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 --> 00:00:20,120 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,080 We're going to continue our study in the book of Joshua. 10 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:27,840 So if you have your Bibles turn there with me. 11 00:00:28,690 --> 00:00:32,170 Joshua Chapter 10 is where we're going to be for our main text. 12 00:00:32,170 --> 00:00:35,490 But I've been meaning to do this frequently through this study, 13 00:00:35,490 --> 00:00:40,930 and I think we even did it last week in verses 8 and 9 in chapter 14 00:00:40,930 --> 00:00:41,170 1. 15 00:00:41,170 --> 00:00:43,610 But I do want us to go back to chapter one, so keep your finger 16 00:00:43,610 --> 00:00:44,370 in chapter 10. 17 00:00:44,530 --> 00:00:46,970 I want us to go back to chapter one because I want us to 18 00:00:46,970 --> 00:00:51,650 be able to see the different instances of God's provision and 19 00:00:51,650 --> 00:00:54,370 protection through the lens of Joshua chapter one. 20 00:00:54,970 --> 00:00:58,570 Because as we see Joshua and the people of Israel fighting these 21 00:00:58,570 --> 00:01:03,290 battles, going into difficult situations, we often think about 22 00:01:03,770 --> 00:01:04,170 that. 23 00:01:04,330 --> 00:01:07,130 You know, if we were in those positions, maybe we would be afraid, 24 00:01:07,130 --> 00:01:08,490 maybe we would be hesitant. 25 00:01:08,490 --> 00:01:11,010 But what we have to do, like we talked about this morning, is 26 00:01:11,010 --> 00:01:14,490 we have to go back to the original truth that God gave us in 27 00:01:14,490 --> 00:01:15,170 his promises. 28 00:01:15,170 --> 00:01:19,010 And so when Joshua is facing the different people, the. 29 00:01:19,010 --> 00:01:22,550 The pagans that are around that area of Canaan that God had 30 00:01:22,550 --> 00:01:25,790 already promised him, we see that he goes through times of ups 31 00:01:25,790 --> 00:01:26,350 and downs. 32 00:01:26,350 --> 00:01:29,150 But if we go back to Joshua chapter one, and we start in verse 33 00:01:29,150 --> 00:01:33,350 one, we see the context of God's promise to Joshua. 34 00:01:33,350 --> 00:01:36,229 And he says, now after the death of Moses, the servant of the 35 00:01:36,229 --> 00:01:36,910 Lord came. 36 00:01:37,470 --> 00:01:40,750 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of 37 00:01:40,750 --> 00:01:45,310 nun, Moses, Moses's minister, saying, moses, my servant is dead. 38 00:01:45,310 --> 00:01:48,250 Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan. 39 00:01:48,650 --> 00:01:50,290 And so that was the original challenge. 40 00:01:50,290 --> 00:01:54,570 The original challenge from God to Joshua was not go and conquer 41 00:01:54,570 --> 00:01:57,050 all the lands of Canaan, even though that was the ultimate goal. 42 00:01:57,210 --> 00:02:00,490 The first step of that was to cross the Jordan River. 43 00:02:00,730 --> 00:02:04,210 So he says, go across the Jordan thou and all this people unto 44 00:02:04,210 --> 00:02:08,210 the land which I do give to them, meaning this isn't land that 45 00:02:08,210 --> 00:02:09,250 they're going to win on their own. 46 00:02:09,250 --> 00:02:11,610 This is God given land to them. 47 00:02:11,690 --> 00:02:15,220 It says, even to the children of Israel, Every place that the sole 48 00:02:15,220 --> 00:02:19,140 of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I 49 00:02:19,140 --> 00:02:20,260 said unto Moses. 50 00:02:20,260 --> 00:02:22,780 So what God was doing to Joshua was this. 51 00:02:22,780 --> 00:02:26,700 He was reminding Joshua that the promise that he gave to Moses 52 00:02:26,700 --> 00:02:27,780 was the promise for him. 53 00:02:27,940 --> 00:02:30,779 The promise that he gave to Israel was still the promise for 54 00:02:30,779 --> 00:02:31,300 Israel. 55 00:02:31,380 --> 00:02:32,500 He said, verse 4. 56 00:02:32,660 --> 00:02:36,260 From the wilderness of this Lebanon, even unto the great river 57 00:02:36,420 --> 00:02:39,260 and the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto 58 00:02:39,260 --> 00:02:43,590 the great sea, toward the going down of the sun shall be your 59 00:02:43,590 --> 00:02:43,950 coast. 60 00:02:43,950 --> 00:02:46,590 And then I want you to see what he says in verse five, because 61 00:02:46,670 --> 00:02:50,070 I want us to think about that promise as we look at Joshua, chapter 62 00:02:50,070 --> 00:02:50,350 10. 63 00:02:50,670 --> 00:02:54,430 He says in verse 5, There shall not any man be able to stand 64 00:02:54,990 --> 00:02:58,030 before thee all the days of thy life. 65 00:02:58,750 --> 00:02:59,950 That idea would be this. 66 00:02:59,950 --> 00:03:03,270 It's not that Joshua is such a great man, but what does he say? 67 00:03:03,270 --> 00:03:07,800 He says, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. 68 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,040 And so the key to Joshua's victory, the key to Israel's victory, 69 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,200 really the key to all of us when it comes to the victory in our 70 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,240 lives, spiritually speaking, would be that we're reminded of the 71 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:19,080 presence of God. 72 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,280 And so he says, I will be with thee. 73 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,880 I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 74 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,640 And so the reminder that we see here in Joshua chapter one is 75 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:30,480 the same reminder that we see in the New Testament in the Book 76 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,810 of Hebrews, that when we become children of God, when we trust 77 00:03:33,810 --> 00:03:36,930 in him, that he says that he will be with us, that he's not going 78 00:03:36,930 --> 00:03:40,050 to leave us nor forsake us, that it's his victory in our lives 79 00:03:40,050 --> 00:03:41,410 and he will never fail us. 80 00:03:41,730 --> 00:03:44,850 And so, remember, Joshua and the people of Israel had the times 81 00:03:44,850 --> 00:03:47,330 in which they trusted in the Lord and He gave them great victory. 82 00:03:47,489 --> 00:03:49,770 There was times where they trusted in themselves and there was 83 00:03:49,770 --> 00:03:50,450 great defeat. 84 00:03:50,610 --> 00:03:53,290 But ultimately, the promise of God for Joshua was this. 85 00:03:53,290 --> 00:03:54,930 I'm going to be with you, so trust me. 86 00:03:55,410 --> 00:03:58,770 And so every time Joshua and the people of Israel are tested, 87 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,200 they're tested on whether or not they're going to trust in the 88 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,080 promise of God or they're going to trust in their own strength. 89 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:04,640 They're. 90 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:04,840 They're. 91 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:05,080 They're. 92 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,200 They're tempted to trust in themselves, or they're tempted to 93 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,000 trust in the ways of the world, or they're tempted to trust 94 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:11,760 in what they see. 95 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:13,040 And God reminds them. 96 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:14,320 No, it's not about what you see. 97 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:16,200 It's not about what you've experienced. 98 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:18,400 It's not even who you're against, really. 99 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,080 The victory is based in the promise that I will be with you. 100 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,840 And so we go all the way to Joshua, chapter 10. 101 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:28,590 For all of you that were with us last week, what happens Is maybe 102 00:04:28,590 --> 00:04:32,670 you'll remember there was this conspiracy of five kings, five nations 103 00:04:32,670 --> 00:04:37,470 that came against the people of Israel after they heard about 104 00:04:37,470 --> 00:04:40,070 the victories of Jericho, after they heard about the victories 105 00:04:40,070 --> 00:04:45,670 at AI, after they heard that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty 106 00:04:45,670 --> 00:04:47,150 with the people of Israel. 107 00:04:47,310 --> 00:04:48,350 They said, you know what? 108 00:04:48,350 --> 00:04:53,150 We're going to come against the people of Israel by coming together. 109 00:04:53,390 --> 00:04:56,910 So, so we have these pagan nations that essentially lead together 110 00:04:56,910 --> 00:04:58,910 so that they can fight against Israel. 111 00:04:58,910 --> 00:05:02,390 And then we actually saw that Joshua and the people of Israel go 112 00:05:02,390 --> 00:05:06,190 to the Lord, ask for his guidance, and God reminds them that 113 00:05:06,190 --> 00:05:07,070 he is with them. 114 00:05:07,150 --> 00:05:08,882 You go to Joshua, chapter 10. 115 00:05:08,938 --> 00:05:09,190 8. 116 00:05:09,190 --> 00:05:13,430 And the Lord said unto Joshua, fear them not, for I have delivered 117 00:05:13,430 --> 00:05:14,430 them into thine hand. 118 00:05:14,590 --> 00:05:17,190 There shall not a man of them stand before thee. 119 00:05:17,190 --> 00:05:20,150 See, that's basically a restatement of what we saw in chapter 120 00:05:20,150 --> 00:05:20,430 one. 121 00:05:20,770 --> 00:05:23,130 God is reminding Joshua of his promise to him. 122 00:05:23,130 --> 00:05:23,970 So he says, go forward. 123 00:05:24,370 --> 00:05:25,530 Just step out in faith. 124 00:05:25,530 --> 00:05:26,730 I'm already working ahead of you. 125 00:05:26,730 --> 00:05:27,810 And we know that he did. 126 00:05:27,890 --> 00:05:29,490 We know that God was working ahead. 127 00:05:29,650 --> 00:05:33,250 God sent these hailstones to come later on in the chapter. 128 00:05:33,490 --> 00:05:33,810 You. 129 00:05:33,810 --> 00:05:36,250 You saw this great victory that Israel was having. 130 00:05:36,250 --> 00:05:38,810 And Joshua says, lord, let this continue on. 131 00:05:38,810 --> 00:05:41,410 Let the day last longer so we can see this victory. 132 00:05:41,650 --> 00:05:44,970 And that's essentially what we do when we ask God to continue his 133 00:05:44,970 --> 00:05:45,730 work in our life. 134 00:05:46,050 --> 00:05:49,930 It was a pleading to the Lord to extend his gift of grace. 135 00:05:49,930 --> 00:05:50,570 And he did. 136 00:05:50,730 --> 00:05:53,490 And he does this miraculous thing by allowing the day to last 137 00:05:53,490 --> 00:05:54,010 longer. 138 00:05:54,010 --> 00:05:55,610 And there's this awesome victory. 139 00:05:55,610 --> 00:05:58,930 And so what we did is we left off last week in verse number 15, 140 00:05:58,930 --> 00:06:03,130 it says, and Joshua returned, and all Israel with him unto the 141 00:06:03,130 --> 00:06:04,330 camp to Gilgal. 142 00:06:04,810 --> 00:06:06,250 And now Gilgal is special. 143 00:06:06,810 --> 00:06:09,730 Anytime we see here in the book of Joshua, them coming back 144 00:06:09,730 --> 00:06:13,770 to Gilgal, Gilgal is a picture of their faithfulness to the Lord, 145 00:06:14,100 --> 00:06:17,460 and it's a picture of them obeying the Lord and his promise. 146 00:06:17,700 --> 00:06:21,340 And so we're going to see that repetitively mentioned at the end 147 00:06:21,340 --> 00:06:23,860 of these victories that they would go back to Gilgal. 148 00:06:24,260 --> 00:06:27,700 But we see in verse number 16 that these five kings fled. 149 00:06:28,340 --> 00:06:31,940 And so if the kings are still around, it means that that opposition 150 00:06:31,940 --> 00:06:32,580 is still around. 151 00:06:32,580 --> 00:06:36,020 Even though they took out most of the army at that point, those 152 00:06:36,020 --> 00:06:37,060 kings are still around. 153 00:06:37,060 --> 00:06:40,340 And so God says that there needs to be a complete victory. 154 00:06:41,090 --> 00:06:43,530 And in the Old Testament, when God was talking about taking out 155 00:06:43,530 --> 00:06:46,690 the pagans, he didn't just say, take out partly those people. 156 00:06:46,850 --> 00:06:49,170 He says, wipe them out completely, even their kings. 157 00:06:49,570 --> 00:06:52,210 And we even know that there were certain instances in the Old 158 00:06:52,210 --> 00:06:55,370 Testament where individuals did not wipe out the pagans and they 159 00:06:55,370 --> 00:06:56,450 were punished for that. 160 00:06:56,690 --> 00:06:58,210 And so we know that the. 161 00:06:58,290 --> 00:06:59,490 The victory was not over. 162 00:06:59,490 --> 00:07:01,010 The battle had not ended yet. 163 00:07:01,010 --> 00:07:03,890 So they run, these five kings, they fled. 164 00:07:03,890 --> 00:07:04,450 They flee. 165 00:07:04,530 --> 00:07:07,570 And it says they hid themselves in a cave at Makadah. 166 00:07:07,990 --> 00:07:09,350 So they're hiding in this cave. 167 00:07:09,350 --> 00:07:09,950 Verse 17. 168 00:07:09,950 --> 00:07:13,710 And it was told Joshua saying the five kings are found hid in a 169 00:07:13,710 --> 00:07:14,870 cave at Makada. 170 00:07:15,030 --> 00:07:18,630 And Joshua said, roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave 171 00:07:18,710 --> 00:07:21,870 and set men by it for to keep them, meaning this. 172 00:07:21,870 --> 00:07:23,110 We're not going to deal with them right now. 173 00:07:23,110 --> 00:07:25,510 We got to go finish the rest of these people off. 174 00:07:25,510 --> 00:07:27,990 But we're going to come back and we're going to complete the job. 175 00:07:27,990 --> 00:07:29,990 We're going to wipe them out completely. 176 00:07:30,550 --> 00:07:34,710 Verse 19 and stay not, but pursue after your enemies and smite 177 00:07:34,710 --> 00:07:38,250 the hindmost of them and suffer them not to enter into their 178 00:07:38,250 --> 00:07:38,650 cities. 179 00:07:38,970 --> 00:07:40,330 Just don't let them get back. 180 00:07:40,490 --> 00:07:43,890 For the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hands. 181 00:07:43,890 --> 00:07:45,450 So I find this very interesting. 182 00:07:45,450 --> 00:07:50,090 Verse number 19 is essentially Joshua stating to the people what 183 00:07:50,090 --> 00:07:51,930 God has already stated to him. 184 00:07:52,410 --> 00:07:55,810 Joshua is being a biblical leader by saying this, God has made 185 00:07:55,810 --> 00:07:56,570 us a promise. 186 00:07:56,650 --> 00:07:58,330 And I'm reminding you of this promise. 187 00:07:58,330 --> 00:08:01,210 And I think that's important for all of us within biblical leadership. 188 00:08:01,210 --> 00:08:03,380 And I use that word, leadership a lot. 189 00:08:03,620 --> 00:08:06,180 And I want you to know that when I'm saying leadership, I don't 190 00:08:06,180 --> 00:08:09,540 just mean pastor, even though a pastor is a leader of the church. 191 00:08:09,940 --> 00:08:13,340 But I do believe that God is calling all of us at some capacity 192 00:08:13,340 --> 00:08:15,940 to take leadership roles within our Christian life. 193 00:08:16,180 --> 00:08:19,060 Whether it be within the church, whether it be within our 194 00:08:19,060 --> 00:08:21,300 families, whether it be within our workplaces. 195 00:08:21,460 --> 00:08:23,300 We're all called to be leaders. 196 00:08:23,300 --> 00:08:27,500 And so what we see here is a principle that as God comforts us, 197 00:08:27,500 --> 00:08:29,320 as God strengthens us, as. 198 00:08:29,390 --> 00:08:33,430 As God reminds us of his promises to us that he's given us 199 00:08:33,430 --> 00:08:37,350 in his word, we are to remind others around us to keep fighting. 200 00:08:37,350 --> 00:08:38,230 And that's what he says here. 201 00:08:38,230 --> 00:08:39,710 He says, don't give up yet. 202 00:08:39,710 --> 00:08:40,830 We need to keep fighting. 203 00:08:40,830 --> 00:08:44,110 And then verse number 19, essentially Joshua says, look, God 204 00:08:44,110 --> 00:08:45,710 has already given us the victory. 205 00:08:45,710 --> 00:08:47,310 He's already delivered it to us. 206 00:08:47,630 --> 00:08:49,830 And so he's reminding them of the presence of God. 207 00:08:49,830 --> 00:08:51,070 And I think that's what we do. 208 00:08:51,710 --> 00:08:55,430 As a pastor, it's not my job to tell you something maybe that 209 00:08:55,430 --> 00:08:56,230 you never heard of. 210 00:08:56,230 --> 00:08:57,270 I mean, maybe I will. 211 00:08:57,270 --> 00:09:00,220 But the truth is, is that many times I'm Preaching on passages that 212 00:09:00,220 --> 00:09:01,140 all of you have heard before. 213 00:09:01,700 --> 00:09:04,820 Maybe sometimes you've read yourself, maybe you've taught yourself. 214 00:09:04,820 --> 00:09:08,260 And so a lot of times within the Christian life, we need to be 215 00:09:08,260 --> 00:09:10,500 reminded of the promises of God. 216 00:09:10,580 --> 00:09:13,940 Not because we intellectually have forgotten, but maybe we've drifted 217 00:09:14,180 --> 00:09:17,460 in our life when it comes to our faith and trusting in those promises. 218 00:09:17,700 --> 00:09:20,580 And so Joshua says, keep going, keep pushing forward. 219 00:09:20,660 --> 00:09:21,220 Verse 20. 220 00:09:21,220 --> 00:09:24,140 And it came to pass when Joshua and the children of Israel 221 00:09:24,140 --> 00:09:27,810 had made an end of slaying them, and with a great, very great 222 00:09:27,810 --> 00:09:32,170 slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained 223 00:09:32,170 --> 00:09:34,650 of them entered into the fence cities. 224 00:09:34,730 --> 00:09:38,570 And all people returned to the camp to Joshua and Madot in peace. 225 00:09:38,730 --> 00:09:42,170 None moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. 226 00:09:42,890 --> 00:09:43,890 So it's interesting here. 227 00:09:43,890 --> 00:09:46,010 Basically, this is the completion of the battle. 228 00:09:46,010 --> 00:09:47,890 This is the finishing of the battle. 229 00:09:47,890 --> 00:09:51,410 And so Joshua says this, hey, let's deal with these kings later. 230 00:09:51,410 --> 00:09:53,130 Let's finish what's in front of us. 231 00:09:53,750 --> 00:09:57,550 And so we see that this physical victory is indicative of 232 00:09:57,550 --> 00:09:59,990 the spiritual victory that's happening behind the scenes. 233 00:10:00,070 --> 00:10:00,350 Now. 234 00:10:00,350 --> 00:10:04,310 God isn't calling us to go and to fight with the sword right now. 235 00:10:04,310 --> 00:10:05,270 That's not the. 236 00:10:05,430 --> 00:10:05,790 The. 237 00:10:05,790 --> 00:10:08,190 What we would say is the role of the church today. 238 00:10:08,190 --> 00:10:10,670 We are to fight with a sword, but not a physical sword. 239 00:10:10,670 --> 00:10:13,390 We're to fight with the sword of the spirit, the Bible says, and 240 00:10:13,390 --> 00:10:15,790 we're to contend for the faith. 241 00:10:15,790 --> 00:10:17,670 And so we are to fight for the faith. 242 00:10:17,990 --> 00:10:20,790 But what we see here in the picture of the Old Testament is this. 243 00:10:20,910 --> 00:10:22,910 There's going to be times in our life where we need to fight against 244 00:10:22,910 --> 00:10:23,630 the enemy. 245 00:10:23,710 --> 00:10:25,310 We have to stand up for the truth. 246 00:10:25,310 --> 00:10:28,070 We have to make sure that the battle is complete. 247 00:10:28,070 --> 00:10:32,190 And so the people of Canaan, those pagans that were around, obviously 248 00:10:32,190 --> 00:10:35,590 saw the power of God working and the people of Israel are coming 249 00:10:35,590 --> 00:10:36,110 against them. 250 00:10:36,110 --> 00:10:38,790 And really this victory for Israel is not just a victory for 251 00:10:38,790 --> 00:10:39,150 the people. 252 00:10:39,550 --> 00:10:42,950 Ultimately, it's a victory for God and it's a testimony of God's 253 00:10:42,950 --> 00:10:43,230 power. 254 00:10:43,870 --> 00:10:47,630 And so at the very end, at very end of verse number 21, it says, 255 00:10:47,630 --> 00:10:50,390 none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. 256 00:10:50,630 --> 00:10:51,990 And so what this means is this. 257 00:10:52,230 --> 00:10:57,150 God was shown clearly to the pagan people that they cannot come 258 00:10:57,150 --> 00:10:57,910 against the Lord. 259 00:10:58,470 --> 00:11:01,950 And so essentially what we see is that the testimony of God was 260 00:11:01,950 --> 00:11:05,190 sure with those around that, hey, we can't come against Israel. 261 00:11:05,910 --> 00:11:07,430 And so what I would say is this. 262 00:11:07,430 --> 00:11:08,630 God is victorious. 263 00:11:08,710 --> 00:11:10,070 He always is victorious. 264 00:11:10,550 --> 00:11:13,510 And we live in a world today with some Christians who almost act 265 00:11:13,510 --> 00:11:14,630 Like God is not victorious. 266 00:11:14,630 --> 00:11:14,950 Like. 267 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,400 Like God is losing, like the enemy will win. 268 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:19,080 But we know the end of the story. 269 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:21,080 And so what I would say is this. 270 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,600 We need to live as if we are victors. 271 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:23,920 Why? 272 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:24,680 Because our. 273 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,640 Our Lord Jesus Christ is the victor. 274 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,400 We sing this song, victory in Jesus, but yet we sometimes doubt 275 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,880 that we can have victory in the struggles that we face in our 276 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:35,560 life, the battles that we face in our life. 277 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,280 What I would tell you is that the victory is found in Jesus Christ. 278 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,580 The victory is found in a relationship with him, walking with 279 00:11:42,580 --> 00:11:44,140 him, obedience to him. 280 00:11:44,300 --> 00:11:46,500 And there's many people struggling with many different things. 281 00:11:46,500 --> 00:11:48,740 You might be struggling with physical struggles, you might be 282 00:11:48,740 --> 00:11:51,100 dealing with a sin. 283 00:11:51,180 --> 00:11:54,860 You might be dealing with possibly some people, maybe not here, 284 00:11:54,860 --> 00:11:57,180 but maybe the people that you know are dealing with addiction, 285 00:11:57,260 --> 00:12:01,020 are dealing with hopelessness, are dealing with broken relationships. 286 00:12:01,020 --> 00:12:04,460 The answer to all of these struggles and battles is Jesus Christ. 287 00:12:04,700 --> 00:12:07,620 And when we come to him and when we understand that he completely 288 00:12:07,620 --> 00:12:11,900 is victorious, we understand that ultimately as a believer, we 289 00:12:11,900 --> 00:12:13,860 have the victory no matter what battle. 290 00:12:13,860 --> 00:12:16,260 We might be facing the struggle, we might be facing the 291 00:12:16,260 --> 00:12:17,660 pain that we might be feeling. 292 00:12:17,820 --> 00:12:19,300 Jesus Christ is Lord. 293 00:12:19,300 --> 00:12:22,500 And so we see in verse number 22, then Joshua said, open the mouth 294 00:12:22,500 --> 00:12:23,140 of the cave. 295 00:12:23,140 --> 00:12:25,420 So Joshua was like, okay, it's time to finish it. 296 00:12:25,660 --> 00:12:27,260 It's time to wipe out these kings. 297 00:12:27,900 --> 00:12:28,220 And. 298 00:12:28,220 --> 00:12:30,860 And so for these next few verses, it gets pretty graphic. 299 00:12:31,180 --> 00:12:34,060 This is the Bible, but what we can see here is that God is calling 300 00:12:34,060 --> 00:12:35,900 Joshua to wipe out these kings. 301 00:12:35,980 --> 00:12:38,780 And so verse number 22, then Joshua said, open the mouth of the 302 00:12:38,780 --> 00:12:42,520 cave and bring out those five kings unto me of the cave. 303 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,120 And so this is really where we see Joshua. 304 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,680 He had delayed their punishment. 305 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:50,720 This is ultimately the punishment of God. 306 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,640 But now Joshua was following through with what God had called 307 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:54,360 him to do. 308 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:56,840 And so it says, verse 23. 309 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,960 And they did so and brought forth those five kings unto him out 310 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:01,640 of the cave. 311 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:06,640 The king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, 312 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,220 the king of Lachish, and the king of eglon. 313 00:13:10,420 --> 00:13:11,580 And verse 24. 314 00:13:11,580 --> 00:13:15,060 And it came to pass when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, 315 00:13:15,060 --> 00:13:18,980 that Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said unto the captains 316 00:13:18,980 --> 00:13:22,620 of the men of war which went with him, come near, put your feet 317 00:13:22,620 --> 00:13:23,860 upon the necks of these kings. 318 00:13:24,340 --> 00:13:26,660 And this is a symbol of God's victory, of their. 319 00:13:26,660 --> 00:13:29,860 Their hopelessness, their weakness in the sight of the Lord. 320 00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:32,500 And they came near and put their feet upon the necks of them. 321 00:13:32,740 --> 00:13:36,530 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not nor be dismayed. 322 00:13:37,010 --> 00:13:40,210 Be strong and of a good courage, for thus shall the Lord 323 00:13:40,210 --> 00:13:43,170 do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. 324 00:13:44,370 --> 00:13:47,890 This is, I believe that verse number 25 is so amazing because we 325 00:13:47,890 --> 00:13:52,850 see Joshua finding strength in the promises of God and proclaiming 326 00:13:52,850 --> 00:13:55,730 those promises to the others so that they can find strength. 327 00:13:56,450 --> 00:14:00,530 If you read verse 25, it sounds very similar to Joshua 1:9, 328 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,960 when God was talking to Joshua in private about the fights that 329 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:09,080 he would be having in the future, the battles that he would 330 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:09,560 be fighting. 331 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:11,120 And then he says, fear not. 332 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,480 So, so Joshua is telling the people, don't fear, don't be dismayed. 333 00:14:16,799 --> 00:14:18,320 Be strong and of a good courage. 334 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:18,600 Why? 335 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,560 For thus the Lord shall do to your enemies against whom you fight. 336 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,600 He will do this to all of your enemies. 337 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,800 And so Joshua is reiterating that promise. 338 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,750 And I find that so important that, that this idea of God partnering 339 00:14:31,750 --> 00:14:35,310 with Joshua, essentially God partnering with his people, that 340 00:14:35,310 --> 00:14:37,990 God had promised his victory and they're finding this victory 341 00:14:37,990 --> 00:14:39,270 here in this very moment. 342 00:14:39,270 --> 00:14:39,910 Verse 26. 343 00:14:39,910 --> 00:14:43,310 And afterward Joshua smote them and slew them and hang them 344 00:14:43,310 --> 00:14:44,230 on five trees. 345 00:14:44,230 --> 00:14:47,190 And they were hanging upon the trees until evening. 346 00:14:47,270 --> 00:14:47,990 Verse 27. 347 00:14:47,990 --> 00:14:50,670 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun 348 00:14:50,670 --> 00:14:51,910 that Joshua commanded. 349 00:14:51,910 --> 00:14:54,670 And they took them down off the trees and cast them into the 350 00:14:54,670 --> 00:14:57,650 grave wherein they had been hid and, and laid great stones in 351 00:14:57,650 --> 00:15:00,530 the cave's mouth which remain until this very day. 352 00:15:01,090 --> 00:15:03,850 And so this speaks of God's complete victory over these five 353 00:15:03,850 --> 00:15:07,450 nations that came against them, that, that wanted to wipe them 354 00:15:07,450 --> 00:15:07,650 out. 355 00:15:07,650 --> 00:15:11,170 And so Joshua is saying, look, this is God's victory and we're going 356 00:15:11,170 --> 00:15:11,850 to trust in Him. 357 00:15:11,850 --> 00:15:16,810 And so really what we see is that when fear arises in our heart, 358 00:15:16,810 --> 00:15:20,770 the way to combat that fear is to go back to the promise and to 359 00:15:20,770 --> 00:15:24,150 be reminded that we what, be strong and of a good courage. 360 00:15:24,230 --> 00:15:24,590 Why? 361 00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:26,390 Because God is doing the fighting for us. 362 00:15:26,870 --> 00:15:28,990 That, that God is the one working ahead of us. 363 00:15:28,990 --> 00:15:29,990 He cares about us. 364 00:15:30,150 --> 00:15:31,110 He loves us. 365 00:15:31,510 --> 00:15:33,270 And you know, we, we love ourselves. 366 00:15:34,070 --> 00:15:37,670 I, I, I, I know that we don't want to often say that, but in our 367 00:15:37,670 --> 00:15:38,750 lives that's what the Bible says. 368 00:15:38,750 --> 00:15:41,510 To love others as we love ourselves, because we love ourselves 369 00:15:41,510 --> 00:15:42,710 whether we want to or not. 370 00:15:42,790 --> 00:15:45,590 And so what we think about sometimes is like, well, I know what's 371 00:15:45,590 --> 00:15:48,070 best for me because I want what's best for me. 372 00:15:48,310 --> 00:15:51,070 And you might want what's best for you, but sometimes even though 373 00:15:51,070 --> 00:15:53,990 we want what's best for us, we might not know what's best for us. 374 00:15:54,230 --> 00:15:57,390 And so what we do is we think about, well, if God loves me more 375 00:15:57,390 --> 00:16:00,030 than I can love myself, he knows what's best for me, so I need 376 00:16:00,030 --> 00:16:00,750 to trust in him. 377 00:16:00,750 --> 00:16:02,830 And that's essentially what Joshua is telling them. 378 00:16:02,830 --> 00:16:03,750 He says, just trust. 379 00:16:04,390 --> 00:16:07,990 Now, it's interesting to see this one of the kings that's defeated. 380 00:16:08,390 --> 00:16:10,350 You go back to verse number one. 381 00:16:10,350 --> 00:16:11,830 There was the king of Jerusalem. 382 00:16:12,230 --> 00:16:14,150 His name was Adonai Zedek. 383 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:15,120 And. 384 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:19,240 And there's some commentators that actually believe that Adonis, 385 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:20,520 that he was a real king. 386 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:26,640 But they believe also that he is a picture or a type for the eventual 387 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,360 Antichrist that is to come. 388 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,000 His name means Lord of righteousness, which is right then 389 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,880 and there, a proclamation of irony, right, because he's not righteous. 390 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:37,640 He's coming against those who are righteous. 391 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,910 So he's claiming to be the Lord of righteousness, but yet he's 392 00:16:40,910 --> 00:16:42,830 a pagan king there in Jerusalem. 393 00:16:43,470 --> 00:16:44,670 So I find that interesting. 394 00:16:44,670 --> 00:16:47,150 He led a confederation of kings against Israel. 395 00:16:47,950 --> 00:16:51,830 He fought against Joshua, which Joshua essentially is the name 396 00:16:51,830 --> 00:16:52,150 as. 397 00:16:52,150 --> 00:16:52,430 As. 398 00:16:52,430 --> 00:16:55,150 As Yahweh saves Josue. 399 00:16:55,230 --> 00:16:58,510 In Spanish you might hear that word Yeshua. 400 00:16:58,510 --> 00:17:00,470 In Hebrew, it's a very popular term. 401 00:17:00,470 --> 00:17:01,470 It's a popular word. 402 00:17:01,470 --> 00:17:02,750 It means God saves. 403 00:17:02,750 --> 00:17:05,990 And so he fights against essentially the picture of Jesus, 404 00:17:05,990 --> 00:17:07,929 who is Joshua, here in this passage. 405 00:17:08,329 --> 00:17:12,729 Obviously, this king resisted God's occupation in his land and 406 00:17:12,809 --> 00:17:14,849 he allowed other kings to come into that. 407 00:17:14,849 --> 00:17:17,769 And so we do know of an antichrist that is to come. 408 00:17:18,169 --> 00:17:21,409 Revelation chapter 13 talks about a false messiah that is to 409 00:17:21,409 --> 00:17:23,409 come who will rule over Jerusalem. 410 00:17:23,409 --> 00:17:25,449 That's 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. 411 00:17:25,689 --> 00:17:28,729 And we won't go into all of that, but some commentators would 412 00:17:28,729 --> 00:17:33,049 say that this is a great picture of the defeat that the Antichrist 413 00:17:33,049 --> 00:17:35,929 will face one day through the king of kings and the Lord of lords, 414 00:17:35,929 --> 00:17:38,320 Jesus Christ, pictured here with Joshua. 415 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:43,240 But what we can see here is that the rest of this chapter is 416 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:47,160 an explanation of God's continued conquest of the land that 417 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:47,840 he promised. 418 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:49,560 And so we're just going to go through this. 419 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,880 A lot of this will seem somewhat repetitive because it'll 420 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,680 go from place to place explaining God's victories. 421 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:59,520 But I think that we need to see the repetition of God's faithfulness 422 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:01,520 in the life of Israel. 423 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:02,520 And we also see. 424 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,040 Need to see the repetition of God's faithfulness in our own life. 425 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:09,520 You know, I think that sometimes I'll be honest and I'll 426 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:14,000 confess that when, when as a Christian as I grew up in a church, 427 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,040 I would hear people get up and give a Testimony. 428 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,560 And for me, as a young Christian who maybe was immature 429 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:22,520 in my faith, they all kind of sound the same. 430 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,200 I was like, yeah, okay, God got you through that. 431 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:24,920 That sounds good. 432 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:25,720 That's great. 433 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,920 But the more I became mature in my faith and the more that my 434 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,200 love for the Lord grew, the more I see God's faithfulness in 435 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,650 that person's life, then in my own life, I can trust in the Lord 436 00:18:36,650 --> 00:18:37,930 and see those testimonies. 437 00:18:38,010 --> 00:18:40,930 And so we should never get tired of seeing repetition of God's 438 00:18:40,930 --> 00:18:43,690 faithfulness in our own life and others around us. 439 00:18:43,930 --> 00:18:46,930 And so Joshua says here, hey, this is our victory. 440 00:18:46,930 --> 00:18:47,810 Come watch this. 441 00:18:47,810 --> 00:18:50,170 Come, come witness the power of God. 442 00:18:50,170 --> 00:18:51,850 That's why we do testimony time. 443 00:18:52,090 --> 00:18:54,570 I mean, there's a lot of other things that we could do within church. 444 00:18:54,890 --> 00:18:55,210 And. 445 00:18:55,210 --> 00:18:58,050 And so I. I certainly love the testimony time. 446 00:18:58,050 --> 00:18:59,970 Now, we can't do it on a Sunday morning for. 447 00:18:59,970 --> 00:19:00,850 For various reasons. 448 00:19:00,850 --> 00:19:03,090 If you want to know more of those reasons, come talk to me. 449 00:19:03,490 --> 00:19:06,370 But, you know, for the sake of just maybe having visitors, we don't 450 00:19:06,370 --> 00:19:07,730 know who's coming in on Sunday morning. 451 00:19:07,970 --> 00:19:10,730 Sometimes we have to be very careful because we have to have a 452 00:19:10,730 --> 00:19:11,450 certain amount of time. 453 00:19:11,450 --> 00:19:15,410 But we do want to emphasize the importance of testimonies within 454 00:19:15,410 --> 00:19:15,970 the church. 455 00:19:15,970 --> 00:19:16,290 Why? 456 00:19:16,450 --> 00:19:19,530 Because sometimes God is working here, but sometimes God is 457 00:19:19,530 --> 00:19:20,290 working out there. 458 00:19:20,690 --> 00:19:22,930 And we might not know what's going on in someone's home. 459 00:19:22,930 --> 00:19:25,650 We might not know what's going on in someone's workplace. 460 00:19:25,650 --> 00:19:28,970 And so to be reminded of that is not someone bragging about God 461 00:19:28,970 --> 00:19:29,890 working in their life. 462 00:19:30,350 --> 00:19:32,630 What that really is, is bringing it to light. 463 00:19:32,630 --> 00:19:34,110 And that's what that word testimony means. 464 00:19:34,110 --> 00:19:37,390 It means just telling my story, proclaiming what God is doing. 465 00:19:38,350 --> 00:19:40,590 And so what I would like you all to do, and I mentioned this a 466 00:19:40,590 --> 00:19:41,550 while ago, and. 467 00:19:41,550 --> 00:19:44,030 And I know this isn't necessarily something that the live 468 00:19:44,030 --> 00:19:47,350 stream folks or the people listening on the podcast can do, 469 00:19:47,350 --> 00:19:49,070 but maybe you can one day is. 470 00:19:49,070 --> 00:19:51,470 I would like for you to think about and pray about an opportunity 471 00:19:51,470 --> 00:19:55,390 to share an extended testimony via a video. 472 00:19:56,110 --> 00:19:59,870 Because I think that it would be really appropriate and I think 473 00:19:59,870 --> 00:20:03,270 beneficial for people to hear maybe an extended testimony of God's 474 00:20:03,270 --> 00:20:04,270 faithfulness in your life. 475 00:20:04,350 --> 00:20:05,790 Maybe it's your conversion story. 476 00:20:05,790 --> 00:20:08,430 Maybe you came from a different background. 477 00:20:08,430 --> 00:20:10,510 Maybe you came from a very difficult place. 478 00:20:10,670 --> 00:20:11,630 Maybe it was a cult. 479 00:20:11,710 --> 00:20:12,670 Maybe it was a. 480 00:20:12,670 --> 00:20:14,870 A false belief system, and then you came to Christ. 481 00:20:14,870 --> 00:20:15,390 That would. 482 00:20:15,390 --> 00:20:18,470 That would really, I think, transform some people's lives and 483 00:20:18,470 --> 00:20:18,910 thinking. 484 00:20:18,910 --> 00:20:21,230 Because I know that sometimes I talk to people and they go yeah, 485 00:20:21,230 --> 00:20:23,710 you're a Christian because you were born into it. 486 00:20:24,190 --> 00:20:26,430 Well, not all of us were born into a Christian home. 487 00:20:26,510 --> 00:20:27,710 And so there's stories of that. 488 00:20:27,710 --> 00:20:29,910 But I think all the more important we need to tell stories 489 00:20:29,910 --> 00:20:33,070 of people being raised in Christian homes, because that's also 490 00:20:33,070 --> 00:20:37,110 an amazing truth that we can see generational promises of God 491 00:20:37,110 --> 00:20:40,310 coming to each family and seeing like, I'm thankful for a grandparent. 492 00:20:40,310 --> 00:20:43,790 I'm thankful for my grandfather, who was an unsaved man, 493 00:20:43,950 --> 00:20:47,190 who was led to the Lord by a pastor who brought his family to 494 00:20:47,190 --> 00:20:49,990 church, who eventually brought me to church, who eventually I get 495 00:20:49,990 --> 00:20:51,305 to see my children coming to church. 496 00:20:51,305 --> 00:20:51,460 And. 497 00:20:51,530 --> 00:20:54,290 And my prayer is that my children bring their children to 498 00:20:54,290 --> 00:20:55,890 church and see Jesus Christ. 499 00:20:55,890 --> 00:20:59,410 And so that's what we see here in this passage, a repetition of 500 00:20:59,410 --> 00:21:00,330 God's faithfulness. 501 00:21:00,330 --> 00:21:04,170 And so verse 28 and that day Joshua took Mecca and smote it with 502 00:21:04,170 --> 00:21:07,250 the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, he utterly destroyed 503 00:21:07,250 --> 00:21:10,970 them and all the souls that were therein, and he let none remain. 504 00:21:10,970 --> 00:21:14,130 And he did to the king of Mecca, as he did unto the king of 505 00:21:14,130 --> 00:21:14,810 Jericho. 506 00:21:15,690 --> 00:21:17,210 He's essentially saying this. 507 00:21:17,970 --> 00:21:19,010 There's a complete victory. 508 00:21:19,170 --> 00:21:20,290 He wiped them out. 509 00:21:20,450 --> 00:21:21,170 Verse 29. 510 00:21:21,170 --> 00:21:25,130 Then Joshua passed from Mecca and all Israel with him to Libnom, 511 00:21:25,130 --> 00:21:28,490 and fought against Libna, and the Lord delivered it also, and the 512 00:21:28,490 --> 00:21:31,250 king thereof, unto the hand of Israel, and he smote it at the edge 513 00:21:31,250 --> 00:21:34,930 of the sword, and all the souls that were therein he let none 514 00:21:34,930 --> 00:21:38,370 remain in it, but did unto the king thereof, as he did unto the 515 00:21:38,370 --> 00:21:39,250 king of Jericho. 516 00:21:39,730 --> 00:21:42,570 Now you know what I mean by repetition, basically resetting it 517 00:21:42,570 --> 00:21:43,250 over and over again. 518 00:21:43,830 --> 00:21:47,550 Verse 31 and Joshua passed from Libna, and all Israel with him, 519 00:21:47,550 --> 00:21:50,190 until atish and encamped against it, and fought against it. 520 00:21:50,190 --> 00:21:52,950 And the Lord delivered lashes into the hand of Israel, which took 521 00:21:52,950 --> 00:21:55,150 it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, 522 00:21:55,150 --> 00:21:56,550 and all the souls that were there. 523 00:21:56,550 --> 00:21:58,870 And according to all that he had done to live. 524 00:21:58,870 --> 00:22:03,750 Now then Horem king of geezer, came up unto help Latius, and Joshua 525 00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:07,270 smote him and his people until he had left none remaining. 526 00:22:07,750 --> 00:22:11,070 And from Latius Joshua class unto Eglon, and all Israel with him. 527 00:22:11,070 --> 00:22:14,330 And they encamped against it and fought against it, and they took 528 00:22:14,330 --> 00:22:17,050 it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all 529 00:22:17,050 --> 00:22:19,970 the souls that were there he utterly destroyed that day unto all 530 00:22:19,970 --> 00:22:21,970 of that he had done to lashes. 531 00:22:22,370 --> 00:22:26,730 And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all of Israel with him unto Hebron. 532 00:22:26,730 --> 00:22:28,610 And they fought against it, and they took it and smote it with 533 00:22:28,610 --> 00:22:30,650 the edge of the sword of the king thereof, and all the cities 534 00:22:30,650 --> 00:22:32,730 thereof, and all the souls that were therein. 535 00:22:32,730 --> 00:22:35,210 And he left none remaining according to all that he had done 536 00:22:35,210 --> 00:22:38,570 to Eglon, but destroyed it utterly in all the souls that were 537 00:22:38,570 --> 00:22:39,090 therein. 538 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:41,400 Now you're seeing, hopefully, a theme. 539 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:42,880 It's a complete victory. 540 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:44,120 He's not allowing for any. 541 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,160 Any evil, any pagan ways, any pagan leaders to be left there. 542 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:51,040 Now, what's that a picture of in our life? 543 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,480 It's, I believe it's a picture of removing sinful things in our 544 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,760 life, removing those sinful influences, not allowing it to hang 545 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,440 around, not allowing it to be compromised in our life. 546 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,400 And so there's that repetition here, verse 39, same thing says, 547 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,400 and he took it, the king thereof and all the cities thereof, 548 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,110 and they smote them with the edge of the sword and. 549 00:23:08,180 --> 00:23:09,780 And utterly destroyed all the souls that were there. 550 00:23:09,780 --> 00:23:10,900 And he left none remaining. 551 00:23:10,980 --> 00:23:13,940 And he had to do to Abron, so he did to deer and the king thereof. 552 00:23:13,940 --> 00:23:15,820 And he had done also to live now and to her king. 553 00:23:15,820 --> 00:23:19,540 So Joshua smote all the country of the hills and of the south 554 00:23:20,020 --> 00:23:23,220 and of the veil and of the springs and all their kings, and 555 00:23:23,220 --> 00:23:26,500 he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathe. 556 00:23:26,660 --> 00:23:30,140 And the Lord God of Israel, as the Lord God of Israel commanded. 557 00:23:30,140 --> 00:23:32,420 So I think it's important to note that there in verse number 40, 558 00:23:32,900 --> 00:23:35,770 this is doing what God is wanting him to do. 559 00:23:35,770 --> 00:23:37,450 He's following in obedience. 560 00:23:37,450 --> 00:23:39,770 God says, remove them completely. 561 00:23:40,090 --> 00:23:43,650 And so some commentators would say this was a period of weeks, others 562 00:23:43,650 --> 00:23:44,970 would say a period of months. 563 00:23:45,130 --> 00:23:49,610 But essentially, in the short amount of time, there is victory 564 00:23:50,010 --> 00:23:51,050 after victory. 565 00:23:51,450 --> 00:23:52,810 There's no losses. 566 00:23:52,810 --> 00:23:56,330 Each battle was a test, each battle was a trial. 567 00:23:56,570 --> 00:23:59,490 But we see that through Joshua's obedience to the Lord, they're 568 00:23:59,490 --> 00:24:01,610 completely victorious in every way. 569 00:24:02,060 --> 00:24:06,620 And so the victory was, was, was won here in this place, one by 570 00:24:06,620 --> 00:24:08,140 one, little by little. 571 00:24:09,100 --> 00:24:12,380 And we see that happening over and over again all the way to the 572 00:24:12,380 --> 00:24:14,340 end of the chapter, verse number 41. 573 00:24:14,340 --> 00:24:18,019 And Joshua smote them from Kadesh Barnea, even unto Gaza, and 574 00:24:18,019 --> 00:24:20,300 all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. 575 00:24:21,260 --> 00:24:24,500 And so it goes Even further, verse 42. 576 00:24:24,500 --> 00:24:27,620 And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time 577 00:24:27,620 --> 00:24:32,160 because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel, you see at the 578 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,040 end of verse 42 the reason why they won. 579 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,520 Not because Joshua was a great military leader, not because the 580 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,320 people of Israel had more People, not because they had better 581 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:45,120 weaponry, not because they had better animals on their side, not 582 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:46,400 because they had better food. 583 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,680 We see the reason for their victory because the Lord God of Israel 584 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,000 fought for Israel. 585 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:54,920 And that's really what it should be for us in our own spiritual 586 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:55,200 life. 587 00:24:56,570 --> 00:25:00,410 We don't have spiritual victories because we're good people. 588 00:25:01,050 --> 00:25:04,370 We don't have spiritual victories because we're the ones 589 00:25:04,370 --> 00:25:07,930 that are really smart and these other people that are not victorious 590 00:25:07,930 --> 00:25:08,650 aren't smart. 591 00:25:08,810 --> 00:25:09,770 It's not about that. 592 00:25:09,770 --> 00:25:13,250 It's not about our merits, it's not about our skills, it's not 593 00:25:13,250 --> 00:25:15,650 about our money, it's not about our looks, it's not about any 594 00:25:15,650 --> 00:25:16,090 of that. 595 00:25:16,330 --> 00:25:16,690 Really. 596 00:25:16,690 --> 00:25:20,290 What we see in our spiritual walk is that we find victory in the 597 00:25:20,290 --> 00:25:20,610 Lord. 598 00:25:20,610 --> 00:25:22,520 We find victory in, in his presence. 599 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,520 We find victory in his strength in our life. 600 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:29,320 And so verse 42 essentially summarizes it all, but basically 601 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:29,880 says this. 602 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:31,880 This is what God does. 603 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,600 This is his victory. 604 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,080 When we follow him, when we put our faith in him, this is what 605 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:37,640 we find. 606 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:42,240 And even the Bible says back in Exodus, chapter 23, verse 30, 607 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:47,080 and in Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verse 22, that God would drive the 608 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,670 Canaan out, Canaanites out of the land little by little. 609 00:25:50,750 --> 00:25:53,790 That's actually the phrase that's used in Exodus and in Deuteronomy. 610 00:25:54,270 --> 00:25:58,070 So it wasn't like God's going to come in in one day and give him 611 00:25:58,070 --> 00:25:59,070 that easy victory. 612 00:25:59,150 --> 00:26:02,030 No, it would be a long, drawn out process. 613 00:26:02,270 --> 00:26:06,830 Little by little, step of faith after step of faith after step 614 00:26:06,830 --> 00:26:07,430 of faith. 615 00:26:07,430 --> 00:26:09,310 And I believe that's how God works in our life. 616 00:26:09,310 --> 00:26:12,870 I wish that when we got saved that the moment we trusted in Jesus, 617 00:26:12,870 --> 00:26:15,580 all of the temptation went away, all of all the trials went 618 00:26:15,580 --> 00:26:15,860 away. 619 00:26:15,940 --> 00:26:19,540 And we just live that life of ease and perfection for every single 620 00:26:19,540 --> 00:26:20,180 day of our life. 621 00:26:20,180 --> 00:26:22,980 But the truth of the matter is, is that's not how God works. 622 00:26:23,300 --> 00:26:28,100 It's step after step, day after day, little by little, we grow. 623 00:26:28,180 --> 00:26:31,220 And there's a lot of people in our world today that are, are getting 624 00:26:31,220 --> 00:26:31,660 saved. 625 00:26:31,660 --> 00:26:32,740 A.m. that's, that's great. 626 00:26:32,740 --> 00:26:33,220 Amen. 627 00:26:33,220 --> 00:26:36,940 We want people to get saved, but they want that 20 to 30 year 628 00:26:36,940 --> 00:26:39,220 spiritual growth happen overnight. 629 00:26:39,460 --> 00:26:43,350 And folks, being a growing Christian is not something that happens 630 00:26:43,350 --> 00:26:43,950 overnight. 631 00:26:44,430 --> 00:26:46,990 It's daily little things. 632 00:26:47,230 --> 00:26:47,630 God. 633 00:26:47,630 --> 00:26:49,710 God talks about being faithful in the little things. 634 00:26:50,430 --> 00:26:54,110 And a lot of people want to have those big grandiose, powerful 635 00:26:54,110 --> 00:26:54,950 moments in the Lord. 636 00:26:54,950 --> 00:26:58,790 And those do come, but those come through little baby steps in 637 00:26:58,790 --> 00:26:59,230 our life. 638 00:26:59,310 --> 00:27:02,870 By following God and seeing Victory today and then seeing victory 639 00:27:02,870 --> 00:27:03,470 tomorrow. 640 00:27:03,550 --> 00:27:06,350 But just because you had victory last week doesn't mean you're 641 00:27:06,350 --> 00:27:07,470 going to have victory next week. 642 00:27:07,820 --> 00:27:10,300 So what that means is, lord, give me the strength today. 643 00:27:11,180 --> 00:27:13,500 Let me experience those new mercies today. 644 00:27:14,060 --> 00:27:17,260 And that's what we're seeing here in this passage, is that Israel, 645 00:27:17,260 --> 00:27:19,740 they weren't ready to take the whole land when they first come over 646 00:27:19,740 --> 00:27:20,620 the Jordan River. 647 00:27:20,700 --> 00:27:21,020 They. 648 00:27:21,020 --> 00:27:23,260 They didn't have the capacity to do that. 649 00:27:23,579 --> 00:27:27,060 But as God allows them and as they take steps of obedience, he 650 00:27:27,060 --> 00:27:29,340 reveals to them portions in which they're. 651 00:27:29,420 --> 00:27:30,740 They're able to take. 652 00:27:30,740 --> 00:27:33,340 And so we see that God is working along with them. 653 00:27:33,340 --> 00:27:35,690 And the end of the chapter is this verse 43. 654 00:27:35,690 --> 00:27:41,130 And Joshua returned and all of Israel with him unto the camp to 655 00:27:41,130 --> 00:27:41,730 Gilgal. 656 00:27:41,730 --> 00:27:45,490 And remember, Gilgal is that picture of Israel's victory. 657 00:27:45,570 --> 00:27:47,570 It was a place of total faith. 658 00:27:47,970 --> 00:27:49,290 It was a place of commitment. 659 00:27:49,290 --> 00:27:50,770 It was a place of fellowship. 660 00:27:50,770 --> 00:27:54,530 It was a place where they could experience and know and be 661 00:27:54,530 --> 00:27:57,490 reminded of the power of God and their life. 662 00:27:58,610 --> 00:28:00,130 So for us, where's our victory come? 663 00:28:00,130 --> 00:28:01,890 Our victory comes in Jesus Christ. 664 00:28:01,890 --> 00:28:03,730 But what does our victory look like? 665 00:28:05,050 --> 00:28:07,770 Well, again, you might hear people preaching, well, the victory 666 00:28:07,770 --> 00:28:10,090 is the day you wake up and you feel no more pain. 667 00:28:10,250 --> 00:28:11,090 Well, praise God. 668 00:28:11,090 --> 00:28:13,170 If you have no more pain tomorrow, that's amazing. 669 00:28:13,170 --> 00:28:14,650 I'm going to be cheering with you. 670 00:28:14,890 --> 00:28:16,890 But that might not happen tomorrow. 671 00:28:17,370 --> 00:28:17,850 Okay? 672 00:28:17,850 --> 00:28:19,130 God doesn't work that way. 673 00:28:19,370 --> 00:28:21,690 God doesn't always take away our struggles. 674 00:28:22,170 --> 00:28:23,450 Now, eventually he will. 675 00:28:24,330 --> 00:28:26,890 But what we know some of the people in Scripture, because there 676 00:28:26,890 --> 00:28:30,650 is a movement today, and I have to preach against it. 677 00:28:30,650 --> 00:28:32,010 I have to preach against it. 678 00:28:32,010 --> 00:28:33,610 And I'll just, I'm just going to name it. 679 00:28:33,610 --> 00:28:35,090 It's called the Word of Faith movement. 680 00:28:35,250 --> 00:28:37,930 The Word of Faith movement essentially says if you believe in 681 00:28:37,930 --> 00:28:41,690 God enough, if you have enough faith, you can declare any victory 682 00:28:41,690 --> 00:28:42,930 that you want in him. 683 00:28:43,970 --> 00:28:46,370 If you want your pain to go away, you better have enough faith. 684 00:28:46,850 --> 00:28:49,250 And if your pain isn't going away, you don't have enough faith. 685 00:28:49,890 --> 00:28:51,770 And folks, I. I need to be clear. 686 00:28:51,770 --> 00:28:54,770 Look at instances in scripture where we would say, people with great 687 00:28:54,770 --> 00:28:56,860 faith, God did not take away their pain. 688 00:28:57,020 --> 00:28:57,820 Look at Paul. 689 00:28:58,460 --> 00:28:59,500 Pain in my side. 690 00:29:00,700 --> 00:29:03,860 Now, we don't know if that was a physical pain, maybe it was a spiritual 691 00:29:03,860 --> 00:29:04,100 pain. 692 00:29:04,100 --> 00:29:06,780 We don't know specifically what that specific pain was. 693 00:29:06,780 --> 00:29:09,700 But we do know that Paul pleaded with the Lord to take that 694 00:29:09,700 --> 00:29:10,300 away three times. 695 00:29:10,300 --> 00:29:13,500 As God says, no, because why? 696 00:29:13,580 --> 00:29:15,500 Because when you are weak, I am made strong. 697 00:29:16,700 --> 00:29:17,740 Think about other people. 698 00:29:18,780 --> 00:29:21,600 Think about all the apostles, right? 699 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:23,320 They didn't go and live on a retirement. 700 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,360 Well, you know, John, you could kind of say John went to an 701 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,640 island to retire, but that wasn't a place you'd want to retire 702 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:27,840 to. 703 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:28,320 Okay? 704 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:29,160 They. 705 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,360 They all struggled. 706 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,240 And if anybody had faith, it was those that saw Jesus, it was 707 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:36,640 those that would die for him. 708 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,520 And so, folks, what I want you to see here is that the spiritual 709 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,240 victory is not just having a life of ease, a life of. 710 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,790 Of peace and tranquility when it comes to our circumstances, but 711 00:29:48,790 --> 00:29:51,390 it is a life of having peace in the midst of the storms. 712 00:29:52,190 --> 00:29:55,550 And so the victory is found in the New Testament when it says that 713 00:29:55,550 --> 00:29:57,710 essentially Jesus went to the cross for us. 714 00:29:58,990 --> 00:30:03,630 I love it the way that Colossians, chapter 2, verse 15 puts 715 00:30:03,630 --> 00:30:03,870 it. 716 00:30:04,030 --> 00:30:07,630 It says, and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made 717 00:30:07,630 --> 00:30:11,630 a show of them openly triumphing, triumphing over them. 718 00:30:12,430 --> 00:30:16,830 Meaning as Jesus won, he was victorious over evil. 719 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,320 So it's not just that he died on the cross for our sins. 720 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:21,920 Yes, that is the case. 721 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:26,080 But even in his death came the victory in conquering evil as well. 722 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:27,520 Romans 8. 723 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:28,560 We talked about it this morning. 724 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:30,160 We're more than conquerors. 725 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:34,240 And so the victory is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 726 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:35,280 The. 727 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:37,920 The victory is found in having a relationship with Jesus Christ. 728 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,440 And so I cannot emphasize it enough. 729 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,240 I. I will emphasize it to the day I die. 730 00:30:44,570 --> 00:30:48,410 Is that the best thing that we can find when it comes to peace and 731 00:30:48,410 --> 00:30:52,690 satisfaction and hope and sufficiency is a relationship and 732 00:30:52,690 --> 00:30:54,570 a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. 733 00:30:54,970 --> 00:30:56,770 I encourage you to read the Book of Hebrews. 734 00:30:56,770 --> 00:30:59,450 When you read the Book of Hebrews, you could summarize it this 735 00:30:59,450 --> 00:30:59,770 way. 736 00:30:59,770 --> 00:31:00,810 Jesus is better. 737 00:31:01,290 --> 00:31:02,690 Well, Jesus is better than what? 738 00:31:02,690 --> 00:31:03,610 Fill in the blank. 739 00:31:04,010 --> 00:31:05,370 Jesus is better than the law. 740 00:31:05,530 --> 00:31:08,330 Jesus is better than the sacrifices. 741 00:31:08,410 --> 00:31:10,090 Jesus is better than anything. 742 00:31:10,420 --> 00:31:13,700 He's more sufficient in every way than anything that the world 743 00:31:13,700 --> 00:31:14,340 is seeking. 744 00:31:15,140 --> 00:31:19,060 And so what we can see here is that Joshua finds victory in obedience 745 00:31:19,060 --> 00:31:19,780 to the Lord. 746 00:31:19,780 --> 00:31:21,780 Joshua finds victory in faith. 747 00:31:21,860 --> 00:31:25,340 Joshua and the people of Israel, when they look to the Lord, 748 00:31:25,340 --> 00:31:28,420 they saw that the Lord God of Israel fought for them. 749 00:31:28,900 --> 00:31:32,140 And are we able to say in our own lives that God is fighting for 750 00:31:32,140 --> 00:31:32,420 us? 751 00:31:33,140 --> 00:31:34,580 Well, I hope that you say that. 752 00:31:34,820 --> 00:31:36,060 I hope that you believe that. 753 00:31:36,060 --> 00:31:37,380 But what I would say is this. 754 00:31:37,380 --> 00:31:41,530 It's one thing to say it, it's another thing to believe it and live 755 00:31:41,530 --> 00:31:41,970 in it. 756 00:31:43,090 --> 00:31:47,010 I know for me, I'm willing to say that God is in control until 757 00:31:47,010 --> 00:31:48,370 I feel like I'm out of Control. 758 00:31:49,170 --> 00:31:51,810 And that's the moment I start spiraling. 759 00:31:51,970 --> 00:31:53,570 That's the moment I start doubting. 760 00:31:54,450 --> 00:31:55,890 And so what I would say is this. 761 00:31:56,130 --> 00:32:02,330 When we're tested, I believe this, and maybe you don't, but I 762 00:32:02,330 --> 00:32:04,810 would love to have a debate with you if you disagreed. 763 00:32:04,810 --> 00:32:08,000 But, but I believe that our faith is really revealed when we're 764 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,000 tested, when we're put to the fire. 765 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:19,640 I, I know for me daily that I feel, if I feel good, I'm often more 766 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:23,320 easily into that place of worship. 767 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:26,720 If I'm not feeling so good, I'm not so easy in the place of worship. 768 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:28,120 I'm more in the place of complaining. 769 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:32,000 I, I, sometimes when I'm struggling, I want to just go to, 770 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:32,520 like, complain. 771 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:33,240 Lord, why me? 772 00:32:34,030 --> 00:32:34,990 Lord, how come? 773 00:32:35,550 --> 00:32:36,190 Why this? 774 00:32:36,350 --> 00:32:37,070 Why that? 775 00:32:37,790 --> 00:32:39,550 Why can't you just take this away? 776 00:32:40,350 --> 00:32:42,270 Or maybe it's just a sense of bitterness. 777 00:32:42,430 --> 00:32:44,030 Well, look at that other Christian over there. 778 00:32:44,030 --> 00:32:45,870 They've got this and they're able to do this. 779 00:32:46,190 --> 00:32:48,510 They've got this gift, and I don't have that gift. 780 00:32:48,830 --> 00:32:49,950 What I would say is this. 781 00:32:49,950 --> 00:32:54,910 The, the cure to bitterness, the cure to dissatisfaction. 782 00:32:55,470 --> 00:32:59,970 The, the cure to all of these things that we find complaining is 783 00:32:59,970 --> 00:33:03,250 coming back to the truth, coming back to the cross, coming 784 00:33:03,250 --> 00:33:06,610 back to his sacrifice, and having that heart of gratitude to 785 00:33:06,610 --> 00:33:09,370 say, I'm thankful that I can be part of the family of God. 786 00:33:09,850 --> 00:33:11,530 I'm thankful that I have any gift. 787 00:33:11,930 --> 00:33:14,490 Maybe it's not the gift that that person has, but God has given 788 00:33:14,490 --> 00:33:17,690 me this specific gift for a purpose, and I'm thankful for that. 789 00:33:18,730 --> 00:33:22,250 And, and so I want us to think about that, that heart of gratitude 790 00:33:22,250 --> 00:33:25,870 as, as Joshua goes along here, there's more victories, and we're 791 00:33:25,870 --> 00:33:28,870 going to see that God continuously blesses the people of 792 00:33:28,870 --> 00:33:29,390 Israel. 793 00:33:29,390 --> 00:33:31,910 And you would think that they would never turn away after seeing 794 00:33:31,910 --> 00:33:32,510 all of this. 795 00:33:32,670 --> 00:33:36,630 I mean, some of these people here had seen the Jordan river open 796 00:33:36,630 --> 00:33:38,350 up and they walked across on dry land. 797 00:33:39,950 --> 00:33:44,270 Some of these people are going to see the, the whole, the, the day 798 00:33:44,510 --> 00:33:45,950 lasting longer than it should. 799 00:33:45,950 --> 00:33:46,710 That's a miracle. 800 00:33:46,710 --> 00:33:47,550 I mean, that's amazing. 801 00:33:47,790 --> 00:33:51,110 We, we would think that after I saw all of that, I will never doubt 802 00:33:51,110 --> 00:33:51,310 him. 803 00:33:52,020 --> 00:33:54,620 But as we're going to study the book of Joshua more and more, 804 00:33:54,620 --> 00:33:58,500 there is a drift back to the way of the pagans. 805 00:33:58,500 --> 00:34:01,300 There is a drift back to the way of idolatry. 806 00:34:01,700 --> 00:34:04,700 And so what we have to do as a believer today is we have to be very 807 00:34:04,700 --> 00:34:08,300 careful that we're not like the people there in the book of Joshua 808 00:34:08,300 --> 00:34:12,940 and the book of judges that we know and are reminded of the promises 809 00:34:12,940 --> 00:34:13,540 of God. 810 00:34:13,620 --> 00:34:16,620 We've seen the blessings of God, but yet we're tempted to drift 811 00:34:16,620 --> 00:34:20,280 back into that bad habit of doubting and trusting in ourselves. 812 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:23,680 And so what I would encourage you to do, what I'm encouraging myself 813 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:28,760 to do, is be reminded and reiterate to ourselves and to others 814 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:30,680 the blessings, the great blessings of God. 815 00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:34,079 We should never get tired of thanking the Lord. 816 00:34:34,079 --> 00:34:36,520 We should never get tired of praising the Lord. 817 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:40,320 We should never get to a place in our life where we become callous 818 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:41,960 to the work of God within our church. 819 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:44,840 Folks, I'm going to tell you there's miracle after miracle still 820 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:46,000 happening today day. 821 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:48,440 And, and I know that we're thinking about miracles like, you 822 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,440 know, a lame person getting up and walking. 823 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:51,920 Well, that can, that still happens. 824 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:52,360 I'm. 825 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:55,520 I'm not discrediting that, that God still heals today. 826 00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:56,840 And, and I'm for that. 827 00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:58,720 And I, and we pray for those, those things. 828 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:02,320 But what I will say is sometimes we miss miracles that are 829 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:03,200 right in front of us. 830 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:05,880 What, what do I mean by that? 831 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:06,480 I mean this. 832 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:10,000 There are people that are here tonight. 833 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,330 There were people that were here this morning that we're living 834 00:35:13,330 --> 00:35:15,290 a life anti God. 835 00:35:15,690 --> 00:35:18,330 The Bible says before we come to Christ, we were anti God. 836 00:35:18,330 --> 00:35:21,050 And we were living lives in rebellion to him. 837 00:35:21,530 --> 00:35:25,690 In the fact that someone would come to Christ and believe in him 838 00:35:25,690 --> 00:35:30,010 and have a life, change their desires, change their heart, change. 839 00:35:30,330 --> 00:35:32,010 The Bible makes it this way. 840 00:35:32,010 --> 00:35:34,570 That a heart of stone turns to a heart of flesh. 841 00:35:35,450 --> 00:35:36,410 That's a miracle. 842 00:35:36,890 --> 00:35:38,490 Salvation is a miracle. 843 00:35:39,460 --> 00:35:43,020 It's a, It's a miracle that there are people that can hear the 844 00:35:43,020 --> 00:35:46,340 gospel of Jesus Christ here in this dark world because we're fighting 845 00:35:46,340 --> 00:35:47,460 against so much. 846 00:35:48,100 --> 00:35:49,380 We have more than ever. 847 00:35:49,380 --> 00:35:51,540 There's so many distractions in this world. 848 00:35:52,020 --> 00:35:55,380 And if we're not laser focused on what God has called us to do, 849 00:35:55,540 --> 00:35:58,260 we might miss opportunities right around us. 850 00:35:58,980 --> 00:36:02,420 Folks, I, I'm praying that God allows me to see those opportunities 851 00:36:02,660 --> 00:36:05,470 that I don't overlook opportunities for the gospel or, 852 00:36:05,540 --> 00:36:06,740 or for discipleship. 853 00:36:06,820 --> 00:36:07,460 Folks, I'm. 854 00:36:07,460 --> 00:36:09,380 I'm burdened for the next generation. 855 00:36:09,940 --> 00:36:14,300 I mean, I know I've got some people that, you know, you've. 856 00:36:14,300 --> 00:36:17,380 You've been through many generations and, and that's okay. 857 00:36:17,780 --> 00:36:18,540 I love that. 858 00:36:18,540 --> 00:36:21,540 I love how our church has so many different folks from so many 859 00:36:21,540 --> 00:36:24,100 different backgrounds and different age groups. 860 00:36:24,100 --> 00:36:25,460 But what I would say is this. 861 00:36:25,460 --> 00:36:28,340 We cannot neglect the next generation. 862 00:36:28,900 --> 00:36:31,340 Because what I'm going to say to you is, is true. 863 00:36:31,340 --> 00:36:35,700 And I think, you know, this is that the world and the enemy is actively 864 00:36:35,700 --> 00:36:39,420 pursuing young people today, actively actively pursuing us as 865 00:36:39,420 --> 00:36:39,940 adults. 866 00:36:40,020 --> 00:36:45,460 But there are children that are born into a life of the smartphone 867 00:36:45,460 --> 00:36:47,460 being ingrained in their minds and. 868 00:36:47,460 --> 00:36:48,539 And think about this. 869 00:36:48,539 --> 00:36:49,860 This could be used as a great. 870 00:36:49,860 --> 00:36:50,580 It's like fire. 871 00:36:51,300 --> 00:36:53,060 I've tried to tell this to my kids. 872 00:36:53,940 --> 00:36:57,540 Fire is a very helpful thing, right? 873 00:36:57,700 --> 00:36:58,900 Fire heats our food. 874 00:36:59,230 --> 00:37:00,270 Fire keeps us warm. 875 00:37:00,350 --> 00:37:01,550 Fire gives us light. 876 00:37:01,950 --> 00:37:07,390 But at the same time, fire outside of the fire pit can be dangerous. 877 00:37:07,390 --> 00:37:10,030 It can lead to burns, it could lead to death. 878 00:37:10,030 --> 00:37:12,030 It can lead to destruction. 879 00:37:12,430 --> 00:37:17,950 And so we have things like technology that can be used for great 880 00:37:17,950 --> 00:37:21,470 good, but we also know at the same time can be used for great evil. 881 00:37:22,030 --> 00:37:23,070 And so what do we do? 882 00:37:23,070 --> 00:37:24,610 We don't just look at it and say, we. 883 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:27,200 Well, we never need to have it, you know, because there's some 884 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,560 people that just say, let's just move away from society. 885 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:31,880 The problem is, is that we can't run away from society. 886 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:34,800 What we have to do is we have to infiltrate society, we have to 887 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:38,040 affect society, and we have to show people that Jesus Christ is 888 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:38,440 Lord. 889 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,000 And that's really what I. I want to preach as we go through the 890 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,320 book of Joshua is it's not just a passive. 891 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:47,120 Well, we have a bunch of pagans around us and we have to deal 892 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:47,400 with that. 893 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:50,900 No, what we do is we go out and take it to the world. 894 00:37:50,900 --> 00:37:53,540 We go out and bring it to the world by the way that we live, by 895 00:37:53,540 --> 00:37:55,500 the way that we talk, by the way that we share. 896 00:37:55,580 --> 00:37:57,340 But we have a mission field right here. 897 00:37:57,580 --> 00:38:00,340 If you think that everybody that comes on Middletown Baptist 898 00:38:00,340 --> 00:38:04,700 Church's campus is a Christian, you're missing it. 899 00:38:04,860 --> 00:38:07,100 Because there's people that are coming to our church for maybe 900 00:38:07,100 --> 00:38:07,980 different reasons. 901 00:38:08,060 --> 00:38:10,780 Maybe a children's ministry, maybe a sports ministry. 902 00:38:11,180 --> 00:38:13,660 Maybe they're just out because someone dragged them here. 903 00:38:13,740 --> 00:38:16,900 The church folks, we always want to look at every opportunity 904 00:38:16,900 --> 00:38:17,500 here at. 905 00:38:17,570 --> 00:38:19,970 As an opportunity to bring someone to the truth of the gospel. 906 00:38:20,610 --> 00:38:22,970 Please come to church. 907 00:38:22,970 --> 00:38:25,090 Not just saying, what am I going to get today? 908 00:38:25,250 --> 00:38:28,530 But also, how can I be a minister of the grace of Jesus Christ? 909 00:38:28,690 --> 00:38:30,930 How can I bring the gospel to the world? 910 00:38:30,930 --> 00:38:32,690 How can I take it to my workplace? 911 00:38:32,690 --> 00:38:34,690 How can I take it to my neighborhood? 912 00:38:34,690 --> 00:38:37,130 How can I take it to my sports teams? 913 00:38:37,130 --> 00:38:39,330 How can I do any of this without Jesus? 914 00:38:39,330 --> 00:38:40,690 Well, you can't do it without Jesus. 915 00:38:40,690 --> 00:38:43,170 But the Bible says in his power and his strength, he can give 916 00:38:43,170 --> 00:38:43,730 us the victory. 917 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,640 And so as we close here this evening, I Want you to think about 918 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:50,880 that through the lens of today, the lens of the gospel, because 919 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,960 we can look at the book of Joshua just as a historical narrative. 920 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:56,280 And it is a historical narrative, by the way. 921 00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:00,680 This is a real person at a real time doing real things, but 922 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:02,520 also at the same time, this isn't just history. 923 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,280 It's history that should be driving us to live in faith, to live 924 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:09,160 in confidence in our Lord and Savior. 925 00:39:09,490 --> 00:39:12,770 So I pray that as we study the book of Joshua, that we see that 926 00:39:12,770 --> 00:39:14,450 complete victory in our lives. 927 00:39:14,610 --> 00:39:18,730 Well, we'll come back, Lord willing, next time, and we'll look 928 00:39:18,730 --> 00:39:19,730 at chapter 11. 929 00:39:20,610 --> 00:39:23,250 Just when you think that he's got all the kings taken care of, 930 00:39:23,650 --> 00:39:25,170 more kings keep popping up. 931 00:39:25,249 --> 00:39:27,650 And so there's more kings coming, and there's more. 932 00:39:27,650 --> 00:39:29,650 And that's how it is with us in our spiritual walk. 933 00:39:30,050 --> 00:39:32,290 I've had some really great Sunday mornings. 934 00:39:33,170 --> 00:39:36,690 So some mornings after church service and after the evening, I'm 935 00:39:36,690 --> 00:39:37,970 walking on cloud nine. 936 00:39:37,970 --> 00:39:40,100 You know, you will, like, I just feel like I'm walking on air. 937 00:39:40,100 --> 00:39:42,940 People came forward, people got saved, people got baptized, People 938 00:39:42,940 --> 00:39:43,660 joined the church. 939 00:39:43,660 --> 00:39:45,900 And I'm like, yes, Lord, everything is great. 940 00:39:46,140 --> 00:39:48,460 And then Monday morning happens, and then the first thing 941 00:39:48,460 --> 00:39:48,860 comes in. 942 00:39:48,860 --> 00:39:50,380 You're like, oh, the next trial. 943 00:39:50,780 --> 00:39:51,660 That's how it goes. 944 00:39:51,660 --> 00:39:54,179 That next king comes up, that next enemy comes up. 945 00:39:54,179 --> 00:39:56,180 And that's how it's going to be in your spiritual walk. 946 00:39:56,180 --> 00:39:57,300 You're going to have those victories. 947 00:39:57,300 --> 00:39:57,780 And guess what? 948 00:39:57,780 --> 00:40:01,100 The next day, maybe not even the next day, maybe the next hour, 949 00:40:01,260 --> 00:40:02,860 something's going to test you on that. 950 00:40:03,180 --> 00:40:06,340 So we have to keep standing firm in what God has promised us 951 00:40:06,340 --> 00:40:06,860 in our life. 952 00:40:06,860 --> 00:40:08,870 And so I appreciate your attention. 953 00:40:08,870 --> 00:40:12,270 I appreciate your faithfulness to the church, but most importantly 954 00:40:12,270 --> 00:40:12,950 to the Lord. 955 00:40:13,190 --> 00:40:13,630 That's. 956 00:40:13,630 --> 00:40:14,750 That's what matters. 957 00:40:14,750 --> 00:40:14,990 And. 958 00:40:14,990 --> 00:40:17,110 And I would encourage you to continue on with the study. 959 00:40:17,270 --> 00:40:20,310 And I think it'll be a blessing for all of us as we continue 960 00:40:20,310 --> 00:40:21,510 to look at some of this. 961 00:40:21,670 --> 00:40:24,549 Some of this will get repetitive, as we saw tonight. 962 00:40:25,190 --> 00:40:29,790 I mean, even In Joshua chapter 15, we see basically like 63 verses 963 00:40:29,790 --> 00:40:31,190 of just places listed. 964 00:40:31,990 --> 00:40:35,270 And so I'm a firm believer that we shouldn't skip things. 965 00:40:35,270 --> 00:40:37,590 But I will also try to go through as. 966 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,560 As graciously as I can through some of these passages. 967 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:43,080 Okay, so hopefully you'll be back for these. 968 00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:45,200 Well, I'm going to go ahead and close in a word of prayer. 969 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:46,920 After that, I'll have a few announcements, and then we'll be 970 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:47,480 dismissed. 971 00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:49,480 Lord, thank you for this time that you've given us. 972 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:51,760 Thank you for the opportunity to come here tonight to learn more 973 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,760 about your victory Lord, and the victory that we see in the Book 974 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,120 of Joshua and also the victories that we see in our life 975 00:40:58,360 --> 00:40:59,320 through faith in you. 976 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:02,480 So Lord, I just pray that you give us strength, help us to wipe 977 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,960 out all of those things in our life that might be hindering us from 978 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:06,600 following you. 979 00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:09,600 And Lord, I thank you for your truth, I thank you for your love 980 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,240 and I pray that you'd be with us here this week. 981 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:12,680 We ask all these things in Jesus name. 982 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:13,200 Amen. 983 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:17,040 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 984 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:17,680 Podcast. 985 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:20,240 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 986 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:23,240 If you would like to find out more information about our church 987 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:26,720 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 988 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,520 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 989 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:35,270 You can also email me directly directly at Josh Massaro@middletownbaptistchurch.com 990 00:41:35,670 --> 00:41:39,150 if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 991 00:41:39,150 --> 00:41:41,990 along for future podcast and updates. 992 00:41:42,630 --> 00:41:43,590 Thank you so much. 993 00:41:43,830 --> 00:41:44,550 God Bless. 994 00:41:44,790 --> 00:41:46,070 Have a wonderful day.