Go ahead.
Let's make a thing of life.
Sing it out, sing a new hallelujah.
Hold your eyes.
Let the church arise.
Let the rain turn the other side.
And I, I'm gonna hold it back.
Let the storm arise.
Let the people know that we're here.
There's a new song.
Bringing out the children of radio.
Every race and every nation.
Singing out to sing a new hallelujah.
Amen.
Amen. There's us. Praise God.
A new song breaking out from the children of radio.
I think that's talking about the church.
You think so? I think so.
Alright, just a couple of quick announcements for you today.
And we'll get right back at worshiping the Lord.
So the first one is don't forget to mark on your calendar if at all possible.
We'll hold a lot of fun events that is on Halloween.
So we will be opposite while all the trick or treating and like that is going on on Halloween.
But we are not at trick or treating.
And the truth is we're not a Halloween event.
We are an alternative event where kids can come and play games and get candy.
And we've got some other cool prizes.
And we're just waiting to see if we have a game this year that if you win you can get candy or a new pair of socks.
Isn't that cool?
Somebody might be getting a pair of socks.
You know what I'm saying?
That would be fun.
So we're going to do that on Halloween night.
At the same time trick or treating is normally going on.
And we need goats to run games.
And so we like some of our kids will run games part of the time.
But part of the time they're going to want to play and have fun and get some candy and maybe some socks.
You know what I'm saying?
And so that is that.
And we'll be setting up before then so you can make yourself available to set up games and like that before we start.
I think we go six to eight.
Do we not for the actual event?
Six to eight.
Start up setting.
Five o'clock.
Start setting up games down the hallway.
Basically what they do is they come down the hall.
They play the game.
They go out that end.
They come in again and go down again.
They can do as many times as they want.
They don't hold them back for as many times as they want.
And it's meant to be a safe alternative to that other thing that they do out there in the world.
All right.
And so we'll do that.
Also with that upcoming on Tuesday evening.
So on Tuesday evening we've been doing Bible teaching.
We've been having a really awesome Bible teacher every Tuesday night.
Isn't that right?
Talk about me but I'm just kidding.
So yeah we've been teaching on Tuesday night in this room.
And we have started kind of just an overview or an intro to an idea of last week.
And the next two weeks we're going to be talking about evil spirits and demons.
It's only the adults and the youth.
Okay.
So if you have questions on that topic you can come you can bring them and we'll be discussing that.
And then we have a few men who have had some experience in that area.
And what we're going to do each night we're going to end with a panel.
You ever see that?
Like we have like a discussion panel.
And they will sit up front and then we'll have them announce it.
We'll have some prepared questions and you can ask any questions that any of them and I will be one of them.
Any questions you might have on that topic for adults and youth only in this room.
All the kids are welcome but they leave after a couple songs.
They go to their age appropriate lesson.
And then we'll have our age appropriate lesson on evil spirits and demons.
The next two weeks on Tuesday evening.
At the end we do end with a little dessert fellowship or sometimes maybe some veggies.
So you better prepare it because Perry doesn't eat dessert but he does eat veggies.
You eat dessert at all?
Yes I do.
Okay.
Once in a blue moon.
Sometimes we do some veggies to go with those desserts.
All right.
So that's Tuesday.
That's coming back.
That's a day after tomorrow.
And then the last Tuesday of the month is the 31st.
And so we'll have Bible study that night.
We will instead have the Hall of a lot of fun.
Okay.
And that's an alternate.
What's that?
With socks.
So that's a little, we might come up with another creative one.
Yeah that's one we've got.
We've got, I got about 200 pairs of brand new socks.
So these kids are going to be able to win.
I've only gotten three bags of donations.
Yes we need lots of candy.
My goodness.
We'll do some purchasing.
Or if you don't have any money and you would like to do purchasing.
Is it candy or is it any individually wrapped treat?
That's fine.
That would be fine.
Yes any individually wrapped treat would be fine.
Whatever a kid will eat that you can get the most of that can't possibly be contaminated.
Okay.
Just bring stuff.
Fruit snacks, goldfish.
All right.
So we're going to pray together at this time.
And then there are more announcements in your bulletin and more things going on.
But I just wanted to, we just need to pray and worship God.
On this last season we did a Wack Out Simple Stuff about the offering.
And so just want to draw that to mind.
Those who were here when we talked about the offering when it comes that you have the opportunity to think that way.
And we try to do a little snippet something about the church, about God, about faith.
Each Tuesday night we call that Wack Out Simple Stuff.
That's at the beginning.
And before I forget, my goodness, we have two members that called me this morning that they're out sick today.
And then Tommy Mitchell, who normally runs the Facebook Live feed that Jason is holding and stepping in and doing over there for the first time ever.
He is broke down on the way to church today.
So they're resolving that.
So Art is rescuing him right now.
And hopefully they'll get there with both vehicles or they're going to have to go back after or whatever.
But he's safe, but stuck.
And we pray for him too.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven, thank you so much just for being you.
If I had to be in charge of even everything that's in my own life, I'd screw it up.
In fact, we did that for 25 years.
So I know firsthand I'd screw it up.
I would I'd own it just enough to ruin it.
And so, Lord, I'm grateful that we can put that in your hands for the calling that you have for this place that we would worship you today.
Lord, we got a lot of things to worship before, beginning with the construction of DNA and trees and all form of plants and dry land and animals and stars in the sky.
So are we all the way right up to you put us where we live to know the people that we know to be here with the people that we're here with today.
To be in this place, you provided the chair, the carpet, the light, you provided the walls, the roof, the warmth, the friendship, the brotherhood.
You provided it all.
And so we praise you and adore you for the amazing things you provided at the same time where we have to confess to you that we have owned it just enough to ruin it already.
And if it weren't for Jesus and his provision, the work for sin being paid for, we still be ruined it.
And someday maybe we still do.
So we ask your forgiveness and thank you that that is available through paid blood, through shed blood, through the great sacrifice, the one eternal sacrifice will stand for all who allow it.
And then when we ask you to take over our service today, we know that we prayerfully consider what songs to sing or pray.
He is not only really good at what they do, but on top of that practice, Lord, and then you spoke, I think a message into my heart to share.
And maybe there are those who share it.
That's great.
The one time today, we do pray that you'll be with our sick and missing members.
Those who are out for whatever reason.
And also work for Tommy and RJ as they're still on the way here and overcoming that broken radiator hose and they just place nothing more than that.
I pray that you'll continue to heal us.
I thank you that my ear is better today.
So much better.
I pray for Kayla's ear because she's got the same thing going on pretty much.
I pray that you heal him and help him be able to hear.
I pray for Sherry's neck and her spinal stenosis.
And Lord, I just pray that you pave the way to healing or to get her through to do exactly what you want to do there.
I pray for Prince, even right now having those very small, but true smaller than what he had before, but for an object in his body.
I want to say that it's all the way, that there'd be no pain, no infection, no problem.
I pray for Larry with his foot.
The surgery that he had left somewhat of an infection after the stitches were taken out.
I pray for his strength for him.
He wants the surgery.
He loves to do so.
We just pray that you let us worship you.
Empower us to do so.
Let us serve you.
Let's care about one another.
Let's spend a little time together.
We pray all this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
All right.
We do have an instrument solved this morning.
So if any of the children would like to join me, you got to kind of hustle.
Hurry up.
Come on.
If everybody else can stand with us.
They're going to play some instruments for us.
Sit right up here in the front.
Right up here.
Go ahead.
We're as ready as we'll ever be.
Let's get it.
Okay.
You can be seated this time.
Okay.
So we're going to pray together at this time.
Then here's what we have.
We have tithes and offerings, a couple more songs of worship.
The children are going to their classes and we're going to the work.
I'm excited because I love the work.
All right.
Jason, would you pray for us at this time?
Remember the tithes and offerings?
You got so many additional responsibilities today.
We're just going to keep one more on you.
All right.
Go for it.
Amen.
without us. So Jesus you are heaven now.
My sin was great, your love was greater.
What a separate, lost love.
What a wonderful name it is.
The name of Jesus Christ my King.
What a wonderful name it is.
Nothing compares to this.
What a wonderful name it is.
The name of Jesus.
What a wonderful name it is.
The name of Jesus.
Death could not hold you, but they'll fall before you.
Your silence, the false thoughts, and everything.
The heavens are roaring, the graves are not far away.
For you are raised to life again.
You have your idols, you have your equals.
Now and forever God you reign.
Yours is the kingdom, yours is the glory.
Yours is the name above all names.
What a powerful name it is.
The name of Jesus Christ my King.
What a powerful name it is.
Somewhere in this notebook I wrote my sermon notes.
And believe it or not, I didn't mark the page.
I just passed three other sermons so apparently I like this notebook.
So early on in my time as a pastor, so we're talking over a couple decades ago now.
By the way Tommy, congratulations on making it to church.
I'm glad to see you sir.
Jason did a pretty good job back there.
You trained him up a little bit.
He's solid.
I'm saying you could train him up a little bit more and he's pretty solid.
So anyway, I was asked to do a child dedication.
Now if you don't know what a child dedication is, I'm about to explain it to you so it's okay.
Basically a child dedication is when the church and the family of that child come together
and they quote unquote dedicate the child.
So then we say we're going to raise this child.
Listen to the language.
We're going to raise this child in the Lord.
We're going to be a good example to this child.
We're going to care for this child in a way that they will come up and follow God.
They will hear the gospel.
They will see examples of the Lord.
You notice the language?
We're dedicating the child but all the verbs was the parents and the church, right?
So we're dedicating the child.
We call it child dedication.
But then as I studied it, I realized that it's not child dedication.
It's us dedication.
We're dedicating ourselves and we're asking the other parents, other adults in the church who aren't parents and so on
to help us raise that child in a godly way.
And so I had seen child dedications before I became a pastor.
I had served as a deacon at East Lido and I even participated in some and we had even dedicated our children.
We were raising them back at East Lido Baptist Church back in the day.
But I really never paid attention to that back and then when I went to go write my first ever dedication service,
I realized that it really is not about so much committing the child unto the Lord.
We kind of think like that, you know, Samuel was committed to live for the Lord from his very young days and so on like that.
But really it's about committing the church and adults and even teenage young adults like all of us together to raise that child in a godly way.
I want you to bear that in mind then as we look at this passage of scripture we're going to look at today.
We have been working through the book of Deuteronomy.
I tend to get a little excited about the scripture and I offer you to do that as well as we maybe give a hoot, a holler, amen, as we go to Deuteronomy chapter 31.
Amen.
All right. This is God's word.
Whatever I may get right or wrong from here on out, if you will just commit yourself to listen to the Lord, you will hear from God because this is God's word.
Okay. So as I say, whatever I may get right or wrong, you just listen to the Lord.
Though I have attempted to listen to the Lord myself and I don't think I'll get anything wrong, I am human.
So here we go. Deuteronomy 31 beginning in verse 1.
So we are fully 30 chapters through the book of Deuteronomy.
That's pretty impressive. We have studied together, preached together 30 chapters of the book of Deuteronomy and there's only a handful left.
So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel and he said to them, I am 120 years old today.
Happy birthday, Moses.
I am no longer able to come and go and the Lord has said to me, you shall not cross this Jordan.
Now before we go any further, that's the first two verses of the chapter and it's really exciting to see.
But I want you to notice something.
If you're following along in your Bible or you have it electronically or whatever, if you take your Bible and go all the way back to the left in the book of Deuteronomy,
just keep going to the left until you get to chapter 3.
And at the end of chapter 3, these are the words that you might read.
I'll begin reading in verse 27. It says, Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and the north and the south and east and see it with your eyes for you shall not cross over this Jordan.
But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him for he shall go across at the head of this people and he shall give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.
So we remained in the valley of opposite Bethphior.
And everything from chapter 4, the beginning of chapter 4 then, all the way through chapter 30 has all been tied up in that verse.
So we remained in the valley opposite Bethphior.
We have been approaching the moment that we are about to read about for the last 26 chapters of the book of Deuteronomy.
The whole of the book of Deuteronomy is all about Moses explaining them everything they need to know because Moses is not going to be there anymore to explain anything that they need to know.
He's going away. He's not going to lead them to the promised land.
I want to get a lot into the topic of two things we're not going to talk a lot about today.
I'll just explain them briefly so you understand.
Number one is Moses and why Moses is not allowed to go in the promised land.
We studied that back in the day.
I'll just say basically what happened was Moses kind of sinned.
He kind of sinned of pride.
Even though he was a leader, probably the holiest man to live in his day, nonetheless he sinned against God.
And when he was told to speak to the Rock and give the Israelites water, he instead got all mad and angry and struck the Rock with his staff and kind of almost kind of cursed the people of Israel, said some bad things.
And God said for that reason, because he transcended the command of God, he would not be allowed to go in.
So even though he's Moses, he doesn't get to go in the promised land.
Side note, little bit of trivia, does Moses ever get to be in the promised land?
He does indeed.
In the New Testament, he meets with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.
He is one of the three men who are there on that mountain.
So he does indeed eventually get to stand, although in the afterlife he's long gone by then on the mountain in the promised land. Praise God.
That being said, also what's going on here is the commission of Joshua.
And so we're going to talk a little bit about that because we're going to read over it as it sort of happens coming forward.
But I'm not going to hit that hard.
It is very thoroughly explained in the book of Numbers, chapter 27.
So if you're in your own time, you want to go read there, there is a more intentional step by step, everything that happens in the commissioning of Joshua.
What priest was in charge, what the people said, all the things that happened, it's over there in chapter 27.
So I submit to you that chapter 31 is not really all that much about that.
This is not a historical record, everything that happened.
This is something for us to see about the commission or about what God says during this time.
So that's really what we're going to focus on.
So now we're back in Deuteronomy 31.
We've gone up as far as you shall not cross this Jordan.
That was verse two.
And it says in verse three, it is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you.
He will destroy these nations before you and you shall dispossess them.
Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the Lord has spoken.
And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Ag, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land when he destroyed them.
And the Lord will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.
So basically up through verse five, we have God saying that he is going to go in front of the Israelites.
He is going to ruin or wreck the people that live in the promised land now.
And that God has already given them instructions on how to handle those people once they would be survivors or anybody who doesn't flee.
What to do with them.
He's already given them instructions on how to handle that.
Verse six says, now this is kind of the commission, if you will, of the people.
So this is what Moses is saying on behalf of God to the Israelites.
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid or tremble at them, talking about the people that are in the land.
For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you.
He will not fail you or forsake you.
Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel.
So all the people are gathered there.
He calls out to Joshua.
And the impression here is that they were not standing close together, they were not having a private conversation.
This is a kind of a call and response, which was typical back then.
And he calls out to him and he says what we're about to read.
And Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, be strong and courageous.
Well that sounds familiar.
For you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them.
Now that is not familiar based on the commission he's given the people.
That is different.
Joshua, you will go with them to give them the land that God has promised them or promised their fathers.
And you shall give it to them as an inheritance.
So he would give over the promised land into the people's hands.
Verse 8.
And the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you.
He will be with you.
He will not fail you or forsake you.
Do not fear or be dismayed.
So that's the text for the day through verse 8.
And we have, it's very much an overview, a simple summary of the commission of Joshua and the Israelites at the moment that Moses is sort of turning over the reins, if you will.
He's not done yet.
There's more that he'll do at the end through the remainder of this chapter and into 32.
You get the song of Moses, which is a lengthy song that God gives.
And we probably have to look at that even over a couple weeks.
I don't know for sure how that's going to go yet.
But the bottom line is this is the commissioning of Joshua, the installation maybe, if you will.
And it's done in a very summary.
It's not like what's in over in Numbers 27 where it's very detailed.
This is very simple.
Three things I want you to see out of here that I really, so I went through about 12 possible points and prayed over them and like that.
But I honed it down to these three.
And the first one is that God is a frontline fighter.
We always think of God with us.
And we'll talk about that in a minute.
It's true.
But actually here, it does not say that God just would go with them.
But it says he goes before us.
He would go before them into the land.
In truth, it says that God would be the one who would defeat all of their enemies.
It says that God would not fail.
Of course, God's not going to fail.
God has all the knowledge.
If military intelligence actually is a thing, God's got it.
Okay.
God has all the power.
If military might is actually a thing, God's got it.
Right.
And so God's not going to fail as he goes before them into the promised land, the holy land, the grace land.
He's not going to fail as he goes before them.
He has all the resources.
Even literally whatever he might need to do the job, God could manufacture it if it was needed.
It also says that God would not abandon his charge.
So as he's going forward, as he's leading them forward in the promised land, God is upfront.
You could say, doing the work, getting the job done.
Right.
So we've got this idea about even our Christian walk that God gives us things to do.
And I submit to you, that's not really accurate.
Right.
So you think, well, I know what the Lord wants me to do.
He's given this to me to do.
That's not really accurate.
God never gave you anything to do for him that he did not lead the charge in doing it.
Right.
When I was a young Christian, there was an illustration I heard in a sermon back at East Lado.
I can't quote the person, I don't know who said it for sure or who they were talking about.
But bottom line, it was about a young singer who felt called of the Lord to get up and sing in front of the congregation
of a relatively good sized church.
And back and forth, a conversation took place back and forth between her and God.
She's maybe teenage years, 13, 14, 15 years old.
And she's, but I don't know God.
I don't know God.
And finally, she clenched onto the go and I'll go with you.
And so she went up there and she said, I felt like God was in me and with me and next to me the whole time I was singing.
And that really encouraged me.
I'm like, that's cool.
And it kind of speaks a little bit to our second point.
But right here, this encourages me even more because that illustration is a little bit broken.
When she walked up on stage to sing that song, God was already there.
God already has marked out the path.
When the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, when she said, I am the way, the truth, life, no one cometh unto the Father except through me.
Jesus has already become the path.
He is more than willing to accept you.
He is blazing the trail between you and the Father.
And the instant that you accept, boom, you're in the presence of the Lord being saved.
Because why?
Because Jesus has already done it.
The fight is already won if indeed the fight is the Lord's.
God can handle it.
He's already proven he can handle it.
Here, Moses even quotes, God will do it as he did the King Sion and Ahab.
By the way, those are two huge kings with powerful military forces.
And even though, even though Israel was really huge, they were not a powerful military force.
They were not military trained.
There wasn't one sword per ten men.
When they went into combat the first times, originally before Sion and Ahab, right?
They didn't have it.
But God went before them.
And he said, God will do this as he did it already.
And he conquered those kings and gave you these lands, the lands of the Amorites.
God will do it.
And has God ever done for you?
If God's ever done for you, you can confidently know that he's going to do again.
And if you're here today and you say, I don't think God's ever done for me,
then I ask you to take a little look at what happened on a hill called Calvary.
Because God has indeed done for you.
And he's done for me.
And he's made a way.
And he doesn't call you to anything that he is not willing to do himself and to lead out in himself.
Our enemies will fall.
Not might.
Not even will someday.
The moment you move in the direction that God is taking you,
God will proceed before you and give you victory.
Now, am I talking about you will become a millionaire, your health will be perfect?
No, that's not what we're talking about.
In fact, the Bible says our enemies are not flesh and blood.
We're not talking about God will defeat the people that are against us.
Although I will submit to you that the Bible does say we will still have enemies.
It's that we don't treat them as enemies because it also says love your enemies.
So we don't have flesh enemies that we're coming against with sword and shield.
But we have enemies even who are flesh who may come against us to stop us from doing what God would have us to do.
But fear not for the Lord will go before us.
But we deal with evil spirits.
Those are real enemies.
They want to rob you of the value of your salvation.
If you're here in this room and you don't know if you're saved,
then you can safely assume that your mind is a plaything for evil spirits
and they will do everything they can to make you feel like you're not saved.
Because that's the great joy that they get if there is anything left knowing that they're on the way to hell for eternity.
The great joy is any suffering they might cause, any struggle they might cause in your mind
that you might wonder whether you are truly embodied by Christ and empowered by Christ
and led by Christ to do the things that Christ has called you to do, which is a fact.
But they want you to question that fact, evil spirits and demons.
The world system is against us and we can break that down into parts but we don't have to.
The bottom line is the world system has a notion that it's something other than what God would do.
It's a fallen world that we live in, a wrecked world if you would.
And it will work against us doing what it is that we want to do.
But fear not for the Lord goes before us.
And then of course there's our flesh, our self, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life.
We still have in us the desire to want some things that really aren't that good for us.
And sometimes our desire to want things that are not what God wants.
God says, come on, let's go! And he jumps in and you go, just a minute, there's a pretty girl.
Just a minute, more sweets, just a minute, there's more TV, more of my favorite hobby or whatever.
I submit to you that this text clearly shows that God is an upfront fighter.
He is a front line fighter and he goes before us.
I submit to you that if God is not going before you, it's probably because you are not going in the right direction.
That's what the word says.
And if you want to question how easily it is to pick that out, they came into the promised land once before, did they not?
And God said, you're going to go up. And they said, big people, lots of them, weapons, we don't have, how are we going to do this?
And God says, don't worry, I'll go before you. And they said, oh, we don't think we want to go.
Can we just go back to Egypt? And he said, no, but you go wandering in the desert until everybody's dead.
And then when the kids get older, they'll go. And they're like, no, no, no, we'll go, we'll go.
And they charged in against AI. And what happened? God did not go before them.
And they failed. They lost, lost thousands of lives.
And then they went wandering in the desert until that entire generation died off.
And now they're going in again. And God says, when you go, I'll go before you.
And you better believe if he's not going before you, it's probably because you're not going in the right direction.
Because God's going. He's been working since the beginning and he's never stopped.
The second thing to see in this text then is that God is his people's true inheritance.
Now, I wanted so badly to write a cool little sermon thing like God is before us and then God is with us.
We'll be the second point. The first one, God is before us. And the second was God's with us.
But it doesn't fit. It's not right. God is his people's inheritance.
That's what's true. He is with us and in us. That's all true.
But you can kind of see in the New Testament where it clearly teaches in Hebrews 13, 5.
And we won't go there and read that. They use this as an example. Basically it says don't be after money.
Don't fall to the love of money. Because don't forget that God has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Because God is with you. Everything else that the world has to offer.
Everything else that you might desire, that you might hope for, that you might pursue.
Every direction you might go that he would not be leading you in. All of that is feeble by comparison.
It doesn't shine. It may look like it does. It may appeal to some fleshly part of you that wants something.
And you look at that and go, oh you know I wish I could be like that person. If only I bought what they bought.
I could be just like them. You don't want to be just like them. You want to be you.
You want to be you with God. And if you are you with God, then everything that anyone else comes along and offers you that you don't already have.
The process just simply goes like this. God is this something that I should have? Is this something I should go after?
Is this something I should work for? In a godly way, in a godly circumstance, godly parameters. Should I do this in a godly way to go after it?
And God says, yeah and I'll go before you. Or no and if you do, you're going on your own.
Now he's not going to leave you nor forsake you because he is your inheritance.
But at the same time he's not going to lead you or take you either if it's something he doesn't want for you.
And that's why the author of Hebrews says, don't get wrapped up in the love of money.
Don't forget that God said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Back in Deuteronomy 20, Moses is already taught, and remember that's all in the same place, all leading up to his 120th birthday.
That God would go and fight for them against their enemies.
In fact, the text actually says, he goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you.
Joshua 1, 5 says, God says to Joshua through Moses, no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.
Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. And I will not fail you or forsake you.
And then of course those are Old Testament guys, they're pretty far back.
And then you've got Matthew 28, the Great Commission, and I will be with you even unto the end of the age.
God is our inheritance. You don't need any more money than is necessary to survive and also be generous.
You don't need any more time in a day than is necessary to do the work that the Lord has given you and also to rest.
And when we think we need more than that, we have forgotten that we have the single most important, grandest, powerful thing
that we could ever possibly have, which is His presence with us.
Someday if you arrive at the end of this life and you do not have God's presence with you,
you would look back at your life and every dollar you ever had and every moment you ever spent
and every relationship you were ever in and everything you ever tasted, everything you ever celebrated,
you would go, I would now trade it all for the presence of Jesus.
So why wait until then to come to that conclusion?
God is His people's inheritance, the true inheritance.
It's not a geographical Graceland, it's not a geographical Promised Land or a geographical Holy Land.
It is a Kingdom of God that we live in, with whom we reside.
The Kingdom of God is in you and it is with you and it is among us and it is between us.
And we as a people are God's people and there is nothing more truly that we could want.
Isaiah was looking forward to the day of the church and he said, he is with his people.
And ultimately said that Jesus would be called Emmanuel, God with us.
He is our inheritance. You cannot buy Him, not with your own blood or your own life.
He is free. Your salvation cost Him His life.
Behold, Jesus says in Revelation 3, I stand at your heart's door and knock.
Written to a church, not to an individual, but the context is this,
it doesn't say all of their hearts or anything like that, the context is this,
that if you will open the door then He will come in and live with you.
What an inheritance! Jesus said you should be grateful that I go to my Father because I go,
I will pray to my Father and He will send you another comforter talking about the Holy Spirit.
He is with us. God's people have God with them.
Isn't it great to know that God is a front line fighter and also an in here comforter?
He goes with us and in us and among us as well as before us.
So just as I can say to you that if God is not going before you, you are probably not going in the right direction,
I can also say to you that if God is not with you then you are probably not in the right place.
And do I mean geographically? Talking about the condition of your heart.
God died in the flesh and rose again on the third day to prove that we can live after death
and to give us life and to send His Holy Spirit that He might remain in us until we are in His presence.
It was a perfect eternal relationship that Jesus died for and nothing less.
He goes before you and He goes in you.
The third thing to see and hear is kind of interesting because it contrasts the two commissions.
You remember that I said when I was talking about child dedications that it seemed like we were more committing ourselves
to take care of the child in a godly way than committing the child.
And so I got to looking at the two commissions, if you will, that were given
and by the time you take all the verses that were the people's commissions,
you see that they were told to be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at the people that God would defeat before them,
that they would do this because God goes with them to fight, that He will not fail them or forsake them,
and the Lord goes on ahead of them to do the work.
So that all sounds really good and it sounds pretty conclusive.
But then when you get to Joshua and you compare, you see that God said be strong and courageous.
He said the Lord goes ahead of you. He said the Lord will be with you and the Lord will not fail or forsake you.
But He said these two things that are different.
The first one He says because you will go and give them as God promised.
See Joshua's commission is different.
Joshua's got a job to go and give the Israelites what God said He would give them.
I submit to you that's more like where we live because with the great commission we are to go and make disciples,
baptizing them in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
So your job is to deliver the promised land, the kingdom of God into the lives of people.
So just as if you were driving along the expressway and saw somebody in Iraq and had to do something about it on your cell phone
as you are walking to the store, in your classroom, on your job, whatever,
and you run into somebody who would not profess that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior,
who has not been owned by the God of heaven, whose sins have not been paid for,
not because God is not willing to pay, but because they have not received the payment.
They are unwilling.
Your job is to bring them safely into the promised land, grace land, holy land that God has promised their fathers.
That's much more like the commission of Joshua.
He said, because you will go and you will give them as God has promised.
And so that is what we are to do.
But there's one more point. He says, do not fear or be dismayed. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Now fear is easy, right?
Anybody else want to come up and finish preaching the sermon right now off my sloppy notes that you can barely read?
Anybody yet?
Tuesday night when I could barely talk just a couple of weeks ago,
I had pretty good detailed notes on the worksheet that we were teaching off of that night.
And I said, worst case scenario, if I can't finish, Solo will come up and finish it.
And he said, no. And then a minute later he said, well, I would do it. I would do it.
I don't know how, but I would do it if it had to be done.
And that's it. It's scary to talk to people who don't know Jesus about Jesus.
Let's just be realistic.
If you haven't ever run into somebody that you tried to talk to about Jesus
and they came back at you kind of nasty or mean or attacked you or your family,
then you probably don't know the fear that I know when I go to talk to people about Jesus.
Because I have done that.
If you haven't had a loved one sit with you and go,
I don't know that I even believe in God after you've spent a decade or more with them working and serving the Lord.
And then they say, I don't even know that I believe in God.
If you've not experienced that, you don't know the fear that I know in wanting to talk to people about God, the passion.
Imagine Joshua. So now Joshua is being given this job that he's going to go into the Promised Land.
God is going to lead the way. He's going to make it happen.
He's going to go into the Promised Land, trusting God, and he's going to lead the Israelites.
Let's be realistic, who are a stiff neck people.
They just left all their dads and grand dads buried in the desert because they didn't do it right the first time.
And yes, they're afraid of that.
So while they're at Beth Beor, they got into worshipping false gods because they start taking wives from amongst the Midianites.
Zimri took a wife and there was Phineas the priest and he came.
And as they were trying to stop the plague that God was sending against the Israelites because they were living in sin,
he came and ran Zimri and his wife, whose name I can't remember right this second,
threw the spear and killed them both.
And the plague was turned away.
That all happened there.
And Joshua now is called to lead these people who are a simple people.
By the way, has anybody ever met anybody in this life that's not a simple person, that doesn't have sin, that's perfect, doesn't lie, cheats, steals,
doesn't lazy in any way, doesn't wash up they shouldn't wash, doesn't nothing?
Has anybody ever met anybody? I've never met anybody like that.
So we as Christians are, by the way, I would consider myself to be like that.
In my flesh, I struggle with everything I just listed.
Walking in Christ, I find freedom, but in my flesh, I could struggle with any one of those things on any given day.
And so then you run into somebody like that and guess what?
It's your job, your responsibility to conquer their evil spirits and demons and lead them from where they are into the keynote of God
so they can receive the inheritance of God so God can then go before them so they can do it too.
That's Christianity. That is the whole of the church.
This whole idea that churches come together and worship on Sunday, churches do come together and worship on Sunday,
but it isn't the only thing we do, it isn't even the most important thing we do.
The most important thing we do is go where God takes us, steward the gospel, and lead people into the promised land.
You were sent here as an ambassador for Christ to tell people that Jesus Christ has died on the cross for their sins
and that if they will believe and receive, they can go to heaven where they die, they can lead others to Christ,
they can practice reconciliation themselves, they can have the Holy Spirit in them with them permanently,
and God will go before them doing whatever it is that he calls them to do.
Great victory is available and you are the herald.
Now, if I'm Joshua, I'm going, how on earth, you know, back when the ten guys said we shouldn't go in and I said,
no, I think God can handle it, I should have just kept my mouth shut.
How did I get here today that God is now calling me to be the guy that's going to accomplish this thing?
But you and I know the answer to that question, don't we?
God said, do not fear. It's a fearful thing, it is, but do not fear.
But he also said, do not be dismayed. Do not be dismayed.
Now that word dismayed there is actually translated a couple different ways and different translations
of this Hebrew word that we wouldn't normally, now today actually I think you could use it,
you could get away with it, but we wouldn't normally translate in relation to a person.
It means shattered, crushed.
So now normally throughout your day you go to the mall and somebody looks sad,
you don't say, hey man, you look crushed.
They'll be like, no, I'm not crushed, I'm sad, right?
And we say, you look like your dog died.
We mean, you look crushed, you look shattered.
And he asked the word and he told Joshua, don't be crushed or shattered.
Don't be like that.
Because God will go before you and all those promises are made.
He's in you, before you and all of that.
He's a frontline fighter and all that.
But God said, do not be crushed.
I submit to you, if God told him, don't be crushed,
then there was absolutely the possibility that he could have been crushed.
And if God told him, don't be crushed or shattered,
then it was completely under his own purview as to whether or not he was crushed or shattered, right?
If God came up to you and said, don't wear blue,
you'd go, well, I can wear blue, but God told me not to and now I'm not going to do it.
God came up to you and said, don't be shattered.
You'd be like, I'm not sure if that's under my control.
But it is, because he just told him, don't do it.
Right? And so right away I related this to pastors.
I know some pastor friends and I have been one of them at times,
and we're in the conclusion now,
I have been one of them at times where I have felt shattered.
I have longed for people whom I have shared the gospel with, young people,
some of you adults, whatever, to go and follow the Lord.
I have ate so bad, I have spent time praying in my little prayer cloths that I built for myself,
which people think I built it too small, but it does keep the distractions down.
And I was in there praying and I have a list of names of folks who at the time, you know,
I don't know where they're at or what they're doing or I know what they're doing and what they're doing.
I don't know why they're doing it because it doesn't make any sense to me.
And I pray and I cry and I would weep and I would just feel like I was literally being crushed.
I was almost arrested for sharing the gospel in the mall.
I got blood tests back after fasting that said that I might have cancer,
and it turned out that probably it was because when you fast for a really long time, that affects your blood counts.
Because what I was fasting for was that the Kingdom of God would step up and be the Kingdom of God,
that God's people would do what it is that God's people are supposed to do,
that preachers would prepare sermons that move hearts,
not because they're passionate or emotional.
I don't care about that.
I'm going to tell you right now, we have the best worship team of any church I've ever been in.
Now I haven't been to Cedar Creek and I'm not going to Cedar Creek.
And they don't get paid.
These are all folks who are serving the Lord and God goes before them or whatever.
But that being said, we can worship in here all day.
And if you don't go out there and tell people about Jesus and live with the Lord the way you're supposed to,
and if it doesn't become Proverbs 15 in the morning before you go to deal with the dog,
if that's not what your life becomes, you just got to know your pastor is going to be brokenhearted over you.
Trust that I will be begging God and crying about the choices that you have made when I hear that rather than living for the Lord,
you chose to go another way.
I will be crying because I know that had you gone the way that God wanted you to go,
He would have gone before you.
Had you made the choices that God wanted you to make, you would have known Him in you as your true inheritance.
But I was wrong.
I related that to pastors, but it's not about pastors.
It's about Christians.
If you don't love the people in your life enough to want to see them go to heaven rather than hell,
you better question your salvation.
If you can't bring up the gospel because you're afraid,
you might want to give some serious thought to what happened on that cross a long time ago.
You think Jesus wasn't afraid?
You think He wasn't wrecked physically, emotionally, and psychologically?
You talk about mental health, physical health, this stops me from doing what God wants me to do?
That's a load of crap.
God goes before you and God goes in you.
He is your inheritance and whatever He needs you to do, success or failure is on Him, by the way.
Because He goes before you.
Your perception might be that you try really hard for a long time to do what you think it is that God wants you to do
and that you actually fail and don't do what God wants you to do,
while God is looking at you going, look at how strong you have become.
God said to Joshua, do not be crushed.
Do not be shattered.
The truth is if you trust the Lord and follow the Lord, He goes before you and He goes in you,
and you can choose, hear me now, I picked that word very intentionally,
you can choose not to be shattered.
Not to be shattered when the one thing you never wanted to hear is said.
Not to be shattered when the person that you desperately wanted to win to Christ says, I'll never hear it.
Not to be shattered when the person that you thought was a Christian now lives in a way that does not honor God
and instead is clearly going in the wrong direction and you want for them and you pray for them,
but you can choose not to be shattered no matter what they do.
Paul wrote this to the 2 Corinthians chapter 4.
I'm going to read this in conclusion, it's kind of my closing illustration.
I'll explain a little bit as we go through and then we'll be through.
So we did good. This will take a minute so we're not quite done.
2 Corinthians chapter 4 beginning in verse 1 it says,
Therefore, since we have this ministry, what is the ministry?
To bring people into the kingdom of God.
As we received mercy, we do not lose heart.
You could read right there, we are not shattered.
But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame,
not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God,
but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
In other words, by making truth known so that anyone might see that we're plain and honest
and living for the Lord the way we say we are.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving
that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord.
A Lord is a person who tells you what to do and you do it.
And ourselves as your bond servants, we work for them,
we work for everyone else to bring them into the kingdom of God.
Verse 6, For God who said, Light shall shine out of darkness,
is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Verse 7, For we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that means we have it in our bodies,
that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.
We are afflicted in every way.
Man, things are coming against us, but we are not crushed.
There it is.
Perplexed, I can't believe it, but not despairing.
Persecuted, they're coming against us, but not forsaken, he is still with us.
Struck down, but not destroyed.
Always caring about in the body the dying of Jesus,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
In other words, we always know, we're always thinking about the fact that Jesus died for us,
and we're essentially dying for him.
If you die before Jesus comes again, you will die for Jesus if you're a Christian,
whether you die of old age or illness or perceived accident or murder.
If you die before Jesus comes again and you're living for him, you will die for Jesus.
Verse 11, For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
That means made known, so people can see the life of Jesus in our bodies.
So death works in us, but life in you.
But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written,
I believed, therefore I spoke.
We also believe, therefore also we speak,
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
See, there it is. There's why you can never be shattered,
because we don't only live for this life, we live for the next one as well.
For all things are for your sakes, and the grace which is spreading to more and more people
may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart, there it is again, we shall not be shattered.
But though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
For momentary light affliction, that means bad stuff that happens to you that doesn't last that long,
is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporal, means they only last for a while,
but the things which are not seen are eternal.
We've been seeing throughout the book of Deuteronomy a number of references to eternal life in heaven,
and here is another one.
Joshua could choose to walk with the Lord, to relish in the fact that God was going before him,
and that God was his inheritance, and in so doing know that no matter what they do to me,
no matter what happens to me, how I succeed or fail or how things go, I am shatterproof.
Because I will arrive in the kingdom of God, and ultimately all that will remain
will be the kingdom of God and that which is away from the kingdom of God, and I know where I'll be.
So when it goes bad, when I don't like what I'm hearing or what I'm seeing, when my heart aches,
I remember during COVID I was vexed day in and day out about decisions that people were making and choices
and things that were happening to churches and pastors and things that were happening even in our group of churches,
things that happened to me about choices that I made as I was trying to follow the Lord,
and I was vexed daily, but I was never crushed.
And I choose, and I'm asking you to choose, to speak up for the Lord and to never be crushed.
And it is a choice. When you feel like you've got nothing left and you go,
well, I'm just done, I'm just going to let go and plummet. No.
You look at the direction the Lord is going, whatever that is, and you go that way,
and He'll go before you, and He'll go in you, and you'll be better than okay.
If you're here today and you realize, hey, God is real, Jesus is real, Jesus died on the cross for my sins.
I have sinned. I mean, I've done things. I know that everybody sins.
And I need to be saved. And you can't say with 100% certainty that you're already saved.
Then here's what you do. You say, okay, Lord, take me.
By the way, Joshua's name in Hebrew means God delivers, God saves.
And God will deliver you, and He will save you. He will bring you into the kingdom of God.
He'll set you firmly on two feet. He'll give you direction.
In whatever direction He gives you, He'll go before you.
He'll be your inheritance, not just for this life, but for eternity.
And you can choose not to fear the enemies you come up against.
I find it comical a lot of times when talking to Christians,
and we talk about demons or evil spirits or ghosts, right?
And they look scared. I'm like, really? You're afraid of ghosts or demons? Really?
I mean, come on. If they were nine foot tall, armored up with weapons, flames spitting out their mouth,
I wouldn't be afraid. It's Jesus who wins that fight every time.
And I know where He is.
Give your life to the Lord. Say, okay, Jesus, you be my Lord.
You tell me what to do, and I'll do it. And I accept the payment that you paid for my sins.
And then you become a Christian, and God will put you to work.
And I'll do amazing things that you never expected.
And like Joshua, you might say, this looks scary.
But just like Joshua, you'll say, God is with me. God loves me. God is leading me.
Will you let it be so?
Maybe you came in here and said, I already am a Christian.
I already believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know I'm a Christian.
But I also, I don't really feel like I'm going in any certain direction,
or I don't really feel like God is doing it.
Or maybe you now know, even as we've been talking today, the direction that God is leading you in.
And you're like, I don't know that I want to follow. I'm a little fearful or whatever.
Ah, I mean, don't play those games. Don't hurt yourself that way.
If you know the way that God is taking you, go the way that God is taking you.
You say, but I could die.
Yeah, guess what? Unless Jesus comes again, we're all going to do it.
The only question is, are you going to do it in the Lord or not?
That's the only question. And after that, you get a much longer life.
Not 120 years on your birthday, and then that's it.
Like it was for Moses, but millions of years.
An eternity with heaven. Every day.
So let's go.
Maybe you need to be baptized and follow the Lord in baptism.
Say, look, I need to make a public statement about who I am and who I'm living for.
The new me is gone and the new me has come.
And you're like, I don't know.
Who's going to put me under water? I'm not sure.
Stop. Be God.
He said, we do it. We do it.
You need a church home. God is leading you to this as your church home.
You say, well, I think. I'm pretty sure.
Well, listen, if he's God, he doesn't go, well, maybe.
There's yes or no for now.
Those are the only two options that you get from God.
God doesn't go, well, maybe. Right.
The permissible will of God, which means you could theoretically join any godly church that's preaching the Bible, that's serving the Lord.
And then if God says later, go somewhere and do something different, then you go do that. Right.
The permissible will of God is you could do, you could join any church that's godly.
Don't join any church that's not godly.
That would not be in a permissible will. Right.
Serving in ministry.
You have a ministry that you're supposed to be working in or you're supposed to be leading in.
Listen, all the ministries of the church, all the mission work of the church are all about reaching people for Jesus, giving them the promised land that God already promised.
He already promised it.
So let's give it.
What are we holding it back for?
Anybody here feel like they live in the kingdom of God?
If you live in the kingdom of God, why are you?
Why would we not want to share that joy, that truth, that that amazing place that we live with anybody else who might potentially be willing to live there as well?
Master, praise to you to come forward this time.
You're going to lead us in our final song.
This is also our hymn of decision.
So if you're here today and the God and God is spoken in your heart, something is moving in you and you need to make some kind of decision.
This is your opportunity to do that and say, OK, God, I'm going to do what you're telling me to do.
But know that already you just wait.
But wait, the moment you go, OK, I think he's going to go before you.
I'm going to take care of you.
And you can choose not to be shattered no matter what comes.
You just drop down.
You stand with me and sing this final song and I put word of speech in your heart and you respond.
However, you're becoming a Christian for the first time today, requesting baptism, becoming a member, getting started in ministry, making a decision about your personal finances.
It doesn't matter.
The Lord is telling you to do it.
No, no, no.
I'm sorry for you.