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[0:00] The book of Joshua is, and I know we say this often, when we're going through books, we often find hinged chapters or chapters that kind of open up into something else.

[0:12] The writings of Paul are really prevalent in that nature. Some of the writings of Paul you'll have in some of his Pauline epistles, Philippians and Galatians, and even in the book of Colossians.

[0:27] About halfway through the letter, they change, they transition. Usually in the writings of Paul, he opens his letter with doctrine or theology, that is a great truth.

[0:41] He always states the truth, and then the latter half of that letter is the application or the, you know, since this is true, now what? It's the now what? This is what we do because these things are true.

[0:55] We find it in the book of Matthew. We have seen how Matthew chapter 13 is a hinge chapter or a transition chapter.

[1:05] We go from teaching the religious leaders in the synagogue to teaching the multitudes in the open air. Jesus is moving from self-revelation to self-sacrifice.

[1:19] He's set his face towards Jerusalem. When we come to the Old Testament, Joshua is that book. It is a book that connects two major sections in our English Bibles and even two major sections in the Hebrew Bible as well.

[1:36] The Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, often referred to as the Law, the writings of Moses, really end with Deuteronomy and an anticipation of going into a promised land.

[1:51] And there is this certainty that God is going to bring them in, that he's going to give them the land, which he had promised all the way back in the book of Genesis.

[2:03] Genesis chapter 12. Remember, first 11 chapters, God introduces every problem that man has. Starting in Genesis chapter 12, he answers man's problem.

[2:14] And the way he answers man's problem in Genesis 12 is he calls Abram out of the land of the Ur of the Chaldeans to go to a land. And the Abrahamic covenant is connected to a place, a people, and a promise, right?

[2:34] God has a specific place for his people everywhere that Abraham tries, everywhere that he walks. We know that it's Canaan or the promised land. It's not until we get to the book of Deuteronomy that they're actually about to go into the promised land, into Canaan.

[2:50] So the Pentateuch, really, from beginning to end, the first five books is about God has a land or a place prepared for you. He's going to bring you into that land.

[3:01] And that land is directly connected to resolving man's sin problem. It is living in a holy covenant relationship with him.

[3:13] The books that follow Joshua are the historical books in the English Bibles. In the Hebrew Bible, Joshua is part of the prophetic books.

[3:26] In the English Bibles, it's connected to the historical books. You have Judges and Esther and Ruth and Ezra and Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Samuel, all these books, not necessarily in that order, and Job, and all the historical writings.

[3:46] Now, the historical writings have to do with what's going on when the people are in the land, right? It is the history of God's people within the land. The book of Deuteronomy ends with an anticipation that God is going to bring you into the land.

[4:02] The book of Judges begins a description of what's going on while they're in the land. Joshua is that bridge. The book of Joshua kind of has one foot in the book of Deuteronomy and one foot in the writings of history.

[4:17] It shows God's people coming into the land before they start behaving the way they do in the historical writings. And after we read the historical writings, we begin to read the prophetic writings, which talks about this is what God's going to do to you because of the way you behaved in the land.

[4:38] Right? And it's just this circular cycle. So Judges is on one side, Deuteronomy is on the other, and Joshua is bridging the gap.

[4:50] It is the one who shows this is how we got here. The book of Joshua deals specifically with really one man. The author, often agreed upon author, not necessarily undisputed author, but the main subject of the book is Joshua.

[5:10] Joshua leads the people into the land. He divides the land. He ends the book of Joshua the same way that Moses ends the book of Deuteronomy with a charge to the people.

[5:23] You know it. Choose you this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Do you know also, before he says that, he says, you cannot serve God. You will not serve God. You're not able to serve God. God's holy. You can't do it.

[5:34] Much like what Moses did in Deuteronomy 32 and then Deuteronomy 34, right? The rebuke before the admonition. So Joshua is much like Moses, which shouldn't surprise us, but he also deals specifically with the nation coming into the land of promise.

[5:54] As we study the book of Joshua, and we do so much more on these nights than just read it or preach it, we dive into it and we study it. And this is why I always open these books this way.

[6:07] We will find what appears to be contradictory statements in the book of Joshua. And critical scholars will tell you that it is because, and I said critical scholars, that is people who really like to dive into what they call biblical criticism, not necessarily putting it down, that's just really studying it and breaking it down.

[6:30] Critical scholars will tell you that's because there are a number of scribes whose hands are upon this, that this was a book written later than the time of Joshua, even than the time of Judges, and that it was written much later than that, and it was a kind of a reminder of the people how they got to the land.

[6:47] And you had all these different scribes or authors who contributed to the work, and there's why this contradiction. And when you read that or you hear that or you see that, please dismiss that.

[7:00] And the reason I say please dismiss that is because if we're casting shadow upon any part and portion of Scripture, then we cast shadow upon all of Scripture. What God has given us in the book of Joshua is true and is accurate.

[7:14] And what comes to us as contradictions are only contradictions because of our lack of understanding. One of the major contradictions is that it emphatically declares that God, through the man Joshua, gave the inhabitants all of the land.

[7:32] And then in the very next chapter it says, yet there remained a large portion of the land which they had not inhabited yet. It says it twice. All the land was distributed, yet there were portions of the land in which they had not taken.

[7:46] Now that's easy enough to reconcile because we can reconcile in our own mind. We have the fullness of Christ. Paul says we have the mind of Christ. That in Christ, we have been entrusted with the fullness of who He is and His possession.

[8:05] As a matter of fact, it says in the Gospel of John that God dwells within us. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit dwell within us. The triune perfection of the fullness of God dwells within every believer.

[8:18] We have His fullness. We are the possessors of it. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Yet, too often in our lives, there's much in our life still to be unoccupied by that fullness.

[8:35] Just because we possess it doesn't mean we yet inhabit it. We're not living there yet, even though it's been given to us. Because there are things in our life we have to get right.

[8:47] Things in our life we have to settle. So there seem to be contradictions. Archaeologically, they'll say there are contradictions throughout history. Because much of what's described in the book of Joshua seems to be this complete hazing and annihilation of warfare.

[9:05] And yet, we don't see that in archaeology. We don't see towns decimated. And we don't see when they put the spade and the shovel in the ground and they're digging around.

[9:15] They have a hard time finding that. They can't even find Jericho where the walls of Jericho fell down. There was an archaeologist who many, many years ago found a city of Jericho and a part of the wall fell down.

[9:27] He said, oh, look, this is Jericho. This is the biblical account. Later on, it's found, well, no, that's not right. The Jericho, the time of Joshua, they said it was a very small town. Nothing like what is described in Scripture. Again, don't let man define Scripture.

[9:39] Let Scripture define man. Okay? So, I say these things not to cast doubt, but just to be honest. These are things that people wrestle with.

[9:54] And these are things that people think through. But when man cannot define Scripture, the problem is never with Scripture.

[10:05] And we have to lay that down and settle that. And when we settle that in our own hearts, then we say that it is simply a lack of revelation to us.

[10:16] Or a lack of our understanding of these events. Or much of the inhabitants of what goes on in the book of Joshua when they take the land. It is not a hazing and annihilation.

[10:27] It is an occupying because God drives them out from before them. What archaeology has discovered is there seems to be a big boom in population in the land of Canaan.

[10:40] Sometime around the 1400s. In which people began to live in cities. And they weren't living in cities before. And they become a very aggregarian society.

[10:54] And all of a sudden there is this rise in population. And so what archaeology does is they say, well, then that means the nation of Israel came from within inside. What the Bible tells us is they lived in houses they did not build.

[11:06] And ate from gardens they did not plant. And drank from wells that they did not dig. And we shouldn't be surprised when there is a big boom in civilization about the same time, by the way, in the 1400s.

[11:18] When the nation of Israel went into the land of Canaan. Because much of what happened is God drove them out before they got there. Isn't that what he said? So with all those doubts and all those questions, we understand that we have to at least reconcile.

[11:36] Now, we cast that aside because we're looking at the book of Joshua. And I've told you before, what we have in the scripture, in 66 books of the Bible, is not the complete revelation of all of the history of man.

[11:56] We don't have all of mankind's history recorded. We have the complete revelation of God's interaction with man.

[12:10] And that's enough. Because the subject of scripture is not man. So man, we're not told everything about man.

[12:22] The subject of scripture is the Lord God Almighty. So we are told everything about him. And when we study the book of Joshua that way, we understand we're not trying to figure out the fullness of history.

[12:36] We're trying to figure out the fullness of deity. We're trying to understand what God is showing us about himself in this writing.

[12:46] Every time I go into a new book of scripture, there is one book I'll always go to. I only go to it at the very beginning of any new book or new series.

[13:01] And I've said it to you before, and I think it's worthy of recommendation. J. Sidlow Baxter's book, Explore the Book. It's just this short series of studies over every portion of scripture.

[13:12] And it kind of does a really good job of introducing it. And I like how Sidlow Baxter defines Canaan and the book of Joshua and how he accurately, I think, handles that.

[13:28] And I'm going to get to my text in just a moment. But you've got to have these things before you understand it. Now, please don't get mad at me here. Please don't get upset.

[13:39] We sing hymns, and I'm not saying we shouldn't sing them. It says that we stand on jormy, stormy banks, and cast a wistful eye into Canaan's promised land. And because of the hymns that were written in a time frame much after the book of Joshua, we often picture Canaan as the promised land as heaven.

[14:01] And we often refer to Canaan, and we look at going into the promised land as the believer going into heaven. If Exodus is our salvation, then the promised land is our heaven.

[14:12] Right? I don't think that that's biblically accurate. And there are a number of reasons why other Bible scholars would say the same thing. Canaan's a place of conflict, and heaven most definitely is not a place of conflict.

[14:26] Canaan's a place of failure, and heaven is most definitely not a place of failure. Canaan becomes a place of sin and rebellion, and heaven is most definitely not a place of sin and rebellion.

[14:38] So if Canaan is a type of anything, I don't think that biblically it can be a type of heaven. It doesn't mean that we have to stop singing the hymn or go away from it, even though hopefully we'll never see it the same again.

[14:52] Canaan can't be heaven. But there is a commentary on Canaan, the promised land, in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 4. It says that if God had given them rest through Joshua, then there would not be another anticipated day of rest, still waiting.

[15:12] And that is going into the promised land. Baxter's interpretation, and I think it's accurate, is that Canaan is a type of the believer's life after salvation.

[15:27] It is the fullness of faith. It is the fullness of the believer's life. Living out one's faith. Is he going to go all the way in, or is he going to stay on the other side?

[15:38] Does he just want to be close enough to be saved, like the two and a half tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan? Or is he going to dive all the way in? Is he going to cross the Jordan River and commit all of his life and all of his well-being into the person and work of Christ?

[15:55] Because guess what? When you do that, there is still conflict, a lot of conflict. There is still the possibility of failure. You're going to sin and mess up.

[16:06] There is still those possibilities, those shortcomings, and struggles, and pain. The Christian life is not a life of ease. It is a life of warfare. And that's really what Canaan is.

[16:20] And if we want to take that typology or that picture to its fullness, then it is really becoming of us to understand, much like Warren Wiersbe said, that Moses could not lead them in because Moses is a representative of what?

[16:31] The law. And the law never takes us into the life of Christ. It can get us close, but it can't get us in.

[16:44] Joshua's birth name was Hosea. Hosea means salvation or deliverer. Sometime in the middle of the wilderness, just a little bit after the Exodus event, Moses renames Hosea and names him Joshua.

[17:03] Joshua is the same name as Jesus. It's the same name. It is the Old Testament equivalent of the name of Jesus. And Joshua means Yahweh saves.

[17:16] Hosea means salvation. Joshua means Yahweh saves. So while the law can't take you into the life of Christ, the Lord God who saves you can.

[17:34] Because salvation is not found in man, Hosea. It is found in Yahweh, Joshua. It's his work, not ours. So we have this life of faith.

[17:48] The overall theme of the book of Joshua is that we are victorious through faith. Faith is the victory.

[17:59] Only by faithfully marching around the walls of Jericho and sounding the trumpets, as absurd as it sounds, do they fall down. Only by not touching, even though Achan did, would they have been really successful in the battle of the Father and the battle of Ai.

[18:17] But yet, since Achan took and they weren't faithful, a multitude of them died. Only when they dealt with the sin problem and returned to faith, then could they go and defeat the people of Ai.

[18:27] Only by faith could they go into the Jordan River and step their feet in there and then the waters would part because it was at the flood stage of the Jordan River, as you will see, during the time of the year in which the Jordan River flooded.

[18:40] Only by faith could they go to the other side and then circumcise themselves and observe the Passover. And only by faith could they continue to move forward. And when they went into the promised land, they crossed and went straight through the middle of it, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and they cut it in half.

[18:55] And then Joshua takes his forces and goes to the southern side and they defeat all the southern kingdoms because he's got them divided in two, right? And then he goes to the northern side and he defeats all the northern kingdoms and that's by faith.

[19:07] Faith wins the victory. Because they were not the mightier army, they were not the more numerous people, multitudes of kings that hated each other before the nation of Israel came in began to conspire together with each other.

[19:20] People would form unions and all these kings would rise up and attack them and they'd still win in his faith. So with that in mind, we have this book before us and we won't be that long into our text this evening because the very first thing we're going to see is the encouragement of faith in Joshua 1 verses 1 through 9.

[19:52] The text says, Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead.

[20:07] Now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you just as I spoke to Moses.

[20:18] From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, and all the land of the Hittites, as far as the great sea, towards the setting of the sun will be your territory. 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.

[20:33] I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you.

[20:48] Do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success.

[21:05] Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

[21:15] Joshua chapter 1 verses 1 through 9. The very first portion of the book is a series of speeches and the longest of those speeches is the speech that God has with Joshua himself.

[21:29] Following this Joshua will go to the people and he will have a very short speech just a couple of verses to them a speech of preparation and then he'll have a speech with the two and a half tribes that are going to stay on the other side of the Jordan and talk to their men about how they said that they were going to come and now it's time for them to come and to fight with them and they will submit and they will go with him.

[21:49] So the book starts before it does anything with the series of speeches and the very first one to break the silence and to speak is God. This shouldn't surprise us because scripture is rampant with that thought.

[21:59] Scripture is rampant with this theme and again it's not about man it's about God and we need to pay attention to this. When silence is broken it's always broken by God it's never broken by man. Okay, when silence is broken it's always broken by God it's never broken by man.

[22:16] And if we want to see what it looks like when man breaks the silence read the book of Job. When everything falls apart in Job's life and there was this really instrumental day when the sons of God went before God and gave an account and Satan was there as well and God says have you considered my servant Job and then Satan does all these things to Job and we know how it happens this cycle of events starts happening and really everything falls apart from Job and Job's great friends show up and Job set silence Job said nothing remember that?

[22:49] And man has a tendency not to like silence I don't like silence I can't it just kind of makes me feel awkward I'm a guy who likes to talk shouldn't surprise anybody but they're sitting there and they're all standing at each other and Job's friends decide to talk and really it's useless we don't really learn anything at all throughout the book of Job I mean there are great truths there and I'm not saying we don't learn anything but we have this theme of God blesses those who do good and he curses those who do wrong and it's a prosperity gospel right and Job surely since things are going bad in your life it's because you have sin and Job's like I'm free I'm innocent I know I haven't well you're the evidence of what's going on and that's just not biblical doctrine because the reality is is that bad things happen to all people right and we understand it we don't understand it until God breaks the silence at the end and then when God starts talking everybody else gets quiet and God literally just says were you there when I created it were you there when I formed the heavens and the earth were you there when I hung the earth there were you there when I did all these things and man just has to cover his mouth literally has nothing to say because only God can answer the major questions and we see that with Zacharias in the temple that for 400 something years

[24:00] God has been silent man's been talking for 400 plus years from the book of Malachi until the book of Matthew man has been talking man's been doing a lot there's the Maccabean revolt there's all these things the Roman Empire has been growing Alexander the Great has showed up all these things have happened historically but God has been silent he hasn't said anything since he's last spoken the book of Malachi and all of a sudden God breaks the silence with the angel Gabriel that Zacharias is in the temple it is always God who breaks the silence and brings meaning to every occasion and we see this here because the first speech is his speech and his speech is an encouragement of faith and he is encouraging the faith of Joshua because Joshua is the one that everything is going to flow through remember we looked at this at the end of the book of Deuteronomy God always has his man right God is not limited or bound by the limitations of man God always has his man and his work continues on and it is both an encouraging thing and a humbling thing

[25:02] I remember one of the humblest of things that I came to realize early in the ministry and really I'll just be honest with you it really settled in when I came here okay God called me into the ministry I pastored First Baptist Normandy when I was there Normandy had been there maybe 35 or 40 years and I could literally walk up and shake the hand of every pastor that had ever been in that church I knew every one of them I met them and I think I was the second longest tenured pastor that had ever been there the one that the longest tenured pastor is the one that actually officiated Carrie and I's wedding and I knew all the pastors right when I came here this church had been here 150 plus years I can't shake those guys hands right I can't shake the hands of A.D. Phillips in 1868 or go meet the gentleman from 1887 that decided that they needed to move from the western side of town to this side of the tracks and build this building I can't shake those hands but one of the most humbling things is that God's work is not confined to a single man his work continues to go on even this week

[26:09] I've been reading just a little snippet Miss Lynn gave some of us a thing that had come in the mail of the church's history and it's amazing reading the history of what was going on in the 1800s the same thing we're doing now just a different pastor different congregation different group same God encouraging of faith encouraging of faith and this is what he's doing with Joshua and it says now it came to pass it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord by the way this is worthy of notation here Moses is always referred to as the servant of the Lord Joshua is referred to as the servant it's a different word servant in New American Standard it's the same it's a different word like Moses is the slave of the Lord and Joshua is kind of the helper of Moses assistant if you would of Moses but when we get to the end of the book of Joshua Joshua makes a transition no longer is he

[27:10] Moses' assistant it is Joshua the servant of the Lord because he validates himself and proves himself so he goes from being the servant of Moses to the servant of the Lord so now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord isn't it amazing that God speaks to us some of the most profounding truths some of the greatest realities in the darkest of moments Charles Spurgeon used to say the darkest hour always preceded the brightest day he dealt with depression quite a bit and he would always say that God would always speak to him in the darkest hour because it was the darkest hour that always preceded the dawning of the brightest day and God speaks in man's dark moments if there was a man who was going through a dark moment it's probably Joshua because when you open up scripture and you go to the book of Deuteronomy and you go through the Pentateuch you cannot find Joshua anywhere that you don't find Moses we don't know anything about Joshua except he's a son of none we know nothing about none we know a little bit about his grandfather who served faithfully but we don't know much at all about any of his family every time we see

[28:14] Joshua we see Moses he's connected to him he's right beside him he's his assistant he's closer to him than any other person all right he is there he is at least he went further than anybody else up Mount Sinai he hangs out at the tent of meeting he is the one who is fighting the battle when Moses is holding up his hands and his hands get tired and somebody has to come beside and prop up his hands right it's Joshua down there who's everywhere we see Joshua there's this connection to Moses and now after Moses dies God speaks to him because if there was ever a moment when his faith needed to be encouraged it was then he knew the day was coming but yet it's a dark day right it should remind you of Isaiah chapter 6 and Isaiah chapter 6 you know Isaiah 6 right if you don't you should Isaiah 6 one of those great pictures of heaven really identical to what we find in the book of Ezekiel and what we find in the book of revelations which shows us that there can at least be some validity to it and we can be at least a little bit assured of what heaven looks like it's

[29:22] God on the throne Isaiah has his commission in Isaiah 6 but how does Isaiah 6 when he's called up into the throne of the Lord how does that start in the year of King Uzziah's death God called me into his presence you need to know something about Isaiah Isaiah is of priestly descent and royal descent Uzziah was pretty important to him he's pretty close to Uzziah so in the year when one of the people that were closest to him died God called him into his presence God knows how to strengthen and encourage individuals faith and that encouragement always comes here's if you need the first point I've been talking about it for a moment it is a word God always has a word at the right time God speaks and he speaks directly to

[30:27] Joshua because see the greatest encouragement of faith is the word of God when we need it and it has a way of coming when we need it but Joshua had to be present to hear it right he had to be near it wasn't happenstance we read the book of Deuteronomy they were weeping and mourning for 30 days they were waiting they were waiting and God encourages his faith with a word and the word is Joshua the work will continue to go on the word is it's time to move forward Joshua get ready let's go somewhere all right Joshua as I was with Moses so I'm with you it is this word of encouragement that always comes at the right time and this is when Joshua needed it and this is how

[31:27] God encourages our faith as we walk a life in Christ as we get ready to die full in we're going to go all the way with Christ we're not just going to play around anymore I mean we're going to commit wholly and totally to him it's not enough to be near him we want to be in him we want him to be in us just like the nation of Israel goes into the Canaan land the land of Canaan the promised land and we want to be all the way in it God always has a word because the word does not fail and it comes to stir us up and to move us forward and it comes to arouse that within us which we've already known but we need it again we need it afresh it's always amazed me how the word of God can speak to the very very specific detail of the people of God it transcends time it transcends history the same word that moved Moses into burning bush is the same word it's going to move

[32:32] Joshua into plains of Moab see the word of God meets us where we're at and takes us where he's going because the second thing that encourages our faith is a work there's a word and there's a work see the word does not come flippantly or lightly or at least just to be heard the word of God always comes for the purpose of action God speaks to his people to do something right there's something to obey or something to do or a place to follow him the word always comes in connection to a work he speaks to his people for a purpose God is not one that we see in scripture who just likes to tell things and have conversations so that people can gain insight now wisdom is the beginning of the fear of the

[33:35] Lord because when we begin to understand him more and more and more and more we understand his work and what he's calling us to do and we understand all of these things and we begin to comprehend his magnificence and his wonder and his glory and then we have to say what is man that God would think of us!

[33:55] But when God speaks to us, he always speaks for the purpose of action. This is why we find in scripture that we are to work out our faith with fear and trembling.

[34:09] We are to exercise our faith. James says that faith without works is dead or useless. Why? Because the word always speaks for the purpose of movement.

[34:24] God didn't just say, Joshua, as I was with Moses, I'm with you. It's going to be okay, Joshua. I'm here. He says, Joshua, go. Do the work I've called you to do.

[34:39] He had been commissioned by Moses. He had been called and commissioned by the Lord God. God had already spoken to him before. He had been waiting here, and God speaks to him, and this word encourages his faith.

[34:50] But what the word does is the word reminds him and stirs him and moves him to the work that God has before him. Because, friend, listen to me. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

[35:02] But because of faith, we are going to work and do what he's called us to do. Faith is the thing which brings us to him.

[35:13] But it is not the stopping point. Listen, the new birth in Christ is not where it stops. That's where it begins. And we see this as his faith is encouraged because he's reminded God has a work for him to do.

[35:30] You know, one of the greatest encouragements of faith in today's time is realizing God has a work for us to do. Corporately and individually. I've never found an individual believer who knew the work that God called them to do who lacked the faith to do it.

[35:46] Because the more they labored in the work God was calling them to do, the greater their faith grew, and the stronger they were, and the more mature they went, and the further along they went.

[35:58] Because as they began to live out this work that the word had clearly told them to do, then all of a sudden faith begins to be encouraged and strengthened because it is being utilized and used.

[36:11] When we're not doing anything, it doesn't require any faith. It just doesn't. It doesn't require faith to do nothing. It requires a lot of faith to work.

[36:25] Because Joshua could have stayed right here in the plains of Moab and it takes no faith to do that. But the moment he says, okay guys, we're going. And he sets his foot in the Jordan River.

[36:37] That's a work. That's right. That's. It's a work. And it requires faith. And the more the first step into Jordan, the waters begin to part.

[36:49] And the next step into Jordan begins to part. And the next step begins to part. With every step, faith is strengthened. Right. So much so, they built two pillars. They built one in the middle of the Jordan and one on the other side of the Jordan. So they can be reminded.

[37:01] We were standing here in the middle of the Jordan on dry ground. And God brought us here on the other side of the Jordan. And those were Ebenezers. Here I raise mine Ebenezer. That's another song we sing.

[37:11] Right. And Ebenezer stoned up. They look back and say, see, our faith was exercised then and God came through. Right. And that's what that is. It is a work. A word.

[37:22] And a work. The third thing. And the final thing we see here that encourages our faith is a warning. There's a warning. Now, let us not be confused.

[37:33] A life of faith is not an easy life. That's why we have this repeated phrase, be strong and courageous. Because Canaan is a place of battle. A place of warfare. The work always brings conflict.

[37:49] Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous. Be strong and very courageous. Why? Because though you have a work to do, it's going to be hard to do it.

[37:59] And there's all this toil and this labor and this effort being put in. And in the middle of that, God gives this warning and says, but be careful. Be careful. And all of your strength and all of your courage and all of your, you're pushing forward and trying to accomplish the work.

[38:15] And you're walking by faith and you're doing what I've called you to do. Be careful to do everything that Moses commanded you to do. Because, see, faith does not remove the standard of holiness.

[38:33] Sure, we please him by faith, but that does not mean that Paul would say we can sin just because we have faith. We don't use it as a crutch to sin.

[38:43] As a matter of fact, true salvific faith raises the standard of holiness. Rather than belittling holiness, it raises the standard.

[38:54] We don't understand how holy we ought to be until we have faith to come into his presence. We don't understand when we can say like Paul in Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ.

[39:07] Nevertheless, I live. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives inside of me. When we can say like Paul that through faith I realize that his death was my death and that his life is my life. And I am pleasing to God because he is in me and that is through faith.

[39:21] But Galatians 2.20 is what we read before we get to Galatians chapter 5. And Galatians chapter 5 says that we ought to cast off all of our deeds of wickedness and the works of the flesh and all these things that are going around us.

[39:35] Why? Because the more we realize that his life is our life, the more we realize that his holiness is our holiness. And there is that warning. You are moving forward by faith, but the admonition to be holy as I am holy is still there.

[39:52] It is still there. And there is this pause. He says, don't go forward in your excitement and your anticipation and your movement because of the word and you want to accomplish the work.

[40:07] Don't just go forward however you want to. Be careful to do all that I have commanded Moses to do. Because then, then you will prosper. Then you will succeed.

[40:19] And he has this wording for him here in verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

[40:35] That word meditate, in the original language, I can't remember what it is right now. I saw it in my study. It's really kind of a unique word. And stay with me on this. It is the word that the Hebrew people use for like mumbling under one's breath.

[40:49] You know, like when I preach real long on Sunday mornings and people are really hungry and there's something that's under their breath. Or when, when Braden tells me at home, like, dad, do you not see me saying things to you when you're preaching and I want you to stop?

[41:01] And he's, he's trying to say things silent. Or what you get that mumbling under your breath. But in the, in the, in the Hebrew setting, it literally, it meant to, to walk around talking to oneself. Mumbling to oneself.

[41:15] That's what the word meditate. Literally what God is telling Joshua to do, walk around repeating the word of God to yourself. Meditate on it.

[41:25] Just say it. Just say it. Over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And keep saying it.

[41:39] Because the greatest way to heed the warning of remaining holy. Is to build the discipline of repeating back to oneself what God has already declared.

[41:51] It is this meditation. Talking to oneself. Has God not said? Has God not said? Has God not said?

[42:04] And I'll promise you this. I know I introduced this book and I'm done. We're about to pray. I introduced this book with a discussion of what scholars will say and what people will say and, and, and, and those things.

[42:18] But, but I'll promise you this. The greatest answer. The greatest answer. That you can ever give to a critic or to one who is critical of or to someone who questions.

[42:35] Is not what someone else has said. But what God himself has said. And if we will focus. And repeat back to ourselves.

[42:45] Not what others have taught and said and, and theorized about. But if we will repeat back to ourselves what God has said. And meditate upon what God has said.

[42:58] Maybe read others. I'm not telling you to be. I think we ought to be educated. Study to show yourself approved. But your meditation.

[43:11] Your repetition. Repeat back to yourself. What God has said. Then. Then. We heed the warning.

[43:23] And the doubts and the questions. They seem to fade away. One quick thing from all life. I went through it. Several months.

[43:35] Six or eight months. Before many of you knew me. At least anybody on this side of the room knew me. Like as a pastor. Where I was really wrestling with things of the faith.

[43:47] I was already a pastor. But I was really wrestling with scripture. I mean I was reading a lot. Reading a lot. And I was just casting myself. It was right after I went full time.

[43:58] So I had more time. I hadn't started driving the bus yet. I had more time than ever. And I was just reading everything. I was calling people. I was reading. I was reading. I was reading. I was reading. I was reading. And there came a day after about six or eight months.

[44:09] I finally just stopped. I hit the brakes. I said you know what. I want to just focus more on reading the Bible. And I cut all other books off for a while.

[44:24] All my questions began to be answered. As I was meditating. Repeating back to myself. What the word said. Now that doesn't mean I could define it to the people who are a lot more book smart to me.

[44:37] And they had all these words. And they had phrases. And they would say. I really have no idea what you're talking about. But I can tell you what the word says. But I still have to study.

[44:47] I still have to go back. But this is how Joshua was to heed the warning. Because that's what encourages our faith. The greatest of books will sometimes discourage your faith.

[45:05] But the true book will always encourage your faith. Joshua chapter 1 verses 1 through 9. Thank you guys.

[45:23] Thank you.

[45:53] Thank you.

[46:23] Thank you.

[46:53] Thank you.

[47:23] Thank you.

[47:53] Thank you.

[48:23] Thank you.

[48:53] Thank you.

[49:23] Thank you.