I'm going to be looking at some verses in Joshua chapter 10 and just one in verse 11 and I'm only going to ask for two volunteers to read. If I can get somebody to read Joshua 10, 1 through 8 and then someone to read Joshua 10, 9 through 15, and also verse 23 of chapter 11. So would anybody like to read Joshua 10, 1 through 8? Okay, not all at once. Anybody? Who's got it? Who said they got it? Jason, okay. And then, oh, no problem. And then who wants to take Joshua 10, 9 through 15, and verse 23 of chapter 11? Okay, Suzanne, you can do that. Okay, whenever you're ready, Jason. Due to AI and its team at CFM's Jericho basement, and how the inhabitants of Gideon made the nation of Israel their home, he feared waiting, because Gideon was a great city, like one of the world's cities, because it was greater than AI, and all its mental borders. of Hebron, appearing the king of Jerubim, to Japhia, king of Lachish, and to Javier, king of Ammon, saying, come unto me, O Lord, and let us strike a deal. For there is a big piece of charcoal ready for the people of Israel. Then the five kings of the Ammonites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jerubim, the king of Lachish, and king of Ammon, And then, a day later, he sent to Joshua, who did not say, do not blaspheme him in your service. Come unto us quickly. Save us and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the middle country are gathered against us. So Joshua went up to Jehovah. He and all the people of the world were there, and all the mighty men bowed. And the Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them, for I have created them into your enemies, not that they should ever trust in you. Thanks Jason. I want to say that God, the Lord, threw down a lot of stones for me. There is no other path for me. There is only one way. Thank you. Let's look at the Session Summary and Christ Connection together. Session Summary. In the previous session, the Israelites began their campaign to conquer the Promised Land with a victory over the fortified city of Jericho. We saw that God provided the victory and how Rahab was spared and brought into the people of God. Next, the Israelites suffered defeat at the city of Ai because they failed to follow God's instructions. But then they were given victory over that same city after they repented. In this session, we will see that Israel had learned an important lesson. Victory was theirs if they obeyed God, but defeat was certain if they relied upon themselves. And then the Christ connection. God fought for Joshua and the Israelites, giving them victory over their enemies and peace in the land. God has provided victory over sin and death for us through his son's death and resurrection. Through Jesus, we have peace with God. Let's look at this first question together. Israel's relationship with the Gibeonites was founded upon deception. Fearing Israel's military might in the land of Canaan, the Gibeonites pretended to be from a distant country in order to deceive Israel into making a covenant of peace with them. It worked. But the end result was that the Gibeonites were forced to be the servants of Israel. The key verse pertaining to the deception is found in Joshua 9, 14, where it states that Israel did not ask counsel from the Lord. As a believer, what is the vital connection between prayer and decision-making? Yeah. That's good. Right. No, that's good. Jason, were you going to say something? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Go ahead, Jeff. Go ahead, Kathy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right. And the thing is, sometimes, I mean, look, I mean, we make decisions every day, and I think what ends up happening to us is that, you know, we get into the habit of not praying about every single decision, and then it kind of carries over, even into times when we need to be asking the Lord, because we just assume that, well, I think I know the right answer here, I know the direction I need to be going in, but there are certain issues in life that that we really need to be sensitive to. And we need to show the wisdom and discernment that's necessary to go to the Lord. Understanding that, you know, it's easy to make bad decisions in life. I mean, I've made plenty of them myself, and I'm sure you can relate to that. And that's one of the reasons why it's good to bathe, especially those important decisions in life, in prayer. You know, don't rush into things. But I think also it's a reminder to us, or it should be a reminder to us, that, as Jason said, I mean, we're weak. You know, if we rely on ourselves, it's only a matter of time before it comes back and bites us. Because we think we know more than we do, and we really don't. And you don't know. This is true of all of us. You never know what's coming around that next corner. You don't know and I don't know. You just don't know. And so, that's why it's wise to never lose sight of the fact that I need to pray every day. And as I do pray at the beginning of the day, if that is what you do, you know, Lord, be with me. Guide me and direct me. Lord, help me to be sensitive to your Spirit. Because I'm going to be making decisions today that I might not stop and then pray about before I make that decision. So prod me, guide me, direct me as only you can, helping me to make that right decision. Because again, Israel messed up big time. They were totally deceived. They should have taken this to the Lord. They should not have listened to what the Gibeonites had said. But then they made a covenant of peace with them. That just wasn't a good thing. That's not the way it should have worked out. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right, right. Yeah, I think that for me, I mean, I find myself many times when I am praying, and I do it every time, but many times I find myself asking the Lord for discernment. Lord, give me the discernment I need to live in a way that honors You. In fact, I would say, you go to the book of James, and you talk about the wisdom that James is saying to pray for, That wisdom from above, simply put, is the wisdom to live in such a way as to glorify God, to honor Him accordingly. And so, there's nothing wrong with praying on a regular basis for the wisdom of God, for the wisdom from heaven, to know how to live life in this world. And again, I think it's more of a... You've heard me say this many times before. I think it's just understanding that discipleship, if it's anything, it's deliberate. Meaning that we have to understand that, you know, I can't just get up in the morning and, okay, now I'm being a disciple. Well, I mean, there are a lot of distractions in this world. And you might start your day off and you're not really thinking like a disciple or living like a disciple. But if you start your day off deliberately, saying, hey, I'm going to pray, I'm going to spend time with the Lord and I'm going to kind of get my mind set to where it needs to be in order to live for the Lord. What helped me when I was working in the circuit board industry years ago, there were times I would get to work and there were some occasions where I was like really getting angry. And I'd walk in and they knew I was a Christian and they knew I wanted to be a pastor. But there were times I felt like I was really going to blow up because things were going on that were ridiculous, just absolutely ridiculous. And so I had to make sure because just out of fear that I was starting the day off before I went into work. Please prepare me for whatever's going to come when I walk in that door because you know this has happened to me many times before where I have had to struggle like crazy not saying what I want to really say in my flesh, but I found that it really helped. And so I would go in and something would be amiss. that should not be amiss, because it's like the hundredth time that it happened, and it shouldn't happen again, and then it was like, okay, but I was able to handle it in a calm way. But I'm only saying that to make the point that as we do pray for discernment, we do pray for wisdom, the Lord does honor that, and He'll give us what we need in those kind of situations, because it is hard. I mean, sometimes you've got to make a decision like this. And so it's like, you're talking to someone on the phone, I tell you what, hang on a second, I need to pray about this. I'll give you a call back. Sometimes you've got to make a decision whether it's work or wherever. You've got to make a decision. And so hopefully we're starting that out at the beginning of the day saying, Lord, I'm going to need you today. Guide me, direct me, give me the wisdom and discernment that I need to make those right decisions. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's good, man. That is good. You make the best decision you can, but I mean, you might find out that that doesn't lead to the kind of response or result that you were hoping for, but God is, in His providence, He's guiding us and directing us and it's amazing, even in the bad decisions that we do make, you know, in retrospect, the Lord uses them, you know, in the end, to His glory and for our advantage and benefit. Yes, that's one of the great things about being a Christian is the fact that even when we mess up, the Lord gets us out of it. You know, the Lord continues to bless and we continue to be his people. He continues to be our God and he always continues to be faithful to us. So praise be to God for that. Number two. The hearing of the Gibeonites' cry for help probably didn't sit well with a number of the Israelites. After all, if the Gibeonites hadn't deceived Israel, they too would have experienced the destructive might of Israel's God. But Israel had made a covenant of peace with the Gibeonites and therefore they were obligated to help. Why is fulfilling our promise such an important thing to do? How does it look when a believer doesn't fulfill his or her word? Yeah, our character. Yeah, absolutely. Like it says in James 5.12, let your yes be yes and your no be no. You know, believers are to be men and women of their word. If we say we're going to do something, we need to do it. I mean, how many times, I mean, I say this to my shame, but I have found myself in situations where I said I was going to do something, and something came up, and I actually said to the person I said I was going to do that, I did not do it. I said, well, I'm sorry. I mean, I apologize, but I didn't do it. But I then looked back afterwards and thought, you know what? I should have been the one that fulfilled my word even to my own hurt. That's what I should have done, because I said I would do that. Now, I'm sure there can be some complicated situations here, but there are also some situations that are not that complicated. And what it really comes down to is, well, if I end up doing this, boy, I'm really going to be sticking it to myself, or I'm going to get slammed if I do this, but I already said I was going to do it. So is it because it's impossible for me to do this? Or is it because I don't want to do it because it's going to cause me so much grief if I do it? And so I think this is the kinds of things we need to be aware of because To be a man or a woman of your word as a believer, I think you need to be willing to experience that kind of hurt, because you want to fulfill your word, because you want to make sure that the Lord is being glorified in that situation. You know, I am a Christian, you know I'm a Christian, and I told you I would do this, and therefore I'm going to do it. Even though it is going to mess me up to do this in certain ways, but I'm going to do it anyway. And that's not easy, and I know that, but I do think we need to be more serious when it comes to things like that. If we say we're going to do something, we need to do it. We need to do the best we can to follow through with that. Anybody want to add? Yeah, yeah. Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, I think that's really good, Jason. No, I'm very impressed with parents. I mean, as you know, I mean, I'm not a parent. You guys, many of you are parents and have been parents, and I'm sure that's not an easy job at all. And for some of you, it's even harder than the norm for others. I mean, you talk about the grace of God, and I'm sure that you would probably agree with that. It's God's grace that gets you through that and enables you. And I tell you, I think what you said is key. It's realizing that, you know, Lord, I want to be a good mom. I want to be a good dad. Because I want my kids to come to know you salvifically in the days ahead. And so I don't want to do anything. Because, listen, I have met pastor's kids that grew up in a very legalistic environment and to this day want nothing to do with the church because their dad was in just just this real narrow you know hellfire and brimstone kinda guy and they just did not see much grace either in church or in the home and that had a negative impact upon them and so I mean you know I heard someone say this and I think it was a pastor I can't remember who I heard say this But he says something to the effect that if you're a parent, you're number one. target group are your kids to win them to Christ. That's what you need to be focusing in on, winning your children to Christ. Because they're seeing you in public and they're seeing you in private. And so, you know, they want to see a mom and a dad who names the name of Christ who has character. You know, they're men and women of their word and you can see that they are truly living out what they say they believe. And that has a powerful impact on people. Integrity. has a powerful impact on people's lives. You know when you've seen a fake, and you know when you've seen the real deal, and the difference is night and day. So let's not lose sight of that. Number three, the Lord's response to Joshua on this occasion is most encouraging. He says to him in 10.8, do not fear them, i.e., the enemies of the Gibeonites, for I have given them into your hands. In spite of Israel's recent failure, the failure of being duped by the Gibeonites, the Lord would nevertheless continue to be with Israel by guaranteeing a mighty victory over five pagan kings. What do you think is the most important lesson to take from this? Yeah. Yes. Yes. That's good. Don't take this the wrong way, but regardless of how bad you mess up as a true child of God, you can't jump out of God's hands. Nobody can snatch you out of God's hands. You belong to the Lord. And I tell you, I found great encouragement in that, because I mess up all the time. And it is so good to know that even when I allow myself to fall into sin for a season, or make bad decisions, or fail to fully utilize the various means of grace that God has given to us, the Lord is not going to cast me off. He's for me and not against me, no matter what, no matter what. And so that should be an encouraging reality to all of us. I mean, if you're looking at you're looking at your life right now and maybe you're thinking, boy, you know, I know I'm not where I need to be. I'm struggling with this, this or that. You know, you read the Scriptures, no, all you have to do is repent. Be willing to turn away from your sin. And the Lord will receive you back with open arms so that that fellowship is unhindered once again. So that you are once again in that sphere where the fullness of God's blessings for your life are flowing. And that's the thing we have to understand. There's no better place to be than smack dab in the middle of God's will for our life. There's no better place to be because when we are smack dab in the middle of God's will for our life, this is where we will receive all that the Lord would have us to receive. And so and you know, and that's what you want, because all that the Lord wants us to receive in life. is for our advantage. It's to make us more like Christ. It's to make us the kind of believers that glorify God the way we truly want to glorify God. But it's when we get off of that, it's when we start trying to do things on our own. I don't like this. I know this is the right way, but this way is the easier way. This is the way that I feel like going. We make the mistake of thinking that. Yeah, it's easier, but it's not the best. And we're probably, there's a good chance we could be spanked because of that, spiritually spanked. Because we're not doing, because, listen, Christians can get hurt. Believers can be hurt for their bad decisions. I mean, we make a bad decision, I can lose my job. You know, you can lose your job. But does that mean you're not a Christian? No, you're still a Christian, you know, but that can happen. So there are real life ramifications to the decisions that we make in life. But isn't it good to know that no matter what I do, no matter how badly I fail, if I just humble my heart before the Lord, forgiveness is mine. Forgiveness is mine. You know, I'm where I need to be. The fullness of God's favor, once again, is in my life, whatever that may be. I mean, that's a real encouragement, guys, because other people that live in this world, they don't have that. They don't have that confidence. You know, Barbara has a friend of hers that she grew up with. Her name's Colleen. And Colleen and her husband are as godless and worldly, I mean, they really are, they really are. And I've told Barbara this because she shared things with me with conversations that she has with Colleen. And I say, you know, Barbara, what really scares me about Kevin and Colleen is that the day may come when the sky falls in on them. And when it does, who are they going to look to? I hope that if it does happen, that the Lord uses that to bring them to salvation. But they have been so anti-God and anti-Christian for so long. There's a good chance that won't happen. And now in their lives, and we were just talking about this morning as I was getting ready, she was telling me how Colleen has all these health issues right now that she's been going through. I mean, some serious health issues. And now so is her husband, Kevin. And they're both in really bad shape. And I said to her this morning, I said, you know, I'm not trying to sound like a prophet of doom, but this could be the beginning of where the sky does fall in on them. And let's just hope and pray that the Lord uses this to convict them of their sin and to break them of their of their hard heartedness, that they might cry out to Christ for salvation. You know, we have a sensitivity and a softness in our heart because we've been saved. But there are others out there, they have a hard heart. And unless the Holy Spirit softens that heart, no matter what happens, they're not coming to salvation. And their doom is an eternal doom in the fires of hell. And there is nothing, nothing more frightening than that, but it's coming. So praise be to God for his goodness to us as his people. Number five, let's move to number five. What would you say is the strongest reason for trusting the Lord's promise to his church? What would you say is the strongest reason? For trusting the Lord's promises to his church. Yeah. Good. That's good. Anything else? Yeah. Yeah. Right. That's right. That's right. If we believe that God has saved us, why would we doubt Him in anything? Think of the cost. God did not just save us. Someone had to pay the price. Jesus had to live the perfect life under the law, fulfilling the law. Jesus had to hang on that cross and have God the Father turn his back on him because he became sin who knew no sin. If the Lord will give us Jesus Christ, What would make us think that He won't give us everything else? It just doesn't make sense. But these are the kinds of lies that Satan and the world try to put in our minds. It's not true. Look to the cross. Always look to the cross. He died that we might live. This is what God did to draw us to Himself. If He will do this, God will never forsake us. God will never forsake. He will fulfill His promises because the greatest promise of all is the Messiah. And the Messiah has come and the Messiah has risen. And because He has risen, you and I receive everything, everything in accordance with God's grace. It's an amazing reality. Never lose sight of the cross. Never lose sight of the fact that God cannot lie. What He says, He will fulfill. If not in this world, certainly in the world to come. No doubt about it. Let's do one more question. How about number seven? Why do you think the miraculous ways of the Lord are so rare in our daily experiences? That's good. That's good, Suzanne. Anybody else? Exactly. Okay. Right, right. That's good. That's good, Jason. Anybody else? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's really good. I mean, understanding that again, I sound like a broken record, but it's the truth. We have everything in Christ. If you know Jesus Christ, if you truly know Him, you have everything. You have everything. You have more, you have as much as anybody else in this world. And everybody else I'm talking about are true believers. Okay? You have as much as any other believer in this world. And no one has more in this world than true believers. Because we have it all in Jesus Christ. I mean, we are children of the King. We are citizens of the heavenly kingdom to come, and nothing can stop that. No force can take that away from us. This is what is ours in Christ. And when you think like that, you don't think in terms of the miraculous. And some people have a wrong view of that. But another thing, and it's been touched on, is if the Lord did always move in a miraculous way, where would faith fit in to all this? I mean, you've got to have faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Look, from the beginning of redemptive history throughout, this is what God wants from His people, faith. And faith is belief in those things that are not seen. You know, I can't see it, but I still believe it. And God loves that. God loves that. Jeff, you were going to say something? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. We don't need the miraculous as the people of God. Because we already know that the miraculous has taken place. God the Father raised God the Son. The tomb was empty. The disciples became men that we had never seen before after the resurrection, after Pentecost. It's incredible. How do you explain something like that? Where are the bones of Jesus if He was truly murdered and dead and did not rise? Where are they? Everybody would have been pointing that out. But no, no. There are no bones there because He did not die. What's that? That's still a question for me. I don't know. I don't know about that. I don't know about the Shroud of Turin. I don't know. You and I were talking about that before. I'm not sure, but I don't even need the Shroud. All I need is the Word of God and I know in my heart that may sound You know, that doesn't sound like real scientific or intellectual, but I know in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and no one's going to tell me any differently. He's always been faithful to me. And I'm sure that you could say the same thing in your own life. You know that you know that you know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Bible is the Word of God. And all in here, all that's in here that has been stated, you know historically this is what has taken place. And you'll take that to your grave. And then you will rejoice because you will be raised to be with Christ in the end in that glorified body. So it's again, it's a marvelous blessing to know that the Lord is always with us, to know that as we believe in Him and trust in Him, He's going to guide us along the way. And life's not supposed to be easy. But God will give us all the grace we need to get through this life to the celestial kingdom. And that's where we're going. We're going to the celestial city. That's where we're moving. Every day, we're one step closer. Every day. So it's one day at a time, one week at a time, one month at a time, one year at a time. But stay true to him because that's what the Lord has called us to do. Now, before we close, I just want to say something real quickly. I know we're supposed to end at 1130, but I wanted to take you just quickly to Joshua 1123. And I'm only saying this to you just to make you aware of it if you're not already aware of it. Um, and I'm not saying anything against anybody who would hold to this position, but some people will say that, you know, the Lord still is going to give Israel the land. Uh, and they're saying that that's, that's still supposed to happen. But 1123 is a verse that those who do not agree with that, um, like a number of covenant theologians would look to that and they would say, well, right there, it says, so then the Lord, the God of Israel dispossessed the Amorites from before his people, Israel. I'm sorry. Wait a minute. Am I in the right? Okay, wait a minute. Oh, other than judges, 11. Gee whiz. Now see, that was embarrassing. Yeah, Joshua 11, 23. So 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. And the land had rest from war. What they will say to you is they will point to this and say, but the Lord did give Israel the land and then they lost it because of disobedience. So I'm just letting you know, and I'm not, I'm trying not to show my own... I've shared this with some of you. My struggle is I went to a dispensational Bible college, and then I went to a covenant seminary. So you're talking about somebody who's like on the fence on certain things. I mean, I've listened to some guys teach things. I'm like, man, that was so good. And then I go to seminary, here's somebody teach something against, and I go, man, that is so good. And that's what ends up happening in situations like that. But I just want to make you aware of that in Joshua 11, 23, that there will be some, if you do say that, that Israel still has the land coming to them. they would point that out to you and say, but the Lord did honor that. He did in Joshua 11 23. He did give them the land and they lost the land because of their disobedience. So there's a lot more involved in that. And I'm sorry, I don't want to get into that, but I just wanted to make you know that or bring it to your attention in case you weren't aware of that. So anyway, well guys, thank you very much. And, um, let me ask Jeff, if he would close us in prayer. Amen. Thanks, guys.