If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Judges 2. I'm very thankful for the music tonight. It's one thing to sit in the choir and listen to the orchestra, but it's one thing to sit directly across from them. It's beautiful hearing the orchestra play, using their talents for God. All the songs tonight have been a blessing to me. It has been a blessing to God, receiving honor and praise from all of our voices tonight. Judges 2, if you're there, please stand with me. Judges 2, in honor of reading of God's Word. Judges 2. Reading in verse number one, it says, And the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochem and said, I made you to go up out of the land which I swear unto your fathers. And I said, I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land. Ye shall throw down their altars, but ye have not obeyed my voice. Why have you done this? Wherefore, I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto the children of Israel, that they lifted up their voice and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochum, and they sacrificed there unto the Lord. And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. And as the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. And they buried him and the border of his inheritance, and Tinnath, and the Mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gath. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers. And there arose another generation after them, which knew not the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Balaam. And they forsook the Lord, God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, and the gods of the people that were around about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. And he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them. And he sold them into the hands of their enemies, round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whatsoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil. And as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them, they were greatly distressed. And can I grab your attention, go over to Joshua chapter number 24 real quick. Joshua chapter number 24. This is the last time that Joshua speaks to the people of Israel, and he's addressing them. And starting in verse number 2, And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD, God of Israel, your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, the father of Nachor. And they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. And I gave unto Esau, Mount Seir, to possess it. But Jacob and his children went down unto Egypt. And I sent Moses also on Aaron. And I plagued Egypt according to that which I did among them, after I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt. And ye came unto the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers, which were chariots, horsemen, unto the Red Sea. And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and Egypt, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt. And ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season, and I brought unto the land of the Amorites, which dwell on the other side of Jordan, and they fought with you, and I gave them unto your hand, that ye might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not hearken unto Balaam, therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. And ye went over Jordan, and this is where I'm going to be at, and ye went over Jordan and came unto Jericho, and the men of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Gergesites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which strayed them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, but not with the sword, nor with the bow. And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor. and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them are the vineyards and olive yards which ye planted not, do ye eat." Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this wonderful day, the opportunity to preach your word, Lord. Thank you for these two texts, Lord, how that they go hand in hand, Lord. And just thank you for your servant Joshua and his example to us tonight. And Lord, help us to receive the message, Lord, and hide me behind your cross and preach only what you would have me to preach. In Jesus' name, amen. So our main text is in Joshua chapter 2. The Lord has laid down a heart as I was reading Joshua chapter 2 verses 1 through 15. I'll explain later in the message. But the question is, how many of you guys came to church like an Amish person with a horse and a boogie? Anybody in here? No? Just making sure. Okay. Did anybody come to church in a Model T, a Ford Model T? OK, just making sure. So we all have at least decent vehicles to allow us to come here, right? Technology and, of course, time has changed a lot how we go place to place, right? This week if you received a message from your boss by a pigeon raise your hand. I Don't think anybody received a message from their boss Via by a pigeon. How about a telegram is anybody received a telegram this week? Okay, just making sure has anybody received a What's that called? What's the thing you tap with? Morse code, Morse code, yeah. Has anybody received Morse code this week? No? OK. We have our cellular devices, our cell phones, that we communicate people, right? You get a call from your boss saying, hey, you're fired. You missed 25 days this week. Well, not this week, this month, right? That's how we communicate is through our phone nowadays. That would be a lot of days you miss in a week, man. You must be a time traveler or something like that. But also not only has time and technology has changed a lot of things through transportation and communication, but also how we listen to music. I mean, we listen to music obviously here in presence, but we also have music that plays before and after service through the computer, through online streaming and stuff like that. But the turn of this, not the turn of the century, but, hold on, let me get to my notes real quick. On August 30th, 1963, I wasn't born yet, that wasn't my birthday. August 30th, 1963, the world was blown away by the invention of the cassette tape. Now, does anybody, I mean, when's the last time you guys seen a cassette tape in your life? You saw one? You have a box full? There's actually a box full of underneath. Don't be looking over there, but it's a box. So this is actually Missions Conference Thursday evening. Dr. is it Calvert? Calvert? Yeah, I think so. And I didn't know people still recorded things. This is for April the 17th of 2008. So if you ever want a recorder of this message, I got you right here. But kids, this is what your parents would use to listen to music on. And actually, I would listen to Patrick Pirate with these things. So my dad would have it. My dad used to have this car, a 1999 Toyota Corolla, a.k.a. The Beast. And the Beast was amazing. Like, to get onto the interstate, to get on 4065, the loop around Indianapolis, you would have to turn off the air. to get more, I know it sounds kind of crazy, but it gave more power to the engine because it was only a four-cylinder, that thing was tiny, but it was the Beast, and I love the Beast, and it helped me throughout my, I don't know, I first learned to drive in the Beast, but the Beast had a cassette tape player, and it was a fancier model, it was able to flip the cassette tape inside, so we didn't have to, and so yeah, it was fancy, right? But now, now I mean, I mean, these kids probably have no idea what a cassette tape is. Now, I mean, they know of a CD, right? I mean, now the CD has replaced the cassette tape, right? I mean, really, the cassette tape is kind of forsaken. It's kind of been replaced. And now, soon, this CD, it's a piano CD, if you're ever wondering. But it's a nice CD. Soon this will be completely forsaken, completely forgotten about and replaced by online streaming. And then your phones are probably replaced by chips in your forehead and your right arm. I won't be here though. I won't be here though. But things, time has changed a lot of things. Things get replaced all the time, right? I mean, the cassette tape, has anybody used it in the last five years? OK, there's more and more people than I expected. You're not even five, dude. Daniel raised his hand. I was using the cassette tape. But the cassette tape I have used one day will completely be forsaken and be replaced by the CD. And the same with the CD. Soon the CD will be forsaken and replaced with just using streaming platforms on your cell phone. Time may have changed the way we listen to music, travel, and communicate. But here in our text today, time has changed the hearts. And so the question today is, why was God so angry with Israel? Like, how did it come to that point? How did one generation who loved and feared God to a generation who do not love and fear God? Well, at the beginning of our text, there was a message from the Lord. A message by an angel of the Lord came down, verses 1-3. And the angel of the Lord came to the children of Israel, and God clarifies to them. That's why I read the text in Joshua 23. How that first 14 verses had like the word Iowa, I try to emphasize that. I brought you out, I delivered you, I did this, I did that for you. And Joshua and the angel of the Lord saying, look at what God has done for you. And God clarifies to them that He brought them out of the land of Egypt. And His covenant that He made with Israel is found back in Joshua 23, verses 5, 10, and 15. And the Lord your God shall expel them from before you, and drive them out of your sight. And ye shall possess their land, as the Lord your God hath promised you." Talking about the Canaanites, the Parasites, all the ites. And verse 10, one man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. Verse 15, therefore, it shall come to pass that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things until he have destroyed you from off this good land, which the Lord your God hath given you. So in previous chapter, chapter one, there's, if you just take the time to read through it, if you have a Schofield, you can see like the titles that Mr. Schofield gave to him. I mean, beginning it said the incomplete victory of Judah, incomplete victory of Benjamin, incomplete victory of Manasseh. But it wasn't just those three tribes that disobeyed God's law, disobeyed, it's not his law, but his word. It's all the other tribes who disobeyed God's word and saying you need to kill all these Canaanites, because that's what I have told you. And they failed His covenant in chapter 1 with the tribes by not allowing the enemy. And not only did they neglect to destroy the Canaanites, but since they neglected to destroy the Canaanites, they also had left their false religion, their gods, around because they did not kill all the Canaanites. And soon this would come back and bite them. And he will let the enemies, God says, he will let the enemies of Israel prevail over them, And we see that all through the book of Judges. I mean, they are in sin. God sends some type of Philistines or anybody else and they come, oppress them for several years and they get weird. They call out to God and say, we have sinned against you and God sends a judge. and they have years of prosper and peace, and then the judge dies, and they get back to sin, and there's a complete circle and circle and circle every time, every time. And so, God was not looking to punish Israel, rather to bless them if they obeyed Him. I mean, that's what He was trying to do for them this whole entire time. But the children of Israel repented of their sins and cried out to God." Now, bochem means weepers, and they weren't sorry because they got caught in their sin, but they were sorry because they sinned against the Holy God. They committed a trespass against God, and they repented of their sins. Now the children of Israel remembered the day that the angel of the Lord came to Bochum. They remembered and turned from their sin and had seen how God gave them mercy where they did not deserve it. Now they have repented and they restored their relationship with God, but instead of going back to the sin, they obey God and keep to His Word. And so the children of Israel go back to their daily lives. They go back to the land where they are from, where their fathers are from, where they possess land, and they are living their life. The children of Israel have strived and thrived because of God and for God during this time. And the people served God, and Joshua and the elders gave a godly example how to serve God. And all throughout, and they made sure that they knew the marvelous works of God. I mean, the end of Joshua's life, his last message to Israel, as in Joshua 24, is, hey, look what God has done for you. And the next verse, if you go back over there, Now therefore, verse 14, therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord. And it seemed evil unto you, serve the Lord. choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, and whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." And Joshua was a beacon of a godly example. Him and those elders, those people who lived during this time, who lived in a time when they crossed the Jordan River, the time that the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. And these people lived a life that reflected God and showed other people about the marvelous works of God. And all throughout Joshua's life, as I mentioned, Joshua showed the people that they were totally dependent upon God. I mean, if we go to Jericho and then the next battle that they go to, Ai, We know what happens there. They did not seek out God, and they were not dependent upon God, and they overlooked it. I mean, it was a lot smaller people than Jericho, and they were destroyed. I mean, several men had died because they did not look to God. And because of that, Joshua said, look at what God has done. When we are totally dependent upon God, He has delivered us victories time and time again. All the victories that had happened could not have been without God. And God had done so many great and marvelous works. And Joshua and the elders wanted the people to see what God has done. In Joshua 4, verse 23, it says, your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we are gone over. Joshua chapter 10, verse 42. And all the kings in their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. Joshua chapter 23, verse nine. For the Lord had driven out them driven out from before you, great nations and strong. But as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you until this day." And Joshua and the elders are literally pointing everything that they're trying to do out the latter half of their life. It's pointing them, hey, look at what God has done for you. Now, time is something that we can never stop. It will be soon 6 o'clock and maybe be done or maybe not. I don't know. It all depends on how fast you guys listen. But I think you guys are listening pretty fast because I speak a little bit slower than Pastor does. Plus he has a lot more information than I do. We'll be in church till 6.35, but we may be out before 6 or maybe until 6.55. We'll see how long this message goes. We'll just preach the whole entire Bible tonight and make sure we all repent of our sins tonight. But time, time has taken place. I wasted a lot of time right there talking about time. Time has taken place from one generation will pass off and a new generation will come on. and then this great generation is passing away and I was thinking that like a great generation the greatest generation in America was those men those boys who went until World War II came out as men were known as the greatest generation who there's a couple of them around but they are slowly passing away and it's an honor just to even meet somebody who served in World War II and I was the same with the people the guys who served in the men who served in Korea and Vietnam. And so one generation is passing away. And the thing is, not just a generation passing, not a generation of storytellers, but a generation of godly influence. Joshua lived to 110 years old. That's really long. I don't know if I want to live that long. I mean, that'd be pretty cool. Like, I'm 110 years old. Repent of your ways, right? I mean, you're going to be listening to Joshua if he's 110 years old. Like, as for me and my house, we have served the Lord. I mean, that's a message in itself. And Joshua is spitting facts and truth out over 100 years old. That's pretty awesome. But he dies 110 years old. He's buried in his inheritance. And all the generation that came first into Canaan with Joshua had also passed away. And at a sad time, as I mentioned, not only storytellers of the past, but of their godly influence. And this godly influence of Joshua and the elders and those people who came, who were in the wilderness as under 20 or had not been born yet, had seen what God has done. And they're like, hey, look what God has done for you and your life. And their influence has now passed away since they are gone. But one of the saddest things that could be said about anyone or a nation is in verse 10. Verse 10, And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers, and there arose another generation after them. Now here's the really sad part. Which knew not the Lord. Just right there. Which knew not the Lord. The Lord is Jehovah God. Which knew not the Lord. Nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. So, how did this happen? I mean, I can understand now, why was God so angry with Israel? Well, God was angry because they forsook Him and worshipped other gods, as we see from verse 11 down to verse 15. And forsaking and replacing God is what they had done. I mean, how did this happen? I am not totally for sure. But the thing is, this commentary, Warren Weersbe said, when you forget the Word of God, You are in danger of forsaking the God of the Word, which explains why Israel turned to the vile and vicious worship of Baal. This new generation knew not the Lord. They also did not know what God had done for their parents, their grandparents, and for them. They did not know about the Jordan River or about Jericho. Instead, they forsook God. They forsook God and the God of their fathers. They provoked the Lord to anger. And because of this, God delivered them into their enemies' hands. And we see that all throughout the book of Judges. Their enemies will become their leaders, adversaries, and masters. And God allowed the Canaanites to control Israel so that they could not stand up to their enemies without God's help. And as God said, they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be snare unto you. Now we talked about the crown of thorns this morning, this morning message and how that they're very large and very painful, and not to make light of that message at all, and those are very painful, but if we walk out these doors right now and we go into Brother Papke's garden, if we can call him that, and don't walk into them or else he will shoot you. Just a fair warning, okay? So there's rose bushes in there and those rose bushes, I mean, they always have those like tiny, like, I like, let me tell you, I hate things that sting. I hate bees, wasps, hornets. I hate rose bushes. I hate needles. I hate things that like stick into me. Like I gross out every single time, right? I mean, I took allergy shots for five years. Because I was allergic to every single tree, every single grass, dogs, cats, you name it. Outside I was allergic to it. And the very first time, I was in fourth grade, I went into there to get two shots. One here and two in this arm. And when I got called back there, the shots had gotten in me and I was screaming bloody murder. That's how much I hate things. going inside of me like and everybody in the lobby could hear me screaming and shouting it's like 30 minutes before they even got the needles in me and five years later and then many years later I'm still scared of needles and so and God's like there's gonna be a thorn in your side I mean nobody likes to have something constantly jamming them right if we get a splinter we're gonna try to take it out as fast as possible it's annoying it's always there it's a constant pressure no matter how tiny it is right if we get a if I get a thorn into my finger right now. I'm gonna go call my mom like, Mom, I don't know what to do. It hurts so bad, right? It hurts. Like thorns hurt. I want to do that really, right? I don't know. But thorns hurt, right? Thorns are a constant annoyance. And that's how God said that these people, these Canaanites, these parasites, all these people will be a pain in your side, be a thorn in your side. They'll agonize you. They'll make you suffer. And their gods will be a snare unto you. And we know that from all the way from where they're at, just coming to the land of Israel, Egypt, they had those gods, all the way to Babylon, until they were taken to Babylon. They were faced, their gods were a snare to them. Baal and Ashtaroth, I guarantee we can find them in every single book. I actually don't know if that's true or not, but Baal and Ashtaroth are written all over the book, all throughout the Old Testament, because it was a snare unto them, and God said it would be. And whatever the word they did, God allowed the evil to happen to them because God was faithful to his word. I mean, praise the Lord that he's faithful to his word. And like, as the word says, I'm saved. I know I'm going to heaven, but also he's faithful and saying good things, but he's like, there will be a snare unto you. There will be gods to be a snare unto you. There will be a thorn in your side." And he was faithful to his words, and that's what happened. But the question is, how did a generation arise and know not who God was or what He had done for Israel? Go back to verse 10 at the end. which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. How does a nation once feared by the surrounding kings, tribes, and other nations fall to become the servants and slaves? How did they come to a point when they forsook and replaced God with the Canaanite gods? Well, actually, if you read in the text, it says, one day a Jewish man woke up and decided, hey, I don't know how I got here. I don't know how I have all these blessings, but Baal and Asherah look pretty cool. That's who I'm going to go serve now. But that's I don't think that's how it happened. I mean, I think the way it really happened, I'm not trying to go too far into the text, but. Because they did not go into the beginning of the chapter. They did not obey the words of the Lord. They did not kill all the Canaanites. To go back to Judges 1, all the tribes had not completely fulfilled God's law. God's Word and killing all the Canaanites. And because of that, as I mentioned earlier, it would come back and bite them. And because of that, Baal and Ashoth were still around. Their ungodly influences were still around because they did not obey God's Word, because they were still influenced by Him. So this decision of forsaking God did not just happen overnight. It happens first because of the negligence of the Jews to kill all the Canaanites. If you go back over to chapter 1, verse 21, just to read a verse, "...and the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day." Did you see that? We'll read that again. And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell. They weren't just outside the city, but they dwell. They were neighbors. They were co-workers. They dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. Verse 27, neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shana and her towns, nor Tacna and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Iblum and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Medigo and her towns, but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. So I think it's pretty obvious that they, is there something going on back here? Okay, just making sure. I see a couple people just looking over there. Make sure there's nobody up back there trying to kill me. Too young to die. I mean, I know where I'm going, but I'm too young to die. But as we see in Judges 1, if you take time to read it tonight, you'll see that they did not kill them. They did not drive them out. They did not do what God had commanded them. And because of that, they dwelled with each other. And because of this, it was a slow process that they were influenced by the canine. It's a slow process like a parasite. A parasite can live up to 17 years in a grown man and like a parasite just lives there and at first it doesn't really cause much pain at all. Sometimes you don't even know the parasite's there until it's fully grown and it's fully waging at your body, attacking your white blood cells and all of that and you don't see it until it's too late. I mean that can be said about other things like cancer or any diseases, if we don't catch it soon enough, it will come back and hurt us, right? I mean, that's how the Canaanites were a parasite in the people of Israel. And all throughout the Old Testament that they were still a parasite, still around because they did not obey God's Word and God's saying to drive them out, to kill them. But the parasite of the Canaanites had been growing for years now and had already started its damage. The Israelite men started to talk about crop rotation with the Canaanite men, and the women started talking about how they cooked their bread. The children hear stories of how the Canaanites from the grandparents are evil, and they're wondering how. How are they so evil? I mean, we get to play games with them all the time. They're nice. They start to get to know each other, and soon they are getting married with each other. And all this started when the Israelites did not destroy the Canaanites. And Deuteronomy 7, verses 2-5 tells us that Israel was to destroy the Canaanites, make no covenant with them. Actually, let's go there real quick. Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy 7, verse 2. I don't want you to just hear my words. I want you to see what God had told Israel to do. Deuteronomy 7, verse 2, and it says, And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them, and thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy upon them, neither shalt thou make marriages with them. Thy daughter shall not be given to his son, and nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them. Ye shall destroy their altars and break down their images and cut down their groves and burn their graven images. with fire. And verse 6, very key, for thou art in holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God had chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. So we go back all the way back then. Those parents knew about, those grandparents knew in the wilderness that they were to utterly destroy these Canaanites because God had told them. But the thing is that we saw in verse 4, And they were to be a holy people because they served a holy God. They were to be sanctified. They were to be set apart from the world. They were to live in Canaan without the Canaanites was what God wanted. They had a specific job to do. They were a holy people set apart because they served a holy God. And because of that, God wanted the ungodly influences out of Israel. He wanted them completely gone because that's what God wanted for his people. and the nation of Israel at this time was powerful because of God, then that same nation that once feared God has now forsaken Him and have replaced Him with the gods of the Canaanites." Right? I mean, we don't know, most of the time, probably about 99%, people don't use cassette tapes anymore because we kind of replaced them with the CT. And, I mean, people use CDs nowadays still, but soon they will be replaced. But the thing is, what happened to the generation, verse 10, if we go back to our text, Judges 2, as it's said, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. What happened from verse nine to verse 10? What happened from one generation knowing God and talking about his marvelous works to a generation who knew not God? What happened? I mean, it could be that the next generation was not taught, that was not taught who God was and what God has done for them. That's the only reasonable explanation for this, is that they were not taught about who God was and what God has done for them. I mean, the parents should have said, this is what Joshua, our great leader, said, that he's talking about God. I have brought you out. I have done this. I have delivered you. I've done all this. And telling the kids this, hey, hear this awesome story of how Egypt, that there was 10 plagues and God delivered us out of Egypt, how that we crossed the Red Sea, how that we crossed the Jordan River, how that the walls of Jericho fell down. Look at what God has done. But there's a generation that arose that knew not God. There's a generation that knew not what God had done. Now, when things are going well, we have a tendency to reject the One who got us into that possession and replace Him with our gods. And when this happens, God is angry with the believer when he is rejected and replaced with the gods of this world. We are in a dangerous spot when we forsake God in our own lives. I mean, times are going good, right? I mean, let's say, I mean, in the next couple of months, times will be a lot better than they are right now. We'll have a president that is aligned more with biblical values. The economy is going to do a lot better. We would have to agree with that. I mean, same, times are going great. and your finances are online, your boss is not rude to you anymore, the annoying neighbors have moved away. Everything is going great. I mean, times are great. But you start to think, look at how I got here on my own. I did this. Look at what I have accomplished. And you have started a slippery slope of forsaking God. And when we forsake God, we soon will replace him with the gods of this world. Like the children of Israel, this does not happen overnight. When you start to forsake God, you may have replaced Him possibly with your finances because you see God has blessed you up to this point and you're like, no, I don't need God anymore because I have all these finances. Because becoming so driven at work that you miss the Wednesday service or the Saturday visitation that your work has caused you to become a workaholic and miss service after service after service because you say live stream is basically the same as church. You've replaced God, forsaken God. And think about that. Your kids see you just watching the live stream. I mean, you were in church. Your parents brought you to church. Now you are just watching the live stream. You come to one service or two services a week. Or, I mean, there's some people who can't come to services. I know that at the work and other things. because they have a job like that. But there's people who have replaced God, and they sit at home and want to watch Sunday night football, and they replace God, and soon their kids are going to say, hey, God's not important to them. God's not important. Like, who is God? I mean, God is Sunday night football. God is here right now. And the parents don't teach who God is, and they don't teach the marvelous works of God. I mean, you could be a teenager here today, and you want to miss a youth night or miss activities that the youth group has just because you want to possibly do better at homework. I mean, that's a possibility. Or maybe there's people here that don't work on a Saturday morning. Instead, they stay up to like 2 or 3 in the morning to watch their shows, binge watch their shows, instead of waking up on a, I mean, we set aside, I mean, from 1030 to whenever we get done. I mean, that's not too early just to come out and doorknock. Just come out on campus if you can. We have John and Romans. But sometimes people replace God and stay home and watch their TV shows instead of waking up early to go serve God. I mean, none of these things are wrong necessarily. I mean, there's nothing wrong with Sunday night football. There's nothing wrong with going to work There's nothing wrong with watching a TV show unless it's immoral or something like that. But when we forsake God, when we place something above Him and replace Him, these things will happen. There's possibly also... was sin, and God has told you to get the sin out of your life. I mean, I think this is the most important thing right here, is that God told the nation of Israel, hey, get the Canaanites out of here, drive them out, kill them, cleanse yourself of them, because that's what I have told you, according to Deuteronomy chapter seven, verses two through five. I've told you to do this, and God's saying, hey, there's a sin in your life right now that I've been telling you constantly, get it out, get it out, but instead you have forsaken God and so you're giving yourself fully into that sin. It could be, it's only a couple of images right now, it's alright. But soon these images will turn into addiction that will last longer than you expected. Now when your kids see that it's more important to you than God, where would that be for your kids in the future? It's all right if I listen to this certain type of music, even though God has told me to get rid of it out of my life because it is not godly at all. It's all right, but I mean, if we look at the nation of Israel, we see one generation that loved and feared God and served Him, Josh's generation, to a generation who knew not God, who did not know about His marvelous powers. What happened? Was there a generation who did not teach who God was? Was there a generation who did not show of His marvelous works? I mean, there's a generation here today that says, no, God is not as important as my music. God's not as important as my TV show. God's not as important as my work or as my school. And because of that, your kids see this, or there's people in church who see this, and they're like, you know what? God's not as important in their life. And they see that you're forsaking God and replacing God with the things of this world. I mean, if we're not if not willing to teach our children. I meant to mention earlier, but the title is the next generation, living a sanctified life for the next generation. I mean, that's what Israel is supposed to do, right? Because in that Deuteronomy 7, verse 5, it said, because God is holy and you need to be holy. And we, our theme is, be ye holy, right here. down here, be holy, holy, holy, holy. And we are to be holy people, we are to be set apart, sanctified. Because if we're not wholly sanctified, set apart for ourselves, our children will see the influences that are influencing our lives. Sunday night football, it could be the images on your phone or the substance that you're taking part of. And your children see that you're forsaking God and replacing Him with the things of this world. And because of this, this generation will not be, hopefully it's not this generation, maybe it's the next generation that aren't even born yet, that aren't in this church yet. They see that you have forsaken God and they're like, no, I don't need God because there is more important things to you than God. I mean, if we're not willing to teach our generation or the next generation, generation right now about God, who God is, then the world will. I mean, we have, the world has set up, United States of America has set apart one month to celebrate pride. An alternate lifestyle. An alternate lifestyle of sin. And they know if we don't teach our children who God is and what He has done for us, that they will more than lovingly teach them of what their ideology is. And they have been so successful in that. Because they know if we're not willing to teach them, that they will teach them. And because of that, there will be a generation who knows not God. There will not be a Cornerstone Baptist Church. There will not be a light in Missouri State because There was a generation who was not taught who God was. There was a generation who did not tell the children who the marvelous works of God. And because of that, they were like, who is God? How is He even important? You know what? The world has so much more fun. Baal and Ashtaroth are way better than God. We can actually see Him. And if we don't teach our generation, the world will. As our theme verse, 1 Peter 1, 15-16, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. So clearly we are to be separate from the world because we serve a holy God. And when we have sinned, we cease to have God's blessing upon our life. And we cannot live a life when we forsake and replace God. because the next generation needs us to be there for them. There was a generation of Israelites who did not know who God was because they were not taught who God is and what He had done for them. And we cannot afford the world to teach the next generation of Cornerstone Baptist Church. We cannot afford the world to teach the next generation that are in this church or that are to be in this church about the things of this world. We have to teach them who God is and what God has done for them. the responsibility of this generation of Christians, we have a big role to fill. We have to teach the next generation who God is and what He has done for us. The next generation of children in this church need to see how God is important in the church and in our lives. If we neglect God today, then the next generation will not know who God is. The next generation needs to hear about God. Have we forgotten what God has called us to be? A holy, sanctified people. We are not to be a part of this world, but we are to be living in it. We have to be set apart so the things of this world won't creep in. They may take their hearts, If we don't live a holy life, they may take the hearts of the next generation. The weight of eternity and the relationship that the next generation has has fallen upon our shoulders. We know the truth and they need to know. They need to know who God is and what He has done. They need to know they have a responsibility for the next generation. I mean, so we have the cassette tape, right? A lot of people don't use the cassette tape anymore because, I mean, time and technology has changed a lot. I mean, people don't use it very much anymore. So it's finally getting replaced by the CD. And soon the CD will be replaced, and it'll be thrown in the garbage, right? And now we'll have it's all on our phone now. And we see a trend right there. Cassette tape, CD. cell phone. And it's forsaken. Forsaken. And now it's all about this, right? We cannot afford a generation who knows God, who serves God, who's faithful in church all the time, but on the side they're like, it's okay if I miss a couple of Sunday nights. And so their kids raise up, it's okay if I miss Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, but at least I'm going to church on Sunday morning. And then we have a generation here who's like, why do I even have to go to church? I mean, I can just watch on my phone. And then we have a generation that over here is like, there's no importance of going to church at all. And so we have a slippery slope going from one generation to the next generation. So a generation who loves God, Then a generation who's like, oh, I somewhat love God, to a generation like, God's cool. And then we have generations like, who is God? I don't need God in my life because... and they have forsaken Him and replaced Him. And the thing is, God does not want us to forsake and replace Him. When we do, God's anger is kindled against us. I mean, God doesn't want us to go and forsake and replace. I mean, He wants us to be with Him. That's why He sent all those Canaanites to drive them back to God. And they still never learned their lesson fully. But how are you tonight going to reach the next generation? How are you tonight going to say, look at who God is. Look at who God is and look at what God has done for us. Verse number 10 again. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers, and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." So tonight, There's a next generation. I mean this next generation is the generation here in the church. And also the generation yet to be born. The generation of Christians who still have yet to come into this church. There's a generation who cannot afford us to live an unholy lifestyle because they need to see that God is supreme in our life. And because of that, hopefully they'll live their life the same way. And hopefully there will never come a generation of cornerstone Baptist church that will forsake and replace God. So how are you tonight going to reach the next generation?