Good morning church. It's a blessing and an honor to. Be here two weeks in a row preaching. It's just such a, it's such a humble and joyous heart that I get to share the word with you this morning.

I hope that the challenge last week, the challenge of finding someone you didn't know and introducing yourself and asking to pray for that person. I hope that went well, and I encourage you to follow up with that person. And then find another person and eventually we'll all have to go on walks because we'll have to just have this huge prayer list and we'll all get in better shape too.

So, you know. Last time we exposited from Joshua 1, we took a look at leadership and courage, his calling and his assignment, and he really needed that encouragement. We talked about that repetition of strong and courageous four times. We took a look at humility with the Stones of Remembrance in Joshua 4.

and the prayer in Joshua 10, the faithful prayer that resulted in the sun and the moon standing still. This is the second part of a three-part series. The last part will be on Rahab and Jericho, but I have to give the podium back to Michael someday. So, we'll do that in the near future. But today we're going to spend our time focusing on obedience to the Lord.

And we're going to look at the crossing of the Jordan river, the circumcision at Gilgal and Joshua's farewell address. Let's pray. Lord, just give thanks for the breath in our bodies this morning, for a sound church to attend and for brothers and sisters that truly want to share in each other's burdens and worship together and live life together.

I pray for the word, Lord. I just pray that you fill us with your spirit and that you open our hearts to the instruction, to the application, and to the spiritual nourishment. In Jesus name. Amen. Parents, you've heard of the terrible twos. You've experienced the terrible twos. This is a time where your child usually learns the word no.

You've And it's usually at this time that we experience disobedience. And it's amazing that we can we don't need to teach a child how to knock down a Lego tower or how to spill a drink, but we need to teach them how to build the tower and how to pour this drink and they need guidance. But oftentimes a word that we don't really pay much attention to is the word why.

And while we rejoice at the curiosity and the potential for instruction, Oftentimes, why is a question of disobedience. Why can't I have this cookie? Why can't I have that toy? Why is this my bedtime? This will progress into adulthood. And then we say, why does my boss want me to type up this report? And why won't you just listen to me when arguing with a spouse?

And while there's nothing wrong with in our daily walk in our Christian faith. With praying and crying out to the Lord why when we're faced with trials and they're overwhelming and we need comfort Oftentimes we use the word why because we simply feel that we know better the word in Hebrew for obedience is Shema.

The word carries with it two meanings. It's hearing and it's obeying. Now the hearing part we have little trouble with, but it's the obeying part that most of us fall short, that we all fall short of. Because we want to make sense out of everything. This is common. Obedience to the Lord will oftentimes not make sense to us, even at times.

It can seem counterintuitive, but obedience is necessary in our Christian walk. Remember, we're called on like in James 1 22 to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Today. We're gonna start by taking a look at Joshua chapter three. We're gonna look specifically at verses one through six. And talking about the crossing of the Jordan, so Joshua three, one to six.

Then Joshua Rose early in the morning and they sat out from Shati, and they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel and lodged there before they passed over. At the end of the three days, the officers went through the camp and commanded the people. As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord, your God being carried by the Levitical priest, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.

Yet, there shall be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go. For you have not passed this way before. Then Joshua said to the people, consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. And Joshua said to the priests, take up the ark of the covenant, and pass on before the people.

So, they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. Two pivotal events in the history of Israel, each involve the crossing of water. The first, of course, is the crossing of the Red Sea, the Exodus. The second is the crossing of the Jordan, recorded here in Joshua 3. Now it had to do, the first one, with the departure from Egypt, but the crossing of the Jordan concerned the exit of the wilderness, the 40 years of wandering, and their entry into the blessing of the Promised Land.

We covered last week how the waters were cut off, and each person had to bring a stone with them, and they had the stones of remembrance. But I want to start off today by looking at this three-day waiting period. What was the purpose of this three-day hiatus? Surely there must have been some excitement.

The crossing of the Jordan was an amazing feat. This was harvest season, so the Jordan was overflowing. It was a raging river, it was flooding. Currents could reach up to 40 miles per hour. If you're going to the beach, the average wave, I think, is 5 to 8 miles per hour. The plain was surrounded by tangled brush and dense growth, where there would surely be predators lying in wait.

So, the Jordan swells. It could be about a mile across with the swelling, ranging in depth from 3 to 12 feet. Thick undergrowth, and they could easily trip and get caught up in the currents. But notice the instruction that Joshua gives the people. Sanctify yourself, for tomorrow the Lord will work wonders among you.

This was to be spiritual preparation. So, at this three-day period, according to the word of God, they gathered food. supplies Intelligence and prepare themselves spiritually, but the Jordan was flooded, and it seemed Impossible. There was no bridge. There was no boat and we're not talking about a hundred people Remember we talked about scripture saying six hundred thousand men.

So, including women and children we could Get 2 million. I heard from someone last week that said it was probably more like 4 million. But either way, that's a lot of people to lead and simply put human in ingenuity was not going to work. They needed divine help, and this would be before the Lord. Now, something else is beyond the Jordan.

I tried to look for pictures online, but cameras were bad back then. So, I couldn't really find much. And I was like, is this scripturally accurate? Is this, and then there's AI and it's a long story. But. But picture this you have this Jordan, which is overwhelming you have a three-day hiatus and what do you see in the background the walls of?

Jericho which ten of the twelve spies said were inhabited by Giants And now I want you to picture this picture, a test or trial that caused you anxiety. And right before that moment, your heart was racing now, right before you're about to experience this trial, I say to you, let's wait three days. You'd probably pass out at that point with anxiety and panic, but God has a unique way of bringing us to the point where we see our helplessness.

Inadequacy with ourself. This broken and contrite heart. And at the end, when he works mightily on our behalf, he comes through for us. There's no human boasting. And I want to suggest to you this morning, whatever crisis you're facing in your life, and we all have this. There might be some turbulence in your life, and it may seem like things are falling apart.

God often does work to where we see the end of ourselves, the end of our resources, the end of our ability, so that our faith and trust and hope is anchored in Him and Him alone. Now, this three-day waiting period, we have to keep in mind, Moses didn't part the Red Sea, God did. Joshua didn't Part the Jordan, it was the Lord and Him alone.

But what were the procedures? And this is what I want to point out. The Ark of God. The Ark of the Testimony. The Ark was covered with pure gold. Gold that was treated as to remove impurities, obviously anything less couldn't be a fitting piece of furniture for the King of Kings. Basically, the arks was a, the ark was a box and was fitted with poles on either side so you could lift it on your shoulder, but you couldn't touch the ark and the poles were never removed.

So, the ark could be carried off. The ark went in. everywhere with Israel, even into battle. And this was also called the testimony of Yahweh because the tablets on which God wrote his law were placed inside. And during this time, the ancient Eastern Kings kept copies of their laws right at their feet. So, the Lord, king of all, kept a copy of his laws at his feet in his footstool, the ark.

If we put all these ideas together here, that's what was the ark represented, the power and presence of God. If you're looking at chapters 3 and 4, what you'll see is that the ark takes center stage. It's mentioned about 15 times. And as we said before, we don't, repetition is a literary device, but surely in scripture, if we need something repeated, it's quite important.

Be Strong and Courageous from last week was repeated four times because Joshua needed it, just like we need that every day. The real hero and mentioning the Ark 15 times was to show this was the Lord. This wasn't Joshua the superhero. It wasn't the priest. It wasn't the children of Israel. It wasn't the officers.

It was the living God. And the Lord was to be central. Israel needed his direction. So, in verse four, it says the reason why the Ark had to go first. So, you have 2 million people behind. And then you have the ark, and it has to go forward. 2000 qubits, which we'll talk about and the answer here in verse four says, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.

God was to be their director. And that's how we should live life. We have all these plans. We have all these plans. But unless the Lord lays that foundation, unless the Lord paves that way, we just labor in vain. And it means obedience. When God moved, the people moved. When God stopped, the people stopped.

And here's the point. They weren't moving according to their own ingenuity, their own initiative. They were moving according to God's direction. Like Psalm 16 verse 11, you make known to me the path of life in your presence there is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. It's called dying to self and submitting to the Lord, even when things don't make sense.

And there's no guarantee that things will make sense right away. Personally, coming from a career where I reached the pinnacle and then the Lord says, go to Kentucky, everything was just pointed to Kentucky. And I'm sitting here like, why Lord? Why? But you have to obey, and you just trust in him.

And it's just submission. It's just, okay Lord, you know why. Everything was built up in New Jersey. The master's degrees, the career, and then it's just gone. And it's but the blessings. The blessings of raising eight children in a sound church, in this environment. And who knows what the Lord has in store.

But until we submit, what's the opposite? What are we going to do? We're going to grumble. And that's what I did, honestly, my first year out here. I'm like, why, Lord, why? Why did you do this? Didn't you know my salary was there versus here? Didn't you know this? And it's, of course, the Lord knows, but it's just grumbling.

And that's a sin. It's disobedience. And it requires repentance. Because really, what am I saying? God, you made a mistake. And I know better than you of where I should have been. And you made a mistake. That's what I'm saying when I'm asking why now the ark had to go first. So, 2000 cubits, which I know we don't really use today.

We don't, it was 927 yards. So, we're looking at roughly nine football fields. Okay. So, the ark was really far ahead. So, you're looking in the distance and you're seeing the ark 900 yards ahead of you. This was to show you. The Lord was in charge. The Lord's the one that's stopping this river that's at its peak and 40 miles per hour, the Lord's stopping this.

And this is obedience. It's obedience to the Lord. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. If we're ever to know this, to benefit from God's leading, from governing in our lives, He and He alone must be our vision.

Storing our treasures on earth where they're just going to rust. No, storing your treasures in heaven. He has to be your vision. Because I may sit here, and I may want a fancy car and I may want fancy this and I want fancy that. But you know what? We have eternal life, salvation, the free gift of God's grace, eternal life, but we're so focused.

It's almost like we're so focused on this part of our life right here. And I'm like I'm going to get a job here. I'm going to get married here. I'm going to put away for retirement here and I'm going to focus all here, but we're not looking at the rest. We're not looking at all of eternity and it's we have all this, but where's our vision?

It's on this little part right there. I'm sorry if I'm pointing at you people here. I don't mean to, so it's our focus, but there was another reason we needed to revere the ark here. And that reverence here, if you look at Samuel second Samuel six, who's a touch the ark and was struck down, not showing the reverence and obedience.

So, the ark was held in high esteem. And we need to be obedient. We need to serve the Lord with reverence and godly fear. Hebrews 12, 29, For our God is a consuming fire. God is to be had in reverence. J. I. Packer points out, yes, God's love is mentioned many times in Scripture. You know what? God's wrath is mentioned more.

God's wrath is mentioned more. You go to some of these churches and it's like a drive through and it's just Hey, God has loved the end, and you know you're done in 15 minutes, and you move on, and you have a smile on your face, and it's no, there's obedience. There's repentance. Yes, salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone, but we need to repent of our sins.

And we need to serve, and we from a thankful heart. And if we're just saying, hey, God is love, I'm fine. No. There's a time where Jesus will say, I did not know you. I did not know you. Our obedience is to be prompt. When Abraham was called out, and he was in a profitable situation, and a great land, and he was to receive his inheritance, and he went out and he obeyed.

Noah. was warned about events that didn't make any logical sense, but he obeyed. So, I ask you this morning, do you obey the Lord? And I'm asking myself this too. Do we obey the Lord, or do we grumble? Do we sit here and say, that's not fair. Do we covet the finances of our neighbor or the possessions? Do we grumble about our current situation?

Or do we obey with trust? Trusting in the Lord. That's the kind of obedience that pleases God. 1 Samuel 15. 22 says, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? I want to go to the second example here, and we're going to go to Joshua 5. Men in the audience, bear with me, and you'll see what I mean.

Bear with me. Joshua 5 verses 1 through 9. As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they crossed over, their hearts were melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

At that time the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. So, Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath Haraloth. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them. All the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way out of Egypt.

Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, all the people who were born in the wilderness had not. For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. The Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord has sworn to give their fathers to give to us.

A land flowing with milk and honey. So, it was their children, whom they raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.

And the Lord said to Joshua, Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. And so, the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. Truthfully, until this sermon prep, I did not catch the obedience here. I looked this over and just said, oh, this is just obedience to the Lord.

But there's so much here to exposit. The Lord told Joshua to make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel. The precedent is the purpose of circumcision. If we look at Genesis 17, verses 1 to 11, and Acts 7, verse 8, you'll find, beginning with Abraham, the father of faith, circumcision was a spiritual symbol.

That represented the seal of God's covenant promise to Abraham that he would be the father of the entire nation to the people of Israel. It was a permanent identifying mark, signaling the fact that not only were they participants in the covenant, but they were the chosen people. So, in other words, they bore in their bodies evidence that they belonged to God.

The mark of belonging to God. They were a people who were God's possession. But I want to look at something else here. The Lord displayed such power as was evidenced in his people passing through the Jordan. And here we see, no sooner had the king of the Amorites and the king of the Canaanites heard of this feat, they were petrified.

They were terrified. Unlike Israel, the Amorites and the Canaanites were well advanced in ancient weaponry. They were warriors. They were skilled in the art of war. They were called the warfaring people, actually. And at this point, they couldn't lift a finger against God's people. They were debilitated and demoralized.

The Bible says their hearts melted. There was no longer any spirit in them. The focus here is on obedience. Keep that in mind, especially the timing. At this point, Joshua could have easily attacked Jericho. The people were terrified, their hearts melted, they just crossed the Jordan. What better time to attack than now?

Rahab's testimony in Joshua 2, and I'll talk about Rahab another time, she said to the spies who came in, as soon as we heard about you, our hearts began to melt. And there was neither, was there any more strength in us because of your God? And then in Joshua 5, we find the king of the Amorites, the king of Canaan, we're terrified.

This was a strategic time. This was a strategic time, the most opportune time. The ancient Greeks have a word for this, it's called Kairos. And it's basically seize the moment. Latin, carpe diem, seize the day, right? Momentum. Your opponents are weak. Now is the time to attack when they're terrified.

Joshua's a military commander. He would have known this. But God commanded him to do something counterintuitive. Something that was completely contrary to any military strategy because your enemies were petrified. What does Joshua say to do to the adult male warriors? Circumcise them with flint knives.

Men, relax. Stay with me. This would incapacitate Joshua's soldiers. This would incapacitate them. This isn't a baby, this is a grown man, this will incapacitate them completely. It would make them vulnerable. Jericho's soldiers could have easily come out and destroyed Israel at this time. You're like, you want me to have all my soldiers completely debilitated for three days?

The enemy spies would have known about this and would have reported it. It makes no sense. And to go further, the Israelites would have known that this would have made them debilitated because of scripture. Don't forget Genesis chapter 34, Dina, the daughter of Leah, who was born to Jacob, she went out to see the women of the land.

And Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, humiliated her. He loved the woman, spoke tenderly to her. So Shechem went to his father, go get me this girl. The sons of Jacob answered Shechem deceitfully because of he, he defiled their sister Dinah. They said, we can't give our sister to you because you're not circumcised.

That would be a disgrace to us. And then they said, okay, they circumcised. And then the sons of Jacob, two of the sons, Simeon and Levi. Now, Dina's brothers took their swords and came upon the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city.

The Israelites knew this, and they knew what these two sons did because of this circumcision to adult men. We know, Romans 2, we know, for us, circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the spirit. But one must wonder, why was the Lord ordering this at this time? At this particular juncture, when you cross the river, and you're facing the walls of Jericho.

Excuse me. Could it not have waited until after they conquered Jericho? Couldn't they have just held off for a little bit? But as we look at the word of the Lord incapacitated them. Because they were to trust in Him and depend on Him alone. Not on their weapons, not on momentum, not on their own strategy for war.

They were to depend upon the Lord. God evidently wanted to make the nation aware of their weakness. and their helplessness apart from him. It's a broken and contrite heart. And like I said last week, this is how our prayer should be. Lord, I can't do this without you. I simply can't get through this without you.

You're not in the negative frame of mind saying, I can't do this. Focus on the part where I can't do this without you. How is your prayer life? Because I know firsthand that when things are going really well, my prayers might simply be thank you and prayers before meals, family devotion. So those are things that we should do.

We should lead family devotion. We should have these prayers, but do I pray without ceasing when things are going well? But when things aren't going well, I am crying out before the Lord, and it shouldn't be like that. We should be praying like that all the time. And sometimes we do need to be broken.

Sometimes we do need to be broken so he can build us back up. And at this point, this was telling the Israelites they need to have total dependence upon the Lord. On no one else and nothing else but him keep in mind, even when it doesn't make sense, even when it doesn't make sense, you're led by the spirit.

And even though it doesn't make sense, we need obedience. We teach our children obedience. That's what scripture says to do, but we don't just say, because dad says. That's not, that's just teaching them to be obedient to me. We have to teach them to be obedient to the Lord. We need to point out the scripture that's being violated here and go through scripture and how they should behave.

Okay? So, it's obedience. God has a way of doing this in our lives. Like I said before, he is our shield. He’s, our protection. The battle truly does belong to the Lord. Ephesians 6, 10, and 11. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. We must realize our weakness and helplessness before him.

We need his strength and power. This is spiritual warfare. This is not just a physical opponent where we can, go and lift weights or something and go back and attack. No, this is spiritual warfare. We need the Lord. We need the armor of God. Don't forget 2 Corinthians 12, 8 10. When Paul spoke about that thorn in his flesh, and he begged God three times to have it depart from him.

And here's what Paul says three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me for the sake of Christ than I am content with weakness, with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

For when I am weak, then I am strong. Back to the Israelites. The Lord was preparing them spiritually for this battle. And remember, go back to chapter one in Joshua, the book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night that you may be prosperous in all your ways and have good success.

It suggests the battle was not entirely physical, but it was spiritual as well. We also see disobedience in Joshua seven, the battle. This was not the battle of AI. It's pronounced I; they didn't have artificial intelligence back then in the battle of I, through the cheating of one man, people of Israel broke faith.

Achin, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi of the tribe of Judah took. Some devoted things and the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel. The Lord said to Joshua, get up. Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned. They've transgressed my covenant that I commanded them. They've taken some of the devoted things they've stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.

Therefore, the people of Israel Cannot stand before their enemies. As we see, disobedience does have consequences. In the case of Aiken, the consequence was mortal. Indeed, the end of the day, the safest refuge is found in no other place, no other person than the Lord Jesus Christ. As we head to the last example of obedience to be looked at as well as the conclusion of Joshua, for today, we see the instructions.

That Joshua left to the Israelites, and it leads to one of the most quoted lines of all scripture. The last words of a person before they leave this life are very solemn, very sobering. In the closing stages of your life, you have the opportunity to give counsel, to look back. What would you say to someone in the closing stages of your life?

What lasting memorable words would you say? Joshua's concern before dying was to challenge God's people to remain true and obedient to the Lord. Steadfast in their service and committed in their devotion. Here's Joshua's charge. So, if you could turn to Joshua 24, we're going to read verses 14, 15, and then pick up again in 19.

We're gonna go to Joshua 24.

This is commonly known as Joshua's farewell address. Now, therefore, fear the Lord. Serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt. And serve the Lord. If it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your fathers served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Again, in verse 19, Joshua said to the people, you are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and do you harm and consume you after having done you good.

And the people said to Joshua, no, but we will serve the Lord. Then Joshua said to the people, you are witnesses against yourself, for you have chosen the Lord to serve him. And they said, we are witnesses. He said, then put away the foreign gods that are among you, incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.

And the people said to Joshua, the Lord, our God, we will serve.

Joshua's calling upon Israel to pledge their undivided loyalty to the Lord. The word serve, looking at repetition because this is so important, is used no less than seven times in these verses. And we talked about last week, when I started the sermon last week, I talked about how are you serving the church and would you return that job for a different one if it looked too difficult.

So, it's mentioned seven times here. If you ask yourself what in the end purpose that God saved us, it's for His glory that we might serve Him. And we have to look no further than the book of Hebrews, which actually is very compatible with Joshua. It really goes in tandem here. For a clear explanation of this, Hebrews 14.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Amen. This is genuine, wholehearted obedience. Wholehearted obedience to the known will and word of God. That's what delights the heart of God. Joshua challenges the Israelites to serve the Lord. Exclusively, not the gods of Sumeria and Babylon, not the gods of the Amorites. And just one note there from what I read before, he's not saying choose between this and that, what he's saying here is if it's evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, then choose whether you're going to serve the gods of the Amorites of the gods of this, because it doesn't matter who you choose because all those gods are fake.

So, if you're not going to serve the Lord, choose whatever else you want, because all of that is fake. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And we know this when he says house, it means family. As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. Men, we have an obligation to lead our families, to be that spiritual head of the household.

We see, in Ephesians, we see that, the role of submission. And we know that we have to submit to the Lord, and we have to lead our families. We have to have those devotions. We have to have those times. If our kids don't see it from us, where are they getting it from? We have to be strong and courageous and lead our families.

Joshua makes this commitment here to serve the Lord. We will serve the Lord and praise the Lord for the Holy Spirit's renewal of our hearts, that we can raise these children from sunup to sundown, just teaching them in the ways of the Lord. And it's difficult. I know it's difficult. But, and maybe this is for another day, but we have to keep in mind.

I'm speaking to the men here. We have to keep in mind that when we come home from work, and we're exhausted, and we don't want to do this, and we don't want to do that. If we're not leading our family, then we're essentially telling our wives that they have to lead the family. That they have to do everything.

They have to discipline the children. They have to do worship and devotion. And we're going to sit there on our phones and do this and that. No, we simply are making idols and we're running away from our biblical responsibility to lead our families. So, I want to give you some applications to take home from this message.

The first one is that obedience to the Lord. This is serving the Lord wholeheartedly, genuinely. We are amazing actors, but the Lord knows the heart, right? Whatever is in darkness is going to be brought to light. It is going to be brought to light. And we need to serve the Lord. Remember in John 14, if you love me, we can give all types of excuses.

We are masters at excuses. We make excuses for everything. Apparently, we have never sinned because there's an excuse for everything. But we're only lying to ourselves. We're only deceiving ourselves. We have to give an account for everything. And what are we going to say? What are we going to say? Oh, I was just this and that.

No, the Lord knows our heart. The Lord knows our heart. Who are we following? Who are we taking our cue from? Is it from the elders of the church? Is it from our leaders or is it from social media or is it from our friends? Who's leading your family? Do we know Jesus as our savior and Lord? And do we serve him?

Because there could be no pretense, no distracted allegiances. Remember John 4. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship him. It's God who matters. It's the Lord who matters and we need to teach our families fear of the Lord, real reverence of the Lord, because it's by grace that we've been saved through faith.

It's not our own works. Or else, what's the first thing we would do? We would boast. Nothing we did could ever earn our salvation, and we need to remind ourselves of this daily. We need to be humble. Second point, obedience means serving the Lord exclusively. And this is something that when we say having an idol, people say I don't bow down to wooden statues or stone statues.

I don't do those things. I don't have all these pagan gods and I do this and that. An idol is anything that you're putting above the Lord said this back in December, but I really meant it. Go into your settings and see how much time you spend on your phone for a week. And then, compare the amount of time you spent with the Lord.

Whether through reading his word, or praying, or serving. I don't think it's going to be 50 50. So, we need to serve him exclusively. It doesn't mean that you can't own a phone, but we need to be disciplined, not to put that above the Lord, not to be putting sports above the Lord. I love football just as much as anyone else.

But if I'm sitting here checking scores, if I'm sitting here thinking about the game and I'm not really here. That's pretense. That's an idol. We need to catch these things because idols are not just these things that, that we think of like drugs and alcohol and all these other things. No, it could be your garden.

It could be your garden. It could be so many other things. I tell people my addiction growing up and they usually laugh and it's no, it was a real addiction. My addiction was video games. I would spend 10 to 12 hours a day playing video games. And it was like, that was an idol, that was an idol.

And most of the time, it's the lies of Satan. It's the lies of Satan. This isn't an idol; this isn't hurting anyone. This is nothing. But ask yourself, is it taking time away from the Lord? If it is, then those are the lies of Satan. Do not put anything above the Lord. Yes, all have sinned. All fall short, but let's honor the Lord and stop our excuses.

Let's be obedient. Jesus says, if any man wills to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and let him follow me. There's some people will say, I'm going to serve the Lord, but I'm just going to get through some stuff first. No, we serve God today. That's why we're going to go.

We're going to talk to each other. We're going to pray. We're going to do various things because we are going to serve in any capacity. Possible. And the third point, the obedience to the Lord, even if it goes against your will. The bottom line is, when Joshua, you and I honor and obey the Lord, even when it doesn't make sense, even when it seems illogical, even when it seems counterintuitive, God will take care of everything.

Now, notice I did not say God will rescue us out of the trouble, because that's the understanding that many have today. What I mean is with obedience to the Lord, that he will not forsake us. He will not abandon us. He will strengthen us through these trials. Think with Daniel. He didn't take away the fire from Daniel, but he was there with him.

He who was in you is greater than he who was in the world. As Christians, like I say, over and over, we walk by faith and not by sight, even though the world tells us to walk by sight and not by faith, God's word and his ways. May not make sense. At times it may seem disadvantageous to obey the Lord. And we saw today how God instructed Israel to do something which did not make any logical sense.

But it taught them to obey and trust in Him rather than in their swords and their strategy. The question I pose to you today, will you obey the Lord? And will you trust in Him? Because Jesus says, why do you call me Lord, and not do what I tell you? It may seem illogical to love our enemies. To honor your unbelieving parents, to submit to an unloving husband, or serve a tough employer.

But God's Word brings about these spiritual blessings in our lives. Because we're not really working for that employer, we're working for Him. We're honoring Him in all that we do. We need to stop thinking that we're honoring this God. Rather than, we're honoring the Lord. We're honoring the Lord by praying for our unloving spouse.

We're honoring the Lord by doing these things. It's our service to Him, and we need to die to ourselves. Simply put, we need to die to ourselves. We are new creations, brothers and sisters. We are new creations. And we need to stop relying on our own strength, and our own wisdom, and rely on His strength, And his wisdom.

Will you trust him and obey him? Let's close in prayer. Lord, we come before you with humility and repentance. Lord, our trust and our obedience oftentimes is misplaced in the world. Help us, father, show us the truth. Lord, please just lead us to your word. Help us to focus on your word, day and night, to just pray without ceasing, to share in each other's burdens.

Lord. Increase our faith, help us to trust you and obey you, in Jesus’ name.