BUILDING YOUR ROCK PILE
Joshua 3:14-17; 4:1-7
Life is a journey. With each passing day we are drawing nearer to the time when we must cross over Jordan, the river of death. As I grow older I cannot help but think about what that day will be like. What will that passage from this life into eternity hold in store for me?
Today I want us to look at the passage of Israel through the River Jordan and see what happened to them because I believe that their passage is a clear picture of what awaits those who obey God and are faithful to the end. I also believe that it contains some instructions for this present life.
Psalms 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
Every day that passes we find ourselves walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Death is on our heels and Satan is doing everything in his power to kill this body, steal our salvation and destroy the eternal life within us.
So, not only are we going to face the crossing of the River Jordan in death when we come to the end of this life, but we are continually crossing Jordan right now.
With this in mind let us look again at what God told Israel to do as they crossed over into their Promised Land.
Joshua 3:14, "And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;"
“It came to pass”! What a wonderful phrase that is! We must never forget that change is inevitable. Time marches on and there is no stopping the clock. This time, this day will soon be gone and the sun will rise upon another morning. Life waits for no one and we have no promise that tomorrow will come. This day, this hour, this minute, and even this very second in time could be the last that we shall ever see. We are only a heartbeat, or a breath away from crossing that river of death.
Let’s not ever get complacent and be lulled into thinking that we have a long time to accomplish that which God has given us to do. Let us not be fooled by the lies of the devil that whisper in our ears that we can put off serving God, put off witnessing, or wait a little longer before giving ourselves wholly and completely unto the Lord.
I wonder how many people are in hell today simply because they forgot that little phrase, “it came to pass”? Satan blinded them to the passing of time and held them in prisons of their own making until it was too late and their lives had “come to pass”?
Let’s take note that Israel, in God’s time, had no choice but to take down their tents and begin their final journey into the Promised Land.
Maybe that journey wasn’t at a convenient time for many of them. They had camped at the banks of the river for a while now because the time had not come for them to cross over. The waters of the Jordan were overflowing its banks and there was a flood ahead of them that blocked their path. I’m sure that they had all settled down for a long stay and were convinced that they would be here for a while, at least until the floods had receded.
Maybe there was the merchant who set up shop because he was ever after making profits and selling his wares. Life must go on and time is wasting. I have to make a living so it’s time to get to work again.
I know that we all must make our living and we must obey Luke 19:13, where the master of the vineyard give the command to his servants to “Occupy till I come." But let us never forget that one day, our occupation will come to an end and it will be time to move on. Don’t get too caught up in making a living and forget the eternal life that waits.
Maybe there was a mother who had small children, that did all she could under their nomadic lifestyle, to get them to the teachers to be educated, who had to still prepare the meals and keep the tents in order, hunt in the ever moving market places to find food and the necessities of life for her family. Her thoughts were always toward her husband and her family and she had little time to stop and think that her life was also “coming to pass”.
One day her family will have to go on without her. One day they will have to fend for themselves. The tent that she so much cared for would come down and it would be moving day again and who knows what lay ahead, or where the next camp would be?
She had to do all that she could for her family, but she also could never forget that she had to be ready to go on a moments notice for she had no promise that tomorrow the whole camp would not be moving on.
(Ladies how would you like it if every few days, or every few weeks, the shopping centers, malls and discount department stores would just disappear from where they are and reappear somewhere else? How frustrating would it be to have to wake up knowing that there were things that you needed but you didn’t know where the store was anymore?)
(Gentlemen, how would you like it if you found a good hunting ground, or a good job, and every few days, or every few weeks, the company you worked for relocated, laid you off, told you to come back after the move, but didn’t tell you where they were moving to and you had to hunt them down or the hunting ground was ever moving and you had to find new grounds to hunt in where the territory was completely unfamiliar?)
We must understand that life is like that. Everything is constantly changing. What we count on today may not be there tomorrow. Those people that we love won’t be with us forever. We are marching to Jordan, step-by-step, day-by-day, hour-by-hour, and the march goes on and life “comes to pass”.
Israel’s time for moving had come. It was in God’s timing and God’s direction. God wasn’t concerned about the flood. He wasn’t concerned about the merchants business. He wasn’t concerned about the mother’s family needs. He wasn’t concerned about the jobs. He was focused on bringing to pass the promise that he had made. God will not be deterred from his purpose and from fulfilling his covenant with his people. God knows that whatever he does, and whenever he does it, that it won’t be a convenient time for a lot of people, so he just moves when his time is right and it’s up to us to be ready to go.
There are going to be a lot of people who are left behind when Jesus comes. We would all want our families to be ready to go. We certainly want to be ready ourselves when Jesus comes, but we must realize that there will be many who just aren’t ready, aren’t watching and aren’t waiting for him to come.
God will move on to fulfill his promise of eternal life to those who are ready to move. Everyone else will be left where they stand to watch all of God’s judgments come to pass, knowing that there is no hope for them now. God will have taken his faithful people over Jordan and those who get left behind can’t cross those floods to join the rest without God making the way.
So the priests lifted up the Ark of the Covenant and began marching toward the flood. To the world this would seem like the actions of a bunch of lunatics. If there would have been people around who didn’t know that Israel moved by the divine direction of an Almighty God, I wonder what they would have thought?
What are those crazy priests doing carrying that heavy box everywhere they go? Are there people who wonder why you go to church? Are there people who watch you everyday as you serve the Lord and wonder why you behave so strangely or why you are so fanatical about living for Jesus? The world doesn’t understand what you are doing or where you are going, and they certainly can’t hear the voice of the Lord as he speaks to your heart that it’s time to move on.
I also wonder what may have going through the mind and heart of those priests right about that time.
But Joshua, doesn’t God see the flood? How are we going to cross over Jordan with this heavy load? We certainly can’t swim across. I don’t understand how this is going happen Joshua. I don’t know what God’s plans are to get us to the other side. I don’t know what it’s going to be like as we step into the water, but if that’s what God says for us to do, then that’s what we will do. Whether we live or die is in God’s hands. Our job is to carry the Ark and walk into the middle of the river and stand there and that’s what we will do by God’s help and grace. It’s impossible for us to know and understand but our God is the God that makes impossibilities into miracles, so let’s just keep walking.
You won’t always know God’s plan for your deliverance. Sometimes it looks like God is just leading you into certain destruction. But never forget that God walks with you through this valley of death. It is the Lord who will go before us. His ways are above our ways and his thoughts above our ability to understand fully. Just put your trust in him, priests of the Lord, and keep walking toward Jordan. It’s all in God’s plan and under his control.
Joshua 3:15-17, "And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan."
The priests stood firm on the dry ground right in the center of what were only moments before, the soggy bottom of the Jordan River. It is said that they stood upon rocks in the riverbed, perhaps to be elevated so that Israel could look upon the Ark and remember God’s covenant and not loose faith in their time of great anxiety.
After all, they were walking across on dry land but off to their right, in the distance there was a huge wall of water that just stood there, held back by the invisible hand of God. There was no visible dam to hold the waters, only the invisible power of God. I can imagine that it may have been a little unnerving to see all that water and wondering if God might let it go too quickly.
God, you let the waters go too early because I didn’t pray long enough? Will you take away your hand and let me be drowned because I didn’t go to church last Sunday night? Will you show me what’s it’s like to go back on a promise to do what I know should be done? Can you imagine the soul-searching that went on as they watched that wall of water churning and growing ever larger all the time?
God dried up the riverbed of the Jordan River for the distance of 16 to 18 miles so that all of the people could get across quickly.
God desires that all men be saved and that all of us make it across that river of death to enjoy eternal life. He has made a way through Jesus Christ that all men can be saved and it is his plan that none should perish, but if we won’t move on and go through Jesus then we will perish, along with the rest of the world.
Joshua 4:1-7, "And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever."
Israel was in the Promised Land now. God had performed a miracle and brought them through with a mighty miracle. There was no reason to fear in the valley of the shadow death. God will fulfill his promises and he cannot fail.
I am reminded of the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
We must know that God will see us through this valley of death called life, and he will see us through that final river of Death into eternal life. Our God has given us a new covenant to carry across with us. This time it is a covenant of the Blood of Jesus. It is an ark of safety that is inside the heart of every one of God’s priests and that means all of us who love Jesus, have believed on him, have accepted his sacrifice for our sin, and who have surrendered our lives to him.
You have the covenant, the promise of redemption, and the promise of deliverance, within you right now. That’s what keeps the waters of sin from overflowing you. That’s what holds back the floodtide of worldly pleasures from drowning you in destruction. That’s what will see you over to the other side, so don’t lay it down; don’t neglect so great a salvation; and never let your guard down.
There is one other thing I want to point out to you about this story that is so very important.
Joshua was commanded by the Lord to choose out 12 men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, to go back into the riverbed and to pick up stones from the place where the priests had stood. These stones were not to be pebbles carried in the hands. They were to be large stones that must be born upon the shoulders.
They were to carry those stones out and pile them on the banks of the Jordan in the Promised Land as a testimony to God’s power to deliver them for generations to come.
Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"
God has piled a lot of stones for us to see in our walk through this life. There are there as a testimony, to build our faith and trust in God, so that we can walk on in Jesus to the very end, knowing that God is still God and he will not fail.
Another important point to remember here is that we are adding to that pile of stones right now. Everyday that you live your life is an example of God’s faithfulness. Every time you are healed another stone is added. Every time a soul is won to the Lord another stone is added. Every time you obey the voice of the Lord and obey his word, another stone is added. HOW BIG IS YOUR PILE OF ROCKS? ARE YOU ADDING TO IT DAILY?
What are we to do right now to let our children and our children’s children for the generations to follow know about what God has done for us? What will we leave for posterity?
Too many people, including many Christians, just seem to float along with the tide of life, with no thought of tomorrow, and certainly, with no real consideration of where they will spend eternity.
The question may come to your mind, “Well Pastor, if a Christian has accepted Christ as his Savior, then doesn’t that prove that he has thought of his eternal destiny?”
The answer to that is yes, of course he has. But being a Christian is more than making that first all-important step in accepting and believing in Jesus. It takes a daily walk with the Lord, and a continual growing in Christ. The life of a Christian is a journey of faith. Accepting Jesus is the first step in that journey. With each passing day we should become more like Jesus. With each passing day, we should become more and more separated from the world. With each passing day, we should take note of what God is doing for us and do whatever we can to let others know that Jesus is working in us.
Finally, I want you to know that, as priests unto the Lord, your feet are standing upon the solid rock, even in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death, and your feet will still be on that solid rock when the time comes that this life has come to pass and you are called upon to cross that river Jordan in death.
What is that rock? A better question would be, “Who is that Rock?” That rock is Jesus. He is the solid Rock on which I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. As long as we are founded upon that Rock, we will never be defeated, we will never drown, and we will never be left behind, but we must stay close to Jesus if we are to make it over Jordan safely.
In closing let me ask these questions. Are you standing on that Rock, Jesus Christ, this morning? Is your life an example for others to look upon and seek to know the Jesus you know? Are you a part of that great cloud of witnesses that future generations, should the Lord tarry, will look to and remember as a faithful disciple of Christ?
What stones are you piling up for the world to see?
I want you to know that you are building a rock pile right now. For those who love Jesus and have accepted him, that rock pile is a testimony of their life and of the faithfulness of God in delivering them from the valley of the shadow of death and through the Jordan River into a Promised Land of eternal life and the fulfillment of God’s covenant.
For those who don’t know Jesus, that rock pile is nothing more than a headstone, or a grave marker, or a covering for their own grave. Its only witness will be of a life that was wasted and a bright eternal future that was thrown away and destroyed forever.
You are building a rock pile right now! What will your rocks signify for those who will come? Make sure that you are building your rock pile with the right Rock! Come to Jesus and let him be the Lord of your life.
Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording, including sermon titles, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these sermons. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and/or quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
