The NXR Podcast - SUNDAY SERMON - Total Depravity, Postmillennialism, & Black-Pilled Christians

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00:00:40.740 Amen. All right, this morning we are picking back up with our series through the book of Joshua.

00:00:44.860 Our chapter for this week is chapter six of the book of Joshua, and what we're going to do is

00:00:51.640 split it up into two parts. So your notes contains the entirety of the chapter, verses one, all the

00:00:59.060 way through verses 21, but we're going to focus our attention today on verses 1 through 5, and then

00:01:05.140 we'll come back and look at verses 6 through 21, Lord willing, next week. So for today, let's go

00:01:11.500 ahead and stand for the reading of God's Word. I'm going to read for us verses 1 through 5 in their

00:01:17.600 entirety. When I finish reading that text, I'm going to say this is the Word of the Lord, at which

00:01:22.580 point I would appreciate very much if you would respond by saying thanks be to God. One final

00:01:28.580 time. Our text for this Lord's Day is Joshua chapter six, verses one through five. The Bible

00:01:36.100 says this, now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because the people of Israel, none went 0.93

00:01:43.920 out and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, see, I have given Jericho into your hand with its 0.81

00:01:51.700 king and mighty men of favor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around

00:01:58.680 the city once. Thus you shall do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's

00:02:06.860 horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times and the

00:02:13.420 priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you

00:02:19.760 hear the sound of the trumpet then all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of

00:02:26.100 the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up every straight everyone straight before him

00:02:33.720 this is the word of the lord all right please be seated we'll go ahead and dive in let's focus

00:02:40.500 first our attention on simply verses one and two of our text one thing that's helpful as way of

00:02:48.200 introduction to provide some context is that this is a discourse taking place between Joshua who is

00:02:56.640 Moses' successor in Israel. He's speaking at this moment with Jesus. We believe that Joshua is

00:03:05.620 speaking with the better Joshua, Yeshua, the true and ultimate eternal deliverer of Israel, not

00:03:13.100 merely Israel according to the flesh, but true Israel, the church, according to the promise.

00:03:19.920 And so we have Joshua, the Israelite, successor of Moses, speaking with the better Joshua, Yeshua.

00:03:26.920 We know this because of the end of the previous chapter, the end of Joshua chapter 5, where

00:03:34.040 Joshua is encountered by someone dressed for battle, as we saw two weeks ago. His sword is

00:03:42.380 not only at his side and the scabbard, but his sword is unsheathed. His sword is in his hand.

00:03:48.960 And Joshua is terrified by the sight of this individual. He asks, are you for us or for our

00:03:55.320 adversaries? The answer from this individual is not neither. I am neither for you or for your

00:04:01.640 enemies, but rather he simply says no. And we are meant to assume that the implication is that the

00:04:08.600 answer no is in reference to the latter portion of Joshua's question, are you for our enemies?

00:04:14.500 And so what is being said to him is that this individual dressed for battle, who is glorious

00:04:20.520 in stature, mighty in power, is for Israel and against their adversaries. And this individual,

00:04:28.580 we believe, is not an angel because Joshua pays homage to the individual. He actually falls

00:04:36.580 prostrate before him and worship. And this individual instructs Joshua, commands him to

00:04:43.420 remove his sandals because he is standing on holy ground. An angel would not say this

00:04:50.320 because it would be blasphemous for an angel to instruct worship that is due only to God himself.

00:04:58.500 Also, an angel would have rejected Joshua's worship because, again, this would be blasphemous

00:05:04.840 for a mere created angelic being to receive worship

00:05:09.200 that is rightly fit only for God alone.

00:05:13.180 We also know that this is not only not an angel,

00:05:16.860 but it is also not a mere man.

00:05:19.900 We know that it's not a man because if it were a man,

00:05:24.040 Joshua would have detected this

00:05:25.580 and would not have offered worship.

00:05:27.820 So Joshua would not have worshiped the individual

00:05:30.940 if it were a man,

00:05:32.200 and the individual would not have received worship

00:05:35.140 had it been an angel.

00:05:37.400 And so what biblical scholars believe

00:05:39.360 is that this is a theophany,

00:05:41.860 or you could say in this case, perhaps a Christophany,

00:05:45.960 that this is the Lord Jesus Christ

00:05:48.120 in the Old Testament pre-incarnation.

00:05:52.180 So this is Jesus being physically manifest

00:05:54.880 in human or angelic form.

00:05:58.080 He appears as a man.

00:05:59.660 He has two arms and two legs.

00:06:01.420 He's dressed for battle. He has a face with two eyes and two ears, a nose and a mouth. And so it's

00:06:07.800 human form, but not literal, physical human flesh. Jesus did not come in the flesh until the

00:06:15.340 incarnation, until Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to Jesus. And so this is

00:06:23.420 not Jesus incarnate, but Jesus is eternal. He is the second member of the Godhead. So there is a

00:06:32.020 real time in human history where Jesus took on human flesh, where he took upon himself a second

00:06:38.880 nature. In addition to the divine nature, he took on the human nature. There is a time before Jesus

00:06:47.080 took on human flesh, but there is not a time before Jesus. I'll say that again. There is a time

00:06:53.940 in human history before Jesus took on flesh, but there is no time before Jesus. The Gospel of John

00:07:02.060 chapter 1 verses 1, 2, and 14 says, in the beginning was the Word. And not only was the Word God, but

00:07:10.860 the Word was with God. That means that it's not merely speaking of God the Father, but there is

00:07:16.660 someone else with God the Father, and that someone else who is in the beginning with God the Father,

00:07:23.260 he himself is also God. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word

00:07:29.220 was God. He was with God in the beginning, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

00:07:37.000 and we have seen his glory. And so we know that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, that just like

00:07:45.100 the Father, he existed as a most pure spirit without body, parts, and passions all the way up

00:07:52.120 until approximately 2,000 years ago, at which point by the power of the Spirit and through the

00:07:59.420 Virgin Mary, in addition to being the divine second member of the Trinity, a most pure spirit

00:08:06.100 without body, parts, and passions, he also took upon himself a second nature, the human nature.

00:08:13.180 This did not replace the divine nature, but merely concealed the divine nature.

00:08:18.640 This is why we see in Philippians chapter two, where it says that Jesus did not count equality

00:08:25.360 with God as something to be grasped, but rather emptied himself. He humbled himself,

00:08:31.600 taking on the likeness of man. That text is easily misconstrued, misinterpreted.

00:08:38.220 When the text says in Philippians 2 that Jesus did not count equality with God, that is God the

00:08:44.480 Father, as something to be grasped, the better rendering is something to be clinged to. So what

00:08:50.900 is being said is not that equality with God the Father was out of Jesus' reach because he existed

00:08:57.380 eternally, but as an inferior being to the Father. No. Rather, equality with God was not something

00:09:06.220 out of his reach that he could not grasp, but rather it was something he always eternally

00:09:11.960 possessed, that he was equal to the Father. And therefore, because he knew that he is equal in

00:09:18.880 majesty, divinity, and worthiness of worship, he did not cling to that equality, but he was willing

00:09:25.600 to let it go as it were. Not in the literal sense, but let it go by being concealed in the human

00:09:33.920 nature. So Jesus has always had eternal equality with the Father. And that's one of the things

00:09:42.820 that you can detect when someone is actually an equal, when someone is actually truly worthy of

00:09:49.960 honor and dignity and respect, is that they don't behave in ways that are insecure. And Jesus was

00:09:57.220 willing to take on the human nature, concealing the divine nature. And in that way, not in a

00:10:03.700 literal sense, but optically appearing as though he emptied himself. He did not actually in the

00:10:09.700 incarnation empty himself of the divine nature. Rather, it merely appeared as though the divine

00:10:14.920 nature had been removed because it had been concealed. So as Augustine once said, that Jesus

00:10:21.540 is divinity wrapped in flesh. This is, on God's part, in a sense we might say divine trickery.

00:10:29.020 that Jesus, the divine, now wrapped in flesh, the divinity served as the hook, and the flesh served

00:10:36.340 as the bait. And the serpent went hook, line, and sinker, taking the bait, not seeing the hook,

00:10:43.400 not realizing that all of his prodding and tempting towards the crucifixion was actually

00:10:48.980 sealing his own demise. Satan actually destroyed himself, thinking this is the one moment in

00:10:55.560 history where Jesus, the Son of God, is now vulnerable, but not realizing that the divinity

00:11:01.500 of Christ was still there, fully intact. And that by seemingly conquering Christ, he actually

00:11:10.260 did precisely that which would seal his ultimate doom. And so Jesus is always, has always existed.

00:11:18.760 he is eternally begotten, not made, but eternally begotten. He has always existed as God the Father

00:11:25.660 and as God the Holy Spirit, that is, as a most pure spirit without body parts and passions.

00:11:31.620 That said, in real time, in real human history, there is a moment in the incarnation where he

00:11:37.820 not replaces the divine nature with the human nature, but adds to his divinity a second nature,

00:11:44.160 namely the human nature. And in that way, there is simply not the literal sense, but the

00:11:50.080 perception of an emptying of the divine nature, not because it's actually going away or being

00:11:56.740 removed, but because it's being concealed by the flesh, by the human nature. He is divinity wrapped

00:12:03.180 in flesh. So there's a little bit of theology proper, Trinitarian doctrine, Christology for us.

00:12:10.060 Now, that being said, there are moments in the Old Testament which precedes the incarnation where Jesus actually appears to people.

00:12:19.700 And the end of Joshua chapter five is one of these instances.

00:12:23.740 And he is appearing in human form, but he is not human in this moment.

00:12:28.820 This is before the incarnation.

00:12:30.720 So Jesus was not incarnate multiple times.

00:12:34.460 Jesus took on flesh one time.

00:12:37.480 And this is before the incarnation, before him taking on flesh.

00:12:41.700 So he's not literal flesh and blood at this moment when he appears to Joshua,

00:12:46.540 but he is manifesting himself to have a physical human-like appearance to Joshua.

00:12:54.200 And again, what we saw at the end of Joshua chapter 5 is that Joshua worships him.

00:12:59.580 And he actually commands him to do so, to take off his shoes,

00:13:03.780 because the ground in which he and Joshua are standing

00:13:07.760 is holy ground.

00:13:09.660 And this ground is not made holy by Joshua's presence,

00:13:12.960 but by Christ's presence.

00:13:15.520 And so if he were merely human, Joshua would not worship.

00:13:19.160 And if he were merely angelic,

00:13:21.700 Joshua's worship would have been rejected.

00:13:24.140 So we believe that this is God, that this is God.

00:13:28.020 And more specifically, this is Jesus,

00:13:31.480 the second member of the Godhead.

00:13:34.280 And this is where we pick up

00:13:35.480 in the beginning of chapter six today.

00:13:37.920 We see this discourse between Joshua and Jesus.

00:13:43.180 A discourse between Joshua and Jesus.

00:13:47.900 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside 1.00

00:13:50.700 because of the people of Israel. 1.00

00:13:52.900 None went out and none came in.

00:13:55.400 And the Lord, speaking to Joshua,

00:13:58.240 physically manifest before him, says,

00:14:01.000 See, I have given Jericho into your hand with its king and mighty men of valor.

00:14:09.520 The Lord Jesus Christ is saying to Joshua, this is a confirmation.

00:14:16.080 This is a sign, an infallible sign, that Jericho has been rendered to you,

00:14:24.800 that you will conquer, that you will be successful, that you will be victorious,

00:14:30.660 The sign in part, we could say, is the fact that the Lord is standing in front of Joshua,

00:14:36.280 saying that I am for you and that I am not for your enemy.

00:14:41.180 And that would be a confirmation sufficient in itself.

00:14:45.140 But the Lord Jesus goes beyond the confirmation of his presence, which is enough.

00:14:50.340 The presence of God is sufficient.

00:14:52.560 But he goes beyond that and says that my presence standing before you and speaking to you

00:14:57.760 is not the only confirmation that Jericho has been rendered to you,

00:15:02.680 that you will be victorious and successful over Jericho.

00:15:06.260 But the other sign, the other confirmation that Jericho will be defeated

00:15:12.340 is that Jericho is shut up inside and outside.

00:15:18.500 What the Lord Jesus is saying is the fact that their walls of defense

00:15:24.020 and all their entry points and all their gates

00:15:27.020 and all their people were walled up inside the city,

00:15:30.860 that this is a sign that the city was in terror.

00:15:34.560 And as we've seen already throughout the book of Joshua,

00:15:38.200 the last five chapters,

00:15:41.000 not only is fear a sin, according to scripture,

00:15:45.160 but fear is oftentimes, in addition to being a sin,

00:15:50.260 it is a sign of God's judgment.

00:15:52.780 It's a sign of being underneath God's condemnation,

00:15:57.260 underneath his judgment.

00:15:58.640 We know that fear is a sin

00:15:59.940 because there are multiple texts throughout the scripture

00:16:02.000 that say that explicitly.

00:16:04.320 Be anxious for nothing.

00:16:06.360 But with prayer and supplication,

00:16:08.120 make your request known to God.

00:16:10.840 This is not just saying, offering a suggestion.

00:16:15.780 Fear is not pleasant.

00:16:18.280 And therefore, because I would have you be at peace,

00:16:21.180 because peace is far more pleasant than fear.

00:16:23.540 Therefore, do not be anxious.

00:16:25.560 Well, that is true.

00:16:26.880 Fear is not pleasant,

00:16:27.900 and God is incredibly interested in our welfare,

00:16:32.300 in our good, in our peace, our joy, our happiness.

00:16:36.720 God cares for us,

00:16:37.920 and he doesn't want us to torment ourselves

00:16:40.280 with things that are harmful to us.

00:16:43.380 But that's not all that the scripture is saying.

00:16:45.760 It's not merely suggesting this is bad for you.

00:16:48.480 This other thing would be in your best interest.

00:16:51.180 But by saying be anxious for nothing, what the scripture is offering us is not just a suggestion for our welfare, but a command.

00:17:00.380 And to forego that command is, in fact, therefore sin.

00:17:04.220 If we are commanded to be anxious for nothing, then to be anxious for anything is to disobey God's command.

00:17:11.860 And therefore it is a sin.

00:17:14.440 And so the scripture is clear that we are to be anxious for nothing.

00:17:18.400 that to fear is to sin. But beyond fear merely being a rejection of God's commandment,

00:17:27.260 disobedience, and therefore sin, fear also, as I've already said, signifies an individual or a

00:17:34.160 group of people being underneath God's judgment, especially when the fear is irrational. And that's

00:17:41.260 what we see throughout the book of Joshua, and we'll see it again in further chapters, that as

00:17:46.540 the people of Israel and the nation of Israel comes against their enemies, oftentimes what

00:17:53.160 happens is that their enemies, their hearts are melted like wax, that their hearts and spirit

00:18:00.140 give way to fear. And irrationally so. When the spies are sent out ahead of time and they

00:18:08.900 find lodging in the house of Rahab and she hides them from the men of Jericho so that they might

00:18:16.060 escape with their lives. One of the things that Rahab says to these Israelite spies is she says,

00:18:23.160 I want to make peace with you. I want to offer a treatise. I can't speak for Jericho, the city as

00:18:29.460 a whole, but I'm speaking for my individual family. Would you spare us? I'll hide you and

00:18:35.560 ensure your well-being, but in return, would you spare us when you conquer the city? See, in Rahab's 1.00

00:18:42.200 mind, it's a foregone conclusion that Jericho will be conquered. And that begs the question,

00:18:49.260 why? Why is Rahab so confident that Israel will be victorious and that Jericho will be destroyed?

00:18:56.560 Well, she says explicitly her reasoning, and the reasoning is she says that her own people,

00:19:01.800 the people of Jericho, there is no spirit left in them, that every man's heart has melted within

00:19:07.940 him like wax, that they've come underneath a irrational and it being irrational, we might

00:19:15.220 even say a supernatural fear, a supernatural fear. And so giving in to fear is always a sin

00:19:23.740 and not always, but often beyond merely being a sin, it is a sign of judgment that God has handed

00:19:31.800 someone over to fear, an irrational fear, a supernatural fear that signifies their condemnation.

00:19:40.100 And this is what we see. And so the angel of the Lord being Christ himself, the Lord himself

00:19:45.660 is saying to Joshua in this moment, you have nothing to fear. Jericho is as good as conquered. 0.65

00:19:54.280 It is in a sense already accomplished. You can know this, you can take it to the bank,

00:20:01.080 so to speak. Why? Because, for one, my presence with you. But two, you can look to Jericho and

00:20:09.840 see that they have been completely overwhelmed by fear. And the sign of this is that the whole

00:20:17.220 city has been shut up, in and out. No one is allowed to come into the city, and no one is

00:20:24.920 allowed to leave. Now, what does that signify? The fact that the city is completely shut up with no

00:20:33.460 one being able to enter or no one able to leave. In your notes, I've written the following. Jericho

00:20:39.100 could not put its trust in the courage of its own people to take the offensive. It's completely shut

00:20:47.060 up. No armies are being dispatched. So rather, it chose to trust in the strength of its walls to

00:20:55.360 provide a sturdy defense. Because their hearts had melted like wax with fear, they do not have

00:21:02.400 the confidence or the courage to place trust in their own people to mount an offense. And yet,

00:21:09.960 they do still trust in their city, in its walls, to mount a sufficient defense.

00:21:18.680 Now what does this show us? What does this reveal? Well, in the midst of terror, Jericho still placed

00:21:27.240 trust in itself rather than the Lord. And so Jericho was shut up. It did not possess the

00:21:35.260 courage to deploy an attack, but neither did it possess the humility to offer surrender. 0.95

00:21:42.740 None went out from the walls to offer a treatise of peace with the armies of Yahweh. In one sense, 0.87

00:21:50.420 their hearts were melted like wax with fear, but in another very real sense, their hearts were also

00:21:56.580 hardened to their own destruction. So is the miserable state of all those that strengthen

00:22:03.360 themselves against the hand of the Almighty. Now, what I want you to see is two things being

00:22:09.800 simultaneously true. In one sense, their hearts are melted like wax with fear so that they are

00:22:17.020 not willing to open the gates to send out armies as an offense. They're not willing to mount an

00:22:23.940 attack. This shows Jericho's fear. In the same sense, though, as fearful as they are, they're

00:22:32.460 still arrogant. So they're completely subdued by fear and yet simultaneously proud, arrogant,

00:22:41.800 and stubborn. The fear is in the sense that they will not mount an offense, but merely are hiding

00:22:49.180 behind the walls. The arrogance is revealed in the fact that not that they won't send off armies to

00:22:56.120 attack, but they won't even send a single individual to make a treatise for peace. See,

00:23:03.740 rational fear, and this is how we know that it's a sign of God's judgment, that it is an irrational,

00:23:09.740 we might even say supernatural fear, because rational fear, for one, would say, we're a

00:23:16.880 juggernaut in the land of Canaan. We have high walls, high towers. We have artillery.

00:23:25.360 You automatically have a disadvantage if you're the army that just got done wandering in the

00:23:32.780 wilderness for 40 years. I mean, think about that. That's not exactly the high ground. If you've been

00:23:38.940 wandering around in the wilderness eating manna and you don't have weapons of war and now you're

00:23:48.360 going to mount an offense. You're going to be the one who takes the initiative to attack and the

00:23:54.120 person that you're attacking or the group of people have, they haven't been wandering, they

00:23:59.580 haven't been on the go like nomads. They haven't been, you know, going around in temporary spots

00:24:06.460 but they've been living here for generations. They've built up a kingdom. They've built up

00:24:11.580 walls and towers, and they've fashioned swords and bows and all these different things.

00:24:17.620 That individual or that group of individuals would be the ones with the high ground, with

00:24:22.600 the advantage. So for them to be fearful in the first place is an irrational fear, but it becomes

00:24:29.580 exponentially irrational to be afraid of an adversary. In this case, Jericho being afraid

00:24:37.420 of Israel, but to not offer any terms of peace. If someone were to be rationally afraid,

00:24:44.980 they would begin to make concessions. That's what a rational person would do or a rational

00:24:50.600 nation. They would say, we're, we're beaded. We're bested. We're out of our league. You

00:24:56.920 certainly have the advantage, which Israel did not, not from any practical standpoint,

00:25:02.220 but you have the advantage. If they actually thought that, that would already be irrational.

00:25:05.900 But assuming that for a moment, a logical person would insist, you have the high ground,

00:25:13.360 the place of advantage. You are superior. We are inferior. And so would you please spare us? What

00:25:19.900 are your terms for peace? What do we need to do to ensure that you will not utterly destroy us?

00:25:25.500 But Jericho doesn't do that. And that's what the Lord is speaking to Joshua in the first two

00:25:31.920 verses of our text. He says, see, see that I have given Jericho into your hand with its king

00:25:39.600 and mighty men of valor. The sign, the confirmation that Joshua is being told to look at

00:25:46.740 that confirms that Jericho is in fact defeated is the fact that they are not offering an offense

00:25:55.080 to attack, but in the same sense, they're not offering treaties for peace. Not willing to open

00:26:02.600 the gates, not one single door on the wall being opened, completely shut in. No one can come in,

00:26:09.340 but also, notice it's significant, no one can go out. Jericho's not just walling up and closing

00:26:16.500 the gates so that Israel can't invade, but they're also walling up the city gates so that no one in

00:26:23.380 Jericho can go out and and in that that's not allowing anyone in Jericho to mount an attack 0.52

00:26:31.180 but it's also not allowing a single individual in Jericho perhaps there were other Rahabs is what 0.89

00:26:37.000 I'm getting at what if there were other families that would have gone out like Rahab but instead

00:26:42.240 of offering a treaties of peace for a single household might actually offer a treaties of

00:26:47.820 peace to the armies of israel for the whole city but jericho hedges against that jericho says no

00:26:56.120 no one is allowed to come in the israelites invading that's the defense that's the fear

00:27:02.180 right we're not going to send out an offense but in the same breath also no one in jericho is 0.87

00:27:08.380 allowed to go out to go out to do what to go out to make war because we're afraid and we know we'll

00:27:15.060 lose, but also to go out and make peace. So what we're seeing is that Jericho simultaneously has

00:27:22.080 two postures of heart. Fear, not willing to attack, but also pride, not willing to surrender.

00:27:31.200 Fear, not willing to attack, but also pride, not willing to surrender. And so it is with all

00:27:39.500 who stubbornly stand against the power and the hand of the Almighty.

00:27:45.660 The position of Jericho is the position of every individual human being

00:27:50.380 apart from the saving grace of God.

00:27:54.060 This is the posture, what I'm saying, brothers and sisters, 0.98

00:27:57.260 this is the mentality and heart posture of every unbeliever. 1.00

00:28:03.980 That the unbeliever is fearful and yet at the same time 0.99

00:28:09.420 arrogant. This was the posture of Pharaoh. In Pharaoh, there was a sense in which he wasn't 1.00

00:28:16.120 just stubborn and arrogant and prideful. There was also a sense in which Pharaoh was afraid.

00:28:23.340 Pharaoh had seen Moses take down all of his magicians. The power of Yahweh was superior

00:28:31.680 to the dark arts and power of his magicians. And for the record, I don't believe that it was merely 0.61

00:28:37.680 smoke and mirrors and sleight of hand. The devil is real. And I believe that these magicians in

00:28:44.460 Egypt were performing supernatural works by their allegiance with Satan and false gods.

00:28:51.880 So it's not as though they were doing tricks, mere party tricks, but Moses was doing signs 0.88

00:28:58.180 supernaturally by God. No, they were doing signs and supernatural works by the power of the devil,

00:29:04.060 but that the power of Yahweh was infinitely superior to the power of the devil. And Pharaoh 0.73

00:29:11.060 witnessed all of this. And there was a sense in which Pharaoh was afraid. And yet the headline

00:29:17.220 of the story, and this isn't to say that there was no fear in Pharaoh, but it's simply to say

00:29:22.160 that the headline of the story was not fear, but pride. That again and again, after each one of

00:29:28.720 these 10 plagues, Pharaoh, instead of making a treatise for peace, not because he wasn't afraid,

00:29:36.620 not because he was confident, but that in the midst of his fear, he was also stubborn. Instead

00:29:41.660 of making peace, he chooses to harden his heart. And we know that this is something that on the

00:29:48.400 one hand, Pharaoh consciously decides to do. And on the other hand, God supernaturally ensures that

00:29:55.580 this takes place. God hardened his heart, and Pharaoh hardened his heart. Both of these things

00:30:01.820 are true. So Pharaoh is afraid in the one sense, but also arrogant and stubborn in the other sense.

00:30:09.100 He's afraid because he knows that all the power of Egypt is inferior to the power of Yahweh,

00:30:16.240 but he's also arrogant in the sense that he has 10 opportunities to make peace with Yahweh, 0.72

00:30:23.200 and yet he refuses. And so too it is with Jericho, and so too it is with every unbeliever. 0.52

00:30:31.180 This is the heart state of every non-Christian, that in the one sense they know there is a God 1.00

00:30:38.340 in heaven. Romans chapter 1 says this explicitly, that God has revealed his divine power and 1.00

00:30:46.620 eternal nature to all people. That he has clearly manifested himself by what he has made, so that

00:30:53.880 all people are without an excuse. That every single person, all unbelievers, not just Christians, 0.85

00:31:00.860 but non-Christians as well, they instinctively know that there is a God in heaven and that he is holy,

00:31:06.820 holy, holy. And that they owe him their eternal allegiance and submission to his law. And the law

00:31:14.640 of God is not abstract, and it's not obscure. But the law of God, according to Romans 1, and then

00:31:21.540 furthermore, Romans 2, has actually been written on their hearts. Not just written on the hearts

00:31:26.920 of Christians, but written on the hearts of all people. That because human beings are made in the

00:31:31.720 image of God, they have, even as unbelievers, a conscience. They instinctively, internally know

00:31:38.300 that which is right. They know that there is a God, that he exists, that he is eternal, that he is

00:31:44.800 divine, that he is powerful, and that he is holy and therefore worthy of their worship. They know

00:31:52.140 these things. They know that God deserves their worship, and they know that their fellow man

00:31:57.800 deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. And yet what they do is harden their hearts and

00:32:06.540 lie and suppress the truth with deeds of unrighteousness. And this is not to say that

00:32:12.160 the unbeliever is fearless. This is only to say that the unbeliever, while being stricken with

00:32:18.780 terror on the one hand, is simultaneously proud and arrogant on the other. And I believe that in 1.00

00:32:27.340 the case of individual unbelievers, or in the case of a whole city like Jericho, or in the case of a 0.97

00:32:33.680 whole nation like Egypt, in each of these cases, it is a supernatural event. It is so irrational, 0.98

00:32:42.400 there can be no explanation other than that which is supernatural. How is it that a person can be

00:32:48.780 so afraid and yet so unwilling to concede? Those two things are at odds with one another.

00:32:58.320 From a natural standpoint, fear, right, the absolute recognition and understanding that you're completely outmatched.

00:33:10.140 That outlook of I am outmatched and I am terrified, coupled with and in no way will I surrender whatsoever.

00:33:21.220 These are two positions that are at odds.

00:33:25.640 They're a contradiction.

00:33:28.320 And the only way that these two postures can simultaneously exist in one city or one nation

00:33:34.400 or one individual is by a way of supernatural explanation. That there's more going on than

00:33:42.320 just logic. There's more at play than just rationale. That at the end of the day, there's

00:33:52.000 something spiritual in the works. The person knows that they're outmatched, and yet the person

00:34:00.260 is at enmity with God, hates God, and can do no other. Romans chapter 8 says that the mind of the

00:34:08.740 sinful man, he's not just neutral towards God or indifferent towards God or uninterested in God,

00:34:15.860 but the mind of the sinful man is hostile towards God.

00:34:20.780 That is, he is violently opposed to God.

00:34:24.380 He is at enmity with God.

00:34:26.760 The text goes further in Romans chapter eight and says,

00:34:29.680 therefore, he does not submit to God's law, nor can he.

00:34:35.060 He is unwilling to submit to God's law, to his precepts,

00:34:39.940 but he is not only unwilling

00:34:42.040 because of his deep-seated hatred and enmity towards God,

00:34:46.840 but he is also unable.

00:34:49.560 That's the supernatural element that I'm speaking of.

00:34:52.840 The supernatural element is that in the spiritual sense,

00:34:57.080 the nature of man is incapable of doing that

00:35:01.120 which he knows would be rational.

00:35:03.380 So in one sense, he recognizes he's outmatched,

00:35:07.000 and the logical thing would be to make concessions.

00:35:09.700 But on the other hand, his spiritual moral nature, his spiritual disposition is so hostile towards God, so at enmity with God that it is not within his wheelhouse of choices because it's not within his nature to ever make any concession with the God that he knows will destroy him.

00:35:33.180 And that's why the Bible plainly teaches

00:35:35.860 that in order for someone to submit to God,

00:35:39.160 in order for someone to concede, to bow the knee,

00:35:43.620 that ultimately what has to happen

00:35:45.360 is an overriding of his very nature.

00:35:49.880 That it's not just that the person has to make a new choice,

00:35:52.740 but the person has to make a new choice

00:35:55.280 stemming from a new nature.

00:35:58.760 That we must first be born again.

00:36:02.420 that if any man is in Christ, he is what? If any man is in Christ, he's the exact same,

00:36:08.320 but now making more intelligent decisions. No. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.

00:36:16.000 He's actually a new creature. There is something that is in terms of not just his decisions,

00:36:22.400 but his nature that has radically shifted. He has a new disposition. The reason why the Christian

00:36:31.180 makes certain decisions that the unbeliever will never make is because the Christian is a new 0.99

00:36:36.800 creature, a different creature than the unbeliever is. And so what first must take place is that we 0.96

00:36:42.480 must become a new creature with a new nature. And then this new nature affords to us a wider

00:36:49.220 spectrum of choices. And people humor themselves in thinking that we have as human beings free

00:36:57.120 will. But we need to understand that our choices as finite creatures are drastically limited

00:37:04.920 and they're limited precisely by our nature. The reason why God has at his disposal more choices

00:37:13.020 than you and I is because his nature allows for a wider spectrum of choices. This is because his

00:37:20.700 nature is not creature but creator. His nature is not finite but infinite. Now even God in his

00:37:28.420 choices is bound as it were. He is bound in the sense that he is bound himself by his word. There

00:37:36.960 are certain things the scripture says God himself attests he cannot do. For instance, God is not a

00:37:44.280 man that he should repent. Or some translations render it, God is not a man that he should change

00:37:51.880 his mind. God cannot change. God also cannot lie. There are certain things that God cannot do

00:38:01.100 because his nature is holy. That which he deems as holy in terms of his law directly stems from

00:38:09.580 his holy essence, his holy being, his holy nature. And so even God with his nature, although infinite,

00:38:17.480 one of the things that it precludes is sin because his nature is infinite, but his nature is also

00:38:23.960 infinitely holy. But you and I as human beings, as finite creatures, we have a drastically more

00:38:31.660 limited spectrum of choices because we have a drastically more limited nature. I've argued in

00:38:39.180 the past, and I would continue to argue and hold this view, that the Christian has more freedom 0.96

00:38:46.280 of will than the non-Christian. And this is because the Christian has, in a sense, not exactly, 0.71

00:38:53.520 not precisely, but in a sense, the Christian has a wider spectrum of choices than the unbeliever

00:39:00.300 because the Christian has two natures. The Christian, on the one hand, is a new creature

00:39:07.000 in Christ Jesus, a new creation with a heart of flesh, no longer a heart of stone, but a heart

00:39:13.400 of flesh that is softened and malleable and receptive to the things of God. Spiritual eyes

00:39:18.700 that see true spiritual things and spiritual ears that hear true spiritual things. And so the

00:39:25.060 Christian, because of the new nature and because of the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit,

00:39:30.320 is able to choose certain things that the non-Christian can't because our nature allows

00:39:36.180 for it. And yet the Christian at the same time is still able to choose certain things that the 0.96

00:39:42.780 non-Christian can, not because the Christian still has a sin nature, but because the Christian still 0.97

00:39:49.520 has the sinful flesh. And there is a theological distinction between the two. Perhaps the best way 0.97

00:39:57.180 that I could describe this is like this. The non-Christian, if we think the inside and the 0.99

00:40:02.880 outside. If we think of the inside for the non-Christian, there is the heart of stone in 0.99

00:40:08.540 the sin nature. And if we think externally on the outside for the non-Christian, there is the flesh, 0.98

00:40:15.620 which Paul says in Romans chapter 7, sin resides within the members of my being. Sin still resides 0.61

00:40:21.940 within my flesh. So for the non-Christian, internally they have sin. Externally they also 1.00

00:40:27.660 have the option of sin. The non-Christian, the only choice they have when they wake up in the 0.90

00:40:32.960 morning is how do I want to rebel against God today? I can rebel against God by doing things 1.00

00:40:39.680 because I made in his image and because of common grace. I can rebel against God by doing things

00:40:45.220 which outwardly align with his moral will, but ultimately with a putrid hatred within my inner

00:40:51.340 being against him. Simply spiting him that I'm doing certain things that are truly good according

00:40:57.260 to God's law outwardly. They are outwardly good in terms of the outward visible manifestation of

00:41:04.600 my words, behaviors, and actions. But even then, I'm not doing them with a desire for God's glory,

00:41:10.800 and I'm not doing these things with a reliance on God's grace. I'm doing these things with a

00:41:18.200 fantasy perception, a reliance on my own strength as though I have any, and for my own glory, or at

00:41:25.520 best, at most, the non-Christian can say, I'm doing it with a reliance on the collective strength of

00:41:31.160 humanity. And I'm doing it for the good of humanity. One small step for man, but one giant

00:41:36.580 leap for mankind. But what the non-Christian can never say is that I'm doing this with a reliance 1.00

00:41:42.140 on the power of God and a desire for God's eternal glory. And therefore, even when the

00:41:48.000 non-Christian does outwardly that which aligns with God's moral law, it is ultimately filthy 1.00

00:41:53.820 rags. It is sin. Whereas the Christian, however, can do that which contradicts God's moral law, 1.00

00:42:03.640 that which outwardly is against God's commandments and therefore is sin, but at the same time by the

00:42:10.220 power of the Spirit which dwells within us and with this new spiritual nature, a new heart of

00:42:16.180 flesh, the Christian can also do things outwardly that align with the law of God and inwardly with

00:42:23.320 the right motives, the right intent, with a true humble reliance on grace and a true godly glorious

00:42:31.440 desire for God's praise. And so the Christian is the only one who could actually do something only 0.68

00:42:38.320 because of the grace of God, not to boast in himself, but because of the grace of God and 0.65

00:42:43.860 because of this new nature, the Christian is the only person that is capable of doing that which

00:42:49.120 is not sin. But that being said, the Christian is also still capable of sinning because although

00:42:56.600 we have a new nature on the inside, the Christian does not have a sin nature. That's what I'm saying.

00:43:03.320 The Christian does not have a sin nature. For the record, I am a card-carrying Calvinist,

00:43:09.300 probably seven or eight points at this juncture. Five points is just too soft. I've gone beyond

00:43:15.680 it. I've upgraded. So I am about as Calvinist as you can get. However, even the most robust

00:43:23.320 Calvinist should biblically acknowledge that a Christian is not totally depraved.

00:43:29.940 Total depravity is not the Bible's description of a believer. It's not.

00:43:37.240 Now, when the Calvinist says, even as a Christian, woe am I, a sinful man, these are true

00:43:42.560 scriptural statements, but not because they're totally depraved, and not because in the internal

00:43:48.320 sense they still possess a sin nature, but rather as what Paul says in Romans chapter 7, that they

00:43:54.420 still possess the flesh. So again, inside, outside, using this paradigm, the non-Christian, inside, 0.78

00:44:02.060 sin nature. Outside, sinful flesh. For the Christian, inside, new nature, but outside, 0.99

00:44:09.460 in this life still sinful flesh. That's why Paul says again in Romans 7, sin still resides within 1.00

00:44:16.240 the members of my being. So I find this law at work. When I want to do good, I cannot carry it

00:44:21.360 out. And the evil that I do not want to do, this I keep on doing. Oh, what a wretched man I am.

00:44:27.080 And then notice what Paul says, who will save me from this soul of sin, this heart of stone? No,

00:44:35.260 this body of death. Paul does not say, who will spiritually save me? He's already been spiritually

00:44:42.220 saved. But rather what he says is, who will save me from this body of death? Paul is looking forward

00:44:48.880 to the final culmination of his salvation, that is the glorification of his own flesh,

00:44:55.380 that one day he's going to have a new body. Another way that we could visually picture this

00:45:02.060 theologically, is that salvation is often referred to conversion. But in the technical theological

00:45:09.880 sense, we should view salvation as a broader, larger, all-encompassing banner. And as it

00:45:17.140 pertains not to the cosmos and creation as a whole, for our purposes today in this sermon,

00:45:22.240 that would be too broad and complex to cover. But as it pertains to God-saving individual people,

00:45:28.580 Salvation is a broad banner, and there are three distinct key elements.

00:45:34.460 There is justification, which we might liken to the salvation of the soul.

00:45:39.840 There is sanctification, which we might liken to the renewing of our minds.

00:45:44.480 And there is glorification, which we should liken to the redemption of our bodies.

00:45:50.740 So the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7,

00:45:53.600 this is not his lament as someone who is pre-Christian

00:45:58.940 before his conversion.

00:46:00.380 There are some that interpret the text that way.

00:46:02.900 And if you want to be like Theoden of Rohan

00:46:05.760 and completely black-pilled and depressed

00:46:08.800 for the rest of your life,

00:46:09.780 then that's a great interpretation.

00:46:12.180 But I don't.

00:46:13.460 I think it's not fair to the text.

00:46:15.440 It's not true, first and foremost.

00:46:17.140 and also I don't like to be depressed.

00:46:20.420 So I don't think the Apostle Paul is simply saying,

00:46:23.080 hey, this is the state,

00:46:25.500 the miserable state that I once had

00:46:27.820 when I was not a Christian. 0.98

00:46:29.740 But now that I'm a Christian, right,

00:46:31.900 because the implication, if that's how you read it,

00:46:34.120 pre-conversion Paul in Romans 7,

00:46:36.160 then the implication by way of necessary inference

00:46:38.980 is that now that Paul is saved,

00:46:40.580 he no longer does the things that he doesn't want to do.

00:46:44.640 Right?

00:46:44.900 In essence, what I'm saying is that

00:46:46.480 if you read Romans 7 as pre-conversion Paul, there's a very real sense. It's not a far leap

00:46:51.960 to go from that to believing a Wesleyan view that there actually is a state of sinless perfection

00:46:58.100 in this life, which as reformers we would wholeheartedly reject. So all that being said,

00:47:05.700 salvation is a broader banner. There is a sense of conversion, salvation of the soul, justification.

00:47:12.520 There's also the sense of sanctification,

00:47:17.020 the renewing of our minds progressively

00:47:19.100 from the point of conversion

00:47:20.300 to our final breath in this life,

00:47:22.500 to the end of our life,

00:47:23.660 being further and further progressively renewed

00:47:26.500 by the word of God,

00:47:28.600 coming further and further in our thinking

00:47:31.080 and our repentance to conformity with Christ

00:47:34.700 and his precepts.

00:47:36.380 And then there's also a future sense of our salvation,

00:47:39.660 that is glorification, salvation of the body.

00:47:42.560 So soul, mind, body.

00:47:45.200 Justification, sanctification, glorification.

00:47:48.120 We might also say it like this, past, present, future.

00:47:52.600 If you're a Christian, God has saved you.

00:47:55.980 Past tense.

00:47:57.560 You have been converted. 0.98

00:47:59.180 You have been already justified.

00:48:02.540 Your soul is saved.

00:48:05.080 You also, in the same sense, are being saved.

00:48:08.860 Ephesians uses that exact phrase.

00:48:11.200 We are being saved.

00:48:12.900 So there's a sense in which you already have been saved.

00:48:15.860 It's done.

00:48:16.540 It's complete.

00:48:17.320 It's in the bag.

00:48:18.780 That's justification.

00:48:20.380 Your soul is saved.

00:48:21.940 But you're also presently being saved.

00:48:25.240 That is sanctification and the progressive, ongoing, renewing of your mind.

00:48:31.060 And then there's also a sense in which the Bible explicitly says that we will be saved.

00:48:36.540 have been, are being, will be, will be speaking to the body, glorification. And so all that said,

00:48:46.860 if you're a Christian, you've been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone,

00:48:51.720 then you already are justified. You are being sanctified. The soul is saved. The mind is being

00:48:58.740 renewed, but the body is still waiting, still waiting to be glorified, still waiting to be

00:49:06.200 perfectly redeemed and renewed to where there is no sin any longer residing within the flesh. 0.98

00:49:15.160 So, one final time, the non-Christian, inside, bad, sin nature. Outside, bad, flesh. Christian, 0.99

00:49:25.080 inside, good, not totally depraved. Inside, a new nature, a new heart, the third member of the

00:49:32.500 Trinity, right? You might want to take that one home. That's a big deal. The Holy Spirit

00:49:36.600 indwelling you. So inside, good. Not totally depraved. No sin nature. But outside, per Roman

00:49:43.880 7, still flesh. And flesh that is not yet glorified. Therefore, sin residing within the

00:49:51.880 members of our beings. That the flesh now, not internally are we against God, but we actually,

00:49:57.900 in our inner being, we delight in the law of God, is what Paul says for the Christian. So the inside

00:50:04.440 is changed, new nature in our inner being, delighting in the law of God, but on the outside, still

00:50:09.380 maintaining in our flesh, certain proclivities, certain temptations, inclinations towards that

00:50:16.720 which contradicts God's law. And that's why we are celebrating what God has already done

00:50:23.980 in our justification, we are submitting and receiving what God is currently doing in our

00:50:32.260 sanctification, and we are eagerly awaiting and longing for what God has promised that he will do

00:50:38.420 in our glorification. And until that takes place, until this life is over, then on the outside,

00:50:47.540 externally, we still have the flesh and the flesh has a certain sinful bent. Not always. We're not

00:50:55.640 Gnostics. We're not against the physical realm. We're not against physical bodies. But we recognize

00:51:01.480 that this physical body, until it is made new in glorification, has a sinful proclivity. So all

00:51:09.340 that being said, the posture of the unbeliever, whether it be a nation like Egypt or a city like

00:51:15.740 Jericho or just an individual person, the posture of the unbeliever is internally, because of the

00:51:23.100 sin nature, they hate God. Romans 8, mind of the sinful man is hostile towards God. They cannot 0.96

00:51:30.120 and will not. Their nature will not allow for it. It's not just that they're not desiring or willing,

00:51:35.700 but they are actually unable to submit to God's law. They need to be born again. They need a new

00:51:42.040 nature. So on the inside, at the internal level, because of the sin nature, the unbeliever is 1.00

00:51:47.780 arrogant. He cannot and will not submit to God or make any concessions for peace. On the outside, 0.99

00:51:55.980 because of the flesh and sin residing within the members of the flesh, he is also at enmity with

00:52:01.560 God, but also finite, fallible, vulnerable, weakened, and therefore fearful of God's superior 0.81

00:52:10.360 power the non-christian is fearful of god and possesses a putrid hatred of god at the same time 0.76

00:52:19.120 and this is all in a logical practical sense opposed contradicting but makes perfect sense

00:52:28.920 in the supernatural sense that the person although it would everything in them logically

00:52:35.600 would be, if God, if you're so outmatched, then concede. But the reason why they don't is because

00:52:43.400 they can't. Their nature will not allow for it. So the picture of Jericho and its relevancy for us

00:52:52.680 at multiple levels, but the level that I'm choosing to focus my attention on today 0.98

00:52:57.540 is that the picture of Jericho is the picture of an unbeliever, that their heart is walled up.

00:53:04.180 that they recognize that the principles of Christ have truth.

00:53:11.040 They recognize that, you know,

00:53:13.540 really what I'm describing, I'm describing today,

00:53:17.260 I'm describing in some sense a Republican.

00:53:24.140 Like if I want to describe a Democrat,

00:53:26.080 then I just hold up a picture of a demon. 0.62

00:53:27.900 But right now I'm describing a Republican, a rhino.

00:53:34.180 a mere conservative. Let the reader understand. What I'm saying is this.

00:53:40.760 There are many people right now in our culture who have seen the full extent of clown world

00:53:47.420 and realize maybe that's not a good idea. And so they actually have some, because they've seen the

00:53:55.240 terror of rebellion towards God, they logically and naturally have some fear of God himself

00:54:01.720 and recognize that there needs to be some kind of concession,

00:54:06.300 some kind of assimilation into God's principles.

00:54:12.760 Christian, Judeo, whatever you want to call it,

00:54:15.760 which you've heard my spiel on that.

00:54:17.120 That's an oxymoron.

00:54:18.040 We're just Christian.

00:54:19.100 We don't need the Judeo part.

00:54:21.540 But that's a real popular sentiment right now,

00:54:24.000 is let's just, you know, hey, the T and the Q

00:54:27.940 and the I and the A and the plus, that's crazy.

00:54:31.720 We're moral people.

00:54:33.600 The L, the G, and the B.

00:54:35.540 Well, that's reasonable principle pluralism. 0.99

00:54:40.500 That's not a Christian position.

00:54:43.560 And yet that is a popular conservative position

00:54:47.160 held by some who profess to be Christians. 0.51

00:54:51.860 All right, we're going to cast out darkness

00:54:53.440 with a lighter shade of darkness.

00:54:55.660 That doesn't make any sense.

00:54:57.940 That's everything that I've been laboring

00:54:59.340 theologically up to this point.

00:55:00.780 What I've been laboring up to this point is I'm trying to show you the complete, illogical, irrational fallacy of being terrified on the one hand, knowing that you're outmatched, knowing that you desperately need God's favor.

00:55:17.920 That a war against God is a war that no one will ever win.

00:55:21.880 It is a suicide mission.

00:55:23.500 And yet, in the other sense, to wall up the city of your heart, saying, we won't mount an attack.

00:55:33.780 Surely the principles of Christ is what our nation needs.

00:55:37.140 Our culture is insane and lost its mind.

00:55:40.220 But we also are going to wall up the city of our heart, not just so that we don't mount an attack against God,

00:55:46.720 because we need him and his principles in a general, universal sense,

00:55:50.220 but we also are going to wall up the city of our heart so tightly

00:55:53.880 that we won't allow anyone to go out and actually make peace with God.

00:56:00.340 To propose a treaty with God.

00:56:03.860 So we'll adopt the principles of Christ,

00:56:06.460 but never truly concede with the person of Christ.

00:56:11.400 Never truly repent.

00:56:14.060 Never truly call upon him by name. 0.97

00:56:17.160 So we'll say that the sexual mutilation of children is evil. 0.78

00:56:25.320 But then we'll also celebrate if a third world country overturns a law against the L, the G, and the B. 0.98

00:56:37.740 As though that's good. 0.88

00:56:39.780 So don't do this, but let's do this.

00:56:43.440 when it's quite obvious that this is directly upstream of that.

00:56:49.160 And all this as a conservative, right?

00:56:51.360 With conservatives like this, who needs liberals?

00:56:53.860 I mean, who needs progressives?

00:56:57.120 I mean, right?

00:57:00.080 Friends like that, who needs enemies?

00:57:03.180 We're fiercely going to fight to turn back the clock

00:57:06.040 approximately five years and get us right back to where we are

00:57:08.980 before you can even take a nap.

00:57:12.240 Like, oh, wow, what a warrior, huh?

00:57:15.060 What a champion.

00:57:18.420 And it's like, how?

00:57:20.180 Right, it's so illogical, it's so irrational.

00:57:22.440 I'll tell you how.

00:57:24.600 Unregenerate.

00:57:26.380 That's how.

00:57:29.960 The how, you're thinking just from a logical standpoint,

00:57:32.980 how can you see the wholesale rejection of Christ

00:57:37.720 and how poisonous it is?

00:57:41.120 for individuals and cultures as a whole

00:57:43.280 and valiantly stand against that

00:57:45.680 and yet in the same breath

00:57:48.000 adopt everything that's just an inch short of that

00:57:51.700 and not actually submit to the wholeness of Christ

00:57:56.100 and the goodness of all of his law.

00:57:59.740 Right?

00:58:00.620 Meaning, how can you fear

00:58:02.720 and yet at the same time be proud?

00:58:07.980 How could you be like Jericho? 0.97

00:58:11.120 Well, the way that you be like Jericho, a pagan city, a gospel-less city, is to not be born again. 0.89

00:58:22.460 And there are many who profess the name of Jesus and who wave a conservative flag, which apparently is a rainbow, just minus the transgenderism part. 0.84

00:58:32.640 That's conservative these days. 0.85

00:58:34.840 and they claim the name of Christ,

00:58:37.980 they claim to be conservative,

00:58:39.540 but they are not born again.

00:58:42.360 They're not.

00:58:44.740 When you say that what God explicitly calls

00:58:48.400 in his eternal word,

00:58:50.860 the grass withers, the flower fades,

00:58:52.920 but the word of God,

00:58:54.220 not just the New Testament

00:58:55.320 for the Andy Stanley fans,

00:58:57.460 but the whole thing,

00:58:58.420 the word of God endures forever.

00:59:01.960 It endures forever. 0.78

00:59:03.180 And in his law word, he says that when a man lies with a man, it is an abomination.

00:59:09.300 And then you, as a professing Christian, and a bastion of conservative principles,

00:59:14.200 don't call that sin an abomination, but actually call a nation upholding God's holy, perfect law an abomination. 0.79

00:59:25.840 You say it's disgusting.

00:59:30.040 That's a quote.

00:59:31.860 Not disgusting meaning the sin that is unnatural,

00:59:36.980 but a nation saying that it's a sin

00:59:39.720 and saying that we're going to punish that sin as a crime

00:59:43.900 because it's not just a private sin.

00:59:45.860 It has the effects of cultural decay.

00:59:50.420 And you say, ultimately what you're saying is

00:59:53.180 the sin is not an abomination.

00:59:54.940 The law of God against the sin is an abomination.

00:59:58.260 You're calling God's law an abomination,

01:00:00.080 which directly stems from his character

01:00:02.040 and essence and nature.

01:00:03.040 So you're saying the sin is not an abomination.

01:00:05.740 God is.

01:00:08.180 And I'm a conservative?

01:00:10.780 No, you're not.

01:00:13.880 With conservatives like that, who needs liberals? 1.00

01:00:17.300 With Christians like that, 0.98

01:00:19.800 who needs non-Christians? 1.00

01:00:23.840 And my point is to say 1.00

01:00:24.960 that there is no such thing as Christians like that. 0.96

01:00:27.560 i'm just expelling the the thin veil of mystery this morning and saying hey with christians like

01:00:36.980 that who needs unbelievers well no what's really going on is they're not christians like that

01:00:43.980 they are unbelievers they are unbelievers because there's not really the fruit of christ evident

01:00:52.620 in their worldview, in their policy, in their convictions.

01:00:59.360 And this is where we are currently, as a culture.

01:01:05.100 And our culture is made up of individual people

01:01:07.460 because this is the heart of man,

01:01:09.480 that apart from saving grace,

01:01:12.600 man in the one sense knows that God exists

01:01:15.580 and is stricken with fear.

01:01:18.080 His heart melts like wax.

01:01:20.000 And yet, simultaneously, in the same breath, his heart is melted like wax with fear, but also hardened like stone in pride. 0.65

01:01:33.400 Jericho, out of fear, knowing that Yahweh was on the side of Israel, would not dare attack them. 0.64

01:01:41.720 And yet, irrationally, would also not surrender. 0.82

01:01:46.280 and so God was righteous and just to destroy them. This is not just the picture of an ancient

01:01:56.280 pagan city. This remains the picture of every heart apart from salvation, apart from grace,

01:02:03.260 which is found only in Christ alone. The last thing that I want to focus on for this morning

01:02:09.980 is verses three, four, five, which say,

01:02:15.380 you shall march around the city,

01:02:17.060 all the men of war going around the city once.

01:02:20.140 Thus shall you do for six days.

01:02:22.200 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns

01:02:25.960 before the ark.

01:02:27.560 On the seventh day, you shall march around the city

01:02:30.140 seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

01:02:33.820 And when they make a long blast with ram's horn,

01:02:37.480 when you hear the sound of the trumpet,

01:02:39.440 then all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city will fall down flat

01:02:45.380 and the people shall go up everyone straight before him in your notes i've written this

01:02:51.220 the wicked israelite spies who earlier said that canaan could never be conquered because

01:02:58.900 the cities were walled up to heaven was their exact words these wicked spies would be forever

01:03:06.700 silenced. The highest walls cannot withstand the power of God, not even the gates of hell,

01:03:14.940 much less the walls of Jericho, but not even the walls or gates of hell will prevail against 0.95

01:03:21.600 true Israel, that is the church. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 28 through 32. 0.87

01:03:29.500 These are the 10 wicked spies. 12 in all were sent out. Two were righteous, Caleb and Joshua,

01:03:35.640 But the other 10 wicked spies gave a bad account of Canaan.

01:03:41.500 Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying,

01:03:44.720 the people are greater and taller than we.

01:03:47.180 The cities are great and fortified up to heaven.

01:03:51.280 Speaking of their walls, perhaps they saw this very city of Jericho

01:03:56.280 and those very walls. 0.99

01:03:58.900 And these spies, these wicked, cowardly spies, 0.99

01:04:02.240 they gave a bad report to Israel, saying, 0.99

01:04:04.000 and we must not go up against them, for surely we will not succeed. The walls are too great.

01:04:11.160 And besides, we have seen the sons of Anakim there. Then I said to you, do not be in dread

01:04:18.780 or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as

01:04:25.420 he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you have seen how the Lord

01:04:31.460 your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this

01:04:38.280 place. Yet in spite of this word, you did not believe the Lord your God. And here we see in

01:04:45.880 the sixth chapter of Joshua, his promise being fulfilled, that God would conquer Israel's

01:04:52.760 enemies, that the Lord would go before them, that the Lord would fight for them, and that the bad

01:04:58.600 and false report that these 10 wicked Israelite spies

01:05:03.500 would ultimately not prove to be true.

01:05:07.100 That yes, the walls were built to heaven,

01:05:09.280 but that the walls would crumble 0.95

01:05:11.080 because Yahweh was superior. 0.99

01:05:14.780 So the final thing that I'd like to leave you with 0.94

01:05:17.120 this morning, especially in light of it being Father's Day,

01:05:20.760 is this, to use a little bit of internet jargon,

01:05:24.860 we don't want to merely take the red pill we also want to take a white pill what i mean by that

01:05:34.260 is that there are many today who i think pride themselves some are christian in name only but

01:05:42.320 some are genuine born-again believers that pride themselves in being in the know they pride

01:05:49.980 themselves in being perceptive, discerning, that they have their eyes wide open. I know what's

01:05:57.800 going on. I know about George Soros. I know about, you know, the World Economic Forum.

01:06:05.960 I know about Fauci. And I know about the Bidens. And I know about the Clintons.

01:06:14.720 and I know about this and I know about that

01:06:18.160 and I see this and I see that

01:06:20.560 and I'm not saying that

01:06:23.980 that when people say this they're wrong

01:06:26.400 and I'm also not saying that this isn't helpful

01:06:29.340 it is good for us not to be naive

01:06:32.840 I advocate for everyone to

01:06:36.960 take a red pill as the kids say

01:06:39.960 aka as the Bible would say

01:06:42.440 be discerning. In the same way, not being anxious or not being fearful is a command.

01:06:49.300 The Bible also commands discernment. To lack courage is sin. Also, to lack sense is sin.

01:07:01.900 Naivety, just as fear is a sin, so is naivety. The fool in the book of Proverbs is often synonymous 0.96

01:07:10.300 with what the text says, and this is a Bible word. 0.99

01:07:13.980 So kids, it's a sharp word, like knives.

01:07:16.100 Knives aren't bad, but they're sharp.

01:07:18.780 And you don't use them until you're ready

01:07:20.600 and your parents say so.

01:07:22.560 So there are certain words

01:07:23.660 that the word is not inherently a bad word,

01:07:26.040 but it's a sharp word.

01:07:27.880 And sharp words are good at the proper time.

01:07:30.400 But the reason why children are not permitted

01:07:32.840 to use sharp words when they're young

01:07:34.820 is for the same reason that a child alone by themselves

01:07:38.180 isn't permitted to use a knife.

01:07:40.140 Knives aren't bad, but they're dangerous.

01:07:43.200 They need to be used once we're properly trained.

01:07:46.080 So it is with sharp knives and sharp words. 1.00

01:07:48.940 So here's the sharp word, stupid. 1.00

01:07:51.380 The Bible uses that word. 1.00

01:07:53.480 Adults can use it in the right sense. 0.93

01:07:55.780 Children should not, just like a knife.

01:07:58.380 But the Bible doesn't just say in the book of Proverbs 0.96

01:08:01.120 that there's such a thing as the fool, 1.00

01:08:03.780 but they also say that the fool is one who is stupid, 1.00

01:08:07.520 that he lacks sense. 1.00

01:08:09.700 That he is, he's silly, he's not smart, he's blinded, he's not aware, he's naive. 1.00

01:08:21.920 And so it's not just an intellectual lack, but it's actually a moral failure to be undiscerning. 1.00

01:08:30.220 If you are undiscerning, you are in sin.

01:08:35.020 Now, not all of us will be equally discerning.

01:08:37.120 there is a sense of gifting which comes into the equation.

01:08:40.640 But to be willfully blind is culpability.

01:08:45.340 That's a moral failure. It is a sin.

01:08:48.380 So all that being said, back to the internet jargon, 0.99

01:08:51.180 as the kids say, I think every Christian should take a red pill.

01:08:56.460 They should be aware.

01:08:58.100 We do live in a world tarnished by sin, 1.00

01:09:00.880 and there are nefarious, not just imbeciles, 0.99

01:09:04.800 But no, there are wicked, sinister people in our world who hate us and who hate our children. 1.00

01:09:12.280 But in addition to that red pill, I've noticed that there are many Christians that have followed it with the chaser of a black pill. 0.82

01:09:21.680 What I mean by the black pill is hopelessness. 1.00

01:09:27.680 The red pill is good. It's necessary. It may not be fun.

01:09:31.500 I'm not saying it's fun, it's not pleasant, but it's beneficial to have your eyes wide open

01:09:37.880 to what's really going on, but then to take the stance of this is what's really going on

01:09:43.780 and therefore we're doomed. That is not the Christian stance. Rather, the Christian should 0.87

01:09:51.280 take a red pill, aka be discerning, but then also a white pill, aka Christ wins. Christ wins. 0.99

01:10:01.500 Now, all this being said, you guys know that I am very passionate and convicted of the 0.98

01:10:07.000 post-millennial position, but I want to make a disclaimer today. This is important because I

01:10:11.520 want to be well-rounded. I want to be fair. The post-millennial, there's a few problems,

01:10:17.840 okay? And I'm not talking, I don't have time for, you know, exegetically with post-mill,

01:10:21.620 pre-mill, whatever. I'm just talking about fruit, posture of heart that can come out of it.

01:10:25.920 There's two problems that I want to display.

01:10:29.460 One, the post-millennial who believes most often,

01:10:34.060 post-millennials believe in a longer timeline,

01:10:36.320 that Jesus is going to likely tarry.

01:10:38.860 No man knows the day or the hour.

01:10:40.720 So the pre-mill, the post-mill, none of them,

01:10:42.500 we're not pretending to put a date on it.

01:10:44.940 But in general, the post-millennial believes

01:10:47.620 that Jesus is probably going to return a long time from now,

01:10:50.860 That it could be another 500 years, 5,000 years, 50,000 years.

01:10:57.280 For me personally, again, I'm not putting a day on it.

01:11:00.200 The moment that you guys see me start saying,

01:11:02.300 Jesus is going to come back on a certain day,

01:11:04.320 feel free to leave the church.

01:11:06.360 That's when officially I've done it.

01:11:08.820 He's just gone too far. 0.63

01:11:10.460 He is, in fact, a heretic.

01:11:12.260 So I don't have a day. 0.97

01:11:13.660 But a general assessment, I think of Exodus 20,

01:11:16.300 that the Lord, that he keeps steadfast love

01:11:21.640 to the thousandth generation.

01:11:23.260 In a Jewish tradition, a generation is approximately 40 years. 0.68

01:11:27.280 A thousand of those would be about 40,000 years.

01:11:30.320 My assessment, we're about 6,000 years in.

01:11:33.980 So yeah, I think, I'm not saying it will be, hear me.

01:11:37.400 I'm not saying it will be, but I'm saying

01:11:38.840 I think it is well within biblical parameters

01:11:40.960 to say that Jesus may tarry for 30,000 more years.

01:11:44.920 I'm not saying he will,

01:11:46.180 but I'm just saying that is, I believe,

01:11:47.920 a permissible and plausible biblical position.

01:11:51.980 Okay?

01:11:52.420 Also, in the same sense,

01:11:54.340 I think under the doctrine of the banner of analogy,

01:11:58.900 it is perfectly permissible, right?

01:12:00.760 A day is like a thousand years.

01:12:02.120 It's perfectly permissible to say,

01:12:04.180 oh, no, I think Jesus is going to return relatively soon.

01:12:07.580 You think 30,000 years?

01:12:09.060 I think maybe more like 30.

01:12:10.640 I think neither one of us can definitively prove the other one wrong.

01:12:14.060 If you're holding it 30 years, though, I will eventually be able to prove you wrong in 30 years.

01:12:19.340 But the point is, if you're wrong, you might be right.

01:12:22.340 But the point is, both are permissible views.

01:12:25.240 Historic premillennialism is a thoroughly orthodox view, and it came on the scene before postmillennialism.

01:12:32.080 Origen would probably be the first guy, or Arrhenius, Origen probably, would be the first guy that we see this view.

01:12:39.000 And it's approximately 150 years before the postmillennial view, depending on whether or not you count Athanasius as being postmillennial, which I do.

01:12:47.360 So all that being said, thoroughly orthodox, thoroughly permissible.

01:12:51.740 The problem, not speaking of exegesis, but just fruits of doctrines, theology affects the way we believe.

01:12:57.900 It's not just abstract. It's not just theoretical.

01:13:00.200 What we believe affects what we do.

01:13:03.000 One of the problems with some postmillennials, and I don't believe this is an inherent problem to the postmillennial position.

01:13:08.480 I think this is a twisting and a perversion,

01:13:11.240 taking postmillennialism the wrong way.

01:13:13.560 One of the problems is that if you believe

01:13:15.480 Jesus is going to return in 30,000 years,

01:13:19.520 then on Twitter, you can be doing hashtag that postmill,

01:13:23.580 but in your practical day-to-day life,

01:13:27.160 you're not doing anything.

01:13:31.120 It's a way of actually being apathetic 0.99

01:13:34.100 and cowardly, ironically.

01:13:36.200 so in the name of a victorious hope, Christ conquers. Okay, great. When does he conquer? 0.95

01:13:42.080 A long time after I'm dead. And so I don't really need to do anything. You've heard me use this

01:13:48.680 quote. It's a beautiful quote, and I agree with it. But there is a danger if we take it too far.

01:13:53.900 The church, here's the quote, the church lives in the light of eternity, therefore we can afford

01:13:57.880 to be patient. Amen. Let me tell you what that quote doesn't mean. The church lives in the light

01:14:03.500 of eternity. Eternity could be 30,000 years of human history before Christ returns. Therefore,

01:14:08.140 we can afford to be lethargic. That's not true. That's not true. And so, yes, we want a mass

01:14:17.340 outpouring. We want to pray for revival, a mass outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God,

01:14:21.460 planting churches, raising children in the fear and admonition of the Lord,

01:14:25.680 raising up pastors and Christians to share the gospel, to preach the truth of God,

01:14:30.520 praying that people might be born again with a new heart, a new nature, that people would be

01:14:35.340 converted to Christ, that there'd be more Christians in our nation to make a difference.

01:14:39.960 And that could take a long time. And we live in light of eternity, the light of eternity,

01:14:45.920 and we can afford to be faithful and patient. Not lazy and patient, but faithful and patient.

01:14:51.560 Also, however, also, we can be strategic. And not through the sword, not through coercion,

01:14:59.940 but through strategy and power.

01:15:02.680 So not physical, literal violence.

01:15:05.440 But forgoing physical, literal violence

01:15:07.620 should not be forgoing power.

01:15:11.280 Influence, just like knives are sharp,

01:15:13.500 they're not inherently bad, but they're sharp. 0.98

01:15:15.800 Just like the word stupid is not inherently bad, 0.98

01:15:18.320 but it's a sharp word. 0.98

01:15:19.600 So too, power is sharp,

01:15:21.680 but it is not inherently evil. 0.87

01:15:24.740 Christians must wield power.

01:15:26.700 we just want to wield it well and so we should pray and do the grassroots bottom up the the work

01:15:35.840 of an evangelist fulfilling the great commission all these things praying that god might send

01:15:40.560 revival and yet at the same time not either or not one in place of the other but at the same time

01:15:48.260 we should also try to wield influence and power christians should start businesses and try to be

01:15:54.800 successful and try with that business to do more than merely meet the needs of your family, but to

01:16:00.560 be able to employ other Christians and leave an inheritance to your children's children. And so 0.85

01:16:06.400 too in the realm of civil affairs and politics, Christians running for local office to legislate

01:16:12.700 God's law and to do so righteously. So the post-millennial position, one of the downsides, 0.94

01:16:20.460 again it's not inherent to the position but a twisting is that in the name of patience we can

01:16:27.060 be lazy we can be lazy now all that being said here's the deal getting down to brass tacks

01:16:35.000 if you are premillennial

01:16:38.300 you believe you typically not everyone does but typically if you're premillennial you believe

01:16:46.360 that the general trajectory of human history

01:16:49.480 will be a downward moral spiral.

01:16:53.220 And if you're a post-millennial,

01:16:54.880 you believe the general trajectory of human history

01:16:57.440 will be an upward moral spiral.

01:16:59.900 However, I want to be fair and steel man both positions.

01:17:04.440 If you're a post-mill and think we're on the up and up,

01:17:08.200 the post-millennial still believes

01:17:10.240 that there can be some serious dips along the way.

01:17:13.140 It's not a perfect steady incline,

01:17:14.940 but just like the stock market, generally up over the last 100 years, but some pretty big dips

01:17:21.240 along the way. And depending what generation you are, and when you were born, and when you

01:17:26.100 were reaching retiring age, it could destroy you. The S&P 500 could betray you, depending on timing,

01:17:33.840 but generally up, but with some significant dips. Well, let's be fair for a moment.

01:17:39.660 the premillennial believes generally down but they believe there can be some spikes

01:17:46.640 and so here's the deal i have more in common with a premillennial who believes that by god's grace

01:17:55.860 we can fight with courage and that the next 20 30 40 years this generation might be a spike

01:18:02.240 season than I do with a post-millennial who is completely black-pilled and is preaching about

01:18:11.040 the hashtag that post-mill victorious rule and reign of Christ that's going to happen 30 years

01:18:16.360 after he's dead. It's not helpful. That may be true, but here's the deal. We don't know.

01:18:25.240 We're not omniscient. We don't know the day or the hour Christ returns, and we also don't know

01:18:30.220 for each generation, whether it's a spike or whether it's a dip. So what do we do? We pray

01:18:38.520 for spikes. And we work the same way that we pray. We work with a real hope, a real belief

01:18:50.620 that things could get better and that God will not be mocked. A man reaps what he sows, that our work

01:18:56.040 actually works, that it makes a difference in the world. 0.95

01:19:04.220 So, all that being said,

01:19:07.560 I've realized that both the post-mail

01:19:09.880 and the pre-mail position have some serious drawbacks.

01:19:14.720 The post-mail will say, Christ wins,

01:19:17.440 but they can easily say 30 years from now,

01:19:20.620 30,000 years from now, and then just be lazy

01:19:23.500 and be a warrior on Twitter

01:19:25.800 but not really do anything practical in their life.

01:19:29.040 And the pre-mill, here's the problem with them. 0.95

01:19:32.900 They can take the red pill every single day 0.96

01:19:35.340 but also take a black pill along with it.

01:19:40.640 And what I've noticed in terms of popularity,

01:19:43.100 if I was just trying to grow a large church,

01:19:47.000 the red pill, white pill combo

01:19:49.040 and the sense of urgency, a sprinkle of urgency on top,

01:19:53.420 as a cherry on top,

01:19:54.360 that is not a marketable position. It's not. Like some churches that are growing by leaps and bounds

01:20:02.380 right now are the ones who say, we see behind the veil, the Wizard of Oz pulling the levers,

01:20:08.120 and we'll tell you about this, and we'll tell you about that. We're discerning, we're wise,

01:20:12.580 we're not naive, but also we know we're not going to win. That is very popular. I have had a lot of

01:20:19.560 people, I'm not saying you guys, I'm not saying here at the church, but online, a lot of people

01:20:24.800 will come in to my preaching, my ministry and those kinds of things by the grace. And what

01:20:29.640 appeals to them, it's an initial attraction. And the initial attraction is, hey, I bet you that

01:20:36.000 a lot of people in this church aren't vaccinated. And I like that. And hey, that guy called out

01:20:42.780 Fauci. I like that. Hey, and he took a stand against BLM. I like that. Hey, he's hashtag

01:20:50.160 based. I like that. And then they find out I'm post-millennial and that I think we're

01:20:55.600 going to win. I don't like that. Because see, it's easy to be red pilled and not have any

01:21:04.900 more obligation to do anything about it. That is a popular position right now. You just

01:21:10.020 have to recognize it for what it is. A popular position right now within evangelicalism and

01:21:14.820 outside of the church, just within the culture at large, is to be conservative and discerningly

01:21:20.540 conservative, to see, right, to brag about how we see behind the veil. We know all the things,

01:21:26.600 but we also know that the end is nigh and that God has ordained that things will get worse and

01:21:31.780 worse until christ returns it is not as popular i don't believe to believe that that you know to

01:21:39.840 have the red pill see behind the veil notice all the problems and to say and we're going to beat

01:21:44.560 them now it is popular to say we'll beat them 30 000 years from now so the post mill that's we win 0.86

01:21:52.560 we see all the bad stuff the red pill's there but the white pill but you don't get to take the white 0.56

01:21:57.060 pill for 30,000 years. That's popular. And the pre-mill, red pill only, but no white pill. We

01:22:03.720 don't win. That's popular. What's not popular right now, what's not popular is to say we see

01:22:11.200 behind the veil and we're going to do something about it and we can make a difference by God's

01:22:17.040 grace. We can't guarantee it. We're not omniscient. God doesn't owe us a thing. We're not entitled,

01:22:21.880 but we're going to work and we're going to believe and we're going to hope not just for 30,000 years

01:22:26.220 from now, but for 30 years from now, that in this generation, in my generation, that we're going by

01:22:31.980 the grace of God to make a difference and we're going to act like it. We're going to work towards

01:22:35.860 it. And if everything decays, it's going to come over our dead body. And you can do that as a

01:22:40.580 post mill with a red pill and a immediate white pill. And you can do that as a pre mill, believing

01:22:46.740 that the trajectory is ultimately down, but working towards, believing towards, praying towards a 40

01:22:52.520 year spike on the way. Red pill, white pill. And in my assessment, when we're getting down to the

01:23:00.140 lowest common denominator in the church, when we're thinking, who can we partner with? Where do we

01:23:06.300 draw ties? Where do we link arms? I think that's where it is. It's who sees the problem and who

01:23:15.580 believes that by God's grace maybe we can change it and I think that's ultimately ultimately that's

01:23:23.640 the kind of church that I want us by God's grace to be that's what I want us to be working towards

01:23:30.140 and by God's grace we are you guys are very involved in the culture in politics and all

01:23:36.260 these things and I believe that that is an incredible blessing to our children and our

01:23:42.360 future children's children, and most importantly, it pleases the Lord. I think it's one of the best

01:23:47.700 ways that we can practically obey Christ's commandment to love our neighbor. But I just

01:23:52.240 want you to know, it won't be super popular. There will be people, not pointing at anybody

01:23:58.000 in specific, but in general, there will be people who will join our community because they'll like

01:24:02.720 the red pill aspect. They'll like, oh, you see what I see. You watch that documentary too? Nice.

01:24:09.200 Oh, you're on the evangelical dark web? 0.62

01:24:12.100 Nice, me too. 0.98

01:24:13.960 Oh, I saw that.

01:24:15.400 Uh-huh, you saw that?

01:24:16.500 Uh-huh, yeah, all right.

01:24:18.540 But then they'll find out that we believe

01:24:20.180 we could do something about it.

01:24:21.980 And they'll leave. 0.91

01:24:23.780 And they'll find a pre-mill church. 0.98

01:24:26.080 You know why?

01:24:27.520 Because work is hard.

01:24:30.700 There's a lot of people right now,

01:24:32.280 seeing is fun.

01:24:34.160 Working is hard. 0.79

01:24:36.560 And there are pre-mill guys

01:24:38.000 who want to see, but don't want to work. 0.83

01:24:41.340 And to be fair, I think I've been fair today.

01:24:43.820 There are post-mill guys who want to see,

01:24:46.380 but also they believe that the 17th generation 0.71

01:24:50.060 of their posterity can do the work.

01:24:53.340 So both can fail.

01:24:54.420 All right, let's work.

01:24:56.400 Let's pray, let's work,

01:24:57.460 and believe that God blesses our word.

01:24:59.520 Father God, thank you for your word.

01:25:02.420 Thank you that the promise

01:25:04.700 that was given to Joshua by Jesus

01:25:06.840 was that the city was already given over. 1.00

01:25:10.520 It was as good as done. 0.98

01:25:13.220 It had already been handed over to Israel. 0.97

01:25:16.660 And that Joshua believed. 0.97

01:25:18.920 That he believed.

01:25:20.280 And he didn't just believe that it was a far off blessing

01:25:23.220 that eventually would be fulfilled,

01:25:25.480 but that it was something that they were going to pursue

01:25:28.180 right then and there.

01:25:30.720 For seven days, even though it didn't make sense,

01:25:34.220 the strategy, but for seven days,

01:25:36.280 They were going to march and walk and pray

01:25:38.660 and then eventually shout,

01:25:40.560 trusting that you had promised a victory

01:25:43.000 and that it would come about

01:25:44.600 through their faithful obedience

01:25:46.320 and that it would happen in their lifetime.

01:25:50.740 We know that you don't owe this to us

01:25:53.140 and we know that it may and may not happen.

01:25:57.000 But Lord, I pray that you would give us faith

01:25:59.100 to believe that it could happen

01:26:01.160 and to believe that you, either way,

01:26:04.800 The outcome belongs to you.

01:26:06.700 The results belong to you.

01:26:08.340 But obedience is vital.

01:26:11.480 I pray, Lord, that you would put it in our hearts, in our spirits,

01:26:16.000 that regardless of what you choose to do in terms of the fruit,

01:26:19.480 that we would choose to practically live a life working towards,

01:26:23.560 preaching towards, praying towards, parenting towards a victory,

01:26:29.020 a victory that is soon, not just in the far off distance,

01:26:34.800 but a victory here and now that glorifies you

01:26:39.400 and that also is one of the most practically loving things

01:26:43.700 we can do for our image-bearing neighbors.

01:26:46.980 We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

The NXR Podcast - June 18, 2023

SUNDAY SERMON - Total Depravity, Postmillennialism, & Black-Pilled Christians

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