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[0:00] Brother Tim, thank you so much. What a great, great message and song. Amen? No need to fear tomorrow. God is already there. I have a friend who used to say, did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurred to God?

[0:18] God's always known everything before it ever happened. When we prayed a minute ago, the deacons and I, a few minutes ago, I just reminded them that even though none of us knew this was going to happen this morning, God's known it for eternity.

[0:33] It didn't surprise him one bit. He's in complete control. I hope that brings comfort to you. The message this morning is from, as we read earlier, Joshua chapter 4, entitled, Don't Forget to Remember.

[0:47] How many of you ever forget anything? Please be honest and raise your hand. You ever forget? All right. Almost everyone in here forgets things, and then several of you lied.

[0:58] So we're going to pray for you. All right? I'm kidding. We all forget, don't we? Have you ever parked at Walmart and forgotten where you were, where your car was parked?

[1:12] Have you ever done that? That happened to Sarah and me a few months ago. Is this mic okay when I walk away from here? Can you hear me okay, Steve? Yes. All right. It happened to us a few months ago, and then we were back at a store, and there was this sweet little old gentleman who was obviously completely lost.

[1:28] He had forgotten where he had parked his car. And we got out of our car and helped him walk around until he found his. That's a common thing. We don't have a car that beeps, you know, with the key.

[1:39] And so we couldn't find our car with a beep anyway. But did you hear about the fellow who was sitting in his car waiting for his wife to get out of the store? And he noticed that there was someone who was looking for their car.

[1:52] And every time they would click their little clicker to make their car beep, he would honk his horn. That poor person took them 20 minutes just to find their real car. Well, this passage that we're going to study this morning that just keeps right on going with the study of Joshua is a passage where God is just reminding us of the importance of remembering, the importance of not forgetting.

[2:23] And the reason God is so insistent that we remember is because if we forget what God has done in the past, we will lose faith today.

[2:39] If we forget what he's done yesterday, we'll worry about tomorrow. And worry won't get you anywhere good.

[2:50] All worry does is stress you out. It's not productive at all. Do you know when I married my wife, I was a worrier as a kid.

[3:00] I grew up worrying all the time. And I married my wife with a head full of hair. Within a few months of marrying, actually less than two months of marrying, I started pastoring.

[3:13] And then we had six kids. Now, I've been a worrier as a kid growing up. And for a lot of my life, I worried until God just continued to get a hold of me. And Andre stopped worrying and knew what I said and started praying.

[3:25] I worried. I got married. I pastored. I had six kids. And I lost all my hair. Now, which one do you think caused me to lose my hair? I don't know either.

[3:36] It's hard to say. But I guarantee you, worry didn't help. So really, one of the favorite verses God gave me is a verse in Philippians. Be careful for nothing or worry about nothing.

[3:48] But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

[4:00] God taught me to stop worrying and start praying. That's the antidote to worry. It's prayer. It's trusting in God. But if you and I forget what God did for us yesterday, we'll have a tendency to worry about what might happen to us tomorrow.

[4:17] The Israelites had spent 40 years traveling around a very small geographical area of a wilderness.

[4:30] And they spent those 40 years there because after God freed them from captivity, freed them from slavery in Egypt, and after God worked the miraculous miracle of parting the Red Sea and allowing them to cross over that Red Sea on dry ground, and then covering the sea back on top of the Egyptian army that was chasing them.

[4:55] After God did that great miracle, and the people then came right to the edge of the promised land, 10 of the 12 spies who went out to investigate the promised land had fear and worry that superseded their faith and trust in God.

[5:16] And 10 gave a bad report. Only Joshua and Caleb, only 2 of the 12, gave a positive report. They said, yes, there are giants in that land, but if God has called us to do this, we can do it.

[5:29] Our God will be with us. But the majority overruled the minority. And because of that, the Israelites spent a full decade, 40 years, a full generation, four decades, a full generation, traveling around that wilderness while what happened?

[5:52] Ready for this? While everyone over the age of 20 died and was buried, except for Joshua and Caleb.

[6:02] So now, as we are here at the edge of the promised land yet again, we still see Joshua and Caleb, but now no one there with them is over 60 years of age because everyone who had been older had died out during those 40 years in the wilderness.

[6:27] And God said, I want you to remember what I did not only at the Red Sea, but I want you to remember what I've just done for you here at the Jordan River.

[6:42] Because one day, when your children ask, what has God done, you could show them these stones that you've taken out from the riverbed, and you could say these are reminders of the miracle that our God performed.

[7:01] Friend, I want you to realize something. If you're here this morning, which every one of you are, you are a walking miracle. You and I aren't even aware of the times God has protected us.

[7:17] I talked about the interstates. Every time Sarah and I are on I-24 especially, but even I-65, we pray for God to protect us and put angels around us and our vehicle every time.

[7:30] Whenever we drive anywhere, we pray that prayer. The very fact that we're living today is a miracle. Some of you have had health issues that God's healed you from.

[7:43] God's protected us in ways that we don't even realize it. And God says, if you're not careful, you forget all the things I've done for you in the past.

[7:54] And when you forget what God's done, you allow anxiety to control you today. And you miss living in the joy and the abundance that He has for you.

[8:11] I want us to pray and ask God to open our eyes this morning so that we can receive from Him the message that He wants us to hear. Would you pray with me?

[8:22] Dear Father, would you open our spiritual eyes? God, help us see from your word that we read earlier. Help us see the miraculous ways that you work.

[8:34] And Father, help us be committed to remembering all the great things you've done in our life. God, open our spiritual ears.

[8:46] I pray that we won't hear my voice, Father, but that we'll hear your voice. That you'll speak through me, your servant, this morning. And that we would hear and respond the way you want us to respond to your message.

[9:10] For it's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. The Bible is filled with examples of God wanting us to remember things.

[9:21] The Passover meal that the Israelites shared every year, they had a whole festival. It was to remind them of what happened in Egypt. On the night where they ate that Passover meal and then girded up their loins and took off on their trek, when God led them to the point of what appeared to be disaster.

[9:45] A sea in front of them, deserts and mountains on either side and an army, the strongest army in the world at the time, coming behind them, ready to kill them.

[9:57] And yet God parted that Red Sea and God dried up the wet ground and God let them cross over. That Passover meal was to remind them that before that miracle happened, God used the blood of the lamb on the doorpost and lentil of the door as a sign for the death angel to pass over their houses and not kill the firstborn living inside.

[10:24] Those in Egypt didn't put the blood around their doors. At the firstborn, the Bible says both of humans and of animals, the firstborn all died of the Egyptians but not the Israelites because of the blood of the lamb.

[10:45] God said, use that Passover meal to remind you. And then Jesus took that Passover meal, that same Passover celebration, with His disciples the night before He was betrayed.

[10:58] Remember what He did? He instituted what for us has become communion or the Lord's Supper where He took the bread and He said, this is My body that is about to be nailed on the cross for you.

[11:10] And He took that juice, that fruit of the vine from the grape juice and He had His disciples drink from the cup and He said, this is My blood which is shed for the remission of sins.

[11:22] And then Jesus said, as often as you eat this bread and as often as you drink this cup, do this in remembrance of Me because you're remembering Me until I come again.

[11:35] It's all about remembering. Why? Because Jesus doesn't want us to forget that it's only by His grace that you and I have a relationship with God today.

[11:48] If you believe that you're saved because you go to church or because you're better than He is or she is, I've got news for you.

[12:00] None of that can save you. Only God's grace, the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross at Calvary, only Jesus, death, burial, and resurrection can bring salvation, can bring forgiveness of my sin and your sin.

[12:20] And God wants us to remember what Jesus did for us. As Israel crossed this Jordan River, God had them take those stones out.

[12:35] Twelve stones, one for each tribe representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel. And God said, I want you to take those stones and make a memorial so you'll always remember what I've done.

[12:49] There's two things we need to do. Remember what God did and remember why God did it. So what did God do? Well, first He led His people. Well, Joshua 4, 5 says, And He said to them, Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan.

[13:05] Each of you lift a stone onto His shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes. So God said, I'm going to tell you what to do. You follow my ark. The ark of the covenant represented God to the people of Israel.

[13:20] Friend, you and I need to keep our eyes on God. If you put your eyes on this world, you're going to be depressed all the time. If you keep your eyes on CNN or Fox News, you're going to be in an uproar every day.

[13:38] If you keep your eyes on any president, our previous president, our current president, or the next president, I promise you, if your eyes are on a man, you will be sadly disappointed.

[13:50] God says, our eyes need to be on Him. Amen? Focus on God. God said, get those stones.

[14:03] Follow the ark in the middle of the river where it's now dry, where water used to flow just a few minutes before. Get a stone, one for each tribe of Israel.

[14:14] So He led His people, but He also displayed His power. Verses 7 and 8 say, You should tell them the water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord's covenant when it crossed the Jordan.

[14:30] The Jordan's water was cut off. Therefore, these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites. What says you should tell them? You should tell who? God said, you should tell your children.

[14:41] In the future, your children are going to ask you, Hey mom, hey dad, what do those stones over there mean? And God said, you're to tell them exactly what they mean. Verse 8 says, the Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them.

[14:54] The twelve men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes. Just as the Lord had told Joshua, they carried them to the camp and sent them down there. And verses 23 and 24 of the chapter say, For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over.

[15:12] just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. This is so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord's hand is strong and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.

[15:27] God displayed His power. God's displayed His power in your life. If you're saved, if you're a Christian, God's displayed His awesome power in your life. If you have a house to live in, God's displayed His awesome power in your life.

[15:44] If you're healthy enough to be here this morning which you are, God's displayed His awesome power in your life. Don't forget God's power.

[15:56] So what did He do? He led His people, He displayed His power, but He also fulfilled His promises. He brought them to the land that He promised them He would bring them to.

[16:07] Check it off. Promise kept. He exalted Joshua, lifted Joshua up so that the people revered Joshua just like they did Moses.

[16:18] A promise God had made to Joshua. Check it off. And He went before them and secured their safety in the promised land just like He had promised.

[16:32] Check it off. God is a promise keeper. God keeps His word. You can trust God. In verses 10 and 11 it says, The priest carrying the ark continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people in keeping with all that Moses had commanded Joshua.

[16:57] The people hurried across and after everyone had finished crossing, the priest with the ark of the Lord crossed in the sight of the people. Verse 14, On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel and they revered Him throughout His life as they had revered Moses.

[17:17] Verses 17 and 18, So Joshua commanded the priest come up from the Jordan. When the priest carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan and their feet stepped out on solid ground, the water of the Jordan resumed its course flowing over all the banks as before.

[17:36] What a miracle! God kept every promise. My friend, God will keep every promise to you. You know one of the most blessed promises in God's Word is when God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

[17:54] Let's be honest this morning. Please, let's participate. Let's be honest. Have you ever been sad or depressed or discouraged? Raise your hand. It's good for you to actually lift your hands up every now and then.

[18:06] That's kind of aerobic. You know that? You ever been sad? Ever been discouraged? Ever been disappointed? Ever had a doctor give you a diagnosis you dreaded?

[18:18] Have you ever had financial struggles? Anybody in here ever had financial... Are Sarah and I the only ones that ever have financial struggles? Listen, after my brain injury... By the way, I want to tell you a testimony real quick.

[18:29] Fits perfect with this message. Joseph obviously didn't plan on me preaching today. God had other things in store, didn't He? Twelve years ago... Thirteen years ago yesterday...

[18:41] Talking about forgetting. Thirteen years ago yesterday is when I experienced my traumatic brain injury. Thirteen years ago. The first six years of those thirteen years, I spent eighteen to twenty hours a day in bed.

[18:58] Slowly, God has begun healing. I usually wear these glasses because the light sensitivity still on my head, my brain, is just so bad. I usually wear earplugs because of the severe tinnitus that continues to ring in my head from that fall.

[19:16] About a year or so after the injury, after several neurologists told me that I was very fortunate to be alive, I was told I would never get any better.

[19:27] Remember, spending eighteen to twenty hours a day in bed. I reached what medical professionals call my maximum medical improvement. Where you are is where you will always be for the rest of your life.

[19:44] But my friend, I guess God is a little bit more powerful than a neurologist. And I'm not healed, I know that, I'm not where I need to be or hope to be one day, but I'm where I am and by the grace of God, I praise Him for that.

[20:00] I'm so much better than I was thirteen years ago. Thirteen years ago today, I was laying in bed and my wife didn't know what in the world to do. Our kids were just as nervous wrecks because their daddy almost died with a brain injury.

[20:15] And doctors were at a loss to know what to do. I want you to understand something. I don't give God glory because I'm healed because I'm not totally healed yet.

[20:26] I give God glory because God deserves glory. You ought to give God glory because God deserves glory in your life regardless of where you are.

[20:38] I'm still on pain medication daily. I'm still on muscle medication daily from that brain injury. But I praise God for what He has done. The Israelites needed to be reminded of God's awesome power because they were just like you and me.

[20:57] And they had a tendency to forget things. So one of the things I don't remember to bring my phone up with me when I preach. One of the things that I learned in therapy as I was going through that healing process, my brain wouldn't work so I had to go to all kinds of therapy to learn how to stand and walk better and more stably and to think better and more clearly.

[21:21] And one of the things they taught me to do was to take my phone and to use the Notes app on my phone. Any of you ever use your Notes app? They said, use the Notes app and write down things that you need to remember.

[21:37] I thank God for that therapist who told me that. I've got notes on here of how God provided, how God used a little widow lady to send Sarah and I a hundred dollars when we didn't know how we were going to make our mortgage payment.

[21:57] I've got notes on here about how God used one of my nephews and his sweet wife to send us money to help cover bills.

[22:09] I would have forgotten those things if I hadn't written them down and remembered them on my phone. You ever use your calendar on your phone? I'll give you a bit of warning.

[22:20] I learned this this past week. If you change your email that's tied to your calendar, you lose everything on your calendar. I had to call every doctor in Nashville to find out when I was supposed to see them next.

[22:36] I lost it all because I changed the email address. But this helps me remember my prayer list is still on my notes. Every morning, this morning I was up about 3 o'clock in the morning, 3 to 5, praying.

[22:53] First Baptist Church of Lewisburg, you've been on my prayer list since God began to deal with you and Joseph about him coming to pastor here. Of course, one of my good friends, Daddy, used to pastor here years ago, so I've known about First Baptist Lewisburg for years and years.

[23:11] Brother McGee was your pastor. But I've got on my notepad, I've got prayer requests for doctors and nurses and technicians and those who helped me go through therapy.

[23:23] I've got family, I've got friends, I've got people I've met at stores, people I've met at banks that asked me to pray for them and I've got their request on this phone and I use that why?

[23:35] Because I won't remember to pray for them if I don't write it down, number one. But number two, listen, so important, I'll forget how God answered that prayer if I don't keep a record of it.

[23:49] That's just human nature. With a brain injury, maybe you know this, but both short-term and long-term memory is affected terribly bad. So I depend on that to help me remember.

[24:01] God says, I want you to use these stones so that you always remember what I've done. You need to get some memorial stones in your life.

[24:14] You can use them on your phone, you can make notes on your phone, that can be your memorial stones. You can get pieces of paper and write notes, you can actually get a stone and maybe put a date on it and put it on your mantle or on your dresser.

[24:29] And remember, on that date, God did such and such. Some of you may remember the exact date you were saved or the general year that you received Jesus as Lord and Savior.

[24:41] Make a note of that somewhere. Write it down so that you'll always have that to go back and say, when the devil lies and tells you you're no good and you don't have a reason to live, you can go back to that date and say, on this date, Jesus Christ saved me.

[24:58] I remember what God did. Now I want you to get your phones out in a minute and a piece of paper or pen if you don't have a phone with you because I want you to write something down in a minute as part of this message.

[25:10] But let's look as we continue. Not only did we remember what God did, but we need to remember why God did it. There's three things I want you to see. God first did this miracle to reveal His character.

[25:24] In Numbers 23, 19, it says, God is not a man that He might lie or a son of man that He might change His mind. Does He speak and not act or promise and not fulfill? In Titus 1, 2, we read, In the hope of the eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

[25:41] In Hebrews 6, 18, the Bible says, So that through two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.

[25:55] Deuteronomy 8, verses 7 through 10 says, For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and deep water sources flowing in both valleys and hills, a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land where you'll eat food without shortage, where you'll lack nothing, a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you'll mine copper, and when you eat, you'll be filled, you'll bless the Lord your God for the good land that He's given you.

[26:27] In Joshua 1, verses 3 through 5, the Bible says, I've given you every place where the salt of your feet treads, just as I promised Moses. Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites and west to the Mediterranean Sea.

[26:46] No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you. Oh, my friend, God did what He did because of His great character.

[27:00] God cannot lie. God can be trusted. God can be counted on. God can be dependent on. If you're here today and you say, Andre, listen, this world in which we live, you can't trust anyone.

[27:18] I don't know what the future holds for me. I don't know where I am spiritually because I don't trust anyone. My dear friend, I want to tell you, I plead with you from my heart.

[27:31] Come to the Lord. He's the only one that you can trust your very heart and soul to and He'll never let you down. And that's the very God who created you.

[27:44] His character is such that He can be trusted. Give your heart and life to Him by confessing His Son as your Lord and Savior.

[27:56] God also did this miracle to strike fear into hearts. Verse 24 of chapter 4 and verse 1 of chapter 5 says, This is so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord's hand is strong and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.

[28:13] When all the Amorite kings across the Jordan to the west and all the Canaanite kings near the sea heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites until they crossed over, they all lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites.

[28:33] God struck fear in the hearts of the enemy and He struck a reverent fear in the hearts of the Israelites. If you don't know Christ, you ought to have fear because your destiny is set for Him.

[28:51] But by the grace of God, that can be completely changed. Would you receive Jesus Christ as the Savior of your soul? But Christian, listen to me, you and I should live with a reverent, holy fear of God.

[29:06] Not a fear that we're afraid to approach Him, but a reverent, holy fear of all. He's not just the big guy upstairs. Listen, my friend, that's irreverent.

[29:19] He's almighty God. He's holy and righteous. And when He works a miracle in your life and my life, He does it to show His character, reveal His character, and He does it to make sure we remember to have a holy, awesome fear of Him.

[29:40] But He also exercised His strength. That first verse of chapter 5 spoke of how the kings, of Canaan, and the kings of the Amorites feared God because they saw the power of God.

[30:03] When God changes your life, His power is revealed. Some of you used to live a life that looked just like every unsaved, reprobate there is because that's exactly what all of us were before we were saved.

[30:26] And God saved you. He did a work in your life. And now people at work see someone different. And friend, if they don't see someone different in you, you need to really check and make sure you've received Jesus as Lord and Savior.

[30:42] God's strength is revealed in the lives of His children. And it's always done to bring glory to Him and to help lead others to Him.

[30:57] So now take your phone out real quick. You got a smart phone? Some of you may have a dumb phone. It may work too. Just get your phone out. Get a piece of paper and a pen if you don't have a phone.

[31:08] I want you, if you can't find your notepad, I want you to do something else I do. Sometimes I text myself. You ever text yourself? Just make sure you don't answer the text before you want to or else it defeats the whole purpose.

[31:22] You'll forget you texted yourself. Either write on your notes or write a text to yourself right now. I want you to write something. If you know the date, write the date. If you know the general time period, write that of when Jesus Christ became your Lord and Savior.

[31:38] Just write a note right now to yourself. On such and such date or in such and such year, I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. If you're a Christian, I want you to do that.

[31:50] And I want you, that's going to be one of your memorial stones. If Joe was here today, he had a great plan. He was going to have a board put up. And I think he'll do this for you later where you could actually come and put some memorial stones, tack some pieces of paper that you write this on, on this board.

[32:08] And he'll do that for you in the future, I'm sure. But at least you'll have this in your phone. Maybe God healed you. Write that down. What year did God take care of you from that medical situation?

[32:20] Listen, I look at July 12th of 2012 not as just the day that I had a traumatic brain injury. I look at it as the day that God protected me from dying. I look at July 4th, 1976, not as just the day that my mother died when I was 12 years old.

[32:37] But I look at it as a day that God proved to me that He could still take care of me even though my mama did die. I look at March 24th, 1980 not as just the day my dad died, but as the day that God provided for me a new mom and dad who took me and my brothers in even though they had three boys of their own and became my new mom and dad because I was an orphan.

[33:02] Listen, you can look at things from either perspective. You can look at it from the negative or you can look at it from the positive. What did God do? Keep yourself a list of how God blesses you because friend, I want to tell you, if you don't keep that list, you will forget.

[33:19] And when the devil comes after you, you're going to be discouraged and depressed and you're going to be tempted to throw in the towel and quit. Don't do that. God has so much more in store for you.

[33:32] Now, if you're here today and you say, well, Andre, I would love to know this God that you've spoken of. A God who can work miracles but also a God who even if he chooses not to work a miracle in my life promises to walk with me holding my hand through every trial I face.

[33:53] You want to know that God? Here's what the Bible says. God loves you so much he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price for your sins that you couldn't pay.

[34:07] Jesus died for you, he was buried, and he rose again. And he's alive today. And the Bible teaches us that if we will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and if we will receive him as our Lord and our Savior, he promises that we will become one of his children, and we will have abundant life on earth and everlasting life with him in heaven.

[34:35] Would you confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior today? You may say, well, pastor, I've done that, but have you made it public through believer's baptism? Those stones were public stones to remind people of what God did.

[34:51] Baptism is a public profession of our faith to remind us and others of what God's done in our life, how he saved us. If you've not been baptized since you've truly been saved, I want you to come, even today, and schedule a time, Pastor Joe, a line up a time for you to make your faith public through believer's baptism.

[35:12] I hope some of you, maybe you came here not even planning this, but I hope some of you will sense that God's doing a great work in this church. If you want to be a part of this church, maybe you could participate in the luncheon even today.

[35:26] I hope that's allowed. I don't think they'll turn you down. You come today. Christian, don't leave here. Please don't go to Sunday school. I know I've kept you longer than Joe.

[35:37] That's the good thing about not being the paid pastor. You can't fire me. All right? No, listen, listen. I know I've kept you a little longer than normal, but listen, don't rush off without letting God speak to you.

[35:50] There are some things God wants you to remember that he's done so you can tell other people about how wonderful he is. Please be a living testimony for him.

[36:05]  Would you stand with me? Brother Jim, you come lead us. We're going to have a final hymn of invitation. Pauline Pauline Pauline Pauline