In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of going back to the book of God to be reminded of what He has done. He highlights the faith and trust in God that the priests displayed when they stepped into the Jordan River, which resulted in God's intervention. The speaker also mentions the significance of worship and being gathered around the word of God as essential elements for moving forward in conquest. Additionally, the speaker emphasizes the need to keep our eyes on the Lord during times of trial and testing, rather than focusing on the problem at hand.

Thank you for praying for the safe arrival of my dear wife. We were chatting with Dan Richards in this afternoon, and he says there aren't any roads, the kind of which my wife discussed here in Florida, so neither one of us knows how she got here, but she is here, and we're delighted, and thank you for praying. We did better than we did for our 25th wedding anniversary. I was off in a meeting somewhere while she was in Birmingham. That's how we celebrated that one, so we're glad to celebrate our 35th Valentine's Day together. Today, that's a lot better. All right, we're glad you're here. Tonight, the study of the Word. Let's bow again and ask the Lord to bless you. Father, in the name of Christ, minister thy Word to us as we have need tonight. Let us know our hearts, our needs specifically. O Lord God, our Father, meet those needs through thy Word we pray, in Christ's name, amen. As we began our study of the book of Joshua last night together, we saw the secret of success. Faith, obedience, and then success. By God's grace, we trust him for grace to obey him, and then God promises good success. We saw the preparation of the leader, Joshua, last night together. The man of God that God put his hand upon to lead the children of Israel across Jordan to conquer the land of promise. We saw possessing our possessions, the great emphasis of this book. For Israel in that day, it was the land of promise. For us today, the language of Ephesians, we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Beginning with verse 10 of this first chapter, we saw along with the preparation of the leader, the preparation of the people, and we want to continue that theme tonight through chapter five. Lord willing, Joshua is preparing the people, and first by his own example. Prepare you vittles for going across Jordan in three days. You men from the east side of Jordan, keep your word, keep your promise, leave your families there, come with us across Jordan, and as we conquer together, then you may return to your families. And they said, Joshua, whatever you say we'll do. He asked just one thing of you. As God was with Moses, we want the same evidence that God's hand is upon you. In chapter two, we see the wonderful encouragement to faith as we further see the preparation of the people for this great conquest of Canaan. A familiar story, you remember? Rahab and the spies. Joshua, the son of Nun, sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go of you the land, even Jericho. And they went and came into an harlot's house named Rahab, and lodged there. Remember back in the book of Numbers, it was not the will of God to send spies into Canaan. Here, God's strategy changes, and with God's blessing, Joshua sends spies into the land. So, let's not straightjacket the Lord in his ways of working. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country. Here's the mission of the spies. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who are come to thee, who are entered into thine house, for they have come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men and hid them, and said thus, Why, there came men unto me, but I knew not from where they were. It came to pass about the time of shutting the gate, when it was dark that the men went out. Where the men went I know not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to the Jordan unto the fords. And as soon as they were pursued after them, they were gone out, they shut the gates. Yes, Rahab lied, and the Lord never approves of her lying. James is another brother, it is said. James says that Rahab was justified by her works, but not by her words. Here was a woman out of the depths of sin. Here was a woman who was used to this kind of thing. Here is a woman, as we shall now see, whose life has been changed. But she had some growing in grace to do, as our New Testament tells us. No, God does not approve her deceit on this occasion. And before they were laid down, verse 8, she came up unto these spies upon the roof, and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land. Notice her language. I know that the Lord, Jehovah, hath given you the land. We're talking about the preparation, the encouragement that comes, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. The spies are getting the message, just exactly what they wanted to learn. For we have heard how the Lord, Jehovah, dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when ye came out of Egypt, and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan. We heard about that, too, about Sion and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. We've had that report. And as soon as we have heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. For Jehovah your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. What's that? Sounds like a converted woman, doesn't it? And, indeed, she is. You remember Hebrews, chapter 11, by faith? Rahab. Here she is giving a great affirmation of her faith in Jehovah. Now, therefore, as they make a covenant together, she asks, I pray you, swear by me, unto me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token, and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death, and the men in fire. Verse 18. Behold, when we come into the land, say the spies to Rahab, Thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window by which thou didst let us down, and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home unto thee. Hear the report as the chapter closes, 23 and 24. So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that we tell them. And they said unto Joshua, Notice, truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us. What encouragement to the children of Israel! Jehovah is working on both ends. He is working in the land. He's melted their hearts. They're terrified. That's precisely the report of Rahab the harlot. What encouragement to Israel to know that God has already been at work, God already preparing the land for conquest as the children of Israel cross Jordan, and enter that land of promise. Isn't it always exciting when God works at both ends? Hmm? Years ago at Southeastern Bible College, they tell me that they needed a piano teacher, and so on a given Thursday night, the trustees met in my office, and they had a prayer meeting for a piano teacher. And the next morning, a younger lady who's been with us now 27 or 28 years, Miss Helen Wright, walked in and said, God told me to come up here and apply for a job as instructor in piano. She'd been teaching at the conservatory there in Birmingham. She was dissatisfied with her context. She wanted to serve God in her teaching of piano, and God brought the two together. So simple, so beautiful that God works at both ends to get his work accomplished. Eh? Thrilling to see the hands of God at work. Here is Rahab, a harlot. Tell me, why did the Lord choose a harlot? Grace. Tell me, why did the Lord choose you? Grace. Can I add my name quickly? Grace. Rahab was justified by grace. Eh? Romans 3, justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Rahab was justified by blood. Do you remember the scarlet print? Through the centuries of time, God's faithful servants have preached the precious blood of Jesus Christ from this text. Beautiful type, a beautiful symbol of the Savior who shed his blood on the cross of Calvary for our sins. She was justified by faith. Hebrews 11. The faith at work. James chapter 2 was real, as we saw her great affirmation here of confidence in good hope. Is there somebody here tonight not a Christian? Our chapter says that God will save harlots. Isn't that wonderful? If you say, I'm not a harlot, thank God for whatever your sin, God's grace is sufficient for you tonight, and he'll save you exactly the same way he saved Rahab by grace, by his blood, by faith. He'll change your life and make you a new creature in Christ, declare you righteous in his sight, all by his wonderful grace. And to put the icing on the cake, we don't have time to turn to Matthew chapter 1, but you'll find Rahab's name in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. God marvels grace. Last summer, I was down in South Louisiana. On Saturday afternoon, they had a wedding under a tree on a hot August day, and there was the town harlot. Small community, everybody knew it. Also, the town drunk in the same person. Wicked, wicked woman, notoriously so. A child there by one man somewhere along the line, then married five times along with her harlotry. That afternoon, she was being married to a gentleman just out of prison three days who had been saved in prison, and the town harlot had been saved. The pastor of the church would not marry them because of their background. She there stood there, justice of the peace, pronounced them husband and wife, but there a Christian wife and a Christian husband. The night before she was in church, the night before she was under the word of God, the night before she was rejoicing in the word there as we taught the word, as we speak through here this week. Her sister who lived across the street wouldn't come to the wedding. The reason? The influence the town harlot had on her mother. She had led her mother to Christ. What grace, what grace. Your problem may not be harlotry, but it's sin, and if you have never been saved, I'm glad to tell you tonight that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from what? Oh, sin. Whatever be your sin, whatever be your guilt, whatever be your need tonight, God's still in the saving business. By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of words. So, the point of our chapter in terms of the flow of our our book of Joshua is that all the encouragement that comes, the encouragement that God's people as they learn that God is at work on their behalf in preparing the people of the land for conflicts. Now, in chapters three and four, the exercise of faith. You know, we can talk about faith, we can read about faith, we can preach faith, but it's something else to exercise it, isn't it? And that's where we are, is the children of Israel face the same challenge as their predecessors had at the Red Sea. Now, Joshua and God's people are at the brink of the Jordan. They cross over into the promised land. What's the object of the faith, of their faith? As we read through the verses, notice the emphasis upon the ark as we read chapter three, "...and Joshua rose early in the morning, and they removed from Shittim, came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days that the officers went through the host, and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark," notice, "...when ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it to the people," he says, "...follow the ark." The ark symbolized the presence of Jehovah, didn't it? The ark, you remember, made of sycamore, overlaid with gold. Beautiful type of the deity in the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The ark had the mercy seat, didn't it? Where the high priest from the day of atonement went in once a year into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood upon that mercy seat. Speaking of our blessed Lord, so they were to follow the Lord. Verse four, "...yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits." That's about half a mile. They hadn't passed that way heretofore. Verse five, "...and Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." All the spiritual preparation necessary. Sanctify yourselves. Be sure you're ready spiritually for God to work, and you can read the history of revivals. You can put them all in this verse, "...before God moved with great measure in the unsaved God's people first." God writes this down. "...Joshua spoke unto the priests. Now a word to the priests as they prepared to cross Jordan, and said, Take up the ark of the covenant." Notice the centrality of the ark. "...passed over before the people, and they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. Bear the ark, says Joshua to the priests, and the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee." It's important that the leader be recognized as a man of God, as we saw last night together in chapter one. "...and thou shalt command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan." So the priests are prepared there to go forward. Bear the ark, put their feet in the Jordan. "...Now a further word to the people. Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God. Understand the significance of the ark, he saying. Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, his presence that we saw last night together, and that he will without fail his faithfulness we saw last night together. He'll drive out before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into the Jordan. Now, therefore, take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, one out of every tribe, a man we shall be seeing in chapter four, and it shall come to pass as soon as the soles of the feet of the priest who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand in one meeting." What's he been saying for 13 verses? Get your eyes on the Lord. Keep your eyes on the Lord. The number one issue at a time of trial, in a time of testing, in a time of challenge to faith, is to keep your eyes on the Infinite God. Isn't that our problem in the hour of testing? We get our eyes on the testing, don't we? We get our eyes on the problem. I get on an airplane most weekends, off to preach somewhere the word of God, and I come back and my wife meets me at the airport, and usually her first words after, "'Hi, honey, how are you?' The children have been acting like their father again while I've been away, you know, for some testing or some trial at the college, and always have to get my eyes back on my God." You say, "'Lord, your grace is a vision. Lord, you have grace to work it out. Lord, you have wisdom. The ark's symbolic of the presence of Jehovah." Get your eyes on Him. Follow the ark. Bear the ark. Understand the meaning of the ark, as you are now to cross the ocean. "...and it came to pass," verse 14, "'when the people removed from their tents to pass over the Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people. And as they who bore the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for the Jordan overflowed all its banks at time of harvest, so it was in flood stage that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up in one heap very far from the city of Dam, that is, beside Jeratham. And those that came down toward the sea of Ereba, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off, and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests who bore the ark for the covenant of the Lord stood firm,' here's a miracle, "'on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed completely over Jordan. The step of faith, when they put their feet in the water, the water started hiding. There was a priest with the ark in the midst of the Jordan, and that great, great host of the people of Israel crossed Jordan into the land. Now that the memorials to faith in chapter four, it came to pass when all the people were completely passed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe of men, and command you them, saying, Take here out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priest's feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night.' Verse eight continues, And the children of Israel did so, as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spoke unto Joshua according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, two memorials, you see, in the place where the feet of the priest who bore the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there unto this day. A pile of stones at Gilgal on the west side of Jordan, a pile of stones in Jordan. You see, there were times of year when the Jordan would be low enough so the people could witness the pile of stones in the Jordan, as well as those on the west side. What's the point of it all? Verse 21, And he spoke unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us until we were gone over, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty that ye might fear the Lord your God alone, forever. Memorials to God's power, to God's presence, to God's faithfulness in parting the waters of the Jordan. Can't you see the children of Israel? As we shall move through the book, Lord willing, the book of Joshua this together, we'll see that again and again and again the children of Israel, after a battle, after a conquest, came back to Gilgal. They went off for another conquest, came back to Gilgal, and can't you see the encouragement of these stones? Go up there to Jericho, and then come back to Gilgal. There are the stones on the west bank, there are the stones that God who was able to bring us through Jordan, certainly able for Ai, eh? Then they go to Ai, and after due time of conquest, of victory, and come back to Gilgal. There's that pile of stones by the God who was faithful in crossing the Jordan, is able now for the southern campaign, and come back to Gilgal after the southern campaign. Ah, the pile of stones is still there, the power of God that brought us through Jordan. He's able now for the northern campaign, eh? A constant witness and testimony to the power of God, not only as an encouragement to Israel and to their children, as our text says, but that all the earth may know the power of God, the hand of God. But it isn't much. And can't you see a generation later, a dear old granddad living in that area, and there's his grandson? And granddad puts his arm around his boy, and they walk over and see that pile of stones. Granddad said, son, you see those stones? Yes, grandpa. You know what those mean? No, tell me. You won't believe this, son, but when I was about your age, we came across Jordan on dry ground. Jehovah, our God, brought us through on dry ground. He parted the waters of the Red Sea, son, and as the priest there with the ark in the Jordan stood there, and the great host of Israel walked through Jordan, the water just piled higher and higher and higher and higher into the gigantic wall of water. And Jehovah, our God, held that water right there while we all passed through on dry ground. That's our God, son. That's the greatness of our God, son. And he's able for you, Jehovah, to trust him, walk with him, and serve him day by day. And can't you see little Samuel or little Absalom or little Eli or whatever their names were in those days? Just go back and look at that pile again. And again, God brought our parents, God brought our grandparents through on dry ground. Isn't this why we need to go back to the book again and again? Just to be reminded over and over and over what God has done. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is our God today. And the God of Joshua is our God today. And the God who could perform that, that yonder, could solve my problem, meet my need, lift my burden, and lead us forward in our conquest, in our day. Since he's the same yesterday, and today, and how long? Memorial of the power of the faithfulness of our God. We cannot leave these two chapters until we pause to recognize that it was that exercise of faith, and the priests putting their feet into the chores, that resulted in God's heart of faith. And that's how we live by faith. The just shall live by faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. We have a printer at Southeastern Bible College named Bob. Lots of Bobs around. And Bob came to a youth conference several years ago, said, but, again, I want to be a printer. I want to serve God with printing at Southeastern. I said, we have no plans at the moment for printing here at Southeastern. He said, you pray about it. Yes, sir. We prayed for a year. He came back next year to the youth conference. You got that printing going yet? No, sir, but we're thinking about it. Bob, you keep praying about it. Third year, we actually have started. One of our students, an older student who'd been a printer, had gotten started limping along on a small press, just beginning in the early stages. Shortly after he got it started and set up, God called him to a church, and he recommended a brother who hadn't had as much experience, and things were limping along so far, and we were now ready for Bob to come full time. So we got on the phone and said, Bob, we're ready. Come on. Well, he said, my family doesn't want to come. We'll pray about it. So he brings his family to Birmingham. His family looks over the city, family, wife, and children. They drive back home to Illinois and together agree this is the will of God. We're ready to go to Birmingham. Great. Telephone rings. Got a problem. The house won't sell. If the Lord doesn't sell the house by August 1st, we'll understand it's not the will of the Lord to come to Birmingham, he said. Shortly thereafter, he and his pastor had breakfast at 6 a.m. once a week. The pastor said, Bob, how's things going while you're going to Birmingham? Oh, he said, the house is not selling. The pastor said, Bob, I thought you had to put your feet in the water. You asked God to be a printer in Birmingham, a southeastern Bible college. Your family wouldn't go, and now they're ready to go, but now you won't go. Put your feet in the water and get them soaked and head for Birmingham. He accepted the spiritual leadership of his dear overseer, and they packed their goods, and they came to Birmingham. House unsold. So they now have two houses, one in Birmingham and one in Illinois, and the house in Illinois doesn't sell, and it doesn't sell, and we pray, and it doesn't sell. Shortly thereafter, it is rented for $300 a month. He's doing very well by his house in Illinois. In 18 months, the Lord sells the house in Illinois. We have a printer in Birmingham for the special blessing of the Lord through his ministry to our college and other Christian works. Came a time when Bob put his feet in the water, and there's somebody here tonight that needs just that. You got a burden? You want to go forward? You want to move? One step left, getting your feet wet. Lord, we're going. We're trusting you. Let's go. You need that tonight. God would encourage you to get your feet soaked. Say, Lord, your brother Bob really, through these years, I believe God. Go forward. One more chapter. Chapter five. It came to pass when all the kings of the Amorites, who were on the side of the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted. Neither was their spirit in them anymore because of the children of Israel. That preparation continues. That time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make these sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. The first time was way back in Egypt, forty years before. Joshua made him sharp knives, circumcised the children of Israel to heal the poor skins. In verse nine, it explains, the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore, the name of the place is called Tilgal, rolling unto this day. Hear the final touches of preparation before the children of Israel begin to conquer, as we shall be seeing tomorrow night, Lord willing, in chapter six and following. Circumcision. Why make an issue of circumcision? Genesis 17 tells us that circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. The covenant that said the children of Israel were to see the nation before God, whatever his covenant people. And the Abrahamic covenant said that that land through Jordan to which they have now passed, that land is their everlasting possession. And here they are, a people uncircumcised, and verse nine calls that a reproach. The reproach of Egypt. Gifts brought to be rolled away. What in the world is that? Well, here are a people, the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the people of the covenant to whom had been given this land of promise, and they were acting as if that land were not there. They had come out of Egypt circumcised, but the generations that followed, no circumcision over that period of 40 years. This is the second time. They're acting as if they were not God's covenant people, and they are acting as if that land were not their everlasting possession. And they displayed it when they came to Caesarea, did they not? There they were, sending twelve spies in to walk by sight. No, we can't go in. Let's make us a king and go back to Egypt, acting as if that covenant were not theirs, acting as if they were not the people of God, acting as if that land were not their possession. No, we are not able. Let's go back to Egypt, to the onions and the leeks and the garlic. They'd forgotten then. Now, roll the reproach of Egypt away. Live up to your position. Live up to your covenant. Here you are now through Jordan. Here you are with your feet in the land of promise. Be circumcised, for that's your witness that you believe that you are the covenant people of God, and that this land is your everlasting possession. Act now. Give a witness. Today, water baptism. We're not saved by baptism. We're not saved by water. Once we trust to the Savior, we take that step. The witness, as a believer in Jesus Christ, can say to our fellow Christians, can say to the world, Jesus Christ died for me and rose again, and I confess Him to be my Savior. Witness. That was one of the final touches of preparation for entering the land. There's a second one in verses 10 and 11. The children of Israel encompassed in Gilgal. Captain Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month, that evening in the plains of Jericho. Then they did each of the old grain of the land on the next day after the Passover, unleavened cakes and parched grain in the very same day. Passover. That was one of the feasts of Jehovah. Leviticus 23, wasn't it? From witness they moved to worship. 14th day of the month, that blood was applied, wasn't it? Back there on that first occasion, you remember, God looked for blood, didn't He? When I see the blood, I will pass over you. And every year they were to celebrate that Passover as we, on the first day of the week, gathered together and remembered our Lord with that bread that was symbolized as the body given. The cup symbolizing the blood shed for us. We gather together as God's people around the Lord's people, and we remember Him. Another essential in these final hours of preparation for context, witness, worship. Now, in verse 12, the manna ceased on the next day after they had eaten of the old grain of the land. Neither had the children of Israel manna anymore, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. It's marvelous how God timed things so they have the time of the year when the grain was there. For God's provision for His people. What's our food? Our Lord said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall not never thirst. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says that as we look in the mirror of the Word, we are changed from glory unto glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord. Where do I see the Pontifex in the books? Where do I meet Him in the Word? Where is He revealed in the precious pages of this book? I behold my wonderful Lord. Dr. G. Christian White, the back of the Bible, said on our campus this last week in a great, great missionary conference, he said one of the greatest chapters, passages in all the Bible is Luke 24, as our Lord says that there, there in the Torah, there in the law, there in the Psalms, the writing, there in the prophets, all throughout the Old Testament, He explains the things that concern His people. And it's through the Word, beloved, that the Spirit of God leads us to our daily fruit, that which strengthens us, that which has enabled us for conquest. And so, as the Lord puts the finishing touches upon the people of Israel as they are now to move forward in conquest, He says, wait a minute. I want a clear witness. Wait a minute. I want people who've learned to worship. Wait a minute. I want you to be gathered around the Word that speaks of my Lord. Please be sensuous as you go forward. One final word. There's a difference between the crossing of the Red Sea and the crossing of the Jordan. The crossing of the Red Sea, you remember, was a means of the destruction of peril in Israel, symbolic of the world, symbolic of Satan, symbolic of sin. And the crossing of the Red Sea was victory over sin, over Satan, over the world, a glorious triumph over that which is negative. Then the wilderness wandering, you remember, for 38 years. Now the new generation crosses Jordan into the land of the one negative, the other positive, the one separation from, the other separation unto, the one victory over sin, the other victory unto conquest, unto possession, unto entering into all Godhead. There are a lot of God's people, beloved, who are content to be able to say, we've got victory over sin in our lives. We don't stand for this ecumenical movement. We're against the evils of the day, and the cult can take a stand against all its evil, and I stand with you tonight and say, thank God. That's about as far as they go. They just get through the Red Sea, and many of them are wandering, wandering, wandering in the wilderness. Say, there's a whole land of Canaan to conquer. There's a land to be possessed. There are spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, to claim in the name of Christ. There are souls to be saved. There are victories to be won. There are backsliders to be reclaimed into precious fellowship with our wonderful Lord. There are neighbors to minister to, God's people who need a word of encouragement and season. There are defeats in our lives that need total victory. Ah, there's conquest. The Lord hasn't returned. The last sinner has not been converted. I'm still to go preach the gospel to every creature, to make disciples of all nations, to build his church. He sees the positive side to all this. I then am not to be content that I take a stand against what's wrong and against sin, and let us stand there until Jesus Christ comes. Ah, but there are sinners to be saved, a church to be built, to hear the shout of the coming of our wonderful Lord. Tell me, are you involved in a positive witness for Christ? Tell me, are you conquering by the grace of God? Tell me, do you have a ministry by the grace of God to God's people, and a ministry to a lost world needing Christ? Do you pray? Do you pray for your missionaries? Do you give sacrificially for the spread of the gospel around the world? Are you involved in personal witness and testimony? Are you going forward in conquest for Jesus Christ, by his grace and for his glory? Separation from Egypt? Yes, but, as well, separation under King, under the will of God, under the place of blessing, under the place of conquest and victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We move on to that conquest tomorrow night.