Sermon notes from Sunday 23 October 2016
Joshua 4 verses 19 - 24
Here in verse 19 the children of Israel were "encamped in Gilgal". Some say it was a city, a province, a land or an area. It doesn`t matter. What matters is the significance. Is there any significance to that place that would bring blessing and challenge to our hearts? Here we have the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, 39 years wandered about and now they are in the land of Promise. They were in the place God wanted them to be in. They came up and placed their feet in Gilgal. The land of promise. As these people would reflect what were they reflecting on? There are lessons here for us too.
The miracle they had experienced. Gilgal speaks of a place attained by miracle. Much had happened and taken place since they had left Egypt. We need to go back to praying, Holy Ghost praying, that God would take notice. In Egypt Moses was to bring the children of Israel out. God was sending his servant down to bring his children out after 400 years. Sometimes God is never in a hurry to answer our prayers. We have to wait, tarry, hold onto God. These people were praying and pleading for so long. God was hearing all about these people yet 400 years passed before he sent his man down to bring them out. In Kadesh Barnea they had such doubts and fears. They sent spies into the land and the report came back that the walls of the city were too high and they couldn`t take this land. 2 men disagreed with that report saying "if God be with us we can take this land." This was the second generation that had come out of Egypt. The first generation looked at their little ones, cursed God and thought they would suffer in the wilderness yet it was the little ones who were now taking possession of the land of Promise. In Joshua 3 verse 15 we read of the miracle it took to bring them through the Jordan river. Now in chapter 4 it was a few days since they had taken possession of that same land. Can you see something of a miracle in your life in past days? They didn`t use any efforts to get across that river. God had made for them a way to get across. We will never be saved by our own works sitting here in church, it is only through a miracle of God`s grace. God came down and divided those waters just for them. Maybe it will take a miracle in your life? He will use that to speak to you. How could thse people get across this great river? God opened up the way and they passed over the sea to go into the Promised Land. It is a miracle of grace that you and I stand in the land of promise today. It is a miracle of God`s grace that we are here. He gave his life for us. We were destined to be on the way to a lost sinners hell for all eternity. We have nothing to boast of today. Not of ourselves, it is all of God. Salvation is of the Lord. Barabas shared a cell with Christ. By reason of his sin and guilt he should have died on the cross but Jesus took his place. The people wanted Barabas back. He was a notable murderer and thief but it was grace that brought the freedom to him. Gilgal is the land of promise, blessing, a place God promised the children of Israel to bring them to. They were standing here by way of a miracle. Can we speak of that same reality today? Are our feet are standing on the promises of God?
A monument that was set up - verse 20. They took 12 stones out of the bed of Jordan. One stone for every tribe. God wouldn`t forget about anyone. They built them up on the bank of Jordan. All 12 stood together on the other side of the Jordan river. 2 and 1/2 tribes wanted to stay on the side of the Jordan but God said they had to all go into the land of promise to take the land. God brought them in. God wants to bring you into his household today, his family. There was a monument that was set up. There was going to be something left behind. A monument to the goodness and greatness of God`s power. They left something behind that would tell of God`s redemption. Do you leave something behind you that speaks about God? Do we leave the fragrance of God behind us? The stones would be built for a monument of what God had done. They told their own story. Remember the story of Elijah and Elisha. Elisha came to the widow as he travelled through Shunem he came to a house where a man and wife lived. His life told for God as visited that home. They were very interested in the things of God. Imagine Elijah sitting with them, praying together. Something happened in the woman`s heart. She realised he was a holy man of God through the fragrance left behind. Remember the early preachers in the New Testament church as they came to Thessalonica. People came looking for them. They searched everywhere for them and couldn`t find them. They had a tremendous testimony where they were. In Acts 17 we read what happened when they found them. They drew out Jason and certain rulers unto the city crying "these have turned the world upside down." I wonder is that us today? Remember the apostle Paul in Ephesus when he began to preach the gospel of saving grace and the sacrifice of the Lord. Ephesus was a very dark place, given over to idol worship, given over to the occult and everything dark about it. He stayed there for 3 and 1/2 years and preached in the streets. Some people in that town were possessed by demons and spirits but they turned to the Lord. There was one family who listened to Paul preaching and casting out demons. They knew a man who was demon possessed and began to gather around him and prayed for him. The spirits within this man began to speak with one another "Paul I know but who are you?" He didn`t recognise the teaching of the false preachers. Paul`s voice was recognised in the very pits of hell. Do we leave that momument behind us today? These monuments stood as a record to what God had done in Israel. As people looked on these stones they were reminded of what God had done. This church is sitting here in the midst standing for the preaching of gospel but never take it for granted. God has opened this door. We have a place where we can bring families to hear words whereby they might be saved. We do not know how long this church might remain open.
It is a message to be shared. These stones stood for a monument, a sign among them but also spoke of a message to be shared. Are we faithful in sharing that same message today? In verse 6 they were told to tell their children what these stones stood for. What a responsibility for these people. They were to tell them about the day the Lord dried up the river and brought the people over into the land of promise. It a tremendous responsibility for mums and dads to tell their children about God today. We live in days of speculation and theory but we need however to be faithful today. There is a monument but there is a message to be faithful. Men and woman have their theories about the age of the earth and how it came into being. This book tells us how this world came into being, of the sort of person I am, of the sort of person God is, how Christ shed his blood for me We should never tire of telling our families about the goodness of God and of the transformation that comes to our lives. The demonic said he had a testimony of what God had done for him. One word and he was delivered from his past. The monument was not enough. Jesus told him to go back into his own village and tell everyone what God had done for him. Don`t be ashamed of telling others about what God has done for you.
A mission that lay before them - verse 13. 40,000 people prepared for war. Some 2 miles from Jericho. They were still in the land of the enemy. We are saved today but we are still in the land of the enemy. There is much land to be claimed. The enemy needs to be driven back.
Gilgal is a place of miracle.
Gilgal is a place of monument.
Gilgal is a place of message.
Gilgal is a place of mission.
That is what this place, this church stands for today.
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