Latest / Journey Elgin / Sunday Message 8/9/2026- You Will Need Strength and Courage, Where Will You Find Them?
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: ⁓ well as we ⁓ continue in our sermon series and and ju and I've said this before, I try to be very transparent. I am not one who plans out like a year in advance of sermons. There are people who do that. ⁓ I part of me is like kind of in awe of that. ⁓ but then I think about it, I there's no way I would go I would go crazy trying to to do that. Right. ⁓ but I I I I I usually don't do series. If I do series, it's usually just kind of through a book, right? And then you kind of know you're you do chapter one and then you do chapter two and then you you know. ⁓ this one was a a little bit different ⁓ whenever started this series, talking about we're we're in the end game now. And I I knew kind of where I I wanted to go, but I knew it could kind of go in lots of different ⁓ places. ⁓ but I'm very confident in the where we're headed in the next few weeks. And my intention behind this, even if the intention behind kind of the the silly ⁓ title ⁓ to it, ⁓ is we need to be we need to realize what is happening in the world around us. That there are things that are different. There are challenges that we are going to have to face. We don't know exactly how they're all going to manifest. I don't know what it all is going to to look like. ⁓ but but the way the church is going to engage America in twenty twenty six moving forward is going to be vastly different than the way the church engaged America from 1776 to the year 2000. It's just going to be different. And we need to recognize that. And and ⁓ so I've I've tried not to to get too dark and and you know focused on the darkness that is there, but we need to acknowledge it. And then we need to acknowledge how the light is going to overcome that. Right. And so so it's kind of ⁓ I and and understand I I I appreciate that y'all are still coming because because I I do know it's not easy. And ⁓ and I've talked to other pastors and have conversations and and ⁓ you know saying things like, you know, we We try not to get into the controversial stuff because people are dealing with that all week and all that stuff. So they just want to come here and and feel good and be encouraged about Christ. I get that thought process. However, if the church is not speaking into the things that are causing the controversy and trying to put a biblical worldview on it, then you you're you're never going to actually feel comfortable with what's going on in the world. Right. We need to have a frame of reference of understanding what is going on. Right? Why why are things happening the way that they are happening? What is what are we seeing? And ⁓ and so ⁓ you know, we talked about it's kind of started off looking at the watchman on the wall. ⁓ that I think God has called us whenever whenever we see evidence of of things happening in culture that are result of our godlessness. we need to say point that out and we need to point to pi and tell people, hey, don't participate in that anymore. Right? That that is one of our roles ⁓ as the church. ⁓ last week we looked at ⁓ Matthew twenty four and ⁓ and talking about false prophets and and that in the end times, in the end we will see an elevation of that. All right. Well you you can There's always been false prophets. So just because we're seeing lots of misinformation and confusion and deception doesn't necessarily mean we're in the end times. However, we are seeing an increase in that. We need to be aware of that. the next few weeks, we're going to talk about ⁓ after today, we're we're going to talk about some very specific false teachings ⁓ that are that are out there. ⁓ next week we're gonna talk a little bit about Gnosticism. That's an academic word. ⁓ it's actually talked about in Scripture. It was one of the first heresies. It is the principle behind it, you you will see it is everywhere. Right. So we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna we're gonna talk about some of the ⁓ the controversies surrounding the ne the nation and people of Israel and their relationship with the church. And right, ⁓ are they the source of all the world's problems? You would think so if you listen to certain people. ⁓ right. So so we're gonna dive into that a little bit. ⁓ we are going to ⁓ to touch on and ⁓ and look ⁓ in the in the days to come, ⁓ kind of some of the broad pictures of revelation. Is anything happening today that could kind of match, if you will, what Revelation lays out? ⁓ the answer, by the way, is is yes. There are some. But there's so many different interpretations of Revelation, right? And and people get all bent out of shape. But you know what? As Christians, as people who believe this, shouldn't we use this to help us understand what's going on in the world around us? So that's what we're going to try to do. ⁓ and and so continuing this this theme of we're in the end game now. ⁓ but before you you know kind of we really dive off into that. I wanted to just ⁓ preach from my favorite passage ⁓ I think in all of scripture. ⁓ it's in Joshua. And because I I think this is so important for us to equip ourselves as we are engaging in the world around us. Right. This is not an easy thing to do. It's not easy to actually live out your faith and actually implement what you believe into the way that you see the world. Right. That that's that's hard. And ⁓ but God has called us to do hard things before. And when he calls us to do that, he equips us to do it as well. And ⁓ so I we're gonna be in in Joshua ⁓ in a couple of different ⁓ places in Joshua. ⁓ but if you remember who Joshua is, he was the success successor to Moses ⁓ you remember the the people were in slavery in Egypt. God brings them out. ⁓ Moses, they get the the Ten Commandments. ⁓ they they form the the Sinai covenant, right? That God makes a covenant with this group of people. He gives them the law, he is going to use them to be an example to the rest of the world, pointing them to God. ⁓ and he's ⁓ part of that covenant for them was the land. And it was a very specific ⁓ land that God had called them to. And ⁓ and so if you if you remember ⁓ Moses, they leave Sinai, they're you know, they've experienced all this amazing stuff, and ⁓ God says, All right, time for y'all to go take the land. Well, there's a lot of people in the land that aren't gonna want to give that up, right? Which is that's the way that things worked back then, right? ⁓ and the remember twelve spies go out. And ⁓ they all come back and ten of them are like, ⁓ my gosh, these people are huge. There's no way we can we can ⁓ defeat them. Which by the way, they were actually accurate in their assessment. The people were not an organized army. They were not they they didn't have the superior ⁓ tactics or strength or anything like that. ⁓ but they were not relying on the fact that the God who had brought them across the Red Sea, who had given them the Ten Commandments. is the one that was going to deliver them into the land. And they dismissed that. And ⁓ and if you remember there were two ⁓ that said no God can will will deliver the people to us and that was who? Joshua and Caleb. Right? So now as punishment, God's like, all right, y'all wander for 40 years. Basically we're gonna get rid of this generation. Right? And ⁓ and so then Joshua is now going to assume the the role, and even Moses himself does not get to go into the promised land. ⁓ and ⁓ so Joshua assumes ⁓ control and this is what Joshua says and I I love I love this passage as he is they are now 40 years later back at the same spot looking at the land ready to go in and this is what Joshua ⁓ says and what God says to Joshua. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over to Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised Moses. From the wilderness in this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, All the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea, towards ⁓ toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Real quick, just an aside. So did you hear how it described the land that is going to be given? This is a very physical place. It was a land that was going to be marked from the river. From the Jordan River and the lands on the Jordan River to the sea, right? It was going to be that area. That is laid out here. It is interesting that there that we see chance right now that say from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. What is that specifically referring to? It is referring to the removal of This group of people from that land. All right. Everything we're dealing with is spiritual. All right. And and so when when you hear people that say, ⁓ well, I'm pro-Palestine and and ⁓ and if they're saying that phrase, what they are wanting is the destruction completely of the nation of Israel, because that is the land from the river to the sea that God gave the people. All right. So that's just a side note. verse six. Be strong and courageous. This is again, this is God talking to Moses. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it from the right hand or to the left. That you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, for for for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous, do not be frightened, do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. All right. This is such a powerful, powerful passage. And and then ⁓ obviously there is a theme here, right? Be strong and courageous. Now now we love hearing things like that. That's that's I that's actually a pretty good bumper sticker. All right. We love bumper sticker theology. Once saved, always saved. Slap that on the bumper, people know you're Baptist, right? It's it's it's ⁓ we we love the the simple things. Usually though theology is not quite as simple as what's the bumper sticker would would like to ⁓ to ⁓ appeal to. But be strong and courageous is great. It is something. Man, yes, God and God is saying, I will help you to be strong and courageous. What we usually don't do, we usually don't take the critical thinking and continue on of what that means. Why do you need to be strong and courageous? Because life's going to be easy? Because life is now that you've given your trust into God, that that all the obstacles are just ⁓ mowed over, that everything's going to work out the way that you anticipate, that there will be no enemies that will come against you, that the the the the armies that are in the land that they're not going to actually fight to keep what they want. Right? Is that what it means? No, the reason you have to be strong and courageous is because it's going to be difficult. The temptation, the reason that God is saying, be strong and courageous is the temptation is to be weak and run. Right? That's that's the human temptation. And ⁓ and and so God is reiterating no, be strong and courageous. Right? And then the second time he says it. Only be strong and very courageous, and he actually gives ⁓ ways that you that you are strong and courageous. And it's not by putting on the sword, it's not by doing that. What is it? It's by immersing yourself in the Word of God that you are learning more and more about Him, that you are able to apply His wisdom to the world around you. Right? That's how you can be strong and courageous. We can be strong and courageous because we know that God has given us a guide. He's not just leaving us there on our own. We don't have to do this in our own strength. But you have to choose to engage in your relationship with God. You actually have to invest something in this. It's not just going magically going to happen. And in fact, God says, and he says all through, he says, if you don't, if you don't keep following me, if you don't keep my commands, it is not going to go well with you, no matter how strong or courageous you are. Right? And and I think that is it's vital for us to understand what God is actually calling Joshua to, what he's calling us to. Is he is calling us to be strong and courageous as we engage the world around us because the world is going to push back. It is going to be hard, but we have to make sure that we are relying on him and not our own strength, not our own courage, but on the courage that comes from knowing who He is, knowing what His word says, and living our life according to it. Right. And ⁓ and then he he ends by saying it one more time have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, do not be dismayed. Which again, why is he encouraging us not to be frightened or dismayed? Because you're going to be frightened and dismayed. Right? That's why. God knows what we're going to be up against. He also knows. the how Satan is going to attack. And ⁓ if Satan can use fear in so many ways. Right? There is a reason and and I've never actually checked to see if this is true, but supposedly the the phrase do not fear is used about 365 times in the Bible. ⁓ I think that is actually pretty close to accurate. But the the the idea is very evident that every day You need to be reminded, do not fear. Because Satan can use that and he can use that in to to make us ⁓ apathetic, to make us hide in the corner, to be cowardly, right? That that's the a lot of the time that's the way that we think of of ⁓ what fear does, is that it it actually keeps us from engaging. Right, that we're we're we're afraid to share our faith. We're afraid to stand up for what is right, and so we just don't do it. We just hide in the corner. That is that is obviously one of the temptations. But you know what fear can also do? It can make us actually act in unhealthy ways, that we can become so angry and fearful of hundreds of ⁓ new mosques being built in our state. That we can start seeing all Muslims as enemy, and that we develop an animosity and an hatred in our heart. Right? We we have to stand up to the things that are fearful, but stand up in a godly way. And listen, that is that is hard to do. It it may need strength and courage to do that. Right? And that's what God is calling us to do, because he knows this is not. going to be easy. And so we have ⁓ Joshua getting these ⁓ this wonderful ⁓ message and then he gives that message ⁓ to the people and the people are are they're all in at this point. Now remember this would have been the children of the the generation who decided not to have strength and courage. And so now they're they they say they are ready to go. And ⁓ and in fact at the the end of chapter one it says and if any of us do not keep these commands and stuff, may they be put to death, right? So I mean they are they are all in. And for the most part, they're they're going to do pretty good here for a while. But sometimes we think, okay, once we get that that emotion and everything, we've made that decision, okay, now everything's just gonna just gonna start rolling. Right? Now can you imagine being the people and being Joshua? You've just had the good pep rally, right? And it was a it was a good pep rally You're you are you are ready to go out into into the battle. And so you're starting to walk and you get to the Jordan River and it's at flood stage. There are no bridges. There's no way around this. When the Jordan River is at flood stage, it is essentially impassable. So in your humanness, you see that and you're like, What what what are we going to do? And and then Joshua says, All right, I need about seven of you to go and stand in the water. Okay. All right. That that obviously that will work. That's how we're going to do this, right? And can you just imagine the wondering what is going to happen? And that that happens and God, of course, stops the river. And it it's it's it's interesting because it it is a reminder of what he did with the Red Sea, which, by the way, I believe that God literally parted the Red Sea. And I believe He literally stopped the waters from flowing. Right? He doesn't always act in miracles like that. But there are times in history that he has. And I believe this was one. And it makes complete sense. You've got a ragtag group of people who have been enslaved, and that's all they've known. And now they're going to have to take over a a nation of warriors. They don't need to just be told, be strong and courageous. God is actually going to show them here's why you can be strong and courageous. Because the God who can stop the flood stage of the Jordan River is on your side. And if you're on his side, you're going to be able to be successful. So they go across the river. I'm sure they're extremely excited. The first place that they come to is this place called Jericho. It's one of the most important. impressive cities of of the day. The the wall is just is thick and it completely surrounds the town. ⁓ it's not a wall like we think of as a as wall, build the wall, build the wall, right? No, it's it's a it's a wall that people live in, right? Like it's so thick and ⁓ and I mean it's impenetrable, right? And and at that point I don't think they had their catapults. You know, they there was no drone warfare. You know, d all this stuff. It's going to be a little challenging for this group that was enslaved in Egypt. How are they going to I mean d do they have ladders? Right? So they're just staring at this place. And God says, Well, how about this? Just start walking around it. Which that on its own, you'd be like, Really? There's not a shorter way. Like it was not a small city, right? You so you walked all day to walk around it. And then they do that for seven days. And then on the seventh day, they get up. Gosh, you know, we've we've been wandering for 40 years. Now we're wandering around this city, right? And it says, now you're gonna walk around it seven times today, and then you're gonna yell. And all right. And then the walls come tumbling down, as the song says, right? And God reveals hey, I'm the one that's going to give you the strength and courage to do this. So you would think, Man, everything is set up, ready to go. The very next battle. The spies go out to the city of of I, AI. See, not the first time AI has been a problem. You have have have them go to to to I and the people are like, ⁓ man, we can take them. No problem at all. So Joshua says, All right, go. And they just get wiped out. It's actually the only loss in all of this campaign. ⁓ get completely wiped out. Well, why was it? Is because God had given very specific instructions. Says you you destroy so much of it, ⁓ anything else is given for the temple and given to God. You are not to plunder yourself. You are not to get rich off of this. Which by the way, that was the normal way things that were were done. You know, we see, you know, it says, ⁓ I can't believe God called them to wipe out a whole people group. That's That's what you did, like when one tribe attacked another tribe, the goal was to wipe that tribe out. All right. Now we we can discuss all that, but but that's just the way that it that it was. And and ⁓ and God knew you didn't need the pagan evil influence to corrupt this new group of people. And by the way, God also says the pun everyone will receive punishment. It will be either forgiven by Jesus Christ or you will experience it for yourself in the afterlife. But all will be punished. And so those pagan cultures that practice child sacrifice, all those, those are the people that were in Jericho. Those were the people that were were here. And this was God's judgment upon them as well. The Bible clearly says that. ⁓ and and so but the you had the a a guy named Achan. ⁓ he decided he was gonna take a little bit of gold from from Jericho. He took a couple other little things from Babylon. And so the people, they were starting to not fully listen to the word of God. And so God was not with them when they went to High. And Joshua, he doesn't know it at this time, and he just falls to his face. Can you imagine the devastation? All this good stuff that's happened, the ⁓ the The waters have ⁓ parted, the Jericho has gone, and then this small little group just destroys you, right? And God tells him what's going on. And then Joshua had to make very difficult ⁓ leadership decisions and trust in God, and actually capital punishment was required. Right? This this was serious things. And then after that, they were able to defeat I. ⁓ Right and and and so we we see that and we see them moving on. We see them again even making another mistake later on. There's this group called the Gibeonites. ⁓ and and they are they they come because that they can tell something's going on, right? This little group of people's destroying everybody. So they they dress themselves up as like they've come from a long way off. It's kind of fascinating. And they come and they say, Hey, let's make a deal. You know, we're not in this area. Right. We're just a long way off. We've heard how amazing your God is. You know, we just want to be allies. And the Bible scriptures clearly says that Joshua and the the leadership did not seek the wisdom of God. And they made this deal. Well, this group was actually right there in the land. And and ⁓ and they made this deal with them. And then they would not break the deal because they You keep an oath, and God wanted them to keep an oath. They actually had to go fight a battle defending this group of Gibeonites against other Canaanite peoples. It's fascinating all that's going on. And you finally have the land that is is ⁓ is conquered, and then Joshua goes through the process of the dividing up the land into the twelve tribes. That that's Joshua's life. Man, talk about need having to need Strength and courage. And it wasn't perfect. And Joshua wasn't perfect. You know what? I don't care how committed you are to being strong and courageous, you're going to make some mistakes. You're going to fall short. You're going to think, you know what, I can do this one on my own. And then you'll be reminded. No, no, you can't. But man, Joshua remained faithful through his whole life. And then at the end of his life, in Joshua chapter twenty four. Starting in verse fourteen. Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your father served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. This is Joshua talking to the people. or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Then the people answered, Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other serve other gods, for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out from the house of slavery, who did these great signs in our sight, and presented us in all the way that we went. And among all the peoples through whom we passed, and the Lord drove out before us all the people, the Amorites who lived in the land, therefore we will also serve the Lord, for he is our God. But Joshua said to the people, You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God, he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins if you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods. Then he will turn and do you harm and consume you after ha having done you good. And the people said to Joshua, No, but we will serve the Lord. Then Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves, that you have chosen the Lord to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. He said, Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord the God of Israel. And the people said to Joshua, The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey. Now, why did I read all of that? The best place to have ended and the ⁓ you know the the the good climactic scene would have been to stop at as for me and my household we will serve the Lord. And that is that is the most important thing, but you you must understand that it is not going to be easy. You are going to be tempted to To go after foreign gods. Now in our culture we don't think about that as a literal God of w we're you're not gonna dabble in Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism, but you are gonna dabble in secularism. You're gonna dabble in, you know what, maybe maybe I invest most of my time in this over here. And and I and I don't actually bring the word of God into that part of my life. You know what, I I love talking about the Lord with my family and with my friends, but at work, I'm not I'm not gonna bring him there. Right? That's the temptation. And Joshua is beating that into the people. He's saying, Yes, this is where you are today, but you have to continue to be strong and courageous because the temptation is going to be there. Well, as we move forward, engaging. The United States of America in twenty twenty six and beyond, it is going to be a constant battle. We cannot let up because the foreign gods are active right now. And they they are tempting. And sometimes we just want to say, I I I just go along to get along. No. We need to be strong and courageous. And each and every day say, As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Let's go to him in prayer. Impacting his kingdom and love Sing to him. Yeah.