MERE STONES/Reminders-VII—Joshua 4:1-24
Reminder, Recall, Memorial, Symbol, Post-it notes, String on finger
Joshua had twelve stones removed from the Jordan River as a memorial to the crossing.
Memorials or Spiritual Reminders hold a great deal of significance to God’s people.
What are some things that are significant about spiritual reminders?
The potential of spiritual reminders.
We’ve seen that Mere Stones/Reminders can transport us to a Position of...
1. UNIQUE ACCOMPLISHMENT(:1-3a, 5b)
2. BLESSING(:3)
3. IMMINENT DANGER(:4-5)
4. RESPONSIBILITY(:5)
5. INFLUENCE(:6)
6. REFLECTION(:7-9)
7. COMPLETION/End(:10-11)
8. OPPORTUNITY(:10b)
9—Mere Stones/Reminders can transport us To a Position of...
COMMITMENT(:12-13)
Explanation:(:12-13)Follow-thru/Sacrifice
:12—“And the men of Reuben & the men of Gad & the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.”
“Armed”—vmx khaw-moosh’—Adj.—1) In battle array, arrayed for battle by fives, armed. Strong—passive participle of the same as vmx-(from an unused root probably meaning, to be stout; the abdomen-as obese)-; Staunch, i.e. Able-bodied soldiers. Used 4X.
:13—“About 40,000, prepared for war crossed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho.”
“40, 000” of their number(Reuben, Gad & the half-tribe of Manasseh) would NOT be in their tribe’s land to protect their own towns & wives, children & families.
They were maintained & protected by women, teenagers(under 20 yrs. old--cf.-Num. 1:2-3), & children living within fortified formerly Canaanite cities! They maintained this for some 7 yrs!
Background:
Num. 32:1-2, 5-6, 16-18—“Now the children of Reuben & the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; & when they saw the land of Jazer & the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, the children of Gad & the children of Reuben came & spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, & to the leaders of the congregation, saying,”.....“Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.” And Moses said to the children of Gad & to the children of Reuben: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?”.....“Then they came near to him & said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, & cities for our little ones, but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; & our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance.”
You too must follow-thru with your commitment/vow!
“Prepared”—Ulx khaw-lats’—Qal Participle Passive—1) To remove, draw out, draw off, take off, withdraw, equip(for war), arm for war, rescue, be rescued—1a) (Qal)--Equipped(participle),. Strong—a primitive root; To pull off; hence intensively--To strip, reflexively--To depart; by implication--To deliver, equip(for fight); present, strengthen.
“For War”—abu tsaw-baw' OR (fem.--habu tseb-aw-aw’—Noun Masc.—1) That which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host—1a) Army, host—1a1) Host(of organized army), 1a2) Host (of angels), 1a3) Of sun, moon, & stars, 1a4) Of whole creation, 1b) War, warfare, service, go out to war, 1c) Service.
Argumentation:
Mat. 5:33-37—“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ “But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; “nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ & your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Jas. 5:12—“But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes,” be “Yes,” & your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.”
Mat. 23:16-28—“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ “Fools & blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ “Fools & blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? “Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it & by all things on it. “He who swears by the temple, swears by it & by Him who dwells in it. “And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God & by Him who sits on it. “Woe to you, scribes & Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint & anise & cummin, & have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice & mercy & faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat & swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes & Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup & dish, but inside they are full of extortion & self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup & dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes & Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones & all uncleanness. “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy & lawlessness.”
The “blind guides” put humanly attainable restraints & limits on their vows so that they would ‘seem’ pious to others without being fully committed to their declaration. Such “blind guides” expect others to perform ‘flawlessly’ by their artificial measure. And if best efforts of those needing ‘guidance’ are not accepted as ‘flawless’(in the eyes of their detractors), then these who are ‘guided’ are reprimanded severely & relentlessly by the “blind guides.” This is why empty religion is so deadly!...& relationship with Jesus is necessary!
Ps. 37:3-6—“Trust in the LORD, & do good; Dwell in the land, & feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.” Prov. 16:2-3—“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.”
Mat. 21:23-32—“Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests & the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, & said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” But Jesus answered & said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: “The baptism of John--where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus & said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. But what do you think? A man had two sons, & he came to the first & said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ “He answered & said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it & went. Then he came to the second & said likewise. And he answered & said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors & harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, & you did not believe him; but tax collectors & harlots believed him; & when you saw it, you did not afterward relent & believe him.”
Ps. 55:22—“Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”
Js. 1:22-25—“But be doers of the word, & not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word & not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, & immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty & continues in it, & is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
Illustration:
Back-in-the-day, I had borrowed an audio tape from a member of our church/On the tape was a powerful testimony by a Georgia football player drafted by the NFL—David Rocker(Defensive Tackle for the LA Rams 1991-1994)/I borrowed it from one of my deacons, Dave Ulmer, at his insistence—in November, 1999/He knew it would be a blessing to me/Dave had given it to me with the stipulation that he would receive it back ASAP because a friend had lent it to him/I listened to it Friday, Feb. 11th, 2000!—3 1/2 mths later!/Where’s the COMMITMENT?
We(or rather I) have a Madagascar Palm(Pachypodium Lamerei) which is over 5 feet tall/I purchased it when it was ~6 inches tall, from Tallahassee Nurseries years ago when we were living in south Georgia/It is not a native plant to the US & is a tropical plant/Thru the years I nurtured it, took it inside during the winter, never letting it get close to freezing/I have potted & repotted it faithfully as it has grown/COMMITMENT
All of us are committed to someone or something. You may be committed to nursing your broken heart, or your hatred of someone, or your unforgiving attitude, etc. You are Committed for sure...but you are committed to the wrong thing! You must be COMMITTED to God!
Application:
?Do God’s ‘Reminders’ transport you to a position of Christian COMMITMENT?
?Where do God’s reminders transport you?
...Why were your Commitments made?
Reminders can make all the difference in a person’s life!
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Post-it Notes are a success because we all need reminders!
Action:
Mere Stones/Reminders, little things, can transport us to a Position of...
9. COMMITMENT(:12-13)
1. UNIQUE ACCOMPLISHMENT(:3, 5)
2. BLESSING(:3)
3. IMMINENT DANGER(:5)
4. RESPONSIBILITY(:5)
5. INFLUENCE(:6)
6. REFLECTION(:7-9)
7. COMPLETION/End(:10-11)
8. OPPORTUNITY(:10b)
Pt. 9-only! Presented 03/05/2017pm to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Presented 02/13/2000am to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Rd.
Whigham, GA 31797
