Good to be back here at Valley Spring and thankful for this new time. Had a good meeting over Lampassers yesterday. I pray pray that they're having a good Sunday morning there at Lampassers. They'll have their service and communion today, so we're praying that the Lord will be visiting there. And it's so good to know that the Lord can be there and here. If we had to compete with the Lord's attention, I dare say we'd come up short a lot of times. So we're thankful that the Lord is not hampered by the time and space, but that he is able to be with his people wherever and whenever they meet in his name. I've been thinking a lot about Joshua yesterday, trying to talk from the book of Joshua. In the book of Joshua, it talks about him at his uh in his very last days as he would gather the children of Israel together at Shechem, and he would instruct them in the commitment that they were called to to serve God and to remain serving God, putting away the gods of the lands and gods of their fathers and the gods that would detract from their serving of the true and living God. Joshua had lived through many things in his life from Egypt as a young man, young boy, having seen many great wonders done by God through the ten plagues, the deliverance of God's people in a night, having gone through the Passover, the first Passover, he uh very well, and I don't know this, but he may have very well been in charge of killing the sh the lamb and putting the blood on the lintel in the door post. I don't know. But he was a very energetic young man. It's spoken of in the uh the book of Exodus. Uh he was a man of war, uh, Joshua, this young boy that came through the many things of Egypt and walked out with the people of Israel through the Red Sea, seeing the army of uh Egypt drown in the Red Sea. So he had a lot of experience to speak from. Uh that's what I'm kind of trying to get through on this is Joshua wasn't just giving an opinion when he says, Whom you will you serve, will you serve the Lord? When he called on Israel, uh, choose ye this day, whom you will serve. But as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. And there was a reason for his commitment to serving the Lord. It's because, first of all, what was put in him by God, the very righteousness of the inward man that was constantly being witness to by the Holy Spirit. Uh, the Holy Spirit did not begin in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit was moving men in the old days before Jesus came. Uh, and I can tell you of a fact that the Holy Spirit moved men of old to pin down the things that they did, that speak of the things that God did. The Holy Spirit was moving men to do that. The Holy Spirit it speaks directly that David spake by the Holy Ghost. So the Holy Ghost was working in these men of old, and through that Joshua would develop this confidence that serving the Lord was the only choice. And when he said, Choose you this day whom you will serve, it doesn't it doesn't matter whom you choose to worship. If it's not the Lord, it doesn't matter. Because it's still serving the wrong one. Whether you serve the gods of the Amorites or the gods of your fathers, that's the wrong choice. The right choice is choose you this day, as for me at my house, we will serve the Lord. So Joshua is speaking through experience, and I want to look at a particular experience that Joshua had. After journeying through the Red Sea and coming up, I'm in Exodus chapter 17. Exodus chapter 17. And all the congregation of children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after that was the name of the wilderness of sin. It wasn't uh I don't I don't find any uh any indication that that was a wilderness and sin had something to do with it being a wilderness, but it was the wilderness called sin, S-I-N. There may be more in that, but that I can that I know. But yet after their journey according to the commandment of the Lord and pitched in Rephedim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord? They're chiding Moses, but in reality they're chiding against God. They're speaking against the Lord, because it was the Lord who sent Moses down into Egypt with the message to Pharaoh, let my people go. It wasn't Moses' people, it was God's people. Let my people go. Moses might have said the word, but it was God's possession that was down in Egypt. So they chided with Moses, but yet in reality they were tempting the Lord, and the people thirsted therefore for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is it that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle and with thirst? You know what they had forgotten? They'd forgotten that they were slaves, that they had been in bondage, that they were in a hopeless condition, that they had taskmakers that were killing them for not working fast enough. And for spite, they took the straw away, which made making the bricks harder. They forgot that. They forgot that they were in a strange land and just living without any purpose. There was no happiness in Egypt. There was just torment and oppression. That's what they left. They left with an absence of their identity stolen away by the ones that owned them as slaves. Why did they make them slaves? Because God had blessed them to become such numerous people that Egypt feared an uprising of these people. They had a Pharaoh that had forgotten Joseph. And that's a lot to talk about there because Joseph not only saved Israel, but Joseph saved Egypt. He saved Egypt from themselves because it was Joseph's ingenuity that he put up and been given the word by God, there's going to be a famine for seven years. And Joseph was given that information by God. So Joseph put up in the years of plenty, and he uh he then didn't have to worry about the famine for Egypt's sake. Egypt was saved by Joseph, and in the process, God sent Israel down there and even put it in the heart of Pharaoh to give them Goshen, which is a rich farmland, which is today. You see that commercial red land of red land cotton? That is Goshen. That's where Goshen was, is right there at the headwaters of the Nile River. So God was in the matter saving Egypt and Israel, but yet there were arose of Pharaoh that knew not Joseph, and by association knew not the work of God by Joseph. But Joshua is of the generation right as they're coming out. So he had experienced that Egypt life, and now here they are at Raphrodim, and they're chiding against Moses, but yet chiding against God, who had heard their cries, and then even said, God heard the cries of his people. And that's why, and that's when he sent Moses down into that land to bring them out by a mighty hand, that is, God's hand. Now they're chiding against God who delivered them. Now, and Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Wherefore shall I do this do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river, and take in thine hand and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Harb, and thou shalt smite the rock therewith, and there shall come water out of it. Unheard of, right? Smite a rock, and water will come out of it. What we're going to see here, friends, is a notable miracle for God's people. Again, divided the Red Sea with that rod, with the rod, take that rod and smite the rock. Smite the rock. I know there's another account where he tells him not to smite it, but to speak to it. But here it is in Raphredim, where he is going to smite the rock. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Now remember, there's one other there's one more part because we put all this focus on the rod, but he says, I will stand before thee upon the rock. I'll stand there. And what commentaries say about this is that he was in the form of this cloud. Remember, he went before them in a cloud, a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and God stands before them. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Masai and Meribah, because of because of the children of Israel, and because they tempted, I believe that's what Meribah means, tempted uh and uh Meribah, I think it was bitter, I think, because they were bitter, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not? Is the Lord among us or not? How quickly we forget. And I say we, because what we find in them, I find in us. How quickly we forget the deliverances that God makes in our life, how much difference He shows in the very walk of our life when we have been delivered and then go right back into another hard situation and we forget how good the Lord was to me. And so here is a refocus back to the Lord. Is the Lord among us or not? Well, who can argue when he tells Moses to smite the rock? I'll stand before thee, smite the rock, and out will come water, and the people will drink. And then came uh then came the Amalekites. The Amalekites, they're a they're a bitter enemy to Israel. They're an enemy that shows up more and more through scripture. As you go through the Old Testament, you find the Amalekites, one of the one of the main ites of the land. Uh, and I think in one place I've read where they were of the most numerous of the ites. So there's a numerous things that can come our way. Well, here they are, they just get the water, and and then came the Amalekites and fought with Israel and raped them. And Moses said unto Joshua, choose us out men, and go out and fight the Amalekites tomorrow, and I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine. And Joshua did as Moses had said unto him, and fought with the Malachites, and Moses, Aaron, and her went up to the top of the hill. And trying to find out, I know who Aaron is, he's a brother of the Lord. He was the mouthpiece of Moses. When Moses said, I'm I got a speech impediment, I got a speech problem. Well, Aaron don't have a speech problem. I'll make him your mouthpiece. He'll go and he'll speak many times for you. Um her, I believe, is akin, from what I found. Her was akin to uh Miriam, the sister of Moses. So I think he's either a brother-in-law or a nephew or something of, but he's in that connection with Miriam. But here I find him uh he's not a man of war, he's not one of uh great renown for slaying the Philistines or the ice of the land, but her is very important right now. He has got a very important job that he's gonna be called to do. And I'm gonna tell you, my friends, there's not an unimportant job in the church. There's not an unimportant position to sit in the house of God. Her, as unknown as he is, he's gonna be known here because this is something that he's called to do and he strengthens Moses here. Watch this. This is this is the Jehovanesi. That's the account of this matter. I want us to see how how and why this is such an important event that they would take valuable residence in the scriptures to tell us about this event. This is going to actually answer not only did God give you water to drink from a rock in a weary land, and remind you that he brought you out of a land of bondage through the water, through that water dry shod, all the way up here to this place, that you would find yourself here in need and God delivering your need, giving you drink, which Paul would specify that that rock was none other than Jesus Christ. I don't have to, I don't have to spiritualize that rock uh any more than what Moses did, than what Paul did, because Paul said that rock followed them and watered them through that wilderness. That was that rock was Christ. So coming from a rock, there's water. So I might know to pay attention to a rock. Uh that's just a rock. But here, my friends, a very particular rock that provided the things that they needed. Now, here we are at that place where they gave, uh where God gave them water at Raphredim. Uh and it says, and Moses said unto Joshua, choose us out men and go out and fight the Amalachites tomorrow. And I will stand on top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said unto him, and fought with the Malachites. And Moses, Aaron, and her went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed. He associates the prevailing with the holding up of the hands. And in the hand is that rod. Now I tell you, friends, let's not give the rod any more credit, no more than Moses himself. Do we give him credit? But it was the power of God and the word of God that spoke to Moses to use that rod, and God would manifest himself to his people through that miraculous work. Through that rod dividing the sea, that rod, my friends, that struck the rock, and now that rod is being held up. The hands of Moses upon this mountain. So he's elevated. He's gone up to a place where it is easy to see it. It's up in a place where it can be on display for God's people, that it can be seen easily. As they go through the battle, they look upon this hill. And up there is Moses, and he's got the rod in his hands. And I believe he's holding it uh outstretched, both hands holding it up, uh, that uh uh that it would be easy. It's not down here. It is waist or below where it might not be in view, but it is held up. And I believe it's important, friends, for the for the very illusion that we get from this lesson is that it be held up because, my friends, we associate that rod with Christ himself. He is a rod of power. He is a rod of majesty. And he is to be held up. It was him that struck himself there upon the cross. It is him that divided the rhythm of the sea so that we could come through a dry shot, another bit of mud stuck to us, another bone left in Egypt, a Christ, my friend, that promised, which is to be held up, to be on display, to be set in focus so that it could be in view. My friends, here he is, he said, uh Moses, uh it says, and Moses' hands, but Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone. Whoa. All of a sudden now I see a stone showed up again. A stone. And they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon. And Aaron and her stayed up his hands, the one on one side and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. Now, some I've read some that said that, well, he held that rod up with his right hand, and Aaron was there to hold up that hand, and they kind of give it the idea he took it and switched it to the left hand, and there was her there to hold that up. My friend, from what I'm reading, it doesn't sound like he switches hands. It sounds to me like he's got his hands both up, and they are steadying his hands. And so what I see here, my friends, is that a man with outstretched hands and a rod between each hand, what does it conjure in your mind? It conjures in my mind the same kind of illusion that we're told, and when I am lifted up, and when I am lifted up, I see a cross, I see an illusion to something that's going to come about, my friends. And yes, I know the end of the story. I know it. But here, my friend, God places for us a testimony, a witness that we are to keep in mind, my friends, that He went and was lifted up for us. He was crucified for us. Moses had that rod outstretched, and his hands held that up. Aaron and her steady it, keeping giving it support, giving it uh their attention. You know, they had to pay attention to things too. You know, to make sure that they were doing their job, their gift, their work. They were steadying the hand of that hands held and holding up the rod. Now, that's all, and it was all seated upon a stone. Great illusion of things there about the work of Christ. The important thing is that we have to find Christ in this matter. And the Christ is what Moses would display here. The deliverer that delivered us from Egypt, that deliverer that gave us water here at Referendum is the very same Christ that when you see him up and held up, you see the very way that we prevail over the enemy of our life, that enemy is sin, and we're fighting it every day. And they're numerous, and they're strong enemy. They're not to be underestimated, but they we know, my friends, that when he's held up and we keep him in view, we prevail. When his hands were heavy and he began to let down is when they would not prevail. Now I've joked Joshua, the Lord help me, this morning as we see it from Joshua's perspective. Joshua is not up on the hill. Joshua's down in the valley. He's down there in that lower area. He's down there in that plain where the where the battle is raging. Joshua is fighting a valiant uh fight against an enemy. And Joshua, my friends, was a strong, strong warrior, but Joshua needed encouragement. Joshua needed uh some empowerment. He needed motivation to fight the good fight, to be ready to take on all of the enemy. Uh, this, my friends, is his armor that he puts on. It's an armor that Paul would give us the illusion of a body armor, the helmet, the breastplate, the girdle, the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel, the very sword of the spirit, the shield of faith to stand against all the wiles of the devil, all the things that would come against us. He's wearing the armor. But the last part of the armor is the one that we let down. And that is praying always. Praying is the seventh piece of the armor, the whole armor of God. It's important, friends, that we hold to and wear, put on the whole armor of God. You are to put on prayer. And you ought to put on prayer for each other. Because he chose out men for us to go fight. It is an us thing that we fight. Yes, I fight my personal battles with the things that come at me. I fight them in myself, but I many times need the prayers of them that I love. We sing that song. I need the prayers of them that I love. And I want you to know, my friends, that makes a difference. Your praying for one another makes a world of difference, not only in your fight, but also in their fight. Now watch here. As we've got, just keep Moses. Let's just let Brother Moses stand there and sit upon that rock and keep those hands up and hold that rod up. Because it's not in the hands, it's in the power of the ones that said, hold up that rod. Hold up my power before my people. Hold up my goodness, hold up my righteousness. Not their righteousness, but my righteousness. Hold that before their eyes. Put that in their face so that they continue to, as they fight the fight, they look to the hill. They look to that mountain. And as long as they see that rod being held up, they're empowered. They're encouraged. They're motivated to fight the fight. My friends, I'm gonna tell you, you're at your strongest point. Whenever you can say, like Isaiah, and I, when the in the year that the king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. When I saw that, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to take on the strongest of the enemy, because I know, my friend, that the one that he's holding up delivered me from Egypt. He delivered me through the Red Sea. He delivered me from thirst. And he'll keep me day in and day out with that manna that's going to flow for the children of Israel. Every day getting their portion of bread. And even on the seventh day, it's provided on the sixth day. And it does not rot, it stays good for the seventh day. Nevertheless, the power that delivers me, I keep it in view. When I see that that rod being held up, and Moses would build an altar and call it Jehovanesi. And that means the Lord is my banner. The Lord is my banner. He is my flag. He is my standard. You remember back in the times of the tribes, they would have standard bearers. They would have their flag bearers. And each tribe had their standard. They had their insignia that said what their identity was. The tribe of Simeon and Reuben and Dan and all the different tribes of Jacob, they each one had their own banner that they would follow. And wherever that banner went, I gotta stay with my standard. I've got to stay with my identity of what I am. That banner, that banner that tells me something about ourselves. But even more is when the banner is that of Christ Himself. That banner that Solomon would speak about. See if I can find it. In Songs of Solomon, you all know this verse, I'm sure. Solomon chapter, Songs of Solomon, Solomon chapter 2, I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley. The rose of Sharon is Sharon is a mountain. He's a rose on top of that mountain. And he's also the lily of the valley. And whether I'm on the mountaintop, there's a rose there that I want to look to. And when I find myself in that valley, and do we ever find ourselves in valleys day in and day out? That low time, sometimes when we don't feel like we can get any lower at that moment. I'm telling you, my friends, look for the lily, the lily of the valley. That lily in those low places, my friends, he says, as the lily and the lily of the valleys, as the lily among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. His banner over me was love. That's the standard that, okay, Joshua, when you're down there in that valley, when you're down there in that low place of that warfare, when you're running that race is set before you, whenever you feel the in the hot part of the moment, you look up. You look up into the hill, and you see Moses' hands still stretched out and steadied by brethren. And that you you find the strength, you find the encouragement and empowerment to step up to the battle in the moment of time. You know, I don't know what it's like to go into a field of battle, of re of real battle. I don't know what that's like. There are men that that, many, many men that have gone into the heat of battle. And everything I've ever read about it is that when they do extraordinary things, when they do things beyond what they think they could even do, and even imagine what they could do. I don't know, or maybe they just desperate, I don't know what it is, that moves me. But ordinary men have done extraordinary things in the moment of hot battle. Well, my friends, I'm gonna tell you what gives us that strong courage, that strong motivation, that strong encouragement to step up in the moment and to and to prevail in the battle of our enemy. My friends, is that banner when we look up and we see the Lord? This, my friends, is why uh uh I believe Paul would write about those in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, that it talks about how many were sawn asunder, they were they were tortured, they were they were treated so bad for the testimony of Christ. And we know that's a fact, that there are there are people that hold to their profession of their faith and are killed for it. And why would anybody do that? It's because there's something in them that they look up and they see and they're given strength in the time and the moment. How is it that Paul would go into hostile land and preach the resurrection of Christ and be stoned for it and left for dead, and then get back up in the next few moments and go right back up into the city where he had preached before? What is it, my friend? It is that banner of love that's above you. It is that banner that we look to. It says, let us run that race set before us, looking unto Christ. Looking unto Christ. Looking for him and seeing him held up. And he's held up many times in the gospel message. That's one way Christ is held up. It's through the preaching of the cross, which Paul said, I desire to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's motivation for us, dear friends, is that what we could not do, he stood in the moment, he stood up at the right time, at the right moment, to fulfill what the Father sent him to do. He didn't uh draw back, he didn't shirk the moment, but he stood up in that moment and he tasted death for every man. We knowing that, my friends, and being told that over and over again. I need to hear that, I need to be refreshed, I need it rehearsed in my hearing that Christ is our Savior, and that through Him there is nothing but victory. So the viewing of the Lord can come through the gospel message. It can come through the singing of those songs of Zion, too. It can come through those moments in the low moments, like when Paul, we heard yesterday about Paul and Silas in a jail cell with the shackles on and under the under the guard of a prison keeper. And in that moment, my friends, they began to sing a hymn. And I believe, my friends, it was one of great praise to God of their knowing of their strength, which is in Christ and Christ alone. They knew where they were, but they also knew where he was. And they, I believe, they could feel him, Brother Elton. They knew where he was. He was in them, and it was coming out through the singing of those songs in the darkness of that jail, in the loneliness and the and the heartache of being captured and put down into a cell for preaching the gospel. My friends, they turned to the Lord and they sang hymns of praise. Don't know what the song was, but it was a hymn of praise. And the Lord visited them, took off their shackles, opened up the doors that kept them captive, overwhelmed. Uh jail keeper. The jailer. Overwhelmed. What they looked in the singing of those songs was that rod, that banner, their flag. They saw that that flag being held up. There's where I need to follow. That's where that's the direction that we're to go. You know, and in a lot of times in battle, we we saw this in some movies. I'm sure it's true in a lot of a lot of non-movies, but when they wanted to advance, the flag went, and they followed their flag. Their standard bearer would go ahead and they would follow the flag. That's my direction. It's kind of like some of those uh the buglers and the drummers. They weren't just beating that to make noise. They were they were doing that to give signal. It was their secret language between them, where they would know the right rhythm. That tells me to head forward. Or one of another kind would say retreat, and we'll take another run at it later. My friends, and when it called for advance, they would follow that flag. They would head in that direction to fight to fight. My friends, we're to run that race looking under Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith. That banner, my friends, is something to keep our eyes upon. One other place, or one other way, that that banner can be displayed before your eyes is by prayer. You know, there's there is that prayer within you that you need. You need to pray for you and the things that you stand in need of, and the things you feel, the desires of your heart, we're to ask, seek, and knock through prayer to the Lord and Savior, to the one that that rod represents. We're to look to that flag, we're to look to that banner, that banner of love that's above us. We're to look to that, and we're to pray to that banner. And that banner is Christ. That banner, my friends, that holds your identity, that holds relationship in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's your banner in you, that love which is of God. We love him because he first loved us. That's an important point. We love him because he first loved us, and we look To that one, my friends, in love to pray for the things that we stand in need of. But I'm gonna tell you, my friends, that prayer that you make for others makes a difference. It's a make a di it's a make see Moses, Moses wasn't fighting any Amalachites. He wasn't in the battle, but he was having an impact upon the battle. Because as long as his hands were held up, and there's a there was a point in time, I believe, that that Moses could hold his hands up for a while. But my friend, sometimes we need the prayers of them that we love. We need the prayers of them that would support in the time of need. Those that pray with me when I pray. Those that pray for me, I need those prayers. I need to pray for my brothers and sisters in the things that they stand in need of. It makes all the difference in our lives. And it's true, it doesn't obligate God because God's not surprised by anything. But I'm gonna tell you, I believe that when we're praying for one another, I believe the Lord is well pleased. Because if that prayer that we pray for others is of that flag of love, my friends, that pleases him. Because he said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Love one another was the message of the gospel. I loved you. I loved you with a sacrificial love. Love one another with a sacrificial love. Giving that love and prayer one to another, showing forth that testimony, that that rod testified that God was in fact still with them. They asked the question, is God still with us? I ask you, friend, do you believe God is still with us? Is he still on our side? You know, there's a psalm that says, Had it not been the Lord who was on our side. My friend, I will tell you, it would be a bad situation when the Lord is not on our side. There have been a few cases where a few times, or well, actually, more than I like to think of, many times that the Lord was not on the side of his people in a way that they wanted because they went into bondages. They went into times of capture, but the Lord was ultimately on their side in that he delivered them from the things that they got themselves into. We talked about choices yesterday, and choices are made, and choices have consequences, and those consequences, my friends, I thank God that those consequences only take place here in this world, in this time world. They only affect us in this life. Because he made a choice that does not change and does not have a there is no separation from that choice. But the choices that we make, we make them with consequences, and the prayer for one another has a consequence, it strengthens, it makes them go through their battles. And you know, my friends, I believe there's a lot of times that you prayed for others and you didn't see the answer. Well, I'm gonna tell you the answer was there. You might look, you might find out later that that prayer was answered, but I'm gonna tell you, we don't know. We may not ever know a lot of times the impact that your prayers make on others. What's good to know is that the Lord knows. The Lord doesn't do anything uh without his knowledge in those matters. So let us look, I guess the long and short, while we're going through this world, let us keep our focus on that banner that's above us, that banner of love, that banner of the Lord Jesus Christ that is our identity, gives us identity, and maintains that identity. He is our Lord, we are his subjects. Like I always like to say, in him we live, move, and have our being. And that, my friends, is where our strength is is the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank you for your attention this morning.