“STUCK BETWEEN ROCKS IN A HARD PLACE?”
January 13, 2007
Dr. Randy Deal
Revelation 21:5a , Lamentations 3:22-24
Joshua 4
On your spiritual journey…
1. Don’t get stuck in the middle! vs. 3, 5, 8-9
Genesis 46:1-4, Zechariah 14:1-4, Matthew 14:28-30, Matthew 17:20, Hebrews 11:1
God will make the path, but you must take the path!
2. Pick up your stone! vs. 1-5, 8
Matthew 11:30
Is your stone a monumental burden or a monumental blessing?
3. Hurry over! vs.10-18
Exodus 14:12-15, Isaiah 40:31, Romans 4:21, Ephesians 3:20-21
When God gives us a Word, the empowerment to obey comes with it!’
4. Remember what God has done! vs. 6-7, 9, 19-24
Exodus 12:14, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 6:12, Nehemiah 4:14, Isaiah 43:10, Psalm 102:18, 1 Samuel 7:12
”Christianity is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
1 Peter 2:5
Don’t get stuck between rocks in a hard place! Pick up your rock…and roll!
“STUCK BETWEEN ROCKS IN A HARD PLACE?”
January 13, 2007
Dr. Randy Deal
ROCK POINT CHURCH
Revelation 21:5a And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new "
Lamentations 3:22-24 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."
Fresh start? Start over? Clean slate? New Year! New beginning! Want NEW!
Israel got a NEW START in Joshua 4: 1Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 2"Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3and command them, saying, ’Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’" 4So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 6"Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ’What do these stones mean to you?’ 7then you shall say to them, ’Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off ’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever." 8Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there. 9Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. 10For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed; 11and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed before the people. 12The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; 13about 40,000 equipped for war, crossed for battle before the LORD to the desert plains of Jericho. 14On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life. 15Now the LORD said to Joshua, 16"Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan." 17So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, "Come up from the Jordan." 18It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before. 19Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. 20Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ’What are these stones?’ 22then you shall inform your children, saying, ’Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23"For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; 24that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever."
Let’ break it down…Israel’s journey = so muck like our own spiritual journies…
1. Don’t get stuck in the middle! vs. 3, 5, 8-9
v. 3 ’Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan…Why from middle?
• Deepest part of river
• Darkest point
• Hardest point
• Toughest point
• Tipping point
• POINT OF NO RETURN – even in our Faith!
• where we want to quit
• make you or break you stage
• maximum expenditure of trust with minimum return (seeing the future)
Peter (Matthew 14:28-30) - probably middle b/t boat & Jesus when sank!
Middle = halfway point b/t Egypt & Canaan = place of crisis! The place of sudden DOUBT and INDECISION!
They’d been in middle before…Genesis 46:1-4 So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am." He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. “I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes." Jacob - Joseph still alive – pt. of no return – halfway to Egypt – builds altar & worshipped God - Beersheba - well of the oath, or well of seven, a well dug by Abraham - re-opened by Isaac - still there today - "well of the seven" - middle between Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Sports – Football – “half-time” – second half - different game vs. 1st! DECISION TO MAKE…IN THE MIDDLE! Even more so - college ball b/c not playing for money, playing for the win – playing for their future!
Running/jogging – “hit the wall” in the middle - push your way through! Term = SECOND WIND! Expended most energy, have least reserve – runner’s HIGH happens AFTER the wall! Boston Marathon = Heart Break Hill. DECISION TO MAKE…IN THE MIDDLE!
THERE’S NO VICTORY AT THE HALFWAY MARK!!! GOTTA CROSS THE FINISH LINE! GOTTA GO ALL THE WAY!
What are you in the middle of? What’s your marriage in the middle of? What’s your family in the middle of? What’s your Home Group in the middle of? What are we in the middle of as church family?
Debt – many – FPU - God wants to deliver you from debt – halfway – then go back! Real deliverance = GENEROUS LIVING! God wants you to PICK UP A STONE in the middle and get to the Promise Land and then STAND your stone up to remember! Jump in our brand new leased SUV and go back!
Marriages & Families! i.e. MY OWN - got stuck in the middle -> Sabattical!
Home Group or Celebrate Recovery or Counseling – stuck in middle playing with rocks in the river!?!?! Wanna go, but don’t wanna REALLY invest in the relationships! When starts to get real! Vulnerable! Too intense! Or face conflict! Retreat back!
Take the land Campaign = stepped into water (Joshua 3) - God moved! - 34 acres of land, only paid $1.5M for and worth $12-20M!
Upon This Rock Generous Living Initiative Interesting! Only ½ of you, only ½ of the households of Rock Point have made a commitment! We = in the middle! Only have pledges for $2M, but NEED $4M! Halfway! In the middle!
First Building = our STONE/monument - remember what God did!
Time to…KNOW, GROW AND GO!!!! Be a FULLY committed follower of Cx!
Get stuck in middle b/c pt. of no return – either go back to what’s comfortable or push on to what’s hard, but what will GROW us!
Or maybe – something BLOCKING way! WHAT’s in the way?
Jesus said…Matthew 17:20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Say to your mountain, your obstacle, your issue…MOVE IT! And if it doesn’t move…used to say…climb it and see Him transfigured!
Zechariah 14:1-4 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. He can split that mountain in two and you can walk right through it!
“Sometimes the mountain has been moved, but we won’t move from the mountain!”
Can’t HANG OUT in the middle!
We need to get to Promised Land – GET STUCK b/c can’t see it! Hebrews 11:1 Now FAITH is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
WHO’s in the middle? Priests! The Ark! GOD…WAS IN THE MIDDLE!
Syn. Middle: center, heart, core, hub… heart of God was in the middle!
I KNOW: when stuck in middle…in deepest, darkest, toughest, hardest, loneliest, most stressful times….that’s where God is! That’s where HEART of God is!
Oftentimes, when you get to the end of yourself, you’ll find God there!
v. 7 God = I cut a covenant with you (I “cut off” the waters) and I will cut a path through ANY OBSTACLE! He will CUT a path for us!
God will make the path, but we must take the path! Don’t get stuck in the middle! YOU HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE!!!!
2. Pick up your stone! vs. 1-5, 8 (PICK MINE UP!)
Why a stone? Stone: Solid! Foundational! Strength! Power! Can build on!
Jesus = cornersone! (Isaiah 26:18) Jesus = THE ROCK!
But…Stone = can be a symbol of faith OR instrument of destruction!
Go forward & set it up = stone of remembrance! Will BUILD something! A monument!
Get stuck in the middle/Go backwards = stone of burden! Or WEAPON!
Here’s what we do: We think it’s a PET ROCK! A burden, yes, but it’s my burden! My rock! My precious! My issues! ROCK A BYE…BABY….
Even if move forward…AND DON’T SET IT UP…still a burden!
When tired of carrying it around….you’ll find yourself THROWING ROCKS…at those closest to you!
STONE = supposed to be carried all the way THROUGH and STOOD UP!
QUESTION: Are you gonna be a burdened or a buildin’?
Jesus said in Matthew 11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Our burden is heavy, but His is light!
YOU WILL PICK UP A ROCK …BUT WHAT WILL IT REPRESENT?
Will your stone be a monumental burden or a monumental blessing?
And sometimes on our spiritual journey, we need to…
3. Hurry over! v.10-18
v. 10 And the people hurried and crossed
I BET THEY DID TOO! Can you even imagine? Scary!
Even though experienced the Red Sea parting….still ANOTHER walk of FAITH!
Wonder: could see fish and stuff on the sides?
Red Sea = HURRIED OVER because Egyptians on their tale to kill them!
Earlier…Exodus 14:12-15 "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ’Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. "The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.
3 points of view - same situation: Israelites: GO BACK! (WHINING!)
Moses: STAND BY! (SHUT UP!)
God: MOVE IT! BOOK IT!
We “God tell me what to do! Tell me what to do!”
God: I done told what you to do, you just want a new answer! You want multiple choice!
SOMETIMES WE ARE WISEST TO HURRY OVER! WE NEEDTO MOVE IT!
God will only hold back the waters for so long!!!!!
Then – v. 18 - commands priests to finish crossing the river with the Ark of the Covenant – THEN…I LOVE THIS!.....the moment that the feet of the priest touched the other side, the wall of water that had piled up for miles back up the river came crashing back into place.
Can you hear the roar of that water? God wasted no time! The past was gone! NO TURNING BACK! NO WAITING! AND NO TURNING BACK! HURRY OVER!
Yes…Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
But the power can wane when we wait TOO LONG! We get weaker and weaker!
WE NEED TO HURRY OVER! GET MOVIN! DON’T HANG OUT IN THE MIDDLE!
See…When God gives us a Word, the empowerment to obey comes with it!’ DON’T WAIT! HURRY OVER!
Romans 4:21 be fully assured that what God had promised, He was ABLE also to perform
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Him who is ABLE to do FAR MORE abundantly BEYOND all that we ask or think, according to the POWER that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
And on your spiritual journey…
4. Remember what God has done! vs. 6-7, 9, 19-24
Why He had them build a monument? We forget what God’s done for us!
Back in Deuteronomy 6:12 Moses warned them b4 entered Promise Land…”then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
We forget so easily! We need memorials!
Bill & I trip to Wash. D.C. – Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial
Washington Monument = Laus Deo! = Praise be to God!
Perfect cross - White House = north, Jefferson Memorial = south, Capitol = east and Lincoln Memorial = west! Hmmmm…….
12 men, chosen earlier (3:12) - go back - priests were standing - middle of the river - holding the ark - each - pick up a large rock or stone - carry it – other side
v. 7 these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever."
Hebrew “memorial” = “to remember” = reminder = remembrance
memorial stones = 3 purposes
1st = reminder - experience - what they saw, heard and felt!
IOW: Tell your story! Keep a clear memory of what God did for you! Keep on telling your stories so that you never lose your own sense of awe and wonder of what God has done in your life!
They familiar – Passover in Egypt when God struck killing all firstborn – wiped lamb’s blood on doorposts - Exodus 12:14 Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
Nehemiah said in 4:14: When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses." The best way to dispel fear - remember the Lord who alone is to be feared!
What kind of memorials do you have in your life? All have! It’s why we BUY SOUVENIRS! Why we have MOMENTOS around our homes and offices. OBJECTS that trigger MEMORIES!
i.e. on my desk in my office – small STONE – from our land 3 years ago – when first purchased it – reminder – how we walked over and prayed over every inch of that land – claiming it for God’s work – WHERE GOD GUIDES, HE PROVIDES!
God knows - how we think & how we FORGET - so He instructs Joshua to build a memorial - each time Israelites saw it they would be reminded that they had not crossed the Jordan in their own strength but by GOD’S POWER!
2nd - Memorial stones – serve as a basis of sharing faith with their children (vv. 6-7 and 21-23) We – HUGE - responsibility for the communication of God’s Word and His calling - on our children, generation to generation! Memorials should provoke questioning! WE HAVE A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR CHILDREN & DESCENDANTS!
Moses told them (AND US) in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Isaiah 43:10 "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He, Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.
Psalm 102:18 This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
We need to be way more INTENTIONAL about building a HERITAGE of FAITH in our children…and their children…and their children….and THOSE NOT EVEN BORN YET! But, are they even ASKING? Are you sharing your TESTIMONY? Have you even written it down? It’s your ROCK OF REMEMBRANCE!
“Christianity is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
3rd - memorial stones = to be a road sign to a lost world
24that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever."
Been God’s plan all along that the whole world would “know” that He is the one and only living God!
STEP 1 RPC VISION & STRATEGY – EACH OF YOU WOULD: KNOW GOD PERSONALLY!
Back in 9Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.
Joshua also PERSONALLY joined them – went back - MIDDLE of the riverbed - while the 12 men were carrying their stones back to the shore - Joshua personally picked up ANOTHER 12 STONES - built a memorial in the MIDDLE of the riverbed – his PERSONAL act of worship – a POINT OF NO RETURN in his OWN personal walk with God! They had walked THROUGH the impossible!
19Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. 20Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal.
”tenth of the first month” = exactly 40 years - to the day, since Israel marched out of Egypt.
“Gilgal” = “the reproach has been rolled away.”
Forty years of spiritual defeat and failure have been rolled away! = Dawn of a great new beginning in a new land!!!
The days of refusing to respond to God under Moses were gone, complaining was ended, hopeless wandering in the wilderness was behind them. They were now a people with a powerful new sense of purpose, determined to take new territory with God. God gave them a FRESH START!
We, too, need to REMEMBER those monumental occasions which standout as times in which God has changed our directions and gave us new hope and a new sense of purpose - a time when we by an act of bold faith decide to abandon ourselves to God and step out into the unknown to take new territory for Him.
monument – 12 stones = SILENT BUT VISIBLE reminder of the FAITHFULNESS OF GOD!
Monument that said = “GOD TOOK US ALL THE WAY THROUGH!”
They didn’t keep the stones and carry them around…v. 20 “set up” = set down and stood up = standing stones!
When are we going to FINALLY set our STONES down and STAND THEM UP? IF DON’T…IT’S A BURDEN OR A WEAPON!
Baptism = memorial = setting up a stone = REMEMBERING what God’s done in our lives!
Getting your “chip” in Celebrate Recovery = memorial = setting up a stone = REMINDER of what God’s done in your life to that point!
Later…another STANDING STONE…1 Samuel 7:12…Samuel led Israel in slaughter the Philistines…”Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."
So it is with us….MY STONE…move across the stage…thus far! Thus far! Thus far!
AMAZING ABOUT GOD? Can ALWAYS start NEW!
BAND BACK OUT…START PLAYING….
1 Peter 2:5 you also, as LIVING STONES, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We = LIVING STONES! LIVING REMINDERS to the world that JESUS was here! We = “grafitti” on the wall that says….”JESUS WAS HERE!”
CONCLUSION:
1. DON’T GET STUCK IN THE MIDDLE!
2. PICK UP A STONE!
3. HURRY OVER!
4. REMEMBER WHAT GOD’S DONE!
MANY OF YOU - in the middle of something! You’re sittin’ in the middle of OWN Jordan! You’re STUCK there! Crisis of Faith!
EGYPT is behind you and PROMISELAND is in front of you! = DESIRE MIXED WITH FEAR!
Some…longing to go BACK! Some…longing to go FORWARD! = STUCK!
• No one to share your life with?
• Problem teenager at home?
• Can’t get free of your addiction?
• Lost a loved one recently?
• Can’t get passed your abusive past?
• Marriage not goin anywhere?
• In a dead-end job?
• Buried in debt?
• Just don’t know what your purpose is in life?
• WHATEVER IT IS…..TODAY IS THE DAY TO HURRY OVER!
TODAY…CHALLENGE YOU TO MAKE A DECISION = “I’m crossing over! I am making a statement!” ….If you are in that place….if your stuck in the MIDDLE…..I’m asking you to MOVE IT! GET UP OUT OF YOUR SEAT and Come….
Some…have never even stepped into the Jordan….you don’t even know God personally! TODAY IS THE DAY TO COMMIT YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST! Get up! Come…
You believers who are already in the Promiseland….you just start prayin’!
Come, while the band leads in COME AND LISTEN…
After song: EXPLAIN STONES, AFTER PRAYER, PICK UP STONE, BACK TO SEAT & SETTING UP AT HOME...TO REMEMBER & TO SHARE, SO YOU & OTHERS WILL KNOW…”THUS FAR, THE LORD HAS HELPED ME!”
See….we don’t hang out here at the altar…don’t hang out in the MIDDLE of the river….this is where you pass by the Ark of the Covenant & PICK UP your STONE and HURRY OVER to PROMISELAND! Like Joshua…Your chance now for your own personal act of worship!
PRAY: God, these, your children have come forward to make a statement, some = STUCK IN THE MIDDLE & some = JUST STEPPED INTO THE WATER…come to MAKE A DECISION…..to PICK UP A STONE & HURRY OVER & SET UP THEIR STONE to REMEMBER what you’ve done….to say THUS FAR, THE LORD HAS HELPED ME…..God - already gone before them! You have cut a path! Empower them to follow you…ALL THE WAY TO THE PROMISELAND! Help them TRUST You! You will never leave us to defeat! Our DESTINY, God, is the Promised Land! Amen!
LISTEN! EVERYONE! Don’t get stuck between rocks in a hard place! Pick up your rock…and roll!
Post-sermon "SHARPEN THE POINT" personal or home group devotional also available.
