I remember in my high school's gymnasium a set of championship banners. I don't remember the details on those banners, but they said something like this, Boys Basketball, Seaview League Champions 1989. Girls Tennis, CIF Southern Section Champions, 1990. Football, State Champions, 1991. And on and on, about 20 of these banners or so. I remember walking into that gymnasium and understanding that Woodbridge High School had not been in existence for all that many years, and seeing how many banners there were on the wall, I thought, this is a victorious high school. Our mascot was the warrior, and I thought, we are mighty warriors. Now this morning, we come in Joshua to a list that is much like a set of championship banners that you will find in a gymnasium. It is a list of the kings that were defeated in the promised land. However, this list does not speak of the greatness of Israel, Yes, the wording in our text is, now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated. God did give Israel responsibility in each battle. They were to use their swords in the battle. But the theme that we have been seeing in this book is that Israel was victorious because of the truth that the Lord fought for Israel. In chapter 10 verse 14, speaking of the day when the sun stood still. It said, there has been no day like it before or since when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. You see it again in chapter 10 verse 42, where it says, and Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And we will find later on in our study, when we come to chapter 23, Joshua's closing words, his farewell words to Israel, he will say in chapter 23, verse three, and you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. And a little further on, one man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. It was the Lord who made the walls of Jericho to fall. It was the Lord who made the sun to stand still during the battle near Gibeon. It was the Lord who cast gigantic hailstones down from heaven. It was the Lord who made that strategy succeed in the second attack upon Ai. It was the Lord who fought for Israel in every single battle. So the list of defeated kings that we come to this morning in our text is like a set of the Lord's championship banners. It speaks of the Lord's victories. This list proclaims the Lord's might. Now reading this list should move us to declare what a great God we serve, which is something that I need to be reminded of repeatedly, the greatness of the God whom we serve. And I trust that you also find yourself in need to be reminded of God's greatness. Please turn in your Bible to Joshua chapter 12 and stand in honor of the word of God. Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon with all the Arabah eastward. Siham, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aurora, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Javak, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is half of Gilead, and the Erebah to the sea of Chinereth eastward, and in the direction of Beth Jeshemoth, to the sea of the Erebah, the salt sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah. And Og, king of Bashan. one of the remnant of the Refaim, who lived at Ashteroth and at Edri, and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salicah and all Bashan to the boundary of the Gesherites and the Maccathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon, king of Heshbon. Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the people of Israel defeated them. And Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan. From Baal-gal, Gad, in the valley of Lebanon, to Mount Halak, that rises towards Seir. And Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession, according to their allotments. In the hill country, in the lowland, in the Erebah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negev, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The king of Jericho, one. The king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one. The king of Jerusalem, one. The king of Hebron, one. The king of Jarmath, one. The king of Lachish, one. The king of Eglon, one. The king of Giza, one. The king of Debar, one. The king of Ghidor, one. The king of Horma, one. The king of Arad, one. The king of Libla, one. The king of Adullam, one. The king of Makeda, one. The king of Bethel, one. The king of Tapua, one. The king of Hefur, one. The king of Aphek, 1. The King of Asheron. 1. The King of Maedon. 1. The King of Hazor. 1. The King of Shimron-Meron. 1. The King of Akshath. 1. The King of Tanak. 1. The King of Megiddo. 1. The King of Kadesh. 1. The King of Jotliam and Carmel. 1. The king of Dor and Naphath-Dor, one. The king of Goim and Galilee, one. The king of Tirzah, one. In all, thirty-one kings. This is God's holy word. Please be seated. As you go through the book of Joshua, you find the book unfolding in four different parts. We've already studied almost the first half of the book. In the first quarter of the book, we saw Israel entering the land of promise. That was chapters one through four. We are concluding now the second section on inheriting the land. Chapters five through 12, how Israel inherited the land through the conquest of the land. The next section we will go into will be dividing the land, 13 through 21. And the last section will regard keeping the land, 22 through 24. So our text this morning comes at the end of the section on inheriting the land in the conquest. A narrative summary of Joshua's conquest was given in chapter 11, verses 16 through 20. We studied that last week. A transition was then given in chapter 11 verse 23 to the upcoming section on dividing the land. Look at verse 23 of chapter 11. So Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. That sums up everything that has happened thus far. That's the conquest. Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. That's what's coming up starting in chapter 13. And the land had rest from war. So here at verse 23, we have a transition between the conquest and the dividing of the land. But before the division of the land is recorded, the importance of the conquest is emphasized now in chapter 12 by incorporating Joshua's conquest into the larger picture of all the conquest of the promised land. You see, the conquest began before Joshua's conquest. We read in the book of Numbers how the conquest began under Moses on the east side of the Jordan. And then Joshua, when he led the Israelites across the Jordan River, he then continued the work that Moses had already begun. And so now we're broadening out the picture to get the scope of the whole conquest of the land. This larger picture of the conquest is given in the form of a list of defeated kings. As you read through the Old Testament, you encounter various lists, and all the lists are important. Without understanding things fully, we may be tempted to just skip over lists or to skim through them, but every list is important. And this list is the way that the author is giving us the big picture of what has transpired in the conquest of the promised land. The defeat of kings has been emphasized in Joshua. If you look in chapter 11 at the second half of verse 17, we read, And he, that is Joshua, captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There's been emphasis on the defeat of the kings of the Canaanites. And now in chapter 12, we have a catalog of the defeated kings. A catalog that prepares us for the allotment of the land to the 12 tribes that will come later on. But this catalog does even more as we compare it with the rest of scripture. This list of defeated kings teaches us six lessons that I want to point you to this morning. The first lesson that we learn from this list of defeated kings is that God is sovereign over the kings of the world. Chapter 12 divides into two sections. The first section starts in verse 1 with these words. Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. The sunrise is in the east. This is a list of the kings who were defeated on the east side of the Jordan River. It lists here Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan, both defeated under the leadership of Moses. These were kings who ruled over regions and the boundaries of their regions are given to us. The second section starts in verse seven with the words, and these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan. So this is the land of Canaan. And 29 kings of Canaan are listed who ruled over city states and were all defeated under Joshua. The list in the second half starts with the kings of Jericho and Ai, the first kings that Joshua defeated. Then the list moves into the kings in the south whom Joshua defeated, including the kings of Jerusalem and Hebron and so forth. And we move geographically from the south up to the north. The list ends with the kings in the north who were defeated, like the king of Hazor. And all 31 kings are listed that Israel defeated as God fought for Israel. We are to learn from this that God is sovereign over all the kings of the world. Mary magnified the Lord after she was told of how she would conceive in her womb and bring forth the Messiah. She said in Luke 1 51 and 52, he has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. Mary is praising the sovereignty of God. And as she's praising the sovereignty of God, she says, the Lord has brought down the mighty from their thrones. That's what we see a record of in Joshua 12. The Lord has brought down the mighty from their thrones. Daniel, blessed the God of heaven, in Daniel chapter two, verse 20, saying, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. The removing of kings is exactly what is recorded for us in our text this morning. 1 Timothy 6, verse 15 says, God is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The God of the Bible is the greatest of all kings. He is sovereign over all the kings of the world. He is sovereign over all the presidents of the world. He is sovereign over all the dictators of the world, all the rulers of the world, all the leaders of the world are under the sovereign reign of the God of the Bible. He is sovereign over the kings of the world. The second lesson that is to be learned from this list of defeated kings is that God's purpose is advancing. God's purpose is advancing. What is God's great purpose toward which he is directing all of history? We read part of his purpose in Philippians chapter 2 verses 9 through 11. Therefore God has highly exalted Christ Jesus and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. In the early days of the church, there were Christians who were martyred because they refused to say Caesar is Lord. They said there's only one Lord, and His name is Jesus Christ. God's purpose is that on the final day, every knee that has been created will bow before Jesus, acknowledging He is Lord. He is King. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. For He has been given the name above all names, that name Lord Sovereign One. Every tongue on the final day will confess that Jesus is Lord. Of course the redeemed will do so with joy. The unredeemed will have no choice. They'll be forced to do so. Revelation chapter 11 tells us more of the great purpose toward which God is moving all of history. Revelation 11 verse 15 says, Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Right now we do not see all the kings of this earth subject to Christ. But we are told in Revelation 11 that at the end of time, the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Everything will be brought into subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the great purpose that God is moving all of history towards. And our list in Joshua chapter 12, of the defeat of 31 kings records 31 steps that God made for the fulfillment of his great purpose. The defeat of every one of those godless kings who was in rebellion against the creator of this world, the defeat of every one of those kings was one step further towards that final day when every knee will bow. before Jesus Christ as Lord. Now we as Christians tend to disregard the specific steps that God is making in accomplishing His purpose. But it ought not to be that we disregard the specific steps that God is making in fulfilling His purpose. Commentator Dale Ralph Davis quoted another commentator by the name of H.L. Ellison's commentary on Joshua. Quote, it would be unfair to suggest that the church is unwilling to thank God for all his many mercies, but on the whole, it is unwilling to indulge in detailed and specific thanks. If we were to train ourselves to recognize God's goodness act-by-act and detail-by-detail, many of us would come to think more highly both of God and of the Church. Much of our despondency comes from failing to see how much God has really achieved. I can testify personally to that last part. Much of our despondency comes from failing to see how much God has really achieved. The last few weeks, I've felt deeper and deeper into discouragement and despair, losing hope. And this past Wednesday, in my weekly conversation with Pastor Joe Losardo, I sought out his counsel I sought out his prayer for my soul, and he challenged me to write a list of the ways that I can see how God has worked specifically in my life in the past. I carried out what he challenged me to do. In the evening, I sat down after the kids had gone to bed, and began at the very beginning of my life, and worked through the 38 years of my life, and I wrote down 25 very, very significant things that God has done in my life. These are details of the working of God, somewhat similar to Joshua 12. Joshua 12, details of the advancing of God's purpose. I wrote down 25 ways that God has very clearly worked in my life. And then I gave thanks to Him for these things. And you know what I found? I found that as I went back over and remembered the details, and gave thanks to God for the details, He restored my hope. He restored my joy. And this chapter should function like that. It's bringing us face to face with the details of the advancing of God's kingdom. It's one thing to say his kingdom is advancing. It's another to see actual details. How the actual steps that have been taken. What a wonderful list this is. This list can give you hope. This list can take you out of despair, brothers and sisters, as it reminds us that God is always at work, advancing history toward the day when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord. There's a third lesson to be learned from this list of defeated kings. The third lesson is that God warns of future judgment. God warns of future judgment. What are the God-given responsibilities of a king or of a government? Romans 13, verses 1-7 teach that governing authorities have been instituted by God, that the ruler in authority is God's servant for our good, that the king is responsible to give approval to the person who does good, and is responsible to carry out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Now each of the 31 kings in our text had been given these responsibilities from God to approve good and to punish wrongdoing, to punish evil. But these kings who were defeated here, they all were very unfaithful to God with this responsibility. God killed them in judgment upon their wickedness. But wicked kings do not disappear from the biblical storyline after these 31 are defeated. What do we read regarding the world's kings in the book of Revelation? Revelation is appropriately located at the end of the Bible because it is foretelling what will happen at the end of the age when Jesus Christ comes again. In Revelation 19, starting at verse 16, we read of the return of Christ. It says, On Christ's robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest, these are the kings, were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh." This prophecy says that when Christ returns, all the kings of the earth are going to gather together in battle against Jesus Christ. That it will be something similar to what we have in Joshua, with the kings of Canaan massing together against God's people. But this is on a much higher scale. That Joshua is just a foretaste of what will happen in the future. As all the kings, not just in the ancient Near East, but all the kings of the whole world are going to gather together to war against Jesus Christ. And we're told that when Jesus Christ returns, he will come with a sword, a double-edged sword, and he will strike down all the kings of this earth. And the birds of the air will gorge themselves on the flesh of the kings. We see also in this text in Revelation, that others will be judged along with the wicked kings. When Jesus Christ comes again, all the wicked subjects of these kings will be judged along with them, and together with them will be cast into the lake of fire. And we see the same thing in Joshua, that it's not just the kings who were defeated, it was not just the kings who were put to death, but their wicked subjects were also devoted to destruction along with them. Understand that no one who reads Joshua 12, no one who reads this list of the defeated kings, and then suffers God's wrath on the final day will be able to say on that day, I was never warned. Because Joshua 12 is a warning that God judges wickedness. And he judges wickedness severely. This is a warning. A warning to all who rebel against God of the judgment that they can expect to receive from God. This morning if the Holy Spirit has opened your eyes to see that through your sinful behavior you have been an enemy of God, If the Holy Spirit has opened your eyes to see that you are on the wide road leading to eternal judgment, I urge you this morning to repent of your sins, repent of your rebellion against God, repent of your waywardness, repent of your lawlessness, and turn to Jesus Christ in faith. Jesus Christ alone can save you from the wrath to come. Because Jesus Christ alone is God in human flesh. Jesus Christ alone has been crucified for sinners. And Jesus has risen from the grave in victory on the third day. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 9 and 10 to the Thessalonian believers, you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Jesus delivers from the wrath to come. Jesus is the only Savior. Turn this morning from your rebellion to Jesus Christ. Bow your knee now before Jesus Christ. Confess with your lips now that Jesus is Lord. Trust Him now as your Savior. So this list is a warning of judgment. There's a fourth lesson as well that we can learn from this list as we compare it with the rest of scripture. The fourth lesson is that God is faithful to his promise. God is faithful to his promise. What we read in Joshua 12 is a fulfillment of the promises made in Genesis by God to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. In Genesis chapter 15, verses 18 and following, it says the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, to your offspring I give this land. Abraham at this time was in the land of Canaan. To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Kenanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." Later on, in Genesis 22, verse 17, God promised to Abraham, Your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. And now in Joshua chapter 12, geographical descriptions are given of the land over which the defeated kings ruled. Look at verse 1 and see how these geographical markings compare. Verse 1. Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon. With all the Ereba eastward, Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aurora, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is half of Gilead, and the Ereba to the sea of Chinareth eastward, and in that direction of Beth Jeshimoth to the sea of the Ereba, the salt sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah. and Og, king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashteroth and at Idri, and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salachan, all Bashan, to the boundary of the Gesherites and the Maccathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon, king of Heshbon. And they go down to verse 7. And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated in the west side of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon, to Mount Halak that rises toward Seir. And Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Ereba, in the slopes, in the wilderness, in the Negev, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now these geographical boundaries don't mean a whole lot to you unless you've thoroughly studied the geography of Palestine. But as you study these things, you see this is the exact land that God had promised to Abraham that I read of earlier to you. God was faithful to His promise. Now here we have the same land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob being described in even more detail than God used when He described it to Abraham. But it's the very same land. What we have here in chapter 12 is a declaration that God has been faithful. He has fulfilled the promise He has given to our forefathers. Joshua 12 is similar to our hymn that we sang earlier, great is thy faithfulness. It's a list of 31 acts of God's faithfulness, keeping his word that he had made centuries earlier. How comforting and encouraging this list should be to us as it teaches us God is faithful to his promise. We have to be reminded of God's faithfulness again and again and again. We're in the middle of a spiritual war. Satan attacks and he seeks in his attacks to cause us to lose sight of the faithfulness of God to his promises. Oh may we be encouraged by this list this morning. God is faithful to His promise. There is a fifth lesson as well to be learned from this list of defeated kings. The fifth lesson is that God's purpose requires conflict. His purpose requires conflict. We read in earlier chapters of Joshua, how Israel killed some of these specific kings mentioned in this list with the sword. We read of how the king of Ai, was put to death by Joshua, and how he was put to death in the same way the king of Jericho had been put to death by Joshua. We read of those five kings of the south who had been hiding in that cave, and how all of them were put into the dust, and the Israelite commanders put their feet on the necks of these commanders. and they were all put to death. Joshua 11.17 says that Joshua captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. God required this of His people as He was working to fulfill His promise. He required that His people Israel put these kings to death with the sword. We have similar language in Colossians. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. Do you hear the similarity? Joshua 11, 17, Joshua captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. Colossians 3, verse 5, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them. As God was fulfilling His purpose in the days of Joshua, the Israelites had to take part. in putting the evil kings to death. And now, as Christians, as God is fulfilling His purpose, we have a responsibility. We are to put to death those sins that are a part of our past, those sins that continue to have an influence upon us. We are to put them to death. The Christian life involves conflict. You cannot conceive of the Christian life without conflict on this side of eternity. God's purpose required that the Christian engage in conflict. Conflict with his or her own sin, and conflict with the world. In the book of Acts, which we will study in detail after we finish Joshua, in Acts we see that a vital part of church life was proclaiming the offensive message of the gospel to the world, and that brought conflict. When Peter proclaimed the gospel and thousands were added to the church, Peter was jailed. When Stephen proclaimed the gospel of grace to the religious leaders, he was stoned. When Paul and Silas proclaimed the gospel in Philippi and a slave girl was delivered from demon possession, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and jailed. And on and on it goes in the book of Acts. The Christian life is a life of conflict. As God fulfills his purpose, there must be conflict. Conflict with sin and conflict with the world. And if you refuse to engage in conflict, you cannot follow Christ. You cannot be a person who says, well, I will never do conflict. I only have peace. I'm just going to run away from conflict. You can't do that if you're a Christian. The Christian is called to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus. And that means conflict. It means making war on our sin and it means entering into conflict with the world as we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and we suffer persecution for Christ's sake. So we learn all the way here in Joshua chapter 12 that God's purpose requires conflict. That's not new in the New Testament. The Israelites had to engage the enemy kings There's one last lesson to be learned from this list of defeated kings. And that is that God's enemies cannot stand against him. God's enemies cannot stand against him. All the kings in our list in Joshua 12 fought against God and against God's people. And none of these kings was able to stand. Now these kings were not weaklings by earthly standards. Look in Joshua 12 at verse 4. And Og, king of Bashan, one of the remnants of the Rephaim. Do you know who the Rephaim were? They were like the Anakim, which we studied last week in chapter 11. They were giants. Deuteronomy 2.21 says that the Rephaim were a people great and many, and tall as the Anakin. Deuteronomy 3.11 says that this king, king Augs, his bed was made of iron, which was very unusual in that day, because it was nine cubits long and four cubits wide. That's a bed 13 and a half feet long, and six feet wide. And speaking of his immense size, he was a giant. He was feared by others. He was a great warrior. Yet Joshua 12 lists King Og among the kings that Israel defeated. Og, this great giant, could not stand against God, nor could the 30 other kings in this list stand against God, nor can any other enemy of God stand against him. Today, we see the blatant hostility of God's enemies all around. Some of the most blatant hostility we see today against God is by ISIS. ISIS has officially declared that part of their purpose is to destroy Christians. You may have seen, or heard of at least, videos that they broadcasted showing them executing Christians, beheading Christians, and they took great delight in that and showing that that is what they had done. That's blatant hostility against God. But the majority of the hostility against God in this world is not as blatant, but it is just as real as the hostility of ISIS against the God of the Bible. Joshua 12, in such times, should comfort us and encourage us, as it teaches us that God's enemies cannot stand against Him. As we read the news, there's no room for us to have a defeatist attitude as Christians. Because we know that these enemies who are raging against God, like Psalm 2 talked about, that these enemies who are raging against God, they're going to all be held to account by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And they will not succeed in thwarting God's purpose. You may look at the news and go, oh, God's purpose is being thwarted. This is not how God intended things to go. It's not true. The Bible says God is sovereign and none of His enemies will thwart His purposes. His purposes are being fulfilled. We just need the eyes to see and to understand who God is, what His purposes are, and how He will fulfill His purposes. He's in control. He's going to take care of all of this. None of his enemies can thwart his purpose. No matter how powerful they are, they will be brought to their knees in defeat. What a glorious list we have here in Joshua 12. A list that teaches us that God is sovereign over the kings of the world. The king of Jericho, one. The king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one. The King of Jerusalem, one. The King of Hebron, one. The King of Jarmath, one. The King of Lachish, one. A list that teaches that God's purpose is advancing. The King of Eglon, one. The King of Giza, one. The King of Debar, one. The King of Ghidor, one. The King of Horma, one. The king of Arad, one. A list that warns of future judgment. The king of Libna, one. The king of Adullam, one. The king of Mecidah, one. The king of Bethel, one. The king of Tapua, one. The king of Hepha, one. A list that teaches that God is faithful to his promise right down to every last city and every last border. The king of Aphek, one. The king of Lacheron, one. The king of Madon, one. The king of Hazor, one. The king of Shimron-Meron, one. The king of Akshaph, one. A list that teaches that God's purpose requires conflict. The king of Tanakh, one. The king of Megiddo, one. The king of Kedesh, one. The king of Jachnium and Carmel, one. A list that teaches that God's enemies cannot stand against Him. The King of Dor and Naphath, Dor, one. The King of Goyim and Galilee, one. The King of Tirzah, one. In all 31 kings. Brethren, one day this list will be completed. It will be completed, and at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, You are the Lord. You are the King. No one succeeds in rebelling against you. No matter how many earthly privileges, no matter how much earthly power they have, no one succeeds in rebelling against you. You hold all accountable. and none can thwart your purpose. We thank you for sending Jesus, who suffered your wrath in our place, that we would not find our place with this list of 31 kings whom you defeated, but that we would be among the redeemed, Purchased out of slavery to sin. Taken out of the kingdom of darkness. So that Satan is no longer our father and placed in the kingdom of your beloved son. Oh Lord, comfort our hearts as believers this morning. Encourage our hearts. and warn those who are not connected to Christ. We pray, Father, that you would give us the courage to live for you, knowing how the story will end, how history will end. Teach us to live for your glory. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.