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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good morning, we're in Joshua chapter number three Joshua chapter three in the Bible reads Joshua rose early in the morning, and they were moved from Shittim and came to Jordan He and all the children of Israel had lodged there before they passed over It came to pass after three days that the officers went through the host and they commanded the people saying When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests the Levites bearing it Then you shall remove from your place and go after it Yet there shall be a space between you and it about two thousand cubits by measure Come not near unto it that you may know the way by which you must go for you have not passed this way heretofore Joshua said unto the people Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you Joshua spake unto the priests saying Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people and the Lord said unto Joshua this day will I begin To magnify thee in the sight of all Israel that they may know that as I was with Moses So I will be with thee now shall command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant Saying when you're come to the brink of the water of Jordan you shall stand still in Jordan and Joshua said unto the children of Israel come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God and Joshua said Hereby, you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites And the Hittites and the Hivites and the parasites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel out of a tribe every man And it shall come to pass as soon as the souls 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 shall stand upon in heap They came to pass when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people It is they that bear the ark were coming to Jordan and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water Where Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest that the waters which came down from Above stood and rose up upon in heap very far from the city 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 Jordan and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground Until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. Let's pray dear Lord God Thank you for your word Thank you for preserving it for us and just ask that you would vote pass from here now with your Holy Spirit and As he preaches it to us and pray that your your word would be manifested through the preaching and please help us to be Edified thereby and in Jesus name we pray. Amen So if you've been a Christian for any length of time anyone has heard of the Red Sea miracle Right, and even a lot of unsafe people people who aren't Christian have heard of the story of the Red Sea miracle Essentially referring to the final part of the exodus of the nation of Israel where God miraculously Parts the Red Sea by the hand of Moses and allows essentially the entire nation to cross over on Dry land they make it all the way over and then of course Pharaoh and his armies are pursuing them They start crossing but then the walls of water crash upon them and destroy their enemies a very famous Story very supernatural awesome miracle that's accomplished in the Old Testament, but sometimes, you know It's so great that it often overshadows another similar miracle in the Bible in The book of Joshua here in chapter 3 where essentially the same exact thing is done but obviously on a smaller scale and in this particular story, what you have is Joshua and the nation of Israel going to the Promised Land but they have to cross over the Jordan River and the difference between These two the crossing of the Jordan River and the Red Sea is that the Red Sea was a miracle that God Performed and it required no effort on the part of the people to cross over right to split that Red Sea And then eventually to cross over whereas here in the book of Joshua The miracle that's accomplished here actually requires for them to participate In other words, they have to put the soles of their feet first into the water and then the water parts and the miracle is Performed and it's a very famous Miracle that's done in the book of Exodus but sometimes people can often forget about What's taking place here in Joshua look at verse 13 and says 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 shall stand upon and heap now if we could picture how this looks like Later on in the next couple verses it actually explains to us that the rivers of Jordan are very tumultuous. There's a lot of Waves, it's very tumultuous Essentially referring to the fact that it could be very dangerous and what the Bible's telling us here is that God Wants the children of Israel and specifically the priests who are bearing the ark of the Covenant To place their feet in the water and then the waters will stop and it actually says that the waters will stop from the top And it'll even stop from the bottom referring to the areas that are feeding this particular river And then it says that it's gonna stand upon a heap. So as they're crossing The rivers that are coming down from above not only are they stopping but they're essentially collecting So if you can just picture this wall that's being Essentially constructed by God's hand and it's impeding from actually coming into the river It's standing upon and heap and the ones from the bottom coming from the seas also standing upon a heap It's very incredible miracle when you think about it. Now, what is that picture? Well this evening or this morning, excuse me I want to talk about the fact that or I want to talk about what specifically this illustrates But in order to understand the spiritual truth behind the crossing of the Jordan River We kind of have to start all the way at the beginning When the children of Israel leave Egypt now go with me if you went to Exodus chapter 12 Exodus chapter 12 and we're going to look at these specific events in the life of the nation of Israel Going from Egypt and coming into the Promised Land So from the Exodus to the entering in to Canaan land also known as the Promised Land and what does it symbolize? What is it all about? What is it referring to? Well, if you look at the nation of Israel as a whole they essentially picture the believer okay in the New Testament and Of course, we're not going to hash out all that took place in the land of Egypt with the children of Israel but as we know Moses is delivering the children of Israel out of Moses and he does so by the means of these supernatural miracles these plagues that God allows to come upon Egypt and the last plague that he brings is What's commonly referred to as the destroyer Okay, essentially referring to the angel of death that comes and kills off all the firstborn of all the land Not just the Egyptians But even the Israelites can get it too and even the animals firstborn of all the animals died. Okay, and So this is a very strong plague. This is a very strong judgment It's gonna come upon them and obviously it's meant to not only harden the heart of Pharaoh But essentially provoke him to allow the children of Israel to just go and worship the Lord and just release him from the bondage Now look at verse number 11 of Exodus chapter 12 It says here and thus shall ye eat referring to the lamb that they slay with your loins girded Your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand and he shall eat it in haste It is the Lord's Passover. So what is what's being referred to here? Well, God says look I'm gonna bring this major plague on the land of Egypt and the way you could avoid having your firstborn killed Is the fact that you have to slay this lamb take the blood of the lamb place it on the post of your door So when the destroyer comes it sees the blood it will pass over you So in other words, you won't fall under the condemnation of this particular plague It says in verse 12 for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt Both men and beasts and against all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgment I am the Lord and the blood shall be to you for a token Upon the houses where ye are and when I see the blood I will pass over You and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt So we have this incredible miracle here Where you have the angel of death so to speak the destroyer as he's also known as Going through the land of Egypt seeking the firstborn but as long as they have this blood on the post of their door They're essentially safe. They flee from the wrath to come so to speak and what this pictures is Salvation right the Passover is a picture of New Testament salvation Because of the fact that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God Who should take away the sins of the world and of course we know that Jesus Christ Sacrificed himself and when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, his blood is placed on our account It's almost as if the blood of the Lamb is placed on the doorpost So when the destroyer known as death comes it passes over us because we're justified. We're saved Oh death Where is thy sting the Bible says right? And So this is obviously a wonderful picture of salvation Hebrew chapter 9, you don't have to turn there verse 26 Let me read you a couple verses it says for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself Chapter 10 and verse number 5 says wherefore when he cometh into the world He saved sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not but a body has thou prepared me in Burnt offerings and sacrifice for sins thou hast had no pleasure Then said I lo I come in the volume of the book that is written of me to do thy will Oh God Referring to Jesus Christ essentially saying that the Old Testament sacrifice were insufficient to take away sin God wanted him to offer up himself Because he is the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world his his blood Imputed upon us not only brings us the forgiveness of sins past present and future But you know the Bible tells us for the wages of sin is death But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord So even though all of us are gonna physically die one day. We will live forever, you know essentially when we believe or place our faith in Jesus Christ though, we were dead yet shall we live right and so it's a wonderful picture of salvation and you know the Bible even tells us in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 that Jesus Christ is our Passover and He is essentially the one that saves us He saves us from not only the bondage of Egypt so to speak But the clutches of Satan which in the Old Testament is pictured by who Pharaoh and of course death The destroyer does not touch us because we have the blood of Jesus Christ imputed upon us And let me just say this is that if you don't if you're not a hundred percent sure that if you died today Then you'd go to heaven. You need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today and thankfully, you know Believing on Jesus Christ for salvation is not a process. It's not something you have to believe every single day You know the Bible likens it unto being born again And when you're physically born and happens once you don't have to keep getting born every single year to stay alive You're born once you live thereafter Well in like manner when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're born again, and you don't have to keep getting saved Salvation is forever The Bible says for by grace are you saved through faith and listen to this and that not of yourselves Well, who is it up the blood of the lamb right this place on the doorpost of your heart It says not of yourselves It is the gift of God not of works a steady man should boast emphasizes the importance of the fact that Salvation does not require your participation. It does not require your effort It's all based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross And this is why that lamb that will sacrifice the blood that was placed on the doorpost Picture salvation. So when the children of Israel leave Egypt before they leave Egypt You know that picture of justification takes place there by the blood now go to chapter 14 if you would chapter 14 Chapter 14 You know when we get saved, you know, we're delivered from the wages of sin, right? We're delivered from death, but to a certain extent we have victory over Satan as well Okay, because of the fact that he can no longer deceive us when it comes to salvation We're no longer under the deception of the god of this world when like manner the children of Israel will no longer under the cruel ruleship of Pharaoh and Egypt they were being delivered by Moses, which is also a picture of Jesus Christ now after the Blood on the posts and after the destroyer comes After they put the blood of the post on their doors and they are safe from the destroyer Then Pharaoh lets them go right? He's just like get out of here You know, you guys are just such a vex of vexing nation unto me. He wants them to go Well now God wants them to go into Canaan land But before they do that they have to cross through the Red Sea and this is the miracle that we're referring to Earlier look at chapter 14 and verse 13 They're at the brink of the Red Sea and it says in Moses said unto the people fear ye not stand still and see The salvation of the Lord which he will show to you today for the Egyptians whom he seen whom he have seen today Ye shall see them again No more forever the Lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace and Lord sent unto Moses Wherefore Christ down to me speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward But lift thou up thy rod and stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it and the children of Israel shall go On dry ground through the midst of the sea. So we have this incredible miracle where God is basically telling them Hey, your enemies are pursuing you but what you need to do is go forward, right? Go forward Moses lift up the staff part the waters and you shall cross on dry ground and obviously all of this is through the effort of God himself splitting the waters of the Red Sea they cross through with the wall on the left and the wall of water On the right. It's an incredible miracle there. Now. What is this picture? well according to the New Testament it pictures baptism, okay, and Here's an important principle when coming when it comes to interpreting the Bible If you ever want to know what the Old Testament means you got to go to the New Testament Because the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, but the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed So it's important that when you read the Old Testament stories. Yeah, you can learn a lot There's a lot of doctrine a lot of biblical truths But at the end of the day if you want a conclusive answer and interpretation of the Old Testament You got to read the New Testament And if you only know the first five books of the Bible then you don't know the Bible Because it's interpreted through the New Testament if you only know the Psalms if you only know The Torah if you only know what the Old Testament prophets said Then you don't know the Bible because you need the complete entire Bible to understand the Bible. You need the New Testament and In fact, there are writers of the Old Testament They didn't even know what they were talking about It was sealed up according to the Bible with Daniel You know until the time that it should come that it should be revealed into the world We actually have more understanding than even some of the prophets of the Old Testament Why because we have the New Testament available to us or with you we can read it and this is why you know When people try to explain to you salvation, but then they use the book of Ecclesiastes. That's a no-go First of all, you're going to an Old Testament book But second of all you're going to the book of Ecclesiastes a book that does not Talk about salvation or doesn't focus on salvation. That's about a dude who's depressed He's just like he he literally says I hate life. He's not talking about eternal life He just says I hate life and it focuses on a completely different topic completely different subject But you know cults will do this a lot though. Is that in order for them to deceive you to give you false doctrine They have to go to the very enigmatic Cryptic passages of the Old Testament To try to prove their doctrine because they want to stay away from the clear Passages of the New Testament to tell you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Yeah So anytime someone tells you well, this is what it says in the book of Ecclesiastes Say hey, we're not studying the poetical books though. So what do you why are you bringing me here? Let's go to the clear path. Why don't we go to what Jesus said? Right. I mean we have an entire book called the book of John that is very explicit When it comes to the message of salvation it puts the cookie on the bottom shelf when it comes to salvation We don't need to go to the book of Proverbs Proverbs is for wisdom Proverbs is for practical living in our daily lives It's not to teach you the doctrine of justification And so it's important for us to discern and this is why the Bible says Study to show thyself approve them to God a workman that needed not to be ashamed Listen to this Riley dividing the word of truth Meaning you need to know where to go to find the answer in the Bible and obviously we know that the Word of God is a cohesive message and it has everything that we need to perfect us and all those things but the reality is this is the Bible is broken up into genres and There are particular Aspects or sections of the Bible where the genres focuses on a specific topic and you know What salvation is clearly taught in the New Testament? Clearly taught in the Gospels clearly taught in the epistles of Paul We don't need to go to Solomon For that Paul did a better job in Solomon and talking about salvation now is salvation Sprinkled throughout the Old Testament the message of self the systematic teaching of salvation and justification sprinkled throughout the Bible Of course, we're looking at one right now Well, we looked at Egypt in the Passover and how it beautifully pictures Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ, okay, and so just wanted to give you that little interlude there But as we mentioned the crossing of the Red Sea Pictures baptism now how so well, let me read to you from 1st Corinthians chapter 10, which is in the New Testament Verse number one says moreover brethren I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea And we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in The sea now make no mistake about it Baptism in the New Testament is a New Testament practice New Testament phenomenon something that God Something new that God introduced in the in the New Testament But that's not to say that it wasn't pictured or foreshadowed in the old as clearly seen here that the Apostle Paul Stating that the children crossing through the Red Sea figures foreshadows Baptism. Okay. Now what what's important about this? Well, what's important is that after salvation? you're supposed to get baptized and In fact, that's one of the reasons why? We call ourselves Baptist It's not because we believe baptism saves you it's because of the fact that we practice what the Bible teaches That after someone gets saved they should immediately be baptized not to be justified not to confirm their salvation But rather as a public profession of their faith in Jesus Christ and because Jesus commanded it Now there's a group out there that wants to tell you in deceiving to thinking that baptism saves you But here's a couple problems with that Jesus got baptized And Jesus does not need salvation. He is salvation Problem number one and then you know, you don't have to say yeah, but you know the Bible says You know that baptism saves you though in Peter it says that baptism saves you and it uses the story of Noah and New Testament you said we should interpret the Old Testament through the New Testament says that baptism saves you But let me ask you this question regarding no in the flood Did the flood save Noah? Last time I remember the flood killed a bunch of people The flood drowned people is what it did The water didn't save anybody what saved no in his family the ark and who does the ark picture Jesus Christ Because once we're in Christ once we're in the ark the doors closed and we don't suffer the wrath that's on the outside So, you know if you're gonna say that the Bible teaches that baptism doth also now save us, you know You got your theology mixed up You don't really know the story of Noah in the flood because water didn't save anybody actually killed the entire world and It didn't save Noah. They were actually supposed to be saved from the water and It was the ark that saved them, right and So there's many instances in the Bible That kind of gives us this picture here and obviously baptism Even if you get saved and you never get baptized you're saved because you can never lose your salvation Salvation can never be lost. It is a gift. Jesus said I give it to them eternal life and they shall never perish Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. He says I will in no wise cast out It's an old way of saying for any reason whatsoever In no wise literally means for no reason for any reason whatsoever. I will not cast you out Okay, and he constantly reiterates the finality of salvation throughout the Gospels Because he knows there's a lot of people that will question the eternality of salvation that it's forever But you know what? It is forever because of the fact that we're forgiven of past present and future sins and it's called eternal life not temporal life Eternal means once you have it you always have it it can never be lost However, you know God does expect obedience after salvation and yes Even if you don't if you choose not to obey you still have salvation, but you're not living a life That's pleasing unto the Lord Okay, and the first command that God gives you after salvation isn't read the Bible all the way through believe it or not It's not go to church immediately, which is good, but that's not the first command. What's the first command get baptized? The Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 28 go therefore and teach all nations and we know that's referring to salvation because that's a consistent Example that we see throughout the Bible and it says Baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son of the Holy Spirit Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I've commanded you so salvation always precedes baptism and Obviously, you know if you never get baptized and you choose not to after salvation It really doesn't necessarily do anything to your soul to your to your spirit to your salvation But really at the end of the day, you're just being disobedient literally to the first command that God gave you And it's not like it requires like a whole lot of work either You know, for example in our church We have a baptistry there. We keep it nice and warm so all you got to do is get in there and I just dunk you in and take you out and Even for the ladies you got blow dryers and combs and all that stuff and probably get someone to do your makeup for you afterwards You know, no, no problem. Now. It's not like the early days of our church, by the way The early days of our church like only the hardcore people would get baptized in our church. You say why so or Actually, let me let me rephrase that only the hardcore people were the people who got baptized in December Or in them in the dead of winter because before we had heaters and the baptistry was inside We actually had baptized people outside and we would get a horse trough which that's still a horse trough Don't let the case fool you there You know, we had a horse trough and it's like oh you got saved now. You got to get baptized They're like, let's do it. We fill it up with the hose Free I mean buried in the likeness of his death And then you know, I you know, I have to go through the entire little Dissertation there, you know, have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior as your savior and they're like Yes, yes Well, that's good Upon your public profession now with no one else No I would you know I wouldn't drag it out because it's just like they need to get in and get out and in fact we were doing that Even up into the point where we're in this building. We're actually baptizing people outside in the backyard there and One of our church members family members got saved and I remember I baptized him and you know The last thing I said when I bring him back up is raised in the likeness of his resurrection Or raised to walk in the newness of life. He like leapt out of the water like he was just like I've never seen someone just jump so fast out of the water But you know Whether the water is cold or not, you need to get baptized right now. Thankfully here It's warm enough and you can enjoy it and all that but you know baptism is important and we have That chronology even in the Old Testament right the Passover them crossing through the Red Sea picturing that baptism Now here's the thing is that after they cross through the Red Sea This is what was supposed to happen. They're supposed to go into the Promised Land. What's the Promised Land? The land that God promised Abraham Isaac and Jacob to their immediate descendants and They're supposed to go there and live it, you know a great victorious life it's supposed to cross through the wilderness receive the tablets of the law at Mount Sinai and Just go there literally supposed to be like an 11-day trip. Okay? But what happens? Well, they end up rebelling against the Lord in many ways They end up backsliding in fact And they start worshipping false gods. They start murmuring and complaining They start just becoming a very malcontent nation Because of their murmurings and their disputings and a trip that's only supposed to take 11 days ended up taking 40 years a 40 year round trip literally just circling the wilderness wilderness simply another word in the Bible for desert They're wandering in the wilderness for 40 years why because they're backslidden, okay This just a contumacious nation that's just rebelling against the authority rebelling against Moses they just don't want The blessing of God, you know and it's a very short trip, but they elongated that trip by their rebellion against God So what happens a lot of them just end up dying in the wilderness Now what is this picture it pictures the backslidden state of a believer and Unfortunately, you know a lot of Christians fall into that category sometimes People get saved they may even get baptized But then they stay in the wilderness for like a really long time and you know what 40 years is a long time But there's some people just stay there the whole lives There's people in the wilderness. They just lived and died there in the wilderness in a backslidden state Never being able to see the blessings that God had prepared for them that loved him They just kind of stayed there and you know what God even took care of them in the wilderness though He gave a manna from heaven. He protected them There was a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire by night. He still performed great miracles He even gave them meat to eat in the wilderness He made sure that their their shoes did not waste and their clothing was still intact He still took care of them, even though that wasn't his will for their lives and You know what that echoes go to Numbers chapter number chapter 32 if you would numbers 32 that echoes often the spiritual condition of a lot of Christians Sometimes Christians they get off-kilter They yeah, they get saved the blood is placed on the post of their doors They get justified they may even go cross through the Red Sea they get baptized they make that public profession of faith You know through their baptism they're letting everyone know that they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ They may experience a small time of the wilderness But then as it says in the book of Acts in their hearts, they turn back to Egypt Now look at numbers 32 verse 11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt from 20 years old and upward Shall see the land which I swear unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob because they have not holy followed me Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Ken Kenezite and Joshua the son of Nun for they have holy follow the Lord and the Lord's anger was killed against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness 40 years until All the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed So basically the wilderness wandering was just a huge funeral it was a 40-year funeral of just people just dying in the wilderness and God is saying you know what if you didn't want the blessings that I had for You in the Promised Land everything that I promised your ancestors all these things that I did for you all these supernatural miracles that I performed Okay, then you can just die in the wilderness and let me just say this it's unfortunate when Christians decide that too when they're just like Promised Land and you know it's just like it's like that Drake meme right or it's just like Promised Land die in the wilderness he's like But there's nothing attractive about the wilderness Yeah, you get fed manna Yeah, your shoes never waste. Yeah, God provides for you You know in a very minuscule type of a way to just kind of sustain you in the wilderness But that's not God's original will for your life He doesn't want you to just wander around in the wilderness Just being a nomad just setting up tent and just kind of not having a place to call home Spiritually speaking he wants you to be in the Promised Land. Okay, and A lot of Christians unfortunately do not end up in a Promised Land They live and die in the wilderness never really experiencing what their full potential could have been Never really experiencing all the blessings that God had planned for them You know the Bible says I hath not seen nor ear of heard neither have entered into the heart of man The things that God has prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed them unto us by his spirit And so it's only when you actually are living the Christian life You become committed that you start experiencing a lot of what God had planned for you A lot of the blessings that come with just being a committed Christian go back to Exodus 23 if you would Exodus 23 so you have Well that clock is messed up, huh, you have here let me have my phone here because I Looked at the clock like oh man. I got like another hour still cool So, what do you have here you have some wonderful pictures of the Christian through the nation of Israel you have justification With the Passover you have baptism with the crossing of the Red Sea Well, let me skip one and let's get into the Promised Land, okay? Now the Promised Land as I mentioned previously is a picture of essentially the victorious Christian life. It's the abundant Christian life It's when you're serving God you're in church You're reading the Bible your life is centered around Jesus Christ Your family is centered around the things of God you are living out the Christian life You're following the Lord you're reading your Bible. You're praying you're trying to learn how to evangelize I mean essentially it's all about the Lord right. That's essentially what Canaan land was because what God told the children of Israel is hey go into this land and This land is just the land flowing with milk and honey. I mean you're gonna get houses that you did not build vineyards that you did not plant wells that you did not dig and You're just gonna have a great time in this land, but there's a catch to it though You gotta you gotta evacuate everyone in that land Okay, so basically it's like if you really want this very plentiful land You got to like remove the inhabitants of this land Go to war is what he's saying. Okay now when you look at you know the Risk to reward ratio so to speak it was worth it Considering how bountiful the land was and all the blessings that were there You know they would inherit plots for each tribe And then they would be able to give that to their descendants and how fruitful the land was it's like oh, man It's worth the fight then okay and obviously there was particular people in the land that God wanted him to just God wanted them to just execute and eradicate you had the Canaanites who were there and The Canaanites were extremely wicked there were sodomites. They're involved in all types of perversion They were into bestiality and incest that would kill their children They were worshippers of false gods and God basically said okay when it comes to them I want you to just completely eradicate them Like they all just need to die He basically said like I want you to genocide this entire people here, and you know a lot of people today They're just like I can't believe God would do something like that, but what people don't realize is that God literally gave the Canaanites years Almost like hundreds of years to like repent of their wicked ways, and they just wouldn't They're just constantly killing their they're participating in infanticide. They're participating in sodomy you know we're in the month of June and You know it's it's not as bad as last year. I mean I mean we just started. I don't know But you know like Huntington Beach is banned all pride flags hallelujah praise God I'll get Pentecostal about that amen a Lot of the Starbucks don't even have flags up or anything. I think it's because people are just sick and tired of it Well, you know what Canaan land was just worse though. It got to a point in Canaan with the Canaanite should I say That God was literally saying that the land wanted to vomit Which you know we can Relate to that you know if you could speak to the land be like I know what you I know how you feel You know I know you're just land. You're not a real person, but I feel you Because you know I've shared this this statistic before, but there's a study that was done and they basically took a bunch of dudes, and they showed them pictures of rotting flesh with maggots and Basically that the men who viewed those pictures Produce these enzymes in their mouth That is Associated with wanting to throw up, which is pretty normal right you look at like oh, man That's gross, and then you know get those saliva glands and the enzyme start producing But then they showed him pictures of sodomites and the same exact enzymes popped out as well So like the people get the same reaction to both so you can see why the land felt that way even the land Had these enzymes popping out and just you know wanting to like throw up, and this is what God said so don't get mad About what I'm saying literally God's the one who testified of that He's like the land wants to vomit so then God told the children of Israel remove them all Destroy them all and he it was only for those particular groups of people There's others that he wanted them to remove But not necessarily destroy and kill but the point is when it came to the land of Canaan You know the promised land the land of victory the land of serving God it actually required for them to fight for it You see crossing the Red Sea Putting the blood on the pulse requires no fight Because it's God who's doing it, right? God who did all that but when it comes to living the Christian life it's gonna actually require your effort and for you to fight and go to war and this could be essentially picturing the process of sanctification and One thing about the process of sanctification of the Christian life is that it lasts for a lifetime So you may have had a good fight last week, but the fight continues this week, though And last year you might have had a really good bout With the with the world the flesh and the devil, but guess what you're gonna have to fight again this year Yesterday was good. You read the Bible you prayed you want some souls you were just doing great But you know what there's a new fight today as well and so Canaan land as wonderful as it is as Many blessings are as our founder in you know, there's a lot of fights too and you know what in the Christian life There's a lot of fights look at Exodus 23 verse 29 says This is previous to them going into Canaan land He's given them this promise here and he says I will not drive them referring to the inhabitants of the land Out from before thee in one year Lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply against thee by little in little I will drive them out from Before thee until thou be increased and inherit the land So what is he saying? Hey when you go into the land of Canaan don't get discouraged if you don't take care of the job Right away. You're you're basically life is centered around these battles. Okay Now there's something you have to take care of immediately But in general I'm not gonna remove them from the land immediately just in one year in other words You're not just gonna be a perfect Christian in your first year or in the first couple of months. He's gonna remove The inhabitants your sinful habits you your character flaws listen to this by little and little Okay, and in a practical way the reason he said that to them was because of the fact that if he just removed everyone from the land Then the natural byproduct of that is the animals will start taking over You know because the children of Israel there, but you have other nations So if they removed all those nations Then the Bears would come in the Lions would come in because anytime a land becomes desolate animals begin to take over So he's like, you know, that won't be good for you because you know They're just gonna eat you guys or whatever. So by little and little or remove them Well in like manner as a Christian, you know by little and little we get better Okay, but you know, here's the thing though is that you have to be in Canaan land to get better though So you could get better as a Christian, but it has to be in Canaan land and Canaan land is not on the Internet Canyonland is not watching preaching on the Internet. That's not a Canaan land. You're you know what that is? That's on the other side of the river That's where Moses was You know right before he died, you know, there's a lot of Christians out there that are viewing Canaan land through YouTube and rumble They're looking at all of us You know, we're serving God over here and then they're kind of thinking to themselves like yeah, we're a part of that, you know No, you're not you're on the other side You're still in the wilderness You're a Moses is God told Moses God told Moses go to the top of the mountain and go look at it But you're not even gonna go there though You know because of his disobedience, but you know, there's people who are willingly there though like the tribe that wanted to stay on the other side of Jordan because they thought the land was better there and They're just beholding Canaan with their eyes, but they're actually not in Canaan land. I Don't want to behold Canaan land with my eyes I want to be in Canaan land. I want where's my house at Where's the land where are the fights? That's where I want to be But it says there that by little and little you'll get better as you're in Canaan land as you're fighting the battles Hey as you're fighting your flesh as you're fighting the devil as you're fighting the ideologies of this world By little and little you will be sanctified. God will clean up your life God will begin to bless you and then you will be increased in the land. Okay now The Bible tells us in the New Testament for though we walk in the flesh We do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal But mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself Against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ So the Bible tells us in the New Testament that we're not out there fighting physical wars It's a spiritual battle, right? that's one on spiritual grounds of prayer of Bible reading of evangelism of warring after your warring against your flesh and So this is what's known as the victorious Christian life and you know, there's a lot of blessings that come with being a Christian a lot of blessings will come with just being in church being a Christian you become a Person who is the recipient of God's blessing at your job You become a recipient of God's blessing in your household. You're no longer entrapped by the philosophies of this world You're no longer plagued by the anxieties and fears that come upon the unsaved or even Christians who live like the unsaved We live in a different world we're in Canaan land Inheriting the blessings that God wants to have for us. All right, so go with if you will go back to Joshua chapter 3 Joshua chapter 3 So what do we have here? We have salvation being pictured by the Passover in Egypt We have baptism being pictured by the crossing of the Red Sea You have the state of a backslidden Christian being pictured in the wilderness, which by the way It's called the wilderness of what of sin Then you have the Promised Land, which is essentially where we all want to be or should want to be But you know between the wilderness and the Promised Land There's this major determining factor and that is you have to cross over Jordan, okay Look what it says in Joshua 3 13. Let's read it again It says and it shall come to pass as soon as the souls 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 shall stand upon and heap So obviously, you know, this is like a callback to especially for them the crossing of the Red Sea But here's the difference God wants the priests to bear the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders and Before he's able to remove the waters and stop the waters They had to put their foot first into the water as soon as that happens. The miracle is performed Now, I don't believe it's literally their foot that's making it happen Really? What it is is them taking that first step And I think the picture that's being signified here is that it's your move You're like, oh man, I want to be blessed by God. Okay, the balls in your court though. Oh Man, I just want more Bible knowledge. Okay, you're moved though. Oh Man, I just want a successful marriage and I want to be successful at my job Then put your foot in You know, oh man I just want to be a man of character to just be in church every Sunday then stick your foot in the door and One thing you realize is that when you put your foot in God takes care of the rest God always makes up the difference. I don't think these guys are like doing a cannonball into the water You know what I mean? They're like, you know, I Don't even think they're like They're just like putting their foot in the water boom it happens Now what is this picture Well in the Bible water can often picture the Holy Spirit Right. I mean the Bible specifically tells us in the New Testament, right? Jesus said he that believeth on me as the scripture had said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water But this he spake of the Spirit Which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified And in fact, there's various instances throughout the Bible when God Likens someone being filled with the Spirit as him pouring the Spirit upon someone right so he's likened unto water so if you can picture the Jordan River is almost like the Holy Spirit and What is the priest picture the royal priesthood that has to walk in the spirit? Like oh man, I'm just struggling with this sin Well, this is what you got to do walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh And in fact, you know the Bible tells us Teaches us that once we take that step That our path is made plain. And in fact Proverbs 15 verse 19 says the way of the slothful man is As and hedge of thorns, but the way of the righteous is made plain So you think of the Jordan River and how it's being described in Joshua chapter 3. It's very tumultuous It seems dangerous like how are we gonna cross an entire nation over the Jordan River into Canaan land? With these very dangerous dangerous waters through the time of harvest. Well, this is how you do it You step in first and God makes it plain for you to cross over now notice it in Proverbs 15 He likens or the contrast to the righteous person is the slothful person The person who doesn't want to take the step Cuz they're lazy slothful is a lazy person You're just like oh man go to church Wake up early in the morning. Well, first of all churches at 1030 that I hope that's not early for you That would be weird if 1030 would be early for you It's nearing the afternoon Okay, it's almost lunchtime. Oh Man, it's got quiet here. Good night Not early at all, but you know what all you have to do and it's just like yeah But it's so hard to go to church. All you got to do is step in and Then I just yell you for like an hour Doesn't really require a whole lot of work Just sit there and you get you get the word the Word of God upon heaps, right? But all you got to do is step in What's the message this morning? The message is simply this, you know, the balls in your court You have to take the initiative anything in the Christian life that God has promised to you You can have but here's the thing you got to make the first move You got to step in first Isn't it interesting that you have the priests being the ones to step in the New Testament believers are the royal priesthood Carrying the Word of God on their shoulders Stepping into the water picturing the Holy Spirit that once it happens you stand on Dry ground and in fact, you're firmly planted, you know, if you're walking through waters, it's just kind of unstable But when you walk in the spirit, it's almost as if God stabilizes your life And one thing that people will tell you if they've been back something to come back to church is like church stabilizes them Like their their life is under control. Once again, their finances are under control Their marriage is under control again Their children will not so much but they can be under control, you know, depending on what age they are You know their job like everything gets Stabilized in Canaan land you walk through Dry ground and the Bible tells us for we are as workmanship created in Christ Jesus Unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should listen to this walk in them What is he saying? You need to take the first step man? I just want to learn the Bible and I want to just know a lot about the Bible. Well, what's stopping you? You're saying it like someone's keeping it from you. I mean you have a copy of the Bible right there You have access not just to a physical Bible I'm sure you got a Bible on your on your phone and app I mean you can literally read the Word of God every single day. We're not the Catholic Church trying to keep the Bible from you I'm not like a priest. I'm here like you can't understand the Bible without the interpretation of a priest and all this You don't have the authority The anointing which you have received them in but better than you and even that than any man teach you What's stopping you? You have to take the first step. You have to take the initiative. It's your move You need to put the soles of your feet in the water and take that first step Now here's a little illustration to help with this because let's talk about Church for example You know, we're going into the summer and sometimes churches in the summer They take a dip when it comes to attendance because it's just it's hot people get lazy And I don't know people just don't like to come to church You know what I mean? But you know, it should be that in the summertime we come to church more Because of the AC no, I'm just kidding, you know Cool weather inside but you know church should just always be a priority period right and obviously I'm preaching to the choir here because everyone's in church this morning. We have a full house But think about this, you know when you think about church because sometimes in the day and age in which we live we can often think of church as being only One faceted meaning that it's only about the preaching and the preaching is very much important But sometimes people think that that's the only thing that church is for Which is why people don't go to church We think about that. It's kind of funny, isn't it? They're like, oh man, the preacher is the most important part So why even go to church I could just watch it at home You know, thank God for the internet, but some internet makes people lazy, too, though But I'm gonna give you a lifting illustration Carol I don't care what kind of looks I get Let me give you a 33.3% rule okay when it comes to lifting in order for you to succeed at lifting You need these three things You need to lift heavy you need a diet correctly and Get this you need a sleep a good amount as well Like anybody will tell you like those are the three things that you need right there lift intensely Eat proper nutrition get the proper protein, right and Actually, you have to sleep a good amount of time because you build the most muscle when you're sleeping so thirty three point three percent of your success in the gym is determined by Your nutrition by the intensity of your training and by your sleep, right? Well, you know that spiritually speaking. It's the same exact thing in order for you to succeed at church or In the Christian life you need preaching which makes up thirty three point three percent But you also need fellowship Which also equals to thirty three point three percent and you need evangelism Which is thirty three point three percent making up ninety nine point nine percent of your success rate as a Christian And you know what you a lot of people are just like well I just need the preaching of God's Word. Yeah, but you're missing The fellowship and you're missing the training to evangelize and you're actually selling yourself short as a Christian If that's what you're doing, because you need all three, you know what I need fellowship for because you're weird Because you're weird and you need friends You're just that you're socially awkward covid mess you up You socially distance too much And you know what Christians in general how we have to be social creatures Like literally, you know preaching is commanded for us to listen to and to do but fellowship is also commanded Like God literally wants his people to talk to one another not just on our phones, but literally face-to-face a Brotherhood you need a brotherhood and a sisterhood You need fellowship Like oh man, you know, I just thought like, you know, the preaching would be the most important thing Yeah, but where so if you hear preaching about being in church, though And you don't want to be in church, how are you gonna be a doer the word of the preaching you just heard Like, you know when you hear preaching about the importance of fellowship, who are you gonna do with the screen? Brother I know him, you know, there's people like that on the internet They're just like they know people in our church and they've never stepped foot in our church believe that they know miss kelly fransciscini I point that cuz typically she sits there, but you know, they know her laugh Like it's almost as if like they know her And there's certain people in our church that people feel like they just know You know, they're just like oh you're on the rod of iron podcast. I know you but this is like But you don't really know them though Like the people who know them are the people in our church And then people can have this it's like people who watch like these movies for like Multiple times and they feel that it's just they have this affinity towards that character in the movie. He's fake. He's not real It's not a real person And so what I'm saying, so it's just like oh man, I need yeah, that's the reader the guy with the mustache the cop looking guy He's the reader. He does it on Sundays and then the other white dude does it on Sunday night? He sometimes shows up on the rod of iron And Then the other white guy he doesn't look like a white person, but I know he's why you know high key he does it on Thursday and They know our order of services. They know how everything runs then all the people but here's here Let me give you a rude awakening. You don't know though, cuz you don't really know cuz if you really knew hi No, I'm just kick I'm just kidding Hey, I can say it cuz I know hike Cuz I fellowship with hike You see I'm involved in that thirty three point three percent But if you only have the thirty three point three percent of preaching and you don't have the other ones then you're selling yourself short Because we need the fellowship and you also need to be to learn how to evangelize How to go soul winning, you know, there's people out there that will watch preaching online And yeah, they may do soul winning, but let's just be real honest though You can never improve as a soul winner Unless you're in a local New Testament Church with people who are more advanced than you in soul winning That's just a harsh truth for a lot of people You're like, oh man, I've seen all of the you know, the pastor he managed lessons and lectures on soul winning I've seen how everyone does. Yeah, but have you actually stepped foot in a church for an entire year? Going soul winning with people in a local New Testament Well, I mean I've seen the lectures though Folks you need the thirty three point three percent of evangelism that you get in a local New Testament Church as well Cuz you know what you need someone to tell you that you're doing it wrong And I know you don't like to hear that but it's fact If we ever want to improve in a particular area, we have to be told that we're doing it wrong at some point That's how we improve You know if you ever want to learn a language You go talk to someone who speaks that language you need that person to tell you you're not saying that right? That's like the wrong way to say it. You know, you what do you I don't even know what you're saying So that you don't do it again But if you never get corrected if you're never given tips that you're never gonna improve you're just gonna remain right there But the best way to improve is that to get is to actually get your rear end in a church hear the preaching of God's Word get fellowship and Learn how to evangelize as well That's the thirty three point three percent you said whoa, but evangelism man, that's kind of hard just step your foot just Take a step Sorry, you gotta do Fellowship is just so hard though. You know, I'm an introvert just take a step and go talk to anybody You might find out that they're just as weird as you if not weirder You're like man, I look pretty good compared to this guy You Know and you you end up realizing that it's actually not hard to fellowship at all Because you have more in common with the people here than most people out there because you're a Christian Believe the Bible and you actually enjoy the fellowship and you'll become exhorted because you know all of us though we have like a tank a spiritual tank of Knowledge that needs to be filled on a weekly basis through the preaching of God's Word we also have an emotional tank that we need to get filled up to and According to the Bible that emotional tank is filled up through fellowship and You know what? Some people overflow their tank at our church, too Which is not bad. I'm just saying, you know, they stay here to like 12 10 o'clock 11 o'clock at night Just talking and it's just after a while, you know You start talking about food and Taco Bell or whatever and it's just like all right now It's just time to get out of here, you know now we're just vain jangling here, you know, the tank is overflowing Mm-hmm, but you need That emotional tank to be filled and you need the tank of purpose to be filled as well How do you get that filled up by preaching the gospel and getting people saved? You realize when you do that, you're like man. I'm like, I'm living the Christian life. Like I'm getting people safe I'm preaching the gospel. Like I know how to articulate the gospel I can get people saved I'm excited to do that and then you add all those three church attendance you get Fellowship you get evangelism That's a recipe for success. That's a recipe for the Promised Land but all you got to do listen to me is One foot in and that's it and God will do the rest Okay Bible tells us take you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness shall be added unto you go to James chapter 4 James chapter 4 if you would You think about like God's provision How do how can I get God to provide for me? Well, you just got to take one step and go to go to work Okay, it's just like you have to pray you have to go to work and then God ends up providing the rest And here here in James chapter 4, which this is the last passage we're going to Really encapsulates this idea here, okay Because a lot of times, you know, God is just simply waiting for us to just make the first move Which by the way, let me just insert this point real quick. Okay for you single dudes out there Make the first move You know, it's just like oh man is I'm just I think I need dating apps Whatever happens just talking someone to their face Whatever happened to just going to someone and saying hi My name is you know, whatever and actually like having not having to catfish them or something You know, whatever happened to dudes not you, you know not using filters or something Actually talk to some, you know, sometimes you just got to actually take the first step And we need to bring that back by the way Bring back dudes just actually going to people a women and actually just talking to them and not being all introverted scared wusses Hey, we all had to do it Like what do you how do you how do you think you know, you know what you're talking about? I'm married That's qualification enough and look at any guy in our church right now That's married with children. They had to do that They had to put themselves out there and Spit some game. I don't know what you guys call it nowadays Riz. You got it. I raise them up or something They have to raise them up spit game and Get the person to like them, but you know, we have to is like dudes wanting girls to come to them Right, or they want some dating app to do all the work for them or something like that Go and take the first step and go talk to someone And you're like, well there's no girls in our church Well, we got a conference coming up go to the conference and there'll be tons of girls there that you could do They ain't got no excuses Take a step into the van Go there I'll finish on this note though. Look at James chapter 4 verse number 6 It says but he giveth more grace wherefore he saith God resisted the proud but giveth grace into the humble Submit yourselves therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you Listen to this draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh unto you Cleanse your hands these sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded Be afflicted and mourn and weep let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up I want to repeat that in verse number eight draw nigh to God and he'll draw nigh to you It's really simple if you really want everything that Canaan land has to offer if you want success in the Christian life, it's your move Like oh man, I just feel distant from God But that's not because God is away from you because God's presence is always here It's you you got to take the first step into getting right with God Take the first step into talking to God take the first step and letting God talk to you through the Bible and Then once you realize that you've taken a couple steps and after a while you just kind of running in the direction God's will you're serving God and before you know, you're in Canaan land again Get back into Canaan land That's just it right and don't over complicate it Don't over complicate it Well, just tell me the one thing I got to do take the first step. That's it And then on Thursday take another step and then Sunday night take another step and then tomorrow open up the Bible You took a step You wake up in the morning pray unto the Lord. That's another step That's all it is It's your move. Let's pray father. We thank you so much for your word and Thank you for the pictures that we find in the Old Testament help us as your people to continuously walk in the ways of the Lord to walk in the spirit and Help us to realize that it does require faith because sometimes we look at the situations before us or whether that's getting right with you or Reading the Bible all the way through praying making those things a discipline and it seems very hard to achieve but at the end of the day All you expect us to do is to draw an eye to you and you End up taking care of the rest and I pray you help us to have faith in you help us to increase our faith In the principles that we find in the Word of God and bless us for doing so, we love you We thank you pray these things in Jesus name. Amen