 All right, Joshua chapter 9. So I'm going to try something different tonight in Joshua chapter 9 as we preach through this. And you see if you can see if you can recognize the difference. We're going to try a little bit of a different way of going through Joshua chapter 9. See if you can recognize what's different, OK? Joshua chapter 9. So a little bit different turn in the story here. So we've already taken over. We've taken over Jericho. And then we went and we had a little bit of trouble with AI. But then we took over AI as well. And so what we did was now we're moving forward. And all of a sudden in Joshua chapter 9 in verse number 1, all these other kings have started to figure out what's going on. And they're hearing about these battles. And they do something in verse number 1. Now look at verse number 1 of Joshua chapter 9. Let's get right into it this evening. The Bible says, and it came to pass when all the kings, which were on this side, Jordan, in the hills and in the valleys and all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Parasite, the Hivite, the Jebusite, heard thereof that they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel with one accord. So here we see all these other nations that they were coming in to conquer had heard about these battles. And they basically, they banded together. So all the bad guys band together because they want to be stronger to come in one accord. They don't want them to just get picked off one by one as happened to Jericho and as happened to AI. So they're kind of getting smart here in Joshua chapter 9 in verse number 1. They've heard a lot of things. They've been hearing this think of Jericho. They heard everything that had happened on the other side of the Jordan with the two kings. We'll hear about that in a few verses with the Red Sea and then they saw the parting of the Jordan River. I mean, all these stories have made it to the ears of all these other nations. So they band together. But an interesting thing here is that this idea right here of enemies banding together kind of points out why Christians will always be in the minority. Christians will always be in the minority because everybody else in this world that we are dealing with, they kind of operate in this sense, you know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. You know, that's exactly what's happening with these heathen people that they're about to go into their land. But the problem is, is, you know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend isn't really in the Bible and that doesn't really work for us is the problem. So that's, you know, that's how we end up with things when Christians start acting this way, when Christians start acting like we all need to band together and we all need to come together no matter what, that's how you end up with things like ecumenicalism. That's how you end up with, you know, organizations that are religious organizations but they really share no commonality of doctrine or truth. You know, a good one and an egregious example of this is Boy Scouts, the Boy Scouts. And then forget about, you know, just think before all the, you know, the molestation problems that they've had in the last, you know, several years. But I mean, I guess it's probably been decades. But the point is that even before that, they were this organization that believed in God and they brought all these troops together from all over the country and there was no doctrine, there was no nothing. They was just like this belief in a higher power is what it was. You know, it turned to Second Chronicles chapter 19. Turned to Second Chronicles chapter 19. So this is not a good thing. This is not something that is okay or that, you know, should happen with Christians. It ends up just leading into wickedness when Christians try to band together, you know, and there's no commonality in what they actually have in common. Like, oh, well, we're all against, you know, Satan worshippers or whatever. So, you know, we can just all come, no, that's not how it works for us. Look at Second Chronicles chapter 19 and verse number two. This happened. This happened once. There was a Christian who wanted to just band together because he had a common, he had a common enemy with, you know, his friend or whatever. Ahab, you know, he convinced Jehoshaphat to come and go to war with him against a common enemy. Ahab said, hey, this is our common enemy. And Jehoshaphat was a man that was a godly man. He was a godly man and he yoked up with Ahab. And look at what the prophet said to him in Second Chronicles 19 verse two. And Jehu, the son of Heneini, the sealer, went out to meet him and said to the king Jehoshaphat, shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. So, the point I'm trying to make and the point that Jehu, the prophet, was saying to Jehoshaphat here is that the Christian needs to consider more than just are you against who I'm against. The Christian needs to consider more than that. But that's all that these people did here. In Joshua chapter nine verse one, that's all that they did. They just considered, are you against who I'm against? That was the only criteria on who they would band together with. And that was Jehoshaphat's only criteria for banding together with Ahab. It was, there are enemy. It's our common enemy, let's go. And Jehu sets him straight here. We have to look, as Christians look, we have to not only look at who someone is against. When we think about, hey, should we band up with someone? We not only look at who someone is against, but we look at what they are actually for. That is the difference between us and the enemy out there. The enemy has no rules. They can band up no matter what. That's why we'll always be in the minority. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter six. 2 Corinthians chapter six. So if you ever wonder, why are Bible-believing Christians? Why are Christians who actually believe what the Bible says, have the gospel right? Why are we such a small group? And this is why, right here. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter six in verse 14. The Bible even tells us specifically about this. It says, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. What I'm talking about right now is the purest application of this verse. We use this verse for a lot of different things. We use this verse talking about relationships, who you should marry, who you should not marry. But straight up in its purest application is just to not be yoked up with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath ye righteousness with unrighteousness? It's exactly what Jehu was saying to Josephette. And what communion hath light with darkness? Turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 25. There's another example in the Bible. 2 Chronicles chapter 25. 2 Chronicles chapter 25, look at verse number six. There's lots of examples of people making this error in the Bible. And we can't make that error ourselves. Notice how Jehu said, Jehu, the son of Heneini, said to Josephette, he said, because of this, the wrath of God is upon you. He said, now God's wrath is on you. So Josephette, he made friends with the wrong person, with a wicked person, and it didn't matter that God was against who they were going against. It's because of who he yoked up with was what God had a problem with. Not the enemy they were fighting. They were fighting a wicked enemy. Who he yoked up with was the problem. Look again at 2 Chronicles chapter 25 verse six. The Bible says, he hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver. But there came a man of God to him saying, oh King, let not the army of Israel go with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel. So this is Amaziah. The Lord is not, Amaziah hires this army, he's in Judah, and he hires an army in Israel to go fight against a foreign, a wicked nation that's coming against them. So just because it wasn't the wicked nation that God had a problem with, he was not with who he hired, who he yoked up with. He said the Lord is not with Israel. And here's what was gonna happen because of it. Said to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. That's a place in Israel, the Northern Kingdom. But if that will go, do it. He said, be strong for the battle. God shall make thee fall before the enemy, for God have power to help and to cast down. So notice how serious this was. You're fighting, so you have a good guy, fighting a bad guy. Let's think of it like cowboys and Indians. And can you even say that now? I don't know, probably not. The white hats and the black hats. You got the good guy going to fight the bad guy, and then the good guy goes and hires a bunch of bad guys to help him out, and God says I'm gonna make you lose. God says I'm gonna make you lose. That's how important it is. And that's why Joshua chapter nine and verse number one and two would never work for us. And that's why we will always be the minority in this world. So get used to it. Get used to it. Go back to Joshua. Joshua chapter nine, then look at verse number three. What these people in second chronicles chapter 25, they would have fought with him. But it did not matter because the Lord only wanted them allied with those that were allied to him. Does that make sense? God only wants you allied. Look, you're like I'm allied with God. Well then you can only ally with people that are allied with God. That's the rules. That's the rules for you. Go back to Joshua chapter nine and verse number three, but that's not the rules for anybody else out there. That's why we're gonna be this much, and everybody else will be this much. Look at verse number three. And when the inhabitants, now we have something interesting that happens here. This is actually a pretty neat little story here. But it's trickery is what we have going on here. Look at verse number three. And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done under Jericho into AI, they did work willily. And they went whileily. It's like they're like wily, like wily the coyote, right? And they went and they made as if they had been ambassadors and took old sacks upon their asses and wine bottles old and rent and bound up and old shoes and clouded up their feet with old garments upon them and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua and to the camp at Gilgal and set unto him and to the men of Israel. We came from a far country. Now therefore, make ye a league with us. So these guys, they disguise themselves as being friendly. Okay, so they basically, they put on all these old clothes, old shoes, they even go as far as to take like moldy food and old bottles. I mean, they really put, I mean, they dressed the part here because they wanted it to make it look like they weren't just the next city that Joshua was gonna come upon. It's like, we're from a long ways away. You know, we're coming from a long ways away. And then they disguise themselves as being not the enemy. So they're taking a little bit different approach than the verse number one and verse number two people who are all banding together to fight. But look, they disguise themselves as being friendly. People will do this. Turn to 2nd Chronicles, chapter 11, 2nd Corinthians, chapter 11. I'm gonna read for you in Joshua a little bit further. And the men of Israel said to the high vites, "'Pair adventure ye dwell among us, "'and how shall we make a league with you?' And they said unto Joshua, we are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, who are ye? And from whence ye came?" He's like, who are you and where did you come from? And they said unto him, from a very far country, thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord, thy God, for we have heard the fame of him and all that he did in Egypt." So look down at 2nd Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 14. So these guys are, they're disguising themselves. Guess who else does that? And no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. These guys are disguising themselves as friendlies, as friends of Joshua. Like, you know, and then look what they just, they just head rate into in verse number nine. They said from a very far country, look at verse number 10. And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites and all that he did in Egypt, they said in verse nine. We have heard the fame of him, of God, they're talking about. Turn to Proverbs 29 and verse five. And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan to the Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and to Og, the king of Beishon, which was Atharoth. Wherefore, anyway, what are these guys doing? What are these guys doing here? They are just, they're flattering. They're flattering Joshua. They're flattering Joshua. They're flattering his God. They're flattering all the feats that he did. So I mean, this is a very good example of how anybody that just flatters you is about to, is probably already lying to you. So flattery is not a good thing. Look at Proverbs 29 and verse number five. The Bible says, a man that flattereth his neighbor. Who are these guys? Who are these guys? They were Joshua's neighbor. We're gonna find out, and Joshua's about to find out, that these people are actually his neighbor. They're actually the people that live right next door. The Bible says, a man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet. You should try to recognize flattery in your life. You should try to recognize flattery. It'll save you a lot of pain and suffering. Because people that are flattering you are trying to manipulate you into something. They're trying to get something from you. They're trying to get you to do something for them. Give them something. They're trying to take advantage of you in some way. So they're buttering you up. They're telling you, oh, brother George, have you lost weight? Is that a new suit? I mean, are you running that company that you're working for yet? Brother, by the way, can I borrow 20 bucks? That's a stupid example. But the point is, is that flattery is spreading nets for people. The one reason you can't recognize flattery is if you're prideful. If you're prideful, this is the boss at work. This is the boss at work who's been, who has, I call it, manager's disease. He's been a manager for 15 years, 20 years, and he just thinks that every single room that he walks into, everyone wants to hear every single thing that he says all the time. It's literally ruined this person as a man. Because people just listen to his stories and they listen to everything that he says because he's the boss. And they want a raise, or they want him to do favorable things to them. So they tell him, oh, that's a great story, boss. Tell me that story about how you shot those five deer with one arrow again. I mean, all these different things, and they just, because he's full of pride, and he will never understand that people are just flattering him. So it's actually that person that gets taken advantage of by many, many different people. So pride will blind you to flattery. But flattery is exactly what these guys are doing. They go back to Joshua chapter nine and look at verse 11, and they continue, and they continue. Now they just head right into a lie, and they say, wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, take victuals with you for the journey and go meet them. And say unto them, we are your servants. Therefore now make a league with us. This is our bread, we took hot. So they're saying, look at this bread. Look at this bread, it's gotten mold growing all over it. I mean, they're like, we just baked this, you know? And then we brought it with us, and it's been such a long journey that we'll not look at it. I mean, ah, right? And, you know, they're just lying through their teeth here. And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new. And behold, they broke, they're rent, and these garments and our shoes become old by reason of the very long journey. And the men took their victuals and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. So it's interesting right there. You gotta underline that one. Underline verse number 14. The men took of their victuals and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. That's kind of the key to everything that happens here that we're gonna talk about for the rest of this chapter. And Joshua, in the very next verse, they didn't counsel, they didn't ask for, I mean, because wasn't God telling Joshua what to do? Wasn't God like telling Joshua, this is how you do the battle. This is what you do. This is what you keep. This is what you don't keep. This is exactly how you're gonna do this. This is exactly how you're gonna do this. And in this case, they just didn't ask. They just made a deal. Verse 15, Joshua made peace with them. And made a league with them to let them live. And the princes of the congregation swear unto them. So here they swear at what? What do you swear? They swear an oath. It was another stupid oath in the Bible right here. And it came to pass at the end of three days after they made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors. And that they dwelt among them. So they found out like three days later, but they already made the oath. They already made the oath. So here's another, look, here's another dumb oath in the Bible right here. I mean, how many dumb oaths do I mean, do we have to study in the Bible before we realize why Jesus said what he said? But look, they make an allegiance with these wicked people even though they were tricked. And even though the oath goes against, God's will. I mean, would God want peace here? Look at verse 17. We'll look at that in a minute. And the children of Israel journeyed and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities, this is how they found out. This is how they found out on the third day because they actually came to the cities where these guys were from in three days. The cities were Gibeon, Shafira, and Beiroth, and Kirjat Jira. And the children of Israel smote them not because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel and the congregation murmured against the princes. The congregation was like, this isn't what we're supposed to be doing. Look at verse 19. But all the princes said unto the congregation, we have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel. Now therefore we may not touch them. This we will do to them, we will even let them live lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swear unto them. Lest wrath be upon us. First of all, that's them saying that wrath would be upon them. Okay, they did not ask counsel of God here and they're saying because we've sworn an oath, even though it was an oath that God would not have agreed with, who can invalidate oaths, by the way? You know, a father can invalidate the oath of his daughter. A husband can invalidate the oath of a wife. It would make sense that God could invalidate a wicked. You know, that's just my opinion, but look at verse 21. And the princes said unto them, let them live, but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation as the princes had promised them. And Joshua called for them as he spake unto them, saying, wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying we are very far from you when ye dwell among us? Now Joshua confronts them. He comes up to them and he says, you lied to me. Now therefore ye are cursed and there shall be none of you that are be freed from being bond men and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. And they answered Joshua and said, because it was certainly told by thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were so afraid of our lives because of you and have done this thing. And now behold, we are in thine hand as it seemeth good and right unto the do unto us do. So everyone agrees, even them, that this is how the oath gets even dumber at this point because even they agree that the oath is invalidated, that the deal was not valid. They said, we just lied to you because we didn't want to all die, okay? So even they knew this. When all the cards were on the table, and they still solidified the deal, look at verse 26. And so did he unto them and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel that they slew them not. So again, they solidified the deal even after they knew the truth. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, even unto this day in the place which he should choose. Now turn to 2nd Samuel chapter 21. Now the story gets interesting in 2nd Samuel chapter 21 because this comes back up hundreds of years later. 2nd Samuel chapter 21, look at verse number one. This is in the time of David. So this is past the time of Joshua. We've gone through all the judges. The Samuel was the last judge. Then we had Saul the king and now David is the king. Look at 2nd Samuel chapter 21. Look at verse number one. 2nd Samuel chapter 21 and verse number one. Then there was famine in the days of David three years, year after year, and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, it is for Saul, for his bloody house because he slew the Gideonites. So here we had made a peace. We had made peace. Joshua made peace with the Gideonites. Hundreds of years earlier, and I'm talking like 440 years earlier, Joshua made peace with these people. Saul, in his reign, goes out and just murders them. Just murders these innocent people at this point. And that is what was causing this famine. God was actually upset at this point. So you say, well, maybe God liked the oath in Joshua chapter nine. No, you have to understand 400 years later, these people are basically Israelites at this point. This is dozens of generations later. These people have assimilated, they're no longer heathens. They are part of the nation and Saul murdered them. And Saul murdered them. So the Bible is saying here that there was famine in the land because Saul was a murderer. And for his bloody house. The Bible says, so Saul and his sons, they were all, people in his family were a bunch of murderers. Look at verse number two. And the king called the giving nights and said unto them, now the giving nights were not of the children of Israel, but the remnant of the Amorites. And the children of Israel had sworn unto them. And Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah. So Saul, like it is some misplaced zeal, just goes and just murders these innocent people. And they said in verse number six, let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us. And we will hang them up unto the Lord in gibbia of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them. And the king gives them these sons. And look, you know, they were probably not innocent sons. You know, there's Saul and his bloody house. Don't forget that. But the point is these people had been living with Israel for 400 some years at this point. And Saul just kills them. They were innocent people at this point. But I mean, they were probably saved. I mean, if you think about them living amongst the people, look at Matthew chapter five and verse number 37. So the point is this is just another bad oath in the Bible. Ossered, like, never good in the Bible. I mean, I can't really think of a good one in the Bible. But you know, many times men just took oaths too far in the Bible. Look at Matthew chapter five and verse 37. That's what Jesus said in Matthew five 37. Let your communication be yay, yay, nay, nay. For whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. He's saying just say what you're gonna do and do what you say. You don't have to go out there and say, you know, buy a needle in my mom's eye or whatever the, you know, the sayings are. Swear by heaven or swear by, you know, swear by God. Just say what you're gonna do and do it. And that way, you know, if it's something that's wrong, somebody can tell you, oh, that's not something you should do. And you'd be like, okay, instead of being bound by this weird, you know, oath system that man created. Okay, to do like wicked things and just forgetting. Look, they were just forgetting about the higher powers is basically what they were doing. That's what the whole teaching of the husband being able to invalidate the wife's oath and the husband or the father being able to invalidate the daughter's oath. It's just, it's the higher powers for protection is what it is. And men were just forgetting about that. So go back, go back to Joshua. So I mean, go back to the chapter and just look at what happened in this chapter. But basically the point I wanna make to wrap things up this evening is this is the first start of something that becomes a major problem with the campaign into the Promised Land. Okay, turn to Deuteronomy chapter seven. What do I mean by that? What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is this is the first sign. This is the first sign of compromise that you see from the children of Israel towards the people that they are going to war with here that they were taking the Promised Land from. It's the first sign of compromise. And look, once compromise starts, as you will see as we go on in Joshua, there is no end to compromise. Look at Deuteronomy chapter seven. And we'll get verse number one. Now this was the rules. This was the rules to go into the Promised Land. In Joshua chapter seven, in verse number one, look what the Bible says. When the word thy God shall bring the end of the land where thou goest to possess it and cast out many nations before thee. And then he gets specific here. He gets specific. He says the Hittites, the Gurgishites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Parasites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. So the Givianites here were part Amorite, the Bible tells us, and they're called Hivites as well. So they're part of these two tribes is what they are. In the Bible it talks about them being part of those two tribes. So they are on the hit list here, these Givianites. And when the word thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shall smite them and then underline this and utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with them. That means no deal with them. No oath with them. No peace with them. That's what it says. Nor shall mercy unto them. What did their oath do? It went directly against Deuteronomy seven verse number two is what their oath did. Neither shall they'll make marriages with them. And then God doesn't just say, don't do this. He always explains. He always explains. He's like, don't make marriages with them either. Thy daughter shall not give unto his sons, daughter shall not take unto thy son. He's like, look, he's just like, you're gonna mix with them and then you're just gonna start worshiping their gods. And I mean, he goes on and on about that. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 20. But here's what's interesting. Here's what's interesting. If you go to Deuteronomy chapter 20, I'm gonna turn there as well. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 20. And let's look at verse number 10 because God did not give these instructions for every nation. God had different instructions for other nations. It was only these specific nations named in Deuteronomy and also in Deuteronomy chapter 20, he names them again. But he has these specific no deal and utterly destroy instructions only for these nations. But look at verse number 10 of Deuteronomy chapter 20. He's explaining, if you come, well, let's just read it and then we'll talk about it. But thou shalt utterly, verse number 10, when thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. You're like, what? Well, let's just read. So here's what they're, to any regular city, here's what you do. Go to the city and ask them if they're for peace. And it shall be if they make an answer of peace and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee and they shall serve thee. That means that these people will be underneath you and they'll pay you taxes, basically. They will be a subservient society to you and they'll give you money and they'll work for you. Okay? But if they should make no peace with thee but it will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it. And when the world I gotta deliver it into thy hands thou shalt smite every mail thereof with the edge of the sword. Different. Again, it is not utterly destroyed. Look at verse 14. But the women and the little ones and the cattle and all that is in that city, even all the spoil thereof, thou shalt take unto thyself and thou shalt eat the spoiled dynamies which the Lord thy God hath given thee. He's saying, so these cities, these cities, he's like, you go and make peace with them and if they say, okay, we want peace and there's not gonna be a fight, he's like, they could just work for you. They could just pay you taxes, everything's good. If they wanna fight, then you fight them, I will deliver them into your hand and you kill all the men. But the women and children you save and the cattle and the spoil you keep, that's quite different than the rules for these specific nations that we talked about and we're about to talk about again. Look at verse 15. Thus shall do, now God explains here in verse 15, who these cities that get this more lenient rule are? Now shall do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee. It's almost like the Gideonites knew this rule. I doubt they did, but you know, who knows? I mean, who knows, right? But look, thus thou shall do unto the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not the cities of these nations. Now look what he says. But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth, but thou shalt utterly destroy them. There it is again. Right, just right, Deuteronomy seven, right there. Namely, the Hittites, the Amorites, Canaanites, Parasites, Hivites, Jebusites, as the Lord thy God commanded thee. So it's interesting that they knew the direction that they were to take with the people. So these people came from a far off. So at first, at first Joshua was kind of following Deuteronomy chapter 20. He's like, okay, they came from far off. They're not of these specific nations. It's like we can make a deal with them. They can become tributaries to us. But then the mistake he made, they didn't, first of all, they didn't ask counsel of the Lord. That's first mistake number one. Mistake number one, they didn't ask counsel of the Lord. And God probably would have, probably would have outed these people to him. But they found out the truth that they were part of these nations and then they followed through with the deal. They compromised. They compromised. And they should not have done that. They should not have sworn that, oh, go back to Joshua chapter nine and verse 26. Joshua chapter nine and verse 26. So I mean, the point is, the point is they compromised and this begins a sequence of events that we're gonna see in Joshua that will literally end up ruining the nation. And it started right here. So the question is, why do people compromise? Why did they compromise? Look, the people here didn't want to compromise. It was these princes that wanted to compromise, first of all. But the reasons that people compromise today are no different than the reasons that they compromised here. Look back at Joshua chapter nine and verse 26. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord even under this day in a place which he should choose for us. You know what I bet is a lot of work? Cuing wood and drawing water. And he's like, you know what? We kind of messed up here. Now what do we do? Well, we got all this work that we can do here. I suppose they can just work for us. That'll benefit us. Even later on, turn to Joshua chapter 16. And I want to give the whole thing away but basically they just start making deals with people. They just start making deals with people and they should not be making deals with. We talked about that in the first part of Joshua. Look at Joshua 16. Look at verse number 10. The Bible says, and they drave not out the Canaanites. So here's another one, another one of these nations. And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in geezer but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites under this day and serve under tribute. So the two reasons that people compromise or two major reasons that people compromise are rate in Joshua 16 and verse number 10. There's two words there. Number one is serve and number one is tribute. So the first one, tribute, people compromise for money. People compromise for money. Look, it's convenient to keep these people around. It's convenient. They can pay us money. They can pay us money. They can work. They can pay taxes. And the second is they can serve us. It's convenient. They can do the work that we don't want to do. People today compromise for these exact same reasons. And that's why we're living in post-Christian America, folks. Right there. Because everybody is compromised. Look, let's look at today. Nobody wants to hear the Bible today. Nobody wants to hear the Bible. But well, turn to Jeremiah chapter one. Turn to Jeremiah chapter one. Nobody wants to hear the Bible today yet I'm supposed to preach it anyway. Well, that doesn't seem fair. I mean, nobody wants to hear what's in this book yet that's what I'm supposed to preach. Look at Jeremiah chapter one and verse number eight. Look what God says to Jeremiah when he's trying to get him to go into the ministry. He's like, let's go. He says, verse number eight of Jeremiah one. He says, be not afraid of their faces. For I am with thee to deliver thee, sayeth the Lord. So first of all, it's not just America today. It's, you know, it's all times. There's nothing new under the sun. God is telling Jeremiah, Jeremiah's saying, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. And he's like, the first thing God tells him is, you know what, don't be afraid that people don't want to hear this. Don't be afraid that people don't want to hear what you're going to tell them. And he's like, oh, by the way, look at verse number nine. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the Lord said unto me, behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Jeremiah is asking, what will I say? God says, I'll give you the words to say. It's no different than today. He says, you just, all you have to do is not be afraid and I'll give you the words. That's all preachers need to do today. Is not be afraid and God will give us the word. God's given us the words. We just have to not be afraid because people aren't going to like it. And look, that's why people compromise is guess what? This church would be a lot bigger if we wouldn't use these words. The church would be a lot bigger. I mean, I can't tell you how many times people ask me how many people go to church there? How many people are you running? How many people are there? It's like, look, it would be tempting, right? I mean, I could have more people here. When I go places and people ask me how many people are there? I could say 300 people. And I mean, I could grow this place. And if all I'd have to do is just stop saying these words. All you have to do is compromise. Because look, here's something I know. People, look, I know this for a fact because people have already left because they're offended by this preaching. It's already happened. In just a short period of time, people have already left because, you know, I mean, look, all I have to do is stop preaching and I could really bring them in. I mean, more people, you know what that means? You know what more people means? It means more money. I mean, let's do it. More people means more money. Turn to Acts chapter 22, or Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter, this is why people compromise. It's not, I mean, it's not rock science. I understand why they do it. It's not, you know, it doesn't make it right, but I get why they do it. It's the same reason Joshua did it. And the princes here did it. Money and convenience. It's very simple. Look at Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. Look at verse number 26. But I'd rather be, I'd rather say this. Look what Paul says. He says, wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. That's a pretty good statement right there. Paul's like, Paul's like, Paul has been around the block. He's reaching the end of his ministry and he is saying, he is saying, look, he's like, he knows the state of man. He knows the wrath of God. He knows the state of man. He knows that it's gonna be a bloodbath. He knows that the wrath of God is gonna come upon most men. But he's saying, I mean, look, how hard would you have to work to try to get the gospel out with every single waking moment of your life to be able to say, I literally did everything I could. And that's basically what Paul is saying here. He's saying, I did everything that I could. He's saying, I am, he's I'm pure from the blood of all men. Meaning, if people go to hell and people suffer the wrath of God, he's like, that's not on me because I did everything that I could. And then look at verse number 27. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. That's how he's pure from the blood of all men because he preached the whole counsel of God. All the counsel of God. So there's no compromise with Paul because he'd rather be pure and freed from having that blood put on him than compromise and have a large crowd to preach you or have people like him or have people serve him or flatter him or whatever. Now he's like, I'd rather just go as hard as I possibly can. And you know what the thing about compromise is? You know, I really, people might think that it looks good at first. You know, I don't want people to be mad at me. I want people to come here. I want to fill the seats in my church. I want, you know, money's just a whole nother thing. But I mean, here's the thing about compromise. It's, you know, it's confusing. Compromise is confusing. I mean, think about this. Think about this. I mean, where do you stop? Where do you stop compromising? I mean, think about the word of God. Think about the word of God. How do you actually compromise on this? This is where you get these stupid teachings that, oh, that's the Old Testament or that's a different dispensation. Look, these are just compromising people. They're trying to come up with ways that they don't have to preach certain parts of the Bible. But God says, I don't change. The God in this part is the same God as the God in this part. And anybody that's actually read the Bible a couple times knows that that is clearly true. The God of the New Testament, it's the same thing with this New Testament, Old Testament, oh, that's Old Testament. What are you even talking about? It's compromise. It's compromise. They're trying to draw a line. See, because compromise is confusing. So in their mind, they're trying to draw a line. They're trying to draw a line. How can I live my wicked life that I'm living right now and have the Bible not convict me? Most of the bad stuff's in the Old Testament. That's not true either, but I mean, that's what people think. So that's where these stupid dividing lines coming because people are trying to put dividing lines in the Bible in the word of God. But what did Paul say that he preached so the blood of all men was on? He said all the counsel of God. The whole thing. There's no dividing lines in the Bible. I've never understood that. You either look, if there's one mistake in it even, it's no good. I've never understood that. You either believe it or you don't. What's all this stupid stuff about believing this part or not? Oh, this part. Oh, that stuff was just for the cultural time that they were in. What? It's another dividing line for compromise. That's all it is. You hear somebody say things like that or try to explain away things in the Bible on how you don't have to listen to this part of the Bible because of this reason. They're compromisers. That's all they are. That's all it is. I mean, your Christian life. Where would you stop compromising in your Christian life? I mean, with separation, where do you stop compromising there? Where are you gonna draw those lines if you don't draw them here? It's just gonna, you're gonna slide further and further and further in the wrong direction. With sin, where are you gonna compromise with sin? What you're gonna do is maybe you'll be like, okay, these sins that I do, these sins that I do, maybe they're not that bad. I'll keep these and then these are really bad. And then you just keep sliding further and further and further. That's what compromise gets you. I mean, compromise is a terrible thing. I mean, if you don't, look, if you come up with your own plan, things are just gonna keep getting worse and worse and worse. Pretty soon you've lost your family. Pretty soon you've lost the next generation. Pretty soon you've lost an entire nation. That's where compromise gets you. And it's like, it's the same story as the Bible. It's the same story. We're watching it, we're watching it play out in the book of Joshua. We're watching the beginning. I mean, think of Joshua in this nation right now. These people are firing on all cylinders and all of a sudden we hit this one block of compromise. Let's see where it goes. It'll go the same way for them as it's gonna go for you if you compromise in your life. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for Joshua chapter nine. Thank you for these great historical events that you've documented for us, Lord. And I thank you for the lessons that we can take from them. Thank you for the fact that we could be here studying the Bible tonight. And just be here and just be edifying one another. And I pray that you just bless the rest of our evenings, the rest of our weeks, and bring us all back for church on Sunday. We love you in Jesus' name. Amen. That's him number 324, Jarmineer. Him number 324, Jarmineer. Let's sing it on the first verse. I am dying, oh Lord, I have heard thy voice and it told thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer, John, to thee. Jarmineer, nearer, blessed and Lord, to the cross where I has died. Jarmineer, nearer, nearer, blessed and Lord, to thy precious bleed. Him number 324, Jarmineer. Let's sing it on the second verse. Constant create me now to thy service, Lord, by thy power of grace divine. Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope and mine will be lost in thine. Jarmineer, nearer, blessed and Lord, to the cross where thou has died. Jarmineer, nearer, nearer, blessed and Lord, to thy precious bleeding side, all the pure delight of a single hour that before thy throne I spend. When I kneel in prayer and with thee, my God, my commune as friend with friend. Jarmineer, nearer, blessed and Lord, to the cross where thou has died. Jarmineer, nearer, nearer, blessed and Lord, to thy precious bleeding. On the last verse, there are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea. There are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with thee. Jarmineer, nearer, blessed and Lord, to the cross where thou has died. Jarmineer, nearer, blessed and Lord, to thy precious bleeding side.