The NXR Podcast - SUNDAY SERMON - Fear Is Not Only A Sin, It’s A Sign Of Being Under God’s Judgment ｜ Joshua 2_1-21

00:00:00.000 All right, listen, guys, I get it.

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00:00:36.720 hope you'll take the time to do so thank you so much god bless this morning we continue with our

00:00:42.040 series through the book of joshua our text for today is joshua chapter 2 verse 1 through 21

00:00:47.860 again that's joshua chapter 2 verses 1 through 21 would you join me now in standing for the

00:00:55.300 reading of god's word i'll read our text in its entirety when i finish reading the text i'm going

00:01:00.160 to say this is the word of the lord at which point i would appreciate very much if you would respond

00:01:05.100 by saying thanks be to god one final time our text for today is joshua chapter 2 verses 1 through 21

00:01:13.420 the bible says this and joshua the son of nun sent two men secretly from shittim as spies saying go

00:01:22.880 view the land especially Jericho and they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name

00:01:30.640 was Rahab and lodged there and it was told to the king of Jericho behold men of Israel have come here

00:01:38.300 tonight to search out the land then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying bring out the men

00:01:45.460 who have come to you who entered your house for they have come to search out all the land but the

00:01:52.200 woman had taken the two men and hidden them and she said true the men came to me but I did not

00:02:00.460 know where they were from and when the gate was about to be closed at dark the men went out I do

00:02:07.180 not know where the men went pursue them quickly for you will overtake them but she had brought

00:02:13.460 them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof

00:02:20.200 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords, and the gate

00:02:26.780 was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

00:02:30.840 Before the men laid down, she came to them on the roof and said to the men, I know that

00:02:37.300 the Lord has given you the land and that the fear of you has fallen upon us and that all

00:02:43.120 the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.

00:02:46.320 for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of

00:02:52.620 Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan of Sihon and

00:02:59.140 Og whom you devoted to destruction and as soon as we heard it our hearts melted and there was no

00:03:06.040 spirit left in any man because of you for the Lord your God he is God in the heavens above and on the

00:03:13.140 earth beneath now then please swear to me by the Lord that you as I have dealt kindly with you

00:03:20.140 you also will deal kindly with my father's house and give me a sign that you will save alive my

00:03:27.900 father and mother my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them and deliver our lives from

00:03:33.460 death and the men said to her our life for yours even to death if you do not tell this business of

00:03:41.020 ours, then when the Lord gives us the land, we will deal kindly and faithfully with you. Then she let

00:03:47.600 them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she

00:03:53.580 lived in the wall. And she said to them, go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you,

00:03:59.960 and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.

00:04:06.160 The men said to her, We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear.

00:04:13.220 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down,

00:04:20.520 and you shall gather into your house your father and your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household.

00:04:27.140 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless.

00:04:35.220 but if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house his blood shall be on our head

00:04:41.400 but if you tell this business of ours then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath

00:04:47.020 that you have made us swear and she said according to your words so be it then she sent them away

00:04:53.840 and they departed and she tied the scarlet cord in the window this is the word of the lord

00:04:59.760 all right please be seated let's begin there's three primary points that i hope by the grace

00:05:07.060 of god to make from the text today the second point will be the primary point of the sermon

00:05:13.100 the first and the third will be smaller points yet of course still significant the first thing

00:05:21.080 as we see in the text today worth noting is this that trusting in god's promised outcome

00:05:27.000 is vital, and trusting in God's promised outcome comes before actually having a plan.

00:05:36.080 Now, we should trust in God's covenant promises. What God says will come to pass. What God says

00:05:42.220 will be the outcome, even if we don't see the means by which this is going to come about.

00:05:48.720 Trusting in God's promised outcome even before having a plan. Verse 1 of our text says this,

00:05:55.720 and joshua the son of nun sent two men secretly from shittim as spies saying go view the land

00:06:02.600 especially jericho now joshua's insistence this is easy to miss but joshua's insistence on secrecy

00:06:11.140 go and secretly spy out the land was not so much with respect to the inhabitants of jericho

00:06:18.040 this is assumed of all spies joshua is not merely saying you should go and spy secretly

00:06:24.360 as to ensure that jericho does not detect your presence you should be secret in respect to the

00:06:32.820 inhabitants of jericho the ones who you are spying out that would be redundant the mere fact that he

00:06:40.980 is sending them as spies assumes that they should exercise secrecy in regards to the people of

00:06:48.000 jericho rather joshua is insisting that these spies exercise secrecy in regards to the people

00:06:57.420 of israel in regards to the spies conducting their business in a private manner this is to be

00:07:04.800 not discovered by the people of israel why see joshua is concerned that israel might be discouraged

00:07:12.200 if they suspected that Joshua, as their leader, was fearful of the Canaanites.

00:07:18.660 Joshua was careful not to appear distrusting of the promise of God

00:07:23.680 that was given to them that they might conquer the land.

00:07:28.900 This is a good principle for all people in positions of leadership,

00:07:33.300 not to scare those who are following you.

00:07:37.520 this is good counsel good biblical counsel for all positions of leadership whether it be church

00:07:44.120 leadership whether it be civil magistrates whether it be somebody who is a superior or employer

00:07:50.900 in a vocational field and especially parents in regards to their children we trust the promises

00:07:59.320 of god and we trust these promises without having a plan so joshua believed that god would

00:08:06.540 fulfill what he had promised, that he would give the land of Canaan over to Israel, that they would

00:08:12.240 be given strength to conquer all their enemies. Jericho was one of the strongest and most fortified 0.81

00:08:20.200 cities in the land of Canaan. And Joshua is not sending the spies to see whether or not Jericho

00:08:27.920 is weak enough for God to actually make good on his promise. No, rather he's sending the spies to

00:08:34.920 see to see what the means will be that god utilizes to bring about his promised end joshua is trusting 0.80

00:08:43.420 that the end result is that jericho will be conquered but joshua is sending spies into the 0.75

00:08:49.440 land to detect the practical means by which this will come about what are the particular weak

00:08:55.560 points of this city of jericho how are we going to conquer it not if we'll conquer it god has

00:09:02.160 promised that we trust his promise but we want to see how it's going to be conquered and so joshua

00:09:07.860 sends these spies secretly not secretly in regards to the inhabitants of jericho hence the fact that

00:09:15.440 they're spies that's assumed but he's secretly sending them out in regards to the knowledge

00:09:21.560 of israel he doesn't want israel to be aware that joshua is sending spies out to detect weak points

00:09:29.520 points of vulnerability with their enemies at jericho because he doesn't want that action to

00:09:36.080 be interpreted by his own people by the people of israel as distrust in the covenant promises

00:09:42.800 of god now the reason you might wonder why is he sending the spies out at all god's going to come

00:09:49.840 through with his promise well that's because you know the end of the story all right this is one

00:09:55.120 of the most commonly known stories in the whole of scripture all right we before phil visher went

00:10:01.160 woke you know he got veggie tales right the people at jericho you know and the walls come down i mean

00:10:06.660 every child even children not raised in a christian family are probably aware of the walls of jericho

00:10:13.980 crumbling but joshua and israel weren't not at this moment so they're not doubting joshua's not

00:10:21.480 doubting whether or not god will fulfill his promise he's asking how this is similar to the

00:10:27.400 virgin mary right there are instances where god gave a promise right perhaps he even sent an angel

00:10:33.900 and the person did not believe the promise and there was a judgment for their unbelief

00:10:41.020 think of zachariah zachariah who was serving as a priest that he goes into the holy of holies to

00:10:49.120 perform his priestly duty and it is spoken to him by the lord through a messenger that he's going to

00:10:57.360 have a son and that this son is going to pave the way make straight the path level every mountain

00:11:04.400 raise every valley for the messiah that he's going to have a son namely john the baptist who would be

00:11:10.300 a forerunner of jesus and zachariah questions this in unbelief now listen here's the distinction

00:11:17.420 not unbelief in how God could bring this about in terms of what God's means will be in fulfilling

00:11:24.700 the promise but Zachariah actually doubts God's ability to fulfill the promise at all and so he's

00:11:33.160 stricken with muteness he becomes dumb and unable to speak dumb in the proper sense he's unable to

00:11:40.320 speak until the birth of the child now mary on the other hand by way of contrast the same kind 0.93

00:11:48.560 of event happens for her where an angel comes and says blessed are you this is what the lord is

00:11:55.020 going to do for you that you will conceive by the holy spirit the spirit will come upon you

00:12:00.520 and you will conceive a son and his his name shall be jesus and and she receives this message

00:12:07.820 her response is not um uh i don't see how god can uh could pull this off in terms of the how

00:12:15.760 referencing i don't know how this is possible aka i don't know if god can do it no her question of

00:12:23.600 how has to do with not is god capable of the end of his promise fulfilling the end of his promise

00:12:30.400 but her question of how is in regards to what particular means will he use to bring about the

00:12:37.700 end of his promise mary is not doubting whether or not god can pull it off when she asks how can

00:12:43.520 this be she's literally asking she's not saying it cannot be or i don't think it can be she's saying

00:12:50.020 essentially it will be because the lord has spoken but i'm a virgin and practically from just a

00:12:58.400 scientific perspective here i'm just wondering how that's going to work right that's very different

00:13:05.060 than zachariah that's very different than other individuals it's different than sarah abraham's

00:13:11.300 wife who laughs she laughs at the promise that she would bear a son in her old age that's that's

00:13:20.500 that wasn't i don't know how god can bring this about but i'm sure he will that was i'm doubting

00:13:26.120 whether or not he can bring this about that's the difference and so from the very first verse of our

00:13:31.600 text Joshua I do not believe is doubting the promise of God in terms of the end result Jericho

00:13:39.220 will be conquered the land of Canaan will be given as a promise to God's people as an inheritance

00:13:45.980 but rather he's sending out these two spies because he knows God's going to bring it about

00:13:51.120 but he doesn't know what means by which god will bring it about and he knows that he's going to

00:13:56.600 have to do something he's it's not just that god is going to bring it about without any participation

00:14:02.520 from his people that his people will have to step out in faith it won't just be sitting on the other

00:14:09.080 side of the jordan believing and trusting and hoping and wishing they're going in faith faith

00:14:15.400 brings about it necessitates action true faith is living faith and living faith works it is a

00:14:24.140 working faith now we are not saved by faith plus works we are saved by faith alone but the true

00:14:31.580 faith that actually saves produces both salvation and works the simplest way i can explain it is

00:14:38.200 like this think of it as a simple um arithmetic addition mathematic equation it is not faith plus

00:14:47.000 works equals god coming through with his promise aka salvation it is not faith plus works equals

00:14:54.480 salvation it is faith equals salvation plus works do you see the difference it is not faith plus

00:15:03.660 works gets you salvation no it is faith alone but as luther once said a faith that is truly alone

00:15:12.300 a true saving faith it is faith alone that saves but true faith is never alone faith alone saves

00:15:19.740 but true faith is never alone so it's not faith plus works equal salvation that's a heresy that

00:15:26.200 is uh the heresy of legalism proper that's that's the galatian heresy adding works to the flesh

00:15:33.560 to faith what you have begun by the spirit you now seek to perfect by works as done unto the

00:15:40.280 by the flesh that is that is to insult the sufficiency of christ to say that what christ

00:15:47.740 did is pretty good it's a great start but but it's not enough right at the end of the day god

00:15:54.640 fulfilling his promise is is really a beautiful picture of teamwork makes the dream work you know

00:16:00.520 jesus really did a lot but man when i came in there also and we teamed up me and jesus we got

00:16:08.120 it done that's a heresy that's a joke it's like you laughed great response you've been discipled

00:16:14.660 well if i do say so myself laughter is the proper response right it's laughable however here's where

00:16:21.820 evangelicals today miss it the problem with evangelicalism today is not that it is in great

00:16:27.760 danger of legalism the problem with evangelicalism today is that it hates god's law it is antinomia

00:16:36.660 even with the whole christian nationalist thing i'm convinced even dear brothers

00:16:42.720 not saying they're not saved not saying they're false teachers i think they're confused i've been

00:16:47.820 confused i'm sure i'm still confused about things and if i knew what they were then i probably want

00:16:52.500 to be confused that's how confusion works right so i'm confused about things other dear brothers

00:16:57.100 are confused about things doesn't make them heretics doesn't make them not brothers but i

00:17:01.420 have a sneaking suspicion that when you get down to the bottom and this is speculation and i'll own

00:17:06.980 that right man looks at the outward appearance god alone sees the heart i'm speculating about

00:17:11.460 motives here and i could be wrong so let me give that disclaimer but i have a sneaking suspicion

00:17:15.900 that even with some of the dearest brothers that i know faithful men that the aversion towards

00:17:23.780 having a christian nation is somehow tied to an aversion towards god's law at the end of the day

00:17:31.220 they just don't like god's law or at the end of the day they're at least somewhat ashamed of god's

00:17:37.740 law and we like most of god's law we like the second table of god's law commandments number

00:17:43.300 five through ten we'll take that love your neighbor we'll we'll we'll run that play as

00:17:51.260 evangelicals back and forth all day for three years for, you know, the whole Branch Covidian

00:17:56.600 thing, you know, love your neighbor, love your neighbor, love your neighbor, love your neighbor.

00:18:00.060 We'll proudly champion some of God's law. But the moment we start talking about

00:18:05.960 Sabbatarian laws, which is not crazy, that was in our nation. We're not talking about a hypothetical

00:18:13.240 situation that's never been done. We're talking about our own nation's recent history. But the

00:18:19.580 moment you start talking about the sabbath you're like well we would never do that's extreme we're

00:18:24.000 not extreme we're not we're not those extreme christians like what extreme you mean every

00:18:30.180 single christian there's ever been until 15 minutes ago they were all sabbatarian

00:18:36.240 the extreme christians you mean the puritans but you hosted the puritan conference

00:18:43.160 let's think about that for a second who are you calling extreme

00:18:49.460 blasphemy laws are extreme we already have them it's not whether but which

00:18:56.000 there will always be in any nation a god every nation is theocratic every nation has a god

00:19:05.440 it's either a pagan god the state as god or the triune god and based on their god a theocracy

00:19:15.600 that's, for the record, that's not an ecclesiocracy. An ecclesiocracy is a conflation of two independent

00:19:23.180 autonomous sovereign spheres, namely church and state. Ecclesiocracy seeks to blend those two,

00:19:29.540 conflate them together. That is not biblical. That's not what anyone is arguing for. An

00:19:34.760 ecclesiocracy would be a church-run state. A theocracy is a God-run state. Separation of church 0.76

00:19:42.880 and state amen the scepter was given to judah and the priesthood to levi even in the first book of

00:19:51.260 the bible we see god separating designating separately these duties of church and state

00:19:58.280 civil rulership judah the scepter given to them and the priestly functions the church given to

00:20:04.520 levi the separation of church and state is perfectly biblical and i advocate for it strongly

00:20:10.180 but brothers and sisters there is night and day difference between the separation of church and

00:20:15.740 state and the separation of christ and state every state every nation every government

00:20:25.500 is theocratic ecclesiocracy no thank you no protestant pope theocracy it's not whether but

00:20:35.180 which you have no choice in the matter it will be theocratic we currently our nation has a god

00:20:43.140 and the particular god that we have with whatever god you have that god will have

00:20:48.400 a corresponding orthodoxy and anything outside of that orthodoxy which is set by your god

00:20:56.980 anything outside of that is what you would consider blasphemy so there are certain things

00:21:02.700 you cannot say because it's not keeping in step with the reigning orthodoxy which has been set

00:21:09.120 by that nation's designated god not whether but which they have a god now with that not only does

00:21:16.740 the god then dictate orthodoxy everything outside of that being blasphemy but also all religions

00:21:23.480 and atheism is a religion secular humanism is a religion darwinism is a religion and it takes far

00:21:30.860 more nonsensical illogical faith to believe those false religions than it does to believe the true

00:21:38.020 christian religion but every religion not only does it have a god an orthodoxy outside of

00:21:43.980 orthodoxy therefore being blasphemy but they also have sacraments our nation currently the sacraments

00:21:51.340 is the blood of babies and the murder of 65 million plus children and it's far more than that 0.53

00:22:00.100 and another sacrament is a sexual revolution perversion

00:22:07.540 now we often make the correlation with planned parenthood to

00:22:14.080 molek a false god child sacrifice but another correlation that's a helpful one

00:22:23.640 that Gerhardus Vos talks about

00:22:27.440 is the Asherah poles. 0.88

00:22:31.020 Molech, child sacrifice, think abortion. 0.99

00:22:34.500 The Asherah poles were once fruitful trees. 0.97

00:22:39.420 Trees have branches.

00:22:42.800 But the Asherah poles were stripped of their branches 1.00

00:22:46.220 down to a naked bare pole.

00:22:49.740 The branches and their ability to be fruitful is dismantled.

00:22:56.860 They become lifeless, fruitless, androgynous. 0.99

00:23:04.920 Molech, abortion. 1.00

00:23:07.440 Asherah, transgenderism. 1.00

00:23:11.160 Sexual mutilation. 1.00

00:23:14.480 All fruitfulness ripped away. 0.92

00:23:17.100 a shell of a person a pole where a tree once stood

00:23:23.720 we have sacraments not whether but which we have orthodoxy not whether but which we have blasphemy

00:23:32.720 laws not whether but which because we have a god not just a private god for private individuals in

00:23:40.300 their private lives. But there is always a public God of every public nation. They're all theocratic.

00:23:48.660 Not whether, but which. Greg Bonson had an old speech, and a portion of that, about two and a

00:23:59.640 half minutes long, has circulated and gone viral on the internet several times over the last few

00:24:05.620 decades. But it's him responding to Westminster Escondido, which is a Presbyterian seminary

00:24:11.860 known for their radical two-kingdom theology. Very pietistic. Everything is private. No public

00:24:21.220 Christianity. And he's responding to them right after they tried to essentially silence him and 0.56

00:24:29.000 fire him and remove him and dismiss him and humiliate him for his stance on Christian ethics,

00:24:34.680 general equity theonomy theonomy simply being a word for god's law and in this clip i can't

00:24:43.500 repeat it for you verbatim but essentially what he says is this he says we have millions of

00:24:51.800 children being murdered in the womb and you're concerned about theonomy you have to lock your

00:24:58.900 windows at night, and you're concerned about theonomy? Children are being shot in schools,

00:25:07.180 and you're worried about theonomy? Sodomy is being publicly praised in the streets of our nation,

00:25:16.400 and you're concerned and worried about theonomy. Brothers and sisters, this was 20, 30 years ago.

00:25:23.940 what do you think bonson would say today do you know why churches like ours are growing

00:25:31.240 do you know why people signed up and sold out six months in advance the theonomy

00:25:38.880 and post-millennialism conference do you know why christian nationalism was trending

00:25:45.140 on google two days ago partly because of my twitter account that's part of it

00:25:52.660 I certainly helped to get into that spot.

00:25:55.800 But beyond just my own personal obsession,

00:25:59.880 you know why these things are on the rise?

00:26:02.760 People are considered?

00:26:04.180 Because the world has gone insane.

00:26:10.260 Bonson was a prophet.

00:26:11.740 North, Gary North, R.J. Rushduni.

00:26:14.960 These guys, they were prophets.

00:26:17.560 And they did amazing things in their lifetime.

00:26:20.480 Amazing theological work.

00:26:22.060 And an amazing practical faithfulness and obedience.

00:26:25.340 Rushduni did so much when it comes to private Christian education,

00:26:29.680 so much in the legal sphere, so much was done by these guys.

00:26:34.720 But ultimately, the evangelical church dismissed their message.

00:26:40.700 And I think in part because they were prophets.

00:26:45.220 The prophets always are killed.

00:26:47.980 And here's the thing, the prophets aren't killed by the enemies of God.

00:26:51.140 They're killed by God's people. Israel kills the prophets. And today, the evangelical church kills 0.80

00:26:57.200 the prophets. But why are these ideas back on the rise? Why are people now willing to give it a

00:27:03.240 second consideration? Because it's not whether but which. And when the world loses its mind,

00:27:10.960 and people are genuinely afraid, and rightfully so, for the safety of their children and their

00:27:16.260 grandchildren then all of a sudden considering maybe god's law is not a horrible idea

00:27:23.820 all of a sudden people are maybe a little bit more open to that a little bit more open

00:27:30.740 all that back to joshua all that back to the how means versus end there were individuals

00:27:40.860 throughout the scripture who doubted the end whether or not god could actually fulfill his

00:27:46.040 promise but there are others who merely just were questioning not from a place of pride or a place

00:27:54.140 of unbelief but merely questioning how will you pull this off i know you will but how and i think

00:28:01.040 that's what we're seeing in the very first verse of our text using matthew henry using john gill

00:28:07.140 other commentaries that i explored this week in preparation for the sermon today

00:28:11.400 they would agree the secrecy is in regards to israel not in regards to the inhabitants of jericho 0.84

00:28:18.160 that would be redundant that would be unnecessary they're spies of course they need to be secret 0.60

00:28:23.620 but what's unique is that joshua is saying they should be secret as they go to spy out this land

00:28:30.300 in regards to not being detected by their own people because joshua as a good leader doesn't

00:28:36.220 want the people of israel to think even for a moment that he as now the recent successor of

00:28:42.800 moses their new leader that he is distrusting of the promises given through moses that they would

00:28:49.120 in fact inherit the land joshua is simply thinking not can god do it but how will god do it because

00:28:57.980 walking around the city and shouting had not yet occurred to him which is pretty fair

00:29:05.400 it would not have occurred to me i i sit here in my position of of being above the story seeing the

00:29:13.460 end and looking at it from you know being able to see the force not just individual trees you and i

00:29:18.600 we have the whole story so like joshua what's wrong with you you don't need spies everyone

00:29:24.780 knows the way you take down a city as you walk right maybe do a little shouting and if you have 0.82

00:29:32.700 some shofars, you go ahead and, you know, you let those bad boys blow. We know that. It's pretty 1.00

00:29:40.340 understandable that Joshua did not. But good leaders, back to the first point here, good leaders

00:29:46.820 don't scare those who are following them. They are diligent and careful not to display any sense

00:29:54.400 of cowardice they they have faces of flint

00:29:59.340 as we saw last week i use the quote from king loon the king of arch and land and the horse and

00:30:08.720 his boy the narnia series he says for this is what it means to be king to be first in every desperate

00:30:16.600 attack, to be last in every desperate retreat. And when there are hard times in the land,

00:30:25.840 as there are sure to be in some years, to dress in finer clothes and laugh more loudly over a

00:30:35.280 scanty meal than any other man in the kingdom. That's what it means to be king. Kings fight,

00:30:44.820 they feast and they laugh we don't want to be fearful warriors we do not want to be jaded

00:30:55.320 warriors angry warriors we want to be jovial warriors laughing warriors

00:31:05.440 jericho the hearts of the people melted like wax

00:31:14.240 because they knew that they had the advantage position the high ground fortification artillery

00:31:24.900 plans of defense but israel had the lord the lord is on our side if god be with us

00:31:36.420 who can be against us which brings us to our second point fear is not only a sin

00:31:44.240 biblically speaking fear especially in a corporate sense when a group of people not just an

00:31:52.880 individual, but a group of people, a nation, a culture, a community, when fear falls upon them.

00:31:59.700 Not only is fear in biblical terms a sin, but it's a curse. Fear is a sign that a people has

00:32:07.980 been corporately placed by God under judgment. In your notes, I've written this. In verse 9 of our

00:32:15.680 text Rahab says the fear of you has fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land melt

00:32:23.500 away before you and again in verse 11 of our text Rahab says and as soon as we heard it heard what

00:32:30.800 the context is that you pass through the Red Sea that God supernaturally caused it to part and open

00:32:37.020 up as dry land and that you devoted to destruction and conquered and overcame the two kings

00:32:45.460 to other tribes of the Amorites. 0.99

00:32:48.860 You've already conquered. 0.97

00:32:50.780 So you've been given supernatural power

00:32:53.300 and provision by God to cross through seas

00:32:57.160 and not only to cross through seas,

00:33:00.120 but to conquer kings.

00:33:02.660 And the news of it, when we heard it, she says,

00:33:05.580 as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted

00:33:07.980 and there was no spirit left in any man because of you. 0.97

00:33:13.340 one of the chief evidences which caused Rahab to be convinced that her people were the bad guys

00:33:20.940 right have you ever seen like you know that are we the baddies you know like like third

00:33:27.200 like are we the bad guys right one way that you can tell are we the baddies are we the bad guys

00:33:32.320 one way you can tell is when you and all your people are afraid

00:33:35.620 we don't think of fear as being morally indicting it is we make certain allowances for fear

00:33:44.340 we deal much more compassionately with the sin of fear we don't like pride we won't tolerate pride

00:33:52.160 now to be fair we tolerate very much pride in ourselves but as c.s lewis once said pride is

00:33:59.860 one of the most difficult sins to see in yourself and perhaps the most helpful indicator to know

00:34:05.580 if you have pride yourself is to see how bothered you are by what you perceive as pride in others

00:34:11.760 right when a person is constantly going around and man i'm just concerned about this guy's

00:34:16.460 his his humility i'm just concerned about his pride this guy seems arrogant you know right

00:34:21.260 then and there that dude's really prideful the guy voicing the concern about everybody else's

00:34:26.700 humility that's the person who's really prideful essentially what he's saying you usually say that

00:34:30.920 about people when they're getting some notoriety, some sense of public recognition. I'm just

00:34:35.660 concerned that he stay humble. And what you're actually doing is you're confessing that if you

00:34:41.060 were getting that notoriety, you'd be an arrogant jerk. That's what you're actually doing. 1.00

00:34:47.340 You're not voicing a concern. You're actually voicing subconsciously a personal confession.

00:34:53.580 I wouldn't be able to handle that position. I'm so prideful. Right now, the only thing that keeps

00:34:59.220 me humble is that nobody knows me you know and what i've done and is cheering for me except for

00:35:04.380 my mom and in god's providence he'll keep it that way out of mercy and love for you because you're

00:35:12.820 arrogant you would not be able to handle status you would not be able to handle notoriety

00:35:18.680 who are you to judge another man's servant a wise man namely the holy spirit through the apostle 0.65

00:35:26.300 Paul once said. So all that being said, fear, right? We tolerate pride. That's how I got there.

00:35:34.500 We tolerate, or we don't tolerate pride in others. We tolerate it in ourselves, but there are certain

00:35:39.140 sins that we have very little compassion for. When we see pride and arrogance in someone else,

00:35:43.520 we have a great aversion towards it. It gets under our skin. We're not patient. We're not tolerant.

00:35:50.620 but one sin and it is brothers and sisters biblically defined objectively definitively

00:35:58.060 as sin is fear and we deal kindly and softly with fear the mortification of sin john owen

00:36:08.520 do not deal lightly with sin but many lashes not few lashes but we want to seek to mortify

00:36:17.360 the flesh. Romans 7, even for the Christian, I believe this is post-conversion Paul, 0.97

00:36:24.960 even for the Christian, sin still resides within the members of my being. But for the Christian, 0.95

00:36:30.180 he does not deal kindly with his sin. We don't seek to subdue our sin, manage our sin, 0.99

00:36:39.180 take captive and imprison and lock away our sin. Biblically speaking, we are commanded to kill

00:36:46.880 our sin and you cannot brothers and sisters ever kill the sin that you have not first by grace

00:36:55.520 and conviction of the spirit come to hate the only sin you will ever kill by grace

00:37:03.200 is the sin you have come to hate by grace and many of us do not hate the sin of fear

00:37:09.700 we deal kindly with that sin

00:37:14.340 we write up treaties with that sin

00:37:19.080 rather than declaring war on that sin

00:37:23.840 fear is a sin

00:37:25.860 biblically how do we know this

00:37:28.020 a plethora of verses but i'll give you one

00:37:32.500 be anxious for nothing

00:37:34.940 but with prayer and supplication make your request known to god

00:37:39.680 how many times does the scripture say do not worry

00:37:44.780 not i see you're worrying that must be hard let's talk about it no stop it some of the best

00:37:56.920 biblical counsel that i've ever witnessed been given myself as i've needed it and given it to

00:38:02.200 others some of the best biblical counsel somebody comes in i've got this thing going this reoccurring

00:38:07.920 habit. I know that it's wrong. Some of the best biblical counsel I've ever heard is this. Stop it.

00:38:17.840 Stop it. Cut that out. But pastor, that's not gospel centered. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Jesus died 0.98

00:38:27.020 for your sin. So stop it. That is how the Bible writes to us. Stop worrying. Do not worry about

00:38:39.820 tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Stop it.

00:38:45.400 we tolerate the sin of fear but that's just half of the point that i'm making now

00:38:57.100 fear is not only categorized biblically as a sin but when fear comes upon a people

00:39:05.880 it is very often if not almost always a sign of not only a sin but a curse

00:39:14.280 that a people has fallen underneath god's corporate judgment 0.85

00:39:20.120 one of the chief evidences which caused rahab to be convinced that her people were the baddies

00:39:27.460 right that she would make concessions with the spies of israel that she would switch allegiances

00:39:34.500 from jericho which was an amorite city by the way so they've conquered the amorites we see that in

00:39:40.960 our text we heard how you conquered these two Amorite kings Jericho they were also Amorites

00:39:45.280 there were seven tribes pagan tribes in Canaan that had to be conquered and driven out one of

00:39:51.420 them were the Amorites but even within these seven tribes there were further subcategories of multiple

00:39:57.160 tribes within these tribes sub-tribes villages cities fortified capitals think of Nineveh for

00:40:04.480 instance. Nineveh was one of five capital cities of the Assyrians. Just one. Now it was a major

00:40:12.640 one. And so too, the same kind of concept, Jericho was a major fortified. It was a juggernaut.

00:40:20.840 It's not all the Amorites because they've already taken out two kings of the Amorites. But if you 0.79

00:40:26.560 take out Jericho, then essentially, effectively, the Amorites are finished. You'll still have to 1.00

00:40:34.220 drive them out right you'll still have to follow it up but that's the giant you slay the giant

00:40:41.740 and his people shudder his people retreat and then you run them down that's what happened with

00:40:52.220 david and goliath right when david cut off goliath's head and held it up with goliath's own

00:40:58.360 sword and fulfilled his promise to goliath that today i will feed your carcass to the birds

00:41:03.960 when david does this israel doesn't say and we're done but effectively it's done 0.58

00:41:09.800 they then go and strength comes back to israel they were under god's judgment they were trembling

00:41:16.240 their knees were shaking every day as goliath came out and taunted the people of god blaspheming god

00:41:22.940 mocking israel but david says who is this uncircumcised philistine that mocks the armies 0.65

00:41:29.160 of the living god i will serve up his head and his carcass to the birds and he does it and there's 0.67

00:41:37.320 still a ton of philistines that need to be taken out but all of a sudden the spirit comes back to 1.00

00:41:42.420 the philistines they're reinvigorated and they run them down same with jericho and the amorites 0.74

00:41:49.400 Most importantly, same with Jesus and the devil. 0.64

00:41:56.480 Jesus, in his earthly ministry, by his active obedience,

00:42:00.300 that is, fulfilling all righteousness in his life,

00:42:04.040 by his passive obedience, that is, his substitutionary death,

00:42:08.520 dying on the cross in my place,

00:42:11.400 not merely as a moral example of sacrificial love,

00:42:14.980 but dying as a propitiation,

00:42:16.900 as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,

00:42:19.400 by his active obedience and his full righteous life,

00:42:23.160 his passive obedience and his substitutionary death,

00:42:25.880 and his bodily resurrection,

00:42:28.580 that God would not let his Holy One see decay,

00:42:30.960 but rather rose him on the third day from the grave

00:42:33.740 and his glorious, majestic, conquering ascension

00:42:37.280 to the right hand of God, the Father Almighty,

00:42:40.340 where he is now sat down.

00:42:43.000 It is finished.

00:42:44.240 And one by one, his enemies subjected under his feet.

00:42:46.980 It's the same principle.

00:42:48.160 what jesus did by his life death resurrection and ascension is that he came to earth and he bound

00:42:55.400 the strong man now the strong man still has a lot of minions left in the world and the strong man

00:43:03.260 to make it plain speaking of satan woe to you o earth for the devil is cast down to you

00:43:10.440 the devil was cast down to the earth in a sense the earth became his house how

00:43:16.460 everything that happens happens in a covenantal framework god is creator of all including the

00:43:25.040 earth but god gave adam he gave him federal headship over the created world adam by his sin

00:43:34.580 transferred that headship his stewardship his dominion over the world to satan

00:43:41.680 but jesus came the second adam the last adam the better adam and he came and took it back

00:43:51.940 and he bound satan now listen satan is bound but he has not yet been cast into the lake of fire

00:43:58.220 you might think well but satan roars like like he prowls around like a roaring lion

00:44:03.180 seeking who he may devour and he's still in the business of devouring but there's a categorical

00:44:09.540 difference in real time real human history something happened 2 000 years ago namely

00:44:17.240 god took on flesh came to the world which the devil has been cast down to you and bound the

00:44:25.180 strong man and as jesus says in a parable you cannot go and plunder the house unless someone

00:44:31.800 first goes and binds the strong man then you plunder the goods so just like david binds the

00:44:37.280 strong man Goliath. Doesn't mean we're done, but now we run them down. The people of Israel go

00:44:42.960 and run down the rest of the Philistines. Just like Jericho, a juggernaut. You take it down, 1.00

00:44:48.720 there's still Amorites and six other tribes in the land of Canaan that must be driven out. 1.00

00:44:53.200 But there are heads, juggernauts, giants, dragons in the land. And when they're slain by the grace 1.00

00:45:01.560 of god empowering his people life comes back to the people of god the people who were previously

00:45:09.400 fearful previously shuddering previously unbelieving in god's promise now all of a sudden

00:45:18.160 there's still work to be done my point is the war isn't over but the people now have courage

00:45:24.120 to run to the battle.

00:45:27.680 There is a war happening right now,

00:45:30.620 a spiritual war with real cultural, political,

00:45:33.520 physical, tangible effects in this world.

00:45:38.340 People say, well, the culture war is not a thing.

00:45:40.820 That is so naive.

00:45:43.740 It's a spiritual war. 0.86

00:45:46.100 Why not both?

00:45:48.800 Yeah, it's a spiritual war.

00:45:50.600 But here's the thing about spiritual wars.

00:45:54.120 the spiritual war that's going on all around us that we can't see

00:46:00.060 guess what these spirits they actually care about the physical world

00:46:05.280 god cares because he made it for god so loved the world that he sent his only god cares about

00:46:14.580 the physical world you know who else does the devil in fact it's a spiritual war not a cultural

00:46:21.000 one. Nope, nope. It is a spiritual war, but with cultural, tangible elements, effects, because the

00:46:27.700 spirits that are warring care about the physical cosmos. There's only one entity I can think of

00:46:34.220 that doesn't. Evangelicals. God cares. Satan cares. Democrats care. The only people who seem to be 0.89

00:46:46.260 satisfied with not doing anything in any tangible practical sense is christians

00:46:52.500 but you didn't get that from the bible i'll tell you that

00:46:59.080 fear is a sin but fear is more than just a sin it's a sign of being under god's judgment

00:47:07.760 what convinced rahab that she was the baddie and needed to switch teams switch allegiance 0.64

00:47:15.780 to the good guys, namely the people of God, Israel, was that her people in every practical 0.59

00:47:22.920 capacity had the advantage position. They had the juggernaut city. They had the defense strategies.

00:47:33.060 Israel didn't even know the lay of the land. Hence, verse 1, Joshua sending out spies

00:47:38.360 to investigate the land. Jericho knows all the strategic advantage fortified positions.

00:47:45.040 they have more experience they have more knowledge they're on the defense israel has to come and 0.82

00:47:52.840 attack they have the fortified position they have the artillery their people won't be weary from a

00:47:59.200 journey but rather they'll be nourished and well provided with victuals at every level they have

00:48:07.000 the upper hand but there's one thing that clues rahab in in regards to the fact that jericho is

00:48:16.320 about to lose that her people have every single practical advantage and yet they're afraid

00:48:24.300 their hearts melted like wax and rahab rightly in humility and wisdom by the spirit of god

00:48:35.760 she rightly realizes this is supernatural fear this isn't just any ordinary fear this is

00:48:44.160 supernatural fear meaning it's irrational fear illogical fear it's a fear that makes no sense

00:48:52.800 the amorites were formidable warriors they had conquered plenty of people before and now all of 0.59

00:49:00.780 sudden a ragtag group of Israelites the previous slaves in Egypt they're going to march up on the 0.84

00:49:11.460 scene without the weapons without the supply without the provisions without the strength 0.92

00:49:17.760 without the rest it's not a threat and yet Jericho's afraid irrationally afraid it's a

00:49:29.560 supernatural fear that god placed upon them and rahab has the wisdom and humility by the grace of

00:49:36.880 god to recognize it we're the bad guys we're the ones under god's judgment i better switch

00:49:46.300 allegiances i better right now make concessions and she does and she does it by faith now to

00:49:55.880 apply this because you guys know i'm in the business of revelation interpretation application

00:50:01.720 i believe that's what good preaching is revelation not i have a dream not i have an idea not i have

00:50:08.780 a strategy but i have a text the revelation is the word of god interpretation exegeting the text

00:50:14.020 what does god mean by it but that's where most evangelicals stop in their preaching there is a

00:50:18.740 third and final step revelation interpretation application how does this meaning of this text

00:50:24.720 Holy Spirit-inspired text, apply to the people of God today.

00:50:28.840 Brothers and sisters, here's how it applies.

00:50:31.160 America is under God's judgment.

00:50:35.940 Let me give you a couple verses.

00:50:39.980 Deuteronomy 11.25.

00:50:42.020 This first is to show us that what Rahab is sensing about Jericho being fearful

00:50:47.240 is a fulfillment of what God had already promised through Moses.

00:50:51.540 Deuteronomy 11.25.

00:50:52.780 no one shall be able to stand against you the Lord your God will lay the fear of you and the

00:50:59.320 dread of you on all the land that you shall tread as he promised you so God already made this

00:51:06.500 promise not just the promise that that he would empower his people to conquer the inhabitants of

00:51:11.340 the land and give it to them as an inheritance but he also promised how he would do it at least

00:51:16.220 in a general sense one of the ways that God would do it is he would lay upon as a sign of his

00:51:20.920 judgment that destruction was coming he would lay upon them as a precursor a irrational illogical

00:51:28.460 supernatural fear god promised this through moses and now he's doing it in the day of joshua

00:51:37.000 but further than this this is how it applies to us today and other nations not merely ours

00:51:44.000 but particularly ours leviticus 26 verses 6 through 25 i will give peace in the land and you

00:51:53.260 shall lie down this is god's promise and covenant to israel and none shall make you afraid and i

00:52:01.420 will remove harmful beasts from the land and the sword shall not go through your land times of

00:52:06.920 Peace, plenty, prosperity.

00:52:10.600 You shall chase your enemies.

00:52:12.580 You'll still have enemies, but you'll dominate your enemies.

00:52:15.680 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

00:52:19.820 Five of you shall chase a hundred.

00:52:25.020 Again, notice, this is supernatural.

00:52:29.220 The word that we might use for it today,

00:52:32.580 in the dark web of evangelicalism, would be, it's a psyop.

00:52:35.680 like god is going to run a psyop on the enemies of israel they will be irrationally afraid five

00:52:42.540 israelites will be able to to chase a hundred of their enemies five shall chase a hundred and a

00:52:48.720 hundred of you shall chase ten thousand and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword

00:52:54.500 i will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with

00:53:00.600 you. Let's pause there for a second. Do you recognize that the exact opposite is happening

00:53:06.680 today? The exact opposite. Now, I suspect that sadly, because of the church's impotency

00:53:16.560 and faithlessness, that the numbers are far more even now. But there was a time in our

00:53:23.180 nation not that long ago where we had the upper hand but five caused a hundred evangelicals

00:53:31.300 to run god's promise is that that when we're faithful to him keeping steadfast covenant that

00:53:38.620 five of his people would cause a hundred of his enemies to flight and that a hundred of his people

00:53:44.520 would cause 10 000 to fly we have seen precisely the opposite in recent decades in our nation 0.90

00:53:50.700 precisely the opposite.

00:53:54.800 Oh, I don't want to offend.

00:53:57.640 Oh, this person criticized me.

00:54:02.100 I better dial it back.

00:54:04.660 I better tone it down.

00:54:08.220 There's a debate currently being waged

00:54:12.140 within evangelicalism,

00:54:14.680 and faithful brothers, I might add,

00:54:16.800 none of them heretics,

00:54:18.660 we disagree.

00:54:19.340 the disagreement matters but i do believe that by the grace of god we are on the same team

00:54:24.720 the debate if we were to boil it down a lot of it comes down to this simple question

00:54:29.200 revival or reformation if you prefer that term how will it come about how will jericho be defeated

00:54:38.260 will it be bottom up meaning more churches more planting more preaching more evangelism

00:54:47.600 and therefore by God's grace if he's pleased to do it more conversion and therefore more

00:54:53.500 regenerate hearts and with more regenerate hearts Christians being positioned with more authority

00:54:59.460 and stewardship in the land or that's one side of the debate the other side is will it be top

00:55:06.880 down and bottom up and for the record no one is holding the top down exclusive position

00:55:11.180 that's a mischaracterization but will it be both bottom up conversion preaching evangelism gospel

00:55:19.880 church planting families kids catechizing training up and and some christians in positions of

00:55:29.980 authority strategically in the civil magistrate ruling righteously both and for anyone who says 0.71

00:55:37.740 you can't do both, might I point your attention to the Sodomites, who in 40 years, with less than 0.78

00:55:46.720 3% of the population, effectively have traded the American flag for a rainbow. They got it done. 1.00

00:55:55.640 And they did not have the numbers, but they got it done.

00:55:59.640 five of them put a hundred of us to flight the very promise that god makes for his people

00:56:08.200 all of a sudden when his people are faithless works against us now we're the ones that the

00:56:15.920 psyop is being run on we're the ones now who are irrationally and illogically afraid we're the ones

00:56:23.000 running and i would say that that five causing a hundred to flight i don't think that's where

00:56:28.320 we're at today let me specify that i think today the numbers are much more even but i would say

00:56:34.580 that for the last 30 40 50 60 70 years that's where we were we actually had the numbers so when guys

00:56:43.240 say we just need more regenerate hearts i say yes and amen but we had it before and we didn't do

00:56:49.360 anything with it so we need regenerate hearts you know what we also need we need some good

00:56:55.380 sound doctrine we need regenerate hearts but we also need theologically informed minds

00:57:04.000 those regenerate hearts in pews in churches being trained and discipled by guys like Greg Bonson

00:57:11.500 who tried to warn us and was silenced and he wasn't silenced by liberals

00:57:18.240 he was silenced by Westminster Escondido Seminary

00:57:22.900 do not forget that so one of god's judgments even for his own people if we choose to be faithless

00:57:34.700 and yes i believe this applies the nation israel old covenant i believe this applies in a new

00:57:40.960 testament sense for the church for the church the church will be on the retreat if the church

00:57:47.940 is faithless the church will be irrationally fearful if the church is faithless

00:57:54.120 you get the point let's continue genesis 15 13 through 16 it's the last thing that i want you

00:58:03.660 to see in terms of nations now this is not about israel and so this principle is just as good you

00:58:10.020 can take it to the bank whether it's 2 000 years before calvary in terms of human history or 2 000

00:58:16.580 years after where we sit today. This is speaking of the Amorites, Jericho being an Amorite city.

00:58:25.460 And then the Lord said to Abraham, before Moses and Joshua were ever even born, know for certain

00:58:31.360 that your offspring will be sojourners in the land that is not theirs and will be servants there. 0.94

00:58:37.840 He's talking about slaves. He's talking about Egypt. And they will be afflicted for 400 years, 0.90

00:58:43.540 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, that being Egypt, 0.97

00:58:48.900 and afterward, not just judgment on Egypt that enslaved Israel for 400 years, 0.98

00:58:53.660 but afterward, they shall come out with great possessions.

00:58:56.740 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace.

00:59:01.000 All this will happen after a lifetime.

00:59:02.660 You shall be buried in a good old age, and they shall come back here. 0.74

00:59:07.980 That is, your people, your descendants, Israel, 0.99

00:59:10.020 shall come back here to the land Abraham was already in. 0.94

00:59:12.920 abraham was already in the land of canaan they shall come back here when they're done with their 0.93

00:59:17.360 400 years of slavery in egypt i'll judge egypt but i'll also bring israel back here to the land 0.98

00:59:22.820 of canaan in the fourth generation for the iniquity of the amorites not just egypt is not yet complete 0.90

00:59:30.700 what god is saying is this 400 years your people you're going to die here in the land of canaan

00:59:35.220 abraham in a ripe old age and you'll have a life of peace but after you there's some things that 0.88

00:59:41.120 i'm going to bring about one of them will be that israel will be in captivity and slavery in egypt 0.77

00:59:46.400 for 400 years but then i will redeem them and when i redeem them i will judge their captors 0.90

00:59:52.080 egypt and i will resource israel by plundering their possessions but then i will bring israel 0.82

00:59:58.940 from that land of egypt that i have now judged after 400 years and i'll bring israel back to 0.92

01:00:03.920 where you're standing right now abraham the promised land where the amorites are remember

01:00:10.620 jericho amorite capital city i'll bring them back here and not only will i judge egypt to deliver

01:00:17.420 them i'll then judge the amorites and the canaanites in order to that they might inherit

01:00:23.260 the land but then he says this the reason one of the reasons that it will take 400 years

01:00:29.620 is because the iniquity of the amorites is not yet full god is slow to anger abounding in love

01:00:38.460 and relenting in sending disaster

01:00:41.300 for those who call upon his name and repent.

01:00:44.960 God is not a God who indefinitely tolerates evil.

01:00:49.380 And God is not a God who never gets angry.

01:00:51.740 But he is a God who gets appropriately angry

01:00:54.160 at the right time for the right things

01:00:56.680 in the right measure.

01:00:58.780 And God, because he is abundantly patient and kind,

01:01:01.500 his anger is slow.

01:01:04.240 But eventually, if a nation does not repent,

01:01:07.840 his anger is eventually poured out god judged the amorites and even in an old testament paradigm

01:01:15.220 before the cross of jesus christ you see the long suffering and patience of god

01:01:20.580 in a corporate nature with a nation tolerating them for 400 years that they might repent and

01:01:29.580 nineveh did but this particular nation the amorites god knew that they wanted and so for 0.97

01:01:36.620 400 years god was well within his rights to destroy them but he allowed them to build to 0.99

01:01:42.780 basically build god's list of justification for his judgment by fulfilling further and further

01:01:49.520 iniquity and then he judged them and that applies to all nations that is not a unique principle

01:01:58.120 applied to the covenant nation state of israel in the old testament that is a principle of corporate

01:02:05.100 judgment for all nations whether it's before the cross or after and no nation today is exempt

01:02:13.580 including ours right now the lord is allowing our nation to fill up its iniquity but he will judge

01:02:23.940 us we have been a superpower in many ways better than thinking of us as a nation we have functioned

01:02:31.500 as an empire, much like Rome.

01:02:37.860 But we're getting weak.

01:02:40.940 We're fracturing, imploding, dividing,

01:02:46.300 filling up our iniquity.

01:02:47.840 There was a time where American military

01:02:51.800 was feared throughout the world,

01:02:55.720 and still is at some level.

01:02:58.600 but i'm telling you that if america does not corporately repent and explicitly pledge its

01:03:06.300 allegiance to the triune christian god not just a conservative resurgence in principle

01:03:13.300 but a christian revival in person calling upon the person of jesus christ if that does not occur

01:03:22.300 it may be 40 more years it may be 400 but we will fill up our iniquity and one of the signs will be

01:03:31.460 that all of a sudden we who once were known as a christian nation and and would strike terror

01:03:38.600 and to other nations that did not fear the lord we all of a sudden will have a hundred of our

01:03:44.540 military on the run from five ten thousand from a hundred

01:03:50.220 god is not indefinitely tolerant he is slow to his anger but he does not possess no anger

01:03:59.840 i believe that the fearfulness of our nation right now not just its anger not just its division

01:04:07.040 not just the insanity but there is an underlining sense of dread

01:04:11.240 and that is not only a sin but a sign of a curse it symbolizes that corporately a nation has been 0.63

01:04:21.300 placed under god's judgment and like rahab it should drive us to make concessions now

01:04:29.200 and not just concessions with israel as rahab did but in the truest sense a rahab was making

01:04:36.140 concessions with god with god i would rather be with god against jericho than with jericho

01:04:46.080 against israel's god and so too let it begin with the church in america let us pave the way

01:04:54.560 for repentance we've got plenty of our own sin to repent for let us repent not just turning back to

01:05:02.540 more conservative principles not just trying to get back to the 80s but actually calling upon

01:05:07.020 jesus by name and demanding that the state do the same that caesar is a servant and that there is a

01:05:16.260 god above him the state is not god christ is god and that we must call upon him and repent of our

01:05:25.760 sin make concessions now with the lord of hosts who alone is mighty to save and who is merciful

01:05:34.480 relenting from sending disaster and here we have our final point that in this chapter we see a

01:05:43.200 beautiful foreshadowing of the gospel the final verse in our text says this then she sent them

01:05:51.060 away that being the israelite spines and they departed and she tied the scarlet cord in the

01:05:57.460 window rahab entered into a covenant with the nation of israel and their god through faith

01:06:04.240 alone however there was no delay catch this church three minutes and i'm done there was no

01:06:11.320 delay between rahab's inward faith and her immediate outward obedience she believed and

01:06:18.360 then immediately obeyed by participating in the covenant sign. In and of itself, this scarlet thread

01:06:25.360 hung from her window was seemingly insignificant, but as a sign of the promise, it was saving.

01:06:34.600 Insofar as it symbolized the promise, inward trust in Yahweh and his covenant, this thread

01:06:41.080 saved her and her household this was a small sign of obedience yet it was a visible sign

01:06:49.720 the scarlet thread did not point inward to her own people jericho her natural kin according to

01:06:57.160 the flesh but instead it pointed outside the city walls not towards her kin according to the flesh

01:07:04.360 but towards the people of God, her true kin, according to the promise. John Gill, the late

01:07:12.140 great Baptist theologian, in commentating on this very point and this very text, says the following,

01:07:18.540 now as Rahab was an instance of the salvation of sinners by the grace of God, for she was a sinner 0.94

01:07:26.200 by birth, by practice, and a notorious one, a prostitute. She was an instance of distinguishing 0.71

01:07:34.160 grace a free and efficacious grace a singular instance of it and became a true penitent that

01:07:42.240 is repentant and real believer she was justified a justified person and saved so the scarlet thread

01:07:51.840 therefore signified an emblem of the blood of christ we are not saved by works and we are not

01:08:01.280 saved by outward signs of the covenant we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in christ

01:08:07.700 alone but in so far as covenantal signs as a scarlet thread or as your public baptism in so

01:08:16.100 far as they truly represent inward faith then you bet your bottom dollar baptism saves that scarlet

01:08:23.800 thread saved rahab and her whole household it could not save them apart from faith it only saved

01:08:30.960 them insofar as it outwardly represented faith and so it is with us we serve a covenant god

01:08:38.840 and we enter into that covenant by faith alone but with that covenant come signs and seals

01:08:46.320 and these seals do not point inward to our natural kin according to the flesh fellow sinners from

01:08:53.960 whom we are leaving but it points outward it points outward to the people of god our kin

01:09:00.020 according to the promise by the spirit but not just outward to the church to god's people but

01:09:06.740 the sign of baptism the sign of the lord's supper that we're about to partake in now

01:09:11.880 these covenantal signs just as the sign of the scarlet thread with rahab first and foremost

01:09:17.420 doesn't merely point outward to god's people but outward to the heavens to god himself it reminds

01:09:23.960 God of his promise just as he set his bow in the sky remembering his covenant never to flood the

01:09:30.620 earth again after the days of Noah so too in our baptism immersed in water reminds God the God of

01:09:39.520 heaven that we as Noah was sealed up in the ark which is Christ that we have passed safely through

01:09:46.320 the waters of God's judgment and that Christ suffered God's judgment for our sin and that his

01:09:52.040 wrath no longer remains for us let's pray father god thank you for your word bless it to your people

01:09:59.080 and bring great glory to yourself in jesus name amen can i be frank with you for just a second

01:10:06.640 right here at the end look some of you guys you're financially supporting this ministry

01:10:11.400 and from the bottom of my heart i say thank you i cannot thank you enough however some of you

01:10:18.420 you just you can't afford it in fact some of you you shouldn't afford it let's be honest i mean

01:10:25.660 we're living in joe biden's ridiculous economy our nation and our totalitarian political elites

01:10:33.760 lost their minds over the last three years due to covet we have written checks that we simply

01:10:41.260 cannot cash it doesn't matter if people change the definition of a recession we are living in

01:10:47.840 a recession right now regardless. Some of you are struggling to afford a carton of eggs at the

01:10:54.720 grocery store. You cannot support financially this ministry at this time nor should you but you could

01:11:02.260 still help us tremendously. I am asking you please if you're willing to do so take one minute of your

01:11:09.700 time. Leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast platform iTunes, Spotify, whatever that

01:11:16.900 might be, this is the way the system works. We want to be innocent as doves, but shrewd as vipers.

01:11:23.780 We need to be strategic. You leave us a five-star review, and our podcast shows up for more people.

01:11:31.000 And the Word of God and courageous theology applied in practical ways to every realm of life

01:11:38.140 gets out there. Help us get it out there. Thanks for tuning in.

01:11:46.900 You

The NXR Podcast - April 30, 2023

SUNDAY SERMON - Fear Is Not Only A Sin, It’s A Sign Of Being Under God’s Judgment ｜ Joshua 2_1-21

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