If you would, in your Bibles, please turn with me to Joshua chapter 22. Joshua chapter 22. We are nearing our end in this series of Joshua. We have today and the next two Sundays in this book. Joshua chapter 22. If you do not have a Bible with you this morning, I would encourage you to have one open. And in the pew back in front of you, there is a Bible located there. And our passage is found on page one hundred ninety six. Page one hundred ninety six. Now, NASCAR, but you never thought a sermon would start with that. And NASCAR is not known as a team sport. Any NASCAR fans out there with me? I heard one over here, all right. But every Sunday, there are around 40 different drivers on the track, and they're all competing for first place. And it has been said that drivers would wreck their own mothers just to win a race. But on the track, there's not just 40 different drivers, but there are also teams. That is, some of the drivers, they work and drive for the same team owner. And these teams may consist of two, four, maybe even five cars. Well, at last week's race, last Sunday's race, which I'm sure everyone saw, right? Well, at last week's race, there were about five cars running up front from 1st to 5th, and all of them had the chance to win the race. Well, the two lead cars running 1st and 2nd, they were teammates. They drive for the same team owner. And many thoughts that that teammate who was running in second place would do the bump and dump on the track. That is, you bump the back of the car in front of you, kind of get some loose, they wiggle out of the way, and then you go around him. And so that's what everyone was expecting to happen. However, he pushed his teammate to the wind. And when interviewed after the race, of course, the big question was, why did you push your teammate to the race? Why didn't you try to win the race? Well, he basically answered that he placed his team above himself and he chose team unity over disunity. Now our text this morning in Joshua chapter two is not about Nazcar, surprise, but our text this morning is on unity. It's on unity among God's people. And it's going to show us here in this chapter, in Joshua chapter 22, it's gonna show us how this unity can be threatened and weakened but it's also gonna show us how it can be secured and strengthened. And so as I've been saying, as we have walked through this book of Joshua, and as we even go through the Old Testament, that the Old Testament, that they are true stories, actual events. God has preserved for us His story among His people, Israel, even going back to the beginning of creation in Genesis 1 and working forward. But as we read through the Old Testament, it's not just historical stories that we are reading, but for the New Testament saints, for those who are under the new covenant, those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. If the Old Testament is for us, it is an example. For the people in the Old Testament, these were the old covenant saints. And we can learn from them, learn from what they did right and what they did wrong. And as we read through the Old Testament, it continually points us to Christ. And so as we go through this chapter here this morning and look at unity among God's people, we're going to be applying it for unity among a faith family, and that is a local church. And what we're going to see here in this chapter is that unity among a faith family occurs intentionally. And not by accident. And so we're going to break this chapter up into four parts. We're going to see in verses one to nine, we're going to see unity demonstrated. And then in verses 10 to 20, we'll see unity questioned. And then verses 21 to 29, unity declared. And then lastly, in verses 30 to 34, unity affirmed. And so before we get into God's word, let us pray. Oh, Father, we do praise you for you have not only saved us individually, for it is the responsibility of each person to place their faith in Christ. But God, I thank you that you don't just save us individually, but that you save us into a family, into your family. And God, that you have your family then meeting in local churches here in Canyon throughout the states and throughout this world. So God, I pray that as we come to your word this morning, God, I pray that we would see the truth that is found here. God, the unity that your people are to show to one another. So that God, that you would be glorified in all things and that our Savior Jesus, your son, would be exalted. So Father, bless now this time as we come to your word. We pray these things in your son's name. Amen. And so we start here in verses 1 to 9, and this is unity demonstrated. And so look with me here. Let me read these opening six verses. It says, At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers as he promised them. Therefore, turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the other side of the Jordan. Only be careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away and they went to their tents. And so we see here in verse one that Joshua, he gathers together. So we need to picture that all the 12 tribes are there with Joshua at this time. And so just recall from the chapters that we flew over last Sunday in chapters starting in 13 to 21, that now all the land has been divided up as an inheritance to the different tribes of Israel. And those two and a half tribes who are going to live on the east side of the Jordan River, Well, they've been with their brothers, the other tribes, and going out into the battles in the land on the west side of the Jordan as they were instructed and commanded to do. So they have done that, and so now it is time to send them back home. And so Joshua gathers together those two and a half tribes, Dan, Reuben, and Manasseh. And then in verses two to four, we see Joshua, he praises these eastern tribes. I call them eastern tribes just because they're going to live on the east side of the Jordan River. But notice there, those verses that I read, he praises them for all that they have done. We're not gonna turn here, but this takes us all the way back to Joshua 1. If you recall at that time, while all of Israel was still on the east side of the Jordan River, about to cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, Joshua reminded these two-and-a-half tribes whose inheritance has been given to them on the east side that Joshua reminded them what what Moses had commanded them to say Hey, your men are to go with the other tribes across the Jordan River and to fight with them You have your rest your inheritance on this east side. They helped you to get it now You're to go with them and to help them accomplish the taking of the land and Joshua says you have done that From the very beginning, from the moment that we crossed over the Jordan River to this very day, he says, you have been faithful. You've been faithful to God and what he has told you to do. You've been faithful to your brothers, to your other tribes. So this is high praise indeed. And so before he sends them off there in verse five, Joshua exhorts these Eastern tribes to remain obedient to God. And so even though you're going to be kind of separated from us a little bit, there's going to be the Jordan River in between us. We share the same God. We have the same God. He is the one who has brought us to himself together. And now you, like us, we are to continue to follow Him and to obey Him. So that's why He says to them, He says, be careful to observe all the commandments that God has given you. Don't let them slip by. So then after he exhorts these Eastern tribes, he sends them away, as we see there in verse 6. There in verses 7 to 9, I won't read through those, but those three verses there basically just give us a little bit more background to what was going on at this time that Israel, through the battles that they had, they had gathered much spoils of war, we might say. And so all that spoils of war was to be divided up amongst all the people of Israel, including those two and a half tribes. And so they take their share, so to speak, and then they begin to leave. They leave the their their friends, their family there on the west side of the Jordan River, and they begin to make their way back home. But what do we learn here in these opening verses here about unity? Well, we see that unity has been demonstrated. And how's that unity been demonstrated? It's been demonstrated because for these two and a half tribes, these Eastern tribes, along with the Western tribes, that they all together. That they together have been faithful to God. In following him and following the commands that God has given to them. So the first thing that we find here is that unity among a faith family, even for us today, is centered on wholehearted obedience to the Lord. That our unity is centered on wholehearted obedience to the Lord. Listen to Hebrews chapter 10, verses 24 and 25. These are, I think, sometimes well-known verses, but I don't know if we pause to consider it. But in Hebrews 10, 24 to 25, the apostle says, and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Oh, these two verses speak much about the assembly of God's people meeting together physically together on the Lord's Day as a faith family, as a as local church members. There's much that goes into that, that it is not to be neglected. It is not to be seen as something. Well, we could go to church today or not. We could stay home and sleep in and watch things online and then catch the NASCAR race that's coming on a little bit earlier today or the football game or whatever your taste is. The church isn't optional. The church service isn't optional for God's people. But notice one of the things, very specifically that it says here, why it's not optional. The apostle says, and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. This is one of the things that we do when we are together. when we gather together in our Sunday school classes, equip classes. Yes, we are learning and being instructed from the Word of God, but there's also those relationships that are being built to where we can pray for one another. And not just pray for one another, but encourage one another. To encourage one another to continue to follow Christ, to be obedient to Christ. Encouraging each other because the day is drawing near, that day that Christ is returning, and so we are not to waste our time together. to encourage one another to wholehearted obedience. And notice what that obedience looks like as given to us here in verse five. When Joshua said, only be careful to observe. To observe the commandment and the law that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you. And he gives basically what we would say is a summary of that commandment, of all that God has given to his people in Exodus, in Leviticus, in the other books that precede Joshua. Well, here's how it can be summarized. It is to love the Lord your God. to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to cling to Him, and to serve Him. Notice that pattern that's there. And if I could just restate it this way, maybe use some terms that maybe we would be more familiar with. But that pattern of wholehearted obedience is to love God. to conduct your life according to His commands, to persevere in keeping those commands, to devote yourself to this God, and to worship Him always. Notice there it begins, that obedience begins with love. Oh, even our own Savior Jesus, He said, if you love Me, you will keep My commandments. You see, if you find yourself here this morning struggling with obedience, the solution is not trying harder, but the solution is loving more. For any time we have an obedience problem, it's really a sign, so our obedience is seen in what we do and what we say, but those are really just symptoms of what's going on within us. And when we find ourselves in disobedience, what that should point to is that we have a soul problem, a heart problem, and we need to look at our love for God, at our love for Jesus. So how do we grow in our love for God? If that is what we must do is to love God more, to love Jesus more in order to disperse to obedience, how must we do that? Well, there's much that could be said on that topic, but let me just read from 1 John 4, verse 10. It says, in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Oh, that big word there, propitiation for our sins, means that he is the one that has taken our sin upon himself and he has taken the wrath of God for our sins. That should have been ours. So if we want to love God more, we need to stop and just reflect on the goodness of God. Certainly on the blessings that he gives us and all the things that he provides for us physically in this world. Yes, we need to recall that all those things come from God, but ultimately we need to go back to who God is. And he is a holy God who who who must and will judge sin. But he is a gracious God who has sent us his son. His son who died for us was raised to life for us. And God has made to you the promise that if you'll trust in his son, that your sins are forgiven. So brother or sister in Christ. If you struggle with obedience this morning, reflect back on what God has ultimately done for you. Read through even there in Romans eight that I read earlier in our service. About the love of God for you. and be reminded of His love because we love because He first loved us. But notice in that verse that love, it leads to a walk. It leads to conduct. And so our obedience is demonstrated by how we walk, how we conduct our lives according to God's Word. Because a heart that loves God says, God, I want to do what You have said. And so we read the Word of God. We learn what his word is telling us to do, how we're to live our lives as a Christian man, as a Christian woman at home, at work, in school. And say, God, I want to live this out. Because of love for you. And then that walk and that conduct, it must be sustained through perseverance. That's why Joshua says there, to walk and to keep His commandments. Oh, I found that obedience in the Christian life is much like a diet plan. It's easy to start. It's not easy to keep doing, is it? Oh, the first few, you know, week or two of a diet, it's like, oh, yeah, I could do this forever. Look, I've lost five pounds. And then week three, week four, You haven't lost anything. It's like, man, I'm tired of this bland food. I'm ready for a, well, I don't know what you want, but a hamburger pizza. Well, it's easy to start. It's not always easy to keep going. And brothers and sisters in Christ, sometimes that's true of the Christian life. The Christian life is going to be difficult at times. It is going to be hard at times to keep the obedience that you have been doing, to keep that going. But be reminded that God has given you His Spirit, and His Spirit has not left you. And His Spirit will continue to convict you of sin, to give you a desire to be obedient to Him, to give you the power to do it. So it is our responsibility each day to get up and say, God, by the power of your Spirit today, let me walk in such a way that will bring honor to you and glory to Jesus. And then that perseverance, We need to be reminded that that perseverance and that obedience, it's not to impersonal rules or commands. I think sometimes that's how people look at the commands. They'll say, well, these are just some commands on paper. I just have to do them. But we need to be reminded that there is a personal God who lies behind these commands. And this is why Joshua says that we are to cling to him, to cling to God. Because it's not clinging to commands, it's not clinging to rules and words, but it is clinging to a personal God. Hebrews 12, verse 2, it says, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. That's the word to keep our eyes fixed upon, looking to Him, clinging to Him. And notice the end of this chain here, if you will. When Joshua says to serve him with all your heart, with all your soul. Well, that word, therefore, serve is many times the Old Testament. It means to worship him. Is to live a life that will bring honor and glory to God. So this is what we as a church are to that we are to be centered on. That we together that we strive that we strive for purity in our walk together, that we encourage one another to this, so that Christ would be exalted in our midst. And so this unity has been demonstrated here. But now notice in verses 10 to 20, we see this unity now questioned. And so look with me here, starting in verse 10. And let me read down to at least verse 12. It says, and when they came to the region of the Jordan, let me just pause right there, that they are the two and a half tribes, the Eastern tribes. They've now left their, their, their family, their friends who are going to stay on the Western side. And now they're making their way back home. They're making their way back to the Jordan river to cross over it, to get back to their family. And so it says, and when they came to the region of the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. And the people of Israel heard it, so that the people of Israel would be the Western tribes. So the people of Israel heard it and said, Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel." That means to themselves. And when the people of Israel heard it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them. Now, we might be kind of at this point maybe pausing and scratching our heads. Wait, what has happened here? Because Joshua has just praised them for their faithfulness. These Eastern tribes, he has praised them for their faithfulness to God and to the other tribes. I'm sure all the other tribes are patting him on the back saying, man, I love you. It's been so good to be with you. And now that these Eastern tribes have left and as they were making their way back to their own home, they stop on the western side of the Jordan River. And on that Western side, as we're told there in verse 10, that they build an altar. It's an altar of of imposing size. Don't know exactly what it looks like. It's not described. It's just said what what it is. But it's an altar that's large and could probably be seen from quite a distance. So it probably stood up high. And it was an altar, an altar that would represent a place where you would offer animal sacrifices. So it was built on the Western side and then after the tribes built it, they crossed over the Jordan River and they went back home. So some time has elapsed there in verse 10, going back to verse 9, some time has elapsed to build this altar, maybe a couple of weeks has passed. But now these Western tribes learned of this altar being built. And these Western tribes are ready to go to war. against the Eastern tribes. You might be saying, well, why is that? Are they overreacting here? Well, we need to keep two things in mind. they may have been fearful that these Eastern tribes were going to use this altar to offer up sacrifices upon. And over in Leviticus chapter 17, now remember Joshua's just instructed, exhorted the Eastern tribes to keep the whole command of God. Well that would include Leviticus 17 verses 8 to 9 and listen to what it says. God says, and you shall say to them, to the people of Israel, anyone of the house of Israel or the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people. so it was forbidden to offer up animal sacrifices on any other altar other than the altar that's found there at the tabernacle. So these Western tribes, they think, why are they building this altar? Are they going to offer up sacrifices on it? If they do, that's forbidden. Or they may have just thought, that this altar, maybe not to offer sacrifices on it, but to use it as something to worship, to use it as an idol of worship. And over in Deuteronomy chapter 13, Starting in verse 6, it says, some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the ends of the earth to the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall you eye pity, and neither shall you pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him, but you shall kill him. Well, that's the warning here. If someone, your best friend, your family member says, hey, let's go worship this other God. It's really great. Word of God says don't do that. And so they were fearful that this altar maybe was an altar being offered up to another God, one of the Canaanite gods. So what are they going to do? The people of Israel, they're gathered for war. They're ready to go and fight. Well, thankfully, cooler heads prevailed in verses 13 to 15. I won't read these, but we're told there in those verses that a man, Phineas, that his father Eleazar was the high priest, but Phineas, and so he was a priest, and then 10 leaders from the Western tribes that they leave Shiloh and they make their way over to the Eastern tribes to go and to talk to them. So look with me starting in verse 16. Here's what they have to say. Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, meaning all the Western tribes, What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord, by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord? Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor, from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you too rebel against the Lord today, then tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel." Now, let me just pause right there. What we see here is that this Western delegation, we might call it, is that they fear that God's wrath would come upon the whole 12 tribes of Israel because of what these two and a half tribes have done. And this Western delegation, the Western tribes, they are really assuming wrong motives of the Eastern tribes. That's what really we get from verse 16. They think to themselves that the Eastern tribes have built a rival altar. To be located near to them. A place where they can offer up their own sacrifices or maybe to use it as a idolatrous worship. That's what they're assuming here. And based on that assumption, they're telling these Eastern tribes are saying if this is the case, then God is going to judge not just you, but he's going to judge all of us. And they use two examples here. They talk about the rebellion at Peor. You may not be familiar with it. You can just write down Numbers chapter 25. It's where this rebellion at Peor took place. And that is that while the Israelites were in the Moab country, that they were led astray by some of the Moabites into sexual immorality and into idolatrous worship there in the wilderness. And because of their sin, God sent a plague among the people and it killed 24,000 Israelites. Don't you remember that? That was probably an event that took place less than a decade from when this Western delegation is talking to them. Like, don't you remember that? Don't you remember that sin that they committed and how God judged us? And then when you look down at verse 20, Achan is brought up once again, we recall him from chapter 6 or 7. And Achan, this one man who kept some of the spoil to himself. But God then brought judgment upon all the people of Israel by not letting them defeat the city of Ai. And when Achan's sin was found out, as we're told there in verse 20, it says, did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of devoted things and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity. But if we recall, his family did as well. They're like, don't you remember these things? And here you are building this altar. I'm going to bring God's judgment upon all of us. This is what they are assuming. They're questioning the unity of these Eastern tribes. What do we learn about unity here among God's people from these verses? Well, the first thing that we learn is that unity among a faith family is threatened when we presume wrong motives. Unity is threatened when we presume wrong motives. Now the Western tribes, they were not wrong to question the building of this altar, but they were wrong to presume sinful motives on behalf of the Eastern tribes. And they were ready to go to war because of their presumption. And such presumption can still take place among faith families today. Negative motives are assigned by some members upon other members and such presumption always threatens unity because it breeds distrust and division. And so anytime we begin to presume something, a false motive on behalf of someone else, we need to stop at that moment. We need to stop and say, well, what do I really know and what don't I know? And oftentimes that presumption of evil motives is usually representative that you are harboring some sort of animosity towards another person, that in your mind, in your heart, that you have just this animosity towards him or towards her. And so therefore you think the worst of him or her. And at that moment, your presumption of sin has just led you to commit sin. Because you're saying, my brother, my sister is wrong. They are sinful. You've judged them. And so unity among a faith family is always threatened when we presume wrong motives, but unity among a faith family is strengthened when we think the best of one another. When we think the best of one another, listen to 1 Corinthians 13. This is what's normally called the love chapter. And unfortunately, well, it's good that it's right at wedding. So if you had it right at your wedding, or you're going to have it right at your wedding, great, great chapter to read. But unfortunately, we tend to think that this love chapter is only for husbands and wives. It's only for marriages. When in fact, the Apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13 to a church family. And listen to what he says. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Well, that's what love looks like. It is thinking the best of a person. They may have done something that's a little questionable. But love says I'm not going to presume things that are wrong of you. But what we also learn out of this chapter is that we're out of these verses that unity among the faith families threatened. When we judge with wrong standards. It's not just presumption of sin. But unity is threatened when we use wrong standards, and those wrong standards are our own personal standards of what we find acceptable or unacceptable. Now, just know that in the Scriptures, as far as I am aware, the Scriptures nowhere said it was wrong to build an altar. I haven't found that yet, and I could be wrong, but I don't think that in the Scriptures in the Old Testament said that thou shalt not build any other altars. The Scripture said that only sacrifices were to be offered on the altar in the tabernacle. And so the Western tribes, they held a standard that no other altars, therefore, were to be built. And that's how they're judging the Eastern tribes. And we contend to do that today, too. We have personal convictions about what the Word of God says. We see what it commands us very explicitly to do or not do. And so we look at that and we say, okay, how can I follow that? And so we have our personal convictions of how that should then get applied in our lives. But we need to be reminded that our personal convictions are personal practices. This week you may have heard with a well known pastor that he is on leave because of a maybe inappropriate messaging with a female congregants. Doesn't seem like it was abusive, sexual or anything like that. At least what's come out, but. He was just communicating like a friend with her. And so he's been put on leave because of of that. And so that just reminded me this week, well, okay, what is, how are we to conduct ourselves in communicating with other people, especially over social media platforms? And even if he did not do anything inappropriate, she didn't do anything inappropriate. It was just people talking back and forth via this social media. What's the bounds that should be placed there? Should a pastor do that or not do that? Where should the line be drawn? And I know for myself where I draw the line in order to stay faithful. But where I've drawn that line is not what I'm going to uphold for everyone else, because that's for me. And so we are not to judge others based on our personal convictions, because our personal convictions are personal standards and not universal standards. We need to keep that in mind. And so unity is threatened when we use wrong standards, but some people might be thinking, well, are we not to uphold any standards at that point? Well, let me just say lastly, unity among a faith family is strengthened when we uphold biblical standards. The church is to address sin. The church is to, when it sees sin, it is to address that lovingly and gracefully in the life of a brother or sister in Christ. But that sin must be something that is explicit in the scriptures. Thou shalt not this, or thou shalt do this. It's not saying, it's not, well, the Bible says this, but here's my way of doing it. And when we do see sin in a brother or sister's life who is a member of the church with me, we must remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter seven. It says that if you see a speck in your brother or sister's eye, that before you go to him or to her, that you're first to remove the log out of your own eye, that you're to go to God and to pray to him and say, God, show me my own sin. Let me not go as this self-righteous man or woman. But God, let me know my own sin and let me be humbled." And then Jesus says, then you'll be able to see clearly, to take the speck out of your brother or sister's eyes. So Jesus says, you are to go. You are to deal with it. Because again, as a church family, we encourage one another to love and good deeds. Well, that's unity questioned. And now, verses 21-29, unity declared. What's going to be the response of the Eastern tribes? Well, they first state there in verses 21-23, they first say, we totally agree with you guys. We totally agree with you that if we built this altar to offer up sacrifices on, disobedience to God's command that if that is the case then God should just strike us dead now and you should put us to death right now we wholeheartedly agree with you now I don't think that the Western tribes anticipated that response but they're saying we had we agree with you and so why did they build it well look there verses 24 to 28 Starting verse 24, they say, no, but we did it, meaning we built this altar from fear that in time to come, your children, meaning the children on the west side, might say to our children on the east side, what have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you and people of Reuben and the people of God. You have no portion in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord. Therefore we said, let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice. but to be a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings. So your children will not say to our children in time to come, you have no portion in the Lord. And we thought if this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made not for burnt offering nor sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you. Well, they built this altar. to stand as a reminder to them and to the people on the West side that we have the same God. Because they were fearful that in just a few generations, that those on the West side might see that boundary of the Jordan River as something that God has placed there to say, hey, these two and a half tribes over here, they're really not worthy to come and worship me. You're in the good land. You're in the promised land. therefore they might deny these Eastern tribes from coming to worship in the temple. And so this altar was to stand as a witness, not to be used as a sacrifice, not to be worshiped, but to be a reminder. What do we learn from these verses? Just two quick things. First, that unity among a faith family must be maintained. It has to be maintained. Because again, notice going back to the beginning of chapter 22, Joshua praised the Eastern tribes for their faithfulness. These Eastern tribes had showed no sign of disobedience, no signs of unfaithfulness, but they've shown themselves to be trusted. And yet within just a couple of weeks, the Western tribes are ready to go to war with the Eastern tribes. So unity must be maintained. You say once unity is experienced, especially within a local church family. It is easy to think that it's always going to remain. Well, look, we have the love of the Lord. We have unity among one another. And you give God praise for that. But to think to ourselves that it's just always going to be this way is wrong. Listen to just two scriptures, Romans chapter 14, so then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual building. Hebrews chapter four, strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Notice those terms that are used right before peace, which is another word for unity. Pursue peace, strive for peace. You see, peace doesn't just doesn't happen passively. It doesn't even say here in the text when it says strive for peace, it doesn't say stroll after peace. I mean, we might like that even better. OK, kind of maybe just do a few things to keep peace. No, it says strive. It takes effort. It is the responsibility that's laid upon each person of a faith family to maintain. So this unity must be maintained, but it also must be defended. Within our context today as a local church, we need to recognize that we do have an enemy. That enemy is not other tribes, but that enemy is Satan himself. And the devil is constantly seeking to disrupt the unity within local churches. Listen to Ephesians chapter four, verses 26 and seven. It says, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Now again, I've seen these verses and rightly applied to marriages. Hey, as a husband, wife, or even between friends, talk it out. Don't hang on to anger. That's only gonna lead to bitterness and disruption. But be reminded, Paul is first and foremost writing to a local church family. He says, give the devil no opportunity. How does the devil get an opportunity in the life of a church? It's when some of the members begin to assign false motives to other members, to bring division, to bring disunity, when they begin to harbor animosity and even hatred. So we see that this unity that God gives to his people by his spirit, it is something that's going to be attacked. And that shouldn't surprise us. When unity is attacked, it shouldn't surprise us. It should just be a reminder to us there is an enemy out there who hates to see a local church unified together, serving shoulder to shoulder for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He hates it. And so we must defend it. But then lastly, verses 30 to 34, we see unity affirmed. And so what's going to be the response now of these Western tribes? Well, it says, when Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who are with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. And Phineas, the son of Eliezer, the priest, said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, Today we know that the Lord is in our midst because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord. And so they're like, we totally accept what you're saying here. We don't doubt you. We don't doubt you for a moment. And it's good to us. And so they go back and there in verse 32, they go back to the Western tribes, they report back to them and all the people there on the Western side. It was good to them as well. But notice there in verse 34, it says, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar witness. So that's what they call this altar, witness. For they said, it is a witness between us that the Lord is God. Again, that altar was to be a reminder to the people of Israel, whether you live on the west side or on the east side, we have the same God. We are part of the same family. Brothers and sisters, in Christ for us today, that unity among us as a faith family, it is seen and it is grounded in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As we come to this time of communion, I want you to turn with me to Philippians 2. Because when we come together, what is our sign? What is our witness that we are unified together as brothers and sisters in Christ? Regardless of what might separate us physically or what might be different among us, what is it that unifies us? Starting there in Philippians chapter 2 verse 1, it says, So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. When the Apostle Paul kind of states those things, so if there's any, he's not doubting that. But as the one who's reading that in your mind, you're to be saying, well, there is. There is encouragement in Christ, there is comfort in Christ, there is love from participation in the spirit. And we share this together because we have been bound together as brothers and sisters in Christ. And that's what unifies us. Let us bow our heads in prayer. Father, how we do praise you. Because you are a holy God. Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, to look upon sin. God, your word also tells us that you are gracious. And you are merciful. And that you are kind. So, God, thank you for sending your son, because we are born into this world as your enemies. In our heart, there is animosity towards you. God, there was nothing that we could do to free us. From that animosity, there was nothing that we could do to save us, to deliver us. God, in your love, you sent your son. You sent your son as the propitiation for our sin. God, you showed your love even for a fallen people. So, God, thank you for saving us. Thank you that for those who are your children here this morning, that there is a time that we can look back to and and recall when when you called us to yourself, when our Savior, when our shepherd called us by name. And God, your Spirit opened our eyes to see the glory of Christ. And we came to you. Oh, God, what a wonderful day that was. God, thank you for bringing us into a family, into your family and the bond that we share with brothers and sisters in Christ who are spread throughout this world. But when we run into them in an airport or in a restaurant, we begin to talk. We know that our hearts are knit together because we are unified in Christ. But God, how especially that is true in this local church. in all of your churches, God. But God, I thank you for this church. God, I thank you for the for the unity. I thank you for the love that is shared amongst the people. Oh, God, let us never take that for granted. Let us never presume that it's just something that will always just last and be here. But God, let us be reminded that we're to strive for it, that we're to pursue after it. So, Father, let us always to love one another, to grow in our love. And God, let us be reminded that we do have an enemy who wants to destroy it. To destroy the church. Oh, God, let us not give him a foothold in our hearts and in this church. God, by your spirit, continue to fortify us. Continue to exalt Christ among us. God, I do pray that there's a man or woman here today. And God, today, for the first time that they have recognized that they are your enemy. They are dead in their sin. That they are rightly under your judgment. Oh, God, today, I pray that you would have mercy upon him or her. God, I pray that you would open the eyes of their heart to see Christ, to see him in his glory, to see him in his goodness, to know that Jesus, your son, is our only savior, our only hope. Oh, God, how good and kind you are. It's in your son's name that we pray. Amen.