Pray It Forward

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Morning, church.

Hope that you're doing good this morning.

I have never been so happy to see people this morning at church.

I spent my week serving my civil duty for Shelby County and uh got called on a trial, and so I've sat in a box for 30-something hours and stared at walls and was just left with my thoughts.

I have missed people, I missed my family this week.

Man, I'm so glad to be in church.

I hope that you are.

And uh yeah, thank you, Robert.

Appreciate that.

And so Pastor Eli did an awesome job last week and uh glad for his message in uh Joshua chapter 9, and glad to have our team back from Costa Rica.

Joshua 9 · chapter mention

Welcome home.

Well, they did a lot of good work on their trip and uh spent a great week.

Be in prayer, uh Deidra Brown, our missions coordinator, takes a group to Nepal this week.

So we are serving God through this little church all over the world, and it's an exciting time.

Turn your Bibles to Joshua chapter 10.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

Today I want to talk to you on the topic pray it forward.

Uh in a letter in 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote to Benjamin Webb, and it said these words I do not pretend to give such a deed, I only lend it to you.

When you meet with another person in distress, you must pay me by lending the sum to them, enjoining him to discharge them the debt in the same type of operation.

When he shall be able to meet with somebody, he should then lend to that person help.

I hope it to go through many hands before the progress would stop.

In 2000, there was a movie made with this premise to pay it forward.

And the idea of pay it forward was that a teacher challenged some students to change their world by paying forward to three people, with the rule being you have to do something for someone else that they could not do or weren't doing for themselves.

And so people began to pay.

You've maybe been participated in this, paying for somebody behind you in line at a fast food restaurant.

We've had it several times.

We've been at Starbucks and that go on, and to keep paying it forward and then sharing knowledge forward or love forward.

Well, I want you to understand something this morning.

The idea and concept, not Hollywood's or Ben Franklin's even, has always been a concept from God about praying it forward.

And I want to discuss that idea this morning.

Let's pray.

Father, we love you.

We thank you for your word.

And God, we ask that you would clear our minds and help us to see exactly what you want us to see this morning.

And uh, Lord, fill us.

We need your presence in this place.

Lord, we do not need just another meeting.

We don't need a tradition, we don't need something religious, we need an act of God.

And so we pray that you would be with us, speak to us, and change us in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Look at verses 1 and 2 in Joshua chapter 10, and as you are, the first point this morning is a time of distress.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

Now it came to pass when Adonizadek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it, as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.

And so we see the stress of this king, Adonizadic, who is stressed about the situation.

And once you move forward, I want you to know, church in God's purpose.

It is a better purpose for your life, it's a better foundation for your life, it is a better uh living, and it but I want you to know something that a Christian's life is not stress-free.

Um, some people would scare you and making you feel like just because you become a Christian, that you got a great big fish target on your back that Satan's gonna come at you about.

Um and I and listen, I I need you to know life has two hearts.

Being a Christian can be hard, and being a lost person is hard.

Okay?

It's not like you know, Satan has this target on you and it's a it's a worse life.

It has its difficulties.

There's people with stress on both sides, and let me tell you, the lost, I believe, have more stress.

Sin creates stress, physical, mental, emotional stress, sometimes immediate.

I was telling y'all a few weeks ago.

Uh my wife made the comment to me, we were in the in Indiana, you better slow down, you're gonna get a ticket.

I said, cops aren't out here on Sundays within seconds.

My sin revealed itself.

The red and blue was behind me, and I was stressed that I saw it.

I was stressed by the ticket, I was stressed to pay it.

My sin had an immediate effect on me.

Don't tell me that a sinful life isn't full of stress, it is.

Okay, so there's two hearts, there's two kinds of distress.

What do we do with it?

So we see in verse 2, they feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city.

Letter A is this enemies are activated by fear.

King Edenized heard the word of God's hand, and it says he feared greatly because of Gibeon.

Now, if you were here last week, you heard that Gibeon deceived, tricked, and pulled the Israelites into a treaty and became a part of them under their protection, under their hand, and made a plot to work with them.

And they, sure enough, Israel made a treaty with them.

And so now this other king is fearing because of Gibeon, who's with Israel, and fears enough to gather all of these kings.

Proverbs 29, 25 says, the fear of man lays a snare.

Fear and panic are one of the enemy's oldest weapons.

Absolutely a weapon of the enemy.

If you lived through 2020, you saw that fear and panic are a weapon from the enemy.

And if you don't believe me about that, it was a record year, top seller in history for gun sales in 2020.

23 million guns were purchased in 2020, up 10 million from 13 the year before.

Fear and panic.

You better believe we have a culture that was full of it.

I was so glad in 2020 to be a pastor at a church that was open.

I was so glad to be a pastor at a church where we kept preaching the truth of God's word when the world was unraveling in pandemic.

You better believe that Satan desired to infiltrate the world with fear and panic.

You see, Satan energizes and gives shape to worldly systems, to worldly organizations, to political systems, to philosophical movements.

Satan exploits all of those with lies and with fear.

Because fear, why?

Because fear is a paralyzer.

I'm gonna say that again.

Fear is a paralyzer.

He seeks to infiltrate through fear.

And the enemies were activated here.

This king goes running because of fear.

I read an article this week.

Mended life.

This is what it said about fear.

Fear affects your physical health several ways, some of which it listed, it weakens the immune system.

You can have gastrointestinal issues because of fear, ulcers, IBS, blood pressure is always affected by fear and stress.

It can affect your emotional and mental health.

Clinical depression comes from fear, anxiety comes from fear, sleeping disorder comes from fear.

In the spiritual realm, fear stifles our confidence in what God can do.

It distracts us from our purpose.

Fear impacts relationships because of fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of safety.

And listen to me, Satan is our ultimate enemy and seeks for you to be paralyzed in fear, cowering in fear.

Why?

Well, number one, he himself lives in fear.

The Bible says that he fears God's word.

He cannot do anything with God's word.

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness three times, you know what he did?

He quoted Scripture to Satan and made Satan divert his path every time.

And so Satan lives in fear of that.

In Revelations chapter 12, 11 and 12, it says this they overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the power of their testimony.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

He came down with great anger because he knows his time is short.

The enemy is afraid.

He's in fear of what's going to happen.

And God's Jesus' blood and the power of your testimony fights that fight.

And so we see that the presence of God, Satan doesn't like the services that we have at CCW.

He doesn't like the presence of God because he can't do anything with the presence of God.

Some of you have heard me share this, but uh, Callie was just a little girl and we were in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

And I don't know why this particular morning, but I was up early and I was going to take the trash out.

You had to walk a good ways down a lane to some trash cans that were protected.

And I said, Do you want to go walk the trash with me?

And she said, Yeah, I'll do that, Daddy.

And so I grabbed her hand and we, you know, I had the trash and I was walking down this lane.

I got to this area of trash cans, probably not even an eighth of a mile from the cabin we were staying in.

And I turned around, I looked up the hill, and I said, Gallie, there's a bear up there.

I said, Let's watch it.

So we're standing by the trash can, and the bear comes down and it walks down a hill behind the cabin, and I'm like, this is awesome.

I can't even believe it.

Well, it was awesome until he took a turn that I didn't think.

I thought he would go with the way of the woods.

No, he walked around to the front, hit the driveway, and continued on.

We're standing there, and in my spirit, I started to feel anxiety.

Callie's just standing there looking at it.

She seems unaffected, not scared at all.

And I began to think about my plan.

What am I gonna do?

Okay, the bear takes a few steps forward towards us, and I'm like, oh man, like this thing is coming towards us.

It's getting closer and closer.

And finally, that morning, as it would happen, I had gotten up and I was reading about hiking.

And I'm reading through the things about hiking.

It says, if you come upon a bear, number one, don't look it directly in the eye.

All right.

And it says, do not run.

Check.

So I'm standing still, and it says, appear to be big.

I say, Callie, put your arms up in the air like me.

Do we look big?

We look big.

That does nothing to the bear.

It takes a few steps more, and I'm like, this is all I got.

It's about to eat my little baby right here.

And I grab a few little rocks right there and I throw it, and the thing runs onto the porch.

And I'm like, that's not what I wanted either.

Right?

Finally, it jumps off and it goes away.

But I was talking to her afterwards, and she's still to this day, I had no fear.

She had zero fear that anything was going to happen.

I like to believe she thought standing next to Daddy, there was nothing that bear could do.

And I'm telling you, she was probably my saving grace because I might have ran, I might have done something stupid, but I wanted to protect her.

And so in that moment, the presence that was there was very important.

God's presence is something that our enemy doesn't like.

And if he decides to lift his finger, speak his voice, share a word, the enemy will run away from God's presence.

So A.

B.

Simpson said this: fear is born of Satan.

The Bible says, perfect love cast out fear.

Joshua was told four times, be courageous and not afraid.

The psalmist said, What time I'm afraid, I will trust in thee.

I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

2 Timothy 1, 7 says, We are not given to a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound mind.

Fear is not from God.

He's not given it to you.

So if you're stressed today, if you're worried today, if you're living in that, I want you to know there's freedom in putting your trust and faith in the one who created you.

He doesn't want you living in that.

He doesn't want you wasting your life in that.

Matthew 6 is full of the reason you shouldn't worry.

He says, I've put everything together, the flower on the field, I've created all of this.

Do you not think I have enough for you?

He says, Don't waste one ounce of your energy in fear.

So Adonizadek became afraid because of the works of God and because of this treaty with Gibeon.

He saw and heard about the works of God.

John 3.20 says, Everyone who does evil hates the light, the works of those who live in the light, and will not come into light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

That's why today some people will not darken the door of church.

They don't want to come into a place where light might expose where they are for fear of that, for fear of exposure, for fear of breaking me down, chiseling through my hard things.

But Joshua lives in freedom.

Not because he's sinless, but because the blood of Jesus has covered him and he believes in it.

And so Joshua lives in this freedom.

And that's why you see in Scripture why David ran at his enemy.

Why Gideon had a small militia and went in.

Enemies are activated because of fear.

But the child of God doesn't have to run around, sneak around.

You don't have to lay down on a pillow at night in guilt.

Living, looking, vacillating back and forth, not sure, because you're living a certain style of life.

Well, I want you to look at verses 3 through 6.

Therefore, and Izah, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, king of Hebron, Piram, king of Jarmuth, Jephia king of Latius, and Deber, king of Eglon, saying, Come up to me and help me that we may attack Gibeon.

For it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.

Therefore, the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Latius, Eglon, gathered together and went, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon, and made war against it.

And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgas, saying, Do not forsake your servants.

Come up to us quickly, save us, and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered against us.

Letter B is this enemies assemble for fighting.

You see, he calls forth for all these kings, and there's ten total, five of the Amorites and five other who assemble for a fight.

There's a fight coming, church.

There's assembly coming.

I want you to understand the distress, Christian or lost, you're going to have a fight.

Let me make it a little bit practical for us, Christian, today.

You have three enemies that are assembled to fight every day.

1 John 2.15 through 17 says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

For them that love the world, the love of the Father is not in them.

The world is your first fight.

Okay?

It's the outer fight.

Okay?

In Ephesians 2.2, it says, You once walked following the course of this world, following the prince and the power of the air.

So the system of the world is a fight because the system of the world is a sin-infiltrated system.

And so the organizations and system that Satan has put in place in this world is a path chosen in the three P's that I talk about all the time: pleasure, possessions, and power.

So in this world and of this world, that is what you live for.

You live to have pleasure, you live for power and possessions.

Any way you can get into the three P's is called hedonism, okay?

Living for pleasure is the natural lore of every man without Christ.

But when you chose to become a Christian, you chose a different path than the world.

But this tension exists for the Christian because this world is not our home.

You're a pilgrim living in a land and you should be homesick.

We're homesick.

You see, the natural bent of this world is a fight for the Christian.

Because we would like to see a world that is sin-filled to be a godlier world.

And sometimes we even say some really silly things.

Do we expect for the world to be biblical?

It's a lost world.

I don't expect for the lost world to be very biblical, but there is this tension because I live in it.

The Bible says we live in it.

We're in it, but not of it.

So we live here and there's this natural, there should be a natural tension for you because we live in a sin-filled world.

We're all foreigners in our native land.

Does that not make you feel a little distressed?

So we have this fight, but the good news.

If you're homesick today, that's good news.

I told y'all a few weeks ago about the Mason Dixon Gospel Jubilees that I got dragged to as a kid.

And I remember this song that was sung over and over.

It'll hit me out of nowhere.

I'll be studying.

And Southern gospel songs are embedded in my side.

I don't even look.

If you love it, fine, great.

There's all kinds of music for all kinds of people.

I'm just saying it's there.

Whether I like it or not, it's there.

And here are the words to a song I heard every Jubilee.

It's called Homesick.

There's a light in the window, table spread in splendor.

Someone's standing by the open door.

I can see a crystal river.

I must be near forever.

I've never been this homesick before.

I can see the family gather, sweet faces all familiar, and no one's old or feeble anymore.

My lonesome heart is crying, think I'll spread my wings for flying.

See, I've never felt this homesick before.

See the bright light shine.

It's just about home time.

I can see my father standing at the door.

This world's been a wilderness, and I'm ready for deliverance.

I've never been this homesick before.

If you're living in this world, if you're here today and you don't feel like you fit, it's because you don't.

But if you're here today and you've had this feeling and you've never felt quite like things were right, haven't had the right job or the right purpose, something's sort of always been missing in your life.

I want to tell you, you might be here in the right place in the right time, and there's something in Revelation 3.10 that says, Behold, I stand at the door of your heart and knock.

And he wants to invite you to the home that will fill that home sickness because you were never meant for this land.

I want to tell you a surprise this morning.

You're not human beings.

I say, What are you saying, preacher?

We were created as spiritual, eternal beings, having a human experience.

The horrifying reality for some today is if you died lost, you'll awaken a real place called hell.

A place of punishment meant for Satan.

That's not popular today, but it's the truth.

You see, you're going to live forever in a place called heaven, or you're going to die forever in a place called hell.

Eternity is our deadline.

The human experience has a deadline.

This life has an ending.

And what you did with that knock and the door of your heart makes a big difference on how eternity goes.

Are you homesick today?

You see, number one was that world.

The second thing that's practical about our fight, the second enemy is our own flesh.

See, we fight the outer system, the flesh is the inner system, because you were born in.

In this world, you inherited natural sin.

You didn't even have a say.

You didn't come out of your mom and say, I'll choose perfection.

No, like a bad strain of the flu, you received the virus.

The sin virus got you.

Look at your neighbor and say, It got you.

Look at your other one and say, Definitely got you.

The flesh.

Galatians 5, 16 says, I say then walk in the spirit, and you'll not fulfill the desires of the flesh.

It's pollution.

When a person is saved, you're given the Holy Spirit, and it counteracts that flesh, but you never lose it.

So you have a distress forever, a tug of war forever.

Whichever you feel, flesh or spirit, is the one that usually wins that day.

I'm going to say that again.

Whichever one you feel, now you're full of the Holy Spirit upon salvation, but you fill daily.

And so when you wake up, what you choose to do from Go, if you get in this book, you're filling.

If you get in prayer, you're filling.

If you're listening to worship, you're filling.

If you get up and hit your cereal and you get angry immediately without any filling, I don't know how I'd trust the flesh.

When I'm eating my Cheerios and my kids come to me, if the Bible's not in me, it's a 50-50.

I could go off or I could be good.

But I fight that flesh just like you do.

It's about filling.

So read the word.

Pray.

Your flesh is too strong.

The thing also, I need you to know the thing that you starve loses.

And so that thing that you want daily that you know is bad for you, that's the thing that needs to be starved.

If you know there's something that tempts you, that pulls you, that's a struggle for you, that's the thing that needs to be starved.

Number three is the person of the fight itself, Satan.

The Bible says Ephesians 6, 11 and 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against spiritual darkness, against the rulers of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

That is Satan and his band of demons.

Okay, and they're in it for a fight.

Why?

Because they're activated, because he's afraid.

He hated this thing that happened in Asbury.

He hates when a people come together and they're unified.

And so expect some distress in this fight.

When distress comes, number two is this there's a time of decision.

Look down at verses six through eight.

And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, Do not forsake your servants.

Come up to us quickly, save us, and help us.

For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.

So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.

Listen to this.

And the Lord said, important verse 8, and the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear, for I have delivered them into your hand.

Not a man of them shall stand before you.

And so there's a time of decision.

Decisions are predetermined today by two things about you.

Your decision are determined by your character and your commitment.

And we see letter A this morning, execution is accomplished by commitment.

Gibeon is in trouble.

And they say, call Joshua.

Call the one that we've heard about his God.

Call Joshua.

And what he says there, the word is please don't slack.

That's Rapah, that means literally abandon.

If you recall Pastor Eli's sermon last week, Gibeon is a city who just freshly tricked Israel, putting on old garments, carrying old food, and saying they were from a far country, deceived them into a treaty, and now they're crying out for help.

If there's ever a time where you are going to go back on your commitment, this might be, these guys just tricked us.

Perfect.

The enemies are coming against them.

They're not camped at Gilgal, they're at Gibeon.

This is a time to get out.

Let them have it.

Well, your decisions are predetermined by commitment and character.

Joshua made a promise.

I want you to see verse 15 and verse 19.

Then Joshua returned and all Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal, and he said, And do not stay there yourselves, but pursue your enemies and attack the rear guard.

Do not allow them to enter into the cities, for the Lord your God has delivered them in your hand.

You see, Joshua made a covenant.

And even though it was based in deceit from the other side, Joshua swore by the Lord.

And so, what does commitment mean to you today?

The Bible says in Matthew 5 7, let your yea be yea and your nay be nay.

Commitment used to mean something to somebody.

You look somebody in the eye, shake their hand, it meant something.

What does commitment mean today?

Well, it meant plenty to Joshua.

The word in the Greek for commitment is desmepsi, meaning to unite in a trust.

It was a commitment that led Joshua to a fight.

Now, I need you to know, Joshua had plenty of battle ahead of him.

If you get past chapter 10, he goes conquest after conquest, dividing and conquering this land for his people that God called him to.

He didn't need just another fight.

But Joshua made a commitment.

There was a young man in my youth ministry in Indiana who God had gotten a hold of his heart and he wanted to preach.

Never preached before, but he was planning to preach at the Roberts Park.

And he kind of lightly talked to me about it.

And I think in passing, I said, I'll try to make it when you're going to preach.

Well, he put a Facebook invitation out, made an event about his own preaching.

We're going to, and had it on there, and I saw about five or seven people had responded.

I'm like, oh, good, good for him.

People are going to come.

Well, it came to that day, and I got thinking, I think Facebook came up or whatever it was, and I saw, oh, in about 10 minutes.

Now I had a lot of work to do.

And I remember sitting there in my desk chair thinking, he's got some people going.

I didn't even respond to the Facebook invite, right?

It's very impersonal Facebook invite.

Don't just, by the way, don't expect me to come to the wedding, okay?

Right?

I need a formal invitation.

Right?

I don't even know if you want me there.

That's how that's how we act, right?

And so it was a Facebook invite.

I didn't respond.

He probably doesn't expect me.

Well, then God said, Rick, go hear, go hear about the boy preaching.

I don't want to, God.

I really got a lot to do.

I got a lot to do for you, God.

No, Rick, you're gonna go and hear about the boy preaching.

Okay.

So I got my car, I go over to Robert's Park, and I'm looking for the crowd, right?

There was Andrew.

He's sitting on a bench, looking like Forrest Gump, waiting on a bus.

Sitting there, right?

And I'm like, okay.

So I said, man, I'm glad I got here early.

All the good seats are not taken, Andrew.

I talked to him for a few minutes.

I said, buddy, I'm here.

Give me the sermon.

He got up and preached what he had to me.

And I thought, man, that's awesome.

I got to spend this 30 minutes with him just loving on him.

I said, man, God's gonna give you an opportunity with that.

Don't you worry about this.

You just keep doing what God tells you to do.

About two years later, Andrew's father came to me and he said, I want to tell you, nothing impacted my boy's life in this youth ministry like you showing up to the park that day.

And I thought about commitment.

And I thought about, I didn't even say I was coming.

I just said I'll try.

But it meant something, and it meant something to that young man.

What do you feel about commitment today, church?

You have a marriage commitment today, don't you?

Married people?

It's a covenant.

What does it mean to you?

When you had children, guess what?

You sure didn't make a commitment.

Oh my soul, did you make a commitment?

One, you probably thought I didn't sign up for all this.

When you signed your paperwork for your job, you made a commitment.

When you became a Christian, you made a commitment.

You've made lots of commitments in your life.

When I think about the church world, man, the church world is full of volunteer commitments.

And trust me, I understand what volunteer means, okay?

I've been almost 20 years at this.

Y'all want to see someone in a full-out, full-blown church-swept panic?

Listen, watch the people that work the nursery on Sunday mornings when they come browsing around the lobby, looking like they won the lottery because the volunteer walked through the doors.

They've been having a prayer meeting.

15 babies upstairs, oh, thank you, Jesus.

I know it's real, God.

Look, look, I spent two semesters at Tennessee Temple.

You had to pick, you had to pick a service, a Christian service.

I spent two semesters in the nursery and the ones and twos.

I know a little bit about nursery on ones and twos after nine months.

We played the train.

We played the limbo.

We played, look, we every week we had the Congo line.

It was the best shape I've ever been in in my whole life.

The nursery and the ones and twos.

Listen, it's a commitment.

If y'all help with that, thank God for you.

If you fill in, thank God for your commitment.

I'm so thankful for a church with volunteers that make commitments.

But your commitment isn't to the church.

It's not even to those babies.

It's a commitment to serve your God.

Joshua made a commitment.

And you know what it did?

Let her be.

It revealed his character.

Execution affirmed by character.

Humanly speaking, some might have seen this again as a good time to just let the coalition take out Gibeon.

But Joshua said, I gave my word.

And Joshua would know in giving his word, he's a child of God.

John 1.12 says about the Christian, yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Your character as a Christian is based on the person whom you believe.

Now, a person without that character, a moral secularist, it's a peaceless character.

It's a restless character, it's an unfulfilled character.

Moral character is based on world morality and its survival of the fittest.

Go get yours, I'll get mine, dog eat dog, rise to the top, and that's it.

If you're not a Bible-believing Christian, your character is defined by the world's view.

Christian character is defined by a lens that we see a biblical worldview through God's word.

But your character, not only is it who you are, it's who you serve.

In this world, your character being who you serve is just you.

It's just you.

And that's the end all.

But in a Christian's biblical worldview, in their character, it's about whom they serve.

Here's some character questions I went looking through this week.

Talk about how to how to define your character for you to look at.

Some of these are very true and on point, some of them are kind of funny, but here's some questions to ask.

What about my character?

Number one.

Ask your spouse or your kids what do they think about your character?

What do they think about you?

Number two, how do you respond when the trash can is overflowing?

It tells you about your character.

Do you yell?

Do you take out the trash?

Or are you the one that overflowed the trash?

Number three, who are you on social media?

Tell us a little bit about your character.

Well, somebody put something and you just can't avoid it.

Oh, they said it.

It's on a public forum, so they meant for me to say something spicy back.

Number four, how do you return the shopping cart?

Character.

Five, even worse.

How do you react to the person who took your parking spot at the grocery store?

I'm telling you, it depends on that day what my feeling was.

I'm just being honest.

There's people in the crowd that's seen me before.

I have to be honest.

How you talk about people to others.

If they're talking about them to you, you can be assured they'll talk to them about you.

Are you, number eight, able to adapt and be flexible when things don't go your way?

There's many more, but your character is the you that everyone sees, church.

Joshua's character showed that which he believed.

I made a commitment.

And it didn't vacillate.

He didn't take time.

God said, I'll be with you.

He sent his men to fight in this fight.

And that takes us to the third thing this morning.

Times of the divine.

We're going to look at verses 7 through 12 here.

And I want you to see what happens because of this initiation of a fight from the enemy.

If you'll listen to God and dig in for a fight, you might just get an opportunity to see God work like he never worked before.

Look at verse 7 through 12.

So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the mighty men of war with him and all the mighty men of valor.

And the Lord said to Joshua, Don't fear them, for I've delivered them into your hand, not a man of them shall stand before you.

Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal.

So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Machmacheda.

And it happened as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Ezekiel, and they died.

There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.

Then, listen to this, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amrites before the children of Israel, and he said in sight of Israel, Son, stand still over Gibeon and moon in the valley of Agilon.

So I want you to see, I want to break these scriptures down and see the many miracles of God and his divinity in this encounter.

Verse 7 through 9, you see the 22 to 25 mile march.

I want you to see on a map, I think we have a picture of Gibeon and what it looked like from Gilgal where they were before Jericho, before they went into Jericho.

And you can see from Gilgal to Gibeon was about 22 to 25 miles marching.

Now they got word at night, they got there while it was still dark, and it says this.

I want you to know, if you were marching quickly, if you were marching quickly, it would take you about three hours to march 10 miles.

Don't miss this miracle.

They had an entire army come upon them.

So it means they stealthily, they they quietly, they came upon an entire army, took a 25-mile march and came upon this army of men.

And so don't miss the miracle.

The Israelites march six to eight hours, probably.

Should have been tired, ready for arrest, and they come to their men of war in the dark in surprise.

Well, then that takes us to verse 10.

Verse 10.

The Lord routed them there.

They get to that road, and then the Lord takes them for a great slaughter.

Now the men try to hightail it, verse 11.

So all of these other armies assembled say, We gotta get out of here.

So they take off to running, right?

And this is what it says.

Things were not going well, and so all of a sudden they look like some track stars.

They take off, and this is what you hear.

Boom! The Israelites don't know what just happened.

Boom! An Amorite looked at a parasite and said, Whoa! Looked up, and he saw a heaven-sent, humongous, homicidal hailstone.

Boom! He looked over his buddy was pancake.

Boom! Another one bites the dust.

Another one bites the dust.

Boom! God-sized hailstones.

Now listen to me.

You can science things all you want today.

Hail comes from God.

You can explain it to me through science, and I'm gonna tell you that's great.

I appreciate the explanation.

Hailstones came from God.

Okay?

God was in the heavens and he was like, hail! And all the stones came together.

And he said, Go forth.

They're falling down.

There's a place in Revelation that says that in the end times there will be hundred-pound balls of hail.

Now, I don't know if you've ever had something fall on you.

Okay, a little rock has hit my windshield at 20 miles an hour and caused a crack that broke my windshield.

We're talking about hundred-pound, you know, a 10-pound bowling ball hits you from this stage.

You might be out for the week.

From heaven, God is sending hailstones.

It says, look at verse 11.

More died by hailstones that day than by the sword.

This is the second time in biblical history hail is recorded.

And so I want you to know, he saw this with Moses and the plagues, but when you see something like this, when you see weather-related things, we've talked about it weeks before, you see the power of God.

Somebody in church here sent me a picture not real long ago.

And if you guys would pull up the picture of the rainbow, rainbow in scripture is a promise of God.

Look at this picture.

Perfectly placed over CCW.

Now I want you to see this and look at it.

You see, a rainbow is God's promise.

You can say what you want, but when God sends a photo like this, he's given a message.

You can go to church where you want, but I'm gonna tell you this God's promises are right over here.

You can say what you want.

I love James Spann, but he's not the weatherman.

I know the one who holds the rain, who holds the storm, who holds the hail and the rain in the palm of his hand, and his promises are always true.

Look at verse 12 and 13.

Joshua spoke to the Lord when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun stand still and moon in the valley of Agilon.

Verse 13.

We hadn't read this yet.

So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemy.

It is not written in the book of Jeshua, so the sun still stood still in the midst of heaven and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.

So, Joshua praised this audacious big prayer.

God, would you cause the sun to stay?

So I talked to the serve team today.

Might be why we have leap day.

I don't know.

I don't know enough science.

You probably could tell me something else.

But he caused the son to stand still so that they could continue seeing in battle.

He praised this audacious big, bigger than faith that moves the scripture.

Big prayer.

God, I know you can.

We're fighting this battle.

Son, stand still, God.

Make it stand still.

Don't let it fall.

Don't let it fade.

And it says he did it.

You just saw 100-pound bowling balls.

Now the sun's standing still.

I'd have kept praying.

I'd have never stopped praying.

All day long the rest of the day.

God, would you send some uh deer meat?

God, would you?

I just kept going.

He saw God move in a major way.

Letter B is this evidence appealed to by prayer.

Man, this is so good.

Look at verse 14.

And there has been no day like that before it.

Or after it, that the Lord, listen to this, that the Lord heeded the voice of Of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.

The Lord hearkened.

Joshua's prayer activated God Almighty.

And I want you to know something today, church.

God delights in your ask.

He delights in your ask.

Isaiah 65, 24 says, Before they call on me, I'm already answering.

God delights, he's waiting on your ask.

John Piper says, my favorite prayer quote says, prayer causes things to happen that would not have happened had you not prayed.

And I don't know why prayer is God's activation button, but I know that Scripture says in James 4, 2, you have not because you ask not.

And it does not mean the opposite.

You'll have anyway, even if you don't ask because God is good.

That's not what it means.

It says, you have not because you have not prayed.

And so God is activated through our prayers.

We have access to the creator of all things in a life that's temporary, and he wants to do good for us.

And some people really struggle in this area of prayer.

Man, I begged God this week.

I was sitting at the beginning of uh jury duty, and they were, I thought maybe I'll be one of the lucky ones that'll miss it.

And I was praying like an auctioneer when they started talking about grand jury.

I didn't know what all that meant, but I seriously.

God, please, please, God, please, please, please, please, God, God, please, don't make God, please, please, please, please, please, please, please.

And God answered my prayer.

Whoo! The first 18.

There was 140 people in that room.

First 18 gone.

I'm like, yes.

Woo!

I thought that meant great for me.

I should have been praying, don't make me a juror.

Period.

I should have been praying that prayer.

Well, then, like I hit the lottery, you know, I was one of I was one of the 12.

I wasn't a disciple, but I was a juror.

Parents, don't you want good for your children?

Parents, don't you want good for your children?

It's just natural.

You don't even think about it.

You do things just because you want good for your children.

Don't you want good for your maid and your spouse?

Prayer causes things to happen.

Are you hearing me?

Business owner, don't you want success in your business?

Prayer causes things to happen.

Students, don't you want to understand what you're studying?

Sort of.

Prayer causes.

I'm not talking about the Hail Mary right before the test.

Prayer causes things to happen.

God help me to understand.

Church, don't we want to see this revival continue?

Prayer causes things to happen.

Don't you want to see that relationship reconciled?

Prayer causes things to happen.

Don't you want that prodigal to come home?

Prayer causes things to happen.

Don't you want that family member to receive Christ?

Are you praying?

You have not because you ask not.

Be the crazy person.

Be the person at your work that just prays about everything.

When they asked about you, said, I don't know about that guy, but he prays all the time.

I mean, he wanted chicken today and he prayed about it, and God did it.

Okay, just be that prayer person.

Because we know this.

You have not because you ask not.

It says in Joshua that the Lord heeded a man.

The Lord was in heaven doing what he does in heaven, and the Lord said, Oh my.

And all through scripture it says that Jesus was, he was moved by faith.

Lack of faith made him feel disgusted and it sapped his miracle powers.

And big faith made him stop in his tracks.

And so God from heaven heard the prayer of Joshua and said, The Lord, I don't know what he was doing.

He said, My servant's in prayer.

And so when your knees hit that closet, I want you to know.

He says, My servants are in prayer.

No, they mean it.

They're in prayer.

Listen, they're in prayer.

This is that posture that I love, this is that fragrance that I love, they're in prayer.

He delights in your desire.

I found this quote this week.

If the size of your vision isn't scary, it might be insulting to God.

Joshua prayed a big audacious prayer.

What does that mean, Pastor?

Listen, if God sent Jesus to give his life on the cross, suffering horrendous torture, should not the audacious prayers we pray be appropriate to the audacious sacrifice that gave us access to the Father in prayer.

By faith we believe.

He can do anything.

If he can send down hundred-pound bowling balls from heaven and stop the sun, what can he not do?

We have to pray.

Luke 22, 31 and 32.

It says this that Satan wanted to sift you as wheat.

And this is what Jesus said.

He wanted to sift you as wheat.

But I prayed.

Jesus' example.

He wanted to sift you as wheat.

Now Satan called out for Job and was able to really administer some hardship.

And this verse it says he wanted to sift you as wheat, but Jesus said, No, no, no, I'm going to talk to my father about that one.

He prayed.

James 4, 7 says, Submit to God and resist the devil and he will flee.

Satan does not like the presence of God.

I want to finish with this thought.

Well, how did we get here with Joshua?

In Exodus 17, 14, Moses was told by God about a victory that happened against the Amalekites.

He said, Write this in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua.

See, Joshua went with Moses all over the place.

Moses had this craving to see his people reach the promised land, but he never did get to see it.

His people were right there on the brink, despite all the evidence.

They simply refused to have that kind of faith, that audacious faith that believed God could do anything.

And so, because of their lack of character and commitment, they didn't see it in Moses' life.

But listen, it didn't stop Moses.

Moses, you see, he invested right where he was.

And I want you to go to Deuteronomy chapter 33.

Deuteronomy 33 · chapter mention

It's the next book to your left.

And I want you to see something here.

Moses is coming to the end of his life.

And he invested.

And he prayed with and he mentored a young man.

And I believe in the latter part of his life, Moses gave all he could.

He said, I'm not gonna see this promised land, but you know what?

I've been homesick anyway.

I'm going to another land.

And guess what?

All I want for you is to see as much as God can do in your life, Joshua.

And so he invested and he prayed.

In fact, Deuteronomy chapter 33, it's Moses' final blessing on all of Israel.

Deuteronomy 33 · chapter mention

He just prays.

He gets every tribe and he lines them up and he lays hands and he prays on every tribe.

And in there, in chapter, in chapter 33, verse 17, that includes Joshua's tribe.

He came from the tribe of Ephraim.

And he prays over that tribe.

Well, you say, well, that's plenty.

Moses, man, he prayed it forward.

But right before his death, in chapter 34, it explains the events of Moses' death, where he would be buried.

And I want you to see verse 7 through 9.

Moses was 120 years old when he died.

His eyes were not dim, nor his natural vigor diminished.

And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plain of Moab thirty days.

So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended.

Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom.

For Moses had laid his hands on him.

And so the children of Israel heeded him and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

So right before he left, right before he died, he prayed over the tribes.

But he pulled Joshua one more time and he put hands on him.

He said, God, give him that spirit.

God be with Joshua.

God, I pray.

This world is full of evil.

God, I pray that this boy, this man, would do a work and see you.

I can echo Moses.

And so today, church, will you pray it forward?

My challenge today is this: will you commit with me in prayer to set forth a chain of events that start a spiritual chain of things in motion that will cause the impossible to happen?

It happens only through prayer.

Can we pray in a way that the earth will stop spinning on its axis?

Can we pray a prayer like sun stand still that will cause fear and panic only in the enemy?

Can we pray a prayer that will say, listen to me, parents, that'll cause a generation to fall on its face before God?

Can we pray a prayer that will cause you and then your house and then this church and then this community and then this city and then this country to be revived by the Spirit of the living God?

I'm gonna tell you this.

I don't believe it'll happen without prayer.

Will you commit today?

I'm gonna open the altar for an invitation.

This is what I want to ask.

Will you come and say, God, I'll pray.

God, I will pray.

Enlist me, God.

You see my commitment, you see my character, God, from this day moving forward.

Help me to pray.

I want to be a person known for prayer because we know that it activates the works of God.

Will you stand to your feet this morning?

Father, we love you and we thank you for this opportunity we've had to see your word, the miraculous that you've done.

And God, I pray for some people today.

Lord, that we would get outside of normal.

God, that our commitment, that our character would be tied to getting access to the ear of God, to getting access to the throne of God, Lord, that we would not be okay and settled with just getting by day by day.

But God, that you would move in our presence.

Lord, help us to pray.

Lord, I pray for a moving of your people during this time of invitation, that they would come today and be committed to being a person, a family, a people of prayer.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

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