Turning in our Bibles this morning to the book of Joshua and the chapter 4 please. We're reading the chapter and we'll read into and including the first verse of chapter 5 because it all sits together. So Joshua chapter 4 and the verse 1 and we will read down to and including chapter 5 and the verse 1. Joshua 4 and the verse 1. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take ye twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man. And command ye them, saying, Take ye 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 times to come, saying, What mean ye by this 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 memorial unto the children of Israel forever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up 12 stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel. And carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the ark of the covenant stood. And they are there unto this day. For the priests which bear the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished, that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people hasted and passed over. And it came to pass, when all the people were claimed passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests in the presence of the people, and the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses speak unto them. About 40,000 prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto battle to the plains of Jericho. On that day, the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him as they feared Moses all the days of his life. And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. And it came to pass, when the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up onto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks as they did before. And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you until you were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us until we were gone over. That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God forever. And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was their spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel." Amen. And we know God will bless the reading of his word to our hearts this morning. I know it was a lengthy reading this morning, but we want to deal with this in its entirety today. Last Lord's Day, we finished off looking at chapter 3. And when we looked at it last week, we noted that there were some reminders for us with regard to the promises of God. The children of Israel had been gathered at that stage. They were on the eastern bank of the River Jordan. They were gathered there and they were waiting for God to move because God was about to do a mighty thing in opening the River Jordan for them. And there were three things that they were reminded of as they waited there. They were reminded of God's promise to Abraham. They were reminded of God's promise of his presence. They were reminded of God's promise of his guidance. And as we looked at that, the lesson for us was to remember that God has delivered us into new life. And we can also depend upon his promises because he's still the Lord of all the earth. And there was a message, I suppose, and I trust of encouragement for us to press on, even whenever we might have doubt or fear in our hearts about what lies ahead. But we come now to this chapter four, we come to the next stage of the journey. And this chapter, we have in it reference to the actual crossing of the Jordan, and not just the actual crossing of the River Jordan, but the actions of Joshua and the children of Israel during that crossing and immediately after that crossing. So we come into the scene here in chapter four and verse one, and they have crossed at this stage. In verse 1 it says, So now we have this people who, at the start of chapter 3, they're on the east bank of the river. They're looking at this river and then God has opened it. And now at the start of chapter 4, they're on the west bank of the river. And the river's still open at this stage, but they're on the other side. They have been brought through And now God is going to make it very clear to Joshua that they were to go in and possess the land. They were to declare themselves in the land. And we notice in this chapter that we've read that they were to put down markers. They were to lay down markers, but there was a particular way that they were to do this. And indeed, as we think about these landmarks, these memorials or these markers, whatever we want to call them, there are some lovely lessons for us in why they would have been established, why these markers or these memorials would have been erected. As we come into this chapter this morning, we'll see God details this all to Joshua. In verses 2 and verse 3 of the chapter, we see that Joshua, he's been instructed by God to choose 12 men. And these 12 men were to take 12 stones. Now these aren't just little stones. These are large stones, so these were men who could carry a heavy weight. I wouldn't have been one of the men who were chosen in a situation like this, but these 12 men were to take 12 stones from the middle of the River Jordan and they were to carry them over into the Promised Land. They were to carry them onto the West Bank and into the Land of Promise. In fact, in chapter 3 and verse 12, we had already read, but we didn't really pick it up last time round, but in chapter 3 verse 12, God had already told Joshua to take 12 men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. So Joshua knew there was a reason for this, but God at that point, it doesn't tell us that he told him, but now he tells him. that these 12 men, they have a job. And here's their job. Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priest's feet stood firm 12 stones. Carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you shall lodge this night. So they're going to carry over these stones, which were going to be memorial stones, to where God had brought them through. Now if last week we looked at reminders, well I suppose if we're talking about memorials here, we're talking about reminders again in one sense. But in chapter four, there's the question posed twice, or certainly there's the implication of a question that's posed twice, where the children will come and they'll ask their fathers, what mean ye by these stones? Or what do these stones mean? What do these stones represent? So there was a purpose that God had already established for why these stones would be there. And that's what I want us to think about this morning. What do these stones mean? Why were they erected in the places that they were going to be erected? And then following on from that, what does that mean for us today? What can we take out of this as we read the Word of God this morning? Now there's four things, and I'm not going to keep you any longer than normal, so I'm going to have to go through these quite quickly because there's four. And the first one here is this. These stones declared that all were brought safely through. All were brought safely through. In verse 2 of chapter 4, and then we'll come down to verse 21 and verse 22. I want you to notice this. It says, take you twelve men out of the people. Out of every tribe a man. Out of every tribe a man. And then it tells us over in verse 21 and verse 22, when your children shall ask their fathers in time to come saying, what mean these stones? Then you shall let your children know saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. That's the collective term for the children, for all of them, they are Israel. You see, God had given this instruction to Joshua, and when God gave this instruction to Joshua, there were going to be no mistakes in what God had said, because God doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't get it wrong. There was a purpose for why these stones would be erected. There's a reason why God had specified that there was to be one man from each tribe. Now, notice that everybody had passed over. In verse 1, The people were clean passed over Jordan. So these 12 men who'd been chosen by Joshua, they had already come through. the open river. They had already passed through. They had already gone to the other side. The only people who were left in the middle of the river at this particular point in time were the Levites who were holding the Ark of the Covenant because you'll remember from last week that they stopped in the middle and there they stood in the middle with the Ark representing the presence of God in the deepest place and in the darkest place as it were. So these men have already gone over, but now Joshua comes and he says, you 12 men who have been chosen, I know you've already crossed over, but I want you to go back to the middle of the river. I want you to go back in there, and as you go back in there, you'll find the priests who are still standing. And out of the place, verse three, where the priest's feet stood firm, there to take 12 stones, each tribe. One stone for each tribe. They were to pick up these stones and they were to carry them to the place where they were going to camp that night. And in verse 19, we find that they camped in Gilgal. That's what it says. The people came up out of Jordan on the 10th day of the first month and then camped in Gilgal in the east border of Jericho. So there they are in Gilgal. They've carried these stones. Do you know how far Gilgal was from the banks of the river? Somewhere between five and six miles. about two miles from the city of Jericho. And they've carried these stones to this particular place and they brought them there because Joshua has given them the instruction from God and they're representing all of the people. one from each tribe. So they went back in and gathered the stones for this particular memorial. And as the representatives of the people who have crossed, and these people would have been watching, they would have seen them crossing, they would have seen that these men who have already crossed have gone back again into the river. And they've watched them go back. Can you imagine that? You imagine as these people are standing there and there they are in the distance both ways, these great banks of water as God has banked up the river. And these representatives of the tribes are going back in. And the people are standing on the West Bank. They are in the promised land. That's indisputable. It's indisputable that God has brought them in. They're there because God has brought them there. They couldn't have done what God has done. They couldn't have opened the river. Only God could do that. And they're watching these 12 men representing the 12 tribes. And as they're watching these 12 men, perhaps the people from each tribe would have recognized their representative and they would have seen him. And they would have been saying, that's the son of such and such, he's from our tribe. That's the son of this person, he's from our tribe. representing them all. They've been through the wilderness. For up to 40 years, they've been wandering in the wilderness because of the disobedience of their parents. And at times, it might have seemed to them like the wandering was never gonna come to an end. I wonder, were they asking questions in their own mind? Will I ever see the promised land? Will I ever get into the land? And maybe at times they were doubting in their own minds, and maybe even they were doubting that God was leading them to the land at all. Maybe they did question Moses and the elders at different times. But here they are, and they're in the land. They're across the river. And they have, as they turn their backs, if they turn their backs from the river and they look into the land, they have lying out in front of them all of the promise of the blessings of God in this land that he has earmarked for them, that he has established for them, that he has told they will go in and possess the land. And currently it's possessed by their enemies, but they're now in the land. And just as God has brought them into that land, now surely, as they had seen what God could do, they would have confidence that He was going to give them the land, that they would enter into the blessings. David Jackman reminds us in his commentary this idea of remembering in Hebrew. He says, the notion of remembering in Hebrew is more than just a calling to mind. It involves a remembering with consideration. It implies living reflection. And we're called for a corresponding degree of action. A call to reflect upon what God has done. And as these stones are brought through, and as this memorial is going to be erected in Gilgal, and the question will be asked in years to come, what do these stones mean? They could look back and they could say, we were all brought through. We were all brought into the land and they could reflect with thankfulness at the deliverance of God and bringing them into the land of blessing. God knows the hearts of men and women, doesn't he? He knows all about us. He knows how often we easily forget his benefits, how easily we forget his blessings. How often do we, as individuals, experience God's blessing in our lives? And we can see this worked out in the children of Israel and in the story of the children of Israel. But we're not unlike them in this regard. We easily forget his blessings in our lives. We experience it, we're thankful for it, we appreciate it, and then something happens very quickly afterwards and we focus upon the problem. Or we focus upon the difficulty. We're easily forgetful of how God blesses us. The psalmist records for us in Psalm 68 and 19 how he daily loatheth us with benefits. Do we think about that? that God daily loads us with benefits. Sometimes there are things that we take for granted, and we're all guilty of that. Do we reflect upon His blessings? Do we reflect upon the benefits that God has given to us, His many benefits and blessings? Or are we quickly forgetful? And do we focus upon the burdens that come our way? This memorial, this first memorial, was built to remind them that God had brought them through. But I want you to note, and sometimes we miss this, that there's two memorials that were being built. because there was the one in Gilgal, which would be, and Gilgal was gonna be one of those most important places in the land for many generations to come. It was the place they first came to, the place they first rested when they came into the promised land. And during the years when they would set about taking the land, and that was going to take a period of time, perhaps seven years, this was the place that they established as their foothold, as it were. But Gilgal's also the place where, in the future, their first king was to be crowned. Gilgal's the place where Saul was crowned as king. It was one of the places that the prophet Samuel stopped at as he went from place to place, preaching and declaring the word of God. It was one of the three main stopping points. So this was an important place. And this memorial was there to show that God had brought them through. But the second memorial, look with me at verse nine, and we'll see this other memorial. It says, Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the Ark of the Covenant stood. And they are there unto this day. Now notice where it was. You see, it wasn't just these 12 men who went back into the middle of the river. Joshua went back in. And Joshua has gone back in, and in that place where they have taken these stones from, at the feet of where the Levite priests had stood, there Joshua has erected another memorial with 12 stones. And it has been put there in the middle of the river, and the word of God is truth. They are there unto this day. How do we know? Because the river closed over them, didn't it? the river closed over them. As we think about this and we wonder, how would anybody know that this memorial was there? Even at the time once the river closed over, what was the significance of putting a memorial in the middle of the river that the waters would come over the top of? Well, here's the first thing. The Lord knew it was there. It didn't matter about the water. God knew that this memorial was there, because he's not bound by whether the water covered it or not. But secondly, the people knew it was there, because they were all still standing, looking back and looking in, and they knew this memorial was there. There's an interesting thought about this memorial. And I was thinking about this, actually. I remember on one occasion, this is going back quite a number of years now, when our boys were younger. And we were out one day, down near the Mourne Mountains, there's a place there, it's locally known as Bat's Wood, it has a different name, official name, but I don't know what the official name is, I just know it as Bat's Wood. But anyway, there's a little stream that runs there, near Bat's Wood, and there we were, and as we were there, we took some stones from the bed of the stream, and we built a gully with them in the stream. And when we did that, it completely changed the flow of the water. I want you to remember that. Because I was reminded of that when I was thinking about this passage and I was studying this passage. Because these stones here, as they were erected, they would have caused something visible in the water current. John Butler describes it like this. He says, the stones could have caused a great ripple in the water. flowing over the stone memorial. People could look out on the Jordan and see the commotion of the water and see very clearly where the priests had stood. It would have been a visible reminder of the event. I get that. I can understand that that may well be what has happened here. And that people coming to the banks of the River Jordan, and perhaps at some times, I mean it was only six miles from Gilgal, perhaps at times there were people who came back and they reflected back on the day they crossed the river. And they could stand there and they could see, even just in the flow of the water, the greatness and the goodness of God in bringing them through. Some commentators also make the point about this from Memorial, and I would agree with this as well. The monument buried in the water was a reminder that their old life was gone. It had been buried, and they were now living a new life because they'd entered into the fullness of God's promises. It reminded them that they had something to be thankful for. There were two reminders. Maybe there were two reminders because whenever their parents had come through the Red Sea crossing, the psalmist puts it like this, they soon forgot his works and waited not for his counsel. They could look back and they could see the Red Sea and know that God had opened the sea, not just a river, albeit a river in full flow and overflowing, but a sea. And God had opened that sea and yet they soon forgot his works. And he waited not for his counsel. So this time they have two memorials to remind them of what God had done. God brought them all safely through, all of them. But the memorials weren't just a reminder that they were all safely through. The memorials were a reminder of this, and this is important. It was God who had done it. It was God who was at work. In verse six, look with me at verse six of chapter four. Joshua tells the people that the stones would be a sign when your children ask, what mean ye by these stones? But then down in verse 21, again, that question comes, what mean these stones? Look at verse 23. He says, for the Lord your God, dried up the waters of Jordan from before you until you were passed over." What were they to do? They were to let their children know that the Lord, their God, had dried up the waters of Jordan from before them. There's no doubt It was God who was at work. That couldn't be questioned. They couldn't question that. And we have spent time over the past two weeks considering what a glorious thing it was that God would open up this river in such a miraculous way. We don't need to go over that again. But Joshua here tells them that not only was there a reminder that the way was open for them, but it was a reminder that it was God who had done it. On two separate occasions in this chapter, Joshua reminds them. that the river was opened and God had done it. Yes, they've come through the great obstacle, but it wasn't by their own strength. It wasn't by their own merit. It wasn't by their own effort. It was by the power and the demonstration of the power of God. You know, there's a chorus, and I remember hearing it in the past, it goes like this. God, any rivers you think are uncrossable. God, any mountains you can't tunnel through. God specializes in things thought impossible. He can do what no other can do. This river was uncrossable. It was the most uncrossable river because of the way the banks were overflowing. But God had made the way through. God had opened the way. He demonstrated his power. And they were to remember the power of God. I have a question. Maybe there's something in life. Maybe there's something, some burden on your heart. Maybe something you've been praying about. Maybe you're praying for a loved one and you're thinking, are they ever going to get saved? You're thinking, are they ever going to come through for the Lord? Do you know there's nothing too hard for the Lord? There's nothing impossible with God. Maybe you're praying about a circumstance in your life and you can't see the way through, and you're really seeking the Lord's will, and you're really coming to Him about it, and you're not coming looking for the answer that suits you, you're coming looking for God's will. Let me tell you something, there's nothing impossible with God. It might seem impossible to you or to me, but if it's the will of God, there's nothing impossible to Him. This isn't, by the way, a recipe for signs and wonders. I'm not going to go down that avenue this morning. This is simply evidence of God working out his will for people. For his people. Working out his will, in his way, in his time, by his power. But that doesn't mean that God is bound by the demands of men. He wasn't bound by the demands of the children of Israel. If God had chosen to make them wait for another 20 years and it was his will, that's what would have happened. They couldn't have changed that. God is bound by his will, not by ours. God operates in the circumstances of life in his way and he expects his people to simply trust that his way is the best way. In fact, his way's the only way. The memorials were a reminder to the children of Israel that it was God who was at work and it was God who was still working in their lives. And you know, as the years rolled on, and we'll come and we'll look at this over time, but as these years proceeded and as they were going to be trying to battle to occupy the land, and there were times when they were going to struggle with that, and there were times when there would be setbacks in that battle, and there would be pressure that would rise and it would build. But during all of those seven years when they were battling to occupy the land, they could look at these memorials and they could see and be reminded of the power of God and the hand of God. As God worked in their lives and they'd seen a mighty miracle, an amazing thing, something that's impossible humanly speaking, they had seen God do it. But God didn't do miracles every day. He didn't work miracles for them day after day after day, certainly not visible miracles. They had to learn to live by trust in him. And the memorials were a purpose, or had the purpose of reminding them what God had done. The memorials had the purpose of reminding them to tell their children about what God had done. Children are inquisitive, aren't they? They ask questions. I used to dread it sometimes whenever one of the boys would come, and I'm not gonna name which one, there's only one here today, so the other one wouldn't be embarrassed anyway, but I used to dread it whenever I just heard that word, daddy, and I thought, oh, what's coming now? And children ask questions, and sometimes we don't know what the answers to the questions are. And the children in the camp were no different. And they would come and they would ask questions, and as time would go by, and as little ones would be born, the children who hadn't passed through the river, they would ask the question, what are these stones for? And the responsibility lay with the parents to point to these memorial stones and to rehearse the power and mercy and faithfulness of God. Do you see that? Then ye shall let your children know When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, then ye shall let your children." Now there's a reminder here for parents today, and this is an important reminder. You see, the responsibility for spiritual education of your children begins with you. It begins with the parent. And here in this fellowship, we provide so many different means of teaching children and young people in the church, and they're all very, very important. And we want to see all our children participate and all our young people fully participate and be engaged in those services and in those works. But let's not absolve ourselves of our parental responsibility. to teach our children. Let's not use those things as an excuse and push off the responsibility that lies with parents to teach their children. Parents have that role. When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come. In God's order in the New Testament, fathers particularly have this role. Paul writes about it in Ephesians six and verse four. He says, and ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And listen, folks, I have no doubt, I have every confidence that your children will be taught soundly and faithfully from the Word of God here in all of the different works. I have absolutely no doubt about that. But ultimately, the onus lies with the parent, biblically. to train up your children in what is right. That's what we see here. They were all brought safely through. God had done it. But here's the next thing these stones would remind them of. The stones were there so that they would declare that God was worthy of praise. Look at verse 24. Then that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God forever. Now you remember in chapter three and verse 11, God is described as the Lord of all the earth. So we know that that principle's there, that's what he's described as. So here now the children of Israel are being reminded that if he's the God of all the earth, then the people of the earth, look at verse 24, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord that it is mighty. He's the Lord of all the earth, there's a people in the earth, and they need to know about him. That's the point here. They need to be told. So the children of Israel are being reminded here when they see these memorial stones that those people out there, they need to hear and know about God. You're to fear Him, fear the Lord your God forever, literally to reverence the Lord, to live your life for Him. And these memorial stones are acted in the camp and are acted at the river. Well, how would they make the Lord known to those outside the camp? It's very simple. The people would declare it. The people would tell others about what God had done. And the memorials would be a constant reminder of the need for them to do that. You see, he's the one who's mighty. They were to reverence him. They were to honor him. And they were to declare him because he was the one who had brought them into new life. And isn't that what we're supposed to do? We're supposed to tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ. We're supposed to tell people about what he's done for us. We're to love him. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. We're to reverence him. We're to worship him. And we're to make him known. Mark wrote in Mark's gospel, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. It's one thing to know the Lord. It's one thing to have that reverence for the Lord, and those things are so important, but what are we doing to make them known? What are we doing to tell others about Christ? Are we doing anything? Or are we wrapped up in ourselves? Wrapped up in our own lives, wrapped up in our own ideas, and because of that, we really don't have much desire to tell others about Christ. You know, I was sitting this week thinking about the Apostle Paul, and I was thinking about how he would be received if we walked into most of the churches in our land today. You think about the Apostle Paul, you think about his character, you think about how he was so forthright in seeking to reach other people. You think about what he said to the Corinthians, where he talked about how he would seek to approach others and what he would do in order to reach others for the gospel. Paul was fearless for the gospel. He was forthright in his declaration of the gospel and reaching others. But I wonder sometimes with Paul's character and how Paul presented himself, would we have thought that Paul was, you know, Paul, it's just Paul. He's just a wee bit eccentric. And he's a wee bit overbearing. Would he have been too much for us? Would we have said, oh, it's just Paul. Let him just get on with it. He'd be all right over there. The Apostle Paul desired to see souls won for Christ. That was his vision. He had a deeper grasp of theology than any of us. And we know that because most of our theology is based upon the writings of the Apostle Paul as we read the Word of God. He knew better theology than any of us. But Paul had a desire to make Christ known. And he was prepared to go where God sent him to go. He was prepared to be what the Lord needed him to be in order to win souls to Christ. Are we prepared to do that? Or are we seeking to just go through the church box, as it were, just pick in the box? These memorials were established so that the people would declare God, and we have a responsibility to declare Him and to tell others about Christ. Are we desiring to follow the Great Commission They were all brought safe through. God had done it. God is worthy of praise. But the final thing these memorials declared was this. Look at chapter 5 and verse 1. These memorials declared that victory is guaranteed. Victory is guaranteed. It came to pass when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel until we were passed over, that their heart melted. Neither was their spirit in them anymore because of the children of Israel." You see, when God was being made known, as the people were looking at those memorials, and as they were then declaring God, And as God was being made known, and the news got out, and as the enemies of God heard, that the people had been brought through by the great God of heaven, that he had opened the Jordan for them and brought these two million people, perhaps, through the river Jordan. He'd backed it right up those so many miles each way. And then he'd closed it back over again. And there they were, camped at Gilgal, and they're declaring God, and they're worshiping God, and they're going to take the land. And they have these promises that their God is going to lead them into the land. The enemies of God, they had nowhere to go. The land would come into the possession of God's people. It wasn't a matter of if it happened, but a matter of when it was going to happen. And it happened in God's time. God had promised. God had brought them through. God had delivered. And now there's fear in the camp of the enemy. Now they still resisted. And we know they still resisted, and we'll see that as we work our way through this book of Joshua. It was going to take seven years for the conquest of the whole land. So the enemies of God still fought against the people of God. They still fought, even though the word of God tells us that their hearts melted. Neither was their spirit in them anymore. It's God who's delivered us. It's God who has brought us out of captivity. He's brought us out of our wandering, out of our lostness, and brought us into the place of new life in Christ. It's God who gave us His Son, who made the way of salvation for us, and our task was simply to trust Him, to come to Him, to confess our sin, and to enter into the new life that He has promised through Christ. So is victory guaranteed for us? Of course it is. We're living on victory's side. But do we think the devil has given in completely? The devil might not believe he has a chance of victory. I don't think the devil, I think the devil knows he has the chance of victory. I believe that with all of my heart. I believe he knows his time is short because God has already laid out all of his purposes and his plan for the age is in this book. And every step so far has come to fruition exactly as God had said. The devil is only too aware of what God has planned for him. I've heard it said by preachers, in fact I may have said it myself, that I've read the end of the book and we win. And so we do. But here's the thing, the devil has read the end of the book too. And he knows that he doesn't win. He knows that he loses. But does that mean that he's not going to keep fighting? The Amorites and all of these different tribes who were in the land, the Canaanites and all the rest of them, they kept fighting. And he'll still keep fighting. And he'll fight right until the end because he's still the enemy of God. He's still the adversary of the people of God. But we know that the battle's already won. because God said so. You know, we're so like the children of Israel in so many ways. God has brought us into this new life through Christ, and yet, just like the children of Israel, we're forgetful, and we're rebellious, and we get it wrong, and we make mistakes. But just as God knew the hearts of the children of Israel, and God instructed Joshua to have these memorials built, which represented the hand of God upon them, so God knows our hearts. God knows what we need. And just as he provided memorials for them, God has given memorials to us. We have many memorials. And those memorials are there for us because of the goodness of God towards his people. What memorials has God given us? There's one. He's given us his word. And we can read all about what God has done. We can read all about his wonderful works and we can be reminded of them. There's one, the table. That's a memorial for us, a memorial feast so that we would often remember his salvation and how he has brought us into his family and into the fullness of his blessing. I look around. I look at a local church. That's a memorial because we're his church. And His church is built and established upon Christ and He has given us His church so together we can worship Him and we can praise Him and we can serve Him for His glory. He has given us His Spirit. What's the Spirit to do for us? He will lead us. We can learn from Him as He illuminates the Word of God to us. We can lean upon Him in our times of turmoil and difficulty. We ought to be led by Him as people who are striving to live for the Lord. And because He has given us His Spirit, we can know that we're never alone because the Lord is with us. We are on the winning side. And we have so much, so much to praise God for. so much to be thankful for. Let's desire with all of our hearts to make Him known and to tell others about God's great salvation. Trust that we will. Amen.