When Obedience Outlasts Opposition | Joshua 10 | Pastor Sammy Rodriguez

Awesome, Johnny, Come on, can we put our hands together?

If you love Pastor Kenny like me, say I love

you Kenny. I should have said Pastor Kenny, but say

it again, say I love you Passor Kenny. So grateful

for Passor Kenny. But before we get started, I want

to introduce myself. If we haven't met yet, my name

is Pastor Sammy, and I get the chance of being

the resident pastor here at Patria. But we are going

through an incredible book of the Bible for this fresh start.

We've been going through Joshua. How many guys love the

Book of Joshua. Just give me a holy ghost wave.

It's amazing. And before we go into what we're going

to in a little bit of the recap, just want

to thank our senior pastors, Pastor Adam and Ashley. Can

we put our hands together for our pastors? So grateful

that we get pastors like this, like Pastor Adam, who

raises up not only the next generation, but really replicates

himself and reproduces himself. And so as I've been thinking

through Joshua, I've been thinking of man, it sounds a

lot like our pastor, Pastor Adam. Amen and so what

we're going into if you haven't been here yet, but

throughout these series, throughout Fresh Start this year, we're looking

at the Book of Joshua. And I have a lot

of real estate to cover, so usually I come up

here and say a few jokes, have some fun. But

we're we're got the whole chapter at Joshua ten. Don't worry,

We're not reading all forty three verses. We're just gonna

read about forty two of them. I'm just kidding about

thirty of them. Are you okay with that? Don't worry.

If you haven't been here before, we stand for the

reading the word. We're not gonna stand for thirty verses. Okay,

I cut it down. But here's what I have. The

story is, just to recap it real briefly, the story

is about a group called the gibbea knights who gets

surrounded and God breaks in and moves in through Joshua

and sets them free. Okay. And the title of the

message tonight that I have is this is when obedience

outlast opposition come on. I want you to write it down.

Why because goats take notes, all right, and so just

write it down if you don't know what a goat means.

Asking a young person, they'll tell you what it means,

but I want you to write that down his win

obedience outlast opposition. I don't know anyone here that you've

ever felt this way where you felt a posed? Has

anyone in the room ever felt a pose in your life?

Has anyone in the room ever felt surrounded in your life?

Has anyone in the room ever felt like there was

no hope? But then Jesus broke in, amen, and set

us free. And for many of us, maybe in this

room you've walked in. A friend has brought you and

you're saying, I feel that right now, I feel a posed. Well,

we believe that you're here for the right time and

the right purpose because God wants to set you free,

just like he said us free. Amen. And so here's

what we're gonna do is win obedience outlast opposition. We're

gonna stand for the reading of the word. If we

could all stand together and Joshua ten the last verses,

it says this. You can look at the screen. It

says this. It says, so Joshua struck the whole land,

the hell country, and the Negeb and the lowland and

the slopes and all their kings. Everybody say, all their kings,

and it says he left none of them, He left

none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just

as the Lord God of Israel commanded, and Joshua struck

them from Kadeshia Barneah. I'm gonna say a lot of

words wrong, but it's okay. God. There is forgiveness in

Jesus as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen,

as far as Gibbeon. And Joshua captured all these kings

and their lands at one time because the Lord God

of the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And

then Joshua returned and all of Israel with him to

the camp at Gilgal. Everyone said he returned, go ahead

and take your seat. Go ahead and take your seat now.

Because we don't want to go into the whole scripture

and the whole chapter. We're gonna look at the last

about twelve to twenty verses, and I'm just gonna paraphrase

it for you, because that verse essentially says what Joshua

ten is about. It's about the conquest of the southern

kingdoms and the southern cities. So there's a slide up

here just for you to look at, you know, next time,

maybe tonight or tomorrow or this week. But in the

rest of these verses, these are the cities that were

conquered and Joshua ten afterwards. So Makida was conquered, Libna

was conquered, Lakish or Laicius or whatever you want to say,

was concerted. Deezer was, hey, join me with it, you know,

try and say. Eglon was conquered, Hebron was conquered, and

Debir was conquered. And we looked through Joshua ten, and

it really is about the conquest where God said, I

am gonna be with you, Joshua responded, and then God

backed it up. Amen. But here's where I want you

to see where the tension of the story is. Why

Because as you've been following through the Book of Joshua,

every attack from the Israelites were initiated by God and

the people of Israel. So Jericho was initiated from God

to Joshua to his people. Ai was initiated. Even when

they fell, they initiated back. But this is the very

first battle in which they're responding to some other place

being attacked. Okay, so let's look into it, and let's

read it right here in Joshua ten versus one. You

can stay seated because we're gonna read a few verses.

It says this as soon as ADAMAI Zadek, king of Jerusalem,

heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it

to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he

had done to Jericho and its king, And how the

inhabitants of Gibbeon had made peace with Israel and were

among them. Pause real quick, if you weren't here last week,

Passer Aaron spoke a beautiful message. But essentially, the Gibbean

Knights were all about, you know, deceiving the Israelites because

they were close enough, but they didn't want to be conquered.

And so what the Gibba Knights did was they tricked

the Israelites. Joshua and the Israelites made a covenant with

the Gibbea Knights, thinking that they were foreigners in a

far away land, but they were next door neighbors. Joshua

rushed into it. He didn't seek the Lord, made a covenant.

They were deceived. Now, these same people that deceived Joshua

are saying, hell, help check it out. To check it out,

Let's see what happens. And he feared greatly the King

of Israel, because Gibeon was a great city, like one

of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai,

and all its men were warriors. So Adam Iszadak, King

of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, King of Hebron, to Perim,

King of Jama, to Jaffia, King of Laitish, to de Beer,

King of Eglon, saying, come up to me and help me,

and let us strike Gibeon, for it has made peace

with Joshua and with the people of Israel. Then the

five kings and the emirates, the King of Jerusalem, the

King of Hebron, the King of Jama, the King of Lashish,

and the King of Eglon gathered their forces and went

up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and

made war against it. And the men of Gibeon sent

to Joshua at the camp, and Gilgal saying, do not

relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us

quickly and save us and help us. For all the

kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country

are gathered against us. So Joshua went up from Gilgal

he and all the people of war with him, and

all the mighty men of Valor. Okay, Paus, Okay, you're

like king, what king? This king? What king? Just say king,

King of kings? Somebody say king of kings. That's all

I gotta remember, Jesus on the throne. I want to

show you this map, because that was a lot. But

before I do, no, no, no, no, don't show you. I

don't show you, Okay, But before I do, I want

just a paraphrase real Briefly, the Gibbean knightes deceives Israel.

Israel makes a covenant with the Gibeon Kites. They find

out that their neighbors. So Joshua says, you're gonna be

woodcutters and water poores for the altar. Now gibbeon Gibeon

now is being attacked by five kings. And now Joshua

has a chance. Will he respond quickly or will maybe

he take a few days? You know what I'm saying,

Like when you make a bad decision and then someone

needs your help and say I'll be there in a year.

You know what I mean, email my assistance, assistance, and

maybe I'll get back to you. Right. The Gibbeon reached

out to Joshua, and here is where Joshua responded. But

before we do, look at this map. This map is

it's kind of far away to see, but this shows

you the five kingdoms with the red arrows coming to Gibeon.

And I'm already kind of giving you a sneak peek,

but it says there Joshua goes from Gilgalt to Gibbeon.

We know Joshua wins, okay, but Joshua marches through there.

It shows where their counterattack is and it shows what

happens after that. The first point I want you to

write down is this. I want you to write this

first point down is that God already promised the victory.

God already promised the victory. Write that down in your journal.

In verse eight, it should be on the screen. We're

gonna read this because Gibbeon, you know, the gibbe and

Nights reached out to Joshua. And then Joshua responds with this.

And the Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them,

for I have given them into your hands. Not a

man of them shall stand before you. One more time.

Let's look at it one more time, just one more time,

one more time, one more time. And the Lord said,

do not what what is that word up there? What

is that word? One more time? What is that word

up there? It says, do not fear them, for I

have given them into your hands. Not a man of

them shall stand before you. God has already promised the victory.

I love that in that verse Joshua and eight, where

he says, don't fear them, It'll be on the screen

the Hebrew word for that. Again, ask a Hebrew scholar

around you. I'm gonna say it wrong, But is yare right? Yare?

Which means terror, dread and intimidation, Terror, dread and intimidation.

What Jesus? What God was saying to Joshua, As he said,

even though five kings have come around against you, do

not be terrorized by that. Do not have dread for that,

and do not be intimidated by that. Joshua was being

reminded of what God spoke to him, and Joshua won nine,

where it says, have I not commanded you to be

strong and courageous? Joshua was reminded that. But here's where

I want you to look at this in a moment,

is this is that Joshua had just made a moment

where he failed. He made a moment where he made

a covenant with the Gibbean Knights even though they weren't

far away. Joshua didn't consult the Lord, and so he failed.

So I wonder if Joshua was feeling, man, is God's

still with me? I don't know if you've ever felt

that word. Maybe maybe you've been doing a great job,

You've been running after the Lord, but then you make

a failure, You make a decision where you don't seek

the Lord. And our question is God, are you still

with me? Or are you with them? And I love

how God responds to Joshua and he says to him,

he says, don't fear them. Do not fear them. Why

because none of them will stand before you at the

end of the day. Do not be intimidated, do not

have dress, do not have terror. And for some of

us in this room, we're in a time where there's

a lot of intimidation. We're in a time where there's

a lot of terror. We're in a time where there's

a lot of dread. But God saying, even though it

looks stronger against us than for us. I know my

Bible says he who is in us is greater than

he who is in the world. Can I get an amen?

And I want to encourage you tonight that in the

same way God said that to Joshua, God is saying

that to us, do not fear them even if you fail.

Maybe you failed last night. Maybe you made a decision

to go back to your past last night, and you've

come to the altar again. And God's saying, don't fear them.

I'm still with you. Don't fear them. I'm still with you.

Don't fear them, I'm still with you. Amen. At the

end of that verse. What's so beautiful about that verse?

In Joshua ten eight it says this other part where

it says I have delivered them, and that Hebrew word

is Natan or Nathan shout out to pastor Nathan amen,

which means his name means a gift, like I'm God's gift,

you know. So that's why we love them so much.

Can I get an amen? But look at this Hebrew

worth ten to give to hand over? And what Jesus.

What God was saying to Joshua. He was saying, don't

have fear intimidation, right, or dread or terror, because I'm

hand wrapping this these five kings to you. They think

they're gonna come and conquer you and the Gibea Knights.

I've actually wrapped them in a bow and They're gonna

be a gift for you. I've hand delivered them to you.

And my question for you, just to ask yourself and

ask your family and ask the Lord, is maybe the

opposition is a gift for you. Come on, I'm preaching

right now. Maybe the opposition is a gift for you.

What does that mean? It's a gift hand rap because

God's saying they won't stand before you anymore, that opposition

that you felt they won't stand before you anymore. Amen,

I want you to see this on the screen. I

wrote this down and you could write it. It says

the battle is won before it even begins. God fights

in the future tense while you're standing in the present tense.

And I want you to capture that because that you ain't.

Come on, somebody, yea, yeah, we can put our hands

together in church, right. I want you to hear that

God fights for you in the future tents while we're

standing in the present tents right now. I want you

to think of your present circumstances. I want you those

who are in the courtyard of the cafe watching a

line in the room, I want you to think of

your present circumstances. You're thinking, there is no way I'm

getting out of this. There is no way I'm digging

myself out of this hole, I dug. But God is

already fighting. God has already given you victory in the

future while we're fighting in the president. Amen. And all

we gotta do is surrender to God's will and we'll

see what happens, just as we see with Joshua. Okay,

so as we keep reading into this, because we got

a few points that I want to do is in

verse nine through eleven, It says this right, so God

says the way wait of taking off the screen. God says,

don't be afraid. God says, don't be afraid. I'm gonna

no man's gonna stand before. Now let's see Joshua's response.

Does Joshua act in me imediately or does he take

some time to respond to what God says let's look

at the verse. It says this, so Joshua came upon

them suddenly. Everybody says suddenly, say it like you mean

to say, suddenly, you know, suddenly he's happened suddenly. I

don't know if you're the deep word. I know, hallelujah,

thank you, passing the same Suddenly He's happened sudden. Somebody say, suddenly,

so Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night.

Somebody say, all night from Gilgal, and the Lord threw

down keep going. And the Lord threw them into a

panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow

at Gibbeon and chased them by the way as far

as the ascent of beth Horan has struck them, as

far as Isaae came and Makedah, and as they fled

before Israel. This is wild. While they were going down

the ascent of beth Horan, the Lord threw down large

stones from heaven and as far as Akdah, and they died. Okay,

this is a different stoning, not like a curtain moving on. Okay,

they were moving. They were more who died because of

the hailstones. Then the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

Can I get an amen? Point number two? I want

you to write this down. Is this his obedience moves

before the miracle. Obedience moves before the miracle. I love

this part because what do we see here? What we

see here is this. We see Joshua immediately responding to

what God said. God said, don't be afraid, I've delivering

them into your hand. And then Joshua says, he suddenly responded,

and he marched all night. He suddenly responded, and he

marched on land. And I want you to hear this.

Here's where gotta take into account. The march from Gilgal

took initiative. It was hard work on Joshua's part. The

march from Gilgal to Gibbeon involved a climb of thirty

three hundred feet and over about twenty miles. This was

eight to ten hours of hard marching all through the night,

all for someone he made a deceitful covenant for and

for us. When God speaks to us, sometimes we want

all the is anyone like me and you kind of

want all the information before you move you take action, Kim,

Can we be honest here and raise our hand real quick?

Anyone like me. How about how about anyone like me?

You know you feel this way, and we give a

little bit of delayed obedience. Anyone always late to the party.

You say, what time does it start? Eight pm? All right,

I'll be there at eleven pm. You're like, excuse me,

what are you doing? Come on? And a lot of

times what we do is we act in the Lord.

When God says something to us, and we say, okay, God,

I'll be there, but I'll just be a little bit late.

That's delayed obedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Joshua was spoken

to him, God said, none of those men will stand

before you. Now, Joshua could have waited, let Gibeon get

taken out by the five Kings, and that deceitful covenant

could have been wiped out the face of the earth.

But Joshua was a man of his word. Joshua wasn't

delayed in his obedience. He wasn't begrudging in his disobedient

in his obedience. Anyone met that person, maybe that you

don't raise your hand where someone asked you to do something.

The Lord asked you to do it, and you do it,

but you do it like this I'm here all right,

and you're like no. The point is immediate, joy filled obedience.

Can I get an amen? And Joshua, when God said

that to him that five kings were coming after him,

and said, he suddenly went, He hiked over twenty miles

thirty three hundred feet in elevation and changes just so

he could be obedient to the word of the Lord. Amen.

The second point that you're writing down, that you're hearing

is obedience moves before the miracle. I want you to

write this down. It's on the screen. It says, when

you obey, God throws things into your battle you could

never manufacture. When you obey, God throws things into your battle,

you can never manufacture. I love this because you gotta

think of They're carrying all their weight and all their

might and all their strength, and they're marching up and

down twenty miles. And then when the sun rises, which

we're getting ready to go to a point where the

sun stands still, Joshua says, let's fight. And the moment

they step out to fight, God throws the enemy into

a panic and throws large hailstones down on them, and

it says that more died from the hailstones than the

men of Israel killed in their time. What happened was

that Joshua responded with obedience, and the miracle happened after

the fact. I think a lot of us are believeingf

you're believing for a miracle in your life. Can you

give me a hand raise, give me some kind of action.

You're believing for change in your family, You're believing for

change in your city, You're believing for change in your occupant,

whatever that is. But what happening is God saying I

want to speak to you something, and we're asking the

Lord this. We're saying, God, speak something fresh to me.

And God's saying, I want you to obey the last

word I said, and then I'll speak the next word

to you. And what's happening is we're stagnant because we

haven't been obedient to what God said. And God already

said to Joshua, none of them will stand before you.

But if Joshua stayed in Gilgal, they would still be standing.

What I love about Joshua is that it took grit,

hard work, effort. Joshua just didn't get that word. Amen, Lord,

will you just float me over to Gibbeon and then

you'll just move your hand and it will be done. No,

Joshua had to do the hard work, because obedience a

lot of times looks like hard work. Obedience looks like

hard work and putting one step in front of the

other and moving in movement. And once Joshua and all

of Israel moved, God responded, and if I could encourage

you in this area as this is that as you

respond in your obedience to the Lord, miracles happen. The

five kings came together, which we have the crowns up here.

You're like, what are those? Don't worry, We're gonna talk

about them in a second. The five Kings came together

thinking that they would have victory over Gibeon. They wanted

to stop Joshua, and they want to stop Israel. But

Joshua responds, and God moves in power. The moment they

stepped and attacked those five kings, a panic was in

the camp, and helstones fell from heaven. As we keep going,

and I don't know if you're there in the story

like me, I'm there in the story. Think about this.

Heilstones are falling, the five Kings are retreating, and then

we get this wild prayer from Joshua. Check this out

in this verse and at the time Joshua spoke to

the Lord and the day when the Lord gave the

Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said,

in the sight of Israel, suns stands still, a gibbeon

and moon in the valley of whatever that word is

a hija line shakina glory. And the sun stood still,

and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on

their enemies. Is this not written in the book of Jeshar.

The sun stopped in the middle of heaven and did

not hurry to set for about a whole day. There

has been no day like it before or since. When

the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the

Lord fought for Israel. So josh will return and all

of Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal. I

want you to write this third point down is bold

prayers are formed in God's presence. Bold prayers, bold proclamations

are formed in God's presence. Just for a second, as

I was spending time with the Lord preparing this message,

I was thinking about Joshua and just thinking about his

army for a little bit. I don't know if you're

like me and that. And they had just marched twenty miles,

they had just fought so many people. And then Joshua

has to say this. Joshua has to tell the son,

hey day last a little longer so we could keep working.

You imagine the army, They're like, yo, Joshua, bro, just

for a second, please, can we get some water? Right?

Can we do something? But Joshua was so convinced that

what God said, he knew he could speak to the

sun and the sun would stop bold prayers. What did

I say? Right here? Bold prayers are formed in God prayer?

Why could Joshua know that if he spoke and he

didn't pray in his private closet, he didn't declare this,

he says. He declared it in front of all of Israel.

He said, sons, stop here, moot, stopped there until we

take our vengeance. And what God said, check this out.

I want you to look at this. Why could Joshua

pray that? In Exodus thirty three eleven, it should be

on the screen, It says this. Thus the Lord used

to speak to Moses face to face. As the man

speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp,

his assistant Joshua with the son of Nune, a young man.

Somebody say, a young man would not depart from the tent.

Take that off. Why could Joshua speak to the sun

because he remained in the presence. Okay, I'm gonna say

it again, because about half of us caught that. Why

could Joshua speak to the physical son to stop because

he remained in the presence. And Exodus thirty three, that

was right after the Golden Calf, and Moses was interceding

for the peace of Israel. Moses was saying to God,

and God was saying, just go, I'll sin an angel.

And Moses says, if your presence doesn't go with us,

don't take us up out of here. But in that

verse Joshua, it says that when Moses would leave the

tent where the glory would come down, It says when

Moses would leave, Joshua would stay. Joshua knew the presence

of the Lord. Joshua knew what it looked like to

be in the glory of God. So when God's glory

was on the line, when God's word was on the line,

he knew he could speak to the s U n

Son because he knew the s O n son. Can

I get an amen? And I think for some of us,

here's the thing. Bold prayers are forming God's prayer. For

some of us we have small prayers. But small prayers

never moved the sun. Bold prayers invite Heaven to interrupt

the earth. And Joshua, in front of everyone, said to

the son, because he knew being formed in the presence.

And here's what's beautiful about that. Just a little nugget,

not even in my notes. As this Joshua was a

young man. He probably didn't even know that he was

gonna be the next in line to command. He probably

thought Moses was gonna inherit his promised land. But what

did Joshua do. He didn't worry about a title. He

worried about staying in the presence of God. And I

get an amen. Come on, I'm preaching this tonight. He

worried about staying and remaining in God's presence, and it

was from his presence and humbling himself that God exalted him.

That's when he could pray those prayers. That's when he

could tell the sun in front of everyone, stands still,

and the son stood still. Old prayers our birth informed

in his presence. Amen. I love this part Joshua ten fifteen.

I don't know if we have the whole verse that

we don't, but it says this essentially. It says he

returned to Gilgal and I put right there a place

of consecration. Here's what I want to encourage you with this.

I want you to cap this moment. Is that all

throughout Joshua's exploits with the people of Israel, all throughout

that Joshua would go and conquer kingdoms and then he

would return to the place of consecration. Joshua would go

and conquer kings, and then he would return to the

place of an altar and consecration and the place of

a covenant. And here's what I want to encourage a

lot of us with. Because the enemy will attack us,

of course, at all times. But we know we're gonna

be watching when we're weak, right, we know we're gonna

be watching when we need breakthrough. But it's after a

great breakthrough where the enemy will come and attack us

and we're not even ready for it yet. Why because

we didn't return to the altar we didn't return to

where God said. It speaks of David the King. David,

he was counting his numbers. He was doing all this.

But it says when kings go off to war, he

stayed behind and he was walking around his castle and

then he saw Bathsheba, and that's where that happened. It's

because it was a great breakthrough he had and he

instead of going back to the altar, instead of being

in the place where he was called to be, he

remained and where he thought he should be. And that's

where he fell, right after a great breakthrough. And I

want to encourage you with this. It should be on

the screen. Is that miracles don't exempt you from the altar.

They draw you back to it. Miracles don't exempt you

from the altar, they draw you back to it. And

a lot of times, whether it be you know, people

in the faith and pastors and leaders, anyone could fall.

But sometimes we fall because our pride puffs us up

and humility brings us down. And it's like our pride,

our ego goes before a fall. And Joshua knew. He said,

if I could, if I need to conquer the whole land,

I need to continue to go back to my altar,

some of us in this room tonight, your word for tonight.

The reason you came is God is reminding you. Go

back to your altar, go back to the place of covenant,

Go back to the place of consecration. Go back to

the place where God promised you and what he did,

and you'll meet God there and that will be protection

for you. Amen. I love that you know all the

kings and everyone was leaving. Miracles don't exempt you from

the altar. They draw you back to it. But then again,

as we continue on, a few more versus left because

everyone had left. But then here we enter in and

we find out what happened to those kings. Touch your neighbors,

say what happened to those kings? Verse sixteen. It says this,

these five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave

at Makeda. And it was told to Joshua. Hey, Joshua,

the five Kings have been found hidden in the cave

at Makeda or Mikeda, however you want to say. And

Joshua said, roll large stones against the mouth of the

cave and set men by it to guard them. Check

this out, but do not stay there. Yourselves. Touch your

neighbors say, don't you stay there? Come on, touch your

other neighbors say you don't stay there either, But don't

you But do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies,

attack their rear guard. Do not let them into their cities,

for the Lord, your God has given them into your hand.

When check this out, it says, Joshua says, don't stay there.

But then what is Joshua do? Joshua goes with his people.

When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking

them with a great blow until they were wiped out,

and when the remnant that remained of them had entered

into the fortified cities, then all the people returned safe

to Joshua and the camp of Mikitah. Not a man

moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

Point number four I want you to write down, as

we have one more point left. We're gonna get it

all in, I promise you, and then we're gonna let

you go at the right time. Point number four is this,

don't stop at the cave. Finish the command. Don't stop

at the cave, finish the command. Somebody say, with me.

Somebody say, don't stop at the cave. Come on, say

with me, don't stop at the cave. Finish the command.

I love this part. And you know, Hovey is probably

gonna help me up here. Thank you, Hovey, Thank you

for coming up. Can we give it up for Hovey

real quick. I'm not gonna put a crown on him,

but he's gonna help me put it up. But but

this far, this this part stuck with me. It stuck

with me because Joshua found these men that were once

Kings over people hiding in the cave, and all five

Kings were in the cave, and that was a good

chance for Joshua to pull up and be like, yo, dang, okay, wow,

let's try him. Okay, that's dope. Okay, Wow, that's cool man.

Maybe oh I can't fit it. What are we gonna do? Okay? Actually,

you know, thank you. Can you put them on that

chain real quick? Okay, he's gonna put them on that chain.

And Joshua. What Joshua could have done is he could

have stayed in the cave. Somebody says, stay in the cave,

and Joshua could have stayed just with the crowns of

the king. But what Joshua did is he for it's

all right, It's all right, victory will come. Don't worry.

There's forgiveness in the Lord, Amen Hovey. Joshua could have

stayed at the cave and not pursued the men that

were fleeing, but Joshua said, roll a stone in front

of it, and don't don't even go in there yet.

I want you to pursue them until they interfortified cities.

And it says Joshua left. Joshua left, and what did

he do. He pursued them until the inter fortified cities,

and once they did, then he returned to the cave.

I want you to write this down. Is this Many

conquered kings but never take kingdoms. Partial obedience feels easier,

believes future problems. We got this on, We got this on.

I think a lot of us are like this right,

look at this right where we go through life and

we have our victories and we're like, you know what,

I conquered the kings. That's good enough for me. And

they said, we stay here with our crowns and we

get a flex on them. We could have put you know,

before our social media. Hey, look what God's done, blessed

and highly favored hashtag hallelujah. Won't he do it? Thank

you Jesus and Joshua. What he could have done is

he could have stayed at the cave. He could have

stayed there. He could have killed the kings. He could

have partnered with the kings. But what did he do?

He's like, I'm not here to get the credit. I'm

not here to worry about my own crown because in

Revelation it says that all crowns will be thrown at

the feet of Jesus, where they say, Holy, Holy, Holy

is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and

is to come. Amen. But I want you to think

about these crowns. Maybe one of these crowns is this

pride is at least I got this far. Maybe one

of these crowns could be comfort. It's good enough where

I am. Maybe one of these crowns could be a

fear of conflict. I don't want to fight anymore anyone

with me. But don't put your hand up, all right.

Maybe it's a distraction. Others other things are more urgent now.

Maybe it's comparison. Others haven't even made it this far.

Joshua could have stayed at the cave, but he wanted

to fulfill God's command. And I love this that Joshua

didn't worry about all these crowns and all the kings.

He didn't worry about getting the credit. He could have

put all of Israel together and said, look at what

I did. I conquered all five kings. Look at what

I did. But he rolled a stone in front of it,

and Joshua said, do not stop at the cave. Finished

the command. And I think for some of us tonight,

as we relate to that story, as we relate to

what the Lord is saying through Joshua ten, is that

some of us have stopped at the cave. Some of

us have liked the crowns that we've aggregated and the

crowns that we've accomplished. Joshua rightfully so could have taken

these crowns. But what did he do. He didn't worry

about the credit. He didn't worry about what it looked like,

because he knew that there was only one king that

could wear the crown. And if I could encourage anyone

on this point, I feel the Holy Spirit on it

is that I feel this is I feel like for

some of us, you've stopped at whatever that means, to

stop at the cave. You haven't fulfilled all of what

God is asking you to walk in. And what God

is saying is he's saying, do not be okay with

just conquering kings when I've called you to conquer kingdoms.

And I love that about Joshua's he said, roll a

stone in front of it. Joshua also could have stayed there, right,

Joshua can put it like roll a stone. I'll be here.

You guys keep going. No, Joshua went with them. Partial

obedience will ultimately end in destruction for us because we're

not fully being obedient to the word Lord. Amen. All right,

we're ending here, I promise you last point as we

wrap up this story, because this puts a beautiful boat.

As God says that he was going to deliver every

single person, no one would stand before him. Let's look

at this verse. Then Joshua said, open the mouth of

the cave and bring those five kings out to me

from the cave. And they did so, and brought those

five kings out to him from the cave. The King

of Jerusalem, the King of Hebron, the King of Jarma,

the King of Latish, and the King of Eglon. And

when they brought out these kings out to Joshua, Joshua

summoned all the men of Israel and said to the

chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him,

check this out. Come near and put your feet on

the necks of these kings. Then they came near and

put their feet on the next of their kings. Come on, someone,

stomp your foot like that. Somebody, Come on, one more time.

Someone stop your foot, just just like that. Come on,

maybe one more time. Stomp your foot, just one more

time like that. Amen, do not be afraid or dismayed.

Check this out what Joshua says, be strong and courageous,

for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies

against whom you fight. And afterward Joshua struck them and

put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees,

and they hung on the trees until evening. But at

the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded,

and they took them down from the trees and threw

them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and

they set large stones against the mouth of the cave,

which remained to this very day. The last point I

want you to write down. As we're finishing up, I

think keys are coming in behind me. Maybe not. Maybe

I'll just go back and play them myself. That's okay.

Is I want you to write this last point down.

Reproduce courage in the next prophesy. He's like the Holy

reproduce courage in the next generation. Take a picture of it,

write it down. Reproduce courage in the next generation. What

I want to say about that, I love that Joshua.

At the end of all this, no one spoke anything

bad about Joshua or Israel. Because they saw Joshua pray

that prayer. They saw the hailstones coming down, They saw

everything that was happening. They saw the kings going into

a cave and that cave would become their tomb. They

saw them hiding in that. But Joshua, he could have

put his foot on every neck and killed him himself

and said, look at what God did through me. But

what does Joshua do. Joshua brings his chiefs to put

the feet on the neck, not he himself. What God

spoke to Joshua to be strong and courageous. He repeats

it back to his chiefs. I want you to hear

this because everyone was around. The greatest leaders don't create

new words. It's not up there. They echoed God's words

into the hearts of others. I'm gonna say it again

for the people in the back, because this is good.

The greatest leaders don't create new words. They echoed God's

words into the hearts of others. This is on the screen.

Joshua didn't just walk in courage. He made sure others

would too. I love this part, and we're closing, we're ending,

I promise you, but I love this about Joshua that

he could have put his feet on the next, but

he reproduced courage. Encouragement is in simplicity, putting courage in somebody.

That's the beautiful thing about a person of encouragement. Barnabas

in the Book of Acts actually wasn't in his real name.

He was a wealthy man and his name was changed

to Barnabas because he was such an encourager. They said,

we're gonna call you Barnabas, son of encouragement. He would

put courage in people and Joshua, what's so beautiful about him?

He put courage in his chiefs that day. He put

courage in the people of Israel that day. He put

couraging all the people that were around in the people

of Israel that day. Why because he had his chiefs

come up and said, listen, they will be under your feet.

They will not stand before he has God not said.

And as I end, as we talk about this obedience

that will outlast when obedience outlast opposition. Some of you

this room tonight, in the in the courtyard cafe online,

you feel like the Gibbeanites. You feel like you've been

surrounded five. You know, in biblical terms, five is the

number of grace, though, and those five kings thought they

could surround Gibbeyan nights. But you, yourself, you feel like, man,

I feel surrounded. I feel like I'm you know, I'm

trying to reach out to the Lord, but I feel

like I'm on the edge of death. I'm on the

edge of defeat. I'm on the edge of depress, whatever

that area is. And Joshua, what's so beautiful about this book?

While we're going through Joshua is a shadow and type

of Jesus, And Joshua responds just like Jesus responds, because

in the Bible it says this, for the wages of

sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal

life in Christ. Jesus our Lord, and I want to

pray for everyone in the room as we close tonight,

as you bow your heads and you close your eyes,

and I'm gonna pray for two things. The first one

that I want to pray for is you came in

tonight and you know you got to get right with

the Lord, whether this be you never heard of the

Lord before, and you never had a relationship with the Lord,

and maybe you've had one before and you've walked away

from God. And tonight, tonight's the night of salvation. Tonight's

the night of freedom. So with all heads bowed and

all eyes closed, what I'm gonna do in a second

is I'm gonna count to three. And if you know

you got to get right with God and surrender your

life of Jesus, whether for the first time or for

the last time, I'm asking you to shoot up your

hand boldly and you're just gonna say, Gods, that's for me.

It's time for me to come home, whether for the

first time or for the last time. Get ready. One,

Jesus loves you with an everlasting love. Two. This is

the greatest decision you can make. Three right now, just

lift up your hand. Amen. Thank you so much, thank

you so much, thank you so much. Come on, let's

put our hands together. Thank you so much, thank you

so much, thank you so much. Thank you. All these

hands across the room, I know all these hands in

the courtyard now even online. If you raising your hand online,

I want to encourage you to say, that's for me,

that's for me one more time. If that's you, if

you already raise your hand, don't raise it again. But

if you know you got to get right with God,

and you said if the preacher does it one more time,

I'll raise it, don't raise it again. But if that's

you on the counter, three, I want you to raise

your hand one to three right now, raise your hand.

If that's you, Amen, Amen, thank you so much, thank

you so much. Amen. Here's what we're gonna do is

we're gonna pray this prayer all together as one family,

as one paid your family. Say this to me, say Jesus,

say it, like me to say, Jesus. We thank you

for dying on a cross, rising from the grave. Tonight, Jesus,

I confess I'm a sinner in need of a savior.

Forgive me and my sins. Wipe my slate clean. Tonight

I declare for the first or last time, that you're

my savior, and you are my Lord. Lord. Say this

with me across from roping your hands with me, say

Holy Spirit, come and fill me up. Come on, can

we put our hands together for every single person that

pray that I want to encourage. I'm a pray for

one group of people and then I will let you go.

But if you pray that prayer for the first time,

we have a little book for you from our founding

pastor if you just go to grow up faith. It

really is about these next steps and what you're gonna

want to do and your faith journey and in your walk.

It's free for you, but we want to encourage you

to go there as well as go talk to one

of our dream team in the lobby. We love to

talk with you, connect with you. We'd love to find

to get you a Bible in your hand. The next

thing I want to pray for you is this is

if we could all stand together as we end, I

want to pray for a specific group that you're saying. God,

I need to respond and be obedient to the word

that you said. And I need faith to be obedient

to what you said. Even though I feel surrounded. I

need a fresh touch from you to believe for the impossible.

And just like Joshua had faith to see the sun

standing still, I'm gonna have faith for my situation. And

this is a family. Everybody say family. So if that's you,

here's what I want you to do. I want you to

lit both hands high in the air and you're saying

that's for me, That's for me right now. Amen. If

they're around you, you can extend a hand. If you

know that, you can put your hand on their shoulders.

And I'm gonna pray for all of us in the

room and in the courtyard and online lod We thank

you for everyone responding. We thank you so much Jesus

that in the same way that you did with Joshua,

you spoke no one would stand before him. In the

same way, we say, no weapon formed against us shall

prosper Jesus, no opposition will stand before us. And we

ask for strength and faith to keep moving forward in

Jesus's name, and everybody said Amen and Amen. Hey guys,

thank you so much for being with me tonight and

being here. We're gonna have our faith or our prayer team,

our elders and deacons coming forward if you need more prayer.

We'd love for you to come forward. But we can't

wait to see you this weekend on Saturday and Sunday

for service. Amen. We'll see you next week and we'll

see you this weekend. Amen,