Memorials
Notes
Transcript
Joshua Chapter 4
Joshua Chapter 4
Good morning. I am so happy to be back at First Baptist Church of Williams to share with you on this Beautiful Memorial Day weekend. Denise and I plan on spending the summer at our home in Sherwood Forest and worshiping with you many Sundays until October.
I wish to begin by thanking you for your prayers during the time I was hospitalized and recovering from Covid-19. I give Glory to God and to your remembrance of me to Him. It is only through His strength that I was healed and did not become a statistic of this virus.
It is important that we remember people and events, no matter how long ago they occured. We need to continually remind ourselves of how Great our God is and how He has woven the very fabric of our existence together into a beautiful tapestry.
In Joshua Chapter 4, the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River in a miraculous manner and inhabited the first piece of the Promised land.
God commanded that one man from each tribe retrieve a stone from the middle of the Jordan and carry it eight miles to their encampment at Gilgal, which was about two miles from Jericho.
Let us read from the book of Joshua chapter 3 for some background.
10 Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. 11 “Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. 12 “Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 13 “It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap.” 14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16 the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
God performed a miracle by holding the rivers back and allowing the people to cross safely and enter the promised land. By performing this miracle, God accomplished three things:
He dried the river so His people could walk on dry ground
How many times has God “held back a river so you could walk on dry ground”? He has made my path straight many times.
When I was hospitalized, I was told that 15 minutes made the difference between life and death. God has a purpose for me. He has told me many times in the last year: “If your not dead, your not done!” He provided the solid ground for my recovery and held back the river of destruction so that I could be here this morning!
God Magnified Joshua
14 On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.
We all need leaders to follow us. Even the leaders God chooses for us need leaders - and God is the ultimate leader.
As a result of the crossing, the people knew that
Joshua was in touch with God
Joshua was receiving guidance from God
Joshua was committed to serving God
They could safely follow Joshua because he faithfully followed God.
How much difference does it make when our leaders truly “fear the Lord”?
It is easy to follow a leader who truly listens to God and acts according to His precepts.
God brought fear to the enemies of Israel.
1 Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.
Israel was now moving into the land that God had intended they inhabit. However, there were people living there who did not want to give up their land.
Word of Israel’s crossing spread like wildfire among the Canaanite nations.
The Lord of Israel prepared the way for conquest and assured its success by causing their hearts to be smitten with debilitating fear.
God always prepares the way for His people. Although the path to heaven is narrow, God always goes before us removing most stumbling blocks .
Those impediments that do remain are conquered by His power, not ours.
Thus we learn to trust Him and Him alone.
After the crossing, God commanded Joshua to construct two memorials.
1 Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’ ”
That lodging place was Gilgal. Gilgal was about 8 miles from the River Jordan and two miles from Jericho. This memorial was raised up as a reminder to the people of all God had provided for them.
9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.
Joshua set twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan river where the Priests had stood, holding the Arc of the Covenant.
These memorials were witnesses that God honors faith and He works on the behalf of those who trust in Him.
The memorial in Gilgal:
20 Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21 He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22 then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 “For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; 24 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
When the descendants of those who crossed the river Jordan on dry land asked about the stone memorial, they were to be reminded of the great works of the Lord! How he dried up the Jordan, just like He dried up the Red Sea.
They are to remember how Great God is and what He has done for them, fulfilling His promises.
We never come close to understanding the Greatness of the God we serve.
He is great in Power, overriding the laws of nature.
He is Great in Grace, doing for His people that which they could not do for themselves.
He is fully worthy of our Worship and our praise.
The LORD puts great emphasis on Godly parents (and grand parents) instructing the children in His ways.
6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
It is important that we teach our sons and daughters daily of the greatness of the Lord and His desire that we live Godly lives.
Not just on Sunday, but on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well! Children are constantly watching us. When we live a godly life, we are teaching them to honor the Lord in all we do. When we stray, they can see.
What are you teaching your children? Remember, we are only one generation away from paganism...
During our praise and worship this morning, we sang the song “Come Now Font of Every Blessing”, which is based upon 1 Samuel 7 The second verse begins:
“Here I raise my Ebenezer Here by Thy great help I’ve come”
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
The second verse continues:
“And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood”
This leads us to the Second Memorial:
9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.
You do not think about this memorial very often. Indeed, it must have seemed strange to the people of Israel that he did this.
While the monument at Gilgal reminded them of how they got there and the greatness of God, the monument in the Jordan reminded them that their old lives were buried and they were to walk in a newness of life.
Paul writes in Romans 6:1-4
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
When Children were told of the Monument at Gilgal, they would be reminded of the monument in the middle of the river and that their old life was gone and they had to live a new life through faith in God. They could not see this second monument, but “it is there to this day” You have to have faith to see it!
Today, we have many things to remember and be thankful for. I am going to speak to four of them.
The importance of Knowing God
The same God who did mighty and wonderful things for Israel has done even more for us today!
We have been saved with a glorious and mighty salvation.
He has taken us out of the clutches of Satan and placed us in His own hands.
He has forgiven our sins and will finally bring us home to eternal glory
He has done all this in and through His son Jesus Christ.
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
The importance of honoring God’s appointed leaders.
God puts leaders in charge for one of two reasons: to punish the people, like Nebuchadnezzar who brought Israel into Babylon, or to bless them like Darius who allowed them to return.
We honor God when we honor the leaders he puts in place.
We attack god when we attack His leaders,
Paul write concerning rulers:
1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
Whether we agree with our countries leadership or not, we must remember to give them the honor due their position of authority. Only when they violate the word of the Lord must we resist.
The importance of teaching our Children the Greatness of our God.
Young adults are leaving the church in droves today. Especially when they go away to college.
We need to do everything in our power, especially praying for them, to provide a strong foundation when they leave home.
Just as memorial stones were erected by the people of Israel, we need to provide reminders to our children and grandchildren of our God. He must be the foundation of our home.
When I returned to the home of my mother last week, on the kitchen wall are a number of photos and plaques. One reads: “There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots and the other wings.” Have you provided the “roots” or foundation, they need when they sprout their wings?
The importance of remembering.
Even though the old testament is filled with memorial stones that were established so the people of Israel would remember the greatness of God and what He had done for them, they still wandered away.
then they cried out and God saved them again.
and they forget again...
In the New testament, we also are reminded to remember what God has done for us!
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
The Lord’s supper is a remembrance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ .
As we come to His table we are reminded of our sinful condition and how helpless we were to do anything about it.
We are reminded that Jesus did everything we could not do , living the life we could not live and dying the death we deserved to die.
He received the full measure of God’s wrath on the cross that we might live.
He gave us the Holy Spirit
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
Without the Spirit we cannot navigate the road to Heaven.
We purchased a new care that has “new” technology that nudges the steering wheel when I wander out of my lane. It applies the brakes when someone pulls in front of me.
The Holy Spirt is “Old” technology. He nudges my spirit when I begin to wander from the path and applies the brakes when satan jumps in front of me to fill me with doubt.
God is all we need to live a life pleasing to Him. We just need to remember what He has done for us. He knit us together in our mother’s womb, knowing us before time. He gave us His Son to live the life we could not live and take the punishment we deserve. and He gave us the Spirit to strengthen and guide us as we travel that road back to Him.
Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Today we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that freedom still reigns in our country.
Paul writes:
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Those of you who served in the military - I salute each of you. You were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, yet God spared you for another purpose.
We thank God for your willingness to make that sacrifice
We remember those who did.
(Video)
Let us Pray