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Our Heavenly Joshua Magnified (with audio)
“On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.” – Joshua 4:14
We know of the Exodus of the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and that the LORD God used Moses to lead them up to the Promised Land. After the death of Moses and just before Israel crossed over into the Promised Land, God raised up another leader by the name of Joshua. The LORD had Joshua lead the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. On the day that God stopped the waters of the river and the dry ground appeared for Israel to cross over that was the day that the LORD magnified Joshua. This special act by God, testified that Joshua was without a doubt divinely-appointed. Moses was dead, which meant that Israel could not go back to Moses for leadership or advice. In fact, Deuteronomy 34 teaches that God buried Moses in an unknown place, which meant that Moses finished his ministry never to be dug up by man. Joshua now has the credentials and the people recognized it and rejoiced in it. Joshua’s authoritative power was a matter of great importance – no one dared to question him. Moses was dead and now the people only looked to Joshua for the words of God. This is a wonderful picture of our Lord Jesus.
While Moses was alive, he spoke of a greater Prophet than he that would come after him and speak to the people. It would be this Prophet that they should hear (Deut. 18:15,18). Now we would automatically think that Moses was speaking of Joshua, but not so. The apostle Peter explains in Acts chapter 3 that Moses was actually prophesying of Jesus Christ. God’s providential hand was in this because the names Joshua and Jesus both mean “Jehovah’s saves.”
We read where “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). The importance is that in the Law of Moses there is no grace, no mercy, and no power to help anyone to keep the law perfectly as God requires. The Law was always about justice, judgment, condemnation, and punishment. However, Jesus Christ, the Greater Prophet, is all about grace according to truth. It was He who kept all of God’s law perfectly for us, and as our Substitute, He then took all our sins to the cross and paid for them by giving His life for us. Therefore, because of His willing sacrifice and perfect obedience, God did magnify this Heavenly Joshua. Much of what the Old Testament Joshua did in the early days of Israel was a spiritual picture of what our Heavenly Joshua has done and is doing today for Spiritual Israel, the Church. There is no need to go back to Moses, when our Heavenly Joshua, Jesus, will lead us over the river of death safely into heaven, our Promised Land.
David C. Hale, pastor
Published in the Marshall County Tribune, Lewisburg, TN
Our Heavenly Joshua Magnified (Audio)
Christ Preaching His Kingdom (with audio)
Christ Preaching His Kingdom
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” – Matthew 4:23
There are three actions words that stick out. They are: teaching, preaching, and healing. These three actions are different and yet they purposely come together in the Kingdom ministry of Jesus Christ.
First, teaching. The Jewish synagogue was the central place for the community to worship God and to teach about God. The synagogue is where King Jesus showed up to teach about His Kingdom.
Next, King Jesus went about preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom outside of the synagogue. Preaching is different from teaching. Preaching is declaring abroad what has already been taught. Teaching passes on information about God, while preaching proclaims God with an impassioned cry out to the people declaring God’s truth – whether people want to believe it or not. Understand that King Jesus is the example that there is never preaching without teaching and there is never teaching without preaching. That’s why the churches who do both are usually fewer in number. Obviously, we can get a large numbers of people in church buildings with games, give-aways, programs, pot-luck dinners, and music-laser shows. However, if you follow the simple example of Jesus and teach and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom sadly there is little interest.
Lastly, we read that King Jesus came healing every kind of sickness and disease. Obviously He had compassion upon the people. However, the healings first of all confirmed that His message of the Gospel of the Kingdom has come down from heaven. The healings were signs proving that what He was teaching and preaching was true, and that He is the King of this Kingdom. Understand that miraculous healings are not everyday occurrences. That’s what makes it a miracle. Yet we have these self-proclaimed healers taking the name of God in vain. If they were authentic then why don’t they walk the halls of the nursing homes and the children’s cancer ward? Why don’t they go out into the community like Jesus did teaching, preaching, and healing? Only God heals, if He chooses to do so, but it is not in the quality and quantity as in the first century, and there is a reason. It is because those were signs for that day confirming the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Understand that teaching is true information about the Kingdom. Preaching is the true declaration about the Kingdom. Healings are the true evidence that the Kingdom has come (Matthew 12:28). King Jesus’ message was and is very simple. In His Kingdom, there is forgiveness of sin, salvation from hell, mercy for the guilty, grace for the needy, hope for the hopeless, and love for the unlovely, and that He takes the guilty, needy, hopeless, and unlovely sinner and makes them a beautiful child of the Majestic God (1 John 3:2). Yes, He makes the believer royalty (1 Peter 2:9).
David C. Hale, pastor
Published in the Marshall County Tribune, Lewisburg, TN
Christ Preaching His Kingdom (Audio)
How do we explain the different RACES?
From the beginning of creation it was God’s will for man to populate the whole earth, but in Genesis chapter 11 we read the historic account that human society was of one language and determined with one mind to stay together (Genesis 11:4). Due to their disobedience to the LORD, He confused (or confounded) their language, so that they could not understand one another. In doing so, the Lord “scattered them upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:5-9). As a result of the different languages, people married those whose language they could understand. This arrangement produced separate INBREEDING groups.
Over a few generations these inbreeding groups produced specific characteristics, including different color eyes, different shape of ears and nose, along with different shades of skin color. What most people do not know (and the media along with academia will not inform so as to continue racial strife) is that there is only on color of skin. It is called melanin. Some who are darker have more melanin, and those who are lighter have less melanin. Nevertheless, despite different characteristics, different languages, different shades of skin color, we all have blood flowing through our bodies, we all are given a soul, and we all are created in the image of God according to (Genesis 1:27).
As foreign as this may seem to this generation, “racial barriers” are broken down by the preaching of the gospel of God’s love and grace and not by Political Correctness. Political Correctness is based upon tolerance while Biblical Correctness is based upon love. Now let me ask you, “Which would you want, someone to just tolerate you, or for someone to love you?” My choice is that I want to love and be loved. If you are honest with yourself that would be your choice as well.
Regardless of the race haters and racial instigators – racial barriers can be broken down whereby different people celebrate their cultural differences under God’s love and grace. In fact, there are many Biblical examples of racial barriers being broken by the simple preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 2, Jews from every “nation” believed. In Acts chapter 8, there is the bringing in of the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eunuch into Christianity. Acts chapter 10 records the preaching of the gospel to many Italians in the house of Cornelius. While in Acts 17:16-34, the gospel is preached to the Greeks in Athens. Therefore, if any racial barriers are to broken down it will come through the Church of Jesus Christ being BIBLICALLY CORRECT.
The truth is that the original manuscripts of the Bible do not use the word “race” to describe different people. Rather, God uses the words “NATIONS, TRIBES, KINDRED, TONGUE, and PEOPLE.” If you find a bible that uses the word “race” it is because the translators were influenced by an evolutionary mind set simply because the concept of “race” was purely invented for convenience in evolutionary biological and anthropological studies. Such concepts led to the pseudo-scientific belief (false-belief) that one race is superior to others. Once again, this is an evolutionary mind set. This historical truth cannot be emphasized too much. Even though we cannot and should not label all evolutionary scientists as racist in their personal philosophies, but like it or not, this humanistic philosophy can be traced throughout history as promoting racism. All a person has to do is read the writings of Charles Darwin and see the “race” language he used to promote his white Anglo-Saxon heritage as superior.
The Bible teaches that there is only “one blood” or one race of men upon the face of the earth – the human race (Acts 17:26), and that freedom from this sin cursed world is for “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). So I encourage you (regardless of the culture or color of the church), find a fellowship of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and learn the bible. As you come to the knowledge of God’s sovereign grace, you too will see “race” – erased!
“And (GOD) hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” Acts 17:26
Judge Righteously
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” – John 7:24
One of the biggest misconceptions is that Christianity is a religion. That comes from sociology whereby sociologists categorize and lump all the world religions together and because they know no different they include Christianity. Nevertheless, let me point out that religion involves a system of rules and regulations empowered by laws and commandments. In short, religion is “do” oriented – whereby man to tries to get to God. What sets Christianity apart from all the world religions is that Christianity is a relationship based upon grace, mercy, and forgiveness empowered by love. In short, Christianity is “done” oriented – whereby God came down to man in order to be the “author and finisher” of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
Just because all other world religions claim to be worshipers of a god it appears to the world that Christianity is just another religion – one among many. This demonstrates that outward appearances can be very deceptive.
In 1884 a 15-year-old boy died of Typhoid fever. Days after the funeral his grieving parents met with the president of Harvard University, Charles Eliot. Mr. Eliot met with the boy’s parents, who were dressed in ordinary attire, and he asked what he could do. They expressed their desire to fund a memorial in their son’s name. Mr. Eliot hastily said, “Perhaps you have in mind a scholarship?” The parents said, “We were thinking of something more substantial than that… perhaps a building.” In a condescending way Mr. Eliot explained to the parents that their desire would be too expensive, and so they departed. Later the next year, Mr. Eliot learned that the parents had gone elsewhere and established a $26 million memorial in the name of their son Leland Stanford Junior, better known today as Stanford University!
Our opening scripture is one of the lesser-known passages in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus spoke these words as a rebuke to the Jewish religious leaders of His day. These law-oriented religionists criticized Jesus for making a man completely well on the Sabbath. They could not rejoice in the healing of this infirmed man by the hand of Jesus. They wandered away from the mercy that God delights to show (Hosea 6:6; Matthew 12:7) and had exalted the Sabbath day above hurting souls. To them it appeared that Jesus broke the Sabbath, but Jesus was Lord over the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8).
If you have not noticed, Jesus is instructing us to judge – but only according to righteousness! Are you surprised? Most people are. If we find ourselves in a sticky situation it is better not to judge at all (Matthew 7:1), but if one is in the place where a judgment must be made. Let us take the words of our Lord and judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteously according to mercy, grace, and love.
David C. Hale, pastor
Email: reasons4believing@gmail.com
Speak to the Rock!
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather the assembly and speak unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water… and Moses took the rod from before the LORD… and said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank.”
Numbers 20:7-11
In our passage, Moses was instructed to “speak” to the rock. Instead Moses in anger spoke to the people, and smote the rock disobeying the LORD God.
Now think with me! Is not Moses at fault? So why would God command Moses to take the rod if he was commanded only to “speak” to the rock? Understand that the rod of God was identified with judgment. It was the same rod used in judgment against the Egyptians. Also the rod was used to strike the rock some thirty-eight years earlier (Exodus 17), which pictured the judgment that was to come upon Christ “our Rock” (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Moses was commanded to “speak” to the rock in order to show grace, but instead he struck the rock with the rod of judgment and that was emblematic of re-crucifying Christ. God is not pleased with man-made religious rituals that re-sacrifice His Son. God’s children are “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Only one sacrifice for sin and therefore the rock was to be smitten only once.
Clearly, this is teaching that judgment is in the background when grace is given. If judgment did not lurk in the background then how would we understand God’s amazing and sovereign grace? Israel seeing the rod may fear, yet if Moses spoke to the rock it would produce a river of grace. Moses in anger struck the rock – but God graciously did not withhold water from the people. Nevertheless, the reaction of Moses was not without consequences. Moses did not sanctify God’s holiness before the people and therefore he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).
We all need to be reminded that God’s holiness will never be compromised. Wonder of wonders it is that God in His sovereign purpose gives grace to the lost in a way that does not violate His holiness and His purpose, through His Son Jesus Christ. That is why Christ “our Rock” was smitten on the cross, which both satisfies God’s holy justice and reconciles lost sinners. What a plan! The Holy God remains holy, and sinners receive abundant grace. I hope you can see that it is a joy for God to pour out abundant grace for those who “speak” to the Rock. (Printed in the Marshall County Tribune)
David C. Hale, pastor
New Life Community Church
Lewisburg, TN 37091
How Do We Explain the Different Races?
From the beginning of creation it was God’s will for man to populate the whole earth, but in Genesis chapter 11 we read the historic account that human society was of one language and determined with one mind to stay together (Genesis 11:4). Due to their disobedience to the LORD, He confused (or confounded) their language, so that they could not understand one another. In doing so, the Lord “scattered them upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:5-9). As a result of the different languages, people married those whose language they could understand. This arrangement produced separate INBREEDING groups.
Over a few generations these inbreeding groups produced specific characteristics, including different eyes, ears, noses, and shades of skin color. Despite different characteristics and different languages, nevertheless, we all have blood flowing through our bodies, we all are given a soul, and we all are created in the image of God according to (Genesis 1:27).
As foreign as this may seem to this generation, “racial barriers” are broken down by the preaching of the gospel, and not by political correctness. In fact, there are many Biblical examples of racial barriers being broken by the simple preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 2, Jews from every “nation” believed. In Acts chapter 8, there is the bringing in of the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eunuch into Christianity. Acts chapter 10 records the preaching of the gospel to many Italians in the house of Cornelius. While in Acts 17:16-34, the gospel is preached to the Greeks in Athens. Therefore, if any racial barriers are to broken down it will come through the church of Christ being BIBLICALLY CORRECT. The truth is that, the original manuscripts of the Bible do not use the word “race” to describe different people. Rather, God uses the words “NATIONS, TRIBES, KINDRED, TONGUE, and PEOPLE.” The concept of “race” was purely invented for convenience in biological and anthropological studies. Such concepts led to the pseudo-scientific belief that one race is superior to others. Evolutionary scientists may not all be racist in their personal philosophies but, like it or not, this humanistic philosophy can be traced throughout history as promoting racism. The Bible teaches that there is only “one blood” or one race of men upon the face of the earth – the human race (Acts 17:26).
“And (GOD) hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” Acts 17:26
REASONS 4 BELIEVING 