When Moving Forward is Complicated

Only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe

to do according to all the law which Moses my servant, commanded

thee.

Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest

prosper, whithersoever thou goest.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou

shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to

do according to all that is written therein.

For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt

have good success.

Have not I commanded thee?

Be strong and of a good courage.

Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is

with thee, whithersoever thou goest.

Then Joshua commanded the office of the people, saying, pass

through the host and command the people saying, prepare you victuals,

for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan to go in to

possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you to possess.

If you would go me to verse number 16.

And they answered Joshua saying, all that thou commandest

us, we will do.

And whithersoever thou send us, we will go.

According, as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will

we hearken to thee.

Only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment and

will not hearken unto thy words, and all that thou commandest

him, he shall be put to death.

Only be strong and of a good courage.

God records for us his dealings with the children of Israel.

We understand that these people were described for us.

And they weren't described as wonderful saints who were encouragers,

the children of Israel.

If you go back, they were people that were in slavery in Egypt.

They were people that God let out with a strong hand from under

Pharaoh's control.

And they go out in the wilderness and what's the first thing

they begin to do?

We know them to be complainers.

God calls them stiff necked and rebellious.

These are the children of Israel that Joshua had just been

commanded that he's going to lead.

The nation of Israel is facing great blessing, knowing that God

had promised them the promised land.

But for 40 years they have not entered the promised land.

Moses goes up to Mount Nebo and if you've ever had a chance to

go there or see the pictures, you can understand.

Moses saw the possessions that will one day be Israel's.

But Moses didn't get a chance to go and possess the land himself.

And in Joshua chapter number one, God says to Joshua it's time

to arise and move forward with the Lord's help.

This morning, I want to speak to you on this subject.

When moving forward is complicated, when moving forward

is complicated, let's pray together and ask the Lord to help

us.

May we?

God, today I pray you'd help me.

Lord, I today stand before you as a needy man.

I am speaking to people whom you love dearly.

Many people whom I love dearly.

Lord, this church is your church.

And this church, Lord, has been through difficult days.

Lord, I beg you, Almighty God and Father, would you please somehow,

someway, use your word in this preacher today to be an encouragement.

I pray you'd help me to say things that would help this church

as they seek to move forward for your honor and your glory.

I pray, Lord, that you would keep the devil from getting any footholds.

And I pray that you'd help me to say only those things that will

be from you as a help to this church.

Encourage me, I pray.

Give me boldness and give me love and give me compassion.

In Christ's name.

Amen.

As you look at the sermon slide, you'll see the idea that a

man has climbed so far, and yet when he looks out on the horizon,

he sees the climb's not over yet.

He's not at the beginning of the mountain he's already climbed.

The process has begun.

But moving forward is going to be complicated.

My wife and I have had the privilege to travel a little bit.

We have had the privilege to go to California.

One of my favorite places in all the world is a place called,

you've probably heard of it, Yosemite.

And I have never climbed Half Dome, but I sure want to climb Half

Dome.

How many all know what Half Dome is?

How many of you all have ever had a Mac computer where the desktop

shows this really beautiful floor of the rocks?

Have you seen that?

Half Dome is a far rock out in the very back right hand corner.

And we've been there.

And here's how I'll tell you, it's really wonderful starting out.

But if you're going to do a hike to maybe like the top of a mountain

or the top of a rock, it starts off slowly and eventually

things go pretty well.

But there comes a point where you say, you know what?

If I'm going to keep on moving forward, it's going to take some

time, some energy, be some cost.

God has called Joshua to get off of his face and move forward

and do what God has called them to do.

If you could say anything about the children of Israel.

You would say this.

They were a people that were in a complicated situation.

So this morning, with God's help, as I speak to you on this idea,

I'm going to give you an outline sermon.

And my outline has a number of points.

Please don't be nervous, but as a preacher, my teenagers, they're

not teenagers anymore, but they know I'm not a three point outline

guy and I'm not a guy that has to make everything alliterate.

I'm just going to walk through the text with you.

We're going to walk through chapters one, through chapter number

four this morning, God willing.

And if God allows, tonight we'll go into chapter number five

and walk through what was, what was happening there in the life

of the children of Israel this morning with God's help, number one,

would you notice this with me?

If we're going to move forward, we must move forward understanding

God's heart.

We must move forward understanding God's heart.

I can't show this all to you in the text this morning.

Those of you who are students of the scripture will understand

much of this.

But let me give you a little bit of background.

The nation of Israel were not just any people.

These were God's chosen people.

Back in Genesis chapter 12, God says to a man named Abram, hey,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

get out from thy country, from thy kindred, and you go to a place

that I'll show thee.

And Moses, not Moses, Abram obeyed God.

But Abram never got a chance to get all the way into the promised

land.

The way that we understand it's happening here in the book of

Joshua.

Then after Abraham, we have Isaac and Jacob and Joseph.

And after Joseph dies, the children of Israel are brought to

the nation of Egypt because of the famine of the land.

And they're now forgotten.

After Joseph's death, a new pharaoh arrives.

And the Bible tells us these people were in bondage and slavery

in Egypt for 400 years.

God raised up a man named Moses.

And Moses was raised up by God after 40 years in Egypt and 40 years

in the backside of the desert.

Now he's 40 years leading the children of Israel.

And here's basically what happens.

They wander around.

If you don't mind, could we put that slide up on the screen?

I want to try to help you understand a little bit of what's

happening here.

You'll see on this image here the red line.

If you were going from the land of Goshen just over to the very

top of the map.

North of Hebron, here, Mount Nebo, there's a pretty straight shot.

But if you'll see the red dots, that's where the children of

Israel were led.

Why were they led there?

Well, again, I can't develop it all, but they were led there because

of their disbelief.

And the children of Israel, although they had disbelieved God

and they wouldn't trust his word, and they wandered for 40 years.

I want you to know something.

God still loved his people.

And God had a plan for his people, the nation of Israel.

I outline my notes using letter A.

So I know some people like to know that the way they can keep their

notes.

Letter A in my notes says this.

God loves and desires his best for his people.

God loves and desires his best for his people.

We're not just talking about some abstract being.

The God of the universe cares about you.

The God of the universe cares about Heritage Baptist Church.

I have the privilege of pastor a place called Victory Baptist Church.

God cares about the church where I pastor.

God cares about his people.

God did not leave the nation of Israel destitute.

Moses was a great man of God.

If you go to the next slide, we'll kind of walk through this just

a little bit.

And you'll see here that God has now led the children of Israel

over to a place called Shittim.

And we're going to find out that God says to.

God says to Joshua, hey, it's time to get up and rise.

And they're about to go over to a place called Gilgal, then to

AI.

I'm sorry, Gilgal.

And then Jericho and then a place called AI.

If you know the book of Joshua, and I know you, do you understand

that?

That all sounds wonderful, but here's the catch.

Someone needed to lead God's people.

And in Joshua, chapter number one, if they're going to move forward,

we must understand that God loves and desires his best for his

people.

Secondly, though letter B, notice this.

God would keep his promises to his people concerning their land.

God would keep his promises to his people concerning the land.

Because we understand that God loves His people.

God had made them promises, and God's promises, He would keep

them.

If you follow the book of Joshua into the book of Judges, you

realize that God's people did go in and the word really is used,

the word appropriate.

It wasn't that the land wasn't theirs, it was theirs to go and possess.

And so God loves His people.

He will keep his promises.

Let her see, though.

Notice this.

God desires for his name to be glorified.

God desires for his name to Be glorified.

And I think the framework here is so important.

So we understand that God.

If we're gonna move forward, we must understand the heart of God.

And the heart of God is he loves his people.

He keeps his promises.

And more than anything, he is not interested in our comfort.

He's not interested in our plans.

He's interested in his glory.

There's some verse I want to read to you.

Exodus, chapter 34, verse 14.

Exodus 34:14

God says, for thou shalt worship no other God.

For the Lord whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.

Isaiah, chapter 42, verse 8.

Isaiah 42:8

I am the Lord.

That is my name.

And my glory will I not give to another.

Isaiah, chapter 48, verse 11.

Isaiah 48:11

For mine own sake.

Even for my own sake will I do it.

For how should my name be polluted?

And I will not give my glory to another.

Psalm, chapter 23.

Psalms 23 · chapter mention

The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

Aren't we thankful that we have a good shepherd?

But listen, next part of the verse.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for my name's sake.

Does the Bible say that?

Can I remind you what God's Word says?

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for one reason.

For his name's sake.

Can I remind you that God has a plan and God has a purpose.

And if we're going to move forward, we have to understand God's

heart.

Number two, this morning.

If we're going to move forward, we must move forward following

God's method.

If we're going to move forward in our lives, we must move forward

following God's method.

Joshua, chapter number two begins with the phrase, that seems

so heartless.

If you don't understand what God's saying, look at Joshua, chapter

Joshua 1:2

1, verse 2.

Moses, my servant is dead.

If you read that, it just seems so calloused.

But let me remind you, Moses didn't die.

And the children of Israel just keep on going.

Moses died.

And when Moses died, there was a period of mourning.

There was a time when the people who loved Moses, he was their

leader.

There was a time that there was God.

Great heartache.

I'm not going to read this to you, but if you want to put in your

notes.

Numbers, chapter 27, verses 12.

Numbers 27:12

Through verse number 23, God and Moses have a conversation.

And Moses says, hey, I understand.

I've sinned.

I cannot move forward.

The promised land.

So, God, you've got to raise Up a leader.

And guess what God told Moses.

Guess what?

Moses did not pick the leader.

Guess who picked the leader?

God did.

And I love this.

Over in the book of Joshua, God says, moses, my servant is dead

now, therefore arise.

Joshua has been the attendant, the minister, the man who has served

with God and with Moses for these many years.

He was one of.

Brother Weatherby and I talked about this just this morning.

He was one of the 12 spies.

Joshua and Caleb brought back a good report.

Remember the song 10 were bad and 2 were good, right?

Joshua and Caleb, these mighty men of God.

And Joshua now says, you're the man who's going to move forward

for God's glory.

No one is irreplaceable.

I pastor church.

And if I were to go to my church today and say, hey, you know

what I just decided I'm not going to be a pastor anymore and

I'm going to move across the country and I'm going to go do something

else, my church would struggle with that.

I've only been there for six and a half years.

But the pastor is an important position because the pastor is God's

under shepherd.

The pastor's not important because the pastor's important.

The pastor's important.

Brother Wetherby and I understand this is because God calls

a man to lead his church.

And we as Baptists believe very strongly.

And there are two church offices.

There are pastors, and the Bible uses the word elders, bishops,

overseers.

There's these men called pastors and there's deacons.

And God calls people to lead.

And God has a method.

God ordains leadership in every local church in order that

they may have an under shepherd.

But let me tell you what I've learned pastoring these six and a

half years.

I am not the shepherd.

I am the under shepherd.

And every time that I've ever began to think I'm the shepherd,

God has just quickly and quietly lovingly said to me, jesse,

you're just my under shepherd.

Because God will remind me often, I'm replaceable.

And all of us are replaceable.

Moses was the meekest man, the great prophet.

And God says, hey, Joshua, Moses is dead.

And then he says these words now, therefore, what right.

It's time, Joshua, to move forward.

But guess what, Joshua, it's going to be complicated.

And so we understand God's heart.

We want to understand God has a method.

Number three this morning.

We must move forward obeying God's mandate.

We must move forward obeying God's mandate.

I love God's word, especially when I first started preaching.

I go back, and those of you who are teenagers and we are here,

my wife and I, I apologize you had to listen to me preach.

I go back and listen to my messages, and I'm like, did I actually

have that outline?

I'll listen to a message and I'll say, man, I thought that message

was so good.

And I go look at my notes and I'm like, man, not.

I'm saying, I'm a better preacher now, but I have learned

to fully and wholly let the scriptures teach, instead of me trying

to make the scriptures say what I want.

And when you go through Joshua chapter one, I'm just walking through.

So you say, I don't agree with.

The pastor said, feel free to not agree with what I say.

But if you disagree with God says, that's your problem, not mine.

So God says, hey, here's a mandate, Joshua.

Look what the Bible says in verse number beginning here.

In verse number, verse number six, God says, be strong and of good

courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance

the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them.

Verse 7.

Only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe

to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded

thee.

Turn not from the right hand nor to the left, that thou mayest

prosper whithersoever thou goest.

What did God say?

Well, if we're going to move forward obeying God's mandate, letter

A, we must know God's word.

You cannot move forward, not turn the right hand to the left unless

you know we're straight.

Trait is you cannot say, well, I'm going to follow God and let God

lead me.

Unless you know what God leads.

And here's what I would be very careful to tell you, that no

man, no preacher can say, I have a word from God that God hasn't

already given us.

If I were to come here to say to you, most of you all know brother

Wiggins, right?

I joked with brother Wiggins and said, brother Wiggins will hate

me for doing this.

But I joked, Brother Wiggins said, wouldn't it be funny if I said

God spoke to me and told me that your next pasture should be

my.

And brother Wiggins says, jesse, don't do that.

Well, now he can say, I did it right.

God didn't speak to me and tell me anything.

You understand that I don't know what God has.

I can't tell you.

I can't tell you what God's will is for you.

I don't know.

But I do know that God's Word clearly tells us what he wants.

What does God want from us?

He wants you to personally know God's Word.

If we're going to be people who follow and love God, then we

have to know God's Word.

And God reveals us to Himself through conscience and through creation.

Yes, but do you know that God speaks to us through His Word?

And here's what I love.

God's will never violates God's Word.

If someone tells you to do something that doesn't line up with

God's Word, you can quickly say, false lie.

It's not true.

But you know the problem.

So many Christians say they love God but spend no time in His

Word.

And we don't know God's Word.

And we fall susceptible to every prey and every kind of wind

because we don't know God talks about we should be anchored,

settled, that we should not be tossed Ephesians to and fro with

every wind of doctrine by the cunning sleight of men whereby they

will lie in wait.

To do what?

To deceive, we must know God's Word.

God's will never violates God's Word.

If I could leave you with that thought, that's something God has

used in my life to always make sure whatever advice I have lines

up with God's Word.

Letter B.

Notice this.

You had better obey God's Word fully.

God's mandate not just to know His Word, but not knowing His Word

is one thing.

Obeying His Word is where the priority should be.

God says to Joshua in verse number seven only be thou strong

and very courageous that thou mayest observe to what do.

Do you know how many people in this world can tell you all the verses

of Scripture to back up how they should do things?

And the thing is this.

It's not about what you know.

It's about who you know.

And it's about if you'll obey what God actually says in His Word.

James tells us this.

Whoso looketh in the perfect law of liberty and continueth not

therein.

He being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this

man shall be blessed in his deed.

How often do we look into God's Word And God says, you know

what?

This needs to change in our lives.

As James said, we cannot walk away and forget what we just got

done hearing.

May God help us to be people who obey God's Word fully.

Look at verse number eight.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth.

But thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou

mayest hear it is observed to do according to all that is written

therein.

Now we want prosperity.

We want success.

Joshua wanted to be a great military leader for God.

And can I tell you, Joshua was a man's man.

Joshua was God's man.

And Joshua was humanly used to go in and to possess the land and

lead the children of Israel.

But do you know what God says to them?

Hey, here's where your success lies, Joshua, you know my word and

you obey my word.

And you do my word.

Church, can I encourage you today?

May we be people who spend much time in God's word.

May we know what God's word said, and may we determine we're

going to fully follow after the God of his.

Of his word thou mayest observe to do.

Look at verse number nine.

Have not I commanded thee.

Be strong and of a good courage.

Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.

I love this.

I love this.

I love this.

For the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest.

I want you to know that letter C. You had better be courageous.

If you're going to know God's word and follow God's word, you better

do it with courage.

Been pastor now for six and a half years.

It sounds weird to say that.

It doesn't seem like that long.

Other ways it sounds even longer.

We have had wonderful blessings and we had seasons of hardship.

And can I tell you that you cannot know if you've never pastor

what a pastor goes through.

You can't know Brother Weatherby.

I've not asked him this, but I'd imagine he and Mrs. Wetherby

would agree.

But I was here as a youth pastor for eight years, and when

I left, I thought pridefully, I'm ready for this.

Like, I'm ready.

I'm ready to pastor.

Brother Rens can know what I'm talking about, and Brother Cox knows

what I'm talking about.

Other men, I'm sure do as well.

But you know what happens?

I call this the other side of the desk.

Because it's one thing to sit on the desk and walk in and be able

to say, let me ask the pastor.

Or I used to love this one.

I wouldn't say, well, you have to ask the pastor.

I don't know that one.

There's no one to kick it up to except for to God.

But here's what I'm trying to say to you.

That does not make the pastor infallible.

I'M not saying that.

Here's what I'm saying to you.

You had better pray for, for the people God put in your life who

have pastoral responsibility because they have to walk with God

and know God's word and they have to lead courageously.

And God says, joshua, here's what I want you to do.

Only be thou with me for.

Only be thou courageous, for I am with thee wherever you go, whitherso

thou goest.

Well, continuing our texture number four this morning.

Would you notice this?

We must move forward when we don't fully understand.

We must move forward when we don't fully understand.

It's great to say, I know God's word, I'm going to follow God's

will.

But guess what?

There comes a moment when Joshua has to actually get up and

he has to actually walk forward.

And not just Joshua, move forward.

Joshua has to go lead a group of people who are struggling and

hurting.

And Joshua has to say, let's go, move forward.

Verse number 10.

Then Joshua commanded the office of the people, saying, pass

through the host and command the people saying, prepare you victuals,

for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan.

Ye shall pass over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which

the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.

Now, would you put that image back up on the screen one more time

there of there, the Jordan River.

I want to draw your attention here.

They knew they were supposed to go over to Jericho, over that

part of the nation.

Go back one slide, if you don't mind.

Actually, I think one more slide there, brother Troy, if you'll

go to the third slide, I think that's where we want to be.

Okay, here we go.

This is the route.

If you look on the left hand side, the Exodus route.

You go up by the Salt Sea, which is Mount Nebo.

You come over this one right here and you see up there where the

Sea of Galilee is.

They're going to come across right down here.

I'm sorry, the salt sea in the bottom, the sea down here by Moab.

If they're going to go across into the promised land, there's a

major problem.

There's an issue.

And that issue is called the Jordan River.

And God says, hey, Joshua, it's time to get up.

And the first thing Joshua has to do is tell the people, hey, we're

going to go cross a place that's not crossable.

Isn't it interesting when God tells us to do things that we can't

fully grasp, we can't fully Understand?

And we face a difficulty.

What happens when we don't know what to do?

Joshua says, hey, we're passing over this Jordan.

There had to be, I think, a lot of opinions, don't you think?

I'm sure the people all said, joshua, you've been our leader now

for five minutes.

Whatever you say, I'll do.

Is that what you think happened?

I don't know if it's an independent Baptist church, what

they had there in the wilderness, but I'd say that if I

know people, I'm sure there are lots of thoughts, lots of opinions,

lots of ideas, like, Joshua, isn't there another way around?

But guess what?

God said, joshua, you need to move forward when you don't understand.

Now let me go back and say, God's word never violates God's.

God's will never violates God's word.

But God clearly told Joshua, it's time to move forward.

And what you don't understand, you still have to move forward.

I love the Bible says this, trust in the Lord with all thine

heart.

Lean not to thine own understanding.

In all thy ways, acknowledge him.

And I love this.

And he shall direct thy paths.

What does God have for Heritage Baptist Church?

I don't know.

But I know this.

There's a God in heaven who delights in leading and directing

and sending us on the path as we direct our attention to him, acknowledge

him, walk with him.

And that's what God desires for you and me in our lives and also

as corporately as a church.

But guess what?

Story doesn't stop there.

Fifthly, this morning, would you notice this?

We must move forward with unity.

We must move forward with unity.

I love that God's word just speaks for itself.

Go back to the verse number 12.

There's a little challenge here because not all the Israelites

care about going to the promised land.

Verse number 12, the Bible says, and to the Reubenites and to

the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh spake Joshua saying,

remember the word which Moses the servant Lord commanded you, saying,

the Lord your God given you the rest and have given you this

land.

Your wives, your little one and your cattle shall remain in the

land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan.

But ye shall pass before your brethren, armed all the mighty men

of valor, and help them until the Lord have given your brethren

rest as he have given you, and they also have possessed the land

which the Lord your God giveth them.

Then shall you return unto the land of your possessions and enjoy

it, which Moses the Lord's servant gave you on this side, Jordan,

toward the sun rising.

What happened?

Well, if you were to go back and read deuteronomy, chapter number

three, verse 18 through 19, the Bible says the Reubenites, the

Gadites, the half tribe Manasseh said, hey, can we have land

over here?

And God said, yes, but you have to go fight with your children,

the other children of Israel.

Now everything has moved forward.

Years have passed, and there has to be a unified Israel.

There cannot be the two and a half tribes over here having their

own opinion and the 10 tribes, nine half tribes having their own

opinion.

God says, hey, if you're going to move forward, there's some complication.

And the complication is not all the time.

Does everybody agree?

If I were to ask a question in my church and ask 10 people the same

question, do you may have different answers I'd get if I asked?

We have three deacons in our church.

I have staff members.

If I sit in a staff meeting and say to my pastoral staff, what

do you think?

I get different opinions.

And guess what?

That is life.

If you husbands today pick out where you're going to go to lunch

at, your wife may want to go somewhere different.

One of the favorite things I do as a dad, I'm completely joking,

is ask my family, where do you want to go for dinner?

Because no one ever agrees unless we choose some nice place.

If it's not a nice place, I don't want to go there.

I want to go there.

Guess what?

We never fully always agree.

But in the children of Israel and in God's local church, there

has to be unity.

There has to be a spirit of what does God want?

And there has to be, and I would not say concessions.

I want to be clear for what I say here, but there has to be a willingness

that no one says, I will only do what I want.

Because it's not about what any one person wants, it's about

what God wants.

And the question is always this.

Not what do I want?

But the question very simply, what?

What does God want?

And since God's will never violates God's word, as we spend

time in God's word, guess what?

God does.

God brings unity.

And I'm so thankful that the children of Israel, the Reubenites,

the Gaddites, half tribe Manasseh said, hey, we're going with

you, and we'll go to battle with you.

Notice this number six.

We must move forward when seemingly impossible.

We must move forward when seemingly impossible.

So you're telling me, preacher, that There is a new leader

and there is people on the other side that are going to go after.

And there is disunity.

All those things are happening.

And Josh is supposed to move forward.

Yes, it's complicated, but he has to move forward.

Sometimes after we see this, we go to Joshua chapter number three.

Would you go there with me to Joshua chapter three?

In Joshua, chapter number three, the Bible says in verse number

one.

And Joshua rose early in the morning and they removed from Shittim

and came to Jordan.

He and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they

passed over, came to pass.

After three days, the officers went through the host and they commanded

the people, saying, when ye see the Ark of the Covenant of the

Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites bearing it,

then shall you remove from your place and go after it.

That doesn't sound too bad, because they understand to follow

God's lead in the Ark of the Covenant.

But if you know the rest of the story, he didn't say, hey, just

go stand behind the Ark.

He says, the priests, the Levites.

I need you to do something.

Keep on going.

Look down with me, if you would, in verse number 10.

And Joshua said, hereby ye shall know that the living God is

among you, that he will without fail drive out from before

you the Canaanites and the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites

and the Girgestites, the Amorites and the Jebusites.

Behold the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord God of all the earth

passes owed before you.

Now therefore take you 12 men out of the tribes of Israel, out

of every man, a tribe.

And it shall come to pass as soon as the soles of the feet of

the priests that bear the Ark of the Lord.

The Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of Jordan,

that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters

that come down from above.

And they shall stand upon an heap.

Guess what God says, okay, if it's not most difficult, already

the Jordan River's keeping you.

We got to have unity.

God says, by the way, priests, I want you to take the Ark of the

Covenant, the prized possession, the thing that represented

the very presence of God.

And I want you to go stand in the water.

Do you think people had opinions about that?

Do you think that people thought, how is this going to help

us get across?

But here's what happened.

They had to trust God when things seemed seemingly impossible.

And I just want to encourage you in your personal life.

God is a God who delights in taking Things that seem impossible

and moving things forward for his glory.

God is a God who delights in taking broken marriages and broken

lives and putting them back together for his glory.

God is a God who delights seeing people who want his will to

be done and saying, you know what?

I'm going to extend mercy.

You think about the Book of Hosea.

I believe it's chapter number three that God says, hey, here's

what's going to happen.

I'm going to do this.

I'm going to do this because you rebelled.

And then God says, but I'm going to give you in the Valley of

Achor a door of hope.

I love this place.

You guys are going through some stuff, a lot of stuff.

And I don't exactly know what Jordan river and how the Lord's going

to lead you next, but I know this.

The God of Heritage Baptist Church, the God of the Bible that

we serve, that you serve, still delights in the impossible.

And I know the God of the Bible delights in when his children

come to him and say, I want to follow you and walk with you.

That God can take the seemingly impossible and say, with

me, all things are possible.

You know, the Bible says all things are possible.

It's said about a woman named Mary who's a virgin about to have

a baby and says this, with God, nothing is impossible.

I look forward to continue this message tonight because guess

what?

All that's happened so far is their feet are going to dip in the

water.

They're not across the Jordan river yet.

They haven't even faced the first enemy.

And by the way, before they face the first enemy, God says, time

out.

Before we go, all the men have to be circumcised.

They're not out of the complicated process yet.

But I'm going to stop here this morning with God's help, I want

to encourage this church.

I want to encourage you to come back tonight.

But more than come back and listen to this preacher, because

this preacher doesn't know anything.

I want to encourage you to turn your attention to the God of

all the universe.

And I want to encourage you to ask God that God would help you to

wholly follow him and that God would help this church to have unity.

And that God would imagine God would lead this church to move forward,

even though things seem complicated.

Not so that people can say, look what we did.

Not so that someone can say, isn't that awesome?

So that the God of the universe can be glorified in and

through Heritage Baptist Church.

May God help us, Brother Weatherby.

As you've heard many times, truth changes nothing until it is

applied.

And so right now, heads are bowed, eyes are closed.

I want you to say, so what?

What has this got to do with me?

I want you to honestly ask that question.

Are you ready to move forward?

Are you ready?

You say, well, it depends.

No, it doesn't depend.

It's a choice you make in your own heart and life.

Lord, I'm ready.

I want to help.

I want to move forward.

I don't want to hinder.

I want to be a part of the solution, not part of the problem.

And maybe God's touched in your heart and you say, well, Lord,

I don't know what to do, but I do want to do something.

Why don't you come and say, lord, just tell me, show me what

you want me to do.

Where do I start?

Maybe in your life, maybe in your home, I don't know.

But God cares about you and he puts you in this church for a reason.

And we got enough people to hold the chairs down.

But we need more people that say, I'm ready to move forward.

I want to help unify.

I want to see more unity.

I want to move forward.

The music's playing softly.

Many have already come toward the altar.

Maybe you'd like to come say, well, I don't know what to do.

Well, tell God you don't know what to do.

He'll tell you what to do.

Well, I don't know what to pray.

Yeah, I've been there many times.

Lord, we know not what to pray for as we ought.

But the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings

that cannot be uttered.

Are you groaning in your heart, in your spirit, for revival,

for unity, for victory, for power, for souls to be saved, for

families to be healed?

I'm going to pray and we're going to sing a verse of invitation.

And when we begin to sing, join these that have come.

If there's not room, you can use these chairs.

Or maybe you can't kneel.

Maybe you'd like to just come and sit on one of these chairs and

make that your altar.

Heavenly Father, we need the every hour.

But Lord, it seems that this is the hour.

And Lord, we're not guaranteed the next hour.

We only have this hour.

And so, Lord, I pray that we might be all touchable.

Help us not to draw back but to draw nigh.

Lord, you know our hearts.

You know my heart.

Sometimes my own heart deceives me, but never your.

Lord, give courage people that are maybe on the fence.

They're not sure.

I pray, Father, that yout would give them, Father, that assurance

that they desperately need.

And, Lord, if there's someone here today that's not even sure where

they're gonna live after they die, they don't know for sure.

Maybe they would come and say, I want to settle that today.

I can't settle anything else till I settle that.

Maybe you would like to join the church today.

You're here.

You're not a member.

You'd like to be a part of this church family?

Lord, I pray you would speak to every heart.

In Jesus name, I pray.

Heads are still bowed, eyes are closed.