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So when I prepared the first sermon as far as basically wanting to pass off the mantle, the next thing I was thinking about is just the idea of wanting to finish your course. So the name of the sermon is to finish your course, and if you look down on verse five there in 2 Timothy chapter 4, it says, but watch thou in all things endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make foolproof of thy ministry, for I am now ready to be offered in the time my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. And that idea of Paul saying I have finished my course, and that is something that I would like to do, and I'm sure most Christians would like to say that they do at the end of their life. And when I say finish your course, I mean that you end on a good note, right? Is that you don't end on this horrible basically downturn of your life, and then then you die. And obviously we know that salvation is by faith, and that we have eternal life, and that once you get saved there's nothing that can change the fact that you're gonna go to heaven, and that you'll never go to hell. But when it comes to how we leave, I don't know about you, but I would like the Lord to say well done thou good and faithful servant, and I would love to enter into the kingdom of heaven. As it says in 2nd Peter, to make your calling and election sure, and the idea of having an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And you know not just entering, but having an abundant entrance. And finishing your course, and some may relate to this, some may not, but last year it was in August I did a what they call Spartan race, and I was talking to some of the guys when we were out eating lunch, and this one was called the Beast. It was in West Virginia, and it was supposed to be 12 and a half miles. It was more like 20 some miles. It had an elevation change of like 4,000 feet, and had like 30 some obstacles. And you know we paid to torture ourselves. That's the only thing I can think about when I was halfway through the thing is that I paid for this. They took my money, and I'm here. But I knew it was gonna be bad. I knew it wasn't gonna be fun. I knew it wasn't gonna be you know just a walk in the park, but I wanted to do it because I wanted to be like a character builder type of thing where it test your limits, see how far you can go until you die type of thing. And when when it comes to this race, I was really halfway through. It wasn't even that I was just like I couldn't breathe, or I was just winded, or I just didn't have any strength. My body started breaking down to where my muscles started just tightening up, and me I didn't bring anything but the clothes on my back. So apparently you're supposed to bring electrolytes and all these different things when you do these type of things. I didn't have anything. Now they had stations, you know, they had water that they'd give you and all this other stuff where you could stop, but luckily there were some nice people there that you know like hey have some electrolytes, you know, here's a salt packet, I don't know. And so I survived it, but going through that whole experience I was just kind of thinking about the idea of I just want to finish. I just want to finish. I knew I wasn't gonna win this race, but I just wanted to finish this race. And when it comes to the Christian life, there's gonna be times where your muscles tighten up, where you feel like you're just not gonna make it, but you just need to finish, okay. And the idea of just finishing that race, and there's gonna be obstacles, there's gonna be things that, there's gonna be things that aren't that bad. There actually were things on that that whole race where I'm like I got this, you know. There are certain things where you had to climb, or you had to put a log on your shoulder, and you had to trudge through water or something like that. And some of that stuff, you know, it was fine. And then other things just was horrible, and it was brutal. So, but some people didn't make it off the mountain. I mean they didn't die, I don't think, but they they had to have someone come get them because basically their bodies just broke down to where they couldn't finish the race. And when it comes to our Christian life, we want to make it to the end. We don't want to be like Saul, for example, who started off strong, right. King Saul started off with being small in his own sight, and the Lord blessed him and anointed him to be king, but then it just went downhill and to the point where he ends up taking his own life after he did some horrible things before that. And when I read through the Bible, I see all these different Bible characters, and I'm always thinking about, I want to be like this character, but then this one character doesn't end well, right. And it's like, well I don't want to be like that though. And sometimes you're hard-pressed to find somebody that finishes their course on a good note. But I want you to think about the Bible does talk about this in the New Testament about going to the end. Go to Hebrews chapter 3, Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 5, and then I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you a bad example of someone in the Bible when it comes to finishing their course and a good example. But I want you to see that the Bible does want us to go all the way to the end, finish to the very end. And sometimes, especially as a, you know, when you think about zeal and new Christians and stuff like that, is that sometimes you have this kind of firecracker type of Christian, if you will, where you get saved and you get excited and there's nothing wrong with that, but then they basically, it's kind of like a firecracker. It goes off and then it just explodes and then you don't see him ever again. And, but what you need is stability and a steady pace to get through that race. I mean we're running the race that is set before us, but it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. And as much as I don't like marathons, that's what it is. And we have to steadily be going through this. Sometimes you have to slow down, sometimes you have to stop, sometimes you have to take some electrolytes and, you know, to survive this race. But the idea is that you don't quit. I remember, I think it was Pastor Anderson that told me, or maybe it was Pastor Jimenez, either one, they told me, they said the only way that you fail is if you quit. And so when it comes to finishing your course, all you really need to think about is that you don't quit. And if you don't quit, then you don't fail. And you say, well, but I'm not going, I'm not going as hard as I want to go. Just don't quit, just keep going. You're gonna have your ups and downs. You're gonna have times where you're just really on fire for soul winning and you're gonna have times where you're not. But as long as you just keep going and you don't quit. Now Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 5, now a lot of people obviously will go to these passages and say, well, you can lose your salvation unless you don't do this until the end. Well, this isn't talking about eternal salvation. This is actually talking about rewards. And notice what it says here in Hebrew chapter 3 and verse 5. It says, And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence in the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end? You say, well, what is this talking about? Well, I think 1 Peter chapter 2 helps understand what we're dealing with here. In 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4, it says, To whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. See, there's no foundation that can be laid than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But then you have to take heed on how you build upon that foundation, that spiritual house. You're saved, you have that foundation, whether you build that build upon that or not and whether you have that spiritual house. But if you hold that confidence in that rejoicing firm unto the end, you're gonna have a great reward waiting for you. You're gonna have the spiritual house. You're gonna have these rewards that when you have that judgment seat of Christ where they where it's all tried by fire, that it's not all wood, hay, and stubble, that you actually have some gold and silver and precious stones to show for what you did in this life. And how you do that is you do it unto the end. That doesn't mean that if you were to do great things for God and then you stop, that you don't have any rewards, okay? But our goal was to go to the end, to the bitter end. And go to Hebrew chapter 3 again in verse 14, something very similar that's stated, but I believe the same concept. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 14, it says, For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Again, I think 1 Peter gives us a little bit of light as far as what it means by being partakers. See, obviously those that believe that you can lose your salvation are saying, well, you're not the house of God if you're not holding unto the end or you're not a partaker of Christ, meaning like you're not saved or you lost your salvation or something like that. But obviously that spiritual house that you build upon that foundation is talking about rewards. And in this case, I believe the same thing. You're dealing with rewards or glory that's given unto you if you suffer with Christ. Notice what it says in 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 13. It says, But rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. Go to chapter 5, 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 1. It says, The elders which are among you I exhort, whom am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. See, the Bible talks about that we are heirs with Christ, but we're joint heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him. See, every believer is an heir with Christ, right? But to be joint heir, think about it this way, that you have a resurrection, but then you can have a better resurrection. And partaking of that glory, no one's gonna ever attain unto Jesus' sufferings or to what Jesus has done, but we're striving, right? The Bible talks about that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, or the fellowship of His sufferings and the power of His resurrection if I, if by any means I might be conformable unto His death. And the idea there is that Paul is saying, I have not attained, I haven't apprehended, but this, it says, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We know that we can't attain unto the Lord Jesus, but we're striving to, and we're trying to do the best that we can to try to be like Him. And the more that we suffer with Him, the more that we live for Him, the more that we do what He wants us to do and follow His steps, the more that will be rewarded and that will shine like Him. In the resurrection, it likens the resurrection to stars that differ in glory. When you think about if you looked up at the sky at night and you see all the stars, some are brighter than others. Now no one's gonna be as bright as the Son of righteousness. Jesus is the Son, okay? So you're not gonna outshine the Lord Jesus, but you could be brighter in glory when it comes to the stars that are in heaven. And I believe that's something to strive for. And I believe at this church obviously I'm preaching to the choir when it comes to striving to finish your course and to keep the faith unto the end. And sometimes there's certain phrases like being faithful unto the end get tainted because we as soul winners know that when people say that what they mean, right? Well if you're not faithful unto the end, you're not saved. Or you're gonna lose your salvation and if you don't hold out faithful to the end. But honestly it is biblical that we are faithful to the end, but it's not for salvation. It's for reward. It's for, you know, obviously serving the Lord and having a good reward in the end. Having that abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. And think about this. Go to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24. Another reason to endure or to be faithful unto the end is the safety that God promises to those that serve Him. I was kind of talking about the idea of kind of one of my biggest fears is that something happens to my children and you know or that they don't get saved or they don't serve the Lord. And you know that's something I struggle with. So I'm just I'm just confessing my sins when it comes to like fear and anxiety, but I struggle with that with my children. But the biggest thing that I pray for when it comes to just prayer in general is the safety of my kids. Just generally like the safety that they don't get hurt by some. I live out in the woods, you know, like I live out in the wilderness. And you know there's bears, there's all kinds of animals. But then there's just there's wicked people. There's wicked and unreasonable men that are out there. There's all kinds of things. I mean there's accidents that can happen on the road. There's different things that I'm just constantly thinking about with my kids, which is why so much the more I want to be faithful unto the end. And I want to do what's right because I believe that the safety is of the Lord and that there is promises of safety. And I'm talking physical safety here. Obviously you know spiritually speaking I know I'm safe, I'm secure, all that, but I'm talking about physical safety. And look at Matthew chapter 24 and verse 12. I drank that before I looked at my name. I was really glad that my name's on there. I'm drinking, I'm like man I hope this is right. Not that I don't love you guys or whoever's that brother Daniel, whoever drink would have been up here. Matthew 24 and verse 12 it says, and because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold but he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved. Obviously people take this out of context and be like see you got to endure unto the end and you'll be saved from hell. Except for the fact that in context in verse 21 it says for then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time no nor ever shall be and except those days should be shortened there should be no flesh or there should no flesh be saved but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. So we see that obviously when we're talking about enduring unto the end we're talking about enduring temptations and obviously enduring the the trials and tribulations that are going on and that there's this promise of salvation, physical salvation, right? Flesh being saved. And go to Revelation chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10. I was just reading reading through Job actually on my my flight out here and just reading about obviously he loses his children and and I believe they were older not that that makes it that much better you know but they weren't they weren't you know they weren't little kids but at the same time I'm just thinking in my head how horrible that would be. And this is a righteous man right which then makes me even more afraid you know as far as like that happening. Not that I'm comparing I'm not comparing myself to Job but the idea is that obviously even in that case that you know Job was just he was even making supplication for his children and all that and just this this idea of I just want God's protection on my family that if there's ever an idea of stopping or quitting this is something that I'm just always thinking about like what if I stop? You think about this too when you especially when you have let's say protesters and you have people that hate your hate your church and then they hate the people that are in it and they're just like well you know I need I need stop because of the safety of my kids but listen if we're if God before us who can be against us I think more I'm more afraid to step out of what God wants me to do and leave his safety his safeguard then trust in my own safety by just trying to hide away from everything in this world. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10 here says because thou has kept the word of my patience I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell dwell upon the earth behold I come quickly hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown. I believe this is linked in with this and this is just my personal belief is that this passage is dealing with the fact that it if we're in if we were to be in the Great Tribulation that if you keep the word of his patience that he'll keep you from that hour temptation kind of like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and the idea that you may even be in the case where they're trying to put you to death but God doesn't allow it and I believe that there's going to be a choice that you can make here when it comes to this is that one you can accept deliverance and you could be like in Luke 21 where it says look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draw it nigh and you'll see the Lord coming in the clouds or you could be like those in Hebrew chapter 11 which says that they did not accept deliverance that they might receive a better resurrection and you can all judge in your minds which one you would choose at that time and but the idea there is that safety for following the Lord for keeping his commandments for finishing your course for for being faithful until the end I believe that there is great reward not just reward in heaven but reward in this life for following the Lord I mean think about the prophets in the Bible and think about those that that stuck to their guns and followed the Lord and didn't falter didn't go back and name me a prophet that God didn't bless and didn't keep safe I mean you think about Jeremiah and all the things that happened to him but yet he just kept preaching what he needed to be preaching and he ended up being a landowner and having the choice of living in Jerusalem or going into Babylon and prospering I mean you think about these prophets and something it's not that their life was just great before that but I don't see you know basically a prophet that is serving the Lord just being fed to the wolves I see those prophets I see those those those believers as being protected by God in all those aspects so me personally that's one big aspect of why I want to finish my course but also the idea of the rewards that are involved in that but let me give you an example of someone that didn't finish his course well and that's Solomon now first Kings chapter 3 and verse 7 and listen I mean when it comes to some of these characters that didn't finish their course well they still did more in their life than most Christians that are out there today okay so I'm not here to just knock Solomon but at the same time here here's someone that just was the wisest person in the world that God was blessing but then when he was older and that's what I usually see is that when they're older that's when it just kind of falls apart you see this with preachers a lot of times where when they were younger they were just on fire they were filled with the Spirit and there are sermons of preachers out there that that I still listen to I'm just like man that was good and I listened to when I was younger and it just it kept me going and then when they got older it's just like they gave up and I don't want to ever see that happen with any of my pastor friends or myself so where when we get older we're just like you know what we fought the fight we fought the good fight we finished our course it's like no you're not dead yet like why are you giving in like why why are you stopping now so to me I don't know you know when I get older I feel like I'm gonna get grumpier I'm gonna be like that grumpy old man that doesn't care at all what I say like right now I'm kind of saving face a little bit because I'm younger you know but I'm joking yeah you know but I just don't get why when when a lot of these preachers get older they just basically you're like I've done it all I've done what I was gonna do then and now I'm gonna just mellow out and when I say mellow out I mean basically they're just getting soft and and not preaching hard on on sin and it's sad to see and so in first Kings chapter 3 and verse 7 I want you to see the beginning of Solomon's reign here in verse 7 it says and now Oh Lord my God thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father and I am but a little child and I know not how to go out or come in and thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad for who is able to judge this thy so great a people and the speech please the Lord and Solomon asked this thing so this is this famous passage where Solomon's asking for understanding he's asking for wisdom and this please the Lord and if you think about it I don't believe Solomon was like a little kid when he reigned but at the same time in his mind he's basically stating I'm a child I mean what how in the world am I going to rule when there's this great people I mean you think about David was the last king and you're following up your father a man after God's own heart the sweet psalmist of Israel how are you gonna follow that up and that humble heart of I need wisdom I need understanding and especially if he when he's younger to understand that that's more valuable than riches or long life or anything like that and obviously God here gives him more than that he gives them wisdom and understanding but then he gives them everything on top of that that he could have asked for he gave him riches and he ended up having long life as well and so he has this good beginning and and obviously I'm not gonna go through all the stories of Solomon and his wisdom and everything but go to go to first Kings chapter 11 verse 1 I mean Solomon wrote the Proverbs he wrote Song of Solomon he wrote Ecclesiastes obviously he accomplished a lot in his life so I'm not here to just say like Solomon is a bad guy but we all know the end of Solomon don't we unfortunately we know the end of that story as far as how he life ended and I I just don't want it I don't want that to be the case for anybody in here to where you're living you're living for the Lord and you're doing what you should be doing and then it when you're older you're just like and you just let it all fall apart and it's always sad to me I'm like don't do it you know you ever read through the Bible you're like don't do it you know but you know it's gonna happen you already know the end of the story it's like you're reading about the Titanic it's like just miss the iceberg it doesn't happen but here in verse 1 first King chapter 11 verse 1 it says the King Solomon loved many strange women together with the daughter of Pharaoh women of the Moabites Ammonites Edomites Zydonians and Hittites of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel you shall not go into them neither shall they come in unto you for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods Solomon clave unto these in love and in Deuteronomy actually says not to multiply wives unto yourself for this very reason it says it in the law and verse 3 it says and he had 700 wives princesses and 300 concubines and his wives turned away his heart I can't even fathom that that idea of what why would you want that I just don't get it but I mean when you have everything I guess you're just never content there's gonna be that level of not being content and obviously Ecclesiastes really hits on that that basically he hid nothing from his eyes and the pleasure that was in this life and it was all vanity and and Solomon knew that he still retained his wisdom the Bible says even even in this folly he still retained his wisdom but notice notice here in verse 4 and I think this is very just kind of on the on the nose of what I'm talking about here is that you don't want when you get older to just let things fall apart it says in verse 4 for it came to pass when Solomon was old okay so when you think about all these great things that Solomon did it wasn't until he's older that this happened and it says when Solomon is old it says that that his wives turned away his heart after other gods and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as was the heart of David his father and Solomon went after Asheroth the goddess of the Zidonians and after Milcom the abomination of the Amorites Ammonites and Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and went not fully after the Lord as did David his father see David had some hiccups right but he ended it was it wasn't said about David that he didn't fully follow the Lord with all his heart he obviously sinned I mean he obviously committed adultery he had Uriah killed I mean he numbered the people when he shouldn't have or you know and that's another sermon for another day when you when you're dealing with the things that David did there but but in the end David fully followed the Lord even though he obviously messed up in some areas this case you have Solomon going after other gods now I believe Solomon saved he's a believer and this really does show you kind of how far a believer can go into things ultimately is his wives that were causing him to do this and and how you know women I mean think about Proverbs 31 where it said where you know the mother of King Lemuel saying not to give your strength on the women and how that wasn't heated with Solomon he literally just gave all his strength unto these women these 1,000 women that he had and so when you see that the downfall Solomon it's just sad and and I don't want I don't want that to happen in my life I want to obviously finish my course well and we need to strive to do that especially when we get older because you don't want to get older and be like well you know this isn't my first rodeo you know I've been doing this all my life now wherefore let him to think if he stand to take heed lest he fall when you're older you can still be a susceptible to these type of sins or go down this path or or get soft and doctrine or or whatever the case may be and we need to obviously guard ourselves from that now there's one man in the Bible that I always think of when I think about a character or person in the Bible that I want to emulate that that I believe finished his course now Paul finished his course well Paul had a rough beginning but then he finished really strong Joshua on the other hand is someone in the Bible that has this strong beginning yes he made he made a mistake here there right and I'll you know obviously we could talk I could talk about some of the mistakes he made but man did he end strong and so Joshua is this character where I'm just like I want to be like that guy and not to be down on Moses because obviously smoke the rock twice couldn't go into the Promised Land and you think about great men of God in the Bible that messed up at the end of their life but Joshua was one of those characters where I'm like man there's a character that ended well and go to Exodus chapter 17 Exodus chapter 17 of verse 8 Joshua was mentioned for a first time here where he's dealing with and obviously there's a place where you know where it's Ocea Joshua is called Ocea in a place especially when he goes to search out the land but here in Exodus chapter 17 where they're they haven't got to Mount Sinai where they're gonna get the Ten Commandments yet but they've crossed the Red Sea and Joshua is going to end up fighting Amalek it says in verse 8 it says then came Amalek and fought with Israel and referred them and Moses said unto Joshua choose out men choose I'm sorry choose us out men and go out fight with Amalek tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand so Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek and Moses Aaron her went up to the top of the hill and this is that famous story where remember Moses couldn't he was weird he couldn't hold up his arms and then you have Aaron and her that are there holding up his arms and when his arms fell Joshua and the army started failing and then they they held up his arms he ended up winning the battle because in verse 13 it says in Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword and the Lord said unto Moses write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven so Joshua was a soldier I mean he was he was really the captain captain of these men that took out Amalek but go to Exodus chapter 24 in verse 12 he was for lack of better terms Moses right-hand man he was a minister to Moses and notice what it says in Exodus chapter 24 in verse 12 it says in the Lord said unto Moses come up to me into the mount and be there and I will give thee tables of stone and a law and commandments which I have written that thou mayest teach them and Moses rose up and his minister Joshua and Moses went up into the mount of God and he said unto the elders tear ye here for us until we come down unto you and behold Aaron and her are with you if any man have any matters to do let him come unto them so think about when he goes up to get these Ten Commandments Joshua is up there with him now obviously Moses the one that goes into the cloud and I was preaching through Exodus when you read that story which I don't have it in my notes right now that cloud it talks I don't think sometimes we visualize how terrifying that would be okay I mean you're talking about this dark smoking type of cloud that you're just gonna walk into right and Moses obviously is a great man of God and he walked in there where God was at right but Joshua saw that he saw you know that kind of fearless type of mentality of walking in there and all the elders and everybody even Aaron and her were down below they weren't there when that happened and even when he comes out of the cloud when he has the Ten Commandments Joshua remember he said hey there's war and Moses like no that's not war right because when they made the golden calf Joshua wasn't down there and so Joshua was a soldier he was a minister to Moses go to Numbers chapter 11 Numbers chapter 11 it talks about him being a young one of the young men I think young is probably relative because Moses was 80 so and if you do the math Joshua was 110 when he died and you know all that so he was younger than he was younger than Moses obviously but as I get older you know being young is relative and being older is relative as well but in Numbers chapter 11 verse 27 here says there ran a young man and told Moses and said El dad and me dad do prophesy in the camp and Joshua the son of none the servant of Moses one of his young men answered and said my Lord Moses forbid them so we see here that he's he's a servant of Moses he's a minister he's a young man and basically there are people that are prophesying in the camp and Joshua was saying forbid them forbid him to prophesy and this is the wrong thing to think of right I mean it's kind of like the idea of when there was other people preaching or casting out devils and the apostles were forbidding them and Jesus says forbid them not but in this case Moses said unto him envious thou for my sake would God that all Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them so Joshua was kind of being taught a lesson here and Moses is being the teacher so when you think about Joshua's beginning he was a servant he did what he was told he's like go down and fight this battle all right I'll go down and fight this battle he ministered unto Moses he waited there for 40 days and 40 nights outside of this cloud up on top of a mountain for Moses so he is a servant he was a minister and he was very loyal to Moses to a fault right to the point where he's like I don't want anybody else prophesying besides Moses and so he had to be taught hey no that's not a bad thing and then I go to Numbers chapter 27 Moses is picking up the I'm sorry Joshua picks up the mantle of Moses so when when Moses dies Joshua takes his place and really the only thing that I could you know when it comes to a fault of Joshua besides that place right there where he's saying forbid them to prophesy is where if you remember the the Gileadites basically come to him and they deceive him that they're from a very really far country when they're going into the Promised Land and he doesn't take counsel of the Lord which is obviously a fault right he didn't seek counsel the Lord and he got duped by these guys that basically came there with all this tattered stuff when they were just down the road right it's like if someone came from Scottsdale and they're like hey I came from really long ways away came from West Virginia look at me look at my bread it's all molded and all this stuff and then they're like actually I'm in Scottsdale you know and I don't know how close Scottsdale is I just know that it's not that far away but the same thing would apply with Joshua is that obviously there is a there is false with them I mean he's a man just like anybody else but it says in verse verse 18 it says in the Lord said unto Moses take thee Joshua the son of none a man in whom is the spirit and lay thine hand upon him and it says in verse 23 and he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses and so when you think about Joshua Joshua it was a man that was filled with the Spirit of God he was but when you think about okay I want to be someone that goes to the end you have to think about how you start I mean Saul started off well didn't he he had he was humble and he was small in his own sight but I believe Joshua turned out well to where he ended well because he had such a good mentor right this morning when I was preaching on having you know this mantle that you're passing off is having a really good mentor to where you can have this really good beginning and sometimes you know I'm a first-generation Christian and sometimes we think about well first-generation Christians they're the ones that are really just on fire for the Lord it's kind of like a Saul-Paul situation right where you get saved and then you're on fire for the Lord but that second-generation Christian the ones that grew up with it they're the ones that are gonna end up falling out they take everything for granted Joshua is that second generation that not only did well but ended well so you know when I think about obviously there's I'm sure there's a lot of children here that I don't know if you call it second generation third generation but you you get the idea is that they're growing up in a Christian home they're growing up with good preaching they're growing up getting saved at a young age and listen you should be a Joshua and you and don't be someone that takes it for granted takes all that knowledge and everything that's been given to you for granted and just throw it away and like I said yeah I think about my children and I think about the idea of I wasn't I didn't grow up in a Baptist Church I didn't grow up you know hearing hard preaching I grew up Catholic if you can believe it you know I'm over here genuflexing and all this stuff I never liked the Catholic Church to be fair but they're always the people that were there they're very pretentious and like I didn't like it I was I was like this country boy I'm like why am I a Catholic you know but so I didn't grow up with that so when when I got saved I was kind of like it's like I don't want to take this for you really don't take it as much for granted when you did when you just find it later on but I kind of worry about my kids and the idea of like well you know they're growing up with it they're not having to figure out like okay this is what the truth is they're growing up with the truth and so that's why I love the story with Joshua because here here's a guy that grew up with Moses you know and it was in under Moses and look at his end and that's what I want for all Christians that they be like Joshua that they they don't have to they don't have to be a drug addict to just be on fire for the Lord for the rest of their life right and listen I'm all for drug addicts that get saved and start and love the Lord and all that but you don't need all that baggage to love the Lord and do great things for God you can do that by growing up in a Christian home and you could be like Joshua and you say you know what I'm just gonna keep going further with that and just like a license is I want a double portion not only am I gonna go forward with what you're doing I'm gonna go further than that and Joshua is a great example that and his leadership look at Joshua 1 Joshua 1 and verse 10 when he's picking up this mantle if you will you're like you just preach that well it's it's a combined type of sermon all right I want it to be linked and so I'm linking it but Joshua is is basically taking charge they're gonna go into the promised land and this is before they go into Jericho and the walls of Jericho fall but he's given a commandment to his officers and this is after God gives him command and gives him charge and everything when in verse 10 it says then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying pass through the host and command the people saying prepare ye vittles for within three days you shall pass over this Jordan to go to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it and to the Reubenites of the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh make Joshua say or spake Joshua saying remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you saying the Lord your God have given you rest and have given you this land your wives your little ones your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan but ye shall pass before your brethren armed almighty men of valor and help them until the Lord have given you your brethren rest as he hath given you and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your God giveth them then ye shall return unto the land of your possession and enjoy it which Moses the Lord servant gave you on this this side Jordan toward the Sun rising all that say is that that portion right there dealing with the Reubenites the Gadites and half-tribe of Manasseh is that they wanted that land over on the other side Jordan before they ever went in the promised land but they had to make a pact basically saying that they're going to fight the battles for the promised land you know and that they can't just stay there be like we're out we're not going in right and notice though in verse 16 it says and they answer Joshua saying all that thou commandest us we will do and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go now there is a leader right when you have everybody behind you said you know what what you say we're gonna do and what where you go we're gonna go and so Joshua was a strong leader but it didn't just come out of nothing right he was a minister under Moses he was already fighting battles in the army under Moses and he was doing all this before he ever came up into this leadership position but he didn't just squander it Joshua look at Joshua 24 in verse 14 Joshua 24 in verse 14 Joshua is one that finished his course he kept the faith and he is someone that I would like to be like and Joshua 24 verse 14 it says now therefore fear the Lord and serve him and 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 you 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 Amorites in whose land you dwell but as for me in my house we will serve the Lord and when it comes to the end that you say well what happened after this right what happened after they get into the Promised Land well go to Judges chapter 2 Judges chapter 2 Judges chapter 2 Judges chapter 2 in verse 6 Judges chapter 2 and verse 6 here it says and when Joshua had let the people go the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land and the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua who had seen all the great works of the Lord that he did for Israel and Joshua the son of the Lord died being in 110 years old and they buried him in the border of the inheritance and it goes on so so on and so forth not only did the children of Israel they they served the Lord all the days of Joshua but even after he died all the elders that were with Joshua until they died that's when they stopped serving the Lord and then you in the book of Judges just doing this back and forth of them serving the Lord going in captivity back serving Lord going into captivity and then you deal the same thing in Israel when you have a good King and they're serving the Lord and they have a bad King and they're not serving the Lord and with Joshua they served the Lord all the days of Joshua I think about how powerful that that is when Moses when they were in the wilderness they were just constantly just tempting the Lord provoking the Lord yet in Josh when Joshua was right when he wasn't reigning but when he was basically the leader of Israel during that time that they served the Lord that whole time and not just that whole time but even after he was dead and so all those that were basically in Joshua Circle were gone I mean talk about taking the mantle and then just passing on the mantle to the next generation you know he ended on a good note he ended he he finished his course go to Revelation chapter 10 Revelation chapter 10 Revelation chapter I'm sorry Revelation 2 Revelation 2 and verse 10 and I'm basically done with the sermon I just hope that it gets across that hey we should finish our course and you should you you should you need to make this up in your mind and especially younger like adolescent you need to make it up in your mind because there's gonna be a day where you're outside your parents house and you have to make this choice yourself and say am I gonna finish or I'm gonna am I gonna quit and there can be people unless you say well if I quit I'm just done I guess I'm out no if you quit you can get back in and you can go on from there to the very end but in the end your goal should be hey I'm gonna end I'm gonna finish my course I'm gonna end it well but in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10 here it says fear none of those things which which thou shalt suffer behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried and you shall have tribulation ten days be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of light now I can understand this obviously keep you talking about the idea that you're gonna be put to death right and then it's martyrs crown but the Bible also talks about it he that endure temptation shall receive a crown of light so I don't think that the crown of life is just reversed reserved to martyrs so when I look at this verse obviously you can be faithful unto death and a martyrs death right to where you just you know you go out strong and you're beheaded for the cause of Christ or you're killed for the cause of Christ but I think this verse also would apply to those that are just faithful to the end meaning like you die of old age but you're just serving the Lord you love the Lord until you die and just faithful unto the end and there's a reward there's a crown of life that's waiting for you and that is something that we should be striving for as Christians and don't let obviously these people that say that well you need to be faithful unto the end or you're gonna go to hell no all these passages that people twist and use to say you can lose your salvation has good application and the application of all these areas where it says that you'll be partakers of Christ if you hold the beginning of your confidence steadfast unto the end or that whose house are ye if you hold the beginning of your confidence steadfast at the end all these passages have good application and finishing your course and keeping the faith and being faithful unto the end has a great reward and when when you die I guarantee you're not gonna be when you're up and having to be like man I wish I just wouldn't have finished my course I wish I just would have had more fun I wish I would have bought that boat and went on out on the lake on Sundays you know that you know well I don't know is there a lake around the people have boats in Arizona it's a desert are there lakes out here there water out here but but you know what I'm talking about on Sunday Sunday is fun day right and there's a lot of people that would just love to just give it all up right now and I'm talking about safe people those that are believers would love to just like hey I'm done I want to have a good time I just want to relax why am I going to church why am I going to the house so anyone is 110 degrees outside you know why why do you put yourself through all this because there's a great reward for it because there's safety of the Lord that's involved when you serve him because you know what there's a peace that passeth all understanding that I would love I love enjoying in my life I don't like having anxiety and being on edge and fearful that what the next day is gonna bring whereas no I can have peace that I can lay my my head on my pillow at night and say hey it's in the Lord's hands and say hey you know what I'm gonna cast all my care upon him upon him for he careth for me and I'm not gonna worry what man's gonna do unto me because I have the Lord on my side but if you don't finish your course and you don't hold out faithful unto the end imagine going through life not having the Lord on your side but time and chance happen to every man when it comes to accidents when it comes to they're just they're just horrible people that are out there there's animals out there right scorpions I guess is that what is that the biggest fear out here what animals do you have out here that's like really dangerous I know you got scorpions snakes yeah yeah I hate snakes I can deal with spiders all day long snakes they should all die I don't care for the black snake I'm tired of people telling me that you shouldn't kill them because they can't care the rat problem I'll get a cat and I hate cats but this is the case where the lesser of two evils will come into play but on a serious note there's obviously things out there that can harm you we live it we live in a simple world that has anything can happen and if there's any reason to finish your course to keep the faith to the whole fast unto the end is because all these promises that God gives us that hey he'll take care of us hey he'll keep us safe hey he'll you know if we're in the end times hey we can we could stand there and look up and lift up our heads for our redemption draweth nigh even though we're preaching the gospel out in public I believe that God will keep you safe and and you say well what you know there's people that are gonna be beheaded for the cause of Christ yeah because there's people that won't accept deliverance and wouldn't you rather have the choice right I mean when it comes down to that I'd be like do I want to be delivered or do I want a better resurrection and then you you can make that choice but I don't want to be in the case where I don't have a choice and then I'm just destroyed and I don't have a choice about it okay and so I I hope this is a blessing to you I hope these sermons were a blessing to you and honestly this is just my heart when it comes to why I want to keep going on why I want to finish my course why I want to want one establish a mantle establish a good spiritual mantle to pass down but also to pass down that mantle so that what I do in this life doesn't just stop with me but that it will go on and not only will it go on but it will be better on the next generation and then the next generation can be better and obviously I can't control that but what when it comes to what you can control that's what you should be focused on don't worry about things you can't control but focus on those things you can control and the one thing that you can control more than anything else is your own life right what you do so make it a point they say hey I'm going to one you know establish a godly spiritual mantle that is associated with your life to where you're loving the Lord you're reading your Bible you're going out soul winning and when it comes to if you have a husband a wife children that you're gonna raise them well and then go on and say hey I'm not gonna stop I'm gonna keep going I'm not gonna quit I don't care if your legs are cramping up I don't I don't care if you feel like you can't breathe you keep going you don't stop you'll be surprised at what you can go through before you die ice I used to wrestle in high school and I know it's a long time ago but I used to wrestle in high school and there was this one guy that I was wrestling and we were pretty much even on points you either win by points or you can pin the person and I'd something snapped in my mind that said I'd rather die than lose to this guy it's a high school wrestling match like you know really it's really all the cards are on the table here but there's just something to snap to my mind like I don't I'm not gonna lose this guy I will and you ever been in I don't know if anybody's ever done like jujitsu or they've done other things where you get to the point where you you're just trying to breathe and you're just like I'm just doing everything I can to get as much oxygen as I can and I'm struggling to do that so you're trying to conserve energy you don't want to move too much you're just doing enough to where they can't do something to you and something just snapped it said you know what I'm taking this guy out yeah he actually had me beat on points and I basically I couldn't breathe but I turned the guy over I pinned them and then it was over and then I felt like I was going to die but as you know I'm standing right here so I'm not dead but sometimes life's like that where you think like I'm all I'm at the breaking point I can't breathe if I try to move if I try to move forward if I try to advance my position I'm going to die you don't know what you're capable of and listen all things are possible to him that believe it and I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me when I am weak then am I strong and in this life there's gonna be a lot of times where you're gonna feel like giving up you're gonna feel like you can't breathe you're gonna feel like the weight of the world is down on you and that's a real thing but the question is do you quit if you quit you fail and all you have to do is just say I'm not quitting like I said there's days where I'm just like I feel like why am I doing this but then there's the next day I'm not feeling that way and you just have to know by experience that through tribulation comes experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed and the more that you go through these type of things the more you have the experience to say I I can make it through this I made it through that and I hope this I hope these servers were a blessing it's honestly my heart this is what I think about probably on a daily basis as far as why I want to keep moving forward obviously the Lord says to do it but you got to think about the fact of why are you doing it though children you have to think about why why do you come to church well my parents dragged me here if I don't come here I get disciplined oh yeah I mean that's true but there's gonna come a point where you're gonna have to make that choice and your parents aren't gonna be dragging you here because you're gonna be an adult and you need to make it you need to make it clear in your own mind right now that hey I'm going to make the decision that I'm gonna serve the Lord because I love the Lord because I want to please the Lord because when Jesus died on the cross and he suffered so great contradiction of sinners when he was spit in the face and he was put a crown of thorns was put on his head the king of kings came down and suffered all that shame and reproach died on the cross for your sins and rose again the third day to pay for all your sins when you think about what your Savior did for you then maybe you say you know what my life is worth giving to him we're not this lordship salvation garbage crowd that says you have to give your life to be saved no none of what I give of my life will be accounted to my salvation but the question is why do you do it and there's maybe multiple reasons why you do it but you have to find the reason because no parent no friend can make that can can make that real to you you have to make that decision in your own mind to say you know ask for me in my house we will serve the Lord and sometimes it's got to be a daily basis you know that you're telling yourself that as for me in my house we're gonna serve the Lord next day as for me in my house we're gonna serve the Lord and you know finish your course keep the faith I hope that ten years from now if Pastor Anderson will have me again and I'm preaching here that I'm preaching it I'll see a lot of the same faces and maybe some will go on and do great things for God somewhere else I'm not saying like if you're not here you're you failed but hopefully I'll see some of the same faces be like still going strong and I hope 20 years from now you're still going strong 30 years from now you're still going strong and then your children are going strong and then their children are going strong and that that that mantle is being passed down from generation to generation to serve the Lord and by the way it's been that way from the beginning of time but we obviously want it to happen as much as possible and that that blessing will be passed down as much as possible let's end with the word prayer the only father we think for today thank you for this church thank you for everybody that's here tonight and Lord just pray that you would bless all those that are here and help us all to keep the faith and to finish our course and to be faithful once at the end and Lord we just love you and thank you for everything you've done for us and given us and we pray all this in Jesus Christ's name Amen