This sermon emphasizes the importance of surrendering to God, acknowledging brokenness, seeking answers to problems, and recognizing Jesus as the ultimate solution. It delves into the consequences of disobedience, the need for repentance, and the role of believers as ambassadors of Christ to share the message of reconciliation with the world.

Jesus, here I am before you, and I'm broken. I feel like there is not an answer to my problems. I know that you are so much stronger when I'm broken. I know that Jesus, you're the answer to my problems. Jesus, you are the answer, you are the way. You will never let me fall, only you can help me stay. You are the answer, you are the way. You will never let me fall, only you can help me stay. And I am free. It's good to be back with you here this morning. Last weekend I had an opportunity to preach at a retreat. The Lord did an awesome work, taught through the book of 1 Peter. I was tired because I taught five sessions, but it was a blessed time. It was neat to see the power of the Word of God go forth and penetrate the hearts and the lives of the people that were there. I love venues like that because it gives you an opportunity to speak into their lives and to see the immediate effect of God's Word. There was a lot of repentance, a lot of restoration, a lot of healing. God did exceedingly abundantly above all I can expect or ask. It was a privilege to be used by Him. I heard Dan did a wonderful job preaching the Word and bringing the Word. I feel like this morning's message is going to be a compliment to what Dan shared on last week. He shared on 1 Corinthians 10 that the Lord provides a way of escape for those who are tempted, for the believer. Today, the Lord was really impressing upon my heart just a few issues that we're going to find in one verse in the book of Joshua. I really believe the Lord stopped me and said, I want you to emphasize these points. He was highlighting them in my heart and wouldn't really let me move past verse 1 in chapter 7 of Joshua. We're just going to see what the Lord has. I believe that He has a word to speak into our lives. One of the things that I was thinking this morning before I came up to preach was there's a lot of misconceptions about God. The Lord wants us to have a proper view of who He is. The only way that we have a proper view of who He is is when we look into the Word of God through the revelation of Jesus Christ, who became the express image of God. This morning, I was just praying that if you've walked in here or you've come and sit down here in this place, and you have a conception of who God is, that the Lord would take that and that He'd fashion and form that concept into a true revelation of who He is. We've been praying for you this morning at a prayer service. I'm just asking that God would heal as well. I know there's many people that are hurting physically, emotionally, spiritually. I was thinking of that verse this morning where Peter says that times of refreshing might come from being in the presence of the Lord. It really is a blessing that we can be together. We can study the Word of God. We can encourage one another, but really knowing the Word of God has an inherent power, not only to challenge and convict us, but also to change us. With that being said, let's pray and ask the Lord to bless our morning. Father, we thank you once again for this morning. We're so grateful for the provision of the cross. We thank you that Jesus Christ, as God entered into this world, and He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, and that Jesus received our penalty and we've received, Lord, His righteousness. Lord, it doesn't make sense in our human minds, but we can attribute that to the love of God. But as it's said in the book of John, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whomsoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. And so we thank you for such a great Savior who came and revealed in humility what the expectation of the law was, but yet fulfilled it perfectly. And Lord, through that, there's reconciliation between the Father and through us. And so thank you, Lord, again for this time that we can look into your Word, and I pray that we can learn from the examples that are found in the Old Testament. Lord, as we've been studying through the book of Joshua, Lord, we're asking, Father, by faith, that you would open up our eyes and give us greater clarity to who you are, how you work in the midst of your people, that we can respond in obedience and experience the abundant life that's provided through the person of Jesus Christ. Lord, we know you want to take us deeper. And so, Lord, here's our hearts. Take it from us. We don't have anything else to give to you but our lives and our hearts, Lord. And ask that you would use us for your glory. And so instruct us, encourage us, challenge us, change us, Lord, during this time for your glory and for the good of your people, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You know what? I forgot one thing. Where's Lori? Was that Lori? Come on, Lori. I told Lori I wanted her to share real quick before we got into the Word, and I totally forgot, but she was sharing with me, and I asked if she would share just a few minutes. So come on up. You were hoping I was going to forget, huh? You hear that sigh? That was Lori. But it was just a blessing to hear the testimony that she was sharing a day ago, and I wanted the body to be blessed as well. You know, just sharing that with you. You can sit in my chair if you want. Hello, everyone. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Lori Ibarra, and that's my husband, Joe. We've been blessed to have this be our church home since a little over a year, since Thanksgiving last year, the year before. But my mom, Jean, has been in a nursing home for about a little over two years. She came to live with me. I only had her for maybe six months in the home, and then she actually went into a nursing home. And she battled a lot of things, and I'm actually... Well, I know why God kept her with me so long. But even though you're prepared and you have that time with her, you know, my life basically focused on caring for my elderly mother, even though she was in a nursing home. You're still not prepared, you know, when it actually happens. And she passed on January 5th. We thought we had a week, but, you know, the Lord and His mercy took her very quickly, so she didn't suffer in the very end. And when that happens, you just go into a shutdown mode, you know, especially when it's someone that close to you. And I'm sure those of you that have experienced know what I'm talking about. You almost don't function. You don't know what to do. But some of the ladies at the church here found out, because I certainly wasn't making any calls. And they missed me and started inquiring. And I just have to tell you, the love of this fellowship. Literally, I couldn't function for a week. Then came the chaos with family from all over, coming in to visit and staying at the house, and you're trying to accommodate. So God in His wisdom allows you to become so busy and overworked that you don't think about things, you just function. But a couple of ladies, my dear friend Kathleen and Cindy and some of the others, said, you know, you don't worry about a thing. We're going to... First of all, it came out in the email from the church. And the prayer, I can't tell you how much that supported us. That is what got me through, and our family through this. But the whole reception was at my house. And from what I understand from Tom, we had over 100 people there. I didn't even realize that's how many people we had there. But I didn't have to plan a thing. The food was taken care of. Tables and chairs. Tom, Jack, they show up at my house with tables and chairs and everything. I didn't even know what my house would look like when we got back from the reception. And I can't thank you all from the bottom of my heart how much this meant to me, because I could not have done it on my own strength. And just to give you an idea, Joe looked at me during, I think it was probably the first week, and he said, well, honey, what do you have planned for today? I said, well, just to get through the first half hour. And you can ask me again the next half hour. And maybe I can give you an answer, but there's no guarantees. So this is how much it meant to me. And I just wanted to share with Pastor that this touched my family from out of state, my sister. A lot of them have the head knowledge, but they don't have it here. And they could not believe the love. Like, who are these people? And I did not have to do a thing for the reception. The food was provided, tables set up. Several of the ladies stayed throughout the whole time, making sure that there was always food and cleanup. And the next thing I know, the house is cleaned up. And it spoke volumes. They saw the love of Christ evident in our home. And I know it made a lot of them really consider where they're at with their walk. So again, from the bottom of my heart, just thank you for all your prayers, for all of you that participated. And a special thanks, Jack and Tom. Couldn't have done it without you guys just being the labor and bringing the chairs and tables, Kathleen, Vicki, Cindy. And for the food. And I hope this is okay. Personal thanks, Darlene and Paul. Loretta, Malcolm, thank you. Haley and Jim. Art and Adele. Cindy, Art, Jocelyn. You know, Vicki, Mike. Julie and Dawn. Annie, thank you so much. And Deborah and Bob. Again, we love you guys. And your love showed. And it expressed it to my family. And I can't thank you enough. You guys all lost your rewards right now. Good job, Lauren. I'm just kidding. I'm sure the Lord will still reward you for those. All right. Joshua chapter 7. We're going to cover a lot of ground this morning. One verse. Like I said, the Lord was really impressing on my heart. You know, a few specific principles and issues that I believe will be relevant and pertinent for each one of our lives. I know it was touched. It seemed like the Lord continued to reiterate those truths in my heart over the course of this last week. You know, if you're taking notes this morning, I titled my message, The Destructive Effect of Disobedience. And as we proceed in our study of the book of Joshua, I want to take some time over the course of these next few weeks, not just this morning, but over the course of the next few weeks to consider the vulnerabilities that God's people face on the wake of a great victory. It's been said that the mountain tops of triumph often pave the way for the valleys of defeat. And this morning, we're going to discover the truthfulness of this statement as we study the unfolding of this historical account as it's captured in Joshua chapter 7. And just for a quick reminder, at this point in Israel's conquest of the land of Canaan, the children of Israel have once again experienced the faithfulness of God in their defeat of the city of Jericho. And we spent quite a few weeks talking about this engagement of the children of Israel on this military campaign as they had crossed from the east side of the Jordan to the west side of the Jordan. They were encamped in Gilgal, about two kilometers or two miles away from the city of Jericho. And it was the first stronghold that they would face. And the Lord gave them very specific instructions to follow in that He ensured their victory if they were to follow those instructions. And as they did follow the instructions of the Lord through Joshua, God once again, He revealed His faithfulness to the nation of Israel. And if you recall prior to this engagement of this fortified city, the Lord had provided Joshua with this detailed plan that ensured their victory over their experienced enemies. And what we discovered a few weeks back, as long as Israel was walking in obedience to the Lord's instructions, they were guaranteed a successful campaign. The Lord told them if they walked in obedience to the Word of God and to the instructions of Joshua and didn't deviate to the left or to the right, then every place that they went they would have a successful campaign. God had promised that to Joshua from the very beginning. He said, Joshua, make sure when you go into the land don't turn to the right hand or to the left, but obey the commandments and obey me. And every single place that you go I've already given you that land. And so we took that and applied it to the Christian life or the believer's life. And we explained that really the land of Canaan, the promised land that God had given to them by covenant is a picture of the abundant life of the believer. That yes, we've walked through the Red Sea in a figurative sense and we've experienced salvation, but the Lord wants to take us to greater depths in our relationship with Him. To experience the Spirit-filled and the abundant life of the believer. And the Lord had brought them into the land of Canaan, a land overflowing with milk and honey after they had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. And the reason they were unable to inherit the land in the beginning was because of their disobedience and their unbelief. And so the Lord was in the process of nurturing in His people an implicit faith and a trust in Him so that as they walked by faith in His promises, and really there's so much application for you and I in that as well. Because as we open the Word of God and we read the promises of God, we know that all of the promises of God are yes and amen to the glory of God the Father through us. And so the Lord promises us things and He wants us to walk by faith in these promises. And as He's faithful to fulfill His promises in our life, people look at our lives and realize that we're in relationship with this covenant God who promises and so it really is comforting as we as believers are walking with the Lord according to faith and not by sight to also experience the faithfulness that the nation of Israel experienced as they were entering into the promised land of Canaan and they continued on this campaign. Well, as I reiterated over and over again, this time was extremely important because it was during this season the Lord was nurturing in His people this implicit faith to walk by faith and not by sight. And really it wasn't too much to ask because the Lord had given them this undeniable proof that He was always true to His word. And up to this point in their national history, God had unquestionably proven Himself faithful to His people. And so I want you to think back with me a few chapters and a few books in the Bible and let's meditate for a moment on the ways that the Lord had proved or shown His faithfulness to the nation of Israel. Well, number one, the liberation of His people from the bondage in Egypt. They were giving their strong hand to Pharaoh. They were crying out to God. And so the Lord sent a deliverer, Moses, to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt and again across the Red Sea. They had seen the Lord's faithfulness and His deliverance through the Red Sea, His provision and His protection while they were wandering in the wilderness. Their passage on dry ground through the Jordan River as the Lord had said, and their triumph at Jericho over their enemies in a seemingly impenetrable fortress. And so time and time again, the Lord wanted His people to foster a deeper trust in the hearts of His people. God wanted His people to trust Him and that really to be a response of His unfailing faithfulness. And I've shared it before and I'll share it again that really our present confidence is based upon the Lord's past faithfulness. As the Lord had been faithful in the past, the Lord was faithful in the present and He would continue to be faithful in the future. And the Lord simply wanted His children to walk by faith and not by sight. In that design. Let me try and illustrate this for you. Imagine as a spouse, you walked up to the altar on your marriage date and your spouse, and I know I can't use any of you guys as an example, from the moment they said, I do, 40 years in a relationship were faithful to every single promise that they had spoken to you. Imagine if your wife or your husband for 40 years, every time they promised you something, I'm going to do this or I'm going to take you here or I'm going to get you this. They were 100% faithful every single time they promised you something. Wouldn't that be a basis for you to continue to trust them in the future? So they came to you and they said, hey, you know what? Tonight, babe, I want to take you out to dinner. And so I want you to go get dressed and I want you to put on nice clothes because I'm taking you to a nice restaurant. And this is after 40 years of marriage. She goes, I don't believe you. What do you mean you don't believe me? I'm taking you out on a date. For 40 years, have I ever been unfaithful to you? Well, no. Well, go get dressed so I can take you out on a date. Well, I just don't believe you. I don't believe that you're going to take me out on a date. Imagine what that would do to my heart. Babe, I've been so faithful to you for 40, we haven't been married for 40, I'm not even 40 years old, so I can't use myself as an example. And I haven't been faithful to every single one of my promises, either. But for illustration's sake. And so you would think that if a spouse had been faithful for 40 years, everything that they had promised, everything that they had said, every vacation they said they were going to take their spouse on, they were faithful 100% of the time, that their faithfulness in the past would really be the grounds of their present trust and would really be the basis of their relationship. And that's exactly what God wanted with His people. For 40 years He had been faithful time and time and time and time again. And so the Lord was simply saying, I want you to trust Me. I want you to believe that you're in covenant relationship with Me. And I can't lie. And everything that I promised you, everything that I speak to you, I will be faithful to perform 100% of the time. It wouldn't be asking too much to ask the nation of Israel to trust the Lord. Because the Lord would often refer to the nation of Israel as His wife. And He would often share with them, listen, I've been faithful to you in the past. Remember, recall, revisit those times so that I can stir in you this inspiration in this present time to continue to trust and walk with Me. Because remember, as we've shared again, that without faith it's impossible to please God. For those who come to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek after. God wanted to bless the nation of Israel. But the only thing that would keep them from walking in His blessing was their disobedience. And so again, as we've seen the Lord faithful here at Jericho, the reason that I've titled my message The Destructive Effects of Disobedience is because we're going to find as we pick up in chapter 7 verse 1 what the effects of sin and disobedience, the repercussions of that within the midst of God's people. Now I want you to envision yourself as a part of the nation of Israel. Imagine the enthusiasm that was sweeping through the ranks of Israel. No doubt everyone was celebrating this supernatural deliverance that God had performed on their behalf. But what we're going to find this morning is that in the shadows during this glorious and bright time in Israel's history, outside of the human scope of awareness, there was some devious behavior that would, number one, become a stumbling block for the entire nation of Israel. But number two, this behavior would compromise the success of their future campaign. This story has been brought up a couple of times and I don't know if Dan shared it last week, but there's a story found in the book of Numbers. And there in the book of Numbers is a nation of Israel and he saw the nation of Israel and there was a great number of the children of Israel. God was multiplying them. And as they go into the promised land they would have a great number of people that were amongst the nation of Israel and those who had died off would be repopulated. And the king of Moab, he saw the nation of Israel and he was fearful, he was afraid. He had heard the reports of how God was moving and working on their behalf. And he said to Balak, and the king of Moab, he saw the children of Israel and he was fearful. And so he said, I want to hire the service of this prophet to come and to look down upon the nation of Israel and I want you to curse them, Balak. And so Balak, we find, was a greedy prophet and he was willing to go and do that. To take the money of the king and to curse the nation of Israel. But every single time you imagine, you're waiting to get this, you're cashing in, to just pronounce a cursing on these people and every single time he'd get up to pronounce this curse blessings would proceed forth. And the reason he was unable to curse them is because God's blessing and favor was upon the nation of Israel. But, Balak told, or Balaam told Balak, hey, we can't curse them but you know what you can do? You can send some women into their camp and permit fornication and you can bring them into their camp and have them intermingle with these women and instead of cursing them from without, they're going to be cursed from within. The nation of Israel, I promised that they would walk according to God's covenant. And so the only way that they would be cursed is if they were cursed from the inside out. And so this prophet told Balak, he said all you need to do is send some women into the camp of Israel and cause them to intermingle with the men there. They're going to enter into sexual immorality and then there's going to be punishment. And we see that 23, over 23,000 people fell in the camp of Israel that day because of the fornication. And so we do find that although the Lord's blessing was upon the nation of Israel, there was some stipulation, there was some contingencies that the nation of Israel was required to walk with God according to His covenant by faith. And that would ensure their blessings over them. And so we see in chapter 7 as we pick up in verse 1 a similar thing happening. That in the shadows there was this devious behavior that would end up becoming a stumbling block for the nation of Israel and would compromise the success of their future campaign. Remember the Lord had made it very clear upon the outset of their mission that their success in the land was contingent upon their submission to God. And what we're going to find is that they couldn't proceed because the children of Israel committed a trespass or transgression. The word that's used here is a willful act of disobedience regarding the accursed things for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah took of the accursed things so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel. This is the first time that we see these types of words in the book of Joshua. The word wasn't yet known to the children of Israel. They were probably really self-confident. They just experienced this tremendous victory. They're rejoicing, they're celebrating. They were probably pretty confident God's with us, God delivered this city into our hands. He's done everything that he's promised that he was going to do and you can imagine the enthusiasm, the excitement, the celebration that was occurring for what he was doing. The Lord's displeasure was burning against the children of Israel because God had explicitly warned them and we saw this a few weeks ago that the nation of Israel was not to take anything from the city of Jericho because there would be serious consequences. And I shared with you a few weeks ago how the Lord doesn't want us to take souvenirs from the world. He had told the nation of Israel don't be defiled with the things of the land. Stay away from their idols, stay away from their religion because the reason that they're being judged is because of their behavior. So I want you to be distinct and I want you to be separate. The Lord had said do not touch the accursed things, the things that there was a warning over because if you do then there are going to be severe consequences. So the Lord had explicitly warned this. Now, with this being the case I want you to take a moment and we're going to take a moment for the remainder of the morning to understand these instructive warnings. You know, my dad came over my house the other day and when Andre and I drove into the driveway this huge rat ran up our window sill on the outside of my house. And so I called my dad and said, hey dad, can you come over and set a trap for these rats? Andre was freaking out, my boys were excited. And so he came over but he didn't want to get the rat traps because they'd snap on their finger and that wouldn't be good. So he decided to get rat poison and put that out in our front yard. But on the box when he brought it over there was a big red warning sign and it says that it could cause death if you eat rat poison which the majority of people would know that. Don't eat rat poison. But they still have to put the warning on the box. And as I was looking at that warning on the box I couldn't help but think of the warnings that God gave to his children. Don't touch these things, because if you do then these are going to be the consequences. These are going to be the repercussions of your actions. And for those who are parents you know what this is like. You have those children that you warn don't do this and what do they do? They do it. But you have to establish those boundaries not because you hate your children but because you love your children. You want the highest welfare for your children and so you tell them don't stick your finger in light sockets which Micah was doing the other day. Don't put your hand in the fan. Don't walk out in front of cars. And if they continue to do that because you love them because you care about them you have to discipline them. As much as you love them as beautiful as they are as precious as they are in your sight you have to discipline them because you know that disciplining them is preventative in its measures. You don't want them to continue to walk out in the street because if they continue to do that then they are going to be hit by a car and ultimately their life will be taken from them. And so children need to be trained. The nation of Israel needed to be trained. You and I we need to be trained. And so often we look at God and we think that God is this angry God in the sky this judge in the sky who is just looking for any opportunity to condemn us or destroy us but there can be anything further from the truth. The Bible reveals and exposes that God is full of loving kindness and mercy and that was perfectly demonstrated upon the cross of Calvary. That God would send His very own Son to take the penalty that we deserve so that those who simply believe in Him by faith would not perish but have everlasting life. And we often have these misconceptions of God that He is angry and He is so displeased. And He was displeased with the nation of Israel because they knew what they should have been doing and they weren't doing it. And the same thing with you and I as believers. There are times where the Lord is going to chastise us and He is going to discipline us not because He hates us but because He loves us. And the Lord had provided these safeguards and these boundaries to ensure their success and their safety as a people. You know again like a parent disciplining their child you know God had warned them that He was a jealous God and that there would be consequences for their spiritual infidelity. And again the thought that was upon my heart this morning is before I even came up here to the pulpit was I wanted to I wanted to really emphasize the fact that God is not an angry God. That God isn't just looking for any opportunity to destroy you to remove those good things from your life that bring you joy and excitement and happiness. The Lord's chastising hand in our life when He does allow us to go through hardships and trials and to experience brokenness is because He's purging and He's purifying us so that we might move into a deeper relationship with Him. It's motivated out of love. And so if there's nothing else that you get from this sermon this morning the one thing that I sincerely want to emphasize is that God's love was demonstrated upon the cross. He's not angry. The Bible says that the Lord did not come into this world to condemn the world but that through the world He might be saved. And the Lord had expressed the nation of Israel and shown them over and over and over again that He was committed to them that He loved them that He was concerned about their well-being but they continued to transgress they continued to disobey He didn't want the entire nation of Israel to enter into this habitual type of sin that would ultimately render God's judgment upon the nation of Israel which we see happening historically that because they didn't remain in that holy state because they didn't remain consecrated and set apart because they didn't heed the warnings of the Lord that the nation of Israel was judged even to the end that at this point they're cut off from the covenant blessings of God in a sense until they call upon the name of the Lord. He's going to call on them and He's going to fulfill His covenant with the nation of Israel but at this point because they rejected the Messiah they've been cast off the branch and we've been grafted in by faith they can be grafted in by faith but because of their disobedience that was the repercussion. So with that being said Paul wrote this to believers the application for you and I don't be deceived God is not mocked for whatever a person sows shall he reap. So God's government still stands here in this earth and there's a universal government and really what Paul here is writing to the church in Galatia is even though you're under grace and even though you've experienced the salvation of the Lord don't continue in a pattern and a lifestyle of sin and disobedience because there are going to be repercussions there are going to be consequences for your actions there are going to be consequences that are the result of our disobedience and Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5 this is what it says or actually let's turn there quickly and let me read to you keep your finger here and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12 and the writer of Hebrews here in chapter 12 says this therefore we also since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us that we might run this race and be a confident finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before and endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls you have not yet resisted bloodshed striving against sin and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons he says my son do not despise when you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives." And so here the writer of Hebrews is acknowledging that one of the ways we know we've been adopted into the family of God is the chastening hand of God. That God as our Father is looking down upon us and he's wanting to produce in us a greater holiness because the writer of Hebrews would go on to say without holiness we cannot know God. And so in God's grace he extends his grace in a sense to shape us and to form us more into the image of Christ to reflect his holiness that we can experience him to a greater degree. And so when you go through chastening in your life when you when you're being disciplined by God or when you're experiencing discouragement and hardships in your life it's not because God hates you or he doesn't love you but his chastening hand in your life is a proof that he loves you. And the enemy is going to come in and try to turn that around and say no God doesn't love you why would he allow you to go through this? Why would he allow this to happen in your life? The death of a child or to experience financial difficulties or relational brokenness. And this last week at the retreat I was speaking to so many people who were at odds with their parents. There's broken over relationships. And to encourage them, hey listen as you're going through this God doesn't hate you. He isn't displeased with you. The Lord is allowing this in your life to bring you to a place as he's pruning and he's shaping you and conforming you into the image of his son that you would experience him to a greater degree. The Lord is in the process of removing those things from our life. Jesus himself spoke it in John chapter 15. He says I am the vine you are the branches. And he would go on to share that those trees that want to bear fruit or that he wants to bear fruit he prunes them. And so pruning isn't pleasant when it's happening to you. But the writer of Hebrews would go on and say but it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who've been trained by it. And that is the purpose for the Christians existence. We are to be those who bear fruit to the glory of God. But in order for the Lord to bring forth that fruit and abundance from our lives he has to put us through trials and seasons that prune us and that purge us from those things that inhibit us from moving into a deeper relationship with him. And so it's really key again this morning that we understand when the Lord is chastening us or he's allowing us to go through hardships it's not because he hates us but because he loves us and because we've been adopted into the family of God. Another important reason that God provided these instructive warnings not only was it to prevent his discipline but also the Lord provided these instructive warnings because he had ordained that the holiness of Israel will be a testimony to the surrounding nations. And this point is key. This has been so heavy on my heart over the course of this last week. And the reason being is because this really exposes the heart of God for the nations. The Lord's ultimate desire for the nation of Israel was that he would send them into this foreign land and use them as a light and witness to reach all people with the good news. And so in a sense the Lord was sending his people into the land of Canaan as missionaries. He wanted them to be the lights to these people who were in bondage to immorality and to this debased behavior that would bring God's judgment upon them. And so in his mercy he sends his people into this land and he says I want you to be a witness of me and my character of my attributes my holiness. And as you're walking according to my commandments as you're as you're observing my laws the people are going to see that you're distinct that you're set apart. And it was all in the scope and the intention of evangelism. God wanted these nations to come to know him. And you're thinking well Brent a few weeks ago you told us that the behavior that they were engaged in was you couldn't even speak about it. And it was so debased that you wouldn't even talk about it in service. And that's true. But even as Paul says where grace where sin abounds grace abounds so much more. And so we see here the heart of God for the nations. The Lord yes he wanted to choose a people for himself that he'd bring forth the Messiah and that he'd use them as an example and a light to the rest of the world. But he wanted everyone else to experience this as well. And that's why God made provision in the law for those who would convert to Judaism. Because God's heart was that everyone would come to a knowledge of who he was. And so we look at this example here in the Old Testament and really it's a foreshadowing of God's heart in the future. That the Lord would send his son Jesus Christ into this world as the light of the world. That he would show the world his love. And that those who call upon him as they're indwelled by the Holy Spirit and they're born again then God would send them into the world to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who don't know him. And so we see here God's plan in his heart for the nations. That even to those who you would think were undeserving of God's mercy, the Lord was truly and sincerely being merciful in sending his people into this land. He wanted them to shine their lights in the midst of this foreign and this dark land to bear witness of his name. So in a sense they were missionaries. And in the book of Deuteronomy Moses he touches on this when he says therefore be careful to observe all the things that I have commanded for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there that has God so near to it as the Lord our God to us? And so God wanted them to be these living advertisements to the unbelieving world. Listen to how Peter embraces this idea and applies it to the life of a believer. He says but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who has called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Why do we exist as believers today? So that we can go into this world and we could proclaim the praises of him who's called us out of our depravity, who's called us out of the darkness which was deserving of death, eternal separation from God. And he's called us out of that position and he's brought us into a position where now we're in favor with God. And we're to go into this unbelieving world and to share with them the good news of Jesus Christ and what he's done. And so Peter here is saying listen you're a chosen generation. I want you to begin acting in line with that which you profess. Stop being hypocrites. Stop being those who are saying one thing and doing another. I don't want you to simply abide in the religious system and to perform religious behavior. What I want from you is a relationship. And that relationship would be a reflection to this world and others would be gathered into the kingdom of heaven through our testimony and the reflection of God's love through us. As we shared this morning with Lori, that her family members who didn't know Jesus saw the love of Christ through the body of Christ and they were impacted. And that's exactly what the Lord had said. So let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. And so for the believers that are sitting here today, God has called us out of darkness and he's called us into his light to send us into this world like he had sent the nation of Israel into the land of Canaan to be a light and example to them and the surrounding nations. That the unbelieving world would see the wisdom. They would see the power of God working in our lives. And that they would respond in submitting themselves to the Lord and experiencing salvation. That is God's plan. And if you're a believer sitting here today, that is the reason that you exist. Everywhere that the Lord takes you in this life is to this end that you might evangelize and share the gospel of Jesus Christ and to see the kingdom of heaven extended through your ministry. And it's amazing that God would allow us to participate in that. It doesn't matter where you are. If you're at McDonald's or the gas station or the supermarket. God sends us into this world to bear fruit to the glory of his name. That people would look at our lives and they would respond and say I want what you have. The inhabitants of Canaan are walking in utter darkness spiritually and morally. And Israel was sent into the land as a beacon of hope and light to a lost people. Now I want you to assimilate this thought and compare it to the commission of the born-again believer. Turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. We covered this on Wednesday in our midweek Bible studies. It was amazing as we were discussing the implications of the words of Paul as he was writing to the church in Corinth. And I know there's a few times as we were talking we were just overwhelmed by God's goodness and rejoicing in the benefits that we've received in Christ. And how we once being a people that were completely excluded from the promises of God and under the cloud of condemnation have been brought into a hundred percent inclusion of God's promises being called heirs and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. And everything that we deserve Jesus himself took upon himself on the cross and everything that we didn't deserve he gave to us. And Paul is just, he's overwhelmed by the depth and the profundity of his thought. And this is what he says as we pick up in verse 16. He says therefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh even though we have known Christ according to the flesh yet now we know him if that's no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a brand new creation all things have passed away and behold all things have become new. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors or esteemed diplomats for Christ as though God were pleading through us we implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God for he made him who knew no sin be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. This is the ministry that the believer has received. Jesus Christ has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. That man can walk in favor with God through the sacrifice and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died on our behalf he became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him and the Lord says now I want my children to go forth into this world and be my ambassadors just like God had called the nation of Israel to go into the land of Canaan and to be his ambassadors. The Lord has called the believer into this world to be his ambassador and he said you know what I want you to do as though God were pleading through us be reconciled to God. I mean those are strong words. When we see our president bowing to another you know sovereign of a different nation and we think why are you doing that? That's undignified right? We would say but God sends us into this world as his esteemed diplomats as a representative of heaven and he says I want you to plead with this world to be reconciled to God. I want you to beg the world to be reconciled to God because God knows the result of the rejection of Christ. He knows the punishment and the consequence for rejecting the provision that's been made for us because of our sins because of our our wickedness and he took upon himself that penalty so that we might experience life in him not just now but in that which is to come as well eternal life and God says I want you as my children to go into this world and to be my ambassador and I ask you this morning are you an ambassador for Jesus right now? Does your life reflect the commission that we've been given to go into this world and to recognize wherever you go you're called as a missionary to reach that place with the light of Jesus Christ that others would come to know him as his Lord and Savior. I mean when you think of the implications of our calling and the inheritance that we've received in Christ a gift that's been given to us freely and the Lord says freely you've received now freely give. The problem is at times is we don't understand how much we've received in Christ therefore we're scared to share with others. Hey if someone bought you a brand-new Bentley today they pulled up and they said hey this is your car threw you the keys you'd be cruising in talking to all your friends oh you see that car out that's mine look at that it's mine it's all mine it was given to me it was free it was a gift there would be no inhibition and you're sharing that gift that you've received but why is there so much when God says you've received God you've received God Christ in you the hope of glory and yet we're so scared to share the gospel of Jesus Christ I believe the Lord is impressing upon our hearts today he wants us to walk worthy of the calling by which we've been called he's called us and now he's commissioned us to go into this world and to be ambassadors on his behalf to represent the kingdom of heaven in our behavior in our conduct that's why the nation of Israel was called to be set apart and distinct from the world the Lord wanted them to reflect the nature of their father and it's the same thing with the body of Christ but what's amazing is we've been brought into the new covenant what man couldn't perform in his own efforts God has performed on his behalf and he said I know you can't do it by yourself therefore I'm going to give you the help of the Holy Spirit that will empower you and take you into this world to be a witness an example of me I know you can't do it but here's my spirit ask me for my spirit ask me to empower you to enable you find yourself in the word communing with me so that you would bear more fruit and more people will be affected and drawn into the kingdom of heaven that's what God wants of our lives he wants us to be ambassadors he wants us to be those esteemed diplomats that properly represent our father in heaven the Lord has always desired that his people would properly represent him to the unbelieving world by living at a standard that equals their position and my question this morning just for believers is this I don't expect anything from non-believers for a believer today my question to you is this is does your life reflect does your life reflect your calling that does your conduct reflect your calling as a child and I think it's important that at times we evaluate our lives and ask well I don't know am I is that that's coming from forth for my mouth does that represent the Lord well is that action and it's not that I'm putting some religious trip on you you have to try to obey and perform so that God would grant you favor no it's that God has granted you his favor in his grace therefore walk according to that which the Lord has ordained for us you know we've received such a great salvation who are we to keep it to ourselves and as we've seen here when we're walking in disobedience when we're not walking according to the standard that God has given to us and in the spirit by faith and and connected to the Lord and in communion with him there is going to be repercussions to our actions but rather than experiencing the disciplining hand of God in our life for those things how about we just surrender and yield to him because he's worthy how about we just respond to him because of what he's done for us the revelation of Christ Oh God thank you so much for what you've done for me you've you've called me out of darkness I was a child of wrath and you've brought me into light so so now I know I can live now and in that time to come and and Lord I just want to I want to share that with others I want others to experience that as well family members friends I want them to know your love Lord and to surrender yourselves and to really say Lord use me in this man real quickly another or the third reason that the Lord had given the nation of Israel these instructive warnings was because he knew that their disobedience would result in their defilement remember God had exclusively chosen the nation of Israel through which the Messiah would be born therefore the Lord sought to maintain the purity of his people not only to preserve the line of the Messiah that would actually come through the line of Judah but also to prepare the people for his company coming you know when we choose to walk in disobedient disobedience the result is a desensitized desensitization in our lives and our hearts it's called a hardening of our hearts and so the Lord knew that as they if they continue to walk in disobedience that it would produce a defilement not only in the entire nation of Israel but in their lives personally so that when the Messiah did come they weren't even aware of his coming those whom God had committed the scriptures to when he came he spoke to them and said you search the scriptures because in them you think that they give you life but these are which testify of me and you're unwilling to come to me that you might experience life they had completely missed it why because they weren't staying close to the Lord and God knew that he saw the future and if his people continue to walk in disobedience which they did they weren't even ready for his coming for his first advent I mean even to the point that they crucified him his own people and so it's important that we heed these warnings because just as the nation of Israel missed the first coming of Jesus I'm afraid that we as the church could become so just desensitized by the things in this world we come become married to the world that we're gonna miss the second coming of Jesus and the Lord spoke about that in many parables that we need be prepared and ready occupying today now choosing to serve him and follow him now because he has a plan for our lives and for his bride not just in this life but also in that which is to come and so I'm grateful that the Lord as our Heavenly Father has given us these instructive warnings and as it says in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 it's for our admonition these things happen to them and so we can learn from their example and so father this morning as we have considered Lord these three principles and the reason that you gave these instructive warnings was because you didn't want to have to discipline your children you would have rather that they walked in obedience from the beginning but Lord because you love them you're willing to chastise them and discipline them or to purge them of the things that would inhibit them from walking in a deeper relationship with you and that was motivated by your love Lord and also you had given them these instructive warnings because you wanted their holiness and Lord their consecration to you to be a reflection of your light to the world to bear the name of God to the unbelieving world Lord and I'm praying that this morning as we've considered this truth and and this really was the heaviest upon my heart Lord Lord that as we would go into this world if we know Jesus that that we would be those ambassadors those esteemed diplomats confident in our position in you taking the message of Christ to this world the reality that you who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him that we can participate and partner in with you in this wonderful plan of redemption would use us as those vessels Lord and also because you knew that their disobedience would create a defilement and although the Christ has come through the line of Judah which is interesting because the sin occurred or the Achan who was in the tribe of Judah so we see the enemy even working behind scenes to inhibit the Christ from coming so also we know Lord right now as you prepare for the second advent of Jesus we want to be ready we want to be watching and waiting or to cast off the old things the old life and to put on Christ and to walk in a manner that's worthy of your name Lord empower us to do so and I pray if there's anyone here this morning that doesn't know you as a Lord and Savior that that the words of Paul the Apostle in the book of Romans that you were delivered up for our offenses that were sinners and that we needed an atonement but you are raised for our justification thank you for that promise and that if we call upon the name of the Lord that we will be saved with our mouth confession is made in their hearts believing or to redemption and justification thank you Lord for that promise if there's anyone here this morning that doesn't know Jesus I mean the Lord has written clearly the consequences of rejecting the son but he's not willing that in you should perish but that all should come to repentance to turn to him and to acknowledge that you need a Savior God I need a Savior I need you to come into my life to heal me I want to live my life for you now because of what you've given on my behalf or your son your most prized possession demonstrates your love and that you'd simply respond to his love and say Jesus I want you to come into my life into my heart and the Word of God says that those who put their trust in the Lord will not be put to shame but if a believers that are maybe sitting in here that have been sitting on the fence that haven't been a witness that haven't been a proper representative of you or that they would repent in their hearts that they would return to you Lord and ask you for forgiveness that you would empower them by your spirit and send them into this world to bear the name of Christ we pray that many will come to know you in these last days don't pour out your spirit we ask through us we want to represent you well you receive the reward of your suffering we love you we commit this morning to your head in Jesus name Oh never let me fall you can help me you are the answer the way you will never let me fall you can help me Oh you are the answer you are the way you will never let me fall only you can help me say you are the answer you are the way you will never let me fall only you can help me say that I'm free