Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Welcome and introductions...

Good to see you all today…

Its is truly awesome, awesome to come and meet together in the house of the Lord.

So we are thankful that we are here together.

Never loose sight of this, right here we are brothers and sisters and this is home base, love on one another, encourage one another and pray for one another.

So lets begin this morning, let me ask you a question today.. Have you every just been on the top of the mountain, you experienced victory in your life… and then suddenly the bottom fell out and you felt like a failure...

I know what some would say, it is part of life and it happens… and yes there is truth in that..

But at times it is not just something it happened...

So what happens...

Sin might be the issue, we might stumble and find our-self in the ditch of sin..

It might be the result of our walk with the Lord, we might be headed down the wrong lane of life… the broad road.

Regardless of what happened, we are left confused, disappointed, frustrated and our hearts are broken

So this morning lets find a perfect example of this… and see that the Scriptures can reveal to us through failure and disappointment.

Lets find Joshua chapter 6, verse 27

Let me ask you a question this morning..

Now we have started with just one verse, but we will look at more in a few minutes… but this is to magnify our first thought this morning..

1.

The Mountain Tops are Wonderful....

If there is one thought I am sure you would agree with today, it is the truth that we love it when everything is going smooth, when everything is trucking right along, and we are enjoying the crisp clean air way up high…

It is a wonderful time, no conflicts, no problems and life is easy...

That picture is exactly where the children of Israel are in this account, they are enjoying life on the mountain top.

They have seen victory in many ways, some remember coming out of Egypt… Most have only heard of those stories, but they all are in the promised land.

They have crossed over the river.

They have entered Canaan… The land God gave to them through the promises of Abraham.. they have not lived in this land as a people for over 400 years .

Life was good...

And now Jericho has fell...

Wow.. God has given the city of Jericho into their hands…

They didn’t breach the walls, they didn’t break the gates down and burn them… no, They marched around the city...

Let me take you back to , verses 12-16.

Day after day for

On that day, they city crumbled before their eyes, only Rahab and her family were saved from the city because she helped those who came to spy out the city.

They city was gone, all were dead both man and beast, and no one was to take anything from the city as spoils of war, it all belonged to the Lord, He has declared it all holy unto Himself.

We will talk more about that later...

But remember this, they had experienced victory, they were on the mountain top..

And now it was on to the next city, Nothing could stop them for the Lord would fight for them..

They had a bright future....

Mountain tops are beautiful....

Now consider this my friends, We will always have mountain top experiences, but they cannot last forever...

Why… Because we live in a fallen world and yes we are fallen and at times we make mistakes...

But there are wonderful times when we

Now lets look at a second thought....

2. Disobedience is The Fastest Way Back to the Valley...

We know that mountain top experiences do not last forever, it simply cannot be so…

Problems, circumstances, events that we have no control over and yes our own failures, or the failure of others can lead to our circumstances changing and the mountain top experiences slow slip away and we slide down from the top and end up at the bottom again..

And honestly, we don’t always like the valleys…

Understand they valleys are good for us at times, but sometimes they are painful, difficult to bear…

This truth is where we find our story today...

The children of Israel are now moving to take the city of Ai… Ai is an important strategic city...

It lay in a valley which controlled the traffic both north and south of the city, a trade way of great importance allowing the people to travel with safety as they moved toward other important areas in Canaan.

And the children of Israel are moving to take the city with God’s help...

Lets look at Joshua 7, verses 2-5

Now consider this, the men has such confidence they said to Joshua, we don’t need everyone, just send up two or three thousand… They knew the city of Ai was weakly defended and they said the battle would end quickly..

Now consider this, the men has such confidence they said to Joshua, we don’t need everyone, just send up two or three thousand… They knew the city of Ai was weakly defended and they said the battle would end quickly..

But suddenly, the men of Ai overtook them as they attacked the city… 36 of their men were killed and the men of Ai chased them all away from the city… the people were shaken, they were confused… what just happened?

How were they defeated....

It was kind of like ODU beating Virginia Tech in football last year.. what happened???

Well let me take you back to the first verse of chapter 7.

They people of Israel sinned against the Lord...

The devoted things.. what is that?

Remember I said we would talk about that later … well here it is...

When the Lord had given them instruction concerning the city of Jericho we know that the Lord had commanded the children of Israel to not take anything from Jericho, everything was to be killed, every person and every animal, and they were to leave any wealth there, it all belonged to the Lord.

The Lord had commanded the children of Israel to not take anything from Jericho, everything was to be killed, every person and every animal, and they were to leave any wealth there, it all belonged to the Lord.

It was all under His judgment and no one was to claim anything for themselves or anyone else.

Essentially it was called devoted things...

, verses 15 -18 gives us the story, for the 7th day around Jericho...

So we see the account of what the Lord had required of them… but something went wrong.

, chapter 1 tells us that a man by the name of Achan sinned against the Lord, He took some of those devoted things, some of the treasurer.

So we see the account of what the Lord had required of them… but something went wrong.

, chapter 1 tells us that a man by the name of Achan sinned against the Lord, He took some of those devoted things, some of the treasurer.

He sinned against God, and not only was he guilty before the Lord, it affected everyone...

Now here is a valuable point my friends....

A person’s sin never effects them only… no, it has consequences that effect so many…

We must be careful lest the devil lead us into sin, and that sin tear our whole house down....

The devil is out there everyday… everyday he is there looking, prowling, hunting and he knows your weaknesses… He knows your lust, your hurts,,,, He knows!

Now back to this point…

The children of Israel were defeated in battle… they are run off and yes some were killed… And they are confused… why did this happen...

Sin brings failure....

They are devastated and suddenly they find themselves down on the valley floor after sin has crept into their lives...

The picture is clear, sin will bring you down, .....

and this brings me to one last thought...

3. The First Step up the Mountain begins with Looking Up....

The children Israel, they had experienced defeat, they were humiliated and heartbroken… confused and frustrated.

And when the word came back to Joshua, he fell to his face in prayer.

look with me at Joshua chapter 7, verses 6-9.

Joshua is so distraught, He is heart broken.

Joshua fell to his face after tearing his cloths before the ark of the covenant.

And there Joshua prayed to the Lord, he prayed seeking and answer, hoping to understand what in the world has just happened, and why?

He

Tearing his clothes is a sign of mourning, grief and yes loss… His heart is heavy as are so many of the people.

Why was God not with them???

God will not leave that question unanswered, friends know that God intends to speak to his people when they approach him in prayer.

Now lets go back to , verses 10-15

Joshua does what we all must do, be always ready to pray… not only in failure, but even in success.

Now the Lord answered immediately… Joshua!

Get up, Why are you on your face?

And look at what the Lord says… Israel has sinned....

What could stop the people of God dead in their tracks, sin!

What can stop us and our relationship with God, sin as well.

And God tells them the charges He has against them… They have sinned against the Lord, they kept some of the devoted things from Jericho, the people have sinned…

Now the Lord gives Joshua instructions for dealing with the sin and how the people will discover who the guilty person or persons are...