1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,840 And so we're going to continue our study here in the Book of Joshua. 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,720 If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Joshua, chapter four. 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:09,760 We're going to pick up where we left off last time. 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,240 And we've seen something building here in the Book of Joshua. 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:15,880 It started with a promise. 6 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:21,200 And the promise is that God would allow the nation of Israel, 7 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,800 led by Joshua, to go into the promised land and reclaim the land 8 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:25,920 that was rightfully theirs. 9 00:00:26,860 --> 00:00:31,140 And through that, God said, okay, Joshua, I promise that this 10 00:00:31,140 --> 00:00:31,900 is going to happen. 11 00:00:32,700 --> 00:00:36,700 But he also promises that he would be with them through it. 12 00:00:36,700 --> 00:00:39,100 He says, okay, my presence is going to be with you. 13 00:00:39,580 --> 00:00:42,780 All the way back in Joshua, chapter one, verse nine, he says, 14 00:00:43,180 --> 00:00:46,980 don't be afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God 15 00:00:46,980 --> 00:00:48,740 is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 16 00:00:48,740 --> 00:00:52,220 And so he says, when my promise comes to you, so does my 17 00:00:52,220 --> 00:00:54,430 presence, and so does my power. 18 00:00:54,750 --> 00:00:59,710 And so he promises Joshua, and by extension, Israel, that God is 19 00:00:59,710 --> 00:01:03,750 going to be with them in this battle, in this fight, that they 20 00:01:03,750 --> 00:01:07,070 have to take back the land that is theirs, that God had promised 21 00:01:07,070 --> 00:01:07,390 them. 22 00:01:07,950 --> 00:01:11,590 And in so doing, we see that they go into Jericho, and we have 23 00:01:11,590 --> 00:01:15,430 that story with Rahab and an amazing story of God planning it 24 00:01:15,430 --> 00:01:18,150 and actually seeing that the people are already in fear of the 25 00:01:18,150 --> 00:01:18,910 power of God. 26 00:01:19,830 --> 00:01:23,950 And then we looked at Joshua, chapter three, where Joshua is challenged 27 00:01:23,950 --> 00:01:27,190 by God to prepare to cross the River Jordan. 28 00:01:27,590 --> 00:01:31,150 And anytime that God has a promise for us, we know that there's 29 00:01:31,150 --> 00:01:34,230 going to be at some point, obstacles along the way. 30 00:01:34,390 --> 00:01:37,350 And for them, it was the obstacle of the Jordan River. 31 00:01:37,430 --> 00:01:40,710 They were promised by God that they would have the land across the 32 00:01:40,710 --> 00:01:40,950 river. 33 00:01:40,950 --> 00:01:43,910 But the Jordan river was a huge obstacle to get their people 34 00:01:43,910 --> 00:01:44,230 across. 35 00:01:44,230 --> 00:01:45,710 They didn't have barges back then. 36 00:01:45,710 --> 00:01:48,310 They didn't have a big bridge that they could cross the river with. 37 00:01:48,700 --> 00:01:51,060 They had to cross the river with a bunch of people. 38 00:01:51,060 --> 00:01:51,460 A bunch. 39 00:01:51,460 --> 00:01:55,420 A bunch of people and a bunch of animals and a bunch of possessions. 40 00:01:55,820 --> 00:01:59,540 And so this river seemed like a roadblock. 41 00:01:59,540 --> 00:02:00,660 It seemed like an obstacle. 42 00:02:00,660 --> 00:02:01,940 But God says, I'm going to get you through that. 43 00:02:01,940 --> 00:02:05,380 And he promises that he's going to part the waters and take 44 00:02:05,380 --> 00:02:05,820 them across. 45 00:02:05,820 --> 00:02:09,620 And last week we see that God speaks to Joshua and he says, joshua, 46 00:02:09,620 --> 00:02:11,340 I'm about to do this amazing thing. 47 00:02:11,580 --> 00:02:13,420 I'm about to work this miracle. 48 00:02:13,900 --> 00:02:17,340 And what I want you to do is make a memorial of this miracle. 49 00:02:17,340 --> 00:02:21,290 And I want you to remember as a people, and we want you to pass 50 00:02:21,290 --> 00:02:24,770 that memory on to the next generation. 51 00:02:25,250 --> 00:02:26,770 And that's what we saw last week. 52 00:02:26,770 --> 00:02:30,010 And we ended in verse nine and it says, and Joshua set up 12 stones 53 00:02:30,010 --> 00:02:32,770 in the midst of Jordan in the place where the feet of the priest 54 00:02:32,850 --> 00:02:34,650 which bear the ark of the covenant stood. 55 00:02:34,650 --> 00:02:37,050 And there they are there unto this day. 56 00:02:37,050 --> 00:02:40,890 And so now verse 10, we're going to see actually Israel passing 57 00:02:40,890 --> 00:02:41,130 through. 58 00:02:41,130 --> 00:02:44,330 Last week we just saw the build up to that, the promise of 59 00:02:44,330 --> 00:02:48,130 that, the preparation to that, and the idea of building those memorial 60 00:02:48,130 --> 00:02:48,410 stones. 61 00:02:48,410 --> 00:02:51,490 But now we're going to see in verse 10, through the end of the 62 00:02:51,490 --> 00:02:55,730 chapter, really, God taking the people and moving them and keeping 63 00:02:55,730 --> 00:02:57,370 his word all the way to the end. 64 00:02:57,370 --> 00:03:01,169 And so in verse number 10, it says, for the priest which bare the 65 00:03:01,169 --> 00:03:04,610 ark stood in the midst of Jordan until everything was finished, 66 00:03:04,610 --> 00:03:09,130 that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people according 67 00:03:09,130 --> 00:03:13,030 to all that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people hasted and 68 00:03:13,030 --> 00:03:13,790 passed over. 69 00:03:14,350 --> 00:03:16,830 And there's so much in that verse that we could look at there, 70 00:03:17,230 --> 00:03:20,110 but really what we see is that the priests are in the middle of 71 00:03:20,110 --> 00:03:22,750 the river bearing the ark of the covenant. 72 00:03:23,230 --> 00:03:26,830 And we know that that was at that time a picture, a visual picture 73 00:03:26,910 --> 00:03:30,430 of the presence and the power of God in the midst of the nation 74 00:03:30,430 --> 00:03:31,230 of Israel. 75 00:03:31,550 --> 00:03:34,470 And so at the centerpiece to this miracle is the presence and 76 00:03:34,470 --> 00:03:35,470 the power of God. 77 00:03:35,470 --> 00:03:37,390 And that's where their eyes were fixed on. 78 00:03:37,820 --> 00:03:40,380 And for all of us in the middle of the miracle, in the midst 79 00:03:40,380 --> 00:03:43,140 of this great thing that God is doing for us, we have to keep 80 00:03:43,140 --> 00:03:43,980 our eyes on him. 81 00:03:43,980 --> 00:03:46,060 And that's when we can have obedience. 82 00:03:46,060 --> 00:03:48,500 And that's when we can see the hand of God working. 83 00:03:48,500 --> 00:03:51,420 And that's when we can see the will of God working in our life. 84 00:03:51,420 --> 00:03:54,540 And so it says the priests are holding the ark there in the middle 85 00:03:54,540 --> 00:03:55,420 of the Jordan River. 86 00:03:55,580 --> 00:03:59,500 And it says there until everything was finished that the 87 00:03:59,500 --> 00:04:00,860 Lord commanded. 88 00:04:01,580 --> 00:04:03,820 That's an amazing thing that they saw to the end. 89 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:06,460 They saw the promise come to pass. 90 00:04:06,780 --> 00:04:09,820 And sometimes God's promises are revealed step by step. 91 00:04:10,140 --> 00:04:12,860 And the truth is, is that we as Christians have to stay faithful 92 00:04:12,860 --> 00:04:15,620 all the way through, because God is going to stay faithful all 93 00:04:15,620 --> 00:04:16,140 the way through. 94 00:04:16,540 --> 00:04:19,340 It says that God stayed faithful to the people according 95 00:04:19,340 --> 00:04:21,300 to all that Moses commanded Joshua. 96 00:04:21,300 --> 00:04:23,740 And the people hasted and passed over. 97 00:04:24,220 --> 00:04:27,340 And so the priest stood with the ark of the covenant for the entire 98 00:04:27,420 --> 00:04:30,060 time it took for the whole nation to cross over. 99 00:04:30,060 --> 00:04:33,340 And by the way, the Nation isn't just 50, 60 people. 100 00:04:33,340 --> 00:04:34,620 That could happen in a few minutes. 101 00:04:34,620 --> 00:04:37,420 We're talking probably millions of people crossing over 102 00:04:37,420 --> 00:04:38,740 this is going to take a long time. 103 00:04:39,220 --> 00:04:42,020 And so the priests stood there, the leaders stood there in 104 00:04:42,020 --> 00:04:44,660 the middle of the Jordan river the whole time. 105 00:04:44,980 --> 00:04:49,780 And I believe that this is a visible symbol of the presence of 106 00:04:49,780 --> 00:04:54,500 God that had to remain in the river through the entire crossing. 107 00:04:54,900 --> 00:04:57,340 And I think we as a church have to keep our eyes on. 108 00:04:57,570 --> 00:05:01,050 On the Lord throughout all of our dealings, no matter what it might 109 00:05:01,050 --> 00:05:02,890 be, because that's how we're going to see victory. 110 00:05:02,890 --> 00:05:05,970 That's how we're going to see God doing an amazing work in our 111 00:05:05,970 --> 00:05:08,530 life if we keep our eyes fixed on him. 112 00:05:08,690 --> 00:05:11,530 So verse number 11, it says, and it came to pass when all the 113 00:05:11,530 --> 00:05:16,010 people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over. 114 00:05:16,010 --> 00:05:18,810 So it wasn't until all the people crossed over that the ark 115 00:05:18,810 --> 00:05:19,410 passes over. 116 00:05:19,490 --> 00:05:22,810 And the priest, in the presence of the people, then it says 117 00:05:22,810 --> 00:05:23,090 this. 118 00:05:23,090 --> 00:05:24,090 This is an amazing thing. 119 00:05:24,090 --> 00:05:24,930 It says, verse 12. 120 00:05:25,270 --> 00:05:29,710 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and half of the 121 00:05:29,710 --> 00:05:34,470 tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the children of Israel 122 00:05:34,470 --> 00:05:36,310 as Moses spake unto them. 123 00:05:36,550 --> 00:05:39,550 Now, if you just read that verse and you didn't understand the 124 00:05:39,550 --> 00:05:41,190 context, you would say, so what's the big deal? 125 00:05:42,070 --> 00:05:43,430 Well, the big deal is this. 126 00:05:43,430 --> 00:05:48,390 If you remember, there were three tribes that had land on this 127 00:05:48,390 --> 00:05:49,310 side of the Jordan. 128 00:05:49,310 --> 00:05:51,430 They didn't need to cross the Jordan and fight. 129 00:05:51,990 --> 00:05:54,070 God had already promised them their land there. 130 00:05:54,470 --> 00:05:55,550 But they said, you know what? 131 00:05:55,550 --> 00:05:58,230 Because we're unified and because we're together and because 132 00:05:58,230 --> 00:06:01,350 my brother still has a battle to fight, we're going with you. 133 00:06:01,830 --> 00:06:06,350 And so we see men from Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of 134 00:06:06,350 --> 00:06:09,710 Manasseh come across and say, even though we already have God's 135 00:06:09,710 --> 00:06:12,550 promise in our life, we're going to stay the course with you 136 00:06:12,550 --> 00:06:15,070 as you are continuing to see God's hand working in your life. 137 00:06:15,070 --> 00:06:16,230 And what's that a picture of? 138 00:06:16,470 --> 00:06:19,190 That's a picture of us maybe in our life, that maybe God has blessed 139 00:06:19,190 --> 00:06:20,310 us in certain capacities. 140 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:22,560 But there's still other people that need God's blessing. 141 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:24,040 And we want to be there with them through it. 142 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:25,880 We want to help them through it. 143 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,600 And so the people that were settling on the east side of the 144 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,240 Jordan river, they could have stayed on that side, but no, they 145 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,759 sent their armies over to fight on behalf of the rest of the 146 00:06:36,759 --> 00:06:40,040 nation, just as they had promised all the way back in Joshua 147 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:40,760 chapter one. 148 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,280 Now, I think, again, this is a picture, an example of how we don't 149 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:48,070 just get to a place in our life where we get comfortable and, 150 00:06:48,220 --> 00:06:50,700 and content with just the blessings that God has for us, but 151 00:06:50,700 --> 00:06:53,340 that we want to turn and help others and bless others with the 152 00:06:53,340 --> 00:06:54,780 blessings that God has given us. 153 00:06:55,260 --> 00:06:58,580 And I, Pastor Carlos, already mentioned, and Brother Allen, we 154 00:06:58,580 --> 00:06:59,900 are so blessed in this nation. 155 00:07:00,460 --> 00:07:03,220 We were sitting around in our Bible study this morning, kind of 156 00:07:03,220 --> 00:07:05,660 joking around about how none of us had enough money. 157 00:07:05,660 --> 00:07:07,980 And I looked around and I was kind of convicted. 158 00:07:07,980 --> 00:07:08,740 And I said, you know what? 159 00:07:08,740 --> 00:07:11,580 Statistically speaking, we're probably in the 1% of this whole 160 00:07:11,580 --> 00:07:14,820 world and how much we have, I mean, we've got food on the table, 161 00:07:14,820 --> 00:07:16,060 we've got a car to drive. 162 00:07:16,230 --> 00:07:17,980 All, all of you have a house to live in. 163 00:07:18,300 --> 00:07:21,660 The truth is, is that we are so, so blessed materially. 164 00:07:22,540 --> 00:07:25,420 And I believe that God wants us to use those materials that God 165 00:07:25,420 --> 00:07:27,860 has blessed us with for other people around us that maybe don't 166 00:07:27,860 --> 00:07:29,500 have the same things that we have. 167 00:07:30,060 --> 00:07:33,740 But two, I believe also that God has blessed us so much spiritually. 168 00:07:33,900 --> 00:07:37,300 Think about just this, that many of you have with a Bible in 169 00:07:37,300 --> 00:07:40,780 your lap, or some of you have a phone that can pull up versions 170 00:07:40,780 --> 00:07:43,580 in different languages and all that kind of stuff and cross reference. 171 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,360 You know, there's people that are willing to risk their lives to 172 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:47,600 have one of these in front of them. 173 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,880 There's people that are willing to smuggle Bibles into countries 174 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,880 that aren't allowed to have Bibles because this is so viable. 175 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,440 We're so spiritually best that we have the revealed word of God 176 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:57,040 before us. 177 00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,160 We're so blessed that we're able to come here. 178 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:01,520 You know, there's some places in the world that you can't come 179 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,360 like this and talk about Jesus publicly. 180 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:04,960 There's persecution. 181 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:07,720 And look at countries like Nigeria right now. 182 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:08,080 There's. 183 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,560 There's people that are getting slaughtered for being Christian. 184 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:12,880 And we're so blessed here. 185 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,320 And you know, many times we're thankful maybe by what we say, by 186 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:17,320 the freedoms that we have. 187 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,400 But you know what, what we should do is use the freedoms that 188 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,040 we do have and the time that we have to redeem the time and say, 189 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:23,520 you know what? 190 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,200 We need to be busy with these things that God has blessed us with. 191 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,040 So we have those blessings already. 192 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,920 But who can we help with the freedoms that we have? 193 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,480 Who can we help with the blessings that we have? 194 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:35,360 And so I want you to think about that here. 195 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:39,210 And then it goes on a little bit further and it says this verse 196 00:08:39,210 --> 00:08:45,050 number 13, about 40,000 prepared for war, passed over before 197 00:08:45,050 --> 00:08:47,650 the Lord unto battle to the plains of Jericho. 198 00:08:47,650 --> 00:08:49,490 So they're preparing themselves for battle. 199 00:08:50,370 --> 00:08:54,770 We know that there's God's timing and God's way that's happening, 200 00:08:54,770 --> 00:08:55,770 but they're following him. 201 00:08:55,770 --> 00:08:58,890 And so ultimately, we know that crossing the Jordan was just 202 00:08:58,890 --> 00:09:01,890 one miracle, but there's going to be multiple miracles of God's 203 00:09:01,890 --> 00:09:06,300 power and provision as they go into battle, specifically here in 204 00:09:06,380 --> 00:09:07,500 Jericho coming up. 205 00:09:07,500 --> 00:09:10,020 And so we know that God is going to be with them through all 206 00:09:10,020 --> 00:09:10,300 of this. 207 00:09:10,300 --> 00:09:11,500 And so verse 14. 208 00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:14,980 On that day, the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of 209 00:09:14,980 --> 00:09:15,740 all of Israel. 210 00:09:16,460 --> 00:09:20,980 And they feared him as they feared Moses all the days of his 211 00:09:20,980 --> 00:09:21,180 life. 212 00:09:21,180 --> 00:09:25,620 And so this is a testament to Joshua's obedience, not that he was 213 00:09:25,620 --> 00:09:26,540 to be worshiped. 214 00:09:26,620 --> 00:09:28,940 The Bible says that the Lord magnified him. 215 00:09:28,940 --> 00:09:32,480 The Lord lifted him up as a leader here in this case, so that 216 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,880 the people could follow Joshua as Joshua was following God. 217 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,000 It's the same principle that we see in the New Testament with 218 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:38,240 Paul. 219 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:40,280 He says, follow me as I follow Christ. 220 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,000 He doesn't say, follow me and end it there, but he says, follow 221 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:45,360 me as I follow Christ. 222 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:46,760 It's a picture of exhortation. 223 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,280 Exhortation is, let me challenge you to follow Christ, and 224 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:51,280 I'm there with you through this. 225 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:52,360 We're going to do this together. 226 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,520 And so Joshua was magnified in the sight of all of Israel, just 227 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:56,440 as Moses was. 228 00:09:56,680 --> 00:09:58,480 And the Bible says here that they feared him. 229 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,100 Not in a fear of he's going to condemn them, but fear and respect. 230 00:10:04,420 --> 00:10:06,740 They're revering him, so to speak. 231 00:10:06,980 --> 00:10:09,220 And it says that Joshua had this type of testimony. 232 00:10:09,220 --> 00:10:11,540 Now, how could Joshua have this type of testimony? 233 00:10:11,620 --> 00:10:13,780 It's not necessarily because he was a powerful man. 234 00:10:13,780 --> 00:10:15,899 It's not because he wielded a sword. 235 00:10:15,899 --> 00:10:17,980 It's because God was on his side. 236 00:10:17,980 --> 00:10:21,980 And if we want to be respected, if we want to be influencing 237 00:10:21,980 --> 00:10:26,420 people, if we want people to be changed by our testimony, the 238 00:10:26,420 --> 00:10:29,520 Bible says that, that we need to be walking just as Joshua walked 239 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,000 in obedience to the Lord's will in our life. 240 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,840 It's not about how loud we speak, it's not about how strong 241 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:40,160 we are, but it's about how strong God is in our life, how much 242 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:42,160 we're willing to submit to him completely. 243 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,040 And so that's why Joshua is exalted here, not because of his 244 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,000 power, but because of God's power. 245 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:49,120 Then we look at verse 15. 246 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,840 This is all, the waters are going to flow again. 247 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,520 The water of Jordan is going to flow again. 248 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,400 And says, and the Lord spake unto Joshua saying, command the priests 249 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,000 that bear the ark of the testimony that they come up out of 250 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:01,320 Jordan. 251 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,600 Joshua therefore commanded the priest saying, come ye up out of 252 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:05,200 Jordan. 253 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,080 And it came to pass when the priests that bear the ark of the 254 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,000 covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan. 255 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,160 And the soles of the priests feet were lifted up unto dry land, 256 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,760 that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place and flowed 257 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:19,320 over all of his banks. 258 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:20,800 And they did as they did before. 259 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:25,610 And so the idea here is this, that God restores the Jordan river 260 00:11:25,610 --> 00:11:26,330 back to how it was. 261 00:11:26,330 --> 00:11:28,570 But he says, hey, look, I'm going to make sure all of you get 262 00:11:28,570 --> 00:11:28,890 out. 263 00:11:29,050 --> 00:11:31,490 And so there's going to be struggles in life and seasons of 264 00:11:31,490 --> 00:11:32,410 life are going to change. 265 00:11:32,570 --> 00:11:35,970 But ultimately we see God's provision and protection through 266 00:11:35,970 --> 00:11:36,170 this. 267 00:11:36,170 --> 00:11:39,290 And so the Jordan river returned to its natural flow to show 268 00:11:39,290 --> 00:11:41,570 that this was a supernatural event. 269 00:11:41,570 --> 00:11:44,890 It wasn't like they went up the river and built these, you know, 270 00:11:45,770 --> 00:11:46,810 blocking aids. 271 00:11:46,810 --> 00:11:48,490 And you know, this is how it's always been. 272 00:11:48,490 --> 00:11:50,510 No, they, this was a miraculous work of God. 273 00:11:50,510 --> 00:11:54,070 And I've heard a lot of people try to, you know, with, with science 274 00:11:54,070 --> 00:11:56,590 try to prove why or how this happened. 275 00:11:56,590 --> 00:11:59,150 And maybe God did use some weather event. 276 00:11:59,230 --> 00:12:02,110 But I just take it as this is a miracle of God, right? 277 00:12:02,110 --> 00:12:04,470 We don't need to question that God can use anything. 278 00:12:04,470 --> 00:12:08,190 And so God uses his power to allow them to cross over. 279 00:12:08,190 --> 00:12:13,270 And no doubt in my mind that these Israelites knew that this was 280 00:12:13,270 --> 00:12:13,910 a work of God. 281 00:12:13,910 --> 00:12:17,620 They weren't like, oh wow, maybe the Amorites stopped the water 282 00:12:17,620 --> 00:12:18,020 up there. 283 00:12:18,020 --> 00:12:19,780 No, they knew that this was a work of God. 284 00:12:20,180 --> 00:12:22,820 And when we're in the midst of a miracle, it's so evident that God 285 00:12:22,820 --> 00:12:23,100 is working. 286 00:12:23,100 --> 00:12:25,780 I know that probably most of us in our life can point to times 287 00:12:26,260 --> 00:12:28,980 and instances where we say, that's only by God. 288 00:12:29,140 --> 00:12:31,340 There is no way that I could have done that. 289 00:12:31,340 --> 00:12:33,940 It's no way that this is just by happenstance. 290 00:12:33,940 --> 00:12:35,700 This is a miracle of God. 291 00:12:36,580 --> 00:12:39,780 And so in that moment when they're crossing over that river, 292 00:12:40,500 --> 00:12:44,620 they're not doubting God, they're not questioning God because 293 00:12:44,620 --> 00:12:45,820 God is so real to them. 294 00:12:45,820 --> 00:12:48,420 But we're going to see here in a few moments that God challenges 295 00:12:48,420 --> 00:12:54,300 them and commands them to make a mark in which they can remember 296 00:12:54,300 --> 00:12:55,220 the power of God. 297 00:12:55,220 --> 00:12:55,500 Why? 298 00:12:55,500 --> 00:12:59,900 Because even those that walked across the dry ground in the Jordan 299 00:12:59,900 --> 00:13:02,340 river were going to be tempted to question God. 300 00:13:02,340 --> 00:13:02,580 Why? 301 00:13:02,580 --> 00:13:04,820 Because they were going to forget about the miracle of God. 302 00:13:04,980 --> 00:13:08,740 Verse 19 and the people came up out of the Jordan on the 10th 303 00:13:08,740 --> 00:13:12,360 day of the first month and encamped in Gilgal in the east border 304 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:13,200 of Jericho. 305 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,920 And those 12 stones which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch 306 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:18,600 in Gilgal? 307 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:20,840 Now why did they do that in Gilgal? 308 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:24,760 Well, Gilgal will would at this point in time become the base 309 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,320 of operations for their whole conquest in the promised land. 310 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,120 So this is basically like their capital there for that point 311 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:31,760 in time. 312 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,920 And so it would be appropriate that this would be where they would 313 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,880 set up their memorial for what God had done for them to get across 314 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,150 Jordan and to remind them in all of the battles that they were 315 00:13:41,150 --> 00:13:43,470 going to be facing that God was with them and that God would 316 00:13:43,470 --> 00:13:45,190 be continuing with them. 317 00:13:45,510 --> 00:13:49,270 And so they're encamped there in Gilgal on the eastern border of 318 00:13:49,270 --> 00:13:49,910 Jericho. 319 00:13:49,910 --> 00:13:53,470 And verse 20, it says, and those 12 stones which they took out 320 00:13:53,470 --> 00:13:55,750 of the Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal? 321 00:13:55,990 --> 00:13:59,390 And so that's an awesome picture of them setting up camp and 322 00:13:59,390 --> 00:14:01,550 showing the Lord that they were obedient. 323 00:14:01,550 --> 00:14:02,190 Verse 21. 324 00:14:02,190 --> 00:14:05,200 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, and this is really 325 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,880 the main point I wanted to get across here this evening. 326 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,840 He says, when your children shall ask their fathers in time to 327 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:13,640 come, saying, what mean these stones? 328 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,960 Says there's going to be a time when you might be forgetting. 329 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,560 There's definitely going to be a time when your children will forget 330 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,120 and maybe even your children's children will forget the power of 331 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:25,360 God. 332 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:29,920 He says, so what will you say when people ask, what are these stones 333 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:30,400 all about? 334 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,660 Verse 22 he says, then ye shall let your children know, saying, 335 00:14:35,620 --> 00:14:38,660 israel came over this Jordan on dry land. 336 00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:45,380 He says, remind the next generation of the miracles of God. 337 00:14:45,540 --> 00:14:49,180 Remind the next generation of the salvation of the Lord. 338 00:14:49,180 --> 00:14:52,580 Remind the next generation that God is with us. 339 00:14:53,140 --> 00:14:53,980 Verse 23. 340 00:14:53,980 --> 00:14:57,620 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before 341 00:14:57,620 --> 00:14:59,710 you until you were passed over. 342 00:14:59,790 --> 00:15:04,830 So he says, detail, details, explain the details of what happened 343 00:15:05,070 --> 00:15:09,030 as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before 344 00:15:09,030 --> 00:15:10,910 us until we were gone over. 345 00:15:11,790 --> 00:15:15,630 And so he says, hey, it's for you to remember what God has done 346 00:15:15,950 --> 00:15:18,830 so that you can pass it on to the next generation. 347 00:15:19,150 --> 00:15:20,670 But there's even more here. 348 00:15:21,230 --> 00:15:22,230 There's even more here. 349 00:15:22,230 --> 00:15:28,030 He says, verse 24, that all the people of the earth, not just 350 00:15:28,030 --> 00:15:32,510 their children, not just the people of Israel, but that all of 351 00:15:32,510 --> 00:15:38,230 the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it 352 00:15:38,230 --> 00:15:43,310 is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God forever. 353 00:15:44,350 --> 00:15:46,270 And so there's a purpose to these stones. 354 00:15:46,270 --> 00:15:50,710 It's actually multifaceted There was an obvious purpose of the 355 00:15:50,710 --> 00:15:51,710 memorial stones. 356 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,640 To remind the people of Israel themselves of the power of God. 357 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:56,560 Why? 358 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,920 Because it's so easy for us to forget how God is powerful and how 359 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:03,200 God is good and God might work a miracle in our life. 360 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,120 And it's so easy for us to doubt that later on. 361 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:07,880 It's so easy for us to forget. 362 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,960 I can tell you time after time in my life, I mentioned last week 363 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,880 our car accident that we had a little over two years ago. 364 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,680 I mean, in that moment it was so evident that God preserved us. 365 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,250 And we got home and we sat our kids around the floor there and we 366 00:16:21,250 --> 00:16:23,530 told them, guys, we just experienced a miracle, that we're 367 00:16:23,530 --> 00:16:23,930 okay. 368 00:16:24,970 --> 00:16:29,090 But later on I can tell you that the night that Silas was born 369 00:16:29,090 --> 00:16:33,010 and everything that happened with that and God's provision, there 370 00:16:33,010 --> 00:16:35,450 was no doubt in my mind that God's hand was in it. 371 00:16:36,010 --> 00:16:39,970 But I'm going to tell you that two years later, sometimes I'm tempted 372 00:16:39,970 --> 00:16:42,410 to doubt God's miraculous work. 373 00:16:42,410 --> 00:16:42,690 Why? 374 00:16:42,690 --> 00:16:46,010 Because the mundane day to day stuff that we deal with. 375 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:51,160 And so he says, hey, be reminded yourself because it's so 376 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,440 easy to forget about the great miracles of God. 377 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,680 And so we don't remember the past works of God so that we can 378 00:16:57,920 --> 00:16:58,960 live in the past. 379 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:02,480 Paul says, I don't look behind me because sometimes that's what 380 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:02,800 we do. 381 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,960 Sometimes we look at God's work in the past and that's all we 382 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:05,200 can. 383 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:06,920 Oh, that was the glory days. 384 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:08,480 That was when God was really working. 385 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:11,320 And we almost want to live back in those days. 386 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:14,740 And I understand the good old days, but the idea would be this, 387 00:17:14,740 --> 00:17:18,980 not just to look back and live in dreamland of the past, but to 388 00:17:18,980 --> 00:17:22,100 say this, you know what I'm thinking of what God is going to 389 00:17:22,100 --> 00:17:25,500 do in the next struggle that we have in our life that we face. 390 00:17:26,220 --> 00:17:28,860 And so we remember the object of our faith. 391 00:17:28,860 --> 00:17:32,420 Sometimes we look at the gift, which is the miracle, and that's 392 00:17:32,420 --> 00:17:33,340 what we worship. 393 00:17:34,140 --> 00:17:36,980 You know, we get our kids gifts for Christmas and they take 394 00:17:36,980 --> 00:17:39,500 the gift and they think the gift, that would be kind of weird, 395 00:17:39,500 --> 00:17:39,740 right? 396 00:17:39,740 --> 00:17:43,160 We're, they should be thinking the gift giver, not the gift itself. 397 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:47,040 And so often we as Christians worship that miracle. 398 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:48,920 And that's what we get excited about. 399 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,120 Instead we should be getting excited about the one who gave us 400 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:55,320 that miracle because we still have him as our heavenly Father. 401 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,240 And that miracle might wear out over time, but the miracle of 402 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,080 God being our Savior never wears out. 403 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:02,600 Our salvation never wears out. 404 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,720 So that's what we tap into not the miracle, but the object of faith 405 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:12,240 that we have put our trust in and that greater works are coming 406 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:13,680 in the future. 407 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,720 But then it's this, okay, so remind yourself. 408 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:18,640 But then remind your children. 409 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:20,080 Remind your grandchildren. 410 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:21,520 Remind the next generations. 411 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:26,800 So there was an important purpose to this next step so that 412 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,440 the next generation, who might be tempted to forget or might not 413 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,800 even be here in this case, would remember that God's work was 414 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:34,560 not done with them. 415 00:18:35,070 --> 00:18:37,990 And we talked all about this last week about this importance of 416 00:18:37,990 --> 00:18:40,710 passing the torch on to the next generation. 417 00:18:40,710 --> 00:18:41,630 How do we do that? 418 00:18:42,110 --> 00:18:46,350 Well, we don't pass down our tradition, even though traditions 419 00:18:46,350 --> 00:18:47,070 are a good thing. 420 00:18:47,310 --> 00:18:48,350 I like tradition. 421 00:18:48,990 --> 00:18:50,789 But if we just say, well, hey, you know what? 422 00:18:50,789 --> 00:18:57,110 We go to church and we do this and we do that, and then we don't 423 00:18:57,110 --> 00:18:59,790 necessarily get to the why behind what we're doing. 424 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:01,400 You know what? 425 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,040 Like, if I just tell my kids, well, you gotta always go to church. 426 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:04,640 Just go to. 427 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:04,880 Just. 428 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:05,880 You gotta be in church. 429 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:06,760 Like, that's great. 430 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:08,400 I think we should say that. 431 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,400 But I think that even deeper we should explain why we're going 432 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:11,960 to church. 433 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:15,800 Because this is our church family, as God has called us, to 434 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:17,640 not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. 435 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:19,480 I need the exhortation. 436 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:21,320 I need to be exhorting. 437 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:23,080 I need the edification. 438 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:24,160 I need to be edifying. 439 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,200 There's so much more to what we're doing. 440 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,920 And so if we just walk by these stones and. 441 00:19:29,260 --> 00:19:30,980 And the children, hey, hey, what are these stones? 442 00:19:30,980 --> 00:19:33,260 And, oh, yeah, God opened up the Jordan River. 443 00:19:33,260 --> 00:19:34,460 It was just whatever. 444 00:19:34,460 --> 00:19:36,540 No, he says, here, be detailed. 445 00:19:36,540 --> 00:19:37,820 Explain what God did. 446 00:19:37,820 --> 00:19:40,900 And so he says, pass this on to the next generation so that they 447 00:19:40,900 --> 00:19:41,660 can know God. 448 00:19:41,740 --> 00:19:44,500 Not so that they can know the fact of the science behind the Jordan 449 00:19:44,500 --> 00:19:47,620 river splitting, but that they could know God, the one who split 450 00:19:47,620 --> 00:19:48,460 the Jordan River. 451 00:19:49,180 --> 00:19:50,700 But then he says more here. 452 00:19:51,260 --> 00:19:55,100 He says in verse 24, that all the people of the earth might know 453 00:19:55,100 --> 00:19:56,300 the hand of the Lord. 454 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:01,040 And so there was also another purpose to making these memorial 455 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,720 stones, and that was for the purpose of the world, so that the 456 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:09,040 world can know that there is a God who is all powerful, who can 457 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:13,240 work miracles, who can save them, a God that all should seek 458 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:13,600 after. 459 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:14,520 It says that right there. 460 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,720 It says that all the people of the earth might know the hand of 461 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,880 the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your 462 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:22,800 God forever. 463 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:26,280 So really, that's the message that we have and the work that God 464 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,960 has done in our life, number one, to remember the work that God 465 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,960 has done for us in salvation and all those blessings to follow. 466 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,560 But then number two, to pass that on, we all have a responsibility 467 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:41,160 to pass on the gospel and the truth of his word to the next generation. 468 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:43,000 If it's your children, that's your responsibility. 469 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,120 If you've had children and grandchildren, your grandchildren 470 00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:46,920 are your responsibility. 471 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,200 Maybe you don't have any children within the church, and maybe 472 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:52,960 you don't have that opportunity, but we as a church have 473 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,000 the opportunity to pass it on to the next generation. 474 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,040 I want to take you to a passage of scripture that I think 475 00:20:58,040 --> 00:20:59,680 mirrors this in the New Testament. 476 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:06,359 It's a passage of Scripture that we see in second Timothy, chapter 477 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:06,720 two. 478 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:08,960 Second Timothy, chapter two. 479 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:13,760 I think all of us have the responsibility to some capacity to 480 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:20,390 tell other people about how good God is and how much they need 481 00:21:20,390 --> 00:21:24,750 to trust in him so that they can see his powerful hand. 482 00:21:24,750 --> 00:21:27,830 And so that they might, as it says there in Joshua, fear him or 483 00:21:27,830 --> 00:21:31,110 respect him and seek them, seek him with all of their heart. 484 00:21:31,590 --> 00:21:35,670 So in second Timothy chapter two, we know in that context it's 485 00:21:35,670 --> 00:21:37,110 Paul talking to Timothy. 486 00:21:37,110 --> 00:21:40,670 And he's talking to Timothy, a young pastor, about what he should 487 00:21:40,670 --> 00:21:45,520 do within the church, how he should lead his church. 488 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,600 And it says there in verse number one of two, Timothy chapter 489 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,840 two, thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in 490 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:53,600 Christ Jesus. 491 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,199 He says, be strong, stand in the truth of who Jesus Christ is. 492 00:21:58,199 --> 00:22:00,240 But then he says, this is what you're supposed to do. 493 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:05,400 And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses. 494 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,100 So Paul says, what you've heard me teaching, what you've seen 495 00:22:09,100 --> 00:22:13,380 me doing the same, commit thou to faithful men. 496 00:22:13,380 --> 00:22:14,020 Meaning this. 497 00:22:14,260 --> 00:22:19,300 You are to take what you've been taught and what you have experienced 498 00:22:20,180 --> 00:22:24,980 and what you are resting in and pass that on to other people. 499 00:22:25,860 --> 00:22:27,300 And then it says something amazing. 500 00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:29,220 Who shall be able to teach others also? 501 00:22:29,300 --> 00:22:34,020 Meaning Paul teaches Timothy, Timothy teaches other people, other 502 00:22:34,020 --> 00:22:35,220 people teach other people. 503 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,560 And that goes on and on and on until the Lord returns. 504 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:41,720 And so the Bible tells us that that's our goal. 505 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,280 That started all the way back in the book of Joshua and even before 506 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:44,640 that. 507 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:46,640 God does a miracle in their life. 508 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:47,800 God saves them. 509 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:49,200 And he says, pass that on. 510 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:54,320 And think about how that has happened over century, over centuries, 511 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:55,920 over thousands of years. 512 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,120 God's hand has worked through the lives of people and people have 513 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:00,080 taught other people. 514 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,700 And if all of us are in this room are honest, I there has been 515 00:23:02,700 --> 00:23:06,540 somebody who has taught us what they have been taught by somebody 516 00:23:06,540 --> 00:23:06,900 else. 517 00:23:06,900 --> 00:23:10,420 There is Someone who has shared with us something that was 518 00:23:10,420 --> 00:23:11,140 shared with them. 519 00:23:11,140 --> 00:23:14,700 There is someone that has explained to us their testimony that 520 00:23:14,700 --> 00:23:15,900 has impacted our lives. 521 00:23:15,900 --> 00:23:18,180 And so the Bible tells us something very similar in the New 522 00:23:18,180 --> 00:23:20,260 Testament that we see in the Old Testament. 523 00:23:20,420 --> 00:23:24,460 Pass on what you have, share with other people the blessing that 524 00:23:24,460 --> 00:23:25,380 God is to you. 525 00:23:26,020 --> 00:23:27,780 Give a testimony of a miracle. 526 00:23:28,410 --> 00:23:31,410 And then the challenge for us as the recipients of that is to be 527 00:23:31,410 --> 00:23:34,090 excited when other people tell us the miracles of God. 528 00:23:34,090 --> 00:23:37,330 Not be judgmental, not be, oh, they're just bragging about how God 529 00:23:37,330 --> 00:23:38,050 is in their life. 530 00:23:38,050 --> 00:23:40,810 No, we should be joyful when other people are joyful. 531 00:23:40,890 --> 00:23:43,610 We should learn from other people's teaching and testimony. 532 00:23:44,170 --> 00:23:47,170 And so what we can see here in this case is that God tells us to 533 00:23:47,170 --> 00:23:49,610 pass it on to the next generation. 534 00:23:49,610 --> 00:23:50,570 It's not an option. 535 00:23:50,970 --> 00:23:55,550 We see all the way back in the book of Deuteronomy, if you look 536 00:23:55,550 --> 00:23:58,110 with me in the book of Deuteronomy, we see that there is 537 00:23:58,110 --> 00:24:02,950 this challenge to all of us from the very beginning, and that 538 00:24:02,950 --> 00:24:07,270 is to know God and to love God and share that lifestyle and share 539 00:24:07,270 --> 00:24:08,510 that faith with other people. 540 00:24:09,070 --> 00:24:11,790 All the way back in the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 541 00:24:11,790 --> 00:24:17,630 6, we see God stating to his people what it means to know him 542 00:24:17,710 --> 00:24:21,540 and to share that faith with other people around them. 543 00:24:22,100 --> 00:24:25,220 And so in verse number one of Deuteronomy, chapter six, it says, 544 00:24:25,220 --> 00:24:28,140 now these are the commandments, the statutes and the 545 00:24:28,140 --> 00:24:30,860 judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you that ye 546 00:24:30,860 --> 00:24:34,100 might do them in the land, whether you go to possess it. 547 00:24:34,100 --> 00:24:34,980 Now think about this. 548 00:24:34,980 --> 00:24:37,380 This is Deuteronomy before Joshua. 549 00:24:37,860 --> 00:24:40,140 And so this is already something that has been taught to 550 00:24:40,140 --> 00:24:41,100 the people of Israel. 551 00:24:41,100 --> 00:24:43,740 But they've already been tempted not to pass on the blessings 552 00:24:43,740 --> 00:24:45,220 of God that they have experienced. 553 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:46,840 So remember, this is prior to this. 554 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,480 And this is them being taught that they need to be hearing all 555 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:49,960 of these things. 556 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,360 And so it says, that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God to 557 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:56,600 keep all the statutes and his commandments which I command thee, 558 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,440 thou and thy Son, and thy Son's son, all the days of thy life, 559 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:01,680 and that thy days may be prolonged. 560 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,320 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it that it may be well 561 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:09,800 with thee, and that ye may increase mightily as the Lord God 562 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,320 of thy fathers hath promised thee, and the land that floweth with 563 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:13,920 milk and honey. 564 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:15,960 So this is talking about going to the promised land. 565 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:18,640 And this is something that God has promised, and this is something 566 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:19,600 that God is blessing. 567 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:20,880 And he says in Verse four. 568 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:25,960 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love 569 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,760 the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul 570 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,120 and with all thy might. 571 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,000 Now that might sound familiar to you, that might be something that 572 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,000 you've seen in the New Testament, right? 573 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,200 That's just a restating of what God has already said in the 574 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:39,860 Old from the very beginning. 575 00:25:39,860 --> 00:25:41,140 God wants our heart. 576 00:25:41,700 --> 00:25:46,100 God wants us individually to seek after him with everything that 577 00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:46,580 we have. 578 00:25:46,580 --> 00:25:50,100 The early Jewish folks would have called this the Shema. 579 00:25:50,180 --> 00:25:52,260 This was like what they state all the time. 580 00:25:52,260 --> 00:25:53,060 This is their focus. 581 00:25:53,860 --> 00:25:57,420 And in going forward he says this and thou shall love the Lord 582 00:25:57,420 --> 00:25:57,940 thy God. 583 00:25:57,940 --> 00:25:58,820 He says everything. 584 00:25:58,820 --> 00:25:59,460 Verse 6. 585 00:25:59,540 --> 00:26:02,220 And these words which I command thee to this day shall be 586 00:26:02,220 --> 00:26:03,060 in thine heart. 587 00:26:03,620 --> 00:26:07,420 So he says it starts with a personal relationship with you and, 588 00:26:07,650 --> 00:26:08,290 and the Lord. 589 00:26:09,650 --> 00:26:11,570 It's where your heart is. 590 00:26:12,610 --> 00:26:15,650 You can't help other people around you if your heart is not in 591 00:26:15,650 --> 00:26:16,210 the right place. 592 00:26:16,930 --> 00:26:20,330 I can't come in and be a testimony for the Lord if my heart 593 00:26:20,330 --> 00:26:22,210 is not where it needs to be. 594 00:26:22,210 --> 00:26:26,050 I can't come in and exhort people properly, edify people properly, 595 00:26:26,130 --> 00:26:29,210 show love on people properly if I'm not where I need to be before 596 00:26:29,210 --> 00:26:29,810 the Lord. 597 00:26:30,130 --> 00:26:33,140 The Bible tells us that we need to prepare our hearts to, to 598 00:26:33,140 --> 00:26:33,820 be used by Him. 599 00:26:33,820 --> 00:26:36,620 And preparing our hearts to be used by him simply means that we're 600 00:26:36,620 --> 00:26:37,660 given over to Him. 601 00:26:37,980 --> 00:26:41,780 But then he says next in verse seven, so, so be that way in your 602 00:26:41,780 --> 00:26:42,540 personal life. 603 00:26:42,860 --> 00:26:45,460 Be, be that way with your relationship with God. 604 00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:48,700 But then it says, and thou shalt teach them diligently, teach 605 00:26:48,700 --> 00:26:52,300 the law of God, teach the word of God and the ways of God diligently 606 00:26:52,300 --> 00:26:55,780 unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in 607 00:26:55,780 --> 00:26:59,620 thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou 608 00:26:59,620 --> 00:27:01,900 liest down, and when thou risest up, which means this. 609 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:06,280 Talk about God all the time, talk about his works all the time. 610 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:12,720 Not just in church, not just in Sunday school, but when you're 611 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:16,720 walking, when you're working, he says, when you're out on your 612 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,480 way walking, when you lie down, when you rise up, and thou 613 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,960 shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be 614 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:24,520 as frontlets between thine eyes. 615 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,400 Now there are some people that have taken that literally and say, 616 00:27:27,650 --> 00:27:30,330 well, I've got to wear the word of God. 617 00:27:30,330 --> 00:27:34,410 They actually take a scroll from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and they 618 00:27:34,410 --> 00:27:37,290 roll it up and they put it in a box and they strap it to their 619 00:27:37,290 --> 00:27:37,610 Forehead. 620 00:27:37,610 --> 00:27:38,730 And they wear it on their forehead. 621 00:27:38,730 --> 00:27:40,690 And then they wrap up the verses on their arms. 622 00:27:40,930 --> 00:27:43,210 This isn't God saying, literally, you got to wear a box 623 00:27:43,210 --> 00:27:43,849 on your forehead. 624 00:27:43,849 --> 00:27:48,410 He's talking about keeping this in your mind and in your heart, 625 00:27:48,410 --> 00:27:50,770 keeping it before you in everything that you do. 626 00:27:51,730 --> 00:27:55,570 And he says, and thou shalt write them upon the post of thy house 627 00:27:55,570 --> 00:27:56,410 and on thy gates. 628 00:27:56,410 --> 00:27:59,560 And it's the simple idea of having it surrounding us. 629 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,600 It's not just what we do on Sundays. 630 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,160 For them, it would have been Saturdays. 631 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,480 But it's not just what we do one day a week. 632 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:10,360 It's who we are in every element of our lives. 633 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,520 So we're not like, hey, don't do that while you're at church. 634 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,520 I've been tempted to be like that as a dad and as a pastor and 635 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,600 as just a human being because my kids are acting up. 636 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:22,800 Hey, you can't be doing that at church. 637 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:22,930 We. 638 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,160 Well, maybe they shouldn't be doing that anytime, right? 639 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:29,000 Because the reality is, is that if we try to present to be one 640 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,800 way here and another way here, we're missing the boat. 641 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:35,160 The whole idea for us as Christians is that this is our life. 642 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:40,120 So the way that we do this is Deuteronomy tells us this. 643 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:41,560 Joshua tells us this. 644 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,320 In the New Testament, we see that we're to raise, in Ephesians, 645 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,960 chapter 6, verse 4, to raise our children in the nurture and admonition 646 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:48,520 of the Lord. 647 00:28:49,140 --> 00:28:52,500 The way that the next generation sees what it means to 648 00:28:52,500 --> 00:28:56,340 follow Christ is not through giving them a list of rules and saying, 649 00:28:56,580 --> 00:28:57,380 follow this. 650 00:28:58,180 --> 00:29:01,020 The way that the next generation can follow Christ and 651 00:29:01,020 --> 00:29:04,060 know what it means to follow Christ is to see authentic Christians 652 00:29:04,060 --> 00:29:07,700 living the truth in every capacity of their life, not perfection. 653 00:29:08,340 --> 00:29:09,940 Nobody is going to be perfect. 654 00:29:10,580 --> 00:29:12,340 And I think that we can understand that. 655 00:29:12,740 --> 00:29:16,650 But when we do mess up, to be authentically before our children, 656 00:29:16,810 --> 00:29:19,370 before our grandchildren, admitting that, hey, you know what? 657 00:29:19,370 --> 00:29:20,210 I've made a mistake. 658 00:29:20,210 --> 00:29:23,890 You know, I've had to apologize to my kids, to swallow 659 00:29:23,890 --> 00:29:25,850 my ego and say, dad wasn't right in that. 660 00:29:26,090 --> 00:29:27,050 I've had to do that. 661 00:29:27,130 --> 00:29:30,690 I've had to apologize to my wife for the things that I've said 662 00:29:30,690 --> 00:29:32,090 or the things I have not done. 663 00:29:32,890 --> 00:29:35,090 And so I could just push forward and say, well, I'm the dad 664 00:29:35,090 --> 00:29:36,730 and I'm the pastor, and this is how it goes. 665 00:29:36,730 --> 00:29:40,290 Or we admit where we fall, and our children and our grandchildren 666 00:29:40,290 --> 00:29:43,130 and the next generation can see that we're not trying to be perfect. 667 00:29:43,130 --> 00:29:45,370 All we're trying to do is follow Christ to the best of our 668 00:29:45,370 --> 00:29:45,730 ability. 669 00:29:45,810 --> 00:29:50,010 As Deuteronomy chapter 6 says, to love God with all of our hearts, 670 00:29:50,010 --> 00:29:51,730 with all of our soul, with all of our might. 671 00:29:53,010 --> 00:29:55,090 That's what we are supposed to teach the love. 672 00:29:56,690 --> 00:29:59,330 And so again, it's going to be connected to obedience. 673 00:29:59,330 --> 00:30:02,250 We don't just tell our next generation, well, do whatever you 674 00:30:02,250 --> 00:30:02,450 want. 675 00:30:02,450 --> 00:30:05,370 Worship God however you want to worship him, just as long as you 676 00:30:05,370 --> 00:30:05,770 love him. 677 00:30:05,770 --> 00:30:09,330 No, Deuteronomy 6 is all about following God's word. 678 00:30:09,890 --> 00:30:12,570 But the right way to follow God's word is with our hearts and 679 00:30:12,570 --> 00:30:14,010 not with just our actions. 680 00:30:14,010 --> 00:30:17,850 Because we can do things on, like, you know, some of you know 681 00:30:17,850 --> 00:30:18,130 this. 682 00:30:18,370 --> 00:30:19,450 Maybe even you remember this. 683 00:30:19,450 --> 00:30:21,410 When you were a child, your parents asked you to do something 684 00:30:22,050 --> 00:30:24,370 and you did it, but there was no heart in it. 685 00:30:24,690 --> 00:30:27,250 You were in the heart of rebellion as you were doing the work. 686 00:30:27,250 --> 00:30:27,770 Clean your room. 687 00:30:27,770 --> 00:30:29,770 Okay, I'm cleaning my room, but the whole time I'm just thinking 688 00:30:29,770 --> 00:30:31,930 about how I want to mess up this room. 689 00:30:31,930 --> 00:30:34,290 And one day, when I'm an adult, I remember one time my parents 690 00:30:34,290 --> 00:30:36,540 told me I wanted a dog so bad. 691 00:30:36,540 --> 00:30:38,300 We already had a dog, but I wanted another dog. 692 00:30:38,300 --> 00:30:39,460 I wanted a bunch of dogs. 693 00:30:39,460 --> 00:30:40,780 I wanted, like, 20 dogs. 694 00:30:40,940 --> 00:30:42,540 My parents like, well, you can't have a dog. 695 00:30:42,540 --> 00:30:44,460 And I was so mad, I said, I want another dog. 696 00:30:44,460 --> 00:30:47,060 And I said, I remember saying this out loud to them, when I'm an 697 00:30:47,060 --> 00:30:49,740 adult, I'm gonna have a whole house just full of dogs. 698 00:30:51,100 --> 00:30:52,940 And I have one dog. 699 00:30:52,940 --> 00:30:53,860 But we're ready. 700 00:30:53,860 --> 00:30:57,260 Maybe even like, she's like, Alicia's like, you know, no more. 701 00:30:57,340 --> 00:31:02,500 So in the point of time, in my rebellion, I thought I knew what 702 00:31:02,500 --> 00:31:03,260 was best for me. 703 00:31:04,170 --> 00:31:05,930 And my parents understood that. 704 00:31:06,410 --> 00:31:08,690 There's this and there's this, and if you have a bunch of dogs, 705 00:31:08,690 --> 00:31:10,890 no offense to you, but not everyone's cut out for that, right? 706 00:31:10,970 --> 00:31:12,210 And the idea would be this. 707 00:31:12,210 --> 00:31:13,690 Sometimes we think we know what's best. 708 00:31:13,690 --> 00:31:15,370 Sometimes our children think we know what's best. 709 00:31:15,450 --> 00:31:18,250 And all we have to do is we have to go back and say, look, you 710 00:31:18,250 --> 00:31:21,370 might have your opinions, you might have your thoughts, but this 711 00:31:21,370 --> 00:31:22,410 is the standard. 712 00:31:22,890 --> 00:31:26,290 It's not Dad's opinion, it's not Mom's opinion, it's not the church's 713 00:31:26,290 --> 00:31:28,570 opinion, it's not your opinion. 714 00:31:28,650 --> 00:31:31,370 We have a standard of righteousness, a standard of holiness 715 00:31:31,370 --> 00:31:32,650 that's laid out for us. 716 00:31:32,980 --> 00:31:36,820 And the only way that we can take that in is through Scripture. 717 00:31:37,460 --> 00:31:40,420 And so, so often, we're willing to compromise in many different 718 00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:40,900 areas. 719 00:31:40,900 --> 00:31:42,180 And so what we say is this. 720 00:31:42,340 --> 00:31:44,660 We're basically boiled down to this. 721 00:31:44,900 --> 00:31:47,700 We're ruled by the word of God. 722 00:31:49,060 --> 00:31:52,020 We're ruled by the direction of the Holy Spirit. 723 00:31:52,020 --> 00:31:53,620 The Word of God is our guide. 724 00:31:54,100 --> 00:31:57,260 And so, you know what's going to happen is that some of you have 725 00:31:57,260 --> 00:32:00,630 already experienced this, and I'd love for you to tell me your 726 00:32:00,630 --> 00:32:03,150 testimony of what you did with your children in this process. 727 00:32:03,630 --> 00:32:06,110 But you're gonna have your children come home and say, hey, 728 00:32:06,110 --> 00:32:09,350 this is what I learned at school today, and fill in the blank. 729 00:32:09,350 --> 00:32:12,470 And it's not what the Bible says, or, this is what I experienced 730 00:32:12,470 --> 00:32:13,470 out in public today. 731 00:32:13,790 --> 00:32:15,750 Now, there's a lot of different ways that we can respond 732 00:32:15,750 --> 00:32:16,070 to that. 733 00:32:16,070 --> 00:32:18,590 We can respond to that with just ignoring. 734 00:32:18,910 --> 00:32:20,070 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. 735 00:32:20,070 --> 00:32:20,310 Just. 736 00:32:20,310 --> 00:32:21,710 Let's just change the subject. 737 00:32:22,510 --> 00:32:26,110 Or we can address it with a biblical worldview, or we can address 738 00:32:26,110 --> 00:32:29,590 it with a worldly, fleshly worldview. 739 00:32:30,150 --> 00:32:33,910 And what I would challenge all of us with at any capacity is to 740 00:32:34,310 --> 00:32:38,470 always deal with every situation, every question, every 741 00:32:38,470 --> 00:32:39,990 doubt, every. 742 00:32:40,070 --> 00:32:41,950 Every opinion with the word of God. 743 00:32:41,950 --> 00:32:43,670 What does the Bible have to say about this? 744 00:32:44,310 --> 00:32:48,870 And so we get to this in Joshua, and we see that there's this 745 00:32:48,870 --> 00:32:50,150 miracle of God. 746 00:32:50,150 --> 00:32:53,310 We see that there's this challenge to pass it on to the next 747 00:32:53,310 --> 00:32:57,390 generation, to show the children and the grandchildren and 748 00:32:57,390 --> 00:32:59,070 the great grandchildren the power of God. 749 00:32:59,070 --> 00:33:02,550 And we see within the church, it is our job to pass on the truth 750 00:33:02,550 --> 00:33:05,790 of God to other people, to the unsaved people. 751 00:33:05,790 --> 00:33:07,230 They need to hear the word of God. 752 00:33:08,510 --> 00:33:11,310 It's not a matter of how they're going to respond to it. 753 00:33:11,630 --> 00:33:14,390 Because sometimes I've justified not sharing the truth with 754 00:33:14,390 --> 00:33:17,150 someone because I'm like, maybe they're just not going to believe. 755 00:33:18,350 --> 00:33:18,870 Maybe. 756 00:33:18,870 --> 00:33:19,950 Maybe they just. 757 00:33:19,950 --> 00:33:20,750 That's not for them. 758 00:33:21,350 --> 00:33:25,710 It's not our job to try to figure out who wants to receive it 759 00:33:25,710 --> 00:33:27,030 and who doesn't want to receive it. 760 00:33:27,190 --> 00:33:31,270 We are the vessels of explaining and demonstrating to people 761 00:33:31,510 --> 00:33:32,870 what God has done for us. 762 00:33:32,870 --> 00:33:36,710 Now, we're going to look at a passage of Scripture in. 763 00:33:36,950 --> 00:33:39,350 We're in Joshua, chapter four right now. 764 00:33:39,350 --> 00:33:42,310 But I want you to see a passage of Scripture in First Peter 765 00:33:42,310 --> 00:33:45,710 because it's going to tie together with our next verse that 766 00:33:45,710 --> 00:33:46,470 we're going to look at. 767 00:33:47,020 --> 00:33:49,580 So look at First Peter with me. 768 00:33:50,700 --> 00:33:54,900 And I want you to see what the Bible says is really, in this case, 769 00:33:54,900 --> 00:33:58,780 our cornerstone within the church and what we are to profess 770 00:33:58,940 --> 00:34:02,380 to the world what we are to profess to our children. 771 00:34:02,940 --> 00:34:04,980 Because if I just get up and say well, it's all about the law 772 00:34:04,980 --> 00:34:05,500 of God. 773 00:34:05,820 --> 00:34:08,140 Well, it's not about the law of God anymore. 774 00:34:09,820 --> 00:34:13,759 I don't need to teach my children all 613 commandments that 775 00:34:13,759 --> 00:34:15,119 are laid out in the Old Testament. 776 00:34:15,839 --> 00:34:17,439 So what do I point my children to? 777 00:34:17,919 --> 00:34:20,279 Well, it's very clear what we point our children to. 778 00:34:20,279 --> 00:34:22,079 It's very clear what we point the world to. 779 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:24,559 It's very clear what we point to Christians. 780 00:34:24,559 --> 00:34:25,919 We point to non Christians. 781 00:34:25,999 --> 00:34:27,959 It says it right here in First Peter, chapter two. 782 00:34:27,959 --> 00:34:29,359 It says, to whom coming? 783 00:34:29,439 --> 00:34:31,199 And this is verse four. 784 00:34:31,359 --> 00:34:36,519 To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of 785 00:34:36,519 --> 00:34:38,479 men, but chosen of God and precious. 786 00:34:39,110 --> 00:34:39,590 Meaning this. 787 00:34:39,590 --> 00:34:40,830 He's talking about Jesus here. 788 00:34:40,830 --> 00:34:43,630 He says Jesus came as a living stone. 789 00:34:43,630 --> 00:34:45,750 Now he's giving a picture of a building. 790 00:34:46,230 --> 00:34:48,710 Back then they would build buildings by stones, right? 791 00:34:48,870 --> 00:34:50,710 So he says, there's this one living stone. 792 00:34:50,710 --> 00:34:52,230 He's going to talk about it here in a moment. 793 00:34:52,230 --> 00:34:54,230 Who he is the chief cornerstone. 794 00:34:54,230 --> 00:34:55,270 He's the foundation. 795 00:34:55,430 --> 00:34:59,030 And we as Christians are living stones that are added to the 796 00:34:59,030 --> 00:35:00,350 top of the foundation. 797 00:35:00,350 --> 00:35:05,280 So he says in verse 5, ye also are living stones, like lively stones. 798 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,800 You are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer 799 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,400 up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. 800 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:14,800 Meaning we are to be built upon something. 801 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:19,320 What we are built upon is the truth of Jesus Christ, verse 6. 802 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,920 Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture. 803 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:26,440 Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. 804 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,040 And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 805 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:35,190 The Bible says here that we are built on top of the chief cornerstone, 806 00:35:35,190 --> 00:35:35,910 Jesus Christ. 807 00:35:36,390 --> 00:35:40,270 It was prophesied before, all the way back in the book of Psalms, 808 00:35:40,270 --> 00:35:42,750 that Jesus would be that chief cornerstone. 809 00:35:42,750 --> 00:35:43,830 He would be the elect. 810 00:35:43,830 --> 00:35:45,510 He would be the one who is precious. 811 00:35:45,830 --> 00:35:49,910 All those that believe in him will never be defeated. 812 00:35:49,910 --> 00:35:52,790 All of those will never be taken away. 813 00:35:52,790 --> 00:35:54,710 And then he goes on to say something amazing here. 814 00:35:54,950 --> 00:35:55,470 Verse 7. 815 00:35:55,470 --> 00:35:57,590 Unto you therefore, which believe. 816 00:35:58,630 --> 00:36:01,990 So to those who believe in Jesus, who is he? 817 00:36:02,390 --> 00:36:03,590 Well, he is precious. 818 00:36:04,230 --> 00:36:06,950 So when I talk to somebody about Jesus and they go, well, that's 819 00:36:06,950 --> 00:36:07,750 an amazing thing. 820 00:36:07,750 --> 00:36:10,030 That's a. I get excited about that. 821 00:36:10,030 --> 00:36:12,950 That's someone who understands who Jesus is and his power. 822 00:36:13,430 --> 00:36:16,030 But believe it or not, the Bible says that not everybody is 823 00:36:16,030 --> 00:36:18,350 going to take Jesus as being precious. 824 00:36:18,350 --> 00:36:20,310 It says here another thing. 825 00:36:21,110 --> 00:36:24,790 It says in verse number seven, Unto you, therefore, which believe 826 00:36:24,790 --> 00:36:28,230 he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient to the ones 827 00:36:28,230 --> 00:36:29,510 who are in rejection of him. 828 00:36:30,630 --> 00:36:35,150 The stone which the builders disallowed the same is made the head 829 00:36:35,150 --> 00:36:39,870 of the corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense even 830 00:36:39,870 --> 00:36:42,470 to them which stumble at the word being disobedient. 831 00:36:42,710 --> 00:36:45,430 Whereunto also they were appointed meaning this. 832 00:36:47,510 --> 00:36:49,030 What we teach is Jesus. 833 00:36:49,110 --> 00:36:51,350 To some people, that's going to be precious. 834 00:36:51,510 --> 00:36:53,350 To some people, that's going to be their hope. 835 00:36:53,670 --> 00:36:56,070 The other side of people that are in disobedience, that's going 836 00:36:56,070 --> 00:36:57,030 to be a stumbling block. 837 00:36:57,910 --> 00:37:01,230 Jesus is always the most polarizing figure. 838 00:37:01,230 --> 00:37:01,590 Why? 839 00:37:01,750 --> 00:37:04,390 Because he is the one that either for the believers is going 840 00:37:04,390 --> 00:37:06,830 to be precious or for those who are in rebellion, they're going 841 00:37:06,830 --> 00:37:07,430 to hate that. 842 00:37:07,590 --> 00:37:10,230 I can get out into the corner and preach about church all day. 843 00:37:10,790 --> 00:37:13,030 Everyone should be in church and they're going to say, okay, yeah, 844 00:37:14,550 --> 00:37:17,030 you should have a God, you should believe in a God, something, 845 00:37:17,190 --> 00:37:18,630 and everyone's going to be okay with that. 846 00:37:18,710 --> 00:37:23,310 But the moment we insert Jesus as the way, the truth and the life, 847 00:37:23,310 --> 00:37:26,940 that is where there's division, that is where there's offense. 848 00:37:27,740 --> 00:37:30,540 So we have to be okay in certain instances where we preach 849 00:37:30,540 --> 00:37:34,780 Jesus and people are going to be offensed, the next generation 850 00:37:34,780 --> 00:37:36,180 might recoil at that. 851 00:37:36,180 --> 00:37:36,540 Why? 852 00:37:36,700 --> 00:37:38,900 Because if they're in rebellion, that's going to be different. 853 00:37:38,900 --> 00:37:41,780 And so what's going to happen is, is that we have to preach Jesus 854 00:37:41,780 --> 00:37:42,260 nonetheless. 855 00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:44,900 And it's the truth of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy 856 00:37:44,900 --> 00:37:47,500 Spirit that will turn the hearts of man to the truth. 857 00:37:47,740 --> 00:37:50,620 We can't just preach church to our kids. 858 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:53,480 We can't just preach being moral to our children. 859 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,600 We can't just preach, hey, be religious to our children. 860 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,360 We have to preach Jesus to our children. 861 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:04,800 All those morality, the church, the way that we deal with 862 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,520 other people that comes in line with a relationship with Jesus. 863 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:12,680 Now as they're young and some of you know this by way of example, 864 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,680 a one year old needs to understand this is right, this is 865 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:16,040 wrong. 866 00:38:16,690 --> 00:38:20,290 But as they get older, there needs to be a reason why behind this 867 00:38:20,290 --> 00:38:21,810 being right and this being wrong. 868 00:38:22,210 --> 00:38:25,370 It's not that you're pleasing me even though they please me. 869 00:38:25,370 --> 00:38:27,250 They're ultimately pleasing the Lord at that age. 870 00:38:27,250 --> 00:38:27,930 But guess what? 871 00:38:27,930 --> 00:38:31,370 There's going to be a time in a place where my son, my daughter, 872 00:38:31,370 --> 00:38:32,770 don't fear me anymore. 873 00:38:32,930 --> 00:38:35,610 And there's going to be, they're going to 18, 19, 20 years 874 00:38:35,610 --> 00:38:38,770 old and they're going to say, well, dad isn't in charge of me anymore, 875 00:38:38,770 --> 00:38:40,050 so I can do what I want to do. 876 00:38:40,210 --> 00:38:42,450 So I don't want to be the ultimate one in charge of them. 877 00:38:42,450 --> 00:38:45,650 I want to Pass them off to their heavenly father so that one 878 00:38:45,650 --> 00:38:47,290 day they'll realize that I go to church. 879 00:38:47,290 --> 00:38:50,170 I serve God because I serve my heavenly Father. 880 00:38:50,490 --> 00:38:53,370 And so it's a relationship with Jesus that we teach them along 881 00:38:53,370 --> 00:38:55,290 with all these other things in Scripture. 882 00:38:55,610 --> 00:38:58,490 But sometimes what happens is that we try to raise our children 883 00:38:58,890 --> 00:39:02,010 in the rules of the book without teaching them the author 884 00:39:02,010 --> 00:39:02,490 of the book. 885 00:39:02,490 --> 00:39:04,410 And we have to get deeper into that. 886 00:39:05,050 --> 00:39:06,090 And are we going to fail? 887 00:39:06,090 --> 00:39:06,570 Of course. 888 00:39:06,970 --> 00:39:09,410 Are our children going to have anger? 889 00:39:09,410 --> 00:39:09,670 Our. 890 00:39:09,740 --> 00:39:11,300 Are our children going to be rebellious? 891 00:39:11,300 --> 00:39:13,180 Sure, in many cases there will be that. 892 00:39:13,180 --> 00:39:15,980 But what we have to do is come alongside of them and preach Jesus. 893 00:39:15,980 --> 00:39:17,740 And so I think about that because. 894 00:39:18,140 --> 00:39:18,780 Let's go back. 895 00:39:18,780 --> 00:39:20,780 And this is where we're going to end here this evening. 896 00:39:21,340 --> 00:39:23,260 Joshua, chapter five, verse one. 897 00:39:23,420 --> 00:39:23,820 This is. 898 00:39:23,820 --> 00:39:26,580 We're going to leave off and you're going to say, why did you 899 00:39:26,580 --> 00:39:30,300 go into that whole rock of offense and rock of being precious 900 00:39:30,300 --> 00:39:31,300 since chief cornerstone? 901 00:39:31,300 --> 00:39:32,220 You're about to see why. 902 00:39:32,780 --> 00:39:33,580 Verse 1. 903 00:39:34,140 --> 00:39:38,860 The people in the area around the Jordan river hear what just happened. 904 00:39:40,030 --> 00:39:42,830 They hear that God just did this miracle. 905 00:39:43,630 --> 00:39:45,390 And we're going to see their response. 906 00:39:46,270 --> 00:39:51,550 Instead of turning their hearts to God, they cower in fear. 907 00:39:53,310 --> 00:39:54,430 They're in rebellion. 908 00:39:54,750 --> 00:39:55,350 And so it says. 909 00:39:55,350 --> 00:39:59,630 And it came to pass when all the kings of the Amorites, which 910 00:39:59,630 --> 00:40:03,510 were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the 911 00:40:03,510 --> 00:40:06,960 Canaanites which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried 912 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:10,680 up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel until 913 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:13,960 we were passed over, that their heart melted. 914 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:18,920 Now, this is not a heart melting with belief and humility. 915 00:40:19,240 --> 00:40:20,519 This is their heart melting. 916 00:40:20,519 --> 00:40:22,440 Fear, knowing the judgment of God is coming. 917 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:27,400 And folks, when we preach the truth of God, there's either two 918 00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:27,760 camps. 919 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:32,120 Either the camp that we find hope and peace because we're on the 920 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:37,800 right side, or fear, rebellion, confusion, and ultimately 921 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:39,800 condemnation to those that are in rebellion. 922 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,800 So the Canaanites and the Amorites could have turned to God. 923 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:47,920 There was a process in which Gentiles could turn to the Lord and 924 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:48,240 convert. 925 00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:48,840 We know that. 926 00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:49,720 Why do we know that? 927 00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:51,160 Go back to Joshua, chapter two. 928 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:52,040 Rahab, right? 929 00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:56,240 We know that there was an extension of grace to those who are 930 00:40:56,240 --> 00:40:57,400 not the children of Israel. 931 00:40:57,730 --> 00:40:59,850 These people could have said, this is the true God. 932 00:40:59,850 --> 00:41:00,770 Our God's not real. 933 00:41:00,770 --> 00:41:01,890 Our God can't do this. 934 00:41:02,130 --> 00:41:03,290 This is the true God. 935 00:41:03,290 --> 00:41:06,250 They could have had a proper response to the power of God. 936 00:41:06,250 --> 00:41:06,610 But no. 937 00:41:06,610 --> 00:41:07,330 What do they do? 938 00:41:07,410 --> 00:41:09,290 They melt in fear. 939 00:41:09,290 --> 00:41:12,690 Neither was their spirit in them anymore because of the children 940 00:41:12,690 --> 00:41:13,490 of Israel. 941 00:41:14,450 --> 00:41:21,690 So instead of submitting to God, they fear Israel and know that 942 00:41:21,690 --> 00:41:22,610 judgment is coming. 943 00:41:23,660 --> 00:41:26,940 And now we're going to see here later on how God enacts this. 944 00:41:26,940 --> 00:41:28,140 And we're going to see a story. 945 00:41:28,140 --> 00:41:31,100 Most of you know it in the book of Jericho, or not the book 946 00:41:31,100 --> 00:41:33,740 of Jericho, the city of Jericho, in the book of Joshua, what 947 00:41:33,740 --> 00:41:34,460 God does there. 948 00:41:34,860 --> 00:41:39,180 But here in chapter five, we see a preparation of the siege of 949 00:41:39,180 --> 00:41:39,700 Jericho. 950 00:41:39,700 --> 00:41:41,980 And we're going to come back to that next week, and we're going 951 00:41:41,980 --> 00:41:47,100 to look how Joshua prepares for the battle and how they prepare 952 00:41:47,100 --> 00:41:51,010 themselves spiritually and physically for the siege of Jericho. 953 00:41:51,010 --> 00:41:54,370 So I think I want to leave it with that, that when we see the power 954 00:41:54,370 --> 00:41:59,250 of God, our proper response should not be to cower in fear, right? 955 00:41:59,250 --> 00:42:01,730 Because there's no more condemnation to us in Jesus Christ, 956 00:42:01,890 --> 00:42:06,970 but we are to respect him and to love him and to celebrate his 957 00:42:06,970 --> 00:42:08,250 miracles and his victories. 958 00:42:08,250 --> 00:42:12,370 And so what we need to do is preach the word of God to the world. 959 00:42:12,770 --> 00:42:14,370 No matter what the response is. 960 00:42:14,690 --> 00:42:16,930 For some people, it's going to be a response of anger. 961 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:17,480 Why? 962 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:21,120 Because the chief cornerstone is in the fence. 963 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:26,040 It's a stumbling block to many people because to submit to Jesus 964 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:27,600 means to give up our way. 965 00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:33,520 To submit to Jesus as the way means I'm wrong, I'm a sinner. 966 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:34,160 You know what? 967 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:37,440 People are really nice until you call them a sinner, right? 968 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:37,920 And. 969 00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:39,000 And we don't start with that. 970 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:42,480 Like, I don't, you know, personally, my way of witnessing 971 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:44,600 to someone isn't just walking up to someone at the store and go, 972 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:47,160 do you know you're just a filthy, rotten sinner? 973 00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:47,760 Well, what. 974 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:50,200 Excuse me, like, I might get in a fight, right? 975 00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:51,400 But so we preach. 976 00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:55,400 We preach who Jesus is, and we preach a need for our Savior. 977 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:58,600 If I tell everybody, Jesus is just going to make your life better. 978 00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:01,800 Like, well, maybe my life is okay. 979 00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:06,040 Like, you know, But Jesus doesn't just come to make our lives 980 00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:06,280 better. 981 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:09,080 He comes to save us from a sickness that's called sin that leads 982 00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:09,560 to death. 983 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:14,840 And so we do need to portray to people that there is a need for 984 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:18,400 a savior and that will offend some, but we do it in love. 985 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:20,400 But we cannot leave that out. 986 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:23,280 We cannot leave out the message of judgment. 987 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:27,840 I wish I could just tell everybody, hey, you know what? 988 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:31,040 God will understand if you're a good person. 989 00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:34,440 But the truth is that, what's the Bible say? 990 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:35,040 There's none good. 991 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:35,760 No, not one. 992 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,520 There's nothing that I can do good that can outweigh my Bad. 993 00:43:40,240 --> 00:43:41,120 So what do I do? 994 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:42,970 We, as a church, we. 995 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:44,400 We preach the cornerstone. 996 00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:47,040 And however they respond is how they respond. 997 00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:49,040 That's not our job to make them respond. 998 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:52,120 Our job is to present the chief cornerstone as what they should 999 00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:53,040 build their life on. 1000 00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:55,360 And that's what we do with our children. 1001 00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:57,560 I've heard a lot of people that say, well, you know what? 1002 00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:58,240 I just don't know. 1003 00:43:58,640 --> 00:43:59,360 I'm fearful. 1004 00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:00,800 Are my children gonna follow God? 1005 00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:02,000 Are they gonna do this? 1006 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:02,800 Are they gonna do that? 1007 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:04,640 Folks, it's not like a magic potion. 1008 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:07,840 We raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 1009 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:09,160 We point them to Jesus. 1010 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:10,240 We live it authentically. 1011 00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:13,420 And it's like any other gospel situation, any other evangelistic 1012 00:44:13,420 --> 00:44:13,820 situation. 1013 00:44:13,820 --> 00:44:16,020 We trust in the Lord that God is going to do his work. 1014 00:44:17,860 --> 00:44:19,620 I want my children to be serving the Lord. 1015 00:44:20,180 --> 00:44:21,740 I want my children to be in church forever. 1016 00:44:21,740 --> 00:44:23,380 It's yet to be seen that that's going to happen. 1017 00:44:23,540 --> 00:44:26,940 But my goal is to make it so much so that this is our life, that 1018 00:44:26,940 --> 00:44:28,980 that is something that they want to have one day. 1019 00:44:30,340 --> 00:44:32,820 And many people have seen, many people have seen people that 1020 00:44:32,820 --> 00:44:35,260 have gone to church for decades and decades and decades, 1021 00:44:35,260 --> 00:44:37,900 and then people walk away sometimes. 1022 00:44:37,900 --> 00:44:39,820 We don't always have those answers of why that happens. 1023 00:44:40,210 --> 00:44:41,810 I don't have the answers to why that happens. 1024 00:44:41,810 --> 00:44:47,050 But all I know is as a dad and as a husband, what I need to do is 1025 00:44:47,050 --> 00:44:48,930 I need to do my role, my part. 1026 00:44:49,170 --> 00:44:51,970 God's going to do his part, and we have to just trust in Him. 1027 00:44:52,370 --> 00:44:54,810 And who's to say if someone's gotten away that they won't come 1028 00:44:54,810 --> 00:44:55,050 back? 1029 00:44:55,050 --> 00:44:56,450 We never give up on people. 1030 00:44:56,770 --> 00:44:59,850 We never stop praying for people because the power of God is 1031 00:44:59,850 --> 00:45:02,850 so much bigger than any heart of rebellion. 1032 00:45:03,250 --> 00:45:07,500 And so we know that God's love is never, never running dry. 1033 00:45:07,500 --> 00:45:09,100 And so we can just keep calling out to Him. 1034 00:45:09,100 --> 00:45:12,100 And Lord willing, we will see these young people come back to Christ. 1035 00:45:12,980 --> 00:45:14,180 So next week, we'll come back. 1036 00:45:14,260 --> 00:45:15,540 Joshua, chapter five. 1037 00:45:15,620 --> 00:45:18,900 I hope that you'll come back and study this along with us and 1038 00:45:18,980 --> 00:45:20,020 hope that it's a blessing. 1039 00:45:20,820 --> 00:45:23,420 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1040 00:45:23,420 --> 00:45:24,020 podcast. 1041 00:45:24,260 --> 00:45:26,660 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1042 00:45:27,300 --> 00:45:29,580 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1043 00:45:29,580 --> 00:45:33,060 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1044 00:45:33,380 --> 00:45:35,860 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1045 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:41,520 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro@middletownbaptistchurch.com 1046 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:45,560 if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1047 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:48,400 along for future podcast and updates. 1048 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:50,000 Thank you so much. 1049 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:50,960 God bless. 1050 00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:52,480 Have a wonderful day.