Joshua 1:8 Pt 4

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Looking at our world from a theological
perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast,

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making Theology Central. It's been one
of those weeks. Oh, come

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on, how about you? Have
you had one of those weeks? What

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kind of week am I talking about? One of those weeks where it just

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becomes more frustrating by the second you
become more irritated. You become more frustrated,

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you become more aggravated. You you
want to start throwing things, smashing

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things. You may want to drive
yourself to the local, local liquor store.

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If I can even speak correctly,
No, I haven't. I haven't

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visited the liquor store. I have
it. I know, I started sounding

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like I had. No, I'm
not. I'm joking. I no one

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has visited a liquor store. I
know I'm sounding like it. But yeah,

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but it has been very frustrating,
and it's been very irritating. And

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you know what's caused the frustration.
You know what's caused the irritation. You

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know what's caused the desire to drive
to a liquor store. You know what's

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caused all of that. Christianity has
driven me to that point. Oh,

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I know that's going to be controversial, but that's how I feel today.

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It's been very frustrating, and we're
probably getting ready to experience a little more

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frustration and just a minute, but
before we do that, I should say

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good afternoon everyone. It is Friday, June the twenty eighth, twenty twenty

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four. It is currently one forty
one pm Central Time, and I am

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coming to you live from the Theology
Central Studio located right here in Abilene,

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Texas. Now, what's been causing
the frustration, What's been causing the irritation?

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What's been causing well, sound like
I've been at a liquor store.

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Well, what's caused all of this
is really three very specific things. Number

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one, a sermon series on Psalm
eighty three. That thing has been maddening

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and irritating. Because now, on
one hand, it's a good thing,

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because that sermon series led us to, you know, work on PSAW eighty

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three. But the more sermons I've
listened to on Saw eighty three, I'm

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starting to lose my ever living mind
because it just I just don't understand why

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the text is so difficult. It
is confusing, It is maddening. The

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things being said about Saw eighty three
many of them are just absolutely factually in

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error. They're just they're not even
correct, and that is so frustrating.

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In fact, the original sermon series
on PSAW eighty three, it's now up

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to I think twenty parts. I
think it's up to twenty parts right now.

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I listened to part eight today.
Part seven was just I don't even

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understand what happened in Part seven.
Next thing, you know, it's turning

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into like a gospel presentation, but
not based on any verse in SAW eighty

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three. Like it was just I
don't even know what was going on.

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Now, I think that was Part
seven. And then Part eight, well,

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I guess part one, two,
three, four, five, six,

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seven, because they're broken down into
little short segments for their radio program

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that those seven parts actually are one
part of basically one sermon, Part one

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of their sermon series on SAW eighty
three, So those seven parts really just

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means one part that's one sermon.
So those first seven parts is one sermon

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on SAW eighty three, and I
just don't understand. I don't get it.

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I don't I am so confused.
And then I started Part eight,

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I'm like, what is going on? Part eight turns into a discussion about

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King James. Only make sure you
have a King James only Bible. And

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then they start making these claims about
the King James Bible, and again many

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of the claims are just absolutely factually
incorrect. They say things about the Maseratic

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texts that just are not fair.
They say things about the Alexander what they

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call the Alexandrian texts, which is
a text type which is part of Kodak

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Sanaticus. Okay, we could get
into, you know, biblical manuscripts,

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but just a lot of things that
are being said are just completely inaccurate.

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But the main thing is why does
any of that have to do with Psaw

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eighty three. It would be one
thing if you're in Psaw eighty three and

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you're like, okay, you see
this verse. This verse is translated radically

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different and all of these different translations. The reason it's translated so differently is

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because these manuscripts have this reading,
and these manuscripts have this reading. We

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reject those manuscripts based off the following
reasons. Now, some of the reasons

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he talked about rejecting some manuscripts was
really I mean, it was very conspiratorial

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that they were produced by Jewish slaves. Well, come to find out,

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I can't find any evidence to even
support that claim that they purposely changed the

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manuscripts because they didn't like what they
said. There's no evidence to support that.

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So it just turned into this kind
of conspiratorial thing about biblical manuscripts.

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But the issue was it was not
based off Saw maighty three, even though

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it's part of a sermon series on
Saw eighty three. Again, it would

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make perfect sense if you're like Saw
eighty three, this text is translated this

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way, others translated this way.
Let's discuss the reasons and then make an

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argument for the manuscripts which the King
James version is based on. But it

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was it was just, hey,
you need a King James Bible? Why

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do you need a King James Bible? And then just making claim after claim

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that are just factually in error.
By the end of that, In fact,

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I was gonna turn it on and
do kind of a review about it.

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But I'm like, what's the point, Like what we're trying to get

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to Saw eighty three, And this
sermon series that has twenty parts on Saw

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eighty three is not about Saw eighty
three. It's I just don't get it

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like I'm frustrated. But if I'm
being honest with you, it's not even

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so much frustration as much as it
is I just am confused, right Like,

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So now to preach on Saw eighty
three, you just can literally to

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preach. You can just open the
Bible, read a verse and then talk

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literally about anything. Like, I
don't get it. But obviously that kind

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of preaching is far more popular than
mine. That kind of preaching. There's

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enough support for it to maintain a
church, to bring in money, to

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pay the staff, to have a
radio station. I mean, obviously that's

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what people want, which leads me
going, I don't I don't even understand

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anymore what I'm doing. So that's
the first thing that's led to frustration.

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The second thing, and speaking of
frustration, I'm getting all these weather alerts

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on my iPad right now because we're
in extreme heat, and they're basically like,

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if you go outside, you will
die. Okay, all right,

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But remember I received in the mail
sord of the Lord newspaper and there was

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an article in here or a sermon
in here about revival, and once again

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they quote these scriptures. Applying them
to us makes absolutely no sense. It's

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just it's just I mean, you
can go back and listen to that series.

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I've done what two messages on Revival. I need to finish the article,

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but I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't even want to turn

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on the microphone and finish the article
because already it's just like they're quoting verses

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saying it's about us. The Holy
Spirit will lead us into all truth kind

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of concepts, he will teach us, he will bring to memory anything that

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Jesus has said to us. All
of that clearly is not about us,

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or we would all have one doctrine
and there would be one denomination. And

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so it's just it's maddening. So
that was frustrating. So we have the

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Psaw eighty three frustration, we have
the Revival frustration quoting things, you know,

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verses again applying them to us when
they don't. And then we have

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the Joshua one eight frustration. I
can't take anymore, ladies and gentlemen,

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I can't. And I hate that
it's all turning negative, right, I

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really am, I'm you. I
don't like the negative. I want it

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to be positive. I want it
to be positive. But the Joshua one

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eight. Thing is maddening these sermons
on Joshua one eight, Like they just

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they almost acknowledge that Joshua one eight
is given. Well they in many cases

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they want to call them promises,
but they're actually commands. Then they say

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that we can keep it, but
they don't even come close to explaining how

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anyone comes close to keeping it,
because well nobody does so then, But

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so then that means we would not
get the prosperity and the success. It's

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just it's it's maddening. So I
offered a a you know, a completely

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different interpretation of Joshua one eight that, on one hand, Joshua one eight

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is law. It's simply there to
show us that we cannot keep it,

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that we will never keep it,
but Christ did, so we put our

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faith in Christ. Then his obedience
to Joshua one eight is imputed to our

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account. So then we have spiritual
prosperity and success in Christ. So if

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we're gonna if we're gonna make it
about us, we have to approach it

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from that perspective. But my argument
continues to remain Joshua one eight is about

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the nation of Israel. Joshua cannot
be understood apart from Deuteronomy twenty eight,

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where God makes in a sense what
we refer to as the land covenant with

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Israel. If they go in and
do this and do this, they get

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good success and prosperity. If they
don't, they get curses. That's literally

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Deuteronomy comes right before Joshua. Joshua
one eight cannot be understood apart from Deuteronomy

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twenty eight. It's about them,
and guess what happened. They did not

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succeed. They were not prosperous because
they failed to obey. Because it's once

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again a demonstration that we cannot keep
God's law. But so far in all

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these sermons, it's been ignored,
the contest context has been ignored over and

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over. Just we go to Joshua
one eight and it's about you and it's

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about me, and it's just maddening. So between Psaw eighty three, between

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this article right here on Revival,
where again scriptures are just applied to us

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with no not even questioning when minute
that can't be real. If that was

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true, then everyone would have the
same doctrine, believe the same things.

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There would only really be a need
for nobody would even need a commentary because

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the Holy Spirit's teaching you, like
the whole thing is just maddening, just

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crazy. And then Joshua one eight. So there's a part of me on

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this Friday, June the twenty eighth, I don't even really want to broadcast.

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I want to go find something else
to broadcast about. But you know

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what, it's Friday. We are
fast approaching the end of our study on

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Joshua one to eight. I've given
you all kinds of things to look for,

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things to do. We're kind of
fast approaching the end of that.

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So I've got to do at least
one more, right, We've got to

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try to get at least one more
review. And so I grabbed the sermon's

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two point oh app and I did
a search for Joshua one eight and I

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found a sermon you and your Bible. Now, immediately I know that this

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is not going to probably go in
a positive direction because it's about you and

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your Bible. But Joshua one eight
is not about you, and it's not

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about your Bible. It's about Israel
and the books of the law that they

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had and their possession or they would
have understood or known about at that time.

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That's what it's literally about but okay, we'll see how this is.

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Maybe they're going to connect it to
Israel and then look for application to us.

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We will see. But I feel
like we've got to do one more

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now. I'm very concerned that this
is forty four minutes long, this sermon.

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My concern is, on one hand, I feel like I got to

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do it the whole review, which
then we'll turn this into two or three

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hours. I don't necessarily want that. So what I may do is just

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do the review so I feel like
we get the main idea and then let

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you go finish the rest. I
hope that's okay, because I just think

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at some point, I mean,
there's no point in belaboring the point,

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right I've given everyone. No one
yet has emailed me or contacted me and

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said, hey, I've been listening
to all these sermons on Joshua one to

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eight, and here are a few
that at least we're much closer to your

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interpretation that you offered. Nobody has. Nobody has given me anything, So

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that's either one a sign that nobody
is participating, or two it's a sign

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that nobody has found anything. Maybe
it's a sign that everyone agrees with the

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way all these other sermons interpret Joshua. Can I say, Joshua John Joshua

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chapter one, verse eight, and
they disagree with me, which is perfectly

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okay. That's one of the reasons
we do this is so that you can

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hear different perspectives. But obviously,
from my perspective, the way Saw made

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three is being handled by many of
the sermons we've reviewed as maddening. Obviously

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based off my perspective, the way
these verses dealing with so called revival have

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been discussed as maddening, and obviously
based on my perspective and interpretation of Joshua

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one eight, these other perspectives are
maddening. Now, you may agree with

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all the other perspectives, but hey, that's the great thing about this podcast

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is you get to hear different perspectives
and then you get to figure it out.

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Right. So, I guess we're
just gonna jump into this. I

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guess we're just gonna jump in.
Hopefully this will go smoothly. Hopefully,

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hopefully it goes smoother than my my
opening, my introductory part of this,

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my introduction part of this. I
know it probably already caused a little bit

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of controversy saying Christianity is causing all
of this. But I think it's fair

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to say that there's times. Look, Look, I'm not worried about giving

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church answers. Look there's sometimes Christianity
can drive me mad because of just the

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way the text is handled, just
the way. I don't know. I

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just find myself constantly not thinking the
way the majority of Christians think. And

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I definitely don't understand how many cases
the Scriptures are handled. But I could

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be wrong about everything, And maybe
what we're getting ready to hear is gonna

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be a uh, you know,
it's gonna be wonderful. It's gonna be

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an oasis and the desert of hermeneutical
desert. Okay, maybe it's going to

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be that. Maybe it's gonna be
a breath of fresh air. Maybe it's

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gonna be a nice refreshing rainstorm of
hermeneutical excellence. Okay, there we go.

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All right, are you ready,
ladies and gentlemen? We begin and

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five four three two? Are you
ready? Here we go one we begin

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our sermon review. Now, well, I invite you this morning to take

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your copy of the Scriptures and turn
to Joshua Chapter one Joshua chapter one.

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At this time, we will dismiss
our children three years old through the third

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grade to their junior church. And
if you happen not to have a Bible

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with you this morning, there is
one in the Peu rack right in front

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of you, and Joshua one eight
is on page one sixty seven, one

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sixty seven. We could have a
discussion about junior church. Are you a

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fan of it? Do you like
it? What do you think the purpose

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of junior church is. I think
if you're going to have junior church,

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what you're attempting to do is to
train the kids, prepare the kids to

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how to listen to a sermon,
how to take notes, how to sit

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still. I don't think you should
be taking them to junior church to entertain

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them, because if you're entertaining them, you're actually then only making it more

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difficult for them to transition back into
I guess what we call adult church.

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I mean there's which I can't I
don't like the separating every separating them maybe

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for or like a Sunday school class, that's but the rest of the time,

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I want those young kids growing up
learning how to listen. Because I've

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demonstrated to Over my years of ministry, and I've had plenty of times where

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parents come to me and are shocked
that their kids can answer the questions and

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and and do this. And I'm
like, because we we churches treat them

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like they're stupid. Okay, they're
not. Young people. Young adults and

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teenagers can understand. Stop dumbing everything
down. Going okay, now, I

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know, I know you're sixteen,
but you need to go. You need

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to go to the cool youth room
where you can play games and and and

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at the full Now, how about
you're a young per You have a brain.

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You can understand doctrine, theology,
church history, and you can engage

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and listening to the exegesis of scripture
and you can participate. All right,

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So, but I'm not a If
junior church is there simply to try to

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help train and prepare for that transition
so that they can sit in the pew,

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But if all you're doing is entertain
and it's fun, why would they

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ever want then to move to the
normal sanctuary where it's just listening to someone

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preach. So if you're preparing them
for that, junior church is great.

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If you're simply you may actually be
making it more difficult for the transition.

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That's my feelings, but you can
tell me yours, all right, But

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let's continue, Joshua one eighth this
morning, just follow along as I read

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this book of the Law. Shall
not depart from your mouth, but you

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shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to

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do according to all that is written
in it. For then you will make

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your way prosperous, and then you
will have good success. God, I

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pray this morning, as we come
to your word, that you would give

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us the ability to focus. Sometimes
during the holiday season, just life gets

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a little upended. And maybe we've
come this morning and we're a little weary,

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a little distracted. We're not in
our normal schedule. Maybe, and

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God, would you help us to
set all that aside and truly focus on

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your word and your truth. God, give us truly a mind to absorb

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your truth, a heart that is
pliable and moldable and willing to receive your

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truth. And God, I pray
that you would effectively use your word in

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our hearts and lives today. And
we asked us in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Now, just a quick question about
that prayer. If God gives the

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heart that makes us willing to receive
his truth. If God is the one

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who does that, He's like,
okay, there's a church. I'm going

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to give everyone a heart willing to
receive their truth. If God does that,

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then why wouldn't God give everyone a
heart willing to receive the truth.

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Why would someone then resist the truth
or fight the truth, or or or

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or push back on the truth.
Why wouldn't all Christians just immediately receive it?

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And just it's always sometimes we pray
these things and I'm like, well,

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if God answered that prayer, then
Christians should be basically again almost holy,

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perfect and godly, almost sinless.
It's like, we pray these things

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and then I'm always like, well, if God is answering these prayers,

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everyone should understand the Bible. Everyone
should know the Bible, everyone should have

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the same doctrine. Everyone should be
holy, everyone should be perfect. And

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so I sometimes I'm perplexed the things
that are praying. Now that prayer is

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much more you know, reasonable than
some of the prayers. But again,

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if God is the one that gives
everyone the heart to receive the truth,

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then are you saying, like,
then he gives every Christian the heart to

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receive the truth. Well, because
what we've heard or even in the article

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on revival, is that, well, we've got to be willing. God

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gives us the whole expirit but we've
got to be willing to let him then

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do his work. Well, if
God's going to give us a willing heart

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to receive his word, why doesn't
God just give us a willing heart to

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accept the work of the Holy Spirit? Then we're basically holy imperfect. Sometimes

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it's like we push back and we
resist, and other times it's like God

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makes us willing. It's so conflicting
and at times it's almost contradictory. But

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we'll see where this goes. We
we're mainly focused on Joshua one eight.

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Here I'm entitled the message this morning
simply you and your Bible, You and

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your Bible. Peter Drucker said,
this plans our only good intentions unless they

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immediately degenerate into hard work. Some
of us kind of repulse a little bit

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on that last phrase, don't we
the hard work part? Michael Josephson said

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this good intentions are simply not enough. Our character is defined and our lives

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are determined, not by what we
want say or think, but by what

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we do. I have a feeling
that this has had to Hey, you've

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got to be more committed and dedicated
to your Bible, that this is just

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going to like Israel. Maybe an
afterthought in this quickly, I don't.

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I don't. Maybe maybe Israel gets
a little bit of attention here, but

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I have a feeling like Israel's about
to be completely kicked out of Joshua one

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to eight and it's going to become
about you and me And are you committed

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to reading your Bible? Are you
truly dedicated to reading your Bible? Are

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you putting forth the work? Are
you putting forth the effort? And again,

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well, then how much time do
I have to spend reading my Bible?

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Before then I will have prosperity and
good success? And then what is

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that prosperity and good success? Because
once you define the prosperity and good success

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and then you tell me how much
time I have to spend reading my Bible

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studying it, then what you're telling
me if I meet this requirement, then

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I get whatever this prosperity and good
success is. Now, what we've seen

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over and over is that on one
hand, they want to take the prosperity

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and good success and make it spiritual
prosperity and good success. Well, is

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that the prosper and good success as
promised in Joshua one to eight. I

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think you go back to Deuteronomy twenty
eight. You can define the prosperity and

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good success in Joshua one to eight
by what's promised in Deuteronomy twenty eight.

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But most pastors then completely ignore that
and say the prosperity and good success is

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some kind of spiritual prosperity and good
success, but that don't really explain what

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that looks like. And then they
say basically, hey, if you will

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read your bible, oh oh oh, and if you obey every single thing

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in it, then you'll get this
spiritual success, which means then no one's

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going to get this spiritual success because
no one obeys everything in it. So

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then the whole thing just becomes I
don't know, but we will see where

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he's going to go. But I
get a feeling this is going to be

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like read your Bible more, read
your bible more, read your Bible more.

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Let's see now, in several arenas
of life, it could be that

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starting tomorrow, the first day of
twenty twenty four. You have some plans,

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maybe some New Year resolutions, and
you know, we can we can

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think about those things, we can
want to do them, we can have

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the best of intentions, but unless
we actually do them, it really doesn't

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matter a whole lot. And certainly, and maybe very very most importantly,

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it comes to the word of God
that you can have great intentions. Hey,

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this next year, I'm going to
be in my Bible. This next

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year, I'm going to faithfully read
my Bible. Maybe I'm going to read

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the whole Bible. Maybe I'm going
to read the New Testament. Maybe I'm

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going to read an Old Testament.
Maybe I'm going to you know, study

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a portion of a book or whatever
it may be. And we can have

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the best of intentions writing into tomorrow, but unless we do them not just

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tomorrow, but one hundred days from
now, one hundred and eighty days from

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now, a year from now,
it really doesn't matter a whole lot.

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So this morning, my plea,
my admonition, is this that when it

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comes to us and our Bible,
that we truly spend time with it this

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next year. Okay, So the
thesis of this sermon seems to be you

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need to be more dedicated to reading
your Bible based off Joshua one eight,

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which is not about you. It's
about Israel, and it's about the land,

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Covenant and Deuteronomy twenty eight twenty nine
following. All right, but that's

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okay, So let's once again,
you know what I like to do,

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even though I disagree with something,
Let's go with his theory and say,

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Joshua one eight is about you.
Forget Israel, they're old news, they're

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antiquated. Who cares about them?
This is about us. See as we

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get ready to cross over into the
promised Land, which is twenty twenty four,

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I guess because this has preached it
sounds like the day before twenty twenty

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four. As we look at this
again, I'm just making this an entire

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allegory. All we need to do
to have prosperity and good success in twenty

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twenty four is obey everything in Joshua
whin eight. Maybe that's the way this

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is gonna go. I don't know. Let's just see. I'm going to

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try to go along with it and
then see where it takes. This.

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Let's jump in and look at some
various things about God's word will eventually come

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back to Joshua one and verse eight. Number one. Reasons to love the

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Bible. Reasons to love the Bible. Number one, The Bible is from

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God. We say, yeah,
we know that, but can you let

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that soak in just a little bit, that these black words on white pages

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and all put together in sixty six
books in one book we call the Bible,

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it comes from God. May that
never escape us, that when we

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open up this book, that these
are God's words to us. What is

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tewod Timothy three sixteen tell us,
okay, I'm just gonna already. Okay,

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I don't know what this has anything
to do with Joshua one eight,

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but okay, I could make it
about Joshua one eight. This book of

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the Law, those are God's words, and this Joshua one eight is God's

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word, not to us but to
Israel. When we say the Bible is

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God's word to us, we've got
to be very careful how we explain that

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when God makes promises to Abraham and
Sarah they're going to have a baby,

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that promise is not for you,
that you're going to have a baby.

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If for some reason you and your
husband are not, you have not been

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able to get pregnant. That's not
necessarily a promise for you in any way,

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shape or form. When he promises
Abraham and his descendants land, that

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is not a promise for you.
I can go on and on and on.

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When he promises those coming out of
Babylonian captivity that I know that the

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plans I have for you to bless
you, those are not promises to you.

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Those are for those coming out of
Babylonian captivity. I can go on

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and on and on. You have
to be able to understand that the Bible

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may be for our admonition, it
may be beneficial, it may be for

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you, know, to challenge us, but some of the specific words have

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nothing to do with us. They're
about God dealing with someone else, and

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it's simply descriptive of what happened.
It may be a promise, but it's

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not a promise you can claim.
It's not a promise for you. It

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may be a word spoken, and
so it's not a word that you can

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take for you. I don't know
why that is so complicated. So when

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we say that the Bible is for
us, we've got to qualify that.

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It's got to be qualified and explained, Well, wait a minute. The

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scriptures in general are for us because
all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for

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reprove, for correct for instruction,
and righteousness. They are profitable. Doesn't

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mean every word is necessarily directed towards
us are applicable to us. All scripture,

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all of it, every word of
it, every phrase of it,

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every sentence of it, every sentence. All scripture is breathed out by God.

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It comes from God and is profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for

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correction, and for training in righteousness. It comes from God. For Thessalonians,

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Chapter two and verse thirteen, we
also thank God constantly for this that

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when you receive the word of God
which you heard from us, that sissibly

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means they accepted it as truth when
they received it. I heard it from

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Paul and his missionary group. You
accepted it not as the word of men.

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But what really is the word of
God which is at work in you,

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believers? You initially received it,
you said that's truth, But then

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you accepted it. You embraced it
for your own heart, your own life,

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and it's a book that's at work
in you as believers. Do you

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believe this morning? Do you really
believe that God's word works in you.

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I hope you do, because it
does. Do you realize that God's word

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saves people? What's the word of
God? Tell us? Faith comes from

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hearing and hearing by what the word
of God or the word of Christ.

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The word of God gives us counsel. Psalm one nineteen and verse twenty four

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says, your testimonies are my delight. They are my Counselor's God's word counsels

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us. God's word gives us hope. Psalm one nineteen and verse one forty

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seven. I rise before the dawn, and I cry for help. I

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hope in your words, God's word
is at work in you, and it's

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only at work in you. You
see this the way they should have been

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handled, Right, This is one
of those ones that's going to be somewhat

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I'm not going to be able to
do much with. Right. On one

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hand, the things he's saying,
other than that little qualifier about when you

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say God's word is for us,
you got to qualify that a little bit.

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Other than that, the things he's
saying, obviously I would be in

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complete agreement with. And this is
good stuff, And I would tell you

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to write it down, put it
in your notebook. The frustrating part is

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00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:07.119
why did you start by quoting Joshua
one to eight. This is a topical

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message. Just say, hey,
before we go into twenty twenty four,

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everyone, you have next to you
a Bible. Hopefully you brought a Bible.

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Pick that up. You need that. In twenty twenty four we need

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to spend more time in it because
it is the word of God. So

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today I'm going to do a topical
message talking to you about the significance and

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00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:30.200
the importance of God's word. Let's
start with number one. The first reason

408
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:35.799
the Bible is so important is because
it is God's word. And then quote

409
00:33:35.799 --> 00:33:39.160
the scriptures. Just leave Joshua one
eight out of it. Joshua one to

410
00:33:39.160 --> 00:33:44.000
eight is about Israel. Joshua one
like, just don't even go there.

411
00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:50.079
So many times and I've got it's
bizarre how this will happen. Sometimes I

412
00:33:50.119 --> 00:33:52.839
will turn on this microphone into a
podcast episode, right, and it's topical

413
00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:55.759
or it's thematic. I'm dealing with
a topic, or I'm dealing with an

414
00:33:55.799 --> 00:34:00.440
issue, and I'll get emails.
You didn't quote one scripture, you didn't

415
00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:05.640
do do you want me just to
randomly quote a scripture. Just randomly quote

416
00:34:05.640 --> 00:34:09.519
a scripture. I've done that in
churches where I've preached it. You should

417
00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:13.000
have done this with a scripture.
You just want me to just go find

418
00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:16.199
a scripture and just quote it.
It'll make you feel better. Look,

419
00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:21.159
if I'm gonna quote a scripture,
I need to understand. Okay, wait

420
00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:23.119
a minute, how am I quoting
this? Is this anything to do with

421
00:34:23.159 --> 00:34:27.719
the original context? Am I ripping
this out of context? Because I have

422
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:30.719
a topic I just need to now
find a scripture. You don't go find

423
00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:36.800
a scripture just because your topic needs
one. You go to scripture because the

424
00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:39.960
scripture is what you're going to deal
with. If I'm not gonna be necessarily

425
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.800
dealing with the scripture, I may
make a reference to it maybe, but

426
00:34:44.840 --> 00:34:49.960
I gotta be very careful on how
I make a reference to it. Joshua

427
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:55.119
one Aid mentions this book of the
Law great, but I know nothing about

428
00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:59.760
context has been established, nothing about
the who, what where? When.

429
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:05.679
It's just utilized to be the back
kind of the starting point for a topical

430
00:35:05.719 --> 00:35:09.079
study. Why not just do the
topical study. You're going to quote scripture

431
00:35:09.079 --> 00:35:13.480
in the topical study. Why even
bring in Joshua one eight. That would

432
00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:15.800
be my shoe. Now he says, we're going to return to Joshua one

433
00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:17.920
eight. Okay, we will see, we will see. I don't want

434
00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:22.280
to have to start skipping through this
and try to find a place, but

435
00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:24.239
we'll let this go. I think
this is going to be a lot of

436
00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:29.360
good stuff that he's going to say
that, of course we would agree with.

437
00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:32.760
Of course, So you want to
definitely write this stuff down, and

438
00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:37.719
hopefully it'll be a challenge to all
of us to you know, take the

439
00:35:37.719 --> 00:35:40.559
word of God, to treasure it, to care about it, to want

440
00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:45.360
to partake more in it. That
will all be good. But I just

441
00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:50.239
I wanted was Joshua one eight.
That's all I wanted. All Right,

442
00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:55.280
let's see what we find here.
If you are in it and allowing it

443
00:35:55.320 --> 00:36:04.519
to work in you, it's incredibly
important. Okay, Now this issue comes

444
00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:13.599
up. Does God's word work in
you? But only if you allow it?

445
00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:21.679
Now remember the opening prayer, God
make us willing to receive your word.

446
00:36:21.719 --> 00:36:23.480
Well, if God can make you
willing to receive it, why can't

447
00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:29.440
God make you willing to allow his
word to work in you? So does

448
00:36:29.480 --> 00:36:35.840
God's word work in you only if
you allow it? Are you in charge?

449
00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:38.679
See this is so weird. On
one hand, God make us willing

450
00:36:38.719 --> 00:36:42.719
to receive it. On the other
hand, Hey, God's word will work

451
00:36:42.760 --> 00:36:46.559
in you only if you allow it, only if I allow it. So

452
00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:52.440
God is at the mercy of me. So the Holy Spirit can be in

453
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:54.679
me. I can be reading the
word of God, but nothing can happen

454
00:36:54.760 --> 00:37:00.159
unless I allow it. So any
lack of spirituality or growth or victory over

455
00:37:00.199 --> 00:37:06.199
sin, it's your fault because you
simply won't allow God to do his work.

456
00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:08.199
But if you're gonna pray that God
will make us willing, why then

457
00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:13.079
wouldn't God just make us all willing
to allow him to do his work and

458
00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:15.239
then we can just passively sit by
and then He will do the work and

459
00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:20.119
then will be perfect. So if
I allow God to do his work,

460
00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:22.679
well can I be perfect? Well? No, you can't be perfect.

461
00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:25.880
Well wait a minute, I'm allowing
God to make me perfect. Well no,

462
00:37:25.960 --> 00:37:29.679
he still can't get you to perfect. So then is that a is

463
00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:32.320
whose fault is that? Then God
doesn't want me to be perfect? And

464
00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:37.360
if God doesn't want me to be
perfect, then any imperfection in me would

465
00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:46.000
be God's fault, since he doesn't
want me to be perfect. But God's

466
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:52.159
word is so so valuable. It
comes from God. Secondly, the Bible

467
00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:59.519
is completely reliable. It's completely reliable, John seventeen seventeen. So sanctify them.

468
00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:08.639
In the what truth your word is
truth? God reminds us that what

469
00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:13.159
we have in front of us is
truth. It's not a lie, it's

470
00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:16.000
not made up. It's not just
some men writing whatever they want to write.

471
00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:22.079
It's from God and it is truth. You know. Peter says this

472
00:38:22.119 --> 00:38:28.800
in Second Peter one, sixteen and
nineteen. For we did not follow cleverly

473
00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:32.760
devised miss when we made known to
you the power and coming of our Lord

474
00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:37.000
Jesus Christ. But we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. What's he talking about.

475
00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:43.920
He's talking about being an eyewitness to
the transfiguration. For when we received

476
00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:49.440
honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him

477
00:38:49.719 --> 00:38:53.360
by the majestic glory. This is
my beloved son, with whom I am

478
00:38:53.400 --> 00:39:00.320
well pleased. We ourselves heard this
very voice born from heaven, for we

479
00:39:00.320 --> 00:39:06.440
were with him on the holy mountain. And notice what comes next. And

480
00:39:06.519 --> 00:39:15.760
we have the prophetic word more fully
confirmed. He saying, look, we

481
00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:22.159
had an incredible experience seeing Jesus Christ
transfigured, see him in his glory.

482
00:39:23.239 --> 00:39:29.239
But you know what, there is
something that is even more certain than for

483
00:39:29.360 --> 00:39:31.239
Peter, for him to say,
hey, this is what I experienced,

484
00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:35.960
and he points to the Word of
God and he's saying, hey, the

485
00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:42.039
word of God is more certain than
my experience, and that's certainly true for

486
00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:45.079
every single one of us. And
he says this to which you do well

487
00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:50.800
to pay attention as to a lamp
shining in a dark place. He's saying,

488
00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:57.920
look, this trumps any human experience. It's reliable. And I'm telling

489
00:39:57.960 --> 00:40:04.960
you you need to pay attention to
God's word. You need to consider it

490
00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:12.639
carefully. It's a reliable book.
Thirdly, the Bible is a significant means

491
00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:16.599
of spiritual growth. It's a significant
means of spiritual growth. Se in Corintheen

492
00:40:16.639 --> 00:40:23.679
is three eighteen and we all with
an unveiled face beholding the glory of the

493
00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:28.440
Lord. Let me just pause right
there. We've talked about this before,

494
00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:31.119
but let me just rehearse it again. Okay, what's that mean? It

495
00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:37.719
just simply means that we can take
the Bible and we can clearly and plainly

496
00:40:37.119 --> 00:40:46.239
see truth about God, about Jesus
Christ as we read our Bible. Okay,

497
00:40:46.400 --> 00:40:50.119
couple of things I know we're supposed
to be about Joshua one to eight.

498
00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:52.840
Now this is where he gets confusing, all right, so try to

499
00:40:52.880 --> 00:41:00.760
follow Christian logic. God is powerful
and we're working in you. The Word

500
00:41:00.800 --> 00:41:07.119
of God is powerful and working in
you. The Bible is significant to your

501
00:41:07.239 --> 00:41:14.800
spiritual growth. However you have to
allow it. So is it which is

502
00:41:14.840 --> 00:41:23.840
more powerful me allowing or disallowing or
God his word and his spirit. On

503
00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:27.920
one hand, we say God is
the one who does this. God is

504
00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:30.920
the one who does this. It's
God's power in you. But at the

505
00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:35.119
same time, it seems that according
to Christian logic, I am more powerful

506
00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:39.079
than all of this other stuff because
I can stop it and it's very tracks.

507
00:41:39.480 --> 00:41:45.239
But then why wouldn't God then just
overcome my will unwillingness for it to

508
00:41:45.280 --> 00:41:54.000
work. But it's so convoluted sometimes. But he said Second Corinthians, this

509
00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:59.480
is kind of a hermeneutical challenge here. Now I wanted Joshua one to eight,

510
00:41:59.559 --> 00:42:02.480
but we may have a hermeneutical challenge. You know what that's gonna lead

511
00:42:02.519 --> 00:42:05.760
to it may lead to a week
of study. All right, here we

512
00:42:05.800 --> 00:42:09.239
go, let's find it, I
think, he said, Second Corinthians,

513
00:42:09.320 --> 00:42:21.000
chapter three, verse See here did
he say verse sixteen? I? Uh,

514
00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:27.400
okay, was it verse six?
I mean, I'm gonna back this

515
00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:30.719
up just a little, hopefully I
don't mess this up too much. I'm

516
00:42:30.719 --> 00:42:34.360
gonna back this up. Let's say
if we can find out exactly watch scripture

517
00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:39.960
he quoted spiritual growth. It's a
significant means of spiritual growth. Se Corinthians

518
00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:47.639
three eighteen. And we all tewod
Corinthians three eighteen. It's a number you

519
00:42:47.679 --> 00:42:52.000
always know. If I'm gonna try
to remember a number, I'm going to

520
00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:55.400
get it wrong. I cannot remember
numbers. Can't remember any anything about numbers.

521
00:42:55.519 --> 00:42:59.840
I cannot remember. Okay, I
just can't. All right, by

522
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.480
here we go, Second Corinthias,
three eighteen. But we all with unveiled

523
00:43:04.519 --> 00:43:08.239
face beholding as in a mirror,
the glory of the Lord are being transformed

524
00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:13.679
into the same image, from glory
to glory, just as by the spirit

525
00:43:13.840 --> 00:43:19.920
of the Lord he's his. Hermeneutical
interpretation is when it says we all with

526
00:43:20.159 --> 00:43:22.920
unveiled face beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord. That's us

527
00:43:22.960 --> 00:43:30.760
opening our Bible. He is interpreting
Second Corinthias three eighteen to be a reference

528
00:43:30.800 --> 00:43:36.639
to us looking into our Bible.
What do you think? Do you think

529
00:43:36.679 --> 00:43:42.239
that's a good interpretation or questionable interpretation? What do you think what would you

530
00:43:42.320 --> 00:43:45.800
base that off of? Is this
say, hey, if you look into

531
00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:49.840
the scriptures, boom, you're going
to see it. And he seems to

532
00:43:49.880 --> 00:43:52.199
imply that it's easy to understand now
all we have to look at it,

533
00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:55.000
and it's easy to understand all of
these truths. Now again, I will

534
00:43:55.039 --> 00:43:58.920
always challenge that, because if it's
so easy to understand all the truth,

535
00:43:59.119 --> 00:44:01.679
then why are the thouls of denominations? And nobody can literally agree on anything

536
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:07.760
but is second Christia's three eighteen.
See, this is what happens when you

537
00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:10.119
do a topical message and you just
quote scripture, scripture, scripture, scripture,

538
00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:13.960
scripture. You just throw it as
a proof text, but there's no

539
00:44:14.440 --> 00:44:17.679
dealing with the actual text. I
got questions about it, all right,

540
00:44:17.760 --> 00:44:23.960
but let's see what else he says
about it. With an unveiled face beholding

541
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:29.079
the glory of the Lord. Let
me just pause right there, We've talked

542
00:44:29.079 --> 00:44:31.280
about this before, but let me
just rehearse it again. Okay, what's

543
00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:36.880
that mean? It just simply means
that we can take the Bible and we

544
00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:44.119
can clearly and plainly see truth about
God, about Jesus Christ. As we

545
00:44:44.239 --> 00:44:51.280
read our Bible. It says this, we all, with unveiled face beholding

546
00:44:51.320 --> 00:44:57.679
the glory of the Lord, are
being what transformed into the same image,

547
00:44:58.360 --> 00:45:02.840
from one degree of goloe glory to
another. For this comes from the Lord,

548
00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:10.639
who is the Spirit. What is
Paul reminding us of? Okay?

549
00:45:10.719 --> 00:45:15.440
I had to look up some things
about this verse as I was as I

550
00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:20.400
was listening. Here's one source two
Corinthias three eighteen, and the Bible reads,

551
00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:23.679
but we all, but we all
unveiled face beholding as in a mirror,

552
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:28.239
the glory of the Lord are being
transformed into the image, from glory

553
00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:30.280
to glory, just as by the
Spirit of the Lord. The New King

554
00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:37.639
James version. This verse is often
interpreted as describing the transformative power of God

555
00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:40.760
working in the lives of believers.
It speaks to the idea as Christians focus

556
00:45:40.800 --> 00:45:45.400
on God and as glory, they're
being changed and to become more like Him

557
00:45:45.440 --> 00:45:49.000
through the work of the Holy Spirit. While the verse does not specifically mention

558
00:45:49.119 --> 00:45:52.440
looking into the Bible, the concept
of beholding the glory of the Lord and

559
00:45:52.440 --> 00:45:57.559
being transformed can be seen as applicable
to how believers engage with scripture. By

560
00:45:57.599 --> 00:46:00.079
studying the Word of God, Christians
seek to understand his care, teaching,

561
00:46:00.159 --> 00:46:06.039
and will, which can lead to
spiritual growth and transformative transformation in the life.

562
00:46:06.079 --> 00:46:08.639
Therefore, while Second Corinthians three eighteen
does not explicitly refer to looking into

563
00:46:08.679 --> 00:46:13.400
the Bible, it conveys the broader
idea of turning our attention to God and

564
00:46:13.480 --> 00:46:16.719
allowing his spirit to transform us into
His likeness. Please note allowing there's the

565
00:46:16.800 --> 00:46:22.039
allowance again we have to allow,
which can certainly include engaging with and applying

566
00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:28.199
the teaching of the Bible in our
lives. So there's at least one source

567
00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:31.559
that seems to go along with that
concept. Do you think that's the concept?

568
00:46:31.679 --> 00:46:36.639
Do you think do you think that
works right? Again? I'm just

569
00:46:36.840 --> 00:46:40.199
we have to question things. That's
what we have to do. So Second

570
00:46:40.239 --> 00:46:44.280
Corinthians three eighteen. I may do
a little bit more work on it.

571
00:46:44.519 --> 00:46:47.559
We may return to that maybe in
an devotional message at some point, But

572
00:46:47.639 --> 00:46:52.280
okay, but we wanted to get
to Joshua Win eight. Let's see if

573
00:46:52.320 --> 00:46:55.440
we can get close. He's saying, Look, when you're in your Bible,

574
00:46:57.360 --> 00:47:01.960
you're reading it faithfully and carefully seeing
Jesus Christ, You're seeing truth about

575
00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:08.599
God the Father. It changes you. And from one step to the next,

576
00:47:09.119 --> 00:47:14.880
to the next to the next,
you are growing into the image of

577
00:47:15.039 --> 00:47:20.159
Jesus Christ. And I think most
of us who are believers here this morning,

578
00:47:20.320 --> 00:47:22.960
I would trust, would say,
Hey, that's what I want.

579
00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:28.280
I want to be more like Jesus
in twenty twenty four. How can you

580
00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:31.239
do that? Practically speaking, it's
the word, it's the work of the

581
00:47:31.239 --> 00:47:37.400
spirit of God. But practically speaking, it's getting your Bible and it will

582
00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:44.159
change you. So if we read
our Bible, it will change us.

583
00:47:45.400 --> 00:47:51.920
It will just change us. But
you've already in a sense given us the

584
00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:55.760
idea. It will only change us
if we allow it. So the Bible

585
00:47:57.559 --> 00:48:00.679
will change if I allow it.
So then is it the Bible changing me

586
00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:05.199
or me changing me? Because I'm
the one obviously in control of the entire

587
00:48:05.280 --> 00:48:09.360
process. So then do I get
the credit or does God get the credit?

588
00:48:10.159 --> 00:48:14.719
Well, well, God's word the
changing you know because I allowed it?

589
00:48:15.079 --> 00:48:17.960
And then what makes me willing to
allow it? Is that just me

590
00:48:19.280 --> 00:48:22.400
choosing to allow it? Or does
God make me willing to allow it?

591
00:48:22.440 --> 00:48:24.880
And if he makes me willing to
allow it, why doesn't he just make

592
00:48:24.920 --> 00:48:28.679
all Christians willing to allow it?
And if he doesn't make a Christian willing

593
00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:30.840
to allow it to change them,
then then would that be on God?

594
00:48:30.880 --> 00:48:36.719
Or would that beyond people? These
are beyond the person? So is it

595
00:48:36.920 --> 00:48:40.360
just you? Just I decide to
let God's word change me? Now?

596
00:48:40.599 --> 00:48:45.840
Can I allow God's word to change
me to perfection? And a few say,

597
00:48:45.840 --> 00:48:47.119
well, no, you can't get
the perfection? Then why can't God's

598
00:48:47.159 --> 00:48:52.280
word change me to perfection? If
I'm allowing it, Well, then you're

599
00:48:52.280 --> 00:48:54.280
not really allowing it. Well how
can you tell me what I'm allowing or

600
00:48:54.280 --> 00:48:59.880
not allowing? Oh, this becomes
very you see how it just starts kind

601
00:48:59.880 --> 00:49:06.599
of going in circles. It could
be some of us here this morning have

602
00:49:06.800 --> 00:49:10.679
really not grown a lot over this
past year. Maybe we haven't grown a

603
00:49:10.679 --> 00:49:15.480
lot in a while. And if
you're honest, I think a significant piece

604
00:49:15.519 --> 00:49:23.039
of that could be that you're not
regularly in your Bible. It grows us

605
00:49:23.119 --> 00:49:32.000
spiritually. Peter also says in First
Peter two, too, like newborn infants

606
00:49:32.119 --> 00:49:38.400
long for the pure spiritual milk,
that it that by it you may grow

607
00:49:38.559 --> 00:49:45.440
up into salvation, or literally that
it will grow you. I think most

608
00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:50.639
of us are probably familiar with the
Little Children's song. Read your Bible,

609
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:53.719
pray every day. If you know
it's say it with me, and you

610
00:49:53.760 --> 00:50:01.639
will what grow, grow grow.
You know that is truth to help children

611
00:50:01.840 --> 00:50:07.119
understand some basic things, But that's
truth for all of us. Read your

612
00:50:07.119 --> 00:50:15.159
Bible, pray every day, and
you will grow, grow, grow.

613
00:50:15.599 --> 00:50:22.119
Fourthly, this morning, the Bible
has multiple benefits. It has multiple benefits.

614
00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:25.800
Let's go through some of these.
The Word of God is like a

615
00:50:25.840 --> 00:50:30.760
mirror. This is a pretty familiar
one for most of us, particularly from

616
00:50:30.800 --> 00:50:35.000
the Book of James James one twenty
two or twenty five. He admonishes us

617
00:50:35.039 --> 00:50:38.639
to be doers of the word and
not hearers, only deceiving yourselves. For

618
00:50:38.760 --> 00:50:43.920
if anyone is a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he is

619
00:50:44.039 --> 00:50:47.039
like a man who looks intently at
his natural face and a mirror. For

620
00:50:47.159 --> 00:50:51.840
he looks at himself, and he
goes away, and at once forgets what

621
00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:57.079
he was like, But the one
who looks under the perfect law, simply

622
00:50:57.159 --> 00:51:04.280
the word of God, the law
of life, liberty and perseveres. You

623
00:51:04.360 --> 00:51:09.440
stay there. You stay there as
long as necessary, being no here who

624
00:51:09.480 --> 00:51:14.960
forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

625
00:51:15.920 --> 00:51:17.440
You know this book, as we
open it up and we read it,

626
00:51:17.440 --> 00:51:21.679
it's like a mirror, and it
shows us some things about ourselves,

627
00:51:22.440 --> 00:51:30.840
and let's be honest, sometimes those
things aren't real pleasant. It reminds us

628
00:51:31.400 --> 00:51:40.800
that our attitude is sinful. It
reminds us that our thought processes are anything

629
00:51:40.840 --> 00:51:50.760
but godly. It reminds us that
our unwillingness to forgive is displeasing to God.

630
00:51:51.639 --> 00:51:54.000
And we have a choice to make. We can look in that mirror

631
00:51:54.719 --> 00:52:00.880
and we can do something about that, or we can simply walk away and

632
00:52:01.000 --> 00:52:07.840
do nothing. Now, this is
an interesting theological question. When we look

633
00:52:07.880 --> 00:52:13.039
into the mirror of God's law,
we know what it's going to reflect back,

634
00:52:13.239 --> 00:52:15.800
our inability to keep the law,
our guilt. Under the law,

635
00:52:16.039 --> 00:52:21.199
we are condemned, and it should
drive us to Christ. So we go

636
00:52:21.239 --> 00:52:25.280
to Christ confess, and then we
rely on his imputed righteousness. But most

637
00:52:25.280 --> 00:52:30.599
preachers teach. Know you look into
the law and then you do something about

638
00:52:30.639 --> 00:52:34.480
it. Can I do something about
it? Can I look into the law

639
00:52:34.480 --> 00:52:36.960
of God and say, Okay,
I'm going to stop this, I'm going

640
00:52:37.000 --> 00:52:38.079
to stop this. I'm going to
stop this. I'm going to clean this

641
00:52:38.199 --> 00:52:43.280
up. And can I get to
perfection? Can I get to perfection?

642
00:52:44.320 --> 00:52:46.760
Can you look into the mirror of
God's law, see your flaws and then

643
00:52:46.800 --> 00:52:52.719
clean yourself up until you get to
perfection? Everyone acknowledges you can't get to

644
00:52:52.800 --> 00:52:58.079
perfection, meaning then you can look
into the mirror every single day and try

645
00:52:58.079 --> 00:53:00.079
to clean and try to clean,
and try to clean, and try to

646
00:53:00.119 --> 00:53:01.920
fix and try to put on makeup
and try to cut your hair and do

647
00:53:02.039 --> 00:53:06.760
this and do it. You can
try all you want to clean yourself up,

648
00:53:06.920 --> 00:53:12.000
but you're always going to be guilty. Every time you look into the

649
00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:15.920
mirror of God's law, you will
see your guilt. I don't care if

650
00:53:15.960 --> 00:53:20.440
it's an internal guilt or an external
guilt. Every day you look into the

651
00:53:20.480 --> 00:53:22.960
mirror, you see your guilt.
So what can you do? Find yourself

652
00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:29.119
trying to work harder, or you
run immediately to Christ and accept the forgiveness

653
00:53:29.119 --> 00:53:31.599
that comes in Christ, and you
hope. Your hope then is on the

654
00:53:31.639 --> 00:53:38.239
imputed righteousness, not an infused but
an imputed one. That's a radically different

655
00:53:38.280 --> 00:53:49.400
approach, which is harmful to us
and displeasing to God. God's word is

656
00:53:49.440 --> 00:53:53.119
like a mirror. But God's word
is also like food. Matthew four to

657
00:53:53.119 --> 00:53:59.480
four Jesus, when he was being
tempted in the wilderness, he answered,

658
00:53:59.519 --> 00:54:02.000
it is written man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word

659
00:54:02.079 --> 00:54:07.239
that comes from the mouth of God. We obviously need physical sustenance, but

660
00:54:07.360 --> 00:54:13.440
more than physical sustenance, we need
spiritual sustenance. We need the word of

661
00:54:13.519 --> 00:54:16.400
God. The Psalmists and Psalm one
nineteen says in one O three says,

662
00:54:16.480 --> 00:54:22.559
how sweet are your words to my
taste? Sweeter than honey to my mouth.

663
00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:27.440
I'm just gonna guess that sometime over
the course of this past week,

664
00:54:27.760 --> 00:54:31.920
most of us have enjoyed at least
one really good meal, maybe on Christmas

665
00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:37.280
Day, maybe several good meals over
this last week, and we've just really

666
00:54:37.400 --> 00:54:46.199
enjoyed the food. Have you enjoyed
the food of God's word? Can you

667
00:54:46.360 --> 00:54:53.639
honestly say as much as I enjoyed
that roast beef, that ham that turkey,

668
00:54:53.960 --> 00:55:00.320
that chicken, whatever you had on
Christmas Day. Oh man, I've

669
00:55:00.360 --> 00:55:07.639
really enjoyed my Bible, I've really
taken it in is and see once again

670
00:55:07.840 --> 00:55:13.800
these passages or that's the mirror that
shows you your failure. You're going to

671
00:55:13.880 --> 00:55:15.800
have to run to christ I mean, come on, I still want to

672
00:55:15.840 --> 00:55:22.079
find the Christians who love the Bible
more than they love food. Come on,

673
00:55:22.239 --> 00:55:27.880
now, how would you even measure
that? How would you even measure?

674
00:55:28.199 --> 00:55:32.400
Almost every single person listening to my
voice eats probably three times a day.

675
00:55:32.719 --> 00:55:37.599
Not that's probably not even including snacks. You probably eat more than three

676
00:55:37.760 --> 00:55:43.000
times a day. How many times
a day do you engage in any meaningful,

677
00:55:43.159 --> 00:55:49.360
serious, systematic study of God's Word? I think so many times.

678
00:55:49.519 --> 00:55:52.719
Like I know, preachers constantly use
this illustration. We should love God's word

679
00:55:52.840 --> 00:55:58.119
more than money, more than food, and we should, but we don't.

680
00:55:58.719 --> 00:56:01.239
And we I know, we try
to convince ourselves we do, but

681
00:56:01.400 --> 00:56:06.280
we don't. It's hard enough to
get Christians to read their Bible. It's

682
00:56:06.280 --> 00:56:09.599
almost impossible to get them to study
their Bible. It's for most Christians,

683
00:56:09.639 --> 00:56:14.119
it's difficult to even get them to
show up to church Sunday school Sunday morning,

684
00:56:14.960 --> 00:56:17.639
Sunday night, and Wednesday. You're
lucky they'll show up to one service.

685
00:56:19.320 --> 00:56:22.360
And if you give them anything to
do, like we'll go home and

686
00:56:22.400 --> 00:56:25.519
read this or go home and study
that, nobody will participate. The numbers

687
00:56:25.519 --> 00:56:32.880
are always all. Every study shows
how Bible engagement is always abysmal. Biblical

688
00:56:32.960 --> 00:56:40.159
illiteracy is always inside the church.
But even if you take the very best

689
00:56:40.280 --> 00:56:45.199
Christians, come on, now,
come on, which do you love more?

690
00:56:46.239 --> 00:56:52.360
The Bible or food and money?
Which do you spend most of your

691
00:56:52.400 --> 00:57:00.719
time thinking about pursuing and taking in
food and getting money. I mean,

692
00:57:01.320 --> 00:57:07.639
I don't know how we can just
ignore those facts. Like I understand all

693
00:57:07.719 --> 00:57:10.559
pastors use this illustration. I've used
it countless times, but at some point

694
00:57:10.599 --> 00:57:15.159
you've got to go, well,
wait a minute, we're never pulling this

695
00:57:15.239 --> 00:57:17.079
off. Now, why do we
never pull this off? Because we're just

696
00:57:17.239 --> 00:57:21.039
unwilling? Well, wait a minute. He prayed at the beginning for God

697
00:57:21.079 --> 00:57:23.400
to make us willing? Well,
can God make us willing? Can God

698
00:57:23.440 --> 00:57:29.719
give us a desire for the scriptures
more than food? I mean, I've

699
00:57:29.719 --> 00:57:35.719
heard pastors rant and rave about this, and I mean, there's no nice

700
00:57:35.719 --> 00:57:38.920
way to say it. You know, they're two hundred and fifty three hundred

701
00:57:38.960 --> 00:57:44.280
pounds to clearly haven't missed a mail. Now, they may have a medical

702
00:57:44.280 --> 00:57:47.800
condition, but I'm just saying they
look extremely overweight. Now, I don't

703
00:57:47.840 --> 00:57:51.360
care if they're overweight. I could
care less in any way, shape or

704
00:57:51.400 --> 00:57:53.719
form, does not in my business. But I'm saying it's hard for me

705
00:57:53.800 --> 00:57:59.960
to go, well, wait a
minute, we're supposed to love God's word

706
00:58:00.079 --> 00:58:04.519
more than food. And then guess
what in every church? Have you ever

707
00:58:04.559 --> 00:58:07.719
noticed it? And almost every church
you come into Sunday school, there's donuts

708
00:58:07.719 --> 00:58:13.199
and there's coffee. You every time. If there's gonna be a church event,

709
00:58:13.320 --> 00:58:16.360
there has to be food. If
there's gonna be a fellowship, there's

710
00:58:16.400 --> 00:58:20.280
gonna be food. If there's gonna
be a potluck, there's gonna be an

711
00:58:20.320 --> 00:58:23.159
ice cream social. And guess what
will be cut short for you to go

712
00:58:23.239 --> 00:58:28.599
participate in the picnic or the potluck
or the fel It's always we're gonna cut

713
00:58:28.639 --> 00:58:32.000
short the preaching of God's word.
Why does every church event has to have

714
00:58:32.280 --> 00:58:40.239
food? Why? I mean,
if the church is supposed to love God's

715
00:58:40.239 --> 00:58:44.119
word more than food, then people
should say, well, after the sermon.

716
00:58:44.320 --> 00:58:47.400
When we get together for the fellowship, let's do more Bible study.

717
00:58:47.440 --> 00:58:50.360
No, no, no, no, we got to have food. Why

718
00:58:50.639 --> 00:58:52.880
I thought we're supposed to love the
bob. See, it's something we just

719
00:58:52.960 --> 00:59:04.760
pay lip service to. We pay
lip service to. Look I can,

720
00:59:04.920 --> 00:59:09.880
I can, I'll just be I'll
be blunt about my own life. Plenty

721
00:59:09.920 --> 00:59:15.960
of times growing up, I went
without food so that I could save money

722
00:59:16.400 --> 00:59:23.360
so that I could buy music.
I would say, nope, not gonna

723
00:59:23.400 --> 00:59:25.239
eat, not gonna eat, not
gonna eat, not gonna eat. I

724
00:59:25.320 --> 00:59:29.719
canna eat. I'm not gonna spend
money for lunch for lunch at school.

725
00:59:29.800 --> 00:59:32.159
I'm gonna skip lunch. Nope,
nope, nope, So that on New

726
00:59:32.280 --> 00:59:37.000
Music Day I could be at the
record store to buy music. Did that

727
00:59:37.280 --> 00:59:45.440
countless times? Countless times go without
food so I could buy music. I

728
00:59:45.480 --> 00:59:51.000
don't know if I've ever gone without
food so that I could focus on scripture.

729
00:59:51.280 --> 00:59:54.440
Maybe sometimes, but not. It
would be rare, nothing like the

730
00:59:54.679 --> 01:00:01.519
consistency and the dedication I had so
that I could purchase music. But I've

731
01:00:01.559 --> 01:00:06.440
never seen the church go without food
for anything. Youth events food food,

732
01:00:06.559 --> 01:00:09.559
food, food, food. It
doesn't matter. Every event food food food,

733
01:00:09.639 --> 01:00:13.199
food, food, food, food, food, get together and shove

734
01:00:13.280 --> 01:00:16.679
food down our throats. Oh,
but we love God's word more than food.

735
01:00:16.960 --> 01:00:24.320
We love God. Come on now, now, I understand the illustration,

736
01:00:24.840 --> 01:00:27.480
but I think what we're supposed to. I think what we have to

737
01:00:27.480 --> 01:00:30.559
do is just say, well,
wait a minute, nobody does this,

738
01:00:30.679 --> 01:00:36.840
and I'm gonna be like, exactly, it's the law. Guess who would

739
01:00:36.840 --> 01:00:39.440
have loved God's word more than food? Who said? I think he said

740
01:00:39.480 --> 01:00:44.239
it was his bread to come and
do the will of God. Jesus Christ

741
01:00:44.559 --> 01:00:51.000
fulfills all of those demands, and
Christ his obedience to it is imputed to

742
01:00:51.039 --> 01:00:54.760
me. So in Christ and my
position, I love God's word more than

743
01:00:54.800 --> 01:01:00.800
food and gold and silver and practice. We don't even come get. We

744
01:01:00.800 --> 01:01:06.400
can pay lip service to it all
day long. We don't pull it off,

745
01:01:08.239 --> 01:01:14.119
can't. I think? In my
what thirty something years and teaching the

746
01:01:14.119 --> 01:01:17.760
twelve methods of Bible study, I've
told the story. How many times have

747
01:01:17.840 --> 01:01:22.480
I ever had someone do all twelve
methods of Bible study and turn them into

748
01:01:22.519 --> 01:01:28.719
me? All twelve? Maybe once
in my entire life? Maybe? And

749
01:01:28.800 --> 01:01:34.519
I've taught those Bible study methods all
over at every church I've ever been in.

750
01:01:34.880 --> 01:01:38.440
I've taught taught it on the internet
so many times you can't at the

751
01:01:38.480 --> 01:01:40.960
beginning, you'll get away. Oh, I'll do the devotional method. Oh

752
01:01:42.000 --> 01:01:45.280
I cannot wait. Maybe I'll do
the chapter summary method, and then that's

753
01:01:45.320 --> 01:01:46.840
it. Then they maybe they'll get
to the next one. Maybe they'll do

754
01:01:46.880 --> 01:01:52.239
a biographical method. Maybe they'll do
a topical maybe they'll do one. But

755
01:01:52.280 --> 01:01:55.599
most of the cases they never even
complete the studies because they require work.

756
01:01:55.840 --> 01:01:59.920
Well, wait a minute. You
should love God's word more than you love

757
01:02:00.159 --> 01:02:05.800
food, more than you love money. Now what that should do is convict

758
01:02:05.880 --> 01:02:09.760
us and say, my only hope
is Christ. But I think we pay

759
01:02:09.800 --> 01:02:16.960
a lot of lip service to that. I really do food as nourishment for

760
01:02:17.159 --> 01:02:24.679
my soul. It could be this
morning that some of you are starving.

761
01:02:27.880 --> 01:02:34.440
Oh not physically, you've enjoyed some
good meals, but spiritually you're starving because

762
01:02:34.480 --> 01:02:38.360
you haven't eaten from the Word of
God in a long time. Oh,

763
01:02:38.440 --> 01:02:40.760
you say, but I come to
church regularly, and that's great, and

764
01:02:40.760 --> 01:02:45.880
I'm glad for that. But when's
the last time you got in your Bible

765
01:02:46.079 --> 01:02:50.960
and you read your Bible and you
kind of studied something and you dug through

766
01:02:50.960 --> 01:02:55.679
it just on your own. Are
you eating the food of God's word on

767
01:02:55.719 --> 01:03:00.519
a regular basis? You know,
the word of God God is also like

768
01:03:00.639 --> 01:03:07.159
light, and we talked about this
recently with the fact that Jesus says I

769
01:03:07.199 --> 01:03:10.880
am the light of the world.
It's on one nineteen it says, your

770
01:03:10.920 --> 01:03:15.760
word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path. You

771
01:03:15.760 --> 01:03:22.079
know, the Bible enabled us to
navigate this darkened world. It shows us

772
01:03:22.079 --> 01:03:27.000
where to go, where not to
go. It's a light to us.

773
01:03:27.960 --> 01:03:30.840
And then fourthly, the word of
God is like a sword. Remember any

774
01:03:31.199 --> 01:03:38.199
Ephesians chapter six where Paul gives the
spiritual armament and he says in verse seventeen,

775
01:03:38.519 --> 01:03:44.239
and take up the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit,

776
01:03:44.800 --> 01:03:53.800
which is the word of God.
Literally the word there is machaira. It's

777
01:03:53.880 --> 01:04:00.280
not referring to the big broad sword
that the Romans Sould would sometimes use,

778
01:04:00.760 --> 01:04:06.679
but it was a smaller sword,
sometimes between six and eighteen inches, that

779
01:04:06.760 --> 01:04:12.000
they would carry on a belt on
their person in a sheath, and when

780
01:04:12.039 --> 01:04:19.559
it came to hand to hand combat, that was the preferred weapon. Do

781
01:04:19.719 --> 01:04:29.320
you take the machaira the sword of
the spirit. Do you have it at

782
01:04:29.360 --> 01:04:40.039
the ready when temptation comes to do
battle with your sword? Do you just

783
01:04:40.079 --> 01:04:43.800
hope for the best. Do you
just say, oh, I failed,

784
01:04:43.880 --> 01:04:47.280
I'll do better next time, or
do you do battle with the word of

785
01:04:47.320 --> 01:04:53.239
God. Let me give me some
practical ways in which this might look.

786
01:04:56.440 --> 01:04:59.360
I don't think we're going to get
to Joshua when eight ladies and gentlemen.

787
01:04:59.400 --> 01:05:02.679
I don't. Well, I'll look
at some of his practical ways which this

788
01:05:02.800 --> 01:05:06.320
is supposed to work. I have
lots of questions about this, because,

789
01:05:09.039 --> 01:05:13.559
yeah, does temptation come from outside
or does temptation come from inside? If

790
01:05:13.599 --> 01:05:16.360
it comes from inside, then you
would take the sword and be fighting your

791
01:05:16.400 --> 01:05:21.360
own sinful nature. So does spiritual
battle using your sword? Is it fought

792
01:05:21.400 --> 01:05:26.800
against external temptation? Or is it
fought against the real source, which is

793
01:05:26.920 --> 01:05:30.800
inside of you? And what would
that look like? I think most pastors

794
01:05:30.880 --> 01:05:33.559
apply it to an external source.
But the real source is internal. It's

795
01:05:33.599 --> 01:05:38.840
the internal sinful nature that still exists
even after you're saved, even though so

796
01:05:38.880 --> 01:05:43.840
many Christians act like it's no longer
there, even though all the evidence clearly

797
01:05:43.880 --> 01:05:46.519
indicates that it is. But let's
see which direction he goes, internal or

798
01:05:46.559 --> 01:05:54.679
external. You might be tempted to
say, in your own mind and your

799
01:05:54.719 --> 01:06:00.920
own thinking, moral purity is just
old fashion something that my parents, my

800
01:06:01.000 --> 01:06:04.719
grandparents, my great grandparents, they
kind of adhere to. But come on,

801
01:06:05.440 --> 01:06:09.639
you know, this is twenty twenty
four almost. You know that's old

802
01:06:09.639 --> 01:06:14.280
fashioned stuff. But what does the
Bible say for Stessonians four, three and

803
01:06:14.320 --> 01:06:20.239
four. For this is the will
of God, your sanctification, that you

804
01:06:20.280 --> 01:06:29.119
abstain from sexual immorality. It couldn't
be clearer. God says, this is

805
01:06:29.199 --> 01:06:34.480
my will. He spells it out
that you abstain from sexual immorality. And

806
01:06:34.519 --> 01:06:39.800
when we are tempted to believe or
act in any way opposed to that,

807
01:06:40.039 --> 01:06:45.920
we've got to do battle with God's
word. And I do like the fact

808
01:06:45.920 --> 01:06:50.559
that he does make that more internal
when our mind says so, he is

809
01:06:50.639 --> 01:06:56.639
dealing with the internal source of this. Right, when we start thinking,

810
01:06:56.679 --> 01:07:00.840
hey, I can do what I
want. Right, do you face any

811
01:07:00.880 --> 01:07:04.800
form of sexual impurity that is an
internal issue, an internal struggle that we

812
01:07:04.880 --> 01:07:10.679
have to battle with? Okay,
I do I do appreciate that. Again,

813
01:07:10.719 --> 01:07:13.480
this is not getting us anywhere near
Joshua one to eight but I do

814
01:07:13.519 --> 01:07:18.559
appreciate that. I'm not saying that
you just code a verse and everything is

815
01:07:18.639 --> 01:07:24.320
okay. But you got to go
to battle and you got to ask God

816
01:07:24.360 --> 01:07:28.639
to say, help me believe this, help me to know this is your

817
01:07:28.719 --> 01:07:34.360
truth. Help me to apply this
to my life. How about it doesn't

818
01:07:34.400 --> 01:07:40.480
matter what I say. Well,
God's words says something different, doesn't it

819
01:07:41.000 --> 01:07:45.559
Ephesians four twenty nine. Let no
corrupting talk come out of your mouths,

820
01:07:46.559 --> 01:07:53.159
but only such as is good for
building up as it fits the occasion.

821
01:07:53.199 --> 01:07:59.920
It's appropriate for the occasion that it
may give what grace to those who hear.

822
01:08:01.760 --> 01:08:08.159
It matters what we say, it
matters how we talk. That the

823
01:08:08.239 --> 01:08:15.880
idea of corrupting talk the literal word
there is rotten fruit or vegetables. Don't

824
01:08:15.960 --> 01:08:21.880
let garbage come out of your mouth, but what comes out of our mouth

825
01:08:24.159 --> 01:08:30.960
should be good for building people up. That we are ministering grace to other

826
01:08:31.000 --> 01:08:36.159
people. We've got to do battle
with the sword of the spirit. When

827
01:08:36.159 --> 01:08:41.279
we're at tempted to think, Hey, I can say anything that I want

828
01:08:41.600 --> 01:08:46.000
to whomever I want, whenever I
want, how I want. God's word

829
01:08:46.039 --> 01:08:51.000
has something different to say. How
about this some sense or no big deal.

830
01:08:51.640 --> 01:08:55.199
Yeah, we got the big ones. You know this list over here,

831
01:08:55.239 --> 01:08:57.800
whatever that may be. But there's
this list over here, they're no

832
01:08:58.000 --> 01:09:02.439
big deal. And what's God's word? Say abstain from every form of evil,

833
01:09:03.640 --> 01:09:15.920
every form of evil. It could
be that in your mind you're struggling,

834
01:09:16.199 --> 01:09:25.319
really struggling to forgive someone, and
you just simply have concluded, I

835
01:09:25.359 --> 01:09:30.000
don't want to forgive. I don't
have to forgive. I'm not gonna forgive.

836
01:09:30.680 --> 01:09:39.399
If Heesians four thirty two, be
you kind, tenderhearted. This is

837
01:09:39.439 --> 01:09:44.760
all really really excellent, very convicting. I'm convicted. I don't know if

838
01:09:44.800 --> 01:09:46.399
you are, but this is very
true. We have to take the word

839
01:09:46.439 --> 01:09:49.960
of God and fight all this stuff
inside our mind, the way we think,

840
01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:54.880
the way we feel, what we
desire, what we do. It

841
01:09:54.920 --> 01:09:57.359
is a we take the word of
God. We fact. I like the

842
01:09:57.359 --> 01:10:00.720
fact that he's making it. It's
us. It's our internal thinking, it's

843
01:10:00.760 --> 01:10:03.640
our internal desires, it's our internal
it's not the external. I like that

844
01:10:03.840 --> 01:10:09.079
very very very very very much.
Makes it very much more convicting, very

845
01:10:09.119 --> 01:10:13.239
much more real, very much more
applicable, and very much more philological.

846
01:10:13.479 --> 01:10:16.560
So I love this is convicting.
I'm convicted, You should be convicted.

847
01:10:16.600 --> 01:10:19.720
We should all be convicted on this. Remember I said that one of the

848
01:10:19.760 --> 01:10:25.159
frustrating things about this is this is
going to be some really good stuff that

849
01:10:25.239 --> 01:10:29.119
you should write down. So now
I've asked some questions about some of it

850
01:10:29.159 --> 01:10:32.479
and my frustration with sometimes the double
speak within Christianity, but overall this is

851
01:10:32.520 --> 01:10:38.119
all very excellent stuff. And agree. My frustration is there's nothing to do

852
01:10:38.159 --> 01:10:42.840
with Joshua one eight. Okay,
but all right, I know we're at

853
01:10:42.920 --> 01:10:45.600
seventy minutes. We'll go a little
bit longer just to see if he even

854
01:10:45.000 --> 01:10:54.159
touches Joshua one eight. Forgiving one
another, as God for Christ's sake has

855
01:10:54.199 --> 01:11:00.600
forgiven you, we got to do
battle. You know, it could be

856
01:11:00.640 --> 01:11:06.439
this morning that you have been truly
deeply hurt by someone. And I'm not

857
01:11:06.520 --> 01:11:15.039
just talking about some passing kind of
thing, but you've suffered immensely and it

858
01:11:15.079 --> 01:11:18.840
takes a great amount of grace from
God to be able to forgive, to

859
01:11:18.920 --> 01:11:25.800
let that go, to loose that. Also, it could be this morning

860
01:11:27.000 --> 01:11:34.880
that you're just kind of loathing in
some petty offense some you know, something

861
01:11:34.880 --> 01:11:40.600
that somebody has done just in passing, and you've just kind of hung onto

862
01:11:40.640 --> 01:11:45.800
that and you're wallowing in self pity, and you've got to let that go

863
01:11:45.720 --> 01:11:53.279
and forgive because it's displeasing and dishonoring
to God. And we've got to do

864
01:11:53.399 --> 01:11:58.039
battle with God's word. You may
conclude in your mind and your heart,

865
01:11:58.239 --> 01:12:01.479
whatever the circumstance may be, there's
no hope. I'm just the end of

866
01:12:01.520 --> 01:12:05.039
my rope, and there is no
hope. And what's God's words say?

867
01:12:06.279 --> 01:12:11.760
Why are you cast down, oh
my soul? And why are you in

868
01:12:11.880 --> 01:12:17.920
turmoil? Within me? Hope in
God? For I shall again praise Him

869
01:12:18.520 --> 01:12:24.199
my salvation. Can I just be
super honest with you this morning? There

870
01:12:24.279 --> 01:12:29.399
was a morning this past week I
was struggling in my spirit. I went

871
01:12:29.600 --> 01:12:33.399
to this passage and just rehearsed it
and quoted it and went over it in

872
01:12:33.439 --> 01:12:39.760
my mind and just went to battle
in my own spirit with the word of

873
01:12:39.800 --> 01:12:44.359
God. Folks, that's what we
have to do. We have to use

874
01:12:44.399 --> 01:12:49.399
the sword of the spirit and go
to battle, and by God's grace,

875
01:12:49.479 --> 01:12:53.760
come out victorious on the other side. Let me give you just one more

876
01:12:53.760 --> 01:12:59.399
and we'll move on. God does
not love me. It could be that

877
01:12:59.479 --> 01:13:02.319
you've just included that somehow in your
mind, or you come to a spot

878
01:13:02.479 --> 01:13:04.800
where you're just struggling and say,
man, I don't even know if God

879
01:13:04.840 --> 01:13:09.079
loves me. I don't know if
he cares about me, And Romans eight

880
01:13:09.159 --> 01:13:13.720
thirty eight and thirty nine says,
for I am sure. I'm confident.

881
01:13:13.880 --> 01:13:16.640
I'm positive that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor

882
01:13:16.680 --> 01:13:19.920
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth

883
01:13:20.000 --> 01:13:26.560
or anything else in all creation will
be able to watch separate us from the

884
01:13:26.640 --> 01:13:31.000
love of God. Nothing, nothing
will cause God to stop loving you.

885
01:13:33.720 --> 01:13:42.239
We've got to go to battle and
use the sword of the spirit. I

886
01:13:42.319 --> 01:13:46.960
love love, love, love,
love His whole approach to spiritual battle,

887
01:13:47.319 --> 01:13:53.279
the sword fighting inside of us,
fighting inside of us, fighting because that's

888
01:13:53.279 --> 01:13:57.119
where the enemy is. The enemy
is inside, It's the call is coming

889
01:13:57.159 --> 01:14:00.880
from inside the house. That's what
we have to fight. The issue is

890
01:14:00.079 --> 01:14:04.239
us. We like to make the
issue other people. The issue is us.

891
01:14:04.680 --> 01:14:08.960
The issue is our own struggles,
our own desires. Now we have

892
01:14:09.079 --> 01:14:12.319
to, though, also acknowledge,
and I know nobody wants to hear this.

893
01:14:12.720 --> 01:14:17.239
The very depressing reality is you can
fight, fight, fight, fight,

894
01:14:17.439 --> 01:14:21.399
fight, fight, fight, but
it's gonna be failure, failure,

895
01:14:21.439 --> 01:14:26.119
fail your failure in some way,
shape or form, because we're in a

896
01:14:26.159 --> 01:14:29.800
perpetual state of disobedience. No matter
how much you're down there fighting, no

897
01:14:29.840 --> 01:14:32.479
matter how how much you're swinging the
swords, you're never gonna get to perfection.

898
01:14:32.720 --> 01:14:38.439
So there's always going to be failure. That's why, ultimately, the

899
01:14:38.479 --> 01:14:41.479
word of the Lord while we're fighting, one of the things that has to

900
01:14:41.479 --> 01:14:44.199
do is the word of the Lord
has to show you you need to go

901
01:14:44.279 --> 01:14:47.199
to Christ. You need to take
this battle to him because in him,

902
01:14:47.560 --> 01:14:51.000
the battle is over. In him, you are perfect. In him,

903
01:14:51.079 --> 01:14:56.720
his obedience to all of these things
you're fighting is complete, and you are

904
01:14:56.760 --> 01:14:59.479
perfect and holy in him. You
have to run to him. I think

905
01:14:59.520 --> 01:15:02.279
that's a part that often gets overlooked
because you can fight say i'm gonna stop

906
01:15:02.279 --> 01:15:05.000
this, and I'm gonna stop.
You may stop four things, there's gonna

907
01:15:05.039 --> 01:15:09.399
be twenty other things, and even
if you stop doing them externally, you

908
01:15:09.479 --> 01:15:13.600
may be still guilty of them.
Internally. You will just find yourself drowning.

909
01:15:13.720 --> 01:15:15.239
It's like you're gonna fight and fight
and fight. It's like, I

910
01:15:15.239 --> 01:15:19.880
don't know if you've ever seen some
classic zombie movies where they get rid of

911
01:15:19.920 --> 01:15:23.119
a zombie and there's ten more,
and you get rid of it, and

912
01:15:23.159 --> 01:15:26.000
then there's twenty more, and there's
thirty more, and then finally, no

913
01:15:26.039 --> 01:15:30.399
matter how many you get rid of, they keep coming until you're finally overrun

914
01:15:30.520 --> 01:15:32.039
and you're destroyed. Well, in
some ways, that's how it is with

915
01:15:32.119 --> 01:15:35.279
fighting sin. You can fight.
Ultimately the word of God, the sword

916
01:15:35.439 --> 01:15:40.479
should have, will have to show
you you need to go to Christ because

917
01:15:40.520 --> 01:15:43.359
that's where the only place you can
find rest and hope. Everything else you're

918
01:15:43.399 --> 01:15:46.239
going to be defeated to some level. Unless you can get to perfection,

919
01:15:46.560 --> 01:15:53.840
you're in a perpetual state of defeat. That is the complicated part of Christianity.

920
01:15:53.880 --> 01:15:57.119
I'm not saying that means we don't
we stop fighting, but at some

921
01:15:57.199 --> 01:15:59.920
point we have to. Even if
I'm like, WHOA, look at me.

922
01:16:00.159 --> 01:16:04.199
You know I've stopped doing that,
Well, that is a good thing.

923
01:16:04.279 --> 01:16:09.159
We need to stop all the things
he mentioned. But even if I

924
01:16:09.199 --> 01:16:12.439
stop one, I'm doing another now. That can lead to then not caring

925
01:16:12.439 --> 01:16:15.840
about any of them, and that
can be very complicated in Christianity. So

926
01:16:15.199 --> 01:16:17.760
we have to find the right balance. I don't have the right balance,

927
01:16:17.760 --> 01:16:20.199
and I don't have the right answer. I just know some point I've got

928
01:16:20.239 --> 01:16:24.079
to run to the foot of the
cross, because that's my only hope.

929
01:16:24.960 --> 01:16:27.640
Now, we're gonna just see if
he's going to go directly to Joshua.

930
01:16:27.680 --> 01:16:30.279
If not, I'm going to start
fast forwarding and see if we can find

931
01:16:30.319 --> 01:16:35.319
anything he says about Joshua. The
sword of the Spirit is our offensive weapon

932
01:16:35.359 --> 01:16:42.239
against temptation, against discouragement, against
doctrinal heresy, against wrong thinking, against

933
01:16:42.239 --> 01:16:46.199
wrong attitudes, against wrong actions.
We need to absorb the word of God.

934
01:16:46.279 --> 01:16:49.760
We need to understand it, we
need to review it, we need

935
01:16:49.800 --> 01:16:55.720
to apply it. We've got to
use the sword of the spirit. Well,

936
01:16:55.760 --> 01:16:59.239
there's some benefits that we've looked at. It's a mirror, it's food,

937
01:16:59.399 --> 01:17:02.399
it's light, it's the sword.
One more, the word of God

938
01:17:02.880 --> 01:17:09.840
provides stability for us. Okay,
I'm going to do a little fast forwarding

939
01:17:09.880 --> 01:17:14.119
here, see if we can get
anything to Joshua. Here we go.

940
01:17:15.520 --> 01:17:23.119
There needs to be stability in your
life and God's okay, that's not helping

941
01:17:23.239 --> 01:17:26.359
us too much. Let's go a
little bit further. All see if this

942
01:17:26.399 --> 01:17:31.920
gets us anywhere close. I'd encouragement
to keep going in our Christian life.

943
01:17:31.960 --> 01:17:41.119
It provides stability for us. So
there's many, many positive benefits to the

944
01:17:41.159 --> 01:17:45.279
Word of God, but there's also
some responsibilities regarding the Word of God.

945
01:17:46.119 --> 01:17:51.319
The Bible clearly says this. We've
got this Bible in our hand. We

946
01:17:51.359 --> 01:17:55.479
have probably many copies of the scripture, but what are we to do with

947
01:17:55.560 --> 01:18:00.840
it? Two Timothy two fifteen.
We are to do our best to present

948
01:18:00.920 --> 01:18:09.159
yourself to God as one. Okay, so we're still not getting to Joshua.

949
01:18:09.319 --> 01:18:15.479
I'm jumping up ahead a little bit
more. Here we goist this.

950
01:18:15.640 --> 01:18:23.680
Sometimes we're pretty lazy when it comes
to us and our Bible. We just

951
01:18:23.720 --> 01:18:27.600
somehow want to kind of, as
it were, put this under our pillow,

952
01:18:28.479 --> 01:18:31.880
just believe, Oh it'll somehow soak
in. I'll get it somehow someway.

953
01:18:33.319 --> 01:18:39.800
You know, as a young person, I would hear evangelists speak,

954
01:18:40.760 --> 01:18:45.960
I would hear other preachers preach,
and I would think, man, God

955
01:18:45.079 --> 01:18:50.960
must have just gifted them somehow.
They just know their Bible. You know

956
01:18:51.039 --> 01:18:57.800
that's not true. They spent time
in their Bible. They spend time reading

957
01:18:57.920 --> 01:19:01.880
their Bible, spend time memory their
Bible, spend time meditating in their Bible,

958
01:19:02.640 --> 01:19:05.079
and that's what we all need to
do. That we need to give

959
01:19:05.319 --> 01:19:13.039
maximum effort to present yourself. It's
the picture here that Paul is painting is

960
01:19:14.720 --> 01:19:16.479
Okay, we're still not in Joshua. I thought maybe he was going to

961
01:19:16.560 --> 01:19:20.439
Joshua meditate on your or day and
night kind of, you know, But

962
01:19:21.079 --> 01:19:24.720
no, I'm gonna fast forward it
now. I'm gonna go I mean,

963
01:19:24.760 --> 01:19:27.600
there's not much sermon left, so
clearly he's not gonna go to Joshua one

964
01:19:27.680 --> 01:19:31.199
eight and connect this to Deuteronomy twenty
eight or anything like that. I'm just

965
01:19:31.199 --> 01:19:39.319
gonna try to see if we can
find anything on Joshua. Oh how I

966
01:19:39.439 --> 01:19:45.680
love your law. I will meditate
on it all day long. Most of

967
01:19:45.760 --> 01:19:51.680
us are familiar with the idea of
meditation. It's the idea of moaning or

968
01:19:51.760 --> 01:19:57.760
humming or muttering. It's to be
so engrossed in something. And we've probably

969
01:19:57.760 --> 01:20:00.439
all done this at a time or
two where you're just muttering to yourself about

970
01:20:00.479 --> 01:20:03.319
something. You're not paying any attention
to who's around, who's listening, who's

971
01:20:03.359 --> 01:20:09.439
watching, but you're just kind of
almost talking to yourself, just engrossed in

972
01:20:09.520 --> 01:20:19.199
something. It's mentally rehearsing and digesting
the truth of God's word. How does

973
01:20:19.239 --> 01:20:23.960
this work? It's not hard.
It's really not hard at all. How

974
01:20:24.000 --> 01:20:27.359
about some forty six to one see
if we can work through this just as

975
01:20:27.359 --> 01:20:31.920
a simple exercise of how to meditate. God is our refuge and strength,

976
01:20:33.000 --> 01:20:38.800
a very present help in trouble.
God is our refuge and strength, a

977
01:20:38.960 --> 01:20:45.520
very present help in trouble. God
Elohem, that's the name of God in

978
01:20:45.560 --> 01:20:51.159
that particular verse, just simply refers
to, generally speaking, the might and

979
01:20:51.359 --> 01:21:00.359
power of God. God is not
was okay, well, and he says

980
01:21:00.399 --> 01:21:03.039
it's not hard to meditate on something
day and night. That would be literally

981
01:21:03.039 --> 01:21:06.319
physically humanly impossible. So then we
have to kind of water that down.

982
01:21:06.560 --> 01:21:10.319
All right. Obviously we're not going
to get to Joshua one eight. We're

983
01:21:10.359 --> 01:21:13.319
not going to get to Joshua one
eight. We're not We're not. So

984
01:21:14.840 --> 01:21:17.159
I would challenge you to go listen
to all of that. It's called You

985
01:21:17.359 --> 01:21:21.039
and Your Bible, Todd Curtis.
It's on the sermon's two point oh app

986
01:21:21.079 --> 01:21:26.039
Please download it, Please listen to
all of it, because there's some really

987
01:21:26.039 --> 01:21:29.720
good stuff there about our Bible.
There's this is one of those it's going

988
01:21:29.800 --> 01:21:33.720
to be a little frustrating. I
would agree with probably almost everything that was

989
01:21:33.760 --> 01:21:36.680
said there to some level. I
would ask some very difficult, you know,

990
01:21:36.720 --> 01:21:41.720
some questions, because I'm always asking
questions and challenging a little bit.

991
01:21:41.920 --> 01:21:45.199
Some of the double speaking Christianity drives
me crazy, not so much from him,

992
01:21:45.239 --> 01:21:46.640
just because Christianity says one thing and
then like, well, wait a

993
01:21:46.680 --> 01:21:51.560
minute, does it? Does it
not? All these different things. But

994
01:21:53.920 --> 01:21:58.159
overall, that's kind of just a
very good topical method on the Bible,

995
01:21:58.399 --> 01:22:00.079
why the Bible is important, and
why we need to be doing with it.

996
01:22:01.000 --> 01:22:04.560
That's a really good thing, a
good challenge for twenty twenty four.

997
01:22:04.600 --> 01:22:08.479
It's a good challenge for twenty twenty
five. That's a good challenge for the

998
01:22:08.479 --> 01:22:12.399
month of July. So it's really
good. We can be convicted by much

999
01:22:12.439 --> 01:22:15.479
of that, and we should be
convicted by much of that. We should

1000
01:22:15.560 --> 01:22:18.000
take the word of God and be
are we actually using the word of God

1001
01:22:18.079 --> 01:22:23.800
to fight anything or we've just become
so apathetic and complacent that we just kind

1002
01:22:23.800 --> 01:22:26.000
of said, hey, this is
the way it is, and I'm just

1003
01:22:26.039 --> 01:22:28.359
going to live my life the way
I do. That's and I'm not going

1004
01:22:28.439 --> 01:22:30.479
to do anything about it. How
do we how do we pursue that there's

1005
01:22:30.600 --> 01:22:35.000
much to be convicted there? I
am convicted by it. So I'm grateful

1006
01:22:35.000 --> 01:22:42.560
for this sermon. It just wasn't
on Joshua one to eight. That wasn't

1007
01:22:42.560 --> 01:22:45.239
on Joshua, which is what we
were hoping to accomplish. But remember that's

1008
01:22:45.239 --> 01:22:48.279
why we do the sermon reviews the
way we do them, because I don't

1009
01:22:48.279 --> 01:22:51.359
want to know what's in the sermon. I want to just listen with you

1010
01:22:51.399 --> 01:22:55.760
in real time. Now, in
this particular case, I thought it was

1011
01:22:55.800 --> 01:22:58.079
going to get us somewhere. It
did not. It got us in a

1012
01:22:58.119 --> 01:23:01.640
completely different direction, which was convicting
and challenging. So still we benefit,

1013
01:23:02.119 --> 01:23:05.720
we still benefit from it. We
don't really get us. It doesn't help

1014
01:23:05.800 --> 01:23:11.279
us in our kind of our new
interpretation of Joshua one eight in any way,

1015
01:23:11.319 --> 01:23:13.800
shape or form. And of course
he just immediately took it and made

1016
01:23:13.840 --> 01:23:15.960
the rest about us, which of
course that's not what Joshua one eight is

1017
01:23:16.000 --> 01:23:19.760
about. So again that's a little
frustrating. But the good thing is he

1018
01:23:19.800 --> 01:23:23.239
didn't spend I mean, maybe at
some point in the sermon he gets to

1019
01:23:23.319 --> 01:23:26.680
Joshua one eight, and maybe right
there in the meditation part he's in Joshua

1020
01:23:26.720 --> 01:23:30.319
one eight. But you know again, I think it's gonna be He's going

1021
01:23:30.359 --> 01:23:33.479
to very much present it as if
he goes there, Hey, you can

1022
01:23:33.520 --> 01:23:39.399
do it. It's he even says
meditating is easy. Well, then if

1023
01:23:39.399 --> 01:23:42.520
it's easy, then okay. I
want to find the Christians who do it

1024
01:23:42.600 --> 01:23:45.920
day and night, and then so
then we water it down to it.

1025
01:23:45.199 --> 01:23:48.960
I think it's law. Israel didn't
do it, We don't do it.

1026
01:23:49.079 --> 01:23:53.920
No one does it, but Christ
did. And in Christ, his obedience

1027
01:23:53.960 --> 01:23:57.399
is imputed to me. Now that
doesn't excuse my lack of doing it,

1028
01:23:57.640 --> 01:24:00.039
But I think we have to be
somewhat realistic a lot of these things.

1029
01:24:00.319 --> 01:24:04.279
We don't love God's word more than
food and silver. We don't love God

1030
01:24:04.319 --> 01:24:06.399
with all of our heart, mind, body, and soul. We're not

1031
01:24:06.439 --> 01:24:09.800
as holy as God is holy.
I mean, I can go on and

1032
01:24:09.880 --> 01:24:13.319
we don't meditate on his word day
and night. We don't memorize it.

1033
01:24:13.439 --> 01:24:16.600
We can go on and on and
out. We don't study the We don't

1034
01:24:16.600 --> 01:24:21.680
study to show ourselves approved that we
fall short, and almost well everything in

1035
01:24:21.680 --> 01:24:26.399
the Bible we fall short every single
thing. Okay, we fall short.

1036
01:24:26.600 --> 01:24:30.560
Pray without ceasing, we fall short
of everything. Now. I know we

1037
01:24:30.720 --> 01:24:33.600
like to water those things down,
but we're not supposed to water the law

1038
01:24:33.640 --> 01:24:39.720
down. We're supposed to let the
law main in its intensity, so we

1039
01:24:39.760 --> 01:24:45.199
are broken, and then we can
run to the full sweetness of the gospel.

1040
01:24:45.960 --> 01:24:49.479
That's the only way everything works,
and that's why the proper distinction between

1041
01:24:49.520 --> 01:24:56.119
long gospel is so important. All
Right, I feel like we've spent eighty

1042
01:24:56.159 --> 01:24:59.560
five minutes. Well, I don't
feel that that's a fact. We're now

1043
01:24:59.640 --> 01:25:02.720
at eighty five minutes right now,
and I feel like maybe we didn't really

1044
01:25:02.760 --> 01:25:08.239
get a much accomplished. But that's
kind of what we do with the sermon

1045
01:25:08.279 --> 01:25:12.840
reviews. I'm listening to a sermon, and you listen to it with me,

1046
01:25:13.039 --> 01:25:15.760
and we discuss it. In this
particular case, if it was a

1047
01:25:15.840 --> 01:25:18.399
random sermon that would have worked out
probably pretty good. We probably wouldn't even

1048
01:25:18.640 --> 01:25:23.239
I probably wouldn't have even given it
much thought that he quoted Joshua one eight

1049
01:25:23.239 --> 01:25:26.000
at the beginning, because he just
quoted it and moved right along, and

1050
01:25:26.079 --> 01:25:30.680
we would have just looked at that
more as a topical message. About God's

1051
01:25:30.720 --> 01:25:34.640
word. We probably would have walked
away pretty positive about it, right,

1052
01:25:34.760 --> 01:25:39.039
I think so, I mean,
I think there's much to be convicted by

1053
01:25:39.279 --> 01:25:44.840
in that. So go back listen
to all of it, you and your

1054
01:25:44.880 --> 01:25:48.960
Bible, Todd Curtis, make good
use out of it, write down some

1055
01:25:49.000 --> 01:25:55.439
good notes, and do something positive
with that sermon. I know it's supposed

1056
01:25:55.479 --> 01:25:59.039
to be about Joshua one eight,
but that's okay. That's okay because when

1057
01:25:59.039 --> 01:26:01.560
we're choosing random sermon, we never
know what we're going to discover. That's

1058
01:26:01.600 --> 01:26:05.880
the fun part of this. It's
frustrating. I'm not gonna lie to you,

1059
01:26:05.960 --> 01:26:11.359
obviously, I feel like, man, the whole purpose of this was

1060
01:26:11.399 --> 01:26:15.640
to continue to challenge our approach on
Joshua one to eight. But we never

1061
01:26:15.680 --> 01:26:17.119
know what's going to happen. And
I know you're gonna say, well,

1062
01:26:17.119 --> 01:26:21.920
you should listen first. No,
then this becomes a it becomes like a

1063
01:26:21.960 --> 01:26:29.319
stage production. It's rehearsed, right, I'm listening. I like my reactions

1064
01:26:29.359 --> 01:26:31.760
to be real and real time,
so it's not rehearsed. I'm not picking

1065
01:26:31.800 --> 01:26:34.840
sermons just because I want to attack
or criticize. I'm picking sermons because they're

1066
01:26:34.840 --> 01:26:38.600
trying to listen to a sermon.
Well, I got to listen to a

1067
01:26:38.640 --> 01:26:42.720
sermon, so that's good. The
negative is just it didn't do exactly what

1068
01:26:42.720 --> 01:26:45.399
we intended it to do. But
hey, I don't know. I was

1069
01:26:45.439 --> 01:26:48.920
convicted. Were you convicted? Well
then let's take the positive from it.

1070
01:26:49.000 --> 01:26:54.359
You can email me news I F
at yahoo dot com. News I F

1071
01:26:54.439 --> 01:27:01.640
at yahoo dot com. Everyone have
a wonderful day, godless