on then Christian soldiers on to victory hell's foundations quiver at the shout
of praise brothers lift your voices loud your anthems raise onward Christian
soldiers marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on before like a
mighty army moves the Church of God brothers we are dressed where the saints
have drawn we are not diva all one j christian soldiers marching as to join
throng mission soldiers marching as to amen good scene brother Sean could you
up support a prayer amen our second song we saw number 409 the fight is on song
number 409 in your green hymnals the fight is on song number 409 let's sing
it out on the first the fight is on the trumpet sound is ringing out the cry to
arms is heard a far and near the launching on to victory the triumph the
Christ will soon appear shun soldier and face to face and stir with our and cut
it in raw it's to day the fight is on be strong if God before his bed will sing
the vic of course the Richie's aren't here this morning so that's it for
announcements all right next song is number 405 banner of the cross song
number 405 in your green him knows the banner of the cross song number 405
let's see it out on that first verse there's a royal banner given for
display to the soldiers of the king as an insign fare we lifted up today while
his ransomed ones we see marching on marching on for Christ counts everything
but lost and to crown him king toil and sing neath the banner of the cross though
the foe may rage and gather as the flood let the standard be displayed and beneath
its folds as soldiers of the Lord for the truth be not dismayed marching on
marching on for Christ count everything but lost and to crown him king toil and
sing neath the banner of the cross that's a good effort let's go down the
third over land and sea wherever man may dwell make the glorious tidings known of
the crimson banner now the story tell while the Lord shall claim his own
marching on marching on for Christ counts everything but lost and to crown
him King toil and sing neath the banner of the cross when the glory dawns this
drawing very near it is hastening day by day then before our King the foe shall
disappear and the cross the world shall sway marching on marching on to crown
this time we'll do our offering brother Sean Harrington could you bless the
Are you offering for us?
- Me to the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter 24,
Joshua 24, Joshua 24,
and this is a very powerful portion of scripture.
So kids, listen up, you will enjoy this.
Joshua 24, sit down please.
In the Joshua 24, the Bible reads,
"And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem,
"and called for the elders of Israel,
"and for their heads, and for their judges,
"and for their officers,
"and they presented themselves before God.
"And Joshua said unto all the people,
"Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
"your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood
"in old time, even Terah,
"the father of Abraham and the father of Nekor,
"and they served other gods.
"And I took your father Abraham
"from the other side of the flood,
"and led him throughout all the land of Canaan,
"and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
"And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau,
"and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess it.
"But Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
"I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt
"according to that which I did among them,
"and afterward I brought you out.
"And I brought your fathers out of Egypt,
"and ye came unto the sea, and the Egyptians pursued
"to your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea.
"And when they cried unto the Lord,
"he put darkness between you and the Egyptians,
"and brought the sea upon them, and covered them.
"And your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt,
"and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
"And I brought you into the land of the Amorites,
"which dwelt on the other side Jordan.
"And they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand,
"that ye might possess their land.
"And I destroyed them from before you.
"Then Balak, the son of Zipporz, king of Moab, arose,
"and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam,
"the son of Beor, to curse you.
"But I would not hearken unto Balaam.
"Therefore he blessed you still,
"so I delivered you out of his hand.
"And you went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho,
"and the men of Jericho fought against you,
"the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites,
"and the Hittites, and the Girgashites,
"the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
"and I delivered them into your hand.
"And I sent the Hornet before you,
"which draved them out from before you,
"even the two kings of the Amorites,
"but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
"And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor,
"and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them.
"Of the vineyards and olive yards which ye planted not
"do ye eat.
"Now therefore fear the Lord,
"and serve him in sincerity and in truth,
"and put away the gods which your father served
"on the other side of the flood and in Egypt,
"and serve ye the Lord.
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord,
"choose you this day whom you will serve,
"whether the gods which your father served
"that were on the other side of the flood,
"or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell.
"But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
And the people answered and said,
"God forbid that we should forsake the Lord
"to serve other gods, for the Lord our God.
"He it is that brought us up and our fathers
"out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage,
"and which did those great signs in our sight,
"and preserved us in all the way wherein we went,
"and among all the people through whom we passed.
"And the Lord drove out from before us all the people,
"even the Amorites which dwelt in the land.
"Therefore will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God.
"And Joshua said unto the people,
"'Ye cannot serve the Lord, for He is an holy God.
"'He is a jealous God.
"'He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
"'If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods,
"'then he will turn and do you hurt and consume you.
"'After that, he hath done you good.'
"And the people said unto Joshua,
"'Nay, but we will serve the Lord.'
"And Joshua said unto the people,
"'Ye are witnesses against yourselves,
"'that ye have chosen you the Lord to serve Him.'
"And they said, 'We are witnesses.'
"'Now therefore put away,' said he,
"'the strange gods which are among you,
"'and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.'
"And the people said unto Joshua,
"'The Lord our God will we serve,
"'and His voice will we obey.'
"So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day
"and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
"And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God
"and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak
"that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.
"And Joshua said unto all the people,
"'Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us,
"'for it hath heard all the words of the Lord
"'which he spake unto us.
"'It shall be therefore a witness unto you,
"'lest ye deny your God.'
"So Joshua lit the people depart,
"every man unto his inheritance.
"And it came to pass after these things
"that Joshua, the son of Nun,
"the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old.
"And they buried him in the border of his inheritance
"in Timnath-Sera, which is in Mount Ephraim,
"on the north side of the hill of Gaash.
"And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua,
"and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua,
"and which had known all the works of the Lord
"that he had done for Israel.
"And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel
"brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem,
"in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought
"of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem,
"for a hundred pieces of silver.
"And it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
"And Eliezer, the son of Aaron, died.
"And they buried him in a hill
"that pertained to Phineas, his son,
"which was given him in Mount Ephraim."
Brother Anthony, would you pray for us?
- Amen, all right.
Well, thank you guys so much for coming in the snow.
I did pray for the snow,
so if you don't like the snow, I do apologize for that.
But the Bible has a lot of good things to say about snow.
If you look it up, heat is the negative thing.
It's called hell, all right?
But the snow is refreshing, it's very good.
But it's great to see you all again.
This church seems so healthy.
It seems like this church is doing so good.
It's great to see that God has blessed you guys
with a new building, it's an awesome building.
Tons of storage, and it just seems like
God is really blessing you guys.
So thank you so much for coming out here.
And I'm glad to be here.
Thank you, Pastor Thompson, for the opportunity to preach.
Always praying for you guys.
It's always good to see you guys again.
So thank you so much.
And we're here in Joshua chapter 24,
and if you're following along during the reading,
this is kind of like Joshua's farewell address, in a sense.
This is his departing, but unlike all the politicians
that give their farewell address,
he's not sitting here glorifying himself.
He's sitting here glorifying the Lord
and all of the great works that the Lord has done
for Joshua and for Israel, and he gives them a charge.
He's basically charging them
that they continue serving the Lord.
But the Holy Ghost, after his speech,
the Holy Ghost does say some positive things about Joshua
instead of him promoting himself.
I wanna focus on verse number 31.
It says in Joshua 24, verse 31, it says,
"And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua
"and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua
"in which had known all the works of the Lord
"that he had done for Israel."
And this is the Holy Ghost giving us
a really amazing testimony of Joshua's leadership,
that when Joshua died, all of the people continued
serving God the same way they were serving God
when Joshua was alive.
And all of the elders that overlived him,
they continued to serve the Lord.
It wasn't until there arose another generation
didn't see the works of Joshua, that didn't see the works of those elders until they forgot
and started living wickedly again. And you think about this like, let's use a carnal
example, think about like a president, you know, President Ronald Reagan, for example.
There's people still alive today that were in government at the time of Ronald Reagan.
So imagine if the United States of America was serving God in the 1980s and in the 1990s
and in the 2000s and in the 2010s and still the elders that are outliving Ronald Reagan.
I'm not comparing Joshua to Ronald Reagan.
Don't get me wrong.
It's just an example, but that's a long time, right?
And it's a great testimony to the leadership of Joshua that these people continued serving
the Lord for so long and you know, our goal as Christians should be not just that we live
a Christian life and then Christianity dies off.
It should not be that Sure Foundation Baptist Church is a great church in the 2010s and
in the 2020s and in the 2030s and then it just dies and goes away.
How many churches used to exist in this country that were just absolute powerhouses of the
gospel, preaching hard against sin, great godly churches to go to and now they don't
exist because they failed to pass it on to the next generation and the goal of Sure Foundation
Baptist Church is not just to have a great church in our lifetime but to be able to pass
that on to our children and for them to actually preserve it, for them to actually take the
great gift that is this local New Testament church and to preserve it and to keep it going
and not to forget all the great works that have been done here and you know if you think
about all the great works that have been done in this church just like the great works that
were done in the days of Israel there has been a lot of great works done here there
has been thousands and thousands of people saved through the ministry of this church
there has been other churches started there have been people sent out there's been marriages
had families that are rooted and grounded you know there's been battles fought enemies
destroyed some of those enemies passed on to steadfast thank you very much for that
by the way you know this church has done a lot of great things just like was done then
so the title my sermon is passing the torch passing the torch because i'm sure everyone
in this room understands how important it is to pass the torch the next generation but
if you look at the bible and you look at reality you see that most people fail to do this even
though everyone says oh yeah we got to pass the torch the next generation we got to make
sure the next generation is serving god but yet we look at our country and is our country
more godly today than it used to be no it's not are there more soul winners today than
there used to be no there's not why because the previous generation is failing to pass
the torch and you know right now we have a great gift we have something great going here
with said fast baptist church with sure foundation baptist church and other great churches like
it and we don't want to let that die off we need to pass the torch to the next generation
how are we going to do that well tonight or this morning rather i want to look at some
great things that joshua did some great leadership qualities that he had that enabled the children
of israel to serve god for so long that way we can model our lives the same way go to
joshua chapter number three joshua chapter number three and so if we're going to pass
the torch to the next generation my first point this morning is that we need to set
up spiritual monuments in our christian life set up spiritual monuments in our christian
life and the context of this in in joshua chapter three is that the children of israel
are about to go cross into the promised land and god makes a miracle happen where the jordan
river is opened up split in two and the children of israel walk on dry ground through the jordan
river let's read in joshua chapter number three verse number 15 it says and as they
that bear the ark were come unto jordan and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped
in the brim of the water for jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest that the
waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city adam that
is beside zeratan and those that came down toward the sea of the plain even the salt sea failed and
were cut off and the people passed right over against jericho and the priests that bear the
ark of the covenant of the lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of jordan and all the
israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over jordan so here god is
having this amazing miracle happen and a lot of times we just read the stories in the bible we're
like yeah you know god parts the red sea yeah god parts the river jordan but when you actually slow
down and think about it this is a seriously amazing thing that's happening this is god confirming that
he is with them and it's actually confirming the leadership of joshua if you look in the same
chapter at verse seven it says 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 so god
commits this great work why to validate joshua's leadership and to validate that god is with the
children of israel and if you've been at this church for any length of time you have seen god
do great things in this church to validate that this is a great church you have seen families
grow you have seen people come in here and they're unchurched they're of the world and you've seen
them become soul winners you've seen them obey god's commandments to be fruitful and multiply
and we have children in this church that are a result of hard preaching that would have never
been brought into this world otherwise we've seen god do great things in this church just like we've
seen in the bible but after the after god performed this miracle it's not like the children of israel
just forgot about it like okay god just split the jordan time to move on with life no they actually
did something so that they would remember it look at joshua chapter 4 verse 1 and it came to pass
when all the people were clean passed over jordan that the lord spake unto joshua saying take you
12 men out of the people out of every tribe a man and command you them saying take you hence out of
the midst of jordan out of the place where the priest's feet stood firm 12 stones and you shall
carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night then
joshua called the 12 men whom he had prepared of the children of israel out of every tribe a man
and joshua said unto them pass over before the ark of the lord your god into the midst of jordan
and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of
the children of israel that this may be a sign among you that when your children ask their fathers
in time to come saying what mean ye by these stones then ye shall answer them that the waters
of jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the lord when it passed over jordan
the waters of jordan were cut off and these stones shall be for a memorial
unto the children of israel forever to notice one of the things that joshua had the people do
yes god had this great miracle happen for them he split jordan river but joshua did not want the
people to forget the great works of god and so what happens he tells the elders to go into the
river jordan and take 12 stones and he's going to build a memorial so that our children in the
future generations will see that memorial and ask their fathers what mean ye by these stones
he's setting up a monument for the next generation to remember the works of god now look at verse
number 14 of the same chapter verse 14 it says on that day the lord magnified joshua in the sight of
all israel and they feared him as they feared moses all the days of his life now these stones
weren't necessarily important for the generation that's alive right now because they feared joshua
they feared moses and they served the lord all the days of joshua and all the days of
the elders that outlived joshua but why did joshua want to build this for the next generation
not for the current generation for the next generation so that they would see those stones
and ask what mean ye by these stones so even though these people had a good attitude they
had the right heart joshua knew that people will forget and what ended up happening eventually
they forgot didn't they sounds like the fathers stopped teaching what those stones meant they
stopped taking it seriously the importance of passing the torch to the next generation
look at verse 19 of joshua chapter number four and the people came up out of jordan on the tenth day
of the first month and encamped in gilgal in the east border of jericho and took 12 and those 12
stones which they took out of jordan did joshua pitch in gilgal and he spake unto the children
of israel saying when your children shall ask their fathers in time to come saying what mean
what mean these stones then you shall let your children know saying israel came over this jordan
on dry land for the lord your god dried up the waters of jordan from before you until you 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 forever you know our job in this generation is that all the earth
may know about the lord that all the earth may fear the lord but when we die it ceases to be our job
to do that we cannot do that anymore we have to entrust the next generation to do that and if we
fail to pass the torch to the next generation then we will fail to let all the world know about the
lord jesus christ and so these is like i said everyone knows this everyone knows we need to
pass the torch to the next generation but this is an extremely important sermon because this
actually can change the world if you actually do it because people fail to do it in the bible
we see people fail to do it in our country but if we actually do it the whole world can know
about the lord sounds very important to me so what kind of spiritual monuments you know joshua
he set up a physical monument so that his children in time to come would ask their fathers dad what
meaning by these stones what are some monuments that we need to set up in our lives for our
children to see that are spiritual monuments go to first timothy chapter number three the first
spiritual monument that we need to set up is church going to church is a spiritual monument
that our children should be able to see that we are building for them first timothy chapter three
look at verse 15 first timothy 3 verse 15 it says but if i tarry long that thou mayest know
how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of god which is the church of the living god
the pillar and ground of the truth you know the ground is a foundation right and last time i
checked this is sure foundation baptist church this place should be the foundation for the truth
this whole world is full of lies you send your kids to the public school they're going to be
taught lies you go to work you're going to be taught lies you go watch the television you're
going to be taught lies there should be one place in this world where the truth is taught
and that is the local church it's the pillar and ground of the truth it's the foundation of the
truth and it's the pillar it's what lifts up the truth that should be important in our lives and
you know even when kids are babies and toddlers when you're taking them to church you're showing
them that that pillar is important in your life and of course they're not going to be able to
understand every word the preacher is saying they're not going to be able to understand every verse
in the bible but you know what they are understanding they're understanding that church
is important to mom and dad they're understanding wow there's this place that we go three times a
week and my parents don't miss it for anything it's an important uh pillar in their lives and
the goal is that someday someday they will understand and someday they might ask you hey dad
what mean ye by these stones hey mom what mean ye by these stones hey dad why do we go to sure
foundation baptist church why don't we go to the catholic church why don't we go to just any
baptist church you want your kids to ask you someday why you do the things that you do and
so when you set up a pillar when you set up a monument they see that monument and it reminds
them of the lord they see you going to church three times a week they see that you take church
very seriously and someday even though they don't understand now they're littles right now
they'll want to know someday and you'll be able to actually have their heart and explain to them
hey here's why we go to a fundamental baptist church hey we have the king james bible here
the other churches don't hey we have soul winning here most churches don't hey we have hard preaching
here most churches don't hey we have the right gospel here most churches don't even most baptist
churches don't it's important that they care and that they ask us someday go to psalm chapter 23
psalm chapter 23 psalm 23 verse one it says the lord is my shepherd i shall not want he maketh me
to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters he restoreth my soul
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake yea though i walked through the
valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest my head
with oil my cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever and you know if you are if you would say of
yourself that the lord is your shepherd would you not also save yourself that you want your children
to have the lord as your shepherd and you know what's a great way to do that to be in the house
of the lord all the days of your life to dwell in the house of the lord forever if you want your kids
to have the lord as their shepherd someday you know how you do that it's actually going to church
when the doors are open not just going to church whenever it's convenient for you not just going
to church whenever it fits your busy schedule but no rather that you would show your children that
the most important thing in life is serving god it's more important than money it's more important
than family it's more important than anything in your life is serving the lord and so if you want
your kids to go to church their whole life you need to go to church your whole life you are the
model you are the spiritual monument that they can look at and see and see hey my mom and dad go
to church they make it a priority and you know if you want your kids to grow up and respect church
you know what else that means it means not going home and just talking crap about the church
not going home and just belittling the pastor when you're not at church no it means highly
esteeming church in front of your children and making it real and not being a hypocrite in front
of them i'll read for you hebrews 1025 it says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching
you know as the day approaches the day of christ as that day approaches going to church is more and
more important going to church this thursday is more important than being in church right now
and going to church next sunday is more important than being in church right now and guess what your
children going to church 20 30 40 years from now is way more important than going to church right now
but if you want them to do that in the future you know what you need to do you need to be in church
right now you need to be in church on thursday you need to be at church on sunday morning you need to
be on church on sunday night and show them that hey we're not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together this is important to me this is my life if you want that to be the life of your children
that's what you'll do send them a strong message what's another pillar we can rear up for our
children to look at how about reading the bible go to hebrews chapter number one hebrews chapter
number one i'll start reading in verse number one it says god who at sundry times and in diverse
manners spake in time passed unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the world who being
the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and i want you to notice this next
phrase and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins
and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high notice the bible teaches that all things
are upheld by what the word of god you want to know why this building is standing right now
because god has not told it to fall down yet you want to know why this earth has not been
burned up with fervent heat and destroyed yet because God has not commanded it to be done.
You want to know what upholds your life? The word of God. You want to know what upholds your health?
It's not garlic drops. It's not, okay, it's not all the essential oils. It's not even working out.
You know what it is? The word of God. Because there's one thing that upholds you, the word of God.
You know what upholds your finances? The word of God. You want to know what upholds your marriage?
The word of God. Your success in life is directly tied to one thing, and one thing only,
the word of God. If you fail to read the word of God, you will be a failure in life,
in every category. And if you look at successful people in this world, even people that are not
saved, you know what they do? They model their life off the principles taught in the word of God.
They do. You look at a guy like Elon Musk. Love not sleep. The dude works 16 hours a day. And I hope
the guy gets saved before he becomes the Antichrist because he's making some weird technology. But I'm
saying like people people that are successful even secularly it's because they leverage principles
taught in the Bible. And you know if you want your kids to grow up and have a successful
happy life serving the Lord you know what they're going to have to do they're going to have to read
the Bible. Why? Because all things are upheld by the word of his power. Their lives are upheld. Their
future is upheld by the word of his power. So you know what that tells me? It would tell me that you
would be wise and I would be wise to show our children the importance of the word of God and to
set up a spiritual pillar in our life showing them hey we read the Bible every day. What to God it
would be said that your children grow up and say hey I saw my mom and dad reading the Bible every
day or they read the Bible to me every day. It wasn't something that they just had to look for
on Sunday morning because they haven't picked it up since the last time they were in church.
No they actually know where their Bible's at because they're reading it every day.
You know and thank God we have phones now so some of you read your Bible on your phone okay and you
always have that with you right. But hey we should be upholding the word of God in our life. We should
be showing our children that it is the most important thing. Why? Because there's a serious
danger. Go to Hosea chapter number four. There is a serious danger in our lives and in the lives of
our children of what will happen to them if they do not have the word of God. If they do not follow
the word of God. There it's something that they will be punished for and I'll prove that to you.
Hosea chapter four verse six. The Bible says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge and we
know the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. We know the word of God
is what gives us knowledge. It says because thou hast rejected knowledge I will also reject thee
that thou shalt be no priest to me. Why? Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God. What's
that the word of God? And then it gives a very chilling warning in the next phrase here. It says
I will also forget thy children. That is a scary thought and let me tell you what your children
will not be blessed. Your children will not have a good life. They will not be successful in this
life and you will not be successful in this life unless you highly esteem the word of God.
Unless you obey the word of God and read the word of God every day. I don't want God forgetting my
children. I want to make sure that's a really strong pillar in my house that they see. That
someday they may not understand the Bible now but someday I want them to say dad what mean ye by
these stones? Why do we read the King James Bible dad? Why don't we read the message? You know I
want to be able to make sure that they ask that question and that I'm prepared to answer that. Why?
Because their future is dependent on it. Their future is dependent on reading the King James Bible.
Look at verse 7. As they were increased so they sinned against me therefore will I change their
glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people and they set their heart on their iniquity
and there shall be like people like priests and I will punish them for their ways and reward them
their doings. You know if you don't read the word of God if you don't know the word of God
you're not going to know what type of church to go to you're not going to know what a church that
actually is modeling the word of God and you know what you're going to get you're going to get a
bunch of stupid people that go to a bunch of stupid priests like people like priests and you know what
you're going to be punished for your ways and let me tell you going to a bad church is a punishment
from God a bad church is a punishment of God you're going to crossroads church with a dude
that doesn't even understand what nature itself teaches you that a man should not have long hair
hey that's a punishment being taught the word of God by that idiot what a punishment that is
you want your children being stupid like the people that go to crossroads guess what they're
stupid they are they don't know the word of God look at verse eight or i'm sorry verse number
10 for they shall eat and not have enough they shall commit whoredom and shall not increase
because they have left off to take heed to the Lord whoredom and wine and new wine take away the
heart my people ask counsel at their stocks what's a stock remember jeremiah was in the stocks right
these people are asking advice they're asking counsel from a piece of wood but that is the
level of stupidity of our world right now without the word of God people think that joe biden is
smart people think that we need communism in america that is just about as dumb as asking
advice from a piece of wood but that is how dumb your children will be if they do not know the word
of God and let me tell you i'm for teaching our children about math and history and reading and
writing and i believe that we should heavily emphasize education and being smart and being
intelligent i think that our generation is a mere shadow of the intelligence of the previous
generations and it's like even myself i try to like read something hard just because i feel like
i'm not even close to the level that i should be at but you know if we don't teach our children
the bible they're gonna be stupid because this world is stupid you talk to people out so wanting
that don't believe the word of god that believe this whole world was created out of nothing by
nothing and that we evolved from a rock those are some stupid people right there and it's not a very
nice thing to say but it's reality and i would rather say things that are not nice so that our
children don't grow up believing in evolution so that our children don't grow up being bernie
sanders supporters and communists and a bunch of idiots today like this world is i'd rather just
give them the hard truth of the word of god go to matthew chapter number seven we want our children's
lives to be built on church and built on the word of god look at matthew seven verse 24 therefore
whosoever hear these sayings of mine and do with them i will liken him unto a wise man which built
his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon
that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock that's what i want my kid's life to be like
founded upon a rock the storms and trials of life hit them and they stand they stand through it why
because they're upheld by the word of god i don't want them to be like verse 26 and everyone that
hear these sayings of mine and do with them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built
his house upon the sand and the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat
upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it and today sadly you look at people even that
come to a good church like this and they decide not to take the preaching seriously they decide
not to read the bible on their own and you see their family destroyed great is the fall of their
family you see it happen over and over and you will continue to see it happen in the future you
know it makes me think this next month you've got the january new testament challenge coming up hey
this is a great time to start building that spiritual monument in your family's home
and showing them hey look the word of god is important to us we're gonna read nine chapters
a day for the whole month of january we're gonna read the entire new testament hey do it as a family
do it as a family show your children the importance of the word of god go to first
thessalonians chapter 5 what's another important pillar that you can set up in your life so that
someday they'll ask you what mean you buy these stones how about prayer first thessalonians
chapter 5 verse 17 it's a very short verse says pray without ceasing and it may be a very short
verse but you know what prayer is an important thing in our lives prayer is how things get done
god moves his actions as a result of our prayers and this church can only continue doing great things
for god our families can only continue doing great things if we are praying to the lord prayer is
something that needs to be upheld highly in our churches and in our families and so a great way
for your children to see that stone is to let them see you praying pray with them at night before you
go to bed and you know i've heard my kids aren't at the age yet where they're praying out loud
themselves but i've heard so many funny and cute stories of kids and the silly things that they
pray for you know praying for the dog praying for all these silly things but you know what that's
great because they're starting to see that pillar and someday they're going to realize the gravity
and the extreme importance of prayer in our lives and i want my kids to have a pattern and a habit
of praying to the lord go to second corinthians chapter number four here's another important
pillar we need to set up soul winning soul winning second corinthians chapter number four look at
verse one it says therefore seeing we have this ministry and we know that jesus christ gave us
the great commission it's to man woman boy and girl we all have the ministry we're all in the
ministry it says therefore seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy we faint not
we want to make sure that we don't quit we don't faint on soul winning why because we've received
that mercy from god and if we care and if we're thankful for that mercy that we received don't
we want other people to also have that same mercy if i'm thankful to god and happy that he showed me
mercy what's mercy is something i didn't deserve i deserve to go to hell every single person in
this room deserve to go to hell but i'm so thankful that god gave me mercy and i'm not going to just
take that mercy and run with it i want other people to have that mercy i want other people
to get saved look at verse two but ever now it's the hidden things of dishonesty not walking in
craftiness nor handling the word of god deceitfully but by manifestation of the truth commending
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of god but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them
that are lost and this is a true thing if we do not raise the next generation of soul winners
there's if there's no more soul winners on this earth after us no one will get saved if the next
generation does not learn how to go soul winning and if that is not a thing that they take seriously
and becomes a pillar in their life the next generation will go to hell they will that's a
terrible thing to think about and you know there's been times in our nation where we've had a lot more
soul winners in that and i'm going to get to that in a second i want to read one more verse here
and you can i can just read this for you but in ezekiel 22 30 it says and i sought for a man among
them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that i should not
destroy it but i found none therefore i have poured out my indignation upon them i've consumed them
with the fire of my wrath their own way have i recompensed upon their heads say it the lord god
the bible says that there was a time where god was seeking for one man to stand in the gap to make up
the hedge and guess what he could not find he couldn't even find one what a sad thing that is
and you know now we definitely have a lot more than that but i'll give you an example in fort
worth texas where i live there used to be a church called first baptist church of fort worth now the
church still exists today but it is a small shadow of its former self this church used to be pastored
by pastor j frank norris and at the time it was the largest church in america a fundamental
baptist hard preaching soul winning church in the 20s 30s 40s and 50s this guy preached so hard
the fort worth zoo would literally let him use monkeys during his sermon to preach against
evolution this guy was so hard that he literally one time approached the drug and this is baptist
lore this could be false but i've heard this story and i partly believe it but i'm just going to
tell it you can take it for what it's worth there's a story that j frank norris approached
the scene of a drunk driving accident that he walked up to the scene took the bottle of liquor
that was in the car cracked it open scooped up some gore from the accident put it on his pulpit
and ripped against alcohol in front of 10 000 people okay this country used to be a lot different
than it is now and there was 10 000 and plus people in the fort worth area that every week
would pile into an independent fundamental baptist church to hear the word of god preach
where's that today i mean steadfast baptist church is in that area and we have on average
between 140 and 180 people on a sunday morning and praise god glory to god we've gotten over
2000 people saved this year in the fort worth area but what can we do with 10 000 soul winners
i mean that is insane but this country it's getting worse not better why because the previous
generation failed to pass the torch there was 10 000 people there where are they now they failed
to pass the torch and that's a real example that you can see with your own eyes you could drive to
the first baptist church of fort worth today and as it stands it is a shadow of its former self
i don't even know if they're king james anymore i've seen pictures of the inside it's got the
purple lights it's not the fundamental baptist church where you're ripping on alcohol with that
i mean that's intense but hey you know we want to lift up soul winning we want to give soul winning
to the next generation so that they when they're old enough can ask you dad mom what mean you buy
these stones why do we do what we do why is it so important to you and if you've built that your
whole life you can explain that to them and it'll be passed on to the next generation here's another
pillar go to titus chapter number two titus chapter number two how about parents living in their
biblical role this is something you're not going to hear anywhere outside of church there is no
secular institution that's going to tell you the truth about how a mom should be living how a dad
should be living look at titus 2 verse 3 it says the aged women likewise that they be in behavior
has become with holiness not false accusers not given to much wine teachers of good things that
they may teach the younger women what do we want the younger women to be like to be sober to love
their husbands to love their children to be discreet chaste keepers at home good obedient to their own
husbands that the word of god be not blasphemed you know this is something that's completely going
the way of the dinosaur you're not going to hear this anywhere else but the bible teaches that it's
god's will that a man works provides for his family leads the home and that it's god's will for what a
woman to keep at home and when your children are born in this world and they just live in a home
where it's always been dad works and mom works you you lift that pillar up for them you let them see
that spiritual monument you know and they hear about the whole world's doing things differently
maybe they'll ask you hey mom what mean you buy these stones why don't you work like all the other
women work dad why are you the only one working you know my friend at you know church maybe his
mom works maybe her mom works but you don't why well let me tell you why show them what the bible
says about it not just this world following the world not just our church following the world
but our church rather following the bible here's another one how about women dressing like women
that's another thing you don't see anymore in our country it's considered a weird thing for a woman
to actually dress like a woman but i'll read for you what the bible says in deuteronomy 225
the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man neither shall a man put on a woman's
garment for all that do so are an abomination unto the lord thy god you know thank god it's
not to the point yet in america where our children are growing up seeing men in dresses
but you know what is common is for our kids to grow up and see women wearing pants right but guess
what if they grow up in a home where the monument is lifted of hey we're gonna honor the lord we're
gonna do what the bible says we're gonna dress the way the bible tells us to dress and maybe your
kids someday will ask mom why do you always wear skirts and dresses and none of the other women do
they might ask that question you might be able to show them what the bible says that way you
could actually pass the torch to the next generation because guess what this torch was not passed the
next generation in decades in decades past every woman wore skirts and dresses no women wore pants
this was not just oh 10 000 people in fort worth texas it's like no the whole world was right on
this and now it's deteriorating to where it's weird for a woman to be seen in a dress and skirt
sometimes it's ridiculous but just because the world changes doesn't mean that we should we want
to pass the torch the next generation and so how are we going to do that well number one we're
going to be like joshua we're going to set up spiritual monuments in our life so they can see
that and ask in time to come what mean ye by these stones number two what are we going to do we're
going to make sure that we get our children saved get our children saved go to joshua chapter number
five joshua chapter number five look at verse one it says and it came to pass when all the kings of
the amerites which were on the side of jordan westward and all the kings of the canaanites
which were by the sea heard that the lord had dried up the waters of 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 and at that time the lord said unto joshua make
these sharp knives and circumcise again the children of israel the second time and joshua made him
sharp knives and circumcise the children of israel at the hill of the foreskins excuse me and this
is the cause why joshua did circumcise all the people that came out of egypt that were males
even all the men of war died in the wilderness by the way after they came out of egypt now all the
people that came out were circumcised but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way
as they came forth out of egypt them they had not circumcised so what what's happening here basically
joshua is circumcising the people that were born not in the or yeah in the wilderness sorry because
there was a previous generation that was circumcised then the next generation joshua is
circumcising and what is this a picture of well circumcision can be a picture of a couple things
in the bible one of them is turning over a new leaf wanting to serve god just like baptism is
kind of the same thing you're publicly identifying with christ showing that you want to have a new
life in christ you want to walk in newness of life and obviously it's a picture of salvation
now it's not physical salvation just like baptism doesn't save you being circumcised doesn't save
you but it is a picture of salvation i'll prove that to you you can turn there if you want roman's
chapter four verse eight says blessed is the man to whom the lord will not impute sin come at this
blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also for we say that faith
was reckoned to abraham for righteousness how was it then reckoned so how was righteousness
reckoned to abraham when he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision not in circumcision but in
uncircumcision so when was abraham saved when he was uncircumcised verse 11 it says and he received
the sign of circumcision what's it a sign of well it's a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had yet being uncircumcised so circumcision is absolutely a picture of salvation
and so joshua here when he's circumcising the next generation it's a picture of making sure that the
next generation gets saved what good is it if we take them to church and we teach them all this
doctrine but we don't actually get them saved okay but the reason i have the points in this order
is because it's going to be a lot easier to get your children saved when you've already had the
pillar of church had the pillar of bible had the pillar of prayer and soul winning and living godly
when you have all those things set up it's going to be way easier for them to get saved
than teaching them nothing about the bible showing them you don't care about church it's not important
the bible is not important prayer is not important it's not important to dress like god says to dress
it's not important to live like god says to live when you show them that example well guess what
then it might be hard to get your children saved and joshua he set up the pillars showing the works
of god and guess what then he circumcised them and got them saved it's a lot easier when you have
those spiritual pillars set up in your life to get the next generation saved unlike lot it was really
hard for lot to get people saved i'll read for you genesis 1914 it says and lot went out and spake
unto his sons-in-law which married his daughters and said up get you out of the out of this place
for the lord will destroy this city but he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law see when
lot when it came time for lot to warn his sons-in-law and say hey god's going to judge this place we
need to get out of here he was like one that was mocking he was a complete joke to his sons-in-law
why because lot lived a complete joke of a christian life he was extremely wicked he was not one that
served the lord and so when it came time to it even though lot was right here the lord was going
to destroy the city what lot was saying was absolutely right but guess what the audience
that he had had no respect for what he was saying why because of the life that he had lived and the
last thing i would want is for my children to be of the age where they could finally get saved
and then i try to teach them the gospel and it's too late they don't respect it they don't care
about it they think it's a total joke because mom and dad modeled in their life that it was a total
joke you didn't care about the gospel you didn't care about soul winning you didn't care about
church you didn't care about reading the bible what makes you think your kids are let me tell
you if there's one reason to serve god shouldn't it be that your kids don't go to hell i mean
wouldn't you do anything for your kids not to go to hell well why don't you take your christian
life seriously why don't you go to church why don't you read the bible that way when it when
the time comes then you could actually get them saved that's the most important thing number one
we need to set up spiritual pillars in our lives to pass the torch the next generation number two
we got to get them saved means nothing if they don't get saved but number three we have to not
tolerate sin we have to not tolerate sin and this is another great example that joshua gave us in
his life go to joshua chapter number six you all should be familiar with the story of achan taking
of the accursed thing he was not allowed to take it was something that was god's and he took of
the accursed thing look joshua 6 verse 18 and 19 says this is the commandment of god it says and ye
in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing lest you make yourselves accursed when you
take of the accursed thing and make the camp of israel accursed and trouble it but all the silver
and gold and vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the lord they shall come into
the treasury of the lord so god specifically told them don't take of the accursed thing these things
are consecrated to god this belongs to god don't take any of it and what did achan do he took of
the accursed thing it's an extremely wicked sin and i'll just read for you that story in joshua
chapter 7 verse 1 it says but the children of israel committed to trespass in the accursed thing
for achan the son of karamai the son of zabdi the son of zero of the tribe of judah took of the
accursed thing and the anger of the lord was kindled against the children of israel so this
is a very grievous sin this is a huge issue this isn't some minor deal they took of the accursed
thing that belonged to god and how did joshua respond to this look at chapter 7 verse 19 and
joshua said unto him and joshua said unto achan my son give i pray thee glory to the lord god of
israel and make confession unto him and tell me now what thou has done hide it not from me and so
just as a side note joshua as a good leader when there's sin in the camp he confronts it he doesn't
just let it go into the rug he doesn't just pretend like it doesn't exist he confronts the serious sin
that's in the camp look at verse 20 and achan answered joshua and said indeed i have sinned
against the lord god of israel and thus and thus have i done so he's going to make confession here
verse 21 when i saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonian garment and 200 shekels of silver
and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight then i coveted them and took them and behold they are
hidden the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it so joshua sent messengers and they
ran under their tent and behold it was hidden the tent and the silver under it and they took them out
of the midst of the tent and brought them unto joshua and said unto all the children of israel
and laid them out before the lord and joshua and all israel with him took achan the son of zira and
the silver and the garment and the wedge of gold and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and
his asses and his sheep and his tent and all that he had and they brought them down unto the valley
of acor and joshua said why hast thou troubled us the lord shall trouble thee this day and all
israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones and
you know this is definitely not a very pleasant story it's not something that's really fun to
think about that there was a horrible sin committed in the camp that joshua had to confront
and that ended up with him being burned with fire and stoned with stones it's not a very pretty
picture is it but you know in the new testament in first corinthians chapter 5 if you'll just turn
there really quickly in first corinthians chapter 5 the bible teaches that there's some sins that
cannot be allowed to come into the camp there's some sins that are unacceptable to be allowed in
church that the man of god has to take care of and guess what when he takes care of it sometimes
it's not going to be very pretty sometimes it's kind of an ugly situation sometimes a lot of
people don't have the stomach for it but look in first corinthians chapter 5 really quickly and
look at verse 11 it says but now i've written unto you not to keep company of any man that is
called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or drunkard or extortioner
with such and one no not to eat and so obviously that's not a pleasant thing to do sometimes is
your brother in Christ is in a grievous sin and you have to cut off your relationship with him you
have to not um let him be in the camp anymore and it's not a very pleasant thing to do but as a good
leader Joshua he did not put up with the sin in the camp he did not accept it he did not stand behind
it you know it makes me think that whenever there's a situation in church where the leadership has to
do the hard thing of kicking someone out of church stoning them with stones spiritually in a sense
right that we need to back up the man of god we need to back up the church discipline we need to
back up when joshua has to take care of achan and all throughout the old testament and before i get
there notice once he's stoned with stones what did he do he built a heap of stones over him right
and it serves the same purpose as those stones from the jordan river it's a monument and when
someone gets kicked out of church that is a teaching opportunity for our children saying
hey son hey daughter let me name the names and tell you why brother so-and-so is no longer coming to
church why so that we can scare them into not doing what brother so-and-so did and all throughout
the bible you see wicked people being cut off from the congregation the man that picks up uh
sticks on the sabbath day the man that curses the lord kora dathan in a byram even in the book of
judges you have people separate themselves from the congregation just for being weak just for being
scared and guess what i'm gonna teach i'm gonna take both of those examples and teach my kids
about both of them and say yeah brother so-and-so he got kicked out because he was wicked because he
was a false prophet like korah dathan and abiram or wouldn't be brother in that case right or brother
so-and-so he got kicked out because he took of the accursed thing he did something wicked like in
first corinthians he's no longer with us and here's why or hey brother so-and-so was too scared to go
to the battle brother so-and-so was too weak to go to the battle and i'm going to tell my kids about
both types of people because both are a teaching opportunity for our children why so that they can
be strong and not be like that joshua 7 look at verse 10 and the lord said unto joshua get the up
here's how god feels about it wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face israel hath sinned and
they have also transgressed my covenant which i commanded them for they have even taken of the
accursed thing and have also stolen and assembled also and they have put it even among their own
stuff why does it matter why does it matter that we need to take out the trash sometimes look at
verse 12 therefore the children of israel could not stand before their enemies but turn their backs
before their enemies because they were accursed and here's what god says neither will i be with
you anymore except you destroy the accursed from among you that's scary right there when a church
can no longer do the great works that they were doing they can no longer stand before their enemies
god's no longer with them why because of the accursed thing inside of them because a little
levin levin at the whole lump and so when it's time for the pastor to take care of business and
take out the trash hey i'm going to stand with him because i want our church to be able to stand
before our enemies i want the lord to be with our church and so i'm not going to feel sorry when
pastor has to kick someone out that's wicked or kick someone out that's a false prophet or if
someone who is weak leaves us not going to feel pity for it not going to feel bad for it because
you know what the bible says in amos 3 3 can two walk together except they be agreed can two walk
together except they be agreed you know even if someone leaves the church and they weren't kicked
out when they have bitterness against our church bitterness against our pastor they don't like our
spirit oh you know i think our pastor is a great man of god you think he's a criminal well let's
be friends no no can two walk together except they be agreed i'm not going to feel sorry for that
i'm not going to be a part of that and i think and this is just my opinion but i think that some of
the people that have left this church were not truthful in their reasons for leaving that's just
my opinion you could have your own opinion my opinion is that some of the people not maybe not
all i believe some of the people that left this church is because they despise pastor thompson
because they think he's evil they think he's unqualified they think he's a criminal and i
have a problem with that and i think you should have a problem with that and i think you should
teach your children when that happens and use it as an example saying don't be like this person
who's weak who's scared who doesn't back up the man of god rather than teaching your children oh
it's fine any church is just as good as another no it's not it's a lie you want your kids to care
about the things of god why don't you show them that you care why don't you pass the torch to
the next generation and say like joshua in joshua 24 verse 14 let's go there in joshua 24 verse 14
now therefore fear the lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods
which your father served on the other side of the flood and in egypt and serve ye the lord
and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the lord choose you this day whom you will serve
whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood
or the gods of the amerites and whose land ye dwell but as for me and my house we will serve the
lord and that is the goal should be the goal of every single person in this church that you in
your house will serve the lord and guess what you get to decide how that's done you get to decide
you if you have different beliefs you think is a better way of how to pass the torch you're the
pastor of your home and you get to make that decision i don't get to make that decision
pastor thompson doesn't get to make that decision it is your decision and sometimes things are going
to be preached that are wrong or that you think is wrong and you have to go you have to be the
pastor of your own family but i believe that these principles that i laid out this morning
is a great way to pass the torch the next generation number one set up spiritual monuments
in your christian life number two get your children saved and number three do not tolerate sin let's
have a word of prayer lord thank you so much for this day and thank you for this great church i love
this church lord and i just pray that you would continue to bless it i pray that you just protect
them from their enemies i pray that you would just expose any infiltrators that would want to hurt
pastor thompson in the future lord i believe this church is doing great and i believe you're
blessing this church highly because i believe this church is following the word of god and i pray that
we and our families would do the same that way our children can grow up and we could pass the torch
to them and they could take this church and make it even better than it is right now in Jesus name
we pray amen faith has found a resting place song number 150 in your green hymnals my faith has
found a resting place song number 150 let's sing it on the first my faith has found a resting place
not in device nor creed i trust the ever living one his wounds for me shall plead i need no other
argument i need no other plea it is enough that jesus died and that he died for me enough for me
that jesus saves this ends my fear and doubt a sinful soul i come to him he'll never cast me out
i need no other argument i need no other plea it is enough that jesus died and that he died for me
my heart is leaning on the word the written word of god salvation by my savior's name salvation
through his blood i need no other argument i need no other plea is enough that jesus died and that he
died for me my great physician heals the sick the lost he came to save for me his precious blood he
shed for me his life he gave i need no other argument i need no other plea is enough that jesus
died and that he died for me amen good scene brother robert all quarter could you end us with