Transcript
Speaker: Good morning and welcome to Grove Hill Church. It's been a fantastic morning this morning already. I am constantly amazed at the incredible talent that God continues to bring to our church, this little church here in Chapel Hill.
Speaker: Special thank you to the Hall girls and leading us. That was the Bennett Hall band, right? That's what they're called? Thank I had probably a dozen people out of the first service come and go, do they go to our church? And I was, yes, they're usually in the 11 o'clock service. They are part of our church.
Speaker: Just an incredible listening to their voices this morning as they harmonize, let us in worship. Thank you all for being a worshiping church. I was listening to Kelly share about the prayer things this morning. I was thinking, you know, over there it says from Chapel Hill to the ends of the earth.
Speaker: That's our goal, right? So this morning I'm preaching here. In just a few minutes, John's preaching right down the road at Eagleville Church, which is a church we're partnering with in a revitalization process. And then in Guatemala, Kyle's preaching to people down there. So we are literally living it this morning.
Speaker: So thank you for supporting that, praying for that, especially praying for those two guys as they lead. ah Very blessed to have them as part of what we're doing. Joshua 1, turn there. If you're following along in the Chronological Bible, it's page 330.
Speaker: My wife told me last week, it would be very helpful because I can't flip through and find where you're at because it's not in the normal order. If you could just give us the page number. So page 330, if you've got your chronological Bibles, I am incredibly excited to be in the book of Joshua because Joshua is one of my favorite characters in the Bible.
Speaker: Joshua to me is just one of those man's men's man. How do say Men's man. He's a dude. He's a real tough dude, and I like him because of that. And there's something about him that just that speaks steadfast faithfulness.
Speaker: ah He was a human. No doubt he had sin in his life just like anybody else, made mistakes along the way. But he's not one of these guys that's up one minute, down the next. He's just pretty steady in his flow and his faithfulness in following God. And because of that,
Speaker: God was able to use him to do things that he would not have otherwise been a part of. That's my challenge for you this morning. I want you to realize that the same calling that was placed on Joshua's life, the same calling that put him in charge of 2 million plus people trying to take over a promised land, is the same God who speaks and calls you here today.
Speaker: And he is definitely calling us, every one of us in this room who follow after Jesus Christ, to fulfill his plan and his purpose for our lives. The question is, are we going to step out in faith and take it?
Speaker: Are we going to be the ones who would be willing to go and to do exactly what God has called us to do? This is the story of Joshua. This is what we read about in his life because he was a generational leader for these people.
Speaker: There has never, ever in my history as a human being on this planet, I don't think in the history of this country has never been a more important time for the church of Jesus Christ to be strong and courageous.
Speaker: Right now in our country, there are things happening that I have not seen in years, including revivals that are breaking out in high schools, revivals, Revivals breaking out on college campuses. Right now, if you watch very closely, there are more professional athletes that are coming out and being very outspoken about their faith and being willing to make a stand.
Speaker: There are things going on in our government politically that aren't necessarily Christian, but they're opening up the door for Christians to have the opportunity to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to places they haven't been able to in recent years.
Speaker: And there has never, ever again been a more important time for the church of Jesus Christ to be strong and courageous and take hold of what God has given to them. And I'm talking to you, not the church down the road.
Speaker: This is for us. This is for who we are called to be as followers of Jesus Christ. Joshua chapter 1. We're going to walk through this. I've got a couple things I want to share with you this morning. After the death of Moses, the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' assistant.
Speaker: Moses, my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am given the Israelites. The phrase there, prepare to cross over.
Speaker: That word prepare the word consecrate. In other words, to prepare yourselves for what God is about to do next. Can I tell you there is no worse feeling in the world for God to show up and be ready to do something and us not be ready.
Speaker: God wants to do something. He is moving in a powerful way. This may be the last chance we have to see this country turn its heart back towards Christ Jesus. We must be ready as followers of Jesus Christ to do whatever, whenever, however he chooses to do it.
Speaker: Consecrate your hearts and be ready to take possession. says in verse 3,
Speaker: your territory will be from the wilderness and lebanon to the great river the euphrates river all the land of the hittites and west to the mediterranean sea no one will be able to stand against you as long as you live i will be with you just as i was with moses was with moses i will not leave you or abandon you Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance.
Speaker: Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.
Speaker: This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth. You are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
Speaker: Haven't I commanded you, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. This is a pivotal moment in the life of history and a pivotal moment in the story of God.
Speaker: Think of the journey that Joshua has been on to this point. He starts off in slavery in Egypt with everyone else. He comes out of that land after the Passover, watching the angel of death as it moves through and takes the life of every firstborn as the last of those ten plagues.
Speaker: He then is there standing in the middle of a dried up sea and watches as God uses that moment to literally obliterate the world's most powerful army in a moment's notice.
Speaker: He goes from there to becoming the assistant to Moses, watching the Ten Commandments as they are given to the people, and the covenant is established with Moses himself. Then he becomes one of 12 spies who were sent to the promised land to begin to spy out that land and see what's going to happen. And unfortunately, he and Caleb are the only two who come back with a positive note, a positive affirmation saying, God has promised and God has delivered.
Speaker: Instead, they listened to the ten who gave the negative report, and because of that, he and the rest of the people were forced to go out and to wander for 38 years in the wilderness. But here at this moment, this transitional moment in the life of God's people, Joshua is feeling the weight.
Speaker: Look at those words again at the very beginning. Moses, my servant, is dead. Joshua had to be thinking, okay, if he's your servant, what am I? what What does that mean for me? What does that mean for the next few days, weeks, years as we do what we're supposed to be doing here?
Speaker: What is my role in all of this? And what we just read is God's affirmation of Joshua to say, you are my man for this moment in this season of life, and I am with you. Don't you for a second have second thoughts about your calling.
Speaker: Inevitably as a human though, he had to remember the last few words of Deuteronomy chapter 34 where it says in verse 7 and 8, Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyes were not weak and his vitality had not left him.
Speaker: That's the writer's way of saying Moses did not die of old age. Moses died because God was done with him. Moses died because his assignment was over. Can I just encourage you this this morning? You need to hear this.
Speaker: God has your days numbered. When he is done with you, he will take you. And until he's done with you, you will stay. You don't have to worry about your tomorrow. You don't have to fear and be anxious about anything that may come upon you because the story of Job reminds us nothing enters into the life of a person in this planet that doesn't come from the hand of God first.
Speaker: There is nothing that you will face that God has not first said, I think he can handle this with my strength or I think this will benefit through his trial. Every single thing that we face, God was already aware of before it ever hit us.
Speaker: And if God has your days numbered, then your days are in a good place. Or in his hands. Verse 8 he goes on and says, The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for 30 days.
Speaker: Can you imagine? What an incredible celebration of the story of this man's life. Moses very much was like our George Washington. He was the guy who helped kind of get things started. The guy who kind of put things in place.
Speaker: He was a hero mammoth proportions to the point where 1,400 years later, people were still talking about Moses as being the main prophet when Jesus arrived. And then in verse 10, it says, "...no prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." Man, what an acknowledgment of a man and his character.
Speaker: Anybody here know who played point guard or shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls after Michael Jordan?
Speaker: No. No. Why? Because Michael Jordan is so big, he still casts a shadow over the game today. This is what Joshua must have felt like. I've been given the assignment of leading these people to take that promised land, and all I hear is Moses this and Moses that.
Speaker: But nevertheless, Joshua was confident that he was where he was supposed to be because God had affirmed him by placing his hand on him and anointing him for this task.
Speaker: Let me remind you about Abraham's covenant real quick because it's going to lead into where we're going. God entered into this covenant with Abraham back in Genesis. There were three parts, three main parts to this covenant.
Speaker: Part number one, I'm going to make a great nation out of you. Now, be reminded that when God spoke that to Abraham, it was him and Sarai. That's it. Not even any children.
Speaker: And he said, I'm going to make a great nation out of you. They entered the land of Egypt with 70 people in their family. They exited with over 2 million. I would say that God kept that part of the covenant.
Speaker: The second part of the covenant was that he was going to give them a land that would be their own. At the moment he gave them that, they didn't own one foot, one square foot of land inside of Israel.
Speaker: And the third part of the covenant, that the world would be blessed through him through them, through the nation of Israel. That would be 1,400 years before it was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. From the direct lineage of of Abraham, it would be Jesus who would die for the world.
Speaker: Where we're at today, though, is we're about to see that God is about to fulfill part two of the covenant. God is going to give them a home that provides everything they needed from which they could reach the nations.
Speaker: And this is a good place to remind you that even though God had chosen Israel to be his people, God's heart has always been for the nations. He's always cared about every creature that he created.
Speaker: His desire has always been about reaching the world. The reason he chose the people of Israel was to be used as a vessel to reach to the nations so that the nations might know him.
Speaker: So he's going to give them this land and it's a gift of grace. Here's the key. Here's the pivotal point of the message today I want you to hear. God had given them the land that was to be theirs, but they had to possess it.
Speaker: They had to take hold of it. Here's where we see the importance of our relationship with Jesus Christ. In every relationship, every covenant agreement between God and his people, God always has a part and his part is always the biggest part.
Speaker: But in every relationship, there is also also a response that we have to give in faith and obedience in order to be a part of what God is doing. A previous generation had failed God at this point. They had failed to take possession of the land that already had their name on it.
Speaker: But now God's people are given a second chance. A new generation has come and they have an opportunity to take this land. We as humans have a tendency to do this, to give lip service to our faithfulness to God, to give lip service to the grace and the goodness of God. But when it comes time for us to take hold of it, we we we tend to back off out of fear, sometimes out of doubt, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes out of insincerity.
Speaker: What am I talking about? I'm talking about the fact that we will stand and profess that we believe in God, that we trust God, that God is all-powerful and God's done all these things. But when problems hit our lives, suddenly we question God. Suddenly we forget that God's presence is there. Suddenly we forget that His promises have always been true.
Speaker: Ephesians 1, verse 3, Paul writes this to us. He says, "'Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with,'' what Every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ Jesus.
Speaker: How many of you here today believe that God blesses us with everything we need to fulfill his plan and his purpose? Do you truly believe that everything that God is calling you to, and maybe even everything God is going to call you to, he will first put in your possession the things you need to do to accomplish that task?
Speaker: The Bible says in Ephesians 2, verse 10, Paul says, From the very beginning when he formed you, he formed you with those things in mind. He created you for these purposes. God has Joshua and his people on the edge of the promised land, and God shows up to have a conversation with him.
Speaker: He does not give Joshua military instruction. He doesn't talk to him about strategies for taking over the land. He doesn't even give them a scouting report to say, hey, here's where the big cities are and here's what you're going to face.
Speaker: God's instruction to Joshua, God's instruction to us is this. this Do not let my word depart from you and you will be successful.
Speaker: Do not let my word depart from you. I know many of you in here don't have a background in the Baptist faith. That's okay. We take all types around here. Anybody who wants to love Jesus, that's where we're at, right?
Speaker: But for years, the Southern Baptists have loved to pride themselves on being called a people of the book. Any confusion about which book we're talking about? Okay, we're not talking about the Encyclopedia or the Guinness Book of World Records.
Speaker: We're talking about the book that changes lives. We've prided ourselves on being called a people of the book, while the majority of the people who fill our churches don't even read the book.
Speaker: That's like saying I'm a big fan of such and such team, but I don't even own a T-shirt. I don't have a sweatshirt. I don't even have a pom-pom with their colors. And yet I want to call myself a fan of that team. Guys, you cannot call yourself a people of a book that you never pick up and read for yourselves.
Speaker: And it's not just about reading it. It's about reading it regularly and consuming it and allowing it to change who you are. It's got to be consumed regularly.
Speaker: I have been so incredibly fired up about what's going on this year because when we started this reading plan together, many of you said, hey, I've never read the book before. I've never seen it. Some of you have said, you know what? It's been a long time and I'm reading parts. I forgot we're even in there.
Speaker: And one of the best parts to me is some of you who came up to me early on said, I've not read it, are now coming back to me and asking these questions like, oh my gosh, how does this fit in? I didn't know this was even part of it.
Speaker: Are there light bulbs going on in your head and you're going, oh, now I understand why in the New Testament we have this because in the Old Testament there was this. And so the book, the book is coming alive for you because you are ingesting it, consuming it, and allowing it to change you.
Speaker: This priority that God has given to Joshua is the same priority that you and I have as followers of Jesus Christ. Our priority has to be obedience, full obedience to the Word of God.
Speaker: Everything else will take care of itself. And just in case you think we're focused a little too much in the Old Testament side of things, look at what Jesus says in Matthew 6.33. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be provided for you.
Speaker: All things. But see, you have to put everything under total submission to God and total submission to the instructions that he's given us in his book. The key strategy for Joshua as he's about to take on the promised land was to obey God's word and to teach Israel to do the same.
Speaker: The greatest challenge that any shepherd of any congregation has is to keep people joined to the word. To keep you engaged in the book.
Speaker: Everything else we do is dependent on our obedience to this book. And every bit of this book has to come under submission.
Speaker: every ah pray Every part of our lives has to come under submission to this book. You don't get the opportunity to segment parts of your lives and go, m yeah, you know i'm really not comfortable with God being a part of that.
Speaker: Your sex life is under God's authority. Your financial life under God's authority. Your relationship with the stranger at the grocery store, the the stranger on your street, your relationship to your family, your spouse, your children, every single bit of it must be under submission to the book and the author of this book or you are living in a lifestyle that is compromised and dare I say a life that contains sinfulness in it.
Speaker: Because if it's not submitted to the book, then it's contrary to the book. And that's the very definition of sinfulness. So what we've got to talk about is those areas of our lives that need to come completely under our control under his control so that we can be consecrated for what God has called us to.
Speaker: This is why it says to meditate on the word. Now, when you hear meditate, some of us think Eastern eastern mysticism, okay? Some of those Eastern religions, you think men sitting in lotus position going,
Speaker: that council Eastern mysticism teaches to open up your mind to open up your mind and empty it out. This is where we get progressivism.
Speaker: Empty minds, no common sense, no logic. Sorry, but if you empty up your mind, if you empty out your mind, you know what you do? You open it up for anything to come in.
Speaker: The difference, the real difference when we talk about meditation, the biblical side of it is to to devour, to ruminate, to chew on the word of God so that you have a filter that keeps your mind from being polluted by the world's way of thinking.
Speaker: See how totally polar opposite the two ways of thinking are? True meditation says I take the word and apply it to my life so that I don't fall into the trap of letting just anything into my brain.
Speaker: Because I have to protect the way I think. Psalm chapter 1 verse 1 to 2. We put up here last week. How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked? Why aren't we happy? Because we're walking in the advice of the wicked. We've opened up our brain. Everything fell out. Now we're letting anything in.
Speaker: The one who is standing in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers. Look at verse 2 though. Instead, his delight is in the Lord's instruction and he meditates on it day and night.
Speaker: Guys, if you're not there, if you're not finding joy, if you're not finding peace and patience and kindness in your relationship with God, it's because you've opened up your mind and your brain's on the floor.
Speaker: You need to put God in your heart on a daily basis by meditating on the word that changes your life.
Speaker: The more we feast, the more it works to accomplish His purposes in our life. Go back to verse 9. he's He's now said three different times, be strong and courageous, be strong and very courageous. And now verse 9, he says for the third time, haven't I commanded you, be strong and courageous?
Speaker: But there's a second command here. Do not be afraid. It is the most frequent command given in the entire Bible. Some scholars say it's 365 different times, one for every day of the year.
Speaker: Why is it there? to remind us To remind us of a really important thing. God never says don't be afraid because there aren't things to be afraid of. There's plenty in this life to be afraid of, right?
Speaker: You put your eyes and your mind and your heart on the wrong things, you will live in a lifestyle of fear. But when God says to us do not be afraid, it's because when scary things show up as believers, we should look at them and say not today, my God is bigger than you.
Speaker: I have permission to look at every single thing I face in my life and say, my God is bigger, stronger, mightier than you. And because of that, I don't have to fear you today.
Speaker: It is not about me. It is about God. So I have no need to be afraid or discouraged. When you get afraid, it's because you've forgotten who's got your back. What does he say in verse 9?
Speaker: For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Let's imagine this morning we got here early nobody else was in here, but when somebody opened the door, there was a possum running loose in this room.
Speaker: We're going to keep my illustration very deep south this morning, all right? And we had the opportunity to come in here, but we had to get rid of that possum first, okay? So I went to my friend Corey Shankle, and I said, Corey, I need you to go in there and get that possum. Now, Corey's a good old boy from the South, and there's a good chance he might come in here and take care of it but there's also going to be a little bit of anxiety because possums can be hard, right?
Speaker: yeah ever tackled a possum? Good man. But what if I said, Corey, I'm going to send you in there, but I'm going to send Keith Harbour to get your back and Elvis is going to bring his gun. Now suddenly, Corey's got a little bit of different strength and courage going into that situation, right?
Speaker: Not because anything about Corey has changed, but about the situation has changed because now he remembers who's got his back. Guys, we walk into this world day after day after day forgetting the almighty God of heaven has your back. Amen.
Speaker: You don't have to live in fear. You don't have to walk in fear. You don't have to walk in discouragement. You can walk in boldness before a world that wants you dead and say, not today. He's on my side.
Speaker: I'm with him. And that's what Joshua was being encouraged to do in this moment. So want to look at some things real quick. I've got to get some other stuff. But these are some important theological themes that have very practical value for us today. Number one, Joshua is a reminder of the covenant faithfulness of God.
Speaker: There's never, ever in the history of the universe been a promise that God didn't keep. Not once. Now, some of you who might be a little more skeptical, and that's okay. We love skeptics here because we love to guide you to truth, right?
Speaker: I love that you come with questions. You may go, hey, wait a minute. It took him over 400 years to give them the promised land he had given them. Well, wait a minute. Now, if you've been reading carefully, God told Abraham when he made the covenant, it's going to be 400 years before I give it to you.
Speaker: Why? Because number one, you're not ready for it. We've got to grow you up a little bit numerically. You're not big enough to fight a battle against anybody. We've got to give you an army, so you've got to be trained for that.
Speaker: I've got to build your character a little bit, so going to make you wander around in the desert with me for a little while until we get ready for that. And, oh, by the way, if you go into the promised land, we're not going to conquer it overnight because if you did, the wild animals would take over and you wouldn't be able to handle it. So we're going to do this in stages, and stage one is going to be 400 years long.
Speaker: But I promise you, you will get your land. And God delivered his promise. There has never, ever been a promise that God made that he has not kept. Number two, Joshua demonstrates the importance of the written word in our lives.
Speaker: Again. This is what instructs us. It says, this book of instruction, verse 8, must not depart from your mouth. You are to meditate on it day and night so that you will be very careful to observe everything written in it.
Speaker: Reading the Bible for the sake of reading the Bible doesn't do you any good. Reading the Bible to obey it changes your life. So here's the proper approach to the Bible. Not, I'm going to read this and see what I can get out of it.
Speaker: It's to say, I'm about to obey everything I'm going to read and then read it.
Speaker: Because if we approach it the the first way, I'm going to read this and see what I can find in there that I can apply to my life, then we're very, very prone to just apply the parts we like. The parts that make us feel good.
Speaker: Oh, we love what Pastor Ridley said this morning. God's got my back. God doesn't have your back if you don't have him.
Speaker: God don't have your back if you're not living in obedience to him. If you haven't learned anything from reading the story of what's going on wandering in the wilderness, God doesn't play when it comes to discipline. He expects his children to obey, period, end of story.
Speaker: So this word is a powerful word and has the ability to change your life, but you have to come to it with a heart that is submitted before you ever get to it. says, I'm going to obey this word. Thirdly, Joshua points out the complete inadequacy of human effort apart from God.
Speaker: This is from personal testimony, what i'm about to say to you this morning, and I know it applies to many of you in this room today. There have been seasons in my life where I will go to God and say, God, I am so sorry for what I did yesterday. i am going to do better.
Speaker: Man, that sounds good, doesn't it? God goes, oh, my word, kid. When are you going to learn that you can't do better? I can only do better through you. You've got to quit trying to do this on your own strength, on your own character, your own reputation, by your own determination.
Speaker: You've got to trust me. That means you've got to set yourself aside and lean on me. Because if not, we'll be back here tomorrow night having the same conversation. Many of you have felt that experienced that, praying it over and over and over again, and to the point where you realize it is not you that has the ability to do any of this.
Speaker: It is Christ's righteousness lived through us. Number four, Joshua is a commentary of God's holiness and his judgment of sin. One of the biggest things that God gets criticized for by any person who is a skeptic is, why did God wipe out all these people?
Speaker: Why did God eliminate all these people? Did he not love them? Okay, reminder, the Bible is the story of God and His people and the covenants He's created with them.
Speaker: It is not the story of the whole world, and it's not even the recording of every interaction that God has ever had with people. There is no reason to believe that God had not given opportunities for people everywhere to experience Him. In fact, Romans 1, Paul says that everyone in this earth, anybody who has eyes to see and ears to hear, has no excuse in believing that there is no God Because everything around us gives evidence to the fact there is a God.
Speaker: The stars, the moon, the sky, the cows, the dogs, even that weird looking guy sitting next to you, he is evidence that there is a God, a very creative God, a God who is amazing and you don't have permission to deny it just because you don't believe it.
Speaker: So with all of these people that God is getting ready to eliminate because of the Israelite people, it is God's way of purifying a land so that the people can go in and live without contamination.
Speaker: We don't know how many times God had tried to appeal to these people, but we do know that they were prostrating themselves before false idols. They were dragging their wives and their children and anybody who would dare live with them into that same kind of sinfulness.
Speaker: Can this be a reminder to you and I? We as believers have to be very careful what we allow ourselves to settle into because we invite contamination from a world that has no fear sharing their beliefs with us.
Speaker: Because if you watch the story, it says if you'll go in, if you do what I'm going to ask you to do, you will live many years of success and blessedness and happiness, and I will take care of you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. All that sounds good.
Speaker: But if you read the whole story as you're going to through the book of Joshua, they did not do what God asked them to do. They got lazy. They quit. They compromised. They allowed all kinds of things around them to settle in and be a part of them.
Speaker: And because of that, They are dispersed by the Babylonians and the Persians and the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Romans. They are destroyed and no longer exist again until 1948 because they allowed compromise.
Speaker: Church, we can't do that. We can't do that. I know a lot of churches, and I've actually got friends that pastor some of these churches, a lot of churches that are going, you know what, we just can't, we we can't demand that people pay attention to this book. but We're just going drive people away.
Speaker: I think it was Jesus who said wide is the way to destruction, narrow is the way to life. We don't open the doors of this church so wide everybody can come in We open these doors so wide that anybody who follows Jesus can come in.
Speaker: and And there's no reason to apologize for holding up that that standard of holiness. That's what God expects of his people.
Speaker: Joshua is about God's people driving enemies out to take possession. Now here's the point of the the whole sermon this morning. For Christians, Christ followers, those of us who are part of this new covenant, our blessings originate in our relationship with God that is brought on by salvation through Jesus Christ.
Speaker: But they are contingent. Every blessing that we have is contingent upon our choice to enter in that relationship. Remember what I said earlier about every relationship is ah is an encounter between God and humans.
Speaker: God always does his part. God's part is always the bigger part, but still we have to respond in faith and obedience. When it comes to salvation, Jesus did what we could not do for ourselves.
Speaker: He paid the bigger price. He played the bigger part, but you and I still have to respond in faith and obedience.
Speaker: What I see today too many times, almost on a daily basis, is Christians who live defeated, who are struggling, who are struggling with addiction and repetitive sin.
Speaker: They are wandering in their own spiritual wilderness. And it doesn't have to be that way. And guys, I'm not talking about Christians out there. I'm talking about my people.
Speaker: I'm talking about some of you. Some of you who would come to me and if you were honest would go, I'm just not feeling that that joy. I just haven't gotten to a place where I have patience in my life. ah The fruit of the Spirit, man, I feel so weak in those areas. My faith just doesn't feel very strong.
Speaker: It does not have to be that way. Do not settle for second-rate Christianity. only aspire to have the one thing that God has promised to give in you.
Speaker: the The whole thing is that God has already given you the land that he's promised to you. You have to go in and take hold of it. I've used this illustration for years. I think it still works. Let's say that we wanted to take a trip, a family trip to Disney World.
Speaker: We finally decided it's time to dive in and be like a follower like everybody else. We're going to go be a part of Disney World, right? So we save all of our money. We're going to do this first rate. We're going to get the nice hotel and all those things.
Speaker: We get on the monorail. We ride up to the front gate. We get off of that monorail. We're so amazed because we have finally made it to the promised land, right? We walk inside the gate. We step inside the gate. And man, as far as we can see, there are immaculate flower gardens, incredible buildings, all this stuff.
Speaker: Look at the kids and go, isn't this awesome? Yeah, it's awesome. Okay, let's go. And we leave. And guys, you haven't even experienced the promised land. You just got inside the gate.
Speaker: You haven't made it all the way back to the cool roller coasters. You haven't listened to 52 renditions of It's a Small World after all. You haven't tasted one giant turkey stick. you I mean, you haven't you you didn't even get a picture with Minnie Mouse. Can you say you've ever been to Disney World without a picture with Minnie Mouse?
Speaker: I mean, come on. And yet many of us are right there at the gate of the promised land. We've taken the step into the land, but we're not possessing anything that God has called us to possess because we have stopped walking in faith and taking the ground he has already conquered for us.
Speaker: We're living in fear. We're living in anxiousness. We're living in compromise. We're settling in so many areas of our lives.
Speaker: And God's going, come on with me because I got more things to show you. there's There's more out there than you can imagine. It's a land flowing with milk and honey and you stopped at the gate.
Speaker: Come on and trust me.
Speaker: Did you know it's possible to have something and not really have it? How many of you have books at home on your shelf that you've never read?
Speaker: Textbooks especially, right? You see, if you have a book that you haven't read, you own the book, but you've never possessed the information inside it.
Speaker: Many of you own Bibles, but you've never possessed the promises that are there. Many of you have come to the promised land, but you're still standing inside the gate, and you have not moved beyond it to take hold of what has been given to you in Christ Jesus.
Speaker: read a story this past month or week or whenever, some point when I was planning a sermon about a guy, a European immigrant years ago back in the 1800s who was going to come to the United States to live. Saved up all his money and he bought passage on one of those ocean liners to come over.
Speaker: When the trip came up, the time to go, he decided to save money. got a rucksack and he filled it with cheese and crackers and some fruits and stuff so he could eat Got on the boat, and while everyone else ate in the fine dining room with the buffets, the steak, all you could eat, all the desserts, all those kinds of things, he was in his boardroom eating his cheese and crackers.
Speaker: One night he decided to walk up on the deck, and as he was walking down the deck, he looked inside the dining room and just stood there longingly for a few minutes looking and watching as everybody ate. And one of the employees from the cruise line came by and said, sir, would you like to go in and get something to eat? He goes, I can go in. And he said, oh, yes, it's part of your ticket.
Speaker: You see, the price has already been paid for you, dear friend.
Speaker: in Christ Jesus, it is yes and amen.
Speaker: You have to take hold of what has been granted to you. You have to step out in faith and discover all he wants to have for you. 2 Peter 1.3 says this.
Speaker: That's what it says. His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. not Not he will give you or he might give you or there's a chance he could give you or even he has given you some of.
Speaker: It says he has given past tense. Everything, underline it, boldface it, highlight it, italicize it, whatever you got to do to get your attention. Everything you need has been granted in Christ Jesus.
Speaker: You just have to to take hold of it. And Jesus, praise God, you are complete. And one of these days you'll wake up to realize it.
Speaker: God has already given everything his children need. The true Christian life is simply walking around on conquered ground. Now, I want to show you something real quick in closing.
Speaker: Because I know some of you this morning are probably going, Man, I just ah feel like I'm defeated. I feel like i'm feel like I'm done. I feel like everything I tried, just nothing happens.
Speaker: want you look at this. This is called Checkmate. Some of you might recognize that it's a ah work of art that is on display in the Louvre. Don't remember the artist's name. Probably couldn't pronounce it if I did. But on the left is the image of Satan.
Speaker: And Satan is playing chess against a man who is obviously discouraged and frustrated because he is defeated. And Satan is delighted because he has conquered this man.
Speaker: In the background, of course, is the image of an angel, which probably represents the presence of God over this situation. story I read this morning, years ago, um some some people were given a private tour. Everybody on the private tour were world-class athletes, champions of different kinds.
Speaker: And they're walking through, showing them the different parts of the exhibit, and they get to this particular piece, and they explain it. This is checkmate, and the man is discouraged. He's frustrated. He's defeated. And they moved on with the tour, except for one gentleman.
Speaker: The gentleman who remained behind was a world-class chess champion. Well, after a few minutes of going on with the tour, the tour guide realized that the man was no longer with him. So he went back to get him and he said, hey, are are you enjoying this particular piece? I mean, obviously this is what's going on here. And the guy goes, yeah.
Speaker: He said, I understand what it's supposed to be. He said, but you're either going to have to change the name of the picture or redo the picture. And he said, why is that? He said, because I'm looking at it and God still has one more move.
Speaker: God still has one more move.
Speaker: You may think your life is done.
Speaker: You may think that there's no way that God could have enough grace for one more moment in your life.
Speaker: You may think all this promised land talk is great, but it doesn't apply to me. God's got one more move left.
Speaker: He's always got one more move than the enemy has. There's never been a place where God has ever been defeated. He's never heard the words, check me.
Speaker: I'm pretty sure that 2,000 years ago on a hillside when Jesus was dying on that cross, Satan thought, man, I got him. He's done. He's finished.
Speaker: And God said, I've got one move left.
Speaker: This morning, there are some of you here, some of you here who may not know Jesus Christ. Definitely not this Jesus. You may know the wimpy, sissified, weirdo Jesus of the world tries to portray. That is not the Jesus of the Bible.
Speaker: He was strong. He was mighty. The only reason he got put on the cross is because he chose to lay down on that cross.
Speaker: You need to know Jesus today. We're happy to talk to you about any questions you have. But because I know most of you in this room and I know your stories, what we're talking to mostly is people who are standing inside the gate who've never possessed the land.
Speaker: Oh, your name's on the Lamb's Book of Life. You got that taken care of. And there's nothing that can take that away. But my fear, you're going to walk into heaven, you're going to look at Jesus, you're going to look back over your life and go, wow, what did I miss?
Speaker: look at Look at all the opportunities I had, all the things I could have done, all the places I could have made a difference in somebody else's life. Instead, I was so enamored with the gate, I never took possession of the land.
Speaker: That's what the response is all about this morning.
Speaker: Now, I want you hear something from a loving heart. I'm a pastor, and I have a shepherd's heart. That's why I stand up here and cry over you all on Sundays like I do. And your staff loves you in the same way.
Speaker: Lori Harbour would drop anything in the world to love on your children. I'm amazed at that. Kyle Hess, I constantly have to tell Kyle, Kyle, you can stay home one night this week. You don't have to be with the kids every single night.
Speaker: John Ballard, I've never seen a more tender pastor than that man. You are blessed to have some really good people here. They love you and will do anything for you. Here's what I need you to hear, though.
Speaker: It's not their faith that you're living. It's yours.
Speaker: So when when life comes at you and you need direction, can you go to the book before you come to my pastor's? Can you get on your knees and pray to your God before you pick up the phone and call me?
Speaker: can Can you get into this book and ingest it and allow it to begin to change you on a regular part of your life, on a regular basis, a day by day? Can you just consume it the same way you consume your coffee and your snacks and everything else?
Speaker: Get it inside of you to the point where when when Satan comes at you, your first reaction isn't to schedule an appointment with somebody on the staff, but it's a point to schedule an appointment with the Holy Spirit by getting on your knees and getting in the Word and living that for yourself.
Speaker: Because I can't save you. Lori can't save your children. Kyle can't save your kids. It's by your choice to react in faith and obedience to what God has already done for you.
Speaker: For you. You. When you get up in the morning and brush your teeth, it's not me you look at. It's you that you look at That's the same person who's responsible for your eternity.
Speaker: You.
Speaker: It's time to get away from the gate and get into the heart of the promised land. To walk out in faith in places where the world would say, oh, you should give up. You should quit. You should walk away. You should you should doubt. You should be anxious.
Speaker: Instead, look at the world and say, not today.
Speaker: God's got my back. Let me pray for you.
Speaker: Father, we are thankful for the word and the story of one of my favorite um favorite guys in scripture. Man, he's good. And I love because Joshua knew his weaknesses. Joshua knew what he was and what he wasn't.
Speaker: But more importantly, he knew who you were and who you were not. And because of that, he trusted you, he followed you, and he gave you everything he had, everything he was to fu fulfill the purpose you had given to his life.
Speaker: Father, in this room are 200 people who fall in that same category. There is a call that has been placed on each one of us. And the only thing holding back from holding us back from that is this lack of faith that we have just to rush forward into your arms, embrace your promises, and trust you with the results.
Speaker: This isn't to say there isn't going to be some kind of problems. It isn't to say that there won't be a phone call someday that says cancer has entered your body and now what are you going to do about it? It doesn't mean that your marriage is always going to be perfect, that your kids are going to grow up to be saints. It doesn't mean that you're always going to have a million dollars in your bank account.
Speaker: But it does give us a promise that there is never one thing that we will ever face that we will ever face it without the power of God beside us, within us, leading and guiding us.
Speaker: This world stinks. This world is evil. This world is deadly. Praise God, we don't walk into this world without you.
Speaker: So this morning it may be that there's some true believers in here who need to take those next steps of faith into the land. To take hold of what God has promised and to not look back.
Speaker: In Jesus' name we pray this morning. Amen.
