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We are wild. Standing at the edge of a great sea. Sometimes it takes all you gain. You are whole here in the dark. We learn to find, but we follow.

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But we are raised up to face the start. Endless light. We are wild like a river. Wild like the fire in your veins makes you shiver. And I chase the winter out of my mind like the dark in the distance. Wild.

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We are wild. Can't hold me back, can't pin me down. Can't stop the truth from ringing out. Light up the darkness, say it loud.

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Oh, I am stronger, I am one. One. We are one. We are one. We are one.

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We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. Like the fire in your veins makes you shiver, and I chase the winter out of my mind like the dark in the distance.

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We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one.

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We are one. We are one. We are one.

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We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one.

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We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one. We are one.

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Thank you.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Let's pray.

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Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus.

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Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus.

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Okay. Good morning. Good morning, Brandon. All right. We're going to get started this morning. We're going to be reading out of Psalm 89. I just wanted to read the first few verses before we read. We're going to be reading verses 5 through 9 together.

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And the first few verses say, "I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever with my mouth. I will make of the Lord forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I said, steadfast love will be built up forever in the heavens. You will establish your faithfulness." And so when we think about us and forever and all these things, we have our own human

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concept of that, which means usually for me when I think of forever, it means until I die. So, which is, is forever according to my life, but it still has an end. But what a wonderful hope and a promise that when we, that we can stay and sing with hope and confidence that his love is unwavering and his faithfulness is forever and his mightiness is incomparable, which is what we'll read together here in a little bit. And so if we want to go ahead and stand, what we're going to do today is read

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verses five through nine, and then we're going to jump all the way to the end. We're not going to read all 52 verses, unless you guys want to. And just read the end of verse 52, which closes it. Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen and amen. So let's go ahead and get started. The word should be on the screen. And it begins. Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the

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assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord? A God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him. O Lord, God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you. You rule the

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the raging of the sea. When its waves rise, you still them. Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen and amen. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you so much that we're able to gather here today and that we're able to find your promises everywhere in the Bible and that we're able to read together today about your steadfast love, your unwavering love, your faithfulness, and

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your mightiness that we're so grateful for and thankful for and that all of that is is something that we can can have through you. We ask that you be with our service today and allow it to glorify you in Jesus name. Amen. All right, so we're going to get started today by singing whom shall I fear?

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You hear me when I call. You are my morning song. Though darkness fills the night, it cannot hide the light. Whom shall I fear?

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You crush the enemy underneath my face. You are my sword and shield. Though troubles linger still. Whom shall I fear? I know who goes behold me. I know who stands behind. The God of angels on me.

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The God of angels on me is always by my side. The one who reigns forever. He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side.

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My strength is in your name. For you alone can say, "You will deliver me." Yours is the victory. Whom shall I fear? Whom shall I fear?

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I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The one who reigns forever. He is always by my side.

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The God of angel armies is always by my side. Nothing formed against me shall stand. You hold the whole world in your hands. I'm holding on to your promises.

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You are faithful. You are faithful. Nothing formed against me shall stand. You hold the whole world in your hands. I'm holding on to your promises.

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You are faithful. You are faithful. You are faithful. I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side.

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The one who reigns forever, he is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side. I know who goes before me. I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side.

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The one who reigns forever, he is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The God of angel armies is always by my side.

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All right. So we're going to be moving into our prayer and share time. If you're watching online, there is a, I think, a new phone number for you to text. If you have anything you'd like to share with us or pray about, please text that number and we will share that here. And then we're going to be muted here for privacy reasons while we're doing that together. And then we're going to move into our time of communion. And so we're going to be singing, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

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What a Friend We Have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a Privilege to carry.

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Everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. Oh, because we do not carry. Everything to God in prayer.

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Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.

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Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer.

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Are we weak and heavy laden? Covered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer.

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Do thy friends despise? Forsake me. Take it to the Lord in prayer. In His arms He'll take and shield me. Thou will find a solace there.

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All right, you may be seated.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Thanks, Russell. As we continue on, we're going to be moving into our time of communion. And in the book of John, it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was the Word.

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His life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son, from the Father, full of grace and truth." And so with that, we're going to be singing, "What a beautiful name."

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It's not working. Huh? It's not working. Let me stop it. John never talks about technical difficulties.

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You were the world at the beginning, one with God, the Lord most high. You're in glory in creation,

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now revealed in you, our Christ. What a beautiful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a beautiful name it is. Nothing compares to this. What a beautiful name it is.

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In the name of Jesus.

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You didn't want heaven without us. So Jesus, you brought heaven down. My sin was great, your love was greater.

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Separate us now. What a wonderful name it is. What a wonderful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ my King. What a wonderful name it is. Nothing compares to this. What a wonderful name it is. The name of Jesus.

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Death could not hold you. The veil was torn before you. It's the most of sin and grave. The heavens are rolling. The praise of the glory. For you are raised to life.

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For you will never forget. You have no rival. You have no equal. Now and forever God you reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name above all names.

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What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ my King. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is.

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The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus.

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When Jesus gathers with His disciples on the night He celebrates Passover, we're familiar with the texts of Scripture that tell us that He took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, gave it to His disciples, and did the same with the cup following dinner.

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It's not something that just sort of happens out of the blue for God's people. In fact, I want to go back to one of the first places where we find something similar mentioned.

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In Genesis, the 14th chapter, there's this remarkable story. Abraham has a nephew named Lot. There is a battle. It ends up being four kings versus five kings, and so you have this very large battle. Lot and his family get

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taken captive. Abraham raises up his own mighty men. Abraham at that time was rich enough and powerful enough to have a pretty hefty guard.

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They go and they rescue all of the captives that were taken, and as they bring those captives back, they come to a city named Salem, and here's what happens.

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And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High, and he blessed him, that's Abraham, and said,

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"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand."

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And Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. Now, bread and wine in most ancient meals, and as well in a lot of our modern meals,

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there's a pretty familiar sight. But these sort of simple things become a central feature, not just here, but as Israel

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separates the Passover, as they leave Egypt, and we'll see it again as Jesus institutes it in the Lord's Supper, representing

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the sacrifice that he will make on our behalf. Secondly, this mystery man that we meet, and the reality is Melchizedek really is a

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mystery man. We just have these couple verses in Genesis that give us a little bit of his story, and the rest of the

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verses in Scripture are all sort of expounding from these two verses in Genesis, the 14th chapter. But Melchizedek

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stands in sort of a unique position as he's both a king and a priest. In fact, in Scripture, the only other king

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and priest we find is Jesus. Third, what we find about this meal is we see God's

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deliverance that blesses Abraham. He points out as they celebrate together that God

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was the one who delivered Abraham and his people from the captives. God did things, something

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very similar in the Passover, right? Delivering his people on a bigger scale, and then during

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that Passover meal Jesus eats with his disciples, we see a picture of what Jesus

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would do on the cross as he delivers us from sin and death. But in addition to

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sort of all of these sort of wonderful pictures, this picture of nourishment, and

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this picture of a priest and a king, and the picture of God's deliverance, what

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happens after these verses is also remarkable. Because Abraham doesn't just

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have Lot and his family, he has all the people of these towns, and he has all of

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the wealth that has been plundered. And the king of Sodom will come to Abraham

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and says, "If you just give me the people, you can keep all of the wealth." And Abraham

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does something very surprising. He says, "I don't want the people, you can have

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them back, and I don't want your wealth either." And Abraham has a very specific

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reason. He says, "Because as God blesses me and God cares for me, I don't want

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people to look at me and say this all happened because of the king of Sodom and

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his generosity in giving me the wealth of his city." What Abraham is saying is that I

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trust in the provision of God. So Abraham refuses this offer because he trusts the king

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of heaven and earth to provide for him. And as we come and as we partake of the bread

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and the cup, we remember God's deliverance. We also remember his provision for

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us. In the midst of the uncertainty and difficulty of life, we have one who has

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provided the very depth of our need, the one who has provided for our souls. Let's pray. Father

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in heaven, as we consider your provision, your goodness, your

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rescue, the fact that you are over all things, and that your

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Son, Jesus, came, stood in our place, and died for our

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sins, so that we could live in righteousness

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and in fellowship with you. Strengthen our hearts.

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Encourage us. Help us to see that you are our protector.

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Help us to see the goodness of what you have done for us.

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I ask that you bless this bread and this cup.

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Help us in our hearts as we are so often discontent

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and so often worried and so often fearful

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that you would center us on your goodness and your grace

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during this time. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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Jesus, eating with his disciples,

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that meal of deliverance, the Passover,

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will say as they take the bread that is after

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the dinner, he will say, "Take, eat.

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This is my body." Let's eat together.

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And then he will take the third

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cup of Passover, the cup

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that symbolizes God's redemption

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of his people, that promise

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that he has made to them, that he will redeem

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his people with an outstretched arm.

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And he takes that cup and gives it

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a deeper, more wonderful meaning.

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And he will say, "Drink of this

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all of you, for it is the blood

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of the covenant which is poured out for

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many for the forgiveness of sins."

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Let's partake together.

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Paul will

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remind us that as often as we

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eat this bread and we drink this cup,

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we are proclaiming Jesus

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until he comes again.

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So I really love

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Brandon mentioned Genesis

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14. It's one of my

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favorite passages

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in

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the book of Genesis

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because Abraham, who's kind of

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a country guy, takes

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his buddies and

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handles some of the biggest powers

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in

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the world, and

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comes back,

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goes to church,

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and then the shiesty city guy

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comes up, and Abraham

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says, "No, I won't take that deal,"

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and walks away.

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But one of the

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things that applies to what we're going to

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read this morning, and what Brandon's going to preach

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on, is there's some

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hard words,

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and you saw one in Genesis 14,

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which was Salem,

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or Salaam, which is peace,

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and later on

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in the Bible, in Samuel,

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it becomes Jerusalem,

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or Yerusalem,

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which would be Yahweh's peace.

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And so, some of the words

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we're going to encounter this morning,

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Brandon and I are going to have

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trouble saying, because they're Hebrew words.

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I'm going to read them

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like someone who grew up

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reading and speaking English.

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So, some of the J's,

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which will be interesting if

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you were studying them,

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to look up and see whether it's a

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ya or a ja, and

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some of the K's, which are

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repeated, which I assume

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meant something in a different language

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than the one I speak,

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may be a little tricky for me to say.

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But Brandon's going to be preaching

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in a bit.

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Joshua 10,

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we're going to read from

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6 to 21, and we will try

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to surmount these words together.

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And the men of Gibeon

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sent to Joshua

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the camp of Gilgal saying,

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"Do not relax

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your hand from your servants.

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Come up to us quickly

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and save us and help us,

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for all the kings of the Amorites

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who dwell in the hill country

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are gathered against us."

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So Joshua went up

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from Gilgal,

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he and all the people of war

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with him, and all the mighty

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men of valor. And the Lord

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said to Joshua,

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"Do not fear them,

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for I have given them

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into your hands.

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Not a man of them

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00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:02,640
shall stand before you."

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So Joshua came up

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upon them,

205
00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:08,640
having marched up

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00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:10,640
all night from Gilgal.

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And the Lord threw them

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into a panic before Israel,

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who struck them

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with a great blow at Gibeon

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and chased them

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away of the ascent

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00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:24,640
of Beth Horan

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00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:26,640
and struck them

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00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:28,640
as far as Azekah

216
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and Machadah.

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And as they fled before

218
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:34,640
Israel,

219
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,640
while they were going down

220
00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:38,640
the ascent to Beth Horan,

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00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:40,640
the Lord threw down

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00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:42,640
from heaven

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00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:44,640
stones on them

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as far as Azekah,

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and they died.

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because of the hailstones,

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then the sons of

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Israel killed with the

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00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:56,640
sword.

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At that time, Joshua spoke

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to the Lord in the day

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when the Lord gave

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00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:04,640
the Amorites over

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00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:06,640
to the sons of Israel,

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and he said in the sight

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of Israel,

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00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:12,640
"Son, stand

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00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:14,640
still at Gibeon,

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00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:16,640
and moon in the valley

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00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:18,640
of Aijalon."

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00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:22,640
And the sun stood still,

242
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:24,640
and the moon

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00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:26,640
stopped until the nation

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00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:28,640
took vengeance on their

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00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:30,640
enemies.

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00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:32,640
Is this not written in the book of

247
00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:34,640
Jasar? The sun

248
00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:36,640
stopped in the midst of the

249
00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:38,640
heaven, and did not hurry

250
00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:40,640
to set for

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00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:42,640
about a whole day.

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00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:44,640
There had been

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no day like it before

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00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:48,640
or since,

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00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:50,640
when the Lord heeded

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00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:52,640
the voice of a man,

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00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:54,640
for the Lord fought

258
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:56,640
for Israel.

259
00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:58,640
So Joshua returned,

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00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,640
and all Israel with him,

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00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:02,640
to the camp at Gilgal.

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00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:04,640
These five kings

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00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:06,640
fled and hid themselves

264
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:08,640
in the cave of Makedah.

265
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:10,640
And it was told

266
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:12,640
to Joshua, "The five

267
00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:14,640
kings have been found hidden

268
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:16,640
in the cave at Makedah."

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And Joshua said,

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"Roll large stones against the mouth

271
00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:22,640
of the cave, and set men

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00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:24,640
by it to guard them.

273
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:26,640
But do not stay there

274
00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:28,640
yourselves. Pursue your enemies.

275
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Attack their real guard.

276
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:32,640
Do not let them

277
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:34,640
enter their cities. For the Lord

278
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,640
your God has given them

279
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:38,640
into your hand."

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When Joshua

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00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:42,640
and the sons of Israel

282
00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:44,640
had finished striking them

283
00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:46,640
with a great blow, until

284
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:48,640
they were wiped out, and

285
00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:50,640
when the remnants that remained

286
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:52,640
of them had entered into

287
00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:54,640
the fortified cities,

288
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then all the people returned,

289
00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:58,640
and

290
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:00,640
returned safe to Joshua

291
00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:02,640
in the camp at Makedah.

292
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:04,640
Not a man moved his

293
00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:06,640
tongue against any

294
00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:08,640
of the people of Israel.

295
00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:10,640
This is the word of the Lord.

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Alright, as we

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00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:26,640
move into Joshua, the tenth chapter,

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00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:28,640
one of the things that I'm

299
00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:30,640
hoping that you see

300
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:32,640
as we come through the book of Joshua

301
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:34,640
is how all of Scripture,

302
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:36,640
we're not talking about

303
00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,640
just sort of isolated incidents

304
00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:40,640
here, and there, and over here

305
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:42,640
where we've got Genesis here, and then over there

306
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:44,640
we've got Exodus, and somewhere over here

307
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:46,640
we've got the Law of Moses, and we've got the

308
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:48,640
New Testament here, and it's all just

309
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:50,640
sort of these disjointed pieces.

310
00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:52,640
One of the things that the

311
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:54,640
book of Joshua does so

312
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,640
wonderfully, and not accidentally,

313
00:43:56,640 --> 00:43:58,640
by the design of God,

314
00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:00,640
is that it takes all of the things

315
00:44:00,640 --> 00:44:02,640
that come before it, and in

316
00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:04,640
so many ways ties it together with

317
00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:06,640
those things that will come

318
00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:08,640
after it. In fact, this

319
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:10,640
morning there's references,

320
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:12,640
we won't be able to look at all of these references,

321
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:14,640
but to like the 110th Psalm

322
00:44:14,640 --> 00:44:16,640
speaks of pictures

323
00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:18,640
that are happening here, to the

324
00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:20,640
book of Hebrews, to the book of Revelation,

325
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:22,640
back to the book of Genesis.

326
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:24,640
I want you to see that

327
00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:26,640
Scripture as God's Word is

328
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:28,640
beautifully and wonderfully designed

329
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:30,640
to teach us, to encourage us,

330
00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:32,640
but most of all to point us

331
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:34,640
to Jesus and what He

332
00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:36,640
has done for us. So, we're going to go ahead

333
00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:38,640
and pray, and we're going to dive right into

334
00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:40,640
those first five verses

335
00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:42,640
of Joshua chapter 10. Father

336
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:44,640
in heaven, thank you for Jesus and

337
00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:46,640
for grace. We thank you for

338
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:48,640
the hope that we have.

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00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:50,640
We thank you that you

340
00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:52,640
have given us your Word,

341
00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:54,640
and we're thankful that

342
00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:56,640
you have put it together in a way

343
00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:58,640
that we can understand, and we can study,

344
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:00,640
and we can be changed and transformed by.

345
00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:02,640
So, help us this morning

346
00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:04,640
as we look at this chapter. Encourage

347
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,640
us in the Gospel. It's in Jesus' name we

348
00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:08,640
pray. Amen.

349
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:10,640
So, I'm going to read these first

350
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:12,640
five verses of Joshua

351
00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:14,640
chapter 10. Once again,

352
00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:16,640
we have a whole bunch of

353
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:18,640
sort of different Canaanite names,

354
00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:20,640
and there is one name in here

355
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:22,640
that's very important. We'll talk about it here

356
00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:24,640
in a little bit. Starting in verse 1,

357
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:26,640
"As soon as Adonai Zedek,

358
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:28,640
king of Jerusalem, heard how

359
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:30,640
Joshua had captured Ai,

360
00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:32,640
and had devoted it to destruction,

361
00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:34,640
doing to Ai and

362
00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:36,640
its king, as he had done to

363
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:38,640
Jericho and its king,

364
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:40,640
and how the inhabitants of Gibeon

365
00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:42,640
had made peace with Israel

366
00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:44,640
and were among them, he feared greatly

367
00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:46,640
because Gibeon was a great city,

368
00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:48,640
like one of the royal cities,

369
00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:50,640
and because it was greater than Ai,

370
00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:52,640
and all its men

371
00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:54,640
were warriors. So

372
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:56,640
Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem,

373
00:45:56,640 --> 00:45:58,640
sent to Hoham, king of Hebron,

374
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:00,640
to Piram, king of Jarmuth,

375
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:02,640
to Japheth, king of Lachish,

376
00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:04,640
to Debir, king of Eglon, saying,

377
00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:06,640
"Come with me. Come up to me and help me.

378
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:08,640
Let us strike Gibeon.

379
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:10,640
For it has made peace with Joshua

380
00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:12,640
and with the people of Israel. Then the five

381
00:46:12,640 --> 00:46:14,640
kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem,

382
00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:16,640
the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth,

383
00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:18,640
the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon

384
00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:20,640
gathered their forces

385
00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:22,640
and went up with all

386
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:24,640
their armies in a campion

387
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:26,640
and made war against it."

388
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:28,640
Now these very first verses

389
00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:30,640
mirror back to the beginning

390
00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:32,640
of Joshua chapter 9.

391
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:34,640
In fact, this is how Joshua chapter

392
00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:36,640
9 begins. So all the

393
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:38,640
kings beyond the Jordan, in the hill country

394
00:46:38,640 --> 00:46:40,640
and in the low land along the coast

395
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:42,640
of the great sea, and then we get

396
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:44,640
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Ammonites,

397
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:46,640
all of the ites, gather together

398
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:48,640
to prepare to

399
00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:50,640
fight against Joshua

400
00:46:50,640 --> 00:46:52,640
and the people of God. Now the difference

401
00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:54,640
between Joshua chapter 9

402
00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:56,640
and Joshua chapter 10 is their

403
00:46:56,640 --> 00:46:58,640
focus, and Joshua chapter 9

404
00:46:58,640 --> 00:47:00,640
is on Joshua. Now

405
00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:02,640
their target is going to be

406
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:04,640
the people of

407
00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:06,640
Gibeon. Their fear has

408
00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:08,640
united what were sort of once

409
00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:10,640
independent city-states

410
00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:12,640
into sort of one giant

411
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:14,640
army. Because as they look at

412
00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:16,640
Joshua and what has happened,

413
00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:18,640
the people have crossed the Jordan

414
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:20,640
River at flood stage. They have come

415
00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:22,640
to Jericho, and they didn't have

416
00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:24,640
to build siege equipment. They didn't

417
00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:26,640
have to have a long siege. In fact, they

418
00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:28,640
simply walked around the city a whole

419
00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:30,640
bunch, and God knocked down the walls.

420
00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:32,640
And after a sort of short

421
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:34,640
delay, as God

422
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:36,640
disciplines His people, they defeat

423
00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:38,640
Ai. And so they

424
00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:40,640
look at what Joshua has done,

425
00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:42,640
and geographically, what Joshua

426
00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:44,640
has done under the guidance of God

427
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:46,640
is sort of tactically brilliant. And so you

428
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:48,640
have the northern part of Israel and

429
00:47:48,640 --> 00:47:50,640
the southern part of Israel, and what

430
00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:52,640
Joshua has done is kind of

431
00:47:52,640 --> 00:47:54,640
gone across the middle, cutting

432
00:47:54,640 --> 00:47:56,640
the country in half.

433
00:47:56,640 --> 00:47:58,640
And so this morning, we're going to look at

434
00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:00,640
what sort of happens in the southern half,

435
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:02,640
and in the chapters that follow, we'll see what

436
00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:04,640
Joshua does in the northern

437
00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:06,640
half. And so he has

438
00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:08,640
effectively divided

439
00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:10,640
the Canaanite kings. And so these Canaanite

440
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:12,640
kings in the south, instead

441
00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:14,640
of deciding to directly confront

442
00:48:14,640 --> 00:48:16,640
Joshua, they said, "We need to do

443
00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:18,640
something about this alliance with Gibeon."

444
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:20,640
And they are motivated

445
00:48:20,640 --> 00:48:22,640
by fear of

446
00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:24,640
what might happen to them. And maybe they're

447
00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:26,640
attacking Gibeon, because they're hoping to

448
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:28,640
sort of drive a wedge between

449
00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:30,640
Joshua and Gibeon. Maybe

450
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:32,640
they're trying to simply just take one

451
00:48:32,640 --> 00:48:34,640
bite at a time. Maybe

452
00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:36,640
they're hoping that Gibeon, seeing their

453
00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:38,640
forces arrayed against them, will

454
00:48:38,640 --> 00:48:40,640
switch back, right? They've got a good army.

455
00:48:40,640 --> 00:48:42,640
All of their men are

456
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:44,640
warriors, and they are mighty

457
00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:46,640
warriors.

458
00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:48,640
So Gibeon calls

459
00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:50,640
for aid, and they call

460
00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:52,640
Joshua.

461
00:48:52,640 --> 00:48:54,640
And what you find, they

462
00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:56,640
say this, the men of Gibeon, sent

463
00:48:56,640 --> 00:48:58,640
to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying,

464
00:48:58,640 --> 00:49:00,640
"Do not relax

465
00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:02,640
your hand from your servants.

466
00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:04,640
Come to us quickly, and save us,

467
00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:06,640
and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites

468
00:49:06,640 --> 00:49:08,640
who dwell in the Gale country are

469
00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:10,640
gathered against us."

470
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:12,640
And so if you remember the history of Joshua

471
00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:14,640
Gibeonites, it's very recent

472
00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:16,640
history. In Joshua chapter 9,

473
00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:18,640
they pretend to be from far away

474
00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:20,640
knowing that God has said

475
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:22,640
you must destroy the people who are nearby,

476
00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:24,640
but the people who are far away

477
00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:26,640
you can make an agreement with. So pretending

478
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:28,640
to be from far away, they deceive

479
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:30,640
Joshua and all

480
00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:32,640
of the people of Israel. They make a

481
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:34,640
covenant with them,

482
00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:36,640
and then Joshua says that they're going

483
00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:38,640
to be servants, and they end up being servants

484
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:40,640
in the tabernacle and around the

485
00:49:40,640 --> 00:49:42,640
house of God, and so at this point

486
00:49:42,640 --> 00:49:44,640
they have gone home.

487
00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:46,640
And now,

488
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:48,640
these people who have deceived Israel,

489
00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:50,640
who have tricked Israel,

490
00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:52,640
are now in

491
00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:54,640
trouble. Joshua,

492
00:49:54,640 --> 00:49:56,640
at this point, likely could have simply

493
00:49:56,640 --> 00:49:58,640
ignored them, right? We've kept

494
00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:00,640
our covenant with you by not

495
00:50:00,640 --> 00:50:02,640
killing you. In fact, in Joshua

496
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:04,640
chapter 9, I think in two different places,

497
00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:06,640
it talks about how the covenant

498
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:08,640
with the Gibeonites was simply

499
00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:10,640
to not kill them, right?

500
00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:12,640
There's nothing that we see in Joshua

501
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:14,640
chapter 9 that would prevent

502
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:16,640
somebody else from killing them, right?

503
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:18,640
Wouldn't this be a great solution

504
00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:20,640
for Joshua? You have the people

505
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:22,640
who have sort of betrayed

506
00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:24,640
you and tricked you into making a covenant

507
00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:26,640
with you. This has caused

508
00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:28,640
problems and divisions within

509
00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:30,640
the people of God. God's people,

510
00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:32,640
seeing this covenant made,

511
00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:34,640
they began to grumble in Joshua chapter 9.

512
00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:36,640
It's not a bad grumbling like you see in the wilderness,

513
00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:38,640
but it's a grumbling because

514
00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:40,640
Joshua and the leaders did

515
00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:42,640
not consult God, and now they

516
00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:44,640
are in a covenant with these people

517
00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:46,640
who are nearby to them. This

518
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:48,640
would have solved a huge amount

519
00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:50,640
of problems if Joshua,

520
00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:52,640
not killing them himself,

521
00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:54,640
but would have let somebody

522
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:56,640
else take care of

523
00:50:56,640 --> 00:50:58,640
the problem. It would have been

524
00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:00,640
so easy for Joshua

525
00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:02,640
to do.

526
00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:04,640
But Joshua doesn't do that. He responds

527
00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:06,640
with integrity, with covenant

528
00:51:06,640 --> 00:51:08,640
faithfulness.

529
00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:10,640
And what's remarkable is he could have responded

530
00:51:10,640 --> 00:51:12,640
by the letter of the agreement, saying,

531
00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:14,640
"Well, I said I wasn't going to kill

532
00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:16,640
you. I never said anything about

533
00:51:16,640 --> 00:51:18,640
not letting these other kings

534
00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:20,640
kill you." He could have

535
00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:22,640
followed the letter of the law, but

536
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:24,640
instead he chose

537
00:51:24,640 --> 00:51:26,640
to follow the spirit of the law.

538
00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:28,640
He says, "In this covenant

539
00:51:28,640 --> 00:51:30,640
I'm not just

540
00:51:30,640 --> 00:51:32,640
responsible to not hurt

541
00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:34,640
you myself, but I'm

542
00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:36,640
responsible to keep you from harm

543
00:51:36,640 --> 00:51:38,640
as well."

544
00:51:38,640 --> 00:51:40,640
And you and I understand this, right? There's a difference between

545
00:51:40,640 --> 00:51:42,640
following the letter of the law

546
00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:44,640
and the spirit of the law. I remember

547
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:46,640
one of my siblings,

548
00:51:46,640 --> 00:51:48,640
it wasn't me, and to

549
00:51:48,640 --> 00:51:50,640
give you a clue, it wasn't my brother,

550
00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:52,640
this particular sibling gets in

551
00:51:52,640 --> 00:51:54,640
trouble at school. The only time this particular

552
00:51:54,640 --> 00:51:56,640
sibling has ever gotten

553
00:51:56,640 --> 00:51:58,640
in trouble for something, and she got written

554
00:51:58,640 --> 00:52:00,640
a demerit for throwing

555
00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:02,640
a piece of paper in class.

556
00:52:02,640 --> 00:52:04,640
And she, this might give it away,

557
00:52:04,640 --> 00:52:06,640
but she goes to the school

558
00:52:06,640 --> 00:52:08,640
administration to appeal this

559
00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:10,640
by saying, "I wasn't

560
00:52:10,640 --> 00:52:12,640
throwing a piece of paper,

561
00:52:12,640 --> 00:52:14,640
I was throwing a piece of plastic. This is

562
00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:16,640
incorrect. You can't issue this to me at all."

563
00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:18,640
So there's the letter of the law

564
00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:20,640
versus the spirit. The question was, were you

565
00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:22,640
throwing something? Well, yes, obviously,

566
00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:24,640
but it wasn't what you said, right?

567
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:26,640
We're familiar with this sort of

568
00:52:26,640 --> 00:52:28,640
nitpicking legalism

569
00:52:28,640 --> 00:52:30,640
where we say, "Well, according to

570
00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:32,640
what is written down, I didn't do anything

571
00:52:32,640 --> 00:52:34,640
wrong," while our spirit

572
00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:36,640
is doing everything

573
00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:38,640
in opposition

574
00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:40,640
to the law, specifically

575
00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:42,640
the law of God.

576
00:52:42,640 --> 00:52:44,640
Right? This directs us

577
00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:46,640
not just to a physical

578
00:52:46,640 --> 00:52:48,640
struggle, like Joshua

579
00:52:48,640 --> 00:52:50,640
following the letter of the law versus

580
00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:52,640
the spirit of the law,

581
00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:54,640
but it directs us to a spiritual

582
00:52:54,640 --> 00:52:56,640
struggle because you and I,

583
00:52:56,640 --> 00:52:58,640
when it comes to our relationship with

584
00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:00,640
God, we tend to really like

585
00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:02,640
to do the same thing.

586
00:53:02,640 --> 00:53:04,640
In fact, you see, Jesus

587
00:53:04,640 --> 00:53:06,640
will say to the people

588
00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:08,640
that surround Him,

589
00:53:08,640 --> 00:53:10,640
He will say, "These people

590
00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:12,640
honor Me with their words,

591
00:53:12,640 --> 00:53:14,640
but their hearts are far

592
00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:16,640
from Me." And if you read the context of what

593
00:53:16,640 --> 00:53:18,640
He has said, right, they have been using

594
00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:20,640
the law of God as sort of a legal loophole

595
00:53:20,640 --> 00:53:22,640
to get away with not

596
00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:24,640
supporting their parents as the law

597
00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:26,640
God has commanded them to do, right?

598
00:53:26,640 --> 00:53:28,640
So outwardly, it looked like they were

599
00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:30,640
doing really well, following all the rules,

600
00:53:30,640 --> 00:53:32,640
following all the directions, but inwardly

601
00:53:32,640 --> 00:53:34,640
in their heart,

602
00:53:34,640 --> 00:53:36,640
right, they're seeking

603
00:53:36,640 --> 00:53:38,640
themselves and their own selfishness. In the Sermon

604
00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:40,640
on the Mount, Jesus will

605
00:53:40,640 --> 00:53:42,640
really get to the heart of the matter in several different

606
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:44,640
ways. One, He speaks

607
00:53:44,640 --> 00:53:46,640
about anger.

608
00:53:46,640 --> 00:53:48,640
And He will talk about

609
00:53:48,640 --> 00:53:50,640
the difference between sort of

610
00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:52,640
the outward expression of anger

611
00:53:52,640 --> 00:53:54,640
and the inward heart of anger.

612
00:53:54,640 --> 00:53:56,640
And He'll say, both murder and anger

613
00:53:56,640 --> 00:53:58,640
start in the same place, and it starts in the heart.

614
00:53:58,640 --> 00:54:00,640
And you do not just repent of your

615
00:54:00,640 --> 00:54:02,640
physical outward anger,

616
00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:04,640
but that anger that is overcoming your heart.

617
00:54:04,640 --> 00:54:06,640
He says the same thing about lust and adultery.

618
00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:08,640
It's not just committing

619
00:54:08,640 --> 00:54:10,640
adultery, the physical act,

620
00:54:10,640 --> 00:54:12,640
but it's where your heart is focused

621
00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:14,640
and what your heart is looking

622
00:54:14,640 --> 00:54:16,640
at. And Jesus will

623
00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:18,640
unpack for us that it's not just

624
00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:20,640
simply adherence to an

625
00:54:20,640 --> 00:54:22,640
external set of conditions,

626
00:54:22,640 --> 00:54:24,640
but it's where our heart

627
00:54:24,640 --> 00:54:26,640
is ultimately focused.

628
00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:28,640
Remember when Jesus

629
00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:30,640
was asked what the most important commandment

630
00:54:30,640 --> 00:54:32,640
in all of God's Word

631
00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:34,640
was? And He says, "You shall love the Lord your God

632
00:54:34,640 --> 00:54:36,640
with all your heart, with all your soul

633
00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:38,640
and all your mind." The second, this is the

634
00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:40,640
great first commandment, and the second

635
00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:42,640
is like it, "Love your neighbor

636
00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:44,640
as yourself." And He says

637
00:54:44,640 --> 00:54:46,640
this, "On these two commandments

638
00:54:46,640 --> 00:54:48,640
depend all of the law

639
00:54:48,640 --> 00:54:50,640
and the prophets."

640
00:54:50,640 --> 00:54:52,640
Jesus says if you are loving

641
00:54:52,640 --> 00:54:54,640
God, right, you're not going to

642
00:54:54,640 --> 00:54:56,640
think about the Ten Commandments, you're not going to worship

643
00:54:56,640 --> 00:54:58,640
other gods, you're not going to have other gods

644
00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:00,640
above it, you're going to not curse

645
00:55:00,640 --> 00:55:02,640
God, right? You're going to set aside

646
00:55:02,640 --> 00:55:04,640
time to rest in God's

647
00:55:04,640 --> 00:55:06,640
goodness. And if you love

648
00:55:06,640 --> 00:55:08,640
others, right, you're not going to lie to them,

649
00:55:08,640 --> 00:55:10,640
you're not going to murder them, you're not going

650
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:12,640
to commit adultery, you're not going to steal their stuff.

651
00:55:12,640 --> 00:55:14,640
All of these

652
00:55:14,640 --> 00:55:16,640
things in the Ten Commandments,

653
00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:18,640
those outward expressions

654
00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:20,640
of obedience are ultimately

655
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:22,640
found in our heart, loving

656
00:55:22,640 --> 00:55:24,640
God and loving our neighbor.

657
00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:26,640
And so what you find Jesus

658
00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:28,640
doing for us is

659
00:55:28,640 --> 00:55:30,640
explaining to us what Joshua

660
00:55:30,640 --> 00:55:32,640
here already knows, right? There's a difference

661
00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:34,640
between sort of the outward

662
00:55:34,640 --> 00:55:36,640
rules and the inward

663
00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:38,640
design of those rules, and Joshua

664
00:55:38,640 --> 00:55:40,640
sees that it's not just

665
00:55:40,640 --> 00:55:42,640
about outward obedience, but it's

666
00:55:42,640 --> 00:55:44,640
where his heart is focused, and

667
00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:46,640
he upholds not just the outward

668
00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:48,640
part of this covenant, but the heart of this covenant.

669
00:55:48,640 --> 00:55:50,640
And he stands

670
00:55:50,640 --> 00:55:52,640
as a faithful example

671
00:55:52,640 --> 00:55:54,640
of how you and I relate

672
00:55:54,640 --> 00:55:56,640
to God.

673
00:55:56,640 --> 00:55:58,640
Not just a physical outward

674
00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:00,640
adherence to the rules, but where

675
00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:02,640
is the heart

676
00:56:02,640 --> 00:56:04,640
of our lives fixed?

677
00:56:04,640 --> 00:56:06,640
He calls

678
00:56:06,640 --> 00:56:08,640
us to faithfulness. And I'll tell you what, this

679
00:56:08,640 --> 00:56:10,640
faithfulness for Joshua is not

680
00:56:10,640 --> 00:56:12,640
easy. As this call for

681
00:56:12,640 --> 00:56:14,640
help comes in. Brent read it.

682
00:56:14,640 --> 00:56:16,640
The men of Israel gather together

683
00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:18,640
and they begin to walk and they go all

684
00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:20,640
night. We know

685
00:56:20,640 --> 00:56:22,640
where these locations are.

686
00:56:22,640 --> 00:56:24,640
It's about 20

687
00:56:24,640 --> 00:56:26,640
miles with

688
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:28,640
3,300 feet of elevation

689
00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:30,640
gain over this. So if you ever hear

690
00:56:30,640 --> 00:56:32,640
somebody talk, "Well, I walked uphill to school

691
00:56:32,640 --> 00:56:34,640
both ways." Well, the Israelites say, "Well, we had

692
00:56:34,640 --> 00:56:36,640
to hike uphill to Gibeon in the

693
00:56:36,640 --> 00:56:38,640
middle of the night, facing

694
00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:40,640
an unknown battle." And they're going to arrive

695
00:56:40,640 --> 00:56:42,640
after this 20 hours

696
00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:44,640
in darkness, or 20 miles

697
00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:46,640
in darkness, 3,300 feet

698
00:56:46,640 --> 00:56:48,640
of elevation gain, to

699
00:56:48,640 --> 00:56:50,640
honor the heart

700
00:56:50,640 --> 00:56:52,640
of this covenant.

701
00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:54,640
You and I are called to faithfulness

702
00:56:54,640 --> 00:56:56,640
in God, not just in sort of

703
00:56:56,640 --> 00:56:58,640
an external way,

704
00:56:58,640 --> 00:57:00,640
but in a way that

705
00:57:00,640 --> 00:57:02,640
permeates every part

706
00:57:02,640 --> 00:57:04,640
of our being.

707
00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:06,640
This picture of what's happening

708
00:57:06,640 --> 00:57:08,640
here doesn't just help us

709
00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:10,640
with the struggle

710
00:57:10,640 --> 00:57:12,640
of our heart versus the inward

711
00:57:12,640 --> 00:57:14,640
and the outward, but it also

712
00:57:14,640 --> 00:57:16,640
helps us in this text

713
00:57:16,640 --> 00:57:18,640
to see how we relate

714
00:57:18,640 --> 00:57:20,640
to the power of God working

715
00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:22,640
in our world with our

716
00:57:22,640 --> 00:57:24,640
responsibility. Because

717
00:57:24,640 --> 00:57:26,640
it's very easy for us, I think,

718
00:57:26,640 --> 00:57:28,640
to become complacent.

719
00:57:28,640 --> 00:57:30,640
And when we see the power of God, it's easy

720
00:57:30,640 --> 00:57:32,640
for us to sit back and sort of simply say,

721
00:57:32,640 --> 00:57:34,640
"You know what? God's going to do

722
00:57:34,640 --> 00:57:36,640
His thing. I'm going to watch."

723
00:57:36,640 --> 00:57:38,640
I remember when I was

724
00:57:38,640 --> 00:57:40,640
much, much younger,

725
00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:42,640
there was a little overpass where the

726
00:57:42,640 --> 00:57:44,640
train went over the road near where my

727
00:57:44,640 --> 00:57:46,640
dad had his store. And so one year,

728
00:57:46,640 --> 00:57:48,640
after a lot of accidents and a lot

729
00:57:48,640 --> 00:57:50,640
of talking and all of

730
00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:52,640
this planning, they began to replace

731
00:57:52,640 --> 00:57:54,640
it with a bigger road. So every day at lunch during

732
00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:56,640
the summer, we'd go out there and we'd

733
00:57:56,640 --> 00:57:58,640
stand and watch the construction. You've got

734
00:57:58,640 --> 00:58:00,640
bulldozers and backhoes and excavators

735
00:58:00,640 --> 00:58:02,640
and big sight trucks. And as a kid,

736
00:58:02,640 --> 00:58:04,640
it's awesome.

737
00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:06,640
Are you just standing and watching the construction equipment

738
00:58:06,640 --> 00:58:08,640
work? And I'm doing absolutely

739
00:58:08,640 --> 00:58:10,640
nothing just sort of watching this

740
00:58:10,640 --> 00:58:12,640
happen. And for us as

741
00:58:12,640 --> 00:58:14,640
Christians, I think so many times,

742
00:58:14,640 --> 00:58:16,640
it's easy for us to become

743
00:58:16,640 --> 00:58:18,640
complacent about what God

744
00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:20,640
has called us to do, and

745
00:58:20,640 --> 00:58:22,640
instead of seeking to join

746
00:58:22,640 --> 00:58:24,640
God on mission, we simply

747
00:58:24,640 --> 00:58:26,640
sit back. And one of the

748
00:58:26,640 --> 00:58:28,640
things we find about this text in Joshua

749
00:58:28,640 --> 00:58:30,640
is it sort of shows us how to

750
00:58:30,640 --> 00:58:32,640
put together God's

751
00:58:32,640 --> 00:58:34,640
overwhelming power with what

752
00:58:34,640 --> 00:58:36,640
He has called us to do

753
00:58:36,640 --> 00:58:38,640
in this world.

754
00:58:38,640 --> 00:58:40,640
You see, first of all, Joshua 10 makes

755
00:58:40,640 --> 00:58:42,640
it so very clear that God

756
00:58:42,640 --> 00:58:44,640
is in control, right? Verse

757
00:58:44,640 --> 00:58:46,640
8, God says, "Don't fear them," right?

758
00:58:46,640 --> 00:58:48,640
"Not a man of them shall stand before

759
00:58:48,640 --> 00:58:50,640
you. I'm going to give them into your hands."

760
00:58:50,640 --> 00:58:52,640
And in verse 10, which

761
00:58:52,640 --> 00:58:54,640
I like a lot, it said, "The Lord

762
00:58:54,640 --> 00:58:56,640
threw them into a great panic before

763
00:58:56,640 --> 00:58:58,640
Israel, who struck them

764
00:58:58,640 --> 00:59:00,640
with a great blow at Gibeon, and

765
00:59:00,640 --> 00:59:04,640
struck them as far as

766
00:59:04,640 --> 00:59:06,640
Azka and Makeda."

767
00:59:06,640 --> 00:59:08,640
Now, just sort of a quick note,

768
00:59:08,640 --> 00:59:10,640
grammatically, when you hear the

769
00:59:10,640 --> 00:59:12,640
Lord threw them into a panic before

770
00:59:12,640 --> 00:59:14,640
Israel, who struck them with a great

771
00:59:14,640 --> 00:59:16,640
blow at Gibeon,

772
00:59:16,640 --> 00:59:18,640
sort of interpreters

773
00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:20,640
and commentators aren't sure

774
00:59:20,640 --> 00:59:22,640
who that who refers to.

775
00:59:22,640 --> 00:59:24,640
Right? Is it saying God threw them

776
00:59:24,640 --> 00:59:26,640
into a panic, and then Israel

777
00:59:26,640 --> 00:59:28,640
struck a great blow. They're the who.

778
00:59:28,640 --> 00:59:30,640
They struck a great blow at Gibeon.

779
00:59:30,640 --> 00:59:32,640
Or is this text saying

780
00:59:32,640 --> 00:59:34,640
the Lord struck them into a panic

781
00:59:34,640 --> 00:59:36,640
before Israel, and

782
00:59:36,640 --> 00:59:38,640
He struck them a great

783
00:59:38,640 --> 00:59:40,640
blow at Gibeon. In fact, you'll see this reflected

784
00:59:40,640 --> 00:59:42,640
in some of your Bibles. There'll be a little footnote

785
00:59:42,640 --> 00:59:44,640
there with sort of an alternate

786
00:59:44,640 --> 00:59:46,640
translation.

787
00:59:46,640 --> 00:59:48,640
And so this passage could very well be saying

788
00:59:48,640 --> 00:59:50,640
God throws them into a panic,

789
00:59:50,640 --> 00:59:52,640
and then God goes on and fights

790
00:59:52,640 --> 00:59:54,640
the battle, chasing them through

791
00:59:54,640 --> 00:59:56,640
the country, striking

792
00:59:56,640 --> 00:59:58,640
them down.

793
00:59:58,640 --> 01:00:00,640
Later on, in verse 11, they will flee

794
01:00:00,640 --> 01:00:02,640
before Israel,

795
01:00:02,640 --> 01:00:04,640
and God will throw down

796
01:00:04,640 --> 01:00:06,640
hailstones upon them. In Joshua 10:25,

797
01:00:06,640 --> 01:00:08,640
Joshua will say to the men in battle,

798
01:00:08,640 --> 01:00:10,640
"Do not be afraid or dismayed,

799
01:00:10,640 --> 01:00:12,640
for the Lord will do this to

800
01:00:12,640 --> 01:00:14,640
all your enemies against who

801
01:00:14,640 --> 01:00:16,640
you fight." Right? It's very clear

802
01:00:16,640 --> 01:00:18,640
God is in control, and we haven't even got to the fact

803
01:00:18,640 --> 01:00:20,640
that the sun and the moon sort of put

804
01:00:20,640 --> 01:00:22,640
life on pause for a minute,

805
01:00:22,640 --> 01:00:24,640
so there's more time

806
01:00:24,640 --> 01:00:26,640
for a battle. It is so clear

807
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:28,640
in this text that God is the one

808
01:00:28,640 --> 01:00:30,640
who fights for

809
01:00:30,640 --> 01:00:32,640
his people. And

810
01:00:32,640 --> 01:00:34,640
additionally, at the very end of the

811
01:00:34,640 --> 01:00:36,640
chapter, there's sort of this photo

812
01:00:36,640 --> 01:00:38,640
album of Joshua's victories.

813
01:00:38,640 --> 01:00:40,640
And after the story of Gibeon

814
01:00:40,640 --> 01:00:42,640
is done, what you're going to find is they went and they

815
01:00:42,640 --> 01:00:44,640
fought this city, and they fought this city, and they

816
01:00:44,640 --> 01:00:46,640
fought this city. And what

817
01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:48,640
God is doing, we're not just seeing God's

818
01:00:48,640 --> 01:00:50,640
power, but we're seeing God's wisdom

819
01:00:50,640 --> 01:00:52,640
in how he deals with his people. Right?

820
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:54,640
God is very powerful. He could

821
01:00:54,640 --> 01:00:56,640
took out all the Canaanites all at once.

822
01:00:56,640 --> 01:00:58,640
But he doesn't do that.

823
01:00:58,640 --> 01:01:00,640
He calls Israel to fight these

824
01:01:00,640 --> 01:01:02,640
battles with his strength

825
01:01:02,640 --> 01:01:04,640
gradually throughout the land.

826
01:01:04,640 --> 01:01:06,640
In part because we don't do

827
01:01:06,640 --> 01:01:08,640
very well when all of a sudden

828
01:01:08,640 --> 01:01:10,640
great riches are just sort of dumped upon

829
01:01:10,640 --> 01:01:12,640
us. So right, the Powerball,

830
01:01:12,640 --> 01:01:14,640
you've probably seen the news articles, right?

831
01:01:14,640 --> 01:01:16,640
It's going to be almost two billion dollars

832
01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:18,640
on Monday night.

833
01:01:18,640 --> 01:01:20,640
And what happens

834
01:01:20,640 --> 01:01:22,640
historically to people who win large

835
01:01:22,640 --> 01:01:24,640
amounts of money is

836
01:01:24,640 --> 01:01:26,640
very frequently, in fact

837
01:01:26,640 --> 01:01:28,640
more than a majority of the time.

838
01:01:28,640 --> 01:01:30,640
Right? Bad things happen

839
01:01:30,640 --> 01:01:32,640
because they're not prepared

840
01:01:32,640 --> 01:01:34,640
for how their life will change.

841
01:01:34,640 --> 01:01:36,640
God in his wisdom could have just said,

842
01:01:36,640 --> 01:01:38,640
"Hey, everybody in Canaan is gone.

843
01:01:38,640 --> 01:01:40,640
It's all yours."

844
01:01:40,640 --> 01:01:42,640
But that's not what he does with his people, right?

845
01:01:42,640 --> 01:01:44,640
He brings them into his mission

846
01:01:44,640 --> 01:01:46,640
and little by little through this,

847
01:01:46,640 --> 01:01:48,640
we don't know whether this takes

848
01:01:48,640 --> 01:01:50,640
months or weeks,

849
01:01:50,640 --> 01:01:52,640
this conquest of the south,

850
01:01:52,640 --> 01:01:54,640
but God

851
01:01:54,640 --> 01:01:56,640
involves his people in wisdom

852
01:01:56,640 --> 01:01:58,640
helping them

853
01:01:58,640 --> 01:02:00,640
come into this land on their own

854
01:02:00,640 --> 01:02:02,640
not just simply dumping it into their

855
01:02:02,640 --> 01:02:04,640
lap and saying, "Alright, here you go." He's teaching them

856
01:02:04,640 --> 01:02:06,640
how to steward what he has

857
01:02:06,640 --> 01:02:08,640
given them. And so you have

858
01:02:08,640 --> 01:02:10,640
God's power and God's wisdom

859
01:02:10,640 --> 01:02:12,640
and then we have Joshua

860
01:02:12,640 --> 01:02:14,640
who joins God in what

861
01:02:14,640 --> 01:02:16,640
he is doing, right? He's not running ahead

862
01:02:16,640 --> 01:02:18,640
of God. He's not lagging behind.

863
01:02:18,640 --> 01:02:20,640
He's going where God

864
01:02:20,640 --> 01:02:22,640
directs him. And it's

865
01:02:22,640 --> 01:02:24,640
so easy for us to jump out ahead

866
01:02:24,640 --> 01:02:26,640
of God or lag behind

867
01:02:26,640 --> 01:02:28,640
God, but that's not what Joshua

868
01:02:28,640 --> 01:02:30,640
does. He is with God, and

869
01:02:30,640 --> 01:02:32,640
he uses the opportunities that God

870
01:02:32,640 --> 01:02:34,640
provides.

871
01:02:34,640 --> 01:02:36,640
As Joshua marches

872
01:02:36,640 --> 01:02:38,640
all night, God will say this,

873
01:02:38,640 --> 01:02:40,640
"Do not fear them. I have given them into your

874
01:02:40,640 --> 01:02:42,640
hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you."

875
01:02:42,640 --> 01:02:44,640
So Joshua came upon them

876
01:02:44,640 --> 01:02:46,640
suddenly, having marched all

877
01:02:46,640 --> 01:02:48,640
night from Gilgal, and then we'll hear

878
01:02:48,640 --> 01:02:50,640
this fight in verses 16

879
01:02:50,640 --> 01:02:52,640
through 22. Now it's true,

880
01:02:52,640 --> 01:02:54,640
sometimes God calls us to wait

881
01:02:54,640 --> 01:02:56,640
and to trust in Him

882
01:02:56,640 --> 01:02:58,640
and to wait for the opportunity He gives us,

883
01:02:58,640 --> 01:03:00,640
but so many times what happens

884
01:03:00,640 --> 01:03:02,640
for us is God

885
01:03:02,640 --> 01:03:04,640
opens the door of opportunity before

886
01:03:04,640 --> 01:03:06,640
us, and because we're

887
01:03:06,640 --> 01:03:08,640
complacent, or we're

888
01:03:08,640 --> 01:03:10,640
not looking to work with

889
01:03:10,640 --> 01:03:12,640
God, we simply

890
01:03:12,640 --> 01:03:14,640
stand still. And one

891
01:03:14,640 --> 01:03:16,640
of the things about Joshua is that as

892
01:03:16,640 --> 01:03:18,640
God in His power

893
01:03:18,640 --> 01:03:20,640
brings this battle

894
01:03:20,640 --> 01:03:22,640
to the enemies of Gibeon and the enemies

895
01:03:22,640 --> 01:03:24,640
of Israel, Joshua seeks

896
01:03:24,640 --> 01:03:26,640
the opportunities to join

897
01:03:26,640 --> 01:03:28,640
God on mission.

898
01:03:28,640 --> 01:03:30,640
Secondly, Joshua

899
01:03:30,640 --> 01:03:32,640
acts with wisdom

900
01:03:32,640 --> 01:03:34,640
with the opportunities God has given him. At one point

901
01:03:34,640 --> 01:03:36,640
the five kings are all hiding

902
01:03:36,640 --> 01:03:38,640
in a cave. Now it would have been tempting to stop

903
01:03:38,640 --> 01:03:40,640
and deal with these kings and just sort

904
01:03:40,640 --> 01:03:42,640
of ignore the rest of the battle, but Joshua

905
01:03:42,640 --> 01:03:44,640
in his wisdom says, "Don't get distracted."

906
01:03:44,640 --> 01:03:46,640
So they block up the cave,

907
01:03:46,640 --> 01:03:48,640
they put a guard, and they go and finish

908
01:03:48,640 --> 01:03:50,640
the battle, and then come back

909
01:03:50,640 --> 01:03:52,640
and deal with them. And it seems like a small

910
01:03:52,640 --> 01:03:54,640
detail, but Joshua

911
01:03:54,640 --> 01:03:56,640
seeks to have wisdom

912
01:03:56,640 --> 01:03:58,640
in how he follows what God

913
01:03:58,640 --> 01:04:00,640
has laid out for him to do.

914
01:04:00,640 --> 01:04:02,640
He doesn't just dive into the opportunity,

915
01:04:02,640 --> 01:04:04,640
but he does so with

916
01:04:04,640 --> 01:04:06,640
wisdom.

917
01:04:06,640 --> 01:04:08,640
And then in the midst of this, Joshua

918
01:04:08,640 --> 01:04:10,640
prays.

919
01:04:10,640 --> 01:04:12,640
And at that time, Joshua spoke to the Lord

920
01:04:12,640 --> 01:04:14,640
in the day when the Lord gave the

921
01:04:14,640 --> 01:04:16,640
Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and

922
01:04:16,640 --> 01:04:18,640
he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun,

923
01:04:18,640 --> 01:04:20,640
stand still at Gibeon, and moon

924
01:04:20,640 --> 01:04:22,640
in the valley of Alon."

925
01:04:22,640 --> 01:04:24,640
And the sun stood still, and the moon

926
01:04:24,640 --> 01:04:26,640
stopped until the nation took vengeance

927
01:04:26,640 --> 01:04:28,640
on their enemies. Is it not written in the

928
01:04:28,640 --> 01:04:30,640
book of Jashar? The sun

929
01:04:30,640 --> 01:04:32,640
stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry

930
01:04:32,640 --> 01:04:34,640
to set for a whole day. There has

931
01:04:34,640 --> 01:04:36,640
been no day like it since before or

932
01:04:36,640 --> 01:04:38,640
since when the Lord heeded the voice of

933
01:04:38,640 --> 01:04:40,640
Israel and fought for

934
01:04:40,640 --> 01:04:42,640
Israel in the midst of this battle

935
01:04:42,640 --> 01:04:44,640
when everything seems to be going

936
01:04:44,640 --> 01:04:46,640
right. Right? So, so many times

937
01:04:46,640 --> 01:04:48,640
when things are going really well for us,

938
01:04:48,640 --> 01:04:50,640
it's easy for us to say, "I've got

939
01:04:50,640 --> 01:04:52,640
this handled."

940
01:04:52,640 --> 01:04:54,640
And we simply proceed under our own

941
01:04:54,640 --> 01:04:56,640
strength. Notice Joshua doesn't do that.

942
01:04:56,640 --> 01:04:58,640
He joins God in his mission.

943
01:04:58,640 --> 01:05:00,640
He seeks to do so wisely.

944
01:05:00,640 --> 01:05:02,640
And in the middle of this battle,

945
01:05:02,640 --> 01:05:04,640
he stops and he prays to

946
01:05:04,640 --> 01:05:06,640
God. And he doesn't pray

947
01:05:06,640 --> 01:05:08,640
half-hearted, "Hey, just take care

948
01:05:08,640 --> 01:05:10,640
of me with this situation." He prays

949
01:05:10,640 --> 01:05:12,640
a very specific and a very

950
01:05:12,640 --> 01:05:14,640
remarkable request.

951
01:05:14,640 --> 01:05:16,640
Stop the sun and the moon!

952
01:05:16,640 --> 01:05:18,640
Right? How many of us

953
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:20,640
would ever even think

954
01:05:20,640 --> 01:05:22,640
to pray that, right? What was our thought?

955
01:05:22,640 --> 01:05:24,640
Well, that would be impossible. I can't pray that.

956
01:05:24,640 --> 01:05:26,640
Joshua doesn't just stop and pray,

957
01:05:26,640 --> 01:05:28,640
but he prays specifically.

958
01:05:28,640 --> 01:05:30,640
And he prays in a way

959
01:05:30,640 --> 01:05:32,640
that is remarkable.

960
01:05:32,640 --> 01:05:34,640
Now, we don't know how

961
01:05:34,640 --> 01:05:36,640
God does what he does here.

962
01:05:36,640 --> 01:05:38,640
We know that God

963
01:05:38,640 --> 01:05:40,640
has done similar things before. Remember

964
01:05:40,640 --> 01:05:42,640
the ten plagues? There's darkness

965
01:05:42,640 --> 01:05:44,640
over the land of Egypt, but not in Goshen

966
01:05:44,640 --> 01:05:46,640
where Israelites were.

967
01:05:46,640 --> 01:05:48,640
In the time of Hezekiah,

968
01:05:48,640 --> 01:05:50,640
God will actually cause the sun

969
01:05:50,640 --> 01:05:52,640
to move backwards

970
01:05:52,640 --> 01:05:54,640
as a sign to Hezekiah.

971
01:05:54,640 --> 01:05:56,640
When Jesus dies on the cross,

972
01:05:56,640 --> 01:05:58,640
remember there's darkness over Jerusalem.

973
01:05:58,640 --> 01:06:00,640
God commands the sun

974
01:06:00,640 --> 01:06:02,640
and the moon and the stars.

975
01:06:02,640 --> 01:06:04,640
The technical aspect, people have sort of

976
01:06:04,640 --> 01:06:06,640
thought about this. Maybe He stopped the orbit of the earth.

977
01:06:06,640 --> 01:06:08,640
Maybe He changed the tilt of the earth.

978
01:06:08,640 --> 01:06:10,640
I don't know how God did it.

979
01:06:10,640 --> 01:06:12,640
That's not the point of this. The point is that

980
01:06:12,640 --> 01:06:14,640
God is sovereign,

981
01:06:14,640 --> 01:06:16,640
not just over the people

982
01:06:16,640 --> 01:06:18,640
on the battlefield, but the

983
01:06:18,640 --> 01:06:20,640
sun that shines down upon it.

984
01:06:20,640 --> 01:06:22,640
That God is sovereign

985
01:06:22,640 --> 01:06:24,640
over all His creation.

986
01:06:24,640 --> 01:06:26,640
And the writer of

987
01:06:26,640 --> 01:06:28,640
Joshua mentions this book of

988
01:06:28,640 --> 01:06:30,640
Jashar. It's sort of a record,

989
01:06:30,640 --> 01:06:32,640
an extra-biblical record

990
01:06:32,640 --> 01:06:34,640
of some memorable moments

991
01:06:34,640 --> 01:06:36,640
in Israel. And if you want to read more about it,

992
01:06:36,640 --> 01:06:38,640
check out this other book.

993
01:06:38,640 --> 01:06:40,640
But there's this

994
01:06:40,640 --> 01:06:42,640
strange thing about this prayer.

995
01:06:42,640 --> 01:06:44,640
Notice the

996
01:06:44,640 --> 01:06:46,640
end of what the writer of Joshua says.

997
01:06:46,640 --> 01:06:48,640
"There has been no day

998
01:06:48,640 --> 01:06:50,640
like it before or since."

999
01:06:50,640 --> 01:06:52,640
And we say, "Oh, of course not.

1000
01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:54,640
The sun stops. The moon stops."

1001
01:06:54,640 --> 01:06:56,640
But that's not what He's talking about. Look what He says.

1002
01:06:56,640 --> 01:06:58,640
"There has been no day like it since before

1003
01:06:58,640 --> 01:07:00,640
when the Lord

1004
01:07:00,640 --> 01:07:02,640
heeded the voice

1005
01:07:02,640 --> 01:07:04,640
of a man. For the Lord

1006
01:07:04,640 --> 01:07:06,640
fought for Israel." What's remarkable

1007
01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:08,640
the author of Joshua is not so much

1008
01:07:08,640 --> 01:07:10,640
the sun stood still or the moon

1009
01:07:10,640 --> 01:07:12,640
didn't rise. Everything stayed where it was.

1010
01:07:12,640 --> 01:07:14,640
What's remarkable to him is that God

1011
01:07:14,640 --> 01:07:16,640
heard Joshua's prayer.

1012
01:07:16,640 --> 01:07:18,640
And one of the things that we have to remember

1013
01:07:18,640 --> 01:07:20,640
is in the Old Testament

1014
01:07:20,640 --> 01:07:22,640
and in this time period,

1015
01:07:22,640 --> 01:07:24,640
there's a separation

1016
01:07:24,640 --> 01:07:26,640
between God and the people. We see it reflected

1017
01:07:26,640 --> 01:07:28,640
in the tabernacle and in the temple

1018
01:07:28,640 --> 01:07:30,640
where there is a holy of holies

1019
01:07:30,640 --> 01:07:32,640
where only the high priest can go

1020
01:07:32,640 --> 01:07:34,640
but him only once a year.

1021
01:07:34,640 --> 01:07:36,640
There is this separation. And there is

1022
01:07:36,640 --> 01:07:38,640
this remarkable moment. And what's remarkable

1023
01:07:38,640 --> 01:07:40,640
to the writer of Joshua is that God

1024
01:07:40,640 --> 01:07:42,640
heard the prayer of Joshua.

1025
01:07:42,640 --> 01:07:44,640
In fact, the writer says it's so

1026
01:07:44,640 --> 01:07:46,640
remarkable it hasn't been seen before

1027
01:07:46,640 --> 01:07:48,640
and it hasn't been seen since. Now that

1028
01:07:48,640 --> 01:07:50,640
sense is not to us

1029
01:07:50,640 --> 01:07:52,640
but to the writer of Joshua's lifetime.

1030
01:07:52,640 --> 01:07:54,640
And what's remarkable

1031
01:07:54,640 --> 01:07:56,640
about this prayer

1032
01:07:56,640 --> 01:07:58,640
is that privilege that is so

1033
01:07:58,640 --> 01:08:00,640
remarkable. Being able

1034
01:08:00,640 --> 01:08:02,640
to go directly to the

1035
01:08:02,640 --> 01:08:04,640
God of the universe and speak to them without having

1036
01:08:04,640 --> 01:08:06,640
to go through a priest or someone

1037
01:08:06,640 --> 01:08:08,640
else.

1038
01:08:08,640 --> 01:08:10,640
For Joshua, that's remarkable. For us

1039
01:08:10,640 --> 01:08:12,640
this is our wonderful reality.

1040
01:08:12,640 --> 01:08:14,640
Hebrews will tell

1041
01:08:14,640 --> 01:08:16,640
us that we can draw near

1042
01:08:16,640 --> 01:08:18,640
to the throne of grace.

1043
01:08:18,640 --> 01:08:20,640
We can come through the curtain

1044
01:08:20,640 --> 01:08:22,640
that has been opened by our Savior's blood.

1045
01:08:22,640 --> 01:08:24,640
This remarkable prayer

1046
01:08:24,640 --> 01:08:26,640
of Joshua for us

1047
01:08:26,640 --> 01:08:28,640
as Christians is a

1048
01:08:28,640 --> 01:08:30,640
reality that we can go to God

1049
01:08:30,640 --> 01:08:32,640
and He hears us and He answers

1050
01:08:32,640 --> 01:08:34,640
us.

1051
01:08:34,640 --> 01:08:36,640
Philippians chapter 2 says this,

1052
01:08:36,640 --> 01:08:38,640
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed,

1053
01:08:38,640 --> 01:08:40,640
so now, not only in my presence, but also

1054
01:08:40,640 --> 01:08:42,640
in my absence, work out your

1055
01:08:42,640 --> 01:08:44,640
salvation with fear

1056
01:08:44,640 --> 01:08:46,640
and trembling.

1057
01:08:46,640 --> 01:08:48,640
For it is God who works in you both

1058
01:08:48,640 --> 01:08:50,640
to will and to work according to

1059
01:08:50,640 --> 01:08:52,640
His good pleasure." You see, we struggle with this

1060
01:08:52,640 --> 01:08:54,640
idea of how does our work

1061
01:08:54,640 --> 01:08:56,640
fit with God's work.

1062
01:08:56,640 --> 01:08:58,640
And I've heard verse 13

1063
01:08:58,640 --> 01:09:00,640
of Philippians chapter 2 so many

1064
01:09:00,640 --> 01:09:02,640
times, "Work out your salvation

1065
01:09:02,640 --> 01:09:04,640
with fear and trembling."

1066
01:09:04,640 --> 01:09:06,640
This idea that we are afraid and we've got to

1067
01:09:06,640 --> 01:09:08,640
work hard because we're going to get in trouble, but that's

1068
01:09:08,640 --> 01:09:10,640
not what the text says.

1069
01:09:10,640 --> 01:09:12,640
It says, "Because God is at

1070
01:09:12,640 --> 01:09:14,640
work in

1071
01:09:14,640 --> 01:09:16,640
you." He works in

1072
01:09:16,640 --> 01:09:18,640
you both to will and to work for His

1073
01:09:18,640 --> 01:09:20,640
pleasure. And what Philippians chapter 2 says

1074
01:09:20,640 --> 01:09:22,640
is, "What God is at work doing

1075
01:09:22,640 --> 01:09:24,640
in us, we

1076
01:09:24,640 --> 01:09:26,640
work out through our actions."

1077
01:09:26,640 --> 01:09:28,640
This is what you see Joshua doing. Here is God at work

1078
01:09:28,640 --> 01:09:30,640
to encourage, to strengthen,

1079
01:09:30,640 --> 01:09:32,640
to fight this battle. And then Joshua,

1080
01:09:32,640 --> 01:09:34,640
seeing these

1081
01:09:34,640 --> 01:09:36,640
opportunities that God has given him,

1082
01:09:36,640 --> 01:09:38,640
with wisdom and prayer,

1083
01:09:38,640 --> 01:09:40,640
follows God. The call for

1084
01:09:40,640 --> 01:09:42,640
us as a church, when we read

1085
01:09:42,640 --> 01:09:44,640
Philippians 2 about working out

1086
01:09:44,640 --> 01:09:46,640
what God has worked in

1087
01:09:46,640 --> 01:09:48,640
in, is this picture

1088
01:09:48,640 --> 01:09:50,640
in Joshua.

1089
01:09:50,640 --> 01:09:52,640
As God works, we seek to join

1090
01:09:52,640 --> 01:09:54,640
him on a mission, to do so wisely,

1091
01:09:54,640 --> 01:09:56,640
while praying

1092
01:09:56,640 --> 01:09:58,640
for his guidance, his strength,

1093
01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:00,640
and his power.

1094
01:10:00,640 --> 01:10:04,640
At that time,

1095
01:10:04,640 --> 01:10:06,640
we see God speaks, Joshua speaks

1096
01:10:06,640 --> 01:10:08,640
to the Lord. I want you to see this

1097
01:10:08,640 --> 01:10:10,640
is not just a matter of some cosmological

1098
01:10:10,640 --> 01:10:12,640
thing with the sun

1099
01:10:12,640 --> 01:10:14,640
and the moon and the earth's rotation

1100
01:10:14,640 --> 01:10:16,640
or the earth's orbit, all of these things.

1101
01:10:16,640 --> 01:10:18,640
But this is a

1102
01:10:18,640 --> 01:10:20,640
spiritual battle.

1103
01:10:20,640 --> 01:10:22,640
This is what God

1104
01:10:22,640 --> 01:10:24,640
is doing in this moment.

1105
01:10:24,640 --> 01:10:26,640
One of the false gods of the Canaanites

1106
01:10:26,640 --> 01:10:28,640
was the sun and the moon, and they

1107
01:10:28,640 --> 01:10:30,640
prayed to and worship

1108
01:10:30,640 --> 01:10:32,640
these celestial bodies.

1109
01:10:32,640 --> 01:10:34,640
Notice Joshua doesn't pray to the

1110
01:10:34,640 --> 01:10:36,640
sun and the moon. He prays to God

1111
01:10:36,640 --> 01:10:38,640
and then he commands the sun

1112
01:10:38,640 --> 01:10:40,640
and the moon as God answers his prayer.

1113
01:10:40,640 --> 01:10:42,640
What we're seeing

1114
01:10:42,640 --> 01:10:44,640
here is that they worship

1115
01:10:44,640 --> 01:10:46,640
these things, but God commands

1116
01:10:46,640 --> 01:10:48,640
them. God's not just

1117
01:10:48,640 --> 01:10:50,640
defeating these armies militarily,

1118
01:10:50,640 --> 01:10:52,640
but this is a judgment on their false

1119
01:10:52,640 --> 01:10:54,640
worship of creation.

1120
01:10:54,640 --> 01:10:56,640
And in Habakkuk chapter 3

1121
01:10:56,640 --> 01:10:58,640
we find this same picture

1122
01:10:58,640 --> 01:11:00,640
used as a picture of the judgment

1123
01:11:00,640 --> 01:11:02,640
of God.

1124
01:11:02,640 --> 01:11:04,640
The mountain saw you and ride.

1125
01:11:04,640 --> 01:11:06,640
Raging waters swept on. The deep gave

1126
01:11:06,640 --> 01:11:08,640
forth its voice and lifted his hands on

1127
01:11:08,640 --> 01:11:10,640
high. The sun and moon stood still

1128
01:11:10,640 --> 01:11:12,640
in their place as the light of your

1129
01:11:12,640 --> 01:11:14,640
arrows as they sped at the flash

1130
01:11:14,640 --> 01:11:16,640
of your glittering spear.

1131
01:11:16,640 --> 01:11:18,640
You marched through the earth in

1132
01:11:18,640 --> 01:11:20,640
fury. You threshed the nations

1133
01:11:20,640 --> 01:11:22,640
in anger. You went out for the salvation

1134
01:11:22,640 --> 01:11:24,640
of your people. For the salvation

1135
01:11:24,640 --> 01:11:26,640
of your anointed.

1136
01:11:26,640 --> 01:11:28,640
And what you see

1137
01:11:28,640 --> 01:11:30,640
is this picture of the sun and moon is not

1138
01:11:30,640 --> 01:11:32,640
simply a picture of answered

1139
01:11:32,640 --> 01:11:34,640
prayer or the fact that Joshua has

1140
01:11:34,640 --> 01:11:36,640
this privilege to speak to God in prayer,

1141
01:11:36,640 --> 01:11:38,640
but it's a picture of God's judgment upon

1142
01:11:38,640 --> 01:11:40,640
the false worship of the nations

1143
01:11:40,640 --> 01:11:42,640
of Canaan.

1144
01:11:42,640 --> 01:11:44,640
And as we look at the judgment of God,

1145
01:11:44,640 --> 01:11:46,640
we see three things. First of all,

1146
01:11:46,640 --> 01:11:48,640
judgment is fair.

1147
01:11:48,640 --> 01:11:50,640
One of the things that we see, especially

1148
01:11:50,640 --> 01:11:52,640
in the first verses of this chapter,

1149
01:11:52,640 --> 01:11:54,640
is there's no more righteousness in

1150
01:11:54,640 --> 01:11:56,640
Canaan. There is a

1151
01:11:56,640 --> 01:11:58,640
king in the city of Jerusalem,

1152
01:11:58,640 --> 01:12:00,640
Adonai Zedek.

1153
01:12:00,640 --> 01:12:02,640
The name means literally

1154
01:12:02,640 --> 01:12:04,640
Lord of Righteousness.

1155
01:12:04,640 --> 01:12:06,640
And what's interesting

1156
01:12:06,640 --> 01:12:08,640
is today we've met a king of Jerusalem

1157
01:12:08,640 --> 01:12:10,640
that comes even

1158
01:12:10,640 --> 01:12:12,640
before Adonai Zedek.

1159
01:12:12,640 --> 01:12:14,640
His name is

1160
01:12:14,640 --> 01:12:16,640
Melchizedek,

1161
01:12:16,640 --> 01:12:18,640
and he's the king of Salem, which is also the king

1162
01:12:18,640 --> 01:12:20,640
of Jerusalem, their same city.

1163
01:12:20,640 --> 01:12:22,640
Melchizedek means

1164
01:12:22,640 --> 01:12:24,640
King of Righteousness,

1165
01:12:24,640 --> 01:12:26,640
or the king is my

1166
01:12:26,640 --> 01:12:28,640
righteousness.

1167
01:12:28,640 --> 01:12:30,640
But what you find is this king

1168
01:12:30,640 --> 01:12:32,640
now, this Lord of righteousness

1169
01:12:32,640 --> 01:12:34,640
that lives in Jerusalem,

1170
01:12:34,640 --> 01:12:36,640
has the title, but he doesn't have

1171
01:12:36,640 --> 01:12:38,640
the life to match it.

1172
01:12:38,640 --> 01:12:40,640
And what we see is that there's no more

1173
01:12:40,640 --> 01:12:42,640
righteousness, there's no more goodness

1174
01:12:42,640 --> 01:12:44,640
left in the land, as God will

1175
01:12:44,640 --> 01:12:46,640
say to Abraham in

1176
01:12:46,640 --> 01:12:48,640
chapter 15.

1177
01:12:48,640 --> 01:12:50,640
"And they shall come back here

1178
01:12:50,640 --> 01:12:52,640
in the fourth generation, for the

1179
01:12:52,640 --> 01:12:54,640
iniquity of the Ammonites

1180
01:12:54,640 --> 01:12:56,640
is not yet complete. God's judgment

1181
01:12:56,640 --> 01:12:58,640
is both patient, certain,

1182
01:12:58,640 --> 01:13:00,640
and fair,

1183
01:13:00,640 --> 01:13:02,640
and ultimately it is complete."

1184
01:13:02,640 --> 01:13:04,640
To the end of the chapter. So Joshua struck

1185
01:13:04,640 --> 01:13:06,640
the whole land. The hill country,

1186
01:13:06,640 --> 01:13:08,640
the Negev, the lowland,

1187
01:13:08,640 --> 01:13:10,640
the slopes, and all their kings. He left none

1188
01:13:10,640 --> 01:13:12,640
remaining, but devoted to destruction

1189
01:13:12,640 --> 01:13:14,640
all that breathed, just as the

1190
01:13:14,640 --> 01:13:16,640
Lord God of Israel commanded.

1191
01:13:16,640 --> 01:13:18,640
And Joshua struck them from

1192
01:13:18,640 --> 01:13:20,640
Kadesh Barnea, as far as Gaza,

1193
01:13:20,640 --> 01:13:22,640
to the country of Goshen,

1194
01:13:22,640 --> 01:13:24,640
as far as Gibeon. And Joshua

1195
01:13:24,640 --> 01:13:26,640
captured all these kings

1196
01:13:26,640 --> 01:13:28,640
and their land at one time, because the Lord

1197
01:13:28,640 --> 01:13:30,640
God of Israel fought for Israel.

1198
01:13:30,640 --> 01:13:32,640
That Joshua returned, and all Israel

1199
01:13:32,640 --> 01:13:34,640
with him to camp at Gilgal.

1200
01:13:34,640 --> 01:13:36,640
God's judgment on these

1201
01:13:36,640 --> 01:13:38,640
people is complete.

1202
01:13:38,640 --> 01:13:40,640
And the one thing that I would have you

1203
01:13:40,640 --> 01:13:42,640
see is that God's judgment on Canaan

1204
01:13:42,640 --> 01:13:44,640
points us to

1205
01:13:44,640 --> 01:13:46,640
another judgment.

1206
01:13:46,640 --> 01:13:48,640
Remember, as Brent read, these five

1207
01:13:48,640 --> 01:13:50,640
kings,

1208
01:13:50,640 --> 01:13:52,640
as Israel comes,

1209
01:13:52,640 --> 01:13:54,640
they hide.

1210
01:13:54,640 --> 01:13:56,640
They find them hiding there. They cover the cave

1211
01:13:56,640 --> 01:13:58,640
in rocks. Joshua will eventually

1212
01:13:58,640 --> 01:14:00,640
come back. These kings

1213
01:14:00,640 --> 01:14:02,640
will be executed and placed

1214
01:14:02,640 --> 01:14:04,640
back in the rock where

1215
01:14:04,640 --> 01:14:06,640
they were hiding.

1216
01:14:06,640 --> 01:14:08,640
And in Revelation, the sixth

1217
01:14:08,640 --> 01:14:10,640
chapter, we find this about the judgment of God.

1218
01:14:10,640 --> 01:14:12,640
The kings of the earth, and the

1219
01:14:12,640 --> 01:14:14,640
great ones, and the generals, and the rich

1220
01:14:14,640 --> 01:14:16,640
and the powerful, everyone, slave

1221
01:14:16,640 --> 01:14:18,640
and free, hid themselves in the caves

1222
01:14:18,640 --> 01:14:20,640
and among the rocks of the mountains, calling

1223
01:14:20,640 --> 01:14:22,640
to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us

1224
01:14:22,640 --> 01:14:24,640
and hide us from the face of

1225
01:14:24,640 --> 01:14:26,640
him who is seated on the throne, from the

1226
01:14:26,640 --> 01:14:28,640
wrath of the Lamb, for the day of

1227
01:14:28,640 --> 01:14:30,640
their wrath has come, and

1228
01:14:30,640 --> 01:14:32,640
who can stand?"

1229
01:14:32,640 --> 01:14:34,640
The picture in

1230
01:14:34,640 --> 01:14:36,640
Revelation is

1231
01:14:36,640 --> 01:14:38,640
of mankind doing the

1232
01:14:38,640 --> 01:14:40,640
same exact thing as these

1233
01:14:40,640 --> 01:14:42,640
five kings of the Amorites.

1234
01:14:42,640 --> 01:14:44,640
And the question here, I don't

1235
01:14:44,640 --> 01:14:46,640
think is one that we can ignore.

1236
01:14:46,640 --> 01:14:48,640
It's not, "Is God on

1237
01:14:48,640 --> 01:14:50,640
my side?" but as the angel

1238
01:14:50,640 --> 01:14:52,640
of the Lord speaks to Joshua, the

1239
01:14:52,640 --> 01:14:54,640
commander of the Lord's armies, he says to

1240
01:14:54,640 --> 01:14:56,640
"I'm not on their side, I'm not on your side."

1241
01:14:56,640 --> 01:14:58,640
You need to be on my side.

1242
01:14:58,640 --> 01:15:00,640
And the question

1243
01:15:00,640 --> 01:15:02,640
for us this morning, as we see the

1244
01:15:02,640 --> 01:15:04,640
fair, and the just, and the

1245
01:15:04,640 --> 01:15:06,640
patient, and complete

1246
01:15:06,640 --> 01:15:08,640
judgment of God, is where

1247
01:15:08,640 --> 01:15:10,640
do we stand in relation

1248
01:15:10,640 --> 01:15:12,640
to God?

1249
01:15:12,640 --> 01:15:14,640
Will we worship the Creator, or

1250
01:15:14,640 --> 01:15:16,640
will we worship the created

1251
01:15:16,640 --> 01:15:18,640
things? You see, we find

1252
01:15:18,640 --> 01:15:20,640
ourselves with a choice.

1253
01:15:20,640 --> 01:15:22,640
And you may ask, "How can I stand

1254
01:15:22,640 --> 01:15:24,640
before the One who is on the throne, the One

1255
01:15:24,640 --> 01:15:26,640
who controls the stars,

1256
01:15:26,640 --> 01:15:28,640
and the heavens, and the sun, and the moon?

1257
01:15:28,640 --> 01:15:30,640
How can I stand before the One

1258
01:15:30,640 --> 01:15:32,640
whose judgment is fair

1259
01:15:32,640 --> 01:15:34,640
and righteous?"

1260
01:15:34,640 --> 01:15:36,640
We can stand before Him,

1261
01:15:36,640 --> 01:15:38,640
because there was

1262
01:15:38,640 --> 01:15:40,640
another Joshua.

1263
01:15:40,640 --> 01:15:42,640
In the Aramaic

1264
01:15:42,640 --> 01:15:44,640
and in the English, Jesus,

1265
01:15:44,640 --> 01:15:46,640
who died,

1266
01:15:46,640 --> 01:15:48,640
was put into

1267
01:15:48,640 --> 01:15:50,640
a cave that was also guarded,

1268
01:15:50,640 --> 01:15:52,640
and on the third day

1269
01:15:52,640 --> 01:15:54,640
He comes out of that cave,

1270
01:15:54,640 --> 01:15:55,640
the stone rolled away,

1271
01:15:55,640 --> 01:15:56,640
the guards flee in terror,

1272
01:15:56,640 --> 01:15:58,640
and has conquered sin,

1273
01:15:58,640 --> 01:15:59,640
and death,

1274
01:15:59,640 --> 01:16:00,640
and Satan,

1275
01:16:00,640 --> 01:16:01,640
and hell.

1276
01:16:01,640 --> 01:16:02,640
That unrighteousness

1277
01:16:02,640 --> 01:16:04,640
that causes us to run,

1278
01:16:04,640 --> 01:16:05,640
and to hide,

1279
01:16:05,640 --> 01:16:08,640
and to make excuses.

1280
01:16:08,640 --> 01:16:10,640
Our King Jesus

1281
01:16:10,640 --> 01:16:12,640
stood and faced

1282
01:16:12,640 --> 01:16:14,640
the judgment of God's wrath,

1283
01:16:14,640 --> 01:16:16,640
that fair, just,

1284
01:16:16,640 --> 01:16:18,640
complete wrath,

1285
01:16:18,640 --> 01:16:21,640
so that you and I

1286
01:16:21,640 --> 01:16:23,640
don't face that,

1287
01:16:23,640 --> 01:16:26,640
but we face the one who loves us,

1288
01:16:26,640 --> 01:16:27,640
leads us,

1289
01:16:27,640 --> 01:16:29,640
guides us,

1290
01:16:29,640 --> 01:16:30,640
who saves us,

1291
01:16:30,640 --> 01:16:33,640
and who welcomes us into a family.

1292
01:16:33,640 --> 01:16:35,640
Let's pray.

1293
01:16:35,640 --> 01:16:38,640
Father, fix our eyes on Jesus,

1294
01:16:38,640 --> 01:16:42,640
who is the author and perfecter of our faith,

1295
01:16:42,640 --> 01:16:44,640
who

1296
01:16:44,640 --> 01:16:46,640
went to the cross

1297
01:16:46,640 --> 01:16:50,640
and is now seated at your right hand.

1298
01:16:50,640 --> 01:16:51,640
He is our hope.

1299
01:16:51,640 --> 01:16:53,640
He is our strength.

1300
01:16:53,640 --> 01:16:56,640
So this morning I ask that you would help us as we see

1301
01:16:56,640 --> 01:16:58,640
your goodness and your strength,

1302
01:16:58,640 --> 01:17:01,640
that as you give your church opportunities,

1303
01:17:01,640 --> 01:17:03,640
we would seek

1304
01:17:03,640 --> 01:17:05,640
to follow you and to join you on mission

1305
01:17:05,640 --> 01:17:07,640
with prayer and with wisdom,

1306
01:17:07,640 --> 01:17:10,640
but you would also make us aware

1307
01:17:10,640 --> 01:17:13,640
that this is a serious thing who we worship,

1308
01:17:13,640 --> 01:17:17,640
and that we would worship you and not the creation that you have made.

1309
01:17:17,640 --> 01:17:20,640
Thank you for Jesus who stands in our place,

1310
01:17:20,640 --> 01:17:23,640
who is buried and who rises again

1311
01:17:23,640 --> 01:17:24,640
to save us.

1312
01:17:24,640 --> 01:17:26,640
It's in his name we pray.

1313
01:17:26,640 --> 01:17:28,640
Amen.

1314
01:17:28,640 --> 01:17:31,640
We're going to stand as we've talked this morning

1315
01:17:31,640 --> 01:17:32,640
about the greatness of God.

1316
01:17:32,640 --> 01:17:34,640
We're going to stand this morning

1317
01:17:34,640 --> 01:17:36,640
and sing about it.

1318
01:17:43,640 --> 01:17:54,640
The splendor of the King

1319
01:17:54,640 --> 01:18:00,640
The hope and majesty

1320
01:18:00,640 --> 01:18:03,640
Let all the earth rejoice

1321
01:18:03,640 --> 01:18:06,640
All the earth rejoice

1322
01:18:06,640 --> 01:18:12,640
He wraps himself in light

1323
01:18:12,640 --> 01:18:17,640
The darkness tries to hide

1324
01:18:17,640 --> 01:18:20,640
And trembles at his voice

1325
01:18:20,640 --> 01:18:24,640
And trembles at his voice

1326
01:18:24,640 --> 01:18:29,640
How great is our God

1327
01:18:29,640 --> 01:18:31,640
Sing with thee

1328
01:18:31,640 --> 01:18:35,640
How great is our God

1329
01:18:35,640 --> 01:18:39,640
Oh, see how great

1330
01:18:39,640 --> 01:18:41,640
How great

1331
01:18:41,640 --> 01:18:45,640
Is our God

1332
01:18:45,640 --> 01:18:52,640
And page to page he stands

1333
01:18:52,640 --> 01:18:58,640
And time is in his hands

1334
01:18:58,640 --> 01:19:01,640
Beginning and the end

1335
01:19:01,640 --> 01:19:04,640
Beginning and the end

1336
01:19:04,640 --> 01:19:10,640
The God had dreamed and won

1337
01:19:10,640 --> 01:19:15,640
The Father, Spirit, Son

1338
01:19:15,640 --> 01:19:19,640
The Lion and the Lamb

1339
01:19:19,640 --> 01:19:22,640
The Lion and the Lamb

1340
01:19:22,640 --> 01:19:25,640
How great

1341
01:19:25,640 --> 01:19:27,640
Is our God

1342
01:19:27,640 --> 01:19:29,640
Sing with me

1343
01:19:29,640 --> 01:19:31,640
How great

1344
01:19:31,640 --> 01:19:33,640
Is our God

1345
01:19:33,640 --> 01:19:37,640
Oh, see how great

1346
01:19:37,640 --> 01:19:39,640
How great

1347
01:19:39,640 --> 01:19:42,640
Is our God

1348
01:19:42,640 --> 01:19:48,640
How great

1349
01:19:48,640 --> 01:19:50,640
Is our God

1350
01:19:50,640 --> 01:19:52,640
Sing with me

1351
01:19:52,640 --> 01:19:54,640
How great

1352
01:19:54,640 --> 01:19:56,640
Is our God

1353
01:19:56,640 --> 01:20:00,640
Oh, see how great

1354
01:20:00,640 --> 01:20:03,640
How great

1355
01:20:03,640 --> 01:20:07,640
Is our God

1356
01:20:07,640 --> 01:20:15,640
Name above all names

1357
01:20:15,640 --> 01:20:21,640
Worthy of all praise

1358
01:20:21,640 --> 01:20:24,640
My heart will sing

1359
01:20:24,640 --> 01:20:26,640
How great

1360
01:20:26,640 --> 01:20:30,640
Is our God

1361
01:20:30,640 --> 01:20:38,640
Name above all names

1362
01:20:38,640 --> 01:20:44,640
Worthy of all praise

1363
01:20:44,640 --> 01:20:47,640
My heart will sing

1364
01:20:47,640 --> 01:20:49,640
How great

1365
01:20:49,640 --> 01:20:53,640
Is our God

1366
01:20:53,640 --> 01:20:59,640
How great

1367
01:20:59,640 --> 01:21:01,640
Is our God

1368
01:21:01,640 --> 01:21:03,640
Sing with me

1369
01:21:03,640 --> 01:21:05,640
How great

1370
01:21:05,640 --> 01:21:07,640
Is our God

1371
01:21:07,640 --> 01:21:09,640
Oh, we'll see

1372
01:21:09,640 --> 01:21:11,640
How great

1373
01:21:11,640 --> 01:21:13,640
How great

1374
01:21:13,640 --> 01:21:15,640
How great

1375
01:21:15,640 --> 01:21:17,640
Is our God

1376
01:21:17,640 --> 01:21:41,640
I want to thank you all for joining us this morning. We're thankful for those of you who are here in person and those of you who are here online. A couple of announcements. Before we pray, read some Scripture and sing our last song.

1377
01:21:41,640 --> 01:22:04,640
On Wednesday nights, we are, for the next couple of weeks, diving into sort of a theology of thankfulness. We took a look at sort of the importance and the underpinnings of that this week. This coming week, this Wednesday, we're going to sort of move through a theology of thanksgiving and see how God has called his people to be thankful.

1378
01:22:04,640 --> 01:22:31,640
So that's here, Wednesday, at 7 p.m. Secondly, my sister, who I may or may not have mentioned earlier, their church in Augusta, West Virginia, Hope Christian Church, is getting ready to send a group to my sister and brother-in-law's former hometown of Wachula, Florida, to help with some hurricane recovery and damage.

1379
01:22:31,640 --> 01:22:40,640
So she, one of her friends, runs a sort of a rescue kind of disaster relief agency called Send Me Missions, and they're going down there to work with them.

1380
01:22:40,640 --> 01:22:48,640
When they called to see what they needed, they said, "You know, we've got a lot of stuff. We've got a lot of resources. What we need are a whole lot of bodies."

1381
01:22:48,640 --> 01:22:58,640
Because those of us who have been working in this recovery have been doing so for 30 days without a break. So if you can just send some people to come and to, you know,

1382
01:22:58,640 --> 01:23:06,640
help us with emergency supplies, help people with houses. It seems like she said every day they're finding another family that is like sleeping on their porch

1383
01:23:06,640 --> 01:23:16,640
because their house is flooded and they haven't had a chance or the ability to go in and clean it up. So they're taking, I think, 12 or 15 people down in two weeks.

1384
01:23:16,640 --> 01:23:25,640
They've got the people that are going with them. What they're seeking to do is they're trying to offset the travel expenses for that. And additionally, if they're able to,

1385
01:23:25,640 --> 01:23:36,640
they've been looking for maybe at least one kind of good condition but really inexpensive camper to be able to donate to this disaster relief organization.

1386
01:23:36,640 --> 01:23:44,640
So some of those people in town who are going to be in the rebuilding process for a while will have the ability to have a place to stay.

1387
01:23:44,640 --> 01:23:53,640
So if you're interested in helping with that, I can give you a direct link to their church online donations, or if you would like to,

1388
01:23:53,640 --> 01:23:59,640
you can sort of earmark a donation here for that, and we will just pass that on to their church.

1389
01:23:59,640 --> 01:24:08,640
You can do that either online or here in person. If you do it online, there's a little drop-down category that says something like

1390
01:24:08,640 --> 01:24:17,640
"Florida helping trip" kind of thing. And so they're going down here in a couple weeks, so we actually keep that in prayer as well.

1391
01:24:17,640 --> 01:24:22,640
So I'm going to pray, and then we're going to read a verse of Scripture, but I'm going to talk a little bit about it before we do.

1392
01:24:22,640 --> 01:24:25,640
So let's pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness.

1393
01:24:25,640 --> 01:24:32,640
We just ask that you be with us through this week as we seek to live according to your will.

1394
01:24:32,640 --> 01:24:37,640
Help us to see your strength and your power. Seek to live on mission.

1395
01:24:37,640 --> 01:24:46,640
Help us to be people of wisdom and prayer, to share the good news of the gospel to those who are hurting and struggling.

1396
01:24:46,640 --> 01:24:51,640
And we just ask that you be with us in our country this week as we move through this election,

1397
01:24:51,640 --> 01:24:58,640
that you would give us wisdom and grace. We thank you for Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.

1398
01:24:58,640 --> 01:25:02,640
And so if you haven't heard, we do have an election coming up on Tuesday.

1399
01:25:02,640 --> 01:25:07,640
And the Bible has a lot to say about how we address these kind of things.

1400
01:25:07,640 --> 01:25:14,640
God will tell his people in captivity that they are not to isolate themselves, but to seek the good of the city.

1401
01:25:14,640 --> 01:25:17,640
One of the ways we can do that, there's a lot of ways we can seek the good of our city.

1402
01:25:17,640 --> 01:25:25,640
One of those ways is through engaging in these processes that allow us to have a say in who leads us.

1403
01:25:25,640 --> 01:25:29,640
God also calls his people to pray for those who lead.

1404
01:25:29,640 --> 01:25:38,640
And not those who we agree with, but Paul in 1 Timothy 2 will say, "For kings and all who are in authority."

1405
01:25:38,640 --> 01:25:43,640
Not just the guy that I like, or the person that I agree with, or the cause that I'm passionate about,

1406
01:25:43,640 --> 01:25:47,640
but we are, as Christians, called to pray.

1407
01:25:47,640 --> 01:25:54,640
And I think the way our country is divided, so closely divided, almost half and half,

1408
01:25:54,640 --> 01:26:01,640
at the end of Tuesday or Wednesday or next April when everything is finalized, depending on how things happen,

1409
01:26:01,640 --> 01:26:06,640
half the country is probably going to be happy, half the country is probably going to be very, very upset,

1410
01:26:06,640 --> 01:26:10,640
or maybe most likely just everybody is going to be mad.

1411
01:26:10,640 --> 01:26:15,640
And so I want to share with you a couple of verses from the 20th Psalm.

1412
01:26:15,640 --> 01:26:19,640
It says this, "I know that the Lord saves his anointed.

1413
01:26:19,640 --> 01:26:24,640
He will answer him from his holy heaven with saving might of his right hand.

1414
01:26:24,640 --> 01:26:31,640
Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

1415
01:26:31,640 --> 01:26:34,640
They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright."

1416
01:26:34,640 --> 01:26:42,640
And what the psalmist is saying is that so many times we put ourselves and our hope in these physical pictures of power,

1417
01:26:42,640 --> 01:26:50,640
whether that's politics, whether that's wealth, and he says there is a place for our hope, and that ultimately is in God.

1418
01:26:50,640 --> 01:26:59,640
And so as we move through this sort of very political time, we are called to be reminded that our hope ultimately is in heaven,

1419
01:26:59,640 --> 01:27:08,640
and it's in the God that we serve. We're going to go ahead and sing the doxology, and then we will be dismissed.

1420
01:27:17,640 --> 01:27:38,640
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

1421
01:27:47,640 --> 01:27:52,640
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

1422
01:27:52,640 --> 01:27:59,640
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

1423
01:28:17,640 --> 01:28:38,640
Amen. Amen. Amen.

1424
01:28:47,640 --> 01:28:57,640
Amen.

1425
01:29:17,640 --> 01:29:47,620
God bless you.

1426
01:29:47,640 --> 01:30:17,620
God bless you.

1427
01:30:17,640 --> 01:30:47,620
God bless you.