SPEAKER_00: I kind of um I'm I'm been processing a lot this morning and this week, and I think maybe just bandwidth wise I've had a little bit less than my normal, and so I'm kind of in real time processing a couple things.
SPEAKER_00: But um you know that scene where the the college kid or the person who's hustling to work is is got all their stuff and and then they get bumped into and it all just goes flying everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: This is a bit how I feel right now.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that sometimes we all can kind of feel that way when we're trying to juggle life and we're trying to juggle relationships, we're just talking about marriage, we're talking about friendships, we're talking about finances, we're talking about our faith.
SPEAKER_00: There's all these different things happening all at once, and sometimes it just feels like they're all up in the air.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I mentioned on Wednesday, I felt like my heart was outside of my chest getting drop-kicked by the world and by you know, just life.
SPEAKER_00: And um it's sort of that part of it's kind of back in my chest a bit more right now, and it doesn't feel so much like that, but I do feel a little bit a bit bit scattered, you know, and then I have this sort of uh like all of you, we have these responsibilities where we just have to show up, regardless of how scattered we we are, you know, and and how incapable we are.
SPEAKER_00: And so we we show up and we pretend that everything is exactly where we know it is.
SPEAKER_00: We'd open up the file and we go like boom, and here's this paper, and here's this, and here's this.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you need a copy of that, here it goes.
SPEAKER_00: But in reality, just everything is up in the air.
SPEAKER_00: And that is, I think, a good place because it keeps you dependent on the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: When we have everything together, and and things are just so, we have this tendency to forget the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And we we we get into this posture where we just start moving and we don't pray, we don't inquire, we don't seek the Lord diligently.
SPEAKER_00: We just like I'm keeping my papers in the file and my books in line and my work projects in the right and proper perspectives.
SPEAKER_00: And so we just get to this place where we are constantly managing those things, and it's not until something hits us and everything goes flying that we realize, oh my goodness, I've been doing this in my own strength.
SPEAKER_00: I need the Lord right now.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I didn't just need him to help me put everything back, but once they were all together, I actually wanted to go, here, you carry them, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And that's where we really need to be.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh I want to do something a little different, a couple things a little different this morning.
SPEAKER_00: But the first thing I want to do right now, which is not different, is pray um for the sermon, for the message, for us, for God to move this morning.
SPEAKER_00: You guys, there's two realities uh that cannot coexist.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, either the cross is foolishness, okay, and we should all be pitied for showing up here today, or Christ alone has the words of eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Those two things are they can't both be true.
SPEAKER_00: They can't be true that the cross is not true and false, and then also that the Lord has the words of eternal life, because his word says and reinforces the reality of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And so this morning, if we're sitting here and we're playing church, does a big part of what's on my heart this morning, if we're playing church, that we get rattled from that place and we realize that there is something that is supposed to be so serious about what we do here that we can't play.
SPEAKER_00: And it does transform and it does sober us.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we talked about uh rest, and we talked about how me time is one of those things that comes into our lives, and if we don't get enough of it, we suffer.
SPEAKER_00: But then we looked at on Wednesday that that doesn't really hold up underneath the weight of the world.
SPEAKER_00: And I realize I'm kind of all over the place right now, but what I'm trying to do is just bring us into a place where we're a little bit more understanding of the gravity of our need for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: For Christ alone.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need me time, okay?
SPEAKER_00: You don't need uh uh a nice little sanctuary within your house that is your man cave or your woman.
SPEAKER_00: She shed.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: You ladies do so many things better than us, but a she shed, that's so lame.
SPEAKER_00: The reason why is because you guys get the rest of the house, so we don't really talk about you guys just get the house, men get the cape.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, um there's a there is a weight to what is going on, and the reality is is when you talk about and you get lost in the American ideal of just enough time for you and just enough time here, and there's this kind of Venn diagram, they sort of overlap in this little centerpiece, and you know, but everything else has you know what?
SPEAKER_00: If you went to Nepal right now, you got an airplane and you flew to Nepal, right?
SPEAKER_00: And if you guys know what is happening there, thousands of people lost their homes, thousands of people have died, okay, under the weight and water uh uh that has moved down through their city.
SPEAKER_00: And and they're just so overwhelmed, literally just crawling and and and and just moving away, just mud that just fills back in, and they they move it because they're trying to get to people that they love.
SPEAKER_00: And they're just so stressed out, and you're like, you know what you need?
SPEAKER_00: You need some me time.
SPEAKER_00: You need a space that is just for you, man.
SPEAKER_00: And if you had that, you would be okay.
SPEAKER_00: That is not what we serve here, guys.
SPEAKER_00: That is not what we give people here.
SPEAKER_00: There is hope, but it's not found in a properly prioritized life with a little bit of you and a little bit of God and a little bit of your family and a little bit of work and then just enough food and travel.
SPEAKER_00: We serve Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And we say, we we say, Christ, this, you are our hope, and that's what we're gonna try to give to the world.
SPEAKER_00: We are hope dealers.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we want to give.
SPEAKER_00: And we introduce people to Jesus because it uh it handles the weight of cancer, it handles the weight of criticism, it handles the weight of floods and natural disasters, it handles the weight of terrorist attacks, unexpected loss of a child.
SPEAKER_00: Me time does not hold up.
SPEAKER_00: Self-help books do not hold up.
SPEAKER_00: Making more money, learning how to platform your pain, it does not hold up.
SPEAKER_00: Christ holds up.
SPEAKER_00: He took the weight of the world and all the sin on his shoulders, and the fact that he would say, You sinful Ben Alderman, I'm gonna forgive you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, please don't.
SPEAKER_00: I don't even deserve that.
SPEAKER_00: We need to feel the weight of our sin sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, this morning as we uh try to put ourselves in that place where we can absorb the truth of your word, God, we know that we we just can't.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, you've got to come in, you've got to convict.
SPEAKER_00: Because, Lord, if this is not true, then we should literally all walk away and go do something else.
SPEAKER_00: Because we only have a little bit of time before we're dead.
SPEAKER_00: But if this is true, Lord, then can we just grab a hold of it and hang on to it like it matters?
SPEAKER_00: Like a plane that is crashing, and then we're holding on to our parachute.
SPEAKER_00: Do we hold on to you, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Will you hold on to us?
SPEAKER_00: Lord, as your word is read this morning, God, I pray, God, if there is me in this, God, that you would remove it, strike me down, remove me in general, God, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we only want to hear from you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So it's in your name we pray, God, that you would cover this whole service.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do something a little different, and if it does not uphold, or if it does not hold up under the weight of this scripture, then I need you guys to just get rid of it.
SPEAKER_00: Send me the emails and the text messages.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because I feel like that there is an epidemic within church, and it's not necessarily this church, but it's not not necessarily this church.
SPEAKER_00: And the epidemic is this that we are so in love with the world and the things that it has, that we are reluctant to truly live for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, so much so that many people, and again, we have to search and inquire of our own hearts here, many people don't ever come to Christ in a way that says, Christ, you are treasure.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, they hear about sin, and they hear about the consequences of a life opposed to Jesus, and what they do is they try to find a way to placate and just offset that just enough, and they go, okay, I'm gonna follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know if I'm gonna follow Jesus, but I'm gonna accept him as my Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_00: And then there is some reality there.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not talking about the unbeliever here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about the person who comes to Christ and they just say, Christ, you died for my sins.
SPEAKER_00: Now I don't go to hell.
SPEAKER_00: And it stops right there.
SPEAKER_00: I think that that happens all the time.
SPEAKER_00: And I think then it turns into uh, you know, I put Jesus in my Instagram profile, I show up to church on Sundays, sometimes, maybe more like Christmas and Easter, or maybe Christmas this year, because I didn't come on Easter.
SPEAKER_00: And there is this massive amount of people who are stuck right there.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you agree.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you see that.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you go if you're here and you're going like, well, how would I know if that's me?
SPEAKER_00: You would know if it's you if you don't treasure Christ above everything.
SPEAKER_00: That's how you know.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not gonna say you're not a Christian, but I'm gonna say there's a defect in your heart and in your belief that we need to bring to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: But is it so?
SPEAKER_00: Is this really scriptural?
SPEAKER_00: Is this in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: Is there a reason why you're talking about this this morning, Pastor?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it has been a rough few weeks, if you think about it.
SPEAKER_00: The last few weeks, uh, we talked about some pretty weighty, meaty portions of scripture.
SPEAKER_00: We have the Jordan River, right?
SPEAKER_00: That is sort of uplifting.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord holds back the waters.
SPEAKER_00: And as people cross, you're like, yes, that is the stuff I want to hear about right there.
SPEAKER_00: God holding back the flood waters, allowing his people to do amazing things.
SPEAKER_00: Then we hear about the prostitute, Rahab, redeemed.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, amen to that too, Pastor.
SPEAKER_00: That's the stuff I want to hear.
SPEAKER_00: I want to hear about the woman who's lived her whole life, just opposed in lifestyle, in heart, in mind, in culture, and then God comes in and finds a way to rescue her.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I want to hear about.
SPEAKER_00: And then there was the destruction of Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, the people of God, they win again.
SPEAKER_00: But when you read it and you go, oh man, oh man.
SPEAKER_00: The people of God go in there and they just kill everyone.
SPEAKER_00: Men, women, children.
SPEAKER_00: There's been some tough stuff.
SPEAKER_00: The consequence for Israel for one man's sin.
SPEAKER_00: Remember Achan, right?
SPEAKER_00: He he he he steals the things from Jericho, the coveted things, and he buries them, and everybody pays the consequence.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, 36 people die, which means 36 families suffering because of one man's sin.
SPEAKER_00: Then the death penalty for Achan's sin.
SPEAKER_00: So we've we've heard some weighty things the last few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: But the book of Joshua has helped us see the compassion of God, the judgment of God, the redemptive work of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You guys, if you have tough questions, the questions like, well, if God's so loving, then why does he do something so mean?
SPEAKER_00: And then you look at this and you go, Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Did you listen to the sermon?
SPEAKER_00: Did you go back, rest life sermons on Apple, Podcasts, Spotify, whatever, and listen.
SPEAKER_00: God is not silent on these things.
SPEAKER_00: We don't just get to sit there and go, God is mean, and then go, where's the answer?
SPEAKER_00: It's here in God's word.
SPEAKER_00: It stands up to the objections.
SPEAKER_00: So, that being said, I said that there is some things that the church is suffering from.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what we want to do is we want to look at Joshua chapter 9 as a church and just see.
SPEAKER_00: What do we see here?
SPEAKER_00: So, Joshua chapter 9, it says, As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the low land along the coast of the Great Sea, towards Lebanon, the Hivites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites heard of this, they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you have this group, and one reaction to the Lord can be hostile.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just gather all of our effort, all of our people, and if we we fight together unified, we can win.
SPEAKER_00: Now, to me, this seems sort of ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm not them.
SPEAKER_00: And and maybe because of I, the the the defeated I, they had like they were reinvigorated.
SPEAKER_00: Like, see, look, Israel is beatable.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we can beat them.
SPEAKER_00: They did just lose and get run off.
SPEAKER_00: So let's just get everybody together and we'll fight against Joshua and Israel.
SPEAKER_00: That story's not going to pick up until chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: But verse 3, there's a second reaction, and it's the inhabitants of Gibeon hear what Joshua had done to Jericho and to I, and they and they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, wineskins worn out and torn and mended, worn out patches, sandals on their feet, and worn out clothes, and all their provisions were dry and crumbly.
SPEAKER_00: And they went to Joshua in the camp of Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.
SPEAKER_00: So you have a really massive group fighting against Joshua and Israel.
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, that picks up in chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: Be here next week.
SPEAKER_00: And then you have the other reaction, and that is let's not fight against God.
SPEAKER_00: Let's try to trick and align and move into a place of favor somehow with his people.
SPEAKER_00: Again, like I said, I think some of this stuff is really foolish, but we have 20-20 hindsight, right?
SPEAKER_00: We get to read chapter 10 and 11 and 12 and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_00: So we don't really get it, but there's this plan for Gibeon.
SPEAKER_00: It's one city, it's a Hivite city, which is why it trick goes back and forth, the people of Gibeon and the Hivites, uh, the Hivite area, and then Gibeon is one city, so everybody who lives in it is of Gibeon, but also Hivite.
SPEAKER_00: So that's how you get that.
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, we can't beat them, so let's just trick his people.
SPEAKER_00: And they are naturally inclined to think with their minds.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: That makes sense.
SPEAKER_00: They're not Israel.
SPEAKER_00: They're not God's people.
SPEAKER_00: They don't have his word, they don't have the ark, they don't have the presence of God, they don't have any of these things.
SPEAKER_00: They've been living by their own devices for centuries.
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We know 400 years they've been living in opposition to God.
SPEAKER_00: So they don't have anything.
SPEAKER_00: They've been ignoring him, his warnings for repentance, uh, but they see an unwinnable war, really, is what they see in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: So, how do we get on the right side of this?
SPEAKER_00: How do we not get destroyed?
SPEAKER_00: Let's just become one of them.
SPEAKER_00: That's sort of their whole game plan.
SPEAKER_00: It says, But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, Perhaps you live among us, then how can we make a covenant with you?
SPEAKER_00: Basically, how's this all going to work?
SPEAKER_00: They said to Joshua, We are your servants.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua said to them, Who are you?
SPEAKER_00: And where do you come from?
SPEAKER_00: They said to him, From a very distant country, your servants have come, because the name of the Lord your God.
SPEAKER_00: For we have heard a report of him and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and to Og the king of Basham.
SPEAKER_00: Bashan, who lived in Ash Taroth.
SPEAKER_00: So they show up, they've got this whole plan, right?
SPEAKER_00: Old food, old wineskins, worn-out clothes, worn sandals.
SPEAKER_00: We wanna we wanna trick these guys, we wanna we wanna live amongst them.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: We are from a distant country and we want to make covenant with you.
SPEAKER_00: So the men of Israel start to question just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it probably sounds pretty good to them because they want to be their servants.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they themselves, just 40 years ago, were slaves in it in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're like, oh, it's kind of like our turn now.
SPEAKER_00: We can have people who are are are working for us.
SPEAKER_00: Rather than us working for others.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's some of that.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're just thinking, hey, these guys aren't just takers.
SPEAKER_00: They showed up and they're like willing to be our servants.
SPEAKER_00: They're willing to work.
SPEAKER_00: That's nice.
SPEAKER_00: It's always kind of frustrating when somebody shows up and they're like, hey, you know, I'm here.
SPEAKER_00: I'd love to take what you have, but not give anything in return.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody likes that.
SPEAKER_00: But these guys are like, we'll be your servants.
SPEAKER_00: A whole city.
SPEAKER_00: Gibeon was actually a pretty mighty city full of warriors.
SPEAKER_00: Just strapping, strong men and women who are ready to just be servants.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Joshua asked them, Where are you from?
SPEAKER_00: This is, I feel, like, red flag, like number 17.
SPEAKER_00: A distant land.
SPEAKER_00: Like never, never land, like way out there, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Like a distant land.
SPEAKER_00: The reason why is because, right, there's this area, which we went over, that was devoted to destruction, all the people in it.
SPEAKER_00: And when they say I'm from a distant land, they're like outside of the area devoted to destruction.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: They don't want to be seen as the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: They want to be seen as a potential ally, or at least neutral.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Neutral.
SPEAKER_00: So we're from far away.
SPEAKER_00: Far away.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't have any beef with Never Never Land.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: The lost boys.
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, cool.
SPEAKER_00: He can be here.
SPEAKER_00: So they also know the conquest of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: They start rattling them off.
SPEAKER_00: They don't mention Jericho.
SPEAKER_00: They don't mention I.
SPEAKER_00: Very strategically, those things just happened.
SPEAKER_00: And remember, they're on a journey.
SPEAKER_00: And so they're keeping up the whole act.
SPEAKER_00: They're trying to make it seem just perfect, right?
SPEAKER_00: Just enough truth, just enough humility, just enough flattery, just to make it sound really, really good.
SPEAKER_00: And look really, really great.
SPEAKER_00: So in verse 11, so our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, Take provisions.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, sorry, I read that.
SPEAKER_00: No, I didn't read that part.
SPEAKER_00: This is the they kind of repeat themselves, so I'll just read this again.
SPEAKER_00: Because the Lord repeats it.
SPEAKER_00: So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, Take provisions in your hand for the journey and to go and meet them and say to them, We are your servants, come now, make covenant with us.
SPEAKER_00: Look, here is our bread.
SPEAKER_00: It was warm.
SPEAKER_00: We took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you.
SPEAKER_00: But now, behold, it is dry and crumbly.
SPEAKER_00: I kind of laughed because bread stays warm for like no time at all.
SPEAKER_00: Like it could have been yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's terrible.
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, verse 13 these wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have bursts.
SPEAKER_00: And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.
SPEAKER_00: So we get a play-by-play as the Israelites are trying to do their due diligence and go, who are you?
SPEAKER_00: What do you have?
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, look, here's some evidence.
SPEAKER_00: Here's some evidence.
SPEAKER_00: Look, all this stuff is broken and worn out, right?
SPEAKER_00: Even our sandals, you know, are worn.
SPEAKER_00: Crazy thing is, if you think about this, they're either from very far away or with no provisions, they're from really close.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Again, we have 2020.
SPEAKER_00: So the men, verse 14, took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And Joshua made peace with them and made covenant with them to let them live.
SPEAKER_00: And the leaders of the congregations swore to them.
SPEAKER_00: You know, for the for the people of God, and for those of us who want to truly walk in the best that God has for us.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want just some nominal Christianity where we show up on Sundays and we just kind of like play the part and then we go about our lives.
SPEAKER_00: For those of us who want all that God has for us, we see here a real issue and the main issue and why the whole plan of the Hivites worked.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua did not inquire of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He just did what he thought was best.
SPEAKER_00: He looked at the evidence in front of him, and he's like, Well, I'm going to use my brain again.
SPEAKER_00: You gave me the brain, Lord, so here we go.
SPEAKER_00: And the funny thing about a brain is it just it fails you often, along with the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And it's actually just meant to be evidence as to why you're supposed to inquire of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But Joshua falls prey to the same old thing.
SPEAKER_00: And so he makes peace with them.
SPEAKER_00: And in effect, when he makes covenant with the Hivites, he makes the Hivites Israel.
SPEAKER_00: You see that?
SPEAKER_00: He makes covenant and he makes them Israel.
SPEAKER_00: They're not going to be subject to the same consequences that they were supposed to be.
SPEAKER_00: And they're going to get some of the blessings that were not originally theirs.
SPEAKER_00: They become, in effect, like the children of God.
SPEAKER_00: It also validates this portion, also validates the word.
SPEAKER_00: The word says that man looks at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Very clearly, Joshua is just looking at what he sees.
SPEAKER_00: And we can all be tricked, you guys.
SPEAKER_00: I'm actually thankful that one of my friends isn't here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We just heard this story.
SPEAKER_00: He's a very, very smart, skeptical individual, right?
SPEAKER_00: And he went on Facebook Marketplace.
SPEAKER_00: And he wanted a new couch.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So he goes on Facebook Marketplace, he wants a new couch, and I'm going to kind of elaborate just because it makes it better.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, it's this really nice couch, actually.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, this is a good price.
SPEAKER_00: There's some good pictures on here, people are going to want this couch.
SPEAKER_00: And so the person just messaged back, hey, send us 50 bucks, and we'll hold it for you.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And this very smart, skeptical, you know, uh good judge of character person.
SPEAKER_00: Um he's my friend too.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's not that great of a judge of character, but that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: He sends 50 bucks.
SPEAKER_00: And his wife's looking at him like, of all people.
SPEAKER_00: You of all people sent 50 bucks to this guy on Facebook Marketplace?
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, yeah, it seemed legit.
SPEAKER_00: Not legit.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, not legit.
SPEAKER_00: It was not legit.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: You guys, we can all be tricked.
SPEAKER_00: The smartest of us can be tricked.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he represents the smartest of us.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Joshua represents maybe the smartest of us.
SPEAKER_00: We can all be tricked.
SPEAKER_00: If Joshua and my friend, I'm very tempted to use his word, his name, but I'm not, okay, can all be tricked.
SPEAKER_00: But when we go to the Lord and we inquire of the Lord, it changes the game.
SPEAKER_00: We we have like this ace in the hole.
SPEAKER_00: We have uh a superpower that we forget to access.
SPEAKER_00: And it's to inquire of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: It's pray.
SPEAKER_00: God, what am I supposed to do here?
SPEAKER_00: What it what is going on?
SPEAKER_00: What this right in front of me, it looks this way.
SPEAKER_00: Is that what it is what am I seeing what you want me to see?
SPEAKER_00: We can all be tricked.
SPEAKER_00: And this is how long the secret.
SPEAKER_00: The secret is so flimsy.
SPEAKER_00: So flimsy.
SPEAKER_00: It says in verse 16, at the end of three days after they had made covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors.
SPEAKER_00: Their neighbors.
SPEAKER_00: And they lived among them.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we were we looked at this and we looked at this, and it seemed like it was all, you know, they were from far away.
SPEAKER_00: Dude, the next city.
SPEAKER_00: They were neighbors.
SPEAKER_00: They were right there in the same region, only a few miles, I think, from Gilgal.
SPEAKER_00: Secrets are funny though, right?
SPEAKER_00: They don't say secret for very long.
SPEAKER_00: They never do.
SPEAKER_00: Especially when the Lord's involved.
SPEAKER_00: And so it comes out.
SPEAKER_00: And here we have it.
SPEAKER_00: So the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't take three days.
SPEAKER_00: Remember how when the Lord three days later rose, right?
SPEAKER_00: He died.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, he was in the grave and he rose on the third day.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so so it's like uh it's like one and a half days, according to the Hebrew calendar, right?
SPEAKER_00: So they could have set out on a Friday evening and got there on Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: So it's like one day of true walking.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not that long.
SPEAKER_00: And the map would show it's like maybe six miles or something like that.
SPEAKER_00: It's not very long.
SPEAKER_00: They reached their cities on the third day.
SPEAKER_00: Now their cities were Gibeon, Jefirah, Beroth, Kiriam, Jirim.
SPEAKER_00: But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders, but the leaders all said to the congregation, We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.
SPEAKER_00: This we will do to them, let them live.
SPEAKER_00: This we will do to them.
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like a consequence is coming.
SPEAKER_00: Let them live.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: There we go.
SPEAKER_00: Because the oath we swore to them.
SPEAKER_00: And the leader said to them, Let them live, so they become cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.
SPEAKER_00: Not glorious jobs, but rolls nonetheless with the people of God.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua summoned them, verse twenty-two, and he said to them, Why did you deceive us, saying, We are from very far from you, when you dwell among us?
SPEAKER_00: You dwell among us, but you said you were from far away.
SPEAKER_00: Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God.
SPEAKER_00: They answered Joshua, because it was told of your servants, for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servants Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you.
SPEAKER_00: So we feared greatly for our lives, because of you, and did this thing.
SPEAKER_00: And now, behold, we are in your hand.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever seems good and right in your sight, do to us.
SPEAKER_00: So he did this to them, and he delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and he did not kill them.
SPEAKER_00: But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord to this day, in the place that he should choose.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I sort of tipped my hat at what I thought that this was for.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm wrestling with the Lord, like, Lord, why this passage today?
SPEAKER_00: Why are we going here as a church?
SPEAKER_00: Is it to see that Joshua didn't inquire of the Lord, maybe?
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're supposed to do is inquire of the Lord with our day-to-day.
SPEAKER_00: But I really felt like I was met with silence from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just sitting there in prayer and I'm going, like, God, what is this?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: What more do you have?
SPEAKER_00: Do you want me to just keep going and I'll just move into chapter 10?
SPEAKER_00: The day that the sun stood still for a little while.
SPEAKER_00: I could teach on some of that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of cool.
SPEAKER_00: But it really did feel like the floodgate opened, and the Lord did show me.
SPEAKER_00: And he was good.
SPEAKER_00: So, like I said earlier, I think a lot of people approach God in the church today like the Hivites.
SPEAKER_00: First and foremost, they recognize, we can recognize, all of us are capable of falling to this trap, that living a life in opposition to God has consequences.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: A life that's entirely for self creates a problem, and if there really is a hell, for those who don't accept Jesus, then I'm in a bad place.
SPEAKER_00: So what happens is sometimes we start to segment our lives, and and and we create this outward appearance of humility, the show of a place that we're really at, or a place that we're really coming from, that's not really entirely true.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we go to church, we sing songs, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, we do the Bible verse in our social media profile.
SPEAKER_00: Because that is not what pleases the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: It's not what pleases the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: God is not pleased with the show.
SPEAKER_00: The Hivites think it worked, it did not work.
SPEAKER_00: God was not confused.
SPEAKER_00: They are not dead because of his covenant, because he's a God who keeps his word.
SPEAKER_00: If you're here and you're like, I think God's just really pleased with how much I'm bringing him.
SPEAKER_00: We are not dead because of his grace for us.
SPEAKER_00: We do not get hell because of his grace for us.
SPEAKER_00: Not because we are so good at juggling and making people think, look, look, look at my worn-out shoes and look at how I can sing these songs.
SPEAKER_00: And I show up to church.
SPEAKER_00: I think that the fear of being destroyed, damned in hell, that idea of being separated from anything good for all eternity, that is like the one and only draw, oftentimes.
SPEAKER_00: And it makes sense.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I get it.
SPEAKER_00: I understand why the Hivites did what they did.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't want to die.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't want to be just slaughtered.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't want to see their children killed like they were in Jericho and I.
SPEAKER_00: I get it.
SPEAKER_00: And I hope you guys get it too.
SPEAKER_00: But again, like I said, there is a defect in what God truly wants if you stop there.
SPEAKER_00: Christ isn't just our fall guy.
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We don't get to go, oh, you know, Jesus died and he takes our sins, and like I said, whoo, now no hell for me.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't have to go fight the Israelites and have them wipe us off the face of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: No, you guys, Christ is meant to be more than that.
SPEAKER_00: He's meant to be way more than that.
SPEAKER_00: Christ is meant to be our treasure, not just our ticket to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Treasure, not our ticket.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 13, I want to read this to you guys.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in the search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value went and sold everything he had and bought it.
SPEAKER_00: That's Christ, the great pearl.
SPEAKER_00: We let go of everything else in this world so that we can gain Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, I don't know if that's how I would interpret that, Pastor.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's just read Philippians 3.8.
SPEAKER_00: This is Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
SPEAKER_00: For his sake, I have suffered the loss of what?
SPEAKER_00: All things.
SPEAKER_00: And I count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.
SPEAKER_00: See, the Hivites didn't count everything as loss.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't.
SPEAKER_00: They only lost the very minimal.
SPEAKER_00: So they could just escape the sword.
SPEAKER_00: Christ is calling us church beyond that.
SPEAKER_00: Beyond that.
SPEAKER_00: Not just giving up just enough to skate our way into eternity.
SPEAKER_00: He's actually calling us to say everything else is garbage.
SPEAKER_00: And he's everything.
SPEAKER_00: And I know that's offensive.
SPEAKER_00: That might be more offensive than God killed everyone in Jericho to some people.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are you really saying about my family right now?
SPEAKER_00: What are you saying about my career that I've busted my tail and I've worked really hard for?
SPEAKER_00: What are you saying about my hobbies?
SPEAKER_00: My identity, the things that I'm just really good at.
SPEAKER_00: My good looks, said somebody else, not me.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm just trying to say what the Bible is saying.
SPEAKER_00: You forsook everything for the pearl of great price.
SPEAKER_00: You counted everything as loss that you might gain Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible is very black and white.
SPEAKER_00: God is very black and white.
SPEAKER_00: Thankful for his grace that covers our misconceptions and our growth and our slowness to believe.
SPEAKER_00: But when we look at it, we just see, oh man, the cross is where we need to go.
SPEAKER_00: Believer, unbeliever, we need to go back to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: It's where our sin was dealt with, yes, and the ticket was paid, but it's also where we get access to our treasure.
SPEAKER_00: Because when the sin has been removed, there's no longer a barrier between us and God.
SPEAKER_00: And we can enjoy Him and treasure Him and worship Him forever and ever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: In Him is fullness of joy, and in His presence, joy forevermore.
SPEAKER_00: Full joy forever.
SPEAKER_00: Because of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And now this.
SPEAKER_00: Sort of a call because you're like, well, I think I'm I think I'm there.
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm there.
SPEAKER_00: I think I treasure Christ above all things.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't really been tested in a lot of that yet.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't had to be tested in it, that can be painful, brutal, and very tough, very tough.
SPEAKER_00: But then if that's the case, why for me all the heaviness this morning, Pastor Ben?
SPEAKER_00: This is why, you guys, I think because if Joshua had been faithful and inquired of the Lord when the Hivites came to deceive him, it wouldn't have been a rejection wholesale of the Hivites.
SPEAKER_00: It would have been a redirection into true worship of how God wanted to be seen and how he wanted to be savored and how he wanted to be served.
SPEAKER_00: See, you take a people group that it comes to God with everything that they have.
SPEAKER_00: And God honored that.
SPEAKER_00: God did.
SPEAKER_00: He kind of skipped over Joshua's disobedience and he ends up honoring that.
SPEAKER_00: But had Joshua actually spoken up some of the consequences that they had to go through, they wouldn't have had to go through.
SPEAKER_00: Some of the disobedience that they discovered.
SPEAKER_00: And so for us, church, what I'm trying to tell you is this if you are not right, if you have not sold everything for Christ, do it.
SPEAKER_00: And if you have, proclaim it.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you do, you actually help save so many other people.
SPEAKER_00: The ripple effect is a blessing.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua got skipped over.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't get to enjoy what God wanted to do here.
SPEAKER_00: But we can.
SPEAKER_00: We can play a part in what God is doing when we speak up for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua could have redirected their efforts away from schemes, away from hypocrisy, away from disguises to try to appease the Lord and go, hey, I see your heart.
SPEAKER_00: So does the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He has drop the act.
SPEAKER_00: Come to him as the true and living God.
SPEAKER_00: You might be able to fool me, but you can't fool him.
SPEAKER_00: And if they were met with brokenness, you know what they would have gotten?
SPEAKER_00: They wouldn't have been woodcutters.
SPEAKER_00: They wouldn't have been just water drawers.
SPEAKER_00: I know that there is repentance for some, for some, because it says that some of you will never be more than this.
SPEAKER_00: Because I think that some people, when they're living amongst the people of God, saw what they need to do, and that is to repent.
SPEAKER_00: And that is to turn fully towards Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, this morning, uh a lot happening, God, sort of this response to you, Lord, that can be this middle ground, Lord, where we find ourselves not really fully walking in all that you have for us, Lord, because we try to hold on to too much of ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, if there would be some of that in us, Lord, where we're where we're just trying to appease and look a certain way on the outside, God, barely holding on to our faith on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: God, would you just help us?
SPEAKER_00: God, would you turn that over in us?
SPEAKER_00: God, will you grow us from that place where we see that you want so much more that you don't want to leave us in that place, God?
SPEAKER_00: You have blessing, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You have abundance for us.
SPEAKER_00: God, your word promises that.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we love you, God.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you, God, for all that you're doing, for all that you want to do in our church and in our hearts, God.
SPEAKER_00: Help us not be deceived.
SPEAKER_00: Help us not be people that just look merely at the outward appearance and then make judgment calls based on that.
SPEAKER_00: Circumstances or financial spreadsheets.
SPEAKER_00: Stock markets or trends, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Help us be people that actually come before you, God, that inquire of you, seek your wisdom, your discernment.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your word this morning, God.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the way that you lay these things out in Scripture, God, that we can see how you are just at work and have been at work in your people.
SPEAKER_00: And you're not going to stop, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I pray for your grace, God.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that it would be abundantly evident in all of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, when our brains and our heart and our eyes deceive us, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We just trust in you, God.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.