Crossing the Jordan

Lord, as we take time this evening to look into Your scriptures, I ask that You would open our hearts. Lord, that You'd speak to us and give us understanding. As we look at this story about the children of Israel and their crossing into the promised land, their crossing over the Jordan, I pray, Father, that You would apply this to our lives. That we here tonight, on February 15th, 2003, would see the application that You want to speak to us.

In Revelation, You said that he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Tonight, I pray that You would open our ears, that we would hear from You and understand. Lord, that we would come into more and more of a fuller relationship with You. That we would know You in the power of Your resurrection and the fellowship of Your suffering, being conformed unto Your death. Lord, we lift this time of study into Your hands, and I pray that You would speak to us. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Go ahead and be seated. As we've been looking at for the last several weeks, as we've been going through the book of Joshua, we see a people who had been in slavery for over 400 years in the land of Egypt. God called them out, and they followed. They came out by the mighty hand of God. God got rid of the Egyptian army, totally annihilated all of Egypt, and brought His people, the children of Israel, out.

They crossed and came into the wilderness, and after two years of wandering, they reached the very border of the land, the land of Canaan, the promised land that God had promised to the children of Israel way back in the book of Genesis, chapter 12, when God called Abraham. Yet, as we saw a few weeks ago, the children of Israel didn't enter in at that point in time because of unbelief. Their unbelief hindered the work that God desired to do with them. Our unbelief, as we've seen, will hinder the work that God desires to do in and through us as well.

So we need to cast ourselves upon the Lord. The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 38 years, and now we've come to the end of that time, the end of that wandering. Last week, we saw how the Lord sent two spies into the land, into Jericho, to save a convert who was there in the land of Canaan. They brought out a woman, the one woman there in the land of Canaan, whose heart was ripe, and God went and saved her.

God will go to the uttermost, and He will leave the 99 to save the one. We see that over and over again throughout Scripture, and we've seen it in our own lives. We can testify to that. But now the spies have returned.

They came back with a great report. We saw it last week in verse 24 of Joshua chapter 2. It says, "They said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord has delivered into our hands the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us." This is such a better testimony than 38 years before. Thirty-eight years prior, ten of the spies said, "They're giants in the land. And we were, in our own sight, as little grasshoppers, and they're going to totally squish us. We can't go in." The children of Israel began to cry and weep because of the evil report.

But now, here these two spies come back to Joshua, and they say, "The Lord's delivered the land into our hands." In Joshua chapter 3, verse 1, it says, "He rose early in the morning." What an awesome verse! What an awesome few words there, that Joshua rose early in the morning, just like his father Abraham. We know from Scripture in Genesis chapter 22 that Abraham rose early in the morning. Moses too, in Exodus chapters 24 and 34, rose early in the morning. We see that King David rose early in the morning, as did Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 15. Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles also rose early in the morning, and our own Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in Mark chapter 1, rose early in the morning. Way before the sun had come up, He rose up.

Why? To hear the heart of the Father. To spend time with the Lord. What was Joshua doing at this time in the morning? Did he get up to have some coffee? Probably not. Did he drive down to his place or Starbucks? I don't think so. No, he got up to spend time with the true life source. If there are people in here tonight who think that your double espresso at his place is your life source, I'm here to correct you tonight. That's not what it is. Our Lord, our Father, He's our life source. Joshua rose early in the morning to spend time with the Father.

I have a hard time with this verse because I have a really hard time getting up in the morning. I don't know, maybe some of you in this room are like me, but I'm the complete opposite of my father, who wakes up at 3 in the morning every morning to go to work. Personally, I stay up until 3 in the morning sometimes. I'm much more of a night person, and yet here we see that Joshua was the leader of the army of God. He was the leader of God's people at this point in time, with 2.5, maybe 3 million people under his charge.

And what did He do? Well, He got up early in the morning to spend time with the Father so that He would know how to lead. We see with Samson, also in Scripture, that he asked the Lord, "Lord, show me how I might go out and come in, how I might rule these people correctly." I believe that that's what Joshua was doing during the mornings when he would wake up and spend time with the Lord.

You can pray for me as well, because I have a hard time waking up in the morning. I'll pray for you too if you struggle with that. I truly believe that God reveals Himself in the mornings. In Exodus chapter 16, when the children of Israel went out to gather manna, it says, "In the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord." I believe that's why Joshua got up early in the morning—to see the glory revealed to him so that he would know exactly what he needed to do with his day.

It says that they removed from the acacia groves and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and they lodged there before they passed over. They left this area, maybe seven to ten miles away from the Jordan River, a shady spot, and marched down to the Jordan. Three million people went down to the very edge of the land of Canaan, to the Jordan River. There is much for us to learn from this passage of Scripture tonight. I believe the Lord wants to speak to us here, and I hope to touch upon those things.

In the book of 1 Corinthians, as we've looked at before, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 11, the Bible says that all of these things that happened to them happened as examples. They were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. The entire Bible, the entire Old Testament, every single word in the Old Testament has been inspired by God. It has been given to you and me for doctrine, so we can learn from it, be corrected by it, and know how to walk in righteousness.

Every single word in the pages of this book is written for our instruction and admonition. There are things that God wants to reveal to us in this passage. God brought us out of Egypt; He brought us out of the world to bring us into a full relationship with Him, into the abundant life. As I've talked about every week, John chapter 10, verse 10 says, "The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come to give you life, and that more abundantly." Jesus came to give us an abundant life.

He didn't just come so that we would have a hope of heaven, and that's great, but He came to remove us from the bondage of sin here and now. He came to take us out of the slavery that we were in, in Egypt. He doesn't desire that we would stay in the wilderness. He didn't desire that His children, the children of Israel, would stay in the wilderness. In fact, Moses, in Deuteronomy chapter 6, says that God has brought us out of Egypt to bring us in. To bring us in. God brought us out of the world to bring us in, to bring us in closely to Him, that we would be in Christ.

We would no longer be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, as Ephesians chapter 4 tells us. Yet, there are many in the church in America today who are tossed back and forth by different weird teachings. I hope and pray that none of us have been bound up in that, because that truly is the wilderness. Wandering around in the wilderness, not really knowing which way to go. Can you imagine, for 38 years, they walked in circles there in the wilderness? They weren't in Egypt any longer. They weren't in bondage any longer. But they hadn't come into the promised land that God had given to them.

Here in verse 1, it says that they rose early in the morning and they removed from the acacia grove. There are some of you in this room tonight who have been just kind of hanging around in the groves, under a shady tree. You might think, "I kind of like it here, sitting under a tree. I don't really want to move on." But the Lord would say to you tonight, it's time to get up. It's time to rise up early and come to the very edge of the Jordan River. To come on down. To come on in.

You see, the Lord doesn't want you to be on the outskirts. In the book of Numbers, when the children of Israel were walking around in the wilderness, there was a group of people we looked at months ago in Exodus chapter 17. This group of people would come up and take out those who were at the back of the pack. This nation called Amalek would look for the people who were lingering at the back of the camp of Israel when they were walking through the wilderness. They would come craftily and take those people out.

That's the way our flesh is. If we don't die to our flesh, put it to death, and if we're not following close to the Lord, we're kind of just straggling back at the back, maybe kicking back underneath a tree. Then the flesh is going to take you out. Sadly, over the last several years, we've heard of many pastors who have been taken out because of the flesh, because they didn't crucify it daily. I remember hearing not too long ago about one of the pastors within Calvary Chapel, Pastor Steve Mays. He was talking about how he had met with one of these pastors who had fallen.

What happened? Why did this happen? He said he could trace it all the way back to when he stopped doing his devotions every morning and spending time with the Lord. He could trace it back to when he no longer was crucifying the flesh daily, and that flesh came up and killed him.

What a sad picture we have in the book of 1 Samuel when we look at this great king, Saul, the first king of Israel, whom God had called specifically to do a great work in and through him. God commanded Saul to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites because they were wicked. The Amalekites were the ones who had taken the people from the back of the pack.

The Bible tells us in 1 Samuel chapters 14 and 15 that the people of Israel saw that the produce was good. They saw the lambs and so forth off in the distance in Amalek. They decided not to utterly destroy everything in Amalek; they kept back the best of the land and spared Agag, the king of Amalek. You see, God had commanded Saul to utterly destroy the flesh because in Scripture, Amalek is the picture of the flesh. We too need to utterly destroy the flesh in our lives and crucify it daily.

The sad story ends in 2 Samuel chapter 1, where we find out that Saul was killed by an Amalekite. An Amalekite killed him. If you don't destroy the flesh, this flesh will destroy you. We need to get out from underneath those shady spots, those places where you're just kicking back in an acacia grove somewhere. It is thought that the acacia tree is the very tree from which they made the crown of thorns for Jesus. I don't want to be hanging out in that place. I don't want to be in sin in a shady place.

In verse 1, it says that they removed from the acacia grove and came to the Jordan. All the children of Israel lodged there before they passed over. Everybody in the camp of Israel came; they didn't leave anybody behind. Everyone was to come to the mouth of the Jordan or to the edge of the Jordan.

It came to pass after three days, in verse 2, that the officers went throughout the host and commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests, the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place and go after it."

So the first thing we see is that you are supposed to rise up and remove yourself from that shady spot. But now, Joshua and his officers...

Come to the children of Israel and they say, "When you see the ark." The ark here is a picture of God's presence; it represents God's presence. It was a two-foot by three-foot box made out of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. The wood represents the human elements, while the gold represents the divine. You see, that ark is a picture of Jesus Christ. He was fully human and yet fully God at the same time, and He came to dwell in the midst of His people. Just as John chapter 1 tells us that He came in the flesh to dwell among us, to tabernacle with us, this ark is a picture of Christ. It's a picture of God's presence in the midst of His people, dwelling and tabernacling there with them.

Joshua tells his officers, and his officers tell the people, "When you see the ark go up, then you're to remove and go after it." The same is true for you and me. When we see God on the move, we should be following close behind. If the Lord is moving, then we should be right there with Him, not lagging back at the back of the pack. If you are in the back—I'm not talking to those who are sitting in the back tonight—but if you are kind of straggling at the back, that's the place where you have no accountability. It's easy to fall by the wayside, and no one will even know it. Don't straggle at the back. When you see the Lord on the move, be right there at the front following Him.

That's exactly what Joshua told his officers, and his officers told the people. When you see the Levites bearing the ark and they begin to walk, you shall follow them. Yet, he says in verse 4, "There shall be a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits, or about a half mile by measure. Come not near unto it, that you may know the way which you must go, for you have not passed this way heretofore." So he says, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord begin to move, you're to follow it, but stay at a distance."

I don't know about you, but in my own life, I find that when the Lord begins to move and a door begins to open, I'm one of those people who goes and kicks the door down, trying to say, "All right, let's go, Lord. You're beginning to move in this way." But we need to be careful that we don't get ahead of the Lord when He's moving. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31, that those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall rise up on wings of eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. The life in which one does not faint...

Becoming weary or falling down is a life that's spent waiting upon the Lord. Not that you go find yourself in Acacia Grove and sit down, saying, "I'm waiting on the Lord," twiddling your thumbs. No. The word "to wait upon the Lord" means something more active. Has anybody in this room ever been a waiter or a waitress? Several of you have. I give good tips to waiters and waitresses who are on top of things, who don't let your glass get empty, who are taking care of it. "Can I get you anything?" That's how we're to wait upon the Lord as well. "Lord, can I get you anything? What would you like today? How can I serve you today?"

We shouldn't just sit in a corner, saying, "Well, I'm waiting on the Lord if He wants to do anything. He's going to come and find me." No, that's not how we're to wait. We're to wait serving expectantly. "Lord, what do you want me to do today? What would it be? Show me the direction. Show me exactly what you want me to do today." And He will. We need to listen to that still, small voice as the Lord says, "Here, I want you to talk with this person. I want you to go and do this." Maybe it's just, "Hey, I want you to pick that up and throw it away." Perhaps that's what the Lord has called you to today.

We need to be waiting upon Him and watching where He would direct us, what He would have us do. Don't get ahead of the Lord, because if you do, you'll have no protection. We need to be there, following close behind Him. Psalm 63:8 says, "My heart followeth hard after thee, and your right hand upholds me." May we be those who follow hard after the Lord, right there at His very feet.

Think of the name Jacob; his name means "heel catcher." May we be that close, that we would almost be a heel catcher to the Lord, grabbing hold of Him at His very feet, wherever He goes. Whatever He tells us to do, may we do that. I pray that this would be true for you and for me as well, that we would listen and obey the voice of the Lord.

However, we need to make sure that we are following Him and not our own whims or desires. Our flesh is very crafty, and so is the enemy. He can coat things and make them look like, "Well, that looks like maybe God would want me to do this." But I have found in my own life that there are things the enemy dangles in front of me to try to get me to do something that's not God's perfect will. Sure, God can use it, but I might be going down an alleyway where I'm not really getting anything done.

So we need to be careful that we're following the Lord, seeing where He would take us. God told him to keep a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure, because the place where you're going, you've never been before.

How many of you have lived tomorrow yet? No hands. You see, the place that we're going tomorrow is unknown. We don't know what will happen tonight, and we have no idea what the Lord is going to direct us to do tomorrow. Therefore, we need to make sure that every single day we are seeking Him for direction. God, what do you want me to do? And God will show you.

As you're faithful in the little things—maybe it is just picking up a piece of trash, serving in the youth ministry, or being an accessibility helper for the Billy Graham crusade—God begins to unfold all the other things that He has called you to. Be faithful in those small tasks where God says, "Here, just do this." As you do, you're going to find that the Lord is doing all kinds of incredible things with you.

I remember I was at Bible college several years ago, and I didn't want to be there. I was midway through my first semester and started to realize that this place is like the full-on Bible bubble. I thought if I got stuck there, I would never get out. So, I was praying, "Lord, would you open a door for me to get out of here?" Then Pastor Richard asked me if I would come down and be an intern at the church. I was thrilled because I had been praying for that.

I came down here, and for the first couple of weeks, all I really did was computer work, which comes fairly naturally to me. About a month after I got here, in fact, it was four years ago just yesterday, on Valentine's Day, that was the first day I ever taught junior high. Tony had asked me to do it, and I thought he was nuts. But I started teaching junior high, and just a few months later, after Tony's accident, I took over a lot of the administration of the youth ministry. Ever since then, the Lord has piled more and more responsibilities upon me.

You know what? As you're faithful in the little things, God begins to put bigger things upon you. If I had looked four years ago and someone had told me that I would be teaching Saturday nights in the main sanctuary, I would have said, "You're absolutely nuts. I can't stand teaching." Yet, look at how the Lord works. Be faithful in the little things, and God will begin to open doors. We need to make sure that we're following God's lead and going where He tells us to go.

In Joshua 3:5, it says to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." How many of you would really desire to see God do great wonders among you? I know I desire to see God do great wonders and works right in front of me. And you know what?

Over the last several years, I've had an opportunity to see God do awesome works right in front of me. However, it only comes as we spend that time sanctifying ourselves. How do we do that? Well, the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2 that we're to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. It goes on to say, "For it is God who works in you to will and to do for His good pleasure."

How can we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling? The Lord has saved us; He has justified us. If we've given ourselves completely over to the Lord, He has made us justified in His sight. How can we be cleansed? How can we be cleaned? The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 12 that we need to do it by the renewing of our minds. In Ephesians chapter 5, we see that God wants to sanctify and cleanse us by the washing of the water—by the Word. God wants to cleanse us by the washing of the water by the Word.

How do we sanctify ourselves? How do we do that work of cleaning ourselves before the Lord so that we can see Him do many marvelous works before us? By spending time in the Word and by spending time with the Lord.

When God commanded the children of Israel to build the tabernacle, there at the end of Exodus, around Exodus chapter 23 through the end, He said that they were to make a bronze laver, this basin. This bronze basin was a big round thing filled with water. In Scripture, the basin or laver is a picture of the Word of God. In the bottom of it was perfectly shined and beautiful brass, or bronze. They would use bronze during those times for looking glasses, and so they called it mirrors.

Moses went and asked the ladies for their mirrors when they were getting ready to build the tabernacle. They took all of these mirrors and made them into this big bowl, this big basin, and then they were to pour water into it. Why? When the priests were getting ready to serve in the tabernacle, it says that they would wash themselves in this laver every time before they served the Lord.

If you have a mirror at home, when you look in that mirror every morning, you may not like the sight, but it exposes dirt and things that are out of place. That's what a mirror is good for; it exposes the things that aren't right. It shows you that, well, you know, I have real bad bed head. I need to take care of this. That's all a mirror is good for—it can't clean you; it can only show you what's wrong. I really think that psychology is a lot like that too.

Modern-day psychology can't clean you, but it sure can show you what's wrong. A mirror can only reflect what is wrong. However, the cool thing about this mirror, this laver mentioned in Exodus, is that it not only had mirrors at the bottom but also had water with which you could clean.

The Word of God is similar. As we begin to look into this perfect law of liberty, it shows us the areas in our lives that are dirty. The Lord has given us the water, the water of the Word, to begin to cleanse us. It acts as a mirror that exposes our hearts, but it is also the water of the Word that is able to clean us.

So, how do we sanctify ourselves so that we can see God do wonderful wonders in our sight? By spending time with the Lord in the Word. By spending time with Him daily. This means not just reading a devotional or grabbing the daily bread, although those are good. It’s not just about listening to a tape or tuning into K-Wave while you're commuting to work. It involves sitting down before the Lord and praying, "Lord, reveal Yourself to me in Your Scriptures. Show me what You want me to do."

In Joshua 3:6, it says that Joshua spoke unto the priests, saying, "Take up the Ark of the Covenant and pass over before the people." They took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people. The Lord said unto Joshua, "This day I will begin to magnify thee in the sight of all of Israel, that they may know, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee."

He commanded the priests that bore the Ark of the Covenant, saying, "When you come to the brink of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan." Joshua then said unto the children of Israel, "Come here and hear the words of the Lord your God." He declared, "Hereby shall you know that the living God is among you and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan."

Joshua rose up and stood before the people. He said to the priests who were going to bear the Ark, "You're going to go down to the Jordan and you're going to stand at the very brink of it, right at the rushing waters." He turned to the people and said, "This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will without fail drive out the inhabitants of the land. Right here is your proof."

You watch what's going to happen, and you will know that God is with you today. As you see Him begin to part this Jordan River, you will know that He is taking you into the land. He will, without fail, drive out the inhabitants of the land. You see, God has promised us as well that He has opened the door for us to come in. He's given us the ability to come boldly before His throne. He's opened the door, and yet He has also given us the strength and the power to overcome the enemy in our lives. Whether it be the world, the flesh, or the devil, God has given us the strength to follow after Him.

Here, Joshua says this is going to be the proof. What you're going to see right now is going to be the proof that God is with you, that He is in your midst, and that He is going to drive out the inhabitants of the land. The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth—not just the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Israel, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth. God is the God of all the earth, not just a little portion of it. He spoke this into existence. In six days, He created everything that you and I can see and all the things that we can't see. It’s pretty mind-boggling to think how great and awesome our God is and how huge He is. He is the God of all the earth, and He desires to be intimately involved in every aspect of our lives.

You might say, "Well, there are six billion people on the earth. How can God do that?" I don't know, but He's big. He's really, really, really big. He blows me away every single day with how perfectly He has orchestrated every step of my life. Do you realize there is no such thing as coincidence? In fact, the rabbis say that coincidence is just when God wants to remain anonymous. God works everything so perfectly together. I'm always blown away by how the hand of the Lord moves us around through the day if we allow Him to. We can fight against that, but as we follow the ark, He shows us exactly where we're going to go.

The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, that He has created good works that we should walk in them. God created every good work that you will ever do before the foundation of the earth, and He wants you to walk through those good works. He wants to guide you through those good works and show you how to get there. That comes through spending time with the Lord and following Him faithfully.

I remember I made a pact with a friend when we were back at Bible college. I said, "I never want to be a person who looks back on my life."

At the end of my life, or at the end of the day, many people reflect and say, "I wish I would have done this," or "I wish I would have done that." It is sad to me that there are so many in the body of Christ who live with regrets. At the end of their lives, they say, "I wish I would have done this for the Lord."

I have never met a person who says, "I wish I would have sinned more." I have never heard anyone say, "I wish I would have drank just a little bit more before I came to the Lord," or "I wish I would have done just a couple more joints before I came to the Lord." Why? Because all that stuff is foolishness. However, I have heard Christians say, "I really wish I would have gone on that missions trip." They know God called them to do it, but they didn't listen to Him.

So, I pray that you and I would be those who follow the Lord. We should ask, "Lord, what do you want me to do today?" As we do that, He will take us through those situations that seem impossible, like crossing the Red Sea or crossing the Jordan River, or taking down the city of Jericho. When the world looks at these events, they often say, "Absolutely not."

Over the years, many people have tried to minimize the great miracles that God performs in these chapters. For instance, back in 1912, there was a significant earthquake in Israel that caused an avalanche to collapse down on the Jordan River, damming the lower portion for about ten hours. Some people claimed that this was how God performed the miracle, suggesting that the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan River due to the earthquake.

I think the bigger miracle is that the earthquake happened just at the moment the priests stepped into the water. That is pretty amazing. However, there will always be people trying to minimize the work of God. Never minimize the work of God. Know that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think. God does awesome and great things.

I do not lend my ear to those who say, "Well, the Red Sea crossing wasn't really the Red Sea; it was the Reed Sea." I do not give time to such foolishness because they try to minimize who God is and how powerful He is. I would not want to be in their shoes when they stand before the Lord. God is powerful. The Lord of all the earth is going before you. Follow Him.

In verse 12, it says, "Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man, and it shall come to pass as soon as the souls..."

Of the feet of the priests that bear the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of the Jordan. The waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand upon a heap. He says this is what God is going to do. How did Joshua know what God was going to do that day? Because he was with the Lord early in the morning.

God said that as soon as the priests step into that water, the waters are going to be parted, and the waters are going to stand as a heap at one end. You are going to cross over on dry ground. It came to pass when the people removed from their tents, as stated in verse 14, to pass over the Jordan, and the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people. As they that bear the Ark came into the Jordan, the feet of the priests that bear the Ark dipped in the brim of the water, for the Jordan overflows its banks all the time of the harvest.

The waters which came down from above rose up in a heap very far from the city of Adam, which is beside Zerathim. Those that came down toward the Sea of the Plain, even the Salt Sea, failed and were cut off, and the people passed over right against Jericho. Joshua said that as soon as their feet step into the water, the waters will be rolled back. What a step of faith! God has called us to take steps of faith, and sometimes it requires us getting our feet wet. Sometimes it requires us stepping out into something that we say, "I just don't think I can do this." We take that step and say, "All right, Lord."

Notice there in verse 15 that when the priests dipped their feet in the brim of the water, when they barely touched it, God parted the waters. The waters stood as far up as Adam. Now, a lot of people have no idea where this city of Adam is. Some believe it is about 16 miles away. So, the waters were cut off about 16 miles away.

There is an awesome picture here for you and me in those words that the waters stood up upon a heap very far away at the city of Adam. Does anybody know what the River Jordan is a picture of in the Bible? What is it a type of? Pardon? Death and judgment. You see, the Bible tells us in Genesis and also in Romans that through one man...

Sin entered the world, and death through sin. Sin is to be judged. That first Adam sinned, and sin has reigned from Adam until now. When the priest stepped into the river, bearing the ark—which is a picture of Christ—and when Christ stepped into death, He stepped into that river of death. He got rid of all the sin, all the death, and all the judgment all the way back to Adam. Just like these waters here are rolled all the way back to the city of Adam, it is a beautiful picture for you and me that God's work, Jesus' work, in stepping into death when He died upon that cross and when He rose from the dead again, did away with sin. He did away with death and judgment.

Paul would say in the book of 2 Corinthians, "Oh, death, where is your sting? Where is the sting of death any longer?" It's gone. Why? Because our Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ, took the sting of death upon Himself. He always goes before us as the ark goes before the children of Israel. However, He expects us to follow with Him and to follow close behind Him.

The ark, with the priests carrying it, went into the water, and the waters stood up upon a heap. The children of Israel began to cross. It says in verse 17 that the priests who bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan. All of Israel passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. The children of Israel stood firm in the midst of the Jordan. The priests there bearing the ark stood firm on dry ground. It wasn't muddy; they didn't have any problem with people walking through the mud. They just walked right through because it was dry ground.

The Lord made the way for you and me to come to Him as dry ground. This portion of Scripture speaks very clearly to me that God desires for us to come into the promised land, the inheritance, that abundant life that He has prepared for us. Not going into heaven—not yet. Crossing the Jordan River and going into the promised land is not a picture of us going to heaven because the children of Israel are going to have tons of battles after this. But you see, God has called us into an abundant life.

How do we lay hold of that life for which He has laid hold of us? Jesus already walked the path. He has made it open for us; it's dry ground for us to walk across. We need to take that step of faith to follow Him.

How do we do that practically today? Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Romans chapter 6, verse 1. Paul, in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20, said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

In Romans chapter 6, verse 1, we read, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him in baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in faith and walk in newness of life.

You see, God has redeemed us out of the curse and the bondage of Egypt. We're no longer slaves to sin in the world if you've followed the Lord and turned to Him. However, there are many who wander in the wilderness. They look and say, "Well, yeah, I'd love to have a closer walk with the Lord, but I kind of like this shady place I've been staying in too." They have one foot in the church and one foot in the world. But as many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death, saved from sin and death, as the Bible says.

We no longer have to sin. We no longer have to wander in the wilderness. Yes, I'm out of Egypt, but this place is really junk. I want to go back to Egypt, but I don't want to go back to Egypt. What's up with all this manna? All we've had for the past thirty-five years is manna. When are we going to get something different?

Okay, you want to complain? God says, "Oh well, here, have some vipers." Not Dodge vipers—snakes. They come and bite them, and people start dying. Everybody's crying out to Moses, "What are we going to do? The snakes are going to kill us!" Moses goes to God and asks, "God, what do you want me to do?" God replies, "Make a bronze snake and hold it up. When they look up to that, they'll be saved. All they have to do is look up to it."

Sin will sting you. Sin is not bad because God says not to do it; sin is bad because it will kill you. It will kill your joy completely and bring you down to places that you don't want to be. I want to walk in that promised land. I'm sure Joshua and Caleb looked and said, "Gosh, I've been there. I want to go there again." If you've tasted of that life where you're walking with the Lord and everything's just going great, you'll never be happy in the wilderness or in the world.

The Lord wants you to come in. He wants me to come in and press into Him, to be able to walk with Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth. But before that can happen, I need to take that step of faith and go down into the Jordan River, which is that place where I die. I take my life, I take my flesh, and I crucify myself with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives within me. I'm no longer the one who governs what I do, where I go, what I say, or how I do it. It's now Christ who lives within me.

You may say, "Well, I don't know if I can do that. It doesn't seem like I can. That seems kind of tough." What's tough about it? You might think, "Well, you're minimizing my situation. There are big obstacles between me and the Lord." Look at what the Lord did with this Jordan River. It's thought that during the time when it was flooding its banks, as it was here during the harvest time, the Jordan River was almost a mile wide. That's a big river. You go to it today and you look at it.

It looks like a creek, but back then, when the snow would begin to melt up there in Mount Hermon, the Jordan would overflow its banks. It would be filled up and rushing very quickly. In fact, I was reading somewhere that the Jordan River, you know, rivers go down because of gravity and everything, but its decline is 60 feet per mile. The Thames River in England has a decline of only 8 inches per mile. If you can imagine how fast that is, here’s this very fast rushing river, a mile wide, right in front of them, and there’s the promised land on the other side. But between here and there, it’s just really a long way.

Lord, you may look at the situations and the problems in your life, and the sin that so easily ensnares you, and you may say, "Well, it’s just too big. I can’t do it." The Lord would say, "Well, begin to walk. Put your feet in the water. Get your feet wet and watch how the Lord parts that and brings you in." Does that mean that when you wake up tomorrow, you’re not going to have any more battles and you’re never going to have any temptations? Absolutely not.

What was the very first thing that happened to the children of Israel? After God said, "Circumcise yourselves," then He said, "Go do battle at Jericho." Does that mean that you’re not going to have any battles? Absolutely not. What it means is that God will fight for you; He desires to fight for you. That’s what scared the people in the land of Canaan so much: this is the God of all the earth who fights for them. How can we stand against Him?

There may be things in your heart, there may be things in your life that are keeping you from having a closer walk with the Lord. What are they? Confess them to the Lord. Agree with Him: "Lord, this is wrong." Begin to step into that water and watch how the Lord will do a great work.

That means that tomorrow morning, you’re going to have to get up and sanctify yourself. If you don’t spend time with the Lord in His Word, you know what it’s like to be defeated. The Lord has given us victory; He wants us to live the victorious Christian life. Are you living it? You may wonder, "Well, how do I know if I’m living it?" Are you having victory over sin? Are you having victory over the temptations and the enemy in your life? Are you seeing and experiencing the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control? Are you experiencing those things in your life?

Are you seeing God tear down strongholds in your life? If you're not, then you're still on the other side; you're still in the wilderness, and it's time to come in. My, how the end of the world is coming to an end! The enemy loves to distract us while we're trying to seek the Lord. It always blows my mind that those distractions don't happen in the middle of a joke; they happen when we're being very serious.

There are people in this room tonight whom the enemy doesn't want to hear these words: the Lord set you free, but you're still sitting in a prison cell. I read somewhere that when we had victory in the Second World War, they came to us and went to those concentration camps. There were hordes of people still sitting in the concentration camps because they were afraid to go outside. They thought, "What do you mean we're free? What am I going to do?"

There are many in the Church of God in America today who have been set free by God, but they're still sitting in the cell, saying, "What am I going to do? I just don't know what to do." God desires that we would take the step of faith and come in to experience the new life that He has given us—the life of the Spirit—where you begin to see love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and goodness in your life. Other people begin to see it as well, and they ask, "Where did this come from?" All you can say is, "It's a fruit of God. God is doing a work in my life."

You can also say, "I have victory over sin. I'm no longer struggling with these things." The funny thing is, just when you think you've got something licked, something else shows up. It reminds us that we're still flesh and we haven't been glorified and perfected yet, but we look forward to that day. Paul said, "I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me." Not that I've already attained, but I press on.

Are we pressing on to attain that life that God has given to us, that He won for us on the cross? Oh, I pray that none of you would ever be found just sitting in the cellar, saying, "Well, I just don't know," or hiding out in an acacia grove in a shady spot when Christ Jesus has won the land for us. Tonight, before we go, if you know in your heart...

While I've been dwelling on Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad, the half-tribe of Manasseh, who are outside the promised land, I want to lay it down, Lord. Maybe there are things—rivers of sin and death—in your life that need to go. Tonight, we need to lay those things down and leave them here.

Tomorrow, your flesh will wake up before your body does, and you're not going to want to turn off the alarm clock. You won't want to spend time in the Word. Why? Because the enemy doesn't want you to do that. But press in, even if it's just one verse. Lord, I'm going to read this morning, even if it's just one verse. Lay down the old life and take up the new life. That's what God has called us to. We are new creations in Christ, as the Bible says. Put off the old man and put on the new.

If tonight you need to put off the old man or old woman and put on that new life that God has for you, that God has given to you, then when we have the pastors come up, you need to come forward and pray. Don't leave this place without that happening. The Jordan River has parted, and the Lord wants you to come into that promised possession that He won for you on the cross. Don't lag behind; don't stay out. Press in, press forward.

Let's pray. God, tonight there are people in this room who I just know you are tugging upon their hearts. Even now, the enemy is trying to distract them and trying to rip off the Word that has been sown tonight. Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus that you would bind the Word of God and thwart the work of the enemy right now. By your Spirit, come and do a work in my heart and in every heart in this room. Help us to lay down those things that maybe we've been holding on to for a long time—the sin that so easily ensnares us. Lord, help us to look to you; you are the author and the finisher of our faith.

And Lord, we are the joy that was set before You, and You endured the cross for us so that we could lay down that old life of sin. Amen. God, please do a work in our hearts. Do a work in my heart tonight, that tomorrow I would have a closer walk with You, Jesus. Right now, I want to get to know You more, following You down into that place where I lay down my own life.

At this time, I'd like to ask the pastors and the elders to come and stand up right here.