Skip to content P.O.V. | Joshua 6:15-25 | Pastor Sanaz Mesa May 1 · 40 min ...more
May 1, 2025 · 40 min · Patria Sermons
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Adam Mesa is Lead Pastor of Patria Church and speaks to a congregation of 12,000 about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings purpose to every life. Patria
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0:02 Amen. Well, welcome to Fresh Start Service family. Are you excited to be here tonight? I am too. Very excited. I'm excited about Friday. Shameless plug, women come on out.0:14 So, if you don't know me, my name is pastor Sanaaz. I'm 1 of the teaching pastors here at Patria and it's an honor to be here tonight. Girls go hard for each other, right? So,0:26 it is an honor to be here. We are going through the book of Joshua and tonight we are going to be in chapter 6, the second half of chapter 6. This is the big dramatic0:38 fall of Jericho. Now, this might be your first time ever even diving into the bible and you don't know about the story of the fall of Jericho and I'm so happy that you're here and I'm so0:50 happy that I get to be a part of you learning about this story. But you might also be here and you've heard this story 100 times, maybe even 1000 times because it is a pretty popular story in the bible.1:02 But what I'm asking of you tonight is that you understand that this bible, it doesn't change. It stays the same. It does not move. It1:14 does not waver. But it is alive. And what that means is that no matter where you are, no matter how many times you've read the same story, you can learn because God is1:25 continuously breathing on this for you and so that you can continuously go and walk this thing out. It's the same story but it is fresh and it's new.1:37 It's like having a different perspective and seeing something from a different angle. And you know that point of view is so important because a lot of times when we read the word of God, we're looking at it from whatever1:48 our circumstance is, whatever our position is in our life at the time. Imagine if you are at a sports game and you know, you wherever you're sitting, where you are positioned, that's2:00 what you can see and you're limited to what you can see based on your position. Imagine for a moment that we're at a baseball game together And when you go to the baseball game, you're sitting kind of behind2:12 the the catcher and so there's somebody who's coming in and they're sliding into home base and the catcher catches the ball and goes to tag them out but you are limited in what you can see based off of2:24 your position. But then you look at the jumbotron and there's a camera from a completely different point of view and you're able to see something that you weren't able to see before.2:36 Same exact play, nothing changed. But because of the position, you're able to have a different point of view that you didn't have before. So tonight, what we're asking is that God just shifts our2:48 perspective a little bit more so the word of God that does not change, there is something that we can see that we've never seen before. It's important for us to open up our eyes and2:59 see that POV, that point of view. So in order for that to happen, what I'm gonna do before we even pray, before we even read, I'm gonna give you our 3 points because I want you to look at it from that3:11 lens so that we know what we're looking for. Are you ready? POV, do you see what I did there? When God's promises meet our3:22 obedience, we have the victory. Are you ready for tonight? Alright, so let's pray. Heavenly Father, we3:34 thank you. We thank you for what you have prepared for this evening. We thank you for reminding everyone in this room and everyone watching online to open their ears, open their eyes, and3:46 lean into what you have to say. We pray that we are going to walk out differently. Move me out of the way and talk to your children tonight. In Jesus name we pray, amen.3:58 So if you have your bible, your bible app, or your Joshua journal, or you simply just wanna follow along and look at the screens, we're gonna open up to Joshua chapter 6 6 and we are gonna start in verse4:10 15. Now let me set it up for you because this is the second half of the chapter. So the first half of the chapter, pastor Aaron got that last week and he taught us about walking,4:22 giving us a word to walk in warfare and it was a wonderful sermon if you were here. But let me set up the first half of Joshua for you so that we're ready for tonight. The first half of4:34 Joshua verses 1 through 14 describes the beginning of the Israelites conquest into Jericho under Joshua's leadership. The chapter opens by noting that Jericho was tightly shut because of4:46 the Israelites and then God gives Joshua specific instructions for taking the city. For 6 days, the Israelites are to march once4:57 around the city every single day led by 7 priests carrying trumpets in front of the ark of the covenant. The people are to remain silent during the5:08 march. And the verses that we learned about last week describe the Israelites obediently carrying out the unusual command for the first 6 days5:20 setting the stage for the dramatic fall of Jericho that we are gonna learn about tonight. So we just finished walking around the walls of Jericho for 6 days,5:32 once a day, mouths shut. And now we are gonna continue in verse 15 and before you stand and before we read, what we're gonna do tonight is we're gonna read the first 55:43 verses of the rest of the chapter because those 5 verses are going to match up with our first point which is about God's promises. Now there are 5 directives,5:55 5 instructions that he gives us in those 5 verses and we're gonna look for them as we read. So if you wouldn't mind standing for the reading of the word of God as we begin in6:07 verse 15. It says, on the seventh day, they rose early at the dawn of day and marched around the city in the same manner 7 times. It was only on that6:19 day that they marched around the city 7 times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, shout for the Lord has given you6:31 the city and the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in the house shall live because she hid the6:42 messengers whom we sent. But you keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them, you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing6:54 for destruction and bring trouble upon it. But all silver and gold and every vessel of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord, they shall go into the treasury of the Lord. You7:06 may be seated. So the 5 instructions to recede God's promise were as they were marching, they were going to blow the trumpets,7:19 shout, capture the city, save Rahab, and get all the precious metals for the Lord's treasury. Those are the 5 things that God had asked them in this part7:30 after they had walked 6 times going into the seventh day. The Israelites already marched for 7 days and we jump in on the seventh day And I wanna tell you, the number 77:43 is very special in the Bible. Very special in the Bible. What it represents, it's perfection and completion. It's very significant.7:55 And this being the seventh day and they march 7 times and there being 7 trumpets and 7 priests and 7 trumpets, this means that God8:06 was going to do something really big. That he was going to perfect something. He was going to complete something. There was going to be something that was gonna happen at the end of this. This was a promise.8:18 But you see, God does not just command something to be done without there being a promise. He asked for 5 things to happen but there was a promise behind it. But8:30 in the bible, this promise starts far beyond the story of Joshua going into Jericho. It starts in Genesis 12 and it starts with8:42 Abraham. It starts when God promises this promised land to Abraham back in Genesis. And then he not only gives it to8:53 Abraham but also reconfirms it, reaffirms it in Genesis 26 to his son Isaac. And then again in Genesis 28 to his grandson9:05 Jacob. And then in Exodus to a burning bush, he tells Moses of the promised land and then reaffirms it to Moses again in Exodus chapter 6 verse 89:17 where he says, I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for your possession. I am the Lord.9:29 God is a God that keeps his promise. But sometimes, the promise doesn't always appear the way that they think it's gonna appear. They came to9:41 conquer Jericho and there was an obstacle in the way. A literal wall in the way. And the bible describes the walls of Jericho as very imposing and heavily fortified.9:53 It wasn't just a little brick wall. Archaeological evidence shows that it was actually it suggests that it was a double walled system. Outer wall being a stone10:04 retaining wall about 12 to 15 high feet high and then a top mud brick wall on the embankment that was estimated to be 20 to 26 feet high.10:16 At first glance, it might appear that this is an impossibility. There's just no way. But we serve a God who can do the impossible10:28 and we serve a God who is a promise keeper. Because in verse 16 it says, shout for the Lord has given you this city. It was already done. The Lord had10:40 already given the city to the Israelites even though the promise didn't appear how they expected. Hebrews 10 23 says, let us hold fast to the10:51 confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. You know, about a month ago I bought a vanity11:03 table because I'm a girl and I do things at a vanity desk. And so there it is. She's beautiful. Okay. So I bought her and it got to my house and11:15 this is what it looked like. That's not what I bought. So could you imagine if I picked up the phone and called the11:27 place that I bought it and said, excuse me, false advertisement, you did not give me what I ordered. They would have said, ma'am, this is Amazon. There's an11:39 asterisk at the bottom of your order and it says assembly required. But see that's what happens. We ask God to give11:50 us a promise and God promises us something and he gives us everything that we need to know and He says there's an asterisk at the bottom of my promise and is that obedience is required. Obedience is12:02 required to receive the promise. We can sit there and we can say, God, you promised that you can restore my marriage and he says but I need you to be obedient and not in that closet watching12:14 pornography. I need you to be obedient when you ask me to heal your body and not go to McDonald's the next day. Where is the obedience? I can promise you and I12:26 can heal you and I can give you a miracle but you have to show me the obedience that you can handle the miracle that I'm gonna give you. When God gives12:38 us a promise, obedience is required because it is when God's promises meet our obedience that a real miracle can happen.12:50 The promise was given by God and instructions were laid out. Do you remember what those 5 instructions were in those verses that we just read? To blow13:02 the trumpets, to shout, to capture the city, to save Rahab, and to get all the precious metals for the Lord treasury. So now what we're gonna do is we're gonna read the next13:14 5 verses and see what happens. It says starting in verse 20, so the people shouted and the trumpets were blown. Check. Check. As soon as the people heard the sound of13:26 the trumpets, the people shouted a great shout and the wall fell down flat. This is news. That's brand new information right there.13:38 But let's keep reading. So that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him and they captured the city. Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men,13:50 women, young, old, oxen, sheep, donkeys with the edge of the sword. Check. Capture the city, done. But the 2 men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, go into the14:01 prostitute's house and bring out from the woman all who belonged to her and swore to her. So the young men who had been spies went in and brought Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all who belonged14:13 to her. Check. And they brought them all the relatives and they were outside of the camp of Israel and they burned the city with fire and everything in it, only the silver and the gold and the vessels of bronze and14:25 iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. Check. All 5 instructions, they were obedient. This is an14:37 amazing example of what happens when we move in obedience. The instructions were clear. The part where the Israelites were to do. What was unclear was how they were going to14:49 capture the city. But as long as they were to remain obedient, a miracle took place and the walls fell down and they were able to continue with the assignment.15:01 They made a way for God to keep his promise by being obedient. See, the Israelites of the past were known for downing God and his promises.15:12 At the Red Sea, they panicked. They complained about the provision when they were hungry and they were thirsty. They worshipped a golden calf because they were impatient. But15:25 by the time they reached Jericho in Joshua chapter 6, a new generation had risen. Those who had not rebelled in the wilderness. When God gave them unusual instructions, marching around the15:36 city for 7 days and all of the things that they were asked to do in this chapter, they obeyed precisely without grumbling and without questioning.15:48 This shows faith in God's power, not on their own strength. It shows a unity and discipline under Joshua's leadership. And it showed a new16:00 era of trust and obedience as they entered into the promised land. So while Jericho wasn't the first moment of obedience, it was a major milestone that marked a16:11 shift in the Israelites' attitudes towards God's commands. Amen. Charles Stanley says, God's commands are not burdensome when we trust his heart. Let16:23 me go back to my little vanity over here that I'm building. You see, along with all of these pieces that were given in order16:35 to create something that we want, they give something called instructions. Look it. And for people like me, they put it in a big16:47 orange envelope so you don't miss it. Okay? But here's the thing, you have to start at 1 and you have to go step by step in16:58 order. So when you're putting this piece and this piece together and then you start to create something and so all of a sudden I'll be like, hey, I think I'm building a shelf.17:11 And then all of a sudden, I turn the page and it tells me to put these things down and then move over here and start something here. But what happens is I'm like, but I started to create something, I wanna finish17:22 this. And I start to get ahead of myself and I'm not following the instructions the way the creator of this item has instructed me to do so that I get ahead of myself17:34 based on my own understanding and I start to get to a place and now my pieces won't fit. That's what happens when we start building stuff and getting ahead. You see, the17:45 Israelites, they just obeyed 1 step at a time. And in the middle of that, they were looking and they're like, I don't know how we're gonna capture this17:57 city, but they just kept obeying. When the creator gives us instructions, we have to realize that he knows more than we know.18:10 That even if we think we know how to do it on our own, that when we are given instructions and we are given an instruction manual with everything that we could possibly need in order to18:22 walk this life out, That this has been tried and true and proven to be the only way that we should be living our life. You see, there's so many examples in the bible18:34 where God performs a miracle but he first asks for obedience. To Moses, he said, raise your staff and stretch out your hand. And he parted the Red Sea. To18:46 Naaman, who had leprosy, he told him to wash in the Jordan 7 times and he'll be healed. And he was. Jesus told a paralytic man at the pool of Bethesda to stand up, take up his mat, and18:58 walk, and he did. I can go on and on and on about the miracles in here, but if you look deep enough at the miracles, you will see that there is a call to19:09 obedience in order for that to happen. Second Corinthians 1 20 says, for all the promises of God find their yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter19:20 our amen to God for his glory. It's imperative that we remain obedient to every step. There was 5 instructions, every single 1 of them essential.19:32 The obedience didn't stop after the miracle occurred. There were still things that God asked them to do and they still had to19:44 remain obedient. There was 2 other things that were still to be done. They still had to save Rahab and they still had to store all of the gold and the19:56 silver and the bronze and the iron into the Lord's treasury because God said that they were holy. Now we're gonna get to Rahab in a moment but I do wanna talk about that last 1. And before I talk about20:08 that, I wanna I wanna talk about the whole chapter for a moment because there were 5 instructions in this half of the of the chapter. But there was a couple in in the beginning of the chapter that we talked20:19 about last week. That they had to march and they had to be silent. That means that God asked for 720:32 signs of obedience. And then on the seventh day, after the seventh lap, with the 7 trumpets, he brought those walls down.20:45 This makes me believe that those 7 acts of obedience are essential to the will of God in our life. Including20:57 that last 1 which is uncomfortable for people to talk about because Jericho was the first territory that they captured in the21:09 promised land. Jericho was the first. Jericho was the beginning. And now we're taking all that is worth, the the metals and the gold and the silver, they're taking it and putting it into the Lord's21:21 army. This is the first fruit of the promise. And this is essential when we talk about our walk with God. Now, could21:33 sit here and I can give you the roadmap of God's will for your life in 7 steps. But if you don't take that last 1, if you are not21:45 giving what God calls to be holy which is our first fruits and giving it back to God because it says give it to the Lord's treasury, the first fruits all that you21:57 see, and give it back to God. If you're not doing that, then the roadmap that God is giving you, you will take every turn except for the last 1. You will be a22:09 block away from the promise and you will be looking at everybody a block away saying, why do they have their miracle and I don't have mine? Because you're close enough to see but you're not close enough to receive.22:25 I understand that not everybody likes that 1, so we're gonna keep moving on. When God's promises and our obedience come together, We22:37 have the victory. The victory happens because of the continued obedience of the Israelites, but God's the 1 who performed22:49 the miracle. God's the 1 who got the victory. Imagine what happened when the Israelites thought that they were just gonna walk around the wall and with a23:01 shout upon completion, the wall just falls. Imagine what they were thinking because they were just being obedient. They had no clue how they were gonna capture this23:13 city. And all of a sudden, out of their obedience, the wall just comes down. They saw firsthand the miracle of God and how God23:24 stepped in to give them the victory. Our obedience ignites the power of God. They could not take the walls down and invade Jericho23:36 on their own strength and on their own ability. When God makes a promise, he asks us to do everything that we can do so that he can do23:48 everything that we cannot do. That is where God steps in. That is where God gives us the victory. See, God is like the the the last lap in the race and24:00 he stands there and he's waiting waiting for the baton to be passed, but we have to be the ones obediently getting the baton to him so that he can go and he can run24:12 this race and finish out the race for us. Paul writes of Abraham in Romans 4 20 and 21, no unbelief made him waver24:23 concerning the promise of God but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what24:35 he had promised. Is that gonna be our position tonight? Can we know that God will always fulfill his promises when we are obedient to24:47 him. As we discover the victory, let's read what I consider to be the greatest victory in this entire story. Verse24:58 25, but Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she had lived in25:10 Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. God remembered Rahab. See, back in chapter 2,25:22 Rahab boldly hid the Israelite spies and when people came and asked where they were, she lied and she really put herself out25:34 there. It was very dangerous. She was very bold. She was very she was putting herself out there because she knew that their God was truly God. And she was25:46 going to do what she needed to do and all she wanted was just to make sure that her family would be safe. And God remembered her and her obedience saved her25:58 and and her family out of that day. But can I be honest with you? There's something that always irked me about this story and I know26:10 now that it was because I came from a place of being a woman and having a shameful past and carrying that shame and now that I have been fully freed through Jesus Christ of26:22 anything in my past, I can read this with full clarity. But it used to really bother me that out of all the good that she did, she was a26:34 hero of faith. She was somebody who was so strong and so bold that even in this verse, we still called her26:46 Rahab the prostitute. It bothered me. But maybe maybe God kept that in that story to remind us that we don't have to be an26:57 intellectual or to reach a certain status or to be a Christian for a certain amount of time or to just simply be obedient.27:10 Because that's all he asked was for obedience. Maybe it's also to remind the pharisee type of people, you know, the people who who put the law above of the the love, the law27:22 above the love. They don't treat people with respect is but you just have to follow the rules. They're the religious types, but they don't understand the grace of God and they don't treat people with like how Jesus would27:33 treat them. Maybe it's to teach the Pharisees every once in a while they had to keep repeating like, oh yeah, by the way, the greatest miracle at all? Yeah, yeah, it came through a hooker. So what27:45 do I mean by the greatest miracle of all time? Because later on, Rahab who was saved, she went to Israel, she lived in Israel and she later on had a son named27:57 Boaz. And then Boaz had a son named Obed and Obed had a son named Jesse and Jesse had a son named David. You know King David. And David28:09 many generations goes down and they had a son named Joseph and Joseph had a son named Jesus and Jesus would die on a cross for you and for me so that we can have28:21 victory in him forever and ever. That is who Rahab, had it not been for obedience,28:33 from a prostitute. That brought me so much joy. Something that used to bring me shame when I would read that and be like, God, why do we keep calling her28:45 a prostitute? And God reminded me, because if I can do it for her, I can do it for you. See,28:58 this is how we come to God. We come a bunch of broken pieces, but the victory is that when we allow29:09 God to use us through our obedience, that he takes these broken pieces and he begins to put us29:21 together through all of the all of the things that we have to say. Here's the problem, we we don't he doesn't discard this. He doesn't say, oh, that's your past. He doesn't do that.29:33 He says, no. I am going to take every part of you, I am going to build you, and I am going to create something in you using every part29:45 of you for my glory, and we finally will have purpose in our life regardless of what we've been through in our past. This is what it29:57 means when we read verses like Romans 8 28 that says, all things, all things work together for good for those30:10 who are called according to his purpose. All things. It's a promise. It's a promise. We30:22 come like this and God creates something so beautiful, but it requires obedience. That's our30:34 part is the obedience. It's a promise. And I wanna tell you today, the greatest promise that has ever been made30:46 was the promise when God gave us a son so that we can spend eternity with him. So that we don't have to live in our shame and that he would die30:58 on a cross and pay for our sins. He promised that. But there's a call. There is a call. There's a call to obedience. I'm gonna give you31:09 2 verses. The 2 verses that are so important to know when we're talking about salvation, the most common would be John31:21 3 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his 1 and only son, here's the obedience, that whoever believes in him,31:33 and here's the promise, shall not perish but have everlasting life. The obedience and the promise go hand in hand that whoever shall believe in him.31:46 And the second verse is found in Romans 10 verse 9. It says, if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart31:58 that God raised him from the dead, the promise, you will be saved. I32:12 don't know how many broken, shattered pieces you came in here today representing. I don't know32:24 how far into the building project you may be, but I just want you to know that it cannot be done. It cannot be done32:36 unless we are obedient to answer the call that God has called us to, which is to accept Jesus Christ into our lives, to declare32:48 that he is Lord and that he died on a cross so that we can live. And when that happens, God32:59 can create victory in our lives because he gives us he gives us, as we talked about during our miracle moment, he gives us a helper called the Holy Spirit when we33:11 invite him into our hearts. Life doesn't get easier, but what happens is you be this this begins to speak to you and your33:23 palate begins to change and the obedience becomes something that you crave rather than something that you're running from. Just as I mentioned earlier when I read33:35 and I felt shame when I would read about Rahab and now I can read it and I can jump for joy because God did that for me. And there's no33:46 hurt, there's no pain because God has freed me from all of that. And I pray33:59 I pray that freedom for you. So what I'm gonna ask is that everybody just bow their heads and close their eyes and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer. And if you're somebody here who you're saying, Sanaz,34:11 that's me. I'm broken. I'm broken and I need Jesus to put me back together. I know that he's promised life to me34:23 and I just wanna be obedient to the call, so I'm gonna say yes to Jesus today because that's what he asks us to do. Or maybe you're somebody you've34:36 walked with Jesus before. Maybe you grew up in church. Maybe you've had a really bad season, and you feel more broken than you've ever felt before, and you've34:47 said, Jesus, where are you? God, where are you? But you now realize through this message, through God's word that34:59 you've been holding yourself back because God's always been there and he's always wanted to be next to you. God is so good that he says, I'm right here, just come back.35:11 So if you're either 1 of those people, you're somebody who you wanna give your life to Christ, or you're somebody you wanna come home, I wanna tell you, Jesus says, Welcome. And I'm gonna lead35:23 you in a prayer, and all of us are going to pray this prayer, but it's not the words that transform you, and it's not the words that save you, it's your heart35:34 posture as you are declaring that. Because if you had if you only knew the passion that God says, I love you, when he says, I love you, to you,35:46 you wanna have that same passion for Jesus. So let's pray. Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you that I could35:58 come to you broken and you are victorious. I believe in my heart that Jesus is Lord36:09 and that God raised him from the dead. Lord, save me today. In Jesus' name we pray,36:21 amen. Amen. Amen. Well, I'm gonna ask you to do something bold, and I normally don't do this, but36:33 you know what? I believe that God wants us to be bold in our obedience. So if you are somebody who who answered that call, you gave your life to36:45 Christ, you rededicated your life to Christ, we wanna celebrate that with you. So I would love right now for you to just raise your hand and say, I answered that call. 1, 2,36:57 3, raise your hand if you answered that call. I see those hands, I see that hand. I see that hand. I see these hands. Praise God. Heaven is rejoicing. You37:10 will never be the same. You will never be the same knowing that you have Jesus with you, the Holy Spirit walking alongside you. You have a church community37:22 who you can come to. You may not know what to do now, but if you go to grow. Faith, that will give you some information. It's written by our founding pastor, Pastor37:34 Diego. It's like, okay, I gave my life to Christ, now what, what do I do? That'll be able to tell you, but come to church, start saturating yourself in the word of God,37:46 start meeting people around here, come to the events that we have, get some friends, we're here for you. And eventually, you'll just be a part of the family37:58 like all of us are. You can be a part of the family tonight. But we want you here. We we wanna walk alongside you, and so we just wanna say thank you for answering that38:10 call, and we're here for you for whatever you need. I'm gonna pray and if you are in need of additional prayer, there's gonna be some wonderful prayer warriors from our prayer team38:21 up here and they will be able to stand in agreement for whatever it is that you're believing for. But let's not forget what our role is as we walk out this thing38:33 called faith that we are to 1 day at a time and 1 step at a time and 1 instruction at a time, simply be38:45 obedient. Thank you Lord for this amazing night. Thank you for revealing something, giving us a different POV, point of view, vantage point of a38:57 scripture that maybe we've read 1000000 times. Thank you for reminding us what our role is to play. Thank you for instructing us in the ways of the Lord. Thank you39:09 for reminding us how we're not alone, that we can come to you broken, and that through our obedience and your promise that we can truly have victory. In Jesus name we39:21 pray, amen. Have a blessed evening, everybody.
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