Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002712
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00:09 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated a world veiled in darkness and confusion about 00:15 the character of God. And still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:23 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel with 00:27 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:33 treasures in God's word today. 00:39 Morning. You know sometimes I say good morning at the door 00:46 when people are on their way out but it's seldom morning when I 00:49 do that. It's usually afternoon. But for a little while it's 00:53 still morning. I have really enjoyed getting to know Joshua 00:59 better and I'm going to be sad to say goodbye to this great 01:05 hero of the Bible; one of the most obvious and clear types of 01:12 Christ is seen in the life of Joshua. Today is Joshua Part VI 01:18 we're going to look at and the sermon title is Claiming the 01:22 Promised Land. Claiming the Promised Land. Now in the first 01:28 nine chapters we've been looking at it talked about some of the 01:33 exploits of crossing over. Of course, we were ending up with 01:36 meeting Joshua in the book of Exodus all the way to 01:40 Deuteronomy and getting into the book of Joshua and seeing our 01:44 character lead the people across the Jordan, taking Jericho, into 01:48 the Promised Land. Now we need to fly over about 14 remaining 01:54 chapters. Part of the reason for that is that a lot of it deals 01:58 with some of the repetition of the designation of the Promised 02:04 Land to the different tribes and that could be tedious. But I'm 02:08 going to stick with some of the high points that remain in our 02:12 story. Now if you remember in our last study about Joshua, we 02:16 talked about the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites or the Hivites were 02:20 the only nation that had enough sense to realize we are doomed 02:26 if we don't enter into some sort of a league, if we don't find 02:30 mercy somehow from the God of the Israelites, we are doomed. 02:35 And they, using cunning, they extracted a covenant that they 02:41 would be spared from the Israelites. Remember they showed 02:45 up with their torn up sandals and torn up clothes and moldy 02:49 bread and the skinny donkeys and they said we've come from a far 02:51 country. Make a covenant with us. They basically pled their 02:55 poverty in order to get this covenant that they would be 02:59 spared. And then later the Israelites found out that they 03:02 lived right around the corner. And so they said, All right. 03:05 We've got to keep our word. We're going to spare you but you 03:08 must then also be our servants. You are to cut wood and draw 03:10 water for the house of God. They said, We'd rather be servants in 03:14 the house of God than be dead. So they said we're happy to that 03:18 and from that day the Gibeonites the Hivites became sort of a 03:22 caste within Israel and they were the servants in the house 03:26 of the Lord. They were respected they were free to trade, they 03:29 were treated with all the rights of the citizens. The same way 03:35 the Levites and the descendants of Aaron were given the 03:38 responsibility of offering sacrifices, the Gibeonites 03:41 their responsibility was to keep the water flowing and keep the 03:45 fire burning. Shortly after they had made this covenant and the 03:49 surrounding nations found out what they did is where we pick 03:53 up our story. Go to chapter 10 in Joshua, verse 1: Now it came 04:06 to pass that when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how 04:12 Joshua had taken Ai... Now that is significant. Jerusalem once 04:16 was under a foreign king. You know who used to be the king 04:20 of Jerusalem? A king-priest by the name of Melchizedek. First 04:24 time you hear about Jerusalem it is inhabited by a king and a 04:28 priest named Melchizedek. His name means king of righteousness 04:31 Well now there are pagans there that don't worship Jehovah. 04:35 Melchizedek did. Abraham paid tithe to him but of course that 04:39 is hundreds of years earlier. Adoni-Zekek, king of Jerusalem 04:43 heard how Joshua had taken Ai, how he had utterly destroyed it 04:47 as he had done to Jericho and its king so he had done to Ai 04:51 and its king and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made 04:55 peace with Israel and were among them. Now they are freely 04:59 trading among them. They feared greatly because Gibeon was a 05:03 great city like one of the royal cities and because it was 05:06 greater than Ai and all its men were mighty men. They said, 05:09 Gibeon, Gibeon, that's where all the champions live. There was a 05:12 fortified city. If they surrendered what hope 05:15 is there for me. Then Adoni- Zedek, in verse 3, king of 05:19 Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth 05:24 Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon saying, Come up to 05:29 me and help me that we may attack Gibeon for it has made 05:33 peace with Joshua and all of the children of Israel. I don't want 05:37 to disturb you but I've got an announcement too make. You're 05:40 all in trouble. You're ALL in trouble. You're all going to 05:44 make someone mad. You are either going to experience the 05:48 wrath of Joshua when he comes or you're going to make peace 05:53 with Joshua, Jesus, and you're going to be the target of the 05:58 enemies that are still in the land. And so they send a message 06:02 Oh well, I want to read verse 5. Therefore the five kings of the 06:05 Amorites, the king of Jerusalem the king of Hebron, the king of 06:09 Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon gathered 06:11 and went up, they and all their armies and they encamped before 06:15 ...They're not going against the Israelites. They're going 06:18 against the people who were now serving Joshua. So how does the 06:22 devil take out his wrath? Does he try to fight against Joshua 06:25 and his angels, Jesus and his angels, or does he fight against 06:28 those that made a covenant? You think, why didn't you go 06:32 against the problem. The problem is Joshua. They said, Naw, we 06:34 can't beat Joshua, but we're going to get even with the 06:36 Gibeonites. So they attacked Gibeon. I like this in verse 6: 06:40 And the men of Gibeon, they said to Joshua who was at the camp of 06:47 Gilgal... they sent someone to escape to get a message to him. 06:50 Do not forsake your servants. Come to us quickly and save us 06:56 and help us for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the 07:01 mountains have gathered together against us. Come, save 07:05 us quickly. So Joshua comes to the rescue. They send a message. 07:10 Do we pray when we're being persecuted, when we're being 07:13 attacked for our faith? Does the Lord forsake us? Joshua could 07:18 have said, Well you guys did trick me, it serves you right. 07:21 He doesn't treat them that way does he? He says we made a 07:24 covenant with you to spare you and I guess that means you're 07:27 our servants and as our servants we're going to fight for you. 07:30 And he goes to defend them. Not only that they say come quickly. 07:35 How does the New Testament end? Even so come Lord Jesus. And 07:40 aren't we praying come quickly. Save us from this world. Joshua 07:46 ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people who were with him 07:49 and all the mighty men of valor and they marched all night to 07:53 get there and to deliver them. That's pretty hard for an army 07:58 to do. And it says not a man would stand before them. So 08:03 who came? Now notice what happens here in the battle. 08:07 First of all there is a confederacy, you'll see 08:12 that come up again, of all the nations there in the land to 08:17 annihilate the Israelites. And before I go any further, let me 08:23 tell you what I'm doing. I'm going to draw a lot of parallels 08:26 between what Joshua and the Israelites experienced as they 08:30 came into the Promised Land and what is going to be the 08:33 experience of God's people in the last days based on prophecy. 08:37 Okay? In the last days when our Joshua comes to this world is 08:45 there going to be a confederacy of the nations in this world to 08:49 exterminate God's people? Doesn't it tell us the beast, 08:53 the dragon, the false prophet and all the kings of the earth 08:56 that reigned with that woman in Revelation 17, they all align 09:03 themselves together to form this confederacy and everybody's got 09:06 to worship the way they say and there's one group that stands 09:09 out. They're the servants of Joshua and they're going to seek 09:12 to destroy them. First they can't buy or sell and ultimately 09:15 they'll be killed. But there is a confederacy, there's a union 09:19 that is formed to attack God's people. So that's one parallel 09:22 I want you to notice. God's people are praying that Joshua 09:26 comes quickly. Don't miss that also. And it says in verse 9: 09:30 Joshua therefore came to them suddenly. How does it say Jesus 09:34 is going to come. Mark 13 verse Lest coming suddenly. 09:40 They were surprised. As a thief came upon them. Now in this 09:46 battle he begins to fight them just a basic deeply engaged 09:52 intense battle and it says they fled, verse 11 of chapter 10: 09:55 They fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon 10:00 and the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them 10:05 as far as Azekah and they died. There were more who died from 10:10 the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword. 10:14 Now do you read in your Bible that hailstones have anything 10:17 to do with the second coming of Jesus? Are you catching some 10:21 parallels here? Revelation 16:21: And there fell upon the 10:26 men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of 10:30 a talent. The scholars all disagree on this but it's 10:35 somewhere between 56 and 78 pounds what these hailstones 10:41 are. I've got a picture there of one hailstone a little bigger 10:45 than a hard ball and can you imagine getting bludgeoned with 10:49 a sky full of those? How many of you remember the hail we had 10:52 last week? Did some of you get hail in your yards? We were 10:54 having thunderstorms last week. The water was running down our 10:58 street. It was amazing. And it was hailing a little bitty non 11:01 threatening hail. Matter of fact Stephen wanted to go out and 11:04 feel what it was like. He went outside when it was hailing. 11:08 But you wouldn't be going outside if they were as big as 11:11 golf balls. I've been in Texas when they had walnut-sized hail 11:15 and it will wreck your car. Have any of you ever had hail damage 11:19 on your car before. Yah. Matter of fact, I think you have to 11:24 a special clause in your insurance there in tornado alley 11:27 about hail damage because it can absolutely bankrupt the 11:31 insurance companies. Can you imagine if the sky is filled 11:34 with hailstones that are as big as soft balls or a 56-pound 11:39 block of ice? You can see where the Lord fought for Israel out 11:45 of the heavens. You know God said in prophecy that he would 11:49 do that. Job 38 verse 22: Have you entered into the treasury 11:53 of snow? Or have you seen the treasury of hail which I have 11:58 reserved... God is speaking to Job here... which I have 12:01 reserved for the time of trouble for the day of battle 12:04 and war. When God said this to Job before the experience of 12:09 Joshua and God is predicting in advance that in times of war I 12:13 can reign hail down on my enemy and decimate them. But they 12:18 weren't done yet. They wanted to make sure this army wasn't 12:21 coming back again. So in the midst of the battle Joshua does 12:25 something that had never happened before and has never 12:27 happened since. Verse 12, they are still fighting, Then Joshua 12:33 spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the 12:36 Amorites before the Children of Israel. And he said in the 12:39 sight of Israel, he was right in the midst of his soldiers when 12:42 he said, everybody heard him pray this prayer: Sun stand thou 12:46 still upon Gibeon and thou moon in the Valley of Aijalon. Now in 12:54 the midst of the battle the sun is going down. He realizes that 12:58 as twilight approaches and if it goes dark many of their enemies 13:01 are going to escape. Not all of them have been killed by the 13:04 hail. But many of them would escape and they could probably 13:07 remuster their forces and come and be a problem in the future. 13:10 Or they'd join some of the other nations that weren't conquered 13:13 yet. And he said we've got to make sure that this battle 13:16 doesn't repeat itself. So he prays that the sun would not go 13:20 down. It's just above the hills of Gibeon but the land is still 13:25 illuminated and so he prays that the sun would stand still and 13:29 the moon would stop moving as well. I guess evidently it must 13:33 have been... I remember one time when Karen and I were courting 13:36 we had a day I'll never forget. We were over on the coast and 13:39 we sat down on the coast up by 101 and we could look to the 13:44 west and see the sun going down and we could look to the east 13:47 and see a full moon coming up. Have any of you ever seen that 13:50 before? Sun is going down red and the moon is coming up blue. 13:54 It's really something. It's not that uncommon. But it's a sight 13:58 to see. This was one of those days. The moon is coming up so 14:02 he had the benefit of the sun and the moon and he asks for 14:05 them to stand still so that he could defeat their enemies. 14:08 What does that represent? Well you know you read in Revelation 14:13 12 it talks about his church, a woman clothed with the sun 14:19 standing on the moon and she's got 12 stars around her head. 14:24 Here you've got the sun standing still, the moon standing still, 14:28 and the 12 tribes of Israel attacking their enemies. It's a 14:31 symbol for the word of God being used by the church to defeat... 14:36 the light of God's word, the light, the Lord made the sun. 14:41 the Lord made the moon, right? That's the natural light that he 14:45 made. They word is a lamp unto my feet. Jesus said to the 14:47 church you are the light of the world and it's talking about 14:50 how in the last days how do we overcome the enemy? It's going 14:52 be through the light of his word. Now some of you are 14:55 going to say Pastor Doug... Oh I want to finish reading my 14:57 verse here. He prays this prayer and the sun stood still and the 15:03 moon stayed, it's not moving until the people had avenged 15:07 themselves upon their enemies. Is this not written in the book 15:10 of Joshua? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and 15:13 hasted not to go down about a whole day. Now the reason they 15:18 say about a whole day, it may have been just a little bit 15:20 short of a day. I don't know. Maybe like a railroad car 15:23 getting going. The Lord needs to jump start the sun when he 15:26 gets it moving again. I'm just teasing here. But you know I 15:31 think it's interesting. There is one other time in the Bible when 15:33 the sun dial went backwards 10 degrees. And I've heard it 15:39 argued by some astronomers that when they look at ancient 15:42 history, certain great events in ancient history, they can 15:45 actually be measured by astronomical times that 15:49 are unchanging. There seems to be a missing day. Have you heard 15:54 this before? There seems to be a missing 24-hour period. Well 15:58 if you add together the miracle in the days of Hezekiah with the 16:02 miracle of Joshua that would account for one day that is 16:05 this missing day of history. Very interesting. Now you might 16:09 be asking Pastor Doug, come on. This is a little fantastic. 16:13 I mean when you think about it does the sun really go up, does 16:17 the sun go down? Or don't we know that it's the earth that 16:20 is actually turning and should the Lord stop the earth from 16:24 turning, what would happen to the tides? It would cause 16:28 massive tsunamis. The mantle of the earth would shift on its 16:31 surface and would cause horrendous earthquakes 16:34 and how could God possible do that because it would violate 16:37 all these natural gravitational astronomical laws. Well I don't 16:42 know. How do you walk on water? I mean that kind of violates a 16:46 law too doesn't it? How do you ascend up to heaven in a cloud? 16:50 I mean, the Lord is the Lord. He can speak and make a world with 16:55 his voice. If he says all right, I want to just freeze up all the 16:58 tides and tectonic plates so nothing moves. He could have 17:01 done it. I mean, it's not a problem. You know what else I 17:03 thought. What God could have done, the earth could have 17:06 continued spinning I'm going to do something now. I'm going to 17:09 make the moon and the sun go around the earth so it looks 17:12 like they're standing still and make the whole solar system, 17:16 at least for one day, revolve around planet earth. See what 17:20 I'm saying. He could have done it that way and we would have 17:23 never felt the difference. The thing is people who ask those 17:26 questions what they're doing is they're doubting the power of 17:29 God over the laws of nature he created. How do you animate a 17:34 dead body like Lazarus after four days? Explain that to me. 17:37 The miracles in the Bible are called miracles because they 17:40 can't be explained because they're miracles. So the folks 17:43 who are trying to figure out astronomically how all this 17:46 happened, well help yourself. I don't know. I can't wait to 17:49 get to heaven and ask him myself. You know what I love 17:53 about this story is just the childlike faith of Joshua. 17:58 I mean he went beyond anything Moses had ever done. This was 18:01 bigger than any of the plagues that fell on Egypt. This was 18:06 bigger than the manna coming down. It was bigger than the 18:12 fire on Mount Sinai, bigger than the Red Sea parting. I mean this 18:15 is the greatest miraculous sign in the Bible when you really 18:20 think about it. All of time stood still for a whole day 18:25 so that God's people could get the victory over their enemies 18:30 and inhabit the Promised Land. Now you know the Bible also 18:35 tells us Malachi chapter 4, unto you that fear my name shall the 18:43 sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. Don't 18:47 misunderstand. I don't believe in sun worship, but there are a 18:52 few arguments in the Bible that the sun is a type of Christ and 18:58 the sun standing still, time standing still, so that we could 19:03 be saved. I mean Jesus would do anything to save his people and 19:07 give them the promised land, to give them the victory. How far 19:12 will God go for you to give you a victory. God will not suffer 19:16 you to be tempted above what you're able but will with every 19:20 temptation provide a way of escape that you can bear it. 19:23 And if you're being overwhelmed by temptation and you need help 19:28 and you pray and say Lord, help me get the victory, how far will 19:33 God go to give you the victory? If for Joshua and God's people 19:36 back then he'd make the sun stand still and the moon stand 19:40 still, he'd stop time to give them the victory, what will he 19:44 do for you? So don't make excuses for being overcome. 19:47 If God says I'm going to give you the Promised Land and you've 19:50 got a battle that means he will give you the means to win the 19:54 battle. Whatever you need to win he'll give it to you. That's 19:58 good news. That's a great story. You think about the miracles of 20:02 Joshua, this is really the culmination of the miracles. 20:05 You've got the miracle where Joshua leads them across the 20:10 Jordan, and that you might say is a type of baptism. That's a 20:15 miracle in the water. Then there is the miracle where there's an 20:20 Jericho's walls fall, no explanation physiologically 20:24 how that can happen. That's a miracle in the land. Now he 20:29 prays and there's a miracle in the heavens. Are you with me? 20:32 You've got the miracle in the water, you've got the miracle 20:34 in the earth, you've got the miracle in the heavens. When 20:37 you go to Genesis it talks about those elements right there. By 20:40 the way, when Christ comes back again, listen. We just found 20:44 that when Joshua came into the Promised Land there was an 20:48 earthquake, Jericho fell. Is there an earthquake when Jesus 20:51 comes back so might an earth quake so mighty and so great 20:54 every island is moved out of it's place and the mountains are 20:56 swallowed up. I'm paraphrasing but there's a big earthquake 20:59 when Jesus comes. There was an earthquake when Joshua came. 21:03 Hailstones come down on the enemies. Do hailstones fall on 21:07 the enemies when Jesus comes? Are there signs in the sun and 21:11 the moon when Jesus comes? Yes, there are heavenly signs; not 21:16 only historically as the sun got dark during the dark day and the 21:20 moon came up like blood. But it tells us when Jesus comes back 21:23 there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars in 21:27 quick succession to herald this miracle of victory for God's 21:30 people. And will that happen at a time when there's a 21:34 confederacy trying to annihilate God's people? There will be 21:37 signs in the sun and the moon then too friends. There are a 21:43 lot of parallels here. Luke 21 verse 25: And there shall be 21:47 signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars and upon the 21:51 earth distress of nations with perplexity. The sea and the 21:57 waves roaring. There are a lot of signs here. But we're not 22:02 done. Go to chapter 11 now. Joshua chapter 11. I'm going to 22:06 back and forth here between my notes and between the Bible 22:11 passage itself. Now this gave them basically victory over the 22:15 central southern part of the Promised Land. But there were 22:20 still the northern kingdoms. Now listen to what happened. Verse 1 22:24 chapter 11: And it came to pass when Jabin king of Hazor heard 22:28 these things that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king 22:32 of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, even I struggle with 22:36 some of these, and to the kings that were from the north in the 22:39 mountains, in the plain south of Chinneroth, in the lowlands, 22:42 in the heights of Dor on the west, to the Canaanites in the 22:45 east and the west, the Amorite, the Hittite and the Hivite below 22:51 Hermon and the land of Mizpah. So they went out, before there 22:56 five now there are 12, interesting biblical number. 23:00 They went out and all their armies with them as many people 23:05 as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude with very 23:09 many horses and chariots. They said, Oh look what happened when 23:13 those five nations assembled. We're going to have to put aside 23:17 our squabbling as neighbors and we're going to have to join 23:21 together and see if we can develop an army that's even 23:24 bigger than the army of the southern kingdom because it 23:28 seems like the Israelites keep winning. Now it says this number 23:33 is like the sand on the seashore By the way, Josephus in his 23:37 commentary on this, that's sort of hyperbole, the sand on the 23:40 seashore. I doubt there were as many soldiers as there are 23:43 grains of sand on the sea. You all understand that's and 23:46 illustration. He says there were 300,000 soldiers. They had about 23:52 20,000 chariots and the chariots back then had scythes, knives. 23:56 If any of you ever saw Ben Hur you know what I'm talking about. 24:00 That actually comes from history The Canaanites would put these 24:04 knives off the outriggers on their chariot wheels and as they 24:08 rode among the soldiers on the ground it would just butcher 24:13 them. They had 20,000 of those and the horses as well. And it 24:17 didn't look good. Now they're fighting against an army that's 24:22 bigger than any army they'd ever seen in their experience. And 24:26 God said to Joshua, verse 6, chapter 11, verse 6, do not be 24:31 afraid. Isn't that how the book of Joshua starts? Be thou very 24:36 courageous. Don't be afraid. Don't live by sight. I mean if 24:40 David looked at how big Goliath was he would have been 24:42 intimidated. Don't look at how big the problems are. You figure 24:45 out what God wants you to do and then have faith. He will 24:47 help you get the victory, Amen? He said do not be afraid of them 24:53 for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain 25:00 before Israel. Whew, that's a pretty confident prophecy, 25:04 300,000 of those soldiers. You will hamstring their horses and 25:09 by the way, they used to cut a nerve on the back of the horses 25:13 so that they could still work in the farms but you could never 25:17 ride them in war. They couldn't gallop any more. He said, you 25:21 should hamstring the horses and destroy their chariots with 25:24 fire. So Joshua and all the people who were with him came 25:27 against them suddenly. There you've got it again. How does 25:30 Jesus come? Suddenly. By the waters of Merom and they 25:34 attacked them and the Lord delivered them into the hand 25:38 of Israel who defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon 25:42 to the brook Misrephoth and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward 25:46 and they attacked them until they left none of them remaining 25:50 So Joshua did to them as the Lord had told him. 25:52 He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. 25:56 You always find that Joshua did what the Lord said. Joshua did 26:00 as Moses commanded. Like Jesus he said I have kept my Father's 26:04 commandments. And Joshua turned back at that time and he took 26:07 Hazor and he struck the king with a sword for Hazor was 26:10 formerly the head of all those kingdoms. And they struck the 26:13 people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly 26:16 destroying them. I know this sounds brutal. It's in effect 26:21 genocide. Let me explain. There was none left breathing and 26:25 burned Hazor with fire. So all the cities of those kings, those 26:28 12 kingdoms and all their kings Joshua took and he struck with 26:32 the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them as 26:34 Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. Now as you go 26:39 through chapter 11, it basically says they went from city to city 26:42 and they totally annihilated everybody that lived in those 26:47 cities. Sounds awful brutal. For one thing keep in mind if they 26:51 left any surviving they were avowed enemies. They and their 26:55 offspring would be avowed enemies and in order to have 26:58 peace in the future they had to go to some pretty extreme 27:02 lengths. These nations also had been marked by the Lord for 27:06 extermination because of their terrible heathen grotesque 27:10 perverted practices. There was rampant disease among them. They 27:13 offered their children to pagan gods. They used to set their 27:17 babies on burning altars and it was terrible what these people 27:20 did. And God said they are to be destroyed. I've given them grace 27:24 to repent for hundreds of years and they've not repented. God 27:27 had been sending messages and prophets to them too. So this 27:31 was a judgment. Now the reason I say that: Notice where it says 27:35 like the sand of the sea. You know another place you find 27:38 that? Remember I said we're going to make some comparisons 27:42 with Revelation. Revelation 20 verse 8: And will go out to 27:45 deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth 27:49 Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle. The number 27:53 is as the sand of the seashore. Now notice what's happening here 27:58 Biblically there are two prominent campaigns in 28:02 the last days, two big battles. You've got the battle just 28:06 before Jesus comes. That's happening when the devil and the 28:10 earthly forces try to annihilate God's people and the Lord saves 28:14 us by this great victory, the sun, moon and signs and 28:18 hailstones, right? But at the end of the 1000 years there's 28:22 another big battle. This is the second main... These are the two 28:25 major campaigns we're looking at. Everything else was a small 28:29 skirmish compared to this. That's where they gathered 28:32 together like the sand of the seashore. At the end of the 1000 28:35 years when the devil sees all the wicked resurrected, they're 28:38 called Gog and Magog and they make this final assault on the 28:42 people of God, spiritual Israel inside the city, right? And at 28:46 that time what happens to them? They are judged and they are 28:50 annihilated. The same thing Joshua did is a perfect parallel 28:54 for the last day chronology of what's happening. Can you see 28:57 the similarities here? There's a lot we can learn from this 29:02 both in the way of warning and encouragement. That's the final 29:07 large campaign. And I want to read verse 19 of Joshua 11: 29:12 There was not a city that made peace with the children of 29:17 Israel except the Hivites, inhabitants of Gibeon. All the 29:21 others they took in battle for it was of the Lord to harden 29:25 the hearts that they should come against Israel in battle that he 29:28 might utterly destroy them that they might receive no mercy. 29:32 Why do the wicked have the audacity at the end of the 1000 29:37 years. You'd think they know hey I'm in the wrong resurrection. 29:40 Wouldn't you say Lord give me another chance. I'm sorry, I 29:43 blew it or at least just fall down and die. Why would you 29:47 listen to the devil to go against the city of God and 29:51 Jesus and the angels? You know one reason? The Lord is 29:54 demonstrating their hearts are hardened and there are no 29:58 redemptive qualities left. So when he rains fire down out of 30:02 heaven on them, he had no other choice. Their hearts were 30:06 totally unrepentant. They could not change. There were no 30:11 redeemable qualities. Why did Joshua annihilate the nations 30:15 that did not make peace with him. He had no alternative. They 30:19 kept gathering together to battle against him. They were 30:22 determined to fight against Israel. There are only two 30:25 choices, you make peace and you serve Joshua or you're 30:28 annihilated. Those choices they had back then are the same 30:32 choices you and I face. Make friends with Joshua. I keep 30:35 saying this. I'm assuming you all remember Joshua and Jesus 30:40 same name, one Hebrew, one Greek Make friends with Joshua or 30:44 we're doomed. Amen? Jesus said he that has the Son has life. He 30:49 that does not have the Son does not have life. Those are 30:52 the two choices we all have. Now it talks about some of the 30:56 smaller battles and skirmishes and the dividing of the 30:58 Promised Land. Now in the midst of dividing the Promised Land 31:03 you can read in Joshua chapter 14, Caleb comes to Joshua and he 31:08 has a special request. Now you've got to wind your tape 31:11 back to the book of Numbers. You remember that Joshua has a long 31:14 time friend. Only two individuals survived from 31:19 Egypt to the Promised Land that were above 20 years of age. 31:23 What were their names? Caleb and Joshua. Caleb now is an old man 31:28 and they're beginning to subdue and divide up the Promised Land 31:32 There are still some hot spots they need to put down and in 31:37 chapter 14 in verse 6 Caleb comes to Joshua with a request. 31:43 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal and Caleb... 31:47 Think about this who was obviously... Caleb's from Judah 31:50 Who was the patriarch of Judah now? Who's the oldest one? 31:54 Everybody was 65 or under except Caleb who is 85. Isn't that 32:00 interesting. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said 32:06 to him. I'm jumping ahead here. Here I am this day 85 years old 32:11 as yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent 32:17 me. Just as my strength was then so is it now both for war, for 32:21 going out and for coming in. I hope I can say that when I'm 32:25 85. He probably understood the health message. Of course he was 32:29 eating bread from heaven every day, right? But something needs 32:32 to be said for when you've got faith. He had faith in God. God 32:37 sustains you. Here's this guy 85 years old and he was just 32:41 as strong as the whipper snappers that were fighting 32:42 along with him. He was as strong as he was 40 years earlier. I'm 32:48 as strong this day as I was then when God sent me to first spy 32:52 out the Promised Land. And I expect when Caleb first looked 32:56 over the Promised Land 40 years earlier with Joshua and the 32:59 other faithless spies that he went through the mountains of 33:03 Hebron where the Amiken lived, the giants, and it didn't bother 33:06 him that giants lived there. He was looking at how lush the 33:09 country was, how fertile the soil was, and the springs galore 33:13 were there and he said this is where I want to pitch my tent. 33:16 This is where I'd like to retire and he made up his mind and 33:19 you know how much that must have broken Caleb's heart when 33:22 they got back and God says you guys have to wander 40 years 33:24 because the people don't believe Caleb said I believe Lord. Can I 33:28 go? He said, let's go up at once You remember Caleb's speech? 33:32 Let's go, we're well able, let's go right now and he had to 33:35 wander with those stubborn people until they all died off 33:38 40 years. Now he comes back and they've begun to start to divide 33:42 up the promised land and he's got his eye on that country and 33:46 he goes to Joshua, his buddy, and I love this. He says my 33:50 strength is as good now as it was then both for war and for 33:55 going out and coming in. Underline this in your Bible. 33:59 Do you underline in your Bible? Now therefore give me this 34:05 mountain. And that mountain was actually a mountain range that 34:10 would include Jerusalem, Hebron and that territory. Give me this 34:14 mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day. For you heard in 34:18 that day how the Anakim were there. The people were so afraid 34:20 of the Anakim. They said we could never fight them. We're 34:23 like grasshoppers and the cities were great and fortified. It may 34:27 be the Lord will be with me and I shall be able to drive them 34:31 out as the Lord said. And Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to 34:35 Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron 34:39 therefore became the inheritance of Caleb and the children of 34:43 Judah and to this very day the Jews, Jews are not Hebrews, 34:47 Jews are the descendants from, well Jews are all Hebrews, but 34:50 Hebrew may not be a Jew. Jews come from the tribe of Judah 34:53 Judah principally, that's where you get the word. They're in 34:56 that vicinity today because of what you're reading in your 35:00 Bible right now. Joshua chapter 14. An old man comes to Joshua 35:03 and says give me that country and that became the allotment 35:06 of Judah because of the faith of Caleb, Amen? And he took on the 35:13 country. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb 35:16 the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day because he 35:18 wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. Now if it's possible for 35:22 him to wholly follow God, is it possible for us to be holy and 35:28 wholly follow God? A little foot note. Joshua 11 verse 22: There 35:33 were none of the Anakim, the Anakim were giants. The king had 35:38 a bed 12 feet tall. Keep in mind Goliath was only nine-and-a-half 35:43 feet tall. The king of the Anakim had a bed 12 feet long. 35:49 And it tells us that there were none of the Anakim left in the 35:56 land. They all had to flee. They were all defeated by the 35:59 children of Judah and Israel. Only, and catch this little 36:02 footnote you might remember. Only in the country of the 36:06 Philistines, which was Gath. Who came out of Gath. Goliath. 36:11 Remember Goliath of what? Gath. Gath, Gaza, Ashdod. You know 36:16 that's where Goliath and his brothers lived. They were 36:19 descendants of the Anakim. Probably a recessive gene that 36:22 popped up again around the time of David. Anyway so Joshua was 36:25 given the mountain because of his faith. I love this story. So 36:28 then they began to divide up the land. It tells us that Joshua 36:32 gave them the land. You can read in your New Testament about this 36:36 in Acts chapter 13 verse 19: I believe Paul is speaking here 36:40 and he says, And when he had destroyed seven nations in the 36:44 land of Canaan, he distributed their land to them by allotment. 36:48 That's speaking about Joshua. Those seven nations, that's sort 36:52 of a perfect picture of how the territories are given to the 36:56 seven ages of the church. Joshua chapter 11 verse 16: So Joshua 37:01 took all that land and the hills and all the south country and 37:05 all the land of Goshen and the valley and the plain and the 37:09 mountains of Israel and the valley of the same. Little by 37:13 little he took the land and he gave it to the children of 37:17 Israel. Matthew chapter 5 verse 5, who is going to 37:21 ultimately inherit the land? Blessed are the meek. They will 37:24 inherit the earth. Jesus is going to give us an inheritance. 37:28 Not only did Christ say, I go to prepare a place for you and if I 37:32 go and prepare a place for you I will come again. In my 37:34 Father's house are many mansions There is the new Jerusalem where 37:37 a mansion is prepared for every believer and he's prepared a 37:42 mansion for you there. But then it says they go forth and they 37:45 inhabit the earth. What did God say to Adam and Eve? He said go 37:48 forth, be fruitful and multiply. And even after the tower of 37:52 Babel, go and subdue the earth. Multiply, be fruitful. God wants 37:55 us to inherit the land and in the new earth not only are we 37:59 going to have our country homes, we're going to go forth from our 38:01 mansions in the new Jerusalem outside of the gates of the city 38:04 and we're going to inherit the earth. It says we'll plant 38:07 vineyards and eat the fruit of them, we'll build houses and 38:10 inhabit them. It's going to be very real. Our Joshua is going 38:13 to cause us to inherit the land, Amen? You know what I think is 38:17 also interesting? God specifically promised a 38:20 territory of land to Abraham and his descendants; Abraham and his 38:25 seed, spiritual Israel. When the New Jerusalem comes down, what 38:30 part of the earth does it land on. Jesus' feet touch what 38:34 mountain? The Mount of Olives, which is in the territory of 38:39 Judah. It splits and forms a great valley. That valley is 38:42 even bigger than the territory inhabited by Solomon, which was 38:47 Israel at its peak of glory. Meaning that the borders of the 38:52 New Jerusalem, 375 miles on each side, when it settles down it's 38:57 about the size of Oregon. When it settles down on the earth 39:01 with the middle east, or Israel, right at the center, within the 39:05 city of God, Central Park, in the city of God is going to be 39:09 the territory God had promised his people. He's going to keep 39:12 his promise and really give them that land blessed in a special 39:16 way. I think the Garden of Eden will be right in the middle. 39:20 Amen? But then we inherit the whole earth. I get excited about 39:25 these things. You know in case you think this is all a legend 39:30 or fairy tale, Joshua is a historical figure. I found 39:34 something I thought you would find very interesting. I don't 39:37 know how many of you have heard of Numidia, Numidia. It 39:42 is a region near Algeria on the west north part of present 39:46 day Africa. There are a lot of ancient ruins in that country. 39:50 It was a territory that was inhabited by the Phoenicians 39:53 thousands of years ago. In Numidia there are two pillars 39:56 that have very ancient Phoenician inscriptions on 40:00 them but they can be read clearly. This is what it says in 40:03 one portion of that ancient inscription from the Phoenicians 40:08 Now the Phoenicians lived more along the coasts of that land. 40:12 Here's what it says: 40:24 You've heard of Joshua the son of Nun. Many of them, as Joshua 40:28 inhabited the land were annihilated. Those who didn't 40:30 run for their lives were killed. But some of the Phoenicians 40:34 being a seafaring people may have been off at sea during some 40:37 of these battles and realized they lost their land and they 40:41 had to flee from Joshua and his armies and some of them made 40:45 their homes around the Mediterranean including this 40:48 place in Numidia. Isn't that interesting. It's in history 40:52 even extra biblical history that Joshua lived and he was the one 40:56 God used to take possession of the Promised Land. I always 41:00 liked some of this scholarly reinforcement for these things. 41:03 Now we're going to get near the end of Joshua's life here. 41:07 Go with me to Joshua chapter 23. A lot of the book then has 41:11 talked about the dividing of the land and the giving of the 41:16 inheritance, the various little battles. As Joshua begins to age 41:23 he says in chapter 23 verse 11: Take good heed therefore unto 41:28 yourselves that you love the Lord your God. He brought all 41:32 the children of Israel together and he wanted to give them a 41:36 final charge. That you love the Lord your God. Else if you do 41:40 in anywise go back and cleave unto the remnant of these 41:43 nations, meaning the pagan gods they had just dispossessed, even 41:47 these that remain among you, there were still some fragments 41:50 that were held out in little pockets, if you make marriages 41:54 with any of them, know for a certainty, I'm still in Joshua 41:59 23 between 11 and 14, know for a certainty that the Lord your 42:03 God will no more drive out any of these nations from before 42:07 you. But they will be snares and traps unto you and scourges in 42:11 your side and thorns in your eyes until you perish off the 42:15 good land that the Lord your God has given you. Now did that 42:20 happen? They got comfortable and you know what often happens? 42:25 I've got a friend help me build a house and as we were 42:27 building the house I want to move in. I was so excited to 42:29 move in and he said don't move in. I said why? 42:32 He said wait until your done. 42:33 He said if you move in before you're done you'll never finish 42:37 it. How many of you know that? And I though ah come on. Base 42:41 board. I mean I can finish the base board in a few rooms. 42:44 There were a few little light fixtures in the closet, a little 42:47 dressing. I said, we're ready to move in. We can't wait. 42:51 So we moved in. Here we are 20-something years later. The 42:56 baseboard is not done. Light fixtures are still not up and I 43:00 could go through a litany of other things. You get 43:04 comfortable and you say ah it's working, it's good enough. And 43:07 what happened is they settled down in the Promised Land and 43:10 they said, Ah yeah, we know there's still a few pockets of 43:13 resistance, a few pagan camps here and there, but hey, we're 43:16 on top of things. We rule. And they got comfortable and the 43:20 nations began to multiply again and they began to make friends 43:23 and they began to intermarry and you know what? Go to the 43:26 Book of Judges. Next thing you know some of those same 43:28 kingdoms that you thought that you had completely done away 43:32 with are now occupying them and enslaving them because they 43:36 didn't make a clean sweep. By the way. There's an 43:40 application for you. When you allow Jesus in your heart give 43:45 him every corner. Any area that you still give to the enemy in 43:49 the Promised Land in your heart it will grow until it finally 43:54 enslaves you again. You've got to be scraping it clean. 44:00 Get every unclean, impure area of your life taken over by 44:05 Joshua. Give it to Joshua. You have got to absolutely 44:08 exterminate. Like when you're getting rid of cockroaches. 44:12 If you let a couple of them live and what happens? Just whew 44:15 pretty soon it's infested again. And that's the way it is with 44:19 sin in our lives. Anything that you allow to go unchecked or 44:22 cherished or tolerated will grow and what you thought was no 44:26 threat you'd be surprised. Like a boa constrictor. It will get 44:30 bit until it wraps itself around your neck. So he said they'll 44:34 be thorns in your eyes, pain in your side. And behold this 44:38 day I am going the way of all the earth, meaning all that have 44:42 lived before me and died, except Enoch. I am going the way of all 44:46 the earth and you know in your hearts and your souls that not 44:50 one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your 44:54 God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass unto you. 44:57 Not one thing has failed. You know, one reason I wanted to 45:00 read that to you again is because how confident can we be 45:04 about the word of God? It will all come to pass including 45:08 Jesus coming back again. Amen? Then that famous statement in 45:12 chapter 24, last chapter of Joshua. And if it seems evil to 45:17 you to serve the Lord, he charges them again, choose for 45:21 yourselves this day who you will serve, whether the gods which 45:24 your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, 45:28 meaning the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose 45:31 land you now dwell. But as for me and my house we will serve 45:35 the Lord. Now there's a lot in this verse. For one thing up to 45:38 this point there's been no reference made to Mrs. Joshua 45:41 or Joshua's children; they are never named in the Bible. 45:43 But evidently he had a family and a house or he wouldn't have 45:46 said that, right? We never hear any more about Joshua. 45:49 He suddenly appears. We don't know much about his ancestors. 45:53 He's the son of Nun and then he disappears. We don't ever hear 45:56 about his posterity. It tells where he is buried. Another 46:01 thing about this verse, it says we get to choose. Why would God 46:05 ask us to choose. You know those who are largely Calvinistic say 46:08 you have no choice. It's all done by the arbitrary 46:10 sovereignty of God. I believe in the sovereignty of God but he 46:14 gives us a choice. Otherwise why would Jesus say whosoever 46:18 will? You get to address, you get to exercise your will, your 46:23 choice in deciding to serve the Lord have made a choice. 46:28 But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. What more 46:32 do we find here? No matter what anyone else does you can still 46:36 serve the Lord. Don't blame your apostasy on the apostasy in the 46:40 church. Right? So many say ah the church is in such a state of 46:43 apostasy. I'm a little better than them but that's why I'm 46:46 you know a little bit compromising now. 46:49 You can say you do what you want but as for me and my house, 46:52 we're going to serve the Lord. You have a choice to make. 46:55 What everyone around you is doing is not your problem. 46:59 Well it can be a problem but I mean it's not your excuse. 47:03 If you want to serve the Lord, you can serve the Lord no matter 47:06 what everyone else is doing Amen? Even if you seem to stand 47:11 all alone. And then it says they buried him. He died and they 47:14 buried him in the mountains of Ephraim. Keep in mind Joshua was 47:17 not from the tribe of Judah as Jesus was. He was from the 47:21 tribe of Ephraim, a son of Joseph. Now don't forget that. 47:25 Can you imagine that last 30 years of Joshua's life where he 47:30 enjoyed the Promised Land. Probably around 1406 B.C. they 47:33 conquered the Promised Land. He got to settle down and enjoy 47:37 himself in his old age for about 30 years. He died at 110. 47:41 By the way, the same age as Joseph when he died was the same 47:45 age of Joshua. Can you imagine how the children of Israel in 47:49 the next generations would come and listen to that old man? 47:53 Can you imagine being able to talk to Joshua? You know I love 47:57 history and you've heard me talk about one of my favorite 48:00 episodes in history is the story of the Lewis and Clark 48:04 expedition. There was one character, he was the carpenter, 48:08 Sergeant Patrick Gass was the carpenter for the Lewis and 48:11 Expedition. That's actually a photograph of this, the only 48:15 photograph of anybody from the Lewis and Clark expedition. 48:17 You know how they got a photograph of him? Because the 48:20 Lewis and Clark expedition was 1804. There was no photography 48:27 then. This fellow was born in 1771 and he lived until 1870, 99 48:32 years. Not only can you imagine living through the Lewis and 48:38 Clark expedition all that you would see. He knew George 48:42 Washington. He knew Thomas Jefferson. Matter of fact, 48:46 Jefferson commissioned the whole group. Matter of fact, he voted 48:49 in elections all the way from Washington, he was probably too 48:52 young for Washington, but he lived during the time of 48:55 Washington to Ulysses Grant. He fought alongside, get this, 48:59 Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett and they was a big gap between 49:03 them. He fought in the war of 1812, he fought in the 49:08 Revolutionary War and he volunteered for the Civil War. 49:12 But by that point he was in his 80's and they thanked him but 49:17 turned him down. Can you imagine talking to Patrick Gass 49:23 and saying what was it like with Thomas Jefferson? What did 49:27 Washington really look like? I mean this guy was a walking 49:31 history book. All of the stories. I mean he watched the 49:34 country basically be born. I did the funeral for my grandfather 49:38 a few years ago. He lived to 93. Not so old but the generation. 49:41 There are some of you here today that are in the same ball park. 49:44 We've got a sister here today over 100, Mable Crawford. 49:49 Can you imagine living in a generation where you see 49:55 World War I, World War II, going from kerosene to 50:00 fluorescent bulbs, going from horses to space station? 50:05 Can you imagine living in that generation. I sometimes don't 50:08 think we appreciate the people who have experienced the 50:11 greatest transition in the history of the world. Can you 50:14 imagine talking to Joshua? Saying what was it like back 50:16 when you were slaves? What was it like when the plagues fell on 50:19 Egypt? I mean, what was it like going through the Red Sea? 50:22 What was it like going through the Jordan? What was it like 50:24 when the pillar of fire was there and the manna came down 50:27 from heaven? Can you imagine the experience that man had? 50:31 And that's why the Bible says that all that generation served 50:34 the Lord. Because they could go to Joshua and they could talk 50:37 about wonderful things that God had done and see this man 50:41 glowing with the faith and courage of God. We don't have 50:45 too many Joshuas left these days. Now we're not done, almost 50:49 done. You know how the book of Joshua ends. It's very 50:52 interesting. Joshua 24:32: And the bones of Joseph which the 50:58 children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, stop! I've got to 51:04 take you back to the last words of Genesis. You know what the 51:09 last words of Genesis are? They're not talking about 51:11 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The last words in Genesis are 51:13 Joseph's, another type of Christ The last words in Genesis are in 51:19 a coffin in Egypt. Because the last thing that happens in 51:23 Genesis is Joseph charges his people. He says: I am dying but 51:27 God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land to 51:31 the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 51:34 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel saying 51:38 God will surely visit you and you will carry up my bones from 51:43 here. Don't leave me in Egypt. Don't leave me in Egypt. I was 51:47 carried down here as a slave. I'm not coming forth in the 51:52 resurrection in the land of my captivity. I'm coming forth in 51:55 the resurrection in the Promised Land. Promise me. 51:58 So they made a promise. From the time that happened of course 52:01 hundreds of years went by, they were slaves. But they embalmed 52:05 Joseph. They had his body. When they finally had the Exodus they 52:08 had not forgotten their promise. During that 40 years in the 52:11 wilderness along with watching them lug around the tabernacle 52:14 they probably had an oxen cart or something, I've got a picture 52:17 here where they were actually dragging it on a sled. But I 52:21 don't think they did that. They were carrying the sarcophagus 52:24 He was embalmed like King Tut probably, I mean this was the 52:28 prime minister of Egypt. They are carrying this coffin for 40 52:31 years in the wilderness to keep a promise. And now after all the 52:35 years of conquest, finally when Joshua settled down, they'd 52:38 taken possession of the Promised Land, like a seed they plant the 52:46 remains of Joseph in the Promised Land. And bones of 52:49 Joseph, I'm back to Joshua chapter 24, which the children 52:52 of Israel brought up out of Egypt, the book ends by saying 52:55 a promise is kept, they buried in Shechem in a parcel of ground 52:59 which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of 53:02 Shechem for 100 pieces of silver and it became the inheritance of 53:06 the children of Joseph. Jacob before they ever went to Egypt 53:10 had bought a place to bury. Joseph said, that's where I want 53:13 to be buried and that's where I want to come forth. I want to be 53:18 raised in the Promised Land next to my family. You know, another 53:23 bit of history. I'll close with this. David Livingston was not 53:27 that successful as a missionary. He was a missionary, dedicated 53:32 Christian, Godly man, but he was really more successful as an 53:36 explorer. He spent all those years opening up Africa for the 53:40 missionaries is what he really did. And he had a couple of 53:43 servants that loved him. He was such a godly man they loved him 53:46 with all their hearts. They were a couple of his converts; he 53:49 only had a few. As went back there even though his health was 53:52 very poor, he left England on his last trip and went back to 53:55 Africa to try and do some more work charting around Lake 53:59 Victoria and he realized he was dying from malaria that had 54:05 bothered him for years and he extracted a promise from his two 54:09 servants and he said, bury my heart in Africa, but take my 54:13 body back to England. He didn't know how they were going to do 54:16 it. They didn't know how they were going to do it but they 54:19 promised they would do that. Well one day they heard a sound 54:22 in his tent and took candles and they went and they found 54:25 that he had died on his knees with his Bible open praying. 54:30 His servants, and I've got their names here, Shuma and Suzzi, 54:35 they buried his heart under a tree. They took salt, they 54:40 embalmed his body and they wrapped his body up. They sewed 54:45 it in sail cloth. These are two primitive friends that loved him 54:48 very much, they weren't experts at this, but they did the best 54:53 they could. They then strung a long pole between the sail cloth 54:56 that they had sewed his body in; it was all mummified basically. 55:02 They carried his body 1000 miles on their shoulders to Zanzibar. 55:07 They gave it to the British consul there and they said 55:11 you're kidding. This can't be Dr. Livingston. They examined 55:14 the body. They saw the wounds from a lion wound everyone knew 55:17 he had; it was him and they took it to Westminster Abbey where it 55:20 was buried. But talk about that dedication. He wanted to be 55:25 raised back at home. Why did Joseph say, take my bones out of 55:30 this place? You know what that's telling us? God is saying no 55:34 matter what battles we've got in this life, we can look 55:38 forward to a resurrection in the Promised Land. We want to be 55:42 raised in a different world don't we? And that's what 55:46 Joseph wanted that he could come forth and be at home surrounded 55:50 by his family when he came forth The story of Joshua is such a 55:54 beautiful story because it's a story of coming out of slavery 55:59 and coming home. It's a story of victory. It's a story of 56:02 courage. It's a story of faith and God put it in the Bible 56:06 because he wants it to be your story. He wants you to be in the 56:10 Promised Land. He wants you to have that faith. He wants you to 56:13 have that victory and he'll make the sun and the moon stand still 56:16 to give it to you. You can be there. You need to say, like 56:20 Caleb, Lord give me this mountain. Though your sins 56:23 might be like a mountain, if you've got faith you could say 56:25 be removed and that mountain will be plucked up and cast in 56:29 the midst of the sea, Amen? You can be there and by God's grace 56:33 your bones can be planted in the Promised Land and you can come 56:36 forth with your friends and with Joshua. Amen? 56:40 Oh, loving Lord, We're so thankful for the power and the 56:44 beauty of your word that inspires us. And we can see 56:49 shadows when Joshua first came and took the Promised Land that 56:53 will be repeated in our day. Lord, I pray we can learn from 56:56 these lessons and more than that I pray that we will apply 56:59 the truths to our lives. Help us to have lives of victory. 57:03 Help us Lord to trust in you, to make a covenant with you and I 57:08 pray that you'll give us the power, work miracles of 57:11 deliverance in our behalf. A lot of needs are represented Lord 57:15 both in this house of worship, in the lives of every person, 57:18 those who are in their pews still and those who have come 57:22 forward for the appeal and I pray that you'll bless them Lord 57:25 Be with them in their families, bring peace and power into their 57:29 families that we might live Christian lives. I pray Lord 57:33 you'll strengthen our faith, give us more courage and help us 57:37 live like a people that are on our way to the Promised Land. 57:41 Bless us Lord, each one, as we go from this place. We pray for 57:46 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will sense you're 57:49 with us wherever we go. Lord I wouldn't be afraid to go into 57:51 battle with Joshua at my side and that's essentially what 57:55 you're saying today. We can go from this place with Joshua at 57:58 our side, our Jesus. Thank you for this promise and we pray 58:02 these things in his name, Amen |
Revised 2014-12-17