“Rooted in Obedience” | Sunday AM | Pastor David K. Caruthers

Original Broadcast of Sunday Morning 10 AM Bible Class, 05/17/2026 

Speaker: Pastor David K. Caruthers

Message Title: "Rooted in Obedience" 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

I'm going to be reading in Joshua chapter 3, verse 13 through 17. So I want to read the whole passage so I didn't ask you to stand at the beginning for that. And so today we're continuing talking about this in the series of rooted and courageous being gaining that courage and strength from the roots that God has given us. And so we'll continue that topic today. But I want to start by reading in Joshua chapter 3, verse 13 through 17. And again, I I you don't need to stand for this as we would normally do, but I'll just read the whole thing with you. Joshua 3, 13 through 17. And I want you to notice these first few words. It says, and it shall come to pass. And it shall come to pass. So that lets us know right off that God is giving some insight of what's going to happen. It shall come to pass as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they that shall stand up on a heap. And it came to pass when the people removed their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people, as they that bear the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped into the brim of the water, for Jordan overflowed all of his banks, all the excuse me, all of his banks all the time of harvest, that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city of Adam, that is, beside Zaratan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, failed and were cut off, and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. So I wanted to read it and uh it's to emphasize the point and to get the picture in your mind. Of course, most of you are familiar with this crossing of the Jordan, uh, but to sort of get the bigger picture, and it it scripture kind of does this sometimes. It tells us uh something and then it repeats it and sort of drives it home several times so we can get a clearer picture of uh of what happened. And today I you know I thought it was appropriate because we're uh acknowledging our graduates, and graduation is a moment to celebrate what has been accomplished or a course completed in education. It's the accumulation of efforts over time that moves you to this successful completion. And we we celebrate that because it's a big investment to get there, and it's a worthy, uh, you know, worthy investment and worthy uh results from that. And uh so, but that that graduation also signals that that chapter has ended. That at least that part of that chapter has ended for your life, which means you're now moving into something new, you're stepping into a new place. It's a new chapter that's opening in front of you, and no matter how comfortable you were with a previous chapter, it's ended. It's ended. Now, some people seem to say in school for a long, long time, but at least that part of the journey has ended. You don't go back and do it again, you don't keep repeating it. It's it's concluded, it's finished. And so you not only can move forward, you kind of have to move forward. You know, you have to at least step out of that place. You have to at least move beyond that place. That's the moment you're in. And and of course, that forward is filled with possibilities, it's filled with opportunities, it's filled with whatever. Maybe if you're uh uh, you know, it's a degree that focused on your career or something, maybe it'll give you opportunities in your career, all those things. So we celebrate it, but you can't really stay, you can't stay where you are, and you can't go back. You you you move forward in this moment. In the same way, that's where the Israelites were. They had been in this wilderness for a long time. And as far as this generation of people, the only firsthand knowledge of life they had was this nomadic existence of sort of moving around in this wilderness area, just moving from place to place. And God said, okay, that time has ended. That time has ended. It's that period of time has finished. It's time for something new. It's time for something different, it's time for something that's different from what your experience has been. No more nomadic lifestyle, but now uh you're in this place. And it's a new generation of people. Again, it's easy for us to look back and sort of compress it all together as we do in memories and telling the stories and all that. But for these people, for most of these people, it's an entire new generation. Most of these people didn't know or don't remember what Egypt was like. What they remember is all these years they have spent in the wilderness, and now it's time to change. It's time to move forward. And so we see this event happening. And so I want to I want us to kind of look at this event and glean from it. First of all, we want to say that obedience is faith in motion. God spoke to Joshua and he let him know the time has come, time to sanctify yourself. If you read this passage a little more details, you'll see that they're uh preparing themselves spiritually, preparing themselves for what God wants to do, preparing themselves individually and as a body of leaders. He called the priests together, he called the leaders together. We have to make sure we're right with God, recommit ourselves to God. And then from that, God instructs them about that step, that first step to take. And uh that first step that he was asking them to take. He didn't really give them much beyond that first step, except in sort of this general vague way. And that does seem like that's the way God works sometimes in our lives. God didn't give Joshua a timeline, he didn't give him specific strategies. I know you're thinking ahead, Jericho, all this coming, that he tells them what to do. He hasn't told them any of that yet. They don't have any of that information yet. They don't have a battle plan, they don't have any, they don't have all the things that you might want. You know, map it out, let me know what I'm doing. God tell me how it's gonna work. I want to know how this is gonna unfold. God just simply tells them what to do next. And that is often the case in our lives. Tells us what God tells us what to do next. We don't always know. We we may have a general idea out there, or at least sometimes we think we do, have a general idea out there. But but but we follow God that one step of obedience at a time. And so the instructions were simple. Tell the priest to take the ark and cross the flooded Jordan. And when their feet touch the water, the waters will part. This is what Joshua is told by God, and this is what Joshua relayed. This is the extent of it. Just obey what I tell you to do. It is interesting to me. It's interesting to me, you know, just looking at the bigger picture, that God took the Israelites out of Egypt and they had to cross the Red Sea. And then this whole generation, this whole new generation, God said, Well, I'm gonna give you a similar experience because you need to experience it for yourself. You need to have an idea for yourself of the miraculous and how this works and what God will do. Plus, I think again, it's uh it serves another purpose other than just seeing that God is miraculous. You see, God didn't have to take them across at this particular time because often during the year the River Jordan is not much more than a stream, it's not a big river. Don't think, you know, Americans, the Mississippi River. No, no, it's not that kind of river. It's it's not that big of a river. It's it's really it's really if the water's not coming down from the melting snow in the mountains and running down this river, there's not a whole lot of river here. And God chooses a moment, it tells you of harvest, chooses a moment when every year the river is flooded out of its banks during this time. Not only is it wide, but it's moving rapidly. And God chooses to take them across during that time. And I think sometimes, at least sometimes I think, let me say it that way, sometimes I think God was doing this just like he was doing, not only to uh in the Red Sea to take care of the Egyptians, but so there was no way back. There was no way to return to what you were. And so God brings them to this flooded Jordan and says, okay, you're gonna cross here, and there's gonna be no way to get back across once you cross over because it's flooded, it's moving rapidly, and just the imagery of describing what has happened lets you know, you know, the waters are piling up, waiting to flow back down. Well, they know stories about what happened, and some of them might be old enough to remember what happened. Most of them aren't, though. And so they're experiencing this for themselves, and God gives them this step to take. Psalm 119, 105 says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. God's word reveals to us the next step to take. But we can't see forever. We can't see all the way down the path, we can't tell which way it's gonna turn, we can't tell which way it's going. We just trust God and God's word to guide us step by step. And that faith and confidence in God always requires us to step out in obedience. In Hebrews chapter 11, we have a listing of what we commonly call the heroes of faith. Every one of them acted, they acted on God's promise and God's direction. They they responded to it. And I'm it's important for us to understand that because sometimes in our modern mindset, we uh use the term faith in the sense of just sort of a mental exercise. That it's just, yes, I believe that. But faith, if you really believe it, is always followed by action. It affects the way you live, it affects what you do. And so this promise that God had given them required Joshua to gather the people together to get them ready and for the priest to be ready and for the priest to step into the water before God was going to do what he promised to do. But when you obey God, it opens the door for God to do what he's promised to do. It makes the path, it makes the way, it makes the moment, it makes you ready for what God wants to do. The Jordan didn't part when Joshua prayed. The Jordan didn't part when they sanctified themselves, they had their prayer meeting, they repented, they offered sacrifices to God. The Jordan didn't part when the people were gathered together. The Jordan didn't part until the priest touched the top of the water. Got to go all the way through. I want it to happen before then. I want to see some evidence, God. Let me hold my foot over here and see what happens. You know? Let me let me see if it parts. No, it didn't happen until their feet touched the water. I want a progress report, God. I want to see the angels gathered. I want to see something happen. At least show me the water boiling, ready to move. I want to see something. We have to follow all the way through to open the door for what God wants to do. Second Kings 4, Naaman was healed. Coming up from the seventh time, he dipped in the water of Jordan. Nothing happened the first time, nothing happened the second time, nothing happened the third time, nothing that he could see, nothing that he could understand or grasp, nothing was happening until he came up the seventh time. And when he came up the seventh time, he was healed. Nothing happened to the meal and cruise until Elijah's bake cake was given. Nothing changed until then. But once she did it, then the barrel never failed and the oil kept running, and she was able to stay sustain her and her child all the way through. But she had to take a step of obedience first and follow through with that. And they marched around, and you know the story soon after this story. In Joshua chapter 6, they marched around Jericho's walls. But it wasn't until the last time that anything happened. It wasn't until the final obedience was done. In John chapter 2, the first miracle of Jesus. What did Jesus tell them to do? He said, fill the water pots with water. Fill the water pots with water. Okay, we can do that. And then he said, take it to be served. Oh that's different. I'm gonna take them over to serve them water. I can fill them, but it's still water. It's only when I obeyed completely, when I talk, take the water pots in to be served to the guest. Something happened in there somewhere, but not till I obey, not till I followed through, because our obedience opens the door for God to do the miracles. The scripture is full of places where God has promised and he wants to do something, but obedience activates God's miraculous work. Obedience puts us in the place for God to do what he wants to do. Obedience opens the door. So our faith requires obedience, and obedience makes room for God's power to work in our lives. We talk about uh, I'll throw this in here. We talk about signs, wonders, miracles. And we quote or we read at the end of the Gospels where Jesus says, these signs shall follow those that believe. But if you read that in context, he's talking about what we commonly call the Great Commission. What's the Great Commission? That's to go out and preach the gospel, that's to go out and to disciple, that's to go out and reach the lost. And in the context of that setting, Jesus said, These signs shall follow those that believe. You see, we want signs and wonders and miracles, and then we go to the lost. But that's not God's plan. We go to the lost, and God's signs and wonders and miracles confirms his word. It confirms what he said. If we will obey, then God will do the miraculous. And as we step by step obey, it builds a legacy of obedience to God in our lives. Joshua's obedience didn't just get Israel across the river, but it shaped their future. And your obedience today, as you follow God, as you work, follow, and walk after God, your obedience to God today will shape your family. It will shape your future. It will shape the influence that you have in those around you. It will build a spiritual legacy. God said to Joshua in Joshua chapter 4, he told him, he gave him struct instructions to set up a memorial, to take stones from the river and build a memorial. And God said, This will be a sign among you when your children ask their fathers in time to come, what do these stones mean? You will answer that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan. The waters of Jordan were cut off, and these stones are a memorial unto the children of Israel forever. That place of obedience and God's provision became a remembrance, a reminder of what God will do as we obey, as we follow after Him. And that's the way it is in our lives, too. As we choose to follow God in obedience, as we choose to walk after God in obedience, it begins to build the legacy of our lives. It begins to build strength in our relationship with God. It begins to grow the roots that we need so that we can continue to walk in courage and strength that God gives us. We sometimes talk about spiritual strongholds only in the sense of Satan or evil. But we build spiritual strongholds in our lives in the pattern of obedience to God. As we obey God, then we build those same strongholds, those same legacies in our own lives. As we follow after Him, as we obey Him. Doesn't mean you understand it all. It means you have faith in God, you hear what He says to do, and you do it because you trust God. You put your faith forward, you step in faith first, you let God do what He's promised to do the way He's promised it. It's about trusting God. It's not about knowing all the answers. Sometimes we have that discussion in relation to baptism. We want people to understand what baptism is. We want them to understand what it means. We want them to understand what the Scripture says about baptism. We want them to know that. But they don't have to have a deep theological understanding of baptism to be baptized. What we all have to do is obey God's word. Do what God instructed us to do. If we don't understand everything, we don't have to understand anything. It's good to grow and understand and to learn. But you don't have to understand everything. You have to obey what God tells us to do. So that's what we do. We just obey what God says, not without evidence, not without the truth of the word of God, not just because some whim passed over our brains, but because we want to obey God because we know when we obey God, God blesses our lives and it makes an opportunity for God to perform the miracles. The priest stepped and the waters moved. Joshua obeyed. God meets you in that step. God meets you in that step. And your miracle is right there on the other side of that obedience. Your miracle is right there on the other side of that obedience. Just keep obeying God because your miracle is on the other side of that. God knows how to work, He knows how to bless, He knows how to help your life, knows how to do the miracles that you need, knows how to give the provisions that you need, knows how to bless your life. Would you say amen?