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Him in so here we are in Joshua chapter 10. We're gonna go through the chapter We're kind of gonna pick off pick up where we left off. We talked about Last week we talked about God, you know intervening here and God throwing the hailstones down And then of course we specifically talked a lot about God stopping the Sun And letting the the daylight last longer so they could they could fight longer and conquer These these armies this Confederacy of armies that got together here against them But so we're gonna start off at maybe verse 16 verse 17 But first I want to point out some things right at the beginning that we're gonna talk about First and I'm gonna kind of apply that later But let's go ahead and get through Joshua 10 this evening and see what we can learn from the story You know one of the things we're gonna we're gonna kind of do a deep Bible study Tonight and one of the things that is just is just amazing about the Bible is it's kind of like a treasure hunt, you know, and it's just whenever you think My wife said to me a couple weeks ago. She's like man if you know you How are you gonna preach on these upcoming chapters in Joshua, you know, well, you know what? I'm not worried about it because if you just you just read The Bible these things will just come out at you and you will just find so many things in the Bible It's only book like that that you can just read again and again and again and you just keep finding more and more things In the Bible, so let's take a look at that Look at Joshua chapter 10 and let's look at verse number one And then we're gonna kind of skip a few verses as we talked about him last week But I want to point out something in verse number one about this this guy that started all the trouble here The Bible says now it came to pass when add an Isaac add an eyes Zedek the king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken a I and had utterly destroyed it as he had done to Jared Co and her king so he had done to AI and her king and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them that they feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city as one of the royal cities and Because it was greater than AI and all the men of thereof were mighty Wherefore add an Isaac king of Jerusalem sent unto ho ham king of Hebron Unto pyrom king of Jarmoth and unto Japhea king of lakish and unto debir king of eglon saying You come up and help me and then so basically what we have is This confederation of five kings that gets together and it's led by The king of Jerusalem this add an Isaac. All right, so we're going to talk about that a little bit later but one point just to point out here is as The the the children of Israel are coming into the promised land. They're winning all these battles They've taken they've taken Jericho a great city a great walled city. They've taken Jericho in a miraculous fashion They've defeated AI They've you know, basically got Gibi Gibeon to submit to them And as the Bible says here Gibeon was known to be a great city with great warriors so just the fact that they just you know, basically bowed and gave up to Joshua and said we don't want to fight and you know, we talked about how whether or not that was what Joshua was supposed to do or not, but The fact is they still did it they still these mighty men surrendered to the children of Israel But the point is as they head in and they're having all these victories the point I want you to start thinking about is the enemy. They didn't just give up They they got stronger and they fought harder. So that's one interesting thing to note now Let's pick up the story in verse number 16 And basically what we're gonna see here is these five kings, you know, they've got their armies they're being defeated already God's already, you know done some miracles to help defeat them but the five kings fled verse 16 and hid themselves in a cave at Makeda and it was told Joshua saying the five kings are Found hid at a cave and Makeda and Joshua said roll great stones Upon the mouth of the cave and set men by it to keep them. So I mean Just just a side note that I was thinking about here It's like it's funny how many people hide in caves in the Bible. She's never hide in a cave Okay, don't hide in a cave when they come chasing you don't go hide in a cave I like you know hiking around caves and stuff But I'm not gonna hide in one because everyone always seems to know that you're in the cave There's no getting out, you know, they just block you in and then they got they've got you right So Joshua chapter 10 look at verse 19 and stay not but pursue after your enemies So he's like just lock them in the cave and let's go and destroy their armies Okay, so basically what we're gonna read about in the coming verses. This is the southern campaign Okay, if you want to think about it that way, this is Joshua's southern campaign So he's in he's in you know He's up north maybe north of Judah a little bit and he's just gonna circle around it through the south down Through these cities and just start defeating these cities in the south of the Promised Land in kind of a sweeping circle up back around North of Jerusalem look at verse 20 and it came to pass when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with A very great slaughter till they were consumed that the rest which remained of them entered into the fenced cities So they weren't supposed to have a man Escape but here they're chasing the armies and finally these armies They all get away and they scatter to these cities in the south and then we're gonna read about how Joshua goes into these cities City by city by city. We'll read about that in the coming verses, but basically they go back to Joshua and they say You know They they open the mouth of the cave and bring out so now they focus back on the Kings all the rest the remnants of The army have fled to the cities they go back and they focus on the Kings look at verse 23 and they brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave the king of Jerusalem the king of Hebrew and the king of Jarmout the king of Lakish and the king of Eglon and it came to pass when they brought out those kings unto Joshua the Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said unto the captains of the men of war which were with him Come near put your feet upon the necks of these kings and they came near and they put their feet upon the necks of them And Joshua said unto them fear not nor be dismayed be strong and of good courage For thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom you fight. So Joshua is making an example here of You know the strength these are great kings and he's got these kings down on the ground and their feet are on the necks of These kings and they say look what God has done for us these these kings that you kind of like, you know They're not so tough now are they that's kind of what Joshua is saying here It's like they're not so big now are they are you afraid of them now as we have total power over them? Then he goes and he executes them and afterward Joshua smote them and slew them and hang them on five trees and they were hanging upon trees until the evening and it came to pass at the time of the going down of the Sun that Joshua commanded that they took them down off the trees because you're not supposed to leave them on the trees Remember that that we learned about a few weeks ago and cast them into the cave wherein they've been hid And laid great stones at the cave's mouth which remain until this very day and that day Joshua took Makeda and smote it with The edge of the sword. So now he goes back to the city where all these people so with the kings have been executed now He's going and he's finishing Finding the rest of the people and going to all these cities that These people ran to the armies ran to and he's just going to go through the south and just conquer these cities But I want you to notice something because it's going to apply to What we're going to study a little bit later in the sermon, but I want you to notice The this wording that is used every single time we talk about one of these cities and the southern campaign look at verse 28 And that day Joshua took Makeda and Smote it with the edge of the sword But then it gets much more specific and it says in the king thereof he utterly so this is a new king Okay He just he received in the armies of these enemies he the king thereof he utterly destroyed Them and all the souls that were there in he let none remain so this city was utterly destroyed Everyone in it was killed and he did to the king of Makeda as he did to the king of Jericho He executed him verse 29 Joshua passed from Makeda and all Israel with him unto Libna and fought against Libna and the Lord delivered it and the king thereof into the hand of Israel and he smote it with the edge of the sword and Listen to this now this is important and all the souls that were there in He let none remain in it But did unto the king thereof as he did to the king of Jericho Verse 31 He passed from Libna and all Israel with him unto lakish then look at verse 32, and we see the same Wording again and the Lord delivered lakish into the hand of Israel Which took it on the second day and smote it with the edge of the sword and all the swords that were there in According to all they had done to Libna and all the souls that were there in again utterly destroyed every living person in that city verse 33 Then Horon the king of Geezer came up to help lakish and Joshua smote him and his people until he had left him none remaining That's an important part again until he had left him none remaining. They killed everyone in that city verse 34 From Lakish Joshua passed on to Eglon and all Israel with him and they encamped against it and fought against it and they took it on that day and smote it with the edge of the sword and All the souls that were there in he utterly destroyed that day according to all that he had done to Lakish and then Joshua went up from Eglon and all Israel with him unto Hebron and they fought against it and they took it and smote it with the edge of the sword, but again more detail and The king thereof and all the cities thereof and all the souls that were there in he left none remaining According to all that he had done to Eglon but destroyed it utterly I mean how many more times do we have to say that nobody was left alive here and All the souls that were there in there's like three different statements there. Look at verse 38 Now he goes to Deber and fought against it Look at verse 39 again and utterly destroyed all the souls that were there in he left none remaining As he had done to Hebron Look at verse 40 again So Joshua smote all the country of the hills of the south of the veil of the springs and all their kings he left None remaining but utterly destroyed all that breathed as the Lord God of Israel commanded and Joshua smote them from Kedesh Barna even unto Gaza and all the country of Goshen even unto Gibeon and all these kings in their land Did Joshua take at one time because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel and Joshua returned and all Israel with him under the camp at Gilgal. So This campaign likely took a while. This didn't happen in one day Obviously if you map, you know the actual campaign itself It's about it's over a hundred miles that they went to all these different cities So this talk look this took, you know several days maybe weeks, you know We just don't know it tells you some days on the battles individually, but this took some time to do this This was a large campaign Sweeping into the south and coming back up to the north. It was basically a kind of a large circle around Jerusalem but you'll notice that it didn't say anything about a battle in Jerusalem here Okay, there's nothing about a battle in Jerusalem, which is ironic because the king of Jerusalem started the whole mess and Basically everyone around him got conquered Okay, but he did not not yet. Anyway, not yet. Anyway, okay turn to Joshua Chapter 15, I mean he died but his city remained at least to a degree Turn to Joshua chapter 15. Now this what we're going to talk about in the next few minutes This is a huge Bible contradiction here. People will bring this up as one of the for sure Bible contradictions that the Bible cannot be trusted as a historical document I'm going to show you how silly that is in just a few minutes, but turn to Joshua chapter 15 So we're talking about Jerusalem. Here's Jerusalem. Here's the southern campaign They came up, you know just on the other side of Jerusalem over a hundred miles They went they went back and forth a couple times on the bottom and I mean this was several days Maybe weeks who knows it was a long time, you know, they're on foot by the way, you know They're not driving around in their Humvees here. This is you know a Military, you know marching campaign here. All right, go to Joshua chapter 15. Look at verse number 16 63. Sorry 63 The Bible says as for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem So we see that the people in Jerusalem at this time of Joshua are Jebusites It says as for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem the children of Judah could not drive them out But the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem on to this day Okay, now turn to Judges chapter 1. I'm going to show you the Bible contradiction So first of all, what does the Bible say there? The Bible says that they could not drive them out now Do you think that they went up there and they said hey you think we can drive you out of here, you know And they said no and they're like, yeah, okay. We can't drive them out No, they tried to drive them out is what the Bible implies in Judges chapter 15 so we can see You know the the idea that there's a contradiction is already Falling apart in my mind but go to Judges chapter 1 and look at verse number 21 Judges chapter 1 is kind of a recap of the events of Joshua Look at Judges chapter 1 in verse number 21 Cool thing about the Old Testament in many different books of the Bible in the Old Testament It's kind of like the same thing that you'll see with the Gospels You'll see different accounts and you'll see different accounts of the same event and they kind of cover You know different things about each other and that's where everybody gets confused Everybody that doesn't really know anything about the Bible everybody that doesn't hasn't really read the whole Bible or hasn't certainly hasn't studied the Bible They they read these things that sound a little bit different and they're like, oh got it You know, but guess what the Bible is a little bit more deep than that So if you look at the Bible at a surface level, you know You can say oh, yeah, it sounds like those two things are different But then you find out that there's always connections when you get deeper into the Bible It's the same thing every time with all these Bible contradictions. I'm going to show you another one tonight So judges chapter 1 so in Joshua 15 We see that they could not drive out the Jebusites and they dwell there. They still the Jebusites dwell there They dwell there with the children of Judah now look at Judges chapter 1 in verse 21 The Bible says and the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem But the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. Well that that matches I Don't see an issue there. What's the problem? Well now go back to verse number 8 of Joshua chapter 1 verse number 8 So, I mean the Bible says the children of Judah couldn't drive them out children of Benjamin couldn't drive them out. Look at verse number 8 look at verse number 8 of Judges chapter 1 the Bible says this now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem. Now. Is that a contradiction? because obviously in Joshua chapter 15, I mean it tells us that I mean if you're It's very obvious that they fought They fought and they couldn't drive them out and taken it and smitten it So look at judges chapter 1 verse 8 says the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem We already knew that from judges chapter or from Joshua 15. They had taken it And they've smitten it with the edge of the sword and then they set the city on fire So there's a huge battle the city got set on fire And they smitted I mean they smitted with the edge of the sword I mean they they had a big sword fight and they did a lot of damage with you know Their army coming in and conquering it but that's the Bible contradiction right there. Aha Bible contradiction Here's the problem. Here's the problem Does it say that Jerusalem was utterly destroyed? When we went through Joshua chapter 10 every single city we saw sometimes two sometimes three Details of it was utterly destroyed all the souls there in none left to remain I mean the Bible was very specific about each of these other cities that everybody was wiped out and Then in Joshua chapter 15, we see that Judah couldn't push them out. I Mean implying there was a fight which you know in Judges chapter 1 in verse number 8. It tells us there was a fight It tells us there was a fight and it may it does seem that in verse number 8 that the children of Judah At least got the upper hand in the fight or did some serious damage In the fight as they smitted with the sword and they burned the city, but here's the problem Here's the problem turn to 1st Chronicles chapter 11 Here turn to 1st Chronicles chapter 11 The Bible does not say that it was utterly destroyed and the Jebusites were driven out So there's no contradiction with the Jebusites still being there and there have being a battle. Does that make sense? The Jebusites were still there They were not able to drive them out But there was a huge battle and we I guess we can assume Maybe not I don't know that the the children of Israel got the upper hand and maybe they were in charge in that city or whatever But here's what I know. Look at 1st Chronicles chapter 11 The Bible comes in and saves itself Look at 1st Chronicles chapter 11 in verse number 4 Here's the proof that there's no Bible contradiction 400 years later King David goes to Jerusalem and what does he do and David and all Israel went to Jerusalem. Why did he go there? Which is Jebus? Where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land David goes and he fights Jerusalem right here where the Jebusites were they're still there They're still in Jerusalem They haven't been utterly defeated. They haven't been destroyed Look what we're talking about in Jerusalem in Joshua chapter 10 Joshua chapter 15 and Judges chapter 1 is an incomplete conquest of that city that's all we're dealing with there and We're gonna see this idea that we're gonna see This more and more as a matter of fact as we push through the book of Joshua You're gonna start seeing these words utterly destroyed and left none there alive and no souls remained You're gonna start seeing that less and less Because there's more and more incomplete conquests that take place as they go on During David's time hundreds of years later the Jebusites are still there That shows you that it was it was an incomplete conquest of that city. So It's kind of a simple one, but no Bible contradiction. Okay. I don't know why that one that one's really thrown out there like aha But it's just it was an incomplete conquest and look by the way We're gonna talk about incomplete conquest towards the end of the sermon, but it's a big deal It's a big deal. It's a big deal that it was an incomplete conquest Now I want to talk a little bit before we get into the final application of that I want to talk go back and I want to talk about the king of Jerusalem a little bit first of all turn to Revelation chapter 13 because there's a lot of interesting similarities between the king of Jerusalem and Somebody else in the Bible. There's there's an interesting, you know parallel given here and it's not an accident Nothing in the Bible is an accident. So first of all, we have this king of Jerusalem. He forms a confederacy of Kings To fight against the children of Israel against God's people look at Revelation chapter 13 Look at verse number one The Bible says this it says and I stood upon the sand of the sea and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns and upon his horns ten crowns and Upon his heads the name of blasphemy and the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard and his feet were as the feet Of a bear his mouth is the mouth of a lion The dragon gave him his power and his seat and his great authority is of course We're talking about the Antichrist here And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after The beast now it says look turn to Daniel chapter 7 Turn to Daniel chapter 7 now It says in verse number 1 of Revelation 13 upon his head were these 10 Crowns upon his horns of his head were these 10 horns with 10 crowns on them. What's that all about? What's that all about turn to Revelation? You're not revelation turn to Daniel chapter 7 turn to Daniel chapter 7 So here we see you know that the Antichrist is going to lead a confederacy I'm giving it away already But look at Daniel chapter 7 in verse 24 and the ten horns out of his kingdom are what there are ten kings That shall arise and another shall rise after them and he shall be diverse from the first and he shall subdue three kings So these ten horns in Revelation chapter 13 are ten kings now go to Revelation chapter 17 Revelation chapter 17 so we see that the Antichrist is going to come on the scene. He's going to have these ten kings With him or you know, what does that mean though? What's that? What's what are those ten kings gonna do turn to Revelation chapter 17 Revelation chapter 17 in verse number 12 Revelation chapter 17 in verse number 12 the Bible says in the ten horns, which thou saw are ten kings again Matching Daniel which have received no kingdom as yet But received power as kings one hour with the beast These have one mind and shall give their power and their strength unto the beast This is the parallel right here here You have this king of Jerusalem in Joshua chapter 10 and he forms this confederation of kings to fight against God's people That's exactly what the Antichrist is going to do The Antichrist is going to go and he's going to form a confederation and these ten kings whoever they are Are going to give all their power to the beast to the Antichrist They're going to submit all their power of their kingdom to this one man and they're going to fight Against God's people. So look The Antichrist is in charge. He forms a confederation of Kings, so the second thing the second parallel we see with the king of Jerusalem is turn to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 Is he resists God's army? He resists God's people same as the Antichrist the Antichrist is going to resist the army of the saved just like the king of Jerusalem in Joshua chapter 10 look at 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 Look at verse number 3 The Bible says let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come Except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition So here the Bible is saying, you know, hey, you know, here's a milestone The milestone is this Antichrist this man of sin coming on the scene and look what's this guy gonna do? So we already know in Revelation that he's going to form a confederacy of Kings which is a parallel to judges chapter 10 in the king of Jerusalem, but look at number 4 it says who opposeth and Exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God Sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. He is going to oppose everything of God Is what the Antichrist is going to do. I mean, that's why you know, that's the name the Antichrist, you know So he's going to oppose God's people he's gonna oppose God's plan. He's gonna oppose God's army He's gonna oppose everything that has to do with God when he comes on the scene the same as the king of Jerusalem Look at Revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 as a matter of fact, he's not just gonna oppose them. He's gonna go to war with them Exactly like the king of Jerusalem in Joshua chapter 10. Look at Revelation chapter 19 and look at verse 19 Revelation 19 19 the Bible says and I saw the beast and who else and the kings of the earth so this beast and this confederacy of kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army and Here's another ironic thing about it. So they're gonna make war you guess who's on the horse, by the way Jesus So look, here's another ironic parallel go to Revelation chapter 6 go to Revelation chapter 6 The wicked once again the wicked once again just like in Judges chapter 10 will hide in caves The Bible says look at Revelation chapter 6 now we're talking about, you know in Revelation chapter 6 We're right before right before the rapture the rapture is about to happen the rapture happens You know right after Revelation chapter 6 and then God's wrath is about to come down So we're very close to God's wrath coming in Revelation chapter 6 look at verse 14 The Bible says in the heaven departed as a scroll. There's those signs by the way. I Could have really went in depth on that, but I didn't want to lose the context of time last week But look the heavens the Sun and the moon are darkened The moon became his blood what these are the signs God uses his his planets and his universe as signs as well It's not only just his clock Look at verse 14 the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their Places there's those earthquakes and the kings of the earth there they are and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the And the mighty men and every bond men and every free man hid themselves in dens and in the rocks of the mountains and Said to the mountains and rocks Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the land For the great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand so they go again once again And they hide in caves just like in Joshua Chapter 10 so we see a lot of parallels in Joshua chapter 10 with the king of Jerusalem and the Antichrist and guess what and I don't want to you know preach on this tonight But there's a lot of parallels between Joshua and the Bible and Jesus Christ as well It's a picture the Bible There's all these patterns in the Bible that God is just giving us a picture of what is to come So God not only tells us what's going to happen, but he actually gives us a picture of how it's all going to go down in his word if we just pay attention to what God is saying and we can just match Up these these pictures together. We can see you know how things are gonna gonna go I mean God gives us these previews in the Old Testament about the end times, you know the players and how it will all unfold It's it's really a beautiful thing. So I just wanted to point out on that parallel in Joshua chapter 10 with the king of Jerusalem So let me just give you some concluding thoughts on Joshua chapter 10 many times You know just applying it to ourselves here many times It seems like it seems like you know in the it's kind of a reality that wickedness You know, we talked about this on on Sunday morning that you know We need to remember James chapter 4 in verse number 7 submit yourselves therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you you remember we talked about that on Sunday morning, but the reality is is that Many times it seems in our lives that when we resist wickedness Doesn't it seem like sometimes it fights harder against us Don't you ever get that feeling where you know what? I'm just oh all I have to do is just resist the devil the preacher said resist the devil But it just seems like when you start resisting the devil then like more attacks come You'll see that you'll see that especially as you move forward in your Christian life You know, you're gonna find that you know resisting the devil is easier said than done You know, I mean God but here's the thing God never tells you it's gonna be easy God never says that resisting is going to be easy So just remember that, you know turn to James chapter 1 remember that when you're under attack in your life that Resisting attacks that winning battles, you know, it takes strength. It takes perseverance. Look at James chapter 1 in verse number 12 James chapter 1 in verse number 12, that's why God gives us so many verses like this, you know I mean because he knows that you know It's easier It's easier to just say resist the devil than it is to actually put that into play and actually do it in your life Look at James chapter 1 in verse number 12 The Bible says blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he has tried he shall receive the crown of life Which the Lord have promised to them that love him So look, I mean it's gonna be great if you do resist it's gonna be great You're gonna be rewarded Galatians chapter 6 and verse 9 says and let us not be weary in well-doing the Bible says that you're gonna be you know I mean you're gonna be beaten down from this that this resisting is gonna take a lot of energy the Bible says for in due season we shall reap if we faint not But you're not gonna reap if you just you resist and you're just like ah, it's too hard This is why Paul says that you know in Romans Paul says that you know, he says tribulation worketh patience He says tribulation worketh patience, you know people will say this statement that you know, be patient, you know Just be patient. Actually, that's kind of backwards It's kind of putting like the egg before the chicken because the Bible says that enduring temptation and enduring Tribulation that's where you get patience That's how you you know, that's how you gain Patience so I mean when people when people say be patient what they should say is gain patience Because then really what they're saying to you is hey endure endure these trials keep resisting because when you when you Persevere through things and if you've ever done it if you've ever persevered I mean here's proof you ever gotten just think of something like difficult that was going on in your life That you just like push through and you got through to the other side whether it was be You know struggling with sin or something difficult that you were leading your family through just think about something something that you triumphed over Hopefully you have something you can think of right now Hopefully you've had at least one triumph But think about a triumph that you've had now think about having to triumph over that again. Would it be easier or harder? Be easier Because you know, you can do it Because once you've done something the first time there's never that doubt. That's like, ah, can I do this? I can't do this, you know, look, you know, you can do it and God look you should know in the first place before you even do it anyway, because God tells you you can God tells you you can do it. But look You'll literally be more patient After you've resisted and succeeded through a few victories That's you know, that is one of the biggest parts of Christian maturity, by the way Just you know as you become more and more Solid in your Christian life you win more battles you win more victories in your Christian life. You just know you can win them You just know that you can win those battles, you know, I mean look So, how do you do it? How do you keep resisting turn to Hebrews chapter 11? Well, I mean one way you can do it is you can know that others have done it before you You're like, I've never won a single victory in my life Over, you know, I can't resist the devil. I just can't do it. I end up quitting every time The Bible says that the conquest of the land in Joshua chapter 10 and all the other chapters of Joshua that we're gonna read about look it says it was it was it was a Conquest of faith. Did you know that look at Hebrews chapter 11? The faith chapter Hebrews chapter 11 specifically mentions this campaign Look what it says in Hebrews chapter 11 in verse number 30 The Bible says this says by faith the walls of Jericho fell down And they were compassed about seven days now turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Look at verse number one So we see that, you know this conquest this Joshua's campaign was won through faith That's how your campaigns are going to be won too, by the way But then it gets more specific in Hebrews chapter 12 in verse number one. We get some more. Okay, the answer is you know Have faith. Thanks a lot But the Bible gives us more specifics right here. It says in Hebrews chapter 12 in verse 1 It says wherefore seeing that we're compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses It's like look other people have won these battles It's like other people have done this as a matter of fact other people have done things Way harder than the things that you're struggling with is actually what the Bible is saying here It says let us it says let us Now gives us two specific things that we should do so we can have those victories too. It says let us lay aside every weight there's the first thing and Then it gives us a second thing and the sin Which dost so easily beset us and let us run. Oh, look at that and let us run with Patience the race that is set before us because guess what if you could do the two things before that And you can have those victories guess what you'll be running your race with you'll have patience You'll have patience and the next time those trials come you'll be able to get through them because you already have that Patience and that with patience comes what there's another one in there. Yeah experience Experience so let's look at these two things. What's the first one that it says it says let us lay aside every weight What are these weights? What are these weights that it's talking about? These are things I mean These are things these weights that it's talking about in Hebrews chapter 12 in verse number one. These are things that you're carrying That are weighting you down That the Bible says that you can just set it down So why in the world would you carry around a bunch of weights when you're trying to run a race Why would you carry a bunch of weights around it'd be like watching the Olympics don't watch the Olympics It'd be like watching the Olympics. No one's watching the Olympics, right? I mean, is there even a crowd there? I don't think so All the all the athletes have kovat They're all vaccinated, but anyway You're running a race and you got a bunch of weights on you and you can just you can just set them down That's what the Bible saying. So what are these weights? I mean, it seems like an easy one What are they are these weights? Like if you're a parent, you know, are these weights you're like, oh man, you know I'm really stressed out about my kids and you know and raising my kids right and doing these things are the weights your kids The weights aren't your kids, okay, you can't just put your kids down You can't just put that to the side because why why because you have biblical responsibility there because it's a very specific Instruction on the responsibilities that you have for your kids so you can't just set those down turn to Philippians chapter 3 Turn to Philippians chapter 3. So I mean, what are these weights? What are these weights turn to Philippians chapter 3 in verse number 13 a lot of them have to do with this verse right here Philippians 3 in verse 13 those weights are not your current biblical responsibilities in your life Okay, so you can't just you know, push off, you know, the Bible has very specific responsibilities We talk about it week in and week out for men women children the whole thing Those are not the weights. You cannot set those down but look at Philippians chapter 3 look at verse 13 The Bible says brethren I count myself not to have apprehended but this one thing I do For getting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before So first of all a big part of the weights are the your past That's a big part of your what your weights Jesus talked about this and you know, so many people are just weighed down by their past It's ridiculous It's ridiculous. It's sad to see I mean you have to drop those things take those weights and drop them Just drop them and just look reach forth under those things that are before that's not before That's like in front of you is what Paul is saying They're in in four in the four in the forefront of you is what he's saying but generally Generally things, you know, the past is a big one I mean so many people today are just they're like it's almost like they're raised They're raised to focus on their past They're raised to focus on what somebody did to them or whatever We'll get to that one in a minute, but they're raised to just have all this, you know, this bitterness and This just this wrath and you know what it is. It's just crushing them It's just making it so they can't move forward. The Bible says in Hebrews 12 1 drop that stuff Drop that stuff and move forward Generally look generally things that aren't your responsibility You know a lot. Hey, guess what other people are not your responsibility What other people do even what other people have done to you? That's not your responsibility Generally those things anything outside your wheelhouse whether it was in the past or not if it's not in your biblical wheelhouse That's a weight. You need to just drop And just I mean move forward look you can't You can't control other people, you know that Other people are gonna be other people. So don't let it weigh you down Look, I get it. The temptation is there to want to control other people So, I mean that's something I've had to kind of learn to get over in the last two years, honestly, I Mean, I'm still kind of working on it I'm still kind of working on it. I mean stay in your wheelhouse though. We're gonna talk about that I'm gonna preach a whole sermon on that on Sunday morning on Sunday mornings for the next two or three Sunday mornings before our big weekend at the end of August I'm gonna preach some sermons. I'm just reflecting over the last two years things. I've learned Reflections on you know what we can take from the last two years But first of all, you know just if it's not in your wheelhouse, it's a weight And you need to you need to lay it aside What is the other thing? What is the other thing in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1 the things in your past the things that aren't in your wheelhouse? The things that you can't control that you're not responsible for our weights dump them Dump them and look forward look to the things in front of you turn to Ephesians chapter 4 The second one is the sins that beset us The Bible says that sin besets you, you know, what besets means it means, you know, it means like it gets in your way It causes you to be it blocks you You know, it makes it makes things so you can't move forward and can't get things done look at Ephesians chapter 4 And let's say that look these things tie together. So well, they tie together So, I mean it's such a brilliant verse in the Bible because it talks about you know laying down these weights Which you've already looked at but then it ties it right into sin and guess what? you know what Ephesians chapter 4 verse 31 says it says let all bitterness and wrath and Anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice You know what? You know what people do? People would just get angry and they would just get bitter. You know what? My parents didn't raise me, right? You know, my parents didn't raise me right and all these horrible things happen to me and all this kind of stuff and look You know, that's I'm sorry if horrible things happen to you and I'm sorry if you didn't have perfect parents. None of us did But look the Bible said just lay that stuff aside Just just dump it Dump it because if you sit there and you just let that bitterness set in Just just dump it and look if there's if there's wicked people in your life that have done wicked things to people in your Family or done wicked things, you know to to you know, when you were growing up or whatever I mean for sure dump them to Dump what needs to be dumped including people if they need to be dumped But the Bible says you got to let that bitterness and wrath and all that stuff go You're not gonna be able to look in front of you You just got to get rid of all that stuff So that's the stuff that can tie into your past. This is this is raising kids. This is raising kids Here's a here's a cultural moment for you. This is raising a generation of children Telling them that they'll never be able to be successful because somebody else is keeping them down That's what this is You'll never be able to make it You'll never be able to make it because these people are keeping you down You'll fail because you know these rich people or these whatever people or these, you know, whatever All this stuff that they're not gonna be teaching in public school, which you know what I could care less What they teach in public school. I Mean, no, no Christian no Christian that's even read one word in the Bible should have anything to do with the public school as of 20 years ago, I Mean so all these these new things come up and everyone's like, oh, this is it. We're so mad. Give me a break You're not mad. You're gonna put your kids there on Monday morning You make me sick These people make me sick the conservatives in this country make me sick Because they don't care they're all talk It's been wicked for ever It was wicked when I was there I mean, that's all I could speak to but it was wicked when I was there. That was a long time ago It's way worse now. So when people tell me this stuff, I'm like Yeah, have fun dropping your kids off there Monday morning because I know you're gonna do it Don't complain to me about the public school system and then go drop your kids off there. That's crazy. I Don't want to hear it The reason people are raising an entire generation of children to just to just they're just nothing It's nothing but bitterness and wrath You know what? They're gonna fail Every single one of them is gonna fail the Bible. The Bible tells us they're gonna fail. I Mean this this biblical philosophy is for saved people, but this look this methodology works. You can't you can't run your life forward You can't run your life forward if you just focus on nothing but bitterness wrath anger clamor evil speaking This is the guy at work. This is the guy at work that does nothing but just trash everything that the boss says Maybe the boss is an idiot Maybe he's not but this is the guy that every single thing that the company does or the boss does Oh can't believe that can't believe they're doing that He goes around and just spreads all this just this bitterness and wrath everywhere. That guy will get nowhere He's lucky if he doesn't get fired But he'll get nowhere. He's a cancer To the workplace He'll get nowhere. It says put it away from you And you got somebody like that in your in your in your workplace put him away from you Because he is bitterness and wrath in that case but what's Aside from just focusing on those things in your past sin in general. Look sin will become a weight to you Sin that you're hanging on to look here's the thing. It's gonna trouble you Sin that you're hanging on to and you won't get rid of is gonna trouble you and eventually it's gonna stop you Look at the Jebusites and And God forbid you have sin that you just can't conquer You have sin you got a city. You got a city inside yourself that you just can't utterly destroy And guess what? It may not be a big deal now But you I can live with this I Can live amongst these people I can live with this sin you say but you know what somebody you know Somebody else is gonna have to deal with it David had to come in 400 year late 400 years later and clean up this mess Because they didn't deal with it back then Guess what you want sins that you've decided to live with, you know, who's gonna deal with that. Your kids are gonna deal with that Your grandkids are gonna deal with that Let me generational problems that you're gonna pass on some inheritance. Thanks dad Thanks, mom Look, this is incomplete conquests in your life. And this is where it will get you. It's a perfect example of Jerusalem Look resisting evil is easier said than done. I get it And here's the thing. Here's the last thought Here's the last thought I want to leave you with It's better to have the mindset when you think about overcoming something and having those complete conquests in your life and Resisting the devil so he flees from you and getting through that and pushing through that Here's the thing. It's better to have the mindset that it's just gonna get harder It's better to always have the mindset. You know what? I'm gonna resist this and I expect that it's gonna get harder. I Expect that Satan I because here's another thing as you become more effective in your Christian life You're gonna be attacked more You become a bigger target Because look there's there's there's Satan. He's fighting against God's people He's fighting against what we're trying to do. He's in direct conflict. And guess what? He's here He's here So it's better to have this mindset that you know what as I decide I'm just gonna do the right thing No matter what no matter what comes at me, maybe maybe horrible things happen. Maybe I go through tribulation Maybe people don't like me. Maybe I lose my job. Whatever. I'm just gonna assume that it's gonna get harder Because guess what? You know why Jesus told everybody all these terrible things that were gonna happen in the end times that they're gonna go through tribulation They're gonna go through great tribulation So they wouldn't be offended. He said I tell you these things so you won't be offended. I Tell you these things So you can see it so you can expect it He's saying so you can have the mindset, you know, it's not always gonna be easy You know, it's not always gonna be easy Joel Osteen. I Mean just have the mindset that it's gonna get harder that way you're ready either way and that way that way when the tide breaks and When it breaks and it does get easier. It's just like what a relief, but I was ready for another one That's where you need to be In your Christian life and then guess what the patience will build It'll be easier next time Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer