2024-06-19- Still Standing

In Joshua chapter 4, God tells Joshua to choose twelve men from each tribe to take twelve stones from the Jordan River and set them up as a memorial. These stones would serve as a reminder of the Israelites' crossing of the Jordan River into the promised land. The stones were set up both at the place where the priests' feet stood and in the midst of the river. The stones remained there as a testament to God's faithfulness. The sermon encourages the congregation to see themselves as "still standing" and to remember how God has brought them to where they are today. All right, Joshua chapter 4, beginning with verse 1, And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man, and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up, every man of you, a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there unto this day. Will you pray with me? Lord, thank you so much for this Bible. Thank you for your great salvation, your willingness to keep us, your ability to keep us, and I thank you, God, for our congregation tonight. I'm asking you, Lord, to be present here in a way that we sense your presence, that we know you're here. Help me to preach, and God help the people to receive, and I pray that when we're done here, your church will have been edified in the name of Jesus. Amen. I want to try to preach tonight this for a title, Still Standing. I'm still standing. I'd like tonight somehow to identify with somebody in this place, maybe more than one, maybe everybody if that's what the Lord would have, about wondering who you are, where you are, what this is all about. I want to be an encouragement, because we're under a lot of pressure right now, and there are times when we get loaded up with uncertainty. And we look out in this world, and we get doubts that come up against us. We do face opposition from other people. We face spiritual opposition. But I come tonight to encourage the church, to a people that I will say tonight and identify you, that you're still standing. I mean, here we are. We've made it this far along, and you are still standing. At this place in the Scripture, Joshua chapter 4 begins there talking about the time when the people had crossed over the River Jordan. At this point in time, the children of Israel had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. There they had been 40 years ago. They were drawn out of Egypt. Do you remember that? By miraculous, the hand of God pulling them out. And then God wanted them to just keep on going, and then would just lead you right on into the promised land. But because of rebellion, and because of doubt and unbelief, those people were not able to enter the promised land at that time. And it would take 40 years of wandering in the wilderness when all the doubters died off, when all the rebellious were no longer around. Forty years. And it makes me think, and I reminisce of the testimonies that were given Sunday of places that we have reached. I think about my own self, and I wonder that you could probably agree with me here, that there was probably a time God wanted us to be where we are right now. I'm not talking physically in this building, but spiritually in our own lives. When we finally made it to a place and we rejoiced that we're here, how many times in the past that God wanted us to be here, but with doubt and unbelief, rebellion, maybe it was laziness, maybe it was just a lack of concern that we didn't get where. God wanted them people that as soon as they got out of Egypt, He wanted them in the promised land. But they had to wait forty years. So after forty years that Moses led them, Moses, that great servant of God, dies. It's the end of his life. Carried away by God. And God chooses Joshua to lead this people into the land which had been promised to this people generations in the past. I mean, things were now moving once again. They had experienced all those miracles and these who were children when they came out of Egypt and those who weren't even born yet had come up out of Egypt. And now what we've been talking about for forty years, it's about to happen and we're going into this place. Now before they were ever to reach into the land that had been promised to them, there were obstacles that were in the way that they themselves were going to have to deal with. The first obstacle before they were ever to get into the promised land was Jordan. The Jordan River. Now some will say, well, it's not even that great of an obstacle. But the Bible does tell us that at this time of year the river was flooded and it overflowed its banks every time at this point in time. Somebody might say, well, why would God have chosen this time? Why couldn't He have said, well, it's a drought and the waters were low and we could have just all waited to cross? Well, God waited until there was a time when it was impossible for those men to cross. It was impossible for those who were armed warriors to cross over. It was impossible for the women to even cross. The children, it was impossible for them to go. Impossible for the cattle. Impossible for them to get their wares together and cross that river. It was impossible to load up the tabernacle and the Ark of God and take it across that river into the promised land. But as impossible as it was for everybody else, it was not impossible for God for this to happen. So God reveals the plan to Joshua. Here's what you're going to do, Joshua. You're going to take up that precious Ark of the Covenant and the priests that have been assigned to carry that Ark, they're going to go right up to the bank of that River Jordan. And as soon as they put their feet in the water, the soles of their feet are in that water as soon as they rest in those waters, He said, the waters are going to be cut off and they shall stand like an heap. Now, I'm thinking a flooding river. You know, we see it around here sometimes. We've got water around here. And when the water gets deep and when it gets to rush, it's loud and it's kind of unimaginable to think that something like that could happen. And even the noise that it would produce even as it stands at a heap and is cut off from there. But in four verses, in chapter 3, verses 14 through 17, the entire story is told and it happened exactly like God had said it was going to do. The waters were stopped and all those people, the entire nation, crossed over, not wading through the mud, not picking their shoes up and trying to get through, but on dry ground. Here was a flooded river, overflowing its banks, a saturated ground that as soon as the water is stopped, now the riverbed is completely dry. Instantly, it's dry. Now people can just walk right on across without any problem. And I think Luke chapter 1 and verse 37 sums it all up very well. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Now these priests who stood there holding the ark while all of these people went on across, they stepped into the riverbed. And while they stood there, the Bible says that twelve men were instructed. You go in there and you pull each one of you a stone out. Carry it out on your shoulder and you're going to lay it down where we're spending the night tonight. Because it's going to be as a monument to this miraculous occasion. When people see those stones, when your children come back and they see those stones, and they say, what's this all about? It opens up the opportunity. This is how we got where we are. This is why we are who we are. So those stones were to be set up at the side there. But then there was another monument that was to be erected. Another twelve stones, the Bible says, were set up in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the ark of the covenant stood. These too would serve as a memorial to the greatness of God and to mark this great miracle. And my text that I want to preach from tonight is the last few words there in verse 9. And they are there unto this day. Those stones that were put there to be a monument, He said they are there right now. Now once they had crossed over, once everybody had moved on, the tribes were dispersed. You've got your place and you've got your place. It's time to set up. It's time to farm. It's time to have our homes. It's time to raise our children. And this man said that when he took the time to write this story down for all of eternity, he said those stones are still right where they were laid. I don't know how many years passed between the event and between the recording of the history, but however long it was, those stones were still in that place. And anybody who saw them, now you may not be able to see them all the time in the midst of the rushing of the waters, but when it got dry and the river got low, it was clear and it was obvious that those stones were right there reminding everybody this is how we got here. And they were, as he wrote, still standing. That's what I want to preach tonight. And I intend tonight to try to speak on behalf of people, of you in our church tonight, people who have been saved by grace, who today, by His grace, you're still standing. You're just like He made it. And as a monument to the power of God to save a soul, as a memorial of the power of God to keep an individual in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, you are still standing. There have been times that your Jordan River has gotten calm and it's gotten low and it's been easy. But every time there come a harvest, the floodwaters came and overflowed the banks. There have been storms that have risen in your life and the winds have blown fiercely against you. And no matter how many seasons have passed, no matter how many rainstorms have fallen, no matter how many difficulties have come with trouble and strife and horrible consequences, you are still standing through it all. Hallelujah. Your testimony of deliverance is a monument. For the years you've been standing, praise be to God, it is a monument to everybody that passes by. He's a Savior. He will keep somebody if they want to be kept. Everybody that comes along and sees you still standing, they'll know there's a testimony. There's a monument. There's a God that still works. And you're still standing by the grace of God tonight. And I want to read tonight out of the 40th Psalm, just the first couple verses here. The writer says, I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my going. Let me give you my testimony tonight, okay? When the Lord came by and I began in this way, it all started because God brought me out of a horrible pit. When the Lord found me, my feet were stuck fast in a miry clay. Now, this was not, as I preached a couple weeks ago, a prison in which I did not belong. Oh, I belonged there. I had paid my dues to be there. I should have been so much worse than what I had been. I cannot blame anyone or any other situation for where I was, for the pit of sin where He found me. I had become trapped by my own sinful desires. I was just like that bird that gets ensnared by the fowler who lays out some cheap enticements. That's what happened to me. I was lured by the lusts of my own flesh and I myself was trapped in that horrible pit. In a pit where there was simply no hope, no hope of my survival if I were to stay in that pit. But though my sin was all my own, the Savior was willing to reach as far down as He needed to reach and to rescue me. But I want to point out tonight that the rescue that came for my soul, it wasn't just merely a pulling me out of the pit, my feet out of the miry clay, and then just, there you go. You're free. You're free. But He said He set my feet upon a rock and He established my goings. So when He brought me out, now my feet are set. My goings have been established. Oh, by what marvelous grace I'm set. I'm established. Here's what the Apostle Paul wrote to Titus in chapter 3. We ourselves also were sometimes foolish, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another as a pit. But after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Once He rescued me out of the pit of sin and out of that sticky, miry clay. Once our feet were set and our goings were established, now we've got opportunity. We've got opportunity. We get to follow some good instructions of Almighty God that I could not follow in the pit, that I couldn't follow while my feet were stuck fast in the miry clay. So I picture myself as God pulls me out. Or any soul. Has He pulled you out? And He set you on that rock. Now you're established. And He's got some instructions. Now, put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For you wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, child just rescued from the pit on a solid rock now, wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. So let me continue to speak on your behalf tonight. Because in spite of everything that has been thrown your way, you're still standing. And when health issues have come along and they've hindered you and they've hindered me, we're still standing! Hallelujah! When mental battles have launched a great array all about you and tormented you and you testify about the things that happened, you're still standing! And when spiritual warfare has been launched all out against your soul, here you are tonight, we're still standing! We have failed at times, but we've recovered. And we are still standing! We're battle scarred. We're shaken. We're weakened at times. But still standing! Hallelujah! There are times I get uncertain in my soul. There are times that I grow afraid and fearful in my spirit. I've been embarrassed at times. I have been ashamed at times. I've been uncertain at times. But here we are, June 19, 2024, and we're still standing, church! Praise God, I still stand! It's because the Spirit of God is within me, and He gets on me, and He gives me strength against the onslaught of my enemy. Hell itself has worked against me, externally and internally. Opposition has come from within and from without. But I'm still standing! Hallelujah! There have been times that I've grown weary in my walk with God. But I have been amazed when I find an Aaron on one side and a Hur on the other, holding up my hands so that I can still be standing. There are times that my knees have trembled, but the rock upon which I stand has never been shaken. My hands have hung down, but Almighty God has proven Himself strong and mighty. It's been rough at times. I've weathered multiple storms, but I'm still standing! Hallelujah! You and I have watched with tear-filled eyes as we watched others leave the faith and walk away from the righteousness which is God's. But by His grace, I'm still standing. I've been heartbroken. I've been overwhelmed. I've been rocked by the winds of adversity. But today, I'm still standing. You know why? Because that rock that when He pulled me up out of that pit and He set my feet on, it's the same rock upon which He built His church. And when the floodgates of hell are opened up against me, principalities and powers, when the rulers of the darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, they come against me, I am assured that the gates of hell shall not prevail against me. And today, I am still standing. I have been given this promise in Isaiah chapter 59, that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him so that I, with hell's best efforts to topple my soul, I am still standing. Now picture in my mind the writer of this story that we read a part of. Picture in my mind years have passed and he's saying, moved on by the Holy Ghost, it's time to write it down. It's time to put this in history. It's time to make this a part of the eternal Word of God. And as he begins to write, gathering up his things and sitting down and taking time to record this history of this great warrior leader, Joshua, the establishment of all that we know right now, I want to tell you where it all got started. And so when I read about the events there of the nation of Israel crossing the Jordan River on dry ground, I begin to wonder about something. When he was writing about the priests, how they put their feet in the water and the waters stood up in a heap and were cut off. And until all those monuments were put in place where they stayed the night, and those stones that were set in the river, I wonder if he got to the place where he was writing. And he says, and Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of Jordan in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the Ark of the Covenant stood. Now in my mind, I wonder if he just stopped there, closed up his book, packed his bags, said it may take me a few days, but I'm going to the bank of the Jordan River because I'm going to take a look. And however long it took to get there, I just picture in my mind that he got to the west edge of the Jordan River, found the place where the priests had stood while the nation crossed over, and looked into the water. Got it all back out and wrote. And they are there unto this day. Battles had been fought. Storms had come and repeated flooding season after season has washed across those stones. And they're still there. So let it be said, Gospel Light, Holiness Church, when your life's story is told, let it be said, He's still standing. Yep, it's been a while since I've been around them, but she's still standing. Oh, I heard things got awful rough at one time. Oh, they did. But you know, I just saw her the other day and she's still standing. Let it be our story. Every day, every month, every year, year after year. Let it be 50 years. Let it be 60 years that when those who have fallen away run into us and they say, well, I've got to say this, those stones are still there and they are still standing. Brother Austin, would you come and get a song please? So here's what I'm going to ask you to do tonight. We're going to make an altar here. I don't know where you are in your mind and in your heart, but I'm looking at a group of people that are still standing. That yes, you made up your mind. Other people made up their mind too, but they didn't last. You have faced worse situations than others who've fallen away. And you're still standing. That's something to celebrate tonight. You have suffered loss. You have suffered ridicule. You have suffered mockery. You have suffered the gates of hell themselves. But today, in the Holy Ghost, by the blood of Jesus Christ, you are still standing. So I'm going to ask, let's come into this altar. Give thanks to the Father in Heaven. Give thanks to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself to redeem our souls. Give thanks to the precious Holy Ghost Who gave us the strength that after all this time, those stones are just like they were placed. The monument stands. The memorial is there. And we can point back to one great event when God changed everything. And today, I'm still standing. Today, you are still standing. It got dicey at times. It got shaky at times. Oh, but the rock of our salvation stayed firm. Hallelujah. Our feet are set. Our goings are established. And we're still standing tonight. Hallelujah. This weary land. And some sweet day, I'll reach that trap. Still God is by my side. Beyond these hands. We're ready to continue to stand. He is an unseen hand to me. Still standing. That leads to ways I cannot see. After all that, let's invite them down to the riverbank. And let them see I'm still standing. I'm still standing. This hand still leads me as I go. I'm trusting to the unseen hand that guides me. Oh, but we're still standing. This weary land. And some sweet day, I'll reach that trap. I'm still standing. Still God is by my side. Oh, yes. The unseen hand. Oh, yes. I'm still standing. I'm still standing. Somehow. Jesus came and brought to me the victory. And while it bleeds. Somehow. I have no fear. For I know it will lead me to that moment. Where death or sorrow. There can not be. I'm trusting.