Joshua 4:1-10

Joshua 4:1-10

If you could sum up this year into one word; what would it be? (Trying, Adventure, Distraction, Challenging, Trust, Thankful, Surrendering, Recalculating, Faith, Blessed, Sickening, Refund, Wow, Whirlwind, Awakening, Trying)

I know for many of us, we are glad to see this year behind us, but what lies ahead of us? Today, I would like for us to read from Joshua 4:5-10 and see a nation that didn’t just have a troubling year, but a trying 40 years as they were in the wilderness.

[Read Scripture]

The story of the children of Israel coming into the land of promise, sort of reminds me when you been on that long road trip with the family and you pull into the driveway at home. You just want to let out a big whew.

But this passage really sums up what many of us have been through this year. A year of wandering, a year of wondering, and a year of worrying. But through this year we have also been cared for, loved and protected by the hand of Almighty God.

As the children of Israel cross the Jordan River, they are commanded to do something that I believe that we should take notice of. They are told by the Lord to take twelve stones and place them on the other side of the river, to serve as a memorial and a reminder of what the Lord had done with this nation, and what he continues to do, even unto this day.

Brothers and sisters, here was a nation that God had brought out of the wilderness, and doesn’t it seem like we have been in the wilderness? That some of us can say, we been in the wilderness a lot longer than just 2020. But here is a people that had seem some hard times, had struggled with much loss, had been plague, famine, and drought; but, in the end, God had saw them through. And now they are commanded to build a memorial for this journey.

We may look back and see some similar challenges in our life and in our families lives, but we mustn’t forget, to remember God. This memorial would be a reminder to Israel, but the good news is this. They kept moving forward. The problems may have been hard, the journey perilous, the way questionable, there were a lot of hard memories, but in the end, God kept them moving forward. And that brethren, serves as a reminder to us as well, that we must continue to move forward also.

How do we move forward then?

1. We must be “Cleaned” (vs 1)

· Now the Israelites had been in the wilderness for 40 years, they were limited in water and food, depending on the Lord to provide their needs. While they were in the wilderness, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity to be able to take regular baths.

· Before they were to go into the promise land, they were to wash and get clean.

· There something about taking a shower or a bath, that makes you feel better. Getting off the dirt and sweat that accumulates, has a refreshing feeling.

· The Israelites had been wandering in the desert, there was a lot of the desert still clinging to them. It was hindering and haunting them.

· Well, the children of Israel were to clean themselves, but this was also symbolic of what all of us need. That we all need to be clean!

· 2020 has left a remnant on us, there is a lot dust of the past that is clinging on to us, mistakes that we made, things that we said, sins that we committed, but today is the day we wash that away.

· The Lord will not be able to do the work in our life, until we are cleaned in the Blood of the Lamb. That means that we need to come to the waters of the Lord and allow the cleaning to take place. This is a place of prayer.

2. We must listen to the “Calling” (vs 2-3)

· Now the Lord wanted to move the people into the promised land. Just like he wants all of us to come to Heaven. How was that going to happen?

· Well here in the scripture, he speaks to the people through his servant Joshua, Joshua received the message from the Lord, that was to be spoken to the people. In the message was the calling of the Lord.

· You know, the Devil has tried to hinder many of us from being able to come to church this past year. You know why? Because he doesn’t want you to hear what the Lord has to say to you.

· Now what would have happened if Joshua was just dwelling on all the things they dealt with from the past, instead of listening to God. A nation of people would have fallen apart.

· 1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

· Now the Lord has placed a calling on your life today, a calling to listen to what he is saying in this message, a calling to not be focused on the things of this world, but to be focus on what He is saying to you.

· God is calling us away from the past, he is calling us to Him. Let’s be honest, the past things are hard to forget, but the calling of God is the welcoming sound where he is saying “come home, come home.”

3. We must obey the “Command” (vs 4-5)

· Now Joshua, heard what the Lord told him and the people to do, he heard the calling, but none of that will be any good, unless we respond, that we obey the command!

· The children of Israel were at the Jordan River, there were twelve men who were called out to pick up a stone, now you just think for a moment, this wasn’t some little pebble or river rock that was used to skip across the water. This was a stone that was a weight.

· Sin is like a weight, its heavy, hard to carry, but all of us are carrying it around. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

· Now what was the command of the Lord? To take that stone and lay it down. The Lord didn’t want them carrying that stone every where they went, but to lay it down.

· And that is what he is telling you here today as well, that stone, that sin, that sorrow, that pain, that hurtful memory, your past, that failure, that worry, that fear – lay it down.

· Quit carrying that stone, place it right here on the altar of God. Let it be a memory that doesn’t weigh you down no more.

4. We must teach it to our “Children” (vs 6-7)

· Once the Israelites did this, the Lord gave them a commission, to teach the children to trust in the Lord.

· There are a lot of mistakes I have made in my life, things that I regretted. But when the Lord forgave me of those mistakes, those sins, I was free. I still remember the day when he saved me. And the Lord wants me to share that with my children.

· We are only a generation away from a godless society, unless we do our part and teach our children about the Lord.

· We are letting the world to teach our children terrible things, we as parents need to rise up and teach them what is right, we need to teach the Jesus of the Bible, the grace that he gives, the sacrifice he made.

· When I laid my stone down, I remember that stone, I want my family to know what I have been freed from.

· Everyone of you who have accepted Christ, should have a memory of when the Lord forgave you of your sins. When he made you a new person. A story that you should be able to share with others and say, this is what the Lord brought me from. Its called your testimony.

· Do you want this year to be a great year, let this be the year that you share your testimony of what Christ has done in your life, with others, start with your family, let them know that there is a memorial set up in your life, that is a reminder of what the Lord saved you from.

· God had brought them out of the wilderness, where has Christ brought you from?

5. We must “Continue” to go forward (vs 8-10)

· Notice that when the Israelites did what the Lord told them to do, that he didn’t have them stay there. He had them to move forward.

· I want you to know, that we can’t remain in 2020, we got to move forward, we can’t stay in the past, we need to making headway into the land where God is leading us.

· To many people have been ensnared at the shrine of memory, that they forget how to live for the Lord. We must continue to press forward.

· The church has retreated to much in 2020, people have fled, many are still stuck at the river, but today is the day where all of that needs to stop. Today is the day that we will say, that I am a Christian soldier, and I going onward.

· The children of Israel went into the promised land, will you march on this year and continue to carry the name of Christ with you??