Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina.

We're going to read these points that kind of help us, what are we supposed to learn from this? And I hope that this will help you this morning. Joshua chapter 22, I want us to begin reading verse 21. And we're just going to read eight verses, I think it is, but I want you to kind of get the setting and I'll give you the history so that you can understand it better when we're done. Verse 21 of Joshua chapter 22. Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said unto the, notice this, the heads of the thousands of Israel.

So here are two and a half tribes that are basically now trying to communicate with all the rest of the tribes of Israel. Verse 22, the Lord of gods, and this is what they said, the Lord of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth and Israel he shall know if it be in rebellion or if in transgression against the Lord, save us not this day. That we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord or it to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering or if to offer peace offerings thereon let the Lord himself require it. These men were coming to the rest of the tribes and saying, listen, God knows our heart, God knows our motive. If we have an ulterior motive or if we're doing this for a wrong reason or a wrong motive, God knows this, let him require it, let him judge that. Verse, let's see, verse 23, verse 24, excuse me, and if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying in time to come, your children might speak unto our children saying, what have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel? For the Lord God hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad, ye have no part in the Lord, listen to this, so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord. Therefore, or because we know that this is what can possibly take place, therefore we said, let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, but that it may be a witness between us and you and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, that your children may not say to our children in time to come, ye have no part in the Lord, therefore said we that it shall be when they should say to us or to our generations in time to come that we may say again, listen to this, behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but it is a witness between us and you.

God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord and turn this day from following the Lord to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the Lord our God that is before his tabernacle. Let's pray. I know you have a lot of questions and say, what does this all really mean? And simply we're going to explain it and I hope that this will encourage, motivate, challenge our fathers here today and kind of give us a perspective of life. Let's pray.

Lord, I love you. Thank you for all that you've done. Lord, I ask you to pray and bless and Lord, we're praying and asking you to bless and give grace to the Gordon family. They're not the only family hurting today, Lord, and it's not the only family without a dad or a husband on Father's Day, but Lord, because it just happened, I pray that you would minister grace to a mom and dad that's traveling, minister grace to a wife and kids that are trying to understand this.

Lord, I pray that you would be real to them at this time. And Lord, as we're sitting here at this building in Kernersville, North Carolina, may we be grateful for what we have and who we have. And Lord, I pray that we would open our hearts and minds to your word. Thank you for every person here this morning. We're certainly glad and thrilled that they're here. But Lord, since we're here, we want to hear from your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let me explain just simply. There are, we would call the 12 tribes of Israel and some separate them even further than that, but you all know the story about Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt.

We've talked and talked about that over the years, and I'm sure we will over the years. And we know that they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and here was the reason, because they sent in 12 spies. And as these 12 spies went into the promised land, many believe that these 12 spies already at that time represented the tribes who had kind of already separated themselves up. And they went into the promised land to see, can we go in and get this promised land that God has promised?

And may I say this, it is impossible to please God without faith. God had already given this land. He'd already promised this land. And if they by faith would have stepped through that and crossed that Jordan into the promised land, God would have given it to them. He'd already given it. He'd already promised it. But when those 12 spies came back, of course, Joshua and Caleb said, hey, it's a wonderful land, a fruitful land. The grapes were this big. He said, listen, we need to go and get this land. But the other 10 spies said, no, the giants are huge.

There's no way we could possibly win. And so they did not enter the promised land. And that considered and created them a journey through the wilderness year after year. And you know, whenever you and I do not claim the promises of God and do not follow the will of God, it always leads in an endless circle.

We're always going to be in a wilderness somewhere, wandering around. So what happens is, and we know the story of how they wandered in the wilderness and all these things come to pass. And here they are back at the border. They're back at the Jordan River, getting ready to cross over into the promised land.

And there is a little bit of an issue. The tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh, they were known to have livestock and animals. And that was kind of their business, their trade.

And that's what they had most of. And what they decided was they went to Moses and they said, Moses, listen, we know that God has given us this promised land. And we know that God has promised blessings there, but we like it here.

We have good grass and we know that our livestock and our animals can feed here. And we're fine with this. And really, we don't want to cross over. We don't want to go to this promised land that God has provided. We kind of like it on this side of the Jordan. And so we want you guys to go and you can just have all of it.

We want to stay here. Well, this upset Moses. And if you think about it, Moses had been preaching for 40 years about the land of Canaan. He had been preaching and talking and talking and sharing and teaching about this promised land and all the blessings that God had. But they had grown so comfortable on this side of the Jordan and they knew that they had certain needs met and they just decided that instead of by faith, going for the blessings that God had promised, they wanted to stay on this side of Jordan and enjoy what they already had. Moses was very disappointed in this and this began to split the tribes of Israel. He began to put a schism here in Israel and now the tribe of Reuben and Gad and this half tribe of Manasseh, here they wanted to stay and everyone else wanted to go and they needed their help to go. They all needed to stay together to go to the promised land to defeat the giants and defeat all this.

And now they just decided they want to back out. We're just comfortable here. And there's so many lessons to be learned from that.

That's not our main lessons today. May I just say this, that if we're not careful, we can get to the point that we don't really care to branch out by faith over the Jordan River for the promises that God has because we get so comfortable with this earth. We get so used to the things here and we like it so much and we're just good.

And you know what? Hey, we don't mind anyone else that wants to go by faith, anybody else that wants to do more for God and anybody else that wants to give it all to God and sacrifice and just turn their life completely over to God. It's not that they're against anybody that does that and they're glad for them and hey, we'll be praying for you as you go.

But we're comfortable here. You see, in life there's always going to kind of be two kind of believers. There's going to be those that really like to stay on the border. Every once in a while they can take a glimpse over across the river there at the promised land and know it's there and be glad for those that might live there but they kind of want to stay on this side.

They want to enjoy what they know is there and they've grown accustomed and comfortable and apathetic and cold and I'm just going to stay here. And then you have those that decide that you know what, whatever is here and God's provided here, if God's promised better and God's will is somewhere else and God's will is stepping out by faith, we're going to give it all to God. I want every blessing, every promise that God has promised and there will always be believers like that. And you know what, we need believers and we need young people and teenagers that decide, you know what, I don't want to just get comfortable with this world and if God's promised me something better, I want to get it. And you know what, I don't want to settle for somebody or something that, you know, I like it and I'm comfortable with it and I think I'll just take what I know I already have, some young people and some teenagers that say, you know what, I envision something greater for my life. I believe God's got somebody greater and something greater and I'm not going to settle for all this junk around me. I want to look ahead and I want to go to where God wants me to go. But that's not our message today. You say, well, you just did it.

Yeah, I guess I did. So here's what happens. The decision was made and the tribe of Reuben and Gad and this half tribe of Manasseh, they come to Moses and they said, listen, how about if we just send our guys that fight, our guys that are trained as basically our soldiers and we'll send them with you and they'll help you take the promised land and when you all are done that they can come back.

What about that? We'll stay here, take care of our livestock and all that. Moses reluctantly said, well, okay. And that was the deal that they struck and so it put a schism there in the tribes of Israel and Reuben and Gad and this half tribe of Manasseh stayed while everyone else went to follow the will of God. Joshua chapter 22 is kind of after all this has transpired, another generation comes and here in chapter 22 we have literally the next generation of Reuben and Gad and this half tribe of Manasseh that now they are right back here at the border of the promised land and they come to Moses and they say this, basically they said, Moses, listen, we want to put an altar here. We want to build an altar to the Lord and we're not doing this just to put on a show of sacrifice and we're not doing this just to kind of make everybody think or whatever. Remember, they are coming, this Bible says, to the thousands of the tribe leaders. It literally was everyone else and they didn't like Reuben and Gad and this half tribe of Manasseh. They didn't trust them and they felt that they had really turned their backs on them and this generation comes and they say, listen, Moses and all of you leaders that try, listen, we cannot change what maybe our fathers did but we want to do something different and we want to go a different direction and we want to do right by God and we want to do right by you and so we want to put up this altar and if you'll notice here in verse 28, they said literally, behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord.

We want our children to be able to look back and say, our fathers made this. Now what is a pattern? This word pattern is not used in the Bible a lot.

I have spoken many times in the New Testament that says we are to show a pattern of good works. What does that mean? It means as dads and as moms and as parents that we should be living in front of our children what they should see.

It should be a pattern. It's not a once every, every once in a while type thing. It's not that every once in a while we show honesty or we show character. It means every day we show character.

Every day we show honesty. Every day we put God first because we are creating a pattern. A pattern is something that you repeat.

It's something that is mimicked. And so we have to literally live that pattern in front of our children so that they have something to follow. So these guys come to Moses and to the other leaders and they said listen, we want to establish a new pattern. We want to build an altar to God here as a witness, as a sign between us and you, between your future generations and our future generations. We want to do right by you and we want to do right by God because one day we want our kids to be able to look back and say our fathers made that altar. So today just briefly as we look at this passage what kind of pattern were these men trying to lay down for their children? And they make it very, very clear. So I want to talk to you about that today.

Just for a minute. A father's pattern to follow. I want you to see first in verse 22, look at this real closely. This is what these men as they come to Moses they say this, the Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, listen to this, He knoweth.

Is that not true folks this morning? God always knows. I want you to see first that they were leaving a pattern of transparency. They were telling their children listen, we can put on a show if we want to, but we're not going to. We can build an altar just for fake sacrifice or for fake peace and all that stuff, but it's time to get real.

It is time to be honest. We cannot change maybe what our fathers did. Our fathers only worried about their livestock and our fathers only worried about their business and what was best for them at the time. But God knows the heart.

He knows. May you and I lay a pattern for our children to teach them that God knows. May we not put on a show at church.

May we not put on a show at work. And may we not put on a show once we leave the driveway of our house and now we're some super Christian and now we act like we're some godly gabe or something like that or we're holy hairy or something like that and we walk around and our kids look and say well man alive they don't act like that at all at home and I know the real them and listen it's time for us to quit putting out the fake altars and the fake sacrifices. It's time for our kids to know from dad and from mom that God knows.

It's time to get real with our kids. Say hey son, hey daughter, dad blew it. Dad messes up. Dad's trying. Sometimes dad just has a lot on him and I just don't make the right decisions and I just lose it sometimes or whatever the case might be but I want you to know dad's sorry. And God knows. We can't hide anything from God. And I've let God know I'm sorry and I'm letting you know I'm sorry.

We're just going to keep trying to do better. Had a dad sitting in my office about a year and a half ago and I was counseling with him and he just been through a divorce and had some anger issues in a sense over that and I can understand as any of you can. And he said you know some of the times my time with the kids I'm just so mad so frustrated about things and he said man I just last week I just really blew it at a grocery store and just went off on one of my kids and really made a mess of things. So I took him to James chapter 5 and in James chapter 5 says if we confess literally the point is that we come to each other and he said literally so that we can be healed in James it says this. Confess your faults one to another.

Pray one with another that you may be healed. And I told him I said you know you can't change what you did but you can go and you can confess it to them. Dad blew it. And you can confess it and I said then you just bow your heads with him and say kids let's pray and just pray God I'm sorry once again for what I did. And I said may I tell you something? Eventually down the road you say are they ever going to forget that dad did that at the grocery store?

Probably not. Because kids can remember everything mom and dad did wrong. But I told him I said but with that memory guess what else they're going to remember.

I remember when dad sat down and admitted it. And prayed and asked God listen to me I don't know about you it's time for us to get real. Because God knows.

A pattern of transparency. I want you to notice number two if you'll notice in verse 27 these men were trying to leave their children a pattern of legacy. If you'll notice in verse 27 he literally says listen we want to build this altar as a witness and notice what he says between us and you and our generations after us. In other words the motive of this the reason these men were kind of going and eating humble pie and they weren't wanted there and they weren't trusted and because of decisions that their fathers had made but they went through that they humbled themselves they faced the music and they showed up and said we want to do this we want to build an altar and we want to make things right because of our generations to come. In other words we want to leave a pattern here for my kids and my grandkids. Dads grandpa's here today you and I need to leave a pattern for this next generation. We need to live in a way so that you say well I can't make them no you don't you can't make them and you can't make their decisions and they're going to make their choices but our job is to live that pattern in front of them. Our job is to give them that to follow and their decision is whether they follow it whether they don't follow it but our job is to give them that pattern.

They said listen we're concerned about our kids and our grandkids. You know what we can't change what our dads did but we can change what we do so that our kids one day can look back and say hey guess what my dad did? He built an altar to the Lord. Pattern of legacy.

I want you to notice number three. They left a pattern of serving. Look at verse 27. These men come to Moses and they say that we want this to be a witness between us and you and our generations after us look at verse 27 that we might do the service of the Lord. Moses we want our kids to see us serve God. Now our dads were only worried about livestock. Our dads instead of worrying about the promises God had they wanted what was comfortable they wanted what was guaranteed they wanted what was already right in front of them.

They enjoyed this side of the Jordan. But listen Moses we want to leave a different pattern to our kids. We do not want our kids to see us as men who serve our desires or serve our needs. We want our kids to see us as men that serve the Lord. Dads can I encourage you? You and I need to leave a pattern to our kids of serving God.

Now listen I'm all for it if you can leave a bunch of money and a bunch of land or whatever the case might be. I'm all for that and praise the Lord if you can. But I'm here to tell you this there's nothing more important to leave them than them seeing a dad that served God. A pattern of service. What kind of pattern are you leaving your kids today? Dads keep serving God.

You say preacher I have and it's just I'm discouraged some of the decisions. Listen it's not your job to control them. It's your job to show them a pattern. And they can follow it or they can choose not to. But at least you showed them the pattern to follow. They said we want to do service to the Lord.

I want you to notice number four. In verse 28 we see our key phrase here that they wanted to leave a pattern of worship. They said now listen Moses we're not putting up this altar just so we can make a sacrifice. And we're not just putting this altar so we can put on there a peace offering. And we're not just putting these altars up here just for a show and just for no reason. But if you'll notice in verse 28 he says behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made. They're looking ahead and they say listen Moses we want this altar to be here as a witness between us and you. That we want to serve God. And we want our kids one day to look back and say dad showed me how to build an altar to God. Now look at me this morning. I want you to get this.

I love this. These men that came to Moses it doesn't say everything that they said. I don't know if we're giving everything or not but can I tell you what I think might have been part of the conversation. Moses our dads taught us how to drive cattle. Our dads taught us how to run livestock because that's what they were worried about that's what they were concerned about. That was their whole motivation for staying where they are. And look at me dear friend it could have been that the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad and Manasseh.

Maybe livestock is what they had livestock is what they knew. And maybe they felt you know what if I go over to Jordan how do I know if I'm going to be able to take care of my family. How do I know if I'm going to be able to provide.

How do I know all these things. So I'm just going to stay here where at least I know I can provide for my family. And you and I would say there's nothing wrong with that and there's not. But when God's will is different and God has made a promise I recommend to you follow God.

Just because you're comfortable on this side of the Jordan doesn't mean that's the right decision. Look at me these guys said listen Moses they showed us how to raise cattle. They showed us how to take care of goats and they showed us how to handle the camels and how to water them.

They showed us all that. But Moses our kids and grandkids down the line we want to show them how to build an altar to the Lord. Now my dad maybe didn't show me how to do that. And our dads they were good men and we love them. And yeah we got a lot of knowledge how to make money over here and maybe how to how to do this. But we want to build an altar here Moses and we want to show our children they're young right now. They're small right now and you know our dads didn't do that for us.

And you know what we're not against them and we love them. But we want our kids as they grow up not just to know how to run livestock. We want them to know how to get a hold of God.

I encourage you dads let's show a pattern to our kids of how to worship God. Now I'm all for showing them how to change the oil I think it's a waste of time nowadays. My dad taught me how to change oil with my first car in 1970 Mercury Cougar XR7.

A 351 Cleveland engine in it kind of a thing and I love that car. And my dad taught me how to change the oil and get the pan and take the plug out and all this stuff. Do you know what all I'd have to take off my car for me to try to do oil in a car now.

I'm going to pay that 30 bucks wait 30 minutes and I'm done. You know what listen show your kids how to change the oil. Show your daughters how to cook or whatever you know whatever you want to show them.

I'm for it. But let's show them how to worship. Let's show them how to get a hold of God. Look at me I can see these guys as they're talking to Moses.

Now I don't know this I'm not saying I'm not trying to add to God's word. But I can see these guys as they're talking I can see maybe they're four year olds, five year olds, eight year olds, nine year olds. I can see them kind of hanging on to their robe. They're sitting here talking to Moses those little children. I say Moses listen we want to put an altar up here and we want to show them how it's done.

And I can see them as they say all right kids listen this is how you build an altar to God. We've got to clear out this area. We've got to clear a spot take all this stuff. We've got to chop all this grass down chop these trees. We're going to clear out a spot because you know whenever you build an altar to God.

You're going to have to clear out some junk. So you've got to clear all this out. Listen you take these stones and you know he is our rock. He's the foundation we're built on.

He's the chief cornerstone. So you've got to put this rock here and you've got to get this rock here. And you've got to lay it out like this because you need to have a big enough place and a nice enough place for you to put sacrifice on there. Because you're going to get a hold of God it's going to cost you something. And you're going to have to give something and you're going to have to do something. You're going to put some work into it. And I can see them as these little children are watching them and learning.

And these guys are thinking I remember when dad showed me how to do this with cows and do this with goats. But I want to show my son how to get a hold of God. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kerwinbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you. We'll be right back. God bless you. God bless you.