1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,960 Hey, hey, sane city. Whoa, whoa, sorry. 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:04,280 I'm going to back up a little bit. 3 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:08,760 I know I come out with a little bit of energy and I don't want 4 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:12,920 you guys to be totally just blown away by the Energizer 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:14,600 Bunny. That is my preaching style. 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:16,720 Good morning. Glad you guys are here and I 7 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:18,200 don't know you. My name is Brandon. 8 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,640 I am glad that you are here. I'm glad that you're worshipping 9 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:22,520 with us. We're going to be book of Joshua 10 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:24,400 this morning. If you don't have a Bible, you 11 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:26,360 can get to that on an app on your phone. 12 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,840 We are totally good with that. But if you want a physical copy 13 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,280 of God's word, we actually do have Bibles on the seats nearby 14 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:34,640 around you. It'll be on page 184 is where 15 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,560 I'll be today. We'll get to God's word in just 16 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:38,920 a moment. First, I just want to say thank 17 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,240 you to the many of you who are sacrificing to make Easter a 18 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,600 reality for not just the people in this room, but the people who 19 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:50,680 are yet to experience same city, who are, as we say it here, 20 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:55,760 rolling up their sleeves and serving others with a dirty 21 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:57,440 towel. We say around here the dirtiest 22 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,720 towel wins, which means it's just our heart to serve others 23 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,080 because Jesus Christ came not to be served, but to serve. 24 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,880 And so thank you to those who are serving a Good Friday at 25 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,480 Easter Saturday morning and jumping in on one of our served 26 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:12,880 teams for Easter Sunday. I just want to say thank you as 27 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,960 your pastor. We couldn't do without you guys. 28 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:18,480 So thank you for having dirty towels and sacrificing so others 29 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:19,680 would know. Jesus. 30 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,480 Hey, mistakes are inevitable. Not just as a preacher, but for 31 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,200 me, especially as a dad. I've had my fair share of 32 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,640 mistakes as a father. I'm going to go in a quick 33 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,800 little list here just so you guys can understand just how bad 34 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,560 of a dad I can be #5 on the list of the quick little power 35 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,200 rankings. Often times it'll be time for us 36 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,120 to pick up. And my wife, Maddie's a very, an 37 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,120 extremely organized person and my kids have taken after her. 38 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,040 And that, that's a good thing. Their dad, not so much. 39 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,760 So I will go to go put things back like the Legos or the dolls 40 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,240 and my kids will look at me and go, Dad, that is not where that 41 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,520 goes. So that's a mistake I regularly 42 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,200 make in our house. Also, when it's time to make 43 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,200 breakfast, I will regularly make the kids cereal or pancakes or 44 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,160 eggs. But when it comes time for 45 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,120 oatmeal, my kids have a very particular way with which they 46 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:13,840 enjoy oatmeal. And I've learned that Dad, 47 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,120 that's not how that goes. You can't make it like that. 48 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,720 That's not how mom makes it. I've gotten that too many times 49 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:22,960 to count. So please pray for me, my 50 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:27,760 breakfast making. But also, the mistakes get 51 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,640 bigger than that as a dad. Mistakes that I wish that I 52 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:36,320 could go back and not look at. So many much regret. 53 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,600 How much time I've spent on my phone through screen addiction, 54 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,800 like a mistake I've made as a dad is how often I've spent time 55 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:48,080 just staring at some nonsensical thing on my phone instead of 56 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:54,160 being present with my kids. Not only that, there are times 57 00:02:54,160 --> 00:03:00,640 where I will put others the kids over my relationship with Maddie 58 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,040 and that's bad fathering as well because I can only be as good of 59 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,200 a father to them as I am a husband to my wife. 60 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:12,200 But I think the most grievous of my mistakes is a dad. 61 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:18,440 The one that stings the most when I think about it is 2017 62 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:24,080 Maddie and I got married and 2 1/2 months in Maddie woke up and 63 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:25,520 decided to take a pregnancy test. 64 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:33,080 I didn't know this was coming. And Maddie, through tears and 65 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,400 joy and excitement, wakes me up and says we're pregnant. 66 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:42,480 And I wish, I wish I would have been the husband on that day, 67 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:44,840 the father on that day that looked her in the eye with joy 68 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,720 and with a smile. But I think the words that I 69 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:54,840 said is, how is that possible? It's kind of funny now, but as I 70 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,600 look back in that moment, that blooper reel is still in my mind 71 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,200 because on that day I really hurt my wife. 72 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,280 And it began A2 year journey where I was figuring out that 73 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:05,440 kids are not a burden, they are a blessing. 74 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,480 And that was a day Maddie dreamed of her whole life. 75 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:16,360 And I can't get that back. I can't take it back and I can't 76 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,200 go back over the eight years I've spent being a dad, being 77 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,240 better, being stronger, being more attentive, being more 78 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,080 engaged as a father. That their mistakes are going to 79 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,040 happen as a father, They're going to happen as a person, as 80 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,480 a wife, as a worker. You are going to experience 81 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,160 mistakes in this life. In fact, maybe you're here at 82 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,920 church today and the biggest mistake you've ever made is 83 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,240 right now at the front of your mind because spring break just 84 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,640 happened and you can't believe what you just did. 85 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,560 College student that some of you are looking back and thinking 86 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,280 about a conversation you had with a loved one and you can't 87 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:55,120 take those words back. It is a haunting memory, a bad 88 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,400 decision. So much are some of you feeling 89 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,680 this right now that it almost kept you for coming into church 90 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,680 today because of how much regret and shame you feel over 91 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,120 something that's happened in your life, something that you 92 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:09,880 did. May I just announced to you 93 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,640 today the big idea of the sermon, the sermon in a sentence 94 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:17,760 that might just blow your mind. It's the truth of Joshua Chapter 95 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:19,520 9. It's this that God does not 96 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:24,640 waste our mistakes. They do not go to waste. 97 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:32,200 They are not without meaning that God in his power and in his 98 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,680 might, that though we might make mistakes in our life, and I 99 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,160 don't know what the mistake that you have made or mistakes pile 100 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,240 that you have built up, but I know this. 101 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:47,440 I know a God who does not waste them, who can redeem them, and 102 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,600 that's the God of Joshua Chapter 9 that we're going to learn 103 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:51,720 about today. Would you pray with me? 104 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:53,520 And then we get into the Word together. 105 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,520 God, I just pray for every heart here right now, that they would 106 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:01,800 open up their mind and their hearts and their ears to hear 107 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:06,600 just how amazing you are. God, that though they are not 108 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,920 the person they could be, nor are they the person they should 109 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,240 be. God, there is an opportunity in 110 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,920 Christ to not be the person they once were, and I pray that the 111 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,760 truth and the grace and the mercy of God would be 112 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,360 overflowing in this room today. They would hear the hope of 113 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,920 Joshua 9, the hope of Jesus, and then hear it through a broken 114 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:29,840 messenger like me. God, would you do that? 115 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,760 For your glory and our good, we pray. 116 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,000 Amen and Amen. All right, Joshua Chapter 9. 117 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,200 Here's what we're going to be discovering together is what do 118 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,560 we do after we realize we've messed up? 119 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:45,320 What do I do after I realize I've messed up? 120 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,200 What's the message in our mistakes? 121 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:51,040 Well, God's going to show us through these 27 verses just who 122 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,080 He is in the midst of our mistakes. 123 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:54,800 And I want to break it down like this. 124 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,520 I want to talk about the mistake, the moment, and the 125 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,600 message. The mistake, the moment and the 126 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,320 message where Joshua Chapter 9, verse one. 127 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:07,440 If you're there, say I'm there, all right, as soon as all the 128 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,760 kings who are beyond the Jordan, in the Hill Country and in the 129 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,440 lowland, all along the coast of the great Sea toward Lebanon, 130 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,320 you got a list of people, the Hittites, the Amorites, the 131 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,880 Canaanites, the parasites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, the 132 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:19,800 Termites. So I'm just kidding. 133 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,280 That was not in your Bible. Heard of this verse 2. 134 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:28,240 They gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel. 135 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,600 You have all these nations, Six Nations in fact, who have formed 136 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,640 a confederacy against Israel. They have realized, wait, 137 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,840 Jericho couldn't stood against them, couldn't stand against 138 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:39,400 them. AI couldn't stand against them. 139 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,240 Literally no army or weapons or walls can hold these people 140 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:45,240 back. Perhaps if we form a 141 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,760 confederacy, perhaps if we unite against them, we can beat them. 142 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:51,280 That's what these 6 tribes are thinking. 143 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,800 But then verse 3, when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what 144 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,440 Joshua had done to Jericho into AI, they're like, you know what, 145 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,880 if you can't beat them, join them. 146 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,160 Verse 4, they on their part acted with cunning and went and 147 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,520 made ready provisions and took worn out sacks for their donkeys 148 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:13,600 and wineskins, worn out and torn and mended with worn out patch 149 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,720 sandals on their feet and worn out clothes. 150 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:17,920 All their provisions were dry and crumbly. 151 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,440 Basically they're saying, hey, I want it to look like we came 152 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:24,600 from far away, like we've been on a long journey, so they don't 153 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,920 think we're neighbors. And they went to Joshua, verse 154 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,680 6, in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of 155 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:36,559 Israel, we have come from a distant country, so now make a 156 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:41,039 covenant with us. Verse 7, the men of Israel said 157 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:44,360 to the Hivites, perhaps you live among us, but then how can we 158 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,160 make a covenant with you? They turn to Joshua and said, 159 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,800 hey, we are your servants. And Joshua said to them, Hey, 160 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:52,960 who are you and where do you come from? 161 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,480 They said to him, from a very distant country, Your servants 162 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,600 have come because of the name of the Lord your God. 163 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,800 For we have heard a report of him and all that he did in 164 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,000 Egypt, and all that he did to the 2 kings of the Amorites who 165 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,600 are beyond the Jordan, and to Sihan the king of Heshbon, and 166 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,000 to Odd, king of Bastion who lived in Ashtaroth. 167 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,560 So to our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said 168 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,840 to us, hey, take provisions in your hand for the journey and go 169 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,360 meet and say to them, we are your servants. 170 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,880 Come now, make a covenant with us. 171 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:24,400 Here's our bread. It's still warm and we took it 172 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,720 from our houses as our food for the journey of the day. 173 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,920 We set out to come to you and now behold, it is dry and 174 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,080 crumbly. These wineskins were new when we 175 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:33,800 filled them and behold, they have bursts. 176 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:36,080 These garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very 177 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,280 long journey. They're pointing to their ruse. 178 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,480 They're pointing to their trick and saying, hey, look at how 179 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,120 messed up our stuff is, how worn out is Clearly we had to come 180 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:47,200 from far away. Verse 14's really pivotal. 181 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,800 Look at it in your Bible. So the men of Israel took some 182 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,280 of their provisions but did not ask counsel from the Lord. 183 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,720 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them to 184 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:01,360 let them live. And the leaders of the 185 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,840 congregation swore to them. Joshua just made a big mistake. 186 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:12,600 People he was supposed to go to war against have now become a 187 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,280 part of his people. He's let the enemy in. 188 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:23,400 He believed a lie from an enemy. I think we can make a similar 189 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:24,960 mistake. In fact, jot down this note that 190 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:29,600 after I realized I've messed up. Learn from the initial mistake. 191 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:36,040 What's our job? How can we see the God who will 192 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,080 not waste anything in our lives? What is our responsibility in 193 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,280 that? What we can learn from the 194 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,840 initial mistake. You see, Joshua's initial 195 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:47,400 mistake is one that we often make ourselves, is that he did 196 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,640 not expect lies in enemy territory. 197 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:55,160 He was not expecting deceit in the middle of war. 198 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:58,800 It caught him off guard. It caught him by surprise. 199 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,440 Friends, that's where we live. We live in enemy territory. 200 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,080 We are aliens on this earth. If we are Christians, we don't 201 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,440 belong here. We belong somewhere else, but 202 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,560 we're here in enemy territory and enemy occupied territory 203 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,240 trying to overthrow this rule and reign because we actually 204 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,880 believe and follow a king who rules and reigns over it all. 205 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,720 And if we don't expect lies, we can find ourselves in a similar 206 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,840 situation. There's a lie that I think many 207 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:36,880 of us can be persuaded of, a lie that might make this feel like 208 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,600 real life. There's a lie going around right 209 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,000 now that to be loved, I have to be supported by you. 210 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,280 That for you to love me, you have to support me and the 211 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,720 decisions I make and the way that I handled that conversation 212 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,200 and the lifestyle I've chosen, and however I responded to that 213 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,760 moment of that conversation, that to love me, you have to 214 00:11:57,760 --> 00:11:59,840 support me. You have to validate what I did 215 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,680 that is actually a lie. That's not true. 216 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,200 That love, it says in First Corinthians 13, does not 217 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:15,080 celebrate wrongdoing. It rejoices with truth that we 218 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,080 can as people, be persuaded, that people have to support 219 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,320 every single one of our decisions, that we can't be 220 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,440 challenged. And let me just tell you, if you 221 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:24,720 are a guest here, we do love you. 222 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,520 We are so glad that you are here. 223 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:28,960 Genuinely, we love you. But if you think you will be 224 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,280 without challenge here, you're in the wrong room. 225 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:35,240 This is a place where we come to God's Word and we let Him 226 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:40,320 challenge us by His very words. And it'll be unloving of God to 227 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:41,720 not challenge us because guess what? 228 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:44,400 We have things in our life that are holding us back to becoming 229 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:49,720 all He intended us to be, Sin that is entangling us and 230 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,560 holding us back from running the race of godliness as fast as we 231 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:57,520 can. We need to set it aside and God 232 00:12:57,520 --> 00:12:59,440 will get in your grill a little bit. 233 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:01,880 He's going to confront all of us. 234 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,160 There's patterns and portions of our life that God has to speak 235 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,680 to because we've been persuaded by the lies of this world. 236 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,920 We've believed lies in enemy territory. 237 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,000 We should expect lies. When I was growing up, I would 238 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:19,440 play this game often with my family. 239 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,920 It's called Mafia. Anybody ever played You got It 240 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:24,360 Might. It goes by a number of different 241 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:25,680 names, but here's the premise of the game. 242 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,480 You draw from a deck of cards and you get assigned various 243 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,800 roles, whether you are the nurse or the doctor, you are the 244 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:33,960 sheriff or you are the mafia, which means you get to kill 245 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,480 people, which is fun, or you get to be a talents person. 246 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,200 You each have a various role. And at some point along the 247 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:44,560 game, in my family's playing of it, somebody decided that a 248 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:47,480 regular pattern of the way we played the game was that 249 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,200 somebody would be assigned to the sheriff, which means they're 250 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,000 the ones who can find out who the mafia is whenever his eyes 251 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,600 are closed. But I would regularly pretend I 252 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,360 was the sheriff. So we would get to a point where 253 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,480 it's the circle time and somebody go, I'm the sheriff. 254 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:04,720 That person is the mafia. I wouldn't even be the mafia. 255 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,360 I'd be a regular talentsperson that had no role in the game. 256 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:09,400 But my role was now to be the fake sheriff. 257 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:11,760 You know, I'm the sheriff and that person is not the mafia. 258 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:13,600 You're the mafia. That's what I would say all the 259 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,840 time, just to cause chaos and drama and fun in the game, just 260 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,320 to see who is lying. It's fun. 261 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,440 Y'all play Mafia with me. Sometime I will lie to your 262 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,960 face. Maybe I shouldn't do that with 263 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:24,680 our church. I don't know. 264 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,480 The thing is, in Mafia you are expecting people to lie. 265 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,520 It is a part of the game. You are expecting when you get 266 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:33,960 there that people are not telling the truth. 267 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:36,000 So you have discerning ears in a different way. 268 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,080 You're listening to how they talk about what happened or why 269 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,240 they made decisions because you're expecting them to lie. 270 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:46,080 Listen to me in this world. You need to expect deceit to be 271 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,360 rampant in this world. Ideas and philosophies and 272 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,600 ideologies, they are rampant in this world trying to convince 273 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,560 you of something that is untrue. And people might be believing 274 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:58,640 the lie and telling you thinking it's the truth. 275 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,520 But guess what? That's why we have God's word, 276 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:03,240 so we can know what's actually true. 277 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:09,640 In a world full of rampant deceit, God is not so unkind to 278 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:12,720 leave us. In a world full of lies and 279 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:18,200 betrayal and deceit, without the truth of His very words, God 280 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:19,840 cannot lie. He does not lie. 281 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,520 He will not lie. And therefore, in an enemy 282 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,120 occupied world where people lie, guess what? 283 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,480 We need to seek the truth before we speak. 284 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:33,440 We need to seek truth before we speak. 285 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:37,680 That's there, His other air. Look back at verse 14. 286 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,360 Some of the men took the provisions but did not ask 287 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:47,920 counsel from the Lord. His mistake was not only not 288 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,320 expecting lies, it wasn't seeking God. 289 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,640 It would be like Anakin Skywalker ignoring Obi Wan 290 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:02,000 Kenobi, but times a million. You have a guide in your life 291 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,280 for a reason. You have a teacher in your life 292 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:07,880 for a reason. To ignore their counsel is utter 293 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:14,800 foolishness. And I think we can be guilty of 294 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:19,320 this too, if we're honest that we can assume God's will without 295 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:24,640 seeking God's voice. We just assume that's the open 296 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,200 door He wants us to walk through just because we prayed about it 297 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:29,360 a little bit. I'm not saying that's not 298 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:30,400 seeking God. I'm saying there's more 299 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,280 components to seeking God than just you having a conversation 300 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,880 with God, telling Him what you want for your life. 301 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,000 And you will perceive open doors because that's just generally 302 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,600 what you want rather than what He said. 303 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,840 We can assume God's plan without seeking God's voice. 304 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,120 That is actually the fast pass to making mistakes. 305 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,680 We need to seek before we speak. So here's a quick little like 306 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:00,720 diagnostic for you if you're trying to seek God's direction 307 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,000 and His plan for you when you're making decisions in your life. 308 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,160 First, does it align with God's Word? 309 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,520 Does it align with God's Word? God has already spoken a whole 310 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,800 lot and there's things he's very clear about that you're like, 311 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:14,640 hey, I'm making this major decision. 312 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:19,040 What has God already said? If it aligns with God's word, 313 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:20,200 then you're on a good trajectory. 314 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,319 OK, that's door number one. OK, it aligns with God's Word. 315 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:25,480 Second, does it align with God's heart? 316 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:29,960 Does align with God's heart? His heart is for unity. 317 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,160 It's his heart is to build one another up. 318 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,840 It's so that you'd speak the truth in love with one another. 319 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:40,880 His heart is for his name to be great, for him to be glorified. 320 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:43,280 So when you're making major decisions, what do you do? 321 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:45,400 You go wait, Does this align with God's heart? 322 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,560 Is this who God? Is this how God moves? 323 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,600 Is this how God speaks? Because if it doesn't sound like 324 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:58,040 God, it's probably not God. It's just you, and that's the 325 00:17:58,040 --> 00:17:59,920 third thing. Does it lead to God's glory? 326 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:07,440 Because if it's aligned with God's Word and it's aligned with 327 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,280 God's heart, you've checked that with others as well. 328 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:12,600 You checked in with your church family or your community group 329 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,760 leader, your spiritual leadership here at the church. 330 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,280 You've checked in and gone, Hey, am I thinking about this right? 331 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,240 Is there any blind spots you see in this decision? 332 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,080 If it aligns with God's heart and it brings Him glory, then 333 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,240 guess what? Now you've done the thing, 334 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,840 you've sought Him before, you've spoken for Him. 335 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,480 You've not assumed His plan without listening to His voice. 336 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,640 We're intended to seek God personally and interpersonally 337 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:40,240 together. So we're people. 338 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:44,240 So after I realized I've messed up, learn from the initial 339 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,280 mistake, learn from Joshua's mistake, and learn from yours 340 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,120 and keep moving forward. Second, after I realized I've 341 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:53,440 messed up, what's the second thing that we're going to learn 342 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,000 from the text is that we make it right. 343 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,800 Don't make it worse. After I realized I've messed up, 344 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:01,920 make it right, don't make it worse. 345 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:04,760 Watch what Joshua was going to do here. 346 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,400 It's actually a really good example to follow in the text. 347 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:09,720 He makes it right, he doesn't make it worse. 348 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,360 We're going to pick back up in the text of verse 16 at the end 349 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:15,600 of three days after they had made a covenant with them. 350 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,280 A covenant is between like, like a marriage. 351 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,080 It's two people coveting before God, saying God, you're a part 352 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,600 of this. OK, So they're saying Joshua and 353 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,960 these Gibby Knights made a covenant before God, that they 354 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,040 were their neighbors. They heard, excuse me, that they 355 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:31,120 were their neighbors and that they lived among them. 356 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:35,000 It's like, oh, shoot, that deal that just went bad. 357 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:37,600 It went real bad. They're not just from a faraway 358 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,160 country. They're here because there was 359 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,320 nothing in the Torah law, there was nothing in Leviticus or 360 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,680 Numbers or Deuteronomy that told Joshua he couldn't make a 361 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,040 covenant with distant neighbors, only near neighbors. 362 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:50,800 So he got deceived, and now he makes the covenant with these 363 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:52,960 neighbors and the people of Israel. 364 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,800 Verse 17, they set out and reached their cities on the 365 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:57,960 third day. Now their cities were giving 366 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:02,880 Kapyra B Roth and Curious Jerem, but the people of Israel did not 367 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,440 attack them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to 368 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,280 them by the Lord the God of Israel. 369 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:15,320 That's a big deal. Joshua said, hey, I did a wrong 370 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:16,600 thing. I made a deal with them. 371 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,640 But now since the deal is in place, I'm not going to go back 372 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,680 on my word. I'm going to keep my word to 373 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,520 them because my word wasn't just to them, it was to God. 374 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,120 But all the leaders said to all the congregation in verse 19, we 375 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:32,800 have sworn to them by the Lord the God of Israel, and now we 376 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,800 may not touch them. This we're going to do to them. 377 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:41,400 Here's where he makes it right. Let them live, lest wrath be 378 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,840 upon us, because of the oath that we, the oath that we swore 379 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:47,080 to them. And the leader said to them, let 380 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,440 them live. So they became cutters of wood 381 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,440 and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the 382 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,360 leaders had said of them. Joshua summoned them and he said 383 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:58,600 to them, OK, let's have a conversation. 384 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,640 Why did you deceive us, saying we're very far from you when you 385 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,960 dwell among us? Because that has consequences. 386 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,200 Therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be 387 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,040 anything but servants, cutters of wood and jars of water for 388 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,840 the House of my God. They answered Joshua, because it 389 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,600 was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God 390 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,840 had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to 391 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:25,160 destroy all the inhabitants land from before you. 392 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:31,240 So we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and we did 393 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:35,520 this thing and now, behold, we're in your hand. 394 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,200 Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it. 395 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,400 So he did this to them and deliver them out of the hand of 396 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,560 the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. 397 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,880 Joshua kept his word to the Gibeonites. 398 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:53,320 He didn't make it worse. He responded rightly. 399 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,360 He could have tried to cover his failures here. 400 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:57,800 He could have said, you know what? 401 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,480 I got duped. I was a victim of a phishing 402 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:07,080 scam in the year, whatever this is 1800 years before Jesus. 403 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,720 And you know what I'm going to do? 404 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:11,920 I'm going to make myself feel better about my my mistake. 405 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,040 I'm just going to wipe him out. Now, he could have done that, 406 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,240 but Joshua, he's got the people clamoring for them to do it. 407 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:22,520 He goes, no, I'm going to do what's right right now, and 408 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,080 we're going to let them live because that's what I said I 409 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,640 would do to not only them, but to God. 410 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,760 When you make a mistake, you have an option to double down on 411 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:35,400 the mistake or do the next right thing. 412 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,880 Don't make it worse. Obedience after failure is 413 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:46,760 costly, but it is still right. Your integrity will come with a 414 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:52,040 price, but don't lose it just because you did a wrong thing 415 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:53,120 and just because you're living in shame. 416 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:55,840 Just because you made a mistake, don't make another mistake. 417 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,880 Don't sign up for a lifetime of that relationship just because 418 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,320 you made a sinful choice one night. 419 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:12,960 Just because you had a really hard conversation with that 420 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,640 family member that you really said some things you wish you 421 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,400 could take back, doesn't mean you should just shun them 422 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:23,280 forever. Go be humble, go be repentant. 423 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:26,960 Go make it right. Don't make it worse. 424 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,160 One of my favorite TV shows is The Office. 425 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,120 One of my favorite episodes is going to shock a lot of you who 426 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:37,440 like The Office. It's Scott's Tots. 427 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:43,160 I think it's an absolute master class in cringe storytelling and 428 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,680 when I say it's cringe, it is the cringiest episode I think of 429 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,320 The Office. So if you are unfamiliar let me 430 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:50,840 update you. So Michael Scott is the main 431 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:56,400 character and he is known for being overly optimistic about 432 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,520 what he can achieve. And in this episode, he it is 433 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,840 come to light that Michael has promised when a group of 434 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,720 students were in elementary school that if they graduated, 435 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:10,760 he would not only take care of them, he would pay for their 436 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,000 college tuition. This is the kind of school that 437 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,120 graduating itself was an accomplishment. 438 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:17,200 So he said, you know what I'm going to do? 439 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:18,440 I'm going to be rich in 10 years. 440 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,040 Let me do this. Let me promise them I'll pay for 441 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,120 all their college tuition. The years go on, and Michael 442 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:27,120 Scott is still the manager of Dunder Mifflin, which means he 443 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:31,560 does not have abounding resources to take care of 444 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,360 college students. And so year after year goes on, 445 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,520 Michael could have called the school and updated them on his 446 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:41,720 progress or lack thereof. He could have, you know, walked 447 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:43,640 that back and said, hey, I'm not going to pay for college. 448 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,800 Let's figure out another plan to start saving for something else. 449 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,040 But no, no, no. The whole episode is actually 450 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,960 Michael's showing up to this school where he promised kids 451 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,680 college tuition, and he makes it worse. 452 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,800 The whole time he gets into a room, they're singing him a 453 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:00,640 song. Hey, Mr. Scott, what you going 454 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:01,600 to do? What you going to do, make our 455 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,000 dreams come true? I mean, they are literally 456 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,160 dancing on this man's optimism grave before his very eyes. 457 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:12,280 And he just doesn't let it stop. And so the time comes for him to 458 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,840 deliver the money. It's the climax of the episode. 459 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,760 And what he tells them is this. He makes it worse. 460 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:20,600 Oh, it's so bad, but it's so funny. 461 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,040 He makes it worse. And he goes, you know what you 462 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:25,960 need for college? I can't pay for your college 463 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:26,880 tuition. I'm sorry. 464 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,960 Huge let down to the whole room. But what I can do is every 465 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,360 single one of you needs computers to go to college. 466 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,920 And what you need for a computer is a lithium battery. 467 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:45,720 Y'all, You've never seen the show. 468 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:49,280 It's funny. OK, But he could have made it 469 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,280 right? He just kept making it worse. 470 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,680 Listen to me, some of us are living in a Scots taught state 471 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,640 of mind that if we just keep pushing it off and the longer we 472 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:00,120 wait, guess what? It is just going to be made 473 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:05,000 right all in and of itself. No, the longer you wait to obey, 474 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:06,360 the worse it gets, not the better. 475 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:14,280 It's only going to get worse after you've made the mistake. 476 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,120 It is not a time to keep pushing off doing the right thing. 477 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,600 That makes it worse. Go make it right. 478 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,240 So keep your word in a lying world. 479 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,600 St. City, that's our job. 480 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,320 We honor God by keeping our word in a lying world. 481 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,480 Even when people lie to us. Guess what? 482 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,120 We'll keep our word even when they wronged us. 483 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:42,440 We're going to keep our word even when they betray us. 484 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,880 We are going to keep our word in a lying world because that's 485 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:50,320 what the people of God do. And wouldn't the world be a 486 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:51,520 better place? Wouldn't St. 487 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,400 City be a better place if we are people who are striving after 488 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,240 keeping our word? If we are people who strived 489 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,400 after telling the truth and meaning it? 490 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:03,640 I just think that's a wonderful place to be. 491 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,200 And what I find also amazing is guess what? 492 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,000 In the church, guess what? There are going to be mistakes 493 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,200 made in our relationships amongst one another. 494 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,360 We're going to fail each other. We're going to say something the 495 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:19,640 wrong way. We're not going to deliver on 496 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:21,840 the thing we said we would do. We are going to communicate 497 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:23,480 poorly. We are going to gossip. 498 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:25,600 We're going to do things that are going to hurt one another. 499 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:30,000 But listen to me. One of the best things you can 500 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,800 do after your mistake is having the humility to own it. 501 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:36,800 That's a part of keeping your word. 502 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:38,440 It's that you're not a perfect person. 503 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:42,720 And that's OK. In fact, some of us, some of us 504 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:44,840 are missing out on one of the greatest opportunities to tell 505 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,560 others about Jesus because we hide our mistakes instead of 506 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,400 showcasing God's grace inside of them. 507 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,080 We get show so ashamed of our story and our past and the 508 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,680 things that we've done that some of the people in our life are 509 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,400 missing out on the trophy case that we are of God's mercy and 510 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:05,840 power because we're too ashamed to share what God has done in us 511 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,000 since then. You don't need to hide it. 512 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:16,760 You can confront it after you realize you've messed up. 513 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,880 Make it right. Don't make it worse. 514 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,480 Don't pretend it didn't happen. Don't be stubborn. 515 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:27,200 Be humble. Finally, after you realize 516 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:32,160 you've messed up, let God redeem what you regret. 517 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:40,520 Let God redeem what you regret. What I regret, what we regret 518 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:47,560 after you've messed up, realize your mistake is not the end of 519 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,120 your story. Look at verse 27. 520 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,160 Joshua made them that day. Cutters of wood and drawers of 521 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,840 water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord to 522 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,040 this day in the place that he should choose. 523 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:02,920 These people that give you nights they go along. 524 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,280 They actually survive with Israel throughout their whole 525 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,960 history. They never go on to make war 526 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:09,520 with them. They're never really a problem. 527 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,400 They're just among them. And not only that, they actually 528 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,640 begin to serve with the Levites in the temple. 529 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,240 That's what it means by cutters of wood and drawers of water for 530 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:21,600 the congregation. Their job was to serve in the 531 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:23,480 temple so that people can worship God. 532 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,560 And though we don't have a direct lineage or anything like 533 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,480 that, we know this. Undoubtedly Gibeonites from 534 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,800 this, from Joshua, keeping his word and trusting in his God. 535 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,480 Guess what? Gibeonites were saved by the 536 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,240 grace of God because they were around the temple and 537 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,200 worshipping. They assimilated into the Jewish 538 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,560 people. We know that giving Knights were 539 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:48,640 saved as of Joshua's unrelenting passion to honor God. 540 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:55,080 And Joshua in that moment didn't know that God was going to 541 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,120 redeem what he regretted. But it is serving for us as an 542 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:02,200 example that guess what, God can do that God does not waste our 543 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,640 mistakes. He has the power to make broken 544 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,800 things beautiful. He has the power to take the 545 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,320 worst part of your story and make it a beautiful part of your 546 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,360 story. And that's sometimes it's 547 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,280 impossible to imagine in the pain, in the heartache and the 548 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:19,440 sin of it. But guess what? 549 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:24,440 That's who God is. He's the God who is the better 550 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:28,760 Joshua, the one who doesn't actually have regrets to pay 551 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:34,160 for, but the one who is able to step in for us in the place of 552 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,400 our regrets and shame. He's the better Joshua who is 553 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,720 never deceived, who never listened to the lives of the 554 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:43,400 enemy, but rather he stood true and he listened to God's every 555 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:45,240 single word and he honored it and obeyed it. 556 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,640 That means Jesus had no sin of his own to pay for. 557 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,760 He was tempted, just like you and I, but guess what? 558 00:30:52,400 --> 00:31:00,000 He never made a mistake, and He went to a Roman cross to hang 559 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,800 there, dying for every sinful mistake you ever made. 560 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,120 And he paid for it in full. In fact, his word on the cross 561 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,480 that He used it means paid in full. 562 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,120 That means He paid for your sin in the past, the sin that right 563 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:16,840 now you're looking back on with such regret. 564 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,800 Guess what paid in full? The sin of today. 565 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,600 Maybe right now, fresh in your mind, is a decision you made 566 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:23,600 last night. Listen to me. 567 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,800 Jesus paid for that too. And there might come a day where 568 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,120 you make a choice that you can't even imagine I'm making now, but 569 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,040 one day you might get there. Listen to me paid in full. 570 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,320 That when Jesus saves, he clears the check for all of your sin 571 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,760 for all time, and that his blood cashes against the wages of sin, 572 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,200 that is death. And he wants to set you free 573 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,160 from the shackles of sin forever. 574 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,280 And the way that he did that was dying a sinner's death, rising 575 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:50,960 over the grave and sitting right now in heaven, never to die. 576 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,840 Against that, all who call upon his name could be redeemed from 577 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,440 every regret. This is the hope that we have in 578 00:31:58,560 --> 00:31:59,040 Jesus. That's all. 579 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:03,320 We have confidence that Joshua 927 is true, that all this 580 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,760 craziness that happens. The Old Testament God 581 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:08,960 continually redeems and finds its full and final fulfillment 582 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:13,040 in Jesus Christ. The Son who came to pay for 583 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:16,200 every Gibeonite and every deceived Israelite. 584 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,720 That's who Jesus is. He took the condemnation for our 585 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,120 worst mistakes. And there's a New Testament 586 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:28,880 character who's a perfect picture of this moment, too, One 587 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,240 of Jesus best friends. Peter, you might have heard of 588 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:33,480 him. The Catholic Church loves him. 589 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:40,400 But Peter, he, he wasn't always known as a spiritual leader. 590 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,840 In fact, there was a moment you might not be familiar with where 591 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:47,560 Peter denies Jesus not once, not twice, but three times. 592 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:52,560 Like, it'd be one thing for Peter to go Jesus. 593 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,000 Yeah, we were kind of friends, but yeah, he's dead now. 594 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:57,800 Like he clearly wasn't who he said he was. 595 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,640 He takes it a step further and he goes, I didn't even know that 596 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:07,440 dude wasn't with him. Spent three of years of his life 597 00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,840 following this dude everywhere and denied he even knew him. 598 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:17,680 And in his devastation, Peter, he's looking at a fire and he's 599 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:24,160 just so obviously ashamed and full of regret that he didn't 600 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:26,440 have the strength to say he knew and loved Jesus. 601 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:31,440 And one morning he's out fishing and Jesus has resurrected this 602 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,920 point. And Peter's return to his former 603 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,280 life of being a fisherman and he sees Jesus standing on the shore 604 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:43,400 and he can't help but stop what he's doing and jump out of a 605 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:45,840 boat, which if you're familiar with Peter is so on brand. 606 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:51,400 He jumps out of the boat, swims and he starts running on the 607 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:53,760 shore. In fact, John notes for us that 608 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:56,200 when he's writing this story, one of my favorite details in 609 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,240 all the Bible is John's like, I'm faster than Peter. 610 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,800 And he like literally he's telling the stories like we both 611 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,880 ran, but I beat him. And so they run to Jesus as fast 612 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:07,720 as it can. What is picturing for us this 613 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:11,800 exact moment that you can go from regret and running from 614 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:17,040 Jesus to actually running to Jesus that God does not waste 615 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:19,040 our mistakes. In fact, that very moment Jesus 616 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,239 going to look Peter in the eye over some fish tacos in a fire 617 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:24,679 and say, do you love me more than these? 618 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,679 Do you love me? Do you love me? 619 00:34:34,159 --> 00:34:36,679 And Jesus isn't giving him the cold shoulder. 620 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,159 He's not saying go fix it. Go tell all those people all the 621 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:42,120 things you did wrong. He's just asking him a simple 622 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:47,280 question, Do you love me? And maybe that's all you need to 623 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:48,639 hear. If you're stuck in regret and 624 00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:51,080 shame today, maybe that's all you need to hear about the 625 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,360 gospel as Jesus is sitting here with open arms today asking you 626 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:59,640 the same, Do you love me? Will you live for me because I'm 627 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:04,720 here for you? Let God redeem what you regret. 628 00:35:04,720 --> 00:35:09,160 Bring it to him. Go running to Christ, get back 629 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,840 up and walk in forgiveness. Don't let it keep you down any 630 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,760 longer. You will make mistakes. 631 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:17,760 And after you mess up, you have a choice. 632 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:20,640 You can try to redeem it, or you can let the Redeemer try to 633 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:25,560 redeem the mistake you made. And you might think to yourself, 634 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:27,240 you're a pretty good problem solver. 635 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:32,840 But I know a better one. His name's Jesus, and one day 636 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:34,920 He's going to make all things that are wrong, right. 637 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:44,200 Every mistake has already been paid for every single sin he's 638 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:48,000 taken care of. I was at a moment in my life not 639 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,600 so long ago where I was at one of the lowest moments of my 640 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:53,320 life, one of the darkest hours of my walk. 641 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:56,400 I had made a huge mistake and a lot of people knew about it, and 642 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:00,280 I couldn't believe that I was such a failure. 643 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:04,680 Actually, that's how I thought of myself as a failure. 644 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:08,480 One of my friends wrote me this letter I want to share with you. 645 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,760 Is that OK? It's one of the most encouraging 646 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:16,440 things I've ever read, he said. I want to tell you something, be 647 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:19,880 that you might not need right now, but I believe the day could 648 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,240 come where God will use it to keep you going. 649 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:26,640 One of the most remarkable things to me about God is his 650 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:30,000 ability to forget over and over again. 651 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,120 We're told in the Bible that God not only forgives our sins, but 652 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,560 He forgets them as well. He hides them behind his back. 653 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:38,400 He remembers them no more. However, that works. 654 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:42,200 Somehow He chooses not to call them to mind as He looks and 655 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:44,920 thinks about us. Amazing. 656 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:49,080 Now you don't have that ability unlocked yet. 657 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,960 It seems that in heaven will. We will because we're told that 658 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:55,680 we will know even as we are known. 659 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,520 Until then, we are left dwelling on our mistakes and focusing on 660 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:01,960 our failures. It can be debilitating. 661 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:06,040 Nothing will rob you of your courage and zeal as the reminder 662 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:07,880 of all the stupid things that you have done. 663 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,320 The devil loves to keep our blooper reels on repeating our 664 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:16,520 minds and he turns the volume up anytime we start taking steps to 665 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:20,800 activate Our Calling. I can't tell you how many times 666 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,840 I've been trying to take a big step of faith and woken up in 667 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:25,680 the night haunted by sins that I committed in the past. 668 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,480 These are times be where we have to take hold of the truth that 669 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:33,040 there is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ, 670 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:40,320 even though our own heart is condemning us and even though 671 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:44,280 our own heart is condemning us, He is greater than our heart. 672 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:49,480 In these moments, you have to remind yourself that you are not 673 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:53,240 only forgiven, but God doesn't even remember what you can't 674 00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:56,360 forget. You can't let yesterday's 675 00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,240 failure keep you from today's victory. 676 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,760 As I look around Scripture, I see example after example of 677 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,240 people who didn't let their mistakes keep them from getting 678 00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:10,120 up and going big. And he cites this chapter. 679 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:15,040 Joshua Joshua is going to pray in chapter 10 for the son to 680 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:18,160 stand still after he failed at AI and prayerlessly made a truce 681 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:19,960 with the Gibby Night. Samson killed the most 682 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:22,360 Philistines of his lifetime after giving up the secret to 683 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,280 his strength, leading to his humiliation in his eyes being 684 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:27,800 poked out. Jonah participate in the revival 685 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,680 at Nineveh after he ran from God and pouted for three days inside 686 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,560 of a giant fish. Peter preached and saw 1000 687 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:35,480 saved after denying Christ three times. 688 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,120 And I believe, Brandon, with all my heart, that even if you have 689 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,720 made a massive mistake, your greatest day could be a waiting 690 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:46,960 just around the corner. Get back up, walk and 691 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:50,360 forgiveness. Don't let the devil keep you 692 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:51,840 from dwelling out what God has already forgotten. 693 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:54,960 It's a new day because God is awesome. 694 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:59,360 He wastes nothing in our lives, and your finest hour could come 695 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:03,320 after your biggest failure. We all need friends like that 696 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:08,600 who can help us have hope in the middle of our regret, who can 697 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,160 help us endure when the days are hard? 698 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,920 Who can help us believe that God wastes nothing, even our 699 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:20,080 greatest mistakes. Would you pray with me, God? 700 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:26,120 Thank you for the grace of Jesus that we are not our mistakes, we 701 00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:30,120 are not our failures, we are not our shameful decisions, but 702 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:34,280 rather God. We are who you say we are, we 703 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,840 are yours. We are holy, we are blameless, 704 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:42,040 we are not condemned, we are sons and daughters, We are 705 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:46,600 purchased by your blood, We are adopted, we are clean, we are 706 00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:49,400 forgiven. God, we are all these things and 707 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:53,240 more because of Jesus Christ. And when you see us, you don't 708 00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:57,200 see us, you see Him. And that is only true, Lord, for 709 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:00,840 all who have called upon him for salvation, all who said, I want 710 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:03,560 to put my righteousness as Jesus's righteousness. 711 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:08,440 I want my hope to be Jesus. And I pray for every person here 712 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,520 that Lord, they would not be defined by their past or their 713 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:15,080 present or their future sins, but God, they would decide today 714 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:18,440 to set their face like Flint towards the reality that God, 715 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,000 you will not waste anything, even the things we wish you 716 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,520 would throw away. I wish you would delete it, God, 717 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,080 I wish you would get this out of my brain. 718 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,960 But God, if you can redeem it, I'll still praise you. 719 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:40,560 I believe you can redeem it. I believe you can heal this 720 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:44,080 relational wound. I believe God, you can redeem 721 00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:47,400 that choice I made. I believe it. 722 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:52,160 So help my unbelief. Help me to believe God, that you 723 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:57,600 can use even the worst parts of our story, that you can take our 724 00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:02,280 mess and make it a miracle, our trial a testimony. 725 00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:08,600 We believe in you God, because you are great and you can do it 726 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:10,160 in Jesus name, Amen.