 Amen so Joshua chapter one so of course before we went to the book of Galatians we were in Judges so maybe we'll just go through the Bible backwards until we get to the beginning but Joshua chapter one so the book of Joshua begins right at the end of the the the wandering in the wilderness for 40 years in Joshua chapter one we see that Moses has just died and they they're about to enter into the promised land they're about to cross over the Jordan River and just imagine you know they've been wandering in the wilderness as as a punishment for not having faith and God will get into that a little bit in the sermon here but basically they've been they've been anticipating this moment for nearly four decades and here they are and they're about ready to go into this land and they're going into this land to possess it as God has been promising them for years and years and years not only are they going into the land to possess it but they're gonna have to fight for it number one and number two they're going in with a brand new with a brand new leader Moses is not in charge anymore Moses has died and we have this man Joshua here in Joshua chapter one that is taking over for Moses so in Joshua chapter one we see three conversations really and that's what I want to talk about this evening we see three conversations we see first see God talking to Joshua then we see Joshua talking to the people and then we see the people responding back to Joshua so I want to focus on those three conversations this evening and first I want to talk about Joshua the man who is Joshua let's look at Joshua chapter one in verse number one and let's focus on first of all you know as we step through the first couple verses here who is this guy who is this man that is going to be taking them on this journey into the promised land look at verse number one the Bible says now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of none Moses's minister saying Moses my servant is dead now therefore arise go over this Jordan thou and all his people under the land which I do give them even to the children of Israel so it's interesting I just want to read for you you don't have to turn there but in Jude Moses is dead but one interesting thing about Moses's death is is God took his body and in Jude chapter nine or Jude verse number nine the Bible says yet Michael the archangel when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses durst not bring against him a railing accusation but said the Lord rebuked these so God to I mean Moses was so loved by God and such in a special place that God took his body and no one know you know no one knows where Moses was buried because it's the Bible says that God took his body anyway just an interesting note there but the Bible says here that that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of none and he says Moses my servant is dead now therefore arise go over this Jordan now and all the people under the land which I do give them even to the children of Israel now it's time to pass over the Lord says they've been wandering for 40 years turned to Exodus chapter 17 and let's just look at who Joshua was the first mention of Joshua in the Bible is Exodus chapter 17 Exodus chapter 17 now this is a very famous story if you've read the Bible if you know if you've read the Bible or you've listened to a lot of sermons on the Exodus this is a very famous sermon or story that a lot of pastors do sermons on you'll hear a lot of sermons on how you know Moses he as this battle was raging Moses is when his hands were up I don't want to give away the story we'll read a few verses here but basically you'll hear a lot of sermons on how you know Aaron and her held up Moses's hands because as his hands were raised up they would win the battle and when his hands got tired you know and he put them down they would lose the battle so Aaron and her they helped Moses hold up his hands let's read verse number eight in Exodus chapter 17 the Bible says then came Amalek and fought with Israel and Rafidim and Moses said unto Joshua choose us out men and go out and fight with Amalek tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand so Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek and Moses and Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill so they weren't in the battle they went to the top of the hill to watch over the battle and it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed and when he led down his hand Amalek prevailed but Moses's hands were heavy and they took a stone and put it under him and he sat there on and Aaron and her stayed up his hands that one on one on one side and the other on the other side and his hands were steady until they're going down of the Sun in verse number 13 and Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people with the edge of the swords I mean I've heard a lot of sermons about this story and you know the application is generally a good one first of all the application is generally you know what leadership sometimes needs help leadership sometimes needs support you know Moses his hands got tired he couldn't do it by himself so here he had this support staff that would help him hold up his his hands but here's one thing that we need to notice here as these three men stood on the hill and Moses raised his hands and of course God gave them the victory but who was down in the in the in the battlefield in the valley fighting the battle it was this man Joshua it was this man Joshua he was a warrior already at this point the Bible says turn to Exodus chapter 32 and he was a servant he was not only a warrior who would go down and I mean he was literally doing the fighting here in this story in jaw in Exodus chapter 17 in Exodus chapter 32 we see that he's a servant he's a servant to Moses when Moses was up on the mountain receiving the law from the Lord the Bible says in verse 15 it says and Moses turned and went down from the mount and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand the tables were written on both their sides on the one side on the other they were written and the tables were the work of God and the writing was the writing of God graven upon the tables and when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted he said unto Moses there was there is a noise of war in the camp so look when Moses went up the mountain and the people rebelled and you know worshiped you know the whole golden calf and said look Joshua was with Moses he was with Moses going up the mountain at least part the way anyway at least he went up to help Moses and then Moses went up to meet with God but the point is he was Moses's right hand man turned to numbers chapter 13 Moses Joshua was also and brother Trevor brought this up that was a good segue into this you know into this Bible study by the way brother Trevor thank you for Sunday night numbers chapter 13 we see that Joshua was one of the one of the 12 spies that went to spy out the land look at numbers 13 in verse number 6 the Bible says in Joshua the son of none and Caleb the son of Jeff Jeff Boone were of them that search the land and they rent their they rent their clothes so this is when they all came back the 12 spies and everyone said though they're so big and they're all these people we could never win these battles except for Joshua and Caleb and Caleb and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel saying the land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land if the Lord delight in us then he will bring us into this land and give it to us a land which floweth with milk and honey only rebellion not against the Lord neither fear ye the people of the land for they are bred for us their defense is departed from them and the Lord is with us fear them not I mean Joshua and Caleb were the only ones that had any faith they're only ones that came back and said who cares how big they are who cares what's going on he's like their defense is departed from them it's like if you know it's like God's gonna be with us hello you know they had just complete faith in the Lord look at verse number 30 doubtless you shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell there in save Caleb the son of Jeff Jeff Boone and Joshua the son of none so of course this is God saying you know that because of you know the fact that you have you know had no faith in me except these two men you're not you're gonna have to wander says but your little ones which he he said should be a prey then will I bring in and you shall know the land which he despised but as for you your carcasses they shall fall in this wilderness and your children shall wander in the wilderness 40 years and bury your hornems until the carcasses be wasted in the wilderness so of course that's the reason for the wandering for 40 or nearly 40 years that they wandered after this point in the wilderness turn to Deuteronomy chapter 3 so not only was Joshua a chosen he was a warrior he was a chosen servant to Moses he was a servant to know to Moses but look he was actually chosen by God to lead the people after Moses died turn to Deuteronomy chapter 3 and look at verse number 25 in Deuteronomy chapter 3 and verse number 25 we see Moses asking God once again if he could be able to go into the promised land Moses of course was not allowed to go into the promised land you know because of a mistake he made early on but the bible says here that Moses asks again to God and God says no and he tells him something here look at verse 25 he says I pray thee let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan Moses says that goodly mountain in Lebanon but the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes who would not hear me and the Lord said unto me let it suffice thee speak no more unto me of this matter the Lord said don't ask again like my decision is my decision he says get thee up into the top of Pisces and lift up thine eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward and behold it with thine eyes for thou shalt not go over this Jordan but charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him for he shall go over before this people and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see so God said to Moses Joshua will lead them in so Joshua all that to say this folks Joshua was no spring chicken at this point in Joshua chapter one Joshua he was a seasoned warrior he had served Moses the entire time that they were in the wilderness 40 years he knew how to lead the people and they respected him okay go back to Joshua chapter one so God is still speaking to Joshua here we're still in the first conversation of Joshua chapter one look at verse number three God is still speaking to Joshua the Bible says every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon that have I given unto you as I said unto Moses from the wilderness and this Lebanon even under the great river the river Euphrates and the land of the Hittites and under the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your coast there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life as I was with Moses so I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee be strong and of good courage I want you to notice how many times God says this in this chapter first of all be strong and of good courage for unto this people shall thou divide for an inheritance to the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them so look I mean first of all in verse number five and I don't want to just launch off on this you know for the rest of the sermon but in verse number five God is basically saying to him I mean it's pretty direct I will not fail thee or forsake thee God is saying to Joshua directly I will not fail you and then he also says you know be strong and of good courage so I mean God's kind of given some some you know double dose there because I mean really if God tells you look I will be behind you no matter what you I mean you really don't necessarily even need that much courage in my opinion I mean if God the most powerful being in the entire universe that created us all says that to you you know you should pretty much just take it as faith face value but he says be strong and of good courage for unto this people shall thou divide for an inheritance to the land which I swear under their fathers to give them verse number seven only be be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee turn not from the right hand or to the left that thou mayest prosper wherever wherever thou goest now this is interesting because well let me just reverse number eight and then we'll stop this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth but shall meditate there you shall meditate there in day and night that thou mayest observe to do according all that is written therein for then thou shall make thy way prosperous and then thou shall have good success so it's interesting that in verse number six he says be strong and of good courage he says in verse number five he says I will I will never he's like I will never fail you and then he says be strong and of good courage but then in verse number seven he says be strong and of good courage verse number eight he says you know he's saying be strong and of good courage in verse number seven but he's talking about following the law not fighting he's talking about that it's going to take strength and courage. What God is saying here is he's saying, he's like, because look, this is how it works with nations, folks. This is how it works with nations. He's saying, don't go into this dangerous situation and then forget the law and then forget God. And he's like, oh, by the way, in order to obey God and to follow the law and to speak the law, he's like, not only to just obey the law, you're supposed to speak the law, meaning you're supposed to go and tell people the law. You're supposed to teach people. Let me just break this down for you. You're supposed to learn the Bible and you're supposed to teach people the Bible is what he's saying here. You teach people the word of God, learn it and teach it. He's saying, and he's like, that's gonna take courage, just that. Learning, following and teaching the law will take courage. Is what God is telling Joshua here. And then he says, for then, here's that if then statement again. For then I will make thy way prosperous. Look, this is how it works for nations. It's very simple. Why can't anyone in the history of the world get this correctly? Nation, whatever you are, forsake the Lord, suffer. Obey the Lord, prosper. I mean, that's not complicated. Remember, nations are judged on this earth. I mean, that's what we see in the entire Old Testament. You know, and they're commanded to not only obey the law, but to speak the law in verse number eight. So don't miss that. God is essentially warning them here. He's saying, don't go into this dangerous situation and forget about me. That's what he's telling him. Look at verse number nine. He says, have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee with or so ever thou goest. Now is the second conversation. God just tells him, he's like, here's what you need to do. He's like, just be, he's like, I'm with you wherever you go. He's like, be strong, be courageous. He says it, you know, three times here. He's like, don't forget about me though. Don't forget, you know, to obey God. Don't go into this situation where all your enemies are on every side and forget about the Lord. Don't you do that either in your life. But now Joshua responds. Look at verse number 10. And he speaks, he speaks right away to the people. In verse number 10, Joshua says, Joshua, the Bible says then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying, these are the leaders of the people. Pass through the host and command the people saying, prepare you victuals. That means, get your things together. Get ready, for within three days, you shall pass over this Jordan to go into possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it. And of the Rubinites and the Gaddites and to the half tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua saying, turn to numbers chapter 32. So now, now he says this to the officers of the people. Now he speaks specifically to these three tribes. He say, why is that? He say, why is that? But turn to numbers chapter 32. Let's just do a refresher on the history of why he's speaking specifically to the Rubinites, the Gaddites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Look at numbers 32 in verse number two. Now this is before, like I said, this is before they had passed over the Jordan. Okay, so they're on the east side of the Jordan and three tribes decided that, hey, you know what? This land's pretty good right here. This land's pretty good. Numbers chapter 32, look at verse number two. The children of Gadd and the children of Rubin came and spake to Moses. We're going back in the past now. And to Eliezer the priest and to the princes of the congregation saying, Adaroth and Dixen and Jayzer and Nimrah and Heshban and Eliele and Shebam and Nebo and Beon, even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel is a land for cattle and thy servants have cattle. Wherefore said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession and bring us not over the Jordan. So they're saying, they're saying to Moses, they're saying, you know what, Moses? They're like, we have cattle. This is like good grazing land. You know, this is good for us. It's like, you know what, can we just stay here? Can we just stay here and not go over the Jordan? They say to Moses, what's the first thing that Moses says to them? And Moses said unto the children of Gad and of the children of Reuben, shall your brethren go to war and shall ye sit here? So right away in Moses, now there's a great lesson here. There is a great lesson. I mean, how evil it was. Moses saw right away, he said, that it would be a wicked thing if they were doing this to get out of having to fight for the land that the Lord had given them. And Moses says, you want to just, your brothers, you want your brothers to go to war and you guys just sit here and just take this land right here? He's like, you know, that's messed up is what Moses is, you know, he's asking what their motives are. But look, this, and it's interesting because this is a lesson that, this is a lesson that we all should learn in our lives. Look, and it's something, look, you need to teach your children this too because I'm telling you, it's not something that comes natural. I'm gonna, I didn't ask Brother Francisco for permission to tell this story but I'm gonna tell it anyway, brother, I'm sorry. I went fishing with Brother Francisco on Saturday. Let me give you an example of this. And we went fishing, we caught all kinds of fish because I'm a great fisherman. I don't know what to tell you. No, I'm just kidding. But we caught a ton of fish, okay? And you know what's really fun is catching fish. You know what's not fun? It's like cleaning up and cleaning the fish and staying up all night, cutting up fish and cleaning up the mess and putting everything away and all this kind of, you know, that's not that much fun. And Brother Francisco, he didn't even drive with us. So I drove back to my house and he's sitting in front of my house. Must've been waiting there for half an hour, 40 minutes or whatever since we're a lot slower than he was. And look, I'm just telling you, this is something I always notice. And I even asked him, I even asked him, you know, here's the thing. Whenever you have people working, whenever you have people doing things and working, you should not be comfortable not working. You should never be comfortable just sitting there while other people are working. This is what Moses is talking about here on a much bigger scale. But Brother Francisco, we were sitting there, we were cleaning fish, it was dark, he's tired, I'm tired, we're cleaning. And he's just like, he's just going, he's putting stuff away, he's doing, you know. And I'm just like, you know what? I just finally, I just asked him, I said, you know what? I was like, who taught you this? I was like, why are you doing this? And, you know, he's just like, no, well, you know, it's just, you know, I'm gonna help. And I was like, no, but no. And what I meant was, I knew somebody taught him that because it doesn't come natural. It doesn't come natural. We have to teach our kids this. How do I know that somebody taught Brother Francisco that? Because I gotta teach my kids that. Because when I'm out working on something with my kids and I'm like, hey, hand me this, or they're doing that one job, the first job your kid should ever have is holding the flashlight for their dad. You hold the flashlight. And then they give you the part or whatever. And then naturally, here's what naturally kids do. You're working on something and they've given you the part and you're working on something, you don't need them for seven or eight minutes. And you turn around and give me that other wrench and they're gone. And they're gone. Where'd they go? Well, they're, you know, they're digging a hole. Or they're in the house. And I go in the house and I'm upset. And this is where my wife will be like, oh, you're too hard on the kids. But look, this needs to be taught. And I'm not even joking a little bit. So I go in the house and I grab them, the kids or the, I grab, you know, the boys or whatever. I don't wanna call them out by name. And I'm like, hey, did I say we were done working? No. Was your dad still working? Yes. So you stay there until the job's done. Look, that kind of thing is taught. And if you don't teach it, it won't happen. If you don't teach it, you will end up with an adult who will be completely comfortable with 10 people working and just sitting there chatting or doing whatever. Because it's not taught. And I finally pressed Brother Francisco. I said, who? Who is it? Who taught you? Who taught you this? And he said, my grandpa. He said, my grandpa taught me this. He said, my grandpa taught me that you work until the work is done. And if somebody else is working, you find something to do. Or you ask what else needs to be done. Or, you know, I mean, look, it's taught. It's a good lesson here. You gotta teach your kids this because it's not gonna come natural. So Moses, this is what he thought they were doing. He's like, you wanna sit here? You wanna sit here while everybody else goes in fights? You wanna sit here while everybody else works? He's like, I don't think so. I don't think so. But look what actually happened. Turn back, look it down at verse number 16. Look down at verse number 16. Look, I'm telling you, it should literally make you uncomfortable. It should literally make you uncomfortable to be around a bunch of people that are working if you're not working. You should just be immediately getting up, going, ah, what should I do? You should be doing something. But you see it all the time. You see it all the time because it's taught. It's taught. It doesn't come natural. But look at the Gads and the Rubenites and the half tribe of Manasseh. Look what they said in verse number 16. He said, they came near to him and said, we will build sheepfolds here for our cattle and cities for our little ones. And oh, we'll build barns and we'll build places for our families, but we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel until we have brought them into their place and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return under our houses until the children of Israel have inherited every man, his inheritance. They said, we will go and we will fight for a land that isn't even ours. That's not our motive. So they had good motives. They just wanted that particular land because they were husband men. They had cattle. Their motives were pure in this case. Go back to Joshua chapter one. But it's interesting that Moses right away, he just jumped up. He's like, oh, you're not these type of people, are you? But they said, no, we're not. No, we're not. So remember, that has to be taught, though. That has to be taught. Look at Joshua chapter one in verse number 13. Look what the Bible says. Remember, now this is Joshua speaking to the people. Remember the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord, now he's speaking the same story that I just told you. Commanded you saying, the Lord your God has given you rest. He's reminding them and it's giving you this land. Your wives, your little ones and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of Valor, and help them. Until the Lord hath given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they have also possessed the land which the Lord your God hath given them, then ye shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sun rising. So Moses gave him permission to do this, and I preached a whole sermon on this, but typically when God has a plan, he probably just shouldn't veer from it. I mean, they had peer motives on this, but it wasn't, notice how it was Moses' land that he gave him. It wasn't God giving him the land. God gave him the land on the other side. All right, and we saw, and I preached a whole sermon on the negative effects that happened to these tribes because of the fact that they stayed on the east side of the Jordan. It's not the point here, but just to mention that. Now, here's the third conversation, verse number 16. Now, keep in mind, now the people respond, okay? So we have Moses, or Moses, we have Joshua talking to the people, we have, I'm sorry, we have Joshua, God talking to Joshua, Joshua talking to the people. Now the people respond to Joshua. Now, keep in mind, folks, they're not going to Disneyland here, okay? Don't go to Disneyland, all right? They're not going to an amusement park here, okay? They're going to war. They're going to war. They're going to do a dangerous situation where they're going to go and they're going to take land from people that don't want to give it to them, okay? Look at verse 16. And they answered Joshua. The people said this. And they said, man, I don't know. I don't know if, where's Moses, man? Is Moses on board with this? If Moses was here, no, that's not what they said. Look what they said. And they answered Joshua saying, all that thou commanded us, we will do. And with or so ever thou send us, we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses and all things, so we will hearken unto thee. Only the God of thy God be with thee as he was with Moses. Whosoever he be that doeth, doth rebel against thy commandment and not hearken unto the words, and all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage. So they just give their full fledged support to Joshua here. And they said, we'll follow you just like we followed Moses. So what's the applications here? First of all, just a side note. Joshua is a bit of a picture of Christ here. He's leading the people into the promised land as Christ leads us by our eternal salvation into heaven. But what's the application here? Turn to Psalm 75. Let me just give you a couple application points to Joshua chapter one. So we see Joshua the man. We see the response of the people to him. Look, that is an incredible response from those people. Look at Psalm 75. The first point I want to make here is this. Look, God was gonna give them this land. God said, I will not fail you, I'm giving you this land. But he did ordain a human leader here. He did ordain a man to lead them. And the first point I wanna make is that God does ordain human leadership for us in this world. Look at Psalm 75 and verse five. Psalm 75 and verse number five. Look what the Bible says. Lift up not your horn on high. Speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion come neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the judge. He put it down one and set it up another. Look, God sets up and puts down leaders. Joshua was this leader in the making for decades that God was setting up for this purpose. I mean, I'll read for you again, Deuteronomy 328. But charge Joshua and encourage him, God said. And strengthen him for he shall go over before this people and he shall cause them to inherit the land which with thou shall see. Ephesians chapter four, verse number 11. Go ahead and turn there. Look, God, God sets up, look, God is here. We have the word of God. You have the Bible in your hand right now. All right, you have the Bible. You have the word of God. The Bible even says, the word of God even says, you don't need a mediator. You don't need a mediator to just speak directly with Christ. You can go home right now and you can pray directly to Jesus Christ. You do not need me. You can pray directly to God, to Jesus himself and just say, God, you know, Jesus forgive me for what I did today. You do not need to come to me. To, you know, to reach God. There is one mediator in the man and it is the man Christ Jesus. And that is the mediator. But God does give you human leadership on this earth. Look at Ephesians four and verse number 11. And the Bible says, and look, it tells us why he gives us those things. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists. I mean, think of brother Stuckey in the Philippines. Look, God gave those people an evangelist. God gave those people in those two churches. I mean, thank God. I mean, I bet you they're saying thank God that we have an evangelist here that's here to lead us. And some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers, you say, but can't those people in the Philippines read the Bible themselves? Yes, they can. They can read the Bible themselves. They can pray themselves. But look at verse number 12. It's for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. It's to sharpen them up. It's to lead them. Look, God sets up human leaders to perfect us, to make us a strong unit, to go out and to do the work of Christ, to be the ambassadors of Christ. Look, I mean, brother Johannes said to me today, he's like, I can't even imagine going through last year without having a church. And I said, yeah, because you know what you'd do? You'd sit there and I told him, I say, I'm working it right into the sermon right now, brother. I was like, this is a great conversation. This should be a sermon. Here it goes, right here. I told him, I was like, can you imagine we walk by this yard? Can you imagine you walk by this green grass and everybody is telling you that the grass is red? Everybody's saying that grass is red and you don't have a single other, you're looking at that grass and that grass is green. And you're like, what in the world? But every single person that you know is saying that that grass is red. And they say it every day and they say it every week and they say it every month for a year. This is what happened to people. Not us, though. Not us, why? Why not us? Because we have a church. Because we have a church and we're grounded in the Bible. That's why, because we're not sitting there watching a stupid TV eight hours a day, we're saying the grass is red, the grass is red, the grass is red, the grass is red. We're sitting here and we're reading the Bible. And not only do we have that, but we have like 50 other people standing around us going, can you believe everybody thinks that that grass is red? It's clearly green. But if you're the only one, if you're the only one, you would start to be like, you know what? Maybe something's wrong with me. And you would start to think, I see that it's green, but it must be red. That's what happened to people. That's what happened to people. But we're here to edify each other, to strengthen each other, to sharpen each other. We know the grass is green. The Bible tells us what the Bible tells us, and we sit here and we encourage and we strengthen each other. And I mean, that's how it works. Yeah, so I can't imagine it either, brother, if we wouldn't have had a church. But that's the strength of it. So God ordains human leadership for us to have, for the work of the ministry. And the ministry's important. It's important for people out there. It's important for us. So we can gather together and strengthen each other. The second point I want to make about Joshua is this. In order to lead, you first, listen to this. In order to lead, you first need to learn how to serve. This is a huge miss for many leaders today. Maybe most of them today. Over, turned back to Exodus chapter 33. Over a 40 year period serving Moses. Let me just give you one more example of this. As if I didn't give you enough examples. Moses would go to the Tabernacle in the wilderness to speak to God. Moses would go to the Tabernacle to speak to God. But look at Exodus chapter 33 in verse number 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp. So Moses would go to the Tabernacle and he would speak to God and then he would go back to his house or his tent or whatever. He would not stay at the Tabernacle. But his servant Joshua, the son of none, a young man departed not out of the Tabernacle. Joshua stayed. Joshua stayed to watch over the Tabernacle. Look, it'd be like someone watching over this place living here. It'd be like a, you know, we almost need it by the way. We almost need it by the way. I'm gonna start calling Brother Frank Joshua. We're running two hour shifts here to keep these vagrants off the church property. And Brother Frank's been helping me out. Thank you, Brother Frank, for that. But look, the point is Joshua was what's serving no matter what it took. No matter what it took. To be a good leader, you must first be a good follower. Because look, leadership is service. That's what it is. It'll not only keep you humble as a leader, but here's the thing. Here's the thing, and I really wanna point this out and I wanna end this sermon on this note. It'll give you credibility. There's a reason, there's a reason that the people, there's a reason that I focus on three conversations here. The conversation from God to Joshua, the conversation from Joshua to the people, and then the response of the people to Joshua is super important that you recognize that. Imagine if Joshua's life was of serving Moses. Imagine if the 40 years of serving Moses was living this plush life. I'm in charge. I'm number two around here. Better do what I say. Living this plush life, just telling people what to do because he was Moses' right hand. Don't you know who I am? You better do what I say. Imagine if this was his life. And then Moses dies and he took over. It'd be a disaster. It'd be a complete disaster. Instead, you know what people saw? People saw a loyal servant to Moses. They saw somebody who, they saw somebody who when there needed to be fighting done, they did the fighting. They picked up the sword and they fought. They saw somebody who did the heavy lifting, who did the, you know, they did the hardest things. I mean, fighting, leading battles down in the battle. That's the hardest thing. So turn to Proverbs chapter 22. Look, you must have credibility to lead, or it will not work. Joshua had a reputation by the time we get to Joshua chapter one. People knew his character and they knew his strength. You get to the point, I mean, he got to the point where he could just command people. I mean, he could just command people to just go into the worst situation where they might die and they would say, and all that thou commanded us to do and with or so ever thou send us, we will go. I mean, that's impressive. That, I mean, you, that came from his credibility and his reputation. That's where that came from. And look, you can't just, every leader wants that, but you can't just, you know, you can't just command it just like that. It took Joshua 40 years to get that, to get to that place. Look at Proverbs chapter 22. And look at verse number one. The Bible says a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver or gold. So many people miss this. So many people miss this. Look, look folks, your salvation is free. Look, you are saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are saved, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit, nothing can change that. God can never lie, he will never take it away from you. It had nothing to do with you. It had nothing to do with you to get it. It has nothing to do with you to keep it. Otherwise, I mean, what's the difference? If I have to work to get it, it's the same as having to work to keep it. There's no difference. But the point is this, the point is that your salvation is free, but respect is earned. Respect is earned. And look, most people will never get it and they will never understand why they don't have it. And the reason is because it takes a lifetime of living consistently. It takes, I mean, of fighting battles, of showing courage, of showing loyalty, of serving. It takes a lifetime of service. You're like, that sounds hard, it is hard. It is hard. You should ask yourself, do I have credibility? Do I have credibility? Am I building credibility with people? What does my life look like over the last few years? You know, am I doing the things that I say? You know, one thing about the satellite ministry, I will say this. Another thing we were talking about today. You know, Brother Johannes is like, the last two years have gone really fast. That's true. That's true, they have gone very fast. But you know what, it did not come easy. These last two years, or almost two years, have gone like that. But it did not come easy. And you know what? I'm glad. I'm glad that it didn't come easy. Because if it was just some easy thing that just everybody could do, look, these 40 years of Joshua's serving, they didn't come easy. But it was necessary. It was necessary for him to have that credibility with these people in this time. Because they're going at a very difficult time right now. And who knows where we're going? But we're gonna be doing the things that we're supposed to do. And you know, things might get difficult. I mean, some people may say last year was difficult. But we're gonna go. So we have to have, you know, I have to have this credibility. Look, here's the thing. People don't realize this. But you have a reputation. Whether you like it or not. Whether you like it or not, you have a reputation. You're like, I don't want a reputation. You have one, sorry. You have a reputation. Look at Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 11. Everyone has one. Everyone has one. Proverbs chapter 20 verse 11, the Bible says this. It says, even a child is known by his doings. Whether his work be pure or whether it be right. This doesn't say a child is known by his doings. It says, it means everybody is known by what they do. Even a child. You are known by what you do. That is what your reputation is. You know, I mean, you're like, man, my wife and children, they just have to obey me. That's true. That's what the Bible says. But it's much better to lead in situations where people look at you and they say, you know what, we'll follow you wherever you go. Because you have that credibility. And you have that respect and you have that reputation. So look, it's just, it just doesn't come easy. It doesn't come fast. It's hard. Joshua built it over, you know, four decades. It's crazy to even think about that. That he served for so long in every single capacity that, you know, that Moses needed him to serve. Whether it be camping out and guarding the tabernacle or actually fighting a war. He was there to serve and he was consistent. And look, that's what it takes, folks. That's what it takes to gain credibility. You're like, you know what, I don't have credibility. Maybe it's because your life is showing inconsistency instead of consistency. You know, you have to think about this. It takes time because, look, that's what it takes to get people to say, we will follow you wherever you go. Joshua is a great example of what a leader needs to be and how a credible leader is developed, okay? Joshua chapter one, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.