I just wanted to bring a word of<\/p>\n
encouragement to you today if that's<\/p>\n
okay. Again, thank you so much for<\/p>\n
sharing the pulpit, Pastor Nati. And uh<\/p>\n
um and you know,<\/p>\n
it's one of the most endearing titles<\/p>\n
and relationships we can have with our<\/p>\n
God is father. Right? The word father<\/p>\n
just I mean because a father brings<\/p>\n
life, a father brings um he gives, he<\/p>\n
loves, um he sacrifices. There's so much<\/p>\n
that uh that word entails. Now, of<\/p>\n
course, we as humans, we have imperfect<\/p>\n
fathers like me and faulty fathers.<\/p>\n
That's okay under God's grace. Uh he<\/p>\n
will redeem that as he always does. Um<\/p>\n
but he's the perfect father. So, it it<\/p>\n
is it's so endearing because it's a<\/p>\n
relationship that we have with our God.<\/p>\n
And I want to look at at at that<\/p>\n
relationship a little bit and hopefully<\/p>\n
we will have some<\/p>\n
um encouragement.<\/p>\n
Um our father is not just creator and<\/p>\n
ruler but he um he as well as the<\/p>\n
trinity um there's so much giving<\/p>\n
amongst the trinity relationship in and<\/p>\n
of itself right<\/p>\n
um John reminds us in first John that um<\/p>\n
let us love one another he says for love<\/p>\n
is from God and whoever loves has been<\/p>\n
born of God and knows God and anyone who<\/p>\n
does not love does not know God because<\/p>\n
God is love. And of course, there's<\/p>\n
always been an eternal relationship with<\/p>\n
the God the Father, God the Son, God the<\/p>\n
Holy Spirit, relationship of love and<\/p>\n
giving uh to each other. The Father<\/p>\n
loves the Son and the Holy Spirit,<\/p>\n
right? And the Son gives honor to the<\/p>\n
Father. Um and the Holy Spirit gives<\/p>\n
honor to Christ and the Father. And the<\/p>\n
Holy Spirit gives us life. He's the<\/p>\n
Lord, right? He's the Lord and giver of<\/p>\n
life as one of our confessions say which<\/p>\n
I love that you know so all the members<\/p>\n
of the trinity are constantly loving and<\/p>\n
that means giving to one another in a<\/p>\n
constant fashion and and so this reminds<\/p>\n
me of how uh the<\/p>\n
word lavish comes to mind and so you<\/p>\n
don't have to turn there but if you want<\/p>\n
to uh in it reminds me of the first<\/p>\n
chapter of Ephesians<\/p>\n
um and instead of just reading it as um<\/p>\n
these are these are all the specific uh<\/p>\n
gifts of God. Uh just look at it that<\/p>\n
way. Uh all the benefits that we gain<\/p>\n
from knowing our heavenly father, right?<\/p>\n
So just listen a little bit um on what<\/p>\n
God gives us from first um sorry<\/p>\n
Ephesians chapter 1 the first 14 verses.<\/p>\n
Again you can turn there if you want but<\/p>\n
just listen. Paul, an apostle of Christ<\/p>\n
Jesus by the will of God to the saints<\/p>\n
who are in Ephesus and are faithful in<\/p>\n
Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace<\/p>\n
from God our father. That's a gift. God<\/p>\n
gives us grace and peace, right? Through<\/p>\n
Christ. Um, blessed be the God and<\/p>\n
father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has<\/p>\n
blessed us in Christ with every<\/p>\n
spiritual blessing. Another gift, every<\/p>\n
spiritual blessing in the heavenly<\/p>\n
places, even as he chose us in him. And<\/p>\n
yes, being chosen is a gift. We won't go<\/p>\n
into all the theological background, but<\/p>\n
being chosen is a gift. Um, uh, because<\/p>\n
he chose us in him before the foundation<\/p>\n
of the world that we should be holy and<\/p>\n
blameless before him. In love, he<\/p>\n
predestined us for adoption. Adoption is<\/p>\n
an incredible gift from God, isn't it?<\/p>\n
To be adopted into God's family. What a<\/p>\n
a great privilege um through Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ according to the purpose of his<\/p>\n
will to the praise of his glorious grace<\/p>\n
with which he has blessed us in the<\/p>\n
beloved. Again, more gifts of blessing.<\/p>\n
In him we have redemption. What an<\/p>\n
incredible gift that is from God.<\/p>\n
Redemption. He redeems us through his<\/p>\n
blood. The forgiveness of our<\/p>\n
trespasses. Another incredible gift from<\/p>\n
God. Right? We can have our sins uh<\/p>\n
forgiven according to the riches of his<\/p>\n
grace which he lavished upon us. God<\/p>\n
doesn't just give us grace, he lavishes<\/p>\n
it. Lavish means to um abundantly give<\/p>\n
abundantly overflow. Um it's it's just<\/p>\n
amazing. In all wisdom and insight,<\/p>\n
making known to us the mystery of his<\/p>\n
will. Again, it's another gift. God<\/p>\n
reveals the gospel to us. That's a gift.<\/p>\n
Um, in him we have obtained an<\/p>\n
inheritance, more<\/p>\n
gifts, having been predestined according<\/p>\n
to the purpose of him who works all<\/p>\n
things according to the counsel of his<\/p>\n
will. So that we who were first to hope<\/p>\n
in Christ, another gift, that we are the<\/p>\n
first to be able to hope in Christ might<\/p>\n
be the praise to the praise of his<\/p>\n
glory. In him, you also when you heard<\/p>\n
the word of God, the gospel of your<\/p>\n
salvation, the gift of salvation, it's<\/p>\n
ours. it can never be taken away. Right?<\/p>\n
And believed in him were sealed with the<\/p>\n
promise of the Holy Spirit, the gift of<\/p>\n
the fact that we have the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
And the Holy Spirit has sealed our<\/p>\n
salvation. Um, who is the guarantee of<\/p>\n
our inheritance until we acquire<\/p>\n
possession of it to the praise of his<\/p>\n
glory. That that's an amazing several<\/p>\n
verses, isn't it? I mean, just think of<\/p>\n
all that. What what Paul is doing here,<\/p>\n
he's reminding the Ephesians by writing<\/p>\n
a letter to them. And the first thing he<\/p>\n
talks about is all the benefits of<\/p>\n
Christ, all the gifts that come from our<\/p>\n
God, the<\/p>\n
giver. And uh and these these gifts are<\/p>\n
the heart uh coming from the heart of<\/p>\n
our father. And he never stops giving it<\/p>\n
to us. So hopefully this is a little bit<\/p>\n
of an encouragement to you. And uh<\/p>\n
encouragement is we're going to be<\/p>\n
looking at in the passage in Joshua. We<\/p>\n
just now look at the three kind of<\/p>\n
general areas of how God encourages us.<\/p>\n
Um but encouragement is a tough thing.<\/p>\n
Um we live lives and life can be very<\/p>\n
discouraging. Um, as we read in some of<\/p>\n
the scriptures, life is is hard and<\/p>\n
there's lots of things that weigh us<\/p>\n
down from the world, from Satan, from<\/p>\n
our own sins, and we easily get<\/p>\n
discouraged, don't we? I do. Um, and<\/p>\n
it's a hard thing. Sometimes we look for<\/p>\n
encouragement from all quarters of life,<\/p>\n
from the world, from our circumstances,<\/p>\n
from our society, um from many places<\/p>\n
and especially from other people, right?<\/p>\n
We look for encouragement from them in<\/p>\n
this in the form of we want to be<\/p>\n
approved by others. We're looking for<\/p>\n
approval. Um and that's that's kind of<\/p>\n
hard sometimes. approval from our<\/p>\n
parents, approval from our children,<\/p>\n
approval from our co-workers, our<\/p>\n
bosses, uh approval from our pastor and<\/p>\n
our church members and one another. Um<\/p>\n
and it's and it's uh it's tough.<\/p>\n
Um you know that you I'm sure you<\/p>\n
experience this. You know, you can hear<\/p>\n
from nine different people who are<\/p>\n
nothing but encouraging to you and words<\/p>\n
of encouragement. But the 10th person<\/p>\n
has one criticism and our our human<\/p>\n
tendency is to hold on to that one<\/p>\n
criticism instead of holding on to the<\/p>\n
nine positive statements, you know, um<\/p>\n
because that's how easily we get<\/p>\n
discouraged. So we can easily get<\/p>\n
discouraged in our walk with the Lord,<\/p>\n
can't we?<\/p>\n
um even when we have the Lord, even when<\/p>\n
we have all these incredible gifts that<\/p>\n
Paul has enumerated, we can still be um<\/p>\n
discouraged. So today, I just want to uh<\/p>\n
help us look at this passage and um<\/p>\n
again, God is our best God is the best<\/p>\n
encourager. Uh he knows us better than<\/p>\n
ourselves, doesn't he? He knows what we<\/p>\n
needs. And um he of course ultimately is<\/p>\n
the best encourager because he gives<\/p>\n
himself. So let us um turn to Joshua<\/p>\n
chapter 1 and uh I'd like to read verses<\/p>\n
1-9. I'm not sure what your uh your<\/p>\n
convention is here, but is it possible<\/p>\n
to stand for the reading of God's word?<\/p>\n
If you are able, please stand. Turn to<\/p>\n
Joshua chapter 1 and we'll look at the<\/p>\n
first nine verses.<\/p>\n
This is the word of God. After the death<\/p>\n
of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the<\/p>\n
Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun,<\/p>\n
Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is<\/p>\n
dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this<\/p>\n
Jordan, you and all this people, into<\/p>\n
the land that I am giving to them, to<\/p>\n
the people of Israel. Every place that<\/p>\n
the sole of your foot will tread upon, I<\/p>\n
have given to you just as I promised to<\/p>\n
Moses. From the wilderness and this<\/p>\n
Lebanon as far as the great river, the<\/p>\n
river Euphrates, all the land of the<\/p>\n
Hittites to the great sea toward the<\/p>\n
going down of the sun shall be your<\/p>\n
territory. No man shall be able to stand<\/p>\n
before you all the days of your life.<\/p>\n
Just as I was with Moses, so I will be<\/p>\n
with you. I will not leave you or<\/p>\n
forsake you. Be strong and courageous,<\/p>\n
for you<\/p>\n
excuse me, shall cause this people to<\/p>\n
inherit the land that I swore to their<\/p>\n
fathers to give them. Only be strong and<\/p>\n
very courageous, being careful to do<\/p>\n
according to all the law that Moses, my<\/p>\n
servant, commanded you. Do not turn from<\/p>\n
it to the right hand or to the left,<\/p>\n
that you may have good success wherever<\/p>\n
you go. This book of the law shall not<\/p>\n
depart from your mouth, but you shall<\/p>\n
meditate on it day and night, so that<\/p>\n
you might be careful to do according to<\/p>\n
all that is written in it. For then you<\/p>\n
will make your way prosperous, and then<\/p>\n
you will have good success. Have I not<\/p>\n
commanded you? Be strong and courageous.<\/p>\n
Do not be<\/p>\n
afraid, and do not be dismayed, for the<\/p>\n
Lord your God is with you wherever you<\/p>\n
go. This is the word of the Lord.<\/p>\n
Please be seated. Let's<\/p>\n
pray. Lord, we uh come to you this<\/p>\n
afternoon just in uh humility and and<\/p>\n
joy, Lord, that we can come together and<\/p>\n
uh worship you and bring you honor and<\/p>\n
be with God's people. Thank you for your<\/p>\n
inherit, infallible, inspired word,<\/p>\n
Lord, which is our life.<\/p>\n
Um this book is about you from you and<\/p>\n
that's why it is perfect. And Lord just<\/p>\n
um we ask that your word be moving in<\/p>\n
our hearts, minds, and souls that we<\/p>\n
would be changed, transformed uh into<\/p>\n
the likeness of your son more and more.<\/p>\n
May the words of my mouth and may the<\/p>\n
meditation of all our hearts be pleasing<\/p>\n
and acceptable in your sight, oh Lord<\/p>\n
our God and our redeemer in Jesus name.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>\n
So the context really quickly is that<\/p>\n
the uh Israelites have been wandering<\/p>\n
the desert now for 40 years. Uh as<\/p>\n
you'll recall, Joshua and Caleb are the<\/p>\n
only ones who survived the original<\/p>\n
generation 40 years ago because they<\/p>\n
were obedient and they had a good report<\/p>\n
about the land. Um and so<\/p>\n
um Moses has led them for 40 years and<\/p>\n
now he's dead. The Israelites sit on the<\/p>\n
east bank of the Jordan River, ready to<\/p>\n
cross over to take the land of Israel.<\/p>\n
Um, however, they face nothing but<\/p>\n
unknowns, unknown hazards, dangers. They<\/p>\n
don't know what's going to happen.<\/p>\n
They've never been here. They've been in<\/p>\n
Egypt for 400 years. Um, so think of it.<\/p>\n
You're in a new land, a foreign land.<\/p>\n
You've never seen this place before. You<\/p>\n
don't know what's ahead of you. Um, it's<\/p>\n
kind of fearful. Have you ever been in<\/p>\n
that situation? I remember uh since I<\/p>\n
grew up in LA, you know, I lived there<\/p>\n
for till I was 30 and then I was<\/p>\n
promoted in my job to a company<\/p>\n
headquarters in New Jersey. So I had to<\/p>\n
move from LA to New Jersey and u some<\/p>\n
people in America laugh at that because<\/p>\n
I moved to New Jersey, but anyway<\/p>\n
um but it's kind of intimidating because<\/p>\n
I don't know<\/p>\n
anybody, right? I have to go find a<\/p>\n
church. You know, it's intimidating<\/p>\n
walking into a church you don't know<\/p>\n
anybody and trying to, you know, find a<\/p>\n
new life and trying to find a new<\/p>\n
community. Um, and that's that's nothing<\/p>\n
compared to what the Israelites are<\/p>\n
facing, taking over an entire land um<\/p>\n
and uh trying to settle your family in<\/p>\n
the midst of all that. Anyway, it's um<\/p>\n
it's tough. And in the middle of these<\/p>\n
verses, as you as you saw, the Lord says<\/p>\n
to be strong and courageous to the<\/p>\n
Israelites. And he says it three times<\/p>\n
and it's a command. Um and so<\/p>\n
uh it's easy to see the response of the<\/p>\n
people uh because um yes, since it's<\/p>\n
God's words, yes, on the outside, yes,<\/p>\n
Lord, we're we'll be strong and<\/p>\n
courageous, but I can easily see for me<\/p>\n
if I was there. On the inside, I'm like,<\/p>\n
I'm scared. I don't know what's going<\/p>\n
on. Um, and so,<\/p>\n
um, it's it's difficult. And the good<\/p>\n
thing is the Lord even knows our fears<\/p>\n
and our<\/p>\n
anxieties. And so, he wants to encourage<\/p>\n
us along the way. Not just command us,<\/p>\n
but encourage us. Isn't that just<\/p>\n
amazing for our giving, loving father?<\/p>\n
He He knows our frame. He knows our<\/p>\n
weakness. So, he carries us along. He<\/p>\n
doesn't just command it. He actually<\/p>\n
carries us along so that um we can<\/p>\n
actually experience this.<\/p>\n
So God gives encouragement on in three<\/p>\n
ways. Let's look at three ways from this<\/p>\n
passage. God gives encouragement through<\/p>\n
his word. He gives encouragement through<\/p>\n
his promises and he gives encouragement<\/p>\n
through his presence. His word, his<\/p>\n
promises, his presence. Right? So, first<\/p>\n
his word, God's word tells us who he is.<\/p>\n
In verse eight, he says, \"This book of<\/p>\n
the law shall not depart from your<\/p>\n
mouth, and you shall meditate on it day<\/p>\n
and night.\" Now, there's a lot here<\/p>\n
already. I won't go into all the uh the<\/p>\n
implications, but<\/p>\n
uh at minimum, you can see a little bit<\/p>\n
here about the word. the word of God is<\/p>\n
obviously he's also talking about the<\/p>\n
fact that it's it's it's not just<\/p>\n
central for their life but it is vitally<\/p>\n
important. I think that's one of the way<\/p>\n
one of the things you can infer when he<\/p>\n
says you shall meditate on it day and<\/p>\n
night. Um you could take that literally<\/p>\n
and say wow that means I got to be<\/p>\n
reading the Bible 24 hours a day. Well<\/p>\n
that's not exactly. I mean we should<\/p>\n
definitely have it in our lives. The<\/p>\n
word of God of course should saturate<\/p>\n
our life and we should be meditating and<\/p>\n
memorizing it and chewing over and<\/p>\n
thinking about and praying about it.<\/p>\n
Absolutely. Don't get me wrong on that.<\/p>\n
That we that's what we believe. That's<\/p>\n
what your churches believe, right? The<\/p>\n
centrality of the word of God. But it<\/p>\n
also shows when you meditate on day and<\/p>\n
night meaning this is very important for<\/p>\n
you. This is these are not just simple<\/p>\n
words on a page. This is not just<\/p>\n
another book, right?<\/p>\n
Um so<\/p>\n
um it shouldn't depart from your mouth.<\/p>\n
It it's always with us. The word is such<\/p>\n
that so saturated in our lives that it<\/p>\n
is literally a part of us. So that we<\/p>\n
are thinking, speaking, our attitude,<\/p>\n
everything exhibits the fruit of knowing<\/p>\n
God's word. Um and of course again like<\/p>\n
in our denomination the PCA we we<\/p>\n
believe in the inherency infallibility<\/p>\n
and the inspiration of scripture and<\/p>\n
that they are the very words of God<\/p>\n
itself. So um meditating on it day and<\/p>\n
night is not a worldly kind of<\/p>\n
meditation but it's more of uh focusing<\/p>\n
ourselves on God's word which eventually<\/p>\n
really means that we're focusing on the<\/p>\n
person of God himself. uh not only does<\/p>\n
he want us to know him, but he wants us<\/p>\n
to love him. So that's one of the<\/p>\n
reasons for the word of God. Of course,<\/p>\n
there's many many reasons for the word<\/p>\n
of God, but some of the obvious things<\/p>\n
are uh it's so that we might know<\/p>\n
God, right? We're don't we don't<\/p>\n
memorize scripture so that we can pass<\/p>\n
some test or uh seem knowledgeable or uh<\/p>\n
whatever, win an argument with people.<\/p>\n
We want to know the word of God because<\/p>\n
we want to know God himself.<\/p>\n
Um God, our God is a relational God.<\/p>\n
It's not just facts about God. He wants<\/p>\n
us to have a relationship with him. So<\/p>\n
he gives us his word. He reveals himself<\/p>\n
to us. What another gift, another gift<\/p>\n
from our heavenly father. He reveals<\/p>\n
himself to us and he wants to reveal<\/p>\n
himself to us. um who wants to be in<\/p>\n
relationship uh and and he's the one<\/p>\n
initiating this. Uh it's amazing that<\/p>\n
you just think about this. God is<\/p>\n
amazing uh for toward us. Um and he he<\/p>\n
the Lord communicates with us and it's<\/p>\n
primarily through his word. It's like<\/p>\n
two people dating, right? Getting to<\/p>\n
know each other in the beginning. Um,<\/p>\n
I'm old so in my day, you know, two<\/p>\n
people are dating. We're like on the<\/p>\n
phone all the time. And I remember my<\/p>\n
parents were like, \"What do you talk<\/p>\n
about for hours and hours on end and on<\/p>\n
end, you know?\" And nowadays, it's not<\/p>\n
the phone. Now it's texting, right?<\/p>\n
You're just probably texting endlessly,<\/p>\n
right? So, um, and when I dated Nancy,<\/p>\n
it was kind of like that, you know,<\/p>\n
because when you're dating, you want to<\/p>\n
spend as much time with someone. Why?<\/p>\n
Because you want to get to know them.<\/p>\n
It's very I know this is very simple but<\/p>\n
it's like let's translate that to the<\/p>\n
Lord, right? Um you want to get to know<\/p>\n
them and doesn't matter how small the<\/p>\n
detail is about their life, you want to<\/p>\n
know that too, right? Because you love<\/p>\n
them. If you love him, you want to know<\/p>\n
everything about them. So same thing<\/p>\n
with the Lord, right? Um the Lord is a<\/p>\n
our God is a relational God. He wants to<\/p>\n
know us and he wants us to know him. And<\/p>\n
so we need to be saturated through and<\/p>\n
through with the word of God so that<\/p>\n
we're meditating so much on him that we<\/p>\n
know him and so we know how to love him.<\/p>\n
We know how to uh please him and enjoy<\/p>\n
him as right as well. Right? We believe<\/p>\n
the first answer to the first catechism<\/p>\n
question is you know what is the chief<\/p>\n
end of man to glorify God<\/p>\n
and enjoy him forever. We kind of forget<\/p>\n
that sometimes as church people want to<\/p>\n
enjoy the<\/p>\n
Lord. In fact, um we often describe,<\/p>\n
don't we, when we talk to people who<\/p>\n
don't know about Christianity, I'm<\/p>\n
talking about biblical Christianity.<\/p>\n
What is Christianity? It's not a<\/p>\n
religion in the worldly sense of the<\/p>\n
word, right? Well, it's not a system of<\/p>\n
of rights and wrongs, system of of how<\/p>\n
to do things. That's not biblical<\/p>\n
Christianity at its core. Certainly, we<\/p>\n
have structures. Yes, we have laws and<\/p>\n
rules. Yes, we have commandments. That's<\/p>\n
that's true. But that's not at the core<\/p>\n
the foundation of it. The core<\/p>\n
foundation of is that it is a<\/p>\n
relationship with God<\/p>\n
Almighty with no other religion in the<\/p>\n
world has that. That's what makes<\/p>\n
Christianity unique, right? Building<\/p>\n
relationship. In fact, Michael Reeves,<\/p>\n
some of you know him. He's a author in<\/p>\n
England, a great author. I recommend his<\/p>\n
books to you. is he's got a book called<\/p>\n
Delighting in the Trinity. He says this,<\/p>\n
\"Christianity is not primarily about<\/p>\n
lifestyle change.\" See, that's just<\/p>\n
behavior modification. That's that's<\/p>\n
that's the worldly religion, right? Do<\/p>\n
good, be good, look good. That's that's<\/p>\n
that's what the world says. That's not<\/p>\n
Christianity. So, Christianity is not<\/p>\n
primarily about lifestyle change. It's<\/p>\n
about knowing<\/p>\n
God. To know and grow, to enjoy him is<\/p>\n
what we are saved for.<\/p>\n
That's biblical Christianity. It's about<\/p>\n
a relationship with God. And he dames to<\/p>\n
come down, condescends, and he initiates<\/p>\n
that and gives us his word so that we<\/p>\n
can know him and enjoy him and have a<\/p>\n
relationship. Do you have such a<\/p>\n
relationship with the Lord God<\/p>\n
Almighty? So, it's given to us<\/p>\n
graciously. Um, again, we're imperfect,<\/p>\n
of course. Um, but God takes that into<\/p>\n
account, too, and helps us, right? Um,<\/p>\n
he gives us leaders and pastors and<\/p>\n
mentors and disciplers to help walk<\/p>\n
alongside us so that we can get to know<\/p>\n
him<\/p>\n
together, make our mistakes together,<\/p>\n
experience grace together, right? And<\/p>\n
and love uh love the Lord together.<\/p>\n
The other thing that's a little minor uh<\/p>\n
uh point here is is that the Lord also<\/p>\n
uh communicates to us what he expects in<\/p>\n
the relationship. You know, if you're<\/p>\n
working or going to school or you take a<\/p>\n
class and you don't know what's expected<\/p>\n
of you, that's got to be the most<\/p>\n
frustrating things in the world, right?<\/p>\n
If I'm working for a company and they<\/p>\n
don't tell me what they expect from me,<\/p>\n
how am I supposed to do work? It does it<\/p>\n
doesn't make any sense. They give you we<\/p>\n
give each other's expectations. We do a<\/p>\n
project with someone, we we talk about<\/p>\n
everybody's expectations so everybody<\/p>\n
knows, you know, where they fit<\/p>\n
relationally and functionally. Same<\/p>\n
thing here. The Lord gives us um uh his<\/p>\n
expectations. Verses seven and 8. Be<\/p>\n
careful to do according to all the law<\/p>\n
that Moses my servant commanded you. Do<\/p>\n
not turn firm it to the right or to the<\/p>\n
left that you may have good success<\/p>\n
wherever you go. The book of the law<\/p>\n
shall not depart from your mouth, but<\/p>\n
you shall meditate on it day and night,<\/p>\n
so that you may be careful to do<\/p>\n
according to all that is written in it.<\/p>\n
For then you will make your way<\/p>\n
prosperous, and then you will have good<\/p>\n
success. So the Lord not only wants a<\/p>\n
relationship with us, he initiates that<\/p>\n
relationship to us. He communicates to<\/p>\n
us, he also communicates his<\/p>\n
expectations, which is great, right? And<\/p>\n
no, we don't work our way to heaven. We<\/p>\n
don't work our way for salvation. That's<\/p>\n
not what this is about. But this is<\/p>\n
about if we have a relationship with<\/p>\n
him, this is what the Lord expects,<\/p>\n
right? And he has the right to expect<\/p>\n
that because he is a holy God. Amen. Um,<\/p>\n
so it's not just simply words on a page.<\/p>\n
Like I said earlier, uh, Moses reminds<\/p>\n
us at the end of Deuteronomy telling the<\/p>\n
Israelites to take heart uh, all the<\/p>\n
words by which I am warning you today.<\/p>\n
He says in Deuteronomy 32, that you may<\/p>\n
command them to your children that they<\/p>\n
may be careful to do all the words of<\/p>\n
this law. for it is no empty word for<\/p>\n
you but your very life. The word of God<\/p>\n
is our very life because it represents<\/p>\n
God himself and what God expects. Um and<\/p>\n
of course<\/p>\n
again he he gives us these expectations<\/p>\n
but he also sends us his son God the son<\/p>\n
who is the living embodiment of the word<\/p>\n
to do what? to help us to live in such a<\/p>\n
way to please him. What a thoughtful,<\/p>\n
loving father, isn't he? He doesn't just<\/p>\n
command it. He provides uh a way for us<\/p>\n
to do it. He gives us examples. Of<\/p>\n
course, Christ is the living word.<\/p>\n
That's one of his names to do that. So<\/p>\n
again, our God is an amazing God. Our<\/p>\n
father uh is such an amazing loving<\/p>\n
father. Okay, what about um the second<\/p>\n
point? God gives encouragement through<\/p>\n
his promises. One way that you could<\/p>\n
summarize the entire book of Joshua is<\/p>\n
promises kept, right? Because in the<\/p>\n
first five book of Moses, it's all the<\/p>\n
promises are made, right? The people<\/p>\n
will inherit the land, the people will<\/p>\n
have this, they will have that. Uh and<\/p>\n
now in Joshua, it is starting to come<\/p>\n
through true. God is fulfilling his<\/p>\n
promises. the promises that were made to<\/p>\n
Abraham, to the patriarchs, to Moses<\/p>\n
himself, right? He says in verse three,<\/p>\n
\"Every place that the soul of your foot<\/p>\n
will tread upon, I have given to you<\/p>\n
just as I promised to<\/p>\n
Moses.\" The promises of course are he's<\/p>\n
referring to mostly related to the land.<\/p>\n
Um in Genesis 12, the Lord appeared to<\/p>\n
Abraham and said, \"To your offspring, I<\/p>\n
will give this land.\" in Genesis 15:18,<\/p>\n
\"To your offspring I give this land from<\/p>\n
the river of Egypt to the great river um<\/p>\n
that is the Nile all the way to the<\/p>\n
river Euphrates to the north.\" Um uh and<\/p>\n
the Lord of course repeats these same<\/p>\n
promises to both Isaac and to Jacob and<\/p>\n
the other patriarchs and to Moses<\/p>\n
himself. Um and he reminds them in<\/p>\n
Numbers a couple of times about the land<\/p>\n
that they are to receive. Deuteronomy 1,<\/p>\n
see, I have set the land before you. Go<\/p>\n
in and take possession of it. that the<\/p>\n
Lord swore to your fathers to Abraham,<\/p>\n
to Isaac, and to Jacob to give them and<\/p>\n
their offspring after them. And of<\/p>\n
course, he gave promises to to Joshua as<\/p>\n
well. Uh in verse 5, he says, \"Just as I<\/p>\n
was with Moses, I will be with<\/p>\n
you.\" Um and of course, so much is<\/p>\n
included in these promises. Now, the<\/p>\n
Lord does not have to prove himself,<\/p>\n
right? He keeps promises. So, he doesn't<\/p>\n
have to prove himself. Um,<\/p>\n
nevertheless, we can see his actions and<\/p>\n
so can the Israelites in redemptive<\/p>\n
history and they automatically attest to<\/p>\n
the fact that God keeps his promises,<\/p>\n
right? Um, for example, these last 40<\/p>\n
years, the Israelites have been<\/p>\n
traversing through the desert. They<\/p>\n
didn't know where they were going. They<\/p>\n
were literally wandering in the desert<\/p>\n
wherever the Lord brought them. Um, and<\/p>\n
so he's brought them through so much and<\/p>\n
through it he has preserved them. He's<\/p>\n
promised to preserve them. He fed them<\/p>\n
with m what? Every day? Mana. Yeah,<\/p>\n
that's Hebrew for what is it? By the<\/p>\n
way, he fed them with mana every day. He<\/p>\n
provided water miraculously many times.<\/p>\n
Fought their battles for them. And he he<\/p>\n
even did a miracle with their clothes.<\/p>\n
Remember in Nehemiah,<\/p>\n
Nehemiah recounts this. Uh Nehemiah 9,<\/p>\n
you gave your good spirit to instruct<\/p>\n
them and did not withhold your mana from<\/p>\n
their mouth and gave them water for<\/p>\n
their thirst. 40 years you sustained<\/p>\n
them in the wilderness and they lacked<\/p>\n
nothing. Their clothes did not wear out<\/p>\n
and their feet did not swell. Imagine<\/p>\n
wearing the same clothes you have on for<\/p>\n
years. You know, it would stink,<\/p>\n
but they lasted.<\/p>\n
The people witnessed all this. They<\/p>\n
lived through it. They saw God's<\/p>\n
provision, uh, plentiful provision. He<\/p>\n
kept his promises and all they had to do<\/p>\n
was look back.<\/p>\n
Um,<\/p>\n
right. And,<\/p>\n
um, the same thing with us. You know,<\/p>\n
look back at your<\/p>\n
life, think about God's general<\/p>\n
provision, God's general generally<\/p>\n
keeping his promises. Has he done that?<\/p>\n
Yes. It's kind of like, you know, people<\/p>\n
ask,<\/p>\n
um, do you remember what you ate three<\/p>\n
days ago for dinner? Nobody remembers.<\/p>\n
You're going to have to sit here and go,<\/p>\n
nobody reme or in this in case of<\/p>\n
church, you know, it's kind of funny if<\/p>\n
pastors ask that. So, do you remember<\/p>\n
what last week's sermon was about?<\/p>\n
That's a hard one. Sometimes we don't<\/p>\n
remember. We don't remember what we ate<\/p>\n
three days ago. But the other question<\/p>\n
is more important. It's were you<\/p>\n
fed? Yes. Were you fed with the word of<\/p>\n
God? Yes. You were nourished by it. You<\/p>\n
grew from it. You were changed by it.<\/p>\n
God has kept his<\/p>\n
promises. And of course, we're talking<\/p>\n
about relationship, right? So<\/p>\n
relationally, what does this do? It's<\/p>\n
very simple, I know, but still this is<\/p>\n
for our encouragement. So okay, so God<\/p>\n
keeps his promises. Now what? Well, it's<\/p>\n
a relationship, right? If I say<\/p>\n
something uh to you and I promise to do<\/p>\n
something or whatever and I do it, what<\/p>\n
does that do for the<\/p>\n
relationship? Builds<\/p>\n
trust. If I don't do it, the opposite<\/p>\n
happens. the relationship gets strained<\/p>\n
and depending on what it is it could<\/p>\n
even break the relationship you know and<\/p>\n
even though we know this intuitively but<\/p>\n
when you think about it trust is the<\/p>\n
foundation of every single relationship<\/p>\n
without trust no relationship and by the<\/p>\n
way therefore you can't do anything<\/p>\n
together you can't get anything done<\/p>\n
together that is major implications and<\/p>\n
that's all of human life right it's<\/p>\n
everything's based on trust just look at<\/p>\n
the basic things like a bank if I trust<\/p>\n
the bank to keep my money keep it safe<\/p>\n
and not not throw it away or waste it,<\/p>\n
that's great. I trust I'll keep giving<\/p>\n
the money. But if they take my money and<\/p>\n
they steal it or they waste<\/p>\n
it, that stops. The relationship stops.<\/p>\n
No more commerce, no more trade, life<\/p>\n
stops. That happens around the world all<\/p>\n
the time. It happens here all the time.<\/p>\n
Right? This is why corruption for<\/p>\n
example is so destructive because it<\/p>\n
destroys not only relationships but<\/p>\n
stops everything you can do together<\/p>\n
anyway. So building trust is is<\/p>\n
important because trust is a precious<\/p>\n
relational<\/p>\n
quality that requires constant care,<\/p>\n
thought, prayer. Um you can't have it.<\/p>\n
And God knows of course our weaknesses.<\/p>\n
He of course is always trustworthy, but<\/p>\n
he walks alongside us and he gives us<\/p>\n
brothers and sisters together so that we<\/p>\n
can help each other walk in a way that<\/p>\n
builds trust with the Lord and then we<\/p>\n
by the way we can also do ministry<\/p>\n
together, right? Uh we can bring the<\/p>\n
gospel to those that don't know him yet.<\/p>\n
Um and<\/p>\n
so anyway, so God's grace through it<\/p>\n
all. It may not be apparent at the<\/p>\n
moment, but God in looking back on our<\/p>\n
lives and our history with him. Always<\/p>\n
trustworthy, always has been, always<\/p>\n
provided. Maybe not to the exact degree<\/p>\n
that you that you wanted, but he has<\/p>\n
always provided. And he will always be<\/p>\n
trustworthy in every way. All the uh<\/p>\n
whether sweet or bitter providences,<\/p>\n
everything that the Lord has for us, we<\/p>\n
can trust him because that's the kind of<\/p>\n
father that he is.<\/p>\n
Um, and so the more we see that, the<\/p>\n
more we can help each other out as well.<\/p>\n
So God gives encouragement through his<\/p>\n
word, through his promises, and finally<\/p>\n
through his presence. Verses 5 and N.<\/p>\n
forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be<\/p>\n
dismayed, for the Lord your God is with<\/p>\n
you wherever you go.<\/p>\n
This is a little bit hard to describe<\/p>\n
God's presence with us. And I just want<\/p>\n
to make two observations. One is um what<\/p>\n
does that mean? I mean, we can be with<\/p>\n
someone, right, and not really be with<\/p>\n
them,<\/p>\n
right? I'll just use my example all the<\/p>\n
time because then I can point me being<\/p>\n
bad. So, I could be with my wife or I<\/p>\n
can be with my children when we were<\/p>\n
when they were growing up in our<\/p>\n
household. I can be there<\/p>\n
physically. All the wives are like and<\/p>\n
all the ladies are like, \"I know where<\/p>\n
he's going with this.\" Um, the guys are<\/p>\n
like, \"What?\" Um, sorry guys, don't<\/p>\n
don't mean to, but it's like I could be<\/p>\n
physically present with my kids, right?<\/p>\n
But if I'm not paying attention to them<\/p>\n
or I'm on my phone or I'm doing work,<\/p>\n
it's actually worse. I'm not really with<\/p>\n
them and they see that and it's like<\/p>\n
we're we're supposed to have a<\/p>\n
relationship, right? and we want to<\/p>\n
build that relationship or you know my<\/p>\n
wife will say you're not listening see<\/p>\n
I'm hearing everything she says that's<\/p>\n
not what she means yeah audibly I'm<\/p>\n
hearing it but I'm not following her<\/p>\n
heart with my heart I need to understand<\/p>\n
my wife at a deeper level not there I<\/p>\n
might be present physically but I'm not<\/p>\n
really present right<\/p>\n
wives he's not really listening<\/p>\n
Anyway, so<\/p>\n
um so what does it mean? It mean one of<\/p>\n
the things it means is that it's not a<\/p>\n
passive state. It's active. When God is<\/p>\n
present with us, it's not<\/p>\n
passive. He's actively doing things.<\/p>\n
What is he actively doing? Well, he's<\/p>\n
actively being a father to us. He's<\/p>\n
actively loving us. He's actively caring<\/p>\n
for us. He's actively um uh looking out<\/p>\n
for us in every way and in every level.<\/p>\n
Is that not right? Is that not true?<\/p>\n
That's why we call him our father<\/p>\n
because he gives uh he gives endlessly<\/p>\n
and he gives<\/p>\n
lavishly and our heavenly father has<\/p>\n
promise to be with us all the<\/p>\n
time. And him being with us<\/p>\n
is something that's indescribable. So,<\/p>\n
I'm going to go into something to try to<\/p>\n
describe maybe if you will the the<\/p>\n
importance of God's presence with us.<\/p>\n
Um, all of us experience being lonely,<\/p>\n
right? I'm an only child that has its<\/p>\n
own loneliness factor to it. We all<\/p>\n
experience no matter who we are, even in<\/p>\n
this world where we have the most more<\/p>\n
communication devices than ever in human<\/p>\n
history. Yet, you know, like studies<\/p>\n
say, in many countries, including<\/p>\n
America, we're the loneliest people<\/p>\n
around. So, everyone experiences<\/p>\n
loneliness, but only one person has<\/p>\n
ever truly experienced absolute<\/p>\n
loneliness, and that's Jesus.<\/p>\n
When Jesus hung on the<\/p>\n
cross, he was suffering the wrath of God<\/p>\n
for our sins, right?<\/p>\n
Um, aside from just the physical pain<\/p>\n
and suffering, there was a spiritual<\/p>\n
anguish and suffering that we will never<\/p>\n
know. That is those that call on the<\/p>\n
name of Christ and are followers of<\/p>\n
Christ. We have been saved from that<\/p>\n
horror.<\/p>\n
That is real hell, right? Spiritual<\/p>\n
um suffering. And<\/p>\n
um so here's a question. At what point<\/p>\n
was it the most hellish for Jesus or the<\/p>\n
worst experience ever? What was the<\/p>\n
worst moment on the<\/p>\n
cross? I would suggest it was when at<\/p>\n
one point and Jesus even voiced it. Uh<\/p>\n
he voiced his anguish at one point. What<\/p>\n
did he<\/p>\n
say? My God, my<\/p>\n
God, why hast thou forsaken me?<\/p>\n
So I would put forth for your<\/p>\n
consideration that the worst<\/p>\n
moment, the most hellish experience that<\/p>\n
any human has ever<\/p>\n
experienced is when God the Father<\/p>\n
turned his back on God the Son because<\/p>\n
he couldn't look upon the sin that was<\/p>\n
on him and he abandoned the Son for that<\/p>\n
moment. He removed his presence from God<\/p>\n
the Son for that moment. And Jesus<\/p>\n
experienced that and cried<\/p>\n
out. First time in the history of the<\/p>\n
Trinity between the Father, Son, and<\/p>\n
Holy Spirit where there's perfect love,<\/p>\n
perfect fellowship, perfect giving<\/p>\n
amongst one another was disrupted for a<\/p>\n
moment.<\/p>\n
I would put forth that was the worst<\/p>\n
moment is when God removed his<\/p>\n
presence, God the Father removed his<\/p>\n
presence from God the Son.<\/p>\n
If that's the case, my brothers and<\/p>\n
sisters, that rem God's removal of his<\/p>\n
presence is the worst that anybody can<\/p>\n
experience, then conversely, the<\/p>\n
opposite of that has got to be the most<\/p>\n
amazing, stupendous, phenomenal, aren't<\/p>\n
any words for it thing in the universe,<\/p>\n
which is that the presence of God that<\/p>\n
is an intimate, close father, son,<\/p>\n
father, daughter presence with us has<\/p>\n
got to be indescribable. There are no<\/p>\n
words for it.<\/p>\n
Amen. Hallelujah. We should all be<\/p>\n
standing up and be charismatic. Sorry.<\/p>\n
No, not really.<\/p>\n
But so if you name the name of Christ,<\/p>\n
you follow Jesus, you are adopted as a<\/p>\n
son and daughter into his<\/p>\n
family, you have the presence of God<\/p>\n
with you<\/p>\n
intimately right<\/p>\n
now. right<\/p>\n
now. So that should be the most joyous<\/p>\n
thing in the world. Are we enjoying God<\/p>\n
right now in the moment? We can enjoy<\/p>\n
God all of our life on this earth. And<\/p>\n
nothing and nobody can take that away<\/p>\n
nor diminish<\/p>\n
it. I hope that's a little bit of<\/p>\n
encouragement, right? Um so brothers and<\/p>\n
sisters, enjoy God. Enjoy his presence.<\/p>\n
It's an incredible privilege. It's an<\/p>\n
incredible blessing. And he's he's given<\/p>\n
us his word. And his words uh are true<\/p>\n
because he fulfills them. He keeps his<\/p>\n
promises. And there can't be anything<\/p>\n
greater than keeping the promise that I<\/p>\n
will be with you always. How as a<\/p>\n
missionary of not a missionary myself,<\/p>\n
but as working in the mission field, you<\/p>\n
know, Matthew 28, great commission is<\/p>\n
always on our minds and lips, right? How<\/p>\n
does it go? Matthew 28, \"Go therefore<\/p>\n
and make disciples of all nations,<\/p>\n
baptizing them in the name of the<\/p>\n
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching<\/p>\n
them to observe all that I have<\/p>\n
commanded you.\"<\/p>\n
Right? And<\/p>\n
behold, I am with you how<\/p>\n
long?<\/p>\n
Always to the end of the age.<\/p>\n
My brothers and<\/p>\n
sisters, the Lord God Almighty, God the<\/p>\n
Father sent God the Son to live a<\/p>\n
perfect life, to die an excruciating<\/p>\n
death, so that we can have redemption,<\/p>\n
so that we can have forgiveness. We can<\/p>\n
go to heaven. But I would argue the best<\/p>\n
thing is so that we can be with God and<\/p>\n
he can be with us now and forever more.<\/p>\n
his<\/p>\n
presence with<\/p>\n
us. God the Father, imagine this, wants<\/p>\n
to be with<\/p>\n
you. There's no greater gift than that,<\/p>\n
is<\/p>\n
there?<\/p>\n
Nothing. That's how much God the Father<\/p>\n
loves us and wants to give everything to<\/p>\n
us, everything that is good.<\/p>\n
So God gives us encouragement through<\/p>\n
his word, through his promises, and<\/p>\n
through his presence. And I'm just going<\/p>\n
to end with<\/p>\n
this. One last thought.<\/p>\n
Um, is<\/p>\n
that think of someone who is always an<\/p>\n
encouragement in your<\/p>\n
life? Don't you want to be with them<\/p>\n
always?<\/p>\n
Yes. That's the same with the Lord.<\/p>\n
uh we want to be with him. And one of<\/p>\n
the doctrines I can think of, it's kind<\/p>\n
of weird. You think of doctrines like<\/p>\n
one of the doctrines that I thought<\/p>\n
about during this preparing the sermon<\/p>\n
is the union of Christ. And it's like<\/p>\n
what is that union with Christ? So what<\/p>\n
you know well generally speaking just<\/p>\n
just quickly when we are in a<\/p>\n
relationship with the Lord and and we<\/p>\n
are been justified by God now we live a<\/p>\n
life where he is changing us into the<\/p>\n
image of Christ more and more we have<\/p>\n
union with Christ once we have been<\/p>\n
justified we are in one that's what it<\/p>\n
means to be in Jesus usually it's in<\/p>\n
union with Christ and why is that<\/p>\n
important because if we are united to<\/p>\n
Christ that means that Everything that<\/p>\n
Christ benefits from his from the<\/p>\n
relationship with the trinity. Guess who<\/p>\n
also benefits? We do. We benefit from<\/p>\n
that. All the benefits of Christ, we get<\/p>\n
to<\/p>\n
experience. All right? So when God the<\/p>\n
father loves the son, he also loves us.<\/p>\n
When God the father um gives to the son,<\/p>\n
he gives to us. When God the father<\/p>\n
encourages the son, we also are<\/p>\n
encouraged.<\/p>\n
And does God the Father, Son, and Holy<\/p>\n
Spirit, does that ever end? Does that<\/p>\n
relationship ever end? It's<\/p>\n
eternal.<\/p>\n
So our encouragement from the Lord is<\/p>\n
eternal. It's constant. Nothing can stop<\/p>\n
it. Nothing can diminish it. So my<\/p>\n
brothers and sisters, when you're down,<\/p>\n
when you're stressed, when you're<\/p>\n
anxious, when you're fearful, when<\/p>\n
you're<\/p>\n
depressed, turn to the Lord. Remember<\/p>\n
who you are in Christ. Remember your<\/p>\n
heavenly father loves you, is endlessly<\/p>\n
lavishing his grace upon you<\/p>\n
and wants to be with<\/p>\n
you and wants to be present with you.<\/p>\n
This is mind-blowing, isn't it? Every<\/p>\n
moment of our day, the Lord is with us.<\/p>\n
Let's pray.<\/p>\n
Lord, uh it is overwhelming to just<\/p>\n
think about this, to meditate upon this<\/p>\n
more and more, but Lord, thank you for<\/p>\n
the this incredible truths, the truths<\/p>\n
you have given us. Um Lord, help our<\/p>\n
disbelief sometimes or our dullness to<\/p>\n
you. Uh Lord, instead uh enliven us with<\/p>\n
your spirit. Lord, point us to Christ.<\/p>\n
help us to know uh your love um and to<\/p>\n
remember that you've kept all these<\/p>\n
promises, to remember you've given us<\/p>\n
all these gifts and you continue to<\/p>\n
lavish us with these gifts. Um and Lord,<\/p>\n
help our lives uh display this in front<\/p>\n
of others, not in a prideful or showy<\/p>\n
way, but may our your presence in our<\/p>\n
life also show forth for others. And so<\/p>\n
they can see there's something about us<\/p>\n
and it's not us. It's because Jesus is<\/p>\n
present in our life. The Holy Spirit is<\/p>\n
present and it is obvious in the way we<\/p>\n
live in in the way we do things in our<\/p>\n
attitude in our speech. Everything in<\/p>\n
our being is<\/p>\n
Christlike. Uh Lord uh that is the best<\/p>\n
witness we can be. Not just speaking the<\/p>\n
gospel but also embodying the gospel. So<\/p>\n
we pray by the Holy Spirit you continue<\/p>\n
to do that and encourage us. We pray all<\/p>\n
this on the merits of Jesus Christ<\/p>\n
alone. Amen.<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20250609","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qIhCapTslrs","video_id":"qIhCapTslrs","video_duration":"45:00","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions\/188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}