God Saved Me, Now What?

[0:00] Amen. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Joshua chapter 3.! It's nice to have a keyboard.

[0:33] It's nice to have a PA. It's nice to have good singing and good piano playing. So I thank God for that. It's a blessing to have. And so I appreciate the work that they put into doing it.

[0:44] And they're to lead us in worship. And so when they're up here, they're not up here to entertain us. They're not up here for us to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. No, no, no, no. They're here to lead us in worship.

[0:55] They're worship leaders. And so we need to mirror what they're doing. If they're raising their hands, try raising your hands. If they're clapping, try clapping your hands. If they're getting with it, get with it. Amen. And so we can worship the Lord together.

[1:07] Amen. And make a joyful noise. Amen. Joshua chapter 3, verse 14. And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan.

[1:26] Verse 16.

[1:56] Adam that is beside Zeratun. And those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off.

[2:07] And the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan.

[2:19] And all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until the people were passed clean over Jordan. And I just wanted to talk to us for a little bit today about this thought and this question.

[2:35] God saved me. Now what? God saved me. Now what? Help me pray. Lord Jesus. God, I pray that this is a timely word. God, your word is anointed.

[2:45] I pray, God, that it would go forth with anointing today. And that would rest upon our hearts and minds and souls. God, help us understand your word today. Open your word to us. Make it tangible to us.

[2:57] God, help us see how to apply it to our lives today. And how you're trying to help us today, Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. So there's these three places that you can find yourself in God.

[3:15] We've talked about them over the course of the past few months through different messages that God's given to us through myself and through the other preachers that have ministered from this desk.

[3:28] But we find that there's these three places where you can be found in God. And the first one is you can be found unsaved. You can be found in Egypt, so to speak, which is a type of the world.

[3:42] Or you could be found, this is the second one, you could be found wandering in a wilderness. So you're out of Egypt, but now you're in a wilderness not yet ready for the will of God in your life.

[3:53] And God's there to teach, has you there to teach you some things and to prepare you and to make sure of some things. And the third place you can find yourself is in that promised land, the land that God promised Abraham way back when, even before they were in bondage in Egypt.

[4:13] There was a promise way back then. There was a covenant that there would be a promised land for the people of God. And that's why they call it the promised land. It was a land of Canaan where God had promised them that they would be able to have that land.

[4:27] And that's the place that God wants you in his kingdom while on this earth. It's a type and shadow of being in the perfect will of God to have a place in your walk with God in which you are in his will doing the good work that he has planned specifically for you.

[4:44] Amen. And God has a specific work planned for you. And so let's look at this and break this down a little bit. This living in sin and the bondage in Egypt.

[4:56] Before you found salvation, before I found salvation, we were enslaved to sin. And much like the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, trapped in a life of oppression and spiritual captivity.

[5:13] That's where we were. The Israelites' slavery in Egypt, it mirrors our pre-salvation existence, our pre-salvation state where sin had held me captive.

[5:25] Sin had maybe held you captive, dictating to us our actions and separating us from God's will in our life and God's promises that he had for us.

[5:37] And so just as the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites and had them in bondage, sin burdens us with guilt and shame and the separation from God and the separation from eternal life and ultimately a spiritual death.

[5:53] And in Scripture, we find Romans 6, verse 16, Paul says, Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey?

[6:04] His servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. This verse is telling us that when we are in sin, we are servants to sin, slaves to sin.

[6:19] Amen. Amen. And that is why the Israelites' enslavement in Egypt is really a perfect example of what that type of relationship is we have with the world before we were saved.

[6:31] It's the same type of relationship the Israelites had with Egypt. They weren't supposed to be there and they were under heavy burdens and they were tasked masters over them. And they were slaves to Egypt.

[6:43] And that's where we were before God found us and we found God. Amen. And we come together and we accepted and became obedient and righteousness, you know, from the word of God and to salvation.

[6:56] Amen. That's where we were before. Exodus 1 and 14 says, See, the bondage in Egypt, it was harsh.

[7:14] And we see it as an example of that oppressive nature of sin, a life of sin. You know, think about it. The deeper into sin someone goes, you can see it on their face.

[7:29] It affects them physically. Whatever vices it is that they've had endured in their life through their deep state of sin, you can see it manifest even physically upon their face and on their body.

[7:45] And they age well beyond their years. Sin can be brutally harsh, brutally harsh. And so I just want us to think about that for a minute.

[7:57] Sin once controlled your life. Maybe you've experienced salvation, but you can think back to when sins and vices may have controlled your life. I personally suffered from deep depressions, deep depression before I came to the God and found salvation at an altar and low self-esteem and having no sense of feeling.

[8:23] It was hard for me to feel love. It was hard for me to feel pain. I couldn't I had I was because of the abuse that I had growing up in my childhood.

[8:36] I had a lot of scars emotionally and spiritually. And I was in a very deep and dark place that I needed God desperately. I needed God desperately.

[8:48] And along with that comes multitudes of different sins and things like that. And it felt inescapable because there was a taskmaster over me in my life keeping me from God's freedom that he had planned for me.

[9:06] And it took me coming to an altar on a midweek service. And it was on this side of the church at an altar where I put my face in the altar.

[9:17] And I told God I wasn't I wasn't getting up out of this altar until he took some things out of me and put some other things in me. I needed deliverance from God. And I had to make up my mind right then and there that, God, I'm not leaving this altar until you do your work in me that I know that you want to do.

[9:34] And so but until that point comes, I was enslaved in this. I had no real power to really say no to sin. I had no power to say no to my flesh.

[9:46] I had I couldn't I couldn't survive alone. I was the life was literally being squeezed out of me. And so I had to find something. I had to find God in an altar.

[9:57] And I thank God that he allowed me somehow, some way to be able to get to him. Amen. And find him and find salvation. So God is a deliverer.

[10:08] He's a deliverer. And he he sends deliverance to us using someone to lead us out of bondage. God sent someone, a pastor, a friend or a witness to lead us out of sin's bondage, giving us instructions through God's word and through God's power.

[10:27] We were delivered from out of the world. Amen. Amen. Amen. We get instructions through his word. But then a lot of times it's usually delivered to us from someone in our life.

[10:38] And just as God sent Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt with specific instructions, he sends people into our lives to share the gospel with specific instructions on how to get out of that bondage and pointing us to salvation.

[10:52] Obedience to God's word. Obedience to his word. Like like the Israelites, obedience to the instructions of God's word through Moses. It brings deliverance when we are obedient to those things.

[11:05] In Exodus chapter 3 verse 10, it says, come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt.

[11:16] And so God appointed Moses as the deliverer. And this is just like those God sends to guide us to our salvation. Amen.

[11:28] We all have somebody in our lives that have reached for us and brought the word of the Lord to us at some point in time in our lives. And I thank God for those that he sends to help deliver us from the bondage of Egypt and the bondage of sin.

[11:43] Jesus is our ultimate deliverer. In John 8 and 36, it says, if the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Amen. And it's through Jesus that we get that freedom.

[11:55] Amen. When we experience salvation, the work that God did on the cross allows us to be freed from sin's bondage. When we allow that blood to be applied to our lives through the plan of salvation he has for us in his word.

[12:08] Amen. In Romans chapter 2 verse 14. How then shall they call on him whom they have not believed? How are they going to call on someone they have not believed?

[12:21] How shall they believe on him who they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? The Bible says. And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.

[12:38] I'm so thankful to God that he sent somebody to me and to bring glad tidings of good things to me. It's a beautiful thing.

[12:48] Someone bringing the word of the Lord to us and being a part of having that role of those sent to preach. Amen. And leading us to salvation.

[12:59] A preacher isn't just someone that stands up here behind a podium and prepares a lesson or a message and comes and presents that to a congregation. No, no, no. A preacher is anyone sharing their testimony and the goodness of God and sharing the gospel with another.

[13:16] You are to be a preacher. You're to be a preacher of righteousness. You're to be a preacher of the gospel to show those in your life and those that surround you. And God's put in place in your path that only you can reach with the gospel.

[13:28] You're going to need to do it. Somebody's going to need to do it. And there's some people that only you are going to be able to be that person that God sends to deliver his chosen people.

[13:38] And so I thank God every day. Well, I guess that might be a stretch. But as often as I can, I thank God when I think about how my grandma would, when the times I would be taken from my home, my mother's home and placed with her for a week here and a week there.

[13:59] When CPS would get involved and all these things. And we were back and forth all the time. But every time my grandma got an opportunity, she brought us to the house of the Lord. And I grew up underneath the chairs rolling around the floor listening to the messages, you know.

[14:14] And there was a time when a preacher was saying, Jesus, where are you, Jesus? We need you, Jesus. And I said, here I am from underneath the church pew as probably a five or six year old.

[14:28] And people tell me that story. But what I'm trying to say is I had an apostolic Pentecostal grandmother that would bring me to church as often as she could because she knew that I would hear the word of God through sermons.

[14:43] She knew that I would hear testimony. She knew that I would hear conversations and all through that time and experiences. And then there came a point in time, like I said earlier, that when I was old enough and even though I lived hours away, hours away from my grandma and had been separated for years, eight years, I came back to the church that my grandma used to take me.

[15:10] And that's where I found my deliverance. And I thank God for my grandma and that deliverer that God sent to my life. Amen. And so all through the years, you know, and following guidance from others that's rooted in God's word, it'll set you free.

[15:28] It'll set you free if you could do that and have somebody in your life. Amen. If you do, it's a blessing to you. Amen. The enemy's pursuit. The enemy's pursuit.

[15:40] Happens when you are delivered. See, when Moses, when Moses finally got those people out of Egypt, the enemy pursued them.

[15:53] The enemy, Satan, our old, in our old sinful nature, our flesh, tries to pull us back into bondage. But the waters of baptism that destroyed the power, the waters of baptism also destroyed the powers that God, that the enemy had over us.

[16:11] So when we go through the waters of baptism, what I'm trying to say is the Bible compares when Moses pulled and helped deliver the people out of Egypt.

[16:23] They went through the Red Sea. Remember, they came through the Red Sea and the Red Sea had to be parted. And the Bible says they went across on dry ground. Similar story to what we read in Joshua when they crossed the Jordan.

[16:33] And the Bible compares that later in the New Testament that that was like a baptism. And the waters that saved them when they went through on dry ground and that baptism, that metaphorical baptism that they had going through that sea.

[16:47] It's the same waters that destroyed Pharaoh's army. The enemy is destroyed by the same Red Sea that saved us.

[16:58] After the Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh's army pursued them. But God parted the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through safely while drowning the enemy that chased them.

[17:10] Baptism does not. It does a lot of important things, but it also represents our identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus. And cutting off the connections with our old life and leaving the enemy powerless in our lives.

[17:25] That's what it does. Exodus 14, 28-30. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them.

[17:35] There remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea. And the waters were all a wall unto them on the right hand and on the left.

[17:48] Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. The Red Sea's destruction of the enemy is a representation of our baptism's role in defeating our past.

[18:04] Because your sins are washed away. All that clinging that the devil had onto you. All the things that he could point back to and say, Oh no, I remember you did that and you did this and you're unworthy.

[18:17] That's all washed away. The Bible says it's cast as far as the east is from the west. Amen. And God sees it no more. Baptism symbolizes dying to sin and raising it to a new life while destroying the old enemy.

[18:31] It's a powerful, powerful thing. Colossians 2 and 12 says, Buried with him in baptism wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead.

[18:45] Baptism is the moment that we are freed from the grip of sin. If we ever go back. If we ever go back, it would be because of our choice to go back.

[18:55] Not that we didn't have a choice. But it wasn't that we were dragged back by the enemy. It was because we chose to turn our backs on God after all he had done for us and saved us from those things.

[19:08] And we made a decision to go back. See, before repentance and baptism, you don't really have a choice. By nature, you were born in the flesh.

[19:19] And to that, you serve the flesh. And your father is the devil. Amen. Your father is the devil. But when you are born again, you are born into the kingdom of God.

[19:30] And now God is your father. Amen. And so that bonds of slavery are broken. And the power of the enemy is broken. And we have a greater power now to say no to Satan and his schemes.

[19:45] And to say no to our flesh. Which we didn't have that power before. But now we do. Amen. And so it's a powerful thing to have experienced baptism.

[19:56] And if you have not experienced that yet, you need to experience that. It needs to be in the name of Jesus. I mean, that's where the power comes from is in the name of Jesus. And that's when Satan's hold is broken and the old life of sin is defeated and it's washed away.

[20:13] And just as the Red Sea ended Pharaoh's threat to the people of Israel. And you got to understand something that back then Egypt was a powerhouse.

[20:25] They were at the top of the world. They had great power and influence in the world. I mean, think of like the United States today. How we have great power and influence across the whole world.

[20:38] And we're looked at as a great nation of great power and strength. That was Egypt back then. But then when God came to get his people delivered and all those plagues came.

[20:49] And at the end of the day, Pharaoh's armies destroyed in that Red Sea. Ever since then, from that day, ever since then until now, Egypt's never been a great power.

[20:59] They've never been a country of power and influence by any means. Still to this day and to the end of time, Egypt is still going to be fairly insignificant. Because of what God did to Egypt.

[21:12] Amen. And that's what I'm trying to say is that's what he does to the bonds of sin. That's what he does to that bondage that we were in. But then we're saved.

[21:23] We go through the Red Sea. But then we're in this wilderness. And I preached about this a while back. I think in February. About surviving the wilderness.

[21:34] And we found that it's all about growth and preparation for that promised land. See? After salvation, we enter that period of growth and learning.

[21:46] The wilderness wanderings. Preparing us to cross the Jordan River into the promised land. Because that's really where we're trying to get to. It's a state of living in God's will.

[21:57] And the Israelites, 40 years in that wilderness, were a time of testing. Learning to trust God and receiving his laws in their hearts.

[22:09] And just like us, immediately after we repent and are baptized, we are going to go through trials and testing and a humbling. A humbling. And that's okay.

[22:21] That's God's plan. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem nice of God to do. But we have to learn to get out of that slave mentality.

[22:32] And he's trying to teach us to get out of the slave mentality. See? They were slaves for over 400 years. Generation after generation in Egypt. And they had a slave mentality when God delivered them out of Egypt.

[22:45] And so we have to learn to get out of that slave mentality, that worldly mentality that we were delivered from. We can't have a worldly mentality. And so God's trying to purge us of that and all that we were involved and part of in the world.

[23:01] And the goal is to get to the point that as soon as we can, we cross that Jordan River into the promised land. Crossing the Jordan into the land of Canaan, it represents entering a life that's fully aligned with God.

[23:15] And it represents God's will and purpose for your life. Amen. In Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 2, the Bible says, And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God had led thee these 40 years in the wilderness.

[23:27] To humble thee. And to prove thee. To know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or not. And when I preached that message, that was one of the main scriptures that I tried to teach us that day.

[23:45] And it's so important. It's so important to understand. God's telling us why we had to go through the wilderness for 40 years.

[23:56] Why they had to do that. Why a whole generation had to die in the wilderness. 600,000 men, not counting the women and children, left Egypt out of the bondage. And only two men from that time entered into the promised land.

[24:10] And everybody, all the other men were born in that wilderness because God judged them in that wilderness. Because they remained rebellious. And the Bible called them stiff-necked.

[24:22] Meaning that they couldn't be controlled. And God was trying to teach them to be obedient to his word that God would give them through Moses. And they would always murmur and complain.

[24:33] And they wouldn't get it. And this is, I'm talking about after salvation, after deliverance from Egypt. They wouldn't, they only went so far and then they were just going in circles. Because they weren't applying all the teaching and the word of God that was being presented to them.

[24:48] And ultimately a whole generation of people had to die. 40 years for a whole generation to die off in a wilderness. So that they could, God could finally get a people that would be willing to go into the promised land.

[25:00] God help us that we would not just get our plan of salvation taken care of. And be delivered out of the bondage of Egypt. And have our sins washed away just to then remain stagnant.

[25:13] And go in circles and circles and circles in a wilderness somewhere. And be stiff-necked and not taught. And when, I'm not just trying to say me.

[25:24] But at any point in time you learn something, whether it be from me through this book or through your own devotions. When you learn something from the word of the Lord, it's that immediate time that you need to begin to apply that to your life.

[25:38] Because you're now accountable to that thing that you learned in the word of God. And so we can't just come in and service out and just hear a word from the Lord. And then leave and not change us.

[25:51] And we don't allow it to change us. And we don't make the efforts to make sure it changes us. Amen. And so I want to encourage you to embrace the trials that come during this time.

[26:04] If you're new to this. And there's many in here. Most that are new to this. And I want to tell you that trials and tribulations are coming.

[26:15] And it's nothing new. You've gone through trials and tribulations your whole life. You were in bondage, you know, at one point, like I said. But now it's different. The bondage is gone.

[26:27] But the trials and tribulations are there. And the purpose for them are different now. The purpose. And like God said to the children of Israel, the reason why is to humble you and to prove you, to know what's in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

[26:44] That's what he's trying to do. And as soon as you can prove to God, hear me on this. Don't spend 40 years in the wilderness. Look at their example as a teaching thing and understand that I don't want to spend 40 years in the wilderness.

[26:58] I don't want to spend one more day than I have to once I've been delivered wandering in the wilderness while God proves me. I want to prove to God that I'm ready as soon as I can.

[27:10] And the way that I'm going to do that is to be obedient to his word and start applying it to my life and make tangible changes and decisions in my life that I'm walking towards God. And anytime God teaches us something, we want to apply it immediately so we can get out of that wilderness state.

[27:27] Because the longer you're there, the odds become greater that you may not make it past that point. You may not get to see the promised land. And then when we talk about the promised land, we're not talking about heaven.

[27:41] We're not talking about that. We're talking about that perfect will of God in your life. That God has a purpose for you while you're here on earth. While God's building his kingdom. He has a specific purpose for you.

[27:52] Amen. And so let's look at the next thing here. Jericho. See, because there's new enemies that come when you get into the promised land.

[28:06] Let's say you make it past the Jordan. Like we read in the opening scriptures. There's going to be new obstacles. The trials and tribulations don't go away.

[28:18] But the purpose is changing. Okay. One, it was because of your sins in Egypt. That was your problem for your trials and tribulations.

[28:28] And then it was because in the wilderness, it's because God's proving you. And now here we are across the Jordan and we're faced with obstacles. Let's look at it. In Joshua 3.17, we read it.

[28:41] And the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on Jordan. And all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until the people were passed over, clean over Jordan.

[28:53] For them and for us today, crossing the Jordan River means entering a new phase of living for God. A new phase in God's will.

[29:04] And that's really where we want to be. See, God had that promised place, that promised land, that promised situation that he had for his people.

[29:15] And he has one of those for us today. Amen. And we want to be there. That's where we want to be. If I'm not anywhere else, I want to be in the will of God in my life.

[29:27] Amen. All the storms and trials and tribulations can come. And I know if I'm in the will of God, I'm going to be okay. It's going to work out. And in the promised land, we face this new type of enemy, obstacles like Jericho's walls.

[29:41] And Jericho was a city with walls that stood in their way of accomplishing God's purpose for saving, getting them to the promised land.

[29:52] And we have the same thing. Things that stand in our way of accomplishing God's will and purpose for us. Amen. Requiring faith and obedience to overcome. And we have to endure to the end.

[30:05] A biblical teaching is we have to endure to the end. We have to endure. Amen. Jericho, that first major obstacle in the promised land, represents the challenges that oppose God's purposes for our lives.

[30:25] If you fear, if you doubt, if you struggle with worldly temptations or any kind of opposition to your calling that God has on your life, that's your Jericho.

[30:37] That's your Jericho. Jericho was known for its walls. It was an obstacle. Jericho was known for your life. And it was the first thing they came to in the promised land. And the first thing they came to in the promised land.

[30:49] Right where they crossed the Jordan, it was next to Jericho. And if you're familiar, most of you are here in this group, familiar with the sound wall at Hotel Mission D'Oro.

[31:02] Jericho, that stretches along the I-5 between the I-5 and the hotel. That wall is 23 feet tall and 1 foot 10 inches wide.

[31:15] Okay. Jericho had two sets of walls. The outer wall was 6 feet thick. And the inner wall was 12 feet thick.

[31:26] And they stood 26 feet tall. But the Israelites overcame Jericho not by human strength, but by faithfully following God's unconventional plan.

[31:38] It was an unconventional plan. If you read the story of that, it was unconventional. And showing that victory comes through trusting him and obedience to him, not through us, not through anything we can do.

[31:52] Let's read Joshua 6, verse 2. And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king and the mighty men of valor.

[32:05] And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go around about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

[32:17] And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of ram's horns. And the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times.

[32:28] And the priests shall blow the trumpets. And it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city shall fall flat.

[32:46] And then the people shall ascend up, every man straight before him. So God instructed them to march around the city of Jericho once a day for six days.

[33:01] Once a day for six days in a row, they marched around the city. They encompassed the city completely. So they had enough people that they could surround the city in a circle. And they would march around the city once a day for six days.

[33:17] Then on the seventh day, to march around the city seven times. So they did one circuit each day for six days. And then on the seventh day, they were to do seven circuits around the city, that walled city.

[33:32] And on the seventh day, they were to be blasting their trumpets. And then at the end of the seventh time around the city, they would blast their trumpets with a long blast.

[33:44] Amen. And then the Israelites were to shout loudly. And then God promised that the walls would fall. And they did. They did miraculously fall once they had done that, allowing the Israelites to then sack the city.

[33:59] And God's plan for them to take down Jericho, it required faith. Like they had to have faith and obedience to the precise instruction God gave them.

[34:12] It wasn't, they didn't take down the walls on their strength. They didn't take down the walls with their power. And it wasn't their plan that they came up with a tactical strategy on how to take down Jericho.

[34:23] No, it was God's plan and God's power alone that did it. In Ephesians 6 and 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

[34:38] And so the enemies we face on this side of the Jordan, pursuing God's purpose for our lives, are spiritual enemies. Amen. And Hebrews 11, 30 says, by faith, by faith, by faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days.

[34:58] Faith and obedience to God's plan, that's what brings us victory over the obstacles in our way to God's perfect will. And so I want to challenge us today to identify our Jericho, the barriers to God's promises in your life.

[35:17] Is it fear of witnessing? Is it, is it, do you have too many worldly distractions? Are you holding on to too many things from, from Egypt? Do you got, do you still have an Egypt mindset?

[35:29] Set, whatever it is, that, whatever barriers to God's purpose in your life, that's your Jericho. And you need to name it today and you need to understand what, what's your Jericho.

[35:40] And you need to learn to trust God's instructions, even when it seems unconventional. Didn't make sense how we could just march around a city for seven days and then the walls are going to fall.

[35:51] But that's how God works, amen. He works in the miraculous. He, like I said, he's a deliverer and he's, he's faithful to us and, and he can do all things and he has all power and his plans perfect if we would learn to get in his will.

[36:08] And we, if we do, we're going to see those walls fall, amen. So God saved, saved us and now what? Now what? It goes beyond just being delivered out of Egypt.

[36:18] We can't just wander around in a wilderness, amen. We have to grow and prove God that our hearts are in this. And then we have to get across that Jordan River and face an obstacle between us and God's perfect will for our lives.

[36:36] And if, if God hasn't saved you yet from Egypt, he, he wants to do that. He can do that today. And maybe he has, and you're, you have not passed the test in the wilderness yet.

[36:48] And you haven't proven to God that you're sold out completely and serious about living for him. And he's still testing your heart to see if you would be obedient to him fully.

[36:58] Or maybe you are at the edge of the wilderness and, and following those priests as they enter, carrying that Ark of the Covenant. And as soon as their feet touch the brim of the water, the waters parted.

[37:10] And then you're, you, maybe you are following them across that Jordan right now on dry ground and into the promised land. And no matter where you are today with God, go on a journey to the other side of the Jordan River with me in your minds today.

[37:26] And so, disciples of Jesus Christ, I want you to close your eyes with me for a minute and imagine with me. You've just crossed over the Jordan River on dry ground.

[37:40] A miracle. And you're standing there with the Israelites. And behind you, the wilderness. Forty years of wandering. God testing you and your fellow people.

[37:51] But you're no longer a slave in Egypt. No longer chased by Pharaoh's armies. You've found salvation. And now you stand in that promised land. And with your eyes closed, imagine you see Jericho in front of you.

[38:04] And try to see what they saw that day. Because what they faced is what we face when God calls us to his purpose for our life. When we see Jericho, it's not just any city.

[38:18] Its walls are like mountains. Try to picture the city surrounded by two sets of walls. An outer one six feet thick. An inner one 12 feet thick.

[38:29] 26 feet high. It's a fortress built to withstand all kinds of different assaults. And you and the other Israelites are just some ragtag group. And you have no siege equipment.

[38:42] No siege weapons. No battering rams. No weapons that could penetrate these kind of walls. And to you and the ones you stand next to, Jericho looks like that giant that's just daring you to come closer.

[38:57] And so your eyes, close your eyes and imagine you see movement on the top of the walls. Jericho's guards, their warriors armed with spears and bows as they patrol the top of the walls.

[39:10] Their king secured in his stronghold. And they've shut the gates tight. Joshua 6 and 1 says, now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out.

[39:21] None came in. The city, it was in lockdown and ready for a siege. And you can hear the distant shouting of their warriors walking you. And to your left and right, your fellow Israelites nervously whispering.

[39:36] Some whisper about the people of Jericho's reputation. Their fierce fighters and how they worship false gods of brutality.

[39:46] And you really feel the weight of the moment. You've come so far delivered from Egypt's bondage, saved through the Red Sea, trained in the wilderness and led across the Jordan.

[39:57] But now Jericho stands in the way of God's purpose for you. It's not just the walls you see. It's a challenge to your faith. Can God really bring these walls down?

[40:08] Can he really use you to do his will? Amen. Stand with me. See, God saved us from Egypt. God saved us from captivity of sin.

[40:20] And now what? Now what? God leads us into the promised land, the place where you can finally operate in the perfect will of God for your life.

[40:32] And participate in the way that God wants you and designed you in building his kingdom. And so today I want to challenge us to name our Jericho, that thing standing in your way.

[40:45] There's things standing in our way. There's obstacles. We're not going to escape it. We're not going to be, we're not any worse than the people of Israel, but we're not any better either. Okay? And so we're going to face our Jerichos.

[40:57] We're going to face our challenges. And we need to be real with ourselves. We can't just think that we've been delivered from Egypt and now we're good and we can just ride this thing out. The Bible says we have to endure to the end.

[41:09] And just the mere fact that it says that we have to endure to the end means there's going to be trouble. There's going to be things that we're going to have to endure. It's not just sitting and waiting. Amen. God has a perfect will for us to be working in his kingdom.

[41:24] Amen. And so today I challenge you to figure out what your Jericho is. And I'm challenged with this to find out what's my Jericho.

[41:34] Why can't we, why isn't there one Houstonite attending this church yet? Why isn't there one person from the city of Houston besides my family attending this church? There's a, there's something, there's an obstacle in the way and I need to get it figured out.

[41:47] And I need to get it figured out quick. And I need to be able to take the steps that God wants me to take that I'm talking about for me. But each one of us has a Jericho and we need to figure out what that is.

[41:58] The thing standing in your way to continue on to being in the perfect will of God. Because I do believe it's the will of God that we have revival in this city. And that souls are saved in this city.

[42:08] And that this is the lighthouse in this city. Amen. Amen. I believe that. And so maybe it's a step of obedience. Maybe, maybe I need to find where I'm not obedient to the word of God. Maybe it's sharing my testimony with someone that God's placed in my life in this city.

[42:24] That I haven't done that yet. But maybe, and maybe for you, you've never done that before and it seems intimidating. So maybe that's your Jericho. But, or maybe it's seeking forgiveness or offering forgiveness from someone that you're at odds with.

[42:39] And things aren't right right now. Things aren't good right now. That's not the will of God. God wants us to have, he's the master of forgiveness. He's, that's his speciality. He's the perfect representation of forgiveness.

[42:52] He's forgiveness of all of our sins. How can we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts towards anybody? That doesn't mean we have to let them continue in our lives and be abusive to us in some way or whatever.

[43:05] But we have, we might have to walk away from things or whatever or people. But we can't have a harboring of unforgiveness in our hearts. We have to be able to forgive even the ones that abused us as, as a child.

[43:19] We have to be able to forgive that person. And maybe it's, it's, maybe it's just finally stepping into a ministry that you feel God's calling you to be in.

[43:30] But you're afraid that you wouldn't be able to for whatever reason. Just let me remind you one more time before we, before we leave. Like the Israelites, you can't and won't need to fight with your own strength.

[43:43] All we have to do is march toward Jericho with faith and obedience. I mean, precise obedience to his word.

[43:54] If they tried to do it any other way, if they said, well, you know, today let's, let's, let's go around twice. Because I want, I want to do some extra for the Lord. When he said only go around once a day for six days.

[44:05] Or maybe they say, you know, we went around six times already. I know we're supposed to go around seven today. What if we just do it once today? Any other deviation from the plan that God gave them would have derailed the whole thing.

[44:22] And it's the same for us. We need to understand God's instructions and we have to be precise and being obedient to that. Amen. But if you do march forward in faith and you do march forward with obedience, just watch God bring the walls down of your Jericho.

[44:39] Amen. Joshua 1.9 says, be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest.

[44:49] See, God saved us and now what? God saved us and now what? So I want us to, before we leave here today, let's spend some time in prayer. Let's find a place to pray and ask God to help you see what it is that God wants you.

[45:03] Where are you? Are you in Egypt still? Are you in the wilderness? Have you crossed the Jordan? Are you in the promised land? And what is it before you? What is it? Where is God trying to take you right now?

[45:14] And let's pray and ask God to help us understand where we are today and help us get to those next steps. And let's do that in faith and obedience today. Amen. Let's find a place to pray.

[45:25] Amen. Amen. Amen.