Joshua 4:1

Have you ever struggled with forgetfulness? Having my second child, who is now one month old, and a two-and-a-half-year-old in the house, I often struggle with forgetfulness. In fact, it was just recently that I went up to my wife and asked her where I had put my sunglasses because I could not find them anywhere. She kind of looked at me and laughed because the whole time they were right here on my head.

You see, we all struggle with forgetfulness. I think it's part of the nature of humanity, really. Whether it's your sunglasses or your wallet—I've lost my wallet more times than I can count, and most of the time, it's just because I left it in my old pants—it could also be your car keys. For those of you out there like me who enjoy working on things, it's always that 10-millimeter socket that you can never find. Forgetfulness is part of our lives.

But how often do we forget God? How often do we forget the faithfulness of God in our lives? Today, we're going to be looking at that as we explore the book of Joshua, chapter four. I think it's far too easy for us to forget God in our lives. How easy is it for us to forget just what happened last week in the news because of a new story that has come up? In the same way, it's easy for us to, whether slowly over time or immediately, forget the goodness and faithfulness of God in our lives.

It's far too easy for us to fall into a pattern of treating God like our spare tire, where we only pull Him out in cases of emergency. I want to encourage you not to do that. We will be looking at a story of faith, of the people of Israel being faithful and obedient to God, and what that looked like as they crossed from the land of judgment, the wilderness, into the land of promise that God had given to them.

Again, it's far too easy for us to fall into this trap of forgetting God and treating Him ultimately like our spare tire. When something comes up—an emergency in our lives—we go to Him, get on our knees, and desperately call out to Him. Yet, we often forget the daily routine of just getting on our knees and thanking God for even the small things, whether it's breakfast or lunch.

Or dinner, or it could just be that I know where my truck keys are right now. That could be something I'm thankful for. We can't use God like a tourniquet, only to apply Him in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding of our broken hearts. This is an important thing that we need to remember.

There is much that we can learn in remembering the crossing of the Jordan as God's people crossed it in Joshua chapters three and four. This impassable river that God miraculously allowed His people to cross teaches us many lessons as we turn our gaze to the faithfulness of God to His people long ago. Would you turn in your Bibles with me to Joshua chapter four?

In the book of Joshua, we pick up where Moses had led the people of God out of their bondage and slavery in Egypt. Moses is now dead. That leader of the people whom they revered and looked up to is gone, and God has replaced him with another great leader named Joshua. In this chapter, Joshua will become a very great leader in the sight of all the nation of Israel because of what God is going to do in being true to His word. God is going to be faithful to Joshua, exalt him over the people, and lead His people from the land of judgment to the land of blessing.

Like the last generation, the generation of Moses had experienced the parting of the Red Sea and the ten plagues of Egypt, but they had forgotten that. You would think that after experiencing the ten plagues of Egypt, leaving their bondage and slavery, and then seeing God part the Red Sea miraculously on both sides as they crossed through on dry land, they would never forget such a thing. Yet how often do you and I forget the great things that God has done in our lives? We do this all the time. God does something really great in our lives. He answers a prayer, whether it's a young man praying, "Lord, show me my spouse," or a young woman saying, "God, would you just bring to me a godly young man?" That's a prayer that I know many of you young people are praying right now. It could also be, "Lord, I'm just so tired of being in high school or junior high."

Lord, I'm just sick of this job. Would you provide a way? And then God does. God does provide a way, right? He does provide a way. We see the answer to that prayer, but then so fast we forget what God did in our lives. It could be that God removed an addiction from your life, that He helped you get through that and parted those waters in your life so you could be free from an addiction. You're so overjoyed with that, but over time, you end up forgetting the faithfulness of God. We forget because we don't look back and we don't think about those great things that God has done in our lives enough.

Similarly, the people in Moses' generation did not appreciate the faithfulness of God enough, and their complaining and sin ultimately led them to not being able to enter the promised land. For 40 years, God allowed them to wander through the wilderness seemingly aimlessly until all that was left of that generation was gravestones in the land of judgment. It's important for us to understand this because now a new generation has come, and they are saying, "God, we're willing to be faithful." Moses had given this new generation a recap of all the law in the book of Deuteronomy and said, "This is what you're going to do when you cross the Jordan."

Joshua was faithful to listen to what Moses had commanded and to what God had commanded him, and the people were ready to obey. They did. It's a glorious picture of what happens when the faithful people of God are obedient to God and follow His leaders. Two whole chapters in the book of Joshua are dedicated to this one scene of the people of Israel, led by Joshua, parting and going through the Jordan River. I think that's significant because oftentimes we can pick out one verse in the Bible and make that our verse. But when God gives us two whole chapters of detail on one specific event, that is intentional, and He wants us to really dig in and see what He wants us to get out of that.

This is incredibly important, and it's vital that we understand that this was an important, incredibly significant event for the people of Israel led by Joshua. Here's what's important to remember: Point number one on your outlines or your service guides, if you've downloaded them, is that God's timing is always perfect. God's timing is always perfect. This whole chapter that we're about to read digs into the details of this crossing that we didn't see in chapter three. In chapter three, we see some of the detail, but it ends with the people crossing the Jordan on dry ground. Now we're going to go back and see what happened in the middle of that day of crossing.

God commands the people to cross over, and the priest to get in there. It digs into the real details of what happened in that event, and they are significant. They are significant because the Lord's timing is significant. Joshua and the people of Israel had to trust in the Lord's timing.

You see, just previously in chapter two, Joshua had secretly sent spies into the Promised Land. Two spies went into Jericho, the first city that they would end up conquering in a couple of chapters. Those two spies stayed with the prostitute Rahab. If you want to go back and listen to our broadcast and overview of that, go back a couple of weeks, and you'll see our sermon on that with Pastor Miles. He did a great job.

What happened with those spies, though, is that they learned through Rahab that all of the people in Jericho were fearful of Israel. They had heard what God had done in parting the Red Sea and letting the Israelites escape through dry land out of Egypt. The Red Sea closed in around all of Pharaoh's army, and that produced shockwaves for 40 years that people had not forgotten. The people of Jericho had not forgotten what the God of Israel had done for their people. This made them so scared because they thought, "Well, if this God can part the Red Sea, then what could He do to us?"

These people were now right on the other side of the Jordan from Israel, and they were scared. However, the banks of the Jordan were overflowing, so they thought they should be safe. I think it's funny how you have both situations at play. The people are scared because they also think that they're safe due to the overflowing banks of the Jordan. It's kind of an interesting dichotomy with the people in the Promised Land that God commanded Israel to take over. They believed they were safe because of this raging river, yet they also remembered that God parted the Red Sea and brought the people through that.

So, you would think that when the people of Israel crossed into the Promised Land, the first thing on their list would be to go immediately to war with those who were scared. After all, this is the optimal time when your enemy is fearful of you. When you learn that your enemy is shaking in their boots and fearful of you, they have already defeated themselves in their own minds and hearts. They are already losers. The temptation would be to just go and take them. I think any strategic army would probably do that. They would go straight across and march right into Jericho to take them.

Because they're scared right then and there, God had other plans. We find out that sometimes we, you and I, can get kind of upset with God because He has us moving stones around when we want to be at war. This can apply to many other things in your life. Sometimes, He has you doing what seems like a menial task when you would rather be doing something much greater for God, and you feel stuck. You feel stuck doing this menial task of moving stones. But you know what? Be obedient where you are. Listen to the voice of the Lord and be obedient where you are, and God will bless that.

That's exactly what we're going to see here in the book of Joshua, chapter four. It's easy for us to adopt the attitude where we tell God where we are supposed to be. We say, "God, I'm supposed to be doing this, but you have me doing this right now. That's not cool. I'm supposed to be over here." Instead of just saying, "God, you have me here. Help me to be faithful where I am," even if that means picking up the stones, putting them on my shoulders, and walking them out of a riverbed.

In Joshua chapter four, we will read verses one to nine together. When all of the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, "Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, 'Take twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodged tonight.'"

Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulders, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel. This may be a sign among you. When your children ask in the time to come, 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over the Jordan. The waters of the Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever."

The people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua.

And they are all still there today. Point number two on your sermon guides is that God desires that His people remember His faithfulness.

Think about this picture where you have the priests taking up the ark at the command of Joshua, who has been led by God to tell them this. God commands Joshua, and Joshua has a spokesperson for God to the people of Israel. He says to the priests, "Go put your feet in the Jordan River," this river that is overflowing to the banks. They go and just touch the tip of their toes in this river, and immediately, as the priests' feet enter the water, the water stops.

To one side, upstream, there's a wall of water building, and downstream, the water just recedes. Dry land is left before them, and the priests march into the middle of this riverbed. As they stand there in the middle of the riverbed, all of the people pass by them on dry ground. They wait as people are passing, as cattle are passing, as families are crossing. They are crossing in haste because there is a large group of people, and they all still need to get across this expanse of the riverbed.

Then, as the priests stand there faithfully in the most dangerous, lowest part of the Jordan River on dry ground, they see twelve men come back. They collect these stones—twelve stones—and carry them out on their shoulders in obedience to God. The priests still don't move. These men take out the stones, and then comes Joshua, who sets up twelve stones right where the priests stand, in the lowest part of the Jordan River.

It's a beautiful picture, really, but it's a powerful picture. Why gather the rocks? First, it's in obedience to God. God knew that these people would forget. He knew that there had to be a physical memorial, a physical stacking of the rocks—something where people would see that some man put those rocks there for a reason.

"Why is that there? Hey, Dad, why is that there? Why are those rocks like that?" You see, kids are really great at asking questions. I know this now, with a two-and-a-half-year-old; she doesn't stop asking questions. In fact, she doesn't stop talking. It gives a great opportunity for us as parents, throughout our kids' lives, to answer these questions and reveal to them how God has been faithful in our very own lives.

You see, just as God knew that the nation of Israel would forget even this glorious, powerful moment where they were crossing the river, I mean, just imagine watching the water of a whole river stand still on one side and be completely dry. Just imagine the picture there. It's an incredible scene where you can envision walking through that, walking into the depths of that riverbed, and then walking up out of that riverbed with all of your cattle, all your livestock, and all your tents.

Then God says, "I want you to set up a memorial to this. I want you to remember what happened here." Those stones are going to be something that, when you look to them, you will remember that God parted the waters right here. God did this miraculous event, and He got us into the Promised Land. He brought us from the land of judgment to the land of blessing, and there was no way from the land of judgment to the land of blessing except through the power of God. This indeed was significant.

Now, I've been to the Jordan River, and I'm sure that some of you listening have too. I've actually been baptized in the Jordan River. Some of you might be thinking, "Well, crossing the Jordan really wasn't that miraculous because where I was at and where I got baptized, and where a lot of people get baptized in the Jordan, it might be 75 feet across at the most." It's not a very big river. In fact, it seemed more like a stream than a river at that point.

However, when this river is at flood stage, in the particular area that most people agree the nation of Israel crossed during the time of Joshua, the typical width of the river would have been about 100 feet wide. With the springtime rains and the overflowing of the banks at this particular time, the river would have been about a mile wide. So just imagine that for a second. This is a 156-mile-long river that has stopped at one point, right? And this is a mile wide that they got across. It's an impassable feat without the power of God.

This wasn't something that you could just swim across because a raging river is incredibly dangerous. I can remember, for all those of you who have gone whitewater rafting, I find it to be a ton of fun. I can recall doing some whitewater rafting down the Nile in Africa. When you're not in that raft, it's a dangerous place. If you don't have a life vest, it's a dangerous thing to try to cross that.

You don't want to do that without the right kind of equipment. For the people of Israel, crossing the river would have meant death. The river truly represented death. As soon as the priest carrying the Ark dipped their toes into the water, it stopped. That was a miraculous event. They marched in, gathered twelve stones, and all of the people crossed over safely.

So, what is the purpose of the stones? Let's consider this for a moment. The purpose of the stones was to remind Israel and future generations that they had not crossed the Jordan by their own might, strategy, wisdom, or ability. They didn't have floaties, they didn't have a boat, and they did not accomplish it on their own. It was simply by the miracle-working power of God that they were able to cross the Jordan on that day.

The wonderful works of God in our lives are worthy to be treasured in our memories, and they should be passed on from generation to generation. I will say that again: the wonderful works that God does in our lives, and that He has done in the past, are worthy to be treasured in our minds and memories, and they are worthy to be told from generation to generation.

You see, the Bible is the most significant book that has ever been and that will ever be. It has endured generations and changed the world. The written word of God is powerful, and we have an obligation at Cross Connection Church to faithfully preach this word from generation to generation. We must faithfully share what God has done and show the wonderful works of God so we can treasure them in our memories and then share them with the next generation.

The physical monument of rocks being stacked up, or perhaps arranged in a line with six stones on one side and six on the other, serves as a reminder. We don't know exactly how this stack would have looked, but it was set up in such a way that people would recognize it as the monument where the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River. A physical monument catches attention; it begs for an explanation.

When you're traveling through national parks and you see a monument, you might wonder, "What is that there for?" A good example is Arlington National Cemetery. It is a monument to remember the fallen soldiers, serving as a reminder of their sacrifice.

I never want to get into a war like that again. Why do we have monuments to great men or presidents? I'm thinking of Mount Rushmore here, where faces were carved into stone on the rock walls. Back then, those people were worthy to be remembered from generation to generation. Whether you agree with what they did or not, they were worthy because they did significant things to be remembered.

It's the same exact thing that's happening here, except it's God that we're remembering, not man. It's the power of God represented in these twelve stones. Again, twelve stones represent the unity and the completion of the tribes of Israel, the nation of Israel, that they were unified in what they were doing. The stones were set up in obedience to the commands of Moses.

Remember Deuteronomy chapter 27, in verses 2-8. It reads, "When you cross the Jordan," this is Moses telling the people of Israel, "When you cross the Jordan River and enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. Write this whole body of instruction on them when you cross the river and enter into the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. When you cross the Jordan, set up these stones at Mount Ebal, and coat them with plaster, as I am commanding you today."

Moses gave some specific instructions to build altars, to build these stones, and to write the instructions that God had given to the people of Israel on those stones so they'd be remembered forever. One of the instructions we find here is that they did all that Moses had told them. The people of God, under Joshua, were completely obedient to all that Moses had commanded regarding what they were to do when they crossed the Jordan.

As we continue on in Joshua chapter 4, it says, "For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people according to all that Moses had commanded them." The people passed over in haste. When all of the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people.

The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. About 40,000, ready for war, passed over before the Lord for battle to the plains of Jericho. Jericho is significant because it's going to be the first city that they reach and that falls. On that day, the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all of Israel.

And they stood in awe of Him just as they had stood in awe of Moses all the days of his life. The Lord said to Joshua, "Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant now to come out of the riverbed." So Joshua gave the command, and as soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the Lord's Covenant came up out of the riverbed and their feet were on dry ground at the high ground, the water of the Jordan River returned and overflowed its banks as before.

These people were obedient to follow everything that Moses had commanded. Why? Because Moses' commands came from God. They were being faithful to God through Moses. Point number three, which is very important for us, is that stepping into the fullness of God's blessing requires obedience and remembrance. When we remember the crossing, we also have to remember the obedience of the people who crossed. They didn't just cross and think, "I'm glad the river didn't cave in on me and kill me." No, they crossed and then realized, "We need to do everything that God told us to do here."

We need to follow every letter of that commandment down to the period at the end. We must do every single thing possible to be obedient to God. If that's your heart today, to be obedient to God, then God is going to bless that. That's how you achieve and get to the fullness of God's blessing in your life. We need to understand that and remember this: stepping into the fullness of God's blessing requires that we be obedient and remember.

There are two groups I want to look at here: the priests and the people. The priests did not move from their position in the center of the Jordan River the entire time. They waited as hundreds of thousands of people, cattle, tents, families, and kids all passed before them. It's a beautiful picture of these priests standing faithfully in the gap, standing in the most dangerous place in the Jordan River. Yes, it was dry ground, but it was the most dangerous place because it was the lowest point. If that water came down, they would be the first to go.

They did not act on their own impulses; they only acted patiently and waited for God's timing. They waited specifically for the command of God in the Lord's timing. They didn't move a muscle. The faithfulness of the priests really challenged me as I was studying this, and I will share a little bit more about that later because it just really...

It hit me as I was studying that. But then there are the people. The people crossed in haste. They were faithful to be obedient, but they also realized that the priests were carrying the ark. While the presence of God was in the middle of the river, stopping it up, the Ark of the Covenant, which the priests were carrying, symbolized the presence of God with the people. If the presence of God was in the middle of the Jordan, the water wasn't going anywhere.

So, the people crossed in haste. I think, partially, it's because you're going to be a little anxious and a little fearful when you're crossing a river and seeing a wall of water building up on one side while it recedes completely dry on the other. It's going to blow your mind that you have to get through that riverbed. Of course, you're going to go in haste. You're not going to take your time or look around for treasures under that water. You're going to get right through to the other side.

They crossed in haste in obedience to the word of God. In Hebrews chapter 3, verse 15, it says, "Today when you hear his voice, do not harden your heart as Israel did when they rebelled." The people of Israel, the nation of Israel, acted and listened in obedience.

If you think that crossing a river and gathering the rocks was not enough, just wait until you hear what God tests them with next, in chapter 5. In fact, join us next week, and you'll find out that crossing the Jordan wasn't the easiest part of the test. The next part was right before battle. Just wait until next week; I'll leave you on a little cliffhanger for that.

If you think that was a tough test, trust in God that this water is not going to wipe you, your family, and all your livestock out. Cross this river right now into the land of promise from the land of judgment. Then, come back into the river, twelve of your men, and gather these twelve stones. Take your time doing that because you have to gather stones. It's not very easy to carry a big stone on your shoulder out of a riverbed.

So, these men took a little bit of time, and the priests, the whole time, were standing there faithfully, not budging a muscle. They passed that test. I think the people and the priests were faithful to God in that. That's the beautiful picture here. They passed this test and were obedient. They saw the power of God displayed in an incredible way.

But what happens when the water isn't standing up, and now you're looking ahead into battle?

And then God commands you to do something that's going to weaken you before battle. So join us next week to find out what that is.

John chapter 10, verse 27 says, "My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else." I love that. No one can snatch them away from the Father's hand. The Father and I are one.

You see, Jesus is saying that my people listen to my voice. There is an obedience aspect. There’s remembering God and what He has done, but then there’s the obedient part where it’s like, "I’m going to actually walk through the Jordan." I’m going to be obedient with my feet, and that’s the hard place to be obedient—when you have to be completely and utterly trusting God into the unknown.

When you're passing from judgment, it’s a path made by God alone, and you have to be completely reliant on God in that moment. But God says, "My sheep listen to my voice, and they follow me." I give them eternal life. I beg you this morning, if you are one of God's people, if you believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, if He lives in you and His Spirit dwells in you, you have eternal life. You need to listen to His voice. You need to be obedient—not only to listen to His voice and remember His voice, but then to actually walk in it.

That’s what the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, does to empower us. It empowers us to walk in obedience in our lives today. So remember some of these stones of remembrance that we have today.

The next question is, what are some stones of remembrance? I can think of two that we can look to, which we practice regularly. We can say these are two ordinances that we practice on a regular basis that really serve as Joshua stones of remembrance. They serve in our position right now in 2023 to help us remember what God has done.

The first one is baptism. This is something that’s instituted, of course, in the Scriptures, where John the Baptist is baptizing people in repentance for their sins. Then people are being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit after Jesus’s death and resurrection. You see, baptism represents that we were all dead in our trespasses and sins, but we’ve been made alive in Christ. We went into that Jordan.

We went into the depths of that Jordan, into the depths of that death, and we came out alive, just like the people of Israel. They walked into this river of death and came out alive. See, that's what baptism signifies, and that's significant because the Jordan River is actually where Jesus Himself was baptized. It's the same place where the Spirit of God descended like a dove. That's why the Jordan River is considered one of the three holy sites in Israel. It's the entrance to the Promised Land, and it's significant that that's also where the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus.

It's also significant that that's where John the Baptist was baptizing people. Some people would say that even when John the Baptist was baptizing, he refers to the Pharisees, saying that God could make these stones live, which relates to the stones of remembrance that were set up in Joshua. It is true that John the Baptist was baptizing in a place probably very close to where the people of Israel had crossed so long ago on dry ground.

The second ordinance or stone of remembrance today is communion. We think of communion as the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. It's not just a cracker and not just grape juice; it represents the body of Christ that was broken for us on the cross and His blood that was poured out as a propitiation for all of our sins.

It's also significant to note the day on which this all happened. They crossed over the Jordan on the 10th day of the first month. All the details in the Bible that are given to us are for a reason. The timing of God is perfect. What is significant about the 10th day of the first month? Well, the 10th day of the first month was the day that the people of Israel would be preparing for the Passover. On that day, in particular, they would select the sacrificial lamb four days before it would be slaughtered.

They were tasked with picking out that sacrificial lamb from their flock. It had to be blameless, perfect, and without blemish, meaning it couldn't have a broken leg or be sick. It had to be a perfectly healthy lamb, without scar or blemish. For four days, they would examine the lamb and spend time with it before sacrificing it to celebrate the Passover. It's significant that the very first thing that God has the people of Israel do when...

When they entered the Promised Land, the first thing God had the people remember was His promise and how He delivered them from their bondage and slavery in Egypt. He did this by having the spirit pass over their houses because the blood of the lamb was on their doors. It is significant that God emphasizes remembering what He had done for them in the past. He instructs them not to forget where they came from, what He has done for them, and His faithfulness. He instituted the Passover celebration because that day marked the event that drove the Israelites out of Egypt; it was the final straw.

As they come into the land, the first feast they will celebrate in their new Promised Land is the Feast of the Passover. When we are initially saved, we often feel thankful for the freedom from the weight of guilt that sin had placed upon us. We experience joy and a sense of liberation. However, over time, we tend to forget that joy. As we spend time as children of God, being made new in His image, we can lose sight of the miracle of our salvation. We forget what God has delivered us from—the land of judgment and the bondage of slavery—into the Promised Land.

Ultimately, this points to Jesus. There are many parallels between the events of the Exodus and Jesus. In fact, Joshua serves as a foreshadowing of Jesus, as Jesus was the sacrificial lamb. We will be celebrating this in Easter in a couple of weeks, which is coming up really soon. Jesus was chosen as the sacrificial lamb, and for days, He was examined for any blemish or fault. As He went from one official to the next, they declared that this man had no blame.

No blame is placed on Him; He is innocent. And yet, He was still sacrificed on that cross for your sins and for my sins. I know that one name on His mind as the nails were driven into His hands and feet was Garrett Hatch. I don't want to ever forget that. It's important that we remember the faithfulness of God.

One of the stories of God's faithfulness in my own life comes to mind as I reflect on the faithfulness of the priests. They were dedicated to listening only to God and the Word of God, without budging a muscle on their own inclinations. When God told them to go in, they went in. When God told them to come out, they came out.

This picture of the priests standing in the gap is significant. The wilderness they were coming from represented the land of God's judgment, which I believe it did, while the promised land symbolizes the land of God's blessing. There was an impassable river, a void that could not be crossed. There is only one way to the Father, and these priests stood in the gap between the land of judgment and the land of blessing, beckoning the people to cross over on dry land while they stood firm, because the Lord had made a way.

Pastors today need to be busy proclaiming that God has made a way. We don't hear this enough: God has made a way from death to life, a way to be reconciled with the Almighty God, a way for you to receive eternal life, and a way for us to become the men and women that God created us to be in the land of blessing. That way is Jesus Christ and His cross.

As I remember the faithfulness of God in my own life, I realize that this week marks my fifth anniversary as an ordained pastor here at Cross Connection Church. Five years ago, on March 25th, the pastors and elders of this church laid hands on me and officially ordained me as a pastor here at Cross Connection Church.

And the journey for me to get from where I was to that point began in 2014. Four years prior to that moment, I can remember a man, whom I had never met before, prophetically telling me that I would be a pastor one day. I thought, well, there was definitely that desire; I felt that calling in my heart at the time. In November 2014, I wrote it down because I like to document these things, and I encourage you to do the same. When you see the fulfillment of God's faithfulness in your life, you can look back and say, "Okay, in 2014, I was told that I was going to be a pastor by a complete stranger."

In 2018, I was ordained as a pastor, and five years later, as I reflect back, that moment is still just as powerful as it has ever been—the faithfulness of God in my life. I am still here, five years later, more convinced than ever of the significance of standing at the foot of the cross and pointing people, pointing the world, to the cross, saying, "This is the way." This is the only way that you will receive eternal life. This is the only way for you to be reconciled with God. This is the parting of the Jordan; this is the way for you to get from the land of judgment to the land of blessing, to your new life in Christ. The cross of Christ is the only way.

I will continue to stand here in the gap, as will all the other pastors at Cross Connection Church, standing on the Word of God at the foot of the cross, pointing to that as the only way to receive eternal life. I also believe in the priesthood of all believers; we are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It certainly seems like the light of the world is dimming. There appears to be less and less of us as there are more and more atheists, more and more agnostics, and more and more people rejecting God altogether or pursuing completely different religions.

I have seen spiritual warfare pick up like I have never seen before. The devil is at work, and he has infiltrated the churches and many pastors' lives. We need to be on our knees, thanking God that He has made a way for us, that He has given us His Spirit, and we need to be asking God for strength and guidance.

To fill us with that Spirit, we must recognize that in our weakness, when we are weak on our knees, He is strong. There is no other way to tell the world that the identities you are assuming, the ones that the world has told you to take on, will leave you feeling empty. The way of the cross leads to eternal life; it leads to the fullness of life and to a place where rivers of living water will pour out of you. Come and taste, taste and see, for the Lord is good.

It is a place where people who have lost their purpose can find a new purpose and a new life in Christ. They can be made new. In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." At the foot of the cross, we will continue to stand and affirm that this is the only way. We will not budge; we will not listen to anything else but the Word of God.

I encourage you today to think about what God has done in your life—the faithfulness of God, the moments of faithfulness, and the answers to prayer. Reflect on the great things that God has accomplished in your life, and also commit to memory and share the great things that God has done in the past. We need to be just as excited about the same God who parted the Jordan River miraculously, allowing the people of Israel to cross through on dry ground into the land of blessing. That same God is at work in you and me, and the same exact kind of miracles are possible today.

God is all-powerful and all-mighty; do not put Him in a box. Do not confine Him to your limitations, saying, "Well, God, I don't really know if we can do this. I don't know if I can trust you in this." No, God is so much greater, and He is the only way. Jesus is the only way. Look to Him for salvation.

The people of Israel were obedient; they remembered and trusted in God's timing. Some of us may feel stuck today, and perhaps it's because we need to remember the faithfulness of God. If you found this message to be helpful today, I encourage you to share it with a friend, a family member, or a loved one—someone who you think it might help.

Encourage them to show up at Cross Connection this next week. We would love to have you, and we'd love to be sharing the word with you in person. God bless you guys, and I'd like to pray before we close.

Father God, I do pray and ask that your Spirit be poured out amongst your people. Lord, as we stand in the gap, beckoning people to come to the cross, the only way that they can cross the uncrossable path from death into life is through Jesus Christ. The only way that they can be made new is through Jesus Christ. The only way that they can become the men and the women that they're called to be is through Jesus Christ.

Help us, Lord, to be the salt and the light of the world. For all of those who are doubting, for all of those who need to be reminded of the joy of their salvation, I pray that you would renew the joy of their salvation. Remind them, Lord, of the great things that you've done, the faithfulness in their lives, and that you have been faithful to accomplish for them what they needed.

Lord, don't let us grow weary in the land of blessing. Don't let us grow lazy in the land of blessing. The first thing that the Israelites had to do in the land of blessing was go to war. Father, there is a battle out there, a spiritual battle over our minds and our souls, and I pray that you would help us in that battle. Help us in endurance and strengthen us right now, as we know that you are victorious and there is no God like you. Amen.