And God Gave—2

And God Gave-II—Joshua 24:1-13

A busload of politicians were driving down a country road when, all of a sudden, the bus ran off the road & crashed into a tree in an old farmer’s field.

The old farmer, after seeing what happened, went over to investigate. He then proceeded to dig a hole & bury the politicians. A few days later, the local sheriff came out, saw the crashed bus & asked the old farmer where all the politicians had gone.

The old farmer said he had buried them.

The sheriff asked the old farmer, "The coroner wasn’t here. Are you sure they were all dead?"

The old farmer replied, "Well, some of them said they weren’t, but you know how them politicians lie."

The farmer invested his time & effort into doing what was right.

Likewise God has made an investment in each of His people.

Joshua reminded Israel of the extent of God’s giving to produce a viable witness in the world.

God’s giving is intended to produce a viable witness in the world.

What investment had God made in producing a witness(to salvation)?

8 investments God makes in producing a witness.

God’s Investment in a witness is an Investment in...

1. Vision

2. Patience

3. Freedom

4. Preservation

5—Investment in a witness is

An Investment in INSIGHT(:7b)Glimpse

:7—“‘But when they cried out to the LORD, He put darkness between you & the Egyptians, & brought the sea upon them & covered them; & your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness for a long time.”

“Your own eyes saw”—You have seen & therefore are offered the cutting edge of relationship with God.

—Plainly indisputable

—No excuses—Responsibility

—We do not live by sight but by faith—which gives us insight to reality.

2Cor. 5:7—“...for we walk by faith, not by sight--”

2Cor. 4:18—“...we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Vision can pervert & limit the reality.

2Chron. 20:24—Of God’s destruction of Ammon, Moab &Seir—“When Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; & behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, & no one had escaped.”—What would science say? —Hysteria, microorganisms, etc.

Deut. 29:2-4—“And Moses summoned all Israel & said to them, “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh & all his servants & all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs & wonders. “Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”

—Not made faithful use of their spiritual advantage & thus abused God’s grace.

—Not in man’s power to understand the mysteries of God if it is not given to him from above.

—Seen but not discerned.

—You have not seen them to any purpose.

Mat. 13:14-15—“And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear & shall not understand, And seeing you will see & not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes & hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts & turn, So that I should heal them.’”

Argumentation:

Acts 2:22—“Jesus the Nazarene, [was] a man attested to you by God with miracles & wonders & signs which God performed through Him in your midst...”

Rev. 1:1-3—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; & He sent & communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who bore witness to the word of God & to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads & those who hear the words of the prophecy, & heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

Rev. 2-3—To all 7 churches—“ ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”—Insight

Eph. 1:18-19—“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, & what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might”

Illustration:

Abortion/Sickening/Undertake it not sensing 1)the seriousness of actions 2)Necessity ofGod’s part in creating life/INSIGHT lost

Application:

?Your lifestyle reflect INSIGHT into God’s ?