Thank you, Brother Jamie. I appreciate that. You know, to hear the missionary and pastor sing and do all of that, be a missionary and a pastor, I appreciate someone like that because I've tried to do all that myself. I've been a missionary for quite a while and then come back to I don't know. I think sometimes the Lord lets you do things just to let you do things, I guess. But I am glad for the opportunity we had to serve as missionaries and glad for the opportunity to come back and start churches here. I don't know. if you know this or not, but I'll just share this. In 1984, right down the street here, there's an old tattoo parlor. It is now. But then, we were renting that to start a church in. And the guy come by on a bulldozer one day He was driving a bulldozer right down beside the road. And he said, hollered at me and said, hey, I think I got a better place for you. I said, yeah, where's that? He said, over at the school. How many of you remember the old East End school? Nobody? Well, I thought you'd lived in Danville a long time. But out where the nursing home is now, where all those new apartments are, that used to be the old Danville school. We call it the old East End school. So we moved over there. Had a lot more room and the problem is they had a gymnasium up and over top of us when you're trying to have church and you've got a gymnasium class going on, not good. And the basement, we met in the basement part. And again, not good. We were standing there one day, and I was talking to a couple and his daughter, and I saw a snake go down through there. And I didn't say anything because they were standing there, but it had snakes in it and all that. And my wife, has a hard time with snakes. But anyway, one day it rained real hard and I was on my way to a meeting and I stopped by. Well, I better stop by and check on this place. And there's about knee deep water in that basement. Had a carpet in it and all that stuff, you know. So I remember all those things happened right here. But now to see it now, you would never know all that. But I know it. So just those kind of things. And then go to the mission field. And you know, if you start from scratch and you scratch and you scratch and you haul your water and you chop your wood and you do what you got to do before you get electric and before you get water and before you get all of that. But that's just part of it. So to see someone and get to meet our brother here is a blessing to me. Our scripture this evening will be in Joshua, if you will turn there. This Joshua, the son of Nun, is one of my favorites in scripture. We all have a lot of favorites. But here in Chapter 3, 4, and through here, we see that Chapter number 3. Now, in the time we're allotted, there's no way we can cover what I'd really like to say everything about, but so we'll just hit the the main part here. But Joshua, we know, under Moses, came up under Moses, took over after Moses, checked out and all that. So with this new year that was just around the corner from us, I just jotted down. Brother Steve says, I put down on my paper In Bible college, you had to have a three-point outline and a poem. If you didn't have that, you got knocked down on your grade. So I kind of got away from all that, so I appreciated Brother Meese when he said, I wrote down on my paper. So tonight I wrote down on my paper, and here's what I wrote. New Opportunities. for a new year, new challenges for a new year. We will be exchanging a lot of new things. With all these new things, new opportunities, there will be new burdens. There will be new beginnings. There will be new this, new that. And our text is going to say, We have not come this way before. Joshua chapter 3, beginning in verse 2, it says, And it came to pass, after the officers went through the host, they are on their journey here going toward Jordan. They are going to cross it. And it says, verse 3, And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark, of the covenant of the Lord, your God, and the priests and the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your places and go after it." Right there I wrote down on my paper, just follow the ark. It don't need defending. It don't need protecting. In fact, it was their protection. with all the things you could see here in the study of this chapter. And so he said, you follow it. He said, don't get right up and crowd in against the ones that are in charge and running it, you know. Just stay back. Told how many feet to stay back. good distance where you can see it, and you know it is there, and you know the priest that is carrying it, and you know what is in it, and you know all that has been through. In fact, one place they had it, and they put it in a room, and the false gods fell down and broke because the presence of God was in it. In that ark, there was Moses' law. There was Aaron's rod that budded, showed the resurrection. There was the manna. All of those things were in that ark. And when we studied the tabernacle, we would know, of course, the ark of the covenant. And I was looking at that one day, and I saw, you know, I seen how David moved it. I see the guy who put his hand on it, and God just struck him dead. When they were trying to move it, why didn't they know how to move that ark? I don't know, but I just know that David was trying to do a good thing the wrong way, and that ark had staves in it, put it through those golden rings on the side, and that was for the priest, the Levite priest, to carry that ark with. And I just thought, well, they just picked it up and took off with it and carried it. I believe that those staves were put on the shoulders of the priest as they carried it to the brink of the water here, so the waters would part. I guess that's where we get the term, getting your feet wet, when they put their feet there. But also I see a further lesson here about when they were It was their job. It was their duty to carry that ark. And by having it on their shoulders, I see a great lesson there. The things of God with the men of God, with the people of God, I believe they felt the weight of that on their shoulders, carrying that ark. I believe it had to be done that way. And in the ministry, you know, we have burdens. We have loads. And we have things to do, to carry, and all of that. And if we don't do it in the way that it should be done, then he lays it all out here. So he said, go after that when you see it. Move along with it. Go after it. And so for us, I would just say, just follow the things of God. We're about ready to face a new year, new challenges, new opportunities. new burdens, new problems, new doctor appointments, new things. We don't know how it's all going to come out. Because he said, yet there shall be a space between you and it, verse 4. I see there the way. And told how poor they were to stay back from it and all of that. He said, yet there shall be a space between you and it, about a thousand cubits. You can figure that out mathematically. I just put down on my note here, it's about a half a mile, something like that. And so, come not near to it. People now are trying to figure out where it is, what they're done with. I just believe God put it where He wanted it, and I believe that nobody's going to find it. That's what I believe, I don't know. But that ye may know the way, here's my text, but that ye may know the way by which ye must go. Why? For ye have not passed this way hitherto afore. We have not passed this way either two or four. We've not lived in 18 yet. We're getting ready to. We don't know all the things that's going to happen. I don't know all the outcomes, the trials, the burdens, the problems, the doctor's appointments. Things may not go the way we'd like for them to go. I don't know all the tests that's before us. I don't know all that, so I just follow the ark. I just follow the things of God. I just follow the Word of God. I just know that in the operating room, I just know I could feel His presence. His presence was with them. In the ark, they had it with them. things don't go, I believe we'll have trials for a purpose. Most manufacturers, anyway. I used to work on the assembly line, 1955, making that Chevy that everybody likes, that 55 Chevy. At the end of that line, they would run it through a test. If it didn't pass the test, and we had a whole corral full of them sitting out back. And my brother's working out there on that end of it, and he said, well, you've got them all piled up. He said, well, they won't pass the test. So they have to be put through a test. I believe God puts us through a test. He said, Peter said, we're going to test you and test your faith. that the trial of your faith be in much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire. Will my faith stand a fire test? That it may be tried by fire, you know. Faith is a substance, Hebrews 1 told me, of things hoped for. You don't have them yet. things hoped for, evidence of things. I have some evidence of things that are going to happen. I have some evidence that, Lord, he may come this year. I don't know, but I've been waiting for him long years. But this may be the year. I don't know. We were studying the other night over at the Arnold Towers, and I told the folks that Simeon and Anna, especially Simeon, I said, he's got to hold the Lord. I've never got to do that. In fact, I've never got to see him in my physical eye. But I can see him by faith from the Word of God. And so we've not passed this way yet. We're getting ready to. You've not passed this way here, 204. You've not passed the things that are facing us right now, like starting tomorrow. We've not faced that yet. Just this week, We take prayer requests all the time, but I know, and, but sometimes people, this past week, two people, I've been to two, well, one didn't have a funeral. They had a cremation. And people sitting there, tomorrow we'll need to go. Somebody said, I don't believe that. I just know that, I believe that everybody, every saved body, I read where they buried people at sea. Old Adenhorn Judson, the missionary to Burma, they just buried him at sea. He didn't even have a funeral service. Maybe the fish ate him. I don't know. But I just believe this, that in the resurrection, those all will come forth. receive a new body, Philippians said, fashioned like unto his glorious body, whereby he is able to do this for us. I believe in the resurrection, those who carry the load, bear the burden, bad health, bad everything, live life tough, problems, burdens, too great to carry. Life cuts short and all of that. We've seen all of that. But to know in the resurrection, there will come forth a new body from that one. Have you ever studied the Lord's body after His resurrection? Who all it appeared to? Somewhere I have written down all the appearances of the Lord after His resurrection. Who He talked to. Where He went to. Who He's with. The pastor talked about some of that this morning. But in the resurrection, you know, all things will be made new. Old things are passed away. All things will become new. New body, new place, new streets of gold, new mansion. There won't be any, I don't know how to say this nicely, just skimping by, you know, just trying to get by, just trying to make ends meet and just trying to keep your head above water and all of that stuff, you know, and to think that in that day, we sing, what a day that will be. In that day, when all burdens are gone, all problems are solved, the great King is in control. And when he comes, sets up his kingdom, which I believe he will, and things I read. I had to write a paper one time on the millennial age. I had to turn it in, brother. Get a grade on it, they said, you know. I found out a lot of stuff about it, you know. I've got a book about it. Stacey said I had a book on everything, but I loaned a lot of money and never came back. But anyway, a stack of paper said that in that age, in that time, there won't be any need for hospitals. There won't be any need for all the things that we have now. It said the land will bring forth a hundredfold. It said all things will be made new. All will come up to Jerusalem to worship the great King. Not if you feel like it, don't feel like it, no. We'll just come up because of Him, because of the great King. So, we have not passed that way yet, but we're getting ready. Last year's problems, burdens, good times, bad times, they're all behind us now. We can't go back. Our bridges are burned. You can't get back that way. The only way we can go is forward. And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves. Somebody told me, I looked it up in the Greek, and it means to set apart, sanctify, set apart, or be separated to do what you need to do. Separate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. We can claim that for tomorrow. I don't know everything he's going to do. I just know he's going to do something. So tomorrow you're going to start new again, and that's good. Somebody said, tomorrow never comes. Well, a new day then, a new beginning, if we will just follow, if we will just do and believe. You know, as I studied about that, about the Ark and all of its contents, how the high priest would move it and carry it, what was in it. And then I read in Hebrews before chapter 9, chapter 7 I believe, it said all of these were a shadow or a picture of the true one that would come. And so, turn with me to Hebrews just before we stop here. is talking somewhat about this. We're talking about new year, new things, new this, new that. Here I see a new and living way, a new and living way. Tomorrow will be brand new. All the things we've got to do in it, all of our appointments we need to keep, they'll all be. We've never kept those before. We have a lot of appointments, you know, Hebrews also said, We have one that we will definitely keep, and we know what that one is. Let the Lord come first and take us out of here. But here are Hebrews 10, 19, and 20. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. We just sang about the blood of Jesus. Having therefore boldness, he said, by a new and living way, verse 20, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil. That is, as we studied the tabernacle, the veil was behind the end of the tabernacle where the ark rested, where the high priest went, where the high priest put the blood on top of the mercy seat. once a year for the atonement, on the Day of Atonement. And he sprinkled that blood on that golden lid. That lid is made out of gold, overlaid with gold, overlaid a kale wood with gold. I see in that lid his two natures. I see that the wood never become gold, and the gold never become wood. Christ never become fully a man, yet he was us, but he was fully God. He was both God and man. So as a high priest would sprinkle that blood on there, it covered over the law. It covered over the manna. It covered over Aaron's rod that budded. So we sing, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. We say that when the death angel came through Egypt, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And so, as we go about this year, this new year, this new way, by a new and living way, which He had concentrated us through the veil of the temple, that is, which was a picture of what would come. And then it said, having a high priest, a great high priest, seated at the right hand of God. One time I wrote down here somewhere, I believe I counted 13 times, Brother Jamie, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, about 13 times throughout Scripture. We have a seated high priest now. They say when the Old Testament high priest finished his work, come out of the most holy place, from sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat, He came out and sat down. Christ is now seated at the right hand of God. I find one time he stood up when Stephen was stoned. But now he is just waiting. He will be here. He will be on time. He will be every place I ever stood in about his birth, the prophecy of it, the fulfillment of it, And everything, he was on time. In the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, made under the law, made by a woman to redeem us who were under the law. So he was on time then. He was on time at the resurrection. He was on time at the ascension. He is still on time. And he will be back on time. But it will be his time, not ours. I see all of this concerning the new and living way concerning our great High Priest. So we have not a High Priest that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Chapter 4, verse 4, I believe it is, says, But was in all points tempted as we are. We are human tempted. We want this, and we want that. We don't need this and we don't need that. I usually just pray like this, Lord, help us in our needs today. We'll thank you for it in Jesus' name. It's good to know that he's already been through everything I'll ever go through. I've never been spit on, been cussed out a few times, never been whipped, never had to go to prison because of him. I've never had to do all that stuff, but he did. Why? So that you and I can have a new and living way, a new opportunity new hope, new courage, new things to be endeavored in, in the way, in serving God, in knowing Him, in following Him. One writer told me there where they crossed the Jordan. We're done. We don't have time to go into all that. But it's the same place, he said, where Jesus is baptized. I never thought of that before. right close to Jericho, where all those enemies were camped around, just waiting for them to get across so they could zap them. God had other plans. Thank you, Lord, for your blessings. Thank you for this time. Thank you for these folks who have come and listened and been attentive to your Word. Pray now that you would help us and the other speakers that will speak. put within our soul a new hope, new courage, new spiritual strength, new belief again that you will do all that you said to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.