Latest / Crosswalk / Dying to Self — Joshua 5:2–12

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Dying to Self — Joshua 5:2–12 · Crosswalk

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Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow
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him. You're listening to Crosswalk with Pastor
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Steve Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio ministry
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of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities and it is our aim
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to lead you to the cross through the teaching
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of God's Word. So Joshua made flint knives for
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himself, circumcised the sons of Israel at the
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hill of the foreskens. And then it goes through
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and talks about the reasons, and again the fact
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that they'd been wandering in the wilderness
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and this had gone on. One of the things that's
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cool about this passage, and you don't see it
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specifically in answer to Joshua, but in verse
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five it says, for all the people who came out
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had been circumcised from Egypt, and it talks
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about the children not being circumcised. And
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down in verse seven, then Joshua circumcised
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their sons whom he raised up in their place,
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for they were uncircumcised because they had
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not been circumcised on the way. So it was when
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they had finished circumcising all the people
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that they stayed in their places in the camp
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till they were healed. And so all these guys
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who are men of war, every single one of them
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is getting circumcised and they all submit to
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it. Joshua comes up and says, we need to be circumcised.
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So he actually says specifically, you need to
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be circumcised, because Joshua was already circumcised.
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And again, that picture of circumcision is a
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picture of cutting away the flesh. The point
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that I'm making here is that's kind of an amazing
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thing, because you have the men of war who are
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going to incapacitate themselves. You have the...
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Generals of the people of Israel who were probably
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looking at this going. I don't know if this is
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a great idea It's not a good tactical move and
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they submit to the whole thing and what they're
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doing is fulfilling their promise and the promise
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that they made is over in Joshua chapter 1 verse
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16 through 18 it says so they answered Joshua
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saying all that you command us we will do and
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Wherever you send us we will go just as we heeded
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Moses in all things, so we will heed you, only
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the Lord your God be with you as he was with
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Moses. Whoever rebels against your command does
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not heed your words, and all that you command
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him shall be put to death, only be strong and
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of good courage." The people speaking to Joshua.
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You've told us to be strong and of good courage.
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We want you to be strong and of good courage
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too. And we will follow you. And that's exactly
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what they did. And what you can see there is
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that their obedience is an indication that they're
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probably the greatest generation that Israel
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ever had because they're on enemy territory.
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And again, they're willing to incapacitate themselves
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because the guy who is their leader who follows
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God and God himself has said, I want you to do
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this. And they're willing to do it. Right. We've
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had generations that are like that. We talk about
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the World War Two generation being the greatest
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generation. generation with self -sacrifice,
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that kind of thing. Our nation is far away from
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that, far away from that now. Not a whole lot
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of attitude where we should sacrifice ourselves.
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In any case, their obedience in this whole thing
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is a sign that they'd return to the Lord, and
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what the Lord does is he returns to them in a
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big way. So already... He's shown his favor towards
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them in the crossing of the Jordan. They realize
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he's real. This stuff's really happening. Everything
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that we heard from our parents, it happened.
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And some of them would have actually been witnesses
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to that. But basically, they recognize that the
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Lord's real. And so the first thing the Lord
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asks them to do is circumcise themselves. And
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they're like, OK. I don't care if I'm in enemy
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territory. I don't care if it's dangerous to
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me. I'm willing to do this. This is a sign of
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my covenant between me and God. And again, it's
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a sign. That's exactly what it is. It's a sign
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of the covenant. So they take these stone knives,
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not knives made out of metal. Knives are made
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out of stone. And one of the things that you
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see in the Bible is this thing with stone at
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times and specifically in the context of sacrifice.
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So, for example, when they would set up an altar,
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you never set up an altar that had been chiseled.
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They never had altars that were set up that were
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stone -marked with man's workmanship. What they
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did was they took regular rocks and put them
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up, and that's what they made the altar from,
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because the altar was supposed to represent something
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that pictured the sacrifice of Christ, and there
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was no hand of man in the sacrificial work of
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Jesus except for the killing. and the judgment.
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It was all the work of God. And so God takes
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stone knives and has these guys circumcised,
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something that's not been worked by man. He takes
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stone knives and circumcises these guys. When
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you get to the New Testament, Paul makes the
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point that when you're talking about circumcision,
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you're talking about a spiritual cutting away
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of the flesh. Romans 2, 28 through 29 says this,
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for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. Nor
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is circumcision that which is outward in the
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flesh but he is a Jew who was one inwardly and
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Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit
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not in the letter whose praise is not from men
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but from God One of the things that would happen
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with circumcision especially in the times that
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these guys are living in is it makes them different
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from anyone else It wasn't the norm in the ancient
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world. And so it's specifically a Jewish covenant
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a Jewish sign and it made them different from
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any other man. Circumcision was specifically
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a sign that God picked because of the area that
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it takes place in. And all of paganism, and we've
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talked about this before, all of paganism was
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wrapped up in sex. And so when you're talking
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about the ancient pagans, they had temples and
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their temples were devoted to sexual perversion
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all the time. You know, the Canaanites happened
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to be some of the worst that you have in ancient
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times. So, for example, I told you that with
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the Canaanites, if you were a woman, you had
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to become a temple prostitute for a month every
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year. If you were a man, same thing, a month
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every year. That was the practice back at the
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time, and it didn't matter if you were married.
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Where if you were in Babylon, and you were worshipping
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Bel, for example, another Babylonian goddess,
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if you were worshipping her, you were allowed
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to opt out if you were married. And so if you
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were a married woman, they didn't make you go
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and be a prostitute. But if you were an unmarried
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woman, it was something that again was required.
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And actually, I'd have to go back and look at
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my notes, but I believe that the prostitution
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to Bell only occurred once in your life. It was
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once in your life where the Canaanites was every
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year. And so, you know, that's way more moderate.
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you only have to be a hooker for one month out
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of your whole life. Isn't that nice? And so Canaanite
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practices and Babylonian practices were all wrapped
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up in sex. When you get to New Testament times,
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there's a passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 11
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that talks about women, and Paul says that women
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shouldn't go around without a veil on, not Christian
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women. You shouldn't go around without a veil
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on. And he's not appealing to scripture when
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he's doing this. He's appealing to cultural norms.
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And in the passage what he's talking about is
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the fact that at Corinth there was a temple and
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they had a thousand temple prostitutes who would
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come down into the city of Corinth. And the way
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that you knew them from a married woman or from
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a woman who was unmarried but was not a prostitute
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was the fact that they were going around unveiled.
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And so walking around as a woman in first century
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Corinth, without a veil on, you were dressing
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up like a prostitute. And Paul said, don't do
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that. It's not right that you pray with your
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head uncovered. And so the veil included a cover
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that went over the top of their head. And usually
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they would take something sheer and put it across
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their face. And it was that kind of thing. And
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it was a symbol of modesty. It was a symbol of
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having authority over you. And with the idea
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that you had a father who was over you, who would
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take and bring retribution against anybody who
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dishonored you. That's what the symbol is for.
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You know, I got somebody who protects me. It's
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a different culture. And so we're not in a culture
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where women have to go around saying, I've got
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somebody who protects me, but pretty soon you're
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gonna need that because we've been abandoning
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God. And when you abandon God, you become a barbarian
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and you do all kinds of crazy things. And we're
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starting to see the beginnings. of that kind
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of lifestyle. And the people who always get trashed
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in those situations are children and women, old
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people too, but usually children and women first.
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And so that's common. In any case, it was a sign
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of protection. And obviously, once you're married,
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your husband protects you. And again, the veil
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was a sign that that was the case in the situation.
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If you were without a veil, you were without
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a covering. And so there's nobody to protect
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you. And so it would be a signal. to a barbarian
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that you had, there was nobody coming after you
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if you did something to this woman. And it was
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a little bit more cultured than that, but that's
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basically the idea behind that whole thing. And
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so Paul lets him know, don't do that. That is
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not what's supposed to be happening. And so that
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is the culture in pagan times. And I've been
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pretty specific about the things that have taken
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place, even some of the stuff that I've told
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you right now. It's way worse than anything I've
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told you. The paganism the stuff that these guys
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did is bad enough that they won't put it in commentaries
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Commentators state this we can't tell you everything
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that these people did because basically it's
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too awful I've read it over and over and over
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again. These people were messed up. And so when
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God Gives the symbol of their consecration to
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him. He specifically goes after the male part
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and he cuts away the flesh on the male part.
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And it's a symbol of the fact that we don't live
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by what is in between our legs. We live differently
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than that. And we cut those things away. The
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symbol is put in intimate areas, specifically
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as a statement against the paganism of the world.
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And it's exactly the same thing with a Christian.
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Our life is different than the world is. And
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so the world, it's sex without any consequences,
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sex without any kind of responsibility, sex on
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every level that you can come up with, and anything
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that gets in the way of that is just shunted
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aside, including babies. And that's where our
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culture is. And the Bible teaches that we have
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no appearance of evil. That's in 1 Thessalonians
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chapter 5. And in your newer translations, it
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will say, abstain from every form of evil. It
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is not every form of evil. It's every appearance,
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every outward appearance of evil. Nobody's supposed
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to be laying anything on me that looks evil from
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the outside. And so I don't have the right to
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walk around going, well, you can't judge me because
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you don't know my heart. What I'm supposed to
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be doing is having a lifestyle that is so free
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of that nonsense that nobody could bring it up.
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In Ephesians chapter 5, the Bible says that sexual
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immorality is not even to be named among you
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as become saints. That's the idea that nobody
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can come up and bring an accusation against me
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of sexual immorality. That's how pure my lifestyle
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is to be. And so you have those pictures in the
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New Testament and again, it's a picture of the
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cutting away the flesh. And usually, when we're
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talking about the flesh, I mean, we could be
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talking about greed, that's fleshy, right? And
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we could be talking about pride and the whole
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idea of I need to get mine and leave you behind,
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that whole thing, the selfish ambition, that's
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the flesh, right? But whenever you see a list
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of the flesh, of the works of the flesh, the
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first things that are always listed is sexual
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immorality. Because that's where the flesh goes
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goes into sexual immorality And so as a statement
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against that God circumcises his people, right?
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When you get to the New Testament The Bible talks
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about the fact that again we cut away the flesh,
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too There's a passage in Colossians 2 11 that
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says this in him You were also circumcised with
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the circumcision made without hands by putting
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off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
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circumcision of Christ. And so when I become
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a Christian, I don't need to go out and physically
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get circumcised as a man because that circumcision
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has taken place in my heart where Christ has
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come along and anytime that you're looking at
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the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life,
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it is not going to drive you to sexual immorality.
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The work of the Holy Spirit does not drive you
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to sexual immorality. It drives you away from
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that. If it's not driving you away from that,
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it's not the work of the Holy Spirit. And again,
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you have that. Romans chapter six is a great
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chapter on putting away the flesh. It talks about
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the fact that I died when I became a Christian.
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One of the things that happened is I died. And
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so we talked about this in the context of baptism.
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When you're getting baptized, what you're saying
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is you died with Jesus, and in the same way that
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Jesus died, you died, so you get buried, and
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you get buried in water. And then Jesus rose
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from the dead and got a new life. And in the
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same way, you're rising from the dead and getting
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a new life. And so in the passage, it talks about
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not yielding your members as instruments of unrighteousness
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to sin, but yielding your members as instruments
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of righteousness to God, right? And the whole
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picture there is that I, as a Christian, because
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I've died to my old nature and I'm now walking
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with Christ, I'm not willing to have my hands
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do the things that they used to do. And I'm not
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willing to have my eyes do the things that I
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used to do. I'm not willing to have my mouth
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do the things I used to do, my ears, my feet,
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and my other parts. None of them are to do the
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things that I used to do because everything's
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been given over to the Lord. So don't yield your
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members as instruments of unrighteousness again
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to sin. And he talks about the fact that people
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are slaves to sin. We're no longer slaves. We've
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died to that whole thing. I don't have to be
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that way anymore. Romans 6 is a great chapter
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on getting out of sin. And so it says in the
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passage, reckon yourselves to be dead in deed
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to sin. I'm really dead to sin. And I need to
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think about the fact and understand the fact
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that that's where my life sits. And if I don't
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do that, then what's going to end up happening
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is I'm going to fall to these things. And so
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in Romans chapter six, I died. Romans chapter
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eight, once you turn, well, you know, I'll just
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read it to you. Romans chapter eight in verse
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13, it says this, for if you live according to
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the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit
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you put to death the deeds of the body, you will
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live. And again, this whole picture of cutting
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away the flesh is a picture of dying to the flesh
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and the fact that I'm not bound by those things
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anymore. I don't have to live that way. And so
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the Bible talks about, when Jesus says, take
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up your cross and follow me, a lot of times people
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have a misunderstanding of that. And so people
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will say all kinds of silly things. So like my
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cross is my husband, my cross to bear is my husband.
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He's this and he's that and I have such a problem
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with him. He's such a baby when he gets sick.
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He had COVID the other day, what a whiner. doing
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that kind of stuff, and my cross to bear is my
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children. My children have turned away from me,
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and my children have turned away from the Lord.
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My cross to bear is my children, or my cross
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to bear is my job, or my boss, or some hard thing
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that you're going through. When you were walking
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down a road carrying a cross, that's what Jesus
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says, take up your cross and follow me. So when
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you saw a man walking down the road with a cross
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on his back, what was gonna happen to him? Yeah,
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he's gonna die. They're gonna take him, they're
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gonna nail him to it, or they're gonna tie him
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to it, one or the other. And so they're gonna
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take him and they're gonna tie him to it, or
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they're gonna nail him to it, and he is going
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to die. And that's the point that Jesus was making.
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I have to die to myself. If I don't die to myself,
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then I'm not gonna get the life that God has
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for me. I'm not going to be able to be the man
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or the woman that God wants me to be if I'm constantly
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putting myself on the throne instead of the Lord
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himself. And so again, when you're looking at
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what's happening in this passage, what they're
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doing is they're doing something that is uncomfortable,
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that's against the flesh, that honors and glorifies
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God and makes a statement against where they
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came from, the world, and a statement against
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the world that they're about to go into and conquer.
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And they're willing to do that even in the face
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of danger at the time. This is a quote I like,
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it's from... A .W. Tozer, he said this, No dying.
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We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul
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and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride
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of a Caesar, but we doom ourselves to shadows
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and weakness and spiritual sterility. There has
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to be a dying to yourself. And so that's what
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circumcision represented. That's what baptism
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represents. That's what we're supposed to be
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doing as Christians. And when that's done, it's
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a symbol of honor. and glory to God, it's the
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idea that I am giving myself wholly and completely
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to God, I'm not gonna walk in the flesh. And
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so again, verse nine, it says, and the Lord said
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to Joshua, this day I have rolled away the reproach
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of Egypt from you. Therefore the name of the
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place is called Rolling to this day. And again,
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you guys know what circumcision is, and you can
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imagine the whole situation. Now it says that
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Joshua did this. Joshua didn't go through and
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circumcise 800 ,000 men. Okay, this is like in
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the New Testament passage where it says in John
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chapter 4 It says that Jesus baptized more people
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than John and then it goes on to say although
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Jesus didn't baptize his disciples did right
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and so Joshua gets the credit for it because
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Joshua gave the command that the people did this
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and so I think that that's a pretty cool thing
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It's a gutsy thing to do again to incapacitate
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yourself when you're in the enemy's country Then
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the next thing that happens is they celebrate
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the Passover. It says, verse 10, now the children
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of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover
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on the 14th day of the month at twilight on the
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plains of Jericho. And they ate of the produce
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of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened
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bread and parched grain on the very same day.
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Then the manna ceased on the day after they had
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eaten the produce of the land. and the children
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of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the
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food of the land of Canaan that year. And so
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the next thing that you see is that they keep
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the Passover. Passover is a remembrance of delivery
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from slavery. You know, whenever the Jews celebrate
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this, that's what they're doing. They're remembering
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the fact that they were slaves in Egypt, that
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God brought them out with the 10 plagues. They
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named the 10 plagues, drip wine on a cracker
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while they're doing it for each one of the plagues.
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that kind of stuff, and it's always looking back
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at the fact that God delivered these people.
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In the same way, again, we as Christians, we
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look back at the fact that God delivered us,
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and I already talked about that, so I'm not gonna
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go into it again, but it's that whole idea of
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a memorial. I'm recognizing that Jesus saved
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me. I'm recognizing what he saved me from, that
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I had a life full of bitterness, and now I have
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a life full of sweetness. These are things that
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they do in the Passover celebration. It's just
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a really cool thing. It's also a foreshadowing
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of the sacrifice that was gonna happen with Jesus.
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Jesus is the lamb of God that takes away the
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sins of the world. And to a Jew, that was the
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Passover. It was a lamb that was offered at Passover.
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And so you remember when we've talked about Passover
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before, that in Exodus chapter 12, God goes through
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and he says, I want you to take a lamb and you're
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to bring it into your house on the 10th of Nisan.
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You're to keep it in your house for four days.
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And then he talks about the lamb. You're to take
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the lamb. You're to make sure that it's without
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spot, without blemish. And then he says that
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you're to take your lamb and you're to offer
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it as a sacrifice. You're to take its blood and
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put it on the doorposts of the house where you're
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staying so that the death angel will pass over
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you. That's where the term Passover came from.
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But it says in the passage, a lamb, the lamb,
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and your lamb. And that's a process that people
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go through when they come into a relationship
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with Christ. First, they recognize that Jesus
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is a lamb. He's a good moral teacher. He's a
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good guy. He's like the other moral teachers,
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like Moses. And he's like Mohammed, if you wanted
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to call Mohammed a good moral teacher. I don't
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know about that. But, you know, Confucius and
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Buddha and all these guys. Yeah, he's like one
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of those guys. And then you find out that he's
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more than one of those guys. In fact, a lot of
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those guys quote from Jesus. So when you're talking
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about Buddhists, they like to quote Jesus. When
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you talk about Hindus, Mahatma Gandhi quoted
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Jesus. And, you know, he's supposed to be a spiritual
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leader. Well, if I had a spiritual leader who's
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quoting Jesus, using him as an authority, maybe
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I'd have to go to Jesus instead of you, right?
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That kind of thing. In any case, he becomes more
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than a lamb. He becomes the lamb. and then at
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some point you have a personal relationship with
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him and now he's not a lamb and he's not just
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the lamb he's your lamb and he takes away your
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sin and he makes things right between you and
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God that kind of thing that's Passover and so
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every time that they kept Passover they were
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remembered that God delivered them out of bondage
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that's what we do when we're doing communion
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we are doing a ceremony that comes from the end
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of the Passover service and it's when they took
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what was called the Afikoman and it was a piece
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of bread that was separated from the table at
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the beginning of the meal. You've been listening
24:05
to Crosswalk with Pastor Steve Winnery. Crosswalk
24:08
is the radio ministry of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities
24:10
in Kennewick, Washington. If you're wanting to
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know more about what it means to follow Christ,
24:15
then please contact our church office by phone
24:17
at 509 -736 -2086. You can also look us up online
24:22
at calvary -tricities .org. Calvary Chapel Tri
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-Cities is offering two in -person training courses
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for those seeking to serve in missions or ministry.
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The School of Missions starts with 12 weeks of
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classroom -style learning and local outreach
24:37
in the Tri -Cities, Washington, followed by a
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10 -week cross -cultural mission outreach. The
24:41
School of Ministry, this course is 18 weeks of
24:44
in -person learning environment followed by a
24:47
four -week mission trip. Find out more at calvarytrainingcenternw
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.com.