SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Turn with me in your Bibles to Joshua chapter.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we're going to the Battle of Jericho, chapter six today.
SPEAKER_01: What I want to talk to you about is how to experience victory.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is an important, important battle.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just important because it's famous and the walls come tumbling down and, you know, all that stuff that we know if you've been in church in any time.
SPEAKER_01: If you put in the context of the book, this is very important because it is the very first battle.
SPEAKER_01: And because of that, it sets the pattern for the rest of the battles.
SPEAKER_01: This explains to the children of Israel that God is faithful to provide victory, and this is how He provides victory.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you look at a map of Canaan at that time, you will see there that you have the Dead Sea, you have the Jordan River that comes down.
SPEAKER_01: You see in blue the pattern of the children of Israel as they come across to the land of Gilgal and then to that first major dot there, Jericho.
SPEAKER_01: So you can see that this is an incredibly important spot because this is one of the few places where you come into the land of Canaan.
SPEAKER_01: And that red line represents that main highway that geographically has always been the main highway that would lead north and south through the land of Canaan.
SPEAKER_01: And so Jericho sits there right at the place where you come in and re and can gain access into the whole land of Canaan.
SPEAKER_01: Because of that, Jericho is a mighty fortress city.
SPEAKER_01: It is also a city that all the other pagan nations and people groups and whatever that live there, they would all look towards Jericho and what was happening there.
SPEAKER_01: And so here is this incredibly strategic spot, and God brings them to this major obstacle first.
SPEAKER_01: There is no sort of practicing with some little place or some other kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord takes them right into the heart of Canaan.
SPEAKER_01: He takes them right to the heart of one of the major enemies.
SPEAKER_01: He takes them right to the heart of one of the most evil regimes at that time.
SPEAKER_01: And we've seen in the story of Rahab and several of those how these people have dramatically rejected God.
SPEAKER_01: Even though they recognized the things that he had done for the children of Israel, they were clear enough that Rahab and her family understood who God was and placed their faith in him and turned to him.
SPEAKER_01: And yet these other kings and leaders in this Jericho area, the people groups that they represented, they rejected God.
SPEAKER_01: They fortified themselves against the person of God and the people of God, and we bring ourselves to this battle.
SPEAKER_01: And so what I want to talk to you about today is how to experience victory in our lives spiritually.
SPEAKER_01: How to experience victory.
SPEAKER_01: Because there is a way that we can know that God is at work in our lives, a way that we can walk with him, and a way that we can experience what he has promised in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in the book of Romans, yet in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
SPEAKER_01: And so victory is an important word for us as believers.
SPEAKER_01: Now it does not mean the absence of battle.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, victory itself means we won the battle, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so God never promises that life won't be filled with battles and struggles and obstacles and enemies and everything else.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, that's the picture of this book.
SPEAKER_01: And the same way that he's training the children of Israel how to face these enemies, how to walk by faith, how to receive the inheritance that he has promised them and how to walk in victory, he is teaching us by this life, real life illustration, how we can do that in our lives as well.
SPEAKER_01: So let's read here this battle.
SPEAKER_01: Even though it's somewhat familiar, if you've been in church any amount of time, you're familiar with sort of the walking around the walls.
SPEAKER_01: But there are some incredible details in here that I want to make sure we are reminded of.
SPEAKER_01: So let's read this battle of Jericho this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua chapter 6, verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelites.
SPEAKER_01: Again, before we even enter the battle, the Bible is reminding us that these are people who have rejected the people of God in the person of God.
SPEAKER_01: They are evil in their worship patterns, they're evil in their behavior, they do all kinds of things like temple prostitutes and child sacrifice and all manner of just horribleness.
SPEAKER_01: And they have seen and understood who God is, and yet they reject him.
SPEAKER_01: As we saw in the story of Rahab, as you see here, they have fortified themselves and prepared themselves to do battle against the people of God.
SPEAKER_01: Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelites, no one leaving or entering.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord said to Joshua, Look, I, God, have handed Jericho, its king, and its fighting men over to you.
SPEAKER_01: And then he tells them how we're going to do this.
SPEAKER_01: March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time.
SPEAKER_01: Do this for six days.
SPEAKER_01: Have seven priests carry seven ram's horn trumpets in front of the ark, but on the seventh day march around the city seven times while the priests blow the trumpets.
SPEAKER_01: When there is a prolonged blast of the horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout.
SPEAKER_01: Then the wall will collapse, and the people will advance, each man straight ahead.
SPEAKER_01: So in other words, they're going to put the army in the front, then you're going to put these priests with these long ram's horn trumpets or shofar trumpets.
SPEAKER_01: And then you're going to have the Ark of the Covenant, they're carrying that, and then you'll have a rear guard behind that.
SPEAKER_01: And so each day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, they walk one time around the city.
SPEAKER_01: On the seventh day, they'll walk seven times around the city, blowing the trumpets.
SPEAKER_01: And when they complete that final circle, it means that the city will be encircled or surrounded.
SPEAKER_01: And then they will blow a long blast.
SPEAKER_01: The people will shout, God will knock the walls down, and then they will descend into the city to do battle and have victory.
SPEAKER_01: So Joshua, the son of Nun, summoned the priests and said to them, Take up the Ark of the Covenant, have seven priests carry seven trumpets in front of the Ark of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He said to the people, Move forward, march around the city, and have the armed troops go ahead of the Ark of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: After Joshua had spoken to the people, seven priests carrying seven trumpets before the Lord moved forward and blew the trumpets.
SPEAKER_01: Now, just a note here, this is not being repetitive.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, this is the model of how we have victory, of how we see God accomplish his work despite enemies or obstacles.
SPEAKER_01: And so what God is telling us is here is the instruction.
SPEAKER_01: This is God's instruction, and he's going back and laboring these details again to show us specifically that the people of God are obeying the instructions of God.
SPEAKER_01: So it is affirming that the people were obedient in every detail and did this exactly the way God instructed them to do it.
SPEAKER_01: While the trumpets were blowing, verse 9, the armed troops went in front of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard went behind the ark.
SPEAKER_01: But Joshua had commanded the people do not shout or let your voice be heard.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let one word come out of your mouth until the time I say shout.
SPEAKER_01: Then you are to shout.
SPEAKER_01: Now keep in mind, these first six days, man, they are making a statement.
SPEAKER_01: And there is a seriousness to what they're doing.
SPEAKER_01: And there is a reverence, and they are also making a statement to the people who are on the walls watching all this weirdness happen.
SPEAKER_01: I was laughing with Bobby and some of the guys in the sound room this morning.
SPEAKER_01: I was really tempted at this point to show the scene from the Veggie Tales where they're walking around the wall.
SPEAKER_01: And you have the great, the uh, you know, you have those peas on top with the French voices, and they're saying, Really, you're gonna walk around the wall?
SPEAKER_01: And all that, and I decided, no, I'll try to be more spiritual.
SPEAKER_01: Just a thought.
SPEAKER_01: So, verse 11, the ark of the Lord was carried around the city, circling it once.
SPEAKER_01: They returned to the camp and spent the night there.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua got up early the next morning, the priests took the ark of the Lord, the seven priests carrying seven trumpets marched in front of the ark of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: While the trumpets were blowing, the armed troops were in front of them, and the rear guard went behind the ark of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp.
SPEAKER_01: They did this for six days.
SPEAKER_01: Again, God is not taking for granted that we just sort of read this.
SPEAKER_01: He is making clear that the people of God obeyed the instruction of God.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 15 Early on the seventh day, they started at dawn and marched around the city seven times in the same way.
SPEAKER_01: That was the only day they marched around the city seven times.
SPEAKER_01: After the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua said to the people, Shout, for the Lord has given you the city.
SPEAKER_01: But the city and everything in it are set apart for the Lord's destruction.
SPEAKER_01: Now here he gives instructions about how the battle itself, after the walls have fallen, is to happen.
SPEAKER_01: Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone with her in the house will live, because she hid the man w hid the men we sent.
SPEAKER_01: He is faithful to that promise of redemption for she and her family.
SPEAKER_01: But keep yourselves from the things set apart, or you will be set apart for destruction.
SPEAKER_01: If you take any of those things, in other words, if you start looting, then that's sin.
SPEAKER_01: That is not God's instruction.
SPEAKER_01: You are instructed, and God is making a plan here.
SPEAKER_01: I am going to defeat evil and the enemies of God.
SPEAKER_01: If you take any of those things, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster on it.
SPEAKER_01: For all the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are dedicated to the Lord and must go into the Lord's treasury.
SPEAKER_01: So the people shouted, the trumpet sounded.
SPEAKER_01: When they heard the blast of the trumpet, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed.
SPEAKER_01: The people advanced into the city, each man straight ahead, and they captured the city.
SPEAKER_01: They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword, every man, woman, young, and old, every ox, sheep, and donkey.
SPEAKER_01: And so there you have the victory over Jericho.
SPEAKER_01: Now, at the beginning of this series, I gave you a s uh a sort of a four-truth pattern here that would be established throughout the book on how we experience victory, how we walk with God.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll see this.
SPEAKER_01: This it's five, this five deal all the way through.
SPEAKER_01: You'll see it in every battle.
SPEAKER_01: In the battles they win, you'll be able to point these out, and the battles that they lose, you'll be able to see exactly the point that they violated in this pattern of how you follow God.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you look at it here, here's what happens.
SPEAKER_01: Understand your inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: Understand that we are walking by faith.
SPEAKER_01: We are trusting God for what he's done for us.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that God told them very clearly, he reminded them, I have given you, Jericho, all the armies and the king.
SPEAKER_01: It is God's inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: And when we come to him and we walk by faith as a believer, we are standing in the promise.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said it this way, I've come, you might have life, and you might have it more abundantly.
SPEAKER_01: Again, the Bible says in the book of Romans, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us.
SPEAKER_01: When we walk through this Christian life, we are standing on the promises of God, first and foremost.
SPEAKER_01: We are walking by faith that God gives as he promised he would give.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, trust God for victory over every enemy and over every obstacle.
SPEAKER_01: Now you can imagine in that day and time with the technology, how in the world do we knock all those walls down?
SPEAKER_01: How did we defeat that?
SPEAKER_01: Josh was thinking, what's the military strategy here?
SPEAKER_01: And God says, no, we're not going to do it that way.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to do it the way that it's clear that I am the force that accomplishes this victory in battle.
SPEAKER_01: And so he does this walking around, all that business.
SPEAKER_01: So for seven days, in Scripture, often seven, is a picture that illustrates the completeness of the work of God.
SPEAKER_01: Six days God labored, uh labored when he created the earth.
SPEAKER_01: The seventh day God rested.
SPEAKER_01: So you see that pattern.
SPEAKER_01: And so here you see seven days.
SPEAKER_01: So they walk around it for seven days.
SPEAKER_01: On the seventh day, they walk seven times.
SPEAKER_01: All of this is a spiritual picture, and they are just trusting God to knock that wall down miraculously.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, the first day you walk around that wall, if I'm in the army, I'm probably looking at the guy standing next to me and I'm going, Do you think this is really gonna work?
SPEAKER_01: Like, how's this gonna work?
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure by the fourth day, the people in Jericho are probably just like you would imagine.
SPEAKER_01: They're ridiculing, they're probably throwing stuff at them, they're doing all this.
SPEAKER_01: Is this really gonna work?
SPEAKER_01: And the guy says, Look, God departed the Red Sea.
SPEAKER_01: He promised us victory, and they messed up, and my mom and dad died in the wilderness, and I ain't dying in the wilderness, bro.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna trust God to do this.
SPEAKER_01: And then the next guy says, God opened the Jordan River for us.
SPEAKER_01: He did all that for us.
SPEAKER_01: We've seen God do this.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to do this.
SPEAKER_01: Trust in his plan to give us victory.
SPEAKER_01: God has promised us victory.
SPEAKER_01: Third thing you see is you recognize the reality and necessity of God's presence.
SPEAKER_01: We talked about last week, how when Jesus showed up in his Old Testament personhood to Joshua and communicated to him, I am with you and you need to be with me.
SPEAKER_01: And he communicated his presence with Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: He affirmed his promise to be with him as he was with Moses.
SPEAKER_01: And so here you see all of this detail given to the Ark of the Covenant being in the midst of the army and a part of this journey.
SPEAKER_01: And what is God saying?
SPEAKER_01: The Ark of the Covenant is the place where they understood when they set up the tabernacle and it went into the Holy of Holies.
SPEAKER_01: That was the place where God sat and his presence resided in the Holy of Holies.
SPEAKER_01: And so when they would take the Ark of the Covenant with them, it represented to the children of Israel the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: And so God instructs Joshua look, Joshua, I met with you in the desert, and you know I'm with you, and now we need our people to know I'm with them.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what you're going to do, Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be very clear about the presence of the Ark of the Covenant and where it is and what we're doing, because I am doing this battle, and I need my people to know that I am with them.
SPEAKER_01: And so we talked about last week how the presence of God is a part of our identity as believers.
SPEAKER_01: And so you see in this battle, the presence of God is clearly explained and illustrated to the people.
SPEAKER_01: In our lives, when we are pursuing Jesus, when we're walking through life, if it's a normal moment or if you're facing an enemy and an obstacle, the most important thing that you can do is grab a present, is grab a promise of God and step into the presence of God through prayer and worship and Bible study and seek his face and be in his presence and wait on him to affirm that he's with you.
SPEAKER_01: It is so vitally important that we understand the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, it's interesting as a pastor when you're trying to teach these how-to things and you're trying to explain and equip people how to do this.
SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately, sometimes these lessons, when we're trying to explain details, they come out like five steps to know God or ten steps for victory or eight ways to have a great marriage or nine ways to raise spiritual kids or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: And we're trying to break this down to teach through that.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, Christian life is not a formula, it is a relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And victory flows from the person of God who gives the victory.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we are walking through life, listen, we're not trying to go do these four things and then this works, you know, A, B, C, D, E, and then this automatically happens.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: We are trying to teach and encourage each other.
SPEAKER_01: This is how you use Scripture, how you use prayer, how you use the promises of God to step in the presence of God, and we are lost without the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, the most important thing that happens in a church on Sunday morning is when we come to worship and we come to pray that that is not some program moment in the order of service that we've always done it that way.
SPEAKER_01: It is God's people coming to the throne of grace and looking to the heavens and looking to Jesus and saying, Lord, we are yours.
SPEAKER_01: We surrender ourselves to you.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing good that happens in the church happens without the person of Jesus doing it, and we cannot do this on our own, and we need your presence with us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing more important for a church family collectively or for a Christian individually than to be in the presence of Jesus and to be searching for the presence of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: When God moves in a church, it moves because the people of the church have come to the Lord and have surrendered themselves and they are seeking his presence.
SPEAKER_01: They're seeking his presence.
SPEAKER_01: And then finally, immerse yourself in and obey God's word.
SPEAKER_01: It's great to read this whole chapter, even though we know the story about walking around the walls.
SPEAKER_01: God is reiterating over and over, this is what you do, and Joshua took it seriously, and this is what they did, and then they got up and did it the second day, and they did it six days, and then the last day they did this, and they did everything as God had instructed them to do.
SPEAKER_01: Now, why?
SPEAKER_01: The Christian life is not about just doing the right things, you know, be right and do right or whatever kind of a thing.
SPEAKER_01: It is a relationship with Jesus, and we come to him, and he has instructions for us.
SPEAKER_01: And those instructions matter because it's how he guides us, it's how he resides in our lives, it's how we pursue him and we take his word and we are obedient to his word because we are depending on him for victory.
SPEAKER_01: We are looking to him personally, we are counting on him to be a part of this.
SPEAKER_01: And you got to think God puts them in this moment because every other battle they're going to have, every victory resides on these five things, on understanding these things.
SPEAKER_01: I am stepping into this battle with the promise of God.
SPEAKER_01: I am trusting him to give us victory.
SPEAKER_01: I am seeking his presence, and I can do nothing without him.
SPEAKER_01: And then I am going to be in his word and his instructions because I am looking to him and trusting into him, and so I am not going to go either to the right or to the left, but I'm going to stick directly on the word of God because I am trusting him and I'm looking for him and I'm depending on him.
SPEAKER_01: That is what the Christian life is.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it looks like.
SPEAKER_01: And so God puts the children of Israel in this pattern, and he is training this pattern.
SPEAKER_01: This is a classroom for them to continue to deepen their trust and walk with the Lord in these moments.
SPEAKER_01: And it's important for us to understand every time you face a Jericho in your life, it is a classroom.
SPEAKER_01: It is a training moment.
SPEAKER_01: It is a time when you are rehearsing again these principles, these four principles of standing on the promises of God, of looking to Him and trusting Him to be greater than any.
SPEAKER_01: Enemy or obstacle that we overcome or that we face.
SPEAKER_01: And we do that through his presence, and I'm not going to panic over that enemy.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to panic over those obstacles.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to run off and create my own way to do this.
SPEAKER_01: I am going to go to the Word of God, and I am going to the promises of God, and I'm going to seek the person of God.
SPEAKER_01: And in His presence, obeying His instructions, man, I'm not worried about this anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Now I can face this as I want.
SPEAKER_01: Face this as I need.
SPEAKER_01: I can believe that there's victory in these moments.
SPEAKER_01: Now, there are certain things in this battle.
SPEAKER_01: We could spend weeks and weeks on Jericho.
SPEAKER_01: We're not going to do that, but I just want to highlight a few things that are important that are set up in this pattern that God is establishing.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just run through these real quick and then I'm going to highlight just a couple.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, he is setting up here that they need to trust God's promises and his provision.
SPEAKER_01: He is doing this battle in a way that he is giving them victory and it's clear he puts his thumbprint on the battle and he is teaching them, you trust me and I will accomplish it.
SPEAKER_01: God is faithful to his promise to his people.
SPEAKER_01: He gives a clear instruction, he gives a clear promise.
SPEAKER_01: I have given them to you.
SPEAKER_01: And he is going to construct this battle where he can accomplish what he promised, and they will learn every time I face a struggle, and God gives us a promise, God will always meet his promises.
SPEAKER_01: God will always be faithful to what he promised.
SPEAKER_01: God will always be honorable by his character as holy God to never welch on a promise that he has ever made to his people.
SPEAKER_01: You can always count on the character and person of God to meet whatever he's promised.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the juxtaposition of judgment and redemption.
SPEAKER_01: This is all throughout the book of Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: And what you see here is people are rejecting God, and there is judgment for rejecting God.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, the overarch of Scripture begins in the Garden of Eden, where we are made in a relationship with Him, and Adam and Eve sin.
SPEAKER_01: They sin against Almighty God, and He warned them there would be judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And they are judged because of their sin.
SPEAKER_01: Death happens in our world because it is the judgment of sin.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible makes clear in the book of Romans, for the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: There is judgment for sin.
SPEAKER_01: And he needs his people to understand that because the overarch of this is about redemption in God's plan for redemption.
SPEAKER_01: And just as in the Garden of Eden, he takes Adam and Eve aside and he says, Okay, you guys have sinned and you'll be judged for this, and here's the result of your sin.
SPEAKER_01: But I am going to give you a promise of redemption, and I am going to redeem you from that judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And the entire Old Testament is unpacking the plan of how God brings the promised redeemer to the world.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus comes, he dies on the cross, he pays the price for our sins, he's raised again, conquering death and life.
SPEAKER_01: He provides the means of redemption.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we come to these stories, we need to understand God never steps away from the reality of judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Hell is a real thing.
SPEAKER_01: The wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: And if you live your life under the judgment of sin without ever the redemption of Jesus, you will die and spend an eternity separated from God in the misery that is so awful.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture struggles trying to find a way for us to understand how horrible sin is.
SPEAKER_01: Not because scripture's struggling, but it's a struggle for us to understand.
SPEAKER_01: Even in this world right here, the Bible says that all things consist by the person of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We're living in the grace of God.
SPEAKER_01: He makes all this work.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is coming back.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know when Jesus is coming back, but the Bible makes clear when Jesus is hesitating in this moment, not coming back, it is because of his grace to offer redemption to more.
SPEAKER_01: But when Jesus returns and the final battle occurs, and God judges sin finally and completely, there is no more redemption.
SPEAKER_01: And there's an eternity spent in hell.
SPEAKER_01: And God is making clear all throughout scripture: judgment for rejecting God is death and is real and is serious.
SPEAKER_01: And so God is making clear here as he is painting the plan of redemption, as he is accomplishing those promises, as he's working towards the Messiah, he's making it clear the reason Jesus had to come to die for our sins is because we have sinned and we are under judgment, and our sin will be punished.
SPEAKER_01: The question for each of us is who's going to pay the price for our sin?
SPEAKER_01: When I was a nine and a half-year-old boy, I understood all this.
SPEAKER_01: It began to make sense.
SPEAKER_01: Since I, my earliest memories as a kid, my parents, they would, they would, they would, my dad believed in the book of Proverbs, and he believed in the spare the rod and spoil the child and punishment and all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And ever since I could ever remember, before I even understood, when my parents would punish me, they would say something like this, son, this is gonna hurt me more than you.
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Rogers is right, you're really a sinner because you lie.
SPEAKER_01: But they would say, Listen, son, we have to punish you.
SPEAKER_01: We love you, but this is wrong.
SPEAKER_01: You lied, you beat up your brother, but he deserved it.
SPEAKER_01: But I don't care.
SPEAKER_01: It's wrong.
SPEAKER_01: You didn't clean up your room, and then you lied to us that you cleaned up your room, and all of that stuff, son.
SPEAKER_01: All of that is wrong.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible calls that sin.
SPEAKER_01: One day you're gonna understand that.
SPEAKER_01: So we're punishing you so that you understand that sin always has punishment.
SPEAKER_01: But son, one day you're gonna be old enough to understand that Jesus loved you so much he stepped out of heaven, he took your punishment on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Over and over and over and over and over and over and over until I was a nine and a half-year-old boy.
SPEAKER_01: Over and over and over.
SPEAKER_01: God punishes sin.
SPEAKER_01: Son, that is sin.
SPEAKER_01: God punishes sin, but Jesus loved you so much.
SPEAKER_01: He stepped out of heaven and he went to the cross and he took the full wrath and punishment of God for your sin on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: He died in your place, son.
SPEAKER_01: No one will ever love you as much as Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He died for your sins on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: He rose again to offer you forgiveness and to forgive you of your sins.
SPEAKER_01: And when I was a nine and a half-year-old boy, one morning at church, for whatever reason, that morning, it all came together.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit had been knocking on my head for how knows how long, but it made sense that morning.
SPEAKER_01: I was sitting in the front row of the balcony on that side with my people in the balcony.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all are asleep already?
SPEAKER_01: Wave at me.
SPEAKER_01: The invitation, I can't tell you what the sermon was about, but I can tell you at the end, the invitation, the pastor said something like this Nobody will ever love you as much as Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He stepped out of heaven and he took your punishment on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: And I came down that balcony steps.
SPEAKER_01: I walked down the equivalent of this aisle right here.
SPEAKER_01: I put my hand in the one of the pastor's hands standing there, and I said, I need to give my life for Jesus because he took my punishment on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: And there was an old man who was a friend of my dad's, his name was Dewey Burton.
SPEAKER_01: And Dewey Burton had been one of my Sunday school teachers, deacon in the church, and they did counseling.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Greg, what are you doing?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Dewey, nobody ever loved me as much as Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He took my punishment on the cross, and that day I gave my life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And I recognized that Jesus paid the price for my sins.
SPEAKER_01: I will pay them or Jesus will pay them, and it is every person's choice.
SPEAKER_01: And in these moments, God is very clear about rejection of God.
SPEAKER_01: And this destroying the people in the town of Jericho and the oxen and the wealth structure and all that, all that is about the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And you see this pattern repeated.
SPEAKER_01: The necessity and power of God's presence.
SPEAKER_01: When God is with them, then they are victorious.
SPEAKER_01: And when they walk away from God and they do things their own way and they don't pray or they don't look for his presence or they don't pursue him, in those moments they fail.
SPEAKER_01: And he's trying to teach us listen, you will fail if you walk away from the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: But if you are pursuing him and you are in his presence and you are walking with him and you are allowing him to walk with you, there is always victory.
SPEAKER_01: Because God is faithful to his promise.
SPEAKER_01: Obedience and holiness, you see it repeated all the time.
SPEAKER_01: They obey, they win, they disobey, they lose.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the book, at the end of Joshua's ministry, we'll cover it when we get there, but there's an incredible moment where he stands up again and he says, People, listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: All of these journeys of seven years of battle and all this stuff, this is all about one thing.
SPEAKER_01: God has put in front of you a choice.
SPEAKER_01: If you trust him and obey, you're blessed.
SPEAKER_01: And if you reject him, there is judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And he says that famous verse, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: It's about obedience and holiness.
SPEAKER_01: There's a couple other things.
SPEAKER_01: Victory comes from and belongs to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: In every one of these battles, with all of these strange ways that God does all these things, later when you get to, you know, these moments where these miraculous things happen, it is always to prove that God is the one who brings victory.
SPEAKER_01: You see that God establishes his people as a whole, as well as individuals.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, God loves you as a person.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that you were fearfully and wonderfully made.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says that God knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb.
SPEAKER_01: But because we live in an American culture, and praise the Lord what we do, let me finish before you get frustrated with me, we live in a culture that is built around individual rights, and we can do whatever we want to do, and nobody can tell me what to do.
SPEAKER_01: And too often, that political philosophy, which I believe in as a political philosophy, I'm a proud American patriot.
SPEAKER_01: Praise to God we're here, right?
SPEAKER_01: Let me finish.
SPEAKER_01: We adopt that political philosophy and we write it into our Bibles somewhere where it is not.
SPEAKER_01: When you are a follower of Christ, by the blood of Jesus, you are bound to the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: There is no individual Christian deal anywhere.
SPEAKER_01: You are by definition a part of the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And the body of Christ rises and falls on the obedience of the individuals to the work of God in the whole.
SPEAKER_01: We'll see that in a minute.
SPEAKER_01: And finally, grace in receiving those who come to trust the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Again, this is not genocide, whatever you hear in modern woke culture or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: This is not destroying people who are not Israelites because they're not Israelites.
SPEAKER_01: Rahab.
SPEAKER_01: From the first moment in the initial pattern, you see a person who is not an Israelite who turns to the Lord and looks to him for redemption, and they are embraced and redeemed.
SPEAKER_01: And we talked a few weeks ago about the fact that Rahab was so redeemed that she enters into the very lineage of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And here they stop, and Joshua screams at the whole of the city and reminds them of the promise of Rahab because Rahab was lost and was found.
SPEAKER_01: She was under judgment and she turned to God for redemption.
SPEAKER_01: She placed her faith in the redemption that comes through the God of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: She saw the message and the work of God and all of that, and she said, Our hope is not in this dead religion of this place where I live, but our hope is in the person of God and his plan for redemption.
SPEAKER_01: And she placed her faith in him.
SPEAKER_01: And every time they go throughout the land of Canaan, if someone turns to God, they are embraced.
SPEAKER_01: Because the whole thing is about the plan of redemption.
SPEAKER_01: And he takes a moment right in the center of this battle to remind us that someone places their faith in the Lord, they are embraced and redeemed because this is all about the redemption of God.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just highlight three things before we go, real quick.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, God is always faithful to accomplish his plan for his people.
SPEAKER_01: That is the point here.
SPEAKER_01: I have given you the land.
SPEAKER_01: I have given you the king.
SPEAKER_01: I am faithful to do this, and he details the falling of the wall and the going in to do that so that we understand God is always faithful to his promise.
SPEAKER_01: And it is so important for us as believers to have a fundamental perspective and trust in the Word of God that we believe God is always faithful to his promise.
SPEAKER_01: He is always faithful to his promise.
SPEAKER_01: Second thing, our responsibility is personal to the Lord, but it is also personal to the people of God.
SPEAKER_01: God commands this battle in a way that he is teaching the children of Israel that they are a whole and they are in this together.
SPEAKER_01: They are marching as a people and they are shouting as a people.
SPEAKER_01: They are obeying as a people.
SPEAKER_01: Do not shout on the first day.
SPEAKER_01: Do not shout on the second day.
SPEAKER_01: Do not shout on the third day.
SPEAKER_01: Do not shout on the fourth day.
SPEAKER_01: If one person starts screaming, they've messed up the plan.
SPEAKER_01: If one person doesn't obey, then there is noise and there is other stuff, and other people will start shouting, and all this stuff will happen, and it will mess up the plan that God has established to show that He is the one of victory.
SPEAKER_01: I remember when I was in high school, I went to a Baptist high school.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever seen the blind side movie?
SPEAKER_01: I graduated from that high school.
SPEAKER_01: That's my high school.
SPEAKER_01: They renamed it in the movie.
SPEAKER_01: It is called Briarcrest, and in my day it was Briarcrest Baptist School System, and now it's Briarcrest Christian School System.
SPEAKER_01: So I graduated from Briarcrest Baptist High School.
SPEAKER_01: I was in the marching band.
SPEAKER_01: We had an incredible marching band.
SPEAKER_01: We had a high standard of what we did.
SPEAKER_01: Our people were really proud.
SPEAKER_01: When we went to competitions, we were always competing for the number one band across all sizes and categories of bands, if you know band ministry.
SPEAKER_01: And so we, our uh band director had a very high standard.
SPEAKER_01: He's also a godly man, and he put a standard of scripture on everything.
SPEAKER_01: So what he had us do was adopt this victory.
SPEAKER_01: And so when they were announcing all the bands, all these other high schools, they're screaming and they're running around and they're doing all this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what we did: we were always in one of the middle size classes because it was a private school, so it wasn't huge.
SPEAKER_01: It wouldn't be the size of Northside or Southside.
SPEAKER_01: And so it would be time for our class to stand up and we would stand at attention.
SPEAKER_01: And we were not allowed to make a noise.
SPEAKER_01: And they would always announce man, we had all straight ones across the board, and other bands would scream and cheer, and we stood there in honor.
SPEAKER_01: And then they would announce the Color Guard Awards, and our Color Guard always won awards, and we would stand there in honor.
SPEAKER_01: And they would announce the breast the brass awards, and we were always competing for best brass, and we would stand there in honor.
SPEAKER_01: And then they would announce the percussion deals, and we were always in the running for best percussion and best percussion deals, and we stood there in honor, and it was awe-inspiring to other people to watch that.
SPEAKER_01: Man, other schools began to copy what we were doing because there was a power in that moment.
SPEAKER_01: We were all in it.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember when I was a freshman and I was moving into this deal and I was watching all these people and the seniors, man, we would stand up and the seniors would threaten you within an inch of your life.
SPEAKER_01: Do not utter a word.
SPEAKER_01: I remember I had a guy turn around and look at me in the eye, and he says, Shut up, and stands in attention.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like.
SPEAKER_01: But here's what happens there's always somebody that doesn't get it.
SPEAKER_01: There was always someone, I remember some freshman down a few rows with me, it was a clarinet player.
SPEAKER_01: It's always a clarinet player.
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't get what they don't get, but and they go, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, you heard everybody go, but here's the problem.
SPEAKER_01: You heard the first one, and then you heard everybody else go, what?
SPEAKER_01: And the whole moment was broken.
SPEAKER_01: Because one person broke it.
SPEAKER_01: God set this up so they would understand.
SPEAKER_01: I love each of you, but your life is not your own.
SPEAKER_01: You are my people and I own your life.
SPEAKER_01: When I gave my life to Jesus Christ, I took my life, everything I'd been, I am, and I ever would be, and I gave it all to Jesus, and it's not my life anymore.
SPEAKER_01: That's why the Bible says, when you're supposed to be in church, he says, listen, do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together.
SPEAKER_01: When you are not here for either your two weeks of vacation in the year, or you're just, you know, God has hindered you for some reason.
SPEAKER_01: If you're just not here because you're not here, you are literally breaching a spiritual fiduciary duty to the people of God.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how to say it any clearer than that.
SPEAKER_01: And then the Bible goes and he says, this, when you're to go in, here's what we're going to do.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 18, keep yourselves from the things set apart, or you will be set apart for destruction.
SPEAKER_01: So he's telling them, listen, don't steal the gold, don't steal the silver, don't steal the bronze.
SPEAKER_01: If you hide some of that in your coat and you take it back to your tent because you can't handle that temptation, you're greeting, you are going to experience judgment for that sin.
SPEAKER_01: But then listen to what he says next.
SPEAKER_01: If you take any of those things, you as an individual will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster on it.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, when we fail, when we mess up, when we're not here, when we're out there living for the devil and coming to church trying to hide that, you are damaging the people of God.
SPEAKER_01: You will see that lesson learned next week when they fail in the battle of AI.
SPEAKER_01: We are tied together.
SPEAKER_01: Your identity as a Christian and as a member of the church is inextricably linked, and you cannot, even with brain surgery, separate the two.
SPEAKER_01: God begins from the very first battle to let them know listen, you are a part of the whole, and I am working through the whole, and these are my people, and you're my people, and you do not have individual rights.
SPEAKER_01: Man, praise God, we're Americans and we vote, and we have rights and all that.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, in the body of Christ, you live in submission to Jesus and you live in submission to what he's doing in the body.
SPEAKER_01: In Ephesians chapter 5, it goes on and on and on and on and on that the Christian life is lived in submission.
SPEAKER_01: You're in submission to God, you're in submission to the image of Jesus, you're in submission to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Wives are in submission to their husbands.
SPEAKER_01: Husbands are in submission to their wives in the sense that you die on the cross for your wife.
SPEAKER_01: Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.
SPEAKER_01: You don't get to do what you want to do.
SPEAKER_01: You die on the cross for your wife.
SPEAKER_01: Children, you obey your parents.
SPEAKER_01: Parents, you raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and you do not create problem in their lives.
SPEAKER_01: Masters, you treat your slaves as brothers in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Slaves or servants or employees or whatever comment you term you want to use in today's culture, you are in submission to your boss.
SPEAKER_01: We are all in submission to each other.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that you are living in submission to the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: You are to speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
SPEAKER_01: We are to be encouragement to each other and not a pain to each other.
SPEAKER_01: When you gave your life to Jesus, you gave away the right to be a jerk.
SPEAKER_01: And when we sin, we bring destruction and struggle on the entire body.
SPEAKER_01: On the entire body.
SPEAKER_01: It is not your life.
SPEAKER_01: It's not mine.
SPEAKER_01: And finally, victory is found in the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: We worship because we are worshiping.
SPEAKER_01: I don't care what the tune of the song is, we are singing it to Jesus, period.
SPEAKER_01: When we come and pray, it is not a point where we're swapping musicians or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: When we're praying, we are praying to God for his presence.
SPEAKER_01: You will hear me in the beginning of the service, and I try to do this every week as much as I can.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, with all that is in me, God, we surrender ourselves to you and your work.
SPEAKER_01: There's a reason that we pray that pastorally and we lead that in the body because we are coming seeking the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: There's a reason that we look to the word and we read the word, and it's all about that because we are seeking the presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: Because it is He who gives the victory.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to encourage you, man, this is how the Christian life works, and it is awesome.
SPEAKER_01: God is faithful to his promise.
SPEAKER_01: And the first promise he is faithful to is if you will call out and tell him, Lord, I know that Jesus loved me more than anybody else, and he took my punishment on the cross, and I want to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: God will always answer that prayer.
SPEAKER_01: He will always save because he promised.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, we're going to give you a moment now to give your life to Him.
SPEAKER_01: If you're watching online right there where you are, you just do it and you call us later.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here in the room, I'm about to pray, God's people are going to sing.
SPEAKER_01: And just like I did when a nine and a half-year-old boy and so many other people in our congregation who will be singing this testimony, they did the same thing in their life when they gave their life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And as we sing in this invitation, it is all of these people encouraging you, telling you God is faithful and will save you like he saved us if you'll give your life to him.
SPEAKER_01: As God's people are singing, we want pastors in our aisles, we want people to pray with you and talk with you.
SPEAKER_01: If you need Jesus, you come.
SPEAKER_01: You come and give your life to him and trust him to pay the price for your sin.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we love you and we thank you.
SPEAKER_01: You come now as we close.
SPEAKER_01: We need your presence here.
SPEAKER_01: Speak to hearts that need to be spoken to.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, as your children who have trusted you, as we sing together, just the way the children of Israel shouted on that seventh day, they shouted together their trust in you.
SPEAKER_01: We are singing our trust in you.
SPEAKER_01: Father, use your presence as you inhabit the praise of your people to speak.
SPEAKER_00: Pray these things in Jesus' name and all God's people say.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.