MERE STONES/Reminders-X—Joshua 4:1-24(:15-24)
Reminder/Recall/Memorial/Symbol/Post-it notes/String on finger
Attention:
‘The Revelation Song’—
Anytime I hear it, I am immediately transported back to a time in our lives when we were between churches. We were attending Hickory Grove North Campus near Concord Mills Mall, Charlotte, NC.
In that moment, I felt as if I was I was in heaven itself when we were singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty...” with 500 +/- other believers! Something I will never get over!
Seemingly insignificant reminders can make all the difference in a Christian‘s life!
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 significance can spiritual reminders offer?
Achievements of spiritual reminders.
Previously we have found that...
Mere Stones/Reminders, can transport us to a Position of...
1. UNIQUE ACCOMPLISHMENT(:3, 5)
2. BLESSING(:3)
3. IMMINENT DANGER(:5)
4. RESPONSIBILITY(:5)
5. INFLUENCE(:6)Envision
6. REFLECTION(:7-9)
7. COMPLETION/End(:10-11)
8. OPPORTUNITY(:10b)
9. COMMITMENT(:12-13)
10. PROMINENCE(:14)
11. NORMALCY/The Mundane(:15-18)
12—Mere Stones/Reminders can transport us To a Position of...
CONFIDENCE(:19-20)
Explanation:(:19-20)Assurance
:19—“Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month & camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.”
“Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month...”
This miraculous event of Israel’s crossing the Jordan River occurred during the 1st lunar month(Abib/Nisan=March-April) & on the 10th day of that month.
The tenth day of that month was the very day that forty years ago Israel was instructed to take the soon-to-be Passover lamb into their homes. They did this in preparation for leaving Egypt.
No doubt this timing reminded them of God’s continuing commitment to Israel, & so would have sparked their commitment to YaHWeH on the part of the Israelites.
cf.—Ex. 12:1-13, 43-51. It marked the beginning of their deliverance from Egypt to what would be the land of Israel.
Ex. 12:1-13—“Now the LORD spoke to Moses & Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him & his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood & put it on the two doorposts & on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread & with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire--its head with its legs & its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, & what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, & your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’S Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, & will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man & beast; & against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; & the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”.....“And the LORD said to Moses & Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. A sojourner & a hired servant shall not eat it. In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger dwells with you & wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, & then let him come near & keep it; & he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born & for the stranger who dwells among you.” Thus all the children of Israel did; as the LORD commanded Moses & Aaron, so they did. And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.”
Israel would keep the Passover 4 days later at Gilgal(5:10).
“...& camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.”
Josh. 5:9—“Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.”
“Gilgal”= ‘A Wheel’ or ‘Rolling.’
Gilgal obviously presented no difficulty in being overtaken. It could be that Gilgal was an unrecognized or unclaimed area. Either the inhabitants were sympathetic to Israelites, it was Deserted, or had No formidable military might. It was located roughly 1 1/2 mi. NE of Jericho.
“Gilgal”—Israel entered a new realm—Canaan—At the edge of Jericho, but inside the borders of Canaan!
:20—“And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.”
That the “twelve stones” were “set up in Gilgal" would remind all Israel of God’s intention for Israel to have permanence in the land.
Confidence--that they will continue to ‘roll’ forward in God’s power!
Confidence--in Looking ahead to the task at hand--Conquer Jericho!(cf.--chapt. 2)
Confidence--that God has/will honor His promises.
Confidence--of God’s work in my life.
Confidence--in Facing the unknown!
Argumentation:
Deut. 31:8—-(Moses to Joshua)-—“And the LORD, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.””
Ps. 65:4-5—“Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple. By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas;”
Ps. 118:8-9—“It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in princes.
Heb. 4:16—“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy & find grace to help in time of need.” NASB—“Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy & may find grace to help in time of need.”
Job 4:6—“Is not your fear of God your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?”
Prov. 14:26—“In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge.”
Heb. 11:1—“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
1Jn. 3:21—“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;...”
Jn. 14:16-18, 26-27—“And I will pray the Father, & He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you & will be in you. “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”.....“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, & bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
2Cor. 5:5—“Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”
2Cor. 1:22—“who also has sealed us & given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
Gen. 4:6-7—“So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
When we have confidence in Christ Jesus, we have confidence regarding the handling of sin. This does not mean that we always make the right choices, but that we measure our response by the Holy Spirit’s compulsion—either good or bad.
Eph. 3:8-12—“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, & to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities & powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness & access with confidence through faith in Him.”
Php. 1:3-7—“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains & in the defense & confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.”
Heb. 10:22-23—“let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience & our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
Php. 3:1-7—“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, & have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.”
Col. 2:1-4—“For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you & those in Laodicea, & for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, & attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father & of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge. Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.”
Heb. 3:12-14—“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,”
Illustration:
Paul & Kay Eaton—SBC Missionaries to Uganda & Tanzania/Confident of support by SBC Churches/They were eye-witnesses of missionaries of other denominations, who had been left to themselves in their hour of need/Those missionaries had been heard to say—‘If I believed in reincarnation I’d want to come back as a Southern Baptist!’...because they/we take care of their/our missionaries!/CONFIDENCE
Paul & Kay Eaton—SBC Missionaries to Uganda & Tanzania—At an October 2000 mission conference at the Baptist College of Florida, Paul recounted his life’s story growing up in New Mexico with a strict father/His father thought it silly of Eaton’s desires to ride a motorcycle, learn to fly, & sail. But after becoming an adult Paul purchased a small motor scooter & also logged about 10 minutes in flying lessons, but never really fulfilled his dreams. Feeling God’s leading to the mission field he & his wife Kay moved to Uganda with their children, but could not help feeling like they might be giving up some of those dreams not yet fulfilled...Paul said that over the years he has learned that nothing could be further from the truth. He stated, “You are not deprived when you do what God calls you to do.”/CONFIDENCE
Application:
?Do God’s ‘Reminders’ transport you to a position of Christian CONFIDENCE?
?Where do God’s reminders Transport you?
Reminders can make all the difference in a person’s life...
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The Revelation Song @ Hickory Grove North Campus
Action:
Mere Stones/Reminders, little things, can transport us to a Position of...
12. CONFIDENCE(:19)
1. UNIQUE ACCOMPLISHMENT(:1-3a, 5b)
2. BLESSING(:3b)
3. IMMINENT DANGER(:5)
4. RESPONSIBILITY(:5)
5. INFLUENCE(:6)Envision
6. REFLECTION(:7-9)
7. COMPLETION(:10-11)
8. OPPORTUNITY(:10b)
9. COMMITMENT(:12-13)
10. PROMINENCE(:14)
11. NORMALCY/The Mundane(:15-18)
Pt. 12 only! Presented 06/04/2017pm to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pts. 11-14 Presented 02/27/2000pm to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Rd.
Whigham, GA 31797
