Sunday School, Joshua and the Battle of Jericho

Grab your Bibles. We've been in a series called Sunday

School and we're going through some of the top Sunday

School stories from our past. But whether or not you

grew up in church, most of these stories will probably

be familiar to you. You will recognize some of these stories.

You might have a pretty good idea how the story goes.

But what we're not always quite as sure about is

what's the actual point of these stories. And that's what

our hope is for this whole series is that we

wouldn't just know how the story goes, but we could

also know what the point of these Sunday School stories is.

And so far, we've talked about Noah in the flood

that was awesome. We've talked about Abraham and Isaac. We

also talked about Joseph going from the Pit to the Palace,

and last week we got to talk about Moses and

the Golden Calf, and we saw Moses standing between an

unholy people and a holy God. He was their mediator.

He stood between the people, and just like the people

of Israel needed a mediator, so do we need a

mediator as well. But the only mediator, the only one

who stand between us unholy Us and a holy God

is Jesus, and so that's who our mediator is. And

this week what we're gonna do is we're gonna move

on to Israel's next leader, the next person who is

leading the people of Israel, and that's Joshua. So in

your bibles, go ahead and start turning to the Book

of Joshua. And if you don't have a Bible, we

have a bunch of them at the resource desk in

the lobby. Please take that, keep it. We want you

to have a Bible. But today we're going to see

a pivotal point in Israel's journey. We're gonna see the

end of a long season of them wandering in the

wilderness and the beginning of their transition into the land

that God had promised them. And it all starts with

them taking over a very specific city. But the way

that they take over the city is insane, like it's

beyond anything we could have fathomed, and it can only

be described as done by the hand of God himself.

What we're going to see today, though, is that God's

faithfulness doesn't depend on human ability. God's faithfulness doesn't depend

on human ability. If God says that he's going to

do something, or if God says that he's going to

make something happen, then regardless of human ability, he will

make it happen. He's going to bring it to come

to pass. And so today we're talking about Joshua and

the Battle of Jericho. Joshua and the Battle of Jericho.

So let's pray, and then we're going to get into it. God,

we thank you for this moment. We thank you for

your word and that we get the chance to open

it up and learn from you. God. I pray that

what you want us to get from the story today,

the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho, that

that point that you want us to get today would

just come alive in our hearts. God, we'd be ready

to receive that word, and we be ready to apply

what we learn from your word to our lives today

and forever that. God, we trust you as we go

through your word and Holy Spirit, continue to make it

come alive in us and explain it to us in

a way that we can understand. We thank you for

all this in Jesus name. Everybody said a men. Okay,

I learned something very interesting this past week If you

know me at all, you know that I don't cook

anything like I can make like a mean peeb and

j can make some ramen, and I know how to

make a a tuna casse role. It's pretty sweet. But

that's about all that I can that I can make.

Jesse does all of the cooking and all of the

baking in our house, and is good because she's very,

very good at it. But what I learned this past

week I think is probably common knowledge. I mean, I've

asked a couple of people. May dien't know either, But

what I learned this past week is probably common knowledge.

But I had zero clue. And it has to do

with making chocolate cake. It's anybody made chocolate cake in

your so you probably know what I'm about to tell you.

Who here likes stale and dry cake? My own, my son,

he raised his hand for that. Not many people like

stale and dry cake. No, most people want a nice,

soft and moist cake, right, That's just how cakes should be.

And what I found out is in order to make

a cake soft and moist, some chocolate cake recipes call

for a very interesting ingredient. They call for mayonnaise. Okay,

so maybe not not as many people knew that as cool.

Welcome to my world when I found this out, mayonnaise

calls for mayonnaise. Now, hold on just a minute. If

I'm at home, I'm standing in the kitchen and I'm

baking a chocolate cake. For whatever reason, this is not real.

I'm not really ever gonna bake a cake. But if

I was in the kitchen baking a cake and I

and I'm following this recipe and I see mayonnaise on

the list, I am stopping for a moment. I'm gonna

read mayonnaise and be like, wait, what this has got

to be a misprint? You sure, missus Betty Crocker. That's

what I would ask. Probably mayonnaise doesn't belong in cake recipe.

That's disgusting. Mayonnaise belongs on sandwiches and in moderation. If

you've ever had a sandwich covered in mayonnaise, you know

exactly what I'm talking about. So it needs to be

in moderation. But that's what missus Crocker says to do,

put mayonnaise in the cake mix. So what I do

is I put mayo in the cake and the cake

comes out soft and moist like it's supposed to. Well,

it turns out all mayonnaise is is eggs and oil.

Eggs and oil, which are two very common ingredients, and

almost every cake recipe eggs and oil. But here's the

point that I'm trying to make. I don't have to

know why in order to follow instructions. I don't have

to know why to follow instructions or directions. If I

just faithfully follow the recipe or the plan Missus Betty

Crocker gave me. If I follow that, the outcome is handled,

whether or not I understand it. And it's the same

way with God. We don't have to understand why he's

telling us to do something. We don't have to understand

the why. We just need to obey. And I tell

my boys this all the time. I'm like, just obey.

How many of you told your kids that they say why,

and you're like us, do it. We don't have to

understand the why. God's faithfulness or his ability to make

things come to pass is not dependent upon human ability.

So if he tells us to do something weird, like

putting mayo in cake, just put the mayo in the cake.

Does that make sense? God tells his people that he's

going to bring them into the Promised Land. And Duncan

crafted the worship set and knew that we were preaching

through the Joshua the Battle of jerichookes, like all the

songs lined up so perfectly with what we're talking about today.

But God tells his people that he's going to bring

them into the Promised Land, that he's going to give

them the land. He makes this promise. Then the very

first city that they're supposed to take over, the city

of Jericho, he gives them some really really strange instructions

on what to do. But it's through these instructions that

we actually get to see his amazing power and his plan.

But before we get into what God told him to do,

how did the Israelites even get to where they are

right now? We need a little bit of capping from that.

How do they get to this city of Jericho? And

so I'm going to give you a ridiculously fast recap

of the end of Exodus, all of Leviticus, all of

Numbers and Deuteronomy. You guys ready, I think you're gonna

pretty impressive how fast this is. After Moses and the

Golden Calf, whole situation which we learned about last week.

After that whole situation is over, God tells Israelites to

go spy on the land before they enter it. Well,

the people see what they see and bring back a report,

and they're terrified. They're scared that they can't take the land,

even though God promised that he would do it, because

of their lack of belief and their rebellion. Because there's

a lot of rebellion that's spurred up in there. He

makes the people wander in the wilderness until basically that

entire generation dies off, so they're wondering for forty years.

And well, during that time, Moses also messes up and

disobeys a direct order that God gave him. So God

tells him he's not going to enter the Promised Land either.

He will get to see it, but he doesn't get

to enter into the Promised Land. Then, at one hundred

and twenty years old, Moses dies and Joshua is commissioned

to lead the people into the Promised Land. And that's

how the entire Book of Joshua begins with Joshua stepping

up as leader of the people of Israel. Boom. That

was the whole recap. Pretty good right could have been

here all day reading that. So we're gonna pick it

up in Joshua chapter one. So go ahead and look

at chapter one of Joshua, and it starts with after

the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the

Lord said to Joshua's son of none, Moses assistant, Moses,

my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan,

you and all this people into the land that I

am giving to them, the people of Israel. Every place

that's the soul of your foot will tread upon. I've

given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From

the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great River,

the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to

the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun,

shall be your territory. No man shall be able to

stand before you all the days of your life, just

as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong

and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit

the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

Only be strong and very courageous. So second, time you

said that, be careful not to or excuse me, be

careful to do according to all the law that Moses,

my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to

the right hand or to the left, that you may

have good success wherever you go. The book of the

Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall

meditate on it day and night, so that you may

be careful to do according to all that is written

about it. I think we would do well to meditate

on the Lord's word day in and day out, for

then you will make your way prosperous, and then you

will have good success. Have I not commanded you? He

said it twice already this third time, be strong and courageous,

Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, For

the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

So Moses is now gone, but God is still with

his people. God wasn't just with Moses. He was also

with the people. And now he's standing with Joshua, and

he confirms that Joshua's going to lead the people across

the Jordan River into the Promised Land. And at this

point the Israelites are just chilling on the east side

of the Jordan River. That's where they're at right now,

and they had just recently defeated King Sihon and King

aug what you're going to hear about in a little bit.

And so they're occupying these two cities on the east

side of the Jordan River. But now it's time to

cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. So what Joshua

does is he sends two spies into the land to

check it out, and he specifically sends them to the

city of Jericho, which is the first city they're planning

on taking. And these men stay at the house of

a prostitute named Reyhab, who ends up hiding them from

the King of Jericho. Switch over to chapter two and

let's look at verse three. Then the King of Jericho

sent to Rehab, saying, bring out the men who have

come to you who entered your house, for they have

come to search out all the land. They've come to spy.

That's what they have, or that's what the king is

surmised verse four. But the woman had taken the two

men and hidden them, and she said, true, the men

came to me, but I did not know where they came,

where they were from. And when the gate was about

to be closed at dark, the men went out. I

do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly,

for you will overtake them. But she had brought them

up to the roof and hid them with the stalks

of flax that she had laid an order on the roof.

So the men pursued after them and on the way

to the Jordan as far as the fords, and the

gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

But why would some random prostitute help out these men

from Israel? Why would she help them? Why would she

put her own safety on the line for these men

who were literally there to spy out the land. She's

basically committing treason. That's what she's doing, against her own

king and against your own country. You just don't do that.

Try hiding a spy here in American see what happens.

We don't do that. Rahab is willing to put everything

all on the line. But why, And she actually gives

us the answer. She gives us her answer, and then

she also tells us with the men in all of

the cities, excuse me, what all the men in the

cities are thinking? As well, so pick it back up.

In verse eight, before the men lay down, she came

up to them on the roof, and she said to them,

I know that the Lord has given you the land,

and that the fear of you has fallen upon us,

and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away

before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried

up the waters of the Red Sea before you when

you came out of Egypt. It's back in Exodus, and

what you did to the two kings of the Amorites

who were beyond the Jordan, the cities where they're at

right now, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.

As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and

there was no spirit left in any man because of you.

For the Lords your God, He is God in the

heavens above and on the earth beneath. So she's given

her reasoning for why she's willing to put it all

on the line. All the inhabitants of the land have

heard what God has done for his people words God

around She said that she knows that the Lord has

given them the land, so she's even heard about the

promises of God. The Lord, who is the God in

heaven and the heavens and on the earth beneath. That

God is who has given them the land. So what

can she do to resist that? What can she do

to resist God? What can any of the people do

to resist God? Nothing, that's the answer. Nothing. They can

do nothing. You're either for God or you're against him.

And if you're against them, there's nothing you can do

to resist him. So that's why their hearts have melted.

That's why there's no spirit left in any of the men.

They know that God, the God of the heavens above

and the earth below, is going before the Israelites, and

they're afraid of them. He is going to remain faithful

to his word. He is going to fulfill the promises

that He's made to his people. And it doesn't depend

or it doesn't rely on man's ability. By what God

has already done in Egypt and what he did with

with King Sihon and King og he has struck fear

into the hearts of the people of Jericho, laying the

groundwork for their destruction and the conquering of the whole city.

So Rahab hides the spies. She keeps him safe but

in return she asks for something. She wants to be protected,

so she asks them to save her and her family

when they come and take the city, and they agree,

and she helps them escape back to Joshua and Joshua,

and they give this report to Joshua of all that

has happened, and in verse twenty four, he says, truly,

the Lord has given all the land into our hands.

And also all the inhabitants of the lands melt away

because of us. Because of us, So now it's go time.

What else is there left to do? It's go time.

It's time for the people of Israel, all of the

people of Israel to cross over the Jordan River. But

this is actually happening during the time of harvest. Why

is that important? It's important because the river is overflowing

its banks. Jordan River. I mean, if you look at

it today, you can see it very high up from

the sky. There's places where it's very very big. But

in harvest time it's overflowing all of its banks. So

God does something really incredible. He tells the priest to

carry the ark into the river. Remember Family movie night

that arc. I mean, that's not a good representation what

the arc is truly is. It's just a fun movie.

But he tells the priests to take the ark into

the river, and when their feet touched the water, it

would stop flowing and they all could cross. So look

at Joshua chapter three, and let's look at verse fourteen.

So when the people set out from their tents to

pass over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the Ark

of the Covenant before the people, and as soon as

those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan,

and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were

dipped into the brink of the water. Now the Jordan

overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. The

waters coming down from above stood up and rose up,

stood and rose up in a heap very far away

at Adam, the city that is beside Zarathan, and those

flowing down toward the sea of the Araba, the salt sea,

were completely cut off, and the people passed over opposite Jericho.

Now the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant of

the Lord stood firmly on the ground in the midst

excuse me, firmly on dry ground in the midst of

the Jordan. And all Israel was passing over on dry

ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan

all it's all the people. God continues to pave the way,

making sure that he stays faithful to his promises. He's

making sure he stays faithful to his promises. He miraculously

stops this water in this overflowing Jordan, so the entire

nation of Israel can cross over. And if you look

at the census that's taken in numbers, chapter twenty six,

it tells us that there is over six hundred thousand

men military age man which is twenty years in old,

twenty years old and older. There's over six hundred thousand men.

And that's not counting women, children, and the entire levites,

all the levitical priests. So most scholars believe there is

between two and two point five million people. Two and

two point five million people, that's how many Israelites are

crossing over the Jordan River at this point. So it's

only through this miraculous power of God that you're able

to get two to two and a half million people

to cross over a river without losing anybody. We're talking men, women, children, levites, everybody.

He stops the water, it rises up in a heap,

and when everyone has passed over, the priest with the

arc finished crossing over, and the water returns back to normal.

If you just stop and think about that for a second,

that had been insane, maybe less insane to them because

they just crossed over the Red Sea. Well not all

of them, but forty years before crossed over the Red Sea.

So God's doing this miraculous thing again to help them

cross over into the Promised Land. Well, after all this happens,

the kings of the Amorites and the Canaanites heard about it.

Look at chapter five. We're kind of making our way

to chapter six, which is really where this Battle of

Jericho happens. But Joshua chapter five, verse one says, as

soon as all the kings of the Amorites who are

beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings

of the Canaanites who are by the sea heard that

the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan

for the people of Israel until they had crossed over,

their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit

in them. Because of the people of Israel. They're thinking,

oh man, we're done for now. They've heard, They've heard

the stories. Their hearts had melted, they'd lost their fighting spirit.

They're ready just to roll over again. Through what God

is doing, He's paving the way to fulfill the promise

he made to his people to give them the Promised Land.

And all the groundwork has been laid. So the Israeli

army is now camped outside the city of Jericho, in

the plains, right outside the city, and it's finally time

to take the city. So what's the planned, Joshua, how

are we doing this? You're gonna break out the catapults.

We're gonna storm the gates. We're gonna shoot flaming arrows

over the walls. Doing Joshua, what's the plan? What's the

What are we doing here? So let's look at what

the Lord tells Joshua to do with the children of Israel.

Look at Joshua chapter six, starting in verse one. Now

Jericho is shut up inside and outside because of the

people of Israel. Why were they shut up because of

the people of Israel. They're terrified. No one went out,

no one came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, see,

I have given Jericho into your hand with its king

and mighty men of valor, you shall march around the city,

all the men of war, going around the city once.

Thus shall you do for six days, seven priests shall

bear seven trumpets of rams horns. Before the ark on

the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times,

and the priests shall blow a trumpet, blow the trumpets,

and when they make a long blast with the ram's horn,

when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all

the people shall shout with a great shout. In the

wall of the city will fall down flat, and the

people shall go up, everyone straight before him. I'm sorry,

you want us to do what. This is war, This

is the battle, and you want us to do what

you want us to. Put Mayonni's in the cake mix.

He's how's marching around a city blowing horns and shouting

gonna bring walls down. That's not how sieges work, is it. No,

We've all seen the Lord of the Rings. It takes

at least one crazy orc with explosive to blow up

the weak point in the wall. And hear God saying,

march around the city and start shouting. That's what he's

telling him to do. But God started this whole moment

of instructions with something very key. He says, See, I

have given Jericho into your hands, with its king and

mighty men of valor. The city is yours. God declared

something at the beginning, The city is yours. I've already

given it to you. But even if it doesn't make

sense to Joshua, even if he doesn't understand why God

would tell them to do something as odd as what

he's telling them to do, He's gonna do it. He's

gonna obey what the Lord told him to do. He's

gonna do it in the exact way that God told

him to do it. And he might have had a

little bit of Moses's story in his mind, because God

tells Moses speak to the rock to bring forth the

water to drink. And what did Moses do? He hit

the rock to bring forth the water. And it's this

simple little act or gesture of disobedience that cost him

not getting to go into the Promised Land. It was

that little gesture of disobedience that caused Moses not to

get to go into the Promised Land. So I'm sure

that that was fresh in Joshua's mind as well. So

he says what he tells the people, what the Lord

said to do, We're gonna do exactly that. We're gonna

do exactly what he told us to do. Look at

verse twelve. Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and

the priest took up the ark of the Lord, and

the seventh priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams horns

before the Ark of the Lord walked on and they

blew the trumpets continually, and the armed men were walking

before them, and the rear guard was walking after the

Ark of the Lord while the trumpets blew continually. And

the sixth day they marched around the city once, excuse me.

And the second day they marched around the city once

and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.

So they had these armed men walking in front. They

have the armed men walking behind the ark, and we

have seven priests who were blowing the seven rams horns

continually while they march. And they do this for six days.

They march around the city once and they were turned

back to camp, and then came the seventh day. Now

this day is special. This seventh day is a special

day since this is the day the Lord is going

to give the city into their hands. Look at verse fifteen.

On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawn

of day and marched around the city in the same

manner seven times. It was only on that day that

they marched around the city seven times, And at the

seventh time, when the priest had blown the trump, as

Joshua said to the people, shout, for the Lord has

given you the city, and the city and all that

is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.

Pause there for a second. That word destruction, If you

actually look up the root word, it means as an

offering to the Lord, is to be offered to the Lord.

So verse seventeen. In the city and all that is

within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.

Only Rahab, the prostitute, and all who are with her

in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers

whom we sent. But you keep yourselves from the things

devoted to destruction, Lest when you have devoted them, you

take any of the devoted things and make the camp

of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it.

So just take a wild guess you think they followed

through on that command. Keep reading your Bible, and you'll

find out verse nineteen. But all the answers, no, they don't.

I can't help, but I gotta tell you they don't

do very well following that command verse nineteen. But all

silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron

are holy to the Lord. They shall go into the

treasury of the Lord. So the people shouted, and the

trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the

sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout,

and the wall fell down flat, so that the people

went up into the city, every man straight before him,

and they captured the city. Then they devoted all in

the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen,

sheep and donkeys. With the edge of the sword. They

follow the instructions of the Lord to the tea. They

followed exactly the way he told them to do it.

And when they all shouted, the walls fell down. The

way into the city of Jericho was open. God had

given them the city in this completely amazing and miraculous

way that no one could have figured out or guessed.

It wasn't great military strategy that did it. It wasn't

human might that took the walls down. It wasn't even

creative engineering. It was an act of God alone that

did this miraculous thing of bringing the city walls down.

God was fulfilling his promise, and it didn't depend on

human's ability. It didn't depend on man at all. He

made it happen, told the people falls instructions, they did it,

and he did something incredible. He said, put may on

the cake mix, and they did it, and the cake

came out perfect, soft and moist. You see in the

theme here, Just obey the Lord. He takes care of

the results. Follow the instructions, and the outcome is handled.

After the walls fell, the men went straight up into

the city to capture it and killed everyone and everything

except for rehab in the city. And this going up

into the city actually is kind of cool. I was

watching this documentary kind of type video on YouTube those

about Jericho this past week, and the archaeologists have dug

up the city of Jericho a bunch over the years,

and they've discovered a lot of really cool things, but

they've actually discovered how the walls fell. I'm a little nerdy,

so I think this is pretty cool. To buckle up

with your I don't know your nerd ride or whatever.

But the way that Jericho was actually built is cities

would fall and they would build new cities on top

of old cities. That's what they do. But the way

Jericho was built is they had this small wall that

was built around the whole city that was like a

retaining wall to hold all the earth in to create

this flat platform or new foundation for the city of Jericho.

And so that's this first retaining wall. And on top

of that retaining walls where where they built the real

safety of the city type of wall. The main wall

that were talking about that fell over in this Battle

of Jericho was built on top of this retaining wall.

So when the walls actually toppled over, they fell in

such a way down and off the edge of that

short wall and created this ramp up into the city.

That's how the walls of Jericho fell. They created this ramp.

So when the Bible says in verse twenty, and the

walls fell down flat, so the people went up into

the city, every man straight befo him. It totally makes sense.

The walls fell and they all ran up the ramp

into the city that was on a higher level than

the ground they were standing on. I don't know, that's

kind of nerdy, and I think that's kind of cool.

So they run up these ramps, they go in, they

take the city, and after capturing this city and killing

all the people, the Israels burned the city to the ground,

and Joshua does something that's pretty crazy. He pronounces a

curse on the city. Look at verse twenty six. Joshua

laid an oath on them at that time, saying, curse

before the Lord be the man who rises up and

rebuilds this city Jericho, at the cost of his firstborn,

shall he lay its foundation, and the loss of his

youngest son, shall he set up its gates. So the

lores with Joshua and his fame was in all the land.

And this curse that Joshua put on the city of

Jericho would come to fruition, but it would not be

for over five hundred years under King Ahab. Now King

Ahab was literally the worst king that Israel ever had.

He led the people into all kinds of grievous sin

against the Lord. But he is the one who went

to rebuild the city of Jericho, and he lost his

firstborn and his youngest son rebuilding the city, and you

can see that in First King's chapter sixteen. So that's

part of That's one thing the documentary showed me. But

the other thing that I saw in this documentary they

pointed out was when archaeologists were digging through the different layers,

because you can see layers as you dig through the ground,

and they found that there was three distinct layers amongst

all the layers, and those three layers were one that

was showing the wall collapsing. That could see that clearly

see that layer. There was another layer where everything was burnt.

They actually saw like roof debris crumbled down and burnt

within there. They saw burnt pottery and burnt like grain

inside pottery. So I saw this layer, and the third

layer showed the signs of the city being abandoned. So

if you went there today, if you went to Jerusalem,

excuse me, Jericho today, you would see the history of

what happened in Jericho in the rocks that were left behind.

You would see the fallen wall, you'd see the burned city,

and you'd see the city being abandoned for almost five

hundred years before the city being rebuilt. Who would have

thought history and archaeology could be so cool? Nerd alert,

Can I have the worship team come up please? If

you're if you're like totally bored by history and stuff,

I triple dog dare you to just dig in a

little bit, because it's pretty awesome the stuff you'll find

and how much it makes us appreciate where we're at now.

God's faithfulness doesn't depend on human ability. Said that a bunch.

I think that's a big thing we need to see here.

God's faithfulness does not depend on human ability. He is

going to fulfill all of his promises with or without

man's help. He doesn't need man's help to fulfill his promises.

So how God does everything, he gets all the glory.

He is the all powerful and almighty God does not

need man's help. And we see this in how he

gives the Israelites the city of Jericho, which is a

very big deal. This is the first city to be

conquered on the way into the Promised Land. The children

Israel have been waiting for this. God made a promise

and this is the first step in getting the Promised Land.

He made this all happen by his own ability. But

this isn't just something God did back then, back in

fourteen hundred, beef c is when this happened. This is

the same thing God does today. I mean, if we

think about our own salvation, what part of our own salvation?

What part does man contribute? The only part that man

contributes to his salvation is the sin that made it necessary.

That's what we do. That's what we contribute. Every other

part of salvation is done by God alone. And I

think Ephesians chapter two makes that super clear. And you

were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you

once walked, following the course of this world, following the

prince of the power of the air, the spirit that

is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among

whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind,

and were by nature children of wrath like the rest

of mankind Verse four. But God, being rich in mercy

because of the great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us

al live together with Christ. By grace you have been saved,

and He raised us up with him and seated us

with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, so

that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable

riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you've been saved through faith, and this

is not your own doing. It is the gift of God,

not a result of works. So that no one may boast,

for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for

good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk

in them. There's nothing we can do to gain our salvation.

There's nothing we can do to put God so much

in our debt that he owes us salvation. We were dead,

dead means not alive, not alive things, can't do anything.

He brought us from death to life, took us from

darkness and brought us into the light. It's not by

anything we did. There's no works that we did to

make that happen. It's by the grace of God through

faith in Christ, by grace alone, through faith alone, in

Christ alone, he did it all. God's the one who

called us. God's the one who took out our heart

of stone and gave us a heart of flesh. God's

the one that gave us the faith to respond to

him and believe in him. He even prepared good works

for us to do beforehand. He had a plan. This

is his intention all along Titus three. He says the

same thing. Look at Titus three, verse four. But when

the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior appeared,

he saved us not because of works done by us

in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the

washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom

he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior,

so that being justified by His grace, by his what

say it louder than that grace, we might become heirs

according to the hope of eternal life. It's amazing. God

is the one who makes salvation happen, not man. We

can't do anything to say of ourselves. We're hopeless, we're lost.

It's only by the grace of God. All we do

is respond in faith or belief in Jesus, the very

same faith and belief that by his grace he gave us.

He gave us the faith to respond. Salvation is by

the hand of God and he didn't need man's help

to be faithful to his word. He doesn't need man's

help to fulfill his promises. He doesn't need man's helped

to accomplish his plans, none of it. He doesn't need

man's help for any of that. So if God is

so self sufficient and doesn't need our help for anything,

what should we do? What are we supposed to do

a God who needs nothing? He's self sufficient? What are

we supposed to do? Put the mayo in the cake?

Be like Joshua, Just do what the Lord said to do.

Just follow his instructions, even if it doesn't make sense,

even if you don't understand why. Our job is not

to make God's plans happen. That's not our job. Our

job is faithful obedience. And I think about Abraham when

God promised him descendants numerous as the stars through his

wife Sarah, and they had their little moments. But what

did Sarah do? She's like, I'm too old to have kids,

take my maid servant as a wife. What are they

trying to do? Trying to make God's promises happen in

their way? And that led to all kinds of crazy stuff.

God doesn't need our help. Just do what he told

you to do. Our job is faithful obedience. So you know,

Abraham and Sarah get that whole thing's squared away, and

it's awesome, and now we have Jesus. That's great because

God fulfills his own promises. But this leads me to

something that I've said. I've said a lot before, but

I'm gonna say it again. Oftentimes understanding is found in obedience.

Oftentimes understanding is found in obedience. Sometimes we just have

to walk it out before we get it. God tells

us to do something and we're like, I don't why

would God tell me to do that. Then you finally

obey him and do it, and you're like, oh, now

I get it. I get that's why you told me

to do this thing. You just follow and that's where

you get the understanding. I mean, I highly doubt that

Joshua and the Israelites understood what God was gonna do

when he told them to march around the city. I

highly doubt that they knew what God was had up

his sleeve. But they did know one thing. They knew

that God said that he would give them the city.

So we will walk in obedience to everything that he

says to do, and we will trust that he will

take care of the details. He said he's going to

give us a city, and then he told us to

march around it. I don't know how it's gonna work.

He'll figure it out. And so they obeyed. They marched

around the city, and God took care of the details.

My question is that how we live our lives? Is

that how we live our lives today? Where do we

sit here worried about provision for our lives? Or do

we seek first His kingdom and his righteousness and all

these other things will be added to you? Do we

let him take care of the details? Do we trust

what he says? Do we believe him? Do we believe God?

Do we believe that he has the ability to deliver

on his promises? He has promised to take care of

his children. If you've put faith in Christ, you have

been adopted by the creator of heaven and earth. You've

been adopted by God and you are his child, and

he promises to take care of his children. So do

you believe that he can do it? Or do you

think he needs my help? Do I think I have

a better way to accomplish his plans. I honestly think

that the majority of the time that we se is

we're kind of saying God, I think I have a

better way to meet my needs than you do. Think

about it. People who steal stuff they don't trust the

Lord is going to provide for them. The one who

lies doesn't think that the truth doing what God said

to do, which is tell the truth, is good enough

for whatever situation they're lying to get out of. About

coveting the tenth Commandment, I wish I had that thing,

and that person didn't well because what God provided wasn't enough.

I think that the majority of the time we sin,

we're saying God, I have a better way than what

you've provided. If God says don't worry or be anxious

for nothing, am I going to obey? That's a hard one.

If he says seek for his kingdom and his righteousness,

am I going to obey? If he says trust in

him and lean not on my own understanding, am I

going to obey? God doesn't need your help, doesn't need

my help, doesn't need our help to fulfill his promises.

Because God's faithfulness doesn't depend on human ability. God is

fully self sufficient, all powerful, incredible. He can do it.

He doesn't need our help. He will accomplish his plan.

He will fulfill his promises. He will take care of

the outcome by his own means and in the way

he chooses to. It's a big, big brick that I

want you to put in your foundation, so you can

firmly stand on that with confidence. What God plans to

do he will make happen. He will be faithful to

his word. So my part, Your part is to be

like Joshua and walk in faithful obedience. Just do what

God told me to do, even if what he told

me to do makes zero sense. Put the mayo in

the cake mix. Amen. Can you guys stand to your feet?