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Get Ready | Joshua 5 · Saint City Chapel

• 0:01
  Good morning. I was wondering if I was going
• 0:04
  to make it like a, there's like a that feels powerful, you know,
• 0:07
  And it's like, so I walked up here and I'm like, that pumps me
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  up more than I probably should. Good morning.
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  If we haven't met yet, my name is Preston.
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  I get to serve on staff here, specifically with our college
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  ministry called the Salt Company.
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  It is a joy and a privilege. Hey, if you didn't know, St.
• 0:21
  City Chapel, we are a church plant.
• 0:24
  OK. Our church, actually, our staff
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  team was just at a conference called Vintage Mission, OK, Vcon
• 0:31
  is what we call it, Vintage Con. That's how cool people say it.
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  So we're there. It's hosted by a church, you
• 0:35
  might know, called Christchurch. And Christchurch is actually one
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  of the sending churches of us here at Saint City.
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  So when we walk in there, like honestly, it's like you're the
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  favorite child, which I've never experienced before, but I go
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  there. That's a joke.
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  My parents are here. So we're there.
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  That's fun. And and I see Manu, you guys
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  know Manu. He's in our church, guys.
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  Incredible testimony. Manu has guy's an incredible
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  work in his life. You should ask him anyways.
• 1:00
  Yeah, like I said, salt company, we meet Thursdays at 8:00.
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  That's my job, what I do here. Last week, I alluded to
• 1:06
  something that our church got to be a part of.
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  It's called the Collegiate Night of Prayer put on by ASU United.
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  So our church, these guys back here, I really did nothing.
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  And they hosted almost 300 college students to come worship
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  and pray to Jesus on the campus of ASU.
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  So we, yeah, have clap for that, guys.
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  God is on the God is on the move.
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  Just it's so cool, honestly. Like there's people's to us,
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  some strangers, some other college students that we don't
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  know, a part of some other ministry that are following
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  Jesus at ASU, just crying out to the Lord crying because the
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  Spirit's meeting with them as they're praying to Jesus.
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  And so that was incredible. So if you're part of this
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  church, you are part of that. So thank you for being a part of
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  that. That's why that's why we're here
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  to see that happen. So thank you.
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  OK, enough for that stuff. Joshua 5, Joshua 5, That's where
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  we'll be. If you have a Bible, we can go
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  ahead get there. But here, here's a quick run up
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  on it. So I don't know if you guys are
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  in a community group here. My wife and I are.
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  Honestly, if you're here and you're not in a small group,
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  whether it's with the salt company or with St.
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  City, you're actually in the minority.
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  Most of us are in a group, which is amazing.
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  So you should join one. Tuesdays, 8:00 PM or 7:00 PM at
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  my house. You should come plug there.
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  It'd be great. And so in that group, just a
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  couple weeks ago, maybe you guys can relate.
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  We're going through Joshua too. You know, we kind of talk about
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  the sermons there and this, I like this, this question about
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  God's power. Like it keeps coming up week
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  after week. And this is like, I feel like
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  I've been talking about this forever.
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  I talked about this at song Company 2 weeks in a row, but
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  here it is again in this group. There's a gal, she brings up
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  this question. She goes, hey, is the reason is
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  the reason why we're not seeing God move powerfully is the
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  reason why we're not seeing God move powerfully around us?
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  Is it because we're not ready for him to this is this is a
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  question. It's been really been a rock, my
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  shoe for the past three weeks. And we come to a text like this.
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  And guys, this is the question we have to ask is it is the
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  reason why I'm not seeing God move powerfully is it is the
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  reason because I'm not ready because guys, think about it as
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  our church, we want to be a church who's ready for when God
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  moves powerfully to be right there with him.
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  And so in this text in Joshua 5, it is the perfect question for
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  this text because in in Joshua 5, if you remember the last
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  couple weeks, God's moving the people.
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  They're out of the wilderness now.
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  They've crossed the river, right?
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  The 12 Stones from last week. And God is getting them ready.
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  He's getting his people ready to move on a conquest, a physical
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  conquest to go get land. Now, God doesn't do that in the
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  same exact way today. That'd be crazy.
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  If you have some people trying to conquer land for God, It's
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  like, oh, question, not a political statement, just an
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  observation. But today God does move in a
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  spiritual conquest. Like today, I believe that we're
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  here, that God is playing with this church, not so much to
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  conquer land, but to conquer hearts for Jesus.
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  And so us, as we sit in our seats and as we go through
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  Joshua 5, we're asking the same question.
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  How can we get ready for God to move powerfully?
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  And so there's the question. We can throw it on the screen.
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  How can we be ready for God to move powerfully?
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  And, and guys, I believe God will do it.
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  I believe he's going to do it. And whether we're ready or not,
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  it's not necessarily a question for the staff team of Saint
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  City. It's the question for us as a
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  people because, guys, we can preach it, but the question
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  isn't whether we preach or not. The question is, do we practice
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  it? That's a question for all of us.
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  OK, Joshua 5 about to go on this conquest of Canaan.
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  Let's read about it. Chapter 5, verse 1, Chapter 5.
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  So that's the big #5 the little #1 Here we go.
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  Sorry, I'm lost in my notes. I'm finding my place.
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  Here we go, Joshua 5 first one, if you got it, let me hear you
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  say got it. People are making fun of me
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  already. Didn't even start yet.
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  Verse one, Sorry, I'm a little nasal.
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  I'm getting over being sick. So here we go.
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  Verse 1. As soon as all the kings of the
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  Amorites who are beyond the Jordan to the West, and all the
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  kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, when they heard that
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  the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of
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  Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and
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  there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of
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  Israel. OK, you got to think about this.
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  These guys, right? These other kings, these other
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  nations, like they're, they're anticipating the nation of
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  Israel coming over. And, and literally, I, I mean,
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  just in my, you know, interpretation, they literally
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  crapped their pants, right? It says their hearts melted and
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  there's no longer spirit in them because of the people of Israel.
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  Like there's just a, a thing happening here, this
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  anticipation for God to move powerfully.
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  They see these people crossing over.
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  They're like, this conquest is about to happen.
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  So there's anticipation here, but that's not the point
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  entirely. Look at verse 2 with me.
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  We'll read a bit of a text here. Verse 2 At that time the Lord
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  said to Joshua, make Flint knives and circumcise the sons
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  of Israel a second time and I'm going somewhere with this.
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  OK, just buckle up. Verse 3.
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  So Joshua made Flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel.
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  I should practice Gilbieth Heyoralath.
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  That's it's a verse 4 and this is the reason why.
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  Hey, if you have a pen, this is important right here.
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  Let's get serious. Verse 4 And this is the reason
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  why Joshua circumcised all the mail of the all the males of the
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  people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, sorry, all
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  the men of war. Let me just restart.
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  OK, I got way thrown off. Verse 4 if you have a pen, I
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  want you to underline this. It says this is the reason why.
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  OK, so we're talking about circumcision here.
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  Verse 4 this is the reason why and I'll restart.
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  Verse 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them.
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  All the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men
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  of war, they had died in the wilderness on the way after they
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  had had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came
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  out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on
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  the way in the elderness, wilderness, after they had come
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  out of Egypt, they had not been circumcised.
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  Verse 6. For the people of Israel walked
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  forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of
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  war who came out of Egypt, perished.
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  You can underline this too, because they did not obey the
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  voice of the Lord. So the Lord swore to them that
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  He would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to
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  their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and
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  honey. So it was their children who God
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  raised them up in their place and that Joshua circumcised for
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  they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on
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  the way. OK, said that word more times
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  than I thought I would, but here we are.
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  There's a there's a lot happening here in this text.
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  There's a couple things we just pointed out underlined, but a
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  couple things I really hope you noticed was that God had a plan
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  from the very beginning to bring his people into the promised
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  land. That was his plan for the very
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  beginning. If you read all the, all the
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  books in the Bible, like the, the, it's a little bit
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  chronological here in the beginning, if you read these
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  books, you'll see it's been God's plan from the beginning to
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  bring his people into the promised land.
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  But you got to understand there's a generational thing
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  that's happening here. So there's an older generation
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  that God made the promise to in an older generation that God
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  brought out of Egypt, but that's not the generation that went
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  into the promised land. And maybe you noticed it.
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  Why was it? Why was it that they didn't
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  bring them out? Well, it says it.
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  It literally says This is why. And then it says in verse 6
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  because they did not obey the voice of the Lord.
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  Literally in verse 6, it tells us that this older generation
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  was a disobedient to God so much so even think about it so much
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  so they stopped circumcising their kids.
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  And why is that important? Well, circumcision.
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  It was a sign of of the covenant of God that they were were
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  entering into the covenant with God and that they were basically
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  taking their children and saying, Hey, we will raise them
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  up in the way of the Lord. But their hearts this
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  generation, this crooked generation, this older
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  generation that grew cold against God.
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  Like think about it, they had this this apathetic faith like
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  that, whether it was like they just stopped trusting God slowly
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  over time and it built in a build it was they just became
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  apathetic. There's some blatant
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  disobedience, probably some some carelessness to hear God's
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  voice, hardness of heart, maybe a lack of conviction.
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  They don't feel bad when they disobey God.
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  There's no conviction there because God called them to to be
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  set apart. But the hearts grew calloused,
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  the feelings there, it became numb.
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  There was calloused. It was lack of conviction.
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  And guys, I think this, I think we know what this is like.
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  We know what it's like to have an apathetic faith.
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  We know what it's like to just be blatantly disobedient towards
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  God, to feel the carelessness for what God has to say.
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  We don't care what this book has to say.
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  A hardness of heart, maybe a lack of conviction, That's an
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  important one. It's the Holy Spirit who
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  convicts us and maybe we lack of that feeling of conviction
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  because these people, I mean, they, they, they forgot the
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  covenant. They forgot what God had done
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  for them. They forgot what the Lord was
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  doing in their life. They forgot the power of the
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  Lord. They forgot what what God was
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  wanting to do not only around them, but what God was trying to
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  do within them. And ultimately they forgot what
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  the conviction of sin felt like. Their hearts were so calloused,
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  they stopped feeling bad for their disobedience.
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  And so God needed to remind his people in this new generation
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  about the covenant that he had made with them.
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  So think about this anticipation, right?
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  These other kings right there in verse one, they're like, dude,
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  God's people are coming. They're freaking out, doing all
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  the things. Hearts are melting.
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  Imagine the people of Israel, bro, they got to be ready for
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  this conquest, right? They got to be like, oh, bro,
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  the momentum's going right. The front lines are getting up
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  there. They're probably got their
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  swords ready. Like they're, they're ready for
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  battle. And God's like, hey, before you
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  take a sword against them, go make Flint knives and put it
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  against yourself. And remember the covenant that I
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  made with you, Remember the promises of God that God's like,
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  hey, I'm going to bring you into that land.
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  But you got to get ready first. You need to remember the
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  covenant. Look with me in verse 8 it says
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  when the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they
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  remained in their places in the camp until they were healed,
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  which makes sense. Verse 9 and the Lord said to
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  Joshua, if you have a pen, this is important.
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  Today I have rolled away. Look at that roll, at that
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  rolled away, the reproach of Egypt from you.
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  So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day,
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  Gilgal right there. My Bible, it's got a little #3
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  next to it. It's a little footnote.
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  It tells you Gilgal. It sounds like the Hebrew word
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  to roll away or to roll. They literally called that place
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  to roll away. So when God, he doesn't do
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  something strategically, physically to his people, like
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  I'm not a a warrior, but that doesn't sound like the most
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  effective thing to do to get your men ready for battle.
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  But I think God's doing something very intentionally
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  spiritually here, that he's doing the most important thing
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  for anybody who is ever going to go on a conquest for the Lord, a
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  spiritual conquest. The first thing that we have to
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  do is remember the covenant. And for them it's this painful
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  mark, this painful reminder of the promises of God that he is
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  rolling away the reproach of Egypt, the place of slavery, the
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  place of sin, the place of captivity.
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  God rolls away the reproach of Egypt and he's like, we're going
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  to call this place roll away because from now on, you guys
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  have renewed the covenant and I'm rolling your sins away.
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  And so the issue for us today, it's not anything about
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  necessarily circumcision, but there is still a reminder that
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  we need of the covenant, perhaps even a painful reminder of the
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  promise that we've made with Jesus, maybe even like being
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  grieved by our so the conviction.
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  Because the issue I think for us today, it's not that we've
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  forgotten circumcision, it's that we've ignored our
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  convictions. We've ignored what it feels like
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  to grieve the Holy Spirit. So there's this book I had a
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  friend give me, but Doctor Martyn Lloyd Jones, if you want
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  to read something dense, you can read this one.
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  It's called Spiritual Depression, which it's an older
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  book, so it's not necessarily about depression, but it's kind
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  of about apathetic faith. And I haven't finished it yet,
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  but there's this chapter that I was reading.
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  And so he talks about, he talks about this, this gal in their
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  church that she grew up going to church and, and she's like,
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  like, serves there, does all these things.
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  But then she sees these guys who live these crazy lifestyles,
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  they're drinking, they're partying and they're doing all
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  the things. And then they come to faith in
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  Jesus. And now these guys, they have a
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  joy in Jesus, a powerful joy in Jesus that she wished she had.
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  And so she looks at these guys and she's like, man, I just
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  wish, I almost wish that I grew up like them so that I could
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  have the joy of Jesus like them. And Doctor Martin Lloyd Jones, a
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  great pastor that he is, he goes, the issue isn't
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  necessarily your upbringing. The issue is being convicted by
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  sin. And So what he's saying is that
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  this woman's never truly been convicted for her sin, that her
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  heart is actually calloused as if just like those men who lived
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  the way they lived before Jesus. And he goes on to say that to
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  feel the joy of Jesus, you actually need to feel the
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  conviction of your sin. And so like these men who had to
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  take the Flint knives to themselves first to feel the
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  pain of the covenant, I think this Holy Spirit is often
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  reminding us the pain that we have when we grieve God of our
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  sin. Our sin breaks the heart of God.
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  And I think we've forgotten that.
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  And so if we want to go on this spiritual conquest for God, to
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  see God, like change hearts here in Tempe, to see God change
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  hearts here at ASU, we need to remember.
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  We need to remember what God has done for us, Jesus on the cross
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  and for some of us here, right? They mean you've never felt the
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  conviction of sin. And that's simply just because I
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  mean, you're not a Christian and you wouldn't even say that you
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  are. And, and hey, this is what I
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  would say to you, this word, Gilgal, the Bible would go on to
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  say, there's, there's, there's this other place, Golgotha.
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  It's another Hebrew word to sound like roll away.
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  This is the hill that Jesus died on.
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  There's a connection here in the words with Gilgal and Golgotha
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  that Jesus would go. He'd live the life we could
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  never live. He'd die the death that we
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  deserve to die. But then he would raise again
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  from the grave, rolling the stone away and rolling our sins
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  away with it. That's the truth of the gospel.
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  That's the truth that we can have and believer.
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  If you're here and you're like, man, I just haven't felt the
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  conviction of the Holy Spirit for a while, you need to
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  remember that truth that God wants to do something not only
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  powerfully through you, but he wants to do something powerfully
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  within you. And you need to remember the
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  covenant that your sins are rolled away, that yes, there's
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  conviction of sin. You're doing things you
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  shouldn't do. You know you shouldn't do it,
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  but you need to realize there's a joy on the other side and that
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  Jesus has rolled those sins away on the cross in the empty grave.
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  And so I don't know what else to say but come to faith in Jesus.
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  OK, usually they put that at the end of the sermon, but here it
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  is for you. So a conclusion here, I know we
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  spend a lot of time on that, but I think that's most important.
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  But what God does conclusion to this point is that God readies
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  His people for conquest by renewing the covenant.
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  That's what He does. And so if we want to be ready
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  for God to move powerfully to take us on this spiritual
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  conquest, first we must remember and have this freshness in
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  ourselves, the covenant that we have through Jesus.
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  That's what we must remember. OK, so I got two more points.
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  I'm supposed to tell you that early up conviction, communion
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  and commander, and so sorry, covenant.
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  And so we just talked about the covenant.
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  But there's something more I want you to see here in the text
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  where God, after he renews the government covenant with his
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  people, he restores communion with them as well.
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  It's right here in verse 10. Let me read it 1st 10 While the
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  people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the
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  Passover on the 14th day of the month in the in the evening on
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  the plains of Jericho, and the day after the Passover on that
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  very day they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes
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  and parched grain in the manna ceased on that day.
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  That's important in the manna ceased the day after they ate of
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  the produce of the land, and there was no longer manna for
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  the people of Israel, but the ate of the fruit of the land of
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  Canaan that year. OK, So that's important, right?
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  Let me show you a couple things here.
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  We're pretty aware at this point that there is a generation in
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  the wilderness that wasn't very obedient to God, right?
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  They stopped circumcising. Their kids up to that point and
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  and also they did a bad job of keeping the Passover.
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  There's really not a lot of of stuff in the Bible that would
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  show us they kept the Passover every week.
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  I think there's like another text perhaps in numbers.
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  But God's people, they were very disobedient.
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  They didn't keep the Passover. They didn't do these things and
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  so on. God, he's like, hey, get ready
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  for conquest. First, let's renew the covenant
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  and now let's re establish the Passover or communion to keep
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  the seas alliterated, you know, to commune with him.
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  But if you think about the Passover, what was this meal?
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  What was the Passover meal? Well, in Exodus it would tell us
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  they would sacrifice a lamb. They'd eat this great BBQ,
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  right? They'd gather around the table
• 20:44
  and they'd remember the promise of God.
• 20:46
  And so at the Passover meal, they would do two things.
• 20:49
  The first is they would commune with God.
• 20:52
  They would remember what God has done, these promises.
• 20:56
  So for these guys sitting down here, Joshua's time, they're
• 20:58
  probably thinking, bro, I swear that river was dry inches deep.
• 21:04
  I bet they're like a foot deep. They probably they were metric
• 21:07
  system, you know, so you know, a meter, half a meter.
• 21:11
  That was a joke because you guys said they didn't create the
• 21:13
  metric system yet. You guys, you're with me.
• 21:16
  They're thinking about what God has done.
• 21:19
  And so they're communing with God, but not only that, they're
• 21:22
  doing it with each other. So this Passover meal, they
• 21:25
  would commune with one another as well.
• 21:28
  They would they would eat food together, right?
• 21:31
  And here it's very important to see that they that the manna
• 21:36
  cease. Do you guys remember what manna?
• 21:38
  Do you just remember that perhaps in, in, in Exodus, God
• 21:41
  starts giving his people food in, in the wilderness.
• 21:44
  So going through the desert, whatever, he starts dropping
• 21:46
  stuff from this. They call it manna.
• 21:48
  The literal word for like manna is what is it?
• 21:52
  They're like, oh, what is this? And so that's what they called
• 21:55
  it. They call it the, what is it?
• 21:56
  That's what mana means. That's what the Hebrew word
• 21:57
  means. They're called what is it?
• 21:58
  So don't even know what this is. These are like travel food,
• 22:01
  right? So it's not even good food.
• 22:02
  But now they enter into the promised land and God's like,
• 22:05
  hey, let's have the Passover meal, but eat from the land.
• 22:10
  You don't need this stuff that I've been providing for you.
• 22:15
  The promise of provision, it's here.
• 22:18
  It's in the land. The promise is being fulfilled.
• 22:21
  You can now eat from the land and have communion with one
• 22:24
  another, share a meal with one another.
• 22:28
  And So what God is doing here is he's saying, hey, before you go
• 22:32
  on this conquest, first you must spend time not only with me, but
• 22:38
  spend time with one another. Hey, guys, this is an important
• 22:42
  truth for us today that we want to be people.
• 22:45
  Like if God's about to go on the spiritual conquest, we're about
• 22:48
  to go with him. We're about to see people come
• 22:49
  to face like crazy, which I actually, I think we are.
• 22:52
  If we want to be a part of that man, we need to be commuting
• 22:56
  with God. We need to be a people who are
• 22:58
  commuting with the Lord that we're spending time with him.
• 23:03
  And not like this old generation who forgot the voice of the
• 23:06
  Lord, but this generation who's going to remember the words of
• 23:09
  God. And I don't know what it is for
• 23:12
  you, but like, I've, I've talked to some guys, some some college
• 23:15
  guys, they've come up with some pretty great substitutes for
• 23:19
  God's word. Some of them are honorable, some
• 23:21
  of them not so honorable reasons why they're not going to read
• 23:24
  the Bible or they're trying something else because I just
• 23:27
  don't know. I'm not that educated, but I'm
• 23:30
  pretty sure there's not a good substitute for this.
• 23:33
  Like this is what we need. We need to know the voice of
• 23:36
  God. We need to know his word.
• 23:39
  And so the question for you, are you spending time with God?
• 23:41
  Are you communing with him daily?
• 23:44
  Like do you have a daily devotion to God in his word?
• 23:49
  And maybe for you, you're like, man, I don't know where to
• 23:50
  start. There's, there's so many great
• 23:52
  resources. My favorite is just the ESV
• 23:55
  study Bible cross way. Great publisher.
• 23:57
  They got to study Bible, man, it's great.
• 23:59
  You can pick that baby up. They got the Bible up on top.
• 24:02
  They got some notes at the bottom.
• 24:03
  They call that commentary that you can read.
• 24:05
  It explains everything. They explain what the book is
• 24:07
  before you get there. Man, it's a beautiful thing.
• 24:10
  I, I use it. Anybody can use it.
• 24:12
  It's written really well. ESV study Bible.
• 24:14
  Maybe you need to find a great Bible reading plan.
• 24:16
  Maybe you need to buy a book on prayer man learning the Psalms.
• 24:21
  There's the the Psalms that's right in the middle of your
• 24:23
  Bible and it could just teach you how to call out to God.
• 24:27
  It's beautifully written. It'll teach you how to pray.
• 24:29
  Learn how to pray. I don't know what it is for you,
• 24:32
  but we need to be people who can, who can commune with God
• 24:35
  and learn how to do it. We all have a next step in that.
• 24:38
  Maybe you need to learn how to pray.
• 24:39
  Maybe you need that study Bible. Maybe you just got to put a time
• 24:40
  on the calendar because you've done it before you.
• 24:43
  You were great at reading your Bible before, but now you've
• 24:45
  been in one of those seasons. Hey, get back into it.
• 24:48
  We need to be people who commune with God.
• 24:54
  And so, you know, not only did they commune with God, but they
• 24:59
  communed with others. And now we've talked a few about
• 25:03
  generations here, and it's pretty obvious to me we have an
• 25:07
  easy divide in generations in this room.
• 25:11
  We got 24 year olds to 18 year olds and we got everybody else.
• 25:17
  So let me, let me speak to the, the older generation, if you'd
• 25:25
  let me. I won't make you stand up, you
• 25:28
  know, because you're older. But that's a joke, guys.
• 25:38
  As as the younger generation, we need your wisdom like we need
• 25:46
  your wisdom. We, we need what you guys have.
• 25:51
  Like you guys have walked seasons in in front of us.
• 25:55
  You know what it's like literally, you know what it's
• 25:58
  like not to have a cell phone, which go with me here.
• 26:07
  We and our generation, guys, we wake up and it's just instant
• 26:12
  gratification after instant gratification after instant
• 26:14
  gratification. And it does something to us.
• 26:18
  And we need people who, to be honest, set the pace on what it
• 26:22
  looks like to follow Jesus in adulthood.
• 26:27
  Like we need you guys in our church to show us what it looks
• 26:31
  like to live radically for Jesus outside of your college years.
• 26:36
  That's what's going to make this church a beautiful church.
• 26:40
  We need you guys to run, run the race.
• 26:42
  We need you to run the race so that we can see you run it too.
• 26:46
  And, and let me say this too, this this might sound a little
• 26:49
  arrogant, but I'm just going to say it anyways.
• 26:54
  I'm convinced that this is the most strategic church for you to
• 27:00
  follow Jesus at and be a part of from ages 28 to 85 and maybe
• 27:04
  beyond. Just had to pick a range.
• 27:07
  And I'm not trying to be arrogant, but I just think guys,
• 27:09
  the, the, the spiritual battle, the front lines, the spiritual
• 27:12
  conquest, the front lines of the battle is the public university.
• 27:18
  And God doesn't say raise up assault company and the gates of
• 27:22
  hell shall not stand against it. No, he says it's the church, us,
• 27:27
  the local church to push back the gates of hell.
• 27:31
  And I believe that this is the spiritual, it's the lies of the
• 27:33
  enemy. Where do they flourish the most?
• 27:36
  Where are they put at? Where are they cultivated?
• 27:38
  Where are they sent out from? It's the public university.
• 27:43
  And there's so many amazing churches in the valley.
• 27:45
  We know them, we love them, but I just don't know of a church
• 27:49
  that's trying to reach the campus as hard as we are with
• 27:51
  the gospel. And man, we need you.
• 27:54
  And I hope you see that, that you actually have a big part to
• 27:58
  play here. And it's not just giving us
• 28:01
  money, although that'd be nice it you guys have a huge part to
• 28:05
  play like we need you to be a part of this mission with us.
• 28:10
  And so here's a couple of things I was thinking like how, how can
• 28:13
  you guys, how can you guys help us reach, teach and and send
• 28:16
  college students? How can you be a part of it?
• 28:18
  This is how the older generation can help the younger generation
• 28:20
  within our church. There's a little tangent from
• 28:21
  the sermon, but I'll loop it back in.
• 28:23
  First, this first thing, two things.
• 28:24
  First thing, say hi, OK? It's not that hard, but say hi
• 28:29
  to college students. If you're here and you're like,
• 28:31
  I'm definitely not a college student.
• 28:32
  Say hi to the other college students that are here and don't
• 28:35
  be like, oh, it's going to be weird.
• 28:36
  I'll just wait for them to initiate.
• 28:38
  Guys, we're addicted to our phones.
• 28:39
  We're not going to initiate. OK, You set the pace on that.
• 28:43
  Like talk to us. I know what's happening, but
• 28:44
  like, there's my invitation. This is how you can be in our
• 28:47
  lives within our local church. But here's the other thing.
• 28:50
  This will loop it back for us. Invite us in, invite us in, like
• 28:55
  invite us into our lives, into your lives.
• 28:58
  Invite us into your house and invite some college students to
• 29:02
  come get lunch with you after this.
• 29:03
  Invite them to your home. Sure, you can go to like Pei Wei
• 29:05
  or something, but invite us into your house.
• 29:07
  Let's just see how you raise your kids.
• 29:08
  Let us see the chaos of your life and how you're following
• 29:11
  Jesus or how things are like the authenticity of that man.
• 29:15
  That's going to go so far for us.
• 29:18
  Invite us in, invite us in, you know, to conclude this point of,
• 29:23
  of communion, right? I kind of went all over the
• 29:25
  place there, but man, we want to be a people who is ready for God
• 29:30
  to move powerfully. But first we need to commune
• 29:33
  with God in the way that we can commune with one another is
• 29:37
  sharing meals together with you guys.
• 29:41
  So we'd like that. Here's the last thing.
• 29:42
  This will be really fast. Then we're done.
• 29:46
  Joshua 5 verse 13. So when Joshua was led, or
• 29:52
  sorry, when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes.
• 29:56
  Imagine this. And behold, a man was standing
• 29:59
  there before him with his drawn sword in hand.
• 30:02
  And Joshua went to him and said, Are you for us, or for our
• 30:06
  adversaries? And then he said, No, but I am
• 30:11
  the commander of the army of the Lord.
• 30:13
  Now I have come. And Joshua fell on his face the
• 30:16
  earth, and he worshipped. And then he said to him, What
• 30:19
  does my Lord say to his servant? And then the commander of the
• 30:23
  Lord's Army said to Joshua, take off your sandals from your feet,
• 30:27
  for the place where you're standing is holy ground.
• 30:30
  And Joshua did so right. There's a lot to imagine here
• 30:36
  going on. 1st, this commander of the Lord's Army, that's the last
• 30:41
  point. Commander, this commander of the
• 30:43
  Lord's Army, like Joshua, he's probably strapped for battle.
• 30:46
  Like he's ready to RIP. One commentator says that he
• 30:49
  actually thinks that Joshua had his sword drawn and he basically
• 30:52
  was like, Hey, who goes there? As if Josh was ready to go to
• 30:55
  battle with the the commander of the Lord's army.
• 30:58
  And he just says, no, You imagine that like, Hey, who are
• 31:01
  you with us? Are you with them?
• 31:02
  It's just no. It's like, oh, what do you say
• 31:04
  to that really is he's saying neither.
• 31:07
  I'm not for you. I'm not for them, but I am the
• 31:10
  commander of the Lord's army. And then he tells Joshua to take
• 31:15
  his shoes off. So I think about home alone,
• 31:17
  like off, Why don't you take your shoes off?
• 31:19
  That's what I think about. It's, it's not great, but more
• 31:24
  commentaries like what people will say, like what's really
• 31:27
  happening here? Is this just some Angel, a part
• 31:29
  of God's army or what is this? People will call this a fancy
• 31:33
  word, Christophany. So Christophany, right, kind of
• 31:38
  fancy word just to say Jesus in the Old Testament.
• 31:42
  So people will say this is Jesus and there's much more we could
• 31:45
  go on with that. And where you fit that out, not
• 31:48
  too big of a deal, but the commander of the Lord's Army is
• 31:51
  here. So think about it.
• 31:53
  Joshua's ready for this conquest.
• 31:55
  First you got to do circumcision, then you got to do
• 31:58
  communion, and then you got to do what?
• 32:01
  Like, he's ready for this battle.
• 32:02
  So why is it so significant that the commander of the Lord's Army
• 32:06
  is in front of Joshua in this moment?
• 32:09
  Well, he's telling Joshua he's like, hey, you might think
• 32:12
  you're in charge, but you're not in charge.
• 32:16
  The commander of the Lord's Army is here.
• 32:19
  It's the commander who's leading this conquest.
• 32:21
  You're not leading this. I am.
• 32:25
  And for us, we need to know it's Jesus who leads us.
• 32:31
  It's Jesus who leads this church.
• 32:34
  It's not us up on stage, it's not Ronnie, it's not Brandon.
• 32:38
  It's definitely not me. It's Jesus.
• 32:41
  Jesus leads this church. Jesus is the one who's leading
• 32:44
  us on this spiritual conquest in Tempe at ASU.
• 32:47
  He's the one who wants to go after the hearts.
• 32:50
  We're just praying before this like God's not after just the
• 32:55
  99. The 99 is not enough for God.
• 32:59
  God's going after the one. He's going after the one like
• 33:02
  God is the one who's came to seek and save the lost.
• 33:05
  And so if we want to be ready, ready for God to move
• 33:09
  powerfully, is Jesus the one who's going to lead us there?
• 33:15
  Jesus is the one who leads this church.
• 33:19
  And so we got a final slide for us.
• 33:23
  Jesus leads this church. And guys, this is where our
• 33:27
  confidence comes from. This is where confidence comes
• 33:30
  from. Our expectation comes from that
• 33:32
  God is going to move powerfully here, that he's going to make
• 33:36
  Tempe as it is in heaven. I believe he's going to do that.
• 33:39
  And this is how he's going to do it.
• 33:41
  Because if we want to be a people who are ready for God to
• 33:43
  move powerfully, we must renew the covenant.
• 33:46
  Remember Communion and then Revere the commander.
• 33:50
  Like some of us, you're lacking conviction in your sin because
• 33:54
  you haven't fallen on your face before the Lord that you don't
• 33:58
  even fear God. But you got to Revere the
• 34:00
  commander because God wants to do holy things in you, but he
• 34:04
  also wants to do holy things around you.
• 34:05
  So let me pray that we'd be these people.
• 34:12
  So Jesus, Lord, help us, Lord, help us be a people who are
• 34:22
  ready, God, ready to be a part of what you want to do here.
• 34:27
  God, we truly believe, God, this is the place that you want to
• 34:31
  make more like heaven. God, that Tempe is a place that
• 34:35
  you're ready to to take ground in the form of hearts.
• 34:38
  God that there are souls that are ready to fall in love with
• 34:41
  Jesus, that the harvest is actually plentiful.
• 34:45
  And God that we've been praying that you'd raise up laborers to
• 34:48
  reach that harvest, to reach Tempe, to reach ASU.
• 34:52
  God, we believe that you want to do that.
• 34:54
  And God look at the laborers. God, look at us.
• 34:59
  God, we desperately, we want to be a part of it.
• 35:03
  And God we, we're going to, we're going to preach like we're
• 35:05
  part, we want to be people who renew the covenant who are
• 35:08
  pursuing you. God that we let us be people who
• 35:12
  are sensitive to your Holy Spirit that as your word is
• 35:16
  proclaimed God that it would Pierce our hearts and God we'd
• 35:20
  be convicted, but that conviction would lead to joy in
• 35:22
  Jesus. We would not just sit in that
• 35:24
  and it Stew around in the guilt and the disobedience, but that
• 35:28
  would motivate us to follow you more deeply.
• 35:31
  And so God would you do that Lord, would you help us commune
• 35:34
  with you Lord. So Father, even ready our hearts
• 35:38
  now is before we take the Lord's Supper later.
• 35:41
  And God, would you call us Lord God, would you even compel us
• 35:46
  got to spend time with one another to spend time with you?
• 35:49
  God, I pray that we get all the dust off our Bibles.
• 35:51
  God that we'd mark in our Bible. God, we'd just be people of your
• 35:54
  word communing with you. And God teach us to Revere you.
• 35:57
  God, you lead this church, you lead this church.
• 36:00
  We do not. And so, God, it's in your name
• 36:03
  we can pray. Amen.