Preparation for Purging - Prayer

The point: Recognize that every obstacle and crisis is a call to seek the face of the living God, not to resort to carnal reasoning.

Martin uses the analogy of calamities, crises, and obstacles faced by God's people as a call to seek God's face, contrasting it with the common human tendency to resort to carnal reasoning first.

And out of that context comes the action of God to purge sin from His people. And before we even begin to break down the passage, there is a great lesson in the overview of the passage in the particular way in which it comes to us, reminding us that whatever calamities befall the people of God, whatever crises the people of God face, whatever apparent obstacles the servants of Christ faced in the ongoing of the purposes of redemption, every obstacle, every crisis, every particular frustration and every frustrating circumstance is a call not to carnal reasoning,

10:21 - 11:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that every obstacle and crisis is a call to seek the face of the living God, not to resort to carnal reasoning.

Psalm 107 is cited as an example of Israel's repeated pattern of turning to God only in desperation after trying other means, highlighting Joshua's immediate, better response.

They are not. Then in their desperation they turn to the living God. Read the 107th Psalm. It's an account of how this happened with Israel again and again and again when God brought them into bondage and into defeat.

11:30 - 11:43 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section details the three key attitudes in Joshua's prayer: genuine grief (rent clothes, dust on heads), genuine humility (falling on his face in the dirt), and genuine…

Martin vividly describes 'Mighty Joshua,' the admired leader, falling on his face in the dirt, illustrating genuine humility before the living God, contrasting his earthly stature with his posture of abasement.

Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord no wall to wall carpet not even any tile he falls upon his face he puts his face in the dirt. Mighty Joshua leader of Israel the one who when he would walk through the tents of the armies of Israel the little children would look up admiringly and young men who aspired to greatness in the service of God would look at their great hero this great mighty lofty exalted leader is found upon his face in genuine

23:01 - 23:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Be patient and charitable with one another, judging righteous judgment, recognizing that a believer may act contrary to their new nature in Christ.

Peter's denial of Christ is used as an analogy to explain that a man's actions or words in a moment of weakness (like Joshua's unbelieving prayer) may not accurately reflect his regenerate heart, urging patience and charitable judgment.

in Christ if all you ever knew of Peter was flying overhead in a helicopter at the moment he cursed and denied his Lord you'd say that man is no Christian and there are times when all we see and hear from a man is that which is like this part of the prayer of Joshua an expression of his remaining corruption an expression of his remaining sin an expression of his remaining unbelief it is not an accurate expression of what the man is in the root of his being and God is very patient with these expressions from his children we don't excuse them we don't call them virtuous

36:13 - 36:58 Read in full sermon

Driving home: When we think of ourselves as servants of God the servant never questions what his master does when his master speaks the servant is to obey but we are not only servants we're sons and daughters and my children have ever…

Martin uses the analogy of his own children asking 'why' after receiving a command to illustrate that while obedience must not wait on understanding, a submissive question of bewilderment from a child of God is pleasing to a reasonable Father.

when his master speaks the servant is to obey but we are not only servants we're sons and daughters and my children have every right to come with a spirit of submission and say daddy I'm going to do what you tell me but would you mind telling me why you want me to do this or that I've never once to my son or daughters turn them away if they came with that attitude now if they come with the attitude I won't obey unless you tell me why I say look you obey because I've told you period you see their obedience must not wait upon having full display

40:39 - 41:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved; repent of sin and turn to the Savior, assured of mercy and forgiveness in Him.

The agony of Christ in Gethsemane, falling on His face and praying with importunity, is presented as a reflection of Joshua's prayer, but on a grander scale, as Christ bore the weight of human sin to glorify the Father's name.

of that God and there is but one way for you to be brought to the knowledge of him perhaps some of you even thought of it as we read the passage do you see here at least a faint reflection of the greater than Joshua who himself fell upon his face overpowered with the responsibility of his conquest the father had given to him the responsibility of conquering everything in divine justice that stood in the way of men's salvation and when the Lord Jesus faced that Jericho he fell beneath the load of it and the

50:08 - 50:51 Read in full sermon