1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,160 You can turn in your Bibles to Joshua Chapter 11. 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,400 If you don't have a Bible, there's going to be the 3 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:07,920 scriptures on the screen today as well as there's a Bible in 4 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:09,480 front of it. You can just have that one. 5 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,800 It's on a floor in the seat nearby, and you can just turn to 6 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,320 page 184. We'll be there in just a moment. 7 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,200 But seriously, if you don't have one, consider that our gift to 8 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:19,160 you. Don't go buy a Bible. 9 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:21,560 We bought it for you. Congratulations. 10 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:23,320 I'm like Oprah today you get a Bible. 11 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,240 Hey, during World War 2, I don't know if you knew this, but when 12 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,560 Nazi Germany started bombing Europe, they started bombing 13 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,560 like literal cities with civilians. 14 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,560 And when London was being bombed night after night thousands of 15 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,000 people would flee from the bomb scene. 16 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,720 They would leave their homes, and where they would go is down 17 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,640 into the subway stations underneath London. 18 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:48,800 And these people, these families, they would lay out 19 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,920 blankets. They'd be shoulder to shoulder. 20 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,840 They would do whatever they could to just find a piece of 21 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,720 the subway where they could lay their head, where it would be 22 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,080 muffled, the sounds of war up above them. 23 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,080 And somehow, some way through the tears, through the shouting, 24 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:10,240 through the bombs literally exploding overhead, through war 25 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,200 happening above them, people would fall asleep. 26 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:17,440 Now, I am a heavy sleeper. I am known to sleep through TV 27 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:21,640 shows, known to sleep through all kinds of noise in my house, 28 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,320 including screaming children coming into my room to watch the 29 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:26,720 chagrin of my wife. My, I'm a heavy sleeper. 30 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:28,640 My wife, Maddie, a very light sleeper. 31 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,400 Whether there's a light on in our room, whether I mean when I 32 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:36,640 say light, I mean like this much light, you know, whether it's a 33 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:38,400 noise from our kids. She's a light sleeper. 34 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,360 And I don't know where you fall on the sleep spectrum, whether 35 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:42,480 you're a heavy sleeper, A lightsaber. 36 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,480 I can tell you this, a sleeping with war going on around you 37 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,840 would be tough. Finding rest in the middle of a 38 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,240 battle scene feels impossible, like resting in the middle of a 39 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,040 war zone. I don't know how they did it. 40 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,040 I don't know how they found rest in the middle of a war zone. 41 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,680 But what I believe is that right now on planet Earth, those of us 42 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:07,240 who are here right now, guess what? 43 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,320 We're in the middle of an actual spiritual war waging all around 44 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,720 us. And not only are we in a fight 45 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,840 against our sin, against Satan, against death, but we are 46 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,240 experiencing this war. And internally we have conflict 47 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:24,080 happening inside of us still. Anxiety and worry, depression 48 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:29,520 and fear, anger and doubt. Just real. 49 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:36,320 Spiritual exhaustion, real turmoil, real conflict that's 50 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,760 hard to imagine. We find rest from that. 51 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:46,040 There can be relief in the war. I want to give you this 52 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,560 definition for rest that I think Josh was going to help us see 53 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:50,200 today. He can help us find it. 54 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:52,520 In fact, rest is just this in the Bible. 55 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:57,400 It's a supernatural settledness despite internal external 56 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:02,880 conflict, that if we're going to find real rest in a war zone 57 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,440 ourselves, if we're going to find that supernatural 58 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:09,600 settledness in our spirits, in our minds and in our hearts, 59 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,480 guess what? We have to turn to the one who 60 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,200 can give it. We have to actually find the 61 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,120 place of refuge, find the subway station, so to speak, where we 62 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,320 can actually lay our head down in the anxieties of today can 63 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:27,000 pass, where our mind can turn off for just a moment so we can 64 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:34,520 actually go to rest. Joshua 11 and 12/2 chapters 65 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,120 today. There's a lot, so we're not 66 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,680 going to go through it with a fine tooth comb, but we are 67 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,840 going to explore the main idea of it, which is this, answering 68 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:46,120 this question, how do I experience the rest God gives in 69 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:53,560 the middle of a war, Not just a war, the war, the spiritual war 70 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:59,080 over sin, Satan, and death. How can we live between the 71 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,400 victory of Joshua 12, which we will see the rest of Joshua 12, 72 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:07,320 and the war of Joshua 11, the conquest, because we're still 73 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,840 fighting inside of Joshua 11. How can we experience the rest 74 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,360 that God gives? I want to show it to you in the 75 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,920 text today through three points, but I want to start reading the 76 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:17,600 Bible for you in Joshua Chapter 11. 77 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:19,760 It's the big bold 11 in your Bible there. 78 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,800 It's on the screen behind beside me, and it says this when Jabin, 79 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:27,400 King of Hazer heard this, This is after Joshua has defeated us 80 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,080 all, southern Canaan. This is after Joshua has seen 81 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,760 the sun stand still. He's the people of Israel have 82 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,160 crossed the Jordan River. They've beaten Jericho. 83 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,640 Like they've seen some miracles happen in Joshua. 84 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,160 And now these people in northern Canaan, the promised land, 85 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:46,560 they're like, Oh my gosh, what are we going to do? 86 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:48,000 How are we going to stop these guys? 87 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:49,360 How are we going to stop the Israelites? 88 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,440 And if you are new to the Bible, this is about 1400 years before 89 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:55,360 Jesus. So we're well before Jesus comes 90 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,640 to the scene. But we're here in Joshua Chapter 91 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,360 11, verse one, and there's this king named Jabin. 92 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,480 He hears of Joshua conquering a bunch of people. 93 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,240 He sends to Jobab, the king of made on and to the king of 94 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,560 Shimron and to the king of a name that you can't pronounce 95 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:08,800 either. And to the kings who were in the 96 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,080 northern Hill Country, in the Arab US, South of Chinaroth in 97 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,680 the lowland and an Apath door on the West, to the Canaanites in 98 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:18,400 the east and to the West the Amorites, the Hittites, the 99 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,440 Parasites, the Jebusites in the Hill Country, and the Hivites 100 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:23,560 under Hermann in the land of Mizpah. 101 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,400 And they came out, all these troops, all these kingdoms, they 102 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,000 come out in a great hoard, in a number like the sand that is on 103 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,080 the seashore, with very many horses and Chariots. 104 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,520 And all these kings joined their forces and came and camped 105 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,920 together at the waters of Miram to fight against Israel. 106 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:48,960 Pause. Israel is completely outgunned 107 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,160 by all these people. They are completely outnumbered 108 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,360 by all of these armies. Their only choice now is to 109 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,560 unite against Israel. And I want you to get a sense of 110 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,480 it's like one against 100. Israel should stand no chants 111 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,280 against this fight. It should feel impossible. 112 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,840 It should feel inevitable that they lose, but Israel's got 10 113 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:12,760 chapters worth now of watching God win battles for them, 114 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:16,520 watching God do the impossible part rivers and make the sun 115 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:18,360 stand still. They've watched their leader 116 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:20,760 Joshua lead them time and time again to victory. 117 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,440 And they have confidence not necessarily in their leader, but 118 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:28,000 in their ultimate leader, God. And while these armies can't 119 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,280 camp against him with numbers outnumbering the sand on the 120 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:36,600 seashore, the Lord says to Joshua in verse 6 what he says 121 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:37,920 to him time and time again in the book. 122 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:44,880 Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will 123 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:50,440 give over all of them slain to Israel. 124 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:52,760 Here's what I want you to do, Josh. 125 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:54,600 I want you to hamstring their horses and burn their Chariots 126 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,520 with fire. So Joshua and all his warriors 127 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,640 came suddenly against them by the waters of Rome and fell upon 128 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,360 them. And the Lord gave them into the 129 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,200 hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as grace 130 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,400 and on in that other city, and he sweared as far as the valley 131 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:11,080 of Mizpah. And they struck them until he 132 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,560 left, none remaining. And Joshua did to them, just as 133 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,080 the Lord said to him. He hamstrung their horses and 134 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:19,480 burned their chairs. The fire underline that verse 135 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:20,800 we're going to come back to in just a second. 136 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,840 Joshua turned back at the time he captured Hazer and struck its 137 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:26,760 king with the sword. For Hazer formerly was the head 138 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,560 of all those kingdoms, and they struck with the sword all who 139 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:31,400 were in it, devoting them to destruction. 140 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:32,920 There was none left that breathed. 141 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,880 And he burned Hazer with fire. And all the cities of those 142 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,440 kings and all their kings Joshua captured, and he struck them 143 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,840 with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, 144 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,360 just as Moses the servant of the Lord, had commanded. 145 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:48,320 But none of the cities that stood on mounts did Israel burn, 146 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,200 except Hazer alone that Joshua burned. 147 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,440 And all the spoiled these cities and the livestock and the people 148 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:56,680 of Israel took for their plunder. 149 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:58,760 But every person struck, they struck with the edge of the 150 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,960 sword until they destroyed them. And they did not leave any who 151 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:03,880 breathed. Let's stop there for a moment. 152 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,000 That doesn't feel like rest, that feels like war. 153 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,360 But notice they were not afraid even in the midst of a battle. 154 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,640 They still had rest in their hearts, even though around them 155 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,320 there was a great fight. So how do we experience God's 156 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:22,320 rest? What's the principle we can 157 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:23,680 grab? We'll jot this down. 158 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,160 I experience God's rest as I fight sin fiercely. 159 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,919 This is what Joshua 11 means for us in 2026. 160 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:37,159 We are not out there to conquer northern Canaan. 161 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,360 We're not trying to take people and devote them to destruction. 162 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:44,680 Quite the opposite, in fact. We're intended to have a war 163 00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:48,640 waging against our sin. That is what we fight fiercely, 164 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,360 Saints, that we fight sin fiercely. 165 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,880 And notice how Joshua did it. He fought his enemies one how 166 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:59,000 God told him to, just as God commanded was repeated over and 167 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:00,000 over again. Why? 168 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,840 Because Joshua was meticulous in his obedience, just as the Lord 169 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:09,320 commanded Joshua did. He didn't just do it because God 170 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:11,000 told him, though. He did it with others. 171 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:15,120 This is the people of Israel fighting fiercely. 172 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,720 I want you to look back at verse 11 and 14. 173 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:21,960 And they struck with a sword all who were in it, devoting them 174 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,200 destruction. There was none left that 175 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:29,960 breathed verse 14, and they did not leave any who breathed. 176 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,280 Joshua fought so fiercely. There were no survivors. 177 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,160 There should be no surviving sin in our life. 178 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:48,160 That's how aggressive, how fierce we must be in our fight 179 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:53,640 against sin. That same mentality is ours to 180 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,440 possess. And putting to death all that is 181 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,320 in us that goes against God, that's sin. 182 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:05,320 But believers, here's what we'll often do. 183 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,720 We'll often keep for ourselves pet sins, even though the Lord 184 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,080 has demanded no survivors with our sin. 185 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,880 We keep sin in our lives because we're blind to it, or we keep in 186 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,400 our lives because we're comfortable with it. 187 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,320 But listen to me. Here's what sin wants for you. 188 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:23,640 It wants to steal, kill, and destroy your life. 189 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:25,440 It wants to steal everything good. 190 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:27,800 It wants to kill and take you out. 191 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,400 It wants to destroy all that is going right in your life. 192 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:35,480 Listen to me, believer. We must fight sin fiercely with 193 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,640 this level of aggression. We cannot keep our sin as pets 194 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:41,960 that we think will not hurt us. In fact, I don't have you ever 195 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:43,440 heard the story of Travis the chimp? 196 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,400 He's from about 20 years ago. And Travis the chimp was a chimp 197 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,360 that was adopted by a woman who you know what she's like, Hey, I 198 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,600 want I saw MVP, that kids movie. Let me just have a chimp for my 199 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:55,800 pet. And she's like, let me let me 200 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:56,960 just have a chimpanzee like a child. 201 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:58,760 I'm going to raise it. I'm a domesticated, I'm going to 202 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:00,880 potty train it. It's going to wear clothes and 203 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:04,520 everyone for a moment thought this is good, this is good. 204 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,720 She's got a pet chimpanzee. She's like Ross on Friends. 205 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,240 You know, he's different, he's safe. 206 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:15,840 But one day out of nowhere, he went feral. 207 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:21,840 She had a friend over and she in the chimpanzee, Travis 208 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,120 completely dismembered and disfigured her face. 209 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:30,520 And then he turned on the owner. Despite the owner trying to stop 210 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,000 Travis, despite the owner speaking to him like he 211 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,480 shouldn't be hurting somebody or destroying somebody, he did not 212 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:42,840 have reason. It was a sudden and devastating 213 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,960 violence. That's what sin will do to you, 214 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:51,080 too. If you think you can just let 215 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:57,680 your sin hang out in your life and coexist with you, it's 216 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:03,680 coming at you sooner or later, and it's going to wreak havoc on 217 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:07,760 your life. It's going to want to take you 218 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:14,400 out. We must fight sin fiercely, just 219 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,240 as Joshua fought the enemies of Israel. 220 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,440 Then we must fight the enemy of God now in sin and death 221 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,080 forever. We must fight it fiercely. 222 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:27,160 We must put it to death. I just want to take a moment 223 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,120 this morning and have like a little scorecard check. 224 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,560 You know, like at AUFC match or a boxing match. 225 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,200 Even though boxing matches are rigged, they will have a real 226 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,840 scorecard where judges will go through and they will evaluate 227 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,880 how the fight went. And I think 1 to 10. 228 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:42,360 If we get a scorecard ourselves on some sins this morning and 229 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,800 our fight against them, I think we could have a real reality 230 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,200 check for our level of ferocity and going after sin. 231 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:50,680 I'm calling this a fighting scorecard. 232 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:56,320 The first sin would be pride, which is elevating yourself in 233 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:00,360 the place of God. If a one would be. 234 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:01,800 You are not fighting back at all. 235 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,840 You are just letting pride pummel you and destroy you. 236 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,120 You are losing the fight and A10 being you are the one actually 237 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,160 bearing pride and you are fighting at every step. 238 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,240 You can rate yourself one to 10 on pride, elevating yourself in 239 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:20,400 the place of God. Maybe it's greed. 240 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:26,960 Greed is the unsatiable desire for more. 241 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:35,880 Are you at A1A4A7A10 in your fight against it? 242 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:38,680 Are you deleting the apps that make you greedy? 243 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,440 Are you cleaning up the closet so you're less greedy? 244 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:47,080 What is your fight against it? Is it lust that you need to 245 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,680 think about fighting? Lust is just turning a person 246 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:52,200 into an object for one's own gratification. 247 00:13:54,320 --> 00:14:01,080 Are you at A1A5A10? Is it envy? 248 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:05,760 The desire for somebody else's life? 249 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:17,160 13710 Gluttony, which is the overconsumption driven by a 250 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:23,000 deeper emptiness? Where you at? 251 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:32,880 Wrath, uncontrolled anger that seeks to harm rather than heal, 252 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:39,000 Taking God's role in judgement. Are you fighting it fiercely, 253 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:45,760 Sloth, which is the idea of avoiding what God has called you 254 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,680 to do? May I just confess to you, this 255 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,120 is the one that I felt like I was not fighting nearly enough 256 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,080 in my life. This is the habit that I feel 257 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,920 like I'm just let to sit in my life and let me take me down. 258 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,000 I'm slothful at times, my own personal Bible reading. 259 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,640 I'm slothful in my spiritual discipline, my physical 260 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:09,320 discipline. I am just lazy as a parent that 261 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:14,040 I can be slothful and I'm taking more punches than I'm giving. 262 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:20,080 But this week, God has called me to the mat, and I want to fight 263 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,880 sin fiercely. I'm not going to let 264 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:26,960 slothfulness stop me from getting up early and getting 265 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,640 with God anymore. And maybe some of you need to 266 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,400 hear that today too. You're not alone in that fight. 267 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:36,600 But listen to me, You do need to fight every single one of those. 268 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:42,080 There might be a day where the habit you thought you'd never 269 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:44,680 break, the reaction you'd never stop having. 270 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,640 Guess what? By the power of God, you can 271 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:53,240 conquer. You can Vanquish, you can fight 272 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:59,920 and win, You can experience God's rest in your fight against 273 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:01,960 sin. But not only that, the second 274 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:03,800 thing that we can experience God's rest in. 275 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,040 I can experience God's rest as I second follow God faithfully. 276 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:10,800 Not only am I fight against sin, but also as we follow God 277 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,240 faithfully. The second part of Chapter 11 278 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,680 first starts the verse 15, saying that just as the Lord had 279 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,920 commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua and so 280 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:26,440 Joshua did. Joshua left nothing undone of 281 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,000 all the Lord had commanded Moses. 282 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,560 That's amazing. God commands Moses and now God 283 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,240 is commanding Joshua. And what it means for you and I 284 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,040 is something really profound and really helpful that the leader 285 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,120 is actually replaceable. The leader it is, is not nearly 286 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:47,400 as relevant as who's in the God they serve that if they're 287 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,400 following God, guess what? That's relevant because they're 288 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,800 replaceable. God's commands are not in Saint 289 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:57,160 City. We don't ultimately follow 290 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,520 myself or any other spiritual leader, but we follow God 291 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,840 faithfully here at Saint City. That's why I preached from His 292 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,079 word. That's why there's going to be a 293 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:09,640 plurality of elders here one day, because it's not one man or 294 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,839 one gift in his guess what, It's God on the throne of Saint City, 295 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,000 1 shepherd that we all follow. He's the chief shepherd. 296 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,359 He's the leader of here and we go as he goes. 297 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,920 We do as he says and now in the Bible it does offer us like hey, 298 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,760 it says to the church, it says, hey, submit to your leaders. 299 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:29,600 So there's no obedience in following the visible authority 300 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,920 myself, that I am following the invisible authority. 301 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:35,040 It helps you know that you are following God. 302 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,320 Yes, there is an honor and a submission to that, certainly. 303 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,120 But we must know that I am basically the backup quarterback 304 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:45,480 in the game right now. Like I'm only here for not here 305 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:46,760 for a long time. I'm here for a good time. 306 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,120 Just try not to lose the game while I'm in it. 307 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:51,960 Just try not to, you know, mess this thing up. 308 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:54,400 Just trying to listen to what the coach says. 309 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:58,200 In my eardrum, that's me. I've got the best job in the 310 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,120 world. But just as the Israelites went 311 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:06,600 from Moses to Joshua, the reason they could do that as they were 312 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,120 following God faithfully. Not one single leader. 313 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:13,760 And following God faithfully can be difficult for some of us, 314 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:16,960 difficult to follow leaders because we've experienced 315 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,040 difficulty. We've experienced mistakes from 316 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,400 our leaders. Back a few years ago, Maddie and 317 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,640 I were driving from Chicago to Michigan. 318 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:27,480 And I'm doing it with my hands right now because what I just 319 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,160 did was I was supposed to go around Lake MI. 320 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:35,120 More on that in a second. The GPS told Maddie and I to go 321 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:38,920 north to Wisconsin on a highway that did not make sense. 322 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,080 And you know what? I was a good boy. 323 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:46,720 I listened to Waze that day, despite my better judgement. 324 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,200 I was listening to Waze and that it took me on a highway I knew I 325 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,520 shouldn't have been on. And as I'm getting closer to the 326 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,440 Wisconsin border, I look at Maddie and I say, are we going 327 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,800 the right way? I've been to Michigan, West 328 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,080 Michigan, enough times to know Wisconsin's not the way to 329 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:06,680 Michigan. She looked at the GPS again. 330 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,120 Despite our trusting and following it, it had an idea for 331 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:11,520 us. That day. 332 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,760 We were going to take a ferry across Lake MI. 333 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:18,960 And from henceforth, I've never used Waze ever again. 334 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,600 I'm out on Waze. I trusted you, I followed you, 335 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:24,480 and you did me wrong. You did me dirty. 336 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,120 It's exactly how some of us approach God. 337 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,240 Like we followed things before. We followed voices, leaders, 338 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,040 instincts, we followed advice and it LED us the wrong way. 339 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,560 And therefore it gives us a hesitation, A cynicism and 340 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,920 trusting God. Again, listen to me. 341 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,680 Here's the difference. God is not like your GPS. 342 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,400 He is not mistaken. He does not mess up. 343 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,280 When God gives counsel, when God gives wisdom, when God gives 344 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,520 plans, they are good and they are the right direction. 345 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:56,680 They are the plans for your life. 346 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,680 And so when his commands feel confusing or inconvenient, it's 347 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,120 not because he's mistaken. It's because he has something 348 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:07,080 good and great in mind for you. He's leading you somewhere 349 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,240 better. He's leading you to rest. 350 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,000 Every other voice in your life might fail you, but if you 351 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,720 follow God faithfully, listen to me, that will never, ever be a 352 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:20,400 bad move. Following God faithfully, taking 353 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,320 Him at His Word is always the right move. 354 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:29,200 We must follow Him faithfully. And Joshua provides for us a 355 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,840 great example of how he does that, that phrase, He left 356 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,080 nothing undone. That should be something that 357 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,280 you think in your life about how to follow God faithfully. 358 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:39,200 What have you left undone in your life? 359 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,760 Because Joshua left nothing undone, Listen to how he leaves 360 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:48,360 nothing undone. Verse 16, he takes all the land, 361 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:52,480 the Hill Country, and then again verse 17, he captures all the 362 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,120 kings. Verse 17, again he puts them to 363 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:58,800 death. Verse 18, he makes war a long 364 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:00,520 time with them. Then he devotes them to 365 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,920 destruction. Then in verse 22, he crushes 366 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,760 what's called the Anakin. No, that is not the name of a 367 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,440 Jedi. That is the name of the people 368 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,560 that when the Israelites came here a few decades earlier and 369 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,320 they saw a bunch of giants, that's these guys. 370 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:17,240 These are the guys and they looked at them. 371 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,320 They said there's no chance we can beat them. 372 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,600 These guys were built for the NFL, for the NBA. 373 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:32,560 They're Giants and Joshua and the people crushed them because 374 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,920 Giants to a God are grasshoppers. 375 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:49,360 He took the whole land, verse 23, just as God promised, God 376 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,680 promised something. This land is yours and he 377 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,680 fulfilled it. Now I recognize that in this war 378 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:00,080 scene, there's a lot of bloodshed. 379 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:07,440 And some of you are feeling that right now that, wait a second, 380 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,480 there's a lot of violence happening, and you're just like 381 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:14,040 kind of glossing over the fact that God, God gave Joshua 382 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:18,520 permission to do this. So the skeptical side of you is 383 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:20,400 right now is like, hey, is God still loving? 384 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,680 Is God still good? Because what he just said to do 385 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,120 feels like a violation of justice. 386 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:30,080 I need to remind you of something. 387 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:31,880 I need to teach you something. If you don't know, these 388 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:34,840 Canaanite people for hundreds and hundreds of years were 389 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:41,120 disobeying God. They were dishonouring God. 390 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:45,880 They were hating God even when they heard reports of how good 391 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,960 he was. They were like the person who 392 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,320 commits a crime time and time again in front of a cop. 393 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:56,000 The cop is like sitting there at the Apple Store and you they 394 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,040 just kept taking the stuff and walking out of the store. 395 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,800 And the first time, the cop is pretty gracious not to arrest 396 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:04,480 them, is he not? The second time, merciful. 397 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,520 The third time loving. The fourth time, more gracious, 398 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,880 more patient, more loving. Think about this. 399 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,320 For hundreds and hundreds of years, God is the one sitting 400 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,280 there watching them steal, watching them hurt, watching 401 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,280 them sin, watching them hate him. 402 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:25,000 But the day that God decides to step in and give justice, it's 403 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,240 not that he's unloving. It's that He's finally making 404 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,640 them pay for the sins and the crimes that they've committed. 405 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:37,360 This is God saying it's time. It's time. 406 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:40,760 It's time to give you justice for your actions. 407 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:45,480 And He is in that moment, not unloving, but fair and just 408 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,440 because the punishment for that crime was not just going to 409 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:54,240 prison, it was death. That's what sin does. 410 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:55,560 Like I said, it wants to kill you. 411 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,320 It is the punishment for sin is death. 412 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,000 And so Joshua did what God asked, He left nothing undone, 413 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:12,720 pointing to us, to the reality what was going to come 1400 414 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,680 years later. Yeshua, that's another name for 415 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,600 Jesus, the better. Joshua, he was going to leave 416 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,160 nothing undone as well. He's going to take on every 417 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:28,280 injustice, take on all of God's wrath, take on all of your sin 418 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:32,680 in your place on a cross that you might have forgiveness, and 419 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,000 He left nothing undone. Every sin of yours is paid for 420 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:40,000 in full. Satan is going to be beaten and 421 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:45,200 beaten in completely. Death is done for that. 422 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,520 We will have immortal life because of what God has done for 423 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,280 us in Jesus. He has left nothing undone for 424 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,400 us. Every single thing you need for 425 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:56,480 salvation is paid for by the life, death and resurrection and 426 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,440 ascension of none other than Jesus Christ. 427 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,160 And his invitation to you is to say, hey, you can't pay for your 428 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:05,880 sins. You can be like Canaan. 429 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,600 You could ignore me. You can think that I'm just 430 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:10,480 going to keep delaying, but well, listen, listen, listen. 431 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,600 He's saying, hey, guess what? I have a hope for your soul. 432 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,000 I have my love for you on display in Jesus. 433 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,040 If you just turn from your wicked ways, turn from your sin 434 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,400 and embrace my work on the cross by faith, you could have eternal 435 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:26,920 life. Jesus Christ left nothing undone 436 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:29,680 and your battle against sin, Satan and death. 437 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,800 And that's why he is fully deserving of following him 438 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,000 faithfully. He kept every single one of his 439 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,200 promises. Every promise finds it's yes and 440 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:47,440 it's Amen, meaning that's right in who in Jesus, every single 441 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,440 one. So following him faithfully is 442 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,520 going to mean for us that we keep a close watch on ourself 443 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,640 and his promises. Now God has two kinds of 444 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,200 promises. He has unconditional ones and 445 00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:59,680 conditional ones. I want to show this to you in a 446 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:01,240 chapter in the Bible called Romans chapter 8. 447 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,760 Romans chapter 8 verse one says, therefore, there is now no 448 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,280 condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. 449 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,920 This is what is called an unconditional promise, that if 450 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,600 you are a believer, if you have turned from your sin and you've 451 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,880 embraced Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, guess what, you have 452 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:17,840 this, this is a category that you are now. 453 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:21,160 It's unconditional. Verse 13 is an example of a 454 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,280 conditional promise, which is this, that if by the Spirit you 455 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,760 put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. 456 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,040 Do you see that word if there? It's literally a conditional 457 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,800 statement. It's saying if you do this by 458 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,280 the Spirit, if you put to death, if you fight sin fiercely, guess 459 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:39,920 what? You will live. 460 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,200 You will have rest, You will have the life that God wants to 461 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,760 experience fully. That's a conditional promise, 462 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,400 unconditional. An example here in the text was 463 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,040 that God was going to give Israel to his people. 464 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:58,880 He was going to give them the land, the promised land. 465 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,240 Moses didn't get to experience it because he disobeyed. 466 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:06,120 Joshua did. That's the obedient 1. 467 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:09,840 So to just fill you with some faith this morning, let me just 468 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,760 give you 3 more unconditional promises first or two more. 469 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,720 Excuse me, Joshua, excuse me, Philippians chapter one, verse 6 470 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:20,960 that he who began a good work and you will bring it to 471 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:22,920 completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 472 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:29,240 Listen to me if you're discouraged right now, if you're 473 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,440 not moving forward as much as you want, if you look at that 474 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,480 scorecard and you feel a you hang your head in shame. 475 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,520 Listen to me. He who began a good work will 476 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:39,400 bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 477 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:42,560 You will be changed. You will be moved. 478 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,280 You can accelerate it by God's work in your life, but listen to 479 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,200 me, it is done. It is unconditional. 480 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:50,760 You will bring it to completion. The second promise I want to 481 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,920 give you this unconditional is John 1028 and 29. 482 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:59,280 It says that Jesus says that if I have them in my hand, nobody 483 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:03,600 can snatch them out of it. That Jesus's grip on your 484 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:09,160 salvation is strong. If you are saved, if He has you, 485 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,480 nothing else can get you. No one can snatch you out of His 486 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,400 hand. So if you're saved, you're 487 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,560 saved. Nothing can stop that. 488 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:23,160 But conditional promises like Romans 813, I think would give 489 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,040 your heart some ammunition this week in the fight. 490 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,200 James chapter 4, verse 8, draw near to God and he will draw 491 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,440 near to you. One of the reasons that you feel 492 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:35,720 far from God is not because He left you, but because you 493 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,920 wounded away from him. Draw near to God, He will draw 494 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,280 near to you. God will feel near in the 495 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:42,800 moments that you draw near to him. 496 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,600 So open up your bibles, spend time praying, meditate on his 497 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:51,360 word fast spend time in the practices that draw near to God 498 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:54,480 discipline yourself for godliness. 499 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:56,960 Train yourself is the way Timothy puts it in the Bible 500 00:28:57,960 --> 00:28:59,560 draw near to God, he'll draw near to you. 501 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,080 And also first John 19 if you confess your sins, he is 502 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,960 faithful and just to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. 503 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,880 If you confess your sins, if don't live a life without 504 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:18,080 confession, experience the joy and the rest of following God 505 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,160 faithfully and look for the things that God's revealing in 506 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:22,880 your life. These are just two examples, but 507 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:24,760 there might be more that you're getting in your own time in the 508 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:29,840 word follow God faithfully. I would just like to confess 509 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:32,880 here too that this week God once again just grab me. 510 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,200 I'm in Luke chapter 10. I'm hearing this story of Mary 511 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:36,920 and Martha. I've heard the story a million 512 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:42,280 times where Mary and Martha, one sitting and one serving 1 is 513 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,040 like sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to his teaching. 514 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,160 The other is a busy body ignoring him. 515 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,240 And Jesus says, hey, the one who's sitting at my feet, she's 516 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:51,720 the one that I that is doing it right. 517 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,680 And I realized in all my work toward Easter last week, all my 518 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,480 effort that guess what, I was so busy serving, I wasn't sitting 519 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,280 with Jesus. I need to follow him faithfully. 520 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,160 I'm not perfect in this either, any of you, but I have a Savior 521 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,800 who was, who has left nothing undone even when I do so. 522 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:11,520 Follow Him faithfully this week and your soul will be settled, 523 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,400 even if conflict is all around you. 3rd And finally, the way to 524 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,200 experience God's rest is this. I experience God's rest as I 525 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:24,320 feast on His victory fully. How else can you experience it? 526 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,720 Not just following Him faithfully, not just fighting 527 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:33,760 sin fiercely, but we experience rest, we experience victory in 528 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,080 our life when we feast on His victory fully. 529 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,960 Look at Joshua chapter 12. Now this Joshua chapter 12 is 530 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:43,120 just literally a list of 31 kings who Israel goes on to 531 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:48,760 conquer. 31 kings and feasting is what you do when the work is 532 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,640 over, when the war is won, you have a victory feast. 533 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,360 And Joshua 12 is more than a bite of God's power. 534 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,880 It is a feast for us to realize just how victorious God is. 535 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,640 It is more than a bite, it is a feast. 31 nations like that 536 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,480 beaten end of Chapter 11 says this. 537 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,120 Joshua gave it foreign inheritances according to the 538 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,600 tribal allotments, and the land had rest from war. 539 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,040 Now these are the kings of the land, chapter 12, whom the 540 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,200 people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land 541 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:25,120 beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. 542 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,160 First, the first part of chapter 12 is the first two nations that 543 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:32,560 get beaten when by Moses, before Joshua even took the helm, 544 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,000 before they crossed the Jordan River, Moses got to beat 2 545 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,960 nations. So now Joshua's got 29 left 546 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:38,560 undone and he takes care of them. 547 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:41,200 The rest of the chapter is literally just highlighting for 548 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,560 us all the kings beaten by Joshua and the people of Israel 549 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:49,040 on the other side of the river. This is quite literally God's 550 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,520 receipt saying, hey, guess what, 2026 believer, if you don't 551 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:57,000 think I win, if you don't think that you can fight sin fiercely, 552 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:01,800 if you don't think that you can rest from the battle, look 553 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:08,640 again, I win, I don't lose. It's a detailed account of 554 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:10,520 everything and everyone that God beat. 555 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:17,400 For an era of my life, I was a waiter at Chili's, and one of my 556 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,360 jobs then was to learn the menu at Chili's. 557 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,840 Now Chili's at the time, I mean, they got burger bites. 558 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,720 Fantastic. By the way, fajitas, which some 559 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:28,360 of you are known for, when they come by the table with that 560 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:30,320 smoke, Oh my goodness, I'm still in on it. 561 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,200 And my personal favorite, the chips and queso, you not only 562 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:35,360 had to learn what was on that, but on the burgers, you had to 563 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,480 learn which burgers came with Mayo, which burgers came with 564 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,200 this BBQ sauce? Which burger came with this 565 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,040 cheese? Hey, this steak, what sides come 566 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,320 with that automatically? Which ones can you substitute? 567 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,240 Oh, and then you also need to learn, hey, which Margarita was 568 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:48,720 going to be a good time on a Friday night, right? 569 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,360 Like, hey, you want an El Presidente, You want an El Nino 570 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:52,640 today. What do you want with your 571 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:54,920 burger? Can I please ring up your bill a 572 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:56,520 little bit higher so I can get a bigger tip? 573 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:57,680 You know, that's that's what they're doing. 574 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,440 They're not selling you more comments on that are going to 575 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:02,480 have to be saved for another time. 576 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,320 The point is, is it a menu is a detailed account of everything 577 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,400 that you can expect that you could be prepared for. 578 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,680 A menu tells you how much it costs. 579 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,080 It tells you the receipt of what you can expect. 580 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,160 And listen to me, That's what Joshua 12 is. 581 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,200 Joshua 12 is in your Bible. So you could have a detailed 582 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:30,560 menu of all that God has done, and so you could feast upon it. 583 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:39,720 Not just a bite, a feast. And we can feast fully now. 584 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:42,920 We don't have to wait for the feast. 585 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,200 Feast fully now that Jesus conquered sin and death forever. 586 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:50,680 You can feast upon the identity that you are holy and blameless 587 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:52,760 before Him. You can feast now that you're 588 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,520 hand picked to be part of the greatest family in the world, 589 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,680 His Bride, the Church. You can feast now that God has 590 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,040 an amazing revealed plan for your life. 591 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,880 You can feast now that you have a purpose. 592 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:09,560 You can feast fully now. And the full record of God's 593 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:11,440 self disclosure of mankind is right here. 594 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,719 So you could feast every single day of your life. 595 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:20,400 You're invited to the table of God's blessing and kindness and 596 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:24,120 goodness so your soul might be satisfied and at rest. 597 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:28,480 You can feast fully now. But listen to me, this is just a 598 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,000 glimpse of what is to come. We can feast fully forever. 599 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,520 And Revelation 19 Guess what happens for every St. 600 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:37,360 Whoever lived, every person ever called upon Jesus, We are 601 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,679 invited to what's called the marriage supper of the Lamb. 602 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,920 There is a day where we soon coming and eternity soon coming 603 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:48,600 where we can feast forever. The best kind of feast ever. 604 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:53,960 Imagine the joys of eating without calories. 605 00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:59,960 Imagine the joy of eating once again with loved ones you have 606 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:04,040 lost. Imagine the laughter at the 607 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:08,560 stories we would tell together. And imagine the simple and 608 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,880 wonderful mercy of being with Jesus at the table. 609 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,880 I can't wait to have a meal with Him, and we're going to eat 610 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,040 there that day fully forever. And on that, at that dinner 611 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,160 table in the New Jerusalem, guess what? 612 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:24,120 There is no weeping. There's no disappointment. 613 00:35:24,240 --> 00:35:26,240 There's no hurting. There's no more pain. 614 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:29,280 There's no more cancer. There is nothing that would hurt 615 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,000 our appetite for anything other than God. 616 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,080 Because we can feast fully forever. 617 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,640 We have the hope of Jesus forever. 618 00:35:42,890 --> 00:35:46,770 We can feast fully now and forever. 619 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:51,040 So here's the hope and the big idea from Joshua 11 and 12. 620 00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:54,720 Right this down. God brings his people from war 621 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:57,760 to rest by doing this, by winning the victory for them. 622 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:01,880 How do you actually move from war to rest? 623 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,960 It's not you doing more things. It's by God winning the victory 624 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,480 for you and you resting in what He's achieved. 625 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,320 It's received, not achieved. And so you fight sin fiercely. 626 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:18,600 Yes, you follow him faithfully, but then you feast, You take and 627 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:24,320 eat. You delight in who God is and 628 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:29,640 what he has done, and in return you get a supernatural 629 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,400 settleness despite any internal or external conflict. 630 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:43,120 You move from war to rest by God, winning the war, winning 631 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:47,080 the victory for you, no matter what conflict is around you. 632 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,400 There's a scene in an old movie called Back to the Future 2 633 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,920 where a guy named Biff gets a hold of a book with all the 634 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,600 future sports results in it. So when he gambles, he's not 635 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,840 guessing. He already knows how it's going 636 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:02,360 to turn out. Some of you are like, can I get 637 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:04,440 that book? Don't have it for you, my guy, 638 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:10,200 Sorry. That kind of certainty changes 639 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:14,720 how you live. That the outcome was not in 640 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:17,240 question. The victory is certain. 641 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,280 You're not anxious, you're not worried, you're not angry. 642 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,400 You're not panicked because you know how the game ends. 643 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:26,200 You know how the story ends. Listen to me. 644 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:29,480 You can truly rest in a war zone, London style. 645 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:33,200 Not because the war is over, but not because you figured 646 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,400 everything out, but because God has already won. 647 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:39,200 He's already won the victory for you. 648 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:45,600 It's done. It's finished, so we obey 649 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:50,120 knowing the outcome is solved, done, and that's our 650 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:52,760 responsibility is obedience. God's job is the outcome. 651 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:57,800 So we will fight sin fiercely, we'll follow him faithfully, and 652 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,080 we'll feast. We'll feast upon his victory 653 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,600 fully because God has done for us we could not do for 654 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:07,440 ourselves. He's won US the victory forever, 655 00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:12,480 fully, and now God brings his people from war to rest by 656 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,360 winning the victory for them. Would you pray with me, Lord? 657 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:20,120 Thank you for your word. Thank you that we have hope in 658 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:22,960 Joshua 11 and 12, that we can have rest in the middle of the 659 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:30,760 war, that we, God, can experience rest, settled, miss. 660 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:33,920 That's supernatural. Even though bombs might be going 661 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:39,320 off around us, explosions nearby in US and around us in the war 662 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:41,880 against sin and death. But God, guess what? 663 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:46,360 We can still have peace. We can be like you sleeping in 664 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:50,880 the boat in the middle of that hurricane, a supernatural 665 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:55,960 settledness. And we don't need noise 666 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,120 cancelling hair headphones, God, to get through it. 667 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:05,040 We need actually your voice in our ears telling us it's going 668 00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:07,480 to be OK. I'm going to win. 669 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:16,660 I have one. What a piece that brings God. 670 00:39:16,820 --> 00:39:20,460 The outcome is not in question. There will be a day where that 671 00:39:20,580 --> 00:39:24,340 habit is no more. There will be a day where we 672 00:39:24,340 --> 00:39:28,140 don't react that way as fast. There will be a day, God, where 673 00:39:28,140 --> 00:39:33,780 the sin and shame we carry dissipates because right now the 674 00:39:33,780 --> 00:39:36,820 truest thing about us is that we are dressed in your 675 00:39:36,820 --> 00:39:40,960 righteousness and that when you see us, you don't see our sin, 676 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:46,800 you see your Son. What a gift that is that we can 677 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:50,360 sit at the table and feast upon who Jesus is and what he has 678 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:52,600 done, regardless of what we've done. 679 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,360 So Lord, help us to experience your victory more and more this 680 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:58,000 week in Jesus name, Amen.