[0:00] Anybody else? We're going to get into the book. Okay, so then let's get into the book. Hallelujah. Exodus 17, please, thank you for all of you that had something to say.
[0:13] Exodus 17. A couple weeks ago, I'd say three Sundays ago, we came through this passage. A real interesting event and a peculiar one that caused me to wonder why God worked in such a fashion.
[0:30] Why, as we'll see again, why did the battle, being won or lost, depend upon the physical stamina and strength of an 80-year-old man, Moses, holding his arms up?
[0:44] And it was something interesting that I got into and brought a message out of this. I called it When God is Silent. And noticing that what Moses did, there's no mention of God telling him to do it.
[0:55] And the reason I found that peculiar is because everywhere else, pretty much, I can't say everywhere with complete certainty, but for the most part, everything Moses does has, and the Lord spake unto Moses right before it.
[1:11] And it's all over, I'm reading in numbers, it's everywhere. The Lord spake unto Moses, the Lord told Moses, I mean, all through it, everything he does, he does this, and Moses tells us, God told me to do this, so I did this.
[1:22] And in this case, God was silent. God did not necessarily, that we see, give him these instructions. And so let's read through the chapter again, and then we'll briefly review what we've already studied and then move forward.
[1:34] Starting in verse number 8, the Bible says, Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men and go out, fight with Amalek.
[1:45] Tomorrow I'll stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
[1:56] And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon.
[2:08] And Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
[2:20] And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nisi.
[2:34] And he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Now again, as I said, we don't see God telling Moses to do what he did.
[2:46] And Moses said to Joshua, Choose out men, go fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I'll stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. And we understood here that there are some things you can do when God doesn't give you those instructions, or when you're seeking an answer but can't find one.
[3:00] There are some things that you can do. And the first I mentioned was to engage the situation. Those guys were going to slaughter them. You've got to do something. And so Moses told Joshua, Hey, get men and go out and fight them.
[3:12] And I'll take the rod of God up there, but you go out and you fight. And so they were proactive in the situation. And how important that is for us to be proactive when passive Christianity is the spirit of our age, is to sit back and do nothing or just complain about how bad it is.
[3:30] But they couldn't afford to do that because their lives were at stake. Their wives, their children, their possessions, everything, their nation was going to be under attack.
[3:40] They had to do something. And I appealed that day to the men of this church asking you if you have any fight in you. Would you be one of those men that Joshua chose out as he chose out men?
[3:51] He chose men that had some fight in them, men that would stand up and weren't timid, men that were bold. And he got out there and they fought the battle. And so they did engage. And also I said that another thing we can do in that situation is to evoke what has worked in the past.
[4:07] Moses said, I'm going to take the rod of God. That was no accident. If there's ever been anything that Moses has used in the past to work miracles or seen the Lord used to work, it's that rod.
[4:20] It's called the rod of God is what he calls it there. And of course we know that in the past, in history, even in the plagues in Egypt and then coming across the Red Sea, the Lord has used that rod to be something that Moses trusted in, in a way.
[4:34] And what he did, there was no certainty there, but I'd say that was his best option. If he's going to fight, they're going to fight that battle, I'm going to take that rod and go up there and stand there and hold it up and intercede to God.
[4:45] And I said to you the other week, you need an answer from God, then evoke what worked. If God's spoken to you from his word, then get in his word. That's not the time to stop reading your Bible.
[4:56] If God puts as much emphasis on prayer as he does in this book, and he declares that he wants you to do it and to do it constantly and without ceasing, and that thing works, then you ought to evoke that.
[5:13] Don't stop praying. Actually ramp it up a little bit more. Get up on the top of the mountain and intercede and pray. Evoke those things that you know have worked. Coming to church and getting in the Bible and getting around believers is something that helps you.
[5:28] It lifts you up. It gives you something. It encourages you. And that term is just so weak to say it encourages you. I hope you're encouraged this morning.
[5:39] But that's real if you need it. That ounce of strength that you got from coming to help you go on through the week is something real. Something your new man needs.
[5:50] It's so when things get going and you need an answer or you're struggling with something, don't quit coming to church. Don't drift away from the people of God and the word of God. And then thirdly, it was enlist the help of others.
[6:03] And we see that he took Moses. Moses took Aaron and her with him. And I bet he was glad he did. After his arms got heavy, he was able to enlist the help of some other men. And so those were the three things we saw from this passage.
[6:17] But I told you that I thought there was something else here as I studied this incredible story out. And something that intrigues me and fascinates me, something that caught my attention, was how often does the weary hands of Moses capture our attention in this text?
[6:35] How often do we just get to applaud Aaron and her for standing and helping the man of God because no man can do it by himself? And in doing so, kind of forget that there's somebody else down there on the valley floor fighting for his life through this entire day while those men are up there on the mountain.
[6:56] And we get the focus up there on the hill. We go up on the mountain with them and see them place the, what was it called, a stone put under Moses and then stand by his sides holding his hands up.
[7:11] And we get up there and just see the whole thing from that perspective and forget, no, there's a whole different perspective to this occurrence here. We're focusing on Moses. But today, let's focus on Joshua that's fighting a bloody battle where he's sweating, where he's wielding the sword.
[7:30] And I want to turn our attention down there to where the battle was waged and the battle was won. And truly, and we know God deserves the glory and the credit for what took place. It's obvious that he was involved.
[7:43] And we know Moses and his helpers were instrumental in the whole thing, but it was Joshua whose hand claimed to the sword that day. Moses had a rod in his hand. Joshua had a bloody sword. And so let's focus on that because at the end of this passage, in verse 14, the Lord said unto Moses, write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua.
[8:05] Moses, this is, I want you to write this down. God didn't speak in here. You know, he spoke earlier in the chapter about taking the rod and going to the rock and smiting the rock to get water out.
[8:17] And then this battle takes place. But then the Lord speaks another time in the chapter and he says, hey, what just took place, you write that thing down. And you rehearse this in the ears of Joshua in the future for a what?
[8:30] For a memorial. That indicates that God specifically wanted Joshua to remember certain things about what took place that day and then review it with him exactly the way he wrote it.
[8:42] We're going to see what he wrote because he wrote it in this book. And God wanted him to remember some things. And so that's what I want to look at this morning is these things that God specifically wanted Joshua to remember.
[8:54] How do we know? Because that's what he wrote. I mean, it was a whole day. This battle. He could have wrote other parts of it and other portions. But these things that he mentioned, we're going to see God specifically wanted Joshua to remember.
[9:06] And let's take a look at the first thing. Notice with me again verses 9 and 10. The Bible says, And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out, men, and go out. Fight with Amalek.
[9:16] Tomorrow I'll stand at the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. And here's what Joshua did. Verse 10. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek.
[9:28] I want you to notice the first thing that God wants Moses to remember in the years coming. Remember, Joshua, that God blesses obedience. God blesses obedience.
[9:39] You obeyed Joshua. You did what you were told. Remember that? Remember I told you to go choose men and go do that? And you did it. And the end of it, you fought the victory.
[9:50] Now Joshua could have said, Why, Moses? Why? I mean, explain this thing to me a little bit, what your plan is here. You know why I say that? Because that's what you say. That's exactly what you say to God when he tells you to do something.
[10:03] You expect God to unveil the plan. And unveil the end. And then you'll determine, okay, that's agreeable to me. So I think I'll trust you with that then.
[10:13] Lord, that's a good idea. That's a good plan. But God's not going to operate outside of faith. He's going to speak and he wants you to obey. Your children do it to you. And you do it to God.
[10:24] You say, do this. They say, why? Why would I do it that way? Why do you want me to do that? They want an explanation to determine if they agree and if they accept it.
[10:35] And then they'll decide to obey. That's what's in our human nature. Joshua needs to remember that day he didn't question. He obeyed. Joshua could have said, why do I have to fight with him with the edge of the sword?
[10:46] I mean, come on. You're the God of Israel, right? Remember what you did to Pharaoh and his armies? Why do I have to go out with my sword and fight this battle? I didn't have to fight any of these other ones.
[11:00] I bet you the Egyptian army was far superior to Amalek. And God just wiped them out and destroyed them. Where's the God of Egypt on this thing? You could send a strong wind and just blast that army back to never, never land.
[11:16] You could take over this thing, God. You could send the hailstones. Where's the lice and the flies and the frogs now? Where's the darkness upon them? Where, Lord, is that destroyer coming down and slaying them?
[11:30] Joshua could have asked, why do I have to fight them? Why can't God just do this thing? He's surely capable. But Joshua was called upon to choose men, to go out, to fight.
[11:41] And the Bible says he did as Moses had said to him. No questions asked. Just obedience. And Joshua, you need to remember, God apparently sees fit that Joshua needs to have this written in a book, rehearsed in his ears in the future, that you obeyed.
[11:58] Remember that obedience. Remember that submission. Remember how you didn't challenge or argue. Because in the future, Joshua, you're going to be instructed to do some things from God. And it's not going to make too much sense.
[12:11] Tell the priests. Tell them to, well, tell them not to make a word. Walk around this city. Just march around it one time and go back to your tents.
[12:27] Joshua's going to have some instructions from God that he's going to have to remember. Oh, no, no, no. I'm not questioning God. I know how to obey. I know how to take orders.
[12:38] I know how to receive them and follow them. And that's something God wanted Joshua to remember, that God blesses obedience. Remember, when you obey, things work out.
[12:50] Things work out right. But when you challenge and when you lean on your own understanding, they'll fall apart because God operates in faith. Remember the song, trust and obey?
[13:03] Trust the Lord, exercise faith, and then just obey. Trust and obey. There's no other way to be happy in Jesus. That's walking with the Lord by faith and obeying his word.
[13:16] Joshua's obedience displayed his faith. Even in Hebrews chapter 11, in that hall of faith, Joshua gets a mention. And it has to do with Jericho, but it's a mention of him trusting the Lord and obeying.
[13:29] And then over the next several months of Joshua's life, from this chapter 17 we're reading, over the next several months and even years, he witnesses Israel contending with Moses, arguing with Moses, chiding against Moses, and even rebelling, and even straight up just refusing to follow his instructions.
[13:49] And every time it ended with disease, it ended with defeat of an enemy, or it ended with death. And Joshua needed to remember, no, obey.
[14:01] God blesses obedience. God blesses obedience. The results are in your favor when you obey. The Bible says, children, obey your parents and the Lord.
[14:11] If they give you a good explanation. No. Obey. The Bible says, obey magistrates. And if the magistrates cross the word of God, the Bible says, obey God rather than men.
[14:24] The Bible says, we're to obey the word. We're to obey the truth. We're to obey them that have the rule over you. We're to submit ourselves. The Bible says, obedience, therefore, is the key, what we'll call the key to the Christian life, is trusting and obeying.
[14:40] Remember, Joshua, God blesses obedience. You're going to need to remember that. Because you're going to be faced with some more instructions, and some more things that you just can't fully figure out.
[14:51] God's asking you to trust him. He's expecting you to walk in faith. So just obey. It worked in the past. Remember that. It'll work again. And now look at verse 11.
[15:03] Something real important here. Verse 11, it says, It came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
[15:16] Now, did we miss something here in just focusing on Moses and the weary hands and forget that there was a time in that battle, in that day, that Joshua was getting it handed to him, that he was losing the battle to Amalek.
[15:34] They prevailed against him. And here's something that Joshua needs to remember. This is going to be written down in this book for a memorial for Joshua to have rehearsed in his ears.
[15:46] Remember, Joshua, being down is not the same thing as being defeated. Remember that, Joshua. Because you were down. There was a time in that battle when it didn't look good.
[15:58] The Bible said Amalek prevailed. And Moses didn't feel that. Aaron and Hur didn't feel that. But Joshua felt it. Down there on the battle floor, he felt it.
[16:10] He knew what it was like to be getting whipped. That was a low point for him in that battle. And he was a man. He was sweating and striving and adrenaline flowing and barking out orders and instructions as captain.
[16:27] And he was fighting. And down there in that battle, he could see the victory slipping away. Because Amalek was now prevailing. It started good for Israel.
[16:39] He maybe didn't even know or see the hands of Moses. I don't know how far we're talking here. And I don't even know if he can concentrate on what's going on up on the hill or even where Moses ended up.
[16:50] One thing he knows is things were going well, but the tides have turned. And things are not going well now at all. Right now, I'm losing this battle.
[17:01] And in that moment, fear creeps in. Desperation can creep in. And it can overtake you. And see that victory slipping away at the lowest point of the day.
[17:11] And in that moment, in that moment of Amalek prevailing, Joshua is a man like you and I are. Or it's odd that it happens like this, that thoughts, and just in a quick moment, you know they say your light flashed before your eyes, and there's certain clarity in just such a brief window of moment where certain things just seem to come all together in your mind.
[17:36] I mean, it would take you two hours to explain it all, but it just happened like that. In that moment, I see Joshua being defeated, and those thoughts just hitting him of we departed Egypt.
[17:48] God with his mighty hand brought us out here, and then there's this Amalek comes out, and they're going to annihilate us right here. This doesn't make sense at all that we're losing, but here we are.
[17:59] We're losing the battle. It's slipping away. This doesn't make sense that we're brought out here to be killed or captured by this enemy. But here it is.
[18:10] It's a reality. And Joshua fights and fights, but he's losing. And isn't it true that when certain adversity enters our lives, our minds, just like that, flip to all the despair and seeing where this is going to go and how I'll never be able to get out of this, and this is the end of the end, and it was just everything was fine up until this point, and how we forget that whole thing ever happened because right here, right now, it's all over because you just can't see past it, and you forget that being down doesn't mean that you're defeated.
[18:54] And maybe you've been there. Maybe the tides have turned against you. You've thought, this isn't right. This shouldn't be the way it is. And your eyes of faith become clouded or blinded to the reality of the Christian life because just hard times, unpleasant circumstances, they hurt.
[19:15] They grab you. They pull you down. But the new man, on the inside, the Spirit of God says, no, no, this isn't it.
[19:27] It's not over because he has a book of memorial written with some things that need to be rehearsed in your ears saying, I'll never leave you nor forsake you.
[19:38] I can work all things together for good. Trust me in this thing. My grace is sufficient for thee. And the Spirit of God brings the Scripture to mind, if you'll allow him, casting all your cares upon him, for he careth for you.
[19:58] And you can grab a hold of that and weather the storm. Remember, even like Joshua, while Amalek prevailed, at maybe the lowest point of that battle, it's not the end of the story because God brought him out.
[20:13] And remember that in your life, storms will come, but don't forget storms will go. They'll go and there'll be a sun shining on the other end. But in the storm, oh God, why?
[20:24] This isn't it. I quit. I give up. I can't do this anymore. Yes, you can. Remember, Joshua, Amalek prevailed against you.
[20:35] Remember that being down isn't the same as being defeated. And God can reemerge in that situation and bring you out of it.
[20:49] And Joshua was at a low point, but you know what I read about Job? There's an account of a righteous man, a man that did no wrong in that situation, yet he suffered bitter agony.
[21:01] But that wasn't the end of it, was it? David, before he ever got that throne, was in peril for his life and in great exile from his home and family and wives and everything he knew and loved.
[21:16] And he's running for his life, persecuted left and right, and yet God brought him out of it. And the persecutions of the prophets, even Jeremiah, the Bible says these things which were written aforetime were written for our learning.
[21:28] Why? That we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. We might have hope when we're in that battle, when we're being defeated, or being down, I should say.
[21:40] When Amalek's prevailing against us, we can go to the scriptures that we might have hope. The Lord Jesus Christ himself tasted the bitter cup of suffering and death, but rose triumphant in the end.
[21:53] Remember that adversity is not the end, and you can persevere, until God delivers you. Come back in the passage again, there's something else that Joshua needs to remember.
[22:04] Look at verses 12 and 13. Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun, and Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
[22:25] With the edge of the sword. Moses didn't just write down that Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people, period. He reminded him, in this book of memorial, he said, make sure you remember Joshua, you did it with the edge of the sword.
[22:41] And the third thing Joshua needs to remember is that victory doesn't come without a fight. Without a fight. That was a real battle. That was life or death that day.
[22:53] That was the edge of the sword. The stakes don't get any higher for Joshua and those men. But with any victory, time has a way of allowing the memory of the battle to just kind of fade away.
[23:10] It's easy to remember the win. Yeah, we whipped them. Yeah, we won. Yeah, the Lord had brought us through that. But sometimes it's easy to, or maybe I should say it's hard to recall the hours of the battle or the chaotic minutes within the hours of the battle.
[23:30] The one-on-one face-offs with the enemy. The times where the decisions, the spur-of-the-moment decisions that you're made that spare you for another ten minutes of fighting.
[23:44] Remember, Joshua, that battle wasn't handed to you that day. No, you fought for your life. You fought for everybody's life that day. Remember that you fought with the edge of the sword.
[23:57] That victory doesn't come without a real fight. And Joshua, going forward, there's going to be more battles that need to be fought. And if you want to get victory, and if you want to stay victorious in this thing, there's going to be more battles that you have to fight.
[24:13] Remember that you fought that one. You fought for that victory. Moses interceded with God. Aaron and Hur held up his hands and did their part. But remember, you couldn't afford to let your hands be heavy.
[24:28] You had to keep that sword going. You had to fight. And you had to fight to escape that one. Now, church, remember something.
[24:39] Like Joshua needs to know, victory doesn't come without a fight. The Christian life is likened to a fight. Fight the good fight of faith.
[24:50] You are likened to a soldier, hopefully a good soldier, that will fight for the Lord Jesus Christ and for right. And a victorious Christian life doesn't come without some battles.
[25:02] As a matter of fact, the thing is full of battles from the start until whenever the finish is. The battles are going to continue to come. And there's real enemies and there's real opposition and there's real warfare and there's real weapons, although they're not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
[25:21] But we have a warfare to fight and weapons with which to engage the enemy. And so, Christian, you need to fight. Every day you need to fight. And over the course of the fight, you're going to face multiple situations.
[25:35] Little ones, big ones. Short ones, little quick things, and then longer ones, but you're going to be in them. And you're going to have to fight. Over time, you forget about it.
[25:47] But in the moment, you better be fighting it or it's going to be you that's on the ground. It's easy to forget the victories of the past because then you're fighting a new battle today.
[25:58] And it's easy to glance over those what seem like just little steps that you took earlier on in your Christian life, getting out of sin, getting out of the world and making some changes in your life and seeking the Lord and starting to read your Bible and starting and walk with Christ.
[26:14] And you might look back and just see them as little things and you're over that and you've been doing it for so long now. Well, it's easy to forget. It's easy to forget because now you're faced with maybe a bigger opposition that's threatening you today.
[26:29] But remember that those little battles were fought with the edge of the sword, with the word of God. It was life or death for you. If you didn't walk with God, you'd have fallen.
[26:39] You'd be out there. You'd be in sin. You'd be defeated. Your Christian life is the best life and it's the right life and it's worth fighting for. And remember also, this is a battle that can turn on you pretty quickly.
[26:54] You put your Bible down. You seek to walk with God or cease to walk with God. You cease to strive against sin and you just let those things drift a little bit.
[27:05] This battle can turn on you quickly. Your mind can get quickly occupied with other things and you can start losing and not even realize how far away you've gotten from God.
[27:16] And then it just takes something little and you're done. And you give up because you've already set yourself up. You gave up fighting a long time ago. It could be here somebody's losing the battle.
[27:27] It could be you're here this morning and you've already given up and we don't see it. We just see you here. We don't know that inside you're just walking away. You're drifting. You haven't been in the word of God.
[27:39] You're not seeking him for strength every day. You're not fighting the good fight of faith. You might be losing the battle. Not right with God. Nobody sees it but you do.
[27:51] You experience that defeat and then you're going to suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ. I recommend you get back to fighting. I recommend you start facing those little battles those big battles whatever they be in your life that you face them that you don't give up.
[28:08] And you seek the victory remembering that the victory doesn't come without a fight. You're going to have to fight for it. Whether it's your home your marriage the lives of your children your own Christian life and walk with God you're going to have to fight for it.
[28:26] Don't lay down. Don't quit. Victory doesn't come without a fight. Joshua you fought that day with the edge of the sword. And any victories you get in this Christian life are going to be with the edge of the sword.
[28:40] You're going to have to get in it. You're going to have to fight with it. You're going to have to strive. It's not going to be handed to you. And then lastly notice this in verse 14 through 16 The Lord said unto Moses write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
[29:00] And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah Nisi and he said because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Remember something else Joshua.
[29:13] The reason I'm writing this down to be rehearsed in your ears is that though you won that victory and all of these things happened remember that it's not over yet Joshua. Not yet.
[29:24] Not yet. The Bible says that the Lord has sworn that he will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Joshua there are more battles ahead.
[29:36] It's not over. This is just your first military victory. Boy doesn't it feel good but you know what Joshua there's more coming. There's a lot more coming.
[29:47] As a matter of fact Joshua you're the guy that God chose to cross the river Jordan and to go in and conquer the land of Israel for God's people.
[29:59] You're the one that's set up as the captain of that army. Remember Joshua this is just the first one. There's a lot more coming. The Bible says here that Joshua in verse 13 discomfited Amalek.
[30:14] He discomfited Amalek and his people. That word means that he defeated their military meaning like he broke them up and he scattered them.
[30:25] And a little Bible a little word study in your King James Bible will show you what that word means. It means that they were scattered. So they're no longer a standing army in front of him. He defeated them.
[30:36] He discomfited them. They took off and fled. They weren't utterly destroyed though. They were discomfited but you know what?
[30:49] They're still out there and they're coming back. Joshua, they'll be back. The Lord has sworn that he'll have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Yeah, you scattered them today.
[31:01] You live to see another day but he's coming back. And you can write this down. It's from generation to generation. The battles will continue until God utterly puts out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
[31:19] Remember, Joshua, that great victory is not the end of strife. They'll be back for more. You cannot let your guard down. You cannot think, I've arrived. It's over.
[31:29] I'm good to go now. Whipped them. I'm the guy. No, I need to rehearse this in your ears. They're coming back and you need to be ready. You need to be sharp.
[31:40] You need to be prepared because there's more battles to face. But it's also, I mean, the victory's not the end. It's a blessing. And although there's more battles to come, you can also remember this.
[31:51] God did declare in this passage that he would one day utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek. There's generations of wars ahead but one day he's going to utterly just, they're done for good.
[32:06] And so, Joshua, your battles can be fought in hope. Knowing that God will perform his word. Knowing that one day that this enemy you see will be one day abolished for good.
[32:18] And just the same, Christian, the battles that come natural to the Christian life. The spiritual warfare that you're to engage in daily. It will continue.
[32:30] It will continue until God makes an end. And you can fight those battles in hope that there's an end. And that I need to stay true to this stuff because there's an end.
[32:41] And I want to be on the right side when the end comes. I want to be standing there as a good and faithful servant. Not as one who walked away from it all and gave in. I don't want to be the one that has forsaken Jesus Christ having loved this present world.
[32:57] Or decided I can't bear this burden anymore, God. It's too much for me. That's not true. I want to be on the right side when God makes the end. God will perform His word.
[33:10] And so until you finish your course or until you hear that sound of a trumpet, that shout, until you see the appearance of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, then remember it's not over.
[33:24] There's battles to fight. So Joshua in this passage, we've seen Moses, we've seen him up there with his hands and how he acted when God didn't speak.
[33:35] But today we see Joshua did something with the Lord and did something incredible, but he needs to remember these things. They need to be rehearsed back into his ears what took place that day.
[33:47] He needs to remember that God blesses obedience. The flesh resists, the flesh rebels, but God blesses obedience.
[33:58] You want God to bless you? You want God's hand in your life and directing and leading you? Then obey his word. Don't argue with him. Don't lean on your own understanding.
[34:10] I'll have to figure that. Just obey him. Obey him in faith. Joshua needs to remember that being down is not the same thing as being defeated. He needs to remember that victory doesn't come without a fight.
[34:25] And may I remind you that the Christian life is worth fighting for. And there are more battles to come. It's not over until God ends it. And there's a promise in that passage that he will end it.
[34:36] So take comfort in that. Christian, this morning, do you need to be reminded of these things? Do you need to have them rehearsed in your ears, these truths that we're seeing from this passage?
[34:49] It feels like maybe for somebody Amalek's prevailing. Maybe you need to remember, this isn't defeat for me. I'll stay fighting. I'll stay calling on God.
[35:01] I'll stay trusting in him until he reemerges in this situation and brings me out. Maybe you need to be reminded this morning of some of these truths.
[35:12] Maybe you've gotten through some things and forgotten how real they were at the time. Don't be so quick to overlook those victories of the past because you're faced with something today.
[35:24] Remember that the same God and the same sword was confident and strong enough to defeat the enemy before? It's valid. What can this book not do for you? This is what God gave you.
[35:36] Is it enough? I wonder if you think and believe this book's enough for you because that's what he gave you. you better pick it up.
[35:48] You better get familiar with your weapon. You better know it and love it and hold on to that thing. Fight with it. Engage the battle. There's more to come.
[36:01] So we've seen Moses. We've seen Joshua. And I think that there's something else that has gotten a hold of my attention in this story, in this passage that I want to go into a little bit more Lord willing maybe next week.
[36:15] Something else here that it can help us in understanding some things about these battles and about God's role in them. And so we'll put that off until next week Lord willing.
[36:27] Let's be dismissed here with a word of prayer in a moment and if you'd bow your heads for a moment here and just take a second here and let's think on this.
[36:41] Let's think on this. Maybe you, maybe this resonates with you, this battle. This is Joshua guy. He obeyed. He believed.
[36:52] He exercised faith. He did what he was told and even while he was doing what he was told things started to fall apart. But he had to know and he needs to remember that being down is not defeated.
[37:07] You can get discouraged. That doesn't mean you're defeated. You can still get victory. If you're here this morning and that's you, you resonate and that thing says, yep, I need that. I need to hold on to that.
[37:18] You get that in your Bible. I pray to God that every single person in this room goes and has a relationship with God Almighty in that book every day of their life.
[37:32] But I know it's true that not everybody does. And I know it's true in here. Some of you don't pick it up at all. I don't know whether I should shame you or try to encourage you, but you need that book.
[37:53] You need that sword. You'll be defeated without it. Don't think for a minute that this lovely, playful world wants to help you.
[38:06] It's the devil deceiving you. sucking you in and going to spit you out with nothing. You need your sword. The sword of the Spirit.
[38:21] Victory doesn't come without a fight and you can't fight if you don't have your Bible. I want to challenge you this morning, church, Christian, if you're not in your Bible like you know you ought to be, then recommit to that today.
[38:36] let the Spirit of God deal with your heart about it and tell you that I'm telling you the truth and you need to get in your Bible and you need to walk with God in the Word of God every day.
[38:48] That's where you got it. That's where the strength comes from. Christian life's worth fighting for. It's worth dying for.
[39:01] But this carnal life is not worth living for. And it's not worth dying for. And living in sin and the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, you're going to regret it.
[39:21] But we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Christ. Christian, I want to encourage you to get in the fight. If you're in the fight and it feels like you're down, it's not over.
[39:35] There's a brighter day coming. And so let me encourage you with that this morning. Father, I want to thank you for this Bible passage, for the fightings of Joshua, and for the leadership of Moses and those men.
[39:48] Lord, thank you for the application that it has for us today. God, I pray that we'd be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, and that we wouldn't be ashamed to put on the whole armor of God.
[40:01] Lord, may we resist the devil, resist the temptations, may we stand with the shield of faith. But Lord, I say most importantly, may we get out that sword of the spirit and engage the battle.
[40:15] Father, help us to love this book. Convict us when we neglect it. Convict every heart in here when we neglect the word of God, when we choose the world, when we choose TV or phone or entertainment or games, and let that book sit.
[40:32] Father, may we be strong in the Lord. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. I have a moment here to sing. I always like to close with a song. 298 in the hymnal.
[40:44] Let's stand together. As always.