 Today we're in Joshua chapter 4. We'll begin reading at verse 1. I'll read to verse 9. We'll get into our study. Joshua chapter 4 beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 9. Joshua chapter 4 verse 1, it came to pass when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua saying, take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them saying, take for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan from the place where the priest's feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodged tonight. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe. Joshua said to them, cross over before the Ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come saying, what do these stones mean to you? And then you shall answer them, that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever. And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant stood, and they are there to the stake. As mentioned earlier, Joshua is a book that gives to us insight into conquest. It's a book that gives to us insight into having courage and confidence, but it results in conquest. And as we've been looking at this particular book, we have seen that the children of Israel have crossed over the Jordan, even as we have just been reading, and they are now setting foot on what has been called in Scripture the land of promise. Now this is a promise that they had been waiting for many years to see fulfilled, and finally this promise is being fulfilled. When you look into the history of the promise that God gave to this nation, you begin to look at when he first gave that promise, and you can see that all the way back to the time of Abraham. Abraham lived two thousand years before Christ, and God had spoken to Abraham, who was the father of the Jewish nation, and had given them a promise. And it was a promise concerning the land that he would one day give to his people. That promise is recorded in Genesis chapter 15 verses 18 through 21, and there it says, So that promise was made very early in the history of Israel. Two thousand years before Christ, few hundred years before Moses. That promise that was originally given to Abraham, who is later known as Abraham, was repeated to his sons. That same promise that this land would be given to them was given to Isaac. The same promise was given to Jacob. And then later on God repeats that same promise to a man by the name of Moses. The children of Israel had been in slavery in the nation of Egypt. And God began to speak to Moses, who is raising up to become the leader, the deliverer. And he began to speak to him, and as he did so, he reaffirmed this promise that he had originally made to Abraham. Exodus chapter 3 verses 7 and 8, it says, To deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites, the Parasites, Hivites and Jebusites. I'm giving to you this land. God had given that promise hundreds of years earlier, repeated that promise, and finally once again repeats that promise to Moses. So under Moses' leadership, as we know, the Jews had left Egypt. They began their journey to the land of promise. But while they're on this journey, they spent, say, sent these spies. The word spy is literally an observer. They sent some men, 12 men to observe or to spy out the land to investigate it. And they were intended to bring back a report. We know the story. We know what happened. They came back saying that the land was beautiful, but the land was impossible for them to possess. Now, God had said, and we need to get this as Relayna Foundation, God had said, I will give you this land. When these 12 spies returned, 10 of them giving a bad report, God got extremely upset with them for that report. There were only two of the 12 spies who came back and said, we can take that land. One was by the name of Caleb. The other was Joshua. And God got upset over the report that was brought by the other 10. And why would God get upset over that report? Well, one, by saying the land is too strong for us, the giants are there, the fortified cities are there. It's impossible for us to take this land. We cannot possess it. In doing so, first, they're calling God a liar. Because God had said, I will give you that land. That land belongs to you. I will give you that land. And so as they came back and gave this report, saying that we cannot take this land, they were calling God a liar. And the second thing that was bad about that, one, it's bad enough to speak of God and call Him a liar, but two, this influence that they had on the people of Israel undermined their faith. And when this began to take place, the men began to say things like, our wives and our children are going to die. It's better for us to return to Egypt. That's the sin of unbelief. And because of this sin of unbelief, those who were 20 years of age and up, died there in the wilderness. Those who were under the age of 20 were permitted to enter in along with Joshua and Caleb. When you follow the history of the children of Israel, you get to the book of Deuteronomy, and the book of Deuteronomy, it records how that Moses died. Now Moses is dead, and Joshua has been commissioned to lead the nation to enter into the land. Can you imagine the anticipation that these people are feeling? They've been wandering throughout the wilderness now for a total of 40 years. They're about to enter into a promise that God had given so long ago, 40 years. You know, as I was reading that, I thought, I've read that so many times. I don't think it really has an impact on me. 40 years wandering in the wilderness. I mean, as I look out here, there are some who are with us this evening who haven't even lived 40 years yet. Your whole lifespan hasn't reached 40. There are others who can't remember when they were 40. But as you look back, for those who have the ability to do so to consider what 40 means, I was trying to figure that out myself, so I wanted to find some way to measure that in my own lifespan. 40 years. And so I looked up something. I looked up what was taking place back in 1983, 40 years ago. And these are things that were going on 40 years ago. 40 years ago, the average cost for a house was $82,600. The average income in the United States was $21,000. The Department of Health and Human Services declared AIDS the nation's top medical priority. Christy Brinkley and Cheryl Teiggs. Anybody remember those two names there? Yeah, they now model walkers, but they were considered our most beautiful women. The computer mouse was invented. People were actually going out buying cabbage patch kids. The big movie was The Return of the Jedi, and Michael Jackson's album Thriller made Billboard's top 10 and remained there for 78 weeks. That's how long 40 years is. It was a long time ago. Can you imagine for just a moment, you wandering in a desert for 40 solid years? I can't imagine that. That's beyond my comprehension, have to be honest with you. 40 years, and the land of promise was within eyesight. They could see it at a distance. For 40 years, they wandered around, and for 40 years, they waited to enter. And now the day has come. Now the time has arrived. They've come to the banks of the Jordan. The priests have entered into the water. Their feet have touched the water, and the water began to recede 15 miles to the north. The water stopped flowing, and it was damned up. And as the waters parted before them, they began to walk on the ground there, and they're standing there on the brink of the Jordan. And this is what has been taking place. Someone said it was fitting that a miracle similar to that of the Exodus from Egypt should mark the entrance into the land of promise. Fitting also that the commencement of Joshua's ministry should be thus a glorious pledge of future victory in the might of their God. Well, to their enemies, it was a sure sign of the judgment about to overtake them. So they're now entering in, and there has to be a sense of fear. There has to be a sense of jubilation. We're entering into this land of promise that God had first given to us so long ago. And now they're there crossing the Jordan. They're standing in this land, and God begins to speak, and he speaks to Joshua, and he says, I want you to fulfill that job that I had given to you concerning those 12 men that I had you appoint. They're to take up a stone from the Jordan, and they're going to return to the campsite. You see, later on, you're going to see in verse 19 that they're camping on the western shore of the Jordan about a mile and a quarter outside of Jericho. They're in a place that is called Gilgal. And he's saying, I want you to take these stones from the Jordan, and I want you to set them up. What they're doing is they're putting together what is called stones of remembrance, memorial stones. These are memorial monuments. This is what he wants them to do. He wants them to build a memorial monument with 12 stones. This is a memorial monument that is intended to communicate to them something that they're supposed to remember and never forget. They're supposed to remember where God met them and how they entered into the land. It's a memorial for them. Now, memorial monuments are something that you find often in Scripture. You look in the book of Genesis, chapter 28, and you see a story there of a man by the name of Jacob who had a dream. He had a dream of a ladder that was connecting heaven and earth, and after he awakened from that dream, he had a stone there that he had used as a pillow, and he anointed it, and he established a pillar there, a place of remembrance. You look into 1 Samuel, chapter 7, a memorial when Israel defeated the Philistines in battle, and a place called Mitzvah. They are called stones of remembrance, and this is something that is common in the Old Testament. So he wants them to have what are called memories, stones of memories, memorial stones. Now, I want to look at a few things here because as I've been going through Joshua with you, I've really intended to share with you some things that are really for you to become leaders because that's what Joshua's all about. It's a book that teaches us how to lead and how to be those who follow God very closely, and I want to share a few things with you that are very basic, some applications here, and I want to note these with you. I want to note something that's very basic. Notice how God had given Joshua an order, but the order that he gave to Joshua was very simple. He said, I want you to communicate something to the leaders of the children of Israel, and this is what you're going to tell them to do. Go and get a rock. Take it to your campsite. That's a very, very basic command. It requires simple obedience. But if you're ever going to grow in the things of the Lord, that's what is required of you. That's what is required of every leader, simple obedience, but that is what is required of every believer in God. Simple obedience, a willingness to do that which God calls us to do. And when you do those things, simply when you are obedient, God meets you in special ways because obedience to God's directions will always, always result in blessings from the Lord. God says to Noah, I want you to build an ark. God moves him by speaking to him, and what does Noah do? Simple obedience. He builds an ark to the saving of his family. God says to Abraham, you're going to have a child through Sarah, and Abraham obeys, and it results in him becoming the father of a great nation. God speaks to Moses. He says that I'm going to be with you and you're going to deliver this nation of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, and Moses obeys and results in the deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage. In the New Testament, it's found in Luke chapter 5, the Lord Jesus Christ is there by the Sea of Galilee, and there are so many people that are crowding him that he looks and he sees these two little, these two boats that are there on the shore, and he turns to one of the owners, a man by the name of Peter, who we know as the Apostle Peter, and he says to him, cast out a little bit from the shore. And so Jesus goes, and he begins to teach out of this boat, and as he does so, Jesus turns and says to the Apostle Peter, now launch out to the deep and drop your nets because you're going to have a catch. We know the story. We know how the Apostle Peter says, Master, we've been fishing all night. We caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I'll drop the net. What was he saying? He's saying, listen, I'm a professional fisherman, and you're a preacher. What do preachers know about real life? What do you know about working the way that I work? You're a rabbi. So he basically is trying to correct God, which none of us have ever done. We've never tried to correct him in our prayer, telling him what he's doing wrong and how it would work if he'd only do this. But that's what the Apostle Peter does, right? And he says, but nevertheless, at your word, and he goes out, he drops in it, there's a great catch. The other boat goes out, there's a great catch, and before you know it, through simple obedience, they're overwhelmed with blessings. You see it all the time. Jesus says to him, when Peter's there in the midst of a storm, he's in that boat, and Jesus, as Peter sees him coming, is that you, Lord? Lord says it's me, and he says, if it's you, then command that I should walk on this water and I'll come to you. And Jesus says, then come. We know how the Apostle climbs out of that boat and begins to walk on water. And he sinks. Now a lot of times, I've heard people speaking concerning that, and they'll say, well, what little faith he had. Well, Jesus said, oh, you have little faith. Why did you doubt? But as I think about that story, I think there are 11 guys who were sitting in the boat. There was only one climbing out. And the other 11 are basically, you're saying, you can do it, Peter. Come on, man. You can do it, except for Thomas. Thomas is saying, I doubt it. I doubt if he's going to make it or not. And Judas is taking bets. But that's what was taking place that night. But you see what happens. You see how simple obedience results in blessings. So many times we think that God doesn't have good intentions for us and that if we actually do something or give something up, then we're going to end up losing. We're going to end up on the short end of the deal that we're giving up more than God is giving to us. But the Bible teaches that it's simple obedience that God blesses. Jesus obeyed. And the result of his obedience was our salvation. Isaiah 50 verses 5 and 6 says it like this, the Lord God has opened my ear and I was not rebellious. Nor did I turn away. I gave my back to those who struck me. My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. Jesus gave up his life for us. He was humiliated for us and through his obedience we actually have been saved. So obedience to God's direction results in blessings from the Lord. That's one thing I see here. A second thing, and you see it in verse 5, each one individually was to participate in the task. Each one carried a stone upon their shoulder and that person carrying that stone was representing one of the 12 tribes. Somebody else could not do this. Each one had to do it themselves. God has something for you to do that nobody else can do. It's not that it's impossible for them to do, but it's really something you're supposed to do. Every one of us in this room has a task that God has given to us and it's our responsibility to perform that task. Obviously it's easy for us today to say well somebody else ought to do that, but the fact is there are things that only you can do and God has called you to do whatever it is that he's commanded you to do. And many of you in this room right now already know what it is that God said to do. You just don't want to do it. And sometimes you're thinking that somebody else can do it or somebody else should do it. But in reality God is saying listen I've done something in you to change you that should cause you to be so blessed that you can't help but desire to do it. God has changed your life hasn't he? Hasn't he done a great thing in you and shouldn't you out of thankfulness do that which God has called you to do? Well absolutely. That's what God has done in your life and that's what's to take place. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 16 Paul said he makes the whole body fit together perfectly as each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. And so each part does its own special work. These men each and everyone individually were to carry one of these stones because they had a task that they were to perform that nobody else could do. And then I want to spend a moment looking at this with you. A third thing and you see it in verse 6 notice what it says that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come saying what do these stones mean to you then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it crossed over the Jordan the waters of the Jordan were cut off and these stones shall be for a memorial to the Son of Israel forever. I want to spend a moment sharing with you a little bit concerning this and I want you to see this again notice verse 6 when your children ask in time to come when your children ask in time to come let me ask a question that I don't intend you to shout an answer out for it's called a rhetorical question let me ask the question and I'll supply the answer in just a moment the question I would ask for you to contemplate notice what is the greatest influence in a person's life up to the age of 25 what is the greatest influence in a person's life up to the age of 25 think for a moment with me you don't have to shout anything out but think for just a moment what is the greatest influence in a person's life up to the age of 25 I was with a group of pastors recently we were with a man by the name of Josh McDowell some of you perhaps have heard his name and Josh brought that question up to us what is the greatest influence in a person's life up to the age of 25 and so I was with several pastors and their wives and so answers began to be given perhaps it's an answer that you would have given someone said movies somebody else said literature somebody else said music somebody said sports education friendships you can begin to shout out a variety of things what is it you know what the number one influence in a person's life both male and female up to the age of 25 is the number one influence in their life is their father did you know that their father now in common culture today we would say it's got to be the music it's got to be the movies it's got to be the DVDs it's got to be the books it's got to be the education it's got to be what is called common culture today it's got to be politics it's got to be their understanding of religion or their spirituality the number one influence the number one influence in a kid's life and that's where the church needs to wake up because a lot of dads don't know that a lot of dads don't understand that a lot of dads think mama should raise the kid mama should do the upbringing mama should bring the religion into the home a lot of fathers think that way a lot of fathers not all fathers but a lot of fathers think that way and a lot of fathers don't even know how to be a dad to their kids Marie and I were walking just this last week we were leaving a restaurant I didn't pay and we were running to the car and as we were leaving they caught me I have a bad back as we were leaving a man his teenage daughter and teenage son passed us on the sidewalk and as they were passing us on the sidewalk this son who I estimated to be about 15 years old the father turned to him he said don't be such a dumb and then he used the word that was improper to refer to his own son and as he said that to his son I was looking in the direction when the man said it and I saw the face of his son when his son looking in our direction seeing people walking by hearing what his father just called him his son looked at his feet and as he looked at his feet and walked past me I turned to Marie and I said what you just saw is what a lot of men do to their boys what you just saw is what a lot of men do to their children they don't know how to lead their kids they don't know how to love their children God help us all it's true and we are the greatest influences in our kids lives and we were fathers need to understand that your children will one day ask what is this supposed to mean that's what he's saying here notice with me the question when your children ask in time to come what do these stones mean to you that is our opportunity to share what they mean it's our opportunity notice there has to be a certain age you know an infant isn't going to ask that question there has to be a certain kind of maturity even in inquisitiveness there's a certain place in time in their life they ask that question we have to be prepared to supply the answer we should be able to what do these things mean to you and as a father it's not just what do they mean to your mom and it's not what does it mean to the church dad what do these things mean to you it's a very powerful question and it means a lot God commanded the fathers to communicate these things to the children during the Passover when the Passover occurs there's a certain thing that occurs during the Passover memorial supper there's a time when a question is asked Exodus 1226 says it shall be when your children say to you what do you mean by this service a father was supposed to be able to supply the answer God delivered us God is present God is powerful God is able God is our God that's what the father is supposed to supply that's what I was supposed to and that's what I still supply in the life of my children I was speaking to somebody just the other day and I was saying when I was growing up and my mom would say to me and I'd smile at her right alright whatever in my mind I'm thinking you know there's a certain point where well that's just not true I'm 62 years old come on now mama will still consider me that until the day she goes home to be with the Lord how do I know that because I look at my children and I call them my babies because no matter how old they are they will always be that to me they may not like that some kids don't like oh I gotta grow up sniff sniff but you'll always be that to me I will look at you always as my child I will see you always as my baby even if you're 35 even if you're 40 or 50 it doesn't really matter and here's something else for you I will always have an influence in your life I want to be that influence in your life for good I want to be that person you come to and ask what do these things mean what's the importance and significance of this my son Joseph my son Joseph has spent a lot of years in college I think he's spent a total of 8 to 10 years in college my son Joseph is 31 years old 32 years old and my son Joseph still sits down with me as his dad and still asks questions and he's much better educated than I am and he'll say dad what do you think about these things what do you think about this and I still supply that answer for him because that's what fathers do that's what our responsibility is that's what God has called us to do they ask the question because it deserves an answer in Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 9 it says only take heed to yourself and diligently keep yourself lest you forget the things your eyes have seen lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life teach them to your children and your grandchildren Psalm 78 verses 3 and 4 which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us we will not hide them from our children telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his wonderful works that he has done we have that responsibility to tell the wonders of God how do we do that well when they're young praise God tonight there some of you have your children children's ministry bless the Lord for that when they're young you give them devotionals in our case with our kids I read scripture to them every night we prayed there were times I would read a biography of a missionary or some great person that God used in the past and all their young life from the time that they were able to listen I would have them seated in front of me we would sit in the front room and my children would sit in front of me I would open the Bible and I'd say God we're going to read this passage tonight and I did that Monday night Tuesday night not on Wednesday they were in church Thursday night Friday night Saturday night not on Sunday night they were in church and I did that all of their life into high school and including their early high school years every night five out of seven days they had devotion for their years of their early life and it still was difficult when they got to the point where they wanted to decide where their life was going to go we need to pour into our children we need to have stones of memory places that you can speak about that God met you in a special way it's good to remember it's good to remember what God has done and it's good to remember and share concerning his goodness to us I have done this before I'll do it briefly right now my children can speak to you concerning these things in this church by and large but it can do the same in my own heart, in my own life I have places that are like memorials to me to where God met me in a special way I started a Bible study in my parents house in Norwalk and every once in a while when I have opportunity to go out to do some ministry I'll drive by my parents house it's no longer in our family they sold it many years ago but I'll drive by and as I drive by I'll pull over on the side of the road there and I'll look at that house and I have memories of how God met me in a special way in that house back in 1970 and it's a stone of remembrance for me that I'll be there and I'll look at that house and I'll remember what God did after getting saved I began a Bible study in the city of Ontario and I would drive to Ontario to minister to my brother it was in that Bible study that God brought to me a wife and just this last week on just this last Monday I was driving and I drove past that little apartment there in Ontario where my brother's Bible study was where I began my ministry here in this region back in 1974 and for me it's a stone of remembrance I got involved in a small fellowship in Claremont where I became an assistant pastor and I've gone by that church chapel that we used to meet in and I remember how God moved there I started a Bible study in my sister-in-law's home in the city of Ontario and I driven by that and as I drive by I look at the house and I remember it's a stone of remembrance we drive by the small school that we had and had to go to a small school and I just drove by that school this last Monday and I remember we purchased land in Ontario we built it out and I drove by that it's a stone of remembrance we rented out Ontario High School and drove by it this last week and I remember what God has done you need to have places in your heart where God meets you all of those places have special memories to me and all of those places make up the history of our fellowship they are special places because they're places that God met me and met us the church in remarkable and special ways and these are the special memories that I've shared with my children the Psalmist in Psalm 145 verse 4 says one generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts the children of Israel were to remember that God stopped the Jordan so that they could cross over they were to remember that their God is a God who keeps his promises and they were not to forget this fact they were to remember that the God that they follow is powerful and the God that they follow can do all things that it's necessary to deliver his people they were to remember notice verse 8 and 9 it says just as Joshua commanded and took up 12 stones from the midst of the Jordan as the Lord had spoken to Joshua according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there then Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of the Jordan in the place where the feet of the priests were the ark of the covenant stood and they are there to this day so they took those 12 stones they made a memorial in Gilgal but they also had 12 other stones on the eastern side of the Jordan and they put it there so that even when the water once again was covering them they would still know that when there was a time of drought or there was a time when the water receded that people could still see those stones and still remember that that's the place that God did that great work stones of remembrance and verse 10 it says so the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan and it was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua and the people hastened and crossed over it came to pass when all the people had completely crossed over that the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people and the men of Rubin this is the first Mexican tribe in the Bible the men of Rubin forgive me the men of Gad half the tribe of Manasseh they crossed over armed before the children of Israel as Moses had spoken to them about 40,000 prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle to the plains of Jericho on that day the Lord magnified Joshua on the side of all Israel and they feared him as they feared Moses all the days of his life imagine the fear the awe that these people were experiencing as they're participating in this incredible miracle the waters in a heap 15 miles north of them they've just crossed over this Jordan some had seen this kind of thing before as children but others are now experiencing it brand new an amazing awe inspiring moment that would have been and as this takes place notice verse 14 says that God magnified Joshua on the side of all Israel and they feared him the miracle caused the people to respect and hold him in high regard because he was God's leader it developed a confidence in him on their part and his credibility is now established they saw God's hand on him and they followed his lead then verse 15 the Lord spoke to Joshua saying command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony to come up from the Jordan Joshua therefore commanded the priests saying come up from the Jordan and it came to pass when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan and the souls of the priests feet touched the dry land the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all its banks as before now the people came up from the Jordan on the 10th day of the first month they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho and those 12 stones which they took out of the Jordan Joshua set up in Gilgal then he spoke to the children of Israel saying when your children asked their fathers in time to come saying what are these stones then you shall let your children know saying Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over as the Lord your God did to the red sea which you dried up before us until we had crossed over that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord that it is mighty that you may fear the Lord your God forever all peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord that it is mighty this work of drying up the Jordan allowing them to be able to cross over is not simply for the benefit of Israel but as a witness to the world God is the God of the whole earth he's not a tribal God and his desire is that all might know and all might worship him God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us that you may be known on earth your salvation among all nations God is not some tribal God he is the God of all creation and so they are to know this God and secondly that they might fear the Lord forever this fear of the Lord reveals that you have a relationship with God because it's the beginning of wisdom it's the beginning of knowledge it's through the fear of the Lord that you depart from evil that you worship and serve God and so God's desire is for people to know that he is mighty and God's desire is that they would reverence him and worship him and so those twelve stones of remembrance that were placed in strategic places are intended to communicate to the children of Israel what God is ready and powerful God is and to remind them to remind them and finally we're about to take communion which is another form of reminding us what God has done in the past what God is doing now and what God will do yet in the future