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Alright Joshua chapter 17, so we're here in Joshua chapter 17, and we're talking about mainly about the inheritance of Manasseh, which we talked about Joseph's children last week, but in Joshua chapter 17 I'm not going to go through necessarily every single verse because a lot of it is describing the borders I will just kind of explain to you what the borders there look like but look down at verse number one of Joshua chapter 17 Let's see what we can find out this evening because there is a kind of a theme at the end of Joshua chapter 17 that I believe is Important that is very applicable to our lives today So let's go ahead and look at Joshua chapter 17 look at verse number one For there was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh for there was the first for he was the firstborn of Joseph To wit for Maker the firstborn of Manasseh the father of Gilead because he was a man of war therefore he had Gilead and Bishan Bishan, so we're talking about now Manasseh's family tree here in the next couple of verses and we see something interesting In verse number three But verse number two says there was also a lot for the rest of children of the children of Manasseh by their families for the children of Abiezer and the children of Helich and for the children of Azrael for the children of Sachem and for the children of he for and for the children of Shemitah These are the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their family So these were the male children just just the boys and then verse number three. We see something a little bit unique, but Zelat Zelat fan ad the daughter of heifer and the son of Gilead the son of maker the son of Manasseh had no sons But daughters so keep in mind that you know Joseph the tribe of Joseph, you know This is several generations down now that we're in the promised land here I'm so it's the descendants of Joseph that are that are going to inherit this actual land and here We see that one of the descendants the sons of Manasseh had no sons But daughters and these are the names of his daughters Mela and Noah and Hegla ho Gla Milka and Terza, so this guy has you know, he's one of these guys I don't you've met these people before but I know a friend one time that like, you know They had there was three brothers in the family and all three of these brothers just had nothing but daughters You know, it was like 15 daughters or something like that And this is the case with this man he just he didn't have a son he had nothing but daughters and they came the daughters came before Eliezer the priest and Before Joshua the son of none and before the prince is saying the Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren Therefore according to the commandment of the Lord He gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their fathers So the unique thing that we see here is you know a lot in the Bible is said about the boys, you know The firstborn the birthright the you know, the firstborn gets a double portion in the Bible So whenever you're seeing the Bible talk about inheritance the vast majority of the time it is relating that to you know The son or the firstborn son because he is the one that typically carries on the family name or the family Tree, so to speak but you know, we see a lot of that in the Bible This is a very unique situation in Joshua chapter 17 in verse number 3 where we see a daughter or daughters of their father getting an inheritance so we see the daughters they also receive an Inheritance so we see that you know The inheritance is given to them from their father now the interesting thing about the daughters in this situation So I believe that daughters first of all It's it's it's obviously biblical as we see here for daughters to receive an inheritance You just don't hear a lot about it in the Bible because there's this real focus on the firstborn in that birthright and the blessing and especially With the lessons that the Bible is showing us with the firstborn many times being rejected as we looked at last week There's lessons there. There's pictures there as far as nations individuals There's pictures of salvation there, but look the daughters receive an inheritance here. That's a biblical thing now the interesting thing Yeah, I've talked to a couple of you about this specific thing in the last couple of weeks, but as I relate My self and my goals for my children. We talked a couple of weeks ago about favoritism Amongst kids and how you shouldn't have Favorites and you shouldn't treat You know one child like you love them more than another child and things along those lines we see Disastrous results from that in the Bible. So that's a good lesson for us that we should not do that type of thing So the Bible here is showing that daughters receive an inheritance So when I think about this and I think about not having favoritism, I think about leaving an inheritance to my daughter This is a pretty good model right here as I look at it It's a pretty good model of you know, a father leaving an inheritance to his daughter and there's some unique things About this inheritance. First of all these daughters keep in mind, you know, this wasn't the United States military that was fighting this war You know, we don't have the women fighting the war for us in the Bible Okay But these daughters did not have to fight the battles for this land These these sons and you know sons sons they fought this war They literally picked up the sword and fought the war So as our daughters receive an inheritance as my daughter receives an inheritance I said a couple of weeks ago that the path to goals may not be look exactly the same For my children whether they be boys or girls However, the goals were the same the path might be different meaning, you know my boys I'm gonna have you know goals for my boys But they're I'm gonna guide them to that goal they're gonna have to fight their way to that goal as The Bible points out here the monetary solution for the daughters the you know for my daughter Will be provided by me. However, so that's kind of a biblical look at that Whereas, you know the boys I may guide them. They're gonna have to work for things save for things I will guide them every step of the way However, the goal will be the same for my daughter as it is for my boys However, my daughter is never gonna I'm never gonna go and put my daughter outside the home to have a job to save money and all this type of thing I will provide that for her. I will her dad will fight that battle for her But the goal will be the same if that makes sense. So it's just a really good example of this in the Bible It's not the main point of the sermon. But number one the girls receive an inheritance The girls receive an inheritance and number two, you know, the boys had to fight the wars So if anybody in my family could look at you know the situation and say well the boys they kind of had to look My daughter works too. My daughter works too is just she works in the home. She's learning skills in the home She's you know Educating herself to be prepared to be a teacher and a mother and she's preparing in a different way Then the boys are preparing because you know, there's just different roles for boys and girls, you know I hate to break it to you, but that's the way the Bible teaches. So the goals are the same However, we see that the girls still get an inheritance and the boys had to fight the physical battles, which I can see that Mirrored in the goals and the way that I see my kids the boys and my daughter getting to those goals You know, the father will provide that monetary solution for the daughters look at Joshua chapter 17 in verse number 5 and then there fell 10 portions to Manasseh beside the land of Gilead and Bashan which were the other side of Jordan because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance Among his son see it is totally biblical for the daughters also to have an inheritance We just don't see much of it in the Bible because the focus is on this birthright this blessing and the rest of Manasseh sons Had the land of Gilead now verse number seven and all the way down to like verse number 11 is basically describing The borders and the coasts of Manasseh and how it intersects with Ephraim. So if you remember Ephraim was he got the blessing From his father whereas, you know from his grandfather actually But he wasn't the firstborn Manasseh was the firstborn So the way the borders lay out is you have Judah and then you have Benjamin right above Judah Which is a small nation and then right above that you have the nation of Ephraim and then rate work And that is the line by the way of the northern kingdom So everything Ephraim and north is the northern kingdom as we read through the Bible But above Ephraim separated by this river that we learn about in Joshua chapter 17 is the tribe of Manasseh Above Ephraim and of course Manasseh they had land on both sides of the Jordan River Okay, they because they decided that they would settle some land before they even came across but they still did the right thing They helped them fight for the land on the other side of the river We've gone through that story But the main point that I want to get at this evening and this isn't a long chapter But there's a there's a big theme we see starting in verse number 12 of This chapter look at the verse number 12 of Joshua chapter 17, it said yet the children of Manasseh Could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites would dwell in that land Yet it came to pass when the children of Israel were whacked wax and strong that they put the Canaanites to tribute But they did not utterly drive them out So basically put them to tribute they let them live there and they let them live like in Subjection to them and they taxed them and they worked for them and they were in servitude to the the children of Manasseh But they they lived among them is is the issue. They did not utterly drive them out. Look at verse 14 and the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua saying why has thou given me but one lot of One portion to inherit seeing I am a great people for as much as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto they're like, yeah, we're supposed to have more land than this and Joshua answered them if thou be a great people then get thee up to the wood country and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Giants if Mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee and the children of Joseph said so this it this is Manasseh and Ephraim the children of Joseph said the hill is not enough for us and All the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron Both they who are that who are of best Sheehan and her towns and they who are of the valley of Jezreel They're saying look like the hills not enough for us We need more land is like everywhere around this hill and everywhere where we need more land on our borders Are these people that have all these, you know strong armies? They have chariots They have calvaries both they you know, they're talking about chariots of iron meaning they have strong armies They have strong defenses. Look at verse 17 Look at verse 17 and Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph even to Ephraim and to Manasseh again Both of the tribes saying thou art a great people and has great power thou shalt not have one lot Only he's saying look you're not supposed to just have one lot Looking he said look at verse 18 But the mountain shall be thine for it is wood and thou shalt cut it down and the outgoings of it shall be thine For thou shalt drive out the Canaanites though. They have iron chariots and though they be strong so the last half of this chapter is kind of this back and forth between Joshua and Ephraim and Manasseh basically these these two tribes and all their descendants So it's really it's not like one person. It's it's all these descendants of these tribes Joshua is telling them look you have to drive these people out and then these people come back and they say we can't they're too Strong this is like we can't do it. They're too strong for us. Why don't we have more land? I mean, they're kind of it kind of seems like they're pouting a little bit that they don't have enough land yet Joshua's telling him how to get more land. He says this is your land and they're saying no, they're too strong for us So the point I want to make this evening is we see what these people have fought a war These people have fought many battles. We read about these battles already throughout the beginning of Joshua what why we're going to talk about this evening is this idea of losing the will to fight it Seems that they just they've lost the will to fight. Why look look at verse 16 again Like I said, it's this back and forth Joshua. You're strong. No, we're not you're strong. No, we're not look at verse 16 Look the the issue here. Look folks. The issue here was not that they lost It's not that they were beaten Look at verse 16 and the children of Joseph said the hill is not enough for us they said we don't have enough land we have a problem and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron both they of who are best she and enter towns and They who are of Jezreel first I mean look Why do people lose the will to fight is the points that I want to look at this evening look at Deuteronomy chapter 3 I'm gonna give you three reasons tonight why people and relate it to The people in this chapter why people don't fight the battles that they should Joseph is Joseph or Joshua. I'm sorry. Joshua is saying to these people like you should go fight this battle. You are strong He's like he's almost like a coach like trying to just like get them just excited. It was like you are strong They're like they're strong, but you're stronger Joshua is saying so the first thing the first thing I want to look at this evening. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 3 Deuteronomy chapter 3 the first reason that people lose the will to fight because these people used to fight in this particular case They fought many many battles and just they it seems like they were just done fighting at this point They didn't want to fight anymore The first reason is this is they have a fear of losing They have a fear of losing these People in Joshua chapter 17 the children of Ephraim the children of Manasseh They had a deep fear of losing they thought that they couldn't win Thus they did not want to go and fight They thought that they couldn't win So look folks the first if you have battles in your life that you think you can't win The first step is this the first step even aside From any of the three things that we're going to talk about this evening is you need to identify If it's something that the Lord wants you to do You need to personally identify you're saying I have some battles coming up in my life, and I don't know I'm scared for this whatever reason we'll talk about One of the reasons that I guarantee will put the finger on one of your reasons here this evening The first one that we see in Joshua chapter 17 was the head of fear of losing But the first thing that everyone needs to look at and these people should have looked at was is This a battle that the Lord wants me to fight That's the that's the only question that we really need to answer for ourselves Look, it really it's this three words. Is it just Is it a just battle look at Deuteronomy chapter 3 look at verse 22 Deuteronomy chapter 3 in verse number 22 I could go to dozens and dozens of verses that show you that that answer was very clear For the children of Israel was very clear for Manasseh and Ephraim The Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 3 and verse 22 you shall not fear them for the Lord your God He shall fight for you. Look They should have known they would win They should have known that they would win the physical battle So it was an easy one for the children of Israel I mean the Lord literally told them over and over and over again to drive these people out To utterly destroy them. I mean so that was an easy one. Do we fight this battle? They knew that they were supposed to fight that battle So look once we identify once we personally identify the just battles In our lives all we have to do is just have faith that the Lord will fight for us just like Deuteronomy 322 says look if we identify a battle in our lives. That's not a just battle and Then you know we could find ourselves in trouble there if we find something in our lives Like I'm gonna you know, I'm gonna you know, this is the battle of you know I'm not gonna pay my income tax or whatever, you know, look that's very specifically Called out by Jesus that that's not something you should fight That's not a battle that you should fight. Just give them the money Jesus said but look just after we identify the just battles in our lives. Just have faith that the Lord will fight for us that's all we need to do and look folks many times a worldly loss to us Will just be you know a bigger and better direction that God wants you to go in your life You just don't see it. Look. This is the whole story. This is the whole story with unanswered prayers I mean how many of you hey can look back five years ago two years ago three years ago and have a prayer that wasn't Answered but now you can look back on that prayer and you can say oh, yeah. I know what God was doing there. I Mean I have many of those situations where you're just like cuz I look I'm terrible at this. I'm terrible at this I think like I'm getting better as I get older I think and as I mature but look Many times you figure out a plan in your life and you say you know what? This is how I'm gonna do this thing and according to the and it may be right according to the Bible There may be nothing wrong with your plan according to the Bible. But look that plan just may not work out Turn to Isaiah chapter 55 and you sit there and you say what in the world? Why didn't God answer that prayer? Why didn't that plan work out? What's going on? But here's the thing. We cannot see God's plan We cannot see God's plan before it happens look at Isaiah chapter 55 in verse number 8 Isaiah chapter 55 in verse number 8 look many times we have a plan I get it and our plan may not be you know on biblical But look God's plan may not match our plan and we have to understand that as a matter of fact There's been many times in my life where God's plan did not match my plan Look at Isaiah 55 in verse 8 the Bible says for my thoughts are not your thoughts Neither are look at this one. Neither are your ways my ways You know what? That means that means that your plans are not my plans Look, you may have great intentions and it may be even you know, right according to the Bible But God may have a higher way God may have a better way sayeth the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are my ways Higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Look I'm glad for this then Because not only does does my plan not necessarily have to match up with God's plan all the time But as long as I'm fighting Don't miss this as long as we're fighting the just battles as long as we have identified that that first question Is this just is this moral? Is this something I should be fighting as long as we get that one, right? Even if God takes it on his plan, it's better than our plan It's higher. It's higher. It's better. So I'm thankful as long as I can look back and say you know what I was supposed to do that that there's no way that that was the wrong decision to do that because I did it for the Lord and I stood up for that and then just the plan takes a turn that I'm not really just I just have faith it's like look I know that that was the right battle to fight and God's got me on a different plan But his plans better than mine. So I'm just gonna have faith in that That's it. That's all you have to do. It's the key the trick is that first question is it a just Battle, is it something you should be fighting? But look, here's the thing folks We're not gonna understand God's ways all the time. Why because we're dumb. No because they're higher than our ways They're better. They're higher than your ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts That means we're not gonna get it all the time. We're not gonna understand it But you know when you really can understand it is when you look back on it Then you can really see it because why why can you look back on it and see it because you can see the results of it Because you can see that. Oh, yeah, that was a way better plan That was a much better Way than the way I was going So look all we have to do folks. All we have to do is fight The fights and not fear losing that's the first point We have to not fear losing because even if we think that it's not working out You know, maybe what you know, there will be a time where we're like, you know what maybe I shouldn't have fought there You know, just remember this his way is better His way is better as long as we're fighting the right fights Everything will work out. The only thing that throws off his plan is if we fight the wrong battles or we See the right battles and we don't fight them those two things and many people Know what right battles are but they choose not to fight because they're afraid of losing just like the children of Manasseh and Ephraim in Joshua chapter 17 What next so the fear of losing we don't have to fear losing don't fear losing Just make sure you're fighting the right battles choose the right battles fight them fear No loss God will take care of the rest His plan is better than your plan Even if you don't understand it at the time you'll be able to look back on the results and you will understand it I promise you just make sure you're fighting the right battles. What next why do people lose the will to fight? That's the first reason because they're they're they're afraid of losing what's the next one? Here's the next one fear of the fight itself Fear of the fight itself. Look some people have a fear of fighting You say what do you mean like physically fighting? You know all this. Here's the thing Here's the thing. I used to always get like really I was always Almost every time even if I knew it was gonna be a really easy match. I was always nervous before a wrestling match always like super nervous but the thing is like once it started and You got like hitting the head the first time like at that first contact all the nervousness just goes away Like you were I was never nervous ever one time. Well, I was wrestling a wrestling match ever But before you know, just that just that fear of the just that nervousness of the confrontation itself It's nerve-wracking Here's the thing that's just an analogy of a physical fight, but here's the thing Fear of fighting can set in when we get too comfortable in our lives We get too comfortable. I mean look a lot of people, you know, we get so comfortable in our lives, especially as Americans we get so comfortable in our lives that a lot of people will just they'll they'll get they'll just do anything to stay comfortable and That's fear of fighting. That's no good. Look. I like to be comfortable Don't get me wrong. I enjoy I enjoy You know having a job. I enjoy, you know having a life That's not full of turmoil and and stress and all these things But here's the thing if there's a fight that steps in front of me. That is a just fight to fight I cannot not fight that fight because I want to hang on to my comfort. I Cannot fear that fight Because I may lose some comfort So you always have to keep that in mind when you get comfortable When you get comfortable in your life, you always have to kind of remember like, you know, I'm thankful that I'm comfortable right now I'm thankful that God is blessing me that I'm in a comfortable position right now But if there's a fight that I need to fight that is a just battle and that costs me this comfort I will fight that for the Lord. You always have to keep that mindset It's kind of you know, it's a difficult thing to do especially, you know when when you're comfortable But the thing is turn to Revelation Turn to Revelation chapter 21 look if you're nervous and don't want to get into a battle All you have to do is just jump right into it That's because you then the anticipation of it is the worst just like I was saying just get right into this Christian life folks Just rip the band-aid off then it's great You know, so many people are nervous about The battle nervous about you know fighting any battle about committing to any you know fight in their Christian life But the thing is you just have to do it and then it that that goes away that fear goes away, you know I mean if you're constantly sitting there, you know, is this gonna work out, you know, look if it's the just battle That's all that matters. That's all you have to tell yourself. Is this the just battle? Look at Revelation chapter 21, you know what you call like, I mean, there's a word for that like fear of fighting You know somebody that doesn't want to go into the battle because they're afraid that's like, you know, that's called cowardice You know, we're not supposed to be afraid of Anything except the Lord look at Revelation chapter 21 8 how many times have you read this verse? Don't forget the first three words of this verse talking about Terrible Sins, this is a good at verse to just give to people an example of terrible sins You know sins that people have done and then you know, of course it throws in the liars which were all for sure liars But look at verse number eight. I think this one probably applies to most people as well Verse number eight the first three words says but the fearful Look being afraid To fight for just things to fight the Christian fight Is a sin It's listed with these terrible sins it's listed with unbelieving abominable murderers whoremongers sorcerers Idolaters look being fearful is a terrible sin And the reason look the reason folks that it is listed with all these terrible sins is because being fearful can ruin your life Not wanting to fight the battles seeing just battles in front of you Seeing these battles like yes, I know that this is wrong and I know I should fight this battle and saying but I'm afraid But I'm afraid to go into that because of what it may cost me because of my comfort because I'm afraid to fight That that's a terrible sin right there So look turn to Joshua chapter 24 Joshua chapter 24. Look what Joshua said Joshua chapter 24 I Look the only thing that we have to fear the only thing that we should fear is the Lord and there's just verse after verse after verse in the Bible about that Joshua chapter 24 in verse 14 the Bible says this now therefore fear the Lord and Serve him in sincerity and truth Look, all we have to fear is the Lord anything more than that is Is a terrible sin that's going to lead us down a terrible road in our lives What's the third reason so we see that people are afraid to lose? number one Number two people are afraid to fight in general Look, all we have to do to solve number one and number two is just identify is is this a fight that it look? This is an easy one, too Because I believe that most of these situations They're not gray in our lives. We know the battles that we should fight in our lives Look at Joshua. I'm sorry. Look at the third reason. The third reason is this people just get tired of fighting Turn to Galatians chapter 6 that was probably part of the case with Manasseh because these people used to be fighting these people were fighting great battles at the beginning of Joshua and then they just they just didn't You kind of see this trend which is really kind of pops out in this chapter that they just don't really want to fight anymore They don't seem to have that confidence anymore. They're just kind of tired of fighting What people get tired of fighting you'll see this in the Christian life as well. Look at Galatians chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6 Look at verse number 9 Look what the Bible says it says and let us not be weary in Well-doing for in due season. We shall reap if we faint not notice what it says here It says you're gonna get weary, but you're gonna get weary what? You're gonna get weary Here's the trick to this whole thing. You're weary in well-doing So these people these people that are that are getting weary in Galatians chapter 6 in verse number 9 They're doing well at the time that they get weary They're getting weary in well-doing. That's the trick to getting weary because guess what you are all going to get weary You are all going to get weary in your life But the trick to getting weary is this you need to be doing well when you get weary Turn to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 at the time when weariness hits you need to be separated At the time when weariness hits you need to have your kids already out of the school system At the time when weariness hits you need to be in a good church At the time when weariness hits look at 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 Well, look you don't want to be you don't want to be you're all gonna get weary and you don't want to get weary When you don't have things squared away in your life You don't want to get weary when you're not doing well if you get weary when you're not doing well There's gonna be a lot of trouble in your life. Look at 1st Thessalonians chapter 5. Look at verse number 9 The Bible says for God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him That's the main context of the next few verses that we should live together with him we should be living together for Christ We should be living for Christ in our lives. Wherefore Comfort yourselves. Once again, what does it say together and edify one another even also even even as also Ye what? Ye do what does that mean even as also ye do even as you're living for Christ as You're doing this you need to be comforting one another you need to be edifying one another as you are doing this look at verse 12 and We beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you so Verse 13 and to esteem the very highly in love for their works works sake and be at peace among yourselves Look what this is saying in these few verses is have good relationships in the church And a lot of people teach verse 12 verse 13 as far as you know how to treat your pastor and things like that But I want to point out that there is two groups here. There's two groups here. It's not just the pastor It's those that labor among you It's those that labor among you look at verse 14 now We exhort you brethren warn them that are unruly comfort the feeble-minded support the weak be patient towards all men Look when you get weary You don't want to be by yourself When you get weary you want to be in a safe place. See here's the problem Here's the problem with the Christian life the Christian life you're in this Christian life and You're gonna get weary and you're gonna get tired and you're gonna get down in this Christian life There's gonna be valleys in your Christian life. I hate to break it to you There's gonna be valleys in your Christian life and guess what? You don't want to be like here's the problem as your Christian life has valleys Look and you should have as few valleys as possible. The Bible says you're gonna you're gonna get weary but The world the prince of this world is putting constant pressure so as you get weary that pressure doesn't go away as You have these valleys and you're in a valley. There's still the pressures from the world There's still the temptations from the world and you're in a valley. You're like, oh man. Well, what am I supposed to do that? Well, you're supposed to not be by yourself That's what you're supposed to do. That's what that's what this this verse and first Thessalonians chapter 5 these verses That's what they're telling you that you need to be together. You need to be squared away You need to be in the right place in your Christian life because when you hit those valleys Then you know you that pressure won't overcome you is what the Bible is saying You know, this is a problem with people that think they don't need a church. They're crazy. I mean, they're nuts. I Mean imagine I was thinking about this out soul winning today We went out soul winning in a neighborhood today and it was freak town I'm telling you freakville big-time. I Mean everybody it was just freaks everywhere. The girls came to us. They're like, yeah, maybe we ran a bunch of freaks And I'm like, yeah, we met freaks over here too. There's freaks everywhere. I mean it was it was Zombieland everybody's doing drugs everywhere and you know The the girls ran into some weirdos and we ran into some weirdos and it's just like it was just one of those neighborhoods And you know what, you know what though we're walking down the street and You know, we're driving back in the car and we're going back into the church after soul winning and you know We're just chuckling about it. We're just talking about it. Well, yeah, you know, nobody was interested in the gospel There's all these, you know weirdos and you know, you know pervert people saying vulgar things and all this It's just like, you know, we're just kind of like yeah that that was crazy You know, we're kind of chuckling it and just kind of letting it like slide off our you know, like water off a duck's back Well, guess what now imagine now imagine that you're in that neighborhood and you're soul winning by yourself Imagine what that would do to you just picture that for a second Everybody that went soul winning today. Just picture that you were just soul winning Carrying a Bible in that neighborhood today by yourself That that would be depressing you would walk away and you'd be like I Mean I can see brother you harness his face. He's like I would never want to go soul winning again He's just his face is like Look it's it's it's no good. Look Satan Satan is relentless folks. There's constant pressure You cannot you must be in the right place with the right people or it's not gonna work Because you're gonna get weary and you're gonna get worn down and you're gonna run in to you know weirdos out there I mean soul and he's a perfect example of this. That's why you know, the people they're like, I don't need a church I'm just gonna go soul winning on my own. It's like yeah, good luck. You're not gonna do that long You know it look You're gonna you don't want to be some wounded fawn all alone in the middle of a meadow You know instead you want to be strong you want to be in a strong group of people and then when verse 14 kicks in You know, it's comfort the feeble-minded support the weak and you know, that's why you're in church folks That's why you're part of a church Surrounded by the brethren So when you have those moments When you have those moments, you're not alone turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 4. I Mean think about think about your kids Think about your kids when your kids get weak. Oh, wait a minute. Your kids are weak The Very nature of children is they're weak That's why the Bible says that they need to be protected that they need to be taught that they need to be kept safe That they need to be trained the Bible never talks about taking your kids and just like throwing them out to be you know Let's send our kids into that neighborhood to go soul winning, you know, I mean no it's talking about you know training and protecting and teaching and keeping safe when it comes to kids They're in a safe environment Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Look at verse number 9. The Bible says here it says two are better than one Because they have a good reward for their labor for if they fall The one will lift up his fellow. Guess what? Guess what if you're in a peak? Or if you're in a valley The odds are that your brethren are not Because everyone's lives kind of go like this, you know, hopefully if you're if we're a strong church our lives kind of go like this Hopefully our lives are like You know, we don't we're not like flatline Christians, right? If we're all flatline Christians This wouldn't work. But the idea is that when you have a little you know, a little bump a little meadow a little valley That everybody else's is high. So one can lift up the other that's the idea folks For if they fall one will lift up his fellow. That's why you have to be a strong church We can't all just be laying on the ground like turtles on our back, right? That wouldn't work But woe to him that is alone when he falleth Freeeth not another to help him up That's him. That's him. That's trying to go this thing alone Again, if two lie together then they have heat But how could one be warm alone and if one prevail against him two shall withstand him and a threefold cord is not Quickly broken this was soul-winning today right here this verse a threefold card is not quickly broken Yeah, it was a messed up neighborhood. I mean it's rare that you see so many messed up people Living in the same block. I mean sometimes you you run into them here and there but look Because that we were all together and we were a threefold cord, you know, it's it's like it's like no big deal You know, it's no big deal. It's it's a conversational piece You know, that's all it is So look we can't be afraid of losing We can't be afraid of fighting and we just have to kind of know that we're gonna get weary So don't get depressed if you get weary just you need to make sure that you're in the right place You need to make sure that you're going through the right motions in your Christian life You need to make sure that you're separated. You're in a church. You're homeschooling You've got everything squared away and then when you get weary, it's no big deal. We'll just pick you up We'll just hold you up until you're not weary anymore. And then you're off to the races once again That's how that goes Turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 5. So in conclusion, here's what you really need to know Here's what you really need to know as you think about Battles that might be coming up in your life battles. You're like, I know that there's some battles coming up in my life They're just battles. I know I should fight them. Here's all you need to know you eventually Eventually, we will have the victory That's all we need to know 1st Corinthians chapter 5 look at verse. I'm sorry 1st Corinthians chapter 15. Look at verse number 57 1st Corinthians chapter 15 look at verse number 57 Look what the Bible says it says but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Look we win in the end Even throughout the horrible story of everything happening in Revelation to the Christians we win in the end We win in the end. So even when it feels like maybe you're not winning just remember that there will be bad Look, there will be battles in your life that you feel like you're losing or you feel like you lost that's normal That's normal. There will be battles in your life where you feel like, you know, that didn't go Turn to Matthew chapter 5 But the beauty of that is this the beauty of fighting a battle like as long it like again It was a battle that I was supposed to fight I went and I fought it and it looks like I'm laying down on the ground bleeding It looks like that did not go well for me. Look at Matthew chapter 5 in verse number 12 Look at Matthew chapter 5 in verse number 12 Matthew chapter 5 verse number 12. The Bible says rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven For so persecuted they the prophets were which were before you look the more bat here's that here's how it works the more battles you fight on earth and lose on earth the better your eternity will be I Mean think about that I mean you are just if you're fighting battles and you just I mean as long as they're just battles if you're fighting them It doesn't even matter if you win or lose like the the earthly battle because you're just racking up rewards in heaven And look, I don't think a lot about rewards to be honest with you. I don't think a lot about rewards I mean the Bible talks a lot about rewards in heaven. I don't think about it that much because honestly, I'm just happy to be saved I'm Happy to not be going to hell. I'm thankful that I got saved I kind of feel like I slid into the home on that one I kind of feel like I just beat the throne, you know, you ever have that feeling But look, I mean, here's the thing. I don't think about rewards that much but in this context It's okay to think about rewards that you know what if I'm gonna fight a battle and I'm losing at least You know, at least there'll be a reward in heaven for that. At least I won that battle in heaven turn to James chapter 1 Even more specifically on this on this specific Thing this fighting these types of battles and losing them on earth. The Bible even gives us a specific reward That we're gonna get for this look at James chapter 1 in verse number 12 James chapter 1 in verse number 12 And then we're gonna go to Revelation chapter 2 James chapter 1 in verse number 12 The Bible says blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he has tried he shall receive the crown of life Which the Lord have promised to them that love him. Look, how do we show how do we show that we love the Lord? Think about what this statement right here. How do we show that we love the Lord? You know if you love me keep my Commandments look we show that we love the Lord through our actions We show that we love the Lord look thank God look thank God that God is all about action And he's not just words. Oh, I love you God. That's us, right? Oh, I love you, you know, and then we do no action That that's us. Thank God God doesn't have the same definition of love as we do but the Bible says here is that if you really love God meaning you Take action in your life Towards God and you fight those battles the Lord's gonna give you a crown of life. I don't know what that looks like You know, it's probably pretty good. Look at Revelation chapter 2 in verse number 10 Revelation chapter 2 in verse number 10 So we're gonna get this crown of life For those that love God those that show action Love is action That is God's definition of love is action look at Revelation chapter 2 in verse number 10 God didn't just say that he was gonna send his son to pay for our sins So we could be saved through a free gift of believing in him. He didn't just say that he did it He took the action revelation 210 fear. None of those things which Thou shalt suffer Underlined thou shalt suffer because that kind of means that kind of I when I read that that thou shalt suffer It kind of makes me think that I'm losing some battles right there If I'm you know If I'm fear None of those things that thou shalt suffer behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that probably felt like a loss At that point when those people or with these people they take a stand. They're like, you know what? I'm not putting up with this. I'm taking a stand on this and they're cast into prison I bet that feels like a loss at that point. I hope not because it's not As long as it's a just battle it's a win That ye may be tried These shall have tribulation ten days and be thou faithful unto death You know when the guillotines coming down on your head some people might think oh man that didn't go well Not me man Not me when that guillotine is coming down. I'm gonna be like W crown of life here it comes and I will give thee a crown of life look You gotta assume that you're gonna lose some battles On the earth as far as like what we might look at as a win, but here's the thing we win in the end We win in the end the more you the more you lose here for this tiny little speck of time. That is our life The more we win all the way to eternity you get to wear that crown for eternity folks Look, it's worth all these battles. All these battles are worth the fight is what I'm trying to get at this evening We're gonna get tired of fighting. We're gonna be afraid to fight all these things are normal We see it in the Bible in Joshua chapter 17, but every single battle. That is just is worth fighting And no matter what happens, you know, that's the thing That's the thing most battles like that we would think of this is the problem most battles We would think of like from a secular logical mind like we're gonna go and I'm gonna fight this guy right here You know when he's beats me into the ground I'm gonna you know, that's a loss, right? But here's the thing with the Christian battles. Just the fact that we stand up and we fight the battle is a win We can't lose The only way we can lose is if we're afraid and we don't fight it in the first place That's the only way we can lose Fight as hard as you can. I mean, this is it This is it fight as hard as you can in this tiny little temporal moment that you have in your life That's what we can and if we do that There's no way we can lose No matter what you think or what you think it looks like if you fight it and it's worth fighting and it's a just fight It's a win Jesus promises of that let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer your heavenly father. I thank you You