The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lassaire Bradley Jr. When I get scared. A thousand times to see my grace. Redeemer's praise, the glories of my god and key, the triumphs of his grace. This is Lisa Bradley Jr., inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace.
Uh Our wealthy nation, our hope for his to come our shelter from us for reflect Under the shadow of thy throne, still may we dwell safe.
So faith thy Lord alone and our defence is sure before the hills in order stood for her receiver praise from everlasting the Lord God to heaven. Oh God, our healthy Jesus has our hope for him to come. Be thrown like thy blind life at last and thy turn. As I have mentioned the past couple of Sundays, we're using messages from our series on the book of Joshua. and we're going back to some of the first ones in the series to remind you of the general theme of the book, and then shortly we'll be moving forward to the portion of sermons that had never previously been aired.
I hope that the messages will be a blessing to you. We would love to hear from you in fact, it is necessary to hear from you if we are going to be able to continue on all these stations. We've had to discontinue some, with great regret, of late, So if you want us to stay on your station, Let us hear from you. and I hope that you'll pray that the Lord will guide you in what you can do to help support this work. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, box seventeen oh thirty seven Cincinnati, Ohio.
four five two one seven. And you can go to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. There you can make a donation. you can read the Baptist Witness, and also be able to hear both the Sunday and daily editions of this broadcast. I hope that you'll pray for us, that the Lord will supply our needs and bless this effort to the glory of God.
of his name. Forward march. In the military, when the commander says forward march. There is a structured, orderly way to proceed.
Soldier may be tired. May not feel well. Maybe afraid. But he must march. And he doesn't just march in any direction.
He falls in line. He moves forward. in unison with others. Joshua chapter one, verse three. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
Forward. March. The children of Israel? are ready to come into the land of promise. Sad to say, That there came a time In their history later on, when they were moving in the wrong direction.
They didn't go forward. Jeremiah chapter 7 verse 24 says, But they hearkened not nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward And not Forward. The command was to move forward. Serving, honoring, obeying God. But in those days the Lord said, I sent many prophets to you, but you rejected their word.
He went backward. and not forward. If we're not moving forward in the service of God, We inevitably will be moving backwards. will begin to slide. Moving in the wrong direction.
So we looked at this first chapter of the book of Joshua last week. We saw the theme. of being encouraged. Joshua was encouraged to move forward as the leader of the people. They were encouraged to follow him.
And we concluded with an assignment for all of us to be an encourager. This is the beginning. of a new day for the children of Israel. Their wilderness wanderings are ended. Those who refused to enter the land at Kadish Barnea have now died in the wilderness, and only two are ready to enter the land: Joshua and Caleb, who were faithful.
Moses is dead. And Joshua has been chosen by God. to lead them into the promised land. To move forward. Find four things to be important.
First of all, they needed to learn from past experiences. Secondly, They were to trust in the promises of God. Thirdly, They were to commit to God's Word. And in the fourth place, to obey God's commands.
So first then we think about what was involved in this situation as they prepared and would look back on what their experiences had been, learning from those experiences. Joshua had to draw on what he had learned. He certainly had learned a lot from what he had seen. Joshua was there to see the ten plagues that were meted out on the Egyptians and the devastation that was wrought in that country. He was there to witness the deliverance of the Red Sea.
What a victorious day that was when the horse and its rider was drowned in the depths and the children of Israel came safely to the other side. He had witnessed what God had done in supplying their needs in their wilderness wanderings to rain bread down from heaven, bring water out of a rock. Leading them by the pillar of fire at night and the cloud in the daytime. He had witnessed all of these things. He saw that God was gracious.
to its people. powerful to deliver them. And he observed Moses example. Moses was described as the meekest of all men. Numbers chapter 12, verse 3.
Now the man Moses was very meek. above all the men which are upon the earth. Moses was a strong leader. And yet it is said he was meek. He was humble.
He didn't become arrogant as a leader. He was not brash. He was submissive. to God. Humble himself.
trusted the Lord in every time of difficulty and emergency that they encountered. He learned from experience. in serving under Moses. He had been a faithful servant to Moses. Exodus chapter 24, verse 13.
He's called Moses Minister. This indicates that he was an assistant to Moses. He was a workman under Moses' direction and command. He was there. to carry out The instructions were given him.
but also to learn from The way Moses conducted himself. The way that he always spoke with such respect about the Lord his God. the way that he sought to direct the people in the right path. Matthew Henry writes, He was trained up in subjection and under command. Those are fittest to rule who have learned to obey.
End of quote. Powerful thought.
Somebody is going to be an effective leader. They first Need to learn what it means. D'Orbay. He was a servant. Joshua was a servant.
And then. A leader. In Exodus chapter 33, verse 11, it specifically defines here that he was Moses' servant. Not many people want to sign up today to be a servant. And yet If we're followers of Jesus Christ.
That's what all of us are to be. And Jesus sets the example. Philippians chapter 2, verse 7. Speaking of our Savior, it said, but he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Jesus Humbled himself.
Taking on himself the form of a servant that humbled himself even to the death of the cross. And look at him. At the end of the supper. He got down and washed his disciples' feet. They said, if I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet.
Jesus was submissive to his heavenly Father. He made it clear that I came down from heaven not to do my own will. but the will of him that sent me. Notice how many times Jesus prayed. You might say, why would he need to pray?
He was God incarnate. And yet he came as a servant humbled. To that Position. Carrying out the will of his Father and saying he did not speak anything save that which was given him of the Father.
Now, if Jesus Himself set that example, My. It should not. vital that we follow the example. That we never become proud. Arrogant, haughty, thinking that we know everything, we can make our own plans, we can do whatever we want to do for our own best interests.
We want to have a humble spirit of following our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And Joshua. had a humble spirit, Yeah. Learned, no doubt, from Moses' example and from the experiences that he enjoyed along the way.
So when they did ultimately come into the land, And they were dividing the land into various portions for the tribes to occupy. Joshua. chose his last. He wasn't pushing himself ahead. He had a humble spirit.
And so He had Learned From what he saw. He had learned from his experience serving under Moses. And We found that He was faithful. Faithful not only as a servant. but faithful as a military leader, faithful in battle.
In Exodus chapter 17, verse 9, We read about an encounter that occurred not long after the children of Israel had left Egypt and were still. started on their wilderness journey. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men and go out. Fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
And then verse 11. And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
So Joshua. is called to become the leader. When Amalek comes to invade them during their Journey in the wilderness, and he successfully occupies that position.
Now, Moses says. I'm going to Hold up. The rod of the Lord. My hands are up. But after a while his hands got tired.
And when his hands went down, the enemy prevailed. When his hands were up, Israel prevailed.
So Aaron and her were appointed to hold up his hands. And they held up his hands all the day long until it says the sun went down. Verse thirteen. And Joshua confitted Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out of the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
Now, isn't that interesting? Joshua was chosen. to lead against this invading army. And he was a success in it because they held up Moses' hands and God intervened and blessed Joshua to succeed in sending back the enemy. And now Moses says, I want you to write this in a book.
Now you would imagine Joshua will never forget this, but Moses wanted to be sure he didn't forget it. You write this in a book.
So Joshua will be reminded of how God blessed him to gain the victory. How easy it is to forget. God blesses you. And then encounter. blesses you in a time of difficulty.
But as time passes on, it fades. We need to write it down and remember it. And so we have written down in God's word the account of the great things God did for his people, and we need to read them that we ourselves can be strengthened in our faith. This battle helped to prepare Joshua for what he would encounter when he came into the land of Canaan. And so past experiences Can be drawn upon.
to give us courage and Knowledge about how to encounter whatever difficulty may come our way in the future.
So it was with David. When David was going to go out against Goliath. And certainly, the military leaders there in Israel's camp thought this was foolish. How can this young shepherd boy expect? to successfully stand against such a great enemy.
None of the soldiers had been willing to go. How is it? that David says, I will go. Because he's relying On what? he had already experienced.
He said, I delivered my sheep out of the mouth of the lion and the bear, and the same God that gave me victory there will give me victory over this giant. And he went forward, and as you know, With the Splangen Stone brought down this Giant. and killed him. And so We have to learn. From those experiences along the way.
When God has blessed us. Given us special grace, given us victory. in difficult times. To know that the same God that has been with us in the past will be with us once more.
So Joshua was faithful in battle, and he was faithful as a spy. When he was among those that were sent into the promised land to spy it out. He came back with a positive report. is that it's a beautiful place, a marvelous place. A lamb that flows with milk and honey.
And he encouraged the people to go up at once and take the land. But only Joshua and Caleb. gave that recommendation that we can go at once because it's ours. God has given it to us and we can take the land. And this was at a risk of his life because the people were so angry that they Talked about stoning these two men that gave a positive report.
forgetting all about the fact. that God had roll back the waters of the Red Sea. And so there was nothing too hard for the Lord, and he could give them absolute victory going into the land. But they're upset, they're worried, they're alarmed, and so their solution is let's kill these men that are encouraging us to go.
So, as a spy He was faithful. Warren Wearsby writes, The ten spies looked at God through the difficulties. While Joshua and Caleb looked at the difficulties through what they knew about God. Their God was big enough for the battles that lay ahead. End of quote.
What a difference. You look at your trouble. And that gets bigger and bigger the more you look at it, the more you think about it, the more you talk about it. But you look at your God. And understand he's greater than whatever the trouble that might come your way, and you're ready to move forward.
And then we think about not only what Joshua. Learn But what the people should have learned. The people Should have learned indeed that God is able to deliver his people under impossible circumstances. People should already have known that God. was able to deliver them.
And they should know that God was going to deal with them when they sinned, when they rebelled. Because at Cadish Barnea, when the people were influenced by the majority report Said, we can't do it. There's giants over there and the city's walled up to the sky. And so, because they did not go, God says, all of you that are over 20 years of age are going to die in the wilderness. And they all did.
But the exception. with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. Not only Were they judged because they did not go when God said go? But after they realized God's great displeasure, they said, Okay, we've changed our mind, we're going to go. And Joshua says, don't go now, it's too late.
God says, if you go now, I'm not with you and you're going to be defeated. But they said we're gonna go anyway. And they went and they were defeated. I'd say They were slow learners, were they not? Just couldn't catch on to how God operates.
And Maybe we have to look at ourselves and say, have we been slow learners at times? Have there been times when God's word was plain and explicit. That we held back because of fear, or we moved forward presumptuously. And they needed to understand that God destroyed complainers. If you have your Bible, turn to this passage.
I want to read a further lengthy portion here. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. beginning with the fourth verse. 1 Corinthians 10, 4. And it all drinks the same spiritual drink.
For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased. for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Now these things were our examples to the attempt that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. You see, when we look at these Old Testament stories, We're not just viewing them as a historical account of what transpired. These things are written for our learning. They're written so that we may benefit. By what we're reading.
observing their mistakes and not doing the same thing. Observing those times when they move by faith. and seeking to follow that example.
So Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them. As it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. And that indicates that they had a feast. And then they had an orgy. They involve themselves in sexual activities.
And such things were a part of the pagan worship. of the people around them. And they were influenced by it. Neither let us commit fornication. And some of them committed.
and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. They can see God meant business. When he says you're to honor me. You're not to give your bodies to sinful activity. And he killed twenty three thousand people in one day.
Now you can kind of skim over that. Think about it a minute. Think about what was required to bury 23,000 people. Don't you know that was a vivid reminder? As they had to go to work, and prepare the graves.
And bury these people. This wasn't something that just happened in the moment, it was over. God killed them. And then they had to be buried. And here's A serious warning.
A reminder. God will punish sin. Neither tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now somebody might say, well, I've never been guilty of Sexual sin, which is here condemned. But at the same time, you might be a complainer. You might murmur. God was displeased with those that were murmuring and destroyed them.
Now all these things happen to them for in samples. And they are written for our admonition upon the ends of the world. And for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. It's easy for a person You feel like because I read my Bible, I pray that I go to church.
I'm strong. I'm not subject to fall. But you began to make some compromises. You go to some places you shouldn't really go to. You Associate with friends who are having an influence on you without you even realizing it at first.
And before long, you'll stumble and fall.
So he says, take heed. Lest you fall. Great. Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of tearing with thee.
Thou changes up thy compassions and the forever will be great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see all in thy hand hath provided. We have seen that the Lord's people should learn from past experiences, learn something about their own weakness and the need of dependence upon the Lord. And so we see this admonition that we must stand firm in him.
so that we must not think that we stand in our own strength lest indeed we should stumble. I hope that you will write us and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. Faithfulness, mercy, and love. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, born in my born new mercies I see. All and David I have and roll thy dead.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder Lessere Bradley Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, four five two one seven. Pardon for sin and a peace and purely presence, true Shir and true God, strength for today, and right hope for tomorrow.
Blessings almight with ten thousand beside great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have given, thy hand have brought thy death. Raged by faithfulness, Lord unto me
