Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:06] My name is Dean Annan. I'm the discipleship pastor here.
[00:00:10] I'd love to meet you. If we haven't, I'll be down in front right after the sermon.
[00:00:15] Well, have you ever made a commitment?
[00:00:19] I mean, you probably have probably followed through. But have you made a commitment and not kept it?
[00:00:27] And there's a lot of reasons for that, I suppose. Maybe you forgot, maybe you were over committed. That can happen. There's conflict sometimes. Sometimes there's an emergency. I can see that. Sometimes it's our own poor planning.
[00:00:39] Anybody ever guilty of that? Or there was a conflict, but maybe sometimes you just had fear and didn't follow through.
[00:00:49] Here's a tough one. Maybe you said yes because you didn't want to disappoint somebody. So you committed to something, you didn't want to disappoint them, but then you didn't follow through. That's called people pleasing.
[00:01:02] I know that that's a hard one. There's many reasons why at times that we make commitments and we don't follow through. I read somewhere that commitment is tested when convenience disappears.
[00:01:16] We're going to come back to this, come back to that idea in a minute. We're in. Joshua, chapter one, verses 10 through 18. And you're gonna see Joshua taking charge. You're gonna see that he acts on what the Lord says. Because Joshua implicitly trusts the Lord because he has seen with his own eyes what the Lord does. He's seen the Lord's miracle working power and he's seen God's love and he's seen God be faithful to his people. And so Joshua will obey. And you're gonna see others today too, in our passage. We're gonna see them step up and recommit to something that they said they would do.
[00:01:58] If you're joining us here new, we're in our second week of a series on Joshua.
[00:02:04] If you're new to the Bible, it's a sixth book. If you start in Genesis and move forward, you'll find Joshua, Joshua, chapter one. And if you weren't here last week, you wanna go back and you and you want to see the opening, the introduction that Pastor Michael had to the book of Joshua. So just very briefly to get us there again, what's going on in Joshua chapter one, verse two, God said to Joshua, moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore rise. He says to Joshua, go over this Jordan, you and all this people into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. And we have a map up there. And what you're gonna see in this map is the Jordan River.
[00:02:45] In a moment, there it is, the Jordan River. You're going to see on the east side the plains of Moab, and that's where they are right now. And on the west side, on the other side is the land of Canaan, where they're going to go.
[00:02:58] And in Joshua, chapter one, verse nine, from last week, we saw God was talking to Joshua, and God tells Joshua something, because what is on the west side of the. Of the Jordan is almost unbelievably evil and what he's going to face. So God says this to Joshua. We saw this last week. Be strong and courageous, Joshua. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
[00:03:25] And now we get to today.
[00:03:27] Today's go time. It's exciting time. Like maybe the first day of school or summer camp or high school, or maybe you're on the special teams kickoff team, and the whistle's about to blow. Or maybe you're more moving into a new apartment or maybe you're gonna buy a home. Except, of course, one difference might be there might not be evil giants in high school. I hope that's maybe one difference. But regardless, it's still pretty exciting. Joshua's talking here. In verse 10, the Lord was talking before. Now Joshua's talking and he's telling the officers of the people to do something. Verse 10.
[00:04:02] And Joshua commanded the officers of the people pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, prepare your provisions for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan and going to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
[00:04:19] He's taking charge. He's acting quickly. He's not delaying. He's doing what he should do. And actually he's holding people accountable. You'll see. And he's delegating. He's doing all the things a good leader should do.
[00:04:32] Where's his strength come from? Well, Frederick Meyer writes, and he writes this about Joshua's sources of strength.
[00:04:38] One, is this a faithful past?
[00:04:42] Joshua has a past, and his past was a faithful one.
[00:04:46] Hard work, faithful to the Lord, faithful to his God and to Moses as well, and to the people. Also. Joshua's source of strength was a distinct call. He clearly was called by God to do this work.
[00:04:59] And third, a sense of presence of God.
[00:05:02] In Numbers, chapter 27, verse 18, God said this about Joshua, that he is a man even in whom the Spirit, meaning the Holy Spirit, rests.
[00:05:12] And in Deuteronomy chapter 34, verse 9. Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom. I'm going to read that verse from Deuteronomy 34. 9. And Joshua, the son of nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, so the people of Israel obeyed him.
[00:05:32] Fourth and finally, we know the word of God was in Joshua's heart. He knew the law of the Lord and he loved it. And so God identified Joshua. Moses affirmed him, and Israel witnessed his commissioning. This is their leader, appointed by God. So Joshua commanded the officers of the people.
[00:05:50] These are more administrators than they are military men, you might think officers like, you know, there's a campaign going on here to conquest the land. But these officers he's talking to are respected leaders and they're filled with the spirit of the Lord. For sure, they're known men and they have a good track record. But these are the officers of the people.
[00:06:10] He's commanding them to get ready to cross the Jordan.
[00:06:14] And what did Joshua tell the officers to do again? We'll put it on the screen. Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people to prepare your provisions. Okay, prepare your provisions. At first. Look here. Realize what they're doing again? They're going to conquest the land. What might this look like? Well, it's 1406 BC roughly. And logically, what would you do? It's a late Bronze Age, so you might be getting sharpening stones out to sharpen your swords, maybe the javelins and sort of some spears and maybe slings. I don't know if they had slings yet, but we have some pictures up here, and they're probably. They're a little corroded by now. And they better get ready because they're going to face the Canaanites superior military. If you know this from the Old Testament, these people had a superior military, chariots, fortified cities, all of those things Israelites didn't. But that's not what this text is talking about, not at all. Instead of training for months and sharpening their tactics and sharpening their weapons, they were to prepare the provisions. The provisions is a great translation because it means what you think it means. It means food.
[00:07:25] It's not getting ready for a battle necessarily. What they're to do is to break camp here, pull up stakes, get ready to go.
[00:07:33] That's what they're to do. Last week we saw how Joshua was to get ready. God was talking to Joshua last week, and God was talking to the heart of Joshua last week. He was talking to his mind and he was talking to his emotions. This is what God did last week to prepare him. He said, be strong and courageous because he knows what they're about to face on the other side. And then also last week, we saw that God said to Joshua that this book of the law, that God's law, God's word, shall not depart from your mouth, Joshua, but you shall meditate it on day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.
[00:08:13] But today, pull up stakes, get food. We're ready to go.
[00:08:19] So how do they do this?
[00:08:20] How did they go? This is the question. How do they go across the Jordan river to face the most evil people in all of the world? And they have no military advantage over them because if they tried to defeat them in their own might, their own weapons, they know they'd be slaughtered.
[00:08:35] The only hope they have, the only hope they have is to trust God and that they're giving. This land has been given to them as a gift, as an inheritance that he promised to. To their fathers. Inheritance is a very important word. And I want to come back to that, actually, the very end of the sermon. So it's by faith is the answer. By faith, then they were to receive the gift of the promised land. So in order to change or in order to go across the Jordan river, they had to put their full confidence in the Lord, not their weapons.
[00:09:08] Israel's inheritance of the land is a gift directly from God. From God. So important to remember that back in verse two, last week, and I read it a moment ago, God is giving them this land. Verse 6 from last week, again, they will inherit, God said, the land that I, meaning God, swore to their fathers. And right now, verse 11 at the end, we'll put it on the screen again, pass over this Jordan and go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
[00:09:41] Here it is again.
[00:09:42] So the answer to the question then that I asked, obviously they can go across the river, but it's by faith in that they are and have been given a gift and their inheritance they will take. Again, by faith, not by might.
[00:10:02] This is part of the mega theme, I would say a big theme within Joshua, this idea that God was giving the land to, to the Israelites. Something to remember.
[00:10:11] And if you know Genesis, if you kind of know the Bible, you'll know this is in response and based on the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham, back in the book of Genesis, was the center of God's purposes to deal with all the nations. And through Abraham, Offspring would come, which includes Jesus Christ. The land leads to Jesus, his mission, his purpose. All of these things are connected to land promise, and here's a few of those promises. God's purpose is connected to this amazing move into the land. God was fulfilling his covenant promise to Abraham. Genesis 20:7 or 12:7 to your offspring. God said, I will give this land. But also God was judging the wickedness of the Canaanites. That's another part of what's going on here in God's promise of the land. That was in Genesis 15:16, you know, God would no longer tolerate what was going on for centuries in this wicked, wicked place with the wicked people. Also, the third thing is God was establishing Israel as his covenant nation.
[00:11:20] If you were with us through Leviticus, you see that God was taking these people specifically as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation for all people to know, the true God.
[00:11:33] Also, God's plan extended beyond Israel. I've pretty much been talking about that already. Genesis chapter 12, verse 3.
[00:11:41] In you, all families of the earth shall be blessed. Abraham. That's what God was saying to Abraham. There's a larger purpose, a larger redemptive purpose for this land. They would live there. But out of this, again, King David and then of course, King Jesus, through whom all nations will be blessed. So based on God's promise of the land, they need to get ready to go. But let's not forget there's a big picture at play here.
[00:12:07] The promised land was the pathway to God's promised savior.
[00:12:14] But before they go from the east to the west, there's something important that Joshua needs to do before they can move forward together. So let's go to verse 12, because before they move across the Jordan, across the Jordan, Joshua has to turn to a certain group of Israelite tribes and he has to remind them of something, a serious commitment that they made to the other tribes. In Joshua, chapter one, verse 12, he's still talking, and they're on the east side of the river. And now he's talking to a certain subset of tribes and to the Reubenites, verse 12 says, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh. Joshua said, remember the word that Moses, the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, the Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.
[00:13:13] I need to back up, tell you a little bit more what's going on here. You see, there's, there's, there's two and one half tribes that he's talking to right now. And they have already Settled on the east side. They actually have their inheritance already. They're already there. They're not going to actually stay or settle on the west side. And this was done with Moses permission.
[00:13:34] They wanted to stay there because the livestock could graze there. It was great land. And of course, the livestock flourish. Your families are going to flourish. And so Moses said, okay. Initially, he was a little angry about it, didn't like it, but he said, okay, you. Your inheritance can be on the east side, but remember the people of God, the Israelites are to go over and conquer the land of Canaan on the west side.
[00:13:59] This is in Numbers, if you're keeping notes. Numbers chapter 32. It's also in Deuteronomy chapter three. But I'm gonna take us to numbers chapter 32 just for a moment. And it's talking now about those two and a half tribes that I just mentioned, that they made a promise, they made a commitment, they made a vow to the rest of the Israelites, but before Moses and before the Lord, that they would go over to the west side, they would fight with them and go before them, even though they already have their inheritance. They've already been blessed with their inheritance. Numbers 32:17 says, but we will take up arms. These are those tribes talk. We will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel until we have brought them to their place.
[00:14:38] We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained their inheritance.
[00:14:44] Then Moses says, but if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord. And be sure your sin will find you out. And so Moses granted them the land inheritance on the east side. But they had a covenant to keep, a covenant to keep with the people, God's people.
[00:15:02] Okay, so Joshua reminds them of this responsibility they have.
[00:15:08] This is what a leader should do. A leader should be an example. But a leader should also hold the people accountable. And that's exactly what he's doing here. As the passage goes on our passage today, he's actually quoting, almost quoting word for word From Deuteronomy chapter 3, which describes the same thing we just talked about.
[00:15:25] Here's Joshua, your wives, your little ones. He's talking to the east side. Tribes and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them. The men of valor are just the mighty men. These elite forces of those tribes, the two and a half tribes, and kind of like our marine expeditionary units that Go out and go before a rapid response type thing. They're going to pass over, armed those men before the other Israelites. They promised to go first and Joshua reminds them of that.
[00:16:02] The passage goes on, Joshua continues, until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you. You, they als and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God has given them.
[00:16:15] Verse 15 goes on, Then you shall return to the land, the east side, your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan, towards the sunrise or on the east side. And so no one, no one is going to rest until the battle's over, till the fighting is over, until all get their inheritance. So don't miss something here because there's a lot of things about this that could have been left out. This did not need to be included in the Bible, but apparently it does.
[00:16:47] There's something here even today that we need to hear. Don't miss what God? This is not just good history. We need to know how things unfolded in ancient Israel so that Jesus, not just there's more here, God wants us to know some things as well. Don't miss this. God's people keep their commitments. Amen. Church.
[00:17:07] God's people, we keep our commitments. It shows integrity. The eastern tribes, their mission wasn't over. They were blessed. They were greatly blessed, already received their inheritance, but yet they still had a mission together with God's people. It's not just God's people keep their commitments, but it's also God's people are united.
[00:17:26] God's people need to be united. They need to cross the river here together.
[00:17:31] But for all of us, really, true unity requires shared purpose and keeping commitments. This is what the church looks like too.
[00:17:40] This is how we should be together, committed to one another for Christ's cause, for his purpose.
[00:17:46] Now this, I call it the big plan of the land. Talked a little about that, but was this idea of there's going to come redemption out of it, redemption and salvation to all peoples through the Messiah, through the Christ, through Jesus. Jesus comes out of the promised land. Jesus comes from the promised people, but Jesus is for all nations. He's for all tribes, all tongues, all people everywhere. And you know, this kind of mission, Jesus mission takes unity, shared purpose and committed Christian. It takes us, frankly, it takes the church, it takes village church.
[00:18:25] Let me talk about a word and at first when it comes out of my mouth, it's gonna sound like a dirty word, it's gonna sound like a swear word, but it's not okay. I don't know if there's young people here. You don't have to cover their ears. It's accountability.
[00:18:41] I think I said that, right? Accountability.
[00:18:45] People hate that word. Not everybody. Some people hate that word.
[00:18:49] And today it's gotten worse where it's accountability. Ooh, how dare you.
[00:18:54] Our culture says, and sometimes it's in our hearts we say this, but we may not always just say it out loud. I'm my own.
[00:19:01] Don't tell me.
[00:19:03] Don't tell me what to do. Don't point that out.
[00:19:06] Here's what happens, though. If you, or if I, if we. If anyone lives this way, here's what happens. You end up spiritually isolated.
[00:19:16] You live alone in an island of self deception, deceived by your own sin and bad choices, hard consequences and a hard heart.
[00:19:26] On this island of deception, that's where you'll sit. And people who push back against accountability aren't very fun to be around sometimes.
[00:19:35] But I want to say this.
[00:19:38] Being accountable is a blessing.
[00:19:41] It weaves its way into our story today. But being accountable is so important. Being accountable produces holiness in us and spiritual growth and mature Christians, because there's no way you're going to find a mature Christian who hasn't done hard work, first of all, to reach deeply into the word of God and try to understand what God is doing, his goodness and following him. But also, mature Christians, not only that they live under authority, they're accountable to other people.
[00:20:16] That's how they got to a place where they can bless others. But also, another thing about being accountable as a blessing is it produces greater obedience. And that's frankly related to the first thing.
[00:20:25] But also being accountable to others. The blessing that those bring exposes our blind spots.
[00:20:32] We all have them.
[00:20:34] I have them.
[00:20:36] Thank you, Chris, for pointing those out.
[00:20:40] I need people to tell me these things. And we all need people to tell us. Also, the fourth thing. It helps us keep commitments we're talking about today, like in our passage. We all need Joshua's. That's one of the blessings of accountability.
[00:20:58] We need Joshua's.
[00:21:00] And finally, it moves us forward as a church. It's such a blessing to be accountable. It moves us forward, helps us keep our commitments.
[00:21:11] Proverbs 27:17.
[00:21:14] Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Accountability protects us from sin. And sin grows when it's unchecked, right? When we just turn the other eye, leave it unchallenged or hidden, like we weeds in a garden.
[00:21:28] Same thing. Hebrews 3:13 says this exhort one another every day. That's.
[00:21:35] You could interpret that, challenge one another every day. Hebrews 13:3.
[00:21:40] Being accountable. Remember, this is a blessing because I want to go on now. In our passage to verses 16 through 18, we see how the east side and others frankly respond to about being held accountable. They have a brand new opportunity. We have to remember this generation before. Before this generation didn't do so well.
[00:22:05] They were a rebellious generation.
[00:22:11] Verse 16 says, and they answered, joshua, all that you have commanded us, we will do. Wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Now it says they answered. Right. But the grammar here really doesn't leave it wishy washy as to what's going on there. The grammar here isn't just that the east side tribes, the two and a half tribes were responding. It's actually the officials, it's the other Israelites, the other tribes, they're responding actually together kind of in unison here.
[00:22:46] And then the great thing is they responded positively.
[00:22:52] Let me put this up there, maybe to put it into words again. God's people commit to each other and to God's purposes. Kind of a general theme I want us to remember. Right.
[00:23:01] So as they all pledge loyalty to Joshua, God's chosen leader, we see that the two and a half tribes, they're following up on their commitment. This is great. The others are also voicing this as well. That's great.
[00:23:17] Think about it being Joshua for a moment.
[00:23:20] That's gotta lift you up.
[00:23:22] That's gotta be encouraging. This is not the grumbling that he and others have been used to in the previous generation.
[00:23:29] No, this has to be encouraging. But I'm also wondering, and maybe this is just me, but I'm thinking, I'm imagining maybe there's something else going on in the heart of Joshua under the surface, and maybe it's tension because he remembers he was there with the previous generation. You know, the previous generation, they swore they would obey the laws of God.
[00:23:51] They said back In Exodus chapter 24, verses 3, and also verse 7, they said words like this. And I'll just read them. Here's the kind of words that came out of their mouths before the previous generation. All the words of the Lord, all the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do.
[00:24:08] And they also said words like all that the Lord has spoken, we will do and will be obedient.
[00:24:14] Yet after these words were recorded for the previous generation, what did they do? They built a golden calf. You remember that?
[00:24:20] They worshipped the golden calf so what will this generation today in our passage, actually do?
[00:24:27] We'll have to wait and see.
[00:24:30] But they're responding to Joshua. It's positive.
[00:24:33] They go on and they keep talking. So let me read verse 17 only. May the Lord your God Joshua be with you as he was with Moses. And then they say, whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, Joshua, whatever you command him shall be put to death.
[00:24:54] Only be strong and courageous.
[00:24:58] In some ways, I love this, but this is super serious here, right? Because they're holding themselves accountable. That's great. They're holding themselves accountable, but this is a death sanction. Do you see that?
[00:25:10] If they're literally saying this, it's not hyperbole. They are saying that if we do not do what you say, Joshua, because you are the Lord's representative here, we must be put to death.
[00:25:21] You see the words only be strong and courageous.
[00:25:24] We'll put it up there again, the end of verse 18. But strong and courageous, to what end? They're saying this, this time. This isn't the Lord saying this to Joshua like last week. This. These are words that the people themselves are saying to Joshua now. Be strong and courageous to what? Be strong and courageous to follow God as you lead us. Joshua, be strong and courageous to do God's will. Joshua, be strong and courageous to hold us accountable even to the point of death. Because they pledged it to him.
[00:26:00] That's their commitment. It's almost like they've already filled out their death certificates and they signed their death certificates. They got them together and it's almost like they handed them to Joshua just in case. Joshua, just in case.
[00:26:15] This is a serious scene, also very encouraging, an opportunity for a new chapter in the life of God's people as they're about to cross the river.
[00:26:29] So if you're new here, what we do is we end our sermons with something called. So what's the idea is, let's focus, let's gather some things up and let's see before we conclude. And the first thing I want to say first. So what is this? Be responsible with your blessings.
[00:26:45] First, I want to say thank you to village church, because I see it over and over and over and over again, how some of you, out of your own blessings, you have stepped into some hard things, sometimes ugly things, where people are struggling and you bless them.
[00:27:00] You don't sit on your hands.
[00:27:03] You love people. Well, from our passage today, if we think about the Eastern tribes, you know, they already received their blessing. Remember, they already received their inheritance. They're fine. They're fine right where they are. Life was great, but they had a responsibility. They made a commitment. To brothers and sisters, blessings are not a ticket to coast, not at all. God has given them rest and a good life on the east side, but he'd not given them permission, and he doesn't give us permission to become independent and indifferent to the struggles and the needs of God's people. Paul says it this way. When we get to the New Testament, Paul says, as we have an opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who are in the household of faith.
[00:27:47] He also says in First Corinthians, if one member suffers, all suffer together.
[00:27:55] If one member is honored, I'll rejoice as well. So we can ask, who needs me?
[00:28:03] If I've been blessed, how can I help somebody else? How can I help somebody? We can look in our orbit around us. We can look in our home, where we live, in our apartment or in the house. Who's there, who's struggling, who. Who needs us?
[00:28:17] Maybe someone's crushed, confused, they're in crisis, or they're conflicted, whatever. That looks like Jesus Christ in his ministry.
[00:28:28] What did he do? He walked around and he saw people.
[00:28:32] He saw what was going on, the struggles, their shame, and he lifted them up. And we can do the exact same thing because we can give them Jesus Christ.
[00:28:42] We can help people through their suffering, we can help people through their shame, knowing the one who redeems, the one who loves, and his name is Jesus Christ. And as Christ follower, you know that Christ followers are committed, not comfortable. Amen.
[00:28:56] Amen. Church. Take a look at this flow, this slide here. God's blessing brings responsibility. We've been talking about that, but then responsibility. We want to welcome accountability because it helps us keep our commitments and accountability. This is kind of the secret sauce that's going to help us be more faithful to God and obey God and step out and grow us, frankly, to be mature followers of Christ. So accountability, something we want to welcome.
[00:29:33] We want to welcome it.
[00:29:34] You know, village church is your home.
[00:29:37] If village church is your family of God. And maybe you've even taken Discover Village or you want to sign up for Discover Village. That talks about kind of church and how we do church. It talks about the commitments towards each other and the commitment to the cause of Christ. But we're on mission together. We serve together, we give together, we encourage and engage each other.
[00:30:01] We come together to worship our one true God together. We do all these things. We do it under appropriate spiritual authority. We do it under the gospel, the preaching of the gospel and the teaching of the gospel.
[00:30:18] As a church family, we don't church. We never fight alone. We fight alongside for the cause of Christ, alongside each other, together.
[00:30:29] So the last thing I want to say. So what is believe?
[00:30:34] Believe and receive the gift, the inheritance of your salvation.
[00:30:39] First, what I mean by this is I want to talk to you today. If you're here today and you're still feeling like I want to be right with God, or in a sense that you're trying to figure church out or you're trying to figure out Jesus, I get that. I hope you're happy being. I'm happy you're here. Others are happy you're here.
[00:30:59] That's a good thing, that you're here. But in your gut and in your mind, you're working through things.
[00:31:05] And it's not necessarily because of my preaching today. It's because you're hearing truth or words of truth from God. This is what you're hearing. And so I want to come back to this word inheritance, and I want to grab onto that word and I want to use that word inheritance again. And I'm gonna go into the New Testament. I wanna read you something. And for you followers of Jesus, those who have committed to following him as your Lord and Savior, you will probably know this passage. This is for you. But I want all of us, especially if you're struggling today, to know who God is, I want you to hear this as well. Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 13 through 14.
[00:31:40] Paul says this. The apostle in him, meaning in Jesus Christ, in a relationship with him, in a. And knowing who he truly is, all that is about him, you also, when you heard the word of truth. What's that, Paul? What's the word of truth? Paul tells us. He says it's the gospel, the gospel of your salvation.
[00:31:59] Okay, what's that? In other words, the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His death that takes the penalty for your sins, for all who come to him for forgiveness. Okay, this gospel, the gospel of your salvation.
[00:32:11] And believed in him, believed in Jesus as God, and in this gospel message. Okay, so what happened to those who've already trusted in Jesus as their savior? Or what will happen to those even today who want to invite Jesus to be their savior? What will happen?
[00:32:28] So you either were or you will be. When you trust in Christ, you will be sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
[00:32:35] Very God himself will come and live inside you if you trust in Jesus as your Savior. Who is the guarantee we're not guessing here. It's a guarantee of our inheritance. There's that word inheritance again. Inheritance is something you're given inheritance until we acquire possession of it, meaning eternity, once and for all, guaranteed in heaven with Jesus forever in. It's not something you earn, it's a free gift. You can come to faith in Jesus. So I simply want to invite those today who are still questioning that if your heart is tuned up today, if you know there's something going on, I will tell you. That's the spirit of God. And I just want to invite you to ask Jesus, who is God, who died on the cross, to pay the penalty of your sins. Invite him to be your Lord today by asking him to forgive your sins.
[00:33:32] He will always say yes, he's paid the full penalty for your sins. You're not too far away from him, not at all. You can do that even today. Ask him to forgive your sins, believe he is God, that he died and rose again to forgive your sins. And he will say yes.
[00:33:50] He will say yes, you can do that now where you are. Come tell me afterwards. Tell some you that you came with so Joshua and this purpose of taking possession of land, the inheritance, the gift that God gave them makes it possible for us right now as we come together and we worship the Messiah, we worship the Christ.
[00:34:13] We are God's people. We're on a mission. Let's not forget a shared purpose to bring the gospel of salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ both here and and to all nations. And finally, God's people we commit to each other and God's people we commit to God's purposes.
[00:34:34] Amen. Church let's pray.
[00:34:41] Lord, I pray for all here who are considering asking you to forgive their sins and repenting for the first time to come to you as their Savior.
[00:34:51] Give them courage and a heart of humility to come to you because you are loving, because you are good, because you are gentle, and because you will receive anyone who comes to you by faith, you will forgive them.
[00:35:06] Lord, I pray for all of us then that we will all respond to the blessings we have been given with a new urgency to see the needs, the struggles around us and will commit to blessing others.
[00:35:18] And I pray this in the name of Jesus.
[00:35:21] Amen.
