 Joshua chapter 10. We'll begin reading at verse 1. I'll read to verse 5. We're going to look at the entire chapter this evening. And as you look at this, and I know that all of you have been reading in advance and are well prepared, and you know that there are 43 verses in chapter 10. You all know that because you've read them, even memorized them. But in the event that you haven't read the chapter, it's a good habit to do that before you come to the Wednesday night study. That way you're prepared. But we'll be looking at the entire chapter tonight. Let's begin reading at verse 1. We'll read verses 1 through 5 and get into our study. Joshua chapter 10, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 5. We read, now it came to pass when Adonai Zedek, King of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had taken A.I. and had utterly destroyed it, as he had done to Jericho and its king. So he had done to A.I. and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, that they feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than A.I. and all its men were mighty. Therefore, Adonai Zedek, King of Jerusalem, sent to Hohem, King of Hebron, Hebron, King of Jarmut, Japhia, King of Lachish, Deborah, King of Eglon, and Billy, King of Montclair. Oh, I'm sorry, that was... And said, Come to me and help me that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel. Therefore, the five kings of the Amorites, the King of Jerusalem, the King of Hebron, King of Jarmut, the King of Lachish, the King of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they and all their armies and camped before Gibeon and made war against it. And so Joshua, as we've been reading the book, Joshua is leading the armies of the Lord and he's embarked on conquering what has been referred to in Scripture as the Promised Land. And as we've been watching through the reading of what the conquest was looking like, we know that they took Jericho, they took A.I., they're continuing in their march of conquest and as this is taking place, as we see here, the inhabitants of the city of Gibeon knew that they were on the list. Gibeon was a city near to Jericho and A.I. And even as we have seen, it was a mighty city and the people that were of this city of Gibeon were called Amorites. When they had heard that Israel was conquering, they came up with a plan and as we saw last time we were in Joshua, they deceived the Israelites. They actually formed a treaty with them, which kept the Gibeonites from being destroyed. And through their deception, they were allowed to live, but they became Israel's servants along with various other cities that had taken part of this that they were part of in terms of living amongst and working together with. And we saw that as we looked at chapter nine. Now, as this is all taking place, Adonai Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, has heard what has happened. He knew that Gibeon was a mighty city. He knew that it had a mighty and powerful army. But he was afraid because he thought that he'd need to attack Gibeon because Gibeon, being a mighty city with a mighty army and having some allies around them that would be of support, he was afraid that they would join together with the Israelite army and be even more formidable. And thus he determines that he's going to have to do something. He's going to have to fight against Gibeon. So in verses three to five, he sends words to a king, word to kings, representing areas that are all south of Jericho and AI. And that obviously reveals to us that Joshua is moving to the south. And these five kings unite in opposition and they're led by the king of Jerusalem. Now, verse six says, the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal saying, do not forsake your servants. Come up to us quickly, save us and help us for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us. So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the might of men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand. Not a man of them shall stand before you. Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth-Auron and struck them down as far as Ezeka and Machedon. And so Joshua responds to the request. And there are two basic reasons why he would respond to the request for help. One, we need to remember that he had made that treaty. He had made a treaty with the people. And so in the making of a treaty with them, he'd have a sense of obligation to protect them. But secondly, he was already commanded to conquer these people and possess the land. So this was something that that God had already commanded him to do. God had said, you're going to go in, you're going to take the land. And so it's not as if he's coming simply because he's been asked by the Gibeonites, but he comes one because he had made an oath to to to keep peace with them. And but secondly, it's just part of God's plan for him to come and to take that land. When you look in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy in chapter seven verses one through four, it says, when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites, Gurgishites, Amorites, Canaanites, Parasites, Hivites, Jebusites, Seven Nations greater and mightier than you. And when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor shall mercy to them, nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. So the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. You are to have no covenant relationships with them and you are not to allow them to survive. You are commanded to obliterate them. And what's interesting on top of that is he makes it very clear and you are not to have marital relations with them. Do not give your daughter or your son to these people. Why? Because that is one of the ways that Israel will be seduced away from God and will be turning their hearts towards the gods of the lands that God intends to wipe out. Because when you marry somebody who is an unbeliever, their influence is obviously greater on you than your influence has been on them. That's just a bottom line fact. People who even in the New Testament era, people who find unbelievers attractive are revealing more about their lack of relationship with Jesus than the love for the lost by far. Believers who believe that that they have permission to go out and to date unbelievers are really not reading their Bibles. And they really aren't interested in what God says because the word God is very clear both in old and new that we're not to have marital relationships with those who don't know the Lord. Now that is not to say that two unbelievers getting married and one person gets saved and therefore they should divorce that unbeliever. No, the Bible makes provision related to that in 1 Corinthians 7. What I'm saying is that a single individual, somebody who is unmarried, is not to be dating somebody who is an unbeliever. The Bible forbids that. Do not be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. What in common does light have with darkness? What in common does Jesus Christ have with the devil, Paul asked. And that's obviously very true. And so the influence of the unbeliever is great on the one who is a professing believer. And one has to ask what is the interest that a believer in Jesus who loves the Lord and is walking in his spirit loves his word. What interest would they have in dating and marrying somebody who denies the reality of Jesus Christ, the need for salvation, the truthfulness of the word of God, the need for fellowship. What in common do you really have? And so it really reveals more about a person's lack of faith than the reality of faith. And I've had over the years, I've had people who have even called the office asking to speak to me, especially in the earlier days. I remember this happening where a young lady calls me up and says to me, Pastor, and she was a high schooler and she says, Pastor, would you pray for me? I have a young man that I'm interested in. And I'd like you to pray that he'll ask me out so we can have a relationship. And you can tell that was the early days. I mean, I took every phone call that came in and that was one of them. And I said, you want me to pray that you can go out with the young man? And at first she didn't say anything about his spiritual life. And she said, yes. And I said, and the young man, is he following the Lord? Is he a Christian? I'm interested. And she says, oh no, no, he's not. I said, so you're asking me to pray that you can go out with an unbeliever? She said, yeah. I said, why are you asking me to do that? She said, because I read the Bible and Jesus said, if you want anything ask in his name and he will give it. And I'm serious. That's our conversation. And I want him. And so I said, no. I'm not, you know, one, I'm not, I'm not. This isn't a Christian dating service, okay? And two, darling, I said, you know, the Bible very specifically forbids you from having a relationship with a, with an unbeliever. What in common do you have with a guy who doesn't love the Lord? And she says, but Jesus said I could have him. No, he didn't. You know, the Bible makes it very clear that you ask anything according, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us and we have the petition that we have requested of him. I said, according to his will, it is God's will that if you should have a relationship at all, it is God's will that you should have a relationship with someone who loves Jesus Christ, not somebody who doesn't. You see, it's easy for me to stand on the lip of this platform here. It's easier for me to be pulled down by you than for me to pull you up into the platform. And in life in general, it's much easier for the world to bring you down than for you to be able to bring that world up. And the Bible makes it very clear that we're not to have these kinds of relationships with unbelievers. It's both in the old and in the new. And I have had, I can't tell you, the number of conversations, and I know that as, as the weeks and months and years continue on, there's going to be more and more professing believers who are in disagreement with what the Bible has to say as it pertains to relationships. But from the very beginning God said, make no covenant with them. Do not give your son nor your daughter to them for marriage. Why? Because they will influence and draw them away from me. So David has a son. King David has a son. It's the name of Solomon. Solomon is given opportunity by the Lord to pray as high as the heavens is. Make your request whatever it may be asked. And Solomon's request that I might have wisdom to govern your people. God gives to him this wisdom. The Bible makes it very clear that Solomon had more wisdom than anybody. He was the wisest man that had lived. And yet, when you look in the life of Solomon, first Kings chapter 11, it speaks concerning the fact that Solomon had many foreign wives. And then it goes on to say, and in his old age, they turned his heart away from following the Lord. So I don't think I have anybody in this room wiser than Solomon. And yet Solomon was so unwise that he married into relationships with women who did not have the God of Israel. And the Bible is very clear. They turned his heart away from the Lord. And so God had made it very clear to the children of Israel, Deuteronium chapter 7, that they were going to go in and they were going to take this land. They were to wipe out the inhabitants because the inhabitants of the land were holy in opposition to God. And because they were rejecting the things of the Lord, God said, there to be doubt with. And so Joshua receives a call, a call of distress. He knows that God has already given them marching orders there to take the land, and therefore he answered that call of distress. And after an all night forced march, he routes them. And all these locations that are referred to here are all in southern south of Jerusalem. Well, continuing on in verse 11, it says, it happened as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Huron, that the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as the Zechah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the children of Israel killed with the sword. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. And he said in the sight of Israel, Son, stand still over Gibbon and moon in the valley of Aegean. So the Son stood still and the moon stopped till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the book of Gashor? So the Son stood still in the midst of heaven and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. The day the Son stood still the longest day. Now this was in the month of July and I've been to Israel in in July and I have to tell you I will not go back again in the month of July. It was 100 degrees on average 105 and it is very very hot very dry and during that time it can range from 105 degrees to about 120. Now so you have to put this into perspective what's happening is there was a forest march all night there's been some warfare taking place battles taking place there's a fatigue factor involved. So all of this is taking place and and the heat is sweltering and they need aid. And so at first notice it says the Lord cast down hailstones and that destroyed much of the military but it's also beginning to provide something they need they need coolness. But in verse 12 Joshua said son stand still and he told the moon to do the same. Now as we look at this I want to give you a couple thoughts. One, God here is continuing to exalt Joshua in the side of the people. God had stated that he would do that. And so in verse 12 when it says Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day with the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel he said in the side of Israel this is one of the ways that God is exalting him before them because what's about to happen is is just tremendous. The Bible said in Joshua chapter 3 verse 7 that the Lord said to Joshua this day I'll begin to exalt you in the side of all Israel that they may know that as I was with Moses so I'll be with you. And so that's what's about to take place. He's going to demonstrate that he's with Joshua as he's leading them. Now this portion of Scripture has been approached in a variety of ways. I mean you're looking at something that's fantastic and so obviously there are various ways that this passage has been has been taught. It reports a miracle that staggers the imagination. Obviously there are going to be various ways that people approach this the day that the sun stood still. So when you look at this there are some commentators who will go through this passage and they don't even treat it. They don't even speak about it. They avoid it. They ignore it. They don't want to give a passage any interpretation at all. Then there are some who will treat this as poetic language. When you look at verse 12 suns stand still over Gibeon moon in the valley of Aigilan. That has poetic feeling to it. And so there are some who simply say this was poetic. But when they're speaking about him speaking in a poetic fashion what they're really doing is divesting anything miraculous about what's about to happen. There are others who have said that this is really a natural occurrence. It was an eclipse and it occurred in such a way as to make it possible for them to continue to fight. And so that's how people have dealt with this. Now here's something for you to think about. If we admit to the miraculous, if you believe that miracles can happen, and that's how I approach this by the way, I believe in a God of the miraculous. The Bible contains stories of God's miraculous intervention. If I believe in a God who does miracles, well then the obvious answer is to just read it as it's presented. The obvious answer would be that God held the solar system in check. Joshua needed more light but less heat. So God brought shade to the hail and God gave him some cooling if you will. Now notice how the sun stood still and did not go down. Notice how he says for about a whole day. This is kind of interesting. That's very interesting. I shouldn't say kind. It's very interesting. When you compare it with 2 Kings chapter 20. When you read 2 Kings chapter 20, there's a very interesting portion of Scripture there. In 2 Kings 20 verses 8 through 11, it reads, And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, what is the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day? Then Isaiah said, this is a sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward 10 degrees or go or go backward 10 degrees? Hezekiah answered, it's an easy thing for the shadow to go down 10 degrees. No, let the shadow go backward 10 degrees. So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord and he brought the shadow 10 degrees backward by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz. And so later on you see that God actually did a miracle of changing the time if you will, the sundial. And so the sundial going back 10 degrees accounts for 40 minutes which would make up the minutes that were lost in Joshua's longest day because Joshua's longest day went 23 hours and 20 minutes with sun. And so there are those very adept scholars who point that out and naturally I would lean on their wisdom and their experience. Then again if you don't believe in a God of the miraculous such a story is just ridiculous. Somebody asks the question why would why would God actually stop the universe for the sake of one man? Well we could also ask why would God send his son to die for sinners? You can ask the same kind of question. And the fact that God loved man so much that he took upon himself human flesh to me is a greater sign of the love of God than if God who is controlling all things and made all things and holds all things together by the word of his power. If he knows when a bird hits the ground and he knows how many hairs of the head I have and whether or not you know when is gray and when is black or whatever when you start looking at the omniscience and omnipotence of God you know anybody who thinks that God couldn't do this just worships a God that's much too small. The God that we worship is a great God and he's able to do it and I'm seeing a reason why he wouldn't do it and if he said he did then I'm going to accept that he did. Now when I stand before him in heaven I won't have any questions to ask but but perhaps somebody might say you know I just want to talk to you about this in the longest day come on was that real but I rather doubt that anybody's going to do that I doubt that any of you will be in line saying I just want to ask you about some of these things that I read that I really had a tough time with because the fact of the matter is if I believe in a God who is miraculous and this is really so simplistic to people they think oh you are so that's why you Christians you're such you're so stupid you're so you're idiotic you know and I understand that kind of sentiment really but I would have to say I just rest in the reality of great God a God who's capable of doing whatever he wants a God who designed the entire universe he's the one who tells the the wave to stop and go no further he's the one who put the the moon and the stars and the sun where they're at he's the one who knows the names of all the stars and the constellations he knows everything he has all power and and if he knows all things and has all power why is it so hard for anybody to believe that God could say son stand still to me I did you know it's harder to tell my son to stand still than it is for God to tell the son to stand still and so you know I don't want to go much further than that other than to say this is quite obviously to be taken literal and that's what God did and God gave to them great victory now it says in the second portion of verse 13 is this not written in the book of gassher the son stood still in the midst of heaven did not hasten to go down for about a whole day now somebody asks and I've had this question what is this book of gassher and so the answer very simply is I don't know but it is mentioned more than once in scripture it's mentioned in second Samuel chapter 1 verse 18 there are those who believe it is also referred to in numbers 21 14 as a book that is called the wars of the Lord but what it would be it would be at what would be called a compilation of songs that were really related to battles it isn't a book that would have found its way into the bible as an inspired book but is a reference book that somebody who would have been reading during this time would have been familiar with and it was called the book of gassher now in verse 14 there had been no day like that before it or after it that the Lord heeded the voice of a man for the Lord fought for Israel then Joshua returned it all Israel with him to the camp at gilgau so Joshua once again is portrayed as going back to the camp after God has fought for them but he still has business that needs to be finished because verse 16 says these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in in a cave at makedah and it was told Joshua saying the five kings have been found hidden in the cave at makedah so Joshua said roll a large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them do not stay there yourselves but pursue your enemies attack their rear ranks do not allow them to enter their cities for the Lord you God has delivered them into your hand then it happened while Joshua and the children of Israel made an end of slaying them with the very great slaughter till they had finished that those who escaped entered fortified cities and all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at makedah and peace no one moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel so the leaders all fled to preserve their own lives and that's natural for for people to do all the way in the book of Job in chapter two verse four satan speaking to God said this he said skin for skin yes all that a man has he will give for his life and that's what these leaders did that's what these kings did they led them into the campaign but when it came down to it they fled in order to preserve their own life now Joshua is informed of it and notice what he did we just read it he blocked them in he then finished off the majority of the army a few of them scattered and took refuge in cities but Joshua came back to finish business verse 22 Joshua said open the door of the cave and bring out those five kings to me from the cave they did so and brought out those five kings to him from the cave the king of Jerusalem Hebron Yarmuth Lachish and Eglin and so it was when they brought out those kings to Joshua that Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him come near put your feet on the necks of these kings and they drew near and put their feet on their necks Joshua said to them do not be afraid nor be dismayed be strong and of good courage for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight after where Joshua struck them and killed them and hang them on five trees they were hanging on the trees until evening so it was at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded and they took them down from the trees cast them into the cave where they had been hidden laid large stones against the cave's mouth which remains until this day now what's going on here the judgment may seem harsh and let's develop it from that point but remember with me that these kings were familiar with what was going on through the nation of Israel remember Rahab who was in the city of Jericho do you remember how then well that when the spies were there speaking to her how Rahab said we have heard of what God has done through you they had heard this testimony of how the Red Sea had been opened they heard the testimony of how that God had given into the hands of the warriors of Israel two mighty kings they had heard these things and Rahab said your God is the great God so she was familiar with what had gone on and and her familiarity with what was going on in in the nation's life drew her to faith in God and because of her faith she was spared there's no doubt that these kings had heard of the conquests also and the recent ones and yet instead of them saying this God is a great God we ought to worship him they rebelled against him and set themselves up against him so instead of having a faith like Rahab they decided to fight against God and his armies it reminds me of Psalm 2 verses 2 through 4 where it says the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us break their bonds and pieces cast away their cords from us but he goes on to record God's response he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall hold them in derision you can't fight against God Proverbs 16 5 says everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord though they join forces none will go unpunished and so God is doing a work these people could have repented they didn't obviously they were judged and dealt with what's interesting also in verse 24 is how it's portrayed here that Joshua has the captains come near and put their feet on the necks of the kings why would he do that this is something for us to grab hold of two guys so that they may know that God is the God who promised and fulfills his promises though they had a fear of these kings and indeed they would have because they were mighty men by putting their feet on the necks of these conquered vanquished captains or kings rather that would give them the strength to know that nobody is going to stand up against the armies of Israel because these were conquered foes in the time of Rome when Rome would enter in and conquer a people they had what they called triumphs or victory parades you would have all kinds of goods that had been taken from the land that had been conquered they would be marched in front of the people who would be aligning the streets as they the victorious armies had entered in and in the midst of that they would have the kings or the rulers that had been conquered who would be taken in chains and they'd have the soldiers who were all shackled and being led and the Roman citizens would be there watching this triumph and they would smell incense that was burning which was symbolic of victory it was an odor of life to the victor but an odor of death to those who were being paraded through but it was called a triumph and though these may have been powerful and they were powerful military personnel the fact of the matter is as they were all chained and they were now captive and so the individuals watching the parade actually were caused to have a greater admiration in the general who led for the victory from the Romans and the military that were in the triumph also and in seeing these these mighty warriors being brought to shackles actually gave them a confidence in the power of their military when Joshua has them put their feet on the neck of these conquered kings it's in order to strengthen them to see that the way these kings have been taken all the kings who oppose God will be taken also and these whom you at one time might have had great fear because they're great martial arts masters and all of that they have been conquered and so God is your warrior who goes before you to fight you can trust him and in him you will be victorious which you can apply to us today we have a place in the battle but God gives the victory and we need to understand that the Lord Jesus Christ has planted his foot on the neck of the enemy that we are victorious in him and so as we look at that there's your picture their foes are helpless before them and then what happens is they were killed so that they would not gather an army to go out and fight once again now we're going to actually close quicker than you might think you're thinking well we're only at verse 28 and we got 43 verses because again you all know there's 43 verses here but verses 28 through 39 let me summarize it for you verses 28 through 39 just give to us Joshua's conquest of the cities and what is now referred to as the southern conquest and he takes this place as Makadah, Libna, Lakhish, Eglin, Hebron and Debir what I found interesting is found in verse 33 and I'll make a quick comment about that because Horem this king Horem was actually a king who was a king over a city of very old people Horem was the king of geezer so there's all these geezers in there I don't know I just I just love that that's so funny but anyway yeah so all this is as a reference to is the cities in the southern conquest verse 40 and we'll close our study tonight Joshua conquered all the land the mountain country and the south the lowland and the wilderness slopes all their kings he left nothing or none remaining but utterly destroyed all that breathed as the Lord God of Israel had commanded Joshua conquered them from Kadesh, Barnea as far as Gaza and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibyan all these kings and their land Joshua took at one time because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel Joshua returned and all Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal Joshua conquered all the land that is what he was commanded to do and that is what he obeyed and that's what he went about doing in Deuteronomy 20 16 and 17 it says of the cities of these peoples which the Lord God gives you as an inheritance you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive you shall utterly destroy them Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Parasite, Hivite, Jebusite just as the Lord your God has commanded you and I want you to notice something though Israel had victory God is the one who has given the credit it says again in verse 42 all these kings and their land Joshua took at one time because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel the New Testament asks the question if God is for you who can be against you who can have ultimate victory over you if God is on your side and God has promised to go forth and to battle on your behalf then who is it that will stand against you we need to have the faith that we see evidenced in Scripture and I have to be honest with you I have not yet matured to this kind of faith but I see it evidenced in people like King David who even before he was a king goes to visit the children of Israel the warriors who were battling the Philistines and as he goes to visit and brings some supplies to his brothers he begins a conversation with some of the soldiers who are there in the camp and he asks what's going on and they begin to speak to him in response and as they're answering him they say well there's this giant his name is Goliath and he keeps coming out every day and he taunts the armies of God and he's challenging us to send out a champion and he wants to have one-on-one competition the greatest warrior from Israel versus him and nobody's going forth nobody wants to fight well of course nobody wanted to go out in the natural because Goliath was nine feet nine inches tall the Lakers sure could have used him nine feet nine inches tall can I get a name in nine feet nine inches tall is unbelievably huge we know that David was about my height the average Jewish individual during the time of David was probably between five foot six five foot eight that was the average height so if David was the average height he was around five eight five nine at the maximum he's going out against the man almost twice his height nine foot nine versus five foot nine who is this uncircumcised infidel pagan pig face he didn't say quite that but similar who defies the armies of the living god wow think about that for a minute a lion came tried to take one of the lambs I took it out a wolf came tried to take one of the lambs I took it out this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them just the fact that you killed a lion and you killed a wolf makes you one bad dude in my book anyway but when you start telling me that this man this giant this huge monstrous wolf this giant this huge monstrous warrior who's been a warrior from his youth and David was simply a youth at that time when you're telling me that this young man is going out against this giant and David must have a secret that he's not telling anybody we know the story he stoopes down and takes five smooth stones he comes with his shepherd sling and he speaks to this giant and you come to me with your implements of destruction of javelin you come with your your spirit you come you come ready to fight that I come to you in the name of the Lord God Almighty whom you defied and by the way today I will give your body your carcass to the vultures and I'm going to take your head off of you now that's a man now where did he get that from I come to you in the name of the living God we have to come back to that don't we we do I mean when I look at my society right now and I see one thing after another one thing after another pushing an agenda pushing an agenda pushing an ungodly agenda some of us are thinking we're not there's no way we can win this it's all over listen the the philosophy of the United States is like a Goliath but guess what my God gives us power to slay the giant we can do we can do that in Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors through him we need to understand that we have to be careful not to be intimidated even as you saw that video before this the service today of a well-known atheist writes on atheism and what's he saying this man was a good man he gave me a new testament oh I know there is no God but that made an impact giving him a Bible sharing the love of Christ with him made an impact see as Lewis one of the greatest minds that Christianity has had in the 20th century a man who by the time he was five or six years old already spoke five languages by the time he was five or six years old who was raised under the tutelage of an Irish atheist I think his name was Fitzpatrick or Kilpatrick one of the two Fitzpatrick but an Irish atheist who had mentored him and his incredible genius from the time he was small so that he was a confirmed atheist and yet he began to read and he began to look into the possibility through Christian philosophers and by the way he had some Christian friends who used to share their faith with him this Oxford done with brilliant credentials and he wrote in his book surprise by joy that he moved from atheism to what is called theism he moved from no God to the belief that there is a God and from theism it was a logical step for him to step into a faith in Jesus Christ and he says I got on a taxi cab as a theist but I got off that taxi cab as a believer in Jesus Christ and and these things still happen these things still happen when when we trust the Lord oh maybe the the sun and the moon are not going to stand still but God still gives us victory he still does the God of Joshua is your God he's my God that's my God I was talking to a lady just the other day who had come to our Sunday evening service was creating a bit of a disturbance so I had to personally speak to her before services and as we're speaking she she made a statement to me she said my God is not your God my God is not your God and I I knew that for a fact you see our God is found in Scripture and my God says he gives victory and I'm going to trust him in that Deuteronomy 20 verse 4 says the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you do you think that God only does that in the Old Testament or can he not do that in our day he does that in our day he's with us he fights for us what we do is we do our part we prepare we go out in faith but it's our God who gives the victory and he gets all the credit and that's why it says it in verse 42 the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel the Lord God of the believer still fights for the believer and I in spite of all the negative kinds of press and the the the anger at the message of the gospel and and our positions that we hold because of biblical based and and all people could think oh there's just no hope you might as well give up no I'm praying for revival I'm praying that God will touch the heart of every believer I'm asking God to reach the youth I believe that God wants I really believe that God wants to and our God will fight for us there's no doubt