such a strong verse because he 411 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:37,320 says, joshua, I know you're going into battle against five different 412 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:37,920 nations. 413 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,520 I know that it seems tough, but I've already delivered them into 414 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:43,120 your hand. 415 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:43,920 Verse 9. 416 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,040 So here's Joshua's response. 417 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:51,840 Joshua, therefore came unto them suddenly, immediately. 418 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,680 And so the idea would be this, that, that he doesn't wait. 419 00:17:56,410 --> 00:17:59,290 He doesn't continue to ask God for multiple signs. 420 00:17:59,290 --> 00:18:02,330 He doesn't say, well, when I'm ready, when I'm. 421 00:18:02,330 --> 00:18:03,770 When I'm more experienced. 422 00:18:04,170 --> 00:18:06,330 He says, okay, Lord, you've told me, I'm going to do this. 423 00:18:06,410 --> 00:18:10,210 Now, there are certain things that God calls us to do, and there's 424 00:18:10,210 --> 00:18:11,930 certain things that God doesn't call us to do. 425 00:18:11,930 --> 00:18:13,610 He doesn't call everyone to do everything. 426 00:18:14,250 --> 00:18:19,130 He's not going to expect a new Christian who has just tasted of 427 00:18:19,130 --> 00:18:22,810 the grace of God to do something that may be someone who's 428 00:18:22,810 --> 00:18:25,410 been safer 40 years can do, right? 429 00:18:25,410 --> 00:18:28,330 He, he's going to give the appropriate call at the appropriate 430 00:18:28,330 --> 00:18:31,210 time and the appropriate grace for the appropriate time. 431 00:18:31,610 --> 00:18:35,530 And so oftentimes we look at a situation and we say, well, I don't 432 00:18:35,530 --> 00:18:36,650 know if I'm ready for that. 433 00:18:36,890 --> 00:18:40,090 If God is calling you to do it, if God has commanded you to do 434 00:18:40,090 --> 00:18:40,970 it, you are ready. 435 00:18:41,130 --> 00:18:43,610 It doesn't necessarily take experience, even though experience 436 00:18:43,690 --> 00:18:44,250 helps. 437 00:18:44,490 --> 00:18:47,690 But what he says here is that the power is coming from the presence. 438 00:18:47,690 --> 00:18:51,280 So he suddenly goes, and so I think that I've even done this, okay, 439 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,160 Lord, you're calling me to do that, but let me put that on the 440 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,960 back burner to a more appropriate time, an easier time, 441 00:18:58,200 --> 00:18:59,440 a more convenient time. 442 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,840 But the Bible says if God is calling us to do it and he's activating 443 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,680 us, he's equipping us to do it, hey, it's time to obey. 444 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,400 And that's what we see happening in verse number nine. 445 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,080 Joshua comes out suddenly and went up from Gilgal all night. 446 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,640 So, so they go and they travel all night from Gilgal to meet their 447 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:16,680 in Gibeon. 448 00:19:17,620 --> 00:19:20,180 And so this took hard work, this took initiative. 449 00:19:20,180 --> 00:19:24,300 This wasn't just like, okay, Joshua, walk five minutes down the 450 00:19:24,300 --> 00:19:27,340 road, fight a 10 minute battle and then you're going to be done, 451 00:19:27,340 --> 00:19:29,060 okay, because we're comfortable. 452 00:19:29,060 --> 00:19:36,260 Sometimes when God asks us to do something convenient, easy, reasonable, 453 00:19:36,900 --> 00:19:41,060 but actually he asked Joshua to do something that is very difficult. 454 00:19:41,060 --> 00:19:43,460 He asked him to basically travel. 455 00:19:44,170 --> 00:19:46,730 And, and I did some research on how far this would have been. 456 00:19:46,730 --> 00:19:51,770 Approximately they would have had to go up an elevation of about 457 00:19:51,850 --> 00:19:53,770 3,000ft. 458 00:19:54,170 --> 00:19:58,490 They would have traveled about 20 miles to get to Gibeon from where 459 00:19:58,490 --> 00:19:59,530 they are in Gilgal. 460 00:20:00,170 --> 00:20:03,210 So this isn't just an easy task, this is inconvenience. 461 00:20:03,450 --> 00:20:06,890 And sometimes God calls us to inconvenience our personal lives 462 00:20:07,050 --> 00:20:08,050 to do his work. 463 00:20:08,050 --> 00:20:12,430 And so they travel a long distance and it says it was all night. 464 00:20:12,430 --> 00:20:15,870 So the estimation if they were moving at a decent pace, it would 465 00:20:15,870 --> 00:20:18,950 have been about 8 to 10 hours of hard marching all the way through 466 00:20:18,950 --> 00:20:20,710 the night to get to where they needed to go. 467 00:20:21,430 --> 00:20:25,750 And so a lot of times we think that God does not require us to work 468 00:20:25,750 --> 00:20:25,990 hard. 469 00:20:25,990 --> 00:20:28,550 He does require us sometimes to have some effort. 470 00:20:28,870 --> 00:20:30,790 Doesn't mean that the effort's in our own strength. 471 00:20:30,790 --> 00:20:33,670 But sometimes when God calls us to move and to act. 472 00:20:33,830 --> 00:20:35,470 It does take an effort. 473 00:20:35,470 --> 00:20:37,790 It does take some sacrifice. 474 00:20:37,790 --> 00:20:41,270 It does take a place sometimes where we are going to have to exercise 475 00:20:41,270 --> 00:20:42,030 some discipline. 476 00:20:42,750 --> 00:20:47,310 Let's say, for example, God calls me to do a certain ministry 477 00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:49,310 because I don't want to pick on anything specific because I don't 478 00:20:49,310 --> 00:20:51,390 want anyone to think that I'm talking about you. 479 00:20:51,470 --> 00:20:54,070 But let's say God's calling me to do something specific. 480 00:20:54,070 --> 00:20:54,590 Okay? 481 00:20:54,670 --> 00:20:57,910 And I say, okay, I can do that. 482 00:20:57,910 --> 00:20:58,510 But I'm really. 483 00:20:58,510 --> 00:21:00,350 My life is just super busy right now. 484 00:21:00,670 --> 00:21:01,070 Okay. 485 00:21:01,070 --> 00:21:02,030 I couldn't get to that. 486 00:21:02,950 --> 00:21:07,110 Well, that might be possibly a time in which we need to reevaluate 487 00:21:07,110 --> 00:21:07,950 our priorities. 488 00:21:07,950 --> 00:21:11,870 Now, I'm not teaching the whole idea that, hey, if you don't 489 00:21:11,870 --> 00:21:14,150 come to church every single Sunday for the rest of your life, 490 00:21:14,150 --> 00:21:15,910 you're in rebellion to God. 491 00:21:15,910 --> 00:21:18,910 Because obviously I understand we have lives and we have things 492 00:21:18,910 --> 00:21:22,630 pop up in our life in different seasons, and I certainly 493 00:21:22,630 --> 00:21:23,270 understand that. 494 00:21:23,270 --> 00:21:27,110 But if God is actively pressing on our hearts, pricking 495 00:21:27,110 --> 00:21:31,020 our heart in conviction to do something, and we are not able to 496 00:21:31,020 --> 00:21:34,660 do so, it might need to be that I must discipline myself to 497 00:21:34,660 --> 00:21:37,380 get to a place in my life where I am available to do that. 498 00:21:37,940 --> 00:21:41,380 It might even be something as simple as reading my Bible every 499 00:21:41,380 --> 00:21:43,940 day or having a prayer life. 500 00:21:43,940 --> 00:21:47,780 Well, I'm so busy, Pastor, I can't read my Bible every day. 501 00:21:48,820 --> 00:21:50,380 I understand that sentiment. 502 00:21:50,380 --> 00:21:53,460 I understand what you might be thinking when you say that. 503 00:21:53,460 --> 00:21:57,020 But the Bible says that really where our heart is, that's what everything 504 00:21:57,020 --> 00:21:57,980 else is going to follow. 505 00:21:58,460 --> 00:22:01,460 So if we decide, hey, reading my Bible every day is something that 506 00:22:01,460 --> 00:22:05,380 God is calling me to do, and I feel actively convicted to do so, 507 00:22:05,380 --> 00:22:09,220 then I have to make decisions that will open my availability to 508 00:22:09,220 --> 00:22:09,660 do that. 509 00:22:11,099 --> 00:22:11,980 It's priorities. 510 00:22:11,980 --> 00:22:16,580 And so Joshua makes supporting Gibeon a priority. 511 00:22:16,580 --> 00:22:18,540 And that's what we see happening here. 512 00:22:19,180 --> 00:22:21,230 And so it's not this idea, by the way. 513 00:22:21,230 --> 00:22:24,070 It's not this idea that God helps those who help themselves. 514 00:22:24,550 --> 00:22:25,510 It's not what I'm saying. 515 00:22:25,510 --> 00:22:29,110 What I'm saying is, is that when God calls us to move, we move 516 00:22:29,110 --> 00:22:29,830 by obedience. 517 00:22:29,830 --> 00:22:32,350 It's like when I have my children and I say, hey, guys, clean 518 00:22:32,350 --> 00:22:33,990 your room clean. 519 00:22:33,990 --> 00:22:34,870 And they go, okay. 520 00:22:35,670 --> 00:22:39,390 Them agreeing verbally to me saying, okay, I'll do that doesn't 521 00:22:39,390 --> 00:22:40,870 mean that they've cleaned their room, right? 522 00:22:41,110 --> 00:22:41,550 That's. 523 00:22:41,550 --> 00:22:43,990 That's verbal adherence to what I've said. 524 00:22:43,990 --> 00:22:46,470 But the action proves that they're obeying. 525 00:22:47,170 --> 00:22:48,090 So many times when. 526 00:22:48,090 --> 00:22:50,490 When we hear a preacher Preaching or we read something in 527 00:22:50,490 --> 00:22:52,970 Scripture, or God is convicting our hearts, we say, oh, 528 00:22:52,970 --> 00:22:53,570 that sounds great. 529 00:22:53,570 --> 00:22:54,290 Yep, I agree. 530 00:22:54,450 --> 00:22:55,330 I'm going to do that. 531 00:22:56,210 --> 00:22:59,890 It's until I believe, it's until we make that move that we've 532 00:22:59,890 --> 00:23:01,250 actually obeyed. 533 00:23:01,570 --> 00:23:04,610 And so in this case, Joshua is moving, he's obeying. 534 00:23:04,610 --> 00:23:07,210 And so let's see what happens, because it's. 535 00:23:07,210 --> 00:23:07,730 It's not. 536 00:23:07,810 --> 00:23:10,970 Joshua goes and does all this and God takes the credit, as some 537 00:23:10,970 --> 00:23:13,340 people might say, no, no, this is all God. 538 00:23:13,820 --> 00:23:17,460 Joshua is just getting to be able to participate in the work of 539 00:23:17,460 --> 00:23:17,820 God. 540 00:23:18,060 --> 00:23:19,980 He gets to cooperate with God. 541 00:23:20,140 --> 00:23:21,420 And that's what it is for us. 542 00:23:21,580 --> 00:23:23,740 God fights all of our battles for us. 543 00:23:23,980 --> 00:23:27,060 God gives us all of the wisdom, all of the strength, all 544 00:23:27,060 --> 00:23:29,460 of the guidance, and we essentially just to get. 545 00:23:29,460 --> 00:23:31,340 Get to be beneficiaries of his grace. 546 00:23:31,340 --> 00:23:35,300 So look at it with me in verse number 10 says, and the Lord discomfited 547 00:23:35,300 --> 00:23:36,620 them before Israel. 548 00:23:37,340 --> 00:23:43,240 And so the idea here would be that there was a defeat of the other 549 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:45,520 people before the Israelites even got there. 550 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,840 And the Lord discomfited them before Israel and slew them with 551 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:54,280 a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that 552 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:59,160 goeth up to Beth Horon and smote them at Azakah and under Amen 553 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:00,080 to Makada. 554 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,440 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel and were 555 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:09,060 in the going down to Beth Horon, that the Lord casts down great 556 00:24:09,140 --> 00:24:10,740 stones from heaven. 557 00:24:11,300 --> 00:24:14,940 The idea here would be hailstones, great stones from heaven 558 00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:16,940 upon them unto Azika. 559 00:24:16,940 --> 00:24:19,940 And they died, and they were more. 560 00:24:19,940 --> 00:24:23,900 And they were more which die with hailstones than they whom the 561 00:24:23,900 --> 00:24:26,100 children of Israel slew with the sword. 562 00:24:26,260 --> 00:24:28,780 So I want us to break down verses 10 through 11 because this 563 00:24:28,780 --> 00:24:29,540 is so neat. 564 00:24:29,780 --> 00:24:34,090 Essentially what we see is that as Joshua is moving, God is 565 00:24:34,090 --> 00:24:35,090 already working ahead. 566 00:24:35,650 --> 00:24:39,450 And so God is working with Joshua and the Israelites, and he 567 00:24:39,450 --> 00:24:40,770 accomplishes something great. 568 00:24:40,930 --> 00:24:43,290 The enemies of God were already defeated before they got 569 00:24:43,290 --> 00:24:43,570 there. 570 00:24:44,050 --> 00:24:48,210 The hailstones that fall killed the armies of the Canaanites. 571 00:24:49,009 --> 00:24:49,330 And. 572 00:24:49,330 --> 00:24:51,290 And I believe that this is something miraculous. 573 00:24:51,290 --> 00:24:54,170 I don't think it's just by a happenstance that this happens. 574 00:24:54,170 --> 00:24:56,010 I believe God ordains this to happen. 575 00:24:56,010 --> 00:25:00,170 And so the hail comes down and it says there that it killed more 576 00:25:00,170 --> 00:25:01,170 than the sword killed. 577 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:05,560 And so God is working ahead and beyond the people of Israel to 578 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:06,480 give them the victory. 579 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,840 And so God's work here, his miraculous work, was greater than 580 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:11,480 Israel's work. 581 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:12,880 And that's how it always will be. 582 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,240 We don't look at a situation and go, wow, look how great we are. 583 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:18,880 Look how much we have done in this battle. 584 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,120 Look how hard I fought against sin. 585 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,840 Folks, every battle that we fight, God is fighting it even more 586 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:26,480 on our side. 587 00:25:26,890 --> 00:25:29,370 He is our stronghold. 588 00:25:29,530 --> 00:25:30,810 He is our helper. 589 00:25:30,890 --> 00:25:32,570 He is our strength and our shield. 590 00:25:33,050 --> 00:25:36,850 And so what we can see here is that Joshua didn't just wait for 591 00:25:36,850 --> 00:25:37,690 the hill to come. 592 00:25:38,170 --> 00:25:40,490 He didn't say, okay, Lord, you send it, then we'll go. 593 00:25:40,570 --> 00:25:41,330 He goes. 594 00:25:41,330 --> 00:25:46,090 And in tandem with faith, God proves that he is with Joshua by 595 00:25:46,090 --> 00:25:48,090 showing him that the victory was his. 596 00:25:48,570 --> 00:25:51,450 And I think that that's what we have to see sometimes in our life, 597 00:25:51,450 --> 00:25:54,890 it takes us to exercise faith, to actually see God's hand working. 598 00:25:55,270 --> 00:25:57,510 Because there might be some people that think, well, I'll move 599 00:25:57,510 --> 00:26:01,070 when I see it, or I'll believe when I'll see it, or I'll trust when 600 00:26:01,070 --> 00:26:01,550 I see it. 601 00:26:01,550 --> 00:26:05,030 But actually it's believing in what God has said and then he will 602 00:26:05,030 --> 00:26:05,590 prove it. 603 00:26:05,750 --> 00:26:06,990 That's really what faith is. 604 00:26:06,990 --> 00:26:09,910 Faith is believing in something that we don't see. 605 00:26:09,990 --> 00:26:13,110 Some of you that have been here long enough with me know that 606 00:26:13,190 --> 00:26:16,470 we talk about the word hope a lot within the New Testament. 607 00:26:16,630 --> 00:26:17,670 What is that word, hope? 608 00:26:17,670 --> 00:26:18,670 Well, it's not. 609 00:26:18,670 --> 00:26:20,470 I hope that God will do this. 610 00:26:20,470 --> 00:26:23,250 As we say in our English language today, like, I'm going to 611 00:26:23,250 --> 00:26:25,330 cross my fingers and maybe God will do this. 612 00:26:25,330 --> 00:26:28,930 No, hope is a confident expectation that God is going to 613 00:26:28,930 --> 00:26:29,650 keep his word. 614 00:26:30,050 --> 00:26:33,490 So if God says it, I believe that he is going to bring it to pass. 615 00:26:33,730 --> 00:26:36,450 And that's what Joshua exercised here along with the people 616 00:26:36,450 --> 00:26:37,090 of Israel. 617 00:26:37,970 --> 00:26:39,850 So we're going to get to verse number 12. 618 00:26:39,850 --> 00:26:40,410 And this is. 619 00:26:40,410 --> 00:26:43,930 This is really neat here because many of you probably know 620 00:26:43,930 --> 00:26:47,730 the story, and I've read the story many times, and I've thought 621 00:26:47,730 --> 00:26:49,490 really hard about how God did this. 622 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,400 I don't know how God did this, okay? 623 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,320 I don't know the science behind it. 624 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,800 Some of you that are more scientific than me probably have 625 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:57,520 your theories. 626 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,480 I don't feel like it's my job to sit here and speculate how God 627 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,040 does what he's about to do, but God does what he's about to do. 628 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:05,360 Okay, let's just say it that way. 629 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:08,280 If some of you want to come later and give me your theory about 630 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,000 a comet flying by the, the. 631 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,280 The planet and the Earth tilting on its axis and doing all 632 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:14,400 that, we can do that later. 633 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,520 But I think what we need to see here is that the Bible says here, 634 00:27:17,890 --> 00:27:21,730 this is the amazing story where God allows for light to be 635 00:27:21,730 --> 00:27:24,370 extended for a longer time. 636 00:27:24,450 --> 00:27:26,770 The Bible says that the sun stands still. 637 00:27:26,850 --> 00:27:30,210 You know, there's some people that will use this verse, these verses 638 00:27:30,370 --> 00:27:33,050 to discredit the Bible because they say the b. 639 00:27:33,050 --> 00:27:33,330 The. 640 00:27:33,330 --> 00:27:35,130 The Bible says that the sun stood still. 641 00:27:35,130 --> 00:27:36,770 Well, the sun is already standing still. 642 00:27:36,770 --> 00:27:38,210 We're the ones going around the sun. 643 00:27:38,290 --> 00:27:39,410 You understand that? 644 00:27:39,410 --> 00:27:42,770 We all say, as Brother Dan already mentioned tonight, a sunrise 645 00:27:42,770 --> 00:27:43,530 and a sunset. 646 00:27:43,530 --> 00:27:45,680 We use that in our typical language. 647 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,320 Now, we all know that we are the ones moving. 648 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,720 Well, some people would argue that these days, but either way, 649 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,720 typically speaking, the earth is moving around the sun, but we 650 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,200 still call it sunrise and sunset. 651 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:56,960 This is just a. 652 00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:57,520 A statement. 653 00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:58,600 This is an idiom. 654 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,880 This is a figure of speech that the Bible is using. 655 00:28:01,039 --> 00:28:02,120 The sun stands still. 656 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:05,800 What that means is that light was extended for a longer period 657 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:06,720 than normal here. 658 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:07,920 And that's what we're going to talk about. 659 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:12,660 So verse 12, God's going to extend the day to maximize Israel's 660 00:28:12,660 --> 00:28:12,900 victory. 661 00:28:12,900 --> 00:28:14,380 This is such a really interesting story. 662 00:28:14,620 --> 00:28:18,220 Verse 12 Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord 663 00:28:18,220 --> 00:28:21,420 delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. 664 00:28:21,980 --> 00:28:23,300 So we see in verse 12 that. 665 00:28:23,300 --> 00:28:25,500 That Joshua speaks to the Lord. 666 00:28:26,300 --> 00:28:30,740 So this is essentially a prayer to the Lord when the Lord 667 00:28:30,740 --> 00:28:33,340 is giving them the victory of the Amorites before the children 668 00:28:33,340 --> 00:28:33,900 of Israel. 669 00:28:33,900 --> 00:28:35,580 And he said in the sight of Israel. 670 00:28:35,580 --> 00:28:37,500 So he does this before Israel. 671 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,280 So picture in your mind, Joshua is. 672 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,120 Is talking to God. 673 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,240 He's praying together, because that's really what we do when we 674 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:47,160 are talking to God. 675 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:51,360 We're praying to God and it's publicly before Israel. 676 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:52,440 What does he do? 677 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:59,120 He says, son, stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou moon in the 678 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:00,640 valley of Ajalon. 679 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:05,910 And so essentially what Joshua is doing here is he's asking God 680 00:29:05,910 --> 00:29:07,430 to continue the miracles here. 681 00:29:07,830 --> 00:29:11,030 He already saw God's miracle of the hailstones coming down. 682 00:29:11,190 --> 00:29:16,310 And so now Joshua has the confidence to ask God in faith to 683 00:29:16,550 --> 00:29:19,750 make the sun stand still, to keep the day going. 684 00:29:19,750 --> 00:29:21,590 He says, hey, we've got the momentum. 685 00:29:21,990 --> 00:29:22,870 We're winning. 686 00:29:23,350 --> 00:29:26,670 Let the light be there longer so that we can take more, so that 687 00:29:26,670 --> 00:29:28,310 we can have a larger victory. 688 00:29:28,470 --> 00:29:31,030 And so he says here, Lord, please do this. 689 00:29:31,030 --> 00:29:35,670 And it sounds in this language almost as if he's demanding God. 690 00:29:35,750 --> 00:29:37,270 We don't believe that to be the case. 691 00:29:37,490 --> 00:29:40,690 We believe that this is a pleading to the Lord in confidence, 692 00:29:40,690 --> 00:29:42,050 Lord, keep doing this. 693 00:29:42,210 --> 00:29:46,370 Keep the light here so that we can continue on in this victory. 694 00:29:47,010 --> 00:29:49,330 And so what does happen we see what happens. 695 00:29:49,330 --> 00:29:49,850 Verse 13. 696 00:29:49,850 --> 00:29:53,330 And the sun stood still and the moon stayed until the people 697 00:29:53,409 --> 00:29:55,810 had avenged themselves upon their enemies. 698 00:29:56,850 --> 00:29:59,690 And so we see that God answers in this miracle. 699 00:29:59,690 --> 00:30:01,050 And so it's a unique miracle. 700 00:30:01,050 --> 00:30:06,640 God answers Joshua's bold prayer by allowing the day to be 701 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,440 extended so that they could have a larger victory. 702 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,240 And again, I mentioned, as I was studying for this, there are 703 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,200 so many different people to speculate how this happens, what 704 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:17,840 happened. 705 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,880 Obviously, I will never know completely till one day maybe God 706 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:22,960 will reveal that to us. 707 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,960 But essentially what we see is the result was clear. 708 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:33,340 The sun or some type of light source was able to shine on the people 709 00:30:33,340 --> 00:30:36,460 of Israel as they were continuing on in this victory. 710 00:30:36,780 --> 00:30:40,740 And so it says here, and it's actually interesting reference, he 711 00:30:40,740 --> 00:30:43,020 says, is not this written in the Book of Jasher? 712 00:30:43,420 --> 00:30:46,580 So that the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and hasted not 713 00:30:46,580 --> 00:30:48,460 to go down about a whole day. 714 00:30:48,940 --> 00:30:50,900 And oftentimes people just skip over that. 715 00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:52,580 What does that even mean, the Book of Jasher? 716 00:30:52,580 --> 00:30:56,700 The Book of Jasher was an extra biblical book that was basically 717 00:30:56,700 --> 00:30:59,010 a history of this being done. 718 00:30:59,010 --> 00:31:01,130 Like this is recorded in the Book of Jasher. 719 00:31:01,770 --> 00:31:06,250 And anytime we have an extra biblical source inside of the Bible, 720 00:31:06,410 --> 00:31:08,290 some people get messed up with that. 721 00:31:08,290 --> 00:31:11,410 They say, so now do we have to believe all the Book of Jasher, just 722 00:31:11,410 --> 00:31:14,450 like when the Book of Enoch is quoted in the Book of Jude, do we 723 00:31:14,450 --> 00:31:15,850 believe all the Book of Enoch? 724 00:31:15,930 --> 00:31:19,610 Well, no, it doesn't mean that the whole Book of Jasher is scripture. 725 00:31:19,610 --> 00:31:22,850 It just means that now the Book of Jasher has been quoted in 726 00:31:22,850 --> 00:31:26,820 scripture, therefore that part of it is inspired by God. 727 00:31:26,980 --> 00:31:27,500 And so. 728 00:31:27,500 --> 00:31:28,940 So that's essentially what he's saying here. 729 00:31:28,940 --> 00:31:31,980 He's just referencing this other Book of Jasher, which again, 730 00:31:31,980 --> 00:31:34,300 we don't have time to turn down that rabbit trail. 731 00:31:34,300 --> 00:31:36,700 But essentially he's just saying, this has been recorded by 732 00:31:36,700 --> 00:31:39,860 other people so that the sun stood still in the midst of heaven 733 00:31:39,860 --> 00:31:42,260 and hasted not to go down about a whole day. 734 00:31:42,980 --> 00:31:46,180 And so obviously we see that this is miraculous. 735 00:31:46,340 --> 00:31:49,140 This is something beyond human ability. 736 00:31:49,540 --> 00:31:53,100 And now we see that God is with the people of Israel and he 737 00:31:53,100 --> 00:31:56,290 kept his promise above and beyond what they actually expected. 738 00:31:56,370 --> 00:31:56,970 Verse 14. 739 00:31:56,970 --> 00:31:59,410 And there was no day like that before or after it. 740 00:31:59,410 --> 00:32:00,610 So this is a unique thing. 741 00:32:00,850 --> 00:32:02,050 This is not the norm. 742 00:32:02,290 --> 00:32:07,090 Okay, God does work sometimes in the normative sense, meaning God 743 00:32:07,090 --> 00:32:09,170 works a certain way, typically. 744 00:32:09,170 --> 00:32:11,489 And then sometimes God does things beyond the norm. 745 00:32:11,489 --> 00:32:13,170 Sometimes God does one off things. 746 00:32:13,170 --> 00:32:14,690 And this is that to be that case. 747 00:32:14,690 --> 00:32:18,250 I'm not saying that we should be expecting this to happen all the 748 00:32:18,250 --> 00:32:20,170 time in our lives today, okay? 749 00:32:20,170 --> 00:32:21,130 Because that's what it says there. 750 00:32:21,130 --> 00:32:24,600 It says that this was something like nothing before and 751 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:26,920 not never happened before, never after it. 752 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:29,800 That the Lord hearkened unto the voice of man and the Lord fought 753 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:30,760 for Israel. 754 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:33,840 And so the reality here is that this is such a unique thing 755 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:38,120 that God does, but he does it obviously that he would be glorified. 756 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,280 He does this so that people could see the blessings of obedience. 757 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:45,360 He does this to see the power of God resting on the people of Israel. 758 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:46,120 So verse 15. 759 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,280 And Joshua returned and all Israel with him unto the camp to 760 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:49,845 Gilgal. 761 00:32:49,845 --> 00:32:49,970 And. 762 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:52,560 And then the result of this, verse 16. 763 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:57,000 But these five kings fled and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. 764 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:04,440 And so Joshua was able to exercise his faith and God blessed 765 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,960 him by giving him his promises. 766 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:11,840 And so Joshua didn't ask God to do the fighting for him, even 767 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,280 though God did most of the fighting for him. 768 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:18,540 All Joshua simply asked was that, hey, Lord, give us an opportunity 769 00:33:18,540 --> 00:33:19,820 to fight for you more. 770 00:33:20,300 --> 00:33:23,820 Give us an opportunity to continue on in what you have called 771 00:33:23,820 --> 00:33:24,460 us to do. 772 00:33:24,540 --> 00:33:26,380 And I think this is a really appropriate thing. 773 00:33:26,860 --> 00:33:29,180 Speaking of sun, do you guys see that on my face right now? 774 00:33:30,380 --> 00:33:32,540 Step up a little bit here, like shining my light. 775 00:33:33,260 --> 00:33:36,460 But I think it's a very biblical thing for us to say, lord, 776 00:33:36,460 --> 00:33:37,100 you're working. 777 00:33:37,580 --> 00:33:38,660 Give me more time. 778 00:33:38,660 --> 00:33:40,140 Give me more opportunity. 779 00:33:40,780 --> 00:33:44,370 Let me be used by you, while I can be used by you folks. 780 00:33:44,370 --> 00:33:44,570 We. 781 00:33:44,570 --> 00:33:45,530 We are gifted. 782 00:33:45,770 --> 00:33:47,930 All of us here are so gifted in. 783 00:33:47,930 --> 00:33:49,010 In many different ways. 784 00:33:49,010 --> 00:33:50,410 God has given us capability. 785 00:33:50,730 --> 00:33:51,050 He. 786 00:33:51,050 --> 00:33:51,490 He's given. 787 00:33:51,490 --> 00:33:51,890 He's. 788 00:33:51,890 --> 00:33:56,930 He's placed us in a time in history where we have so many resources 789 00:33:56,930 --> 00:33:57,890 at our fingertips. 790 00:33:57,890 --> 00:33:58,570 Think about that. 791 00:33:59,290 --> 00:34:02,170 A hundred years ago, we would have not had the same resources that 792 00:34:02,170 --> 00:34:02,810 we had today. 793 00:34:03,610 --> 00:34:06,170 And some people look at the resources that we have as almost 794 00:34:06,170 --> 00:34:08,410 a negative thing, and they can't be used as a negative thing. 795 00:34:08,410 --> 00:34:11,580 Certainly technology can be used for evil and it can be used 796 00:34:11,580 --> 00:34:13,620 for good, but it can be used for God. 797 00:34:14,020 --> 00:34:17,260 And I think that that's one of many examples that we could look 798 00:34:17,260 --> 00:34:19,620 at to say, lord, give us more opportunity. 799 00:34:19,620 --> 00:34:20,620 Continue this. 800 00:34:20,620 --> 00:34:21,420 Think about in the. 801 00:34:21,420 --> 00:34:22,820 In a day where we. 802 00:34:22,820 --> 00:34:25,500 We weren't able to talk to people all over the world, but now 803 00:34:25,500 --> 00:34:29,860 we can today, what an amazing opportunity is to allow ourselves 804 00:34:29,860 --> 00:34:30,700 to be used by God. 805 00:34:30,700 --> 00:34:32,340 And that's what Joshua was saying there. 806 00:34:32,340 --> 00:34:33,540 Joshua was saying this. 807 00:34:33,540 --> 00:34:36,660 He says, lord, just extend this light so that I can keep serving 808 00:34:36,660 --> 00:34:36,860 you. 809 00:34:36,860 --> 00:34:38,500 That we can keep fighting for you. 810 00:34:39,010 --> 00:34:43,010 And so Joshua wished to continue serving God. 811 00:34:43,010 --> 00:34:44,330 And that's our prayer as well. 812 00:34:44,330 --> 00:34:45,650 That should be our prayer as well. 813 00:34:46,210 --> 00:34:49,250 We want to follow Joshua's example. 814 00:34:49,970 --> 00:34:52,570 So why do we want God to work through us? 815 00:34:52,570 --> 00:34:53,810 So that people will praise us? 816 00:34:53,810 --> 00:34:54,290 Well, no. 817 00:34:54,290 --> 00:34:57,650 Matthew chapter 5, verse 16 tells us that we would do these things 818 00:34:57,650 --> 00:35:00,530 so that people will see our Father and glorify him. 819 00:35:00,770 --> 00:35:04,170 And so one of the many reasons why we should ask God to continue 820 00:35:04,170 --> 00:35:08,450 to work through us is so that he can be glorified so, so, so that 821 00:35:08,450 --> 00:35:13,330 he could be obeyed in this world, so that there could be growth 822 00:35:13,490 --> 00:35:15,530 when it comes to the family of God. 823 00:35:15,530 --> 00:35:19,210 And so that ultimately we can see victory that's been promised 824 00:35:19,210 --> 00:35:19,810 to us. 825 00:35:20,210 --> 00:35:24,610 I think that we should probably stop there because I will 826 00:35:24,610 --> 00:35:28,210 come back next week to look more at this victory. 827 00:35:28,210 --> 00:35:31,130 Because the victory doesn't just end on, on that day. 828 00:35:31,130 --> 00:35:32,770 There's an extension of this. 829 00:35:32,770 --> 00:35:37,460 They chase down these five kings, and these five kings are caught. 830 00:35:37,860 --> 00:35:42,100 And ultimately we see that Joshua and the Israelites completely 831 00:35:42,100 --> 00:35:44,420 wipe out these Canaanite kings. 832 00:35:44,420 --> 00:35:47,660 And eventually we see throughout this chapter that there's 833 00:35:47,660 --> 00:35:51,300 continuous victory there in the southern land. 834 00:35:52,100 --> 00:35:57,380 And I, I really do believe that even though we're living in 835 00:35:57,380 --> 00:36:00,660 a different time, we're living in a different culture, and even 836 00:36:00,740 --> 00:36:04,150 we're living under a different covenant, we right in the new covenant, 837 00:36:04,230 --> 00:36:07,870 we can still glean many principles from Joshua and the people 838 00:36:07,870 --> 00:36:13,070 of Israel as they continuously follow God and what happens in that 839 00:36:13,070 --> 00:36:15,670 case, and then when they don't follow God, what happens in those 840 00:36:15,670 --> 00:36:15,990 cases. 841 00:36:16,390 --> 00:36:19,110 And so we're going to see throughout the book of Joshua that 842 00:36:19,110 --> 00:36:21,590 there is much land to be conquered. 843 00:36:22,070 --> 00:36:24,750 There's many opportunities to trust in the Lord, but the promise 844 00:36:24,750 --> 00:36:25,910 of God stays the same. 845 00:36:26,070 --> 00:36:30,220 From chapter one and then throughout the book of Joshua, we're 846 00:36:30,220 --> 00:36:33,580 going to see different blessings and inheritances that come 847 00:36:33,660 --> 00:36:34,620 to the people. 848 00:36:35,020 --> 00:36:37,980 And then we're ultimately going to see that, that great statement 849 00:36:37,980 --> 00:36:41,460 at the end of the chapter where, where Joshua basically says, 850 00:36:41,460 --> 00:36:45,580 after all this, people were still going to the way of the pagan 851 00:36:45,740 --> 00:36:47,620 kings and the false gods. 852 00:36:47,620 --> 00:36:52,340 And so essentially at the end of Joshua, chapter 24, he makes this, 853 00:36:52,340 --> 00:36:54,380 this statement, you know, who are you going to serve? 854 00:36:54,710 --> 00:36:55,790 You got to choose who you serve. 855 00:36:55,790 --> 00:36:59,230 You can't serve all of them because if you're serving other gods, 856 00:36:59,230 --> 00:37:00,710 you're not serving the one true God. 857 00:37:01,030 --> 00:37:03,350 And that's, that's a conversation that I had recently 858 00:37:03,430 --> 00:37:06,510 with a, with a, a fellow who was seeking after the Lord. 859 00:37:06,510 --> 00:37:09,750 I was wanting to make sure that he understood that when you 860 00:37:09,750 --> 00:37:12,110 come to Jesus, it's not just an insurance policy. 861 00:37:12,110 --> 00:37:15,870 It's not just, hey, I've got all these other gods and then Jesus 862 00:37:15,870 --> 00:37:16,790 is just my add on. 863 00:37:16,790 --> 00:37:18,390 He's just my, my safety net. 864 00:37:18,390 --> 00:37:21,990 No, Jesus is the way, the only way to salvation. 865 00:37:22,550 --> 00:37:24,950 We can't say that, hey, I'm going to try this. 866 00:37:26,150 --> 00:37:28,350 I know where he was going with this, but I heard a preacher get 867 00:37:28,350 --> 00:37:31,270 up one time, he says, just try Jesus, try them. 868 00:37:31,990 --> 00:37:34,790 But I'm like, I really have a hard time with treating Jesus as 869 00:37:34,790 --> 00:37:36,630 like a free one month trial. 870 00:37:36,870 --> 00:37:40,030 Because folks, it's a commitment to giving our lives to 871 00:37:40,030 --> 00:37:40,310 Him. 872 00:37:40,550 --> 00:37:42,630 I understand where the sentiment is there. 873 00:37:42,630 --> 00:37:45,110 God, it's like he's going to change your life. 874 00:37:45,350 --> 00:37:48,230 We believe that, we know that, but not everyone else knows that. 875 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:51,880 But until we completely give our hearts over to him and trust 876 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:54,920 in him, we're not going to experience the promises of God that 877 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:56,120 are given to us in Scripture. 878 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,560 And we mentioned it this morning, a child of God is someone 879 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:02,120 who is what a child of God coming in faith. 880 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,680 And the Bible explains what it means to be a child of God. 881 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:08,560 I use the analogy in my Bible study this morning, said I love all 882 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:10,200 the children here at this church. 883 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:11,720 I love every single one. 884 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,280 And I would sacrifice for all of them. 885 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:15,720 I would take care of all of them. 886 00:38:16,950 --> 00:38:20,910 But my children are obviously unique in our relationship. 887 00:38:20,910 --> 00:38:21,270 Right? 888 00:38:22,390 --> 00:38:23,990 That's understandable. 889 00:38:24,230 --> 00:38:28,670 And so God loves the world by sending Jesus to give that gift of 890 00:38:28,670 --> 00:38:29,190 salvation. 891 00:38:29,350 --> 00:38:33,150 That's that general love, sacrificial love that he gave to 892 00:38:33,150 --> 00:38:33,430 all. 893 00:38:33,510 --> 00:38:37,150 But when we come to him in faith in a personal way, there is 894 00:38:37,150 --> 00:38:40,630 that inner circle type of love that is unique to his children. 895 00:38:41,430 --> 00:38:43,270 And I think that's important for us to understand. 896 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:49,080 And so again, I love the fact that we have a personal God who isn't 897 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:50,600 just one way to go. 898 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,320 The Bible says he is the way, the truth and the life. 899 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:57,600 And that's really what we see in the book of Joshua is a challenge 900 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:00,680 for people to align their hearts to the one true God. 901 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,640 And so may all of us align our hearts with the one true God. 902 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,360 There's intellectual adherence, but I do believe that 903 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,480 there's a difference between intellectually agreeing with what 904 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,320 the word of God says and then putting our hearts to it. 905 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:16,410 And as the Bible said in Joshua chapter one, to meditate on 906 00:39:16,410 --> 00:39:19,130 it and walk in it and not turn to the left or to the right. 907 00:39:19,450 --> 00:39:22,450 I think that shows our commitment to the Lord and our hearts 908 00:39:22,450 --> 00:39:22,850 to the Lord. 909 00:39:22,850 --> 00:39:24,570 Now are we going to be perfectly Faithful? 910 00:39:24,570 --> 00:39:26,570 No, none of us could be perfectly faithful. 911 00:39:26,570 --> 00:39:29,730 And that's the beauty of God's grace, is that when we stumble, just 912 00:39:29,730 --> 00:39:33,570 like Israel stumbled, He gave them time after time and time after 913 00:39:33,570 --> 00:39:36,970 time of mercy and grace to come and find in time of need. 914 00:39:36,970 --> 00:39:37,930 And that's what we can do. 915 00:39:38,010 --> 00:39:40,450 We can come back to him because his love is abundant for 916 00:39:40,450 --> 00:39:40,730 us. 917 00:39:40,810 --> 00:39:42,570 His forgiveness is everlasting. 918 00:39:43,050 --> 00:39:45,250 And if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive 919 00:39:45,250 --> 00:39:47,210 us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 920 00:39:47,690 --> 00:39:49,530 And so I would encourage you to think about that. 921 00:39:49,850 --> 00:39:52,890 Is there a battle that you are fighting right now? 922 00:39:52,890 --> 00:39:55,970 Or maybe is there a battle that God wants you to fight that 923 00:39:55,970 --> 00:39:59,129 you're like, I'm not ready for that right now? 924 00:39:59,690 --> 00:40:03,850 Well, the truth is, is that if God is calling you to something, 925 00:40:04,090 --> 00:40:05,930 it's not going to give you every answer right away. 926 00:40:06,810 --> 00:40:09,050 I think of Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13. 927 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,280 Some people use Philippians 4, 13, I can do all things through Christ, 928 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:16,480 meaning I can do whatever I want as a Christian and God's going 929 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:17,120 to bless me. 930 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:19,720 Well, that's not what that verse is talking about. 931 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:23,680 If you look at context, that verse says, if God calls me to something, 932 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:27,440 he will give me the strength to sustain through it, through his 933 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:28,640 grace and through his strength. 934 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,800 Paul talks about being full and being hungry, being rich and 935 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:32,400 being poor. 936 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:35,840 He says, hey, God calls us to many different things in our life, 937 00:40:36,270 --> 00:40:40,630 but what he does in his calling, he does give, promises to 938 00:40:40,630 --> 00:40:41,790 be with us through it. 939 00:40:41,870 --> 00:40:45,030 So it doesn't mean I can just do whatever I want to do and then 940 00:40:45,030 --> 00:40:45,790 God will bless it. 941 00:40:45,790 --> 00:40:49,670 It means that if God is giving me something in my life to do, he's 942 00:40:49,670 --> 00:40:52,110 going to strengthen me to do those things that he's calling me 943 00:40:52,110 --> 00:40:52,510 to do. 944 00:40:52,910 --> 00:40:55,070 And so I think that that's something that we all need to pray 945 00:40:55,070 --> 00:40:55,310 about. 946 00:40:55,310 --> 00:40:57,150 In my life, in my life, I will tell you this. 947 00:40:57,230 --> 00:40:59,190 There are things that I'm comfortable with, and there's things 948 00:40:59,190 --> 00:41:00,350 that I'm not comfortable with. 949 00:41:00,350 --> 00:41:02,550 The things that I'm not comfortable with, I try to avoid. 950 00:41:02,550 --> 00:41:03,590 I try not to look at them. 951 00:41:03,590 --> 00:41:05,070 I try not to even think about them. 952 00:41:05,390 --> 00:41:07,230 I try just to say, lord, that's not for me. 953 00:41:07,790 --> 00:41:10,110 But ultimately, some of you know what I'm talking about. 954 00:41:10,110 --> 00:41:13,790 You get that tug on your heart that God will not let that go away. 955 00:41:14,990 --> 00:41:18,950 And the truth is, is that we don't want to be deadened and apathetic 956 00:41:18,950 --> 00:41:21,750 to the tug on our heart for what God is calling us to do. 957 00:41:21,750 --> 00:41:26,830 And it might be a ministry it might be a spiritual discipline that 958 00:41:26,830 --> 00:41:30,190 God is calling us to grow in, or it might just be a spiritual battle 959 00:41:30,190 --> 00:41:30,830 that we're fighting. 960 00:41:30,830 --> 00:41:33,960 It might be a temptation, it might be a trial, might be a physical 961 00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:35,680 trial, it might be a spiritual trial. 962 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:39,040 But nonetheless, if God is allowing us to come to this in our 963 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:40,640 life, it's a place of tempting. 964 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,440 Yes, but that word trial in the Bible, it could mean tempting, 965 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:45,440 or it can mean test. 966 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:48,480 The temptation is not the sin. 967 00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:49,840 It's just a test. 968 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:54,520 It is what we do with that temptation that allows it to be a 969 00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:58,680 test that we learn from or a trial that we fall into in temptation 970 00:41:58,680 --> 00:41:59,200 to sin. 971 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:00,920 And so what I would tell you is this. 972 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:02,880 If there's something that you're really wrestling with in your 973 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:06,120 life, spiritually, in your thought life, in your. 974 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:09,000 In your actions, in your private life, give it over the Lord 975 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:10,680 and say, lord, what are you teaching me through this? 976 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:12,800 How can I grow in your Word? 977 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,519 And as Joshua chapter one says, be in his word day and night. 978 00:42:15,519 --> 00:42:19,080 Meditate on his Word, love his Word, and the word of God will dwell 979 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:19,880 richly in our heart. 980 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:21,800 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way. 981 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:23,640 That's what Psalm 119 talks about. 982 00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:24,040 But. 983 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:25,840 But you're hiding God's word in our heart. 984 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:28,440 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light into my path. 985 00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:29,840 So we live in a dark world. 986 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:32,760 Turn on the news, it's a dark world. 987 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:33,600 And then turn it off. 988 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:35,120 And then say this. 989 00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:37,120 The Word of God is my lamp. 990 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:41,200 It's what's going to shine brightly into my life and show me 991 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:42,800 where the evil is. 992 00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:44,960 Show me where God's plan is for me. 993 00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:48,520 And the more and more we fall into love with the Lord. 994 00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:48,760 That's. 995 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:50,400 That's really the best way that I can say it. 996 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:52,800 I know that it doesn't make sense for us to talk that way. 997 00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:56,640 Maybe if you've never been around a church that talks about 998 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:59,350 a person or relationship with Jesus Christ, but really, truly, 999 00:42:59,350 --> 00:43:02,030 it's loving Lord more and more every day. 1000 00:43:02,910 --> 00:43:08,390 Like, what if I told you I've been married to my wife now for over 1001 00:43:08,390 --> 00:43:10,070 a decade, and I've just reached my. 1002 00:43:10,070 --> 00:43:10,390 My. 1003 00:43:10,390 --> 00:43:11,870 My peak in love, you know, I can't. 1004 00:43:11,870 --> 00:43:12,990 I don't know if I can love anymore. 1005 00:43:13,310 --> 00:43:15,790 Some of you might say, well, Pastor, I think you need to talk, 1006 00:43:16,030 --> 00:43:17,230 you know, to someone. 1007 00:43:17,710 --> 00:43:19,670 It's the same thing sometimes we see with Christians. 1008 00:43:19,670 --> 00:43:21,030 They say, well, I've been saved for 30 years. 1009 00:43:21,030 --> 00:43:22,590 I don't know how much more I can love God. 1010 00:43:22,670 --> 00:43:23,950 Every day is a new day. 1011 00:43:24,470 --> 00:43:27,030 His mercies are new every single morning. 1012 00:43:27,190 --> 00:43:30,910 And so it's like waking up to a new revelation of God's love for 1013 00:43:30,910 --> 00:43:31,670 us in our life. 1014 00:43:31,830 --> 00:43:33,990 And so it's growing in more and more and left. 1015 00:43:33,990 --> 00:43:35,350 It's not that God loves. 1016 00:43:35,350 --> 00:43:37,030 God grows in his love for us. 1017 00:43:37,110 --> 00:43:39,350 His love is abundant and infinite. 1018 00:43:39,430 --> 00:43:42,950 It's our love growing and knowing what he has done for us. 1019 00:43:43,270 --> 00:43:45,230 So I encourage you to think about that here this evening. 1020 00:43:45,230 --> 00:43:47,470 Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer, a few announcements 1021 00:43:47,470 --> 00:43:48,430 and then we'll be dismissed. 1022 00:43:48,430 --> 00:43:50,030 Lord, I thank you for this time that you've given us. 1023 00:43:50,030 --> 00:43:52,190 Thank you for the opportunity to come together tonight. 1024 00:43:52,190 --> 00:43:54,870 Thank you for this study in the book of Joshua, Lord, how you've 1025 00:43:54,870 --> 00:43:57,950 shown us what it means to follow you and to trust in you and 1026 00:43:57,950 --> 00:44:01,110 to know that we have no reason to fear because you are with us. 1027 00:44:01,350 --> 00:44:04,550 So Lord, I pray that you bless us as we continue on this week. 1028 00:44:04,630 --> 00:44:07,830 I pray that we can live boldly for you as as light in this world 1029 00:44:07,830 --> 00:44:10,710 so that people can see our good works and glorify you. 1030 00:44:10,870 --> 00:44:13,710 And so we just love you and thank you for all that you do for 1031 00:44:13,710 --> 00:44:15,990 us and who you are in our lives. 1032 00:44:15,990 --> 00:44:19,840 We love you, but we ask you to teach us how to love you more in 1033 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:20,200 our lives. 1034 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:21,680 And we ask all these things in Jesus name. 1035 00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:22,200 Amen. 1036 00:44:23,720 --> 00:44:26,360 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1037 00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:27,000 podcast. 1038 00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:29,560 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1039 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:32,480 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1040 00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:35,960 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1041 00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:38,840 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1042 00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:43,560 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at Middletown Baptist 1043 00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:47,770 Church church.com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe 1044 00:44:47,770 --> 00:44:51,250 and follow along for future podcast and updates. 1045 00:44:51,890 --> 00:44:52,850 Thank you so much. 1046 00:44:53,090 --> 00:44:53,810 God Bless. 1047 00:44:54,050 --> 00:44:55,330 Have a wonderful day.